Ralph Nathaniel Smith

The database page for Ralph Nathaniel Smith

04 Mar 2008 The Best of the Southern Blue Ridge From his nephew, Kent Smith optimaeng1@alltel.net

Americans have come to know something about the fighting at Landing Zone X-Ray (Ia Drang Valley, 15 Nov 1965) since the book and movie We Were Soldiers Once - and Young came out. The earlier engagements between the newly arrived 1st Cavalry Division and the firmly emplaced North Vietnamese Army remain almost unknown. One such engagement took place on the west bank of the Ia Meur River on 06 Nov 1965, when two companies of the 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry, took on the NVA. Twenty-six Americans were killed in the action, which formed a prelude to the engagements at LZ X-Ray and LZ Albany. The men were B Company: 2LT Felix D. King, Florence, AL SSG Ralph N. Smith, Morganton, NC SGT William A. Sullivan, Fayetteville, NC SP4 Clyde R. Herman, Roanoke, VA SP4 Earl G. Phillips, War, WV CPL Rudolph Rodriguez, Lindsay, CA PFC James J. Crafton, Philadelphia, PA C Company: SSG Morris E. Wheeler, Philadelphia, PA SGT James W. Barksdale, St Petersburg, FL SGT Miles H. Loper, Fort Knox, KY SGT Varis Savage, Nashville, TN SGT Louis Sherrod, Washington, DC SP4 Dennis Lichota, Detroit, MI PFC Timothy H. Johnson, Milwaukee, WI PFC John K. Keao, Los Angeles, CA PFC Justin M. Lynch, Fort Bragg, NC PFC Thomas H. Maynard, El Monte, CA (Dist Svc Cross) PFC Joseph P. Minnock, Cranford, NJ PFC James Mooney, Selma, AL PFC Anthony E. Pendola, Peoria, IL PFC Willie C. Pickett, Pensacola, FL PFC Phillip K. Rea, Chicago, IL PFC Daniel Santos-Trujillo, Loiza, PR PFC Alvin C. Sligh, Greensboro, NC HQ Company: PFC James L. Allen, Beaumont, TX (medic) PFC Richard A. Noelke, Fontana, CA (medic) They are remembered on the Landing Zone X-Ray site and The Virtual Wall's Ia Drang Memorial

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With all respect
Jim Schueckler, former CW2, US Army
Ken Davis, Commander, United States Navy (Ret)
Memorial first published on 04 Mar 2008
Last updated 08/10/2009