
Rank: Sergeant
Unit: B Troop, 1st Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment
MOS: 11E – Armor Crewman
Awards: Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal
Badges: Combat Infantryman Badge
Unit awards: Vietnamese Gallantry Cross with Palm device
Enlisted by: Regular
Date of birth: 11-Nov-1948
Hometown: Peoria, Illinois
Marital status: Never Married
Campaign: Vietnam Conflict
Entered service: 2-Aug-1968
Start of tour: 10-Nov-1969
Incident date: 10-Mar-1970
Date of casualty: 10-Mar-1970
Age at death: 21
Cause of death: Hostile, died of wounds. Grenade. Multiple fragmentation wounds.
Robert Michael Smigh was killed while commander of a military vehicle on a combat operation when a hostile force was encountered. / Commander of Armored Cavalry Assault Vehicle (ACAV) on reconnaissance mission. Engaged hostile force in firefight.
Four Blackhorse troopers died in this incident:
SP4 Phillip Allen Elliott
1LT Donald Woods Holman
1LT Stuart Bassett Lamkin
SGT Robert Michael Smith
Location of fatality: Tay Ninh, South Vietnam, XT 387 587
Place of interment: Lutheran Cemetery, Peoria, Illinois, USA
View this soldier‘s Find a Grave page (opens in a new window)