Paten L. Smith was born on May 4, 1945. He was the son of Ophelia Smith Payne. He served in the Heavy Mortar Platoon, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, as a Staff Sergeant and Platoon Sergeant during the Vietnam War era.

On August 18, 1971, a U.S. Army CH-47A Chinook (tail number 66-19023) transporting troops from Ludwigsburg to the Grafenwöhr training area crashed near Pegnitz, Germany, when a decommissioned rotor blade was mistakenly reinstalled and failed mid-flight. The aircraft broke apart in the air, killing all 37 aboard, including 33 soldiers and 4 crew members, marking the deadliest peacetime U.S. military accident in
West Germany since World War II.

SSgt Smith, who was among the passengers on board and is now buried in the Memphis National Cemetery, Memphis, Shelby County, Tennessee, USA.

Source of information: www.chinook-helicopter.com, www.findagrave.com