Robert Smith Griffith

Vietnam War
Unit57th Aviation Company
RankStaff Sergeant U.S. Army
Entered Service FromHapeville Georgia
Date of DeathFebruary 19 1968
StatusRecovered
Memorialized
Courts of the Missing
Court
B
Notes
Staff Sergeant Griffith was a member of 57th Aviation Company, 52nd Aviation Battalion, 17th Aviation Group, 1st Aviation Brigade. On February 19, 1968, he was the door gunner of a Bell Iroquois Utility Helicopter (UH-1H) on an emergency extraction mission west of Dak Sur, Laos. As they picked up the team, the aircraft received heavy enemy fire, crashed and burned. His remains were recovered on November 21, 2007 and identified on October 2, 2008. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.
rosetta medal
When an individual’s remains have been accounted for by the U.S. Department of Defense, a rosette is placed next to the name on the Wall/Tablet/Court of the Missing to mark that the person now rests in a known gravesite.