Element leader 381st FS 363rd FG.

He flew 48 missions from Staplehurst, England. On his 49th mission 1Lt Smith was downed on a escort mission to Berlin on May 24, 1944. Flying P-51B s/n 42-106834 B3+Q Smith crash landed near Ostend, Belgium. Within seconds of sliding to a stop, a German officer stepped onto the wing and pointed his Luger at the dazed pilot and asked if he wished to surrender. Smith spent the rest of the war in Europe in Stalag Luft III. After his liberation Smith requested overseas duty and was assigned to the 44th FS flying P-38Ls in the Philippines. He stayed with the 44th through 1947 flying later P-51Ds and P-47Ns. After serving in both Korea and Vietnam he retired from the USAF in 1972.