More detail on this person: Gen. James C.
Smith, 93: `Soldier's soldier' in 3 wars put
troops first
By Nancy Badertscher
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
4:43 p.m Thursday, Dec. 22, 2016
http://www.ajc.com/news/local-obituaries/gen-james
-smith-soldier-soldier-wars-put-troops-first/rPU3f
Vd7kVWTIo9hEOGebK/
Army Maj. Gen. James Clifton Smith (Ret.) had a
chest full of medals from his combat duty in three
wars.
But in a 39-year military career, he was most
proud of what he did to improve the safety of the
troops: making training in instrument-flying
standard for military pilots, advocating for
night-vision goggles for fliers, and helping to
develop the modern-day drone, a family member
said.
"He was very pragmatic," said R.J. Parsons,
Smith's nephew by marriage. "He could see the
advantage of these types of things and what it
meant to the airmen."
http://www.ajc.com/rf/image_large/Pub/p7/AJC/201
6/12/22/Images/newsEngin.17218072_Gen.-Smith.j
pg
Gen. James "Jim" Smith, a highly decorated
veteran of three wars and father of seven, died
Dec. 14 at his Lawrenceville residence. He was
93.
The path of Smith's life was set in childhood. As
a young boy, he would go with his father, a
sergeant major in the acclaimed 6th Cavalry at
Fort Oglethorpe in northwest Georgia, to visit and
camp with the horse soldiers.
"It was said he essentially joined the Army when
he was six," daughter Heidi Smith said.
With his parents' permission, Smith enlisted in
the Army as a private at the tail end of World War
II. He was 17.
A review board exempted him from basic training,
deciding he already knew everything being taught
to new soldiers, and he was immediately assigned
to a platoon in Riley, Kansas.
He was shot several times by a sniper in Germany
and nearly killed, his daughter said. His weight
dropped to about 80 pounds, and he was told he
wouldn't see active duty again.
"He requested to create his own rehab program,"
Heidi Smith said. "He was allowed to eat whatever
he wanted from the mess hall and do whatever he
needed to get fit again." A review board soon
deemed him "good to go."
In nearly 40 years in the Army, Smith saw combat
duty in World War II, the Korean Conflict and the
Vietnam War, earning medals of valor including the
Distinguished Service Medal and multiple Flying
Crosses, Silver Stars and Purple Hearts.
When the Army took to the air, he was among the
first young soldiers trained to fly. The late
Eugene Patterson, who went on to become an
award-winning and nationally known journalist, was
with him at flight school training and remained a
lifelong friend, his daughter said.
Gen. Smith is credited with major contributions in
Vietnam and in later years to the Army's advances
in air mobility with helicopters.
In the early 1960s he was part of a task force of
the U.S. Strike Command charged with analyzing
the air mobility of the Air Force and Army.
As a field test officer specializing in tactical
air reconnaissance, Smith was largely responsible
for many of the organizational and training
standards in aviation the Army and Air Force still
employ.
The Army Aviation Association of America
recognized Smith's contributions, naming him to
the Army Aviation Hall of Fame in 1976 for his
efforts in the 1960s.
Army Maj. Gen. Carl H. McNair Jr. (Ret.), said
Smith always "gave the Army, his troops and his
mission 200 percent, night and day. I often
wondered when he slept," McNair said.
As deputy commanding general of the 1st Aviation
Brigade, Gen. Smith's call sign was "Hawk 5" and
his nickname was "Hawk Eye."
"He had an eye on everything as a commander
must do in a combat theater and in the garrison
preparing for combat," said Gen. McNair, who was
10 years Smith's junior and his friend for 50
years ."Thus, the nickname `Hawk Eye' was very
fitting, and we all learned from him."
Smith showed his dedication and fortitude by going
from one tough command to an even tougher one in
Vietnam, remaining there as long as any
commander, with the possible exceptions of Gen.
William Westmoreland and Gen. Creighton Abrams,
McNair said.
After retirement, Smith consulted with the
Institute for Defense Analyses and assisted in the
early development of unmanned aerial vehicles
commonly known as drones, for battlefield
reconnaissance and observation. He saw the drone
as a potentially life-saving alternative to
sending troops into danger zones, Parsons said.
Smith referred to Doris, his wife of 66 years, as
the "gold standard" of military wives.
When he was stationed in Germany during
the1960s, as the wall was being built between East
and West Berlin, Doris traveled by troop transport
plane to be with him. She stepped off the plane
seven months pregnant with daughter Heidi and with
five children 10 years old and younger at her
side.
"That's an Army wife," Smith would say.
Heidi Smith said her dad was a "soldier's soldier
no matter what his rank."
One of his traditions was to make Christmas Eve
visits to the guard posts on base. He would bring
a tape recorder, play Christmas music for the men
on duty and talk to them about the families they
had back home.
"He cared deeply about the well-being of his
troops," his daughter said. "Having grown up among
soldiers, he could still relate to them. That was
at the core of his leadership style."
Gen. Smith is survived by his wife, Doris, seven
children, 12 grandchildren and one
great-grandchild.
Since his death, tributes have flowed in from
soldiers who served under his command. A
memorial service for Gen. Smith was held Dec. 17
in Snellville.
Burial information: Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
This information was last updated 12/23/2016
Please send additions or corrections to: HQ@vhpa.org VHPA Headquarters
Return to the Helicopter Pilot DAT name list
Return to VHPA web site
Date posted on this site: 03/10/2024
Copyright © 1998 - 2024 Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association