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| Lt. Clayton Smith was a B-25 copilot in the 23rd Antisubmarine Squadron in Trinidad (art by Adam Tooby). https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/51135351/clayton-smith https://www.pinterest.fr/pin/560698222350609726/ |
Clayton Smith never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
Clayton was born on May 17, 1920 in Illinois. His parents Clayton and Laura were born in Illinois and Indiana, respectively. His father worked as an oil refinery truck driver. Clayton had three younger brothers and three younger sisters. By 1940 Clayton was still living at home. He had completed two years of high school and was working as a canner.
He enlisted in the Army Air Forces the month before Pearl Harbor. He trained as a co-pilot and reached the rank of first lieutenant in the 23rd Antisubmarine Squadron. This unit was equipped with B-25 Mitchells and was based in Edinburgh Field in Trinidad. Its role was to find and sink German subs in the Caribbean Sea.
On September 15, 1943 Lt. Smith was flying B-25 #42-65040 when it crashed on takeoff due to engine failure. Smith and five other men on board were all killed.
His grave is at Indiana Soldiers Home Cemetery in Tippecanoe, Indiana.
Last year on this date I profiled Japanese held POW Gem Morris. You can read about Gem here.
On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!
I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.
Please consider joining the public Facebook group to increase the exposure of this project. Go to: WW2 Fallen 100
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