Corporal Howard E. Smith

Strike one from the list of mystery names!

Howard E. Smith (SN 432003), born in Centreville, OH, enlisted in A Company, 24th Marines. He listed his hometown as Clayton, OH, and his next-of-kin was his father, Paul E. Smith.

Smith was one of the soldiers selected to carry the Browning Automatic Rifle (or BAR). Developed in 1918, the BAR was a beast of a weapon, weighing nearly 20 pounds unloaded. It had a rate 0f 300-450 RPM ("slow auto") or 500-650 RPM ("fast auto") - depending on how fast the gunner could load the 20-round magazines. Traditionally, the BAR was given to the smaller members of a squad (by 1944, a Marine rifle squad of 12 men had 2 BAR gunners) - ostensibly this was to build them up physically, though snipers trained to pick off specialist troops such as flamethrowers, radiomen, machine gunners and BAR men would also have a harder time hitting the smaller target. No matter their size, each Marine received basic instruction in the BAR and each would be capable of picking one up should the gunner be hit.

The BAR was the standard front-line fire support weapon, and despite its drawbacks (significant weight, a barrel prone to overheating, and slow loading time) was a welcome addition to any firefight. The picture is a still from a USMC video, and shows a BAR gunner at front right. These are 4th Marine Division troops moving inland at Iwo Jima (notice Mount Suribachi in the background).

A more detailed summary of the BAR, with some great quotes, from Mark Flowers' website.


Howard Smith attained the rank of Private First Class before landing on Namur with the rest of the company. On February 2, 1944, A Company was on the right flank of the American line. The scheduled morning advance had been delayed by the late arrival of several medium tanks that had been allocated to their sector. At 10:05, the attack stepped off. The tanks soon drew the attention of the Japanese, and they swarmed over the American vehicles, posing a serious threat and allowing PFC Smith to shine.

Another outstanding act of bravery that afternoon is credited to Corporal Howard E. Smith, an automatic rifleman in the Twenty-fourth Regiment. Smith was with an assault platoon covering the advance of a tank unit. The lead tank, commanded by Captain James L. Denig, son of Brigadier General Robert L. Denig, poked its nose out of a jungle thicket onto a road. Without warning, five Japs swarmed over it, one of them throwing a grenade into the turret opening. Smith, seeing the Japs jump onto the tank, emptied two magazines from his automatic rifle at them. Four of them rolled off dead and the fifth was killed by another Marine. But the grenade had set off the tank's fuel and the four men inside were apparently doomed as the tank became a steel bound hell of blazing fuel and ammunition. Smith handed his rifle to a man near him and ran toward the tank, disregarding the fire of snipers and a machine gun across the road. He opened the hatch, pulled Captain Denig free and dragged him off the road to some undergrowth. Then he went back for Corporal Bill Taylor, the assistant tank driver, whom he brought to the concealment of the thicket, and returned for Corporal Ben Smith, the gunner. The fourth man was trapped and couldn't get to the hatch. Captain Denig died, but the other two men owed their lives to Smith's courageous action which won him the Navy Cross.

- from The Fighting Fourth.

PFC Smith was awarded his Navy Cross by Admiral Nimitz at Camp Maui, in April 1944. It was one of six presented to the regiment - out of those six, three went to members of A Company.

"We had a parade yesterday, and Nimitz presented the medals and citations to the 4^th Division. About 35 were awarded, and almost 90 percent of them went to the 24^th Marines. No Congressional Medals were awarded, but 6 Navy Crosses were – the next highest honor. Col. Hart got one, a company commander in the 2^nd Battalion got one, and four were awarded to enlisted men – one man in “B” Company and 3 in “A” Company! Think of it! There are about 65 companies in the Division, and “A” Company got 3 out of the 4 awards made to enlisted men....

Admiral Nimitz’s speech was very moving – he set just exactly the right note, and he mentioned three names, typifying those killed who we shall not forget – Steven Hopkins, Col. Dyess, and Jack Brown, whose father was with him in the same outfit.

...it was a pretty drunken night last night."

- Phil Wood letter April 28, 1944

Citation:
The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Howard E. Smith (432003), Private First Class, U.S. Marine Corps (Reserve), for extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty while serving with Company A, First Battalion, Twenty-Fourth Marines, FOURTH Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces during the invasion of Namur Island, Kwajalein Atoll, 2 February 1944. After killing four of the enemy who had dropped a grenade into a Marine light tank, Private First Class Smith handed his gun to a comrade and proceeded forward alone, unarmed and in the face of hostile rifle and machine-gun fire, to pull the wounded out of the burning tank and into a nearby shell hole. His exceptional courage, gallant fighting spirit and willingness to sacrifice his own safety for that of other imperiled Marines reflected the highest credit upon Private First Class Smith and the United States Naval Service.
SPOT AWARD, Commander in Chief, Pacific Forces: Serial 2788

PFC Smith was promoted to Corporal and served through Saipan and Tinian with the Company - one of twenty nine original members to survive through the Japanese banzai charge on the first night of Tinian.

He is listed as Wounded In Action, but survived the war.