Guardsmen to Graduate

Two Wichita Falls guardsmen are among the 82 Texans graduating Saturday from the Texas National Guard Academy's officer candidate school.

They are. . . .and Wendell I. Smith of 1503 Cedar. Both are members of Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 49th Division Artillery of Wichita Falls.

The two Wichita men will be commissioned Army National Guard second lieutenants.

The Guard Academy's officer candidate school is a year - long course emphasizing the development of leadership. It has become the guard's most important source of junior leaders.

. . . .Smith is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Claude I Smith of 1214 37th.

Wichitan Wins 3 Decorations (Military – 01 Jun 1967 in Viet Nam)

A former Wichita Falls police office, 1st. Lt. Wendell I. Smith, has just returned from a year of Army duty in Viet Nam.

While in Vietnam, Smith was awarded the Bronze Star, the First Oak Leaf Cluster, the Air Medal and other decorations.

The Bronze Star was awarded Smith for rescuing a trapped and unconscious pilot from a burning helicopter.

The Air Medal was awarded to Smith for his participation in more than 25 aerial missions over hostile territory.

Smith and his wife, . . . . will leave for duty in Germany in August. Mrs. Smith taught third grade at Crockett School this year. [Wichita Falls Record News]

Awarded Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster for rescuing the pilot from a burning helicopter. He was on patrol when notified of a downed helicopter. He found the unconscious pilot still belted into the burning helicopter. He attempted to pry the plexiglass cowling loose but was driven back by the heat. He went back and managed to break it loose, pulling the pilot out moments before the gas tank exploded.

He was awarded the Purple Heart but refused it because his injuries were the result of schrapnel and not direct fire.

CAPTAIN IN GERMANY

Tuesday, November 13, 1973

US Forces, Germany - Army Capt. Wendell I. Smith, son of Mrs. Duron Smith, 37th Wichita Falls, participated with other American and allied troops in exercise Reforger V in Germany, Oct. 10-16.

Smith is regularly assigned as commander of the 3rd Infantry Division in Wurzburg, Germany. His father, Claude I Smith, lives in Dallas. Capt. Smith's wife . . . is with him in Germany.

The Faculty and Graduating Class - of - Oklahoma City University - School of Law - announce the Commencement Exercises - and Conferring of the Juris Doctor Degree - Saturday afternoon, May ninth - Nineteen Hundred eighty-one - two-thirty o'clock - The Campus

Judge Named to Post (1989 in US Army Reserve Advocate General Office. Ft. Hood, Tex.)

Oklahoma County Special Judge Wendell I. Smith has been named an Army Reserve trial judge.

Smith, 49, of Oklahoma City, said he will function as a military judge over courts-martial when he does his annual two-week service in the Army Reserve. His job as a military judge also will require him to review records the rest of the year, he said.

He will go to a school for military judges next May.

Smith has served 27 years in the Army or Army Reserve, including two tours of duty in Vietnam. He served as a prosecutor for five years before becoming a special judge.

"The Daily Oklahoman" Tuesday, April 2, 1996

SPECIAL JUDGE DIES OF CANCER

Funeral services are Wednesday for Oklahoma County Special Judge Wendell I. Smith, who died Sunday of cancer. He was 57.

Smith had served as a special judge in Oklahoma County since 1986, handling preliminary criminal proceedings and misdemeanor cases.

He also was an assistant district attorney in Oklahoma County for 1982 to 1986 and a former trial examiner for the Oklahoma Corporation Commission's oil and gas division.

Smith was retired from the Army Reserve where he earned the rank of lieutenant colonel. He served in the Vietnam War and won the Bronze Star.

Smith's funeral services will be at 11 a.m. at the Crossroads Cathedral, in Oklahoma City under the direction of Bill Merritt Funeral Home in Bethany.

Wendell I Smith