Kenneth James Smith was born December 13th, 1924 in Benton county Indiana to William Edward Smith and Florence Maude Voyles Smith. He was the youngest of four children. He had two brothers and a sister.

On March 2nd, 1944, at the age of 19 he enlisted in the Army and was deployed to Europe in September of that year. He was wounded on January 26th 1945 in Belgium and was awarded a Purple Heart. He was captured in Hitdorf, Germany around 6 April 1945 along the 25 others from Company "A", 504th PIR. They were liberated by soldiers from the 343rd Infantry, 86th Division on 13 April in Plettenberg, Germany and returned to their outfit on 15 April. He returned to the United States on September 11th, 1945. He recieved an honorable discharge from the Army on December 9th, 1945.

On August 13th 1946 he re-enlisted and remained in the Army until he retired, due to a heart condition, on January 24th 1966. Upon his retirement he had attained the rank of Sergeant First Class.

He also served in the Korean War. He first joined the 2nd Infantry Division in Korea on 25th November, 1952 as part of HQ Battery of the 15th Field Artillery Battalion. He was transferred to Service Battery on 10th February, 1953. On 19th July, 1953 he was transferred to the 37th AA Battalion in Japan. He remained with the 37th until 22nd May, 1954 when he was transferred out to Camp Drake for relocation to the USA

Kenneth James Smith died on July 10 1969 in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, at the age of 44. He was survived by his wife and two sons…….and a son in Kentucky who never knew him.

Kenneth J Smith