First Lieutenant THERON ALLEN SMITH

First Lieutenant THERON ALLEN SMITH 18208732, US Army Air Corps. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Allen Smith, of 504 East Main Street, Haynesville. He was born January 26, 1923, and attended Haynesville High School, and Louisiana Polytechnic Institute, Ruston. He was an aircraft worker prior to entering the Army Air Forces October 30, 1942, in Shreveport, at the age of 19. He went to Lake Charles Army Air Field for his basic training. From San Antonio Aviation Cadet Center (pre-flight and pilot training) he went to Bonham, Texas; Perrin Field, Sherman, Texas, and Lubbock Army Air Field, Texas, for further training, receiving transitional training (B-24) at Fort Worth AAF and operational training at Gowen Field, Boise, Idaho. He served as assistant engineering officer at Fort Worth AAF. Lieutenant Smith embarked for Italy (ETO) June 26, 1944, as airplane commander with the 460th Bombardment Group. He was in combat in the Campaigns of Rome-Arno, Southern France, the Rhineland and the North Apennines. He has the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters, and the Presidential Unit Citation (PUC) with one Oak Leaf Cluster. He was honorably discharged at Camp Shelby August 4, 1945, and entered the University of Texas (UT). 

 

Source:

1- THE FIGHTING MEN OF LOUISIANA – LOUISIANA HISTORICAL INSTITUTE – 1946 ​

2- http://aad.archives.gov/aad/record-detail.jsp?dt=893&mtch=2&cat=all&tf=F&q=THERON+A+SMITH&bc=sd&rpp=10&pg=1&rid=1637130&rlst=1637130,1698098