DONALD E. SMITH, LCDR, USN

Donald Smith '38

Date of birth: September 10, 1914

Date of death: March 28, 1945

Age: 30

Lucky Bag

From the 1938 Lucky Bag:

DONALD EMANUEL SMITH

Trenton, New Jersey

Smitty, Don

In Smitty you will find perpetual good humor, subtle wit, and sincere generosity. Whatever it is, he is with you all the way. When you need someone to translate the Dago, lend you five dollars, or listen to your explanation of life, Smitty is your man. Airplanes are his passion. When he can't be flying, he will be building models. Being an expert rifle and pistol shot before entering the Academy, he has had no trouble making the rifle team. Academics and women have easily fallen to Smitty's unbeatable system. The Navy is going to lose one of the best men it ever knew when Smitty shoves off for Tahiti.

Rifle Team 4, 3, 2, 1; Co. Pistol Team 4, 3, 2, 1; Co. Gym Team 4, 3, 2, 1; Second Place, Small Arms Firing; M.P.O.

DONALD EMANUEL SMITH

Trenton, New Jersey

Smitty, Don

In Smitty you will find perpetual good humor, subtle wit, and sincere generosity. Whatever it is, he is with you all the way. When you need someone to translate the Dago, lend you five dollars, or listen to your explanation of life, Smitty is your man. Airplanes are his passion. When he can't be flying, he will be building models. Being an expert rifle and pistol shot before entering the Academy, he has had no trouble making the rifle team. Academics and women have easily fallen to Smitty's unbeatable system. The Navy is going to lose one of the best men it ever knew when Smitty shoves off for Tahiti.

Rifle Team 4, 3, 2, 1; Co. Pistol Team 4, 3, 2, 1; Co. Gym Team 4, 3, 2, 1; Second Place, Small Arms Firing; M.P.O.

Obituary

From the Allentown Messenger on April 5, 1945:

Lieutenant-Commander Donald E. Smith, of Norfolk, Va., was killed on last Wednesday afternoon when a Navy land plane crashed in Chesapeake Bay near Norfolk, according to an announcement of the Fifth Naval District received by Mrs. Smith’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Clinton W. Eldridge. Another officer and two enlisted men were also killed.
He won appointment to the United States Naval Academy as an enlisted man and later received his wings in the Navy’s air service early in 1941. He was a graduate of Hamilton High School. He was assigned to the Navy Airplane School in Pensacola, Fla., in 1940, and had been in the naval flying service since 1941. He saw action in many parts of the world and won the Navy Air Medal for bravery in the invasion of Casablanca, Africa.
He had recently been transferred from Natal, Brazil, to the Norfolk Air Station. In April of 1943 he was awarded a medal by Admiral Nimitz for meritorious service. As the pilot of an observation plane he remained on station in the air despite an attack by enemy fighters and anti-aircraft fire and furnished valuable and accurate spotting information.
Mrs. Smith and sons have been living at the home of her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Clinton W. Eldridge, since her husband had been in service, and had recently moved to Norfolk, Va. Survivors include his wife, Mrs. Margaret Eldridge Smith; two sons, Robert, four, and Richard, one year old, of Red Valley; his father, Emanuel Smith, and a brother, Jerry Smith, of Trenton.

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

Donald graduated in 1932 from Hamilton High School North. “Don” Academic; Track 3, 4; “Retrospice”; “Tulip Time” Chorus; “Riding Down the Sky” Principal (played Sergeant Timothy Riley of the U. S. Marines); Glee Club 3, 4; Camera Club 3; Gym Club 3, 4. “Don” is a young man with an ideal personality. His jokes, fun, and mischief all bespeak his keen mind. Prophecy: Donald Smith has climbed the ladder to success. In fact, he has reached the pinnacle of success in the Rusling Hose Fire Company. Last Will and Testament: Donald gives and bequeaths his coveted ability to bluff. Trademark: “Tell it to the Judge” (?). Remarks: An animal trainer – pets dears. Voted Biggest Bluffer.

He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Career

From naval aviation historian Richard Leonard via email on February 9, 2018:

NAS Pensacola attached for HTA flight training, 6/24/1940

NAS Pensacola designated NA # 7059, 1/23/1941

Date of rank LTJG from 1 Jul 1941 USN Register, 6/2/1941

Date of rank LT from 1 Jul 1942 USN Register, 6/15/1942

unspec VCS opns Operation Torch AM, 11/8/1942

VB-145 FAW-12 NAS Boco Chico attached, 7/31/1943

VB-145 (CO) FAW-16 NAAS Natal, 8/1/1943

Date of rank LCDR from 1 Jul 1944 USN Register, 3/1/1944

VPB-145 (CO) FAW-16 NAF Natal [was VB-145], 10/1/1944

VPB-145 FAW-16 NAF Natal detached, 1/1/1945

VJ-4 ComUtWingLant NAS Norfolk KIFA Chesapeake Bay area, 3/28/1945

Navy Directories & Officer Registers

The "Register of Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps" was published annually from 1815 through at least the 1970s; it provided rank, command or station, and occasionally billet until the beginning of World War II when command/station was no longer included. Scanned copies were reviewed and data entered from the mid-1840s through 1922, when more-frequent Navy Directories were available.

The Navy Directory was a publication that provided information on the command, billet, and rank of every active and retired naval officer. Single editions have been found online from January 1915 and March 1918, and then from three to six editions per year from 1923 through 1940; the final edition is from April 1941.

The entries in both series of documents are sometimes cryptic and confusing. They are often inconsistent, even within an edition, with the name of commands; this is especially true for aviation squadrons in the 1920s and early 1930s.

Alumni listed at the same command may or may not have had significant interactions; they could have shared a stateroom or workspace, stood many hours of watch together… or, especially at the larger commands, they might not have known each other at all. The information provides the opportunity to draw connections that are otherwise invisible, though, and gives a fuller view of the professional experiences of these alumni in Memorial Hall.