VINCENT L. SMITH, CAPT, USMC
Vincent Smith '76
Lucky Bag
From the 1976 Lucky Bag:
Vincent Lee Smith
Hawaii
Ode To A Choad: Vincent L. Smith hit the Naval Academy as well as might be expected from any of your average, everyday sun studs from Hawaii. Budding with aspirations of proving himself a great athlete, little did he anticipate becoming the perpetual king of the Excused Squad. Actually while he wasn't busy displaying his vast warbling talents with the Glee Club, he proved to be an aggressive linebacker for the 150s.
Alas, poor Vincey also had his downfall. Every weekend it was either, "Well, my horse has just got to win this time - my calculations and the law of averages says so," or "Hey, it's off to see the Babe in Balto." He proved to be pretty good with those tricky little numbers in Ops Analysis - enough to get him a Burke Scholarship. The Corps is looking for a few good men - and they've got one.
Vincent Lee Smith
Hawaii
Ode To A Choad: Vincent L. Smith hit the Naval Academy as well as might be expected from any of your average, everyday sun studs from Hawaii. Budding with aspirations of proving himself a great athlete, little did he anticipate becoming the perpetual king of the Excused Squad. Actually while he wasn't busy displaying his vast warbling talents with the Glee Club, he proved to be an aggressive linebacker for the 150s.
Alas, poor Vincey also had his downfall. Every weekend it was either, "Well, my horse has just got to win this time - my calculations and the law of averages says so," or "Hey, it's off to see the Babe in Balto." He proved to be pretty good with those tricky little numbers in Ops Analysis - enough to get him a Burke Scholarship. The Corps is looking for a few good men - and they've got one.
Loss
Vincent was killed in the bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, on October 23, 1983. He was a member of the 1st Battalion, 8th Marines.
Obituary
From Find A Grave:
Captain, U.S. Marine Corps. CAPT Smith was killed in the terrorist attack of the headquarters of BLT 1st battalion 8th Marines on October 23, 1983. CAPT Smith served as air liaison officer for BLT 1/8 Marines and had been in Beirut since May 1983. CAPT Smith, who was a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, class of 1976, was the son of LT GEN Keith Smith USMC.
From the March 1984 issue of Shipmate:
Capt. Vincent Lee Smith USMC was killed in Beirut, Lebanon, on 23 October 1983. Memorial services were held at the Marine Base in Jacksonville, North Carolina, after the return of his body.
Appointed to the Naval Academy from the State of Hawaii, he was graduated with the Class of 1976. As a Midshipman he was a member of the choir and of the 150 pound football team, and upon graduation with a major in operations analysis he was awarded a Burke Scholarship. Receiving his commission in the Marine Corps, he was first ordered to Basic School, then took flight training and was designated naval aviator on 23 June 1978. Later duty was at the Marine Corps Air Station at New River with HMA-269 where he qualified to fly the Cobra helicopter, while serving as officer in charge of TME-22 from June 1981 to January 1983, at which time he reported to the 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, 2nd Marine Division in Camp Lejeune. He was serving as the air officer for Battalion Landing Team 1/8 and was part of the multi-national peacekeeping force in Beirut at the time of his death. He was a member of the Naval Academy Alumni Association.
He is survived by his widow Ana of Jacksonville, NC; a son, Ian; his parents, MGen. (USMC) and Mrs. Keith A. Smith; and three sisters and five brothers.
Photographs
Remembrances
From the Flowers and notes section of Find A Grave, dated January 6, 2012:
Vince and I were friends at Waipahu High School, in Hawaii, while both of our fathers were stationed at Camp Smith. He was a wonderful singer and we used to sing duets of the Hawaiian Wedding song, Ke Kali Nei Au, together. Vince was as close to the perfect man as I have ever known. He was a member of the National Honors Society, with a presidential appointment to the US Naval academy, captain of the wrestling team, Eagle scout, good Catholic boy, kind, honest, you name it. He might have had some small flaw, but I never saw it! We lost a great deal on that day that some maniac drove a truck full of explosives into that compound. When I heard about it, I couldn't stop thinking about Vince. I tried to convince myself that, statistically, there was very little chance that he would have been among those killed there. But, my father was still on active duty at the time and he saw the casualty lists. He had checked to make sure it wasn't another Vincent Smith but was told it was Gen. Keith Smith's son. Thanks to whomever posted this here. Vince deserves to be remembered. I love you, Vince! (signed Darillyn)
Related Articles
James Surch, Jr. '77, Donald Woollett '80, and David Nairn '81 were also killed in the bombing of the Marine Corps barracks in Beirut, Lebanon on October 23, 1983.
The "category" links below lead to lists of related Honorees; use them to explore further the service and sacrifice of alumni in Memorial Hall.
