Carrol Smith was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey in March 1925. He grew up outside of town. It was a good place to grow up. He had various jobs and did activities in school. He enjoyed marching in the front row of the high school band. Smith had a younger brother. Their father worked for AT&T [Annotator’s Note: American Telephone and Telegraph] as an electrical engineer. During those years, cables were laid across the ocean for communication with Europe. Smith was 16 years old when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. Smith, his father, and brother heard the unbelievable news over the car radio after working on a boat that day. The events that transpired meant that a boating trip with his brother had to be abandoned due to lack of gasoline. Smith enlisted in the Marines because he thought he could accomplish something with them. Smith was inducted in the Marines in 1943. He successfully obtained his parents’ permission to enlist [Annotator’s Note: in World War Two, the minimum age of 18 was required for enlistment without parental consent].

Carrol Smith served in the Marine Corps in 1943 and 1944. He was deployed overseas in short order. The bombs were dropped thereafter [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 6 and 9 August 1945]. His basic training occurred at Parris Island [Annotator's Note: US Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island in Port Royal, South Carolina]. The training was good. He learned to shoot a rifle on the practice range. Targets were remote and five-foot square. Indications of target hits were recognized, but a miss resulted in red material nicknamed “Maggie’s Drawers” being waved. Smith qualified as a sharpshooter and earned three dollars a month for a year as a result. He used an M1 [Annotator's Note: .30 caliber M1 semi-automatic rifle, also known as the M1 Garand] to qualify. He fired other weapons as well before leaving Parris Island. After basic, he was interviewed and the determination was made that his advanced training was to be at a radar school because he had attended engineering college prior to enlistment. He came out of the school knowing that the training fit his purposes. He was serving in a good-sized radar unit when he went overseas. His radar training was at Camp Lejeune [Annotator's Note: Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, North Carolina]. He was taught how radar works and what needed to be done with the information gathered. The data was essential for the anti-aircraft guns to set their azimuth and altitude details. This helped prevent the opposing forces from bombing friendly troops. The radar unit was on the back of a tractor and was large in size. That made maneuvering during invasions difficult. A large antenna was inside the unit. That structure had to be put up on the roof of the trailer for operational purposes. It was possible to determine offshore weather conditions with the radar. That became pretty popular.

Carrol Smith landed during the invasion of Angaur Island in the Palau island group [Annotator’s Note: the invasion occurred in September 1944]. Forecasting the weather with his radar unit helped the troops. The Japanese opposed the invasion of the island. An Army unit went ashore with the Marines. Smith had a trailer [Annotator’s Note: his radar unit utilized equipment mounted on a large tractor trailer], but had no assistance or direction on what to do to get the equipment up a steep slope of a mountain. He took responsibility for getting the radar unit up and operational and then gathering information. A bulldozer helped pull the trailer up the slope. The location selected was acceptable for obtaining the information needed by the anti-aircraft guns. The Japanese resisted the American forces. The first thing Smith had to get used to was the noises he heard at night in the jungle. It was difficult to ascertain whether some noises were a monkey or a Jap [Annotator's Note: a period derogatory term for Japanese]. He had been in college just a few weeks prior to that and was not certain what to do. The captain at the guns shouted at Sergeant Smith after the latter tried to get some information to help his men. Smith anticipated repercussions from that encounter with the officer, but none came. Smith and his outfit dug foxholes. During an air raid, Smith and his men stole cots from the Army and put them in their radar van [Annotator’s Note: he laughs]. When they reached the shore, they had cots to sleep on in their tents. The radar unit was near enemy lines. Tracer bullets were fired on their position. Being shot at was a real eye-opener. The island combat lasted about three months. After securing the island, two Japanese walked into the camp despite being admonished not to surrender to Americans because they would shoot them. One of the Americans took them to superiors where they obtained a receipt for the two prisoners. The Japanese fighting capability was pretty good judging by the proximity of the tracer bullets to Smith’s location. He could have been shot. Subsequently, Smith would have the assignment to go ashore in Japan when the time came to invade the enemy homeland [Annotator’s Note: prior to the dropping of the nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 6 and 9 August 1945 and the subsequent Japanese surrender on 2 September 1945, a plan – codenamed Angaur Island – existed to invade the Japanese homeland starting in November 1945.]. The Navy would have cleared the shore land so that LSTs [Annotator's Note: Landing Ship, Tank] could be landed. The radar unit operated by Smith would have been deployed to the cleared area to communicate targeting requirements for offshore ships. They would then bombard objectives in support of ground troops. Smith was transferred to an outfit and advised not to trust any of the locals during the upcoming invasion. They could jab an American with a pencil. The weather on Angaur Island was not too bad. There were a lot of large crabs, and the troops enjoyed killing them at first until the smell grew too bad. The crabs were then left alone and would come into the tents. They were everywhere. Smith’s unit on Angaur consisted of six men. Two men operated the equipment and one kept the large generator power source running. The generator operator had attended Milton Hershey School [Annotator’s Note: Milton Hershey School in Hershey, Pennsylvania] which Smith had never heard of until then. Following Angaur Island, Smith went to Saipan [Annotator’s Note: Saipan, Mariana Islands] after being transported on an LST. He had no indications of his destination. Issued only a wool blanket for the trip, he was quartered on a steel deck. It was not the best of accommodations [Annotator’s Note: he laughs], but he made the most of it. He had the only entertainment of his deployment during that voyage. He heard a radio broadcast of a Navy football game during his time aboard the LST. At Saipan, Smith was given instructions at a school in preparation for the mainland invasion. Saipan had been secured prior to his arrival. Smith was to be one of the first of the troops landed on the mainland, but it did not happen because the bombs were dropped and the war quickly ended. Smith was on Saipan when the bombs were dropped. He and those with him knew nothing about the nuclear bombs, but they knew things had changed with their use.

Carrol Smith did occupation duty in Nagasaki, Japan. The Japs [Annotator's Note: a period derogatory term for Japanese] were observing the arrival of the Americans. Both parties were concerned with what the next move would be, but nothing of consequence occurred. Smith went into the city and observed the utter destruction that the bomb caused [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 6 and 9 August 1945]. Smith was there for about six months. One of the locals gave him a pipe that was used for smoking drugs. The man wanted to be Smith’s friend. By that time, Smith had sufficient points due to his time overseas and being in action [Annotator's Note: a point system was devised based on a number of factors that determined when American servicemen serving overseas could return home]. It was time for him to return home. He took a train to Sasebo, Japan for his departure home. When the engine whistle sounded and the veterans recognized that a Marine was driving the train, the passengers erupted with joy knowing that they were going home for sure [Annotator’s Note: Smith shows his joy]. They could not believe it after the years they spent out there. The ship docked at the Marine base in San Diego [Annotator's Note: San Diego, California]. With Smith being a sergeant, he was placed in charge of a group of men. Some of those who had just returned from overseas did not make it back to morning roll call in a timely fashion. Smith covered for them, but his captain knew the men were not in attendance and he challenged Smith on it. Smith knew the officer had known of the men’s tardiness beforehand so he acknowledged covering for them. He told the officer the truth [Annotator’s Note: he laughs]. The Marine Corps was a great outfit. Smith crossed the country and was discharged in Delaware and given some cash. Buses outside were prepared to take the new civilians to the train station. The trip to the station cost the discharged Marines because they were no longer in the service [Annotator’s Note: he laughs]. It did not matter to Smith because he was headed home. Family members were at the station to greet him when he arrived. Smith would serve in the Marine Corps again and may need to do so since something needs to be done.