Reverend Doctor Lamar Edward Smith was born in Jasper, Texas in May 1927. He grew up in Mineola, Texas with his parents and seven siblings. Both of his parents grew up farming, but his father had other ambitions. His father found a job working on the pipeline for the United Gas Corporation [Annotator's Note: now part of Pennzoil Company, Houston, Texas] after he married his mother. Smith's father was able to maintain his career with the corporation all through his life and during the Great Depression [Annotator's Note: The Great Depression, a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1945]. His father was in an incident where he accidentally struck a pipeline with a pick and he caught on fire. He survived but had permanent scarring all over his body. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer shares a story at 0:05:29.000.] Smith revered his older brothers growing up. Life was difficult for his family during the Great Depression, but they supported each other. His father did not make a lot of money, so they rented several homes during that time. Smith wore his brothers' old clothes, which he did not mind. He was proud to wear them because he admired his brothers so much. [Annotator's Note: There is a leaf blower sound in the background at 0:08:02.000.] His family was very religious. His father was the treasurer for their church for 13 years.

Reverend Doctor Lamar Edward Smith's oldest brother, John Joseph, whose nickname was "Jody", enlisted in the Navy prior to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941] and became an airplane mechanic. Jody spent most of his service on Guam [Annotator's Note: Guam, Mariana Islands]. Smith remembers the attack on Pearl Harbor because he was hanging out with friends at a local drug store that afternoon and heard about it. Jody shipped out for overseas duty shortly after the attack. Three of his older brothers, Glen, Everett, and Don, began leaving for the service. Everett enlisted in the Navy shortly after John Joseph went overseas. He did not have to serve because he worked for the telephone company which was considered an essential job. Glen joined the Army Air Forces and served aboard a bomber that had been converted for photo reconnaissance duty in the Pacific. [Annotator's Note: There is the sound of a leaf blower in the background at 0:15:37.000.] During a scouting mission over the Solomon Islands, Glen's plane flipped over into the water, killing four of the crewmen. Glen was able to make it to the surface and was rescued by friendly natives. The natives hid him from the Japanese until the Marines arrived and rescued him. Don joined the Navy and was assigned to an old, World War 1 era destroyer escort. During the fighting around Okinawa [Annotator's Note: Okinawa, Japan] in the spring of 1945, Don experienced several kamikaze attacks. Fortunately, his ship was never hit. Smith was 17 years old when his mother signed for him to enlist in the Navy Reserve [Annotator's Note: in the summer of 1945]. He wanted to join because his brothers had served and many of his friends had served. Smith chose the Navy because he wanted to follow his older brothers. He had vision problems but convinced the recruiter to let him join. He was put on a train to San Diego [Annotator's Note: San Diego, California] where they tested his eyesight again, but this time with his glasses on. He passed and was sent to the Naval Training Center in San Diego for boot camp. His brother Everett was assigned to a duty station near San Diego so the two were able to visit each other regularly. One day, Smith and Everett were taking a walk. Everett opened a door and they saw their brother, Don, standing there. They did not recognize him at first because his skin was browned, and he had gotten an earring as part of a ritual for sailors who cross the equator. That was a happy moment for Smith to have two of his brothers with him.

Reverend Doctor Lamar Edward Smith joined the Navy in late 1945. He was in boot camp [Annotator's Note: San Diego, California] when the Japanese surrendered [Annotator's Note: Victory Over Japan Day, 15 August 1945], and World War 2 came to an end. When the news arrived of the surrender, the Navy opened the gates to the bootcamp and let everyone out. He went to the nearby plaza to celebrate with the rest of the sailors. Smith was so happy that he and his brothers survived the war. He could not fathom the destruction of the atomic bombs [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima, Japan on 6 August 1945 and Nagasaki, Japan on 9 August 1945] until he saw pictures later. He was relieved he would not have to invade Japan. After completing his training Smith remained in the San Diego area for a while and lived at the Army-Navy "Y" [Annotator's Note: Army-Navy Young Men's Christian Association or YMCA]. He worked as a pay master for several small ships in the bay. He was able to take a short leave [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time] home to see his brothers who had just returned from the war. Smith received orders and was transferred to the Naval Ordnance Test Station in the Mojave Desert [Annotator's Note: Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, Ridgecrest, California]. He ran a small commissary used by the families of the scientists and military officers working there. There was not much to do in the area. He befriended other sailors, and one, David Haliburton, had a car. Haliburton took Smith to Los Angeles [Annotator's Note: Los Angeles, California] to see a girl. Smith recalled he never saw the rockets [Annotator's Note: tested there], but he could hear them go off sometimes. [Annotator's Note: A telephone rings in the background at 0:38:15.000.] [Annotator's Note: Smith goes off topic from 0:44:00.000 to 0:45:00.00. He talks about how wartime propaganda created hatred for the Japanese and Germans.]

Reverend Doctor Lamar Edward Smith was stationed in the desert [Annotator's Note: Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, Ridgecrest, California] for three months. He stayed in the Navy until he was discharged in August 1946 in San Pedro [Annotator's Note: San Pedro, California] as a Storekeeper (Disburser) 3rd Class (SkD3c). He received money from the Navy to take a train home, but he decided to keep the money and hitchhike to Texas. It was difficult for his mother to have five of her sons in World War 2. She would spend her Sunday afternoon writing letters. His mother suffered emotionally postwar and later had to be hospitalized. After receiving much needed help, she got better. Smith's parents were very proud of their boys for serving. Smith kept in touch with two of his brothers while they were in service. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer pauses the interview at 0:53:52.000 to change tapes.] After leaving the Navy, Smith took full advantage of the G.I. Bill and got his degree at Texas Wesleyan University in Fort Worth, Texas. He had decided while he was still in the Navy that he would go into the ministry. After graduating from Texas Wesleyan University, he signed up to work as a college recruiter and attended seminary school at SMU [Annotator's Note: Southern Methodist University in Plano, Texas]. After he graduated from seminary school, he became an associate pastor for a Methodist church in Fort Worth and inducted 5,000 members in 13 years.

For the Reverend Doctor Lamar Edward Smith, the G.I. Bill was very important because his family did not have any money to send him to college. He is grateful for the program and thought it was a great advantage for many servicemen. Smith is so proud to have participated in the service because it provided him status. None of his brothers took advantage of the G.I. Bill. His oldest brother, Don, signed up for the 52-20 program [Annotator's Note: a government-funded program that paid unemployed veterans 20 dollars per week for 52 weeks]. Smith's father was not happy that Don was taking advantage of the program when he had a job waiting for him. Most of Smith's brothers ended up working for a telephone company, and his oldest brother worked for a gas company. Smith had enlisted in the Navy because of his family's heavy involvement with the war effort. He wanted to be like his older brothers because he was proud of them. He just wanted to help his nation fight. World War 2 changed his life by making him appreciate his country. As a teen seeing the newspapers with the casualties of the troops and ships, he prayed that the headlines would go away. He eventually developed a hatred for war and for those who do not see the value of human life. It was stupid for the Japanese to attack the United States because there was no way in the world that they were going to win a war against America. Our country is not perfect, but we have a respect for life.

The Reverend Doctor Lamar Edward Smith believes that World War 2 does not mean too much to America today. America did not start the war, but we were brave enough to get in the fight. He believes that if America had fought in Japan, the Japanese would have really regretted their decision to fight America. He thinks the Japanese should be grateful for the atomic bombs [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima, Japan on 6 August 1945 and Nagasaki, Japan on 9 August 1945] because it saved 99 percent of their nation. He also believes that Hitler [Annotator's Note: German dictator Adolf Hitler] destroyed his nation. He thinks the United Nations has helped because countries can sit at a table and have a dialog to avoid conflict. He believes countries and leaders need to learn from the past. He believes people of the world need to have respect for human life and the past. Smith believes that Americans have learned something from World War 2 and have progressed to make life better. Smith's most memorable experience during World War 2 was meeting people from all over the United States. He would not have met a diverse group of people if he did not serve in the Navy. Smith believes it's important to have institutions like The National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: in New Orleans, Louisiana] and to continue to teach World War 2 to future generations.