Samuel W. Smith was born in September 1924 in Texas. His father was killed when he was 12 years old. He was the oldest of three children. He had one sister and one brother. After his father passed away, Smith was considered the head of the household. When he was 14 years old, he had a paper route. He would deliver papers before he went to school. He made between nine and thirteen dollars a month. He loved to hunt. He spent a lot of his money on ammunition. Eventually, his mother remarried. His stepfather was an old Marine from World War One [Annotator's Note: World War 1, global war originating in Europe; 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918] who worked as an electrician and was good to the children. He would never discipline them. Smith’s mother was energetic, and she took care of the family after Smith’s father passed away. She received a pension after his death. They received 90 dollars a month for 10 years. She used the insurance money to buy a four-bedroom house. Smith was driving around with a friend when he heard over the radio that Pearl Harbor had been attacked [Annotator's Note: The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. Smith knew their lives would not be the same because they were juniors in high school. That Monday at school, they listened to President Roosevelt [Annotator's Note: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States] give his speech and declare war against Japan [Annotator's Note: Day of Infamy Speech; President Franklin D. Roosevelt to a Joint Session of the United States Congress, 8 December 1941]. Smith’s stepdad was an electrician for a new Army base, and arranged for Smith to get a job there. He worked as an electrician’s helper. The next summer, he worked in a sawmill. He always wanted to be a pilot. He would build model airplanes with a friend.

Samuel W. Smith wanted to join the Air Corps as an aviation cadet. In 1942, Smith convinced his mother to sign his papers so he could join. He had to explain to his mother about the draft. He went to three prominent men in town and got their recommendations, and then he went to Dallas [Annotator’s Note: Dallas, Texas] to enlist. He had to pass a physical and take a six-hour examination. He had to make a grade of 88 or above to make cadet for an Air Corps appointment. He passed the exam. On 14 December 1942, he was signed in as an aviation cadet candidate. He went to a junior college to take a machine shop course. He learned to read blueprints and work on machines. He got a job at a machine shop where they were building parts for aircraft. He received his letter in December 1942. He would be reporting in April 1943. He worked in the machine shop until he was supposed to report for aviation cadet school in Dallas. He met a young man on the bus ride to Dallas and they became friends. [Annotator’s Note: Smith describes the young man he met.] They had another physical exam when they arrived. They were sent to Wichita Falls, Texas for their induction. When they arrived, there was a long line for uniforms. They had regular G.I. [Annotator's Note: government issue; also a slang term for an American soldier] uniforms. They became good friends with another young man. They were at Wichita Falls for about a month.

Samuel W. Smith was sent to Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska. They had to have college training. They were the second class to go through Omaha. They were taught geography and about what to expect in the military. They studied maps. The maps used in navigation are entirely different than road maps. They studied meteorology and weather. They did a lot of physical activity. They learned swimming and life-saving. [Annotator’s Note: Smith describes what they did on their marches.] They would typically have the weekends off. His friends taught him about drinking. When they got in trouble, they had to march.

Samuel W. Smith was sent to California for preflight school. They were put on a troop train for Santa Ana, California. They had to learn about oxygen and the build-up of nitrogen. They had to learn different types of exercises. They had to be checked for color blindness. They had to do depth perception training. This school lasted for about a week. Then they were assigned to a squadron. They started preflight training and learned how to fly. They studied maps, navigation, and meteorology again. They had to be able to swim half a mile in the ocean. They had to learn how to make their jacket into a life preserver. If they could not do this, they would not be accepted as a cadet. They had to qualify at the shooting range with a 45 pistol [Annotator's Note: .45 caliber M1911 semi-automatic pistol]. They had to have 10 hours of flying with an instructor. The planes were painted yellow. They had to be able to use Morse code [Annotator’s Note: Morse code is a method used in telecommunication to encode text characters as standardized sequences of two different signal durations, called dots and dashes, or dits and dahs] and be able to send and receive 10 words a minute. After the course was finished, they were placed as pilots, navigators, or bombardiers. Smith and his friends were selected as pilot candidates. Before they could go to pilot school, they went in front of a panel of psychologists. [Annotator’s Note: Smith describes the questions and answers.] Smith passed the exam and was sent to Visalia, California for primary flight school.

Samuel W. Smith was sent to Visalia, California for primary flight school. They flew PT-22 low-wing planes [Annotator’s Note: Ryan PT-22 Recruit primary trainer aircraft]. The plane carried two people and flew up to 120 miles per hour. Primary flight school lasted for a couple of months. They spent a lot of time learning about weather and flight instruments. They learned how to fly solo. They had to learn how to recover the plane if it stalled. They learned simple flying techniques. All of their instructors were civilians. In the end, they had a military pilot test them. Then they went to Lemoore, California for basic flying school. They flew in BT-13 airplanes [Annotator’s Note: Vultee BT-13 Valiant basic trainer aircraft]. It was heavier and more difficult to fly, so required more skill. They learned more about navigation. They had to fly solo across the country. Once they could fly this plane solo, they could start doing other things. They had to learn more about radio and telephone procedures. They had to learn how to fly at night. Smith could do the physical training easily. They had to do cross-country running. Once he finished basic flying school, he was sent to Texas for advanced flight school. Smith flew the “bamboo bomber” [Annotator’s Note: Cessna AT-17 Bobcat]. It had two engines. Flying it was much more sophisticated. They concentrated more on instrument flying. They had to do blind flying. The instructor took two students on all the flights. The closer they got to graduation, the more opportunities there were to fly solo. Everything was done by radio. They could hear beeps on their headphones. They had a radio compass. They had to be able to recover the plane from a stall.

Samuel W. Smith passed his instrument school training a week before graduation. He got a 250 dollar allowance to buy a uniform because he was an officer. On the day of graduation, they would wear their officer’s uniform. He got an officer’s serial number. [Annotator’s Note: Smith describes the importance of serial numbers.] His mother came to the graduation ceremony. His mother pinned his wings on him. He graduated in June 1944 from flight school. He was sent home for a month before reporting to his next duty station. Smith was told to sign up for heavy bombardment. He put down B-17 [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber] for two of his plane choices, and the twin-engine bomber for his third choice. At graduation, he was told he would be reporting to Roswell, New Mexico. The B-17 training lasted for three months. They had to be proficient in instrument flying before they could actually fly the planes. The training was intense. The B-17s could fly 1,200 miles. The instrument flights were much longer. He knew he was doing well when they started to teach him how to fly the airplane. Everything was more difficult because of the size of the airplane. At the end of the course, he received orders to report to Lincoln, Nebraska to pick up his crew. From there, he went to another school to learn how to fly as a crew. They trained together as a combat crew for three months.

Samuel W. Smith was sent to Lincoln, Nebraska to pick up his combat crew. When he got there, he ran into his friend from flight school, Schoenfeld [Annotator’s Note: phonetic spelling]. Schoenfeld was there to be a co-pilot. Smith wanted to see if they could be put on the same crew. Two days later, they received their assignments. Schoenfeld was assigned as Smith’s co-pilot. His bombardier was from Texas, the navigator was from Minnesota, the flight engineer was from New Jersey, and the radio operator was from Missouri. The tail gunner was from Minnesota, the waist gunner was from Michigan, the other waist gunner was from South Dakota, and the ball turret gunner was from New Jersey. They trained together for three months. They received a certificate that stated they were qualified as a combat crew. While they were there, Smith crashed a B-17 [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber]. They were the number one crew on the base. They were five or 10 missions ahead of the other crews. Smith asked the tower if the co-pilot could land, and they approved it. Schoenfeld made a smooth landing. Smith accidentally hit the switch to bring up the landing gear. The plane skidded to a stop. When they got off the plane, the colonel was there. The colonel made Smith and Schoenfeld get into staff cars. Smith told him what happened and he was grounded. Each crew member was interrogated and asked if they would fly with him again. Smith had his hearing. He had to pass a check ride with the major in order to be able to fly again.

Samuel W. Smith flew for two hours during his check flight. Everything went well. The major complimented his abilities. [Annotator’s Note: Smith describes his conversation with the major after the check flight]. Smith was able to be put back on flying. They left for New York. They were going to be sent to the European theater by ship, not plane. The bombardiers were being sent to the Pacific. They went through Europe without a bombardier. Smith and his crew went to New Jersey. They were there for two days before they were supposed to get on the ship. One of the boys on the crew who was from New York found a hole in the fence. He wanted to show them New York and have dinner with his parents. They left and had dinner with them. They got to ride on the subway. They were back to the base by midnight. The next morning, they transferred to the dock in New York. They got on the USS Wakefield [Annotator’s Note: USS Wakefield (AP-21)]. There were eight thousand troops on the ship. On the other side was the Queen Elizabeth. They were short on aircrews in England. The aircrews were loaded last because they would be the first off the ship when they got to Liverpool [Annotator’s Note: Liverpool, England]. They passed by the Statue of Liberty. [Annotator’s Note: Smith gets emotional.] A bunch of the men were paratroopers. Smith was put in charge of a group of paratroopers. The paratroopers were teasing him, and then he teased them back.

Samuel W. Smith arrived in Liverpool [Annotator’s Note: Liverpool, England]. They were loaded on a troop train to Molesworth, England and were assigned to the 303rd Bomb Group [Annotator’s Note: 360th Bombardment Squadron, 303rd Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force]. Then they were ready for combat. It was one of the oldest bomb groups. They had to fly three trips with a combat crew in order to get experience flying as a complete crew. A B-17 [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber] crash landed fully loaded with bombs. Molesworth had seven or eight houses and a post office. They had a pub and a big cathedral. On the first mission they flew, they were assigned a pilot who was a second lieutenant. The second lieutenant had over 30 missions. Their target was Hamburg, Germany. As they got to the target area, one of the engines started getting away. Smith was flying as the co-pilot. The pilot thought they would have to turn back. They were three fourths of the way to the target. The pilot did not think he could land on three engines. The pilot agreed to finish the mission. After they dropped the bombs, they had to go home alone. He did not have to fly as a co-pilot again after that.

Samuel W. Smith was asked if he would be a lead crew. It would cut down his missions to 30. He would have to have more training and they would lose a crew member. Smith signed up for it. The guys in the crew would complain to him about the extra training. His eighth mission was interesting. They went to the target area but did not drop their bombs on the first two passes. The colonel was the lead pilot. The rest of the crew was getting mad. The third time around, they bombed. They knew people were going to have fuel issues. A lot of crews left off in France which was clear of the battle zone. They had a lot of interference with the clouds. Smith’s plane started getting short on fuel. He needed to land as soon as they crossed the Channel [Annotator’s Note: the English Channel]. The navigator found them a field, but the runway was plowed up. They had to move on. They had to find a base or put the plane on its belly. They had 200 yards of concrete and then grass. He told the crew to get ready to bail out. They did not crash. They got to the end of the runway and they lost an engine. He had to call the base to inform them where they was. A sergeant came over and told them they did not have the fuel they needed for their plane. The colonel wanted him to take the fuel they had. Smith had to explain to the colonel about how the fuel would affect the plane’s performance. Then the colonel had to order the correct fuel. His crew had to make lights for the runway so they could take off that night. The colonel was not going to let them fly out in the dark with no lights. The colonel wanted to call Smith’s colonel. Smith told them he had the capability to fly the plane. Just as they got ready to take off, they got a call from their airbase. There was a German fighter attack situation and they should stay there for the night.

Samuel W. Smith got the B-17 [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber] up to top speed and buzzed the tower. His tenth mission was to Hamburg, Germany. Everything was easy until they got close to Hamburg. They had 900 planes in the air that day. They went along the Elbe River. There was a submarine manufacturer and an oil refinery. Half of them would bomb the submarine manufacturer, and the other half would hit the oil refinery. Smith’s group was supposed to bomb the refinery. They dropped their bombs and then they were attacked by 25 German jets. One of the other planes exploded from the attack. The tail gunner reported that there was a jet below him. They got the jet and it fell in two pieces. Another jet started coming straight at the front of the plane. The gunners did not shoot. Smith dunked the airplane right as the German started shooting. The tracers missed him. When they returned home, they were asked if they should fly in the afternoon. Smith thought it would be an easy mission. They planned on taking off at one in the afternoon. The target was Hamburg again. They were taking a different route over the North Sea. Over the ground, there were hundreds of guns that could shoot at them.

Samuel W. Smith was awakened to fly a mission. He had to get up and get his crew ready. They had their breakfast and reported for briefing. The target was a new place he had never been to. It was a jet fighter base. There were eight German bases to be attacked that day. They wanted to eliminate all the jet fighter bases on the western side of Germany. They needed to knock out all the anti-aircraft guns as well. Eisenhower [Annotator's Note: General of the Army Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower, Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force; 34th President of the United States] would be passing through there soon and they did not want those guns used against them. Smith’s squadron was the lead squadron for the 303rd Bomb Group [Annotator’s Note: 360th Bombardment Squadron, 303rd Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force] that day. They hit the jet airbase. The anti-aircraft fire was thick and accurate. They got hit by a lot of flak [Annotator's Note: antiaircraft artillery fire]. Some planes shot off their red flares indicating that they had wounded men on board and needed to land first. As Smith landed his plane, it made a hard turn to the right. Planes were supposed to land every 30 seconds. There were dozens of holes on the right side of the airplane, and there was a hole in the right wheel. He received the Distinguished Flying Cross [Annotator's Note: the Distinguished Flying Cross, or DFC, is awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in an aerial flight] for actions that day. They flew two missions over southern France. After D-Day [Annotator's Note: D-Day; the Allied invasion of Normandy, France on 6 June 1944], the seaport near Marseille [Annotator's Note: Marseille, France] was boxed in. The weather was beautiful on those missions. The Germans in this area surrendered. He was awarded the French Legion of Honor medal.

Samuel W. Smith remembers when the war ended in Europe, bombers were needed in the Pacific. There were 65 crews picked. Smith’s crew was one of those selected. They had the opportunity to fly over France and take the ground crews on the flight. Smith flew three of those flights. He flew over the main road in Paris [Annotator’s Note: Paris, France]. [Annotator’s Note: Smith looks through his papers.] They were transferred to the northern part of England. They had acres of airplanes. They were training to fly over ice water. They had survival training in case they had to go down. Smith and Schoenfeld [Annotator’s Note: phonetic spelling; a friend Smith had previously met in training] went to the English fair. Their ball turret gunner got in a fight with an English sailor. Smith told the others to get him out of there because they were supposed to leave the next day. Smith had to sign a requisition for the airplane so Boeing could get paid.

Samuel W. Smith went to the landing strip right outside of England to prepare to leave for the United States. The next stop would be Iceland. [Annotator’s Note: Smith discusses some friends he ran into at the landing strip.] His friends had been at Camp Lucky Strike [Annotator's Note: one of the transit and rehabilitation camps in France named after popular cigarette brands; Lucky Strike was near Le Havre, France] so they could make the trip home after being POWs [Annotator's Note: prisoners of war]. They needed to go to Fort Sam Houston in Texas. They landed in Iceland at three in the afternoon. Then they went to Goose Bay, Labrador and landed without incident.

Samuel W. Smith remembers his flight engineer telling him that he dropped a screwdriver in the oil chamber. The B-24 [Annotator's Note: Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bomber] was more efficient than the B-17 [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber]. They made it to the base in the United States. Smith called the base for landing instructions. A B-24 was going to land at the same time as them. Smith had to do a combat peel-away landing to prevent a collision. They were well received. The bands played. They were assigned to WACs [Annotator's Note: Women's Army Corps; women's branch of the United States Army, 1942 to 1978] to go in and have dinner and check in their stuff. They were supposed to go to Fort Sam Houston in Texas. Smith was not allowed to fly the plane. He had to ride the troop train home. It was hot in Texas and they were in wool uniforms. When they got there, they had to get new uniforms. Smith was sent home for a month. He spent the month with his mother and his new girlfriend. Before he left, he asked her to marry him. He was sent to Greensboro, North Carolina to receive his new orders.

Samuel W. Smith was sent to North Carolina. In the middle of processing, they canceled their orders. They recognized the A-bomb [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 6 and 9 August 1945] was going to hit and the war might end. They could play tennis or golf while they waited for orders. He called his fiancée and asked if she wanted to get married when he was home on leave [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time]. They got married on 4 August 1945 when Smith was 20 years old. He was a flight instructor in New Mexico. He brought his wife out there. He had not been to instructor school, so they sent him to Ohio. They had to check in there. He went to school in Columbus, Ohio. He made one flight and then was sent back to New Mexico. He went to ground school there. He did not have any college credit. He wanted to get an education so that he could get a job. Discharge was based on points [Annotator's Note: a point system was devised based on a number of factors that determined when American servicemen serving overseas could return home]. Smith was discharged in Amarillo, Texas. He volunteered to stay in the reserves. He returned home in September. In February 1946, he started as a freshman. Three years later he had his diploma. His first job was cutting fire bricks, then he worked at a brewery. Finally, he went into engineering at an engineering company. Four years later, he and a friend started their own engineering company. Twenty-seven years later they sold the company. [Annotator’s Note: Smith describes his time in school.] They built their first house.

Samuel W. Smith remembers they were attached to the Army. It was the Army Air Corps. In 1949, they started the Air Force and it became a separate organization. Job opportunities are great in the military. It is important to save money and build an education so you can live after your career is over. Saving money makes life easier. [Annotator’s Note: Smith talks about his relationship with his wife.] Their daughter passed away at 25 years old. They inherited their six-month-old granddaughter. That was the hardest thing he had to overcome. He has a son. They started a college account for their granddaughter.