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name
SMITH, Clinton Edward Jr - Date of
birth
22 April 1925 -
Age
19 - Place of
birth
Texas -
Hometown
San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
18232956 -
Rank
Private First Class -
Function
Light Machine Gunner -
Unit
D Company,
1st Battalion,
157th Infantry Regiment,
45th Infantry Division
-
Awards
Bronze Star,
Purple Heart
Death
-
Status
Killed in Action - Date of
death
14 January 1945 - Place of
death
In the vicinity of Reipertswiller, France
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Epinal -
Tablets of the Missing
* This soldier has been accounted for. A rosette has been placed next to his name.
Immediate family
-
Members
Clinton E. Smith (father)
Alma (Willis) Smith (mother)
Douglas W. Smith (brother)
Allan T. Smith (brother)
More information
Pfc Clinton E. Smith Jr. attended Texas Military Institute and Baylor University before he joined the U.S. Army Reserve in San Antonio, Texas on 24 March 1943.A major in music while he was attending Baylor University, Pfc Smith gave generously of his talent at many camp shows.
He joined his unit on the Anzio Beachhead in Italy on 9 March 1944.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced on 4 October 2022 that Pfc Clinton E. Smith Jr. was accounted for on 28 September 2022.
The unit was engaged with German forces during the Battle of Reipertswiller in France and was surrounded, along with four other companies. Smith was killed in an artillery strike while manning a machine gun positioned to support his advancing infantry company, which was attempting to regain ground lost to the Germans. His body could not be recovered because of the fighting.
Beginning in 1946, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in the European Theater, searched the area around Reipertswiller, finding 37 unidentified sets of American remains, none of which could be identified as Smith. He was declared non-recoverable on 29 March 1951.
DPAA historians have been conducting on-going research into Soldiers missing from combat around Reipertswiller, and found that X-6985 St. Avold, which had been buried at Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery, could be associated with Smith. X-6985 was disinterred in August 2021 and transferred to the DPAA Laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for analysis.
To identify Smith’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.
Smith’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Epinal American Cemetery. A rosette is placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Pfc Smith was given his final resting place in San Antonio, Texas on 27 November 2023.
Source of information: Peter Schouteten, Raf Dyckmans, www.abmc.gov, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov – WWII Enlistment Record, www.ancestry.com – Smith Nenstiel Family Tree / 1940 Census, http://www.45thdivision.org, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Photo source: www.findagrave.com – Have Paws will travel / usafdo