Memorial

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2nd Lt John I. Smith was a general office clerk before he volunteered for the US Army in Detroit, Michigan, on 2 November 1942.

Maj George I Ruddell:
"Lt. Smith, J. I., was my wingman in an attack by red flight against a large quantity of enemy tanks and M/Ts moving in a counterattack against our troops. We were carrying Napalm bombs, and on our first deck-level attack against the enemy equipment, we received an unusually intense and accurate barrage of automatic weapon fire. Two of the flight were destroyed, and my ship badly damaged on this first pass. Lt. Smith caught fire just before he reached the deck and crashed into a patch of woods, with part of his flaming debris flying into the edge of the town of Sprimont, Belgium."

He was first buried at the Temporary American Military Cemetery, Grand Failly, France.

His brother Robert is buried at Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery.