Another Absent Friend

Saw this obit in our local newspaper.






James Samuel Smith (Sam) was born January 21, 1924 in Liberty Mississippi, the son of Carey Samuel and Mamie Gerald Smith. He attended school in Liberty, Mississippi, and made a good record in high school, taking part in all activities, both scholastic and social. Sam graduated in 1941 and went to Baton Rouge to work, planning to enter college and prepare for the profession of a medical doctor. .Sam was brought up in the church and loved its rights and privileges. He was a member of the Liberty United Methodist Church. In physical stature Sam developed fast and became the largest of the family. This energy and size found a good outlet in high school athletics, where he became a star football player. This high ambition was never realized as our great country found itself involved in World War II and he hastened to offer himself for service. Turning down opportunities to enter the Air Corps and other branches of the service, he purposely chose the Marine Corps, for which he had a great admiration, realizing its strict discipline and dangerous undertakings. On August 3, 1942, he left for San Diego, CA, and at the end of nine weeks, sailed with the Second Marines for the South Pacific. In the early days of the Japanese conflict he saw plenty of action with a Special Weapons Battalion. Finally reaching New Zealand he enjoyed a rest period before going into the bitter days of the Solomon Island campaign. On October 10, 1943, he wrote his last letter to his family, stating he was going back to the front. This time to Tarawa of the Gilbert Islands, the bitterest battle recorded in the annals of Marine history: Sam went ashore with the first wave of the invasion and this small party held the beachhead against impossible assaults until their reinforcements finally landed. In November 1943, PFC James Samuel Smith was assigned to Company C, 2nd Amphibious Tractor Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, which had landed on the small island of Betio in the Tarawa Atoll of the Gilbert Islands, to secure the island from the Japanese. PFC James Samuel Smith (Sam) was killed in action during the assault on Beach Red 2 on the first day of the battle, November 20, 1943. He was buried on the island; his remains were found and identified in 2012. He is being returned to his home town, Liberty, Mississippi, to be interred in the family plot in Liberty Cemetery with full military honors: Awards and Decorations: Purple Heart Medal, Combat Action Ribbon (World War II), Presidential Unit Citation Award, Marine Corps Good Conduct, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with two bronze stars, and World War II Victory Medal. Family who passed away after his death include parents Carey Samuel and Mamie Gerald Smith, one sister: Minnie Lee Smith, 6 brothers; Charles Smith, Edward Smith, Rev. Aubrey Smith, Leslie Daniel Smith, Carl Gerald Smith, Bobby Joe Smith and 3 nephews: Floyd E. Smith, Frances E. Smith, and Joseph L. Smith. Living today are 14 nephews and nieces; Ann Smith Fenn, Charles Bo Smith, Carey Samuel Smith, James G. Smith, Margaret Sideris, Aubrey Bryan Smith, Debbie Smith Mabry, Becky Smith Bailey, Leslie Daniel Smith, Carey Smith, Carl Smith, Michael Smith, Janice Phelps, and Kathy Comeaux,, and numerous nieces, nephews, grandnieces, and grandnephews. Visitation is Monday, October 17, 2016 at Brown Funeral Home in Liberty, Mississippi 10:00 until 11:00 A.M. Funeral services are at 11:00 AM, at Brown Funeral Home with interment to follow in Liberty Cemetery with full military honors.

Flights of angels sing him to his well-deserved rest. At least his family knew he'd been KIA. There's still an awful lot of folks who are listed as MIA, and that can be rough beyond words to the families. I went to high school in the 80's, so a lot younger than some of you....but I and a couple of others wore POW/MIA bracelets from the Vietnam War. It started, for me, as a way to honour a friend of the family, but the unreal amount of shit I took from one of my teachers (history, of all things) just hardened my resolve, so I ended up wearing two bracelets all thru high school. Couple of friends joined in, and we made it a point during this teachers class to tap the bracelets loudly but "accidentally" on the desks etc just to rattle her cage.