Smith, Donald Gregory.

Captain Donald Gregory Smith, born 15-01-1918, in Kingsbury County, South Dakota, United States the third child of his biological parents. His mother, Eva Emmeline, born Streeter, was born in 1892 in Whitewood, Kingsbury County, South Dakota, on the farm of her father, George Milton Streeter. That same family farm was where Eva gave birth to Donald and where she later died in 1923, at the age of 30.

After her death and the abandonment by his father, Donald and his younger sister Grace were placed in an orphanage in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Donald was later adopted by Dr. Arthur W. Smith and Laura (Bolte) Smith, who raised him as their own son.

Donald graduated from high school in Belle Fourche, South Dakota, and received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of South Dakota in June 1940. He was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant, Infantry, and entered military service as a Flying Cadet in July 1940. He completed flight training and was rated as a pilot in March 1941.

During World War II, Captain Smith served as a pilot in the United States Army Air Forces. On 18-04-1942, Donald was one of the sixteen pilots selected for the Doolittle Raid, the first American air attack on the Japanese home islands. Flying a B-25 Mitchell bomber with Crew 15, he launched from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet and bombed targets in Kobe, Japan, in retaliation for the attack on Pearl Harbor . Crew 15 of B-25 Mitchell: S/N 40-2267 – TNT. In the front, from left to right: Donald “Smitty” G. Smith and Griffith Paul “Griff” Williams.  In the back, from left to right: Howard A. “Sess” Sessler, Thomas “Doc” White, and Edward Joseph. “Ed” Saylor. .

After the mission, Smith ran out of fuel and was forced to make a successful emergency landing in the East China Sea, off the coast of China. Hunted by Japanese forces, he evaded capture by the Japanase occupation forces in China with the assistance of Chinese resistance fighters and later returned safely to the United States. He was subsequently assigned to the 439th Bomb Squadron of the 319 Bombardment Group under command of Lieutenant Colonel Sam Wilkerson Agee Jr  at Barksdale Field, Louisiana.

Death and burial ground of Smith, Donald Gregory.

  in the middle.

Captain Donald Gregory Smith was killed instantly on 12-11-1942, when his aircraft crashed near Abbots Ripton, England, while preparing for further combat operations in the African Theater of Operations. He was 27 years old.

His decorations include the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Chinese Army, Navy, and Air Corps Medal, Class A, First Grade.  Flight engineer Ed Saylor, who flew with him during the Doolittle Raid, later described Smith as a calm and highly skilled pilot who “knew his business” and inspired complete confidence in his crew.

Donald Gregory Smith is buried at the Pine Slope Cemetery, Belle Fourche, Butte County, South Dakota, United States. 200 West Highway 34 (SD-34), Belle Fourche, SD 57717, United States.

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