Smith, Robert Burr “Smitty”.

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Smith, Robert Burr “Smitty”, born 02-05-1924, in Tacoma, Pierce County, Washington, USA to Robert Marguette Smith (1895–1974) and his wife  Wylmarie Laura, born Bell Smith (1897–1972) . Robert was married to Mary Jane, born Shores Smith (1925–2008 (married 1946) and the couple had three cihildren, as son Christopher Scott Smith, who died 15-02-2011 (age 61) in Clovis, Fresno County, California, USA.  His family moved to Los Angeles when he was seven.[Smith was sent by his grandmother to Brown Military Academy in Pacific Beach, California because he acted as German soldiers and yelled ‘Heil Hilter!’ for fun with his friend.

Robert enlisted in the army at Rochester, New York in 18-08-1942 and volunteered for paratroopers. Robert was sent to Toccoa, Georgia for training and befriended Warren “Skip'” Muck and Donald “Don” Malarkey. Warren Muck did not survive the war as he on 10-01-1945, age 22, was killed in action, in Foy, Belgium. Malarkey had more luck, survived the war and died 30-09-2017, age 96, of age related causes in Salem, Oregon.William Joseph ” Wild Bill” Guarnere Guarnere, William J ”Wild Bill”.  in his biography said that Smith “was a nice boy, so you blamed him for the devilment, because nobody believe it.”Smith made his first combat jump on D-Day into Normandy. Robert was originally with Plane 66, but was transferred out of the plane right before it took off as it was overcrowded, according to Major Richard “Dick” Winters

. Plane 66 was later shot down by German artillery, se Murray Jr. Elmer L

. killing everyone on board, including Easy Company Commander Lieutenant Thomas Meehan.

  Smith landed in an apple orchard in Normandy. He met with Robert Rader, Frank Perconte and others to engage in a minor firefight with some Russians. Rader survived the war and died 07-04-1997 (aged 73). Perconte also survived the war and died old age 96 on 24-10-2013.

They joined with Easy Company at dawn. Smith was later wounded in Carentan.Smith also fought in Operation Market-Garden and the Battle of the Bulge. In 3-01-1945, he was wounded again  in Foy, Belgium and was evacuated to the hospital. There he met Perconte and Malarkey and the three rejoined Easy Company in Germany before the end of the war. They were with the group who occupied Adolf  Hitler‘s Berghof house. After the war, Smith returned to Los Angeles. He married a woman named Mary Jane and they had three children. Robert became a lithographer by trade. Smith stayed active in the Army Reserves and rose to Major.In the 1960s, Smith became a Green Beret, Special Forces after receiving Special Forces training. He was then recruited by the CIA to be a paramilitary specialist for action in Laos during the Vietnam War. He continued to perform his Army Reserve duties at this period and rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

He was one of the 140 Toccoa men of Easy Company, and his life story was featured in the 2009 book “We Who Are Alive and Remain: Untold Stories from Band of Brothers. ”

Death and burial ground Smith, Robert Burr “Smitty”.

  

Smith returned to the States in 1974 and became the CIA liaison officer to the Delta Force. In 1980, Smith participated in the failed mission to free American hostages in the US embassy in Tehran, Iran. Smith retired from the CIA after a hang-gliding accident. He was later diagnosed with lung cancer.

Smith, Robert Burr died 07-01-1983 (age 58), diagnosed with lung cancer, in San Diego, San Diego County, California, USA and is buried at the Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, San Diego, San Diego County, California, VSSection T, C-134.

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