TOP
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39th Bomb Group (VH)
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Navigator's
Badge


Decorations




with 1

br_oak2.jpg [Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster]


Unit Citation
and Awards

arpuc.jpg [The Presidental Unit Citation]


with
Oak Leaf Cluster

Service Awards

apcm.jpg [The Asiatic-Pacfic Campaign Medal]

with

star1.gif [Bronze Star]


wwiivic.gif [The Victory Medal, World War II]


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Captain Francis E. Smith
Navigator

Ed and his wife, Glenna were married in March 1942. They had met in Salt Lake City when he was a Private.

They have 3 children, two girls and one boy; 7 grandchildren, four boys and three girls and from them they have 13 great grandchildren, seven boys and six girls with two step great grandsons.

In 1941 he ended up in Sacramento, CA for Navigation training.

In September 1945 when Ed came back to Sacramento, CA on R and R Glenna and two babies was living in Sacramento with their original landlords. He didn’t have to go back to Guam so they moved back into our old apartment and Ed went to work as a Journeyman Carpenter for the landlord waiting for his discharge, which he finally got in December 1945 at Camp Beale in Marysville, CA.

In February 1946 they moved to Concord, CA, but couldn’t stand the Olive and Walnut trees because of allergies and moved to Auburn, CA in the Sierra Foothills in July 1947. He went to work in Real Estate – opened his own Real Estate and Insurance business in 1948 working until he retired in September 1977.

“We have always owned an RV and did lots of traveling across the United States 3 or 4 times – visited George and Joyce Tucker (bombardier) and they visited us in California and also spent time with us at Island Park, Idaho.

We drove to Fairbanks, Alaska in 1969 – shipped our RV and Jeep Wagoner back to Seattle and came back as foot passengers on the Island Passage boats. We also spent a month with the Tuckers in Orlando, FL with the George and Joyce back in the 70’s.

We spent 6 months in Chandler, AZ, from November to May and then back to our home in Auburn, CA and if possible head to Montana – Ed has a lot of family there and I have family in Idaho and Utah. Ed did a lot of fishing in the Island Park area, which is 20 miles south of West Yellowstone, as the kids were growing up then found Georgetown Lake between Anaconda and Missoula and has fished there every summer almost 25 years.


Francis Edward Smith took his Final Flight 25 March 2007 at the age of 89 yrs old. Services were held on 30 March at Chapel of the Hills in Auburn, CA. Interment is at Old Auburn Cemetery.

Crew 55 Main Page
62nd Squadron Crew Index
Source: Glenna Smith, Wife of Capt Francis E. Smith; Obit info Sacramento Bee on 3/28/2007