James Samuel Smith

James Smith – “Sam” to family and friends – was born in Liberty, Mississippi on 21 January 1924. He grew up in Amite County with his parents, Carey and Mamie Smith, and a posse of siblings – Sam was the fourth of six Smith children.

As a youth, Sam attended Amite County schools and was active in local Methodist youth groups. He grew rapidly – at six feet two inches, he was the tallest of the Smith family – and was a star football player at Liberty High School. Sam was an adept student, too, and graduated with the class of 1941. With his sights set on college and a career in medicine, Sam took a job at Drucila Creamery in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, hoping to earn tuition money.

Sam joined the Marine Corps at New Orleans on 3 August 1942, and after completing boot camp at MCRD San Diego was assigned to Battery C, Second Special Weapons Battalion. In October, his battery was attached to the 6th Marines and sailed from California for a new camp in New Zealand.

Private Smith participated in the very end of the Guadalcanal campaign, and spent much of 1943 stationed in Wellington, New Zealand, with Battery C. While he received a promotion to Private First Class during the summer (to rank from May 1943), little is known about his specific duties with this unit.

On 12 October 1943, PFC Sam Smith was transferred from Special Weapons to Company C, Second Amphibian Tractor Battalion. He had little time to acquaint himself with his new duties, or with his new comrades: a few days later, the entire 2nd Marine Division set sail for combat.

Smith arrived in the Gilbert Islands aboard the USS Monrovia. His machine, a bulky “landing vehicle tracked” or LVT-1, was one of two carried by the Monrovia; at the appointed time on 20 November 1943, they would proceed to the USS Heywood and embark assault troops of 2/8th Marines. Their ultimate destination was a strip of sand designated “Red Beach 3” on the tiny island of Betio.

The slow-moving and lightly armored LVTs made perfect targets for Japanese gunners ashore, and the defenders exacted a heavy toll on men and machines alike. Sam Smith was one of those they hit: a piece of shrapnel hit him in the face, cutting his upper lip. The wound, while frightening, was thought to be livable, so Smith was bandaged and told to make his way back to a transport as best he could.

Official records later claimed that Sam Smith was transferred to the Heywood for medical attention, and thence to a transient center for recuperation and reassignment. It took many months for a correction: Smith was not at the center, nor had he been treated aboard the Heywood. A search of other medical facilities was made, but no trace of Sam Smith was ever found. On 21 November 1944, in accordance with military tradition, he was officially declared dead.

Sam Smith never made it off Betio. His body was found after the battle but evidently lacked identification; it was buried in a mass grave as an unknown. In 1946, the 604th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company exhumed remains from the site (now known as Cemetery 25) but due to the haphazard nature of the original burials, many bones and identifying effects were left behind. Sam Smith was not among those located; he was declared permanently non-recoverable in 1949.

In 2011, a team from non-profit organization History Flight conducted a dig on the old site of Cemetery 25. They unearthed a number of human remains, which were turned over to the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command for further action. These remains were fully exhumed in 2012, and sent to Hawaii for laboratory analysis.

In September 2016, James Samuel Smith’s identity was confirmed and a decades-old mystery put to rest. The following month, he was buried beside his parents in Liberty Cemetery.

CENOTAPHS
Honolulu Memorial, Tablets of the Missing

FINAL BURIAL
Liberty Cemetery, Liberty, Mississippi