Maynard Harrison Smith

Maynard Harrison "Snuffy" Smith (May 19, 1911 – May 11, 1984) was a United States Army Air Forces staff sergeant and aerial gunner aboard a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber in World War II who received the Medal of Honor for his conduct during a bombing mission over France on May 1, 1943. Smith was the first enlisted member of the United States Army Air Forces to earn the Medal of Honor.

Thank you.

The Medal of Honor opened doors then and it still does, from the Pentagon to the White House. I don't abuse it, but if it is necessary, I will use it.

Quotes

• Thank you.
  • Smith's comment to assembled dignitaries and reporters when he stepped up to a microphone at his Medal of Honor award ceremony on 15 July 1943. As quoted by Allen Mikaelian, Medal of Honor: Profiles of America's Military Heroes From the Civil War to the Present (2002), New York: Hyperion, first edition hardcover, p. 137

Medal of Honor (2002) profile

Note: Edited interview/profile transcript featured in Medal of Honor: Profiles of America's Military Heroes From the Civil War to the Present (2002) by Allen Mikaelian with commentary by Mike Wallace, New York: Hyperion, first edition hardcover, p. 135-161.

• There was a fellow who was an apprentice seaman in the British Navy. A kid. He got torpedoed and his hands were horribly burned. Just the same, he somehow managed to get into a lifeboat and he took his regular place and rowed. In the morning, his shipmates discovered that the flesh had been burned off his fingers and that he was literally rowing with the bones of his hands. This was probably heroism. But I'm not sure that a bombardier who gets a terrific stomachache just as he's aiming his bombs and nevertheless gets them off isn't a greater hero. You never know. In either case, you can be sure there was plenty of adrenaline being pumped into the bloodstream.
  • Story that Smith used to explain his Medal of Honor action afterward, as quoted on p. 139-140

• The Medal of Honor opened doors then and it still does, from the Pentagon to the White House. I don't abuse it, but if it is necessary, I will use it.
  • p. 140

• I was plenty mad. I pissed on the fire and beat on it with my hands and feet until my clothes began to smoke. [...] Guns, ammunition, clothes, everything. I really had a time with the ammunition cases. They weigh ninety-eight pounds and I weigh one thirty.
  • p. 150

• All I know is that it was a miracle that the ship didn't break in two in the air, and I wish I could shake hands personally with the people who built her. They sure did a wonderful job, and we owe our lives to them.
  • p. 150

Quotes about Smith

Sgt. Smith not only performed his duty, he carried on after others- more experienced than he- had given up. Through his presence of mind, determination and bravery, he saved the lives of six of his crewmates and the Fortress in which he flew. ~ Ira C. Eaker

What he did was enough. He didn't have to prove anything to anybody. ~ Maynard H. Smith Jr.

• For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action above and beyond the call of duty. The aircraft of which Sgt. Smith was a gunner was subjected to intense enemy antiaircraft fire and determined fighter airplane attacks while returning from a mission over enemy-occupied continental Europe on 1 May 1943. The airplane was hit several times by antiaircraft fire and cannon shells of the fighter airplanes, two of the crew were seriously wounded, the aircraft's oxygen system shot out, and several vital control cables severed when intense fires were ignited simultaneously in the radio compartment and waist sections. The situation became so acute that three of the crew bailed out into the comparative safety of the sea. Sgt. Smith, then on his first combat mission, elected to fight the fire by himself, administered first aid to the wounded tail gunner, manned the waist guns, and fought the intense flames alternately. The escaping oxygen fanned the fire to such intense heat that the ammunition in the radio compartment began to explode, the radio, gun mount, and camera were melted, and the compartment completely gutted. Sgt. Smith threw the exploding ammunition overboard, fought the fire until all the firefighting aids were exhausted, manned the workable guns until the enemy fighter were driven away, further administered first aid to his wounded comrade, and then by wrapping himself in protecting cloth, completely extinguished the fire by hand. This soldier's gallantry in action, undaunted bravery, and loyalty to his aircraft and fellow crewmembers, without regard for his own personal safety, is an inspiration to the U.S Armed Forces.
  • Citation for the Medal of Honor awarded to Smith, presented by U.S. Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson at Eighth Army Airfield on 15 July 1943[1]

• Sgt. Smith not only performed his duty, he carried on after others- more experienced than he- had given up. Through his presence of mind, determination and bravery, he saved the lives of six of his crewmates and the Fortress in which he flew.
  • General Ira C. Eaker, commenting on Smith at his Medal of Honor presentation ceremony on 15 July 1943. As quoted by Allen Mikaelian, Medal of Honor: Profiles of America's Military Heroes From the Civil War to the Present (2002), New York: Hyperion, first edition hardcover, p. 137

• From the time he entered the Air Force he had been in some kind of trouble over one petty matter or another. 'Snuffy' was, in fact, known by the fourteen other inhabitants of his Nissen hut by an Army phrase for which there is no socially acceptable replacement. He was a real fuckup.
  • Andy Rooney, who served as a reporter for the U.S. Armed Forces newspaper Stars & Stripes during World War II. Rooney was the first to report the story of the 1 May 1943 action that led to Smith receiving the Medal of Honor. As quoted by Allen Mikaelian, Medal of Honor: Profiles of America's Military Heroes From the Civil War to the Present (2002), New York: Hyperion, first edition hardcover, p. 138

• In his older years, he was very mellow, very sweet. My dad would drive a hundred miles to pull a thorn out of a dog's paw... He was a very quiet man unless he was asked his opinion. He didn't impose on anybody, he didn't force his opinion on anybody.
  • Maynard H. Smith, Jr., commenting about his father, as quoted by Allen Mikaelian, Medal of Honor: Profiles of America's Military Heroes From the Civil War to the Present (2002), New York: Hyperion, first edition hardcover, p. 160

• What he did was enough. He didn't have to prove anything to anybody.
  • Maynard H. Smith, Jr., commenting about his father, as quoted by Allen Mikaelian, Medal of Honor: Profiles of America's Military Heroes From the Civil War to the Present (2002), New York: Hyperion, first edition hardcover, p. 160