Smith, Robert W., 1967-

Robert Browning Smith was born 27 September 1906, in Bluejacket, Oklahoma Territory. His family moved to New Mexico in 1908 when his father, Dr. G.W.R. Smith, took a position as resident physician and surgeon for the El Paso & Southwestern Railroad in Vaughn, New Mexico.

Smith was educated in public schools in Vaughn, Alamogordo, Mesilla Park, and Las Cruces. He attended the New Mexico A&M preparatory school, and later graduated from Las Cruces Union High School in 1925. He later attended the New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts (NMCA&MA; presently known as New Mexico State University) from 1931 through 1934, majoring in Civil Engineering and Business Administration. He also spent one semester of school at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, studying Business Administration.

Smith married Annette Wilson of Hot Springs in October 1935. He had one child, Robert A. Smith, by a previous marriage.

Smith worked several jobs after graduation from high school. He later owned and operated a dry cleaning plant in Hot Springs from 1935 to 1942, at which time he entered the service as a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army.

He entered the U.S. Army as a Lieutenant in August 1942, and was later commissioned as a Captain in May 1943. Capt. Smith served in the 83rd Chemical Mortar Battalion, Company "C". Earlier assaults had taken this unit to the North African campaign of the Allies (part of "Operation Torch"), and also supported the invasion of Sicily in 1943. After Smith's assignment to the battalion, the unit provided support to ground troops in France after the invasion of Normandy in June 1944, which culminated in the final assault on Germany in early 1945. After the Germans' surrender in May 1945, the unit was enlisted to support the Allied occupation in Austria later that year.

Smith remained in the Army until May 1947. For his efforts on the battlefield, Robert Smith won the Silver Star for Gallantry in Action, as well as the Bronze Star for Valor. His Army ranking was listed as superior upon his retirement. Smith returned to Hot Springs, and bought the Valley Motor Supply. He became a director of the Hot Springs National Bank and served as its president later. He died February 10, 1959, and is buried in the National Cemetery in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

From the guide to the Robert W. Smith World War II Correspondence, 1942-1996, (New Mexico State University. Archives and Special Collections Department.)