A rough background …
RE-POSTED IN HONOR OF SMITTY’S 100TH BIRTHDAY
Everett Smith was born Dec. 12, 1914 and grew up across from the gentle waves of Jamaica Bay on an island one mile long and barely four blocks wide. This was the tight-knit community of Broad Channel, New York. He resided with his mother
Anna on peaceful East 9th Road and spent his days between school, working and helping to care for his grandmother. Everett’s nickname had always been “Smitty” and so, the name of his fishing station came to be. In 1939, at 24 years of age, he married a woman named Catherine and she joined the Smith household.
News of Hitler and his rise to power filtered into the newspapers and radio, but the Smith’s still had the memories of WWI and their financial struggles in what would be become known as the Great Depression. The majority of the U.S. population held the ideal of isolationism in high regard and the Smith household agreed wholeheartedly. Everett was baffled by FDR’s election as his past political and personal records indicated both amoral and often criminal behavior. The president began to stretch his powers to the limit to assist his friend, Winston Churchill, but U.S. citizens were straining to survive.
On Oct. 30, 1940, Roosevelt spouted in Boston, “I give you one more assurance. I have said it before, but I shall say it again and again and again: Your boys are not going to be sent to any foreign wars.” My father did not believe FDR then and as we look back — he was right.
Everett received his draft notice in Sept. 1942. He would be sent to Fort Dix, New Jersey where he volunteered for the paratroopers. He would immediately then be sent to Camp MacKall, North Carolina for the start of his vigorous training. Smitty became part of one of the most unique army units of its day, the 11th Airborne Division, Headquarters Company, 187th regiment.
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Farewell Salutes –
Paul Cross – Virginia Bch, VA; USAAC, WWII, 152nd Artillery, 11th A/B
Gerald Dickey – Richfield, MN; USAAC, WWII Company A, 187th/11th A/B
Raymond Durr – Abbeville, LA; USAAC, WWII, Company E/187th/11th A/B
John Kozeletz – Coral Springs, FL; USAAC, WWII, Company B/187th/11th A/B
Howard Schleimer – Cleveland, OH; USAAC, WWII, 457th Artillery/11th A/B
Everett Smith – Broad Channel, NY/Hallandale, FL; USAAC, WWII, HQ Co/187th/11th A/B
Kenneth Staples – Stroudesburg, PA; USAAC, WWII, Company F/187th/11th A/B
Robert Teske – Fort Myers, FL; USAAC, WWII, 187th/11th A/B
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One of our fellow bloggers, Prior – that can be viewed HERE!! – was kind enough to put this together for Smitty____
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Posted on September 8, 2012, in ABOUT, Introduction, SMITTY, Uncategorized, WWII and tagged 11th airborne, ancestry, Broad Channel, family history, Hero, History, Military, Smitty's, veterans, WWII. Bookmark the permalink. 153 Comments.
In the city of Sedalia, on our Missouri state fairgrounds, sits a train car. It is one of many given to the United States after WWII. Have you written about them here? If not, it’s an idea. Also, I just wrote a biography of a 92-year old WWII vet who has some interesting stories I will be including on my blog that you may find interesting. Not sure when I’ll get to it.
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No, I don’t believe I know about the train car and I would very much like to read about your 92-year old vet. Their stories are priceless!
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The cars are called Merci Trains
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I take it they are in reference to the European Theater of Operations?
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GP, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Thank you for such an interesting, informative and honorable blog. I love reading every new post you add and catching up on the ones I’ve missed.
You’ve done your father proud, I mean that, and you’ve done our other brave men and women proud with your excellent posts. Please keep up the great work. I look forward to every new post.
God Bless the United States of America and God Bless our brave men and woman who have paid the price to ensure our ability to live in the best country of them all.
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I’m going to have to print that comment out, Michael – I am speechless!!
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Picked this up from Rifleman III Journal: [video] R. Lee Ermey; Tribute This isn’t “family” stuff, he uses prohibitive language, so I decline to post it.
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Sorry it took me so long to get to your link, but it was worth the wait! I thank you for this. Laughing through the tears you might say. Gunney could could do it!!
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Good to know something about your father. He must be very proud of you. Nice to know also that he was born under the same sign as I – Sagittarius. My mom is also a Sagittarian. Too late to wish Smitty a Happy 103th. I read the link to FDR. I’m afraid to tell you that my husband and his brother have a portrait done by Madame Shoumatoff. Now, I lost respect for her. I remember reading something that Lucy Mercer was with FDR too when he died. I must be so naïve.
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So many people still admire him. I’m afraid I thought he had a king-complex.
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Possibly. Why people kept on voting him into office is beyond me. They knew him as womanizer but I guess it was different times. Can you imagine him in today’s political arena? Horrors!
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Quite a few would be in trouble, JFK and Bill Clinton to name two.
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Those two names came to mind.
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Hi GP , I nominated you for the Liebster Award. Got to my website and check it out for rules and to see if you would like to participate. Thank you for having a site I enjoy. Noellie
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I am very pleased that you are interested in this history, Noellie, but I’m afraid I must decline. I am a non-gender, unseen narrator of what the Greatest Generation did during WWII – I did not serve and therefore accept no credit. I hope my feelings do not offend you in any way and will not interfere in our online acquaintance.
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I totally understand and respect your honesty. I will always check back in our our soldiers, no worries.
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Thanks for your service. I interview vets to capture their stories for our national heritage. I can provide samples of my work at my blog: http://www.KayleenReusser.com. Could I interview you about your service? Kjreusser@adamswells.com. I appreciate this blog and the info you share and work you put into it.
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I do not wish to mislead you, Kay. This blog is about my father, his unit and the war going on around them. I have been researching the Pacific since I was a child and I felt the school systems are drifting away from teaching anything about it.
Are there any stories you feel will fit into this blog, please feel free to send a link for me to reblog.
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Hey GP,
I found a great site for the Midwestern experience of WWII. See http://www.traces.org/ I found the section on the Meskwaki Code Talkers especially interesting.
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Both are excellent sites. I’ve put them in my ‘Favorites’ to get back to at another time. [the holidays sure have had me busy!!]
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“Your boys are not going to be sent to any foreign wars.” My father did not believe FDR then and as we look back — he was right.”
As you can see GP I cut and pasted that from your post, and it occurred to me that FDR was right, he did not take the US into any foreign war but was driven into a war of his own when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, had they not attacked Pearl then perhaps the war may have taken an entirely different turn with perhaps a Nazi victory; and with their closing in on building a nuclear bomb and with men designing rockets (Werner V Braun comes to mind) maybe the US would not have been safe.
I’ve always believed that the isolationist policy that the US had in place was a blight on the country and actually gave Hitler the incentive to try to take over the world. Had the US taken it’s rightful place after the ‘Great War’ as it was known; instead of retreating behind the supposed security of the isolationists, then the world may well have been saved the horrors of the second world war.
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After the crash of ’29, the US had no money to make any kind of a place in the world. The Great Depression had the public devastated and despite FDR’s claim to get us out of the situation, nothing worked. FDR did his best to get Hitler to attack the US, but he wasn’t going for it, so the president aimed at Japan and imposed the blockade and freezing of assets until they were forced to attack. FDR even knew about the attack, but forgot about the date lines, so he believed it would occur on Monday, not Sunday. FDR had given Churchill way more in the Lend Lease program than Congress ever knew, he had to get into the war to justify the cost. FDR’s speech in Boston was political manipulating – which he was good at – in other words – another one of his typical lies.
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The Great Depression was not confined to the US as you know, but what was the cause of it? Greed perhaps? Greed of those who really had more than enough and wanted a bit more? Probably but I don’t think FDR can be blamed for that, he like Churchill could see what was happening in Europe and knew what effect it would have on the world and tried to stop it but was restricted by the isolationists so he had to resort to lies.
Do you not think this world is not now a much better place for having the US of A fight in WWII? I know I do and dread to think what would have happened had they not come into the fray. The British could not have held on forever against the enemy.
I for one am grateful for Franklin Delano Roosevelt
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When you mention greed – you’ve answered your own questions, Beari. Try scanning through these pages of FDR’s life and then tell me he volunteered us to fight on both oceans because “it was the right things to do.”
http://whatreallyhappened.com/WRHARTICLES/pearl/www.geocities.com/Pentagon/6315/fdr.html
If we helped so many people and nations – why have we been hated for so long?
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Do you believe that the US should not have gone to war against the nazis even after Pearl Harbor? I do not believe that there are any politicians who do the job without taking care of themselves as much as possible. Greed affects them all regardless of colour., I read in todays NY Times how Trump thought it was great the recent housing market collapse as it gave him more money. What a great POTUS he will be; when is enough enough?
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First of all Beari – how did colour get into this conversation? Second, I never said we shouldn’t have gotten into it After Pearl Harbor, I said FDR caused it. Trump certainly doesn’t fit into this mix, being 2 generations away from it! Cool off, I’m NOT trying to get into arguments, just discussing the facts.
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That’s just an old expression, colour. and is not used or meant in a derogative manner GP, I had no intention of upsetting you and I apologize for doing so.
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You didn’t upset me, you sounded as though you were getting hot and I wanted to cool things down. No problem, Beari.
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no problem, Beari. You didn’t upset me – I wanted to cool things down.
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Thanks for visiting my blog GP. My father was an infantryman (sergeant) in the 2nd 31st Battalion, 7th Division, AIF and fought in New Guinea in the Owen Stanleys, Gona, Lae, Markham and Ramu valleys. I remember him talking about American paratroopers, I believe it was at Nadzab from memory – he had a very high opinion of them.
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I appreciate you saying so, Dennis, the 503rd Regiment would also become part of the 11th Airborne during the Philippine Campaign. Your father deserves a multitude of credit for his action!! The more I discover of those men and what they endured – I can only compare them to supermen; strength, stamina and bravery! If he is still with us, please shake his hand for me!!
(If your father has passed on, I would be honored to include him in our Farewell Salutes. I will just need his name and hometown.)
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Thanks GP – his name was Allen Noel O’Brien. As I said earlier he was a sergeant in the New Guinea campaigns and later at Balikpapan. His hometown was Brisbane although he enlisted in Mackay, Queensland. Unfortunately he is no longer with us – he was wounded in Syria and again in New Guinea and that combined with malaria I think in the end shortened his life – he never used it as an excuse however and led a full and productive life after the war. Our family would be honoured to have him included in your Farewell Salutes.
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I am honored to include your father. He sounds so much like my own father – the type we’ve grown to love from that generation!!
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You are so dedicated and its good to share this history, thanks!
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I’m very glad to see your interest, Kate!
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I come from a family of soldiers and worked with vets for years … you do it tough.
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Thanks!!
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Thanks for that look into the background of your site gp.
You have a proud history to live up to, which you are doing admirably.
Ian
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I wouldn’t be able to come close, Ian. I thank you for the kind comments.
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