Robert E. Smith

LtCol Robert Edward Smith was an American pilot who flew in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War, serving in the Army Air Corps, the United States Air Force and the Royal Air Force during his career. Smith was born in Baltimore, Maryland and grew up in Washington, DC; in 1938 he entered The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina. In 1941, on the cusp of the United States entering into war, Smith dropped out of school and joined the US Army Air Corps but washed out of flight school, he moved to Canada and attempted to join the Royal Canadian Air Force but was eventually recruited into the "Eagle Squadron", a unit of the Royal Air Force in Britain consisting of American volunteers. In 1942, a telegram was sent home to his family in Norfolk, Virginia informing them that Smith was shot down over France and was missing, presumed to be killed in action. In fact, while flying with 133 Eagle Squadron, Smith ran out of fuel and was forced to ditch his plane following a bomber escort mission gone awry.