Thank you to Sandra Simmons, a true patriot, who nominated her parents, Viola and Paul Smith, to honor them for their WWII military service and beyond.
Yeoman 2nd Class
Viola M. Smith
US Navy WAVES
- Supply Expediter (DUVA) Pacific Naval Fleet
- June 1943 – Enlisted in the Navy WAVES in Seattle, Washington
- June 1943 – Boot Camp – Hunter College, New York
- August 1943 – USPACFLT Communications Training Center – Stillwater, OK
- October 1943 – USPACFLT Supply Expediter – San Francisco, CA
- Honorable Discharge as Yeoman 2nd Class – September 1945
Community Service
- Lackland AFB Texas – Children’s Sunday School Teacher & Women’s Circle at Church
- Sampson AFB New York – Children’s Sunday School Teacher & Women’s Circle at Church
- RAF Burtonwood Cheshire England – Children’s Sunday School Teacher
- Ben Guerir AFB Morocco, Africa – Children’s Sunday School Teacher and Missionary Work
- Andrews AFB – Women’s Circle at Church
- Community Service volunteer work through East Naples United Methodist Church 1984 – 2001
Captain Paul W. Smith
US Marine Corps
- Search Light Operator 3rd Defense Battalion, Battery G Under Command of Lt. H. G. Kurgis
- Spring 1939 – Boot Camp – Paris Island, South Carolina
- Marine Corps Installation Pearl Harbor 1939 – Spring of 1942
- Tulagi Island and Guadalcanal 1942 – 1945
- Honorable Discharge as Master Sergeant – September 1945
United States Air Force
- Medical Supply Officer – Top Secret Clearance
- Lackland AFB – Texas – Medical Supply Officer Training
- Sampson AFB – New York – Medical Supply Officer
- RAF Burtontwood – Cheshire, England
- Ben Guerir AFB – Morocco, Africa
- Andrews AFB – Maryland USA
- Honorable Discharge as Captain 1962
- Veterans Administration Hospital System – Washington DC
- Civil Service – Medical Supply Officer & Equipment Specialist 1963 – 1971
- 1971 – Retired to Virginia
- 1984 – Relocated to Naples, FL
Community Service
- Volunteer work through East Naples United Methodist Church 1984 – 2001
- Member of Collier County Pearl Harbor Survivors Organization 1984 – 2001 – helped organize and participated in annual reunion of Collier and Lee County Pearl Harbor Survivors
- Numerous speaking engagements at local churches and organizations about his military experiences during the bombing of Pearl Harbor and during the rest of the war.
