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<em>George Albert Smith Jr., </em>was born on 29 March 1902 in Denver, Colorado, where his parents, George A. and Edith Pierce Smith had resided for many years. He had one sister eleven years older than he. George attended East Denver High School for two years before transferring to Wentworth Military Academy and later to Marion Military Institute from which he received a Presidential appointment to West Point.</div>
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George spent all four years in "D” Company, and a classmate writes: "His background at Marion Institute had prepared him to be a precise, military, efficient, soldierly cadet who knew how to bark out commands. During the absence of upper classmen George was appointed acting company commander, and he accomplished this assignment with great efficiency.”</div>
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George was a corporal his Second Class year, and in June 1925 was made company supply sergeant. He was a member of the Beast Detail, and there his ability was recognized for at the end of the summer he was appointed the fourth ranking cadet captain and became a battalion commander. No other cadet in our time at the Academy had such a meteoric rise.</div>
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Although he had the choice of several branches upon graduation, George chose the Infantry and in August reported to Fort Douglas, Utah, where he was assigned to the 38th Infantry. A classmate who served with him stated: "George was a dedicated officer who inspired trust and was a born leader. Those under him knew him to be firm but always fair. Even in those days when promotion looked anything but rosy, George took bis job seriously and on many afternoons when the rest of us might be Free, he was more often than not down at the Company busying himself in some way.” The duties of a second lieutenant then as now were numerous and challenging. George’s system for each was simple and constant—do it well and get it done.</div>
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It was while he was stationed at Fort Douglas that George met his bride—Jean Delphine Haviland, and they were married in Salt Lake City, 8 August 1928. Jean was the daughter of David J. and Leta Wells Haviland of that city. The next month the couple sailed for Schofield Barracks, Territory of Hawaii, where George was assigned to the 21st Infantry. There the Smiths enjoyed swimming, horseback riding and the other activities available to military personnel serving on Oahu.</div>
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In 1931 the Smiths returned to the States. George was assigned to the 25th Infantry where he served for three years as a company commander at Camp Stephen D. Little, Nogales, Arizona, and Fort Huachuca, Arizona. He was promoted to first lieutenant 1 February 1932, and their daughter, Patricia Ann, was born in Fort Huachuca 25 May 1934. George was sent to Fort Benning in August 1934 and there he spent his longest tour of peacetime duty at one post. He graduated from the Regular Course and the Tank Course of The Infantry School and served with the 66th Infantry and with the 94th Antitank Battalion. George was promoted to captain on 12 June 1936 and their son, George A. Smith III, was born 5 December 1939. Promotion to major came in January 1941, and in April George was ordered to Camp Wheeler, Georgia. The Army was in the midst of its reorganization and training programs, and from that time on reunions with his beloved family for George were few and far between.</div>
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Successive assignments were: Group Plans and Training Officer and Battalion Executive Officer, Camp Wheeler; Military Observer, Office of the Military Attache, London; Assistant to the Assistant Chief of Staff, G3, General Headquarters, Army War College; member, Future Operations Section, Strategy and Policy Group, Operations and Plans Division, War Department Ccneral Staff, and Assistant to Operations Officer, G3, Armed Forces Headquarters, London, Gibraltar and Algeria. George was promoted to lieutenant colonel 1 February 1942 and to colonel 23 November of that year.</div>
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George’s superiors were aware of bis capabilities and in May 1943 he received the assignment that is most sought after by all Infantry officers—command of a regiment in combat. He commanded the 18th Infantry Regiment of the 1st Division, and his regiment participated in the Sicily, Normandy, Northern France, Ardennes-Alsace and Rhineland Campaigns. Another laurel wreath was added in February 1945, when George was appointed Assistant Division Commander of the 104th (Timber wolf) Division, an assignment that normally meant promotion to brigadier general.</div>
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According to the Division’s history, on 1 March George and the commander of the 414th Infantry Regiment went forward to the command post of the 2nd Battalion to direct coming operations. The command post was in Sindorf, Germany. Just prior to 3 a.m. a heavy artillery shell demolished the command post, instantly killing George and the regimental and battalion commanders. During the brief time that George had been with the Timberwnlves he had earned the respect and admiration of the Division for his fearlessness and unswerving devotion to duty.</div>
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Among George's many decorations were the Silver Star with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Legion of Merit with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Bronze Star Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters, the French Legion of Honor and Croix de Guerre, and the Belgian Fourragere.</div>
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He is survived by his beloved wife Jean of Thousand Oaks, California, his daughter, Mrs. Lawrence Pettit, his son, George Junior, also of Thousand Oaks and six grandchildren.</div>
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Nothing could be truer than the description of George in his class <em>HOWITZER</em>: "Even as he has won himself a high place among us here, so will he win laurels wherever he goes."</div>
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<em>-F.P.M.</em></div>