AnsweredHot!Seeking photos of Col. Jacob Smart

Greetings, I would appreciate anyone having photo(s) of Col. Jacob E Smart from his time with the 97th Bomb Group to contact me, or post them on this forum. I am his son, Bill, and am trying to fill out information and photos of/about him from that period of his life. Any photos of him that he might have had in his belongings at the time of his shoot-down (May 10, 1944) have disappeared.
Your help will be greatly appreciated.
Regards, and Much Obliged,
William Smart
PO Box 569
Whitehall, MT
59759
 

Bill,
Is this the man you are looking for?
Hal
 
                                  

Many thanks, Hal! At that time Dad was on Hap Arnold's Advisory Council, a handful of officers responsible only to Arnold. It was before his time as CO of the 97th BG.
Much Obliged,
Bill

Bill,
Happy to help.  Is that copy OK for your needs?  Assume you can download from here but if you want a higher resolution copy you can get it here: http://www.fold3.com/image/#55672423
or I can email it to you.
Hal

Thanks for the link to Fold3, Hal. That is just perfect.
Much Obliged,
Bill

Hello, my name is Lance in Tennessee.  I have something that I think you would really be interested in!! My Uncle Ed McBrayer was in the 97th Bomb Group in Italy and was a a/c commander on a B-17 and was under your father I believe Col (at that time) Jacob Smart in the spring of 1944.  I aquired his war diary a few years ago and I came across this written account of when your fathers B-17 was hit during combat!!  This is his eye whitness account and as you can see my uncle had the highest respect for Col Smart. I will try to scan and up load this 3 page account.

[link=file://localhost/Users/lance/Desktop/Uncl%20Ed.p]file://localhost/Users/lance/Desktop/Uncl%20Ed.p[/link]df
I do not think it is working.  I can send a copy to your address. I am mailing you the story today. I know if someone had this story of my father I would want it. Enjoy

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Hello, Lance: That would be wonderful. I am trying to get together everything I can about my father's WWII experiences. I have quite a bit but ALWAYS am seeking more. Please send the pages from your uncle's diary. They will be greatly appreciated. I am much obliged.
Bill

Here is brief excerpt from my Uncles first mission.
Italy 4-5-1944
Today I went on my first raid over German occupied territory. Breifing was at 0430 hours.  This means they woke us up for breakfast at 0330.We all assymbled in an Italian farmhouse, which serves as both theater and briefing room for our group. On the wall is a huge map of Europe with a string attached streched across the route we will follow to and from the target. A large blackboard has our position indicated; the times for take off;rendezvous, etc; the signals for the day ; and other vital information.  Col Smart, our group Commanding Officer takes charge, calls roll of the crews and then turns the floor over to the Intelligence Officer.  The target for today is the oil center of Ploesti, Romania. It is considered a tough target. 

Thanks, Lance. I look forward to seeing what else crops us in your diary.
Much Obliged,
Bill

Italy 4-20-1944
      Today I saw the most sickening sight in my experience.  I have seen planes shot down before.  I have seen men die before.  But until today I have never seen a bomber exploded in mid-air.
   I have seen men shot to death, cut to death, burn to death.I have seen planes shot down,spin in, crash and burn.  But none of this left so vivid a picture on my mind as the pictre of the plane we lost today.
  Flak was thick over the target.  Hugh black burst of  smoke speckled the sky about us on all sides.  Shell fragments ripped through our ships, warning of close bursts.  The Jerries were going to get somebody today.
    They got a ship in the boxahead of me.  It was a direct hit, evidently in the bomb bay.  There was a hugh red glare-you can hear no explosion-and the ship that was there was no more.  To be continued..... Lance
 

Two flaming balls of firefell down toward the earthand bits of wreakage floated past us fellows behind.We flew onthrough it.  That was all.  No blood.  No gory bodies.  No burned wreckage of a plane.  But 10 American mothers will weep,  and 10 American flyers will fly no more. And hundreds of other American flyers will see that bright red flash again and again as they sit by their fires at home when peace is here once more.  They will see it - and crowd it hurridedly from their thought.  

Italy 6-22-1944
 
      The rapid transition,  the speed with which a country can act in time of war is a revelation.  If our nation worked with the same urgency and effort in time of peace as it does in time of war,  even the author of "Buck Rogers" would hesitate to speculate on the results  a few decades would bring.
      In peace time airline pilots have years of training and pilot time and then usually serve several years as a co pilot before they are entrusted with planes which cost several hundred thousand dollars. But when we entered the war we had to have pilots and we had to have them quick.  The Army gathered thousands of bank clerks, soda jerks, farmers and college students, gave them 9 months of intensive training and turned them loose not only as pilots on expensive aircraft but also as Commanders of fighting units.  And it worked!!The bomb-wreaked factories,  railway yards, bridges,  munition plants and oil refineries of German controlled countries will bear testimony to that.
       Two years ago I was a civilian who had never been up in an airplane even as a passenger.  A year ago I was a student pilot wondering if I would every learn to fly well enough to earn my wings.  Today I am a squadron Leader and an instructor pilot.  The story has been repeated a thousand times.  Thousands of other young Americans can tell the same story.
      The American system teaches adaptability and trains the mind to grasp new problems quickly.  The American youth has a heritage of pride and perseverance which will not let him admit defeat with any problem which may confront him.  If he is challenged to invent a better gun, he does it.  It is a precious heritage and a precious way of life.  Let us take care that we shall never lose it.  
 
.......Wow that was written 70 years ago!!!  And if that does not sum up our country's character (even today) I do not  know what does!!!  Lance
 
 
 

This is where it seems  my Uncle's ( Ed McBrayer training) to be.  Mr. Smart do you know where your fathers basic was done?
 
 
  Santa Ana,  California  Pre Flight /  Primary & Basic Training at Marfa,  Texas (recieved wings)  Transition School at Roswell New Mexico. 

Hello Billy,
I expect that you have seen this info and photo:
http://www.af.mil/information/bios/bio.asp?bioID=7165
There was also a photo of your father taken with Stillman and Clark at the changing of command ceremony in Okinawa 1963.
I can no longer find it but the link wasin August 2002:
http://www.usafa.af.mil/dfsel/s13/americans/smart.html
But now found it here:
http://www.usafa.edu/df/dflib/SL3/americans/smart.cfm?catname=Dean%20of%20Faculty
 
All the very best from Sunny Cornwall
Alex

Lance: I believe his primary was at Randolph Field. The excerpts from your uncle's diaries are terrific!
Alex: I have seen that photo but was happy to see it again. Are we related?