William Franklin Smith Jr ★ World War II Gold Star Veteran from Alabama
On July 28, 1945 Lieutenant Colonel Smith was declared a casualty of World War II. ★ He served with honor in the United States Army Air Forces. ★ He is remembered by the people of Alabama. ★ May his positive example inspire us. Working together towards peace, mutual respect, and equality for all.
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Click to Submit Update Request for this Fallen Service Member▼ Content Integrity Note
Our displayed data concerning the life and military history of William Franklin Smith Jr is a work in progress. We've assembled a list of elements we are in the process of researching and reviewing. This profile was last edited on 2023-05-17 16:59:11.
Missing : Core Data
· Enlistment type· Date of tour or service
Missing : Supplemental Data
· Educational background· Parents, family history
· Expanded references and citations
Service Details
| This Profile ID | 485839 |
| Service ID | O-024859 |
| Name | William Franklin Smith Jr |
| From | Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama |
| Birth Date | June 3, 1918 |
| Casualty Date | July 28, 1945 |
| War | World War II |
| Service Branch | Army Air Forces |
| Rank | Lieutenant Colonel |
| Specialty | Pilot |
| Unit/Group | 8th Air Force |
| Casualty Type | DNB - Died Non-battle, air crash |
| Location | Empire State Building, New York City |
| Burial | Elmwood Cemetery, Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama |
| Notable Awards |
★ Distinguished Flying Cross
★ Air Medal |
Additional Details
William Franklin Smith Jr was born in Latham, Baldwin County, Alabama. His family later moved to Birmingham. He was a 1942 graduate of the US Military Academy at West Point. He had completed more than 40 missions in Europe with the Eight Air Force and was finally able to return home. He had married Martha Mary Molloy in 1942 and lived in Watertown, Middlesex County, Massachusetts.On July 28, 1945 he was the Pilot on the B-25 Mitchell bomber #41-30577 "Old John Feather Merchant" during a routine personnel transport mission from Bedford Army Air Field to Newark Metropolitan Airport. Disoriented by the fog and zero visibility, they turned right instead of left after passing the Chrysler Building. At around 10 on Saturday morning their aircraft crashed into the north side of the Empire State Building between the 78th and 80th floors into the offices of the War Relief Society and the National Catholic Welfare Council. Several dozen sightseers were on the 86th floor observation deck at the time. Nineteen people were reported killed, the three men on the plane and civilians in the building. Flames raged out of control in six floors of the building for forty minutes. Three elevators crashed from the 50th floor to the ground. Glass and debris rained into the street. Despite the damage and loss of life, the building was open for business on many floors on the next Monday morning, less than 48 hours later. One of the incredible stories of survival to come of the incident was that of elevator operator Betty Lou Oliver. She was thrown from her elevator car on the 80th floor and suffered severe burns. First aid workers placed her on another elevator car to transport her to the ground floor, but the cables supporting that car had been damaged in the incident, and the car fell 75 stories, ending up in the basement. She survived the fall but had a broken pelvis, back and neck when rescuers found her amongst the rubble. This remains the world record for the longest survived elevator fall. We identified 3 casualties in our archive related to the #41-30577 incident on July 28, 1945.
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Commendations + Awards
Please note this might not be a complete or completely accurate accounting. For some awards we use probability factors based on known service details. Thanks for your understanding.
★ Distinguished Flying Cross
★ Air Medal
★ United States Aviator Badge Army
★ World War II Victory Medal
★ American Campaign Medal
★ Army Presidential Unit Citation
★ Army Good Conduct Medal
Notable Reference Sources
These are typically links to pages on external sites that have provided specific nodes of information. In most cases the information has some assurance of being crowd-sourced and vetted by a community of users.Alabama Gold Star Veterans Gallery
Honoring the men and women of Alabama who gave their all for their country. May their example of courage and sacrifice be our guide. To be strong and responsible in our lives as citizens of the world. Through honest daily actions, we honor them.
▼ Alabama was home to over 9,311 American Gold Star veterans from 4 wars of the 20th Century. Some significant statistics:
• 1,327 World War I
• 6,043 World War II
• 730 Korean War
• 1,211 Vietnam War
• 105 Prisoners of war
• 1,518 Missing in action
• 52 Pearl Harbor casualties
• 79 D-Day Normandy casualties
• 8 Medal of Honor recipients
• 6,043 World War II
• 730 Korean War
• 1,211 Vietnam War
• 105 Prisoners of war
• 1,518 Missing in action
• 52 Pearl Harbor casualties
• 79 D-Day Normandy casualties
• 8 Medal of Honor recipients
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Roy "Joker"
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▼ Primary Sources - These are repositories for artifacts, documents, diaries, manuscripts, and other information that serve as original and authoritative sources of information.
National Archives (NARA)
Library of Congress (LOC)
Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA)
Findagrave.com
Ancestry.com
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