{"id":146351,"date":"2023-08-25T08:00:23","date_gmt":"2023-08-25T12:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/valorguardians.com\/blog\/?p=146351"},"modified":"2023-08-24T22:58:36","modified_gmt":"2023-08-25T02:58:36","slug":"valor-friday-239","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/?p=146351","title":{"rendered":"Valor Friday"},"content":{"rendered":"
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James Smith holds a photo of his father, Navy Aviation Radioman 3rd Class Peter L. Smith, Aug. 16 at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City, where Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro honored his father’s service in World War II. (MCC Shannon Renfroe\/Navy)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I got this story tip from a few of the usual suspects this week. It’s a feel good story, to be sure. If, as I’ve often said, that proper recognition delayed is recognition denied. While AO3 Smith went to his grave without his service properly honored, at least his son and family will be able to proudly point to the awards his father righteously earned.<\/p>\n

From Navy Times<\/a>;<\/p>\n

During World War II, Navy Aviation Radioman 3rd Class Peter L. Smith doggedly helped battle the Japanese from the Solomon Islands to Okinawa. Thanks in part to the unflagging efforts of his son, the sailor\u2019s efforts to help win the war in the Pacific have finally been recognized.<\/p>\n

During an Aug. 16 ceremony aboard the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City, Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro posthumously awarded Smith the Distinguished Flying Cross, for outstanding achievement in aerial flight, and the Air Medal.<\/p>\n

His son, James, accepted the medals on his father\u2019s behalf.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy father, like many thousands of his generation during the war, did his job \u2014 day in and day out,\u201d Smith said, according to a Navy release.<\/p>\n

His dad, a native of Troy, New York, enlisted in the Navy in February 1942, just two months after the attack on Pearl Harbor. He initially served as a storekeeper, but soon volunteered for flying duty and completed training as an aviation radioman and an air gunner, according to the release.<\/p>\n

In June 1943, Smith was assigned to VC-28, a composite squadron operating out of Henderson Field on Guadalcanal. During that time, he was part of a three-man crew manning a TBF Avenger torpedo bomber and participated in 15 combat missions supporting ground troops at New Georgia in the Solomon Islands.<\/p>\n

He was then reassigned to Torpedo Squadron 28, a carrier-based squadron embarked with the light aircraft carrier Monterey in 1944.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring his time with VT-28, Smith flew in operations to retake the Marianas, Saipan, Tinian and Southern Palau from Japanese forces,\u201d according to the release. \u201cHe also supported the assaults on the Philippines and strikes against Okinawa.\u201d<\/p>\n

In all, Smith helped carry out more than 150 combat and support missions with Torpedo Squadron 28.<\/p>\n

After the war, Smith hung up his Navy uniform returned home to work for the New York State Department of Labor. He died in 2009, according to his obituary on Legacy.com.<\/p>\n

During the ceremony aboard the Intrepid, Del Toro thanked James Smith for \u201chis tireless work to ensure his father received the recognition he deserved and for preserving his father\u2019s story of service during World War II.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI am humbled by the opportunity to honor Peter L. Smith \u2014 one of our Navy\u2019s hundreds of thousands of World War II veterans \u2014 for his service to our nation during a defining period in world history,\u201d Del Toro said, according to the release. \u201cAfter the war, Smith, like so many members of this greatest generation, returned to their civilian careers, but forever remained proud of their service.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTo Petty Officer Smith\u2019s family, I am confident there is no doubt in your minds that his actions met the criteria above for these two awards,\u201d Del Toro said. \u201cHis devotion to duty in support of his fellow sailors, Marines, airmen and soldiers was indeed unwavering throughout his time in service, and I have no doubt you take pride in his accomplishments to keep our nation free.\u201d<\/p>\n

U.S. Army Corps reservist Capt. Charles Lindbergh received the very first Distinguished Flying Cross in June 1927 for his nonstop, solo flight across the Atlantic. Other notable recipients of the award include former President George H.W. Bush and former Sen. John S. McCain of Arizona.<\/p>\n

Those eligible for the award are Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard personnel who \u201cdistinguish themselves for heroism or outstanding achievement while participating in aerial flight\u201d for the U.S. Armed Forces, according to the U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I got this story tip from a few of the usual suspects this week. It’s a … Valor Friday<\/span>Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":664,"featured_media":106983,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,119,389,217],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-146351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-historical","category-navy","category-valor","category-we-remember"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146351","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/664"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=146351"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146351\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/106983"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=146351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=146351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=146351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}