Fire of Patriotism, First Lieutenant Smith Lamar Carter

First Lieutenant Smith Lamar Carter United States Army Air Forces, World War II, Bombardier, B-24 #42-73025, 26th Bomb Squadron, 11th Bomb GroupAugust 25, 2016 - On December 23rd, 1943, B-24 Liberator Bomber (42-73025), nick-named the “Kansas Cyclone” of the 26th Bomb Squadron, 11th Bomb Group, took off to bomb Wotje, a coral atoll of 75 islands in the Pacific held by the Japanese.  Obstructed by bad weather it was decided by the crew to bomb Taroa in the Maloelap atoll when they were jumped by 30 to 40 Japanese Zero fighter planes.  The Cyclone along with two other B-24s, “The Galvanized Goose and The Dirty Woman” pressed on into flak over the target, taking hits, then rejoined the battle with the fighters.  The Cyclone’s gunners were credited with no fewer than five Zero victories, but the bomber was riddled and one crewman killed.  The hydraulics were shot out, one engine was gone and the emergency life raft had been hit and ballooned out and broke free, crippling the rudder as it slipped back into the airstream.  However, the pilot, Lieutenant Keith Wallingford, of Manhattan, Kansas successfully landed the Kansas Cyclone after a seven-hour marathon struggle at Funafuti where the Americans had constructed an airstrip1.  
 
The bombardier aboard the Kansas Cyclone that day was Second Lieutenant Smith Lamar “Dugie” Carter, of Shelbyville, Texas.  Dugie as he was known to his family and friends was born to father, Smith L., (1892-1951) and mother, Della Ballard Carter (1895-1984) on July 23, 1919.  He had one brother, Silas and three sisters, Thelma, Louise and Joyce.  A 1935 graduate of Shelbyville High School he attended three years of college at Stephen F. Austin and then graduated from Sam Houston State College.  Sometime during 1941 he enlisted in the US Army and on January 19th, 1942 he was accepted into the Aviation Cadet flying program and graduated as a Second Lieutenant with Bombardier Wings.2
 
In late January 1944, a combined force of U.S. Marine and Army troops launched an amphibious assault on three islets in the Kwajalein Atoll, a ring-shaped coral formation in the Marshall Islands where the Japanese had established their outermost defensive perimeter in World War II.  On January 30, 1944, after a massive air and naval bombardment, a U.S. Marine and Army amphibious assault force of 85,000 men and some 300 warships) approached the Marshall Islands.  The battle for Kwajalein proved difficult but the island was declared secure on February 4.
 
Lieutenant Smith Carter of Shelbyville, Texas, age 24 at the time told of the part the “Kansas Cyclone” played in the air raids at Kwajalein.  “I saw 20 to 30 medium bombers (Japanese) dispersed in the runway area as we came in.  Most of our string of 100 pounders hit the area and I could see the B-24’s on our wings laying their strings of bombs across the runway area.  One bomb hit directly on top of a Jap bomber.  The whole area was entirely covered by bursting bombs and plenty of smoke was coming up as we left.”2    United Press war correspondent Malcolm Johnson reported “that the army fliers took their Liberator bombers on a 2500-mile round trip and when over target battled their way through vigorous opposition with anti-aircraft fire and interceptors.  But our gunners shot down one Zero, probably destroyed four others and damaged three more.  Altogether the bombardiers dropped 20 tons of explosives”.3
 
As part of Admiral Chester Nimitz’s “Operation Flintlock” the capture of the Kwajalein Atoll was the first capture of Japanese pre-war territory and pierced the Japanese defense perimeter.  It took strategic control of the Marshalls away from Japan and severed their lines of communication, shortening the pacific campaign with loss of American lives at less than one percent.4
 
A few months later he would return home on furlough to marry Wilma Parker (1926-2000) on May 31st, 1944.  World War II would continue for another 16 months and in late 1945 First Lieutenant Smith Carter would be discharged leaving a legacy of patriotism and heroism for others to follow.  For his wartime service he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross with 1 oak leaf cluster and the Air Medal with 3 oak leaf clusters.5 
 
Dugie and Wilma’s had four children, Mac T., Kit, Bob and Gay.  After the war I believe he worked in the construction industry as a carpenter.  On April 14th, 1982 Smith Lamar Carter died of a heart attack at the age of 63.6   He was part of that “Greatest Generation” that we owe so much to.  I am proud that my first assignment in the US Air Force in 1962 was to the 11th Bomb Wing, Altus AFB, Oklahoma that traces its lineage directly to Lieutenant Carter’s World War II unit.  Day is done, God is nigh.

US Army Air Forces Patch, Bombardier Wings, First Lieutenant Rank Insignia WW II Honorable Discharge Lapel (Pin), Distinguished Flying Cross (with 1 oak leaf cluster), Air Medal (with 3 oak leaf clusters), American Campaign Medal, Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal and the World War II Victory Medal.
Carroll Cemetery, Shelby County, Texas 

(Sources:  1Book, B-24 Liberator United of the Pacific War, Author, Robert F. Dorr, page 44, Bloomsbury Publishing 12/20/2012; 2Champion Newspaper, 2/17/1944; 3Neosho Daily News (Neosho, Missouri), 1/27/1944; 4history.com, 8/24/2016; 5Book, Men and Women in the Armed Forces from Shelby County; 6Ancestry.com, August 2016; Kansasmemory.org, 8/24/2016; Wikipedia, 8/24/2016; angelfire.com, 8/24/2016)