Winfred Keith Smith was born on February 8, 1924, in Kinsley, Edwards County, Kansas. He was the son of Fred Smith and Frances Eugenia Barnes Smith.

Keith moved with his parents to Stafford, Kansas, in 1933 and graduated from Stafford High School in 1941. After graduation, he took employment in the construction of the John Martin Dam in Colorado. He later worked at the air bases at Liberal, Kansas, and at La Junta, Colorado. He enlisted into the U.S. Army on May 12, 1943, in Denver, Colorado, and went to Fort Warren, Wyoming, for basic training and for subsequent training in the Quartermaster Corps. He later volunteered for paratroop service and was sent to Fort Benning, Georgia, for training. He received his wings on November 27, 1943.

Winfred served in Company I, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, as a Technician 5th Grade, during World War II. He was Killed in action on September 20, 1944, during Operation Market Garden while participating in the Waal River crossing, the heroic crossing that liberated Nijmegen, The Netherlands. He was one of the 49 paratroopers killed during the assault on German positions on the opposite bank. T/5 Smith is now buried in the Stafford Cemetery, Stafford, Stafford County, Kansas, USA.

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T/5 Smith was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and the Presidential citation which reads: "He stands in the unbroken line of patriots who have dared to die that freedom might live, and grow, and increases its blessings. Freedom lives, and through it, he lives - in a way that humbles the undertakings of most men."

Source of information: www.findagrave.com