Maynard Harrison “Snuffy” Smith was born on May 19, 1911, in Caro, Tuscola County, Michigan. He was the son of Henry Harrison Smith and Mary Christine Gohs Smith. He was the husband of Mary Christine Rayner Smith O'Brien.
Maynard was the first enlisted US Army airman to receive the MOH award. After being drafted into the US Army in 1942, he volunteered for aerial gunnery school with the US Army Air Forces. Following his training, he was sent to an aircraft bomber base at Thurleigh, Bedfordshire, England. Short in stature (he was only five feet four inches tall) he was nicknamed "Snuffy" from the comic strip "Barney Google and Snuffy Smith" because of his obnoxious and belligerent attitude and frequently found himself in trouble.
On May 1, 1943, he flew his first combat mission as the ball gun turret operator on a B-17 Flying Fortress aircraft on a bombing run with other B-17 aircraft, targeting the U-Boat pens at Saint-Nazaire in Loire-Atlantique, France. After the mission was completed, his aircraft was attacked by German fighters which did considerable damage, rupturing fuel tanks and igniting a massive fire that severed communications and compromised the integrity of the fuselage. His ball turret gun was disabled and he was able to escape it, and for the next hour and a half, he tended to several of his seriously wounded crew members while manning the aircraft's .50 caliber machine guns and extinguishing the fire. When the aircraft finally landed in England, it broke in half due to the melted fuselage and had been hit with over 3,500 bullets and shrapnel.
Smith flew four more combat missions after earning the Medal of Honor but was then grounded as a result of combat stress reaction and was reassigned to non-combat clerical work. On December 17, 1944, he was forced to accept a reduction in rank to private for poor job performance and was shortly thereafter permanently grounded. Smith was sent home to the United States on February 2, 1945, and despite his transgressions, received a hero's welcome and a parade when he returned to his hometown. Smith was discharged from the U.S. Army on May 26, 1945. In his later years, he despised his time in the military and ran into legal troubles, but eventually retired quietly to Florida, dying of heart failure on May 11, 1984, in Saint Petersburg, at the age of 72. Maynard Harrison Smith is buried in Arlington National Cemetery, in Arlington, Virginia.
MEDAL OF HONOR CITATION
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action above and beyond the call of duty. The aircraft of which Sgt. Smith was a gunner was subjected to intense enemy antiaircraft fire and determined fighter aircraft attacks while returning from a mission over enemy-occupied continental Europe on 1 May 1943. The aircraft was hit several times by antiaircraft fire and cannon shells of the fighter aircraft, 2 of the crew were seriously wounded, the aircraft’s oxygen system shot out, and several vital control cables severed when intense fires were ignited simultaneously in the radio compartment and waist sections. The situation became so acute that 3 of the crew bailed out into the comparative safety of the sea. Sgt. Smith, then on his first combat mission, elected to fight the fire by himself, administered first aid to the wounded tail gunner, manned the waist guns, and fought the intense flames alternately. The escaping oxygen fanned the fire to such intense heat that the ammunition in the radio compartment began to explode, the radio, gun mount, and camera were melted, and the compartment completely gutted. Sgt. Smith threw the exploding ammunition overboard, fought the fire until all the firefighting aids were exhausted, manned the workable guns until the enemy fighters were driven away, further administered first aid to his wounded comrade, and then by wrapping himself in protecting cloth, completely extinguished the fire by hand. This soldier’s gallantry in action, undaunted bravery, and loyalty to his aircraft and fellow crewmembers, without regard for his own personal safety, is an inspiration to the U.S. Armed Forces.
Because of his heroic efforts and saving the lives of six remaining airmen, the aircraft made it out of the ‘hot’ zone and landed safely near the southwest tip of England.
Source of information: www.mightyeighth.org, en.wikipedia.org,www.findagrave.com