Evening star., 1919-03-09
HER OISM OF, LIEUT.. COL. SMITH
AND HOW HE MET HIS DEATH
Scorning Danger, He Repeat
eddy Led His Men at Ar
gonne Forest.
Brave Officer, Who Went Out
Alone to Investigate and
Failed to Return.

A description Of the heroic manner IN
,Chich Lieut.. Col. Fred b. Smith, IT.,
treH tnoDn in this city and listed among
Washington casualties. met his death IN
tiusties Of this field officer, achich so
greatly endeGred him to his s1bordtuates
and to the men of his battalion, has been
giren by Lieut.. Arthur McKeogh, o. s.
Infdntry, noao on duty at the office OF
ne Chief OF engineers, Wor Department.
II am proud to be able to speak OF
suck q man as my friend 1Urites Lieut..
McKe0gh in his note pouching for the
authenticity Of the story. The Heuten-
Ger in the 30Sth Infantry, 77th D5uisaon,
under Col Smith, aoho tods killed Sep
tember 2S last. Col Smith ras forty
sic years OF age, vetcrdn of the Span
ish tcdT, and in the Regular Army erer
since. His father seyUed as O colonel
In the ciril 1cdr. His family reside in
Portland, Ore, but a sister, Dr.. Cora
Smith King, Hves at 3015 18th street
northwest, this city, Dltite too cousins,
Misses Mary B. and Emma Grams,
.ice at the Wyoming. His last letter
,oas penned the day before his death,
and reported that his regiment had been
commended for being "ds usual, first at
the front and first to get reports back to
headquarters"
BY LIEUT.. ARTHUR McKEOGH.
Lieut.. Col. Fred E. Smith, jr., who
was listed under Washington casual
ties, was at one time acting COM
mander of the battalion in the nth
Division that afterward became ia
nous as 1.-The Lost Battalion" Col.
Smith personally led men of his regi-
ment against machine gun nests in
the Argonne forest, although his duty
as high officer of the regimental staff
veally was well in rear of the front
Hne. It was while reconnoitering the
position Of a nest, mission that he
might have assigned to a patrol, that
he was killed.
The colonel, came to the 30sth In
fantry early in July, 1913, a stranger
to New York organization that had
been established nearly year; inside
of a month he was as much part of the
outfit as il he had been assigned at its
inception. The Liberty Division" was
then being initiated into the business
of trench warfare in the Baccarat sec
tor of the Vosges mountains. He was
put in command of the 1st Battalion
while that unit was holding the line
at Badonvillers.
His Genuine Interest in Men.
IL there was any secret to his popu-
the man in ranks. Early every morn
ing, shielded by an inseparable leather
vest, Col Smith was to be seen start
ing out in side car from the she'll
SCARED village of Pexonne, where bat
talon headquarters was located. to
the front line. The entire day he spent
visiting the companies. messing at
noon with the men and returning wi III
dark to supervise the transportation
of rations and ammunition.
For time in the Baccarat line he
was confined to his bed, i'll with what
seemed to be the forerunner Of pneu-
monia, but he would not go to the hos
pitaL preferring the inconveniences of
an old chateau in the village, long
since evacuated by all civilians. Smith
was not man to leave his regiment.
1t was while the battalion was
stradd1ing the Vesle river at Fisrnes.
around the middle Of August, that the
colonel especially endeared himself to
the foot OF sharply-defined valley,
with boches intrenched on the Aisne
plateau above; was all but unten-
able. German artillerymen were
snscers pro tenn. with their three
inch Austrian batteries Of high
y.
to shifting among battalion COM
manders, Smith was again leading the
1st Battalion during its occupancy of
the line, and upon it's relief he re-
manned with the succeeding battalion.
scorns Personal Danger.
It was here that his disregard OF
personal safety especially evidenced
itself The German avions had
almost undisputed domination Of the
air on that front and few over at
will to report on the Americans
activities. It was not long before
they had located the position of the
battalion headquarters dugout, a
makcshift affair, since it was open
warfare then.
One day the colonel. who had a dis
like of dugouts. was outside the
entrance making coffee over tin of
canned heat. A little while earlier
boche avIon had come over and
dropped to within 200 meters of head
quarters--so close that the machine
gun officer had actually taken pot
shot at him with a rife.
From some weird source kitten
had come mewing up the side OF the
hill, treadiDg it's way among the little
funkholes OF the men. It was very
terrified Kitten for. while the boche
used to strafe several times a day reg
ularIy. the kftteH1iWas apparently new