The Daily Alaska empire. [volume] (Juneau, Alaska) 1926-1964, 1943-08-24
JUNEAU
MAN DOES HEROIC.
ACT; RES(UE5 SEVEN
Husband, Also Of Former
Juneau Girl, Cited for
Daring Deed

a well known former Juneau young
woman. recently did heroic act in
the Mediterranean area and as
result seven crew members of an
American Flying Fortress are alive
today and able to fight again.
The man is Lieut.. Robert "Fergie"
Smith, who at one time was driver
of delivery auto for George
Brothers, and his wife is the for
mer Leonia Saloum, who was with
the Department of Public Health
in Juneau, and the daughter Of
former we'll known residents, Mr..
and Mrs. j. M. Saloum. The
Smiths, after leaving Juneau, To-
Gated at Oxnard, California, and he
enlisted there, his former home.
A recent issue of the newspaper
published at Oxnard referred to a
dispatch from the Allied Headquar-
tiers in North Africa, and cited the
heroic work of the Oxnard flier at
the controls of a huge Catalina
flying boat.
The article in the Oxnard news
paper says that Lieut. Robert Fer
gle" Smith, whose wife Leona, re-
sides in Oxnard, is combination
guardian angel and seeing-eye dog
for the Allies in the Mediterranean
area. The former Oxnard football
player and graduate of the Oxnard
high school spends his time patron-
ing the sea lanes, scooping up Al
lied birdmen whose wings are clip
ped by Axis guns and keeping his
eagle eye on enemy activity.
Spots Crew
He was plotting his flying boat
over the Mediterranean when he
spotted the Fortress crew floating
in the sea. With unerring skill, he
put his ship down amidst the white
caps and sharks and the fallen
birdmen were hauled aboard to be
flown to safety.
The Fortress crew was returning
from a daylight raid on Naples
when they were forced to bail out
of their crippled plane. For two
days and nights they had tossed
about the sea in a leaking, wave
tossed dinghy during which they
had to battle off attacking sharks
with their fists and feet.
Second Lieut.. Robert Kurz, CO.
pilot of Clawson, Mich, was bitten
on the arms and fingers by sharks
as he slapped at the water in an
effort to brighten off the white
oellied attackers All of the rescued
suffered from exposure,
but all have returned to duty.
Other Crew Members
Other members of the crew were
Lieut.. Harold Crisman, pilot, Den
ton, Tex; End Lieut.. William Ma
boon, bombardier, New Dayton, Al
berta, Canada; End Lieut.. Ronald
Beck, Colorado Springs, Colo; Tech.
Sgt. Bernard Doone, flight engineer,
New Cattle, Penn; Sgt. John Haff-
ner, assistant radio engineer, West
Allis, Wis, and Tech. Sgt. Wells
Macy, radio operator, Hyannis,
Mass.
Four of the seven Flying Fort
ress crew members were in water
from early afternoon until the eve
ming of the following day when the
searchlight of a B-26 Marauder
spotted them. The Marauder threw
dinghies to them about 40 miles
south of Naples.
Until then, they had had no
drinking water or nourishment, ex-
cept some concentrated food pellets.
The other three members who were
rescued had swum to dinghy
which which had floated away from
the crashed Fortress and made con-
tact with their four companions the
following afternoon.
Besides his wife, whom he met in
Alaska, Fergie's other relatives are
his mother, Mrs Mary Smith, his
sister, Margaret, who is awaiting
call from the Army Nurses Corps;
and his uncle, James Wilson. His