Lt. Richard A. Smith was awarded the Purple Heart for wounds he received in the Netherlands and was cited by the 82nd Airborne Division for an act of bravery. Lt. Smith was a veteran member of the 504th Airborne Infantry Regiment. He jumped in the invasions of Sicily, Italy and the Netherlands. He received his commission on the battlefield in Italy and saw action in Sicily, Salerno, Cassino, and Anzio. It was in Belgium that he earned the Silver Star for gallantry in action and the Presidential Citation. The citation read in part: "On December 20, 1944, in an attack upon a heavily defended Belgium village ..... his platoon came under murderous cross-fire from enemy machine gun and cannon. He bravely and calmly organized his firing line and led his platoon forward. The platoon knocked out two German machine guns and over-ran the enemy positions. Later, with his platoon down to 11 men, he led an attack which destroyed two armored vehicles and two machine guns. While urging his men forward through a hail of German fire he was killed." An Oak Leaf Cluster was added to his Purple Heart
