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Home Town Gastonia, NC
Last Address La Jolla, California, age 85. Burial: Fort Roasecrans National Cemetery.
Date of Passing Jul 10, 2006
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Last Known Activity:
Captain Armistead "Chick" Smith U.S.N.
After the North African invasion of 1942, 'Chick' Smith transferred with VF-9 to the Pacific in 1943 flying Hellcats from U.S.S. Essex. He participated in the carrier strikes against Wake, Marcus, the invasions of Tarawa and the Marshalls; and in the first carrier attacks against Truk and Saipan/Tinian. Becoming an Ace in 1944 he transferred to VBF-12 flying F6Fs in strikes against Tokyo, and the invasion of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. In 87 combat missions he recorded 11 victories. 'Chick' Smith retired in 1972.
Armistead Burwell Smith Jr. was born March 15, 1921, in Gastonia, North Carolina. He left the University of North Carolina after two years to join the Navy and was commissioned as an ensign in February 1942. In November 1942 in North Africa, he flew an F4F Wildcat off the carrier USS Ranger. Capt. Chick Smith over the course of the war, shot down 11 enemy aircraft during 87 combat missions. The first seven of the downed planes were during a 15-month period flying off the aircraft carrier Essex. Captain Smith flew F6F Hellcats with 9 squadron known as “the Ace maker” for its high success rate against Zeros. In the battle for Truk Lagoon in Micronesia, Capt. Smith's aircraft was shot down. After landing in the water, he was rescued by a destroyer. During the invasion of the islands of Iwo Jima and Okinawa, Capt. Smith operated from the US Carrier USS Randolph shooting down four Japanese aircraft. His decorations include four Distinguished Flying Crosses, a Silver Star, eight Air Medals, two Legions of Merit and a Navy Commendation Medal. After World War II, Capt. Smith commanded two fighter squadrons, a carrier air wing and the seaplane tender Pine Island. From 1967 to 1969, he commanded what was then the Miramar Naval Air Station he would continue in service and finally retire as Commander Fleet Fighter Squadrons in 1972. He passed away in July 2006.
Randolph was one of the "long-hull"Essex-class ships. She was laid down on 10 May 1943, at Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co., Newport News, Virginia. She was launched on 28 June 1944, sponsored by Rose Gillette (wife of Guy M. Gillette, a US Senator from Iowa). Randolph commissioned on 9 October 1944, CaptainFelix Locke Baker, USN in command.In July 1961, Randolph sailed for operations in the Caribbean and served as the recovery ship after splashdown for astronaut Virgil Grissom on America's second manned space flight, a suborbital shot. In February 1962, Randolph was the primary recovery ship for astronaut John Glenn on his flight, the first American orbital voyage in space. After his historic three-orbit flight, he landed safely near Noa from which he was transferred, byhelicopter, to Randolph.
Randolph
