This Military Service Page was created/owned by
Sheila Rae Myers, HM3
to remember
Smith, Roderic Lee, CAPT.
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Contact Info
Home Town Lincoln, NB
Date of Passing Feb 09, 2000
Location of Interment Arlington National Cemetery (VLM) - Arlington, Virginia
Wall/Plot Coordinates 2 E 213 A-1
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
Captain Smith's mother died when he was only seven months old. He was raided by his father and his extended family. The time was split between living with his father, who was a Presbyterian minister, and living with his mother's relatives.
Once he graduated high school, he got a job on a survey crew for the Sante Fe Railroad. He thought he would stay with job instead of going to college. A few years later, he did attend college and majored in education. Serving in the ministry was not even on his mind. While in college, he joined the YMCA and he and his friends began talking about doing missionary work. One thing led to another and he finally decided to attend seminary and become a Presbyterian minister like his father.
His career in the Navy is outlined in this profile. After he retired, he returned the Presbyterian church and served in one capacity or another until he was in his early 80s.
Other Comments:
The information contained in this profile was compiled from various internet sources.
World War II/Asiatic-Pacific Theater/Luzon Campaign (1944-45)
From Month/Year
December / 1944
To Month/Year
April / 1945
Description On December 15, 1944, landings against minimal resistance were made on the southern beaches of the island of Mindoro, a key location in the planned Lingayen Gulf operations, in support of major landings scheduled on Luzon. On January 9, 1945, on the south shore of Lingayen Gulf on the western coast of Luzon, General Krueger's Sixth Army landed his first units. Almost 175,000 men followed across the twenty-mile (32 km) beachhead within a few days. With heavy air support, Army units pushed inland, taking Clark Field, 40 miles (64 km) northwest of Manila, in the last week of January.
Two more major landings followed, one to cut off the Bataan Peninsula, and another, that included a parachute drop, south of Manila. Pincers closed on the city and, on February 3, 1945, elements of the U.S. 1st Cavalry Division pushed into the northern outskirts of Manila and the 8th Cavalry Regiment (organized as infantry) passed through the northern suburbs and into the city itself.
As the advance on Manila continued from the north and the south, the Bataan Peninsula was rapidly secured. On February 16, paratroopers and amphibious units simultaneously assaulted the islet of Corregidor. It was necessary to take this stronghold because troops there can block the entrance of Manila Bay. The Americans needed to establish a major harbor base at Manila Bay to support the expected invasion of Japan, planned to begin on November 1, 1945. Resistance on Corregidor ended on February 27, and then all resistance by the Japanese Empire ceased on August 15, 1945, obviating the need for an invasion of the Japanese Home Islands.
Despite initial optimism, fighting in Manila was harsh. It took until March 3 to clear the city of all Japanese troops, and the Japanese Marines, who fought on stubbornly and refused to either surrender or to evacuate as the Japanese Army had done. Fort Drum, a fortified island in Manila Bay near Corregidor, held out until 13 April, when a team of Army troops went ashore and pumped 3,000 gallons of diesel fuel into the fort, then set off incendiary charges. No Japanese soldiers in Fort Drum survived the blast and fire.
In all, ten U.S. divisions and five independent regiments battled on Luzon, making it the largest American campaign of the Pacific war, involving more troops than the United States had used in North Africa, Italy, or southern France.
