Required reading (as background for this) is my April 2012 post titled: EMC Pioneer “Blogger”. “Our friend and neighbor for 15 years, Rowland Smart, was a legend in his own time, and we loved him dearly. … 'Rowly' was nearly 90 years old, a WWII (Europe) and Korean War veteran, good Christian …”
In honor of the valiant veterans and members of our military on this Memorial Day, I share excerpts from Brother Smart’s three-page monthly message dated October 29, 1991, found in my manila file folder labeled "Smart Philosophy". This one was originally word processed by an unknown assistant to Smart; spelling and language are preserved as typewritten, except one four-letter word repeated:
“During the Fall and Winter of 1943-44 when I was assigned to the 247th Radar and Searchlight Battalion, our outfit was Camp Davis North Carolina. This camp was an anti-aircraft training center for training officers for the U.S. Army. … I can say one thing, it was real tough and hard doing 90 days of training both mentally and physically. … I used to say to myself. BOY! Is it worth the h _ _ _ they took to be an officer? … I was the communications Sargent in our outfit. I saw to it that the 600 miles of wire was layed right and worked, and that the command posts and headquarter’s post were wired and the switchboards were installed. … We had swamps, rivers, and highways to get around or cross over. … when you get into combat, there are so many telephone wire lines that it is like a spider web on both sides of every road … It was fun to get away and be on our own. It is like being in combat, but not being shot at. … We had night missions … they lasted from dark until about one in the morning. … down to the camp called Scears Landing … where we shot at towed targets pulled by a plane. … We furnished the big 60 inch searchlights that had a range of 30,000 feet, about 6 miles. We furnished the big 268 radars that had a range from horizon to horizon. … When we left Camp Davis, we went to Camp Stewart Georgia and then to Camp Gordon for advanced infantry training and from there to Germany to combat as foot soldiers. … It was different now I was just a regular old “doe boy” foot soldier, hoping to get home in one piece and not in a coffin or part of me left over there in that h _ _ _ hole of a country where it never seems to quit raining or snowing. I want to thank God that I got home safe and sound and all in one piece!” – Rowland Smart
