Tech5 Clarence Lovert Smith was born in Barth, Florida on February 1, 1923, son of Frank (1879) and Hannah Smith (1869). In 1930, the family was living in Pine Barren where his father was a farmer and living off of Barth Road. Clarence was the youngest of seven children born to Frank and Hannah. He enlisted in the US Army on April 7, 1943 and was sent to Camp Blanding, Florida for processing and orientation. Afterwards he went off to basic training and upon completion was assigned to the 679th Tank Destroyer Battalion. The battalion was one of several that were comprised of black enlisted personnel with mostly white officers. It also has the distinction of being the last tank destroyer battalion to be activated in the war. As to the battalion's weapons, they were a "towed battalion" as of July 14, 1943 which meant they used halftracks to pull a 3" anti-tank artillery piece behind them.
Sometime after his enlistment in 1943, he married Sadie W. Smith (1914-1995) although there is very little information on her, other than she passed away in 1995 and was buried with him at Barrancas.
In the meantime, the battalion was assigned to the 92nd Infantry Division and arrived by train in Shank, New York on January 10, 1945. They set sail overseas where they disembarked in Le Havre, France eleven days later. But somewhere in this time period, Clarence was killed or died of non-combat disease or injuries on January 18, 1945. Records also show he was buried in 1949, which infers that he was brought back home from overseas for reinternment at Barrancas Cemetery. Regardless, he died in the service of his country and deserves all the honor thereof!
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