World War II pilot recalls dangerous combat mission

This airman is credited with destroying 12 German enemy aircraft.
By WILLIAM K. ALCORN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Luther H. Smith, a member of the famed all-black Tuskegee Airmen of World War II, is the keynote speaker for the Donald Lockett VFW Post 6488's 45th anniversary banquet.
Capt. Smith was severely injured on his 133rd combat mission on Oct. 13, 1944, when he parachuted unconscious from his burning P-51 Mustang fighter. The plane caught fire after being damaged in an explosion that occurred while he was flying close to the ground, firing at a freight yard near Zagreb, Yugoslavia.
In a story in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Smith explained what happened that day.
The explosion caused the engine coolant leak; the engine then seized up and caught fire, and he was forced to evacuate, he said.
There were no ejection seats in those days, and the procedure was to pop the canopy, flip the plane upside down, fall free and then open the chute.
Smith said the plane went into a tailspin, and not knowing how to get out of a plane in a tailspin, he tried to right the plane while he was half in and half out of the cockpit.
However, his foot was wedged between the brake pedal and rudder bar. His oxygen mask was ripped off by the wind, and he lost consciousness, his chute opened and he was ripped from the cockpit snapping his right hip in the process.
In enemy territory
When he regained consciousness, he was coming down into some trees in which German soldiers found him hanging, he said. He was taken prisoner and hospitalized for seven months until V-E Day in May 1945. He then spent two years in U.S. hospitals until being discharged from the Air Force because of his injuries. He was 27.
Smith told The Inquirer that he is proud of the all-black 332nd Fighter Group of the Tuskegee Airmen, which escorted bombers of the 15th Air Force on 200 missions over enemy targets without the loss of a single bomber to enemy aircraft.
Smith, who trained at Tuskegee Army Air Field in Alabama in 1942 and 1943, was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in an aerial flight, the Air Medal with six Oak Leaf Clusters -- meaning he received the medal seven times -- for meritorious achievement while participating in an aerial flight. He also received the Purple Heart for being wounded, the Prisoner of War Medal and the European and Mediterranean Theater Campaign Ribbons. He was credited with destroying two German enemy aircraft in aerial combat and 10 German aircraft in ground strafing missions.
Other accomplishments
Originally of Des Moines, Iowa, Smith graduated in 1950 from the University of Iowa with a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering and in 1977 from Penn State University with a master of science degree in engineering.
He worked for General Electric 37 years before retiring in 1988. He was awarded two patents, published numerous technical documents and worked on special assignments with the Air Force, NASA and the Navy Submarine Command.
In April 1994, he was inducted into the State of Iowa Aviation Hall of Fame for his achievements in World War II and his technical contributions to the aerospace industry.
The Tuskegee Airmen were trained as military pilots at the Division of Aeronautics of Tuskegee Institute and Tuskegee Army Air Field in Alabama. The first classes of the airmen were trained to be fighter pilots for the 99th Fighter Squadron, slated for combat duty in North Africa. Additional pilots were assigned to the 322d Fighter Group, which flew combat along with the 99th Squadron from bases in Italy.
By the end of the war, 992 men had graduated from pilot training at Tuskegee, 450 of whom were sent overseas for combat assignment. About 150 lost their lives during training or combat flights.