Ex-Airman recalls challenges of life and war combat

The pilot said he almost died four times on his last mission.
By D.A. WILKINSON
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Luther H. Smith is still on a mission almost 60 years after he flew with the Tuskegee Airmen during World War II.
Smith, 81, of Villanova, Pa., tells of his own harrowing war experiences as well as the drive of his fellow black pilots who initially were not allowed to fly.
"We didn't start out to be heroes, but now we're legends," Smith said.
The former captain was the featured speaker at the 45th anniversary banquet of Donald Lockett VFW Post 6488 in Youngstown, which was Saturday evening at Willow Creek Banquet Hall in Girard.
Smith said he uses the talks as a sounding board to guide him in his latest mission -- writing a book called "Accepting the Challenge."
The book describes the three keys -- education, training and determination -- that Smith said sustained him through combat and the rest of his life.
"Learning and education are lifelong experiences," Smith said.
Inspired to fly
A son of a newsman turned salesman who settled in Des Moines, Iowa, Smith wanted to become a pilot after Charles A. Lindbergh made his famous New York-to-Paris flight.
Smith began hitching rides to hang around the Des Moines airport. He said he also began studying mechanical engineering, thinking it might help him become a pilot.
Smith said he was accepted for training after a lawsuit forced the Army to reverse its ban on black pilots. And that training, he said, kept him alive.
"It takes very special training to carry out a mission to take out an enemy target," he said. "You want to spend as little time and effort as possible. If you are trained, you are able to do it again and again and again."
And Smith did until Friday, Oct. 13, 1944, when he was scheduled to fly his 133rd and officially final combat mission.
"I thought it was going to be over," Smith added.
The final mission
He and his fellow fighter pilots accompanied bombers in a mission over Hungary. After the mission, the 64-plane squadron first strafed the airport at Budapest.
Smith said he shot up one bomber parked on the ground and went back and destroyed a second while he was flying just a few feet above the ground.
Smith and the other pilots then strafed railroad cars. One of his shots caused a huge explosion, and he had to fly through it.
"It blew out the windows; it blew out part of the tail, and it buckled the wings," Smith said.
His plane also was leaking coolant and soon burst into flames. He bailed out while in a tailspin, shattering his right hip and blacking out. He awoke to find he was descending head first with his parachute in tatters, but trees broke his fall. He spent seven months in a prisoner-of-war camp.
He said his survival was a miracle because, "I almost died four times."
He never flew a plane again.
Life's work
In his career, he was credited with destroying 10 planes on the ground and two in aerial combat. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Purple Heart and the Prisoner of War Medal.
He went on to work on the cutting edge of the aerospace industry for General Electric for his entire civilian career and was awarded two patents.
Before World War II, the attitude in America toward blacks was deplorable, Smith continued. But during the war, everyone was either in uniform or supporting the war effort.
When the Tuskegee Airmen had the chance, they showed their determination.
"The attitude we had was, 'We're going to show them,'" said Smith.
wilkinson@vindy.com