Note: His first name is listed as Thomas throughout the newspaper article cited.
Obituary from the Shreveport Times newspaper, Dec. 29, 1946, Sunday, p. 10:
Shreveport Funeral for Crash Victim – Brother of Man Killed at Natchitoches Stationed at Barksdale Field
Natchitoches, Dec. 28 (Special) – Thomas Shelton Smith, 43, of Beaumont, Texas, the pilot who was killed Friday night when his BT-13 plane crashed a quarter-mile south of the Natchitoches airport, was a brother of Sgt. Francis V. Smith of Barksdale Field, it was learned today.
Funeral services for Smith, who was employed a Beaumont transportation company, which has headquarters in Chicago, will be held at 3 p.m. Monday from the McCook Brothers funeral home in Shreveport with the Rev. Fred H. Wilhoit, pastor of the Broadacres Baptist church, officiating. Burial will be in the VFW plot in the Greenwood cemetery.
The pilot was apparently en route to Shreveport when the crash occurred. He had visited there a week ago, on his way from Beaumont to Chicago.
Before Thomas' plane crashed it came across the Natchitoches airport once, going from north to south, according to Fred Blevins, manager of the local field. After passing the airport, it attempted a turn about a quarter-mile south of the field then crashed, Blevins said. One wing dug into the ground, the plane crashed into a tree, and then overturned.
It crashed about 8:15 p.m., but it was after 11 o'clock before the pilot was removed from the wreckage.
Besides Sergeant Smith in Shreveport, Thomas Smith is survived by one sister, Mrs. Byron Lawrence of Amarillo, Texas. He was a member of the Woodmen of the World, Veterans of Foreign Wars and of the Shrine. His wife died several years ago.
Obituary from the Shreveport Times newspaper, Dec. 29, 1946, Sunday, p. 10:
Shreveport Funeral for Crash Victim – Brother of Man Killed at Natchitoches Stationed at Barksdale Field
Natchitoches, Dec. 28 (Special) – Thomas Shelton Smith, 43, of Beaumont, Texas, the pilot who was killed Friday night when his BT-13 plane crashed a quarter-mile south of the Natchitoches airport, was a brother of Sgt. Francis V. Smith of Barksdale Field, it was learned today.
Funeral services for Smith, who was employed a Beaumont transportation company, which has headquarters in Chicago, will be held at 3 p.m. Monday from the McCook Brothers funeral home in Shreveport with the Rev. Fred H. Wilhoit, pastor of the Broadacres Baptist church, officiating. Burial will be in the VFW plot in the Greenwood cemetery.
The pilot was apparently en route to Shreveport when the crash occurred. He had visited there a week ago, on his way from Beaumont to Chicago.
Before Thomas' plane crashed it came across the Natchitoches airport once, going from north to south, according to Fred Blevins, manager of the local field. After passing the airport, it attempted a turn about a quarter-mile south of the field then crashed, Blevins said. One wing dug into the ground, the plane crashed into a tree, and then overturned.
It crashed about 8:15 p.m., but it was after 11 o'clock before the pilot was removed from the wreckage.
Besides Sergeant Smith in Shreveport, Thomas Smith is survived by one sister, Mrs. Byron Lawrence of Amarillo, Texas. He was a member of the Woodmen of the World, Veterans of Foreign Wars and of the Shrine. His wife died several years ago.
Note: His first name is listed as Thomas throughout the newspaper article cited.
Obituary from the Shreveport Times newspaper, Dec. 29, 1946, Sunday, p. 10:
Shreveport Funeral for Crash Victim – Brother of Man Killed at Natchitoches Stationed at Barksdale Field
Natchitoches, Dec. 28 (Special) – Thomas Shelton Smith, 43, of Beaumont, Texas, the pilot who was killed Friday night when his BT-13 plane crashed a quarter-mile south of the Natchitoches airport, was a brother of Sgt. Francis V. Smith of Barksdale Field, it was learned today.
Funeral services for Smith, who was employed a Beaumont transportation company, which has headquarters in Chicago, will be held at 3 p.m. Monday from the McCook Brothers funeral home in Shreveport with the Rev. Fred H. Wilhoit, pastor of the Broadacres Baptist church, officiating. Burial will be in the VFW plot in the Greenwood cemetery.
The pilot was apparently en route to Shreveport when the crash occurred. He had visited there a week ago, on his way from Beaumont to Chicago.
Before Thomas' plane crashed it came across the Natchitoches airport once, going from north to south, according to Fred Blevins, manager of the local field. After passing the airport, it attempted a turn about a quarter-mile south of the field then crashed, Blevins said. One wing dug into the ground, the plane crashed into a tree, and then overturned.
It crashed about 8:15 p.m., but it was after 11 o'clock before the pilot was removed from the wreckage.
Besides Sergeant Smith in Shreveport, Thomas Smith is survived by one sister, Mrs. Byron Lawrence of Amarillo, Texas. He was a member of the Woodmen of the World, Veterans of Foreign Wars and of the Shrine. His wife died several years ago.
Obituary from the Shreveport Times newspaper, Dec. 29, 1946, Sunday, p. 10:
Shreveport Funeral for Crash Victim – Brother of Man Killed at Natchitoches Stationed at Barksdale Field
Natchitoches, Dec. 28 (Special) – Thomas Shelton Smith, 43, of Beaumont, Texas, the pilot who was killed Friday night when his BT-13 plane crashed a quarter-mile south of the Natchitoches airport, was a brother of Sgt. Francis V. Smith of Barksdale Field, it was learned today.
Funeral services for Smith, who was employed a Beaumont transportation company, which has headquarters in Chicago, will be held at 3 p.m. Monday from the McCook Brothers funeral home in Shreveport with the Rev. Fred H. Wilhoit, pastor of the Broadacres Baptist church, officiating. Burial will be in the VFW plot in the Greenwood cemetery.
The pilot was apparently en route to Shreveport when the crash occurred. He had visited there a week ago, on his way from Beaumont to Chicago.
Before Thomas' plane crashed it came across the Natchitoches airport once, going from north to south, according to Fred Blevins, manager of the local field. After passing the airport, it attempted a turn about a quarter-mile south of the field then crashed, Blevins said. One wing dug into the ground, the plane crashed into a tree, and then overturned.
It crashed about 8:15 p.m., but it was after 11 o'clock before the pilot was removed from the wreckage.
Besides Sergeant Smith in Shreveport, Thomas Smith is survived by one sister, Mrs. Byron Lawrence of Amarillo, Texas. He was a member of the Woodmen of the World, Veterans of Foreign Wars and of the Shrine. His wife died several years ago.
Inscription
WILLIAM
SHELTON
SMITH
GEORGIA
CPL. 2 REGT.
U.S.M.C.
WORLD WAR I
JUNE 3, 1902
DECEMBER 28, 1946
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