Clarence Howard Smith was a son of Joel Sumner Smith (b. Sep 1861 in New Hampshire) and his wife Mary "Bessie" Baese (b. November 1869 in New York, New York County, New York State). Clarence married on 4 August 1911 in the Town of Rye, Westchester County, New York, to Margaret Fitch Wilgus, daughter of renowned civil engineer William John Wilgus. In the 1915 New York Census, Clarence is listed as a salesman living (at 2 Lafayette Avenue) in the village of White Plains, Town of White Plains, Westchester County, with his wife and their two year old son Clarence Aldrich Smith (who later served in WWII).
He was Inducted into the United States Army on 6 May 1918 during World War One. The Army had issued a call for "high quality" volunteers for service with tanks. The type of men sought for duty were those of a "daring and adventurous spirit. . . . unafraid in any dilemma". and who were "cool and calculating and able to take the long chance." (The American Expeditionary Forces Tank Corps in World War I: From Creation to Combat, by Dale F. Wilson, 12 March 1988, page 65, https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a192722.pdf ). Following tank corps recruit training at Camp Colt, Pennsylvania (the first post to train soldiers to use tanks during World War I) and additional training at Bovington Camp and Lulworth Camp in Dorset, England, Clarence served as a corporal in Company A, 303rd Battalion, Heavy Tank Corps, American Expeditionary Forces, from 14 August 1918 until illness forced his hospitalization. Although the Armistice of 11 November 1918 ended combat, Clarence and the 303rd remained on alert. A formal state of war between the two sides persisted for another seven months, until the signing of the Treaty of Versailles with Germany on 28 June 1919. (The United States Senate did not ratify the treaty despite public support for it.)
Clarence developed endocarditis, which generally occurs when bacteria, fungi or other germs spread through your bloodstream and attach to damaged areas in your heart. Because he was young and healthy, the endocarditis likely was a complication from suffering from the Spanish Flu, from a minor wound from knocking about during training and maintenance, or other cause. Returning to America on the Hospital Ship "Comfort", he died at sea on 10 March 1919.
His widow Margaret died just two months later, on 31 May 1919; his parents and brother Percy Leroy Smith are listed in the New York State 1925 census as the family for their orphaned son.
Contributor: Mark (48425187) •
He was Inducted into the United States Army on 6 May 1918 during World War One. The Army had issued a call for "high quality" volunteers for service with tanks. The type of men sought for duty were those of a "daring and adventurous spirit. . . . unafraid in any dilemma". and who were "cool and calculating and able to take the long chance." (The American Expeditionary Forces Tank Corps in World War I: From Creation to Combat, by Dale F. Wilson, 12 March 1988, page 65, https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a192722.pdf ). Following tank corps recruit training at Camp Colt, Pennsylvania (the first post to train soldiers to use tanks during World War I) and additional training at Bovington Camp and Lulworth Camp in Dorset, England, Clarence served as a corporal in Company A, 303rd Battalion, Heavy Tank Corps, American Expeditionary Forces, from 14 August 1918 until illness forced his hospitalization. Although the Armistice of 11 November 1918 ended combat, Clarence and the 303rd remained on alert. A formal state of war between the two sides persisted for another seven months, until the signing of the Treaty of Versailles with Germany on 28 June 1919. (The United States Senate did not ratify the treaty despite public support for it.)
Clarence developed endocarditis, which generally occurs when bacteria, fungi or other germs spread through your bloodstream and attach to damaged areas in your heart. Because he was young and healthy, the endocarditis likely was a complication from suffering from the Spanish Flu, from a minor wound from knocking about during training and maintenance, or other cause. Returning to America on the Hospital Ship "Comfort", he died at sea on 10 March 1919.
His widow Margaret died just two months later, on 31 May 1919; his parents and brother Percy Leroy Smith are listed in the New York State 1925 census as the family for their orphaned son.
Contributor: Mark (48425187) •
Clarence Howard Smith was a son of Joel Sumner Smith (b. Sep 1861 in New Hampshire) and his wife Mary "Bessie" Baese (b. November 1869 in New York, New York County, New York State). Clarence married on 4 August 1911 in the Town of Rye, Westchester County, New York, to Margaret Fitch Wilgus, daughter of renowned civil engineer William John Wilgus. In the 1915 New York Census, Clarence is listed as a salesman living (at 2 Lafayette Avenue) in the village of White Plains, Town of White Plains, Westchester County, with his wife and their two year old son Clarence Aldrich Smith (who later served in WWII).
He was Inducted into the United States Army on 6 May 1918 during World War One. The Army had issued a call for "high quality" volunteers for service with tanks. The type of men sought for duty were those of a "daring and adventurous spirit. . . . unafraid in any dilemma". and who were "cool and calculating and able to take the long chance." (The American Expeditionary Forces Tank Corps in World War I: From Creation to Combat, by Dale F. Wilson, 12 March 1988, page 65, https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a192722.pdf ). Following tank corps recruit training at Camp Colt, Pennsylvania (the first post to train soldiers to use tanks during World War I) and additional training at Bovington Camp and Lulworth Camp in Dorset, England, Clarence served as a corporal in Company A, 303rd Battalion, Heavy Tank Corps, American Expeditionary Forces, from 14 August 1918 until illness forced his hospitalization. Although the Armistice of 11 November 1918 ended combat, Clarence and the 303rd remained on alert. A formal state of war between the two sides persisted for another seven months, until the signing of the Treaty of Versailles with Germany on 28 June 1919. (The United States Senate did not ratify the treaty despite public support for it.)
Clarence developed endocarditis, which generally occurs when bacteria, fungi or other germs spread through your bloodstream and attach to damaged areas in your heart. Because he was young and healthy, the endocarditis likely was a complication from suffering from the Spanish Flu, from a minor wound from knocking about during training and maintenance, or other cause. Returning to America on the Hospital Ship "Comfort", he died at sea on 10 March 1919.
His widow Margaret died just two months later, on 31 May 1919; his parents and brother Percy Leroy Smith are listed in the New York State 1925 census as the family for their orphaned son.
Contributor: Mark (48425187) •
He was Inducted into the United States Army on 6 May 1918 during World War One. The Army had issued a call for "high quality" volunteers for service with tanks. The type of men sought for duty were those of a "daring and adventurous spirit. . . . unafraid in any dilemma". and who were "cool and calculating and able to take the long chance." (The American Expeditionary Forces Tank Corps in World War I: From Creation to Combat, by Dale F. Wilson, 12 March 1988, page 65, https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a192722.pdf ). Following tank corps recruit training at Camp Colt, Pennsylvania (the first post to train soldiers to use tanks during World War I) and additional training at Bovington Camp and Lulworth Camp in Dorset, England, Clarence served as a corporal in Company A, 303rd Battalion, Heavy Tank Corps, American Expeditionary Forces, from 14 August 1918 until illness forced his hospitalization. Although the Armistice of 11 November 1918 ended combat, Clarence and the 303rd remained on alert. A formal state of war between the two sides persisted for another seven months, until the signing of the Treaty of Versailles with Germany on 28 June 1919. (The United States Senate did not ratify the treaty despite public support for it.)
Clarence developed endocarditis, which generally occurs when bacteria, fungi or other germs spread through your bloodstream and attach to damaged areas in your heart. Because he was young and healthy, the endocarditis likely was a complication from suffering from the Spanish Flu, from a minor wound from knocking about during training and maintenance, or other cause. Returning to America on the Hospital Ship "Comfort", he died at sea on 10 March 1919.
His widow Margaret died just two months later, on 31 May 1919; his parents and brother Percy Leroy Smith are listed in the New York State 1925 census as the family for their orphaned son.
Contributor: Mark (48425187) •
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