Photo By Sgt. Tara Cook | Sgt. 1st Class Paul R. Smith’s son, David, and sister, Lisa Devane, joined Maj. Gen....... read more read more
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FORT STEWART, Ga. - To honor the noble-minded behavior of Medal of Honor recipient Sgt. 1st Class Paul R. Smith, a ceremony to unveil a statue in his memory was held today at the Sgt. 1st Class Paul R. Smith Education Center on Fort Stewart.
Smith’s son, David, and sister, Lisa Devane, joined Maj. Gen. John M. Murray, 3rd Infantry Division commanding general, and Command Sgt. Major Edd Watson, 3rd ID command sergeant major, in unveiling the statue.
“This is a beautiful tribute,” Devane began. “Paul Ray was about his Soldiers all the time and knowing that this particular building is for Soldiers and their families to further their education and their careers makes it a wonderful place for the tribute.”
Joined by Soldiers that served alongside Smith, David spoke of his father saying, “Every story I have heard about my father – it’s not about himself; it’s always about other people.” Swelling with pride David continued, “As humbling as it is and as nice of a ceremony as it is – I know he wouldn’t want it to be about him; he would want it to be about the Soldiers he served.”
The bronze sculpture, donated and crafted by Bruce Everly of Everly Sculpture, weighs in at approximately 35 pounds and attempts to capture a few of Smith’s characteristics: heroism, seriousness, dedication and great compassion.
Smith is one of the many American heroes that Everly has sculpted and explained, “I do them because I think it is so important for us as a society to understand the character that fueled these heroes to do what they did – to ignore their own personal safety and to dedicate themselves to each other and to freedom.”
Smith joined the Army in 1988, and, as his mother wrote in his biography, “began living his dream.” Smith was ordered to Germany where he met and married his wife, Birgit, had two children and was “doing what he was born to do…lead American Soldiers…”
In January 2003, Smith began to prepare his men for rapid deployment to Kuwait as part of the 3rd Infantry Division’s buildup for Operation Iraqi Freedom. Smith took a strict approach to training his men, ensuring his platoon was proficient in handling weapons and prepared for urban combat. Crossing the border on March 19, more than 300 kilometers were traveled in the first 48 hours of the war as part of the lead company in support of Task Force 2-7 Infantry. On the night of April 3, Smith and his men passed through the Karbala Gap towards Baghdad International Airport, where Bravo Company, 11th Engineer Battalion of Task Force 2-7 was involved in a firefight with Iraqi Forces. In view of his heroic acts, Sgt. 1st Class Paul R. Smith was awarded the Medal of Honor.
While many questions were asked and answered, David summed up his father’s perspective of service best with the following statement, “It is every Soldiers’ hard work and dedication that gets the job done.”
| Date Taken: | 04.04.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 04.04.2014 14:15 |
| Story ID: | 124327 |
| Location: | FORT STEWART, GEORGIA, US |
| Web Views: | 154 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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