Who was the real Pvt. Joe Snuffy?

Photo By Kaitlin Knauer | Doc Jargon, cutting through the jargon that is the U.S. Army. Send your Army terminology questions to [e-mail] This column features how to take care of money matters using free resources provided by the Army.  

KS, UNITED STATES

05.02.2022

Story by Collen McGee 

Fort Riley Public Affairs Office

Dear Doc Jargon,

My spouse keeps coming home talking about Pvt. Joe Snuffy as if he was just some random Soldier who actu­ally exists and is constantly messing up or is about to make a huge mistake. Now, I know that Private Snuffy is a generic term for any Soldier who doesn’t live up to perfection, Army style, but I’m cu­rious as to where the name comes from. Was there ever a real Private Snuffy?

Signed,
Curious about Snuffy

Dear Curious,

Well, I have a theory, but I can’t prove it. However, it is at least plausible. During World War I, a Soldier was generically referred to as a Johnny. Eventu­ally the term changed and even before World War II Soldiers were being called GI Joes. It stood for Government Issue Joe and was used as a generic term for U.S. enlisted Soldiers. This term stuck through the Korean War and the Vietnam War. During those last two conflicts, the enemy would use the name in derogatory ways in radio programs designed to unsettle Soldiers and play mind games with them. It was a form of psychological warfare.

Now, here is the piece that is real and I believe it takes us from GI Joe to Joe Snuffy. There was a Staff Sergeant named Maynard Harrison “Snuffy” Smith who served in the United States Army Air Forces as an aerial gunner aboard a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber in World War II. He was given the choice of jail or the Army. He chose the Army and at the age of 31, entered basic training. It was reported that he hated taking orders from men younger than him so he volunteered for Aerial Gun­nery School and was promoted quickly for his effort. His first mission out, was historic. He received the Medal of Honor for his heroic conduct that saved his crew on that initial flight and then was demoted to the rank of private for some other kind of conduct later. In fact, records show he missed his Medal of Honor ceremony because he was pulling Kitch­en Patrol as a consequence of some of his non-heroic behavior.

So, in current times, I think GI Joe and Staff. Sgt. Snuffy have morphed into one leg­endary, or slightly infamous junior enlisted person.

That’s my theory and you can read more about the real Snuffy and Medal of Honor recipient here:
https://www.cmohs.org/recipients/maynard-h-smith-sr
And here:
https://www.mightyeighth.org/medal-of-honor-ssg-maynard-snuffy-smith/

Sincerely,
Doc Jargon

Doc Jargon, cutting through the jargon that is the U.S. Army. Send your Army terminology questions to [e-mail].

• Date Taken: 05.02.2022
• Date Posted: 05.02.2022 17:09
• Story ID: 419782
• Location: KS, US