Ray Clifford Smith, Jr.

WORLD WAR II

Private First Class Ray Clifford Smith, Jr.

U.S. Army

January 17, 1918 – November 21, 1944

Citations: Purple Heart, Medal of Liberty

PFC Ray Clifford Smith, Jr. joined the 47th Infantry Regiment of the 9th Infantry Division, nicknamed “the Raiders,” at the start of his service. He served as medic, a most brave and challenging role. On D-Day+4, 1944, the 47th Regiment landed on Utah Beach in Normandy, France. By mid-June, PFC Smith’s unit combat patrols were in contact with the Germans, and on June 28 went on to capture the port and town of Cherbourg. 

They then advanced to be the first Allied troops to set foot in Belgium and move forward toward Germany by breaching the Siegfried Line on September 14.

That path was straight into the Hurtgen Forest, where PFC Smith was killed on November 21, 1944 during the longest battle on German soil in World War II. His remains were interred in the Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery, Hombourg, Brussels along with those of another Lincolnite, Technical Sergeant Edwin Seeger.