Back in the day, even a Medal of Honor winner was not exempt from KP, or being busted down to a private. None of that would happen today, probably.
Maybe because he was an enlisted man the brass had no sympathy for him, and they most likely did not bother to consider PTSD. Smith was the first enlisted member of the United States Army Air Forces to earn the Medal of Honor.
Staff Sergeant Maynard Smith of the 306th Bombardment Group, is presented with the Medal of Honor by Secretary of War Henry L Stimson in front of a B-17 Flying Fortress at Thurleigh Airfield, USAAF Station 111, England.
Staff Sergeant Smith's bomber was hit, rupturing a fuel tank and igniting a massive fire in the center of the fuselage. The damage was severe, knocking out communications and compromising the fuselage's integrity. Smith's ball turret lost power, and he scrambled out to assist the other crew members. Three crew members bailed out, while Smith tended to two others who were seriously wounded.
In between helping his wounded comrades, Smith also manned the .50 caliber machine guns and fought the raging fire. The heat from the fire was so intense that it began to melt the metal in the fuselage, threatening to break the plane in half.
For nearly 90 minutes, Smith alternated between shooting at attacking fighters, tending to the wounded, and fighting the fire. To starve the fire of fuel, he threw burning debris and exploding ammunition through the large holes that the fire had melted in the fuselage. After the fire extinguishers were exhausted, Smith finally managed to put the fire out, in part by urinating on it.
Smith's bomber reached England and landed at the first available airfield, where it broke in half as it touched down. It had been hit with more than 3,500 bullets and pieces of shrapnel. The three crew members who bailed out were never seen again and were presumed lost at sea, but Smith's efforts undoubtedly saved the lives of the six others aboard his aircraft.
Smith flew four more combat missions after earning the Medal of Honor, but was then grounded as a result of combat stress reaction/Post-traumatic stress disorder and was reassigned to non-combat clerical work. On December 17, 1944, he was forced to accept a reduction in rank to private for poor job performance, and was shortly thereafter permanently grounded.
Smith was sent home to the United States on February 2, 1945, and despite his transgressions, received a hero's welcome and a parade when he returned to his hometown. Smith was discharged from the U.S. Army on May 26, 1945. In his later years, he despised his time in the military and ran into legal troubles, but eventually retired quietly to Florida, dying of heart failure on May 11, 1984, in Saint Petersburg, at the age of 72. Maynard Harrison Smith is buried in Arlington National Cemetery, in Arlington, Virginia
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Maybe because he was an enlisted man the brass had no sympathy for him, and they most likely did not bother to consider PTSD. Smith was the first enlisted member of the United States Army Air Forces to earn the Medal of Honor.
Staff Sergeant Maynard Smith of the 306th Bombardment Group, is presented with the Medal of Honor by Secretary of War Henry L Stimson in front of a B-17 Flying Fortress at Thurleigh Airfield, USAAF Station 111, England.
Staff Sergeant Smith's bomber was hit, rupturing a fuel tank and igniting a massive fire in the center of the fuselage. The damage was severe, knocking out communications and compromising the fuselage's integrity. Smith's ball turret lost power, and he scrambled out to assist the other crew members. Three crew members bailed out, while Smith tended to two others who were seriously wounded.
In between helping his wounded comrades, Smith also manned the .50 caliber machine guns and fought the raging fire. The heat from the fire was so intense that it began to melt the metal in the fuselage, threatening to break the plane in half.
For nearly 90 minutes, Smith alternated between shooting at attacking fighters, tending to the wounded, and fighting the fire. To starve the fire of fuel, he threw burning debris and exploding ammunition through the large holes that the fire had melted in the fuselage. After the fire extinguishers were exhausted, Smith finally managed to put the fire out, in part by urinating on it.
Smith's bomber reached England and landed at the first available airfield, where it broke in half as it touched down. It had been hit with more than 3,500 bullets and pieces of shrapnel. The three crew members who bailed out were never seen again and were presumed lost at sea, but Smith's efforts undoubtedly saved the lives of the six others aboard his aircraft.
Smith flew four more combat missions after earning the Medal of Honor, but was then grounded as a result of combat stress reaction/Post-traumatic stress disorder and was reassigned to non-combat clerical work. On December 17, 1944, he was forced to accept a reduction in rank to private for poor job performance, and was shortly thereafter permanently grounded.
Smith was sent home to the United States on February 2, 1945, and despite his transgressions, received a hero's welcome and a parade when he returned to his hometown. Smith was discharged from the U.S. Army on May 26, 1945. In his later years, he despised his time in the military and ran into legal troubles, but eventually retired quietly to Florida, dying of heart failure on May 11, 1984, in Saint Petersburg, at the age of 72. Maynard Harrison Smith is buried in Arlington National Cemetery, in Arlington, Virginia
