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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, More than 44 years ago, U.S. Army Sergeant James |
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Warren Smith of Houston sacrificed his own life to save the life of |
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a brother soldier in Vietnam, and his heroism that day continues to |
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ring down the decades as an inspiration to those who hold his memory |
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dear; and |
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WHEREAS, In the summer of 1968, Sergeant Smith, a medic with |
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the Green Berets, was serving his second 12-month tour of duty in |
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Vietnam at a Special Forces airborne base in Dar Lac province; the |
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base was an outpost of makeshift barracks, bunkers, and tents, |
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encompassed by sandbags and barbed wire, overlooked by hills, and |
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surrounded by a jungle full of Viet Cong guerillas; and |
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WHEREAS, There, Sergeant Smith befriended a younger soldier |
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named Linwood Hughes, a 21-year-old North Carolinian serving with |
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the 4th Infantry Division; Sergeant Smith stood nearly six feet |
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tall, while Mr. Hughes stood only five-four, and the two friends |
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came to be known as "Mutt and Jeff"; as the more experienced |
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soldier, Sergeant Smith took Mr. Hughes under his wing and showed |
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him the ropes; and |
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WHEREAS, On the afternoon of August 23, 1968, the Viet Cong |
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began dropping mortar rounds onto the base, and Sergeant Smith and |
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Mr. Hughes raced to their mortar emplacement and began to return |
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fire; as Mr. Hughes handed the sergeant a mortar shell, an enemy |
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round exploded just in front of the men, wounding them both |
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severely; and |
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WHEREAS, Ignoring his own injuries, Sergeant Smith carried |
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his comrade into a bunker and then collapsed; as Mr. Hughes kept |
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pressure on his friend's wound, he promised him that he would find |
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the sergeant's family and tell them of the strength and courage that |
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he had shown that day; at the time of his death, Sergeant Smith was |
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only 26 years old; and |
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WHEREAS, Sergeant Smith was posthumously awarded the Silver |
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Star and a Bronze Star; Mr. Hughes went on to complete two tours of |
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duty in Vietnam and to earn a Silver Star and a Bronze Star as well; |
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and |
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WHEREAS, Because Sergeant Smith's name was a common one, it |
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took many years for Mr. Hughes to find his family, but in 2000, he |
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was at last able to fulfill his promise in an emotional 90-minute |
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phone conversation with the sergeant's mother, Oleta Smith of |
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Dumas; subsequently, Mr. Hughes met with James Smith's family at |
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the sergeant's gravesite at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery; |
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extending a bond that had been forged some three decades earlier, |
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half a world away; and |
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WHEREAS, A true American hero, Sergeant James Smith not only |
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lived up to the highest ideals of the U.S. armed forces, he |
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exemplified the supreme act of selflessness that is extolled in |
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John 15:13 in the Holy Bible, "Greater love has no one than this, |
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that he lay down his life for his friends"; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 83rd Texas |
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Legislature hereby commemorate the life and heroism of Sergeant |
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James Warren Smith; and, be it further |
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RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
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prepared for his family as an expression of high regard by the Texas |
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House of Representatives. |