Paul Ray Smith
Smith in 2003
Born	(1969-09-24)September 24, 1969 El Paso, Texas, United States
Died	April 4, 2003(2003-04-04) (aged 33) Baghdad, Iraq
Buried	Arlington National Cemetery - Cenotaph (Ashes in Gulf of Mexico)
Allegiance	United States
Branch	United States Army
Service years	1989–2003
Rank	Sergeant First Class
Unit	11th Engineer Battalion,3rd Infantry Division
Conflicts	Gulf War Yugoslav Wars Bosnian War Kosovo War Iraq War Invasion of Iraq †
Awards	Medal of Honor Bronze Star Medal Purple Heart

Paul Ray Smith (September 24, 1969 – April 4, 2003) was aUnited States Army soldier who wasposthumously awarded theMedal of Honor for his actions during the2003 invasion of Iraq. While serving with B Company, 11th Engineer Battalion,3rd Infantry Division inBaghdad, his team was attacked by a group of Iraqi soldiers and after a firefight he was killed by Iraqi fire. For his actions during this battle he was awarded the Medal of Honor. Two years later, the medal, along with the newly approvedMedal of Honor flag, were presented to his family on behalf of him; specifically to his eleven-year-old son, at a White House ceremony by PresidentGeorge W. Bush.^[1]

Smith was born on September 24, 1969, inEl Paso, Texas, to Ivan Smith and Janice Pvirre, but when he was nine the family moved toTampa, Florida. As a child he attended public schools and enjoyed sports, especiallyAmerican football. He also liked riding skateboards and bicycles, playing pranks with his friends and younger sister Lisa. Inhigh school he became interested in carpentry, even finding a part-time job as a carpenter's assistant. He also liked to work on cars, especially old ones, and enjoyed taking things apart to see how they worked, even restoring a dune buggy with a friend. In 1989 he graduated fromTampa Bay Vocational Tech High School and shortly thereafter joined theUnited States Army in October 1989.^[2]

Smith attendedBasic Training atFort Leonard Wood, Missouri, in 1989, before being sent to Germany for his first duty station, where he joined the9th Engineer Battalion. Later, he served during theGulf War. He deployed with B company in October 1996 as part of the 2ndBrigade Combat Team, the covering force forOperation Joint Endeavor andOperation Joint Guardian; the battalion returned toSchweinfurt in April 1997.^[2] In 1999 he was posted to the 11th Engineer Battalion, with which he was deployed toKosovo in May 2001, where he was responsible for daily presence patrols in the town ofGnjilane. In the spring of 2002, he received a promotion tosergeant first class and completed the Advanced Non-Commissioned Officer Course in August 2002.^[2]

As part of the2003 invasion of Iraq, he was assigned to B Company, 11th Engineer Battalion of the3rd Infantry Division.

Smith's company was supporting the 2nd Battalion,7th Infantry Regiment as it made its way through theKarbala Gap, across theEuphrates River and toSaddam International Airport (BIAP) inBaghdad. On April 4, 2003, a 100-man force was assigned to block the highway between Baghdad and the airport, about one mile east of the airport. After a brief battle, several of the Iraqis were captured. Smith spotted a walled enclosure nearby with a tower overlooking it. He and his squad set about building an impromptuenemy prisoner of war (EPW) holding area in the enclosure. Smith and 16 other men used anArmored Combat Earthmover (similar to abulldozer) to knock a hole in the south wall of the courtyard. On the north side, there was a metal gate that Smith assigned several men to guard. These men noticed 50–100 Iraqi soldiers who had taken positions in trenches just beyond the gate. He summoned aBradley Fighting Vehicle to attack their position. Three nearbyM113 armored personnel carriers came to support the attack. An M113 was hit, possibly by amortar, and all three crewmen were wounded. The Bradley, damaged and running low on ammunition, withdrew to reload during a lull in the battle. Smith organized the evacuation of the injured M113 crewmen. However, behind the courtyard was a military aid station crowded with 100 combat casualties. To protect it from being overrun, Smith chose to fight on rather than withdraw with the wounded.^[3]

Meanwhile, some Iraqi soldiers had taken position in the tower overlooking the courtyard, just over the west wall. The Iraqis now had the Americans in the courtyard under an intense crossfire. Smith took command of the M113 and ordered a driver to position it so that he could attack both the tower and the trenches. He manned the M113'smachine gun, going through three boxes of ammunition. A separate team led byFirst Sergeant Tim Campbell attacked the tower from the rear, killing the Iraqis. As the battle ended, Smith's machine gun fell silent. His comrades found him slumped in the turret hatch. His armored vest was peppered with 13 bullet holes, the vest's ceramic armor inserts, both front and back, cracked in numerous places (the M113 he was manning was not fitted with protective ACAV gun shields which had been standard since the Vietnam War, later in the Iraq conflict, modern gunshields were fielded). However, the fatal shot, one of the last from the tower, had entered his neck and passed through his brain, killing him.^[4]

Before deploying to Iraq, Smith had written to his parents, saying "There are two ways to come home, stepping off the plane and being carried off the plane. It doesn't matter how I come home, because I am prepared to give all that I am to ensure that all my boys make it home."^[5] Smith was cremated and his ashes were scattered in theGulf of Mexico, where he loved to fish.

He has a memorial marker inArlington National CemeteryArlington, Virginia, and his marker can be found in memorial Section MD, lot 67.^[6] He also has a memorial at his high school outside of the school'sNavy Junior ROTC building.

At the time of his death Smith had served in the United States Army for thirteen years, and for his actions during the battle, he posthumously received theMedal of Honor. On April 4, 2005, exactly two years after he was killed, his eleven-year-old son David received the Medal of Honor on behalf of his father from PresidentGeorge W. Bush, along with a Medal of Honor flag.

Smith was married and had a son and a stepdaughter.^[7]

• SFC Smith also earned the German Marksmanship Badge and French Armed Forces Commando Badge.

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty:

Sergeant First Class Paul R. Smith distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action with an armed enemy near Baghdad International Airport, Baghdad, Iraq on April 4, 2003. On that day, Sergeant First Class Smith was engaged in the construction of a prisoner of war holding area when his Task Force was violently attacked by a company-sized enemy force. Realizing the vulnerability of over 100 soldiers, Sergeant First Class Smith quickly organized a hasty defense consisting of two platoons of soldiers, one Bradley Fighting Vehicle and three armored personnel carriers. As the fight developed, Sergeant First Class Smith braved hostile enemy fire to personally engage the enemy with hand grenades and anti-tank weapons, and organized the evacuation of three wounded soldiers from an armored personnel carrier struck by a rocket propelled grenade and a 60 mm mortar round. Fearing the enemy would overrun their defenses, Sergeant First Class Smith moved under withering enemy fire to man a .50 caliber machine gun mounted on a damaged armored personnel carrier. In total disregard for his own life, he maintained his exposed position in order to engage the attacking enemy force. During this action, he was mortally wounded. His courageous actions helped defeat the enemy attack, and resulted in as many as 50 enemy soldiers killed, while allowing the safe withdrawal of numerous wounded soldiers. Sergeant First Class Smith's extraordinary heroism and uncommon valor are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, the Third Infantry Division 'Rock of the Marne,' and the United States Army.^[8]

• In 2006, he was posthumously awarded theDe Fleury Medal (Gold Medal) from theUnited States Army Corps of Engineers presented by Lieutenant GeneralCarl A. Strock who was, at the time, theChief of Engineers.^[9]
• The Counter Explosive Hazards Center school house in Fort Leonard Wood, MO is named in Smith's honor.
• The U.S. Post Office in Holiday, Florida, and theUnited States Army Simulation and Training Technology Center in Orlando, Florida, have been named in his honor.^[10][11]
• New middle schools were named in honor in Holiday, Florida, on August 25, 2006, as well as one in Tampa, Florida Sgt. Paul R. Smith Middle School on August 18, 2008, and in his hometown of Tampa, Florida, on April 27, 2009.^[12]
• Smith is also honored in the America's Army Game with information about him and a simulation of his battle.^[13]
• Birgit Smith, Smith's widow, sponsored theUSS Freedom, the firstFreedom class littoral combat ship, and her initials are welded on the ship's keel.^[7] The couple'sSaint Christopher medal and wedding bands are also embedded in the ship's mast.^[14]
• New fitness centers atFort Benning andFort Stewart, Georgia, as well as one in Camp Victory, Baghdad, Iraq are named in his honor.^[15]
• The education center atFort Stewart is named in his honor.
• Smith's last battle is mentioned in the non-fiction bookWeapons. Key Weapons & Weapon Systems from 1860 to the Present.^[16]

Wikimedia Commons has media related toPaul Ray Smith.

• List of Medal of Honor recipients

• "Paul Ray Smith".Hall of Valor.Military Times. RetrievedJanuary 24, 2010.
• "OpinionJournal Federation - WSJ.com". RetrievedJuly 19, 2009.
• "Sergeant First Class Paul R. Smith, Medal of Honor".United States Army. March 28, 2005. RetrievedApril 4, 2005.
• Leary, Alex (January 25, 2004)."The Last Full Measure of Devotion".St. Petersburg Times. RetrievedNovember 10, 2004.
• Leary, Alex Leary (February 2, 2005)."Iraq hero joins hallowed group".St. Petersburg Times. RetrievedMarch 9, 2005.
• Myers, Steven Lee (September 23, 2003)."Medals for His Valor, Ashes for His Wife".The New York Times. RetrievedApril 2, 2005. (requires subscription).

• 1969 births
• 2003 deaths
• United States Army personnel of the Gulf War
• United States Army personnel of the Iraq War
• American military personnel killed in the Iraq War
• United States Army Medal of Honor recipients
• Military personnel from El Paso, Texas
• United States Army soldiers
• Burials at Arlington National Cemetery
• Iraq War recipients of the Medal of Honor
• United States Army personnel of the Kosovo War
• Military personnel from Tampa, Florida

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