Pub. 59 2018-2019 Issue 4

28 During this time, Smitty somehow convinced Lenora to marry him. A young man from a small Texas town, marrying a beautiful sophisticated co-ed from Houston, they were married in October 1943. Smitty was then transferred to The Little Creek Amphibious Training base in Virginia In April 1944 he was shipped to England and reported to Landing Craft Tank 612 as Officer-in- charge At the age of 23… on DDay, June 6th 1944… carrying 40 demolition engineers, explosives and one tank, Smitty’s LCT landed on the first wave of Omaha Beach known as Dog Red Beach. The engineer’s jobs were to get ashore and take out the German gun placements with their explosives. Smitty’s ship, nicknamed and painted on the bow … was “The Texas Longhorns.” The ship suffered three direct hits from German artillery, one shell bursting through the port side and exploding in the galley, flooding the engine room and drowning out all three engines. Smitty always said… "the Germans shelled our ship because we had the longest nickname — and they thought we had to be important." The officers and crew, in spite of tremendous gun fire, heavy surf and strong winds, successfully maintained flotation and deployed the engineers and the tank. Smitty and his crew, however, painfully watched as all 40 engineers were killed by German gun fire going ashore. The crew was able to wench the ship off the beach and with the aid of another LCT, they were towed to the Battleship Texas waiting 12 miles offshore. A recommendation was issued for a citation for Smitty, his second officer and the entire crew for meritorious performance above and beyond the call of duty, and on February 10, Smitty was elevated to rank of Lieutenant. He was later awarded the Purple Heart for an injury incurred during battle. This was ‘Truly The Greatest Generation.’ In 1946 upon being released from the Navy, Smitty used his salesmanship once again and convinced Lenora they needed to move to Yorktown so he could join his father at the dealership. He told her, “ it will be just a few years, then we will move to Houston and buy a dealership.” However, His father died a year later and Smitty became the dealer at age 26. Those few years he had promised turned into 20. Smitty and Lenora had five children – Bill, Charles, Len, and Ursula all 14 to 20 months apart, and then 7 years after the birth of Ursula, Lenora tells Smitty she is pregnant once again. Being the good catholic girl, she says, “ it is a gift from God.” However, during my high school and college years, Smitty had a much different description. Finally, in 1965 Lenora convinced Smitty it was time to move the family to Houston. If it weren’t for my mother, I am not sure Smitty, would have ever left Yorktown. Every day at noon he would make the short four minute drive home, eat lunch, take a nap in his reclining chair and could still be back at the office by 1:30. But, in the summer of ‘65 our family moved to Houston. Smitty met Bill Russell and together they bought out Bill’s father and his  TADA LEGEND — CONTINUED ON PAGE 31