Sergeant, U.S. Army Air Corps
Autley B. Smith grew up in West Monroe, Louisiana. While a sophomore at LSU, he left school, married his childhood sweetheart, Nettie Hickman and volunteered for service in the Army Air Corps. He served with the 8th Air Force, 486th Bombardment Group, as nose gunner for the B-24 Liberator bomber named “Mike-the Spirit of LSU.”
In the final flight of “Mike-the Spirit of LSU,” Smith was forced to parachute over German-occupied Belgium. He managed to evade German capture for six months until General George S. Patton's Army arrived. He made lifelong friends of dozens of brave Belgian patriots who helped him escape German troops. He is the author of the book “A Place Remembered,” which recounts his heroic World War II experiences.
Smith returned to LSU and graduated in 1948 with a degree in forestry. He was an avid outdoorsman who lived and worked in Monroe, Louisiana, in the forestry industry until his death in 2018.