Roll of Honor

Smith, Robert Kenneth

Sergeant Robert Kenneth Smith joined the U.S. Army Air Force shortly after enrolling at MTSU in 1943. He graduated from Rockvale High School. He served as a ball turrent gunner on bomber, perhaps the most hazardous position on the aircraft, during bombing raids over Europe. Shortly after takeoff on January 29, 1945, Smith’s plane made an evasive maneuver to avoid a crippled bomber attempting an emergency landing but collided with another plane and crashed. Sergeant Smith is buried at Stones River National Cemetery in Murfreesboro, TN.