Joseph Francis Smith served in the 562nd Bomber Squadron, 388th Bomber Group, Heavy, as a Staff Sergeant and Waist Gunner on the B-17G #42-31115 "Hell's Bells" during World War II. He survived the air crash on February 10, 1944, when the aircraft he was in was shot down by flak and crashed at Heemskerk near Uitgeest, The Netherlands.