Eulis Eugene Smith was born on November 6, 1909, in Asheville, Alabama. He was married to Margaret E. Smith. He served in the 368th Bomber Squadron, 306th Bomber Group, Heavy, as a Staff Sergeant and Tail Gunner of B-17F #41-24514 during World War II.

On March 8, 1943, the B-17F #41-24514 departed Station 111 at Thurleigh, Bedfordshire, at 11:45 on a mission against the Rennes marshalling yards in France. At 14:30, over Plouguenast (Côtes-d’Armor, France), the bomber was attacked and shot down by a German Fw 190 fighter. The crew bailed out by parachute; however, the pilot was killed when his chute failed to open at low altitude. The majority of the crew were captured and spent the remainder of the war as prisoners, while one evaded capture and made it back to the United Kingdom with assistance from the local resistance and a fishing boat escape.

SSgt Smith was taken as a prisoner of war and held at Stalag 17B in Braunau Gneikendorf. After being freed, he returned to duty with the 342nd Bomb Squadron, 97th Bomb Group. He was Killed in Action on July 13, 1950, when his aircraft, B-50D Superfortress (#49-267) from Biggs Field, Texas, crashed near Mason, Ohio, killing all 16 crew members. The bomber carried a nuclear bomb without a fuel cell, which exploded on impact, leaving a massive crater. No distress call was received, and conflicting reports of weather and an engine fire left the cause a mystery. He is now buried in the Chattanooga National Cemetery, Chattanooga, Hamilton County, Tennessee, USA.

Source of information: francecrashes39-45.net, www.findagrave.com