SMITH, Robert Nelson

Lt. General Robert Nelson Smith, Ret., United States Air Force, died in Phoenix after a long illness on Thursday, April 8th, 2004. He is survived by his loving wife, Sheau Mei, two daughters, Terri and Bobbe, and five grandchildren, Helen, Ted, Rob, Sean, and Ryan. He was a long time resident of Litchfield Park, Az. He was born in 1915 in Burlington, Massachusetts, graduated from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. He enlisted in the Army Air Corps in 1941 and served in the Pacific theater as a bomber pilot during WWII. His career was varied, topped off by a ten year stint as SAC director of intelligence in the fifties and sixties. He ended his military career stationed in South Korea as the Chief of Staff of the U.N. command and US forces in Korea. He retired in 1973. He was a member of the Board of Overseers of Bowdoin College and a trustee of Fryberg Academy in Maine. His military honors include the Distinguished Flying Cross, Distinguished Service Medal, Soldier's Medal, Air Medal, and Army Commendation Medal. He was a wonderful husband, father and grandfather. He was deeply loved and we will miss him greatly. Published in the Arizona Republic on 4/12/2004.