S1c Mack Lawrence Smith

Mack Lawrence Smith was born March 26, 1918 in Adair County in far eastern Oklahoma on the Arkansas border. His mother, Margarett Clementine Mullinix Smith, was a homemaker and his father, James Smith, a farmer.

Mack, identified in the 1920 Census as McToley, was the second oldest of at least three children. The family lived in tiny Lee Creek. His mother died in January 1928 and by June 1930 the father had reportedly married Mary Smith, a part Cherokee woman. Mack was not in school.

Young Mr. Smith enlisted in the Navy on Oct. 4, 1940. He was a seaman first class on the U.S.S. Arizona when he was killed in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941.

Sources: Census; Navy muster roll; the Stillwell (Oklahoma) Democrat-Journal. This profile was researched and written on behalf of the U.S.S. Arizona Mall Memorial at the University of Arizona.