Lawrence Dewitt Smith was born at Apison, Tennessee to Leonard Kelly Smith and Dessie Mosteller.
He served with Company A, 48th Armored Infantry Battalion, 7th Armored Division. He died during the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium.
The Chattanooga Daily Times, 20 November 1947:
The body of T5 Lawrence DeWitt Smith, son of Mrs. Dessie Moore, 2505 Ocoee Street, who was killed in action Dec. 22, 1944, while serving with the Fourth Armored Division in the Battle of the Bulge, will arrive here at noon today. Funeral services for the Hardy Junior High and Central High School graduate will be held from the East Chattanooga Church of Christ. Interment will be in Greenwood Cemetery with military honors at the graveside.
Cpl. Smith was employed at the Broad Street Garage for some time after completing his high school work. At the time of his enlistment in May, 1942, he was an employee of the National Carbon Company in Cleveland, Ohio. The 27-year-old infantryman arrived overseas in June, 1944 and was assigned to Company A, 48th Armored Infantry Battalion, with which he served until killed in action. He was first interred in Belgium.
Cpl. Smith is survived by his mother; stepfather, Samuel T. Moore; stepsisters, Mrs. Ollie Jones, Norfolk, Va.; Mrs. George McBrayer, Mrs. A.J. Poole, Mrs. O.O. Hughes, Mrs. F.F. Skipper and a stepbrother, Clarence W. Moore, all of Chattanooga, and several uncles and aunts.
- Rank: Technician Fifth Class
- Date of birth: 24 January 1918
- Date of death: 22 December 1944
- County: Hamilton
- Hometown: Apison
- Service Branch: Army/Army Air Forces
- Division/Assignment: 48th Armored Infantry Battalion, 7th Armored Division
- Theater: Europe
- Conflict: World War II
- Battles: Battle of the Bulge
- Awards: Purple Heart
- Burial/Memorial Location: Greenwood Cemetery, Chattanooga, Hamilton County, TN
- Location In Memorial: Pillar XI, Top Panel
- Sponsored by: John B. Romeiser
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