Reginald V. Smith

Reginald Vinson Smith (September 15, 1925 - February 7, 1946 (aged 20)) was an U.S. Army Air Corps Flight Officer and pilot with the 332nd Fighter Group, best known as the Tuskegee Airmen, "Red Tails," or “Schwartze Vogelmenschen” ("Black Birdmen") among enemy German pilots.
He was the younger brother of Graham Smith, the first African American US Military combat fighter pilot to land on foreign soil in North Africa, at Oued N’ja in French Morocco.
Early Life, Family
Smith was born on September 15, 1925, in the agricultural community of Ahoskie, North Carolina, Hertford County. He was the son of Dempsey Porter Smith (1885-1976) and Zeora L. Smith (1902-1985).
His ten siblings included physician Yvonnecris, brother Roger Smith, half sister Annie Marietta Smith-Randolph, half-sister Raleigh Bledsoe Smith, half-brother Edward Nathaniel Smith, brother Roger Vann "Smitty" Smith, sister Mildred Evelyn Smith (1913-1935) and older brother Graham Smith ("Peepsight") (April 19, 1919 - April 30, 1951), an U.S. Army Air Corps officer and combat fighter pilot with the 332nd Fighter Group's 99th Fighter Squadron.
Smith attended Hampton Institute (now Hampton University).
Smith was married to Rogers Mae Powell Smith-Evans. He was the father of Reginald Ann Smith White (August 19, 1946 - January 1993).
Military Service
On August 4, 1945, Smith graduated from the Tuskegee Army Air Field training program's twin-engine section class 45-E-SE, receiving his wings and commission as a Flight Officer. His wife Rogers Mae and sister Annie Marietta Smith-Randolph attended his graduation.
Death
On February 7, 1946, Smith was killed in a training accident in Tuskegee, Alabama. He was interred at Buckland Plantation Cemetery, Buckland, North Carolina, Gates County with full honor guard.
Legacy
* In 2007, the General Assembly of North Carolina passed a resolution honoring the legacy of Smith, his brother Reginald V. Smith, and other Tuskegee Airmen from North Carolina.

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