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Charles City’s Jim Smith is a lucky man

Jim Smith, 95, sits in his Charles City law office. Now retired, he first started his practice in Charles City in 1950. Press photo by Kelly Terpstra
Jim Smith, 95, sits in his Charles City law office. Now retired, he first started his practice in Charles City in 1950. Press photo by Kelly Terpstra
By Kelly Terpstra, kterpstra@charlescitypress.com

Jim Smith tells his stories like they happened yesterday — the memories are that vivid, the discussion that real.

He’s happy to tell them, because the alternative isn’t a notion he wishes to ponder.

Smith says he’s a lucky man and he isn’t shy about knocking on wood in advance of such a declaration.

“I’m very fortunate,” said Smith.

Smith is a member of the “Greatest Generation” — a phrase coined by former NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Brokaw in his book by the same name.

Members of this fraternity grew up in the Great Depression and a large contingent served in World War II – a war whose lasting imprint is still felt today.

The stark reality is Smith is one of the few who still remain from that generation to tell their stories.

Most who fought in that war have perished. Around 3 percent still remain, or just over 550,000 veterans that range in age from their late 80s into their 100s.  

Well over 16 million service members served in WWII and 362 of those veterans now die each day, according to U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs.

The statistics are startling. But so is Smith’s story. It is one of wonder and amazement, that is a clear result of truth, sadness and triumph.

Smith — who turned 95 years young recently — has been an integral member of Charles City ever since he moved from Grinnell as a 2–year old.

He grew up in Charles City, but before his adult roots could take hold, he was called for the greater good of his county.

A 1941 Charles City High School grad, Smith vividly remembers when the Japanese struck Pearl Harbor with a surprise attack on December 7, 1941. He was a freshman at Oberlin College in Ohio.

The United States declared war on Japan a day later and against Germany on Dec. 11. Americans were instantly catapulted into the fray and became part of the deadliest war the world has ever seen.  

Smith enlisted in the Navy soon thereafter, went to midshipmen school and was commissioned as an ensign. He was shipped out to the Pacific in 1943. It wasn’t long after that Smith would receive an up-close and personal, first-hand account of the brutality that war can inflict on the human spirit.

Smith’s time in the military saw him fight in two major battles — Okinawa and Iwo Jima.

Smith recalls the Marines landing on Iwo Jima and him preparing for battle. His job was to put rockets and supplies on the beach in advance of the Marines touching down. He rode the waters of the Pacific Ocean up to the island in a Landing Craft Support, which Smith called a little gun boat. The first wave of Marines hit the ground running and Smith knew the enemy would soon be engaged.

“We had a spectacular seat of watching the Marines land on Iwo Jima,” said Smith.

Smith’s small gun-ship destroyer sustained damage after a mortar struck its hull about three weeks before the battle of Iwo Jima ended. The ship didn’t sink, but supplies were ruined. Smith’s brush with danger was far from over.

After Americans claimed victory on Iwo Jima, Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal clicked the now iconic photo and one of the best pictures of World War II when six Marines raised the United States flag in triumph on Mount Suribachi, a volcano on the southern tip of the island.

Smith witnessed the indelible moment.

“It was such a thrill,” he said.

Both battles in 1945 against the Japanese saw heavy casualties and intense fighting.

“It was very hazardous — the Japanese were right there,” said Smith. “The Marines were paying a terrific price. That’s what sticks in my mind.”

Smith remembers the wounded being transported from the battlefield on rafts and barges to get medical attention at hospitals.

“I saw casualties every night,” he said.

Smith had several close calls while fighting the enemy on Okinawa. He remembers an attack from kamikaze (suicide) planes where one of the planes crashed into the ocean some 50 feet from where he was standing on the deck of his ship.

Another time he caught a glimpse of a destroyer sinking into the murky abyss of the ocean.

Those near-death experiences would soon seem tame by comparison after machine-gun fire by another Japanese plane pelted the vessel he was on. The bullets missed him, but struck his clothes. Seconds later, the plane crashed into the top of his ship, killing nine sailors.

Smith credits President Harry S. Truman’s decision later that year to end the war by dropping atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki with saving his life.

“I wouldn’t be sitting here,” said Smith, referring to the chance that he would have been part of a U.S. invasion of Japan that could have killed millions of Americans and Japanese.

“They were getting ready for a big assault. We would have had to kill every Japanese. They would have fought for every foot in their home country,” said Smith.

“When the Japanese surrendered, we were so relieved,” he said.

Happy to be alive, Smith worked for awhile in the naval office headquarters in Washington, D.C., after his harrowing time overseas. He was soon discharged as a junior grade lieutenant.

“My time came up, the doctor gave me a physical and I was a civilian again,” said Smith.

Smith would graduate from Oberlin in 1947 and would marry his wife, Virginia, that same year. He would go on to earn his law degree from the University of Iowa three years later in 1950.

Smith soon moved back to Charles City to join his father-in-law’s legal practice. That firm, started by Jim’s father-in-law, Ralph Zastrow, would prove pivotal in Smith’s legal career.

“He was very generous. He took me in,” said Smith. Zastrow would go on to serve as a senator in the Iowa Legislature for many years.

Smith became city attorney in Charles City in 1970. He would see his son, Ralph Smith, also become city attorney in 1994. Ralph retired from that position last summer.

Jim Smith had a major hand in the reconstruction of Charles City after the infamous 1968 F5 tornado ripped through Charles City.

“We had to rebuild the city,” said Jim. “We were very busy. We had to buy up a lot of property. The city was redeveloped and replanned. The center of town isn’t what it used to be at all.”

Smith can’t remember when he officially retired from practicing law, but said he was still representing clients in his 80s. 

Jim’s wife, Virginia, died at the age of 92 in 2016.

Smith still stays busy and has a seat in his old law office almost every day. The firm is now called Noah, Smith and Schuknecht, just down from the town square in Charles City.

“I’m happier here than anywhere else,” said Smith in his office. “It’s a great profession,”

Smith has traveled the world in addition to his ventures in the Navy.

He’s visited the deserts of remote central Australia.

He’s been to the People’s Republic of China — one of the world’s earliest civilizations.

Smith has seen things few get the opportunity to.

He’s also a lucky man.

 

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