On November 28, 2022, Kathy Allen hosted the Ladies Study Guild of Jackson Parish at the Jackson Parish Museum & Fine Arts in Jonesboro. In attendance were Stacy Allbritton, Kathy Allen, Jolene Carson, Mary Cryer, Rosemary Ewing, Dawna Keys, Lisa McConathy, May Saulters, Wilda Smith, and Glo Weaver.
Stacy Allbritton presented a program on the American hero, 1st Lt. Thomas Smith, Jr. In 2011, Stacy was the guest speaker at a monument dedication in Incarville, France that had been spearheaded by Pierre Portier. Mr. Portier was a sixteen-year-old boy during World War II when he witnessed an American bomber, whose mission was to destroy a bridge, being hit by German combatants. The airplane was destined to crash into the small town of Incarville, but the pilot, FLt. Smith commanded his crew to eject as he stayed with the bomber to guide it away from the village. His plane circled above the town twice before crash-landing into a barn, killing Lt. Smith. Several of the crew were captured by the Germans, while others were hidden by the townspeople, including a parachutist that Mr. Portier helped to safety.
Mr. Portier never forgot the sacrifice that this American pilot made not only for the ideal of the liberation of France but for the very real lives of the villagers in Incarville. “We have the duty to remember,” insisted Mr. Portier, “and this monument will help us achieve such.” After several years of fundraising, he and the Monuments Association of Louviers realized the dream of a memorial in FLt. Smith’s honor.
The monument was dedicated on September 3, 2011, on the Rue de St-Cyr Circle near Incarville, France. It is a stone on which the following words are etched (translated from French):
IN THIS PLACE
Was found the field of Incarville
Destroyed by the fall of a
Flying American Fortress B17
Shot down by the Germans
13 August 1944
In memory of pilot FLt. Thomas Smith
Who was killed at the controls
U.S. Air Force B17 Fifinella
91st Bomb Group H 322nd Squadron
After the program, the meeting was adjourned and the ladies enjoyed hot cider and a delicious homemade bread pudding provided by Kathy Allen. The ladies will meet again on December 12, 2022, at the Hodge Baptist Church Fellowship Hall for their annual Christmas party.
