A Most Honorable Man
By Lauren Perry
Orville N. Smith
November 16, 1921 - December 16, 1992
1940 West High School Yearbook, Ancestry.com.
Orville Norman Smith was born to Roy and Mable Grace Smith in Denver’s west side. Throughout his childhood, the Smiths moved around from Colorado to California, in search of work, but they seemed drawn to Denver. By 1935, they were back for good and Roy Smith began a painting business. The family didn’t have much money, so Orville and his younger siblings would work for their father part-time. Orville graduated from West High School in 1940 and got a job at Western Electric (through the Civilian Conservation Corps, a work relief program for young men)[1] working on cables running through Wyoming.[2]
At the age of 20, Orville enlisted into the Navy as a sonar operator, due to his experience with electrical engineering. He worked on operating and developing sonar on battleships, cruisers, and destroyers in the Pacific theater during World War II. He island hopped throughout the Pacific, guiding the guns on the ships to hit enemy targets.[3]
Orville left the service after the end of the Korean War in 1953. He felt that since he had survived two wars, his luck had run out. He wanted to move home and start a family. Fortunately, the transition to civilian wasn’t too difficult. Unlike veterans today, who could be on the battlefield one day and on a flight home the next, Orville had a long, 30-day journey to return home. This gave him the time to mentally adjust to the idea of civilian life. He also had a great support system stemming from his family, but also through veteran organizations. The most difficult part was watching his younger brothers leave to join the Navy, knowing what they might experience.[4]
He didn’t talk much about his experience during the war, but one story he would share with his family was, after one especially brutal battle, the survivors cleaning up what was essentially a mass grave. The only thing Orville could truly remember about that day was “the smell of death.” Although he wasn’t very open about his experiences, he had many nightmares. Once his wife had to wake him up from one of these nightmares as he attacked and choked his pillow. His children and nephews would ask him what he did during his time in the Navy and jokingly he would reply, “I would tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.”[5]
Orville Smith’s medals and Navy photos. Courtesy of Don Smith
Orville quickly joined two community organizations, the Odd Fellows and the Eagles, which gave him the support he needed from other veterans and allowed him to give back to his community.[6] The Independent Order of the Odd Fellows are a group dedicated to “promoting the principles of friendship, love truth, faith, hope, charity and universal justice” in order to help all members of the local community “regardless of race, nationality, religion, social status gender, rank, and station.”[7] The Fraternal Order of the Eagles is another community service group whose mission is to “make human life more desirable by lessening its ills and promoting peace, prosperity, gladness and hope.”[8] These groups gave Orville an opportunity to be part of the Denver veteran community and the fulfillment of continuing to serve his community.
Orville felt that due to his time in the service, he was given many more opportunities than he might otherwise have been given. Most of his education came from his time spent in the Navy. When he returned to Denver, he began a job with Martin Marietta, working on rockets, specifically the Titan I and the Titan II.[9] Martin Marietta was a merger of two companies, one (Martin) was an aerospace engineering company, and the other (Marietta) was a construction materials manufacturer. From 1959 to 1962, the Titan I, an intercontinental ballistic missile, was launched 70 times. The Titan II, and its modified versions, was in use until 2003.[10] Orville was a part of the team that developed and tested these missiles, beginning with the Titan I, in 1957.[11]
Orville and Georgia on their wedding day, 1954, MyHeritage.com.
Despite feeling guilty for using his veteran benefits, Orville gave in and bought his first house using the GI Bill in 1963.[12] At that time, the GI Bill would cover education, allowances, health care, settlement of disability claims, and home loans, among other things.[13] Coming from a family that struggled with money, he was very proud of this accomplishment. He was also very proud to be a loyal and dedicated family man. One of the main reasons he left the Navy was to settle down and start a family. He met his wife, Georgia Frances Shockey, through his sister and future sister-in-law, who were neighbors and great friends. Despite a significant 17-year age gap, Orville and Georgia quickly grew close and married on November 21, 1954 at the Band box Ballroom.[14]
According to his children, Orville was a great, supportive father, who loved camping and fishing with his sons, and always came to their football games. He was dedicated to giving his children the best life he could. He loved to start DIY projects, but never finished any, as he hated the idea of finality. He always needed something to look forward to, and an uncompleted project was the perfect thing. His oldest son, Don, described him as the most honorable man he ever met. Don is not, in fact, Orville’s biological son. He was born to Georgia before she had married Orville, but because he loved his wife and her child immensely, he adopted Don and raised him as if he was his own.[15]
His son remembers Orville as strict but fair, a very regimented and task-oriented person, someone who always thought about the consequences of his actions before he would act. His loyalty to his family and friends was inspiring to everyone he met. A common phrase he would say was “the more I learn about you, the more I learn about myself.”[16] He was a very honorable and compassionate man who risked his life in two wars to protect his country and sacrificed so much for the well-being of his family.
Footnotes ↓
[1] “Civilian Conservation Corps,” Britannica, accessed September 11, 2020, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Civilian-Conservation-Corps.
[2] Don Smith, interview by Lauren Perry, February 15, 2020, DU VLP.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Ibid.
[7] “Our Mission,” Independent Order of Odd Fellows, accessed September 11, 2020, https://odd-fellows.org/about/our-mission/.
[8] “Who We Are,” Fraternal Order of Eagles, accessed September 11, 2020, https://www.foe.com/About-The-Eagles/Who-We-Are.
[9] Smith, interview.
[10] “Martin Marietta,” Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia, accessed, September 11, 2020, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Marietta.
[11] Smith, interview.
[12] Ibid.
[13] “GI Bill History,” American Legion, accessed September 11, 2020, https://www.legion.org/gibill/history.
[14] Smith, interview.
[15] Ibid.
[16] Ibid.
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