George L. Smith Jr.

Rank: Private First Class, U.S. Army

Serial: 32752907

Unit: Special Services Division, U.S. Army

Entered service from: New Jersey

Died: July 1, 1944

Burial: New St. Mary’s Cemetery, Bellmawr, NJ

Private First Class George L. Smith Jr. was born in Woodlynne, NJ. He attended Collingswood (NJ) High School, graduating in 1942. A promising magician, he had worked for the well-known “Dante the Magician.” A student at the University of Pennsylvania and about to turn professional, the Army called, and he entered the service on March 8, 1943, reporting to Fort Dix, NJ. He received training in gunnery and radio at Atlantic City and Fort Monmouth, NJ, before being assigned to a military police unit in Greensboro, NC.

It was during this period that his mentor, “The Great Dante,” sent a three-page telegram telling the Army of the talent they had. At that point George Smith was transferred to the Special Services Division, for the entertainment of his fellow soldiers. He traveled all over North Carolina on War Bond Drives with many stage and screen notables, and did shows at all the military bases. He received a Presidential Citation for outstanding entertainment and resulting War Bond sales. In one instance, as a headliner in a Raleigh, NC show entitled “Strike Up The Bonds,” sales exceeded $7,000,000. During this show, the wife of the then-Governor of North Carolina, Mrs. J. M. Broughton, tried to get George to give up some of his magician’s secrets, but true to the code of his profession, he refused.

George Smith was entertaining troops as a member of the Special Services Division when he was struck with appendicitis at Greensboro, NC on a War Bond Tour, and despite all efforts to save him, died July 1, 1944, at the age of 20. George L. Smith is buried at New St. Mary’s Cemetery in Bellmawr, NJ. He was survived by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. George L. Smith Sr., of 170 Linden Avenue in Woodlynne, NJ.