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Albert Smith was born in Calumet, Michigan on July 31, 1898. His parents, Albert Smith Sr. and Martha Smith immigrated from Austria and Germany during the late 1800s and settled in Houghton County, Michigan. According to census records, Albert’s father was employed as a saloon keeper in Calumet. By 1910, the family had moved to Keweenaw County, where his father worked as a hoisting engineer in a mine. Soon after, the family relocated yet again to Thompson, Michigan where Albert’s father purchased a farm. The property was located on County Road 149 across from the Thompson Cemetery where Albert Smith Jr. would spend his formative years.
Growing up in Thompson, Albert worked on the farm helping his father. He was employed briefly as a printer before entering the United States Marine Corp in October of 1919. Smith had developed a fascination with flying and wished to pursue a career in aviation. On the morning of February 11, 1921, two machinists in Pensacola, Florida, were warming up a seaplane on the bay when it suddenly took flight, leading to disaster. The following is an article from the Manistique Pioneer Tribune dated October 27, 1921.
THOMPSON BOY HAS HONOR MEDAL
“For his courage and devotion to duty, congress has awarded a Medal of Honor to Albert Joseph Smith of Thompson, Mich., who is serving with the marine aviation forces in the West Indies. At the risk of his own life he rescued a comrade from a burning airplane after it had plunged to the earth.
Smith was on sentry duty at Pensacola, Fla., last February when the airplane fell, stunning the pilot and pinning him in the wreckage which was set afire from a gasoline explosion. Smith plunged into the burning mass and was severely burned while cutting the unconscious pilot loose. Just as the rescue was effected, a second gasoline tank exploded scattering flaming liquid on both.
Private Smith, who is the son of Martha Smith of Thompson, was a printer before entering the Marine Corps in October of 1919. He desired to take up aviation and he served at Pensacola, later joining the First Marine Aviation Squadron in Santa Domingo. The Medal of Honor has been forwarded by Major General John A. Lejeune, Commandant of the Marine Corps, and will be presented to Smith officially by Brigadier General H. Lee who commands the Marines in Santa Domingo.”
Smith Credits Parents
After the accident, Smith said that he did nothing more than anyone else would have done under the circumstances. According to Alex Meron in her “History of Thompson Township,” Smith credited his rural farm upbringing for his actions. “On the farm you learn your job and you do it.”