Guys war
This website is dedicated to my Grandfather, Guy D. Smith, who not only has made a great contribution to the study of soil science in his life, but also documented/filmed much of the construction of the Ledo Road in WWII.
Once he returned to the states, he accepted a priority government job in Washington, D.C. with the Department of Agriculture. He retired from the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 1972 as the director of the U.S. Soils Conservation Service. He traveled extensively throughout the world documenting soil samples for the U.S. Government throughout much of his career. In 1981 he passed away in Ghent, Belgium.
My grandfather received the American Theater Ribbon, the World War II Victory Medal, the AP Theater Ribbon WWII Bronze Battle Stars, and one overseas service bar.
26 May 1945
“Tonight I am along the Stillwell Road, somewhere in Burma.”
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Please view a short video clip about my grandfather below.
More information can be found at the NRCS link.
An award in his honor is also given each year.
Related publications on soil science can be found on the Soil Science Society of America's website.
Some general information about the Ledo Road can be found here.
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About Guy Smith
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Guy D. Smith, was born in 1907, in Atlantic City Iowa, where his father was the local city engineer.
Guy graduated from college in about 1929, just as the depression hit, and worked his way through graduate school. He received his PhD in the study of soil science in the late 1930’s.
By the time Pearl Harbor was bombed he had three children and a wife (he was 34 years of age). He enlisted the next month into the Army Air Corps (January 1942). The Air Force was not yet a separate branch of the service.
His first posting was to an air base in San Antonio, Texas and he was shipped overseas in 1944. He traveled from Florida across Africa and then the Middle East, at last arriving in India. He then traveled from Calcutta to Ledo, where he was based.
Guy retired from the US Department of Agriculture in 1972 as the director of the US Soils Conservation Service. He traveled extensively throughout the world documenting soil samples for the US government throughout much of his career. In 1981 he passed away in Ghent, Belgium, where he held a professorship at the University of Ghent.