Corporal Smith was a member of the 25th Military Police Company, 25th Infantry Division. He was taken Prisoner of War while fighting the enemy in South Korea on 26 January 1951 and died while a prisoner on 31 October 1951. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

Smith was awarded the Prisoner of War Medal, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.