How to go
What: “Sgt. Smith’s Sketchbook, ” drawings by David L. Smith
Where: The Fine Art Center, at Cross Pointe Shopping Center, 101 E. Alex-Bell Road, Centerville
Gallery hours: 12 to 8 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays and 1 to 5 p .m. Sundays
Book cost: $30
More info: 937-293-5381 or www.thefineartcenter.org
At 93 years of age, David Smith is one of the last WWII survivors to tell the tales of that particular conflict. According to the National WWII Museum in New Orleans, there are only 1.2 million WWII veterans left of the original 16 million. Smith’s method of shedding light on life in the Army was through a series of 29 pencil drawings.
His book, “Sgt. Smith’s Sketchbook: 1943-1945 A World Away,” is available at The Fine Art Center in Centerville. He also has a permanent display at The Fine Art Center, located at the Cross Pointe Shopping Center.
“When I was in the military during the second world war, I always carried a pencil in my pocket and a sketchbook in my barracks bag,” said Smith, an Oakwood resident who lives in Sarasota, Fla., during the winter.
As part of the 263rd Ordnance Company, his unit was shipped to New Guinea, New Britain and finally the Philippines. His company was in charge of cleaning and repairing cameras, scopes and fire-control instruments.
His platoon followed the soldiers on the front lines. The closest they came to danger was when they had arrived in Cape Gloucester, and the Japanese had taken Rabaul in New Britain. After setting up their tents, they dug trenches. When they heard the sirens, that meant that Japanese Zeros were dropping bombs. No one was killed by a bomb, but two in his unit were killed by booby traps.
“When you’re a non-com, all the guys in your platoon are buddies. We weren’t on the front lines, but we depended upon each other for survival,” said Smith, who earned three Bronze Stars and a Good Conduct Medal. “We had no idea when we would be going home, if ever.”
For Smith, that would happen after serving three years when President Truman ordered the U.S. Air Force to drop an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, on Aug. 6, 1945. It took a second bomb on Nagasaki three days later to convince Japan to surrender on Aug. 14.
Smith has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Miami University and has taught art at Fairmont West for 18 years and 10 years part-time at Dayton Art Institute and University of Dayton. Besides drawing, he’s adept at watercolor, acrylic and monotype print mediums. He learned the print technique from his wife, Kay, who passed away in 2003.
“His work is fabulous. He’s full of energy; full of life. I like the fact he does so many local neighborhoods and buildings,” said Mary Clifford, president of The Fine Art Center.
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