Veterans Day Parade will be at 11 a.m. Monday in Chanute
Wayne Smith was born in Nowata County, Oklahoma, on June 11, 1931, the third of six children. He attended an Oklahoma country school for the first four years of his education. Family moves caused him to attend schools in Dearing, Coffeyville, Stark, Shaw and finally Chanute Royster Junior High and Chanute High School.
Wayne joined the Navy in 1951 with orders to attend basic training in San Diego. However, when he reported to depart from Kansas City he was diverted to basic training at Great Lakes Naval Base north of Chicago on Lake Michigan. This was January and very cold. There were not enough uniforms and supplies for the group when they arrived, so they received blankets to wrap around themselves until additional clothing arrived.
The upside was that he was in basic with Jim Woods also from Chanute. He said he and Jim were often anchormen in tug of war.
After completing basic training, Wayne rode on a transport train to San Francisco’s Treasure Island to board a military transport ship taking all branches of military personnel to Yokohama, Japan.
Wayne went on to Yokosuka to serve aboard the USS Brown (DD-546) as an electronics technician fixing radio equipment. The USS Brown was one of four destroyers attached to the Destroyer Division 132. Their assignment was to protect the aircraft carrier USS Essex.
The division sailed through Pacific waters to Korea, Hong Kong, Subic Bay, Philippine Islands, Midway and Hawaii. Their primary purpose was to assist the advancement of ground forces. They would sail to Sasebo, Japan, for refueling and taking on provisions.
The USS Brown spent the remaining time escorting and protecting the carriers in the Pacific, sometimes joining with other divisions to become much larger groups. He was far, far from Kansas.
The division returned to San Diego Naval Base for repairs to the USS Brown. The entire crew had to leave the ship and find housing in for a couple months while waiting on the ship repairs. After the repairs were completed, the ship returned to Japan and Korea.
After Christmas 1954, Wayne was moved to transit barracks at Yokosuka Naval Base. He spent the final two years in Japan and was discharged in November 1954.
Wayne came back to the Chanute area and attended Neosho County Community College classes. He met his wife, Carol Thompson, from Humboldt. They would marry in 1955 and enjoy 53 years together. He spent most of his working career in Richardson, Texas, in the Dallas area in the electronic manufacturing industry, both as an electrical engineer and manufacturing representative for multiple companies. After his retirement and the death of his wife, Wayne returned to Humboldt to be near family.
He has always been active member of his communities and supportive of veteran organizations like the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
Wayne has always been a lifelong learner who appreciated the opportunities the military offered him as an active member of the Navy and as a veteran throughout the rest of his life.
