11-10-2015, 07:27 AM
Hi all, this is my first thread, I'm a n00b. Been around the JFK research thing about a year. Thought I'd dedicate this first post to a previously unstudied individual - but one who could potentially be very important.
This thread is about Boise B Smith, deputy chief of police reporting directly to Curry.
In the Batchelor exhibit CE-5002 on page 1, this fellow is listed as "Director, Civil Defense and Disaster Commission".
http://www.history-matters.com/archive/j...x_5002.pdf
Sounds like a pretty important guy, yes? And yet, no one knows anything about him. No one ever asked him where he was or what he was up to on Nov 22 1963. There is no record whatsoever of him having been questioned or interviewed by the DPD, DPS, FBI, or any other investigative agency. No Warren Commission, no HSCA... nothing. Even Garrison didn't find this guy interesting.
However, you and I here, are probably going to find this gentleman considerably interesting. The only other clue we have about Boise B Smith comes from p. 201 of the interesting persons file at NARA, where his signature is shown at the bottom, it says: Col, USAR, Ret.
So.... I did a little checking on this fellow, beginning with Google, where I found several things. First, Boise B Smith's mom is a society lady, she gets written up in the society column. Here's an entry from Dec 23 1943 (remember the date, it's important):
http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/56098794/
So fine, Col Boise B Smith has a military record, in the army. He was apparently with the Army Air Forces in Alaska, which would probably put him in the Aleutians. Now, he's being trained in something before being shipped overseas. Next step would be, see if we can find anything on his military record, and without too much trouble, we find him at Camp Custer. And now it gets interesting. Third one from the bottom.
https://www.fold3.com/document/287481868/
This is US Army, US Forces European Theater, G-5 Civil Affairs
Now, I'll state in passing that there are newspaper clippings putting Col Smith in the DPD as early as 1934, and placing him as head of the Traffic Division in 1939. So it looks like he may have been in the Reserve already at that point, and gotten called up.
So now, G-5 Civil Affairs in the European Theater is SHAEF, their mission was specifically the administration of newly occupied territories and it included a hodgepodge of special skills like "asset valuation and preservation", which officers were euphemistically called the "Monument Men". There is plenty of history on the Civil Affairs program in WW-2, but basically it started right around Jan 1 1944, and new officers would typically go to a US University for 3 months (in Boise Smith's case it was the University of Michigan), and then they'd go to Shrivenham a few miles outside of London, which as the SHAEF Civil Affairs school, and after some time there they'd be posted in theater.
Then in 1950, Boise B Smith is back at the Dallas PD, and in 1955 we have him attending a Civil Defense Conference in Boston.
Other than family photos, this is one of the few public pictures of Boise B Smith. This picture is taken at the newly opened Dallas Emergency Operations Center, which was located directly below the Health and Science Museum at the Dallas Fairgrounds. That's Boise standing by the blast doors.
![[Image: DTH121962.jpg]](http://www.civildefensemuseum.com/fallout/article/DTH121962.jpg)
This thread is about Boise B Smith, deputy chief of police reporting directly to Curry.
In the Batchelor exhibit CE-5002 on page 1, this fellow is listed as "Director, Civil Defense and Disaster Commission".
http://www.history-matters.com/archive/j...x_5002.pdf
Sounds like a pretty important guy, yes? And yet, no one knows anything about him. No one ever asked him where he was or what he was up to on Nov 22 1963. There is no record whatsoever of him having been questioned or interviewed by the DPD, DPS, FBI, or any other investigative agency. No Warren Commission, no HSCA... nothing. Even Garrison didn't find this guy interesting.
However, you and I here, are probably going to find this gentleman considerably interesting. The only other clue we have about Boise B Smith comes from p. 201 of the interesting persons file at NARA, where his signature is shown at the bottom, it says: Col, USAR, Ret.
So.... I did a little checking on this fellow, beginning with Google, where I found several things. First, Boise B Smith's mom is a society lady, she gets written up in the society column. Here's an entry from Dec 23 1943 (remember the date, it's important):
Quote:Mr and Mrs. Herbert F. Gale had as their guests on Tuesday, Capt. Boise B. Smith and family of Dallas. Captain Smith who is a son of Mrs. Gale, has just returned after four­teen months of duty with the Air Forces in Alaska. He has been selected by the Army to enter the Military Government branch of service and will take additional training at Camp Custer, Mich, before going overseas. Elsie Smith Parker, a daughter of Mrs Gale, also arrived on Tuesday from Chicago. Mrs. Parker is editor for the National Association of Real Estate Boards.
http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/56098794/
So fine, Col Boise B Smith has a military record, in the army. He was apparently with the Army Air Forces in Alaska, which would probably put him in the Aleutians. Now, he's being trained in something before being shipped overseas. Next step would be, see if we can find anything on his military record, and without too much trouble, we find him at Camp Custer. And now it gets interesting. Third one from the bottom.
https://www.fold3.com/document/287481868/
This is US Army, US Forces European Theater, G-5 Civil Affairs
Now, I'll state in passing that there are newspaper clippings putting Col Smith in the DPD as early as 1934, and placing him as head of the Traffic Division in 1939. So it looks like he may have been in the Reserve already at that point, and gotten called up.
So now, G-5 Civil Affairs in the European Theater is SHAEF, their mission was specifically the administration of newly occupied territories and it included a hodgepodge of special skills like "asset valuation and preservation", which officers were euphemistically called the "Monument Men". There is plenty of history on the Civil Affairs program in WW-2, but basically it started right around Jan 1 1944, and new officers would typically go to a US University for 3 months (in Boise Smith's case it was the University of Michigan), and then they'd go to Shrivenham a few miles outside of London, which as the SHAEF Civil Affairs school, and after some time there they'd be posted in theater.
Then in 1950, Boise B Smith is back at the Dallas PD, and in 1955 we have him attending a Civil Defense Conference in Boston.
Other than family photos, this is one of the few public pictures of Boise B Smith. This picture is taken at the newly opened Dallas Emergency Operations Center, which was located directly below the Health and Science Museum at the Dallas Fairgrounds. That's Boise standing by the blast doors.