World War II hero finally brought home to rest next to his parents in Chesterton
Army Pvt. Charles William Smalley Jr., a Chesterton native, was only 19 when he perished during combat near Marsanne, France, on Aug. 25, 1944, but no one knew where his body went.
For decades, Smalley's remains were in a grave marked 'Unknown,' X-205, in the Luynes National Cemetery for American soldiers near Marseille, France. His name was engraved on the Walls of the Missing at Rhone American Cemetery in Draguignan, France.
In an amazing journey nearly 81 years in the making, Smalley's remains finally returned home Saturday to the resting place next to his parents, Charles Sr. and Bessie Smalley, in the Chesterton Cemetery.
Advances in DNA technology combined with extensive historical detective work made it possible for the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency to identify the remains as Smalley. The body was exhumed in March 2023, brought across the Atlantic Ocean and then positively identified on Jan. 25 at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska.
On a scorching hot and humid Saturday morning, people lined Porter Avenue leading into Chesterton Cemetery for the last leg of Smalley's odyssey. They stood reverently holding small American flags upright as the hearse with Smalley's cremains passed by.
'I got goosebumps. For someone to find him and bring him home, that's amazing,' said Red Stone, a Porter County Councilman who stood on Porter Avenue. 'This is what America is about.'
Sabrina Bos, who was standing beside Stone and has a son in the Navy, chimed in: 'I am so glad he is home.'
David Canright, former publisher and editor of The Chesterton Tribune when it was a daily newspaper, said that Smalley's story resonates with him because his father, Warren Canright, a 1944 Chesterton High graduate, was an Army infantry soldier in France. A picture of Smalley's olive green Army uniform, posted on Chesterton's Facebook page, was like his father's.
'If my dad had been a year older, it might have been him today,' Canright said.
Jeff Crothers was there with his wife, Beth, to welcome Smalley home.
'It's unbelievable that technology would be able to bring him home. It's awesome,' Crothers said. 'How wonderful it is for the family.'
Kay Smalley Howard, 88, of Stonington, Connecticut, the closest living relative as a first cousin of Charles Jr., said she was 'honored' to travel to Chesterton for Saturday's burial. Her daughter and two of her sons also came to the White-Love Funeral Home and the Chesterton Cemetery for the graveside service.
Howard was only 7 and too young to understand the circumstances surrounding the family's reaction to her cousin's death in the war. Her uncle, Charles W. Smalley Sr., was only 41 when he died in 1948, and her aunt Bessie Smalley passed away in 1999.
The family was first informed that Smalley was missing in action shortly after Aug. 25, 1944, and it was about a year later before it was determined that he was actually killed in action. After Smalley was killed, he was buried near the battlefield. A month later, his body, which was not identified, was disinterred and moved to the Luynes Cemetery in Marseille, France.
In April 1951, Smalley's remains were declared by the U.S. government to be 'unrecoverable'.
Earlier this year, Howard received a letter informing her that her cousin's remains had been identified.
'I thought it was a scam,' Howard said. She reached out to her daughter, Jody Livingston, who assured her that the correspondence was real.
'This is just mind-boggling, it just really is,' Howard said.
Rev. Esta Rosario, pastor of Chesterton's First United Methodist Church, presided over the graveside services conducted under an awning in the middle of the cemetery, next to the gravestone for Smalley's parents.
Smalley had moved to Chesterton at a young age and was a member of the First Methodist Church. He decided to quit high school in April 1943 to enlist in the Army.
'Imagine that this young man left the comforts of home, of being a kid in high school, to join the Army during the height of World War II,' Rosario said.
Smalley became a member of Company L, 3rd Battalion, 141st Infantry Regiment, 36th Infantry Division. It was on Aug. 15, 1944, that Smalley participated in the follow-up to D-Day, a secondary invasion of southern France known as 'Operation Dragoon.' Smalley's unit had an objective on Aug. 25, 1944, of repelling German forces from a mountain between Marsanne and LaCoucourde.
'Serving the military in World War II placed him right in the middle of the valley of the shadow of death,' Rosario said, using a phrase from the 23rd Psalm. 'Private Smalley was killed only 10 minutes into the conflict, according to a comrade's account.'
For his bravery, Pvt. Smalley was awarded the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star and the Combat Infantryman Badge.
'If we could offer a final farewell to Pvt. Smalley, we would say: Thank you for your selfless service, for your personal courage, for being brave enough to fight the evil in this world even though it cost you your life. Because of you and others like you, we are free!' Rosario said.
The service featured a 21-gun salute and the presentation of the American flag to Howard.
Then the bagpipers from the Veterans Salute Indiana Pipes and Drums rendered a stirring version of 'Amazing Grace' to close the long-delayed homecoming service for Pvt. Smalley.
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