James Donald Smith

James D. Smith, a regular Army officer who retired as a Major General after 33 years of active duty, died Friday, March 18, from esophageal cancer. A frequent visitor to the area, he and his wife, the former Esther Thomas, relocated to St. Simons from McLean, Va., in 2014.

A noted model railroader, whose large and historically exact layout, The Rathole, was acquired by the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum in Chattanooga, he was active in the Golden Isles Model Railroad Club.

He was a member of the class of 1957 at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, where he ran track and assembled a very tall stereo that met the allowed specification, which had omitted a limitation on height.

An Airborne Ranger, Master Parachutist, Pathfinder and Combat Infantryman, he was highly fit throughout his career and later, and frequently was jumpmaster for his troops on airborne tactical and training missions.

He served in the 1st Cavalry Division in Vietnam in 1967-68, where he was decorated for valor, and later in the deployment of the 82d Airborne Division to Grenada. An amateur pianist, he composed lyrics to the “Battle of Grenada,” which became a staple of the 82d Airborne Chorus repertory. Other tours included three years in Germany and two tours in Korea. Highly decorated, his units were cited throughout his career for their high performance and superior training.

He was a graduate of the Army and Naval War colleges, was selected as an Army Senior Fellow, and earned a master’s degree in international relations from George Washington University.

His final tour in the Pentagon was Director of Operations in the office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, and simultaneously Director of Military Support, in charge of Department of Defense response to civil and natural disasters. Although it was considered a sleepy sideline at the beginning of his tenure, he subsequently dealt with the Exxon Valdez oil spill, the Loma Prieta Earthquake, the devastation of Hurricane Gilbert, and Western forest fires. He began a subsequent career advising on emergency response planning to corporations, municipalities and sovereign governments.

He was a native of Clarksdale, Miss., the son of the late Col. James W. and Mildred Coleman Smith. In addition to his wife of 53 years, he is survived by daughters, Leslie Smith Hunter and Amy M. Smith of Washington, D.C.; son, James T.V. Smith, his wife, Heather, and their daughters, Annaleigh Jamieson and Sydney Elizabeth, of Savannah; his sister, Sarah Smith Ward of Largo, Fla.; three aunts and uncles; a niece and numerous cousins.

A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, March 26, at St. Ignatius Episcopal Church, 2906 Demere Road, St. Simons Island, with burial later at Arlington National Cemetery.