Maynard Harrison "Snuffy" Smith (May 19, 1911 – May 11, 1984) was a United States Army Air Forces staff sergeant and aerial gunner aboard a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber in World War II, received the Medal of Honor for his conduct during a bombing mission over France on May 1, 1943. Smith was the first enlisted member of the United States Army Air Forces to earn the Medal of Honor. Early life Maynard Harrison Smith was born on May 19, 1911 in Caro, Michigan. His father was a successful attorney, and his mother was a school teacher. As a child, he had a reputation of being a spoiled troublemaker, so his father sent him to the Howe Military Academy in Howe, Indiana. After graduating, Smith worked for the U.S. Treasury Department, and the Michigan Banking Commission. In 1929, Smith married Arlene McCreedy (1911-1997), but they divorced in 1932. Smith's father died in 1934, and he quit his job, choosing to live off of his father's inheritance. He married his second wife, Helen Gunsell (1921-2005), in 1941 and had one son, William. This marriage also ended in divorce, in 1942. Smith failed to make child support payments to Gunsell, and he appeared before a judge who gave him the choice of serving a jail term or enlisting in the military; Smith apparently appeared for a photo with fellow inductees leaving for military service still in handcuffs and escorted by the sheriff. Military service Smith enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Forces on August 31, 1942. After completing basic training, he volunteered for aerial gunnery school. At the time, all aerial gunners were non-commissioned officers and the move to the school was a quick way for the private to gain rank and pay. After completing aerial gunnery school, he was shipped overseas to Thurleigh, Bedfordshire, in south-central England, where he joined the 423rd Bombardment Squadron, 306th Bomb Group. Staff Sergeant Smith was short in stature and quickly gained a reputation as a stubborn and obnoxious airman who did not get along well with the other airmen stationed there. He soon earned the nickname "Snuffy Smith", possibly after the character from a popular comic strip of the era, Barney Google and Snuffy Smith. Consequently, it was six weeks before he was assigned his first combat mission. Medal of Honor action On his first mission, on May 1, 1943, Staff Sergeant Smith, who was