John Lucian Smith (December 26, 1914 – June 9, 1972) was an American Medal of Honor recipient and Marine Corps flying ace who, as commanding officer of VMF-223, shot down 19 Japanese planes in World War II and led his squadron to destroy a total of 83 enemy aircraft during the Solomon Islands campaign. Early life John Lucian Smith was born on December 26, 1914, in Lexington, Oklahoma. He attended the University of Oklahoma where he was a member of the Reserve Officers Training Corps, graduating in May 1936. During the same month, he was appointed a second lieutenant in the Army Field Artillery, but resigned in July that year to accept a commission in the United States Marine Corps as a second lieutenant. Marine aviator After receiving his Marine Corps commission, he was ordered to Marine Barracks, Navy Yard, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he attended the Marine Basic School. Following various duty assignments at Quantico, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina, in 1937, he was transferred to the Naval Air Station, Pensacola in July 1938 to begin flight training. A year later he graduated and was designated a Naval Aviator. During the crucial battle for the Solomons, he led Marine Fighter Squadron 223 (VMF-223) on sorties against the enemy, during which the squadron accounted for 83 enemy aircraft destroyed. Aerial victory credits While on temporary duty in Washington after his return from the Pacific, he was presented the Medal of Honor by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 24, 1943. After several months' duty in Washington, he served as executive officer of Marine Aircraft Group 32, then located at Oahu, Hawaii. A few months later, he moved to the Philippines and took part in the aerial offensives in the Bismarck Archipelago in November and December 1944; moved up to Luzon in the Philippines in January and February 1945; then on to Mindoro and Mindanao, and finally up to the Sulu Archipelago. For his services in the Philippines during the period November 1944 to June 1945, he was awarded the Legion of Merit for exceedingly meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding service as executive officer for Marine Aircraft Group 32 in extensive support of ground and surface forces in the liberation of Luzon, Zamboanga Peninsula, the Sulu Archipelago, and Mindanao. After his return to the United States in June 1945, he served at the