Fallen Soldier: Eric A. Smith

Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 Eric A. Smith, 41, of Rochester, N.Y., was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 3rd Aviation Regiment, Hunter Army Airfield in Georgia, and served during Operation IRAQI FREEDOM. On April 2, 2003, CWO3 Smith was among seven U.S. soldiers killed in a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crash near Karbala, Iraq.

A native New Yorker, CWO3 Smith grew up in the Rochester area and graduated from Brighton High School in 1980. He graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology with a business degree in 1984. Since childhood, CWO3 Smith loved to fly. He enlisted in the Army so he could fly helicopters. Over the course of his sixteen-year career, he flew over 4,000 missions. He was a helicopter instructor with the 2nd Battalion 3rd Aviation Regiment of the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division. CWO3 Smith was awarded the Purple Heart, the National Defense Service medal, the Iraq Campaign medal, the Global War on Terrorism (Service), and the Multinational Force and Observers Medal.

“He loved teaching, and he made a million friends,” said his father, Theodore Smith.

CWO3 Smith’s son is a Folds of Honor Scholarship recipient.