Clarence Smoyer Obituary, Death Cause – Clarence Smoyer was called up for military service in 1943 and was stationed in Kentucky for his basic training. When he joined the 3rd Armored Division, he had no notion that he would go on to become a combat hero during his time there.
He landed in Normandy a few days after D-Day, just a few days before he turned 21 years old. During the battle in France, he was a loader on a Sherman tank and sustained three wounds as a result of his work. As a result of one of his wounds, namely an injury to his nose, he was presented with the Purple Heart.
Smoyer was given the position of gunner in August 1944, despite the fact that he did not have full faith in his abilities. It ended up that he had a natural talent for it. Midway through the month of September, “Spearhead” arrived in Germany; nevertheless, they did not cross the border into until February of the following year. Smoyer was a gunner on one of just 20 “super tanks” that were still operational in Europe at this point.
nown that Smoyer is the “Hero of Cologne.” When he saw a German tank, he and the gunner on the tank opened fire at a car that had skidded into the intersection. Both of them were hit by the incoming gunfire. Because a building obscured his view of the tank, he decided to fire his shots at the building instead, which resulted in the structure taking damage and bringing an end to the tank’s advance. After that, the 3rd Armored Division was ambushed by a second German tank. Smoyer lit the enemy tank ablaze with three bullets that were precisely placed, and an American combat cameraman was present to record the entire occurrence.
