CONWAY — We all knew this day would come eventually, as it does for all of us, but somehow, losing World War II B-17 ball turret gunner Earl Luther “Smitty’ Smith of Conway at age 98 this week still seems a shock for this community, who revered and loved the self-effacing, leather bomber-jacketed veteran known to his grandchildren as “Grampy With A Hook.”
After his granddaughter Emily Smith-Mossman posted the sad news on Facebook on Thursday that her grandfather had passed away peacefully in his sleep, friends posted their condolences in heartfelt messages.
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