Bill Smail is a patriot. Not just on Memorial Day, but every day, all year long, he lives and breathes the red, white and blue.
Smail, 78, a lifelong resident of Mt. Pleasant Township, is a decorated combat veteran, having been awarded the Silver Star while serving with the U.S. Army Infantry's 3rd Division, Co. D, in World War II. He also founded Amvets Post 94 in United after his discharge in 1945.
Smail likes to talk about how the Amvets struggled in the beginning, meeting at the Norvelt Volunteer Fire Department hall during the organization's first 30 years, before building an Amvets post was built in 1975. He talks about how he negotiated with the railroad to buy the land and about how many volunteers helped with construction. He talks about how he bargained with local businesses to get materials donated or at a lower cost because the organization had little money.
He talks about how he has served several terms as post commander, and the fact the group now has more than 300 members and a 9,000-square-foot home with a battle tank in the front yard.
Smail also talks about how he and his fellow veterans go to dozens of funerals and other services each year, serving as an honor guard.
But what Smail doesn't talk about much is how he has spent 63 years of his life making sure the veterans buried in the seven cemeteries around United, Trauger and Calumet are not forgotten.
The red, white and blue waving in the breeze — whether it's flying above the White House or at Ground Zero, in front of a home in the suburbs or at a remote outpost in Afghanistan — is symbolic of the country's patriotism.
And Smail makes sure every Memorial Day that each veteran buried in those Mt. Pleasant Township cemeteries has a new flag to replace the Stars and Stripes that has faded and become tattered during a yearlong watch over a veteran's final resting place.
Smail, with an ever-changing group of volunteers, has been placing American flags at veterans' graves since 1936, missing only three years while serving with the Army in Africa, Sicily, Italy, France and Germany.
"I used to go with my uncle John (Dzambo)," Smail said. "I started when I was 12. He'd come get me every year and take me with him, and we'd spend most of the day going all over the place. Then I went in the service. But when I got home, I picked it up again."
In 1947, Smail, then a newlywed, recruited his wife, Jane, to help. As the couple had children, first daughter Judy went along. Later, the Smails' two sons, William and Robert, became part of the group.
"It kind of became a family affair," Jane Smail said. "People counted on us doing it, and if we missed a grave, we heard about it."
This year, in addition to his son Robert — who is a sergeant in the Pennsylvania National Guard's 1st 104 Aviation battalion, HHC Co., in Johnstown — Smail's three grandsons, Ben, Jake and Jimmy, along with about a dozen volunteers combed the cemeteries on Saturday, making sure no grave was missed.
"The kids love to come along, and Bob helps me every year. He'll take over when I'm gone," Smail said as he supervised the activity and barked out directions:
"You hold those flags nice, Ben. Don't let them hit the ground."
"Hey Bob, straighten that flag up there."
"Brian, bring a World War II marker up here. This one is bent."
It took the group about two hours, and as the day wound down, Smail was asked how he feels as he passes the graves of so many veterans, many of whom he knew as friends.
He paused, seemed to choke up a bit and, for a moment, was at a loss for words before saying, "I don't know how I feel. I've seen so many die or be killed.
"They're all our buddies who are lying up here and in every cemetery across the country. If it weren't for these guys, you wouldn't have the freedoms you have today. They're all my friends, and I'd like to think if it was me laying up there, somebody would do it for me."
