Everett W. Smith
“I wore the uniform, but I never fought in war. I often thought about my 22 year old uncle who died on the beach at Normandy, about friends who died in Viet Nam, and about guys I trained with who were not as lucky as I and got sent to war and never came back alive or had been seriously injured. I thought about all of them many times during the eleven, often frustrating, years that I worked with my Genesis Group partners to establish the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor.
To me it is extremely important that we preserve the memory of each of our Purple Heart recipients, that we honor them and that we appreciate the enormous sacrifices they made. It is also important, through the Hall of Honor, that we teach our young people and future generations about the horrors that Purple Heart recipients endured, about the sacrifices made to protect the freedoms most of us take for granted in our daily lives. We must remember that our freedoms have not come free. An enormous price has been paid by so many servicemen and women to protect them.”
Everett W. Smith (July 17, 1942 – December 20, 2023), a native of Suffolk County, New York, began a career that has spanned forty-nine years in the newspaper business with the Long Island Daily Press. In 1979 he and his wife Mary founded The Sentinel, a twice-weekly newspaper that serves most of eastern Orange County, N.Y. In 1990 he founded Sentinel Printing Services, Inc., a commercial printing operation. He continues to serve as Publisher of The Sentinel, with his sons Michael and Steven serving as Associate Publishers and continues to operate the printing operation with his sons.
The Sentinel has been a crusading newspaper since it was founded and has always been a strong supporter of our military and especially war veterans. In 1995 Smith received a letter to the editor from Patric Morrison, a reader from Cornwall, suggesting that a facility honoring recipients of the Purple Heart be established locally. Smith was enthusiastic about the idea. He called Lt. Gen. James D. Hughes, who shared his enthusiasm. They we soon joined by State Senator William J. Larkin and veterans advocate Joseph Farina. The four men, later to be known as the Genesis Group, worked for eleven years on the project until the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor was established in November 2006.
Everett Smith continues to be active with the Hall of Honor, serving as Vice President of the Board of Directors of the Purple Heart Hall of Honor, Inc. and as Chairman of the Public Relations and Publicity Committee.
Smith enlisted in the Army National Guard in 1964. He received his basic training in Fort Polk, Louisiana and received his training for the Army Medical Corps at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. Following training he served with the 42nd Infantry Division, 142nd Armored Battalion NYNG as a Senior Medical Specialist E5 until he was honorably discharged in 1970.
Smith later served on the Board of Directors of McQuade Children Services for twenty-two years including a term as President of the Board. He is also a Honorary Member of the New Windsor Volunteer Ambulance Corps, a past Chairman of the Putnam County Chapter of the American Red Cross, past President of the New Windsor Business Association, member of the Advisory Committee of the Orange County Chapter of the American Cancer Society, member of the New York Press Association, and a charter member of the New Windsor/Cornwall Optimist Club.
Smith is the recipient of several awards including the Walter P. Kunowski Award from the local chapter of the Catholic War Veterans for community action, the LCDR Nicholas Brooks Award for community service from the Town of New Windsor, the Compte de Grasse Award from the Newburgh Development Association for service to the economic development of the city of Newburgh, the City Managers Award for special achievement and service to the City of Newburgh, a New York State Legislative Resolution citing dedication shown for the benefit of others, among other awards.
Smith resides in New Windsor, N.Y. with his wife Mary with whom he has been married for thirty-eight years. They have three children and two grandchildren.