Deutsche Arbeitsfront [German Labor Force] banner with a swastika within by a gear found by a US soldier

Charles Byron Smith, Jr. was born on April 30, 1919, in Orono, Maine, the only child of Charles Byron and Cora Buchanan Smith. His mother died when he was young and his father remarried Berry Perry, who adopted him. He graduated from the University of Maine in 1941 with a degree in poultry science. Charlie later received a master’s degree in education. He was a member of ROTC and OTCS, graduating as second lieutenant in the US Army Infantry. He became a first lieutenant and commander of G Company, 357 Infantry Regiment of the 90th division which was reactivated on March 25, 1942. It was part of the VIII Corps, Third Army. Charlie married a college classmate while in Texas for training. The 90th Division was sent to England in March 1944 for further training and landed in France on June 8, 1944 - D Day plus 2, at Sword Beach. Under the command of General George Patton, the division fought across Europe into Germany, then Czechoslovakia. Charlie participated in the liberation of the Flossenbürg Concentration camp on April 23, 1945. After the end of the war on May 9, Charlie returned to the US and was discharged in 1945 as a major in the US Army Reserve. He was awarded 3 Purple Hearts, the Silver Star, the Bronze Star with V for valor, the Division Award Croix de Guerre, and numerous awards for combat engagements; the division had been part of every major phase of the campaign to defeat the Third Reich. He was a life member of the American legion, serving for several years in the honor guard. He and his wife, Alice, had six children. Charlie worked in public education until his retirement. He died in Orono, age 92, on October 4, 2011.

The German Labor Force banner was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2009 by Leigh Smith, the son of Charles Byron Smith, Jr.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Leigh Smith