At Fort Meade, a Tribute to Loyalty

Reserve Complex Honors Laurel Citizen-Soldier Who Rescued His Dog

A sprawling Army Reserve facility in Fort Meade was posthumously named last month after a Laurel lawyer who was awarded medals for his service in Iraq and then became a national figure after he engineered the rescue of a dog from Baghdad.

In a Sept. 12 ceremony, the facility was dedicated as the Capt. John E. Smathers U.S. Army Reserve Center.

On a humid day under cloudy skies, more than 200 people, including about 75 members of Smathers's family and a handful of soldiers who served with him, were on hand for the ceremony.

Luanne Tano, one of Smathers's six sisters, said in a speech how much her brother had admired their late father, Spurgeon Smathers, for his service in World War II. In a 2005 interview, John Smathers spoke of how his father's experiences, including in the Battle of the Bulge, had inspired him to become a soldier.

"When his pursuits took him to Iraq, he experienced first-hand the selfless nature of the men and women who risk their lives so that others might have freedom and opportunity," Tano said. "John was deeply honored to work alongside these soldiers he called the finest people he'd ever known. In the hands of his fellow soldiers, he knew he could entrust his life and his mission, and it was always his commitment to offer the same."

Officials dedicated a plaque bearing Smathers's likeness and unveiled a portrait of the soldier in his Army Reserve dress uniform and headgear, painted by his sister Christine Palmisano-Laubach.

The facility consists of four buildings on 37 acres and includes a training center, a maintenance facility and heated and unheated storage areas. The center's 18 Army Reserve units make it the second largest between southern Virginia and northern Maine.

Smathers, 47, died of a heart attack Feb. 4, 2006.

The last two years of his life were full of drama.

Smathers was a captain in the Army Reserve, with the Riverdale Park-based 422nd Civil Affairs Battalion, attached to the 3rd Infantry Division. Smathers's unit was among the troops that invaded Iraq in 2003.

During his year in Iraq, Smathers helped thwart a bank robbery, assisted in recovering stolen Iraqi artwork and survived an ambush and a high-speed auto crash.

He was awarded two Purple Hearts, four Bronze Star medals and an Army Commendation Medal for his service in Iraq.