Fallen firefighter gets overdue honor

DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) - Hilda Miller fights back tears as she's given a flag representing a man she's never met.

In fact, no one at the ceremony has ever seen as much as a picture of him, but at least now they know his story.

"It becomes almost like reading a mystery," Hilda says. "Who can I find next?"

Until he was found, Frank Arthur Smith was destined to be just another man history forgot.

But while memories can fade quickly, plaques take a little longer.

One outside a former Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Fire Station with Frank's name on it is what raised one man's curiosity about him.   

"It doesn't mention who he was," says Wright Patterson Air Force Base Fire Department Lt. Steven McKee. "Was he a plumber? An electrician? A firefighter? There's been a lot of myths in our department as a consequence of that."

It turns out Frank had been a hero, perishing while trying to put out a fire at then-Wright Field. His sacrifice earned him that plaque, but it wasn't even enough to give him the honor of a headstone at his grave.

"That was disappointing," McKee says. "That was disheartening to know a line of duty death, a fallen brother was not recognized."

So Thursday the recognition Frank never got in life, he got in death, thanks to a headstone donated by Dodds Monuments and a ceremony at Woodland Cemetery.

"He would rest easy knowing he got the recognition he so deserved," says IAFF Local F-88 President Roy Colbrunn of Frank.

But Frank isn't alone on the hill where he's buried.

After 2 NEWS aired a story about Frank, Hilda came forward with the research she'd done into his family and discovered that buried beside him in another unmarked grave is his mother.

"I'm especially glad for his mother because mothers don't want to outlive their children," Hilda says. "She outlived two children. To know her son is being honored is making her very happy at the moment.

With Frank's mother on her mind, Hilda accepted that flag Thursday.

Saturday will mark the 80th anniversary of Frank's death, but the first time he can truly rest in peace.

"It's the end of the story," Hilda says. "I can put the Frank Smith file in the closed folder now."

Firefighters are still hopeful they can find some of Smith's relatives. They think they may still live in the area.