Lucas County native stood in for "General Ike"

When U.S. Army Col. Baldwin B. Smith died of a heart attack, age 52, back in August of 1952, he was remembered by family and friends for a distinguished military career. But his passing was noted nationwide, often with photographs, because of his resemblance to Dwight D. Eisenhower (left), Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force in Europe who in just a couple of months would become the 34th president of the United States.

Smith's hometown newspaper, The Chicago Tribune, reported his Aug. 8 death in its edition of Aug. 10 as follows --- although the writer's assumption that Col. Smith was a Chicago native was mistaken. Col. Smith was a Chariton, Iowa, native who inherited his Eisenhowerish "look" from old Lucas County families.

Here's The Tribune report:

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Col. Baldwin B. Smith, 52, a retired Illinois national guard leader who officially impersonated Gen. Eisenhower in Europe during World War II, died Friday in Miami, Chicago friends learned yesterday.

Col. Smith, a native Chicagoan (actually, a native Charitonian), was an accountant with the national park service and served in the guard for 19 years before the war. He had risen from private and was a lieutenant in 1941 when the guard's 33rd division was called into federal service.

Resembled Gen. Ike

When the division was split up, Col. Smith went to Europe to become commander of Eisenhower's personal security force. He was selected partly because of his  marked resemblance to the allied supreme commander.

Late in 1944, allied forces learned of a German "plot" to  infiltrate the lines and assassinate Eisenhower. Co. Smith volunteered to be a decoy and rode in the supreme commander's automobile on trips between St. Germain and Versailles, France, until the danger was believed past.

The "plot" later was pronounced a German hoax designed to confuse the allies.

Left Service in 1948

Col Smith remained on active duty after the war and was assigned to the national guard bureau in Washington. He retired in 1948 because of a heart ailment, but he helped organize the Illinois civil defense setup in 1950 and a similar organization at Philadelphia in 1951.

He formerly resided at McHenry, McHenry county, and at 1129 Oakdale Ave. Surviving are the widow, Esther, and a brother. Col. Smith will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Va., after services in the chapel at 3 p.m. Tuesday.

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Col. Smith's parents were William Roy and Maude L. (Cowles) Smith, married in Chariton on March 20, 1899. Baldwin, born March 3, 1900, was the eldest of their nine children.

Bill Smith was by preference a musician and band director who chased his dreams with wife and children in tow during the first 15 years of Baldwin's life, but Chariton was their home base. As the family grew and life on the road continued, Baldwin was farmed out frequently to his grandparents so that he could attend school.

Finally, about 1916, the Smiths moved permanently to Chicago where Bill found work as a security guard to support his musical habits --- and his family. Both Maude and he died there, in 1945 and 1947 respectively.

As his obituary noted, Baldwin's funeral service and burial took place at Arlington National Cemetery. His wife, Esther, died some 15 years later in 1967 and was buried with him.