Coming Home, 83 Years Later: Bob Johnson on the Return of SSgt. Charles Ray Smith
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Of six siblings who served their country, Staff Sergeant Charles Ray Smith was the only one who never returned home. 83 years later … that is finally changing. Major Bob Johnson, U.S. Army Retired, and Commander of VFW Post 5206 in Hendersonville, returns to the Kudzu Project for a third conversation. Johnson helps account for Henderson County‘s missing service members, including Marine Corps Private Luther Rhodes, and his recent role in helping bring Smith home.
A 1940 graduate of Flat Rock High School, Smith was just 20 when his B-24D Liberator, “SUZY Q,” was shot down over Foggia, Italy, on August 16, 1943. A U.S. Army Air Forces tail gunner who had survived the historic raid on the Ploesti oil fields only weeks earlier, Smith remained unaccounted for until his remains were officially identified through DNA in May of 2026. Smith will be laid to rest with full military honors at Shepherd Memorial Park in Henderson County on Sunday, Oct. 25, at 2 p.m., alongside his parents and four veteran siblings.
Recorded in Hendersonville, NC — where stories grow wild.
