John Smith was born in 1946 in Fredericktown Missouri, and later moved to Tennessee. He joined the ROTC in college, then joined the Army in 1969. He took the Infantry Officer Basic Course at Fort Benning, Georgia, then went to Fort Riley. Kansas, to serve as a trainer before going to Vietnam. In Vietnam, he served with the D Company, 1st Battalion, 506th Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, as platoon leader of 2nd platoon, and was involved in the fighting in July 1970 around Firebase Ripcord. After he was wounded he served as the properties officer, then later as air coordinator. After returning to the US he was involved in the training base at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, before leaving the Army in June of 1972.