mayor says Smithville represents 'God, County, and Patriotism.'
The Memorial Day, pause to reflect on the huge sacrifice that the small town of Smithville Texas, which is southeast of Bastrop, has made in the War on Terror.
1200 WOAI's Michael Board reports that with less than 4,000 people in the entire community, five Smithville servicemen have been killed in action in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2005. That gives Smithville the distinction of having the most local men killed in action per capita than any other community in the country.
"And right now as we speak, we have somewhere between 42 and 50 of our kids deployed right now," Smithville Mayor Mark Bunte said of his town's amazing sacrifice.
The deaths in combat have touched every facet of the small community, which calls itself 'The Heart of the Megalopolis, because it is in the middle of the triangle created by Austin, Houston, and San Antonio. Smithville is in the process of creating a memorial plaza to make its unique sacrifice, and everybody in Smithville knows someone, or at least knows a family, which has been touched by war.
"I love these parents to death," the Mayor said of the parents of Smithville residents who have been killed in action. "I mean every time we see each other, we're family now, and we will be family forever."
Bunte said Smithville is typical of so many small towns across the country, where they 'believe in God, country, and patriotism.' He says the 'military ethic' in the town is the centerpiece of it's personality.
"We are basically a blue collar town," he said. "Those are the values that were given to us. God. Country. Patriotism."
