Ron Smith knows a thing or two about service.

First off, he was in the service.

And when he was in the service – fulfilling two tours in Vietnam – he was performing community service.

Then after a hard-fought and interesting working career, Ron Smith retired so he could do a whole bunch more community service.

For his community service efforts, which are by no means yet exhausted, Smith was recently inducted into the Arizona Veterans Hall of Fame, becoming the second Fountain Hills resident to join the elite group.

The first was Judi Beischel, who has done much on the local and state levels for the American Legion and its affiliates.

The Arizona Veterans Hall of Fame is sponsored by the Unified Arizona Veterans Inc. and recognized by the Arizona Department of Veterans’ Services, the Arizona Veterans Hall of Fame Society and the Office of the Governor.

The Phoenix induction ceremony recognized and honored Arizona veterans who honorably served their country through military service and who continue to serve and inspire their fellow citizens with deeds and accomplishments through their lifetimes.

He was part of the 13th class of veterans inducted since 2001. Some 21 veterans were inducted in the latest ceremony.

Smith says it was a humbling experience to be included in the Veterans Hall of Fame.

“When you see all the ownership and involvement of all the recipients, and all they do to help out veterans and their families, the first reaction is, ‘How do I fit into this?,’” he says.

“Then it becomes quite humbling to be included among this group.

“You feel you’re really not doing anything out of the norm, because this is what I’ve always done.”

Storied career

Smith was honored mostly for all the work he has done on behalf of Kiwanis International, but to reach that part of the story, we must first begin much sooner.

Ron Smith has all kinds of war stories and tales involving drug lords and other bad guys.

“The kids want me to do a book,” he says. “Someday I might.”

He joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 1965.

During his first tour he served on an aircrew on a C-117 twin engine prop plane, dropping bright flares out the door for trailing Puff-the-Magic Dragon C-47 gun ships.

Oh, he also volunteered to be a door gunner on choppers that flew night missions.

While on leave, he actually became upset that he wasn’t in Vietnam when the Tet Offensive occurred, so he volunteered to go back to ‘Nam for a second tour.

“I thought things were for real the first time,” Smith says. “You join the Marines to get into the action.

“But when I went back for my second tour, the Vietcong had tanks, rockets, uniforms, everything. You then realized they were being supported by the Chinese.

“It then became obvious we weren’t there to win.”

While he was sergeant of the night-time perimeter guard around an airbase in DaNang, however, Smith spent his days teaching English to Vietnamese children at a Catholic church in DaNang.

He was a tough Marine, and still is, yet he has this soft spot in his heart for children, trait that still defines his community service today.

“I wanted to get to know the people we were there to help,” Smith says. “I believed we were there to help them, and they believed it, too. The same is true of Marines today who are fighting in other places.”

Giving back

After the service he was recruited by the FBI and worked as an office clerk while attending college. Then he was recruited to be a sky marshal, flying “shotgun” in first class on 747 flights to Asia.

Eventually he took a position as a special agent (criminal investigator) with the Treasury Department and retired after 28 years.

While assigned to the American Embassy in Austria, he worked with a Marine detachment to start a special “Toys for Tots” program for needy immigrant children in Austria.

After the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001, Smith felt compelled to help his country once again.

In 2004 he was offered a one-year position with the State Department and Department of Homeland Security as the chief of the non-proliferation border security team in the Baltics based out of Riga, Latvia.

He was responsible for providing training for all law enforcement agencies and first responders in Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania.

Smith was recognized by all three ambassadors for his performance in enhancing border security. He received the Civilian Medal of Honor from the Latvian government.

Kiwanis

“Finally retired,” Smith came back to the Hills and re-dedicated his volunteer efforts to supporting Kiwanis International, which has the motto of “serving the children of the world.”

He went on to serve as governor of the Southwest District for Kiwanis and has recruited many new Kiwanians and built clubs at the high school, college and adult levels.

He current serves as district coordinator to raise funds for Kiwanis International’s campaign to eliminate maternal and neonatal tetanus (MNT), a swift and painful killer disease due mainly to inadequate immunization services where impoverished native women in Africa and Southern and East Asia have no access to health care.

Under Smith’s leadership, about 50 percent of the campaign goal of $1.5 million donated from the district (Arizona, New Mexico and a sliver of Texas) has been raised.

Earlier this year he was appointed to the Kiwanis International Foundation’s Board of Trustees.

How does Smith balance the tough Marine presence and his “teddy bear” heart?

“While you join the Marines to go to war, the other part of the Marines is that they care about kids,” he says.

“Probably generations ago the guys were at war and they have siblings, wives, kids at home.

“So working with kids takes you away from the thought process of what you just did in war action or what you’re going to do.

“It gives you a little bit of ‘home.’ Another survival mechanism? I don’t know. I suppose it’s an escape from the real world. You want to make things right for kids.”

So now Smith goes around pleading with individuals, groups and corporations to donate to The Eliminate Project, to make things better for moms and their babies.

It is his latest passion, the newest heart-felt emotion on his sleeve.

It’s what he does. He’s a Marine. And he’s a Kiwanian. There is no dichotomy. It’s all about service.