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Regular Session, 2014
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 91
BY SENATOR ADLEY
CONDOLENCES. Extends condolences upon the death of U.S. Army Sergeant Stefan M.
Smith.
A RESOLUTION1
To express the sincere condolences of the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana to the2
family of U.S. Army Sergeant Stefan M. Smith upon his death in support of3
Operation Enduring Freedom.4
WHEREAS, Stefan M. Smith was a native of Valley, Alabama, and from a family5
with strong military traditions, often relocating when his father a U.S. Army aviator received6
orders for a new duty station; and7
WHEREAS, Sergeant Smith was a 2008 graduate of Legrange High School in8
Georgia, where he was a star wrestler who impressed his coaches with his training regimen9
and his disciplined approach to sports activities; and10
WHEREAS, Sergeant Smith used the lessons he learned in competitive sports to help11
him achieve great leadership skills in his role as a city police officer in Glensville, Georgia,12
for a year and a half before joining the United States Army in November 2009 and fulfilling13
his lifelong dream to serve his country; and14
WHEREAS, Sergeant Smith met his future wife Kristi when he was seventeen and15
living at Fort Stewart, Georgia, where his father was stationed on active duty, and he would16
ultimately marry her and begin a family that would include three children, sons Dewey and17
Denver, and a daughter Gracie Smith whom he would never meet; and18 SR NO. 91
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WHEREAS, three years into his enlistment, Sergeant Smith received his orders to1
report for deployment to Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan as a member of the2
3
rd
Battalion, 15
th
Infantry Regiment, 4
th
Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 3
rd
Infantry3
Division, based in Fort Stewart, Georgia; and4
WHEREAS, twenty-four year old Sergeant Smith and his unit would be stationed in5
Wardak Province where the mission would be to find and engage enemy soldiers and bring6
some stability to the violent stretch of Sayadabad District; and7
WHEREAS, Sergeant Smith, along with his Afghan counterparts, did find the enemy8
in the town of Soltan Kheyl on Tuesday, July 23, 2013, while conducting a foot patrol9
searching for enemy forces suspected of being in the area; and10
WHEREAS, the patrol was suspicious when they encountered a disguised insurgent11
soldier riding a donkey heavily loaded with concealed explosives which were detonated,12
mortally wounding Sergeant Smith and two other American soldiers, as well as five allied13
Afghan troops; and14
WHEREAS, Sergeant Smith's loss to his family, friends, and fellow soldiers can15
never be fully measured, but his young children, aged three, two, and one year, will now16
know their father only through photographs, family stories, and memories of happier days;17
and18
WHEREAS, Sergeant Smith was awarded the Purple Heart posthumously; and19
WHEREAS, Sergeant Smith's service and sacrifice must never be forgotten by the20
people of Louisiana or the many other Americans on whose behalf he fought when his21
country called.22
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana23
does hereby extend its deepest and most profound condolences to the family of United States24
Army Sergeant Stefan M. Smith for their terrible loss of a husband, father, son, brother,25
friend and fellow soldier.26
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to27
Sergeant Smiths wife Kristi and his children, as well as his mother Lisa Jabaley Mallory of28
River Ridge, Louisiana, and father Patrick Smith of Leesville, Louisiana.29 SR NO. 91
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The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Heyward Jeffers.
DIGEST
Adley SR No. 91
Expresses condolences upon the death of U.S. Army Sergeant Stefan M. Smith in combat
in Afghanistan.