When Dixie Smith reported to Army boot camp in 1943, he was required to go through hand-to-hand combat training. In the process, he was matched up against his instructor, a 6-foot-5 corporal who was 10 inches taller than Smith and had a reputation for being “brutal” because he had injured four or five men, likely unintentionally.
A daunting challenge? Not for Smith, who was coming off three years of service in the FBI and pinned the corporal for maybe the first time in the taller man’s life, according to a 1971 profile of Smith in The Chattanooga Times, then the city’s morning newspaper. The profile added that the two men became friends, although Smith’s win cost the instructor his job.
It would not be the last time Smith would display strength and compassion when dealing with difficult situations. He became known for both during 18 years as Hamilton County’s Juvenile Court judge.
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