Sam Smith attended Albuquerque High School, but dropped out in the tenth grade at the age of 13 to apprentice himself to various New Mexico artists such as Randall Davey, Fletcher Martin, Nicolai Fechin and Carl Von Hassler.

Technical Sergeant Smith spent the rest of his time in the Army painting and sketching combat scenes in West Africa and the China-Burma-India Theater.

The governor of Liping County of Guizhou provided him with a document which the artist said helped him obtain assistance in reaching allied forces.

Six airmen bailed out from their stricken plane and parachuted safely without incident at Ba Zhou, Li Ping County.

A Sam Smith Retrospective show was held in the fall of 1986 at the University of New Mexico Fine Arts Center in Albuquerque, NM.

In June, 1995 the Department of Defense 50th Anniversary of World War II Commemoration Committee honored the combat art of Smith and his fellow veteran artists with an exhibition held at the National Building Museum in Washington, DC.

[9] Featured works powerfully illustrate various aspects of World War II, ranging from battle scenes to the everyday lives of military men and women.

[11] Notable students of Sam Smith include the artists Dennis Liberty, Elaine Amsterdam Farley and Nick Abdalla.