By Ovetta Wiggins | March 18, 2019
As a sophomore at the College of William & Mary in Virginia, William C. Smith Jr. was getting dressed for classes when he heard Katie Couric say on television that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center.
Smith spent the next few hours frantically trying to reach friends and family in New York and Washington. His mother was an administrative employee at the General Services Administration, and his father was driving a cab around Reagan National Airport.
Days later, Smith decided to enlist in the military. His mother, Patricia, urged him to stay in school and earn his degree. Eventually, he acquiesced and went on to law school, opting to serve his country by joining the U.S. Naval Reserve.
Eighteen years after 9/11, Smith, now a Maryland state senator, is facing his first deployment to a war zone. He is scheduled to spend eight months in Afghanistan as an intelligence officer, part of what the military calls Operation Resolute Support.
“The best thing about this is everyone has been tremendously supportive,” said Smith, 37, an attorney at the Solomon Law Firm in the District. “I’m looking forward to the deployment. I’m a little nervous, but I know my family is in good hands.”
Smith, who completed the Navy’s Direct Commission Officers Program while at Marshall-Wythe School of Law, will leave the country during the final, frenzied days of the General Assembly’s 90-day legislative session.