Southwest Louisiana Veterans Home resident Melvin H. “Smitty” Smith, Jr., was born in 1948 in San Antonio, Texas but grew up in New Orleans. He fought to escape from life’s difficulties, from serving in the Vietnam War, at 17, to working as a firefighter in New Orleans, thanks to a love of Cajun dancing.
Smith was born to musician Melvin Smith Sr., of New Orleans, and Francis Gertrude Barefield of …
