Norfleet Saunders Smith was born in Scotland Neck, North Carolina, on November 28, 1882. Smith was commissioned as a first lieutenant on November 27, 1917, and assigned to the 11th Infantry. He served overseas during World War I and saw combat at Alsace, St. Mihiel, and Meuse-Argonne. On October 20, 1918, in action in the Argonne Forest, Smith was wounded severely in the arm by machine gun fire and as a result was declared 35 percent disabled upon being discharged on December 27, 1919. He died in Scotland Neck (Halifax County) on June 9, 1933.