01:50 AM EST on Wednesday, March 30, 2005

BY MICHAEL CORKERY
Journal Staff Writer

The widow of a soldier killed during the invasion of Iraq said she was told yesterday that her late husband will receive the military's highest award for valor.

Sgt. 1st Class Paul Smith, who was killed fending off an Iraqi counterattack in the battle for Baghdad Airport, would join an elite group who have received the Medal of Honor. He would be the first soldier from the Iraq war to receive it.

"I am so overwhelmed," Smith's widow, Birgit Smith, said in an interview last night.

Birgit Smith, of Holiday, Fla., said she was contacted by her husband's former commander, Lt. Col. Tom Smith, yesterday afternoon and told that the medal nomination had been approved.

The Army said yesterday that no formal announcement has been made.

"There has been no announcement by the White House of any Medal of Honor recipient from Operation Iraqi Freedom," said Paul Boyce, an Army public-affairs official.

Boyce added, "The Army's policy is not to speculate on potential individuals who might be worthy of the ultimate award for valor in serving our nation."

Paul Smith, 33, was killed on April 4, 2003, after defending his vastly outnumbered outfit from a fierce attack at the Baghdad Airport.

A father of two, Smith killed dozens of Iraqi soldiers, preventing them from overrunning the position of U.S. forces at the edge of Baghdad Airport, witnesses said.

Smith's actions were first reported by a Providence Journal reporter who was at Baghdad Airport during the battle.

The last conflict to produce a medal winner was the 1993 battle in Mogadishu, Somalia, depicted in the movie Black Hawk Down, according to the Medal of Honor Society, based in Mount Pleasant, S.C.

The medals were awarded posthumously to two special forces soldiers killed in Mogadishu. The Medal of Honor was created by Congress during the Civil War.

After nearly two years of waiting, Birgit Smith said she was shocked when Col. Smith called to tell her the medal nomination had been approved, after an extensive review process.

Mrs. Smith said she was told she could "get the word out" about the medal. She started contacting friends and family. She said Smith's former company commander called to congratulate her. Mrs. Smith said that her family would be presented the medal at a ceremony in Washington next month.

Sgt. Smith's sister, Lisa DeVane, said yesterday that she was "overwhelmingly proud."

"Knowing Paul, he was so humble," said DeVane, who lives outside of Atlanta. "They will recognize him as a hero, but he would have said "it was my job.' "

"Nothing will ever replace him," DeVane said. "It's just nice that he's being recognized for this."

DeVane said she e-mailed a soldier who served under Smith's command to tell him the news yesterday. The soldier, like many in Smith's unit -- the 3rd Infantry Division -- has returned to Iraq for another tour.