Dedication
Richard Smith and Earnest Langbein
These two large men were linked together for life by a Japanese mine in the South Pacific. It was Richard Smith who was blown overboard along with eight of his shipmates and it was Earnest Langbein (usually know as Bean) who saved Richard's life. That is the stuff of a very close friendship and that is how it has been since that fateful day... until last November, when Bean passed away.

They both were big framed but they were big men in other ways. They both achieved remarkable careers throughout their lives. Below are details of their remarkable lives.

After the war, Dad worked for the Internal Revenue Service for 33 years and went up the ranks to be the Assistant Regional Commissioner in California and other western states. Later he served as an advisor for the IRS in Peru, India, and Africa. Taking us on several adventures in those other countries.
Growing up in Belmont, I remember Dad working hard every day and walking 2 miles to the train station and then 2 miles home at night. I think that was one of the keys to his longevity. Mom and Dad's marriage was not without its volatility—however, they seemed to persist through it all. I remember Dad being a sensitive listener when I was young, consoling me on the ups and downs of being a teenager. Les remembers a man who she would tag along with to the dump and hardware store and other household chores so she could spend time with her Dad. Tom spent almost every weekend in the summer when he was going to college with Dad – sailing out to Treasure Island, mooring and then barbecuing. Mary Ellen was advised by Dad on her various boyfriends conflicts through the years as a young adult.
Mom died in 1976 at the age of 49. Dad was devastated. Leslie moved back here from the East and really took Dad under her wing. Even giving him a firm talk when he would not get out of the dumps and told him he had children that were also hurting and that needed him. He then picked himself up and embarked on new adventures. Married Pat Smurr – who he had many wonderful years of traveling and vacations with and later legally separated.
Dad then followed his love for golf and horses and even sailing. He purchased a small 9 hole golf course in Northern California that Tom ran for him. He moved to Alameda, had a beautiful sail boat docked outside his back door and had a great view of the San Francisco Bay. He became friends with Lee and Rhonda Manter had many wonderful times with them and others.
One day, when he was at Bay Meadows horse track watching the horses,15 years ago, he struck up a conversation with the person sitting next to him, Duane Hall. Later that day Dad leans over to Dwaine and says – ya know we should own a horse together. That casual conversation led to many years of wonderful friendship and owning 10 horses together. They shared many wonderful times. Dad also became a regular member of the Elks club where he enjoyed many happy meals and friendships. In the last months of his life – Dad visited the Pleasanton race track to watch his horses, park by the estuary to watch the boats, visit the Hornet, the World War II warship and park where he could see the view of the bay and his beloved Pacific Ocean. It warmed our heart that he got to see things he loved in the last days of his life. Yes, he had a good life, and treasured the activities he was involved in and the friendships he had. We should all be so lucky. He will be remembered for his sense of fun and his spirited ways. We appreciate the time he was with us.
Ernie Langbein is survived by his children: Mary Ellen Trainor, Sherry Langbein, Leslie Jo Parsons and Brent Parsons (son in law), and Thomas Patrick Langbein. His grandkids Ryan Trainor, Angie Karp, Ian Trainor, Taylor Parsons, Kayley Parsons, and Finley his great grandson.

Provided by Leroy Jones

At the 2005 reunion in Providence, RI Jo Hubbard, daughter of Richard & Shirley Smith was always with Earnest Langbein. I knew Joe was married to George Hubbard and thought it odd that she was always close to Bean. But, what the hey, conventions and reunions etc. even with her husband and parents present... what business was of mine who she spent her time with. It was not until the very end of the reunion that I got the ‘rest of the story'. It was Bean who saved Richard Smith's life when the USS Viburnum hit the Japanese mine and Richard was blown off the bow. No wonder Jo was spending as much time as she could with Bean... with out Bean there would be no Jo.

Provided by Sherry Langbein (daughter)

In this time span, he did a lot of things, had a lot of experiences, made many decisions, lived through the depression, served in WWII, had many friendships, married, had 4 children, worked for the IRS, traveled to many countries, raced thoroughbreds, played golf and sailed on the Pacific Ocean.
Dad was born and raised in Los Angeles. His father was from Iowa and his mom Ellen Smith was from Minnesota. His Dad had his own business as a milk man and his mom was a school teacher before she had my Dad and his younger brother Doug. He remembered the trolley that went from his house to the beach in L.A. and playing volley ball on Manhattan beach. When he was 11 – he remembered walking to school and thinking why did he have to go to school anymore, he knew everything there is to know. Course he did keep going to school and in fact had reunited with his junior high school buddies every year for the last 20 years.
Dad lived through the Depression, he was 12 at the beginning of it. He learned from those times to be frugal, save things and recycle almost everything. He remembers Seabiscuit and Santa Anita and how this little horse spurred hope in everyone during the dark days of the Depression. At that time, he had a thought that it would be neat to someday have a horse and have it race and win at Santa Anita. Little did he know that that dream would be met many years later by his horse Bold Chieftain.
He experienced the attack on Pearl Harbor and he enlisted in the Navy serving in World War II. He seemed to really enjoy his Navy days and had a lot of pals from that time period. He was Chief Bosun Mate and served in the Pacific theatre. He met Gloria when he was stationed in Australian and had a sweet romance with her. However, one day his boat took a hit and they left the harbor immediately. Just think we could have been blond and had an Australian accent. Oh well. Gloria later married someone else. Dad came back to the States and married Patricia Mackey from Kansas in July 21st, 1945. They had four children: Mary Ellen, Sherry, Leslie Joe, Thomas Patrick.

Earnest (Bean)Langbein
Richard Frazer Smith
The morning of December 7, 1941 found Richard hunting with two friends from High School. One of them was of Japanese decent. Later he and two friends, one Chinese, hitchhiked from Red Bluff to Redding, CA to enlist in the Navy. Thus began the saga of Richard Smith... he had just turned 17!
Following Boot Camp in San Diego he was detailed to Tiburon Net Depot and Net and Boom School. Since the base was still under construction he was billeted aboard the Delta Queen which was being used as temporary barracks.
He was assigned to a unit called Fulcrum Two, one of six units that would perform net building and repair in remote locations. He made his way into the South Pacific aboard the USS Wharton AP-7 with stops along the way at Hawaii, Pago Pago (where he saw an antenna built by his grandfather, Henry Smith, had been destroyed by Japanese bombs), Fiji, New Caledonia to New Zealand.
While there he built nets and rode a picket boat patrolling the nets. It was here that he met his future wife, Shirley.
Eventually he was sent to Noumea, New Caledonia aboard the USS Tryon APH-1. They almost rammed a Japanese sub in the night. His unit received combat training from a Marine sergeant and sent to Espiritu Santos in the New Hebrides Islands. He experienced leg injuries in a fall and ended up in the hospital. Before he was discharged from the hospital his unit left for parts unknown and he came down with dengue fever. Eventually he was able to follow the trail his unit left for him and (after riding the USS Little APD-4 a WW I Destroyer) he joined his unit on Guadalcanal. On the way the convoy was attacked by two Japanese flying boats.
He linked up with his brother Don, a marine, and went with him into the jungles of Guadalcanal. Shortly after that he returned to the States and eventually worked his way aboard the USS Viburnum AN-51. It was there that he met Earnest Langbean who later would save his life.
The Viburnum ran into a Japanese mine and had a huge hole blown in the bow. He was blown off the ship and saved by Langbean. The Viburnum was decommissioned and sent back to the States where he was assigned to a tug, YTL-163. He ran the tug for the remainder of his Navy career encountering a number of hair raising experiences.
After Dick received his discharge from the Navy he returned to his hometown of Red Bluff, California. He went to work on a survey crew and enjoyed being home with his friends and family, but he couldn't forget the little 15 year old girl he had fallen in love with and left behind in New Zealand. They both had grown up a great deal during the war and tried to move on with their lives, but the love was still there. Finally, Dick wrote her a letter and enclosed money for her passage to America, and hoped that she would join him here. Shirley Jocelyn Webb hid the money in her closet until she got up the nerve to tell her parents that she was leaving New Zealand and all she had ever known to go to America and marry Dick.
Although it must have been very difficult for them to see her leave her home, her parents did everything they could to help her follow her heart. Shirley went to work for her father as a "gofer" so that she could go to the shipping company in Auckland every day to try to arrange her passage. Because they were not yet married, she had quite awhile to wait. Finally, when the first airplane to leave New Zealand arrived, Shirley got her wish and her ticket. She was to fly into San Francisco, spend a couple of months in Red Bluff to make certain she wanted to be there before she married Dick. She flew into San Francisco where Dick and his brother and sister were waiting and they were married the next day!
Dick's next venture was to start his own pest control business for local farmers. After their first daughter was born, Shirley felt she needed to go back to New Zealand and Dick and their daughter went with her. Dick enrolled at Massey College (now the University of Auckland) where he received a degree in wool classification. Six months after their second daughter was born and after Dick's graduation, they returned to Red Bluff. Dick had been offered a job with Wilson & Company (meat packers) as a wool salesman, so they packed up their few belongings and moved to Chicago. A few months later Dick was transferred to Philadelphia and quite soon transferred back to Chicago. In 1958 he was transferred to Buenos Aires, Argentina where the family lived for nearly 5 years. By this time, Dick was the head of the Argentine branch of Wilson & Co.