96-year young WWII Veteran Clarence Smoyer of the 3rd Armored Division came to Colorado Springs to honor the late Jim Bates, a
CS native and war photographer who left the bulk of his films and stills to the Penrose Library. A Boulder based
best selling author, Adam Makos has published “Spearhead” the story of the tank driver, Clarence which is on the NY Times Best Seller list. Makos spent the past six years interviewing Clarence and traveling to Cologne.
His book is full of the photos Bates took and Clarence is full of stories about meeting Bates on the battle ground.
Smoyer has come to be known as the “Hero of Cologne. A big shout out to the Makos family and Penrose Library for honoring Smoyer and Bates!
