Roll of Honor
Incident
Chief Michael Smit was killed in an automobile accident while returning from the city of Gladbrook, where he had gone to assist with searching for vandals. While returning to Garwin he encountered heavy fog and struck a horse that was standing in the roadway.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-IA-4020B4D0- Stewardship
- Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
- Added to badge.nw
- April 2, 2026
- Last updated
- July 23, 2026
Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.
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Tributes
I never knew you. I am standing here anyway.
Police Chief Smit served with the Garwin Police Department.
Thank you for your service to the Garwin community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Police Chief Smit.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Police Chief Michael Henry Smit is one of 10,088 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 31% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In IA, 71 of 226 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 31.4% of this state's fallen. That is 0.4 percentage points above the national rate of 31%.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Michael Henry Smit's cause is highlighted.
How Michael Henry Smit Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Michael Henry Smit is highlighted in Nov.