Petty Officer Smith lived long enough to give his wife a ‘thumbs up’ gesture, after he came out of surgery, but ultimately his wounds were too great.

Via Daily Mail, Times Free Press, NBC:

RANDALL SMITH
From: Paulding, Ohio
Entered service: November 8, 2010
Occupation: Logistics specialist

Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Randall Smith, 26, passed away in hospital two days after the terrorist attack. Smith had joined the Navy in 2010, Department of Defense officials said, and had been assigned to Chattanooga last August.

On his street in Rossville, Ga., Smith’s neighbors said he came home from work at 4:30 p.m. every day. He rode bicycles with his three daughters. His next-door neighbor, who declined to give her name, said Smith shared a picnic on the Riverwalk with the girls and his wife Thursday morning, just hours before the attack.

On Saturday, Smith’s friends from home shared memories about him. He loved baseball, like many members of his family. He pitched and played middle infield for Paulding High School. His dad was an assistant coach. After high school, Smith played at Defiance College, a Division III baseball team, the type of squad filled with men who know they won’t make it to the pros but want to keep playing anyway.

Meyer said two of Smith’s grandparents died of lung cancer, and he wanted friends to help fund research to kill the disease. He often punctuated Facebook posts with “Cancer Sucks,” even when he was just congratulating recent Paulding High School graduates.

He also shared his faith often. Jason Thomas, pastor of First Baptist Church of Fort Oglethorpe, said Smith and his family had been attending for a little less than two years.

The 26-year old is survived by his wife of four years, Angie Smith, and three daughters under the age of six.

His grandmother Darlene Proxmire told said: ‘He was just an awesome young man who loved his wife and three girls.

She added: ‘He enjoyed the Navy and serving in the Navy. Just here in the past week or two he had re-upped for another tour.

Paula Proxmire, his mother, left an American flag and a baseball mitt — representing her son’s two passions — at a memorial growing near one of the sites of Thursday’s shootings.

“My son is a hero. He died doing what he loved. He would have had it no other way,” Proxmire, from Kansas, told NBC News. “He’s been my hero since the day I gave birth to him.”

“He’s my life, he’s my world,” Proxmire said. “He’s gone.”