EDITOR'S NOTE: In the days following Susan Smith's confession last Nov. 3, David Smith and his family were driven to the deepest grief imaginable as they went about the task of burying 14-month-old Alex and 3-year-old Michael. Doug Smith, an uncle from Michigan who never met the little boys, was cast in the role as spokesman for the grief-stricken family. Here is the story of the three days Doug Smith, his nephew David, and other family members lived as they prepared to bury the boys.

By GARY HENDERSON
Staff Writer

UNION, S.C. (7/30/95) -- As rain fell across Union County in the early-morning hours of Nov. 6, David Smith visited his sons privately for the last time. The 24-year-old father and his uncle, Doug Smith, drove to Holcombe Funeral Home undetected by the masses of media in town for the boys' funeral.

David Smith stood close to the small, white casket, which held both the bodies of Michael and Alex, and sobbed for more than 30 minutes.

"David talked to the boys and told them things like, `I love you Alex and Michael. I don't know how I'll live without you boys.' "

David Smith's visit to tell his sons goodbye was a rare moment of privacy for him. Since his ex-wife Susan Smith told police her children were kidnapped last Oct. 25, he has been the focus of the nation's media.

Last fall Doug Smith watched the events in Union unfold on national television. The 57-year-old Michigan man had seen very little of his nephew, David, since David was 2 years old. He had never met Alex and Michael. Smith is the brother of Charles David Smith, David's father.

"David didn't really know me when I came down here last fall," Smith said. "But I couldn't get the events in Union off my mind. I think I was `called' down here. I served a purpose."

Smith left his home in Michigan on Halloween night and drove to Union, arriving the following day.

"I had just planned to stay a couple of days," Smith said. "Mostly I just tried to support the family, but on Nov. 2, after someone thought they spotted the children in Seattle, Margaret Gregory asked me to speak to the media on behalf of the family."

Gregory served as family spokeswoman for Beverly and Linda Russell, Susan Smith's stepfather and mother.

"After several days, it appeared nothing was going to break. I decided to go home, because I needed to get back to work," said Smith, the vice-president of Solvey Chemicals, a supplier to the auto industry. "Somewhere between Asheville and Knoxville I heard on the radio there was a major break in the case."

Smith said he called Gregory from his car telephone around 5 p.m., but she told him the story was just a rumor. She told him, "Nothing's breaking, Doug."

As he drove north on I-75 just 25 miles out of Knoxville, Doug Smith learned the horrible truth. A radio news bulletin announced that Susan Smith had confessed to drowning her two sons in John D. Long Lake.

"I called my wife, turned around and headed back to Union," Smith said. "It was a pretty fast drive. I got there just before midnight."

Smith said when he arrived everybody at David Smith's apartment was in a state of shock. David, who was living separately from his then-estranged wife at the time, was locked in his bedroom, alone.

"By now, everybody knew how he (David) found out over television Susan had killed the boys," Smith said. "My brother told me David ran out of the Russells' house screaming, when he heard the announcement."

Smith said his brother and nephew were both very emotional when he arrived back in Union that night.

"My brother had lost a son just a couple of years before," Smith said. "Both the Davids were taking it very hard."

After he arrived at David Smith's apartment, the family decided Doug would be the one to speak for them.

"I felt like I had a foot in both camps," Smith said. "Like millions of others, I'd never met the boys but I was different because I was also a member of the family."

Just after midnight on the night Susan Smith confessed to killing her children, Doug Smith sat down to write the statement he would read the following morning from the parking lot of the Union County Sheriff's Office. He has kept the original handwritten draft of the words he spoke on Nov. 4.

"I didn't realize how many people around the world would hear me read that statement."

After he finished, Smith left the Sheriff's Office and drove to Holcombe Funeral Home. Together, the Smith and Russell families made funeral arrangements for Alex and Michael.

They decided on two visitations -- one at the Russells' home and one at the funeral home for the Smith family.

Some of the arrangements that had to be discussed on that Friday morning were excruciating. "David and my brother wanted to see the boys, but they couldn't," Smith said. "Mr. Holcombe called me aside and said, `Mr. Smith, they cannot see those babies."'

Alex and Michael had been in John D. Long Lake for nine days when they were removed by divers.

"My brother, for whatever reason, assumed Susan had killed the boys before they went into the water," Smith said. "When he learned differently, he lost it."

Charles David Smith moaned and said, "She didn't even have the decency to kill them first."

People started coming to the funeral home at 10 the next morning. The evening's scheduled two-hour visitation lasted for more than three hours.

"David either shook hands or hugged every person who came through the line," Smith said.

On Saturday, the family continued preparations for Sunday's funeral. About 1 p.m. Smith and his nephew went to John D. Long Lake.

"We sat on the grassy hill and watched Oprah Winfrey filming by the lake," Smith said. "Both of us were wearing baseball caps, so nobody recognized us."

After Winfrey and the taping crew left, David and his uncle walked to the end of the boat ramp and stood near the water. As they talked, a news crew walked down the ramp. They were preparing a report for their evening news. Again, none of them recognized David.

"One of the crew members asked us if we would move, so we wouldn't be in the way," said Smith, smiling. "We've had a few laughs about that."

By Saturday, the day before the funeral, huge piles of mail started arriving in Union. Before it was over, David Smith received more than 20,000 cards and letters.

One letter included a tape of the Elton John song "Father and Son."

"David kept the tape with him all weekend," Smith said. "He played it constantly."

On Saturday afternoon, Smith, his brother Charles David, and his nephew David went to the cemetery at Bogansville United Methodist to chose a site for the little boys' burial.

"David and my brother wanted the boys buried next to Danny," Smith said, referring to Danny Smith, son of Charles David.

"There was no way to fit them into the plot -- unless Danny's body was exhumed and moved back. One of the hardest things I had to do was tell my brother about that. But it was important to him and he immediately agreed to have it done."

Danny Smith died in 1991, 11 days before he was to be the best man in David and Susan Smith's wedding.

While the world awaited for an answer to the Smith tragedy, Doug Smith has been in the courtroom with his brother and nephew. Like millions of people, he has fallen in love with two little boys he never knew.

"You remember they played "Jesus Loves Me" at the funeral," said Smith, late Tuesday night, unable to hide his emotions. "A few weeks ago, I heard that song again at my church. It was the first time since the boys' funeral. All the memories of that Sunday came back. I sat down when I heard it."

On Saturday, Doug Smith stood to one side as his nephew, David, made a statement to the media on the front portico of the Union County Courthouse. As he prepared to return home to Michigan, he said many people, including law enforcement officers, the solicitor's office and the victims assistance office deserve praise for the way they had helped his family.

And he made this request to the people at Bogansville United Methodist Church.

"Watch over Danny, Michael and Alexander."

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