中心枢纽

　　Smith completed two tours in Vietnam, eventually flying more than 200 ground-support missions. While on his first tour, in Vietnam, he survived an ambush that left most of his company dead. During the assault he became separated from his gun, but he managed to retrieve the weapon in time to bring down a Vietcong soldier who was about to attack him. He had also learned a valuable lesson from the war. "There're only three things you gotta remember," he said, "shoot, move, and communicate."

　　史密斯在越南参加了两次飞行，总共完成了200多次地面支援飞行任务。在越南的第一次飞行中，他们遭遇突袭，战友大多数都牺牲了，而他侥幸生还。战斗中，他的枪支脱手，但他及时夺回武器并击毙了一名正准备攻击他的越南士兵。战争给史密斯上了宝贵的一课。他说：“你只需记住3件事：开枪、移动和联络。”

　　Home from Vietnam, Smith became fascinated by the notion that if you connected all the points of a network through a central hub, the efficiency could be enormous, whether the system involved moving packages and letters or people and planes. With an investment from his father's company, as well as a chunk of his own inheritance, Smith bought his first Dassault Falcon planes, and in 1971 formed the Federal Express Corporation.

　　从越南回来后，史密斯开始执着于这样一种想法，如果把网络内所有的点都连接到一个中心枢纽，无论是运送包裹和信件，还是人和飞机，都会极富效率。他拿着父亲企业的投资以及一大部分继承的财产，购买了第一架达索尔特鹰式飞机。1971年，史密斯创办了联邦快递公司。