As we gear up to head to Lake George, New York, for the 41st Americade rally (May 29-June 1), we are excited to host the second annual Bring It Bike Show alongside our sibling publication American Rider. Like the Americade rally itself, last year the inaugural show brought out all sorts of bikes. The one ridden by Hugh Smith Jr. definitely made an impression – so much so that we chose it as the lead image for the online story we published featuring the winners of the 2023 Bring it Bike Show.
Related: Join Rider Magazine at Americade 2024
Dubbed “Milwaukee Packout,” it’s an eye-catching bike, a 2006 Yamaha Road Star outfitted with Milwaukee Packout toolboxes as side cases and a Milwaukee battery-powered miter saw on the back. However, it wasn’t just the bike that caught our attention; it was Smith’s story. He is a Marine Corps veteran who uses his motorcycle as a work vehicle to help build housing for female veterans with children.
Last year’s Best of Show bike was selected by popular vote during Americade’s Industry Meet & Mingle party. Nearly 100 votes were tabulated, and Keith Youngblood’s 1969 Triumph TR6R hardtail bobber, which won the Best European category on Day 2 of the Bring It Bike Show, earned the grand prize. Smith’s bike came in second place, but his story pulled so many heartstrings at the party that Americade’s executive director, Christian Dutcher, graciously dug into his pocket to gift Smith with $200 for a special award.
After the 2023 show ended, we reached out to Smith to get to know a little more about the man and the mission.
Americade Bring It Bike Show Hero: ‘Who are you, wearing my eagle, globe, and anchor?’
Hugh Smith Sr. was a U.S. diplomat, and as a result, the younger Smith grew up at embassies around the world surrounded by Marine security guards. Before his days as a diplomat, Smith’s father was an MVP soccer player at New York University, which was impressive for a young Black immigrant in the 1960s. Smith said as part of the “Jr. thing,” he was always trying to live up to his father’s accomplishments. For him, it was training to be an all-star wrestler, a goal he worked toward while moving around.
“It was something I could train for and do independently,” he said. “I spent most of my time around the Marine security guards, lifting weights.”
He said that as a teenager stationed in Italy, he and the Marines would run the Spanish Steps, a steep, 95-foot slope comprising 138 steps.
Smith saw his goal accomplished a few years later at Wesleyan University, becoming the school’s first all-American wrestler in about a dozen years. However, with this mission realized, college “didn’t make sense.”
“I love to read. I love to travel. I love to learn from people in the environment. If we’re going to build a house, let’s go build a house. Let’s not read a book about it,” he said, adding that when it came to getting a degree, there was “nothing on paper that I could say, ‘Yes, that’s me.’”
After this realization, he decided he wanted to learn more about living off the grid and took an interest in wilderness education, which led him to Outward Bound. It was here that he discovered how much he enjoyed working with kids, especially the at-risk population.
“I saw the hope and excitement as their eyes lit up, especially the truant youths, when someone finally listed or they were able to open up,” he said.
In 1999, Smith enlisted in the Marine Corps, joining the Infantry. It was here that he got his first taste of motorcycles when a guy in his unit taught him to ride a Suzuki Katana. While out riding one day and pushing the limits, he experienced a speed wobble, but instead of feeling scared, it exhilarated Smith.
“It shook me,” he said. “It was the first time I felt exposed and vulnerable, and I remember thinking, ‘I better pay attention. I’ve got to be in control.’ I fell in love with it. And then the freedom to be able to just take off and be open like that was amazing.”
Smith served six years and two deployments in the Marines; however, once again he wasn’t getting the experience he had hoped for.
“I loved my time in the Corps,” he said. “I never thought I would leave. I tried to qualify and do as much as I could, but unfortunately, my contract kept me with my unit. I was trapped. As much as I had been promoted, I felt stifled.”
Smith decided to leave the Corps when his contract was finished. He ended up in upstate New York, but he felt lost. He fell back on construction, primarily framing, and went through a rough patch, alternating between drinking heavily and trying unsuccessfully to quit.
At one point, he made the decision to move out of upstate New York, selling his van and buying a Honda Shadow 1100 Sabre.
Smith was out and about in town when he saw a group of people wearing the Marine Corps insignia.
“I tapped one of them on the shoulder and said, ‘Who are you, wearing my eagle, globe, and anchor?’” he said, adding that because he hadn’t grown up in the U.S. and was still relatively new to the motorcycling world, he didn’t know about motorcycle clubs.
Turns out he had met the Lake George chapter of the Leathernecks Motorcycle Club, whose members are active and veteran Marines, a group that Smith said literally saved his life.
“They were a group of really good people who took the time to get to know me,” he said. “They took care of me. No one else could put up with me.”
Americade Bring It Bike Show Hero: ‘Something with the riding’
Even with these new associations, it wasn’t an overnight transition for Smith. He continued to struggle for several years until finally, around four years ago, he built “Milwaukee Packout” with the help of Brandon Hamblin, owner of Twitchy’s Speed Shop, and decided to put it to good use. Even during the bad times, he had always tried to give back, through coaching, charity work, and donating – “some of the only times I would be sober” – but in January 2021, he quit drinking and decided to turn his life around.
“So many better veterans than I am have quit or given up – or committed suicide or are still out there drinking and lost because they didn’t have a Marine who was willing to put up with them,” he said. “The VA couldn’t put up with me, not friends, my folks, family. Nobody could, but there was something there with the Leathernecks. Especially something with the riding; we were together but still off on our own.”
Disappointed in seeing larger charitable drives like Toys for Tots distributing donations to other areas, Smith and other Leathernecks started grassroots efforts to keep the donations and the support for veterans in their own community. What started as simply giving food, toys, and other donations to local veteran families expanded when Smith learned about the Foreverly House, which was going to be built next to the Guardian House, the latter of which was already well-known for being the only VA-funded transitional housing for female veterans in New York and only 1 of 7 such residences in the country at the time.
The Foreverly House would be unique in that it would be the first of its kind for veteran mothers and their dependents. Smith wanted to be a part of it.
“Literally 10 years earlier, I was a homeless vet at the VA in their 30-day in-patient program with a bed waiting for me, and now I was able to be the guy who owned a company that had five guys putting the roof on top of Foreverly House.”
Smith said he was able to get half of the materials donated, and he further donated 90% of the labor.
His next steps include continuing to grow his business, Grunt Works Design, which connects veterans – especially homeless veterans – with local businesses willing to offer training. There are a wide variety of possibilities, but recognizing the importance of the trades in developing self-sufficiency, this is largely where he is focusing for now.
“I want to bring together other veterans who the system has given up on. I want them to keep going and to give them a useful talent,” he said. “I want to bring them into building the houses – not a donation, but give me the tools, teach me how to do for myself, let me work with others who speak the way I do, and let me see the fruits of my labor at the end of the day.”
Given the design of “Milwaukee Packout,” Smith has reached out to the tool company and made contact with a local representative, a relationship he hopes to grow.
He has also gone back to school and is currently about halfway through the New York State Code Enforcement program, so he’ll have qualifications beyond carpentry and can help certify some of these building projects. He wants to see – and be a part of – more projects like the Foreverly House.
He said that while it’s the only one of its kind currently, “it can’t always be the only one of its kind.”
“You see one, do one, and teach one,” he said. “The Foreverly House is something that should be taught. It should be laid out as a blueprint and duplicated and not just championed as ‘Yes, we’ve done a wonderful thing.’”
These plans won’t be easy. Smith admits his story is still developing, and he was a little hesitant to tell that story when we reached out. He still struggles with self-confidence and says he often feels like a “second-class citizen.” He has had a hard time finding a place where he feels like he belongs, largely because he was told by so many during his recovery that he didn’t fit in. But he circled back to the support and camaraderie of the Leathernecks.
“Those gentlemen kept me around long enough until something clicked, and then something else clicked, and then something else. I don’t know if it’s all clicked yet, but I did give a little. And hopefully it will help.”
Smith wants to accomplish more, but we are already impressed with what he’s done and wish him the best of luck with the next chapter in his story.
