Below is a brief biography of my father, Col. Dewey L. Smith USAF ret as printed by Verteran Tributes. My father is a Patriot and a true American Hero. He was one of only a few POWs who never cracked, a testament to his stregnth of character, and his deep love for his country. He knew he could not crack. Before being trained as an F105 pilot, his post was in Germany. He was involved in SAC (Strategic Air Command), at a high level, and knew volumes of Top Secret information about the placement of American Forces in Europe. This was at the height of the Cold War, so his knowledge was important.
I am finally emotionally strong enough to tell his story, and the story of my family. Everyone saw the joyful reunions as our Prisioners of War were repatriated. Most of what the public was allowed to see was a lie.
Veteran of:
U.S. Air Force Reserve 1953
U.S. Air Force 1953-1974
Cold War 1953-1974
Vietnam War 1967-1973 (POW)
Tribute:
Dewey Smith was born in 1929 in Louisville, Kentucky.
He was commissioned a 2d Lt in the U.S. Air Force through the Air Force ROTC program at Western Kentucky State College on January 22, 1953, and went on active duty beginning May 8, 1953.
Lt Smith next completed pilot training and was awarded his pilot wings at Vance AFB, Oklahoma, in June 1954, followed by B-26 Invader transition training from June to July 1954.
He then served as a C-46 Commando pilot with the 19th and then the 6461st Troop Carrier Squadrons, and as a Detachment Commander in South Korea from September 1954 to September 1955.
Lt Smith served as an Adjutant with the 3550th Motor Vehicle Squadron at Moody AFB, Georgia, from November 1955 to July 1956, and then attended Instrument Pilot Instructor School at Moody from July to September 1956.
His next assignment was as an instructor pilot with the 3550th Combat Crew Training Squadron at Moody AFB from October 1956 to February 1958, followed by service as a Flight Instructor Advisor and Academic Instructor with the 3565th Flying Training Squadron at James Connally AFB, Texas, from February 1958 to June 1961.
Capt Smith attended the Missile Launch Officer Course at Lowry AFB, Colorado, from June to October 1961, and then Tactical Missile Launch Officer Combat Crew Training at Orlando AFB, Florida, from November 1961 to April 1962.
His next assignment was as a Missile Launch Officer and Missile Combat Crew Commander with the 71st Tactical Missile Squadron at Bitburg AB, West Germany, from June 1962 to June 1963, followed by service as an Operations Officer, Assistant Chief of the Operations Plans Division, and then Chief of the Operations Plans Division with the 36th Combat Support Group at Bitburg AB from June 1963 to June 1966.
Maj Smith next completed F-105 Thunderchief Combat Crew Training in December 1966 before serving as an F-105 pilot with the 34th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Korat Royal Thai AFB, Thailand, from February 1967 until he was forced to eject over North Vietnam and was taken as a Prisoner of War on June 2, 1967.
After spending 2,103 days in captivity, Col Smith was released during Operation Homecoming on March 4, 1973. He was briefly hospitalized to recover from his injuries at Andrews AFB, Maryland, and then attended Air War College at Maxwell AFB, Alabama, from July to October 1973. His final assignment was as Special Assistant to the Commandant of Air War College from October 1973 until his retirement from the Air Force on February 1, 1974.
His 1st (of 2) Silver Star Citation reads:
Major Dewey L. Smith distinguished himself by gallantry in connection with military operations against an opposing armed force as as Tactical Fighter Pilot over North Vietnam on 14 May 1967. On that date, Major Smith was a member of a flight of F-105's assigned to destroy an extremely heavily defended barracks area. With complete disregard for his own personal safety he flew through intense and accurate anti-aircraft and missile fire to deliver his ordnance directly on target. By his gallantry and devotion to duty, Major Smith has reflected great credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.
What his military history can not express, is the level of sacrifice that he made. Oh yes, we, his family, made sacrifices too, but they couldn't compare to his.
We were living in Germany when the War in Vietnam really began, under the leadership of President Johnson. I will always believe that Presedent Kennedy was killed in order to make way for President Johnson to assume the Presidency. Johnson almost immediately involved us in Vietnam. That was a War over who would have the privilege and the profit from off shore oil drilling.
My dad was afraid. He began drinking heavily during his off-duty hours. He and my mother began fighting constantly. I often found myself acting as a referee. At one point, my mother decided to leave him. When she discovered that she could not legally take her children out of Germany, without my dad's permission, she changed her mind, and stayed. Their relationship remained strained right up until he left for Vietnam.
He was allowed to come home on compassionate leave about six months later. His father had been diagnosed with colon cancer. He was not expected to survive the surgery to remove his colon, but he did.
During that visit, my dad was withdrawn and depressed. The number of missions a piliot was required to fly before going home had just been doubled. He had been flying day and night, trying to fly the required number of missions as quickly as possible. He had flown all but a dozen of his required missions, when the number doubled. Many of his friends had already been killed or captured. The day he left, he told me that he wouldn't be home for a long time. He promised me that he would be back, and asked me to never forget him. I took what he said very much to heart. I still believe that he knew what was going to happen to him.
The day we were notified, I saw a military vehicle pull up in front of our home. We were living in Valley Station KY, a suburb of Louisville. The commander from Snow Hill, the nearest Air Force Base, and a chaplin from Fort Knox got out of the car. I answered the door, showed them in, and went to get my mother. She was in the den ironing.
I actually only asked them one question. "Is my daddy alive?" They couldn't answer me.
According to the official reports:
His Squadron arrived at their objective. The flack was intense. Although the weather was fine, there were areas of patchy clouds. His wing man reported that he took a direct hit to his bomb bay, which was still full. The plane was pushed over, upside down, just as it flew into a cloud bank. They did not see his canopy open or his seat eject. The plane exploded immediatly. The explosion was very large. No parachute was seen, and his transponder was never activated. Because of the intense flack, his wing was unable to attempt to follow him down, or to spot him on the ground, either dead or alive.
The Air Force listed my father as MIA, Missing in Action. With the faith of a child, I knew he was alive.
My mother did not handle the news well. Like so many military wives, she resented the burdens the military placed on her. I think if she could have, she would have divorced him then, or she would have had him declared legally dead. She didn't cope well living in such limbo.
Please join me next week for Chapter Three of No Yellow Ribbons.