Every one who has served in the military has a story to tell – some more interesting than others, naturally.
But few had a story to match that of Gene Smith, a Vietnam War fighter pilot was shot down over Hanoi and survived serious injuries and torture during his almost 2,000 days as a prisoner of war.
The retired lieutenant colonel, who also served as director of the Golden Triangle Regional Airport for 20 years, died Jan. 16, just one day short of his 91st birthday, in his adopted hometown of West Point.
For all he endured, Smith held no bitterness over his ordeal. To the contrary, he shared his grim account of his Vietnam experience with humility and uncommon humor.
Over the years, it was a story Smith told over and over at civic club meetings, POW/MIA and Columbus Air Force Base events.
“He was very well-known in Air Force circles,” said Mike Hainsey, who like Smith transitioned from an Air Force pilot and administrator to director of Golden Triangle Regional Airport.
“All the men who were POWs came out as different men,’” Hainsey said. “A lot of them didn’t want to talk about it much, but (Smith) was always willing to share his story. He wasn’t bitter about it.”
Smith’s war story
On Oct. 25, 1967, Smith was forced to eject from his s F-105 Thunderchief after it was shot down. He had dropped two bombs on the Doumer Bridge, a vital supply link for the Vietnamese military.
As he parachuted toward land, Smith said it seemed like half the population of Hanoi was waiting for him.
“I had a .38 (caliber) with six bullets,” Smith recalled in 2016 for an article published in The Dispatch. “I said, ‘Well, I’m not going to win this fight.’ So I threw it away. Then I lit a cigarette and waited to hit the ground.
“I knew that they probably were not going to have any fond feelings for me because I’d just dropped two 3,000-pounders (bombs) on them, and everybody in that force had dropped two 3,000-pounders on them, and they were going to be summarily pissed,” he added. “I would have been too.
“One of them had an AK-47 and he ripped a burst through me,” Smith continued. “I could see the dust kicking up. Two bullets came through my left thigh and came out the other side. I guess I was lucky, but my first reaction was, ‘Hey, that SOB just shot me!’”
Smith said he was stripped to boxers and marched through an angry crowd to the infamous “Hanoi Hilton,’’ prison, the beginning of his 1,967 days – 5 1/2 years – as a POW. Aside from a single shot of penicillion, his wounds were left untreated.
“It was every bit as bad as the stories you have heard,” Smith said. “Hung from the ceiling, somebody beating the hell out of you. Making you sit on a low stool for days and days trying to get you to make a confession or something. All that stuff.”
Smith said he relied on faith to endure the ordeal.
“Faith in God, faith in your country, faith in your family and faith in your fellow POWs,” he said. “I never did think I wouldn’t get out of there.”
Smith came home with two Purple Hearts, the Silver Star, the Distinguished Flying Cross with Valor, the Bronze Star with Valor and the Air Medal.
“I never have considered myself a hero,” Smith said. “But I served with heroes.”
From Hanoi to Columbus
A Delta native, Smith grew up in Tunica and attended Mississippi State University, where he earned an engineering degree and served in the Reserve Officers Training Corps before attending flight school.
After his release from captivity, Smith served as an instructor at Columbus Air Force Base and later as operations officer and commander. He retired from the Air Force in 1978. The Smith Ceremonial Plaza at CAFB is named in his honor.
After his retirement, Smith was executive director of the Golden Triangle Regional Airport from 1978-1998.
In his retirement Smith enjoyed playing golf, fishing and hunting. He was also active in his church, First Presbyterian Church in West Point, where he served as an elder emeritus.
Setting the foundation at GTRA
Although there was no overlap in Smith’s and Hainsey’s time at Golden Triangle Regional Airport, Hainsey (director from 2003 to 2022) said Smith’s impact was apparent as his own tenure at the airport began.
“He was there early on when it was just a small airport trying to find its way,” Hainsey said. “There might have been one or two directors before him, but he was the one who laid the foundation. He knew what he wanted and how to get it done. I know I consulted him about a lot of things as I was starting out there.”
Dudley Beardon, a former Marine pilot and later a commercial pilot, got to know Smith at GTRA.
“Before I started as a commercial pilot, I had an FBO (fixed-base operation), and Gene was airport director,” Beardon recalled. “Sometimes, he would rent a plane from me and he’d fly it like he owned it, not like he rented it. But he was the airport director, so I couldn’t complain much. I had a lot of respect for Gene. Everybody did.”
Smith was known as a man of faith and generous with his time, but he was no pushover, Bearden said.
“He was a redhead, and what they say about redheads was true with him,” Bearden said. “With his personality I sometimes wondered how he survived as a POW. I’m sure he let him know what he was thinking.”
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 32 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
