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NAME: Major Howard Horton Smith
RANK/BRANCH: O4/U.S. Air Force
UNIT: unknown
DATE of BIRTH: 25 June 1930
HOME CITY of RECORD: Oklahoma City, OK
DATE of LOSS: 30 September 1968
COUNTRY of LOSS: North Vietnam
LOSS CORDINATES: 172700N 1063200E (XE631311)
STATUS (in 1973): Missing In Action
*21 August 1979 status changed to Killed In Action*
CATEGORY: 2 Acft/Vehicle/Ground F105f
Other Personnel In Incident: Captain Clifford W. Fieszel
(Missing In Action)
SOURCE: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01
April 1991.
From one or more of hte following:
raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
Correspondence with POW/MIA families. published sources,
interviews, Copyright 1997 Homecoming II Project.
SYNOPSIS: The F105s Thunderchief (or "Thud")
performed yoeman service on many diverified missions in
Southeast Asia. F105s flew more combat missions over North
Vietnam than any other USAF aircraft and consequently
suffered the heaviest losses in action. They dropped bombs
by day and occasionally by night from high or low altitude
and some later versions (F105D in Wild Weasle guise)
attacked SAM sites with their radar tracking air to ground
missles. This versatile aircraft was also credited with
downing 25 Russian MiGs. Maj. Howard H. Smith was the
pilot and Capt. Clifford Fieszel the co-pilot of an F105
assigned a combat mission over North Vietnam on September
30, 1968. During the mission, about 50 miles north of the
DMZ near Quang Khe, the aircraft was hit by enemy ground
fire. Smith's wingman had just been hit and headed out to
sea, and did not see the plane hit.
Search and rescue units monitored beeper signals for 24
hours after Fieszel's plane went down, but were unable to
rescue him or Smith. On the following day, Radio Hanoi
announced that two F105's had been shot down in the Quank
Khe and the pilot of the second plane had been captured. On
October 7, 1968, a Hanoi newspaper repeated the story. It
was thought that the Vietnamese believed the wingman's
plane had also gone down since it was on fire when it
headed out to sea. No mention of Smith was made in either
report.
When the last American troops left Southeast Asia in 1975,
some 25,00 Americans were unaccounted for. Reports received
by the U.S. Government since that time build a strong case
for belief that hundreds of these "unaccounted for"
Americans are still alive and in captivity.
Until the fates of the men like Fieszel and Smith are
known, their families will wonder if they are dead or
alive, and why they were deserted.
Howard H. Smith was promoted to the rank of Colonel and
Clifford W. Fieszel to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel
during the period they were maintained Missing In
Action.
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