D.D. Smith > Quotes

“In the end, I decided that my hearing, which had started to exhibit a high-frequency loss, would probably disqualify me in any case.  It was a mistake – I should have applied.  Let Houston make the call on who’s qualified and who is not. It was one of life’s lessons: Do not shoot yourself down.  Make someone else do it!”
― D.D. Smith, Above Average: Naval Aviation The Hard Way

“The air war over North Vietnam was continuing unabated.  SAM sites had proliferated substantially since we left, and MIGs were more aggressive than ever.  That was too bad – if we had been given the license, we could have reduced both these threats to near zero.”
― D.D. Smith, Above Average: Naval Aviation The Hard Way

“The lab was not able to simulate eyeballs-out g but estimated in their publications that human tolerance for eyeballs-out g was “about 5gs for 5 seconds.”   I had been subjected to 7½  eyeballs-out g continuously for more than 100 seconds!”
― D.D. Smith, Above Average: Naval Aviation The Hard Way

“At sea we recharged our batteries from too many ten cent drinks at the Yokosuka Officer’s Club.”
― D.D. Smith, Above Average: Naval Aviation The Hard Way

“And while the rest of the ship could tell how long they had been at sea by the color of their lettuce, the staff had an innocuous wooden box that went back and forth to Subic Bay on the COD every day.  It contained primarily fresh salad fixins, vegetables … and liqueurs.”
― D.D. Smith, Above Average: Naval Aviation The Hard Way

“Fortunately, the ship anchored about a mile out in the bay and so avoided the brown stench of the city.  The stench hung like a pall and smelled of some combination of body odor, camel dung, curry sauce and death.”
― D.D. Smith, Above Average: Naval Aviation The Hard Way

“Our old C.O. had finished his tour, and had been replaced by CDR Harry Southworth, our former X.O.  He announced the oncoming Vietnam cruise at an all pilot’s meeting and stressed that participation was strictly voluntary.”
― D.D. Smith, Above Average: Naval Aviation The Hard Way

“WESTPAC cruises in those days were about six months long and were intended to project American strength and to protect the sea lanes in the Far East.”
― D.D. Smith, Above Average: Naval Aviation The Hard Way

“Blue Hawk pilot and former POW, CDR Allan “Soapy” Carpenter continues to enjoy his retirement on the shores of the Chesapeake in Virginia – with his lovely and gracious wife, Carolyn.  Richly deserved. ”
― D.D. Smith, Above Average: Naval Aviation The Hard Way

“My least favorite was Allan Sheppard, a notorious womanizer, who made a pass at Jo.”
― D.D. Smith, Above Average: Naval Aviation The Hard Way

“A loose-leaf binder, which contained my prepared speech, had been pre-positioned on the podium.  I opened it.  There was a full-color two-page Hustler model, with legs spread, in full porno mode!”
― D.D. Smith, Above Average: Naval Aviation The Hard Way

“There were anywhere from two to six carriers on duty at YS, though three was the norm.”
― D.D. Smith, Above Average: Naval Aviation The Hard Way

“It was led by our Executive Officer, CDR Southworth, the section lead was my roommate, Pat Kober and the wingmen were Carl Moslener and Dick Koffernus.   Southworth received a Silver Star, and all other flight members received Distinguished Flying Crosses (DFC’s) as tribute to the historic nature of the strike.  ”
― D.D. Smith, Above Average: Naval Aviation The Hard Way

“If you had dropped your bombs and scared the fishermen away, I’d be dead.” ”
― D.D. Smith, Above Average: Naval Aviation The Hard Way

“Once the squadron was in place, the purpose of the move became evident.  We were switching to Air Wing Seven, which was assigned to the USS F.D. Roosevelt and was the next east coast carrier to be deployed to Vietnam.”
― D.D. Smith, Above Average: Naval Aviation The Hard Way

“Linebacker II was, in all important respects, the plan presented to President Johnson by the Joint Chiefs in 1965.”
― D.D. Smith, Above Average: Naval Aviation The Hard Way

“set her down delicately at Davis-Monthan AFB in Tucson, where she would take her place in aviation’s boneyard along with thousands of other airplanes.  I taxied her in to the parking ramp and said my goodbyes as I climbed out of her cockpit for the last time. I walked into the hangar, a bit choked up I admit, and dumped her logbooks on someone’s desk.  I felt like I had just put down my best friend. ”
― D.D. Smith, Above Average: Naval Aviation The Hard Way

“Once out of Karachi, the ship headed northwest across the Arabian Sea into the Gulf of Oman.  From there, we continued west through the Straits of Hormuz and into the Persian Gulf.  This was really an “in your face” move, since the Straits of Hormuz were as contentious then as they are today.  To twist the knife, we conducted flight operations in the Persian Gulf, being careful to observe Iran’s 12-mile limit.”
― D.D. Smith, Above Average: Naval Aviation The Hard Way

“am told that my flat spin served as the inspiration for the F-14 flat spin in the movie, Top Gun, which was released in 1986 and starred Tom Cruise.”
― D.D. Smith, Above Average: Naval Aviation The Hard Way

“The bewildering Rules of Engagement (ROE) began to grind on us.  Not only could we not attack missile sites under construction, but we could not attack airfields under any circumstances.”
― D.D. Smith, Above Average: Naval Aviation The Hard Way

“Eventually we were dropping 800 tons of ordnance on NVN a day.  By 1967, there were 200 known SAM sites in North Vietnam, with 30 batteries around Hanoi alone.”
― D.D. Smith, Above Average: Naval Aviation The Hard Way

“The world would get to know Mr. Perot when he ran as a third-party presidential candidate in 1992 with retired VADM James Stockdale as his running mate.      ”
― D.D. Smith, Above Average: Naval Aviation The Hard Way

“However, the concentration of air defense assets also took its toll on passing aircraft and on nearby strikes and in total an estimated 104 American pilots were shot down over a 75 square-mile area around the bridge during the war.”
― D.D. Smith, Above Average: Naval Aviation The Hard Way

“You were to be assigned as the Executive Officer of the Kitty Hawk, stationed in Yokosuka, Japan.”
― D.D. Smith, Above Average: Naval Aviation The Hard Way

“The Indy was the first east coast carrier to join the fight and had done a remarkable job.  The”
― D.D. Smith, Above Average: Naval Aviation The Hard Way

“head and a good stick who was probably as good as you were in the air – well, it gave me pause. But then that great”
― D.D. Smith, Above Average: Naval Aviation The Hard Way

“The second attack led to retaliatory air strikes, prompted Congress to approve the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, and gave the president power to conduct military operations in Southeast Asia without declaring war.”
― D.D. Smith, Above Average: Naval Aviation The Hard Way

“I mean this literally, since the steering wheel, door frames and anything else illuminated directly by the sun was too hot to touch!  Welcome to Lemoore.”
― D.D. Smith, Above Average: Naval Aviation The Hard Way

“In war, casualties on both sides will be minimized if we strike with massive force with the goal of swift and total victory.”
― D.D. Smith, Above Average: Naval Aviation The Hard Way

“Total price for the home and pool: $32,500.”
― D.D. Smith, Above Average: Naval Aviation The Hard Way