Gene Smith, Former POW and AFA Chair, Dies at 91

Lt. Col. Richard “Gene” Smith, who overcame five and a half years as a prisoner of war in the notorious Hanoi Hilton from 1967 until 1973, died Jan.

16. He was one day short of his 91st birthday. “Gene Smith was an American hero, whose honor endured torture and who came home as a shining example of enduring selfless service,” said retired Lt.

Gen. Burt Field, AFA’s President and CEO. “We celebrate a life well lived and mourn his loss.” Smith was on his 33rd mission in the F-105 Thunderchief on Oct.

25, 1967, when he was redirected to strike the Paul Doumer Bridge over the Red River near Hanoi, North Vietnam. The bridge, built by the French and later renamed Long Biên Bridge, was a vital connection between Hanoi and the port of Haiphong. “That’s the longest bridge in Southeast Asia [and] on