Lieutenant Richard E. Smith: 39th. Fighter Squadron

     Lieutenant Richard E. Smith stands next to his Lockheed P-38H “Japanese Sandman II” (serial number 42-66905). Smith’s previous aircraft, a P-38F, had been written off and so he carried over the name to his new mount. Smith was with the 39th. Fighter Squadron, 35th. Fighter Group, 5th. Air Force and the unit flew missions in the Southwest Pacific Theater beginning in June 1942. By the close of 1943, the 39th. transitioned to the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt. The P-38s were transferred to the 431st. Fighter Squadron, 475th. Fighter Group that operated from North Borio Airfield, Borio. 

     On December 4, 1943, Lieutenant Dolphus Ransome Dawson II took the former Smith’s P-38H up for a training exercise but during the flight, the aircraft developed mechanical problems and Dawson had no choice but to force land the plane. Unable to make any of the nearby airfields, Dawson brought the plane down into a swamp near Embi Airfield No. 2 located in Papua, New Guinea. The P-38H was a complete write-off but Dawson walked away without injury. Rescue personnel from the airfield retrieved Dawson but the aircraft was abandoned where it lay. 

     Smith would survive the war, achieving seven kills against Japanese aircraft (two A6M Zeros fighters, two Ki-43 “Oscar” fighters, two Ki-61 “Tony” fighters, and one G4M “Betty” bomber) which made him an ace. He retired from the Air Force with the rank of Captain and passed away in 2006. Dawson would also retire from the Air Force, earning the rank of Major, before passing on in 1995. 

     Sometime in the 1980s, the wreckage of the P-38H was discovered and in 1986, Smith would visit the crash site of his former aircraft. In 2003, both tail booms and other various parts and components from the P-38H were salvaged and as of 2006, remain with Precision Aerospace out of Wangaratta, Australia. As for the 39th. Fighter Squadron, it is still in active service as the 39th. Flying Training Squadron, operating out of Randolph Air Force Base in Texas. The 431st. Fighter Squadron, however, was inactivated on June 30, 1992, the General Dynamics F-111 “Aardvark” being the last aircraft the unit flew.