Major Gaylon O’Neil 'GO' Smith (USAF, Ret.) was born June 29, 1934, at Three Rivers, TX, and passed on November 25, 2022, in Russellville, AR. An Eagle Scout and a charter member of the Arkansas Civil Air Patrol, he earned his private pilot's license by the time he was 16. By age 17, he graduated high school and had a semester of college. He enlisted in Air Force in June, 1952, as an Airman 3rd class. He graduated from the Aviation Cadet Program and was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in March, 1955. His flight training was in Bainbridge, GA, and Greenville, MS. He married Carol Sisson and eventually had three daughters. His first assignment was to the 1739th Ferrying Squadron at Amarillo AFB, TX. He had flown across both the Pacific and the Atlantic oceans before he was 22. His next assignment was Weapons Controller School at Tyndall AFB, FL. From there, he went to the 6207th AC&W Squadron, Clark Field, Philippines, and then back to Tyndall as an instructor. After F-100 combat flight training at the Fighter Weapons School at Nellis AFB in the summer of 1963, he joined the 615th TFS, 401st Fighter Wing, at England AFB, LA. In early June of 1964, his squadron was TDY to Clark AFB. His flight was sitting on an alert pad in Taiwan when they were scrambled to Da Nang, Vietnam. He was the duty officer for their first retaliation strike. Now a Captain, he flew combat missions in the Hun over the next three months, earning an Air Medal. They would fly in the morning and hang out at China Beach in the afternoon. He left that unit for Operation Bootstrap, earning a B.S. in Mathematics at Arkansas Tech Polytechnic College in Russellville, AR. In October, 1965, he received orders to join the 12th Tactical Fighter Wing at Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam. He checked out on the F4-C Phantom in theater and flew a number of combat missions, often bombing the Ho Chi Minh trail in Laos and supporting special operations troops. He was awarded several Air Medals and a Distinguished Flying Cross during this assignment. In August of 1966, he was assigned to the 3560th Pilot Training Squadron as a T-38 Instructor Pilot at Big Springs AFB, TX. He was promoted to Major, became a squadron flight training instructor as well as the wing executive officer and inspector general. In January of 1970, he transferred to the 3651st Pilot Training Squadron at Columbus AFB, MS, as a section commander and the assistant of operations on the T-38 side of the wing. He retired from the Air Force in June, 1972. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, an Air Medal with 4 oak leaf clusters, a Meritorious Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, the National Defense Service Medal with Bronze Service Star, an Outstanding Unit Award with 5 oak leaf clusters, a Presidential Unit Citation, Good Conduct Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Armed Forces Reserve Medal, a Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal, and a Vietnam Service Medal with 4 Bronze Battle Stars. In retirement, he settled his family near Russellville, AR, earned a B.A. in Art. He created some wonderful paintings, did a lot of bass fishing, and was a forecaster and supervising planning engineer for the regional phone company. His wife, Carol Smith, passed in June of 2023, just a few months short of their 68th wedding anniversary.