NAS Kingsville Commanders Honors Predecessor
Naval Air Station Kingsville
TW-2 Commodore Capt. Raymond Barnes (left), NAS Kingsville Commanding Officer Capt. Thomas Korsmo (center), and NAS Kingsville Command Master Chief Joe Lovelace placed a wreath at the grave of Navy Capt. Theodore Smyer.
KINGSVILLE (News Release) – The leaders of NAS Kingsville and Training Air Wing TWO honored a former commander in a brief ceremony, Dec. 13, at Kingsville’s Chamberlain Cemetery.
Training Wing Commander Capt. Raymond Barnes, NAS Kingsville Commanding Officer Capt. Thomas Korsmo, and NAS Kingsville Command Master Chief Joseph Lovelace placed a wreath at the grave of Navy Capt. Theodore Smyer who commanded the air station from September 1970 to June 1972, and the Training Air Wing from August 1971 to June 1972.
Smyer’s naval career began in 1942 as a fighter pilot in World War II. He would later see action in Korean and in Vietnam, and earned numerous personal decorations including the Distinguished Flying Cross, two Meritorious Service medals, two Purple Hearts, and 10 Air Medals.
After retiring from the Navy, Smyer remained in Kingsville where he became involved in the American Cancer Society, served as president of the Kingsville Rotary Club and the Navy League, was a board member for State Bank of Kingsville, and was a member of the city/county health board for two decades.
Smyer died April 15, 2001 at age 77.
The captain’s family arranges to have a wreath be placed on his grave each December as part of the “Wreaths Across America” program.
Wreaths Across America began in 1992 as a private venture, placing wreaths just at Arlington National Cemetery. Over the years it has gained in notoriety and expanded nationwide.