Posted on 08/04/2019 6:05:27 PM PDT by Interesting Times
Obituary for Col. Ben H. Swett, U.S. Air Force, Retired
Col. Ben H. Swett, Ret., passed away on July 20, 2019 in MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital. He had been a resident of Temple Hills, Maryland since 1971.
He was born on September 3, 1934 at Saint Agnes Hospital, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, son of Herbert Elbridge and Marcia Harriet (Fadner) Swett. Though originally named “Herbert Benjamin,” he always used “Ben H.” as his first and middle names.
Ben H. Swett attended grade schools in Wisconsin and Colorado, and graduated from Pasadena, Texas, High School in 1951. In 1955, he graduated from the University of Arkansas with a B. A. degree in Government, was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the U. S. Air Force, and married Wyneth June Haskins at First Christian Church in Ponca City, Oklahoma.
He served in the Air Force for more than 30 years. As a junior officer, he served as a navigator on B-47 jet bombers in the Strategic Air Command (SAC), as a SAC avionics maintenance supervisor, and as a scientific specialist doing original research in the field of long-range forecasting. He also completed an M.A. degree in Political Science at the University of New Hampshire.
In 1970, he served as Wing Navigator and Civic Action Officer for the 315th Tactical Airlift Wing at Phan Rang, Vietnam, receiving the Distinguished Flying Cross, five Air Medals, and several other awards. During this time, he worked to aid and support America’s Montagnard allies in the Central Highlands.
During the 1970s, he served as a development engineer and research director at Air Force Systems Command headquarters at Andrews AFB in Maryland, and at the Pentagon as Assistant for Reliability and Maintainability in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. In the latter role, he wrote and coordinated the Department of Defense Directive on Reliability and Maintainability of systems and equipment. This Directive led to significant improvements in the U.S. military as later seen in the first Persian Gulf War. In 1981, the Institute of Environmental Sciences named him as an Honorary Fellow “for scientific study and analysis of the deficiencies in military hardware reliability development and the courageous pursuit of corrective action on both technical and administrative fronts.”
His final Air Force assignment was as Director of Engineering and Standardization at the Defense Industrial Supply Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he created a new initiative to reduce the amount of fraudulent and sub-standard materials purchased by the Department of Defense.
After retiring as a Colonel in 1985, he served as a government and industry consultant. Both during and after his service, he studied religion and spirituality, writing papers and hosting seminars on these subjects, and wrote poetry. A number of these works are posted at bswett.com.
During retirement, he did genealogical research. In the early 1990s he created the website www.swett-genealogy.com, which is now the leading source of information on the Swett family.
He was a long-time member of Bethany Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Fort Washington, Maryland, serving for many years as the Chairman of Elders, as a financial officer, and as a teacher. He will be remembered for the many lives he touched as a son, brother, husband, father, grandfather, colleague, spiritual mentor, and friend.
He is survived by his wife, Wyneth H. Swett; two sons, Scott L. Swett of Falls Church, Virginia and Bruce A. Swett of Fulton, Maryland; a sister, Mrs. Carol M. Downie of Rochester, Minnesota; four grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.
A memorial service will be held at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, August 3 at Bethany Christian Church, with burial at a future date in Arlington National Cemetery. Memorials may be sent to Bethany Christian Church at 7128 Allentown Road, Fort Washington, MD 20744.
My condolences for your’s and our loss.
I chatted via comments with hot him from time to time. It’s been awhile, but then my time spent on FR has seems to be less and less as the years pass by.
Prayers for your family in this time of your of sorrow.
As for Ben, I know he is in the Lord’s presence and all his pain and sorrow is no more.
RIP Colonel, looking forward to seeing you one day.
Zot did such an outstanding job of memorializing the mundane punctuated with the moments of sheer terror - punctuated byan overwhelming sense of duty and professionalism. His dedication and integrity shine through in every comment from:
Tue 5 May - Civic Action trip to Buu Son District HQ, Duy Tan High School, Province HQ. Someone said the people like sweets, but have little sugar. CORDS is trying to introduce sugar cane. I said I thought strawberries would grow very well here. Visit Luong Tri. The parachute on a parachute flare failed and the flare went through the roof of their hamlet office-school. 35th Combat Support Group will fix the damage.
to:
Sun 2 Aug - Day off. Wrote to Wyn, Mom. Cleaned room. Strawberries! After supper, I got a call from the air freight terminal saying they had a large pallet for me, and went to the terminal. It was about half a ton of little strawberry plants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, all nicely packed in little boxes with cardboard dividers, wooden floors and risers for the layers. The pallet was addressed to Major Ben Swett, Civic Action, Phan Rang, Vietnam. I had not ordered it and didn't know it was coming, so it must have been arranged by the University professor to whom the Lieutenant sent soil and water samples and climate data. Unfortunately, I can't find or remember the name of the Lieutenant or the University.
To:
Thu 10 Sep - Fly 4.9 (5 sorties). Drops at Hoc Mon. Had a three hour weather delay at Tan Son Nhut, but completed Theater Qualification for Bernie Sher. On the last bundle drop, the pilot did a diving S-turn to keep the drop zone in sight between the clouds. I happened to look up through the top windows of the cockpit from where I was standing in the cargo compartment and saw a C-119 drop a string of paratroops in front of us. We were going to fly right through those troops. I got on the interphone and yelled, "Abort! Abort the drop! Break right!" The pilot immediately leveled the aircraft and did a hard right turn, so we missed the troops with plenty of room to spare. That night at the bar, the pilot, Capt. Pat Stajdel, bought me a drink and said, "Don't ever buy yourself a drink if I'm around."
My favorite posts were not only the ones about Civic Action but about Strawberry's. Unlike Captain Queeg's strawberry's these are about Americans making a difference in a war torn country that still positively impacts the Vietnamese people. It is an amazing vignette and a fitting tribute to your father. Hearing the story personally from him back in the CPAC days only made it more real for me.
I have a friend who is a Christian and believes the Bible is the inspired word of God because of Luke 8:55
Her spirit returned, and at once she stood up. Then Jesus told them to give her something to eat.
This is exactly how your Dad's diary strikes me.
May he rest in Peace. Peace to you, your Mother and your family.
Love ya,
TS
I just noticed that a more detailed version of my Dad's strawberries story was included by Michael Lee Lanning in his book, Tours of Duty: The Best Vietnam War Stories From the Men Who Served. It starts at page 35.
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