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Gary R. Smith — SEAL Team ONE Uniform Group

Vietnam War Navy SEAL Team 1 uniform group of Gary R. Smith: OD jungle jacket with SMITH and U.S. NAVY tapes, SEAL Trident and LDNN patch, ERDL camouflage trousers, ERDL boonie hat and UDT coral booties. Period photograph of Navy SEAL Team 1 operator Gary R. Smith (left) with another SEAL in camouflage face paint in Vietnam. Vietnam War Navy SEAL Team 1 OD jungle jacket, 1968-dated, sleeves shortened, with theater-made SMITH and U.S. NAVY tapes, South Vietnamese jump wings, SEAL Trident and LDNN patch. Chest of a Vietnam War SEAL Team 1 OD jungle jacket showing the SMITH tape, South Vietnamese jump wings, SEAL Trident, U.S. NAVY tape and LDNN patch. Theater-made SMITH name tape and South Vietnamese jump wings on Navy SEAL Team 1 operator Gary R. Smith's Vietnam War OD jungle jacket. Vietnam-era Navy SEAL Trident embroidered on sateen cloth above a theater-made U.S. NAVY tape on a SEAL Team 1 OD jungle jacket. Vietnamese-made printed LDNN (South Vietnamese SEAL) patch in a plastic pocket hanger on a Navy SEAL Team 1 OD jungle jacket. Vietnam War Navy SEAL Team 1 ERDL camouflage OP Top jungle jacket with a theater-made SMITH tape, shown with an early wide-brim ERDL boonie hat. Theater-made SMITH tape on a SEAL Team 1 ERDL jungle jacket pocket, with the early wide brim of an ERDL boonie hat in the foreground. Vietnam War Navy SEAL Team 1 ERDL camouflage jungle jacket with theater-made SMITH, G.R. and U.S. NAVY tapes and a SEAL Trident. Theater-made SMITH, G.R. and U.S. NAVY tapes and a SEAL Trident on poly-blend twill on a Vietnam War SEAL Team 1 ERDL jacket. Vietnam War Navy SEAL Team 1 short-sleeve ERDL camouflage jungle jacket with SMITH and U.S. NAVY tapes on cotton webbing and a SEAL Trident. Vietnam War Navy SEAL Team 1 poplin ERDL camouflage jungle trousers, circa 1967, with a theater-made SMITH tape above the rear pocket. Vietnam War Navy SEAL Team 1 OD jungle trousers, 1967-dated, with a printed SMITH tape above the rear pocket. Navy SEAL Team 1 OD utility shirt and trousers, 1972-dated, with SMITH, G.R. and U.S. NAVY tapes and a SEAL Trident. Navy SEAL Trident on poly-blend twill and a theater-made U.S. NAVY tape on a SEAL Team 1 OD utility shirt. Interior label of SEAL Team 1 operator Gary R. Smith's OD utility trousers with Smith handwritten in ink. Navy SEAL Team 1 wool dress blue jumper and trousers with a First Class Radioman (RM1) rating badge and two service stripes. SEAL Team 1 shoulder scroll, UDT diving helmet patch and Battle Efficiency E patch on Gary R. Smith's Navy dress blue jumper. Initials GRS stenciled in white ink on SEAL Team 1 operator Gary R. Smith's wool dress blue jumper. Handwritten name tag sewn inside a SEAL Team 1 dress blue jumper, with the identifying number covered. U.S. Navy wool dress blue trousers issue label, size 30R, from a SEAL Team 1 uniform group, with the identifying number covered. Interior waistband of SEAL Team 1 operator Gary R. Smith's dress blue trousers with GRS stenciled in white ink. Significant hand-stitched repair to the seat of a SEAL Team 1 operator's wool dress blue trousers. Vietnam-era UDT coral booties from a Navy SEAL Team 1 uniform group, grey canvas with concave vent grommets and zinc eyelets, 1969-dated. Interior of a Vietnam-era UDT coral bootie from a SEAL Team 1 uniform group with a faint 1969 date on the canvas lining.

Grouping Details

OD Jungle Jacket

  • 1968-dated OD tropical combat jacket, sleeves shortened
  • Theater-made "SMITH" name tape and "U.S. NAVY" tape
  • Theater-made South Vietnamese jump wings above the name tape
  • Navy SEAL Trident embroidered on sateen cloth above the "U.S. NAVY" tape
  • Vietnamese-made printed LDNN patch in a plastic pocket hanger with a leather tab

ERDL Jungle Jackets

Jacket 1

  • 1968-dated ERDL tropical combat jacket ("OP Top")
  • Theater-made "SMITH" name tape only

Jacket 2

  • 1968-dated ERDL tropical combat jacket
  • Theater-made "SMITH, G.R." name tape and "U.S. NAVY" tape
  • Navy SEAL Trident embroidered on poly-blend twill

Jacket 3

  • 1968-dated ERDL tropical combat jacket, short sleeves
  • "SMITH" name tape and "U.S. NAVY" tape embroidered on cotton webbing
  • Navy SEAL Trident embroidered on poly-blend twill

ERDL Boonie Hat

  • ERDL camouflage boonie hat
  • Early wide (3.25") brim
  • Label and chin cord removed

ERDL Jungle Trousers

  • Poplin (pre-rip-stop) ERDL tropical combat trousers
  • Theater-made "SMITH" name tape on the rear pocket
  • No DSA contract number on the label, circa 1967
  • Tailored cuffs
  • Period repair to the seat

OD Jungle Trousers

  • 1967-dated OD tropical combat trousers
  • Printed "SMITH" name tape on the rear pocket

OD Utility Uniform

Shirt

  • 1972-dated OD utility shirt, short sleeves
  • Theater-made "SMITH, G.R." name tape and "U.S. NAVY" tape
  • Navy SEAL Trident embroidered on poly-blend twill

Trousers

  • 1972-dated OD utility trousers
  • "Smith" penned on the label

Dress Blue Uniform

Jumper

  • Wool dress blue jumper
  • SEAL Team 1 shoulder scroll
  • UDT patch
  • Battle Efficiency "E" patch
  • First Class Radioman (RM1) rating badge with two service stripes
  • "Smith, Gary R" and his Social Security number penned on a white tag
  • "GRS" stenciled in white ink

Trousers

  • Wool dress blue trousers, size 30R
  • "Smith, Gary R" and his Social Security number penned on the issue label
  • "GRS" stenciled in white ink
  • Significant repair to the seat

UDT Coral Booties

  • 1969-dated canvas coral booties
  • Early concave vent grommets
  • Zinc eyelets

Military Service

  • Enlisted in the U.S. Navy at Dallas, Texas, in January 1964. His records list Wichita Falls, Texas, as his place of entry.
  • Radioman training at San Diego, 1964. Underwater Demolition Training at Coronado, graduating with UDT Training Class 36, 1965.
  • UDT TWELVE, 1965–1967, qualified as a diver and parachutist.
  • SEAL Team ONE from 1967, with deployments to Vietnam through Naval Support Activity Saigon in 1967–68 and 1970. Reenlisted in Saigon, June 19, 1970.
  • Later service included Explosive Ordnance Disposal school at Indian Head, Maryland, the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy, Class 17 (1981), and further tours with SEAL Team ONE and UDT TWELVE.
  • Transferred to the Fleet Reserve as a Master Chief Radioman (RMCM), April 30, 1984.
  • Decorations per his service records: Purple Heart; Bronze Star (4); Navy Commendation Medal with Combat "V" (2); Combat Action Ribbon; Presidential Unit Citation (2); Navy Unit Commendation (5); Meritorious Unit Commendation (3); Vietnam Service Medal (5); RVN Cross of Gallantry (3); RVN Staff Service Medal, 2nd Class (2); National Defense Service Medal; Good Conduct Medal (4).
  • Author of Death in the Jungle, Death in the Delta and Master Chief, his three-volume Diary of a Navy SEAL, and of DemoMen.
  • After retiring he served as a Deputy Sheriff in Jack County, Texas. He died March 23, 2009, and is buried at Wesley Chapel Cemetery, Jacksboro, Texas.

Provenance

  • Acquired by the author in the late 1990s from a collector in Moran, Texas, who found the group at a local gun show.
  • Smith lived in Jack County, Texas, not far from Moran.
  • Attribution verified: the Social Security number inked inside the uniforms matches the number in his official Navy personnel records, obtained from the National Personnel Records Center in 2004.

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