Obituary of Colonel Vernon Edward O'Meally

Colonel Vernon Edward O’Meally

United States Air Force — 1952-1972

Vernon E. O’Meally ended his 20-year Air Force career as a highly decorated Lieutenant Colonel. Born in 1933 in Jamaica, New York, his Air Force service satisfied his fascination with aircraft and aviation. He enlisted in the USAF in 1952 and was accepted into the Aviation Cadet program, graduating in 1954 at the age of 20 with a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant.

Vernon’s Air Force career included a tour of duty in southeast Asia. He was based in far eastern Thailand at the Ubon Air Base, which deployed two historic aircraft: the F-4 Phantom, and the AC-130A Spectre gunship. The Phantom was the principal air superiority fighter for the U.S. Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps; it’s strength was in critical ground-attacks and aerial reconnaissance.

The AC-130A Spectre was a low-flying, heavily armed, search-and-destroy gunship. At the time it was the deadliest Aircraft in the USAF. And Vernon O’Meally was a crew member. Its area of operation in Southeast Asia was the Ho Chi Minh Trail, which ran out of North Vietnam into Laos, crossing into South Vietnam below the DMZ. The trail was able to effectively supply the North Vietnamese Army fighting in the south with goods and supplies, a military feat unparalleled given it was the target of the single most intense bombing campaign in history, with bombs dropping on average every seven minutes, including assaults from the Spectre gunships.

Vernon’s Spectre gunship was the first AC-130A loss of the war. As told by Vernon, while on armed reconnaissance (a.k.a. "truck hunting") along the Ho Chi Minh Trail over Southern Laos, “the sky lit up like the 4th of July—it seemed like every ant-aircraft gun in Laos was shooting at us. The plane was hit and the pilot ordered most of the crew to bail out—I crashed into a tree and was later rescued.”

A skeleton crew managed to fly the damaged plane back to Thailand where it crash landed. Eleven crewmen survived the event, but two were killed in action.

Later, Vernon was told that if he were shot down a second time he could go home. “I appreciate the offer,” he responded, “but I think I’ll pass.”

During his service in Southeast Asia he completed 107 combat missions. His awards and decorations include the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Purple Heart, seven Air Medals, and the Meritorious Service Medal.

After his retirement from the Air Force, Vernon became the City Manager in Hampton Virginia. Subsequently, he joined the MITRE Corp., retiring in 2013 after a 33-year career there as an associate department head based in New Jersey.

Vernon was involved with the establishment of the New Jersey Vietnam War Memorial. He was awarded the New Jersey Vietnam Service Medal and the New Jersey Distinguished Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, New Jersey’s highest military award. He also volunteered at the Memorial.

Vernon was a graduate of Hampton University, Virginia, and the Federal Executive Institute in Charlottesville, Virginia.

He served on the Vestry of the St. James Episcopal Church in Long Branch,  NJ, and was a member of the Monmouth County Aviation Club.

Vernon had three brothers, all of whom served in the United States Military. With first wife Emily Bryan, five off spring have survived that union: Anne, Rita, Lori, Elizabeth and Bryan, and a host of grandchildren.

Two of Vernon’s children, Elizabeth and stepson Mark, inspired by his distinguished Air Force career, served in the military. Elizabeth served with the US Air Force in the 1980s, and Mark served in the US Coast Guard for 8 years during the 1990s.

Over the past 40 years, Vernon was married to Dr. Frankie Hutton; he was father to Mark and a grandson from this union.

Described by his wife Frankie as a “steady guy,” Vernon indeed lived a long, exciting, and honorable life.