Time capsule

As reported 43 years ago in the pages of The Columbia News, Thursday, December 31, 1964:

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Smith receives medal in Vietnam

Fireman William E. Smith, U.S. Navy, son of Mr. and Mrs. E.E. Kepler of Martinez, received the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal while serving aboard the antisubmarine aircraft USS Kearsarge in the Far East.

The medal was awarded to all crew members of the U.S. Seventh Fleet carrier, which provided antisubmarine warfare protection for ships of the fleet operating in the South China Sea off the coast of Vietnam after communist Vietcong PT boat attacks against U.S. destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin.

The Kearsarge returned to its homeport in Long Beach, Calif., on Dec. 16, which marked the end of a six-month operation in Far Eastern waters.