CLARKE, GEORGE WILLIAM JR.

Name: George William Clarke, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 28 January 1941
Home City of Record: Hampton VA
Date of Loss: 16 October 1967
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 160600N 1072300E (XC961808)
Status (In 1973): Prisoner of War
Category: 1
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: RF4C
Other Personnel In Incident: Richard D. Appelhans (missing)

REMARKS: NEGATIVE SAR CONTACT

SYNOPSIS: When North Vietnam began to increase their military strength in South
Vietnam, NVA and Viet Cong troops again intruded on neutral Laos for sanctuary,
as the Viet Minh had done during the war with the French some years before. The
border road, termed the "Ho Chi Minh Trail" was used for transporting weapons,
supplies and troops. Hundreds of American pilots were shot down trying to stop
this communist traffic to South Vietnam. Fortunately, search and rescue teams
in Vietnam were extremely successful and the recovery rate was high.

Still there were nearly 600 who were not rescued. Many of them went down along
the Ho Chi Minh Trail and the passes through the border mountains between Laos
and Vietnam. Many were alive on the ground and in radio contact with search and
rescue and other planes; some were known to have been captured. Hanoi's
communist allies in Laos, the Pathet Lao, publicly spoke of American prisoners
they held, but when peace agreements were negotiated, Laos was not included,
and not a single American was released that had been held in Laos.

On October 16, 1967, the RF4C Phantom reconnaissance jet flown by Capt. Richard
D. Appelhans disappeared while flying over Saravane Province, Laos. Flying as
backseater on this flight was Capt. George W. Clarke.

Radio and radar contact with the aircraft was lost at grid coordinates
XC961808, which is located in the northeast portion of Saravane Province, Laos.
Aerial searches were conducted, but no trace of the missing aircraft or its
crew were found.

American POWs who returned in 1973 reported that they had seen George Clarke as
a prisoner, and all stated that they last saw him alive. A number of reports
relating to Clarke were received by his parents, and he was placed in Prisoner
of War category. The normal procedure in ejection on the F4 is for the
backseater to bail out first, then the pilot, thus the pilots could be
separated by hundreds of yards or more. The U.S. maintains Clarke's case among
those called "discrepancy" cases which are regularly presented to the
Vietnamese as those that could be resolved. Richard Appelhans was placed in the
category of Missing In Action. His fate is unknown.

Were it not for the thousands of reports concerning Americans still held
captive in Southeast Asia, the Clarke and Appelhans families might be able to
close this tragic chapter of their lives. But as long as Americans are alive,
being held captive, Clarke and Appelhans could be among them. It's time we
brought these men home.