CASE SYNOPSIS: KRUPA, FREDERICK

Name: Frederick Krupa
Rank/Branch: O3/US Army Special Forces
Unit: Exploitation Company A, Task Force 2 Advisory Element
Date of Birth: 02 September 1947
Home City of Record: Scranton PA
Date of Loss: 27 April 1971
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 141240N 1072555E (YA624721)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H
Other Personnel In Incident: (none missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Capt. Frederick Krupa was a platoon leader assigned to Company A,
Task Force 2 Advisory Element, U.S. Army Special Forces. On April 27, 1971,
Krupa was a passenger aboard a UH1H helicopter with which his special commando
unit was about to conduct a helicopter insertion 2 miles from the Laotian
border northwest of Plei Djereng, Vietnam. When the helicopter was three feet
off the ground, hostile forces opened up fire, and Capt. Krupa was seen to fall
forward, wounded.

The SCU Company A commander Ayom grabbed Krupa's right shoulder, but when his
hand was struck by a bullet, Ayom let go, and Krupa fell from the helicopter
from a low level. He was last seen lying next to a log sprawled out on his
back, not moving or making a sound, by crew chief SP4 Melvin C. Lew during
helicopter ascent.

Whether Krupa was dead or unconscious is unknown. The opportunity to recover
him or his body never occurred because of hostile action in the area. He is one
of nearly 2500 Americans still missing, prisoner or otherwise unaccounted for
from the Vietnam war.

When the war ended, refugees from the communist-overrun countries of Southeast
Asia began to flood the world, bringing with them stories of live GI's still in
captivity in their homelands. Since 1975, over 8000 such stories have been
received. Many authorities believe that hundreds of Americans are still held in
the countries in Southeast Asia.

The U.S. Government operates on the "assumption" that one or more men are being
held, but that it cannot "prove" that this is the case, allowing action to be
taken. Meanwhile, low-level talks between the U.S. and Vietnam proceed,
yielding a few sets of remains when it seems politically expedient to return
them, but as yet, no living American has returned.