KOONS, DALE FRANCIS

Remains Returned - ID Announced 03 January 1990

Name: Dale Francis Koons
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit: 433rd Tactical Fighter Squadron, Ubon Airfield, Thailand
Date of Birth: 13 December 1946
Home City of Record: Eaton OH
Date of Loss: 26 December 1971
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 184459N 1055159E (WG875925)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 1
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D

Other Personnel in Incident: Lawrence G. Stolz (remains returned)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 April 1990 with the assistance of
one or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews.

REMARKS: DEAD-FBIS PHOTO OF ID

SYNOPSIS: Capt. Larry G. Stolz was a pilot and 1Lt. Dale F. Koons his rear
seater aboard an F4D Phantom fighter/bomber assigned to the 433rd Tactical
Fighter Squadron at Ubon Airfield, Thailand.

Stolz was serving his second tour in Vietnam. On his first tour, he had flown
as "back-seater" on the F4 as Koons was on his second. Stolz had been awarded
the Distinguished Flying Cross and other honors for combat missions flown
during his first tour of Vietnam.

On December 26, 1971, Stolz and Koons were sent on a bombing mission over North
Vietnam as number three in a flight of four aircraft. During the mission,
Stolz' aircraft was hit, and he took the plant up into the low cloud cover
either as escape procedure or in order to eject. Stolz and Koons were not seen
again.

FBI later uncovered a photo made by the North Vietnamese which showed Larry's
and Dale's identification, pistol, flight plans and dollar bills from their
pockets. The Vietnamese added a note on the back of the photo which stated that
both were "destroyed" with their aircraft.

Larry's mother, Lorene Stolz says, "Of course, we would like to have Larry back
alive. We think often of the awful treatment he may be receiving...  So many
years...so many tears...and it's not over."

Families of men whose fates are uncertain find it impossible to ignore the
mounting evidence that Americans are still held captive in Southeast Asia.
Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports relating to missing Americans have
been received by the U.S. government. Many authorities believe the numbers of
those still alive to be in the hundreds.

Whether Stolz and Koons were "destroyed" when their aircraft went down is
unknown. The U.S. Government is certain that the Vietnamese know the fate of
the two men, but as yet have been unable to learn for certain that they are
dead - or alive.

In early January, 1990, it was announced that remains returned by the
Vietnamese to U.S. control had been positively identified as those of Larry
Stolz and Dale Koonz. After eighteen years, Stolz and Koonz are home. Their
loved ones no longer have to endure the frightening thought that they are alive
somewhere needing them. They now know they are dead, but they may never know
how -- or when -- they died.