MILLNER, MICHAEL

Name: Michael Millner
Rank/Branch: E6/US Army Special Forces
Unit: Detachment A-351, 5th Special Forces Group
Date of Birth: 17 December 1942 (Alhambra CA)
Home City of Record: Marysville CA
Date of Loss: 29 November 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 120201N 1065404E (YU069309)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 1990 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Michael Millner joined the Army in 1969 from his hometown of
Marysville, California. He was seventeen years old. By the time he was shipped
to Vietnam the Army had promoted him to Staff Sergeant and trained him in light
weapons, and he wore a Green Beret. In Vietnam, he was assigned to Detachment
A-351, 5th Special Forces Group.

On November 26, 1967, Millner was serving as an advisor to an ARVN CIDG unit
which began a search and destroy operation near the border of Cambodia in Phuoc
Long Province, South Vietnam. On November 29, the LLDB commander wanted to stop
the troops for lunch, against the advice of the U.S. senior advisor to the team,
Capt. Matthew J. Hasko.

While breaking for lunch, the unit was attacked by a Viet Cong company. The CIDG
became completely disorganized and ran from the field as Special Forces
personnel tried to cover the rear and carry the wounded. When the group finally
reorganized, Millner was missing. The Special Forces advisors were unable to
lead the ARVN back to the area to search for Millner, and withdrew from the
area.

On December 2, 1967, a U.S. advisor and a six-man Vietnamese reconnaissance unit
made an unsuccessful search of the area. Between December 6 and December 9, a
Special Forces unit and their Cambodian trainees made an extensive ground
search, supported by aircraft, with no success.

SSGT Michael Millner remained Missing in Action until 1974. At this time, the
Army administratively declared him dead, based on no specific information that
he was still alive. It is believed that the Vietnamese could account for
Millner.

Since the war ended, over 10,000 reports relating to Americans prisoner, missing
and otherwise unaccounted for in Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S.
Many authorities who have examined this largely-classified information have
reluctantly come to the conclusion that many Americans are still alive in
captivity today.

Whether Michael Millner survived the attack on 29 November 1967 is not known.
His training would certainly enable him to evade for a considerable amount of
time, or cope with the horrible conditions prisoners of the Viet Cong were
forced to endure.

What is certain, however, is that as long as even one American is held against
his will in Indochina, we have a legal and moral responsibility to bring him
home.