Shareware Supreme Volume 6 #1/swsii.zip/swsii/009/C086.ZIP/C086.TXT

Text File | 1990-05-15 | 6KB | 112 lines

CLOWER, CLAUDE DOUGLAS

Name: Claude Douglas Clower
Rank/Branch: O4/US Navy
Unit: Fighter Squadron 151, USS CORAL SEA (CVA 43)
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Beaumont TX
Date of Loss: 19 November 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 204400N 1063900E (XH683896)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4B

Other Personnel in Incident: Walter O Estes (killed in captivity); on another
F4 in same flight: Theodore G. Stier (released POW); James E. Teague (killed in
captivity)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 May 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: 730315 RELSD DRV

SYNOPSIS: The USS CORAL SEA participated in combat action against the Communists
as early as August 1964. Aircraft from her squadrons flew in the first U.S. Navy
strikes in the Rolling Thunder Program against targets in North Vietnam in early
1965 and participated in Flaming Dart I strikes. The next year, reconnaissance
aircraft from her decks returned with the first photography of Surface-to-Air
Missile (SAM) sites in North Vietnam. The A1 Skyraider fighter aircraft was
retired from the USS CORAL SEA in 1968. The CORAL SEA participated in Operation
Eagle Pull in 1975, evacuating American personnel from beleaguered Saigon, and
remained on station to assist the crew of the MAYAGUEZ, which was captured by
Cambodian forces in 1975. The attack carriers USS CORAL SEA, USS HANCOCK and USS
RANGER formed Task Force 77, the carrier striking force of the U.S. Seventh
Fleet in the Western Pacific.

The F4 Phantom, used by Air Force, Marine and Navy air wings, served a multitude
of functions including fighter-bomber and interceptor, photo and electronic
surveillance. The two man aircraft was extremely fast (Mach 2), and had a long
range (900 - 2300 miles, depending on stores and mission type). The F4 was also
extremely maneuverable and handled well at low and high altitudes. The F4 was
selected for a number of state-of-the-art electronics conversions, which
improved radar intercept and computer bombing capabilities enormously. Most
pilots considered it one of the "hottest" planes around.

LTJG James E. Teague and LTCDR Claude D. Clower were F4 pilots assigned to
Fighter Squadron 151 onboard the USS CORAL SEA. On November 19, 1967, the two
were launched in F4B Phantom aircraft with their Radar Intercept Officers (RIO)
on a mission near Haiphong, North Vietnam. Teague's RIO was LTJG Theodore G.
Stier, and Clower's RIO was LTJG Walter O Estes. Clower and Estes were aboard
the lead aircraft in the flight section of two aircraft. They were assigned to
protect a strike group being launched from the USS INTREPID.

Teague and Clower proceeded to the assigned target, and while over the target
they were attacked by enemy MiG aircraft. Both aircraft were shot down. Teague's
aircraft was hit first. He began an immediate course change towards the coast.
His aircraft was intact except for small fires burning around the radome and air
conditioning. LTJG Stier was seen to eject, but Clower did not see another
parachute and did not notice if the front canopy was still on the aircraft.
(NOTE: The ejection sequence on the F4 is for the rear seater to eject first,
followed by the pilot in the front.)

All four crewmen were initially placed in Missing in Action casualty status.
Radio Hanoi broadcasts and other information led the Navy to believe that all
four crewmen had survived their shootdown and were captured by the North
Vietnamese. The Vietnamese released the identification cards of Estes, Stier and
Teague. The status of the four was changed to Prisoner of War.

In the spring of 1973, 591 Americans were released in Operation Homecoming from
prisons in and around Hanoi. Stier and Clower were among those released. During
the years of their captivity, Stier had been advanced in rank to Lieutenant and
Clower to the rank of Commander. Estes and Teague had also been advanced in
rank; Estes to Lieutenant Commander and Teague to Lieutenant. Estes and Teague
were not returned in 1973. They were among a group of hundreds of Americans who
were known or suspected to be held prisoner who were not released at the end of
the war. In this case, the Vietnamese acknowledged the capture of Stier and
Clower and denied knowledge of Estes and Teague, even though an AP wire photo
originated by the Vietnam News Agency (North Vietnam) clearly showed their ID
cards with the caption that they were "captured in Haiphong."

In late September 1970, the remains of James E. Teague and Walter O Estes II
were returned by the Vietnamese to U.S. control. For 10 years, dead or alive,
they had been held prisoner.

For 10 years, the Vietnamese denied knowledge of the fates of Teague and Estes,
even though there was evidence that the two had been captured.

Disturbing testimony was given to Congress in 1980 that the Vietnamese
"stockpiled" the remains of Americans to return at politically advantageous
times. Did Estes and Teague wait, in a casket, for just such a moment?

Even more disturbing are the nearly 10,000 reports received by the U.S. relating
to Americans missing in Southeast Asia. Many authorities who have examined this
information (largely classified), have reluctantly come to the conclusion that
many Americans are still alive in Southeast Asia. Were Estes and Teague alive in
captivity after hostilities between the U.S. and Vietnam ceased?

Perhaps the most compelling questions when remains are returned are, "Is it
really who they say it is?", and "How -- and when -- did he die?" As long as
reports continue to be received which indicate Americans are still alive in
Indochina, we can only regard the return of remains as a politically expedient
way to show "progress" on accounting for American POW/MIAs. As long as reports
continue to be received, we must wonder how many are alive.

As long as even one American remains alive, held against his will, we must do
everything possible to bring him home -- alive.