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Shareware Supreme Volume 6 #1
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009
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1990-10-12
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FISHER, DAVID JOHN ELKINGTON
Name: David John Elkington Fisher
Rank/Branch: E1/SAS
Unit: J Troop, Special Air Service
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Australia
Date of Loss: 27 September 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: YS633957
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 October 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: In 1984, the Australian government sent delegates to Vietnam to find
fresh evidence on missing Australians. It was abandoned when the party failed to
learn anything about the men's fate. Australian foreign affairs minister, Bill
Hayden, recommended the cases be closed, that the Vietnamese government had
cooperated fully with the search and the subject of the missing men, and it
should no longer be an issue between the two countries.
Yet reports continue to be received in the U.S. from refugees and intelligence
sources convincing many authorities that hundreds of servicemen are still being
held captive. The veterans of Australia, like those of Canada and the U.S.
refuse to accept their governments' dismissal of the issue.
At least five Australians are missing who were not directly associated with U.S.
forces. One of the five is Pvt. David J.E. Fisher, lost on September 27, 1969.
Fisher was a member of J troop in the British Special Air Service, a service
unit similar to the U.S. Army Special Forces. On September 27, 1969, J troop
engaged and killed five Viet Cong. As the patrol withdrew they encountered about
30 of the enemy, and requested an emergency extraction. The rescue helicopter
dropped ropes through the trees to lift the troops to safety. Fisher and the
rest of the unit were lifted out on the ropes, but Fisher lost his grip and fell
from an altitude of about 30 meters.
Search teams tried to locate Fisher but were unsuccessful. They were uncertain
if he could have survived, but felt the dense jungle foliage might have
cushioned his fall. There were also a number of water-filled craters in the
area and had Fisher been injured and fallen into one of them, he probably would
not have survived. Fisher was classified Missing in Action.
David J.E. Fisher's name does not appear on most U.S. lists since he was not a
U.S. citizen. However, as thousands of U.S. veterans would confirm, the
"Aussies" were welcome additions to any mission. Their bravery was well known,
and they were well-liked. 47,000 Australians were sent to Vietnam between 1961
and 1971; 504 were killed and 2,500 were wounded. None were captured -- or were
they?
The Australians sent their young men to help in a war that was not their own. It
is fitting that Americans should include their missing in their quest for
freedom for those still prisoner, missing or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia.