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Shareware Supreme Volume 6 #1
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009
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M058.ZIP
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1990-05-15
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MIDNIGHT, FRANCIS BARNES
Name: Francis Barnes Midnight
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 11 July 1939
Home City of Record: Gary IN
Date of Loss: 23 August 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 171800N 1063600E (XE712139)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)
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:
SYNOPSIS: The 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.
When Frank B. Midnight graduated from the Air Force Academy in 1964, he went on
to pilot training at Webb Air Force Base in Texas. It was not long before he was
assigned to Vietnam as an F4 pilot.
On August 23, 1967, 1LT Midnight was assigned a combat mission over North
Vietnam. He and his back-seater (name unknown) were about 5 miles southwest of
the city of Dong Hoi in Quang Binh Province when their aircraft was hit by enemy
fire and crashed.
The proscribed ejection procedure in the F4 is for the rear-seater to eject
first, followed by the pilot of the aircraft. Thus, it is not uncommon for the
two crewmembers to be separated by considerable distances. Apparently, as no
second F4 crewmember is missing in this locality on this date, the rear-seater
on Midnight's aircraft was rescued. Midnight was not. He was classified Missing
in Action.
The Defense Intelligence Agency further expanded Midnight's classification to
include an enemy knowledge ranking of 2. Category 2 indicates "suspect
knowledge" and includes personnel who may have been involved in loss incidents
with individuals reported in Category 1 (confirmed knowledge), or who were lost
in areas or under conditions that they may reasonably be expected to be known by
the enemy; who were connected with an incident which was discussed but not
identified by names in enemy news media; or identified (by elimination, but not
100% positively) through analysis of all-source intelligence.
When the general prisoner release occurred in 1973, the U.S. received some
surprises. Some men whom observers were certain had perished with their planes
had survived to be released. Midnight's family knew the Vietnamese could
probably tell them what happened to him. There was no proof they died.
The biggest surprise is the nearly 10,000 reports received since the end of the
war concerning U.S. military personnel prisoner, missing, or unaccounted for in
Southeast Asia. The evidence mounts that Americans are still being held
captive.One of them could be Francis B. Midnight. It's time we brought our men
home.