Shareware Supreme Volume 6 #1/swsii.zip/swsii/009/M069.ZIP/M069.TXT

Text File | 1990-04-14 | 4KB | 74 lines

MINNICH, RICHARD WILLIS JR.
Remains Returned 04 December 1985

Name: Richard Willis Minnich, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O2/US Navy
Unit:
Date of Birth: 04 March 1942
Home City of Record: Collegeville PA
Date of Loss: 04 January 1968
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 210800N 1064900E (XJ766266)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F8E

Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 April 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 Vought F8 "Crusader" saw action early in U.S. involvement in
Southeast Asia. Its fighter models participated both in the first Gulf of Tonkin
reprisal in August 1964 and in the myriad attacks against North Vietnam during
Operation Rolling Thunder. The Crusader was used exclusively by the Navy and
Marine air wings (although there is one U.S. Air Force pilot reported shot down
on an F8) and represented half or more of the carrier fighters in the Gulf of
Tonkin during the first four years of the war. The aircraft was credited with
nearly 53% of MiG kills in Vietnam.

The most frequently used fighter versions of the Crusader in Vietnam were the C,
D, and E models although the H and J were also used. The Charlie carried only
Sidewinders on fuselage racks, and were assigned such missions as CAP (Combat
Air Patrol), flying at higher altitudes. The Echo model had a heavier reinforced
wing able to carry extra Sidewinders or bombs, and were used to attack ground
targets, giving it increased vulnerability. The Echo version launched with less
fuel, to accommodate the larger bomb store, and frequently arrived back at ship
low on fuel. The RF models were equipped for photo reconnaissance.

The combat attrition rate of the Crusader was comparable to similar fighters.
Between 1964 to 1972, eighty-three Crusaders were either lost or destroyed by
enemy fire. Another 109 required major rebuilding. 145 Crusader pilots were
recovered; 57 were not. Twenty of these pilots were captured and released. The
other 43 remained missing at the end of the war.

Lt. Richard W. Minnich Jr. was the pilot of an F8E conducting a combat mission
over North Vietnam on January 4, 1968. As he was about 5 miles north of the city
of Uong Bi in Quang Ninh Province, his aircraft was shot down.

Since there was not proof that Minnich died in the crash of his aircraft, he was
declared Missing in Action. The Defense Intelligence Agency further expanded
Minnich'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.

On December 4, 1985, the Vietnamese "discovered" and returned the remains of
Richard W. Minnich, Jr.

Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing,
prisoner or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S.
Government. Many authorities who have examined this largely classified
information are convinced that hundreds of Americans are still held captive
today. Fighter pilots in Vietnam were called upon to fly in many dangerous
circumstances, and were prepared to be wounded, killed, or captured. It
probably never occurred to them that they could be abandoned by the country
they proudly served.