Shareware Supreme Volume 6 #1/swsii.zip/swsii/009/P068.ZIP/P068.TXT

Text File | 1990-04-18 | 6KB | 111 lines

PROFILET, LEO TWYMAN

Name: Leo Twyman Profilet
Rank/Branch: O5/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 196, USS CONSTELLATION
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Cairo IL
Date of Loss: 21 August 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 210700N 1055100E (WJ882351)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A6A
Other Personnel in Incident: William M. Hardman (released POW); On other A6s: J
Forrest G. Trembley and Dain V. Scott (missing);  Robert J. Flynn (released POW)
and Jimmy L. Buckley (ashes returned); on USAF F105s: Lynn K. Powell and Merwin
L. Morrill (both remains returned)

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

REMARKS: 730315 RELSD BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: On August 21, 1967, four aircraft launched from the USS CONSTELLATION
with the assignment to strike the Duc Noi rail yard four miles north of Hanoi.
The aircraft flew from Attack Squadron 196, based on board the carrier.

The route from the coast-in point was uneventful with the exception of some
large weather cells building up. Further along their route they received
indications of launched Surface-to-Air Missiles (SAMs) and observed bursting
85mm anti-aircraft fire.

Lieutenant Commander "J" Forrest G. Trembley, bombardier/navigator of one
Intruder, reported he had been hit and he was advised to reverse course and
return to the coast. He transmitted that he was experiencing no difficulty and
would proceed to the target rather than egress alone. Commander Jimmy L. Buckley
was the pilot of this aircraft. Several SAMs had been launched at this time and
a transmission was made "Heads up for the Air Force strike" which was being
conducted in the vicinity of the A-6 target. An aircraft was hit which was
thought to be an Air Force aircraft.

Two F105D aircraft, flown by Air Force Major Merwin L. Morrill and 1Lt. Lynn K.
Powell, were shot down at this approximate location on August 21, 1967. It is
believed that one of these is the aircraft referred to in Navy information
concerning this incident. The remains of both Air Force crewmen were repatriated
on June 3, 1983. While Morrill had been classified Missing in Action, it was
believed that he was dead. Powell was classified as Killed in Action/Body Not
Recovered.

The division leader was hit while in the target area and two good parachutes
were observed. The crew of this A6, Commander William M. Hardman and Capt. Leo
T. Profilet, were captured by the North Vietnamese. Both men were released from
captivity on March 15, 1973.

The other three aircraft began their egress from the target. Surface-to-air
missiles (SAMs) were in flight everywhere and the aircraft were maneuvering
violently. A large weather cell separated them from the coast which precluded
their egress further north than planned.

Another transmission was heard -- "Skipper get out" -- and the voice was
recognized as that of Lieutenant Commander Trembley. A SAM detonated between two
of the other aircraft, two parachutes and flying debris were observed.
Lieutenant Commander Trembley transmitted, "This is Milestone 2, Milestone 1 was
hit, 2 good chutes, 2 good chutes." The multitude of SAMs along with
deteriorating weather may be the reason for the flight to ultimately stray well
north of their planned egress track. It was believed that Lieutenant Commander
Trembley's aircraft was shot down in the vicinity of the Chinese boarder.

Trembley and his BN, Dain V. Scott, were placed in a Missing In Action casualty
status. Their case was discussed with the Chinese government by then Congressmen
Hale Boggs and Gerald Ford, with very little information being obtained.

In their navigation around the weather, one of the remaining two A-6 aircraft
observed MIGS in a run out of the overcast above Lieutenant Commander Flynn's
aircraft. Requests for assistance were radioed but went unanswered. The tracking
of the aircraft by airborne early warning aircraft showed them crossing the
Chinese border. The maximum penetration was about eleven miles. A visual search
could not be conducted due to poor weather in the vicinity of the last known
position.

Later that day Peking Radio reported "two U.S. A-6 aircraft were shot down when
they flagrantly intruded into China airspace and one crewman was captured".
Lieutenant Commander Flynn was held prisoner in China, his pilot, Commander
Jimmy L. Buckley, was reportedly killed in the shoot down.

On March 15, 1973 Lieutenant Commander Flynn was repatriated to U.S.
jurisdiction in Hong Kong and returned to the United States. The ashes of
Commander Jimmy L. Buckley were returned by the Chinese in December 1975.

Two Air Force bombers and three of the four Navy aircraft on the strike mission
on August 21, 1967 were shot down. Trembley and Scott, of the eight Americans
shot down on August 21, 1967, are the only two who remain Missing in Action.

When American involvement in the Vietnam war ended by means of peace accords
signed in 1973, Americans held in countries other than Vietnam were not
negotiated for. Consequently, almost all of these men remain missing. During the
Nixon Administration and following administrations, relations with China have
eased, but the U.S. seems reluctant to address the years-old problem of the fate
of her men in China.

Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports have been received relating to
Americans missing in Southeast Asia. Many authorities believe there are hundreds
who are still alive, held captive. Whether Trembley and Scott could be among
them is not known. What seems certain, however, is that they have been abandoned
for political expediency.