Cream of the Crop 26/Cream of the Crop 26.iso/faq/vcl.zip/VCL.DTA

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ABBOTT, WILFRED KEESE

Name: Wilfred Keese Abbott
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Afton WY
Date of Loss: 05 September 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 202000N 1055500E (WH956484)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
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: 730304 RELSD BY DRV

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 who was shot down
on an F8E) 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.

Capt. Wilfred K. Abbott was a pilot who was shot down over North Vietnam on
Septemer 5, 1966 in an F8E. His mission had taken him near the borders of Nunh
Binh and Nam Ha Provinces, and he was shot down about 10 miles northwest of the
city of Ninh Binh. Capt. Abbott successfully ejected from the aircraft, although
he was seriously injured, and was captured by the North Vietnamese.

For the next seven years, Capt. Abbott was held in various prisoner of war
camps, including the infamous "Hanoi Hilton" complex in Hanoi. He was released
in the general prisoner release in 1973.

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. These reports are the source of serious distress to many returned
American prisoners. They had a code that no one could honorably return unless
all of the prisoners returned. Not only that code of honor, but the honor of our
country is at stake as long as even one man remains unjustly held. It's time we
brought our men home.



Name:                        Ackley, James Howard
Rank/Branch:                 Civilian/Air America
Date of Birth:               04 January 1920
Home City of Record:
Date of Loss:                07 March 1973
Country of Loss:             Laos
Loss Coordinates:            195145N 1010900E (QB230980)
Status (in 1973):            Missing In Action
Category:                    2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground:     C123K
Other Personnel In Incident: Clarence N. Driver (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: During the Vietnam war, Air America contracted with CIA to fly
in Laos transporting a variety of supplies. Because the United States
"was not at war" in Laos, some AA activities were secret. CIA considered
its work important enough to deceive the U.S. Congress, and obtained a
large portion of its funding through AID dollars that Congress believed
were for civilian help. Although Air America openly spoke of its
humanitarian drops of rice, blankets and medicine, they also conducted
many "hard rice" drops - ammunition, grenades, bombs and weapons to the
secret CIA directed indigenous army.

Many Air America pilots were crack pilots from World War II and Korea
who just were not ready to quit flying in the challenging arena of war.
Some took the job because they believed that in doing so, they could
help fight communism. Laos was a tough assignment. Not only were maps
antiquated, forcing the pilots to "eyeball" their way through the
countryside, but the weather and terrain could also be quite
unpredictable.

Refugees created by the war depended on Air America, whose planes could
alter weeks of starvation, when the wounded suffered without medical
supplies, in a single drop. Enough food and supplies could be dropped in
a single morning to supply and feed five thousand people for a month.
The secret army depended on the AA materiel drops to such an extent that
they sometimes resorted to trickery to make sure they occurred. On one
occasion, a pilot observed the wind sock at a village strip hanging
straight down, but when he landed found the wind dangerously strong. An
amiable native explained, "We know plane not land when sock flies, so we
put rocks in sock."

At the foot of any runway, an AA pilot could encounter armed communist
troops intent on preventing him from ever flying again. Many planes
returned to base peppered with bullet holes, and some were destroyed.
Others were downed and their crews captured.

On March 7, 1973, a C123K flown by Clarence Driver on which James Ackley
was a crewmember was sent on a mission over Laos. The C123K differed
from other C123 models in that it had the addition of auxiliary turbojet
engines mounted in underwing pods. While this addition did little to
increase the speed of the "Provider," it added greater power for quicker
climbing on takeoff and power for maintaining altitude. Driver's
aircraft crashed in Louangphrabang Province, Laos, about 25 miles north
of the Laos/Thailand border near the city of Pak Beng. Ackley and Driver
were classified Missing In Action.

As late as 1984, reports were being received that at least Driver was
alive, in good health, and being held in a group of 8 American
prisoners. Four of the original 12 prisoners had died of dysentary, and
two who were still resisting had rings in their noses and were treated
like beasts of burden. A private, unauthorized rescue plan was
formulated to attempt to free him in 1984. The attempt was unsuccessful.

Over 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asia have
been received by the U.S. Government since 1975. A Pentagon panel
concluded in 1986 that there were at least 100 men still alive. Ackley
and Driver are two of nearly 600 Americans lost in Laos. Although the
Pathet Lao publicly stated that they held "tens of tens" of Americans,
NOT ONE MAN returned that had been held in Laos. The U.S. has yet to
negotiate their release.

Clarence Driver's daughter Sharon describes the agony of their
uncertainty, "Imagine yourself on a telephone and ther person says 'hold
on, I'll be right back,' and they never come back...you just keep
holding on."

How much longer must these men wait for their country to bring them
home?
ACOSTA, HECTOR MICHAEL

Name: Hector Michael Acosta
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit: 14th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: San Antonio TX
Date of Loss: 09 December 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 191800N 1052700E (WG472339)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: RF4C

Other Personnel In Incident: Billie J. Williams (remains returned)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 February 1991 from one or more of
the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright Homecoming II
Project, 1991.

REMARKS: 730329 RELSD BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: Billie Joe Williams was the aircraft commander of an RF4C armed
reconnaissance "Phantom" fighter/bomber from the 14th Tactical Reconnaissance
Squadron. On December 9, 1972, Williams and four F4s were on a reconnaisance
mission over North Vietnam for action planned for December 18th when his plane
was struck by a surface-to-air missile (SAM) and downed just south of the city
of Nghai Hung in Nghe An Province.

When the aircraft was hit, Hector Acosta, the navigator on the RF4C, ejected
both seats, and two parachutes were observed by the F4s in the flight to leave
the disabled aircraft. Acosta did not know his pilot's condition at that time,
but feared that he was already dead. He had ejected the pilot's seat because he
did not want his commander to go down with the plane.

When Acosta was taken prisoner by the Vietnamese on the following day, he did
not see whether Williams was also captured, but thought the Vietnamese had left
him where he was. Rescue teams the following day observed a body, apparently
Williams, in the middle of a clearing. The rescue helicopter was fired on, and
noted that the body did not move in spite of the close proximity to the gunfire.
The Vietnamese had used the body as a decoy for the rescue chopper. They failed,
but Williams' remains were not recovered.

Bill's wife Barbara says, "Bill loved to fly and loved the Air Force. I honestly
believe Bill died the way he expressed a desire to. But he always cautioned me
to not accept 'just anything.' I'll have to be very sure when the time comes his
remains are returned. I have to do that for him."

On December 20, 1990, U.S. officials announced that remains had been returned by
the Vietnamese which had been positively identified as those of Billie Joe
Williams. After nearly 20 years, Billie Joe Williams was home.



Name:                 Huberto Acosta-Rosario
Rank/Branch:             E3/US Army
Unit:                 Company B, 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry
                 (Mechanized); 25th Infantry Division
Date of Birth:             15 January 1947
Home City of Record:         Mayaguez, Puerto Rico
Date of Loss:             22 August 1968
Country of Loss:         South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates:         111535N 1062023E (XT462468)
Status (in 1973):         Missing In Action
Category:             2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground:         Ground
Other Personnel in Incident: (Philip T. DeLorenzo, Jr.,
                 killed, body recovered)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Huberto Acosta-Rosario was born January 15, 1947. His home at
the time he was lost was Mayaguez, Puerto Rico.

On August 22, 1968, PFC Acosta-Rosario was serving as a machine gunner
on a reconnaissance enforce operation when his unit came under heavy
attack by North Vietnamese Regulars and were forced to withdraw. They
were in the area of Ben Cui rubber plantation, Tay Ninh Province, near
Highway 4 in Tactical Zone III. The unit had established blocking
positions in the vicinity when they came under attack. During the
withdrawal, Acosta-Rosario became separated from the rest of his unit.

After regrouping, it was determined that PFC Acosta-Rosario and another
machine gunner, Philip T. De Lorenzo, Jr, were missing from their
platoons. After artillery and helicopters had passed suppressive fire
into the area, Company B moved back into its original position.

In the hours that followed, extensive searches were conducted by B
Company. De Lorenzo's body was located and extracted, and both men's
M-60 machine guns were found. Fresh graves in the area were
investigated, but no further U.S. remains were found. There was no other
trace of Acosta-Rosario.

Two subsequent intelligence reports received and analyzed by the U.S.
Government indicate that Acosta-Rosario was captured in this operation,
although the Vietnamese continue to deny knowledge of him or his fate.

Huberto Acosta-Rosario was last seen wearing a t-shirt, jungle fatigue
pants, a steel pot and a gold Seiko watch. If he is one of the several
hundred Americans that evidence indicates are alive, he has spent all of
his adult life in captivity. His family would like to know if he is dead
or if he is alive.
ADACHI, THOMAS YUGI

Name: Thomas Yugi Adachi
Rank/Branch: E5/US Air Force
Unit: 16th Special Operations Squadron, Ubon Airbase, Thailand
Date of Birth: 03 April 1946
Home City of Record: Los Angeles CA
Date of Loss: 22 April 1970
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 154400N 1065100E (XC990410)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: AC130A
Other Personnel in Incident: Ronnie Hensley; Robert Ireland;Stephen Harris;
Donald Lint; William Brooks; Charles B.Davis; Donald G. Fisher; John C. Towle;
Charles Rowley (all missing); Eugene L. Fields (rescued).

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: In the early hours of April 22, 1970, an AC130 gunship flown by
veteran pilot Major William Brooks departed Ubon Airbase with a crew of ten for
a Commando Hunt mission over the Ho Chi Minh Trail in southern Laos. The
aircraft, code named "Ad Lib", was joined near its destination by two jet
escort fighter bombers, code named "Killer 1" and "Killer 2", and immediately
began air strikes against enemy traffic below. The crew of the aircraft
included Brooks, the pilot; SSgt. Thomas Y. Adachi, the aerial gunner; LtCol.
Charlie B. Davis, a navigator; Maj. Donald G. Fisher, a navigator; SSgt.
Stephen W. Harris; SSgt. Ronnie L. Hensley; Master Sgt. Robert N. Ireland;
Airman Donald M. Lint; LtCol. Charles S. Rowley; and 1Lt. John C. Towle.

During its fourth strike, the gunship was hit by anti-aircraft fire and began
burning. Brooks radioed, "I've been hit, babe". Fisher, the navigator, reported
that his position was OK. Fields and Hensley, battling the blaze in the rear of
the aircraft, lost contact with each other in the smoke. Fields inched his way
to Adachi's position, and found Adachi gone and the left scanner window open.
Fields used an auxiliary parachute to abandon the aircraft.

Killer 1 reported seeing no parachutes, although Killer 2 reported the crew was
bailing out. Just before Killer 1 departed the area for refueling, it received
one emergency beeper signal from the ground. Killer 2 established voice contact
with a member of the crew identifying himself as Ad-Lib 12 (Fisher), who
reported that he had burns on his face and hands. Killer 2 also left for
refueling, while other aircraft monitored the downed craft and waited for
morning to attempt rescue of the survivors.

The following morning, Ad-Lib 11 (Fields) was rescued, but due to hostile
ground forces, no ground search or photographs were made at the time. The Air
Force assumed at the time that Fields had incorrectly identified himself, and
announced that 6 of the crew had been killed and four were missing.

The rest of the story is confusing. The family of one of the crew was told that
a ground crew had been inserted and that partial remains of one crew member had
been recovered. Another family was advised that photographs of the crashsite
existed. A photograph of a captive airman having burn bandages on his hands was
identified as being Fisher by his family. Rowley's family was informed of a
secret intelligence report indicating that 8 of the crew had been captured, and
that a controlled American source had witnessed them being tortured to death
for their "crimes".

A returned POW reported seeing Rowley in a propaganda film. Another returned
POW stated that Fisher had been a POW. Although the Air Force would not allow
family members to contact the only survivor, Fields, Fisher's son located him
after 18 years. Fisher denied ever being in contact with any of the Killer jet
escorts. It was not he who identified himself by radio to rescue forces.

Apparently, at least some of the crew of Ad Lib survived to be captured in
Laos, often called the "Black Hole" of the POW issue because of nearly 600 lost
there, not a SINGLE man was released that had been held in Laos. The Pathet Lao
stated on several occasions that they held prisoners, yet we never negotiated
their freedom, and reports continue to be received that some of these men are
still alive. The surviving crew members lost that day were abandoned by the
country for which they bravely fought.
Name:                 John Quincy Adam
Rank/Branch:             E3/USAF
Unit:                 41st Tactical Airlift Squadron,
                 Ubon Airbase, Thailand
Date of Birth:             22 December 1947
Home City of Record:         Bethel KS
Date of Loss:             22 May 1968
Country of Loss:         Laos
Loss Coordinates:         162000N 1063000E (XC843858)
Status (in 1973):         Missing In Action
Category:             4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground:         C130A
Other Personnel in Incident: Jerry L. Chambers; Calvin C. Glover;
                 Thomas E. Knebel; William H. Mason;
                 William T. McPhail; Thomas B. Mitchell;
                 Gary Pate; Melvin D. Rash (all missing)

REMARKS: CONTACT LOST - NFI

SYNOPSIS: The Lockheed C130 Hercules aircraft was a multi-purpose
propeller driven aircraft, and was used as transport, tanker, gunship,
drone controller, airborne battlefield command and control center,
weather reconnaissance craft, electronic reconnaissance platform;
search, rescue and recovery craft.

In the hands of the "trash haulers", as the crews of Tactical Air
Command transports styled themselves, the C130 proved the most valuable
airlift instrument in the Southeast Asia conflict, so valuable that Gen.
William Momyer, 7th Air Force commander, refused for a time to let them
land at Khe Sanh where the airstrip was under fire from NVA troops
surrounding that base.

Just following the Marine Corps operation Pegasus/Lam Son 207 in
mid-April 1968, to relieve the siege of Khe Sanh, Operation Scotland II
began in the Khe Sanh area, more or less as a continuation of this
support effort. The C130 was critical in resupplying this area, and when
the C130 couldn't land, dropped its payload by means of parachute drop.

One of the bases from which the C130 flew was Ubon, located in northeast
Thailand. C130 crews from this base crossed Laos to their objective
location. One such crew was comprised of LtCol. William H. Mason and
Capt. Thomas B. Mitchell, pilots; Capt. William T. McPhail, Maj. Jerry
L. Chambers, SA Gary Pate, SSgt. Calvin C. Glover, AM1 Melvin D. Rash,
and AM1 John Q. Adam, crew members.

On May 22, 1968, this crew departed Ubon on an operational mission in a
C130A carrying one passenger - AM1 Thomas E. Knebel. Radio contact was
lost while the aircraft was over Savannakhet Province, Laos near the
city of Muong Nong, (suggesting that its target area may have been near
the DMZ - Khe Sanh). When the aircraft did not return to friendly
control, the crew was declared Missing In Action from the time of
estimated fuel exhaustion. There was no further word of the aircraft or
its crew.

The nine members of the crew are among nearly 600 Americans who
disappeared in Laos. Many are known to have been alive on the ground
following their shoot downs. Although the Pathet Lao publicly stated on
several occasions that they held "tens of tens" of American prisoners,
not one American held in Laos has ever been released. Laos did not
participate in the Paris Peace accords ending American involvment in the
war in 1973, and no treaty has ever been signed that would free the
Americans held in Laos, and not one of them has returned home.

John Q. Adam could still be alive. He isn't aware that his home town of
Bethel has lost its identity, having been incorporated into a growing
Kansas City, Kansas, but there can be no doubt that he knows he has been
abandoned by the country he proudly served.

(William Mason was a 1946 graduate of West Point. Thomas Mitchell was a
1963 graduate of the Air Force Academy.)
Name:                 John Robert Adams
Rank/Branch:             E5/US Army
Unit:                 189th Aviation Co., 17th Aviation Group
Date of Birth:             31 July 1946 (Anderson Dam ID)
Home City of Record:         Chico CA
Date of Loss:             08 November 1967
Country of Loss:         South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates:         144400N 1073600E (YB800300)
Status (in 1973):         Missing In Action
Category:             2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground:     UH1C
Other Personnel In Incident: WO McKenna (pilot); SP4 Begay (crewmember);
                 WO Weaks (copilot)  - all rescued

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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: SP5 John Adams was crewchief aboard a UH1C gunship flying
cover on a Special Forces insertion mission west of Dak Tho, Republic of
Vietnam on November 8, 1967. While circling the inserted troops, the
helicopter began to lose power and attempted to land.

Failing to find a suitable landing zone, McKenna allowed the aircraft to
settle tail first into the trees. At the helicopter struck the trees,
the tail boom snapped off, spun and came to rest on an upslope, caving
in the front of the aircraft. McKenna and Begay exited the right side of
the chopper, while Weaks and Adams exited the left. Begay had suffered a
broken leg, Weaks had injured his right foot, and Adams was broken his
arm and appeared to be in shock.

The four had barely exited the helicopter when they began to receive
small arms fire. McKenna radioed for help, and he, Begay and Weaks made
their way to an extraction point, with Begay dragging Adams. Begay,
because of his own injuries, was unable to carry Adams far, and left him
in a slumped-over position against some bushes. Begay later stated that
Adams' condition had worsened.

While awaiting extraction, McKenna returned to the crash site to see if
he could help Adams. He saw two Viet Cong, one of whom appeared to be
shooting at Adams. McKenna shot at the Viet Cong, then fell down the
slope to the creekbed from which he was extracted. Adams was last seen
slumped over just outside the left cargo door of the crashed aircraft.

Subsequent rescue efforts were frustrated by enemy fire, and the company
commander ordered all rescue attempts terminated. Following termination
of rescue efforts, the downed aircraft was destroyed to prevent capture
of weapons and equipment.

John Adams survived the crash of his helicopter, and with the presence
of enemy forces, stands a good chance of being captured. His helicopter
contained equipment the Army did not want in the hands of the enemy.
Twelve 500 lb. bombs, six CBU-2's, 1600 rounds of 20 mm fire, additional
bombs and napalm were dropped on the crash site to prevent capture.

Whether Adams is one of the hundreds of Americans experts believe are
still alive in captivity is not known. It is possible that he was shot
by the Viet Cong, or worse, died from the heavy bombing laid on the
crash site by his own countrymen. What is certain, however, is that the
Vietnamese know what happened to John Adams.
ADAMS, LEE AARON

Name: Lee Aaron Adams
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit: (unknown)
Date of Birth: 29 July 1938
Home City of Record: Willits CA
Date of Loss: 19 April 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 173600N 1062157E (XE449463)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F105D
Other Personnel In Incident: (none)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Larry Adams loved to fly. His classmates at the Air Force Academy
wrote upon his graduation in 1963, "flying is his first love and his last, and
he is in his glory only with stick in hand and throttle forward."

After he left the Academy, Larry trained on the "Thud", the Republic F105
Thunderchief, which he flew in Vietnam. The F105D is credited with making more
strikes against North Vietnam than any other U.S. aircraft, but also took more
losses. The F105 was constantly being modified to meet changing combat needs. A
specially modified version of the F105 was the backbone of the Wild Weasel
program, initiated in 1965 to improve the U.S. Air Force's electronic warfare
capability.

On April 19, 1966, Adams was flying a bombing mission in an F105D over Quang
Binh Province, North
Vietnam, about 20 miles southwest of the city of Quang Khe. His aircraft was
observed to crash with no ejection seen and no emergency beeper signals heard.
The Air Force established sufficient evidence that Lt. Adams died at the time
of the crash, but that there was a good chance the Vietnamese knew his fate.

Not really unexpectedly, Larry was not among the 591 Americans released from
enemy prisons at the end of the war. He may not be among the hundreds of
Americans experts believe to still be alive, held in Southeast Asia. But one
can imagine he would cheerfully fly one last mission, "with stick in hand and
throttle forward" to bring his comrades home.

(Lee Aaron Adams graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1963.)

Prepared by Homecoming II Project 01 December 1989

ADAMS, OLEY NEAL

Name: Oley Neal Adams
Rank/Branch: E5/US Air Force
Unit: 12th Armament Electronic Maintenance Squadron
Date of Birth: 27 June 1937
Home City of Record: Green City MO
Date of Loss: 17 June 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 125336N 1093123E (CQ398257)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: C130E

Other Personnel in Incident: Ralph B. Cobbs; Jack I. Dempsey; Stanley J. Freng;
Edward L. Romig; M.J. Savoy; Donald E. Siegwarth; Curtis D. Collette; Gene K.
Hess; Connie M. Gravitte; Robert A. Cairns; Larry E. Washburn (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II
Project.

REMARKS: EXPLODE AIR & IMPACT SEA - J

SYNOPSIS: On June 17, 1966, a C130E "Hercules" aircraft departed Cam Ranh Bay,
South Vietnam en route to Kadena Air Base, Okinawa on an operational airlift
support mission. Aboard the flight were the crew, consisting of LtCdr. Ralph
Cobbs; ADJ2 Curtis D. Collette; YN2 Jack I. Dempsey; ADR2 Stanley Freng; Ltjg.
Edward Romig; AN M.J. Savoy; and Ltjg. Donald Siegwarth. All were assigned to
the 7th Air Transport Squadron. Also aboard the aircraft were U.S. Air Force
personnel SSgt. Robert Cairns; SSgt. Gene Hess; Capt. Connie Gravitte; SSgt.
Oley N. Adams; and A1 Larry Washburn, and one other individual.

About 30 minutes into the flight, as the aircraft was 43 miles northeast of Nha
Trang, the crew of a naval gunboat cruising off the South Vietnam coast observed
the C130 explode and crash into the South China Sea. No hostile fire was
observed, and the exact cause of the crash could not be determined. The vessel
arrived at the crash scene only minutes after the impact and began an immediate
search. The accident occurred so swiftly that it was assumed all aboard perished
instantly. Some debris and wreckage have been recovered including parts of the
aircraft and personal belongings. Only one body was recovered from the crash
site. The others are listed as "Dead/Body Not Recovered."

Cobbs and Siegworth were pilots, and probably the co-pilots of the aircraft,
although this information is not included in public data relating to the loss.
Crew positions of the remaining crew members are not available.

Inexplicably, Cobbs' loss coordinates place him on the coast of South Vietnam a
few miles northeast of Tuy Hoa, while the others aboard are listed as lost
northeast of Na Trang. (This is a difference of about 55 miles.) Also, the
entire crew of the aircraft has been assigned "Knowledge Category 4", while the
passengers are in "Knowledge Category 5". Category 5 includes those individuals
whose remains have been determined to be non-recoverable. Category 4 includes
individuals whose loss details, such as location and time, are unknown and who
do not fit into any of the varying degrees of knowledge other than category 5.
No reason for this discrepancy can be determined.

The Americans aboard the C130E are listed among the missing because their
remains were never found to be returned to their homeland. They are among nearly
2500 Americans who remain unaccounted for from the Vietnam war. The cases of
some, like the C130E crew, seem clear - that they perished and will never be
recovered, Unfortunately, many of the missing do not have such clear cut cases.
Some were known captives; some were photographed in captivity. Some were in
radio contact with search teams, while others simply disappeared.

Since the war ended, over 250,000 interviews have been conducted with those who
claim to know about Americans still alive in Southeast Asia, and several million
documents have been studied. U.S. Government experts cannot seem to agree
whether Americans are there alive or not. Detractors say it would be far too
politically difficult to bring the men they believe to be alive home, and the
U.S. is content to negotiate for remains.

Over 1000 eye-witness reports of living American prisoners were received by
1989. Most of them are still classified. If, as the U.S. seems to believe, the
men are all dead, why the secrecy after so many years? If the men are alive, why
are they not home?

In our haste to leave an unpopular war, it now appears we abandoned some of our
best men. In our haste to heal the wounds of this same war, will we sign their
death warrants? Or will we do what we can to bring them home?

ADAMS, SAMUEL

Name: Samuel Adams
Rank/Branch: E5/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 02 August 1935
Home City of Record: Goldenrod FL (family in NH)
Date of Loss: 31 October 1965
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 10400N 1070000E (YS224805)
Status (in 1973): Prisoner of War
Category: 1
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ford Truck
Other Personnel in Incident: Thomas Moore; Charles G. Dusing (both POW)

REMARKS: 6512 DIC-ON PRG DIC LIST

SYNOPSIS: On October 31, 1965, four U.S. Air Force personnel were captured
while traveling by truck from Vung Tau to Saigon. This incident occurred on
Route 15 at grid coordinates YS224805, just on the border of Binh Hoa and Gia
Dinh Provinces of South Vietnam. Three of the individuals involved in this
incident are SSgt. Samuel Adams, SSgt. Charles Dusing and TSgt. Thomas Moore.

On November 2, 1965, while being taken to a detention camp, one of the four
POWs, whose identity is not part of public record, managed to escape and return
to U.S. control. It was reported that Samuel Adams had been shot during the
same escape that freed the fourth American prisoner, but a defector identified
Adams' photo as a prisoner at a later date. CIA's analysis of this
identification has been inconclusive. The names of all three appeared on the
died in captivity list furnished by the Provisional Revolutionary Government
(PRG) in 1973 at the Paris Peace Accords. The list reflected that they had died
during December 1965, but no details were given.

When 591 Americans were released at the end of the war in 1973, Adams, Dusing
and Moore were not among them; their names were on a list. No bodies were
returned to their families, even though the Vietnamese clearly know where to
find the three men. Since that time, Vietnam has doled out handfuls of remains
as the political atmosphere seemed appropriate, but Adams, Dusing and Moore
remain unaccounted for.

The three are among nearly 2500 Americans who remain missing in Indochina.
Unlike "MIA's" from other wars, most of these men can be accounted for.
Tragically, over 8000 reports concerning Americans still in Southeast Asia have
been received by the U.S. since the end of the war. Experts say that the
evidence is overwhelming that Americans were left behind in enemy hands. It's
time we brought our men home.
ADRIAN, JOSEPH DANIEL

Name: Joseph Daniel Adrian
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: (unknown)
Date of Birth: 02 August 1942
Home City of Record: Riveredge NJ
Date of Loss: 12 March 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 130822N 1092307E (CQ293485)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F100
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

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: 01 January 1990

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: 1Lt. Joseph D. Adrian was reported missing in action while on a night
scramble mission in a flight of three F-100 aircraft on March 12, 1967.
Adrian's aircraft was attempting to join the lead in a right turn when it was
observed to continue the turn and disappear out of sight. The incident occurred
approximately six miles off the end of the runway at Tuy Hoa offshore from Phu
Yen Province, South Vietnam.

According to Air Force records, evidence (unnamed) was received on March 26
which indicated that Lt. Adrian died at the time his aircraft went down, but as
no remains were found, he is listed with honor among those missing in Southeast
Asia.

When the last American troops left Southeast Asia in 1975, some 2500 Americans
were unaccounted for. Reports received by the U.S. Government since that time
build a strong case for belief that many of these "unaccounted for" Americans
are still alive and in captivity.

1Lt. Joseph D. Adrian was listed as killed, body not recovered. His case seems
clear - that he perished and cannot be recovered. Unfortunately, evidence
continues to be received indicating that hundreds of Americans are still
captive, waiting for the country they proudly served to secure their freedom.

In our haste to leave an unpopular war, it now appears we abandoned some of our
best men. In our haste to heal the wounds of this same war, will we sign their
death warrants? Or will we do what we can to bring them home?

ADVENTIO, RUDOLPHO ANDRES

Name: Rudolpho Andres Adventio
Rank/Branch: E3/US Navy
Unit:
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record:
Date of Loss: 01 November 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates:
Status (in 1973): AWOL
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: In Vietnam, military experts devised a system to try to relieve
the battle fatigue experienced in earlier wars by those who served long
tours with their units intact. In Vietnam, soldiers were rotated after
roughly one-year tours. The practice had noble intent, but it served to
isolate the soldier and interrupted continuity. Virtually as soon as a man
learned the ropes, he was shipped home and a green replacement arrived to
fill the gap. Some were quite literally, in the jungles one day and at
home the next. The emotional impact was terrific and thousands of veterans
are dealing with it two decades later.

Vietnam was also a limited political war, and had peculiar problems: a
vague enemy, restrictive rules of engagement, an uncertain objective,
non-military State Department minds directing many aspects of the war. In
certain periods of the war, military morale was lower than perhaps any
other time in our history.

Adding to these factors was the extremely young age of the average soldier
shipped to Vietnam. For example, the average combatant's age in World War
II was 25 years, while Vietnam soldiers were 19. The young fighters became
jaded -- or old -- or died -- long before their time.

For various reasons, some soldiers deserted or even defected to the enemy.
Their counterparts in the U.S. fled to Canada, manufactured physical or
mental problems, or extended college careers to escape the draft.

There are only a handful of American deserters or AWOL (Absent Without
Leave) maintained on missing lists. At least one of these was known to
have fallen in love with a woman whom he later learned was a communist.
Another fled because he had scrapped with a superior and feared the
consequences. This man was ultimately declared dead, and his AWOL record
expunged. Most are on the list of missing because there is some doubt that their
AWOL status is valid.

There is little information regarding those listed as AWOL on the missing
lists. For instance, the Navy does not maintain a missing file of Navy
enlistedman Rudolpho A. Adventio, who was reported AWOL on November 1, 1969. His
story and his fate are unknown.

Some of the reports among the over 10,000 received relating to Americans missing
or prisoner in Southeast Asia have to do with deserters, although there is no
evidence they have been asked if they want to come home. In light of the amnesty
granted draft dodgers by the United States Government, can we be less forgiving
of them?


AGOSTO-SANTOS, JOSE

Name: Jose Agosto-Santos
Rank/Branch: D3/US Marine Corps
Unit: D/1/5, 1st Marine Division
Date of Birth: (ca 1944)
Home City of Record: Puerto Rico
Date of Loss: 12 May 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 154100N 1081600E (BT095364)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: ground
Other Personnel in Incident: Carlos Ashlock (missing)

REMARKS: 680123 RELEASED

SYNOPSIS: For Americans captured in South Vietnam, daily life could be expected
to be brutally difficult. Primarily, these men suffered from disease induced by
an unfamiliar and inadequate diet - dysentery, edema, skin fungus and eczema.
The inadequate diet coupled with inadequate medical care led to the deaths of
many. Besides dietary problems, these POWs had other problems as well. They
were moved regularly to avoid being in areas that would be detected by U.S.
troops, and occasionally found themselves in the midst of U.S. bombing strikes.
Supply lines to the camps were frequently cut off, and when they were, POWs and
guards alike suffered. Unless they were able to remain in one location long
enough to grow vegetable crops and tend small animals, their diet was limited
to rice and what they could gather from the jungle.

In addition to the primitive lifestyle imposed on these men, their Viet Cong
guards could be particularly brutal in their treatment. For any minor
infraction, including conversation with other POWs, the Americans were
psychologically and physically tortured. American POWs brought back stories of
having been buried; held for days in a cage with no protection from insects and
the environment; having had water and food withheld; being shackled and beaten.
The effects of starvation and torture frequently resulted in hallucinations and
extreme disorientation. Men were reduced to animals, relying on the basic
instinct of survival as their guide. After months in this psychological
condition, many POWs, lucky to survive, discovered that they were infinitely
better treated if they became docile and helpful prisoners. Unlike in the
North, the POWs in the south did not as naturally assume a military order among
themselves - perhaps because the preponderance of POWs in the North were
officers as opposed to a larger community of enlisted men in the South - and
frequently, there was no strong leader to encourage resistance and to bring
the comfort of order to a chaotic existance.

From the camps in the South came the group of American POWs ultimately charged
with collaboration with the enemy. These charges were later dropped, but are
indicative of the strong survival instinct inherent in man, and the need for
strong leadership. It is common knowledge that nearly all POWs "violated" the
Military Code of Conduct in one way or another; some to greater degrees than
others. Those who resisted utterly, the record shows, were executed or killed
in more horrible ways.

Americans tended to be moved from camp to camp in groups. One of the groups in
South Vietnam contained a number of Americans whose fates are varied.

Capt. William "Ike" Eisenbraun was attached to the 17th Infantry regiment of
the Seventh Division ("Buffalos") when he fought in Korea. He was awarded a
Purple Heart for wounds received in Korea. In 1961, Capt. Eisenbraun
volunteered for duty in Vietnam because he believed in what we were trying to
accomplish there. He was one of the earliest to go to Southeast Asia as an
advisor to the Royal Lao and South Vietnamese Armies.

On his fourth tour of duty, Eisenbraun served as Senior Advisor, Headquarters
MACV, SQ5891, U.S. Army Special Forces. He was at jungle outpost Ba Gia near
Quang Ngai in South Vietnam when the post was overrun by an estimated 1000-1500
Viet Cong force. Newspapers described it as "one of the bloodiest battles of
the war to date". A survivor told newsmen the Viet Cong attacked in "human
waves and couldn't be stopped." There were only 180 men defending the outpost.
Captain Eisenbraun was initially reported killed in action.

Later, two Vietnamese who had been captured and escaped reported that Capt.
Eisenbraun had been captured, was being held prisoner, and was in good health.
Through the debriefings of returned POWs held with Eisenbraun, it was learned
that he died as a POW. One returned POW said that on about September 1, 1967,
Eisenbraun fell out of his hammock (which was about five feet above a pile of
logs) and landed on his right side. For about 5 days after the fall, Eisenbraun
continued his daily activites, but complained of a severe pain in his side.
After that period he stayed in bed and at about 0100 hours on September 8,
LCpl. Grissett awakened PFC Ortiz-Rivera and told him that Eisenbraun had
stopped breathing.

Another POW said Ike had died as a result of torture after an escape attempt in
1967. Robert Garwood added that Ike had provided leadership for the prisoners
at the camp, and was an obstacle to the Viet Cong in interrogating the other
prisoners. He also spoke fluent Vietnamese, which made him a definite problem.
Garwood and Eisenbraun had been held alone together at one point in their
captivity, and Ike taught Bobby the secrets of survival he had learned in SF
training, and in his years in the jungle. Bobby states that Ike knew and taught
him which insects could be eaten to fend off common jungle diseases, and that
he and Ike jokingly planned to write a cookbook called "100 ways to cook a
rat". Garwood said that Ike had been severely beaten following the escape
attempt, and that one night he was taken from his cage and not returned. The
next morning, Garwood was told that Ike had fallen from his hammock and died.

Ike Eisenbraun was buried at the camp in Quang Nam Province along with other
POWs who had died of torture and starvation. His grave was marked with a rock
inscribed by Garwood. A map has been provided to the U.S. showing the precise
location of the little cemetery and grave, yet Ike's remains have not been
returned.

Bobby Garwood had been captured on September 28, 1965 as he was driving a jeep
in Quang Nam Province. Garwood made international headlines when he created an
international incident by smuggling a note out revealing his existance. The
note resulted in his release in March 1979, after having been a prisoner of war
for 14 years. The Marine Corps immediately charged him with collaboration and
assault on a fellow POW, and he was ultimately charged and dishonorably
discharged. He is the only serviceman to be charged with these crimes from the
Vietnam War, and many feel he was singled out to discredit the stories he has
told regarding other Americans held long after the war was over in Vietnam.

Several American POWs were held at a camp in Quang Nam Province numbered ST18,
including Eisenbraun, Garwood, Grissett, LCpl. Jose Agosto-Santos, PFC Luis
Antonio Ortiz-Rivera, Marine LCpl. Robert C. Sherman, Capt. Floyd H. Kushner,
W2 Francis G. Anton, SP4 Robert Lewis, PFC James F. Pfister, PFC Earl C.
Weatherman, Cpl. Dennis W. Hammond and Sgt. Joseph S. Zawtocki.

Agosto-Santos was captured when his unit was overrun in Quang Nam Province on
May 12, 1967. Cpl. Carlos Ashlock had been killed in the same action, and he
and Agosto-Santos had been left for dead. Agosto-Santos had been wounded in the
stomach and back. For about a month, he had been cared for in a cave by the
Viet Cong. Jose felt he owed his life to the Viet Cong. He was released in a
propaganda move by the Vietnamese on January 23, 1968. Ashlock was never seen
again.

Ortiz-Rivera was a Puerto Rican who barely spoke English. His Army unit was
overrun in Binh Dinh Province several miles north of the city of Phu Cat on
December 17, 1966, and Ortiz-Rivera was captured. Ortiz-Rivera was not a
problem prisoner, according to other returnees. He was released with
Agosto-Santos January 23, 1968.

Cpl. Bobby Sherman told fellow POWs that he had been on picket duty with ARVNs
on June 24, 1967 when he decided to go to a nearby village to "get laid".
The Vietnamese girl he met there led him to the Viet Cong instead. Sherman had
been on his second tour of Vietnam. During his first tour, he had suffered
psychological problems because of the grisly job assigned to him of handling
corpses of his comrades killed in action. In the spring of 1968, Sherman,
Hammond, Weatherman, Daly, and Zawtocki, with the help of other POWs, attempted
to escape. Sherman beat a guard in the attempt and was recaptured and punished.
He was held in stocks for many days and fellow POWs said he "got crazy and
never recovered." They said he spent months as a "zombie" and "never was there"
after that. According to Harold Kushner, Bobby Sherman died on November 23,
1968. The POWs buried him in the little cemetery with Ike Eisenbraun. In March
1985, the remains of Bobby Sherman were returned during a period that
Eisenbraun's daughter was publicly asking the President to bring her father
home. A map had been published of the cemetery, and many wondered if there was
a connection.

Capt. Harold Kushner had been the sole survivor of the crash of his UH1D
helicopter on a mountainside in Quang Nam Province on November 30, 1967.
Kushner was a Army Medical Corps Flight Surgeon and had broken a tooth and
sustained a wound to his shoulder when the helicopter crashed. He was
subsequently captured by the Viet Cong. During his captivity, his wife,
Valerie, became active in the effort to end the war, believing that was the
only hope her husband had of returning home. Kushner became ambivilent about
the war himself, and when held in North Vietnam, made propaganda tapes until
informed by the more organized prisoners captured and held in the North that it
was prohibited. Kushner was released March 16, 1973 from North Vietnam.

(Note: a number of other Americans were held with this group including PFC
David N. Harker; James A. Daly; Richard R. Rehe; Willie A. Watkins; Francis E.
Cannon; Richard F. Williams; and James H. Strickland. One detailed account of
the captivity of these men can be found in "The Survivors" by Zalen Grant.
Another can be read in "Conversations With The Enemy", written by Winston Groom
and Duncan Spencer. Homecoming II Project - 2408 Hull Rd. - Kinston NC 28501
-also maintains synopsis accounts of these men.)

W2 Francis Gene "Bones" Anton was the pilot of a UH1C helicopter, code name
"Firebird". On January 5, 1968, his crewchief was SP4 Robert Lewis III, and
door gunner was PFC James F. Pfister. The crew, flying out of the 71st Assault
Helicopter Company, was shot down as they were trying to assist C Company,
under heavy mortar attack at Happy Valley in Quang Nam Province. Their co-pilot
had escaped capture. Anton is one of the few POWs who believed that Garwood,
although clearly a collaborator, was still a loyal American, helpful to his
fellow POWs. Anton, according to other POWs was "always cussing the
Vietnamese". He was released from North Vietnam on March 16, 1973. When Cannon,
Williams, Harker and McMillan were brought to the POW camp at Happy Valley,
they found Anton, Pfister and Lewis well fed and clean. Pfister later made
propaganda tapes at the Plantation in Hanoi in April 1971. Garwood called him
the "head snitch" in one of the camps along the Rock River and White River in
South Vietnam. Both Pfister and Lewis were released on March 5, 1973. None of
the three were considered by superior officers to be among those who criminally
collaborated with the enemy.

Russ Grissett was on a search mission for a missing USMC officer when he became
separated from his unit on January 22, 1966. He was with the elite 1st Force
Recon, and was captured by the Viet Cong in Quang Ngai Province. Russ was
several inches over 6' tall and carried a normal weight of around 190 pounds.
After 2 years in captivity, however, his weight had dropped to around 125
pounds. Grissett suffered particularly from dysentery and malaria, and in his
weakened condition begged his fellow POWs not to tell him any secrets. He had
already been accused of sabotaging an escape plan by Kushner. He found it
difficult to resist, and willingly made propaganda tapes about "lenient
treatment". When Ortiz-Rivera and Agosto-Santos were released, he had "behaved"
enough that he was tremendously disappointed that he was not released with
them. During one period of near-starvation, in late November 1969, Grissett
caught and killed the camp's kitchen cat. It was a dangerous move, and fellow
POWs watched helplessly and innocently as guards beat Grissett for the crime
and he never recovered. Grissett was buried in the camp's cemetery by his
fellow POWs. Harold Kushner stated that Grissett died on December 2, 1969.
David Harker, another returned POW, stated that he had died at 3:30 a.m. on
November 23, 1968. On June 23, 1989, the U.S. announced that the Vietnamese had
"discovered" the remains of Russ Grissett and returned them to the U.S. (Note:
the "cat" incident spawned the assault charges against Garwood. Garwood,
enraged that others had stood by while Grisset was mortally beaten, back-handed
one of the bystanders in the stomach and asked, "How could you let them do this
to Russ?" Some witnesses stated that the blow was not a hard one intended to
injure, but seemingly for emphasis.)

Dennis Wayne "Denny" Hammond and Joseph S. Zawtocki were Marines who were
part of a pacification team when captured during the Tet offensive on February
8, 1968. Denny was a tall, lean, good-looking man thought to be part American
Indian. He attempted escape with the other POWs in the spring of 1968 and was
shot in the leg by Montagnards in a nearby village Denny had beaten a guard to
escape. Part of the "duties" of those POWs healthy enough was to harvest
oranges in nearby Montagnard orchards. The POWs were happy to do this because
it meant badly needed exercise and the opportunity for additional food. Daly
was once accused by guards of stealing oranges that Hammond had stolen. It was
on one of these workdays that the POWs effected their ill-fated escape. After
the escape attempt and recapture, Sherman remained relatively healthy for a
time, but in early March, 1970, died. He was buried near the camp and his grave
marked by a bamboo cross. (Hammond died on 7 or 8 of March, depending on the
source.)

Joe Zawtocki was a stocky, powerful, fair-haired man of Polish descent. He and
Garwood formed a close friendship and exchanged rings. Each promised the other
that if released alone, they would contact the other's family. Joe died on
December 24, 1968 of starvation and was buried near the POW camp. Davis, a
returnee, says that Garwood lost Joe's ring. Garwood states that, upon his
return, he gave Joe's ring to the Defense Intelligence Agency. Several years
later, he learned that DIA had never returned the ring to Joe's family. Joe
Zawtocki's remains were returned to the U.S. on August 15, 1985.

Perhaps one of the strangest cases involved in this group of POWs is that of
Pvt. Earl Clyde Weatherman. Weatherman was in the Marine brig at Da Nang where
he had been confined for slugging an officer in 1967. On November 8, 1967, he
escaped the brig (which constitutes desertion). Intelligence indicates that he
paid a Vietnamese driver to take him to his Vietnamese girlfriend's house, but
the driver instead delivered him to the Viet Cong. A tall, muscular young man
of about 20 years old with reddish-blond hair and blue eyes, Weatherman was
detained in the POW camps in Quang Nam Province, and was party to the ill-fated
escape attempt in the spring of 1968. Opinion was divided among the POWs
regarding the political loyalties of Earl Weatherman. Harker felt his alliance
to the Viet Cong was only an act. Weatherman had once said to him, "Don't
believe everything you hear about me." Others felt he was clearly a turncoat.
Perhaps Garwood stated it most accurately when he said, "Weatherman's only
crime was falling in love with the wrong person - a communist."

It was widely told that during the April 1, 1968 escape attempt, Weatherman was
killed. However, Garwood states that he heard of and saw Weatherman after 1973
when other U.S. POWs were returned, and years after his supposed death in South
Vietnam. Intelligence indicates that Weatherman continued to work for the
communists, and lived with a Vietnamese wife and family. One position said to
have been held by his was with the Vietnamese government's department of
construction - the Cong Tyxay Dung. Garwood last knew him to be at Bavi, living
with a Vietnamese woman.

In 1986, several national news articles revealed that intelligence documents
showed at least 7 missing Americans had been seen alive in Vietnam in the last
dozen years, including Weatherman. Some accounts added that Weatherman had
smuggled a note out of Vietnam that he wished to come home and bring with him
his wife and children. Weatherman's father was allegedly notified of this.

The POW/MIA groups reverberated with anticipation, knowing that if Weatherman
came home, a new source of information on those men still missing would be
available. Several activists questioned a Congressional aide regarding
Weatherman. They asked, "When will Weatherman be able to come home? We
understand the holdup is visas for his wife and children."  The aide, with a
caring and sympathetic look on his face, replied, "I don't know. I just don't
know."

Of this group of prisoners and missing, only Weatherman, Hammond, Ashlock and
Eisenbraun have not returned home, alive or dead. Ashlock was left for dead on
the battlefield. Hammond and Eisenbraun are dead, but still in enemy hands.
Weatherman, for whatever reason, chose love of a woman over love of his country
and remained behind. Can America close its doors to a man who may have a wealth
of information on Americans still alive in Vietnam? If he now wishes to return
to his homeland, can we be less forgiving to him that we were to those
Americans who fled to Canada to avoid the war?



AHLMEYER, HEINZ JR.

Name: Heinz Ahlmeyer, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O1/US Navy
Unit: H & S Co., 3rd Recon BN, 3rd Marine Division, Khe Sanh, South Vietnam
Date of Birth: 06 February 1944
Home City of Record: Pearl River NY
Date of Loss: 10 May 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 163706N 1064404E (XD845485)
Status (in 1973): Killed in Action, Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Other Personnel in Incident: Malcolm T. Miller; James N. Tycz; Samuel A. Sharp
(all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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: KIA WHN PTRL ATKD, WNDD RCV-J

SYNOPSIS: Third Class Petty Officer Malcolm T. Miller was a hospital corpsman
assigned to H & S Company at Khe Sanh, South Vietnam. He was working with A
Company, 3rd Marine Reconnaissance Battalion, 3rd Marine Division at Khe Sanh on
May 9, 1967.

On that day, Miller joined a reconnaissance patrol from A Company that had the
mission of gathering intelligence information on suspected enemy infiltration
routes near their base. The patrol was helicopter lifted into an area just south
of the DMZ, where they found signs of recent enemy activity, and moved to high
ground to establish a night defensive position.

Shortly after 12 p.m. the patrol came under heavy small arms fire, and several
of the team were wounded. Twelve hours later, after numerous unsuccessful
attempts, a helicopter was finally able to land and retrieve the wounded. It was
not possible to retrieve the bodies of those who had died, including Miller,
LCpl. Samuel A. Sharp, Jr., Sgt. James N. Tycz, and 2Lt. Heinz Ahlmeyer, Jr. All
were said to have died during the action from wounds received from enemy small
arms fire and and grenades.

The four men left behind near the DMZ were never found. The government of
Vietnam has been consistently uncooperative in releasing remains they hold or in
allowing access to known loss sites.

Even more tragically, evidence mounts that many Americans are still alive in
Southeast Asia, still prisoners from a war many have long forgotten. It is a
matter of pride in the armed forces, and especially in the Marines Corps, that
one's comrades are never left behind. Many men have been killed trying to bring
in a wounded or killed buddy. One can imagine the men missing from A Company, as
well as Malcolm Miller, had they survived, being willing to go on one more
patrol for those heroes we left behind.


AIKEN, LARRY D.

Name: Larry D. Aiken
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit:
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record:
Date of Loss: 13 May 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 151000N 1080200E (BT252162)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 February 1991 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 records of the millions of U.S. servicemen in Vietnam are so
extensive that errors and inconsistencies were bound to occur occasionally. The
same is true of those men who are missing, prisoner or otherwise unaccounted
for.

The case of Cpl. Larry D. Aiken is one example. Aiken, a negro, is listed as
missing on May 13, 1969. Intelligence later revealed that he had been captured,
but was "recovered" by unnamed individuals from a Viet Cong hospital. Thus, on
lists compiled which showed the status of each missing American in 1973, Aiken
was listed as a released POW.

At some point between 1973 and 1980, however, additional information must have
been received as Aiken's status was changed to escaped POW. Currently, Defense
Intelligence Agency classifies Aiken as a returned POW.

Because Aiken's name does not appear on many of the lists of returned POWs, many
POW/MIA activist groups maintain his name on file as one on whom insufficient
information is available. These groups are aware that even one man could easily
be forgotten because of clerical errors.

As reports mount that indicate Americans are still alive, POW/MIA groups work
harder to be sure that not a single man is forgotten.


Name:               Bobby Joe Alberton
Rank/Branch:           E5/US Air Force
Unit:               61st Troop Carrier Squadron, DaNang Airbase
Date of Birth:           30 August 1937
Home City of Record:   Anaheim CA
Date of Loss:           31 May 1966
Country of Loss:       North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates:      194857N 1052924E (WG510910)
Status (in 1973):      Missing In Action
Category:           2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground:   C130E
Personnel In Incident: April 3 1965: Herschel S. Morgan; Raymond A. Vohden
               (released POWs); George C. Smith (missing).
               April 4, 1965: Walter F. Draeger; James A. Magnusson
               (missing); Carlyle S. Harris (released POW);
               September 16, 1965: J. Robinson Risner (released POW);
               May 31, 1966: Bobbie J. Alberton; William R. Edmondson;
               Emmett McDonald; Armon Shingledecker;
               Philip J. Stickney; (missing from the C-130E);
               Thomas Case; Harold J. Zook; Elroy Harworth (remains
               returned from the C130E). Dayton Ragland; Ned Herrold
               (missing on an F-4C)

REMARKS: ALL CREW DEAD/FBIS

SYNOPSIS: The Thanh Hoa Railroad and Highway Bridge, spanning the Song
Ma River, is located three miles north of Thanh Hoa, the capital of
Annam Province, North Vietnam. It is a replacement for the original
French-built bridge destroyed by the Viet Minh in 1945 - they simply
loaded two locomotives with explosives and ran them together in the
middle of the bridge.

In 1957, the North Vietnamese rebuilt the bridge. The new bridge,
completed in 1964, was 540 feet long, 56 feet wide, and about 50 feet
above the river. The Vietnamese called it Ham Rong (the Dragon's Jaw),
and Ho Chi Minh himself attended its dedication. The bridge had two
steel thru-truss spans which rested in the center on a massive
reinforced concrete pier 16 feet in diameter, and on concrete abutments
at the other ends. Hills on both sides of the river provided solid
bracing for the structure. Between 1965 and 1972, eight concrete piers
were added near the approaches to give additional resistance to bomb
damage. A one-meter guage single railway track ran down the 12 foot wide
center and 22 foot wide concrete highways were cantilevered on each
side. This giant would prove to be one of the single most challenging
targets for American air power in Veitnam. 104 American pilots were shot
down over a 75 square mile area around the Dragon during the war. (Only
the accounts of those specifically known to be involved in major strikes
against the bridge are given here. Some losses were aircraft involved in
operations against other targets. Note also, that because aircraft came
in on this target from a wide geographic area, some personnel lost
outside the 75 mile range may have been inadvertently overlooked in this
study.)

In March 1965 the decision to interdict the North Vietnamese rail system
south of the 20th parallel led immediately to the April 3, 1965 strike
against the Thanh Hoa Bridge. Lt.Col. Robinson Risner was designated
overall mission coordinator for the attack. He assembled a force
consisting of 79 aircraft - 46 F105's, 21 F100's, 2 RF101's and 10 KC135
tankers. The F100's came from bases in South Vietnam, while the rest of
the aircraft were from squadrons TDY at various Thailand bases.

Sixteen of the 46 "Thuds" (F105) were loaded with pairs of Bullpup
missiles, and each of the remaining 30 carried eight 750 lb. general
purpose bombs. The aircraft that carried the missiles and half of the
bombers were scheduled to strike the bridge; the remaining 15 would
provide flak suppression. The plan called for individual flights of four
F105's from Koran and Takhli which would be air refueled over the Mekong
River before tracking across Laos to an initial point (IP) three minutes
south of the bridge. After weapon release, the plan called for all
aircraft to continue east until over the Gulf of Tonkin where rejoin
would take place and a Navy destroyer would be available to recover
anyone who had to eject due to battle damage or other causes. After
rejoin, all aircraft would return to their bases, hopefully to the tune
of "The Ham Rong Bridge if falling down."

Shortly after noon on April 3, aircraft of Rolling Thunder Mission
9-Alpha climbed into Southeast Asia skies on their journey to the Thanh
Hoa Bridge. The sun glinting through the haze was making the target
somewhat difficult to acquire, but Risner led the way "down the chute"
and 250 pound missiles were soon exploding on the target. Since only one
Bullpup missile could be fired at a time, each pilot had to make two
firing passes.

On his second pass, LtCol. Risner's aircraft took a hit just as the
Bullpup hit the bridge. Fighting a serious fuel leak and a smoke-filled
cockpit in addition to anti-aircraft fire from the enemy, he nursed his
crippled aircraft to Da Nang and to safety. The Dragon would not be so
kind on another day.

The first two flights had already left the target when Capt. Bill
Meyerholt, number three man in the third flight, rolled his Thunderchief
into a dive and sqeezed off a Bullpup. The missile streaked toward the
bridge, and as smoke cleared from the previous attacks, Capt. Meyerholt
was shocked to see no visible damage to the bridge. The Bullpups were
merely charring the heavy steel and concrete structure. The remaining
missile attacks confirmed that firing Bullpups at the Dragon was about
as effective as shooting BB pellets at a Sherman tank.

The bombers, undaunted, came in for their attack, only to see their
payload drift to the far bank because of a very strong southwest wind.
1Lt. George C. Smith's F100D was shot down near the target point as he
suppressed flak. The anti-aircraft resistance was much stronger than
anticipated. No radio contact could be made with Smith, nor could other
aircraft locate him. 1Lt. Smith was listed Missing In Action, and no
further word has been heard of him.

The last flight of the day, led by Capt. Carlyle S. "Smitty" Harris,
adjusted their aiming points and scored several good hits on the roadway
and super structure. Smitty tried to assess bomb damage, but could not
because of the smoke coming from the Dragon's Jaw. The smoke would prove
to be an ominous warning of things to come.

LtCdr. Raymond A. Vohden was north of the Dragon when his A4C bomber was
shot down. Ray was captured by the North Vietnamese and held in various
POW camps in and near Hanoi until his release in February 1973. (It is
not entirely clear that this U.S. Navy Lt.Cdr. had a direct role in the
attack on the bridge, but was probably "knocked out" by the same
anti-aircraft fire.)

Capt. Herschel S. Morgan's RF101 was hit and went down some 75 miles
southwest of the target area, seriously injuring the pilot. Capt. Morgan
was captured and held in and around Hanoi until his release in February
1973.

When the smoke cleared, observer aircraft found that the bridge still
spanned the river. Thirty-two Bullpups and ten dozen 750 pound bombs had
been aimed at the bridge and numerous hits had charred every part of the
structure, yet it showed no sign of going down. A restrike was ordered
for the next day.

The following day, flights with call signs "Steel", "Iron", "Copper",
"Moon", "Carbon", "Zinc", "Argon", "Graphite", "Esso", "Mobil", "Shell",
"Petrol", and the "Cadillac" BDA (bomb damage assessment) flight,
assembled at IP to try once again to knock out the Dragon. On this day,
Capt. Carlyle "Smitty" Harris was flying as call sign "Steel 3". Steel 3
took the lead and oriented himself for his run on a 300 degree heading.
He reported that his bombs had impacted on the target on the eastern end
of the bridge. Steel 3 was on fire as soon as he left the target. Radio
contact was garbled, and Steel Lead, Steel 2 and Steel 4 watched
helplessly as Smitty's aircraft, emitting flame for 20 feet behind,
headed due west of the target. All flight members had him in sight until
the fire died out, but observed no parachute, nor did they see the
aircraft impact the ground. Smitty's aircraft had been hit by a MiG
whose pilot later recounted the incident in "Vietnam Courier" on April
15, 1965. It was not until much later that it would be learned that
Smitty had been captured by the North Vietnamese. Smitty was held
prisoner for 8 years and released in 1973. Fellow POWs credit Smitty
with introducing the "tap code" which enabled them to communicate with
each other.

MiG's had been seen on previous missions, but for the first time in the
war, the Russian-made MiGs attacked American aircraft. Zinc 2, an F105D
flown by Capt. James A. Magnusson, had its flight bounced by MiG 17's.
As Zinc Lead was breaking to shake a MiG on his tail, Zinc 2 was hit and
radioed that he was heading for the Gulf if he could maintain control of
his aircraft. The other aircraft were busy evading the MiGs, and
Magnusson radioed several times before Steel Lead responded and
instructed him to tune his radio to rescue frequency. Magnusson's
aircraft finally ditched over the Gulf of Tonkin near the island of Hon
Me, and he was not seen or heard from again. He was listed Missing In
Action.

Capt. Walter F. Draeger's A1H (probably an escort for rescue teams) was
shot down over the Gulf of Tonkin just northeast of the Dragon that day.
Draeger's aircraft was seen to crash in flames, but no parachute was
observed. Draeger was listed Missing In Action.

The remaining aircraft returned to their bases, discouraged. Although
over 300 bombs scored hits on this second strike, the bridge still
stood.

From April to September 1965, 19 more pilots were shot down in the
general vicinity of the Dragon, including many who were captured and
released, including Howie Rutledge, Gerald Coffee, Paul Galanti,
Jeremiah Denton, Bill Tschudy and James Stockdale. Then on September 16,
1965, Col. Robbie Risner's F105D was shot down a few miles north of the
bridge he had tried to destroy the previous April. As he landed, Risner
tore his knee painfully, a condition which contributed to his ultimate
capture by the North Vietnamese. Risner was held in and around Hanoi
until his release in 1973, but while a POW, he was held in solitary
confinement for 4 1/2 years. Besides the normal malaise and illnesses
common to POWs, Risner also suffered from kidney stones, which severely
debilitated him in the spring and summer of 1967.

By September 1965, an innovative concept had taken shape - mass-focusing
the energy of certain high explosive weapons. The Air Force quickly saw
its application against the old Dragon and devised a plan to destroy the
bridge using the new weapon. They would call the operation "Carolina
Moon".

The plan necessitated two C130 aircraft dropping the weapon, a rather
large pancake-shaped affair 8 feet in diameter and 2 1/2 feet thick and
weighing 5,000 pounds. The C130's would fly below 500 feet to evade
radar along a 43 mile route (which meant the C130 would be vulnerable to
enemy attack for about 17 minutes), and drop the bombs, which would
float down the Song Ma River where it would pass under the Dragon's Jaw,
and detonate when sensors in the bomb detected the metal of the bridge
structure.

Because the slow-moving C130's would need protection, F4 Phantoms would
fly diversionary attack to the south, using flares and bombs on the
highway just before the C130 was to drop its ordnance. The F4s were to
enter their target area at 300', attack at 50' and pull off the target
back to 300' for subsequent attacks. Additionally, an EB66 was tasked to
jam the radar in the area during the attack period. Since Risner had
been shot down in September, 15 more pilots had been downed in the
bridge region. Everyone knew it was hot.

The first C130 was to be flown by Maj. Richard T. Remers and the second
by Maj. Thomas F. Case, both of whom had been through extensive training
for this mission at Elgin AFB, Florida and had been deployed to Vietnam
only 2 weeks before. Ten mass-focus weapons were provided, allowing for
a second mission should the first fail to accomplish the desired
results.

Last minute changes to coincide with up-to-date intelligence included
one that would be very significant in the next days. Maj. Remers felt
that the aircraft was tough enough to survive moderate anti-aircraft
artillery hits and gain enough altitude should bail-out be necessary.
Maj. Case agreed that the aircraft could take the hits, but the
low-level flight would preclude a controlled bail-out situation. With
these conflicting philosophies, and the fact that either parachutes or
flak vests could be worn - but not both - Maj. Remers decided that his
crew would wear parachutes and stack their flak vests on the floor of
the aircraft. Maj. Case decided that his crew would wear only flak vests
and store the parachutes.

On the night of May 30, Maj. Remers and his crew, including navigators
Capt. Norman G. Clanton and 1Lt. William "Rocky" Edmondson, departed Da
Nang at 25 minutes past midnight and headed north under radio silence.
Although the "Herky-bird" encountered no resistance at the beginning of
its approach, heavy, (although luckily, inaccurate) ground fire was
encountered after it was too late to turn back. The 5 weapons were
dropped successfully in the river and Maj. Remers made for the safety of
the Gulf of Tonkin. The operation had gone flawlessly, and the C130 was
safe. Although the diversionary attack had drawn fire, both F-4's
returned to Thailand unscathed.

Unfortunately, the excitement of the crew was shortlived, because recon
photos taken at dawn showed that there was no noticeable damage to the
bridge, nor was any trace of the bombs found. A second mission was
planned for the night of May 31. The plan for Maj. Case's crew was
basically the same with the exception of a minor time change and slight
modification to the flight route. A crew change was made when Maj. Case
asked 1Lt. Edmondson, the navigator from the previous night's mission,
to go along on this one because of his experience from the night before.
The rest of the crew included Capt. Emmett R. McDonald, 1Lt. Armon D.
Shingledecker, 1Lt. Harold J. Zook, SSgt. Bobby J. Alberton, AM1 Elroy
E. Harworth and AM1 Philip J. Stickney. The C130 departed DaNang at 1:10
a.m.

The crew aboard one of the F4's to fly diversionary included Col. Dayton
Ragland. Ragland was no stranger to conflict when he went to Vietnam. He
had been shot down over Korea in November 1951 and had served two years
as a prisoner of war. Having flown 97 combat missions on his tour in
Vietnam, Ragland was packed and ready to go home. He would fly as
"backseater" to 1Lt. Ned R. Herrold on the mission to give the younger
man more combat flight time while he operated the sophisticated
technical navigational and bombing equipment. The F4's left Thailand and
headed for the area south of the Dragon.

At about two minutes prior to the scheduled C130 drop time, the F4's
were making their diversionary attack when crew members saw
anti-aircraft fire and a large ground flash in the bridge vicinity. Maj.
Case and his crew were never seen or heard from again. During the F4
attack, Herrold and Ragland's aircraft was hit. On its final pass, the
aircraft did not pull up, but went out to sea, and reported that the
aircraft had taken heavy weapons fire. A ball of fire was seen as the
plane went into the sea.

Reconnaissance crews and search and rescue scoured the target area and
the Gulf of Tonkin the next morning, finding no sign at all of the C130
or its crew. Rescue planes spotted a dinghy in the area in which Herrold
and Ragland's aircraft had gone down, but saw no signs of life. The
dinghy was sunk to prevent it falling into enemy hands. The bridge still
stood.

In March 1967, the U.S. Navy attacked the Thanh Hoa Bridge using the new
"Walleye" missiles, but failed to knock out the bridge. Before the war
ended, 54 more Americans fell in the Dragon's Jaw area.

In late 1986 the remains of Harworth, Zook and Case were returned and
buried with the honor befitting an American fighting man who has died
for his country. Ragland, Herrold, Alberton, McDonald, Edmondson,
Shingledecker, Stickney, Smith, Draeger and Magnussen are still Missing
in Action.
Name:                 John Scott Albright II
Rank/Branch:             O2/US Air Force
Unit:                 606th Special Operations Squadron, Nakhon Phanom,
                 Thailand
Date of Birth:             07 November 1945
Home City of Record:         Huntington WV (later changed to Sioux Falls SD)
Date of Loss:             13 December 1968
Country of Loss:         Laos
Loss Coordinates:         170100N 1055900E (XD055824)
Status (In 1973):         Missing In Action
Category:             2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground:         C123K
Other Personnel in Incident: On C123K: Douglas Dailey; Morgan Donahue;
                 Joseph Fanning; Samuel Walker; Fred L. Clarke
                 (all missing); On B57B: Thomas W. Dugan;
                 Francis J. McGouldrick (all missing)

REMARKS: MID AIR COL-1 PARA OBS

SYNOPSIS: On December 13, 1968, the crew of a C123K was dispatched from
Nakhon Phanom Airfield located in northern Thailand near the border of
Laos on an operational mission over Laos. The C123, a converted WWII
glider equipped with two engines, was assigned night patrol missions
along the Ho Chi Minh trail. Flying low at 2000-3000 feet, the job of
the seven man crew was to spot enemy truck convoys on the trail and to
light up the trails for accompanying B57 bombers which were flying
overhead.

The crew on this particular mission included the pilot (name unknown);
1Lt. Joseph P. Fanning, co-pilot; 1Lt. John S. Albright, navigator; 1Lt.
Morgan J. Donahue, navigator; SSgt. Samuel F. Walker, SSgt. Douglas V.
Dailey, TSgt. Fred L. Clarke, crewmembers. At 0330 hours, as the
aircraft was flying about 30 miles southwest of the Ban Karai Pass in
Laos, the crew of the C123 were jolted by a blow on the top of their
plane in the after section. An overhead B57 that had been called in for
an air strike had collided with the control plane. The C123 lost power
and went out of control. The pilot, stunned by a blow to the head, lost
consciousness.

Because of its glider configuration, the plane did not fall straight to
the ground, but drifted lazily to the ground in a flat spin which lasted
several minutes. When the pilot regained consciousness, he noted that
the co-pilot (Fanning) and navigator (Donahue) were gone. Donahue's
station was in the underbelly of the plane where, lying on his stomach,
he directed an infared detection device through an open hatch. The pilot
parachuted out, landed in a treetop where he remained until rescued at
dawn. On the way down, he saw another chute below him, but, because of
the dark, was unable to determine who the crew member was.

Intelligence reports after the incident indicate that Donahue, at least,
safely reached the ground near Tchepone, but suffered a broken leg. A
refugee who escaped captivity in Laos in 1974 reported having observed
an American prisoner broughy to the caves near Tchepone, where he was
held, in the period between 1968 and 1970. This American was later moved
to another locatation unknown to the refugee.

Several reports referring to "Moe-gan" and others describing Donahue as
the American called the "animal doctor" were received over the years
since war's end. In June and August, 1987, the Donahue family was given
intelligence reports tracking Morgan's movements from a POW camp in Kham
Kuet, Khammouane Province, Laos in the spring of 1987 to another camp in
the Boualapha District of the same province in August 1987. These
reports were mere WEEKS old, yet the U.S. marked them "routine". One of
them gave Morgan's aircraft type and serial number, which turned out to
be, instead of the serial number of the aircraft, Morgan's father's ZIP
CODE. Morgan's family believes this is clearly a signal to them from
Morgan.

The crew of the C123K are among nearly 600 Americans who disappeared in
Laos. Many of these men were alive on the ground. The Lao admitted
holding American prisoners but these men were never negotiated for.
Where are they? Are they alive? Imagine the torture the Donahue family
endures knowing Morgan is alive, yet helpless to do anything to help
him. What are we doing to help bring them home?

(John S. Albright II and Morgan J. Donahue graduated in 1967 from the
United States Air Force Academy)
ALCORN, WENDELL REED "RAY"

Name: Wendell Reed "Ray" Alcorn
Rank/Branch: O2/US Navy
Unit: USS ENTERPRISE
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Kittanning PA
Date of Loss: 22 December 1965
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 210200N 1064700E (XJ852266)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A4C

Other Personnel in Incident: John D. Prudhomme (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: 730214 RELSD BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: When nuclear powered USS ENTERPRISE arrived on Yankee Station on
December 2, 1965, she was the largest warship ever built. She brought with her
not only an imposing physical presence, but also an impressive component of
warplanes and the newest technology. Her air wing (CAG 9) consisted of more than
ninety aircraft. Among her attack squadrons were VA 36, VA 93, VA 76 and VA 94.
She launched her opening combat strike against targets in North Vietnam on
December 17, and by the end of her first week of combat operations, the
ENTERPRISE had set a record of 165 combat sorties in a single day, surpassing
the KITTY HAWK's 131. By the end of her first combat cruise, her air wing had
flown over 13,000 combat sorties. The record had not been achieved without cost.

On December 22, the ENTERPRISE teamed with the carriers KITTY HAWK and
TICONDEROGA in one of the war's biggest strikes to date, with one hundred
aircraft hitting the thermal power plant at Uong Bi located fifteen miles
north-northeast of the city of Haiphong. This was the first industrial target
authorized by the Johnson administration. The ENTERPRISE's aircraft approached
from the north and the KITTY HAWK/TICONDEROGA force from the south, leaving the
plant in shambles. The day's casualties were two A4Cs from the ENTERPRISE, an
RA5C Vigilante, and an A6A Intruder -- six Americans shot down.

One of the A4s was flown by LTJG Wendell R. Alcorn, a pilot from Attack Squadron
94 onboard the ENTERPRISE. Alcorn's aircraft was shot down about 15 miles
north-northeast of Haiphong and he was captured by the North Vietnamese. For the
next 7 years, Alcorn was a "guest" in the Hanoi prison system. He was ultimately
released in Operation Homecoming on Valentine's Day, 1973.

The second A4C shot down on December 22, 1965 was flown from the ENTERPRISE by
LT John D. Prudhomme. Prudhomme's aircraft was hit by enemy fire and crashed
near Alcorn's position. Prudhomme was not as lucky as Alcorn; he was deemed to
have been killed in the crash of his aircraft. He is listed among the missing
because his remains were not recovered.

The RA5C reconnaissance aircraft was shot down about 5 miles east of Hai Duong
in Hai Hung Province, about 30 miles from Alcorn and Prudhomme. Its crew
consisted of the pilot, LCDR Max D. Lukenbach and his rear-seater, LTJG Glenn H.
Daigle. LTJG Daigle was captured by the Vietnamese and held in Hanoi until his
release on February 12, 1973. Lukenbach, according to intelligence received,
died in the crash of the plane and was buried near the crash site.

The fates of the crew of the fourth aircraft to be shot down is uncertain. Pilot
CDR Billie J. Cartwright and his rear-seater LT Edward F. Gold were declared
missing in action after their A6A Intruder went down about 30 miles northeast of
Haiphong.

On December 23, twenty-four hours before President Johnson's thirty-seven-day
bombing halt would take effect, another large flight launched from the
ENTERPRISE for strikes in North Vietnam.

LTJG William L. Shankel describes the flight:

"About twenty planes were going after a bridge over the Red River, halfway
between Hanoi and Haiphong and I was in the second section. My A4 was a real
dog, and I had to cut corners to keep everybody else from running off and
leaving me. I reached the target by myself, pulled up, and rolled in to
dive-bomb the bridge. The plane was hit as soon as the bombs left, at the bottom
of the dive... When I went out, the plane was inverted and almost supersonic,
and the ejection really thrashed my right knee."

Shankel, Alcorn and Daigle were all held in what has come to be known as the
Hanoi prison system -- The Hoa Lo (Hanoi Hilton), Heartbreak Hotel, the Zoo,
Alcatraz, Briarpatch and others. Although their captivity was distinctly
unpleasant, both from the standpoint of torture and deprivation and from the
mental torture of wondering year after year, if they would ever come home, these
three are among the more lucky ones. They came home alive.

At the end of the war, 591 Americans were released from the Hanoi prison system.
Military authorities at the time were shocked that hundreds more known or
suspected to be prisoners were not released. Since that time, nearly 10,000
intelligence reports have been received relating to Americans who were prisoner,
missing or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia. Some officials, having reviewed
this largely-classified information, have reluctantly concluded that large
numbers of Americans are still alive in captivity today.

These reports are the source of serious distress to many returned American
prisoners. They had a code that no one could honorably return unless all of the
prisoners returned. Not only that code of honor, but the honor of our country is
in jeopardy as long as even one man remains unjustly held.


William L. Shankel, Glenn H. Daigle and Wendell R. Alcorn were promoted to the
rank of Lieutenant Commander during the period they were Prisoners of War.
Billie J. Cartwright was promoted to the rank of Captain and Edward F. Gold to
the rank of Commander during the period they were maintained missing.

William L. Shankel, MD is a surgeon and resides in Laughlin, Nevada.

ALDERN, DONALD DEAND

Name: Donald Deane Aldern
Rank/Branch: O5/US Navy
Unit: Attack Air Wing 19, USS ORISKANY
Date of Birth: 05 May 1930
Home City of Record: Sioux Falls SD
Date of Loss: 29 June 1970
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 144400N 1065200E (YB121263)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A7A

Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 30 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: Commander Donald D. Aldern was a pilot assigned to Attack Air Wing 19
onboard the USS ORISKANY. On June 29, 1970, Aldern was launched in an A7A
Corsair aircraft on a bombing mission in southern Laos. His aircraft was the
lead aircraft in a flight of two on this night mission over Attopeu Province,
Laos. The flight was to be monitored and directed by a Forward Air Contoller
(FAC).

All tactical strike aircraft operating in Southeast Asia had to be under the
control of a FAC, who was intimately familiar with the locale, the populous, and
the tactical situation. The FAC would find the target, order up U.S.
fighter/bombers from an airborne command and control center or ground based
station, mark the target accurately with white phosphorus (Willy Pete) rockets,
and control the operation throughout the time the planes remained on station.
After the fighters had departed, the FAC stayed over the target to make a bomb
damage assessment (BDA).

The FAC also had to ensure that there were no attacks on civilians, a complex
problem in a war where there were no front lines and any hamlet could suddenly
become part of the combat zone. A FAC needed a fighter pilot's mentality, but
but was obliged to fly slow and low in such unarmed and vulnerable aircraft as
the Cessna O1 Bird Dog, and the Cessna O2.

Cdr. Aldern reported commencing his bombing run while his wingman circled the
area awaiting his turn on target. The wingman observed several bomb explosions
and then a large explosion and fire just beyond the bomb impact area. He
attempted to make radio contact with Cdr. Aldern, but received no response. No
parachute or electronic signals were observed or heard by either the wingman or
the FAC.

Darkness and monsoon conditions precluded verification of a parachute
deployment, and also precluded immediate search and rescue efforts. At daybreak,
however, airborne search efforts were conducted and additional arrangements were
initiated through the Joint Personnel Recovery Center (JPRC), Saigon, to provide
a ground search party when feasible. Airborne search efforts produced negative
results.

On June 30, 1970 the JPRC reported that a ground search party was in the
vicinity of the reported crash site and had to depart the area prior to
examination. Subsequent search efforts produced negative results. A
reconnaissance aircraft, operating in conjunction with a ground party, received
ground fire while attempting to pinpoint the crash.

Observation of the bomb detonations indicate that a bomb run was, in general,
normal up to the point of the bomb release point. If the aircraft was struck by
anti-aircraft fire in the bomb run, at the release point or lower, there would
be very little reaction time available to initiate pilot ejection. In view of
the above, and reconstructing the observation of the other aircraft on station,
the Navy came to the conclusion that Aldern was still in the aircraft at the
time it impacted the ground. However, the Navy further concluded, there existed
the possibility that Aldern ejected, and declared Aldern Missing in Action
rather than Killed in Action.

Eight years later, as no evidence had been received that Aldern was alive, he
was presumptively found dead.

Aldern is one of nearly 600 Americans who were lost in Laos during the Vietnam
war. Although the Pathet Lao stated publicly that they held "tens of tens" of
American prisoners, not one American held in Laos was released when the war
ended. No negotiations had occurred which would free them.

Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing,
prisoner or otherwise unaccounted for in Southeast Asia. Many officials who have
reviewed this largely classified information have come to the conclusion that
there are still hundreds of Americans still alive in captivity.

Whether Aldern survived the crash of his aircraft is unknown. It is possible
that he could be among those thought to be still alive today. If so, what must
he be thinking of us?


Donald D. Aldern was promoted to the rank of Captain during the period he was
maintained as missing.
ALDRICH, LAWRENCE LEE

Name: Lawrence Lee Aldrich
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: Company B, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry, 173rd Airborne Brigade
Date of Birth: 16 July 1947 (Fayetteville NC)
Home City of Record: Ft. Worth TX
Date of Loss: 06 May 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 141827N 1090237E (BR890825)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Other Personnel In Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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: SP4 Lawrence L. Aldrich was a rifleman assigned to Company B., 2nd
Battalion, 503rd Infantry, 173rd Airborne Brigade. On May 6, 1968, he was on a
search and clear mission in Bien Dien Province, South Vietnam when a friendly
air strike was directed at hostile forces in his vicinity. A 750-pound bomb was
seen to impact on his last known location. He was the only man in his company to
be in this position.

A platoon leader was later able to search the area where Aldrich was last seen
but found no trace of him. A thorough search of the area revealed no remains
that could be identified as his.

War is hell. Men are killed by other men whom they call their enemy. But men are
also killed by "misadventure" - by senseless drowning, falls, and by being in
the wrong place at the wrong time. From all appearances, it seems that Aldrich
was in the wrong place - one where the bombs dropped by his own comrades would
take his life.

At 19, Larry Aldrich had just begun to live.

Because no trace was found, Aldrich's name is maintained with honor among those
who are missing, prisoner, and unaccounted for in Southeast Asia. There can be
no chance that Aldrich survived the explosion on May 6, 1968. But for others who
are missing, conclusions are not so easy to draw.

Some one hundred men were known to have been captured by the enemy, yet never
returned. Many were alive and well when last seen, evading, or awaiting rescue.
Others simply disappeared. Over 10,000 reports have been received relating to
these men, convincing many that hundreds of these Americans are still alive,
captive, and want to come home. One can imagine that Larry would gladly serve on
one more search mission to help bring them home.
ALEXANDER, FERNANDO

Name: Fernando Alexander
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit: 307th Strat Wing, Utapao AB TH
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Dallas TX
Loss Date: 19 December 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 205900N 1054359E (WJ762203)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: B52D

Others In Incident: Richard W. Cooper; Charlie S. Poole (both missing); Charles
A. Brown Jr.; Hal K. Wilson; Henry C. Barrows (all POWs released in 1973).

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 July 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: RELSD 730329 BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: Frustrated by problems in negotiating a peace settlement, and
pressured by a Congress and public wanting an immediate end to American
involvement in Vietnam, President Nixon ordered the most concentrated air
offensive of the war - known as Linebacker II - in December 1972. During the
offensive, sometimes called the "Christmas bombings," 40,000 tons of bombs were
dropped, primarily over the area between Hanoi and Haiphong. White House Press
Secretary Ronald Ziegler said that the bombing would end only when all U.S. POWs
were released and an internationally recognized cease-fire was in force.

On the first day of Linebacker II, December 18, 129 B52s arrived over Hanoi in
three waves, four to five hours apart. They attacked the airfields at Hoa Lac,
Kep and Phuc Yen, the Kinh No complex and the Yen Vien railyards. The aircraft
flew in tight cells of three aircraft to maximize the mutual support benefits of
their ECM equipment and flew straight and level to stabilize the bombing
computers and ensure that all bombs fell on the military targets and not in
civilian areas.

The pilots of the early missions reported that "wall-to-wall SAMS" surrounded
Hanoi as they neared its outskirts. The first night of bombing, December 18 and
19, two B52s were shot down by SAMs.

Onboard the first aircraft shot down on December 18 was its pilot, LTCOL Donald
L. Rissi and crewmen MAJ Richard E. Johnson, CAPT Richard T. Simpson, CAPT
Robert G. Certain, 1LT Robert J. Thomas and SGT Walter L. Ferguson. Of this
crew, Certain, Simpson and Johnson were captured and shown the bodies of the
other crew members. Six years later, the bodies of Rissi, Thomas and Ferguson
were returned to U.S. control by the Vietnamese. Certain, Simpson and Johnson
were held prisoner in Hanoi until March 29, 1973, when they were released in
Operation Homecoming.

Capt. Hal K. Wilson was in the lead aircraft of a B52 cell from Utapoa. Also on
board his aircraft were crew men MAJ Fernando Alexander, CAPT Charles A. Brown,
Jr., CAPT Henry C. Barrows, CAPT Richard W. Cooper Jr. (the navigator), and SGT
Charlie S. Poole (the tailgunner). Wilson's aircraft was hit by a SAM near his
target area and crashed in the early morning hours of December 19, sustaining
damage to the fuselage. In the ensuing fire, there was no time for orderly
bailout, but as later examination of radio tapes indicated, all six crewmen
deployed their parachutes and evidently safely ejected. The aircraft damage
report indicated that all six men were prisoner.

Radio Hanoi announced that Poole had been captured and that he was uninjured.
Whether Cooper's name was also reported is unknown, as the airman who heard this
report on Guam heard only part of the broadcast, and being a friend of the Poole
family, remembered vividly only the parts concerning Charlie Poole. When the war
ended, however, only four of the crew returned from Hanoi prisons. Hanoi
remained silent about the fate of Charlie Poole and Richard Cooper.

The Christmas Bombings, despite press accounts to the contrary, were of the most
precise the world had seen. Pilots involved in the immense series of strikes
generally agree that the strikes against anti-aircraft and strategic targets was
so successful that the U.S., had it desired, "could have taken the entire
country of Vietnam by inserting an average Boy Scout troop in Hanoi and marching
them southward."

To achieve this precision bombing, the Pentagon deemed it necessary to stick to
a regular flight path. For many missions, the predictable B52 strikes were
anticipated and prepared for by the North Vietnamese. Later, however, flight
paths were altered and attrition all but eliminated any hostile threat from the
ground.

Linebacker II involved 155 Boeing B52 Stratofortress bombers stationed at
Anderson AFB, Guam (72nd Strat Wing) and another 50 B52s stationed at Utapoa
Airbase, Thailand (307th Strat Wing), an enormous number of bombers with over
one thousand men flying the missions. However, the bombings were not conducted
without high loss of aircraft and personnel. During the month of December 1972,
61 crewmembers onboard ten B52 aircraft were shot down and were captured or
declared missing. (The B52 carried a crew of six men; however, one B52 lost
carried an extra crewman.) Of these 61, 33 men were released in 1973. The others
remained missing at the end of the war. Over half of these survived to eject
safely. What happened to them?

Reports mount that have convinced many authorities that Americans are still held
captive in Southeast Asia. Are Poole and Cooper among them? Do they know the
country they love has abandoned them? Isn't it time we found them and brought
them home?







Name:                 Gerald Oak Alfred, Jr.
Rank/Branch:             O2/US Air Force
Unit:                 480th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Da Nang
Date of Birth:             18 October 1942
Home City of Record:         Seattle WA
Date of Loss:             11 December 1966
Country of Loss:         North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates:         171959N 1065057E (XE965172)
Status (in 1973):         Missing In Action
Category:             2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground:     F4C
Other Personnel In Incident: Capt. Jerry Woodcock (rescued)

REMARKS: POSS EJECTED AT SEA

SYNOPSIS: "Alf" Alfred dreamed of becoming an astronaut. He studied hard
at the Air Force Academy and made the Dean's List four years before his
graduation in 1964. He had a bright future with the Air Force.

After leaving the Academy, Alf trained on the F4 Phantom, which he flew
in Vietnam the following year, where he was assigned to the 480th
Tactical Fighter Squadron at Da Nang. On December 11, 1966, he was
flying backseater to Capt. Jerry Woodcock in an F4C on an armed
reconnaissance mission near the DMZ when the aircraft was hit by hostile
fire.

The U.S.S. Keppler (DD-765) was operating in the coastal area about
halfway between Dong Hoi and Vinh Linh. The Keppler's crew, comprised of
Navy Seals, was part of Operation Sea Dragon, which involved engaging
and destroying Waterborne Logistic Craft, junks and barges in
particular. On the evening of December 11, 1966, the seas were
relatively calm, and it was somewhat foggy. Personnel aboard the Keppler
observed Woodcock and Alfred's aircraft head for water, nose over and
crash, "literally right in front of [their] eyes."

While no ejection was seen, two emergency beepers were heard
momentarily. A rescue team was dispatched from the Keppler immediately,
coinciding with a rescue effort by the U.S Air Force. Air Force aircraft
dropped a number of flares in the area, while the Navy personnel
searched from the water. A member of the Navy team was awarded the Navy
Cross for his rescue of Jerry Woodcock.

Capt. Woodcock believed that his backseater had ejected. The Navy team
continued searching for him, but with no success. There were numerous
enemy craft of all sorts in the area, which was close enough to shore
that Lt. Alfred might have been able to reach the shoreline if his
floatation devices had been functioning (Woodcock's had not been
functional).

The failure to find Alfred has haunted some of the personnel aboard the
Keppler throughout the years. Their frustraton at being unable to locate
this man, whom they believed had every chance to survive, was deep and
heartfelt.

The U.S. Air Force categorized Gerald O. Alfred, Jr. as Missing In
Action, and it is believed that he parachuted into the sea. Because of
the proximity of the enemy, it is also believed that the enemy knows the
fate of 1Lt. Gerald O. Alfred, although the Vietnamese have denied any
knowledge of him for over 20 years.

Since the end of American involvement in Vietnam in 1975, thousands of
reports have been received which have convinced many authorities that
hundreds of Americans are still being held captive today.

Some analysts fear that men like Gerald O. Alfred will never return. In
late 1986, a former NSA intelligence analyst stated that backseaters
like Alfred, who possessed technical knowledge surpassing that of the
pilot were singled out. The analyst stated that in the intelligence
community these men were dubbed, "MB", or "Moscow Bound". They would
make valuable trades to the Soviet Union for a heavily indebted Vietnam.

Whether Alf survived that day in December is not known. What seems
certain, however, is that there are men who did survive, and still
survive. What must they be thinking of their country? It's time we
brought them home.

Prepared by Homecoming II Project 01 December 1989
ALGAARD, HAROLD LOWELL

Name: Harold Lowell Algaard
Rank/Branch: W1/US Army
Unit: Cover designation: 138th Aviation Company, 224th "Aviation" Battalion,
509th RR Group (Actual unit designation: 138th ASA Company, 224th ASA Battalion
(Aviation), U.S. Army Security Agency Group, Vietnam)
Date of Birth: 27 July 1948
Home City of Record: Fosston MN
Date of Loss: 04 March 1971
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 165809N 1065407E (YD025770)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 3
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: JU21A
Other Personnel in Incident: Rodney D. Osborne; Richard J. Hentz; Michael W.
Marker; John T. Strawn (all missing)

REMARKS: RAD CONT LOST-SAR NEG-J

SYNOPSIS: On March 4, 1971 Capt. Michael W. Marker, pilot of a JU21-A twin
engine turbo prop (serial number 18065, call sign Vanguard 216) departed Phu
Bai, Republic of Vietnam on an early morning combat support mission in the
vicinity of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). His crew that morning consisted of
WO1 Harold L. Algaard, co-pilot; SP5 Rodney D. Osborne, technical observer; SP5
Richard J. Hentz, crewman; and SP6 John T. Strawn, crewman. The pilot and crew
were assigned to the 138th Aviation Company, 224th Aviation Battalion, 509th RR
(Radio Research) Group, a cover designation for their real unit in USASA.

"Radio Research" was actually a secret cover designation for certain units
operating under the direction of the U.S. Army Security Agency Group, Vietnam.
All missions of this agency were highly classified. The 224th Aviation
Battalion was referred to as an aviation battalion in Vietnam for security
reasons only. The JU21A aircrew's actual unit designation was 138th ASA
Company, 224th ASA Battalion (Aviation), U.S. Army Security Agency Group,
Vietnam.

Two hours into the mission, at 0840 hours, radio and radar communication was
lost. When the aircraft failed to return from the mission at the appointed
time, search efforts were initiated and continued for 2 days over a 300 mile
area, but proved negative. A reliable source indicated that an aerial
detonation in the vicinity of the DMZ occurred on March 4, 1971 at the same
flight altitude and pattern flown by Vanguard 216. Hostile threat in the area
precluded any visits to the suspected area of the crash. No trace was ever
found of the aircraft or the crew.

While the missing crew members were initially listed as Missing In Action, a
change in status to Killed In Action, Body Not Recovered (KIA/BNR) occurred
within 90 days of the incident. Regarding the status change, the families were
told that all information pertinent to the incident was classified and would
remain classified for ten years.

Since that date, the families have been told that the aircraft was involved in
electronic surveillance, and their mission was top secret. The aircraft was hit
by enemy artillery and was downed over North Vietnam. A "classified source"
stated that the crew was killed. The rest is classified.

Efforts through numerous inquiries, including a Congressional inquiry in 1982,
to reveal what information was contained in the "classified source" have been
fruitless. Through the Congressional inquiry, it was learned that information
regarding the loss of Vanguard 216 would be classified until the year 2010 A.D.

Since American involvement in Southeast Asia ended in 1975, nearly 10,000
reports relating to Americans missing in Vietnam have been received by the U.S.
Government. Most non-government authorities believe there are hundreds of
Americans still alive in the communist prisons of Southeast Asia. The U.S.
Government remains nebulous in their statements, saying only that the
"possibility" exists, but cannot be confirmed.

The crew of Vanguard 216 has been missing for nearly 20 years. The families of
the men aboard hold little hope that they are still alive. But they would like
to know - and deserve to know - what happened on that day. If, as the U.S.
Government seems to believe, all the men are now dead, why the cover of secrecy
regarding their fates? It's time we got answers, and it's time those who remain
alive are brought home.
Name:                 Richard Michael Allard
Rank/Branch:             SP4/US Army
Unit:                 119th Aviation Company, 52nd Aviation Battalion,
                 17th Aviation Group, 1st Aviation Brigade
Date of Birth:             24 August 1946 (Bay City MI)
Home City of Record:         Chesaning MI (Family in Schaumburg IL)
Date of Loss:             24 August 1967
Country of Loss:         South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates:         141813N 1075140E (ZA087831)
Status (in 1973):         Missing In Action
Category:             4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground:         UH1H
Other Personnel in Incident: Kenneth B. Goff; Ronald L. Holtzman;
                 Richard Schell (all missing); Dayton Witherall;
                 Richard N. Morrison; John R. Ulp; Cynthia Colburn
                 (all rescued); Sterling A. Wall (died,
                 body recovered)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On August 24, 1967, WO Dayton Witherall, pilot; WO Richard N.
Morrison, aircraft commander; SP4 Richard L. Holtzman, gunner; SP4
Richard M. Allard, crewchief; 2Lt. Kenneth B. Goff, 2Lt. Richard J.
Schell, Sgt. Major John R. Ulp, 1Lt. Sterling A. Wall, and Miss Cynthia
Colburn, passengers; were aboard a UH1C helicopter (serial #66-12526)
which departed Polei Kleng, South Vietnam to Plei Krong, South Vietnam
on a combat support liaison mission.

The 4th Infantry, with the assistance of the 25th Infantry Division and
1st Cavalry (Airmobile), was at that time conducting an operation called
Paul Revere IV, a continuing effort near the Cambodian border of Pleiku
Province. The UH1H flying over Pleiku Province that day in August 1966
was flying out of Pleiku, where its crew and passengers were stationed.

(NOTE: While the U.S. Army and describes the flight mission as
combat-related, it also acknowledges that Ms. Colburn was on the
aircraft, a situation which was "illegal", as women serving in Vietnam
were not supposed to be placed in combat situations. It is not clear in
public record why she was on the aircraft, although Phyllis Allard,
Richard Allard's mother, has said that the aircraft was carrying
passengers enroute from a hospital and that Colburn was a Red Cross
worker.)

During the flight, the pilot elected to fly low-level along the Dak Bla
River. While attempting a 180 degree turn, the aircraft failed to
recover and was caught in a severe downdraft and crashed into the Krong
Bo Lah River in about 10 feet of water at a point where the current was
swift and the water was deep. (NOTE: loss coordinates place the site of
loss unquestionably on the Se San River about 15 miles southwest of the
city of Kontum, and about 28 miles due south of the city of Dak To. Just
south of Dak To is the juncture of the Se San and another river. Whether
at this juncture the two rivers have other names cannot be determined
with materials on hand at the time of this writing. Information provided
by family members states that the aircraft landed in the "bottomless,
rapid Boc River called Dak Bla".)

Rescue helicopters arrived 10 - 45 minutes after the crash and rescued
WO Morrison, WO Witherall, Ms Colburn and Sgt. Major Ulp, after their
having been swept several hundred feet downstream. 2Lt. Goff, SP4 Allard
and 2Lt. Schell were not seen by any of the survivors after the crash.
SP4 Holtzman was seen by WO Morrison, who stated that Holtzman was
wearing a flight jacket, armor plate, and a flak jacket, and called out
to Morrison that he could not swim. WO Morrison stated that Holtzman
drifted away in the swift current before he could help him.

Later searches of the area revealed several pieces of debris, but the
aircraft itself was not found. In September, Lt. Wall's body was
retrieved from the river. Searches were conducted through December 26,
but neither the aircraft nor the four missing men aboard it were found.

Richard Allard's mother received a collect call from Cambodia a few days
after the crash by someone she believed was Richard. She subsequently
had the call checked by Illinois Bell and states that the results
"produced evidence that they [the crew] were in the hands of the enemy".
In 1970 she saw a prisoner on television in a Viet Cong film which she
believed was Richard. The Army was elusive in its conclusions on both
events, so Mrs. Allard borrowed money from friends to go to Cambodia in
January of 1972.

Through a series of events which belong in a spy novel, Mrs. Allard said
that she found herself in a cave where she was blindfolded and led into
a bare room. An official and a soldier came in with her son. In the
moments he was allowed to stay, he said, "Shame on you for coming." He
apparently was afraid for his mother's safety. The Army later said they
couldn't believe Mrs. Allard's account unless the Communists
corroborated it in writing. Mrs. Allard has worked continually for 22
years for information about her son.

In 1969, a communist defector was shown a number of photographs of
missing men. One of the photos he identified positively as being a
prisoner of war was Richard Schell. The U.S. could not determine why the
photo was selected.

Clearly, all the evidence is not in on the events of August 24, 1967.
Whether Mrs. Allard's story is true is unknown. Whether Allard and
Schell were truly prisoners can only be known by the communists, and of
course, Allard and Schell themselves. The Vietnamese deny any knowledge
of any of the four missing.
Name:                 Richard Kenneth Allee
Rank/Branch:             O3/US Air Force
Unit:                 354th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Takhli Airbase
Date of Birth:             14 December 1935
Home City of Record:         Port Jervis NY
Date of Loss:             21 December 1968
Country of Loss:         Laos
Loss Coordinates:         173000N 1053900E (WE705360)
Status (in 1973):         Missing In Action
Category:             3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground:     F105D
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Capt. Richard K. Allee was assigned to the 354th Tactical
Fighter Squadron at Takhli Airbase Thailand. On 21 December 1968, his
F105D aircraft was number two in a flight of four aircraft sent on a
combat mission which took them over Khammouane Province, Laos.

At at point near the city of Na Phao and a few miles southwest of the Mu
Gia pass, Allee's aircraft was hit by hostile ground fire, caught on
fire and crashed in a wooded area. The Mu Gia pass is a break in the
mountains that form the border of Laos and Vietnam. The area was one of
the most heavily traveled sections of the famed Ho Chi Minh Trail, and
between spring of 1965 and December 1971, 43 American airman would
disappear in a 33 mile square area surrounding the Mu Gia Pass without a
trace.

Other aircraft in the flight saw no parachutes, nor were emergency
beepers heard. If Allee ejected safely, no one could tell. But because
the possibility existed that he did, Allee was placed in a category of
Missing In Action.

The families of the nearly 600 Americans lost in Laos impatiently
awaited the end of the war. Pathet Lao news releases indicated that
"tens of tens" of Americans were being held in Laos. To their horror,
however, not one American was released from Laos at the end of the war.
The U.S. refused to negotiate with the Pathet Lao, a "government" which
they did not recognize.

Unfortunately, since American involvement in Southeast Asia ended in
1975, no negotiations have occurred which would free the captives in
Laos, and their families wait in anguished uncertainty.

As thousands of reports mount that Americans are still alive in
captivity, including some tantalizing and very specific ones regarding
Laos prisoners, these families can only wait helplessly, waiting for
someone to rescue their men. Richard Allee might be one of the hundreds
many authorities believe are still alive. What are we doing to bring him
home?
ALLEN, HENRY LEWIS

Name: Henry Lewis Allen
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit: 56th Special Operations Wing, Udorn AF TH (RAVENS)
Date of Birth: 21 September 1943
Home City of Record: Daytona Beach FL
Date of Loss: 26 March 1970
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 175900N 1023400E (TF543931)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: O1
Other Personnel in Incident: Richard G. Elzinga (missing)
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1990 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.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: The Steve Canyon program was a highly classified FAC (forward air
control) operation covering the military regions of Laos. U.S. military
operations in Laos were severely restricted during the Vietnam War era because
Laos had been declared neutral by the Geneva Accords.

The non-communist forces in Laos, however, had a critical need for military
support in order to defend territory used by Lao and North Vietnamese communist
forces. The U.S., in conjunction with non-communist forces in Laos, devised a
system whereby U.S. military personnel could be "in the black" or "sheep-dipped"
(clandestine; mustered out of the military to perform military duties as a
civilian) to operate in Laos under supervision of the U.S. Ambassador to Laos.

RAVEN was the radio call sign which identified the flyers of the Steve Canyon
Program. Men recruited for the program were rated Air Force officers with at
least six months experience in Vietnam. They tended to be the very best of
pilots, but by definition, this meant that they were also mavericks, and
considered a bit wild by the mainstream military establishment.

The Ravens came under the formal command of CINCPAC and the 7/13th Air Force
56th Special Operations Wing at Nakhon Phanom, but their pay records were
maintained at Udorn with Detachment 1. Officially, they were on loan to the
U.S. Air Attache at Vientiane. Unofficially, they were sent to outposts like
Long Tieng, where their field commanders were the CIA, the Meo Generals, and the
U.S. Ambassador. Once on duty, they flew FAC missions which controlled all U.S.
air strikes over Laos.

All tactical strike aircraft had to be under the control of a FAC, who was
intimately familiar with the locale, the populous, and the tactical situation.
The FAC would find the target, order up U.S. fighter/bombers from an airborne
command and control center, mark the target accurately with white phosphorus
(Willy Pete) rockets, and control the operation throughout the time the planes
remained on station. After the fighters had departed, the FAC stayed over the
target to make a bomb damage assessment (BDA).

The FAC also had to ensure that there were no attacks on civilians, a complex
problem in a war where there were no front lines and any hamlet could suddenly
become part of the combat zone. A FAC needed a fighter pilot's mentality, but
but was obliged to fly slow and low in such unarmed and vulnerable aircraft as
the Cessna O1 Bird Dog, and the Cessna O2. Consequently, aircraft used by the
Ravens were continually peppered with ground fire. A strong fabric tape was
simply slapped over the bullet holes until the aircraft could no longer fly.

Ravens were hopelessly overworked by the war. The need for secrecy kept their
numbers low (never more than 22 at one time), and the critical need of the Meo
sometimes demanded each pilot fly 10 and 12 hour days. Some Ravens completed
their tour of approximately 6 months with a total of over 500 combat missions.

The Ravens in at Long Tieng in Military Region II, had, for several years, the
most difficult area in Laos. The base, just on the southern edge of the Plain of
Jars, was also the headquarters for the CIA-funded Meo army commanded by General
Vang Pao. An interesting account of this group can be read in Christopher
Robbins' book, "The Ravens". This book contains an account of the loss of 1Lt.
Henry L. Allen and Capt. Richard G. Elzinga:

The post at Long Tieng had been under seige, and it became necessary for Ravens
to live in Vietntiane in new quarters nicknamed Silver City, but they continued
to stage out of Long Tieng. "They called the daily flight there and back...the
'commute.'

"Hank Allen, an exceptional pilot with eyes like a hawk, took off with Dick
Elzinga in the front seat of his O-1. Allen was 'short', soon to return home
after a tour in which he had notched up four hundred combat missions, and he
planned to return directly to the States and marry his fiancee within a
fortnight. Elzinga had only just arrived in Laos, and it was his first trip up
to the secret city. Allen intended to use the 'commute' as a checkout ride. It
was a cloudy day. He took off and reported over the radio...that the O-1 was
airborne. It was the last thing ever heard from them. Neither of the pilots,
nor the plane, was ever seen again.

"They had disappeared. Each of the Ravens spent at least two hours, on top of
their usual day's flying, searching for the wreckage. No Mayday call had been
heard, nor had a beeper signal been picked up from the survival radio, and no
clue to the airplane's whereabouts was discovered. The disappearance was a
complete mystery."

The official point of loss was noted as 20 miles northeast of Vientiane, Laos.
Both men were classified Missing in Action.

Three years later, on March 10, 1973, a Pathet Lao agent was captured carrying
three of Elzinga's traveler's checks and money of three countries. Elzinga had
not been in Vientiane long enough to get a locker for his billfold. According to
a 1974 list compiled by the National League of POW/MIA Families, Elzinga, at
least, survived the loss of the O1 plane.

Elzinga and Allen are among nearly 600 Americans lost in Laos. Even though the
Pathet Lao stated publicly that they held "tens of tens" of American prisoners,
not one American held in Laos was ever released -- or negotiated for.

Since U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War ended, nearly 10,000 reports have
been received by the U.S. Government relating to Americans missing in Southeast
Asia. Many authorities have reluctantly concluded that hundreds are still alive
in captivity today. We, as a nation, owe these men our best effort to find them
and bring them home. Until the fates of the men like Elzinga and Allen are
known, their families will wonder if they are dead or alive .. and why they were
abandoned.
ALLEN, MERLIN RAYE

Name: Merlin Raye Allen
Rank/Branch: E3/USMC
Unit: A Company, 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion, 3rd Marine Division
Date of Birth: 22 October 1946
Home City of Record: Bayfield WI
Date of Loss: 30 June 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 161349N 1074301E (YC896956)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: CH46A

Other Personnel In Incident: John House; Michael Judd; John Killen; Glyn Runnels
(all still missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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: DED/CRSH BRN/SOM RECOV/NT SUBJ

SYNOPSIS: Capt. John A. House was the pilot of an CH46A helicopter carrying
personnel assigned to Company A, 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion, 3rd Marine
Division near the city of Phu Bai, South Vietnam on June 30, 1967.

Among the passengers onboard the aircraft were members of Company A, LCpl.
Merlin R. Allen, LCpl. John D. Killen, and Cpl. Glyn L. Runnels. Also onboard
was the company's hospital corpsman, Petty Officer Third Class Michael B. Judd.

The aircraft was hit by small arms fire, exploded and crashed. Although some of
the personnel aboard survived, House, Allen, Judd, and Killen were never found,
nor were remains recovered that could be identified as theirs. The four men were
listed as killed in action, body not recovered.

Nearly 2500 Americans did not return from Southeast Asia at the end of the war.
Some, like the pilot and passengers of the CH46, are probably dead and will
never come home. Since the end of the war, however, thousands of refugee reports
have been received that indicate hundreds of Americans are still alive, held
captive.

It is a matter of pride in the Marine Corps that one's comrades are never left
on the field of battle to fall into the hands of the enemy. One can imagine that
these men, had they survived, would willingly go one more mission for the return
of those who still await rescue.
Although
some of the personnel aboard survived, House was never found, nor
were remains recovered that could be identified as his. He was
listed as killed in action, body not recovered.



Name:                 Thomas Ray Allen
Rank/Branch:             O3/US Air Force
Unit:                 559th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Cam Ranh Bay
Date of Birth:             17 January 1941
Home City of Record:         Woodward OK
Date of Loss:             31 July 1967
Country of Loss:         North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates:         170900N 1065100E (XD993960)
Status (in 1973):         Missing in Action
Category:             2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground:     F4C
Other Personnel in Incident: Ronald L. Packard (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1990 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.

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.

Capt. Thomas R. Allen was the pilot, and 1Lt. Ronald L. Packard the
weapons/systems operator in an F4C aircraft which departed Cam Ranh Bay
on a route reconnaissance mission on July 31, 1967 over North Vietnam.
Allen's aircraft was the lead aircraft in a flight of two. He rolled in
to attack a target and the crew of the number two aircraft observed what
appeared to be a secondary explosion on the ground. Radio contact with
Allen was unsuccessful. No parachutes were seen and no emergency radio
beepers were heard. The flight was near the railroad tracks about 5
miles from the coast of Vietnam, 15 miles north of the city of Vinh Linh
in Quang Binh Province.

Allen and Packard were declared Missing in Action, and the area of loss
and circumstances surrounding it indicated that their was a good
possibility that the enemy had information on their fates.

In 1973, 591 American Prisoners of War were released, but Allen and
Packard were not among them, and the Vietnamese have consistently denied
any knowledge of them or their fates. They are among nearly 2800 who
were unaccounted for at the end of the war.

Since Vietnam fell to communist control in 1975, nearly 10,000 reports
relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asia have been received by
the U.S. Government. Many authorities who have examined this largely
classified information have reluctantly reached the conclusion that
hundreds of Americans are still alive, held captive by our long-ago
enemy.

Whether Allen and Packard met their deaths over their target or ejected
to be captured is unknown. It is not impossible that they are among
those said to be still alive. What is certain, however, is that as long
as even a single American remains alive in captivity in Southeast Asia,
the war cannot be said to have ended with honor. We must bring our men
home.
ALLEN, WAYNE CLOUSE

Name: Wayne Clouse Allen
Rank/Branch: E5/US Army
Unit: 71st Aviation Company, 15th Aviation Battalion, 16th Aviation Group,
23rd Infantry Division (Americal), Chu Lai
Date of Birth: 17 March 1948 (Lowell MA)
Home City of Record: Tewksbury MA
Date of Loss: 10 January 1970
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 152927N 1081808E (BT239141)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1C

Other Personnel In Incident: George A. Howes; Herbert C. Crosby; Francis G.
Graziosi (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On January 19, 1970, Capt. Herbert C. Crosby, pilot; WO George A.
Howes, co-pilot; SP5 Wayne C. Allen, crew chief; and SP4 Francis G. Graziosi,
door gunner; were flying a UH1C helicopter (serial #66-739) as the flight lead
in a flight of three helicopters returning from Tien Phuoc to the unit base at
Chu Lai, South Vietnam.

(Note: Records differs as to the aircraft type on this incident. Some records
show the aircraft type this crew was flying as UH1H, and some show it as a
UH1C. Herbert Crosby flew Charlie models every day from at least July 1969 to
January 1970. The serial number, #66-739 correlates to a C model, the first two
numbers indicating that the aircraft had been made in 1966, and the H model
only had come out a few months before this time. Although C models were
gunships, and usually flew more or less independently, while this aircraft was
flying in tight formation as flight lead, which would correlate with the H
model, it has been confirmed that the ship on which this crew was flying was
definitely a Charlie model.)

At 1300 hours, the three helicopters departed Tien Phuoc. Five to ten minutes
later, due to instrument flight rules, Capt. Crosby directed the flight to
change to a different flight heading. When the helicopters changed frequencies
to contact Chu Lai ground control approach, radio contact was lost with Capt.
Crosby and was not regained.

The other two aircraft reached Chu Lai heliport, and at 1400 hours, serach
efforts were begun for the missing aircraft, although the crew was not found.

According to a 1974 National League of Families report, George Howes survived
the crash of this helicopter. The report further maintains that the loss
occurred in Laos, although the coordinates place it some 40-odd miles from that
country.

A North Vietnamese prisoner released later reported that he had seen Howes in
captivity the same month the helicopter went down. A second sighting by a
villager in Phuoc Chouc (or Phouc Chau) village reported Howes and two other
POWs stopped for water at his house in February, 1970, en route to Laos.
Whether these reports also relate to Allen, Crosby and Graziosi, is unknown.

When the last American troops left Southeast Asia in 1975, some 2500 Americans
were unaccounted for. Reports received by the U.S.Government since that time
build a strong case for belief that hundreds of these "unaccounted for"
Americans are still alive and in captivity.

"Unaccounted for" is a term that should apply to numbers, not men. We, as a
nation, owe these men our best effort to find them and bring them home. Until
the fates of the men like the UH1C crew are known, their families will wonder
if they are dead or alive .. and why they were deserted.

ALLEY, GERALD WILLIAM
Remains Returned  15 December 1988 - ID Announced 23 June 1989

Name: Gerald William Alley
Rank/Branch: O5/US Air Force
Unit: 22nd Bomber Wing, Utapao Airfield, Thailand
Date of Birth: 28 July 1934
Home City of Record: Pocatello ID
Loss Date: 22 December 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 212500N 1062500E (WJ866264)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: B52D

Other Personnel In Incident: Thomas W. Bennett; (missing); Peter Camerota, Peter
Giroux; Louis E. LeBlanc (all three returned POWs in 1973); Joseph B. Copack Jr.
(remains returned)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 31 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: Frustrated by problems in negotiating a peace settlement, and
pressured by a Congress and public wanting an immediate end to American
involvement in Vietnam, President Nixon ordered the most concentrated air
offensive of the war - known as Linebacker II - in December 1972. During the
offensive, sometimes called the "Christmas bombings," 40,000 tons of bombs were
dropped, primarily over the area between Hanoi and Haiphong. White House Press
Secretary Ronald Ziegler said that the bombing would end only when all U.S. POWs
were released and an internationally recognized cease-fire was in force.

In early December 1972, several men stationed at Utapao, Thailand sent Christmas
presents home and readied themselves for a few final runs they would have to
make before Christmas. They were looking forward to returning to Thailand in
time to see Bob Hope on December 22. They never saw Bob Hope, and none of them
returned for Christmas.

On December 22, a B52D crew consisting of Capt. Thomas W. Bennett, co-pilot;
LtCol. Gerald W. Alley; Capt. Peter P. Camerota, bombardier (electronic warfare
officer); 1Lt. Joseph B. Copack, Jr., navigator; Capt. Peter J. Giroux, pilot;
and MSgt. Louis E. LeBlanc, tailgunner; departed Utapao on a bombing mission
over Hanoi. This aircraft, "Scarlet One," was the lead in a three-aircraft cell
on a strike against storage facilities located near Bac Mai airfield.

When the crew boarded the aircraft, they noted that the ship's radar system had
failed on a previous flight. Maintenance had been unable to duplicate the
problem, thus could not correct it before the aircraft was needed again.

All went well during the flight over Thailand and Laos, but as Scarlet One
approached the initial point, the radar began to deteriorate. Giroux instructed
Scarlet Two to take the lead and began to drop back to take up position three in
the cell. In this position they could take their bomb release instructions from
the tail gunner in the number two aircraft.

As Scarlet One rolled out into its new position, the radar failed completely
and, at about the same time, LeBlanc (the tail gunner) called for the TTR
maneuver. This was designed to counter enemy radar, but when the gunner called
for it, it meant MiGs had been sighted. Giroux began the maneuver, realizing it
would back the bomber out of the cell slightly and affect the protective ECM
shield. A second or two later the gunner called for flares and began shooting at
the attacking MiGs. The flares were designed to lure the incoming infrared
missiles away from the heat signature of the eight aircraft engines, and the
ploy worked. Two of the missiles passed under the aircraft as Giroux continued
the maneuver. The gunner continued to fire until the attackers broke away.

The reason for the MiGs' departure soon became evident. Directly below were two
surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), and they were headed right for Scarlet One.
Giroux turned the ship hard back to the right, but one of the missiles hit the
aircraft somewhere near the centerline and towards the front of the aircraft.
Another SAM went by the tail but failed to explode.

Giroux had been hit in the legs and wrists by shrapnel, but was not seriously
injured. The left wing was on fire, engines five and six were burning, and the
flames were reaching past the tail of the aircraft. Giroux blacked out (probably
from the depressurization) and regained consciousness as the aircraft was
plummeting towards the ground.

Air Force records indicate that Bennett called the mayday and manually ejected
Giroux, who had blacked out and then bailed out himself. The tailgunner
(LeBlanc) later reported in his debrief that he observed in the bright moonlight
that the entire crew of six had deployed parachutes. Giroux had been partially
unconscious during his descent to the ground. Camerota, who landed some 25 miles
from Giroux and LeBlanc, had seen three other parachutes. The occupant of one,
he believed, was unconscious. Camerota evaded capture until January 3. LeBlanc
and Giroux were captured immediately and taken to the "Hanoi Hilton."

Camerota, Giroux and LeBlanc were released from Hanoi a few months later in the
general prisoner release of 1973. The U.S. was not expecting them. They had not
known that the three were being held prisoner. Alley, Copack and Bennett were
not released and remained Missing in Action.

During the month of December, 62 crewmembers of B52 aircraft were shot down and
captured or went missing. Of these 62, 33 men were released in 1973. The remains
of several more have been returned over the years, and the rest are still
missing. At least 10 of those missing survived to eject safely. Where are they?

As reports mounted following the war convinced many authorities that hundreds of
Americans were still held captive in Southeast Asia, many families wonder if
their men were among those said to be still alive in captivity, and are
frustrated at inadequate efforts by the U.S. Government to get information on
their men.

On June 23, 1989, the U.S. announced that the Vietnamese had "discovered" the
remains of Gerald W. Alley and Joseph B. Copack and had sent them home at last.
For 17 years, Alley and Copack - alive or dead - were in enemy hands. Their
families at last know for certain that their sons are dead. What they may never
know, however, is how - and when - they died, and if they knew that their
country had abandoned them.


Gerald W. Alley was promoted to the rank of Colonel, Thomas W. Bennett was
promoted to the rank of Major and Joseph B. Copack was promoted to the rank of
Captain during the period they were maintained missing.


ALLEY, JAMES HAROLD

Name: James Harold Alley
Rank/Branch: E4/US Air Force
Unit: 601st Photo Flight, Da Nang, South Vietnam
Date of Birth: 18 September 1949
Home City of Record: Plantation FL
Date of Loss: 06 April 1972
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 164658N 1070157E (YD170595)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: HH53C
Personnel in Incident: April 2: Robin F. Gatwood; Wayne L. Bolte; Anthony
Giannangeli; Charles A. Levis; Henry M. Serex; (all missing from the EB66).
LtCol. Iceal Hambleton (rescued after 12 days from EB66). Ronald P. Paschall;
Byron K. Kulland; John W. Frink (all missing from UH1H rescue helicopter), Jose
M. Astorga (captured and released in 1973 from UH1H). April 3: William J.
Henderson (captured and released in 1973 from OV10A rescue craft); Mark Clark
(rescued after 12 days from OV10A rescue craft). April 6: James H. Alley; Allen
J. Avery; Peter H. Chapman; John H. Call; William R. Pearson; Roy D. Prater
(all KIA/BNR from HH53C "Jolly 52" rescue chopper). Also in very close
proximity to "Bat 21"on April 3: Allen D. Christensen; Douglas L. O'Neil;
Edward W. Williams; Larry A. Zich (all missing from UH1H). April 7: Bruce C.
Walker (evaded 11 days); Larry F. Potts (captured & died in POW camp) (both
missing from OV10A).

REMARKS: CRASH FIRE - AIR SEARCH NEG - J

SYNOPSIS: On the afternoon of April 2, 1972, two Thailand-based EB66 aircraft
(Bat 21 and Bat 22), from the 30th Air Division, were flying pathfinder escort
for a cell of B52s bombing near the DMZ. Bat 21 took a direct SAM hit and the
plane went down. A single beeper signal was heard, that of navigator Col. Iceal
Hambleton. At this time it was assumed the rest of the crew died in the crash.
The crew included Maj. Wayne L. Bolte, pilot; 1Lt. Robin F. Gatwood, LtCol.
Anthony R. Giannangeli, LtCol. Charles A. Levis, and Maj. Henry M. Serex, all
crew members. It should be noted that the lowest ranking man aboard this plane
was Gatwood, a First Lieutenant. This was not an ordinary crew, and its
members, particularly Hambleton, would be a prize capture for the enemy because
of military knowledge they possessed.

It became critical, therefore, that the U.S. locate Hambleton, and any other
surviving crew members before the Vietnamese did - and the Vietnamese were
trying hard to find them first.

An Army search and rescue team was nearby and dispatched two UH1H "slicks" and
two UH1B "Cobras". When they approached Hambleton's position just before dark,
at about 50 feet off the ground, with one of the AH1G Cobra gunships flying at
300 feet for cover, two of the helicopters were shot down. One, the Cobra (Blue
Ghost 28) reached safety and the crew was picked up, without having seen the
other downed helicopter. The other, a UH1H from F Troop, 8th Cavalry, 196th
Brigade, had just flown over some huts into a clearing when they encountered
ground fire, and the helicopter exploded. Jose Astorga, the gunner, was injured
in the chest and knee by the gunfire. Astorga became unconscious, and when he
recovered, the helicopter was on the ground. He found the pilot, 1Lt. Byron K.
Kulland, lying outside the helicopter. WO John W. Frink, the co-pilot, was
strapped in his seat and conscious. The crew chief, SP5 Ronald P. Paschall, was
pinned by his leg in the helicopter, but alive. WO Franks urged Astorga to
leave them, and Astorga was captured. He soon observed the aircraft to be hit
by automatic weapons fire, and to explode with the rest of the crew inside. He
never saw the rest of the crew again. Astorga was relesed by the North
Vietnamese in 1973.

The following day, Nail 38, an OV10A equipped with electronic rescue gear
enabling its crew to get a rapid "fix" on its rescue target entered Hambleton's
area and was shot down. The crew, William J. Henderson and Mark Clark, both
parachuted out safely. Henderson was captured and released in 1973. Clark
evaded for 12 days and was subsequently rescued.

On April 3, the day Nail 38 was shot down, a UH1H "slick" went down in the same
area carrying a crew of four enlisted Army personnel. They had no direct
connection to the rescue of Bat 21, but were very probably shot down by the
same SAM installations that downed Bat 21. The helicopter, from H/HQ, 37th
Signal Battalion, 1st Signal Brigade, had left Marble Mountain Airfield, Da
Nang, on a standard resupply mission to signal units in and around Quang Tri
City. The crew, consisting of WO Douglas L. O'Neil, pilot; CW2 Larry A. Zich,
co-pilot; SP5 Allen D. Christensen, crew chief; and SP4 Edward W. Williams,
gunner; remain missing in action.

On April 6, an attempt was made to pick up Clark and Hambleton which resulted
in an HH53C helicopter being shot down. The chopper was badly hit. The
helicopter landed on its side and continued to burn, consuming the entire
craft, and presumably, all 6 men aboard. The crew of this aircraft consisted of
James H. Alley, a photographer; Allen J. Avery, John H. Call III, Peter H.
Chapman, William R. Pearson, and Roy D. Prater. Search and rescue noted no
signs of survivors, but it is felt that the Vientamese probably know the fate
of this crew because of the close proximity of the downed aircraft to enemy
locations.

On April 7 another Air Force OV10A went down in the area with Larry Potts and
Bruce Walker aboard. Walker, the Air Force pilot of the aircraft, evaded
capture 11 days, while it is reported that Potts was captured and died in Quang
Binh prison. Potts, the observer, was a Marine Corps officer. Walker's last
radio transmission to search and rescue was for SAR not to make an attempt to
rescue, the enemy was closing in. Both men remain unaccounted for.

Hambleton and Clark were rescued after 12 incredible days. Hambleton
continually changed positions and reported on enemy activity as he went, even
to the extent of calling in close air strikes near his position. He was tracked
by a code he devised relating to the length and lie direction of various golf
holes he knew well. Another 20 or so Americans were not so fortunate.

In July 1986, the daughter of Henry Serex learned that, one week after all
search and rescue had been "called off" for Bat 21, another mission was mounted
to recover "another downed crewmember" from Bat 21. She doesn't know whether or
not it is her father or another man on the EB66 aircraft. No additional
information has been released. When the movie "Bat 21" was released, she was
horrified to learn that virtually no mention of the rest of the crew, including
her father, was made.

In Vietnam, to most fighting men, the man that fought beside them, whether in
the air or on the ground, was worth dying for. Each understood that the other
would die for him if necessary. Thus, also considering the critical knowledge
possessed by Col. Hambleton and some of the others, the seemingly uncanny means
taken to recover Clark and Hambleton are not so unusual at all.

What defies logic and explaination, however, is that the government that sent
these men to battle can distort or withold information to their families, and
knowingly abandon hundreds of men known or strongly suspected to be in enemy
hands.

Thousands of reports have been received by the U.S. Government indicating that
Americans are still alive, in captivity in Southeast Asia. It has been 17 years
for those who may have survived the 1972 Easter crashes and rescue attempts.
How much longer must they wait for their country to bring "peace with honor" to
them and bring them home?

ALLGOOD, FRANKIE EUGENE

Name: Frankie Eugene Allgood
Rank/Branch: O5/US Marine Corps
Unit: HMM 363, Marine Air Group 11
Date of Birth: 01 May 1930
Home City of Record: Hope/Ft. Scott KS
Date of Loss: 26 March 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 161408N 1080740E (AU930130)
Status (in 1973): Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: UH34D

Other Personnel In Incident: Glenn W. Mowrey; Larry E. Green; Richard Evancho;
Ernest C. Kerr (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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: PIL/COP RES - ALL SEARCH FAIL - J

SYNOPSIS: The Sikorsky UH34D Seahorse was a vital aircraft in Vietnam, serving
as transport of both personnel and materiel. The Seahorse and its pilots
particularly distinguished themselves throughout the spring of 1968 during one
of the most crucial and bitterly contested struggles of the Vietnam War -- the
Tet Offensive.

On March 26, 1968, a UH34D was serving as a medevac helicopter in South Vietnam.
The crew consisted of the pilot and co-pilot, as well as CPL Larry E. Green,
crew chief; and LCPL Ernest C. Kerr Jr., gunner. They were transported wounded
Marines for medical treatment.

LTC Frankie E. Allgood had been wounded in the temple by shrapnel; LCPL Richard
Evancho and CPL Glenn W. Mowrey were also injured. These three were being
medevaced onboard the UH34D. The helicopter crossed a stretch of the South China
Sea during adverse weather conditions. The helicopter crashed into the sea about
three miles from its destination, Da Nang, South Vietnam.

Search teams were dispatched at once, and the pilot and co-pilot were rescued.
Crew members Kerr and Green were not rescued, nor were the other occupants of
the helicopter, including the badly wounded Frankie Allgood. All were presumed
drowned and were classified Killed, Body Not Recovered. Because the medevac was
apparently not struck by hostile fire, the incident was deemed non-battle
related.

For the men aboard the Seahorse lost on March 26, 1968, death seems a certainty.
For hundreds of others, however, simple answers are not possible. Adding to the
torment of nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asia
is the certain knowledge that some Americans who were known to be prisoners of
war were not released at the end of the war. Others were suspected to be
prisoners, and still others were in radio contact with would-be rescuers when
last seen alive. Many were known to have survived their loss incidents, only to
disappear without a trace.

The problem of Americans still missing torments not only the families of those
who are missing, but the men who fought by their sides, and those in the general
public who realize the full implication of leaving men unaccounted for at the
end of a war.

Tragically, many authorities believe there are hundreds of Americans still alive
in captivity in Southeast Asia today. What must they be thinking of us? What
will our next generation say if called to fight if we are unable to bring these
men home from Southeast Asia?


ALLINSON, DAVID JAY

Name: David Jay Allinson
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 354TH Tactical Fighter Squadron
Date of Birth: 17 September 1932
Home City of Record: Helena MT
Date of Loss: 12 August 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 213500N 1044500E (VK666119)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F105D

Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 1 July 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: GOOD CHUTE - NO RAD CONT

SYNOPSIS: The F105 Thunderchief ("Thud"), in its various versions, flew more
missions against North Vietnam than any other U.S. aircraft. It also suffered
more losses, partially due to its vulnerability, which was constantly under
revision. Between 1965 and 1971, the aircraft was equipped with armor plate, a
secondary flight control system, an improved pilot ejection seat, a more precise
navigation system, better blind bombing capability and ECM pods for the wings.

On August 12, 1966, Capt. David J. Allinson was the pilot of an F105D aircraft
sent on a bombing mission over North Vietnam. Allinson was the lead in a flight
of four aircraft with a target in Nghia Lo Province near the city of Yen Bai.
While making a strafing run on the target, his aircraft was hit by automatic
weapons fire forcing him to eject. His descent was observed to the ground where
he landed in some trees along a ridge. Attempts to contact him by radio were
unsuccessful.

David Allinson was classified Missing in Action. Interestingly, he ejected from
his aircraft not many miles from a prison at Yen Bai which was later known to
have been a detention facility for American Prisoners of War.

In 1973, 591 American Prisoners of War were released, but Allinson was not among
them. Although he was alive when last seen, and ejected into an enemy held area,
the Vietnamese deny any knowledge of him or of his fate. He is among nearly 2800
who were unaccounted for at the end of the war.

Since Vietnam fell to communist control in 1975, over 10,000 reports relating
to Americans missing in Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S.
Government. Many authorities who have examined these largely classified reports
have reluctantly reached the conclusion that hundreds of Americans are still
alive, held captive by our long-ago enemy.

Whether Allinson met his death as he reached the ground, was shot and killed
when he landed, or survived to be captured is unknown. It is possible that he is
one of those said to be still alive. What is certain, however, is that as long
as even a single American remains alive in captivity in Southeast Asia, the war
cannot be said to have ended with honor. We must bring our men home.

David J. Allinson was promoted to the rank of Colonel during the period he was
maintained missing.

ALM, RICHARD ANDREW

Name: Richard Andrew Alm
Rank/Branch: O4/US Marine Corps
Unit: VMGR 152, 1st Marine Air Wing
Date of Birth: 07 September 1931
Home City of Record: Payallup WA
Date of Loss: 01 February 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 172038N 1072217E (YE520190)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: KC130F

Other Personnel In Incident: Peter Vlahakos; Albert M. Prevost; Russell B.
Luker; Galen F. Humphrey; Donald L. Coates (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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 Lockheed C130 Hercules was one of the most important aircraft used
in Vietnam. It served many purposes, among them transport, tanker, gunship,
drone controller, airborne battlefield command and control center, weather
reconnaissance craft, electronic reconnaissance platform, search, rescue and
recovery.

The U.S. Marines employed the KC130F version which served primarily as a
probe-and-drogue refueling plane, although when the rubber fuel bladders were
removed from the cargo compartment, the plane also served as a transport. The
KC130F was capable of refueling two aircraft simultaneously.

On February 1, 1966, a U.S. Marine Hercules tanker was operating in the Gulf of
Tonkin near the coast of North Vietnam, about 10 miles north of the island of
Hon Co. During a refueling operation, the tanker was hit by ground fire and
crashed into the ocean. All crew onboard the aircraft were considered to have
died in the crash of the plane.

The pilot of the aircraft was 1LT Albert M. Prevost; crew chief SSGT Peter G.
Vlahakos; other crew members included Maj. Richard A. Alm; SSGT Donald L.
Coates; GYSGT Galen F. Humphrey, navigator; and SSGT Russell B. Luker. All were
declared Killed in Action, Bodies Not Recovered.

According to family members of the crew, however, it was reported that there was
not a single piece of wreckage to be found. This seems improbable for an
aircraft weighing in excess of 60,000 pounds involved in a crash - especially
one carrying a jet fuel cargo. Some family members are suspicious of the
reported circumstances of the crash and believe it may have occurred elsewhere,
thus explaining the lack of wreckage found.

Regardless, if the Marine Corps crash site location is accurate, there can be no
question someone was aiming the gun that shot the aircraft down. Someone knows
the fate of the aircraft and crew. Beyond those on the ground, the shoreline of
Vietnam was heavily trafficked by fishermen and patrol boats. There is no doubt
that the Vietnamese could account for the men onboard the KC130 lost near Ho Co
Island on February 1, 1966.

Since American involvement in the war in Southeast Asia ended, over 10,000
reports relating to Americans prisoner, missing, or unaccounted for in Southeast
Asia have been received by the U.S. Government. Many authorities, having
reviewed this largely-classified information have concluded that hundreds of
Americans are still alive in captivity today.

Perhaps the entire crew of seven perished on February 1, 1966. But, perhaps they
are among those experts believe are still alive, still held prisoner. We cannot
forget a single man, lest he be left behind. They must all be brought home.
ALMENDARIZ, SAMUEL

Name: Samuel Almendariz
Rank/Branch: E7/US Army Special Forces
Unit: C & C Detachment
Date of Birth: 10 May 1934 (Texas City TX)
Home City of Record: McAllen TX
Date of Loss: 12 July 1967
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 161901N 1070216E (YD177031)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: ground

Other Personnel In Incident: Robert J. Sullivan (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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: During their war with the French, the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong
(then called Viet Minh) discovered that the ideal way to keep supplies and
troops moving between the two parts of the country was to move through the
neutral countries of Laos and Cambodia. During U.S. involvement in Indochina,
the United States was forbidden to conduct war there because of the 1962 Geneva
accords which protected the two countries' neutrality.

It became apparent, however, that clandestine operations had to be conducted in
Laos and Cambodia to prevent the enemy from having a free hand in troop and
equipment mobility. At first these operations were very secret, to the extent
that records were "altered" to show operations in South Vietnam, but later in
the war were conducted with relative openness.

SFC Almendariz and SFC Sullivan were on such a mission in Laos on 12 July, 1967.
Their reconnaissance team, consisting of three Americans and 8 indigenous
personnel, was operating just inside Laos in the extreme southeast portion of
Savannakhet Province when the team came under attack. From 1100 hours until 1600
hours that day, the team was under heavy attack and attempting to evade.

Only one of the Americans was rescued, and he reported that both Almendariz and
Sullivan had been mortally wounded.

On July 16, a search force went back to the area of contact, but were unable to
locate the bodies of either man. Almendariz and Sullivan were listed as killed,
body not recovered.

Almendariz and Sullivan are among nearly 600 Americans who disappeared in Laos.
Although the Pathet Lao stated on several occasions that they held "tens of
tens" of prisoners, not one prisoner held in Laos was ever released.

Since American involvement in Vietnam ended in 1975, over 10,000 reports
relating to Americans missing, prisoner, or otherwise unaccounted for in
Indochina have been received by the U.S. Government. Many officials, having
examined this largely classified information, have reluctantly concluded that
many Americans are still alive today, held captive by our long-ago enemy.
Although Almendariz and Sullivan, apparently, are not among them, they could be
accounted for. More importantly, anyone who is still alive must be brought home.
ALTIZER, ALBERT HAROLD

Name: Albert Harold Altizer
Rank/Branch: E3/US Army
Unit: Company D, 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division
Date of Birth: 11 April 1949 (Canebreak WV)
Home City of Record: Squire WV
Date of Loss: 08 October 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 111526N 1064536E (XT921449)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Boat
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: PFC Albert H. Altizer was taking part in a river crossing operation
in Phuoc Binh Province South Vietnam when the boat on which he was a passenger
capsized. Altizer was wearing full combat equipment, and a search in the river
and along its banks were unsuccessful in locating him, although some equipment
was found downstream.

Later intelligence reports indicate that an American was killed and buried in
the vicinity of Binh Duong, and this report was possibly correlated to Altizer,
but no further information or proof was obtained. Altizer was listed Killed,
Body not Recovered.

PFC Albert Altizer is among nearly 2500 Americans who remain unaccounted for
from the Vietnam war. The cases of some, like Altizer's, seem clear - that they
perished and will never be found. For others, however, answers are not so
easily found. Many were alive the last time they were seen. Some were known to
have been captured. Some remained in radio contact for hours or even days until
their voice disappeared from radio. Others were photographed in captivity.

Tragically, nearly 10,000 reports have been received relating to missing
Americans in Southeast Asia, convincing many authorities that hundreds of these
men and women are still alive, waiting for the country they proudly served to
secure their freedom.

In our haste to leave an unpopular war, it now appears we abandoned some of our
best men. In our haste to heal the wounds of this same war, will we sign their
death warrants? Or will we do what we can to bring them home?





ALTUS, ROBERT WAYNE

Name: Robert Wayne Altus
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 4th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Da Nang AB, South Vietnam
Date of Birth: 07 August 1946
Home City of Record: Sheridan OR
Date of Loss: 23 November 1971
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 153500N 1065300E (YC058250)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4E
Other Personnel in Incident: William Phelps (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1990 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.

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.

Capt. Robert W. Altus was the pilot and 1Lt. William Phelps his weapons/systems
operator which departed Da Nang Airbase as part of a multi-aircraft flight on an
operational mission over Laos on November 23, 1971. When the flight was about
20 miles northwest of Chavane in Saravane Province, Laos, a large explosion on
the ground was seen by flight members. Efforts to raise Altus and Phelps by
radio failed. No parachutes were seen, and no emergency radio beeper signals
heard. Both Althus and Phelps were classified Missing in Action.

Altus and Phelps are among nearly 600 Americans lost in the "secret war" in
Laos. During the war, the communist Pathet Lao stated on a number of occasions
that they held "tens of tens" of American prisoners and that those captured in
Laos would also be released from Laos. Unfortunately, that release never
occurred, because the U.S. did not include Laos in the negotiations which
brought American involvement in the war to an end. The country of Laos was
bombed by U.S. forces for several months following the Peace Accords in January
1973, and Laos steadfastly refused to talk about releasing our POWs until we
discontinued bombing in their country.

Consequently, no American held in Laos was ever returned. By 1989, these "tens
of tens" apparently have been forgotten. The U.S. has agreed to build medical
clinics and help improve relations with the communist government of Laos, yet
has yet to negotiate for the living American POWs the communist government
admitted holding. If, as intelligence seems to indicate, there are hundreds of
Americans still alive in Indochina as captives, then the U.S. is collaborating
in signing their death warrants. Altus and Phelps could be among those said to
be still alive. If so, what must they think of us?


ALVAREZ, EVERETT JR.

Name: Everett Alvarez Jr.
Rank/Branch: O3/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 144, USS CONSTELLATION
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Santa Clara CA
Date of Loss: 05 August 1964
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 105600N 1070800E (YJ218160)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A4C

Other Personnel in Incident: Richard C. Sather (remains returned)

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: 730212 RELSD BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: By midsummer 1964 events were taking place in the Gulf of Tonkin that
would lead to the first clash between U.S. and North Vietnamese forces. In late
July the destroyer USS MADDOX, on patrol in the gulf gathering intelligence, had
become the object of communist attention. For two consecutive days, 31 July-1
August, the MADDOX cruised unencumbered along a predesignated route off the
North Vietnamese coast. In the early morning hours of 2 August, however, it was
learned from intelligence sources of a possible attack against the destroyer.

The attack by three North Veitnamese P-4 torpedo boats (PT boats) materialized
just after 4:00 p.m. on August 2. The MADDOX fired off three warning volleys,
then opened fire. Four F-8 Crusaders from the aircraft carrier USS TICONDEROGA,
also took part in the skirmish. The result of the twenty-minute affair saw one
gunboat sunk and another crippled. The MADDOX, ordered out of the gulf after the
incident concluded, was hit by one 14.5 mm shell.

A day later the MADDOX, accompanied by the destroyer USS C. TURNER JOY, received
instructions to reenter the gulf and resume patrol. The USS CONSTELLATION, on a
Hong Kong port visit was ordered to join the TICONDEROGA stationed at the mouth
of the gulf in the South China Sea. The two destroyers cruised without incident
on August 3 an din the daylight hours of August 4 moved to the middle of the
gulf. Parallel to the movements of the C. TURNER JOY and MADDOX, South
Vietnamese gunboats launched attacks on several North Veitnamese radar
installation. The North Vietnamese believed the U.S. destroyers were connected
to these strikes.

At 8:41 p.m. on August 4 both destroyers reportedly picked up fast-approaching
contacts on their radars. Navy documents show the ships changed course to avoid
the unknown vessels, but the contacts continued intermittently. At 10:39 p.m.
when the MADDOX and C. TURNER JOY radars indicated one enemy vessel had closed
to within seven thousand yards, the C. TURNER JOY was ordered to open fire and
the MADDOX soon followed. For the next several hours, the destroyers, covered by
the TICONDEROGA's and the CONSTELLATION's aircraft, reportedly evaded torpedoes
and fired on their attackers.

Historians have debated, and will continue to do so, whether the destroyers were
actually ever attacked. Most of the pilots flying that night spotted nothing.
Stockdale, who would later earn the Medal of Honor, stated that a gunboat attack
did not occur. The skipper of the TICONDEROGA's Attack Squadron 56, Commander
Wesley L. McDonald, said he "didn't see anything that night except the MADDOX
and the TURNER JOY."

President Lyndon B. Johnson reacted at once to the supposed attacks on the
MADDOX, ordering retialiatory strikes on strategic points in North Vietnam. Even
as the President spoke to the nation, aircraft from the CONSTELLATION and
TICONDEROGA were airborne and heading for four major PT-boat bases along the
North Vietnamese coast. The area of coverage ranged from a small base at Quang
Khe 50 miles north of the demarcation line between North and South Vietnam, to
the large base at Hon Gai in the north.

At 1:30 p.m. on August 5, 1964, a flight of sixteen aircraft from the
TICONDEROGA on the Vinh hit petroleum storage complex in response to the
presidential directive to destroy gunboats and supporting facilities in North
Vietnam which the President indicated were used in the attack on the MADDOX. The
results saw 90 percent of the storage facility at Vinh go up in flames.

Meanwhile, other coordinated attacks were made by aircraft from the
CONSTELLATION on nearby Ben Thuy Naval Base, Quang Khe, Hon Me Island and Hon
Gai's inner harbor. Skyraiders, Skyhawks and F8s bombed and rocketed the four
areas, destroying or damaging an estimated twenty-five PT-boats, more than half
of the North  Vietnamese force.

LTJG Richard C. Sather was an A1 Skyraider pilot assigned to Attack Squadron 145
onboard the USS CONSTELLATION. During the retaliatory strikes, his "Spad" was
hit by enemy fire just offshore from the city of Thanh Hoa, some 25 miles north
of the island of Hon Me. No parachute was seen, and no emergency radio beepers
were heard. It was generally agreed that Sather had died in the crash of his
aircraft. He was declared Killed in Action, and his body was not recovered.

Among the pilots participating in the Hon Gai attack was LTJG Everett Alvarez
Jr., an A4C Skyhawk pilot assigned to Attack Squadron 144 onboard the USS
CONSTELLATION. His flight was given an ocean target right on the border with
China, a port facility where the Chinese border meets North Vietnam. None of the
pilots had ever flown this area. The CONSTELLATION pilots were briefed on a
problem that would evidence itself several times later in the war -- it was
paramount that they not come anywhere close to dropping bombs on Chinese soil
when launching attacks on the Hon Gai area. Yet, looking at the map, pilots
realized that "if you sneezed or did something wrong, the bomb could end up in
China with no trouble at all."

Just before launch, the target was changed to Hon Gai. There was little time to
study the new target, and then they were off in a mass "gaggle." The flight
leader briefed them to expect PT boats tied up at the southeast pier.

When the aircraft reached the bay, however, Alvarez noted that the PT boats were
out in the bay rather than at the pier. The flight rolled into two layers of
smog--actually one layer of smog and one of anti-aircraft smoke. The pilots
realized they were being fired on and noted that Alvarez had been hit.

Alvarez's call sign was Four-Eleven, and he came up on the air saying, "411, I'm
hit," followed by "I can't control it. I'm ejecting." Accompanying aircraft
heard his emergency beeper, made three or four orbits, and then were forced to
leave the area because of low fuel states. Alvarez was captured and imprisoned.

The Navy had lost two aviators, LTJG Everett Alvarez from VA 144 and LTJG
Richard C. Sather from VA 145, an A-1 squadron. Alvarez earned the dubious
distinction of being the first naval aviator captured by the North Vietnamese
and spent eight-and-one-half years in captivity.

Richard Sather, in a sense, was less fortunate, becoming the Navy's first pilot
killed during the conflict. It was twenty-one years, August 14, 1985, before the
Vietnamese "discovered" his remains and returned them to U.S. control.

Finally, on February 12, 1973, Everett Alvarez was released from prisoner of war
camps and sent home. Alvarez had been a prisoner of war for eight and one-half
years. In all, 591 Americans were released. The remains of Richard Sather were
not returned until 1985.

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. These reports are the source of serious distress to many returned
American prisoners. They had a code that no one could honorably return unless
all of the prisoners returned. Not only that code of honor, but the honor of our
country is at stake as long as even one man remains unjustly held. It's time we
brought our men home.


ALWAN, HAROLD JOSEPH

Name: Harold Joseph Alwan
Rank/Branch: O4/US Marine Corps
Unit: VMA 121, Marine Air Group 12
Date of Birth: 04 August 1934
Home City of Record: Peoria IL
Date of Loss: 27 February 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 150500N 1085100E (BT930320)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A4E

Other Personnel In Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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: Harold Alwan graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1956.
There, he was involved in ROTC and graduated as a second lieutenant in the
Marine Corps with an engineering degree. He decided to make his career as a
Marine pilot, and served on bases in Quantico, Virginia and Cherry Point, North
Carolina before he was assigned to Vietnam as a Major.

On February 27, 1967, Alwan was on a one-man, one-aircraft mission when his
plane disappeared over South Vietnam. Alwan had just completed an aircraft test
and had checked in for a helicopter escort mission. Alwan's family was given
three locations of loss, two over land and one over sea, where Alwan's plane
went down. The Pentagon was not sure, having no witnesses, what happened and
where. The Defense Department now lists the official location of loss as over
the South China Sea, just southeast of the city of Quang Ngai in Quang Ngai
Province, South Vietnam.

For three days following the crash of the aircraft, however, an emergency radio
beeper signal was heard. Alwan's was the only plane missing in the vicinity, and
his family is certain the beeper was Alwan's.

Alwan's family identified a prisoner of war in Hanoi from a Christmas propaganda
film released by the Hanoi government. The U.S. Government identified the same
photo as a returned POW (although they declined to give his name), yet later
provided the same photo to Alwan's family as an unidentified POW who was never
released from Hanoi.

Harold Alwan's family hopes that he died in the crash of his plane in 1967. They
cannot endure the thought that he has been held prisoner all these years knowing
he was willingly abandoned by the country he so proudly served. They have
resolved themselves to accept whatever truth they are able to learn about Alwan,
but that truth is not forthcoming--from either the U.S. Government or the
Vietnamese.
AMESBURY, HARRY ARLO, JR.

Name: Harry Arlo Amesbury, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit: CCK Air Force Base, Taiwan - TDY to 345th Tacticial Airlift Squadron, Tan
Son Nhut ABSV
Date of Birth: 13 February 1932
Home City of Record: Morrison IL
Loss Date: 26 April 1972
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 113803N 1063547E (XT745866)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: C130E

Other Personnel In Incident: Calvin C. Cooke; Richard E. Dunn; Donald R.
Hoskins; Richard L. Russell (all missing); Kurt F. Weisman (remains returned)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 31 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: CRASH - 1 REM RCV - N SIGN SUBJ - J

SYNOPSIS: From the CCK Air Force Base base in Taiwan, C-130 crews flew to
different locations, including Korea, Borneo, Indonesia, Japan, Africa, etc. But
most trips were to various bases in Vietnam for 3 week stays. Then the men would
return to the base in Taiwan for 3 days. On one such Vietnam tour, one C130E had
a crew consisting of Harry A. Amesbury, pilot; Richard L. Russell, navigator,
Richard E. Dunn, loadmaster, Calvin C. Cooke, Donald R. Hoskins, and Kurt F.
Weisman, crew members. This crew was TDY to 345th Tactical Airlift Squadron at
Tan Son Nhut Airbase, South Vietnam.

On April 26, 1972, Amesbury's aircraft and crew were making a night drop of
supplies to South Vietnamese forces trapped in An Loc, South Vietnam (about 65
miles from Saigon). The provincial capitol had been under seige by North
Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces off and on since early April. Supply drops and
air support were critically needed and often hampered by hostile forces outside
the city. Upon approach to the drop site at a very low level, the aircraft was
hit by enemy fire and was reported to be down. The men onboard the aircraft were
declared Missing in Action.

Supply drops were generally accomplished in one of two ways, both requiring that
the plane be airborne, and flying at very low altitudes. Using one method,
parachutes attached to the supply pallets were deployed. As the plane flew over,
the parachutes pulled the cargo from the plane. Using another method, a hook
attached to the cargo was dropped from the plane, affixed to some firm fixture
on the ground. As the plane departed the area, the cargo was pulled out of the
plane. Both required considerable skill under the best of circumstances.

According to the Department of the Air Force, it received unspecified
information that contained evidence of death for the crew members on May 5,
1972. The status of the missing men was changed to Killed in Action/Body Not
Recovered.

In February, 1975, non-American friendly forces recovered and returned the
remains of Kurt Weisman. No information surfaced on the rest of the crew. All
onboard had been assumed killed in the downing of the plane. If this is the
case, why weren't the other remains recovered as well?

Of the nearly 2500 Americans still missing in Southeast Asia, most can be
accounted for one way or another. The U.S. Government has received nearly 10,000
reports of Americans still held prisoner in Southeast Asia, yet has not been
able to find a way to free them, or to obtain information on a significant
number of other Americans who may have perished.



AMMON, GLENDON LEE
Remains Returned 23 August 1978

Name: Glendon Lee Ammon
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 30 October 1932
Home City of Record: Muncie IN
Date of Loss: 21 September 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 211255N 1060544E (XJ13462)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F105D

Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 15 March 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS: REMS RETD 780823 MONTGOM HANOI

SYNOPSIS: The F105 Thunderchief (or "Thud") performed yoeman service on many
diversified missions in Southeast Asia. F105s flew more combat missions over
North Vietnam than any other USAF aircraft and consequently suffered the
heaviest losses in action. They dropped bombs by day and occasionally by night
from high or low altitude and some later versions (F105D in Wild Weasel guise)
attacked SAM sites with their radar tracking air-to-ground missiles. This
versatile aircraft was also credited with downing 25 Russian MiGs.

On September 21, 1966, Capt. Glendon L. Ammon was the pilot of an F105D in a
flight of four F105s sent on a combat mission about 22 nautical miles northeast
of Hanoi in the Sontay area. Ammon's aircraft was seen on fire from heavy
anti-aircraft fire in the area, and other pilots in the flight confirm that
Ammon radioed "I'm punching out."

Others in the flight observed Ammon's parachute descend to the ground and a
brief emergency radio beeper was heard. However, the area was so deep into enemy
territory and heavily occupied by enemy troops, that no search and rescue
attempts were conducted.

Whether Ammon was actually captured is not known. However, his proximity to the
enemy on the ground would seem to guarantee that he could be accounted for. One
returnee told Glendon's family that he could "have been put into possibly
another prison system" but did not explain this remark.

Intelligence reports surfacing over the years during the war and following build
a strong case for a well-organized second prison system, and a well orchestrated
plan to keep prisoners within systems from intermingling. As it is widely
believed that the Vietnamese withheld the release of many prisoners until peace
agreement terms were met (specifically reconstruction aid), it is logical to
assume that one prison system's inmates were released while another were held
back for possible release at a later date. It is also logical to assume that the
scenario might be played to its fullest, including convincing each man in a two
man crew that had been separated, that the other was dead.

In 1978 a Congressional delegation headed by Rep. G.V. "Sonny" Montgomery
visited Hanoi with the purpose of laying to rest the POW/MIA issue. The
Vietnamese turned a number of U.S. remains over to the delegation, including
those of Glendon L. Ammon.

The delegation gratefully accepted the remains and returned home with the word
that no Americans were left in Vietnam.

Since 1978, nearly 10,000 reports have amassed convincing many authorities that
hundreds of Americans remain alive in captivity today. The United States
Government, although involved in talks with the Vietnamese since the end of the
war, has been unable to bring home a single live prisoner. The Vietnamese, on
the other hand, refuse to let the issue die, with the ultimate hope of
normalizing relations with the west.

The Americans who are still captive have been reduced to bargaining pawns
between two nations. For their sakes, everything possible must be done to bring
them home. The sacrifice of tens of thousands of America's young men is mocked
by the abandonment of their comrades. For the sake of our future fighting men
and those who have given their lives in the defense of their country, we must
see to it that we never again abandon our soldiers to enemy hands.

AMOS, THOMAS HUGH

Name: Thomas Hugh Amos
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 25 September 1940
Home City of Record: Republic MO
Date of Loss: 20 April 1972
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 152900N 1073100E (YC699138)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: AC130

Other Personnel In Incident: Mason I. Burnham (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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: Lockheed's versatile C130 aircraft filled many roles in Vietnam,
including transport, tanker, gunship, drone controller, airborne battlefield
command and control center, weather reconnaissance, electronic reconnaissance,
and search, rescue and recovery.

The AC130, outfitted as a gunship, was the most spectacular of the modified
C130's. These ships pierced the darkness using searchlights, flares, night
observation devices that intensified natural light, and a variety of electronic
sensors such as radar, infared equipment and even low-level television. On some
models, a computer automatically translated sensor data into instructions for
the pilot, who kept his fixed, side-firing guns trained on target by adjusting
the angle of bank as he circled. The crew of these planes were, therefore,
highly trained and capable. They were highly desirable "captures" for the enemy
because of their technical knowledge.

Captains Thomas H. Amos and Mason I. Burnham were pilot and co-pilot of an AC130
on a mission near the border of South Vietnam and Laos on April 20, 1973 when
their plane was shot down by enemy fire. Because there existed the possibility
that the two safely ejected the aircraft, they were declared missing in action.
The fate of the rest of the crew (some 8-12 men) is not indicated in public
records. The aircraft went down in Quang Tin Province, about halfway between Ben
Giang, South Vietnam and Chavane, Laos.

The Defense Intelligence Agency further expanded Amos' and Burnham'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 war in Vietnam ended, and 591 American Prisoners of War were released,
Amos and Burnham were not among them. As time passed, reports amassed, to a
current number of over 10,000. Many authorities who have reviewed this
largely-classified information have concluded that hundreds of Americans are
still alive in captivity today.

The United States Government seems unable to decide whether or not men are still
alive in captivity in Southeast Asia, preferring the less controversial (and
less liable) position of operating "under the assumption that one or more" are
alive.

Whether Thomas Amos and Mason Burnham survived the crash of their aircraft to be
captured has never been determined. Whether they are among those thought to be
still alive is uncertain. What is clear, however, is that if there is even one
American being held against his will in Southeast Asia, we have a legal and
moral responsibility to do everything possible to bring him home.
AMSPACHER, WILLIAM HARRY JR.
Remains returned July 1988, Identified November 1988

Name: William Harry Amspacher, Jr.
Rank/Branch: E4/US Navy Reserves
Unit: Early Warning Squadron 13, USS MIDWAY
Date of Birth: 26 July 1944 (Hollywood, CA)
Home City of Record: Canoga Park CA
Date of Loss: 02 June 1965
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 194258N 1055058E (WG920815)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: EA1F

Other Personnel In Incident: Thomas L. Plants (missing); M.D. McMican; Gerald
M. Romano (remains returned); David M. Christian (on an A4E, see text); John B.
McKamey (on a second A4E, released POW).

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 30 June 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: CRASHED AND BURNED

SYNOPSIS: On June 2, 1965, an EA1F "Spad" electronics aircraft launched from the
USS MIDWAY for assistance in a search and rescue mission over North Vietnam. The
crew of the Spad was LTJG M.D. McMican, pilot; LTJG Gerald M. Romano, navigation
officer; Petty Officer Third Class William H. Amspacher, Electronic
Countermeasures Operator, and ATN 3 Thomas L. Plants.

While circling the scene of an [unnamed] A4E pilot's ejection over the South
China Sea, the Spad was hit by enemy fire and was observed to crash land and
burn on the nearby coast. While still over the water, a crewmember was seen to
bail out, but his parachute did not open, and he fell into the sea. A week
later, the body drifted ashore, according to an intelligence report. This body
was not recovered by U.S. forces at that time.

[NOTE: The loss location given by Defense Department is not over the South China
Sea, but some five miles inland, in Nghe An Province, near the city of Sam Son.
At best, if the loss occurred over water, it occurred in the Gulf of Tonkin.]

The crew of the Spad was placed into the category Killed In Action/Body Not
Recovered. It was assumed the three perished in the crash of the plane and the
fourth (unspecified in the report) perished just prior to the crash in his
unsuccessful ejection attempt.

On June 2, 1965, two Navy A4E aircraft were shot down in the general area that
the EA1F rescue aircraft was circling. One of them was flown off the USS MIDWAY
by LTJG David M. Christian, and is most likely to be the subject of the search
by the Spad because the accounts seem to match. Navy accounts do not specify the
identity of the downed pilot, nor do they indicate if he was ever rescued.

David Christian was born in California, and in the early 1960's his family moved
to Kansas. Three years later, they moved back to California, but David stayed to
attend Kansas State University, then Emporia State University, where he
graduated after majoring in sociology and psychology. David learned to fly jets
in the Navy after college. In Vietnam, he was stationed aboard the USS MIDWAY
and was an A4E attack jet pilot. On June 2, 1965, Christian left the carrier on
a mission over the Tonkin Gulf on the shoreline of North Vietnam. His commander
witnessed his plane going down at sea, with David possibly ejecting. No
emergency radio beeper signals were heard, and the pilot was not seen after he
left the aircraft.

On October 11, 1965, a Pravda article referred to Christian and James Stockdale,
who was shot down and captured in the same area as Christian three months later.
The report gave the Christian family hope that David survived and would be
released.

When Christian did not return in the prisoner release in 1973, the Christians
were shocked and hurt. James Stockdale was released and was awarded the
Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions as a POW. Over the years, the
Christian family has written and called CDR Stockdale to ask about the report,
but he has never replied.

The second A4E lost on June 1, 1965 was flown by LT John B. McKamey. His
aircraft was shot down some fifty miles south of the crash location of the EA1F.
McKamey was captured by the North Vietnamese and held prisoner for the next
eight years. He was released in Operation Homecoming on February 12, 1973.

In 1986, the Vietnamese returned the remains of 21 American servicemen lost in
Vietnam, including those said to be those of David Christian. They could not
forget the Pravda article and its details about David. They had the remains
independently examined. The conclusion was that the probability is greater that
it IS David Christian than it is not. But still, there is no proof that David
died and doubts remain. Until there is proof that he died, David's friends and
family "would not be at all surprised" to see him come home -- alive.

In July 1988, the Vietnamese returned remains they stated were those of 25
American servicemen. Three of the remains were positively identified as being
those of Amspacher, McMican and Romano. Plants' remains were not recovered. It
is not known if the body which was reported washed ashore could have been
Plants' or that of David Christian.

A Vietnamese defector stated in Congressional testimony that Vietnam stockpiles
hundreds of sets of remains. Congress believed him. He also testified that
Vietnam holds live American prisoners. Congress says he is lying, although over
10,000 reports help substantiate that Americans are being held alive. The U.S.
and Vietnamese "progress" at a snail's pace, while totally ignoring the
tremendous weight of evidence that their priority should be those Amercans still
alive as captives. Meanwhile, thousands of lives are spent in the most tortured
state imaginable - unable to grieve, unable to rejoice. They wait.

ANDERSON, DENIS LEON

Name:Denis Leon Anderson
Rank/Branch:O2/US Navy
Unit:Observation Squadron 67
Date of Birth:24 October 1942
Home City of Record:Hope KS
Date of Loss:11 January 1968
Country of Loss:Laos
Loss Coordinates:171800N 1055258E (WE938123)
Status (in 1973):Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category:3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground:OP2E
Other Personnel In Incident:Arthur Buck; Richard Mancini; Delbert Olson; Michael
Roberts; Gale Siow; Phillip Stevens; Donald Thoresen, Kenneth Widon (all
missing)
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1990 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.

REMARKS: CRASH CNFM - WE 938123 - NO SERCH -J

SYNOPSIS: The Lockheed P2 "Neptune" was originally designed for submarine
searching, using magnetic detection gear or accoustic buoys. Besides flying
maritime reconnaissance, the aircraft served as an experimental night attack
craft in the attempt to interdict the movement of enemy truck convoys. Another
model, the OP2E, dropped electronic sensors to detect truck movements along the
supply route through Laos known as the "Ho Chi Minh Trail".

The Ho Chi Minh Trail was used by the North Vietnamese for transporting weapons,
supplies and troops. Hundreds of American pilots were shot down trying to stop
this communist traffic to South Vietnam. Fortunately, search and rescue teams in
Vietnam were extremely successful and the recovery rate was high.

Still there were nearly 600 who were not rescued. Many of them went down along
the Ho Chi Minh Trail and the passes through the border mountains between Laos
and Vietnam. Many were alive on the ground and in radio contact with search and
rescue and other planes; some were known to have been captured. Hanoi's
communist allies in Laos, the Pathet Lao, publicly spoke of American prisoners
they held, but when peace agreements were negotiated, Laos was not included, and
not a single American was released that had been held in Laos.

Delbert Olson was the pilot of an OP2E electronic observation aircraft assigned
to Observation Squadron 67 at Nakhon Phanom, Thailand. On January 11, 1968, he
and a crew of eight, including Denis Anderson, were dispatched on an armed
reconnaissance mission over Laos. The aircraft lost radio and radar contact at
9:57 a.m. When the plane failed to return within a reasonable time, an extensive
visual, electronic and photographic search was conducted in the area of the
aircraft's last known position.

On January 23, a USAF A1 located a suspected crash site. On January 25th an O2
from the 23rd Tactical Air Support Squadron photographed the site. Using the
photographs for photo interpretation, and in conjunction with visual air
reconnaissance of the site, it was determined that the wreckage was that of
Commander Olson's aircraft. The aircraft crashed on the northern side of a sheer
cliff, 150 feet below the 4583 foot summit line, about 15 kilometers northeast
of Ban Nalouangnua, Khammouane Province, Laos. It was decided that all
indications were that there were no survivors and most probably no identifiable
remains. Because of the heavy jungle canopy, irregular terrain and the close
proximity of enemy forces, no ground team was inserted to inspect the crash site
for remains. There was no indication as to the exact cause of the crash.

All members of the crew were placed in an initial casualty status of Missing In
Action. On February 23, 1968, the crew was placed in a casualty status of
Presumed Killed in Action/Body Not Recovered.

The crew of the OP2E lost on January 11, 1968 are among nearly 600 Americans
lost in Laos. Because Laos was not a party to the agreements ending the war, no
Americans held by Laos were ever released. Since the war ended, nearly 10,000
reports have convinced many experts that hundreds of Americans are still being
held captive in Southeast Asia. While the crew of the OP2E may not be among
them, one can imagine them proudly flying one more mission to bring home the
evidence needed to bring them to freedom.
ANDERSON, GREGORY LEE

Name: Gregory Lee Anderson
Rank/Branch: E4/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 27 August 1947
Home City of Record: Wheaton IL
Date of Loss: 28 January 1970
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 180200N 1053300E (WF582048)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: HH53B

Other Personnel in Incident: Leonard C. Leeser; William D. Pruett; William C.
Shinn; William C. Sutton (missing); Holly G. Bell (remains returned). On F105G
aircraft: Richard J. Mallon; Robert J. Panek (remains returned)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS: MIG HIT - EXPLODE - SHRT BEEPR - J

SYNOPSIS: On January 28, 1970, Capt. Richard J. Mallon, pilot; and Capt. Robert
J. Panek, electronics warfare officer, were sent as escort to a reconnaissance
aircraft on a mission in North Vietnam. Their F105 aircraft was a G model,
which was an adaptation of the F105F used in the Wild Weasel program.

The F105F Wild Weasel featured radar homing and warning gear. Upon pinpointing
the radar at a missile site, the Wild Weasel attacked with Shrike missiles that
homed in on radar emissions. The F105F was a stretch-limo F105, with a longer
fusilage to allow for a second crewman. As modified for the G, the F105
launched Standard ARM rather than the shorter range Shrike. During the period
of 1965-1972, the F105 performed on many diversified missions in Southeast
Asia, including SAM attack, bombing, and as in the case of the mission of
Mallon and Panek, armed escort/diversion.

Mallon and Panek's aircraft was shot down during the mission, and they both
successfully ejected and landed safely in an enemy controlled area about 20
miles northeast of the Mu Gia Pass on the mountainous border of North Vietnam
and Laos.

A helicopter was immediately dispatched to pick up the two downed airmen. When
the aircraft was about 50 miles northwest of the location of the F105 crash,it
was hit by a MIG and exploded. The helicopter was flown by pilot Major Holly G.
Bell, and carried crewmen Capt. Leonard C. Leeser, SMSgt. William D. Pruett;
SSgt. William C. Shinn; MSgt. William C. Sutton; and passenger Sgt. Gregory L.
Anderson. A short beeper signal was heard from the helicopter, indicating that
at least one person aboard may have exited the aircraft. All six aboard were
listed as Killed/Body Not Recovered. It was thought that in the cases of Bell
and Anderson that the enemy would not likely have knowledge of their fates, but
that the Vietnamese could probably account for the other four men. (A
determination that was probably made from the relative crew positions and their
proximity to the area of the MIG hit and the likelihood of their having escaped
obliteration by the explosion.)

Mallon and Panek, meanwhile, were in an area heavily infiltrated with the
enemy, and it was known that there were enemy troops in the vicinity. It was
thought very probable that the two were captured or killed by the enemy, but
never known for certain, as they did not appear in the Hanoi prison system to
be held with those American POWs who were released. The Vietnamese denied any
knowledge of any of the eight men missing that day.

Some time later, family members were told by a squadron mate that his
information was that Panek and Mallon had both ejected safely. Mallon had landed
on a road near the Mu Gia Pass and was captured almost immediately. Panek landed
in nearby trees and his parachute was seen 30 minutes later, being pulled from
the trees. Both men were seen in a clearing within the hour, being surrounded,
stripped to their shorts, and holding their hands in the air. Neither Mallon nor
Panek were ever classified Prisoner of War, however, but were maintained in
Missing in Action Status.

In December 1988, the Vietnamese returned a number of remains they stated were
those of American servicemen to U.S. control. The remains of Mallon, Panek, and
the helicopter pilot, Holly G. Bell were subsequently positively identified by
the U.S. Casualty Identification Laboratory in Hawaii (CILHI).

For the Panek, Mallon and Bell families, the long wait is over. They are no
longer haunted by a never-ceasing flow of reports concerning Americans alive in
Southeast Asia. For the other families, however, life goes on in agonizing
suspense. And for the hundreds of Americans said to be alive in Southeast Asia,
the days pass in imprisonment and abandonment.

Richard J. Mallon was buried in Willamette National Cemetery.

ANDERSON, ROBERT DALE

Name: Robert Dale Anderson
Rank/Branch: O5/US Air Force
Unit: 25th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Ubon Airfield, Thailand
Date of Birth: 25 December 1931
Home City of Record: Battle Creek MI
Date of Loss: 06 October 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 210525N 1051740E (WJ280360)
Status (In 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4E
Other Personnel In Incident: George Latella (Relased POW)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: LtCol. Robert D. Anderson, pilot and 1Lt. George F. Latella, weapons
systems officer comprised an F4E Phantom fighter jet of the 25th Tactical
Fighter Squadron at Ubon Airfield, Thailand.

On October 6, 1972, Anderson and Letella were dispatched from Ubon on a mission
northwest of Hanoi near the city of Son Tay. This region had been heavily
attacked by U.S. aircraft in Operation Rolling Thunder, concentrating on major
supply lines to Hanoi. The city of Son Tay had been the site of a late November
1970 rescue attempt of American POWs. The mission, while successful, had not
freed any POWs.

Anderson's F4 was hit by hostile fire and he and Latella ejected from the
crippled aircraft. A good parachute was observed and voice contact was
established on the ground. Anderson and Latella both had landed safely on the
ground, although separated by several hundred yards.

LtCol. Anderson radioed, "I have a good parachute, am in good shape and can see
no enemy forces on the ground." Latella was immediately taken captive. Radio
Hanoi reported that "a number of U.S. pilots" were captured that same day, yet
Anderson and Latella's plane was the only one shot down in North Vietnam that
day. Latella was released with 590 other American POWs in 1973, but the
communist government of Vietnam denies any knowledge of Robert D. Anderson.

Since American involvement in Vietnam ended in 1975, nearly 10,000 reports
concerning Americans still missing in Southeast Asia have flowed in to the U.S.
Government. A shocking 80% of them have been proven accurate, many relating to
Americans who have returned home. Those relating to men still missing have
convinced many authorities that hundreds of Americans remain alive today,
captives of our long-ago enemy.

LtCol. Anderson may still be alive. He probably doesn't know he has been
promoted to the rank of Colonel. He has undoubtedly figured out that he has
been abandoned by the country he proudly served. What are we doing to bring
these men home?





ANDERSON, WARREN LEROY

Name: Warren Leroy Anderson
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 377th Combat Support Group, Tan Son Nhut AB, South Vietnam
Date of Birth: 27 December 1932
Home City of Record: Camden MI
Date of Loss: 26 April 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates:  174000N 1062900E (XE591538)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: RF4C
Other Personnel In Incident: James H. Tucker (missing)

REMARKS: ALL CONTACT LOST

SYNOPSIS: 1Lt. James H. Tucker was the pilot of an RF4C Phantom jet flying on
an unarmed night reconnaissance flight over a heavily defended North Vietnamese
anti-aircraft complex when all contact with their aircraft was lost.  His
backseater on the mission was Capt. Warren L. Anderson. It was Anderson's third
mission in Vietnam.

The mission was to photograph an anti-aircraft complex 15 miles north of Dong
Hoi, North Vietnam. The aircraft was being monitored by forward radar units in
South Vietnam. As the aircraft crossed a mountain range to descended on the
target, radio and radar contact was lost, and could not be reestablished. An
electronic search was begun immediately and a visual search as soon as daylight
permitted. Nothing was ever found of the aircraft or its crew.

In 1973, 591 Americans were released from Vietnamese prisons; Anderson and
Tucker were not among them. They remained Missing In Action.

Following the war, as refugees began to flood the world from Vietnam, thousands
of reports of Americans still held captive began to accumulate. By 1988, over
6000 reports have been received by the U.S. Government. A Pentagon panel,
after a 5 month review of classified records concluded in 1986 that at least
100 Americans were still alive, held captive in Southeast Asia.

Anderson was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for obtaining vital photos
on an unarmed craft over the area where he later disappeared. Because there
has never been any word of James Tucker or Warren Anderson, their families
wonder if they are alive or dead. And, if alive, how much longer much they
wait for their country to bring them home?

Prepared by Homecoming II Project 01 December 1989

ANDRE, HOWARD VINCENT JR.

Name: Howard Vincent Andre, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit: 609th Special Operations Squadron
Date of Birth: 18 March 1935
Home City of Record: Memphis TN
Date of Loss: 08 July 1969
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 191643N 1030913E (YG060325)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A26A

Other Personnel in Incident: James E. Sizemore (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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: The Douglas A26 was a twin-engine attack bomber with World War II
service. In Vietnam, it served the French in the 1950's and also the U.S. in the
early years of American involvement in Southeast Asia. In 1966, eight A26's were
deployed to Nakhon Phanom to perform hunter-killer missions against truck
convoys in southern Laos.

Maj. James E. Sizemore and Maj. Howard V. Andre Jr. comprised an A26 team
stationed at Nakhon Phanom, assigned a mission over the Plain of Jars region of
Xiangkhoang Province, Laos on July 8, 1969. Sizemore was the pilot and Andre the
navigator on the flight.

When the aircraft was about 12 miles south of the city of Ban Na Mai, it was
downed by hostile fire. A ground team subsequently furnished unspecified
information that Sizemore and Andre could not have survived. Both were
classified Killed in Action/Body Not Recovered.

Sizemore and Andre are listed among the missing because their bodies were not
recovered. The presence of enemy troops in this area makes it highly likely that
the Lao have information they could provide about their fates.

In 1973, the prisoners of war held in Vietnam were released. Laos was not part
of the Paris agreement which ended American involvement in Indochina and no
prisoners held by the Lao were ever released. Nearly 600 Americans were left
behind, abandoned by the country they proudly served.

In 1975, refugees fled Southeast Asia and brought with them stories of Americans
prisoner, missing and unaccounted for in Southeast Asia. The reports continued
to flow in as the years passed. By 1990, over 10,000 reports had been received.
Some sources have passed multiple polygraph tests, but the U.S. Government still
insists that proof is not available.

Meanwhile, the Lao voice dismay about the large numbers of their people that
were killed and the fact that much of their once beautiful homeland now is
cratered like the moon from bombs dropped by American planes. They seem to want
acknowledgement that, in bombing enemy sanctuaries in Laos, we also did great
harm to the Lao people.

We are haunted by the secret war we conducted in Laos through the lives of the
Americans we left behind. Some of them are still alive. What must they be
thinking of us?


ANDREWS, STUART MERRILL

Name: Stuart Merrill Andrews
Rank/Branch: Colonel USAF
Unit: 21st Tactical Air Support Squadron, Pleiku AB SV
Date of Birth: 22 September 1928
Home City of Record: Stamford CT
Date of Loss: 04 March 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 133700N 1090000E (BR836079
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 3
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: O1E

Other Personnel In Incident: John F. Conlon (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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: Major Stuart M. Andrews was the pilot of an O1E aircraft on which his
observer-in-training was 1Lt. John F. Conlon III in March 1966. Andrews and his
observer were sent on a cross-country visual reconnaissance mission in South
Vietnam.

The O1E "Bird Dog" was used extensively in the early years of the war in Vietnam
by forward air controllers and provided low, close visual reconnaissance and
target marking which enabled armed aircraft or ground troops to close in on a
target. The O1E was feared by the enemy, because he knew that opening fire would
expose his location and invite attack by fighters controlled by the slowly
circling Bird Dog. The Vietnamese became bold, however when they felt their
position was compromised and attacked the little Bird Dog with a vengeance in
order to lessen the accuracy of an impending strike by other craft.

Andrews and Conlon departed Qui Nhon Airfield on March 4, 1966 at 3:20 p.m. At
3:40 p.m. they made radio contact with a Special Forces Camp in the area and
were asked to check campfires that had been spotted. That radio contact with the
Special Forces camp was the last word anyone heard of Andrews and Conlon. There
was at that time no indication that anything was wrong, but when the plane
failed to arrive at its destination, both men were declared missing.

When 591 Americans were released from prisoner of war camps in 1973, Andrews and
Conlon were not among them. Nearly five years later, in December 1977, they were
presumptively declared dead, based on no information that they were alive.

Alarmingly, evidence continues to mount that Americans were left as prisoners in
Southeast Asia and continue to be held today. Unlike "MIAs" from other wars,
most of the nearly 2500 Americans who remain missing in Southeast Asia can be
accounted for. Many U.S. Government officials have said it is their belief that
Americans are being held, but have not yet found the formula that would bring
them home. Detractors claim that not enough is being done to bring these men
home.


Stuart M. Andrews was promoted to the rank of Colonel and John F. Conlon III was
promoted to the rank of Major during the period they were maintained missing.
ANDREWS, WILLIAM RICHARD
Remains Returned - ID Announced 20 December 1991

Name: William Richard Andrews
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 433rd Tactical Fighter Squadron, Ubon AF TH
Date of Birth: 09 June 1937
Home City of Record: Eugene OR (family in AZ)
Date of Loss: 05 October 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 211900N 1042100E (VJ066812)
Status (in 1973): Prisoner of War
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4C

Other Personnel In Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 March 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II
Project.

REMARKS: VOICE CONTACT - WOUNDED

SYNOPSIS: Major William R. Andrews was a pilot assigned to the 433rd Tactical
Fighter Squadron at Ubon Airfield, Thailand. On October 5, 1966, he was assigned
a strike mission over North Vietnam in his F4C Phantom fighter/bomber. (NOTE:
U.S. Air Force records on this case indicate that Andrews was the pilot of the
aircraft. Other sources, including Defense Department data, indicate that
Andrews was the back-seater on the aircraft.)

Andrews flew on the number three aircraft in a flight of four. Following the
mission, the flight was directed to fly escort for two B-66's. A MiG alert was
issued after which it was noticed that the number three aircraft (Andrews) was
not in the formation. No radio contact was received from the missing aircraft
crew, but a short time later an emergency radio beeper signal was heard.

Both crewmen ejected safely from their aircraft and reached the ground without
injury. Radio contact was subsequently made with Andrews, but due to heavy
ground fire, he was not recovered. He reported that he was uninjured, but that
North Vietnamese forces were approaching his position. The two went down in
Nghia Lo Province about 40 miles east-northeast of the city of Na San.

The second crewman was subsequently rescued. Andrews later reported that he was
wounded and losing consciousness. He was classified as Prisoner of War and was
expected to return in the prisoner release in 1973. Andrews did not return in
1973, and the Vietnamese deny knowledge of his fate.

A later coordination of records showed that Andrews was listed Missing (not
prisoner) by Defense Intelligence Agency and the Air Force, while JCRC
(Thailand) carried him as Prisoner (not missing). JCRC was ordered to "delete
any references pertaining to PW status" in Andrews' case. The reasons behind the
order are unclear.

Thousands of reports of Americans alive in the hands of the Vietnamese have been
received by the U.S. since the end of the war. Many government officials state
that they believe Americans are currently being held against their will in
Southeast Asia. The question is, who are they, and how will we bring them home?
Is one of them William R. Andrews?

William R. Andrews was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel during the
period he was maintained Prisoner of War. On December 20, 1990, U.S. officials
announced that remains previously repatriated by the Vietnamese had been
positively identified as being those of William R. Andrews. After 24 years,
Andrews was finally home.

ANGELL, MARSHALL JOSEPH

Name: Marshall Joseph Angell
Rank/Branch: E5/US Army
Unit: 611th Transportation Company
Date of Birth: 29 January 1939 (Boone's Mill VA)
Home City of Record: Roanoke VA
Date of Loss: 12 December 1963
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 101845N 1054952E (WS910400)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: CH37B

Other Personnel In Incident: 3 killed, remains recovered; one slightly injured,
recovered alive.

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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: REMS 3 + 1 OK RECV; N/SUBJ-J

SYNOPSIS: The CH37B Mohave, like other large helicopters in Vietnam, served a
variety of functions, including troop and material transport and aircraft
recovery. The huge, 88-foot-long aircraft had a basic weight of 21,500 pounds
and a payload of 5,300 pounds.

SP5 Marshall J. Angell was the flight engineer aboard a CH37B helicopter on a
recovery mission to recover a downed aircraft in Tuong Dinh Tuong Province,
Republic of Vietnam. The crew was attempting to sling load a downed aircraft
when hostile ground fire erupted and hit the aircraft. The Mohave then crashed
and burned.

All the crew aboard the helicopter either survived or their remains were
recovered except SP5 Angell. A thorough search of the aircraft and surrounding
area was conducted. It was ultimately surmised by those conducting the search
that Angell was either consumed by the fire on board the aircraft or that he sank
into the marshy ground surrounding the crash site. No trace was ever found of
Marshall Angell. He was classified Killed/Body Not Recovered.

For Marshall J. Angell, death seems a certainty. For hundreds of others,
however, simple answers are not possible. Adding to the torment of nearly 10,000
reports relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asia is the certain knowledge
that some Americans who were known to be prisoners of war were not released at
the end of the war. Others were suspected to be prisoners, and still others were
in radio contact with would-be rescuers when last seen alive. Many were known to
have survived their loss incidents, only to disappear without a trace.

The problem of Americans still missing torments not only the families of those
who are missing, but the men who fought by their sides, and those in the general
public who realize the full implication of leaving men unaccounted for at the
end of a war.

Tragically, many authorities believe there are hundreds of Americans still alive
in captivity in Southeast Asia today.  What must they be thinking of us? What
will our next generation say if called to fight if we are unable to bring these
men home from Southeast Asia?
ANGSTADT, RALPH HAROLD

Name: Ralph Harold Angstadt
Rank/Branch: O4/USAF
Unit: 33rd Air Rescue/Recovery Squadron
Date of Birth: 03 September 1932
Home City of Record: Fleetwood PA
Date of Loss: 18 October 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam (Tonkin Gulf)
Loss Coordinates: 175500N 1070900E (YE278821)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: HU16

Other Personnel In Incident: Inzar W. Rackley; John H.S. Long; Robert L.Hill;
John R.Shoneck; Lawrence Clark; Steven H. Adams (all 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. Copyright 1990 Homecoming II
Project.

REMARKS: RADIO CONTACT LOST

SYNOPSIS: At 11:01 a.m. on October 18, 1966, a HU16 Albatross (serial #51-7145)
departed Da Nang Airbase, Republic of Vietnam, to rescue a downed pilot in the
Gulf of Tonkin off the coast of North Vietnam.

The crew of the aircraft consisted of Maj. Ralph H. Angstadt, rescue commander
and pilot; 1Lt. John H.S. Long, co-pilot; SSgt. John R. Shoneck and TSgt. Robert
L. Hill, flight mechanics; SSgt. Lawrence Clark, radio operator; and Capt. Inzar
W. Rackley, Jr., navigator. Also onboard the aircraft was A2C Steven H. Adams, a
parajumper/frogman and a member of an elite pararescue team ("PJs").

The aircraft headed to the pilot's location, which was approximately 80 miles
off the China coast in the northern sector of the Gulf of Tonkin. Two A1E
Skyhawks escorting the rescue aircraft remained on station until the mission was
completed, then the Skyhawks returned to the base. The last contact with the
HU16 was at 5:45 p.m., and at that time, there was no indication of any trouble.
The Albatross was returning to base, and last contact was in the vicinity of
coordinates YE278821, approximately 35 miles off the coast of North Vietnam.

All contact was lost with the amphibious aircraft in marginal weather
conditions, and although an extensive search for the aircraft was conducted,
there were no sightings of the crew or the aircraft. Even though the HU16 was
believed lost over water, the men on board were not declared killed, but Missing
In Action. The possibility exists that they were captured by one of the numerous
enemy vessels that were present offshore from North Vietnam.

Curiously, the DIA enemy knowledge categories assigned to the men onboard the
Albatross are not the same. Five of them were assigned Category 4 which
indicates "unknown knowledge" and includes individuals whose time and place of
loss incident are unknown. Angstadt was assigned Category 3 which indicates
"doubtful knowledge" and includes personnel whose loss incident is such that it
is doubtful that the enemy would have knowledge. Clark was assigned Category 2
which indicates "suspect knowledge" and includes personnel who were lost in
areas or under conditions that they may reasonably be expected to be known by
the enemy. No reason for the different categories can be determined.

About one year after the incident, Adams' family received a call from an
International Red Cross representative who had just come from a "closed door"
meeting during which Steven Adams was discussed. She stated that Steve was
"alive, well and presumed to be in a hospital in Southeast Asia," and that "upon
exiting the aircraft, his left side had been severely injured." A family friend
and member of the intelligence community located the Red Cross worker and
confirmed the information.

Shortly after the call, two Air Force casualty officers cautioned the family
strongly "not to listen to outsiders" and that only "government sources" could
be trusted.

In August 1987, a Department of Defense official was contacted by a U.S. citizen
who said he was relaying information from a man in London. According to the
American, 17 U.S. prisoners of war could be released through the office of a
Western European embassy in Bangkok, Thailand. The POWs would be released C.O.D.
upon the delivery of seven U.S. passports and a million dollars. If the money
were placed at the Embassy, an unidentified Vietnamese general would take the 17
Americans to the Philippines for release, and provide information on how to
secure the release of over 1,400 other Americans upon payment of another million
dollars. Steve Adams was mentioned as one of the 17 POWs.

U.S. government officials refused to place the money at the Embassy. They said
they had investigated the offer and that it was "a clumsy, amateur attempt to
extort money and arms from the U.S. Government."

Although the U.S. Government called the offer a "scam," they refused to give the
Adams family the names of those involved, citing "national security" as the
reason.

Steve's brother, Bruce, was outraged. A non-government offered POW reward fund
had been established for just such a offer and the government was aware of it,
yet did not inform Bruce of the COD offer for several months. By that time, it
was too late to do anything about it from the private sector.

"This was a pay on delivery offer, not extortion," said Adams. "It would have
cost the Government nothing to comply. If the general did not appear with 17
American POWs the money would still be intact, in neutral hands. But to deny me
the opportunity to enact the privately offered reward is inexcusable."

Bruce Adams says the evidence is clear that there ARE Americans still held
captive in Southeast Asia. "I really don't know if Steve is one of them, but
SOMEONE'S brother is. We as a nation owe those men our best efforts to secure
their release and return. I could not face myself if I did not do everything in
my power to help bring them home."

The crew of the UH16 received promotions during the period they were maintained
Missing in Action:  Angstadt and Rackley were promoted to the rank of Lieutenant
Colonel; Long to the rank of Captain; Clark and Hill to the rank of Chief Master
Sergeant; Shoneck to the rank of Senior Master Sergeant; and Adams to the rank
of Master Sergeant.

There is no available information on the downed crewman the Albatross was sent
to rescue.

ANSELMO, WILLIAM FRANK

Name: William Frank Anselmo
Rank/Branch: E5/US Air Force
Unit: 15th Aerial Port Squadron
Date of Birth: 22 August 1944
Home City of Record: Denver CO
Date of Loss: 06 March 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 163659N 1064559E (XD933404)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: C123K

Other Personnel in Incident: Noel L. Rios (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II
Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: The Fairchild C123 "Provider" was a night attack system/transport
aircraft based on an all-metal glider designed by Chase Aircraft. The airplane's
C123B prototype first flew on September 1, 1954. The C123B, in the hands of a
group of airmen who called themselves "The Mule Train" became the first
transport to see Vietnam service.

The Provider, particularly in camouflage paint with mottled topside and light
bottomside, resembled an arched-back whale suspended from the bottom midpoint of
huge dorsal wings. Like other transports, the Provider proved its versatility
during the Vietnam war.

On March 6, 1968, a C123K departed Da Nang on an administrative flight to
deliver aircraft parts to Khe Sahn.  Sergeants Noel L. Rios and William F.
Anselmo were to fly on one aircraft, but this aircraft was grounded for
mechanical problems, and the two boarded another bound for Khe Sanh.

Near Khe Sahn, the C123K was struck by hostile fire and crashed. According to
the Air Force, there were no survivors. Rios and Anselmo remain unaccounted for,
while the rest of the crew was apparently recovered.

Rios and Anselmo are listed among the missing because their remains were never
found. Others who are missing do not have such clear-cut cases. Some were known
captives; some were photographed as they were led by their guards. Some were in
radio contact with search teams, while others simply disappeared.

Since the war ended, over 250,000 interviews have been conducted with those who
claim to know about Americans still alive in Southeast Asia, and several million
documents have been studied. U.S. Government experts cannot seem to agree
whether Americans are there alive or not. Detractors say it would be far too
politically difficult to bring the men they believe to be alive home, and the
U.S. is content to negotiate for remains.

Well over 1000 first-hand, eye-witness reports of American prisoners still alive
in Southeast Asia have been received by 1990. Most of them are still classified.
If, as the U.S. seems to believe, the men are all dead, why the secrecy after so
many years? If the men are alive, why are they not home?


ANSPACH, ROBERT ALLEN

Name: Robert Allen Anspach
Rank/Branch: E8/US Army Special Forces
Unit: Company D, Detachment A-401, 5th Special Forces Group
Date of Birth: 01 October 1933
Home City of Record: Macon MO
Date of Loss: 11 September 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 105320N 1051632E (WT301036)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: airboat
Other Personnel In Incident: (none missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: The Special Forces camps in the Delta region of South Vietnam had
been suffering loss and damage from floodwaters in late 1966. The floodwaters
also severely curtailed operations conducted on foot, and the Special Forces,
using airboats, and teamed up with Navy Patrol Air Cushion Vehicles (PACV) and
helicopters conducted a number of successful missions over the flooded regions.

During the ensuing winter dry season, the camps were improved or rebuilt to
help withstand future flooding, while their garrisons trained toward improving
sampan and airboat patrols during the next high water season. Despite the
preparation, there were still only a limited number of Special Forces personnel
and technicians familiar with airboat operations and logistics, and this
activity was limited to Kien Phong ("Wind of Knowledge") Province along the
flooded banks of the San Tieu Giang River.

Detachment B-43 was deployed to Cao Lanh in Kien Phong Province during the dry
season in February 1967, and a full-shop airboat facility was finished in May.
The Viet Cong had realized the tactical potential of airboat operations, and
made this facility the target of a mortar and rocket attack on July 3-4, with
devastating losses to the airboat operations effort.

Capt. Jeffery Fletcher's Thuong Thoi Detachment A-432 had been redesignated
from A-426 on the first day of June, 1967. With the onset of floods on
September 9, two airboat sections were attached to his command under Capt.
Thomas D. Culp and SFC Robert A. Anspach from A-401's Mike Force at Don Phuc.
They began operating out of the camp on the river near the Cambodian border
close to Hong Ngu. Fletcher was concerned about his 454th CIDG Company manning
a border outpost on the Mekong River and the increase in leaking that
threatened the main camp berm. His camp was about to witness one of the most
crippling defeats that Special Forces airboats would suffer.

At 0830 hours on the morning of September 11, 1967, six airboats departed on a
reconnaissance mission. Each boat carried four men, and the force included
three Special Forces advisors, one interpreter, one LLDB noncommissioned
officer, and ten Chinese and eight Cambodian Mike Force soldiers. SFC Robert
Anspach, platoon sergeant, headed the formation in Boat 1, accompanied by LLDB
Sgt. Binh, one Chinese soldier, and interpreter Chau Van Sang, who doubled as
driver. Capt. Thomas D. Culp went in middle Boat 3, and the A-425 team
sergeant, MSgt. James W. Lewis, occupied the last one, Boat 6.  The operation
was to sweep north to within a mile of the Cambodian border, then west to the
Mekong River.

Possibly because floodwaters had changed the appearance of the landscape, the
airboats passed their intended turning point and proceeded in line down a
stream to the river that formed the international boundary. The rice paddies
were under six to ten feet of water, and the dry banks of the river were
covered with trees and heavy brush. As the first four airboats left the stream
and entered the Vietnamese portion of the river about 5 miles northwest of the
camp, Viet Cong bunkers on both sides of the channel caught them in a lethal
cross fire.

Concentrated machine gun fire riddled all six airboats in the first burst,
killing SFC Anspach immediately. This resulted in fatal confusion. Instead of
trying to break out of the area at once, the column circled and doubled back to
the killing zone. The lead boats were hit repeatedly. LLDB Sgt. Binh screamed
at Sang to turn back, and although Sang could not hear him over din of engine
and arms fire, he desperately drove Boat 1 back toward the mouth of the stream
as the Chinese soldier returned fire with the machine gun. Just before the boat
reached the west bank, it went dead in the water, and Sang jumped out and swam
ashore. Airboat 1, containing Anspach's body, was later observed from the air
being pushed and pulled across the border by the Viet Cong.

Boats 2, 3 and 4 tried to execute a clockwise circle in the river, but the
maneuver was ripped apart by the intensity of fire directed at them. Boat 2
plowed into the riverbank and sank. Capt. Culp in Boat 3 was shot in the left
arm, crouched in the boat and returned fire at treeline with his M-79 grenade
launcher. Airboat driver Than Ky Diep moved the craft back downstream, but the
craft took several more rounds, and Capt. Culp was killed. The driver of Boat
4, Ly Phoi Sang, was wounded in the right shoulder. He managed to get the boat
back into the stream, where it lost power.

The crewmen of Boat 5 were killed or wounded in the first few seconds. Their
boat drifted to the bank of the river, where it was captured. MSgt. Lewis had
been wounded in Boat 6, but kept radio contact until he lost consciousness. The
driver, Hoang Van Sinh, steered his boat out of the fighting, but the engine
was shot to pieces, and it drifted to the stream bank.

The firing had lasted two minutes. One boat had sank, two were in VC hands, and
two others immobilized. Only Boat 3 was still running. The remaining airboat
section raced out of Thuong Thoi under SSgt. Jackson of A-401 and SFC Pollock
of A-432 and linked up with Boat 3 to collect the survivors huddled on the
shorelines. Pollock reached Boat 4 and towed it back to camp. Boat 2 was later
evacuated by Chinook helicopter. Airstrikes were called in to destroy Boat 5
and the bunkers on the near side of the river. Only Robert Anspach remained
unaccounted for after the battle.

Three reports relating to the mortal remains of Robert Anspach were received by
U.S. officials from ex-Viet Cong and refugee sources. One report stated Anspach
had died as a result of wounds suffered during an ambush. Another report
indicated that he was buried alone, wrapped in a hammock. Other, more reliable
sources claimed that he was buried in a common grave with 3 Nungs (Vietnamese
who were ethnic Chinese), mistaken for Koreans by the Viet Cong.

Attempts were made to recover the remains of Anspach, but enemy presence at the
site frustrated the attempt.

Over 20 years has past since the death of Robert Anspach. The Vietnamese
resolutely deny any knowledge of his fate. They resolutely deny access to the
area in which he is suspected to be buried. Tragically, Anspach lies in enemy
soil, when he should be buried with the honors he deserves in his homeland.

Even more tragic is the multitude of reports indicating that hundreds of
Americans are still alive in Southeast Asia, still captives from the long ago
war we called the "Vietnam Conflict". Anspach, his comrades say, is dead. How
many others will die wondering why their country has abandoned them?
ANTON, FRANCIS GENE

Name: Francis Gene Anton
Rank/Branch: W2/US Army
Unit: 71st Aviation Company, 145th Aviation Battalion, 12th Aviation Group, 1st
Aviation Brigade
Date of Birth: (ca. 1944)
Home City of Record: Willinboro NJ (resided Philadelphia PA 1975)
Date of Loss: 05 January 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 153557N 1081012E (AT967265)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1C
Other Personnel in Incident: Robert Lewis, James F. Pfister (both released
POWs); aircraft co-pilot, evaded capture

REMARKS: 730316 RELSD BY PRG

SYNOPSIS: For Americans captured in South Vietnam, daily life could be expected
to be brutally difficult. Primarily, these men suffered from disease induced by
an unfamiliar and inadequate diet - dysentery, edema, skin fungus and eczema.
The inadequate diet coupled with inadequate medical care led to the deaths of
many. Besides dietary problems, these POWs had other problems as well. They
were moved regularly to avoid being in areas that would be detected by U.S.
troops, and occasionally found themselves in the midst of U.S. bombing strikes.
Supply lines to the camps were frequently cut off, and when they were, POWs and
guards alike suffered. Unless they were able to remain in one location long
enough to grow vegetable crops and tend small animals, their diet was limited
to rice and what they could gather from the jungle.

In addition to the primitive lifestyle imposed on these men, their Viet Cong
guards could be particularly brutal in their treatment. For any minor
infraction, including conversation with other POWs, the Americans were
psychologically and physically tortured. American POWs brought back stories of
having been buried; held for days in a cage with no protection from insects and
the environment; having had water and food withheld; being shackled and beaten.
The effects of starvation and torture frequently resulted in hallucinations and
extreme disorientation. Men were reduced to animals, relying on the basic
instinct of survival as their guide. After months in this psychological
condition, many POWs, lucky to survive, discovered that they were infinitely
better treated if they became docile and helpful prisoners. Unlike in the
North, the POWs in the south did not as naturally assume a military order among
themselves - perhaps because the preponderance of POWs in the North were
officers as opposed to a larger community of enlisted men in the South - and
frequently, there was no strong leader to encourage resistance and to bring
the comfort of order to a chaotic existance.

From the camps in the South came the group of American POWs ultimately charged
with collaboration with the enemy. These charges were later dropped, but are
indicative of the strong survival instinct inherent in man, and the need for
strong leadership. It is common knowledge that nearly all POWs "violated" the
Military Code of Conduct in one way or another; some to greater degrees than
others. Those who resisted utterly, the record shows, were executed or killed
in more horrible ways.

Americans tended to be moved from camp to camp in groups. One of the groups in
South Vietnam contained a number of Americans whose fates are varied.

Capt. William "Ike" Eisenbraun was attached to the 17th Infantry regiment of
the Seventh Division ("Buffalos") when he fought in Korea. He was awarded a
Purple Heart for wounds received in Korea. In 1961, Capt. Eisenbraun
volunteered for duty in Vietnam because he believed in what we were trying to
accomplish there. He was one of the earliest to go to Southeast Asia as an
advisor to the Royal Lao and South Vietnamese Armies.

On his fourth tour of duty, Eisenbraun served as Senior Advisor, Headquarters
MACV, SQ5891, U.S. Army Special Forces. He was at jungle outpost Ba Gia near
Quang Ngai in South Vietnam when the post was overrun by an estimated 1000-1500
Viet Cong force. Newspapers described it as "one of the bloodiest battles of
the war to date". A survivor told newsmen the Viet Cong attacked in "human
waves and couldn't be stopped." There were only 180 men defending the outpost.
Captain Eisenbraun was initially reported killed in action.

Later, two Vietnamese who had been captured and escaped reported that Capt.
Eisenbraun had been captured, was being held prisoner, and was in good health.
Through the debriefings of returned POWs held with Eisenbraun, it was learned
that he died as a POW. One returned POW said that on about September 1, 1967,
Eisenbraun fell out of his hammock (which was about five feet above a pile of
logs) and landed on his right side. For about 5 days after the fall, Eisenbraun
continued his daily activites, but complained of a severe pain in his side.
After that period he stayed in bed and at about 0100 hours on September 8,
LCpl. Grissett awakened PFC Ortiz-Rivera and told him that Eisenbraun had
stopped breathing.

Another POW said Ike had died as a result of torture after an escape attempt in
1967. Robert Garwood added that Ike had provided leadership for the prisoners
at the camp, and was an obstacle to the Viet Cong in interrogating the other
prisoners. He also spoke fluent Vietnamese, which made him a definite problem.
Garwood and Eisenbraun had been held alone together at one point in their
captivity, and Ike taught Bobby the secrets of survival he had learned in SF
training, and in his years in the jungle. Bobby states that Ike knew and taught
him which insects could be eaten to fend off common jungle diseases, and that
he and Ike jokingly planned to write a cookbook called "100 ways to cook a
rat". Garwood said that Ike had been severely beaten following the escape
attempt, and that one night he was taken from his cage and not returned. The
next morning, Garwood was told that Ike had fallen from his hammock and died.

Ike Eisenbraun was buried at the camp in Quang Nam Province along with other
POWs who had died of torture and starvation. His grave was marked with a rock
inscribed by Garwood. A map has been provided to the U.S. showing the precise
location of the little cemetery and grave, yet Ike's remains have not been
returned.

Bobby Garwood had been captured on September 28, 1965 as he was driving a jeep
in Quang Nam Province. Garwood made international headlines when he created an
international incident by smuggling a note out revealing his existance. The
note resulted in his release in March 1979, after having been a prisoner of war
for 14 years. The Marine Corps immediately charged him with collaboration and
assault on a fellow POW, and he was ultimately charged and dishonorably
discharged. He is the only serviceman to be charged with these crimes from the
Vietnam War, and many feel he was singled out to discredit the stories he has
told regarding other Americans held long after the war was over in Vietnam.

Several American POWs were held at a camp in Quang Nam Province numbered ST18,
including Eisenbraun, Garwood, Grissett, LCpl. Jose Agosto-Santos, PFC Luis
Antonio Ortiz-Rivera, Marine LCpl. Robert C. Sherman, Capt. Floyd H. Kushner,
W2 Francis G. Anton, SP4 Robert Lewis, PFC James F. Pfister, PFC Earl C.
Weatherman, Cpl. Dennis W. Hammond and Sgt. Joseph S. Zawtocki.

Agosto-Santos was captured when his unit was overrun in Quang Nam Province on
May 12, 1967. Cpl. Carlos Ashlock had been killed in the same action, and he
and Agosto-Santos had been left for dead. Agosto-Santos had been wounded in the
stomach and back. For about a month, he had been cared for in a cave by the
Viet Cong. Jose felt he owed his life to the Viet Cong. He was released in a
propaganda move by the Vietnamese on January 23, 1968. Ashlock was never seen
again.

Ortiz-Rivera was a Puerto Rican who barely spoke English. His Army unit was
overrun in Binh Dinh Province several miles north of the city of Phu Cat on
December 17, 1966, and Ortiz-Rivera was captured. Ortiz-Rivera was not a
problem prisoner, according to other returnees. He was released with
Agosto-Santos January 23, 1968.

Cpl. Bobby Sherman told fellow POWs that he had been on picket duty with ARVNs
on June 24, 1967 when he decided to go to a nearby village to "get laid".
The Vietnamese girl he met there led him to the Viet Cong instead. Sherman had
been on his second tour of Vietnam. During his first tour, he had suffered
psychological problems because of the grisly job assigned to him of handling
corpses of his comrades killed in action. In the spring of 1968, Sherman,
Hammond, Weatherman, Daly, and Zawtocki, with the help of other POWs, attempted
to escape. Sherman beat a guard in the attempt and was recaptured and punished.
He was held in stocks for many days and fellow POWs said he "got crazy and
never recovered." They said he spent months as a "zombie" and "never was there"
after that. According to Harold Kushner, Bobby Sherman died on November 23,
1968. The POWs buried him in the little cemetery with Ike Eisenbraun. In March
1985, the remains of Bobby Sherman were returned during a period that
Eisenbraun's daughter was publicly asking the President to bring her father
home. A map had been published of the cemetery, and many wondered if there was
a connection.

Capt. Harold Kushner had been the sole survivor of the crash of his UH1D
helicopter on a mountainside in Quang Nam Province on November 30, 1967.
Kushner was a Army Medical Corps Flight Surgeon and had broken a tooth and
sustained a wound to his shoulder when the helicopter crashed. He was
subsequently captured by the Viet Cong. During his captivity, his wife,
Valerie, became active in the effort to end the war, believing that was the
only hope her husband had of returning home. Kushner became ambivilent about
the war himself, and when held in North Vietnam, made propaganda tapes until
informed by the more organized prisoners captured and held in the North that it
was prohibited. Kushner was released March 16, 1973 from North Vietnam.

(Note: a number of other Americans were held with this group including PFC
David N. Harker; James A. Daly; Richard R. Rehe; Willie A. Watkins; Francis E.
Cannon; Richard F. Williams; and James H. Strickland. One detailed account of
the captivity of these men can be found in "The Survivors" by Zalen Grant.
Another can be read in "Conversations With The Enemy", written by Winston Groom
and Duncan Spencer. Homecoming II Project - 2408 Hull Rd. - Kinston NC 28501
-also maintains synopsis accounts of these men.)

W2 Francis Gene "Bones" Anton was the pilot of a UH1C helicopter, code name
"Firebird". On January 5, 1968, his crewchief was SP4 Robert Lewis III, and
door gunner was PFC James F. Pfister. The crew, flying out of the 71st Assault
Helicopter Company, was shot down as they were trying to assist C Company,
under heavy mortar attack at Happy Valley in Quang Nam Province. Their co-pilot
had escaped capture. Anton is one of the few POWs who believed that Garwood,
although clearly a collaborator, was still a loyal American, helpful to his
fellow POWs. Anton, according to other POWs was "always cussing the
Vietnamese". He was released from North Vietnam on March 16, 1973. When Cannon,
Williams, Harker and McMillan were brought to the POW camp at Happy Valley,
they found Anton, Pfister and Lewis well fed and clean. Pfister later made
propaganda tapes at the Plantation in Hanoi in April 1971. Garwood called him
the "head snitch" in one of the camps along the Rock River and White River in
South Vietnam. Both Pfister and Lewis were released on March 5, 1973. None of
the three were considered by superior officers to be among those who criminally
collaborated with the enemy.

Russ Grissett was on a search mission for a missing USMC officer when he became
separated from his unit on January 22, 1966. He was with the elite 1st Force
Recon, and was captured by the Viet Cong in Quang Ngai Province. Russ was
several inches over 6' tall and carried a normal weight of around 190 pounds.
After 2 years in captivity, however, his weight had dropped to around 125
pounds. Grissett suffered particularly from dysentery and malaria, and in his
weakened condition begged his fellow POWs not to tell him any secrets. He had
already been accused of sabotaging an escape plan by Kushner. He found it
difficult to resist, and willingly made propaganda tapes about "lenient
treatment". When Ortiz-Rivera and Agosto-Santos were released, he had "behaved"
enough that he was tremendously disappointed that he was not released with
them. During one period of near-starvation, in late November 1969, Grissett
caught and killed the camp's kitchen cat. It was a dangerous move, and fellow
POWs watched helplessly and innocently as guards beat Grissett for the crime
and he never recovered. Grissett was buried in the camp's cemetery by his
fellow POWs. Harold Kushner stated that Grissett died on December 2, 1969.
David Harker, another returned POW, stated that he had died at 3:30 a.m. on
November 23, 1968. On June 23, 1989, the U.S. announced that the Vietnamese had
"discovered" the remains of Russ Grissett and returned them to the U.S. (Note:
the "cat" incident spawned the assault charges against Garwood. Garwood,
enraged that others had stood by while Grisset was mortally beaten, back-handed
one of the bystanders in the stomach and asked, "How could you let them do this
to Russ?" Some witnesses stated that the blow was not a hard one intended to
injure, but seemingly for emphasis.)

Dennis Wayne "Denny" Hammond and Joseph S. Zawtocki were Marines who were
part of a pacification team when captured during the Tet offensive on February
8, 1968. Denny was a tall, lean, good-looking man thought to be part American
Indian. He attempted escape with the other POWs in the spring of 1968 and was
shot in the leg by Montagnards in a nearby village Denny had beaten a guard to
escape. Part of the "duties" of those POWs healthy enough was to harvest
oranges in nearby Montagnard orchards. The POWs were happy to do this because
it meant badly needed exercise and the opportunity for additional food. Daly
was once accused by guards of stealing oranges that Hammond had stolen. It was
on one of these workdays that the POWs effected their ill-fated escape. After
the escape attempt and recapture, Sherman remained relatively healthy for a
time, but in early March, 1970, died. He was buried near the camp and his grave
marked by a bamboo cross. (Hammond died on 7 or 8 of March, depending on the
source.)

Joe Zawtocki was a stocky, powerful, fair-haired man of Polish descent. He and
Garwood formed a close friendship and exchanged rings. Each promised the other
that if released alone, they would contact the other's family. Joe died on
December 24, 1968 of starvation and was buried near the POW camp. Davis, a
returnee, says that Garwood lost Joe's ring. Garwood states that, upon his
return, he gave Joe's ring to the Defense Intelligence Agency. Several years
later, he learned that DIA had never returned the ring to Joe's family. Joe
Zawtocki's remains were returned to the U.S. on August 15, 1985.

Perhaps one of the strangest cases involved in this group of POWs is that of
Pvt. Earl Clyde Weatherman. Weatherman was in the Marine brig at Da Nang where
he had been confined for slugging an officer in 1967. On November 8, 1967, he
escaped the brig (which constitutes desertion). Intelligence indicates that he
paid a Vietnamese driver to take him to his Vietnamese girlfriend's house, but
the driver instead delivered him to the Viet Cong. A tall, muscular young man
of about 20 years old with reddish-blond hair and blue eyes, Weatherman was
detained in the POW camps in Quang Nam Province, and was party to the ill-fated
escape attempt in the spring of 1968. Opinion was divided among the POWs
regarding the political loyalties of Earl Weatherman. Harker felt his alliance
to the Viet Cong was only an act. Weatherman had once said to him, "Don't
believe everything you hear about me." Others felt he was clearly a turncoat.
Perhaps Garwood stated it most accurately when he said, "Weatherman's only
crime was falling in love with the wrong person - a communist."

It was widely told that during the April 1, 1968 escape attempt, Weatherman was
killed. However, Garwood states that he heard of and saw Weatherman after 1973
when other U.S. POWs were returned, and years after his supposed death in South
Vietnam. Intelligence indicates that Weatherman continued to work for the
communists, and lived with a Vietnamese wife and family. One position said to
have been held by his was with the Vietnamese government's department of
construction - the Cong Tyxay Dung. Garwood last knew him to be at Bavi, living
with a Vietnamese woman.

In 1986, several national news articles revealed that intelligence documents
showed at least 7 missing Americans had been seen alive in Vietnam in the last
dozen years, including Weatherman. Some accounts added that Weatherman had
smuggled a note out of Vietnam that he wished to come home and bring with him
his wife and children. Weatherman's father was allegedly notified of this.

The POW/MIA groups reverberated with anticipation, knowing that if Weatherman
came home, a new source of information on those men still missing would be
available. Several activists questioned a Congressional aide regarding
Weatherman. They asked, "When will Weatherman be able to come home? We
understand the holdup is visas for his wife and children."  The aide, with a
caring and sympathetic look on his face, replied, "I don't know. I just don't
know."

Of this group of prisoners and missing, only Weatherman, Hammond, Ashlock and
Eisenbraun have not returned home, alive or dead. Ashlock was left for dead on
the battlefield. Hammond and Eisenbraun are dead, but still in enemy hands.
Weatherman, for whatever reason, chose love of a woman over love of his country
and remained behind. Can America close its doors to a man who may have a wealth
of information on Americans still alive in Vietnam? If he now wishes to return
to his homeland, can we be less forgiving to him that we were to those
Americans who fled to Canada to avoid the war?


ANTUNANO, GREGORY ALFRED

Name: Gregory Alfred Antunano
Rank/Branch: E5/US Army
Unit: Troop A, 3rd Squadron, 17th Cavalry (Air Cavalry), 12th Aviation Group
Date of Birth: 18 May 1949
Home City of Record: San Francisco CA
Date of Loss: 24 July 1971
Country of Loss: Cambodia
Loss Coordinates: 120327N 1063522E (XU730333)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: OH6A
Other Personnel in Incident: Randall D. Dalton (missing); Timothy G. Wiltrout
(rescued)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: The 3rd Squadron, 17th Cavalry was part of the 12th Aviation Group
during its service in Vietnam. It was responsible for air cavalry support in
the western part of III Corps Tactical Zone. In late 1970 it was placed under
the operational control of the 1st Cavalry Division to form a highly successful
ad hoc air cavalry brigade.

On July 24, 1971, WO1 Timothy G. Wiltrout, pilot; Sgt. Gregory A. Antunano,
observer; and SP4 Randall D. Dalton, door gunner; were crew members on an OH6A
"Loach" observation helicopter (serial #17-257) which was shot down by enemy
fire while on a reconnaissance mission in Cambodia. The aircraft went down
about 5 miles inside Cambodia, in Kracheh Province, just a few miles southeast
of the city of Snuol.

When rescuers arrived at the crash site, they found the pilot outside the
downed aircraft. He suffered a broken leg in the incident, but was otherwise
unhurt. The other two crew members were still strapped in their seats inside
the wreckage. Both were taken out of the helicopter and at that time, SP4
Dalton was still alive. Sgt. Antunano was believed to be dead.

A short time later, SP4 Dalton stopped breathing. Efforts to revive him were
unsuccessful. The medic checked both Dalton and Antunano several times, and
told other rescuers that they were dead.

As enemy soldiers began moving into the area, search and rescue aircraft
evacuated the rescue team and Wiltrout, the pilot. Because of enemy presence,
no attempt was made to extract the two bodies. They were left lying near the
downed helicopter.

The following day, several SAR aircraft returned to the location in an attempt
to recover Antunano and Dalton, but noted that the aircraft had been stripped
and moved several feet. Personal effects of the crew, such as their helmets,
weapons and the aircraft radio had also been removed. Sgt. Antunano and SP4
Dalton's bodies were gone. A search of the area from the air did not reveal
fresh graves or any sign of the two men.

Antunano and Dalton's bodies were never found. They are listed with honor among
the missing because their remains are still on enemy soil. For other missing
Americans, simple resolution is not possible. Some were in radio contact with
would-be rescuers - some simply did not return from missions. Others were known
prisoners who disappeared from prison systems and were not released at the end
of the war.

"Several million documents" and 250,000 interviews have convinced many
officials that Americans were left behind in Vietnam and that some remain alive
today. Some number those alive in the hundreds. While Dalton and Antunano may
not be among them, if there is even one American left alive, we must do
everything possible to bring him home.
APODACA, VICTOR JOE JR.

Name: Victor Joe Apodaca, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O3/USAF
Unit: 398th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Da Nang, South Vietnam
Date of Birth: 31 May 1937
Home City of Record: Englewood CO
Date of Loss: 08 June 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 173900N 1061600E (XE343517)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4C
Other Personnel in Incident: Jon T. Busch (remains returned)

REMARKS: POSS DEAD FIR 3170909973

SYNOPSIS: On the evening of June 8, 1967, two F4C Phantom planes departed Da
Nang Airbase on an armed reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam. Hambone 1
took the lead, followed about a mile behind by Hambone 2, commanded by Capt.
Victor Apodaca, Jr. and flown by Capt. Jon T. Busch. The two aircraft were
flying at an altitude of about 4500 feet over a river valley with rolling to
mountainous terrain about 22 miles northeast of Dong Hoi, North Vietnam.

Hambone 1 radioed Hambone 2 that he was encountering heavy and accurate ground
fire. Fifteen seconds later, Apodaca acknowledged the warning and reported that
his aircraft had been hit. Hambone 1 advised Apodaca to exit the area and head
for the coast (where a safer at-sea rescue could occur). Moments later, Hambone
2 reported that it was experiencing control and hydraulics problems. The last
message from Hambone 2 gave the direction of the aircraft and its altitude,
which was 16,000 feet.

Seconds later, emergency signals were received for about 25 seconds, but it was
not possible to determine whether one or two radio signals were broadcasting,
nor could the precise point of origination be determined. Hambone 1, critically
low on fuel, was forced to return to base.

An electronic search was conducted, but suspended due to darkness, bad weather
and heavy anti-aircraft fire. During the search, no electronic or visual
contact was made and no evidence of the aircraft was found.

The Air Force told the families they could not determine whether or not the men
survived. Neither man was among the prisoners released in 1973 from Vietnam,
and the Hanoi government denies any knowledge of them for 20 years.

On November 12, 1973, a refugee reported the death of an American airman which
occurred in Bo Trach District, Quang Binh Province, North Vietnam at about 1500
hours one day in June 1967. According to the report, a U.S. F4 jet flying with
about five other jets bombing a bridge on Route 1A was hit by 37mm
anti-aircraft fire, crashed into Doi Troc Hill in Chanh Hoa II village. The
source further stated that an airman bailed out and landed in a forest near the
same village. At about 1530 hours, the refugee went to where the airman landed
and saw his body lying in the grass. He was told by villagers that
approximately 10 minutes after the airman had landed, militiamen from the
village found him hiding in a bamboo thicket and captured him. The villagers
then watched as the militiamen beat the American to death with hoes and bamboo
sticks.

The refugee said he observed the dead American for about 10 minutes from a
distance of about 5 meters. He described the airman as a caucasian, about 45
years old, 5' 11" tall, weighing about 220 pounds with fair complexion, short
blonde hair, a moustache about one centimeter long and a heavy beard. He was
unable to identify the airman from photos of the missing. JCRC correlated the
report to the Busch/Apodaca incident.

In the spring of 1988, remains identified as Jon Busch, a burned map, three
pieces of bone (which were identified as non-human by a Vietnamese
anthropologist) and a charred and battered nameplate bearing Apodaca's name
were returned to Presidential Envoy General John Vessey.

Busch's remains were positively identified by the U.S. Army Central
Identification Laboratory in Hawaii, based largely on the correlation of the
refugee report, which evidently matched information given over by the
Vietnamese with the remains. The status of "Box 19", which purportedly hold the
effects of Victor Apodaca Jr, are still unknown to his family.

There are serious discrepancies in the refugee report as it relates to Busch
and Apodaca. Jon Busch has red hair, not blonde. Vic Apodaca has black hair.
Both men were clean shaven, and were forbidden by the Air Force to grow a
beard. The Hambone flight departed at 5 p.m. in the evening, while the CIA
report claimed the airman was killed at 3:30 p.m. just following his landing.
The Hambone flight, while armed, was not involved in a bombing mission at all.
Jon Busch was declared dead in 1967. Victor Apodaca was declared dead three
days after the CIA received the refugee report.

The Apodaca family was never given the report by the U.S. Government. They
discovered the report through a Freedom of Information Act request they filed
in 1985. To many observers, there is a serious problem with the identification
of these remains. Many will retain Jon Busch on the lists of missing because
the discrepancies are too outrageous to make the correlation possible.

Jon Busch and Vic Apodaca are two of nearly 2500 Americans who were declared
missing in Southeast Asia. Thousands of reports add to the evidence that
perhaps hundreds of them are still held prisoner of war. Perhaps Jon and Vic
died on the day of the crash of their aircraft. But, perhaps they did not. If
the remains returned are not Jon Busch's, who will be looking for him? Not the
U.S. Government. His case is officially closed. Vic Apodaca's family wants the
truth. His sister Dolores says, "I won't just let them bury his memory based on
some report with that many discrepancies. It's been 22 years, but none of us
are so tired that we'll drop this without a fight."

Victor Joe Apodaca, Jr. was appointed to the Air Force Academy in 1957. He was
the first Spanish/American/Navajo Indian to attend the Academy.



APPELHANS, RICHARD DUANE

Name: Richard Duane Appelhans
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 29 October 1937
Home City of Record: Dodson MT
Date of Loss: 16 October 1967
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 160600N 1072300E (XC961808)
Status (In 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: RF4C

Other Personnel In Incident: George W. Clarke (captured)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS: NEGATIVE SAR CONTACT

SYNOPSIS: When North Vietnam began to increase their military strength in South
Vietnam, NVA and Viet Cong troops again intruded on neutral Laos for sanctuary,
as the Viet Minh had done during the war with the French some years before. The
border road, termed the "Ho Chi Minh Trail" was used for transporting weapons,
supplies and troops. Hundreds of American pilots were shot down trying to stop
this communist traffic to South Vietnam. Fortunately, search and rescue teams
in Vietnam were extremely successful and the recovery rate was high.

Still there were nearly 600 who were not rescued. Many of them went down along
the Ho Chi Minh Trail and the passes through the border mountains between Laos
and Vietnam. Many were alive on the ground and in radio contact with search and
rescue and other planes; some were known to have been captured. Hanoi's
communist allies in Laos, the Pathet Lao, publicly spoke of American prisoners
they held, but when peace agreements were negotiated, Laos was not included,
and not a single American was released that had been held in Laos.

On October 16, 1967, the RF4C Phantom reconnaissance jet flown by Capt. Richard
D. Appelhans disappeared while flying over Saravane Province, Laos. Flying as
backseater on this flight was Capt. George W. Clarke.

Radio and radar contact with the aircraft was lost at grid coordinates
XC961808, which is located in the northeast portion of Saravane Province, Laos.
Aerial searches were conducted, but no trace of the missing aircraft or its
crew were found.

American POWs who were released early (1968) reported that they had seen George
Clarke as a prisoner, and all stated that they last saw him alive. A number of
reports relating to Clarke were received by his parents, and his status was
changed from Missing in Action to Prisoner of War. No further information was
received on Richard Appelhans.

Just before December 1971, Clarke's wife was informed by the Air Force that "it
had come to their attention" that her husband needed eyeglasses. Mrs. Clarke
has a photograph of an individual in captivity she believes is her husband.

The U.S. maintains Clarke's case among those called "discrepancy" cases which
are regularly presented to the Vietnamese as those that could be resolved.

Were it not for the thousands of reports concerning Americans still held captive
in Southeast Asia, the Clarke and Appelhans families might be able to close this
tragic chapter of their lives. But as long as Americans are alive, being held
captive, Clarke and Appelhans could be among them. It's time we brought these
men home.

Both Clarke and Appelhans were promoted to the rank of Major during the period
they were maintained Prisoner of War and Missing in Action.



APPLEBY, IVAN DALE

Name: Ivan Dale Appleby
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit: 555th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Ubon AF TH
Date of Birth: 13 September 1930
Home City of Record: Fresno CA (Family in AZ, CO)
Date of Loss: 07 October 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 204000N 1050800E (WH156796)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D

Other Personnel In Incident: William R. Austin (Returned POW)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 31 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: Major Ivan D. Appleby was the pilot of an F4D aircraft flying a photo
reconnaissance escort mission over North Vietnam in October 1967. His backseater
was Capt. William R. Austin II. Austin and Appleby were onboard the lead
aircraft in a flight of F4D Phantom fighter jets.

When the flight was over Hoi Binh Province about 25 miles southwest of the city
of Hoi Binh, it encountered intense hostile fire which inflicted heavy damage to
the lead aircraft. The aircraft began burning and went out of control. One
parachute was observed prior to the aircraft crashing into a hill.

The U.S. later learned that Austin had been captured, but Appleby's fate
remained uncertain. He was listed Missing in Action.

When American prisoners were released in 1973, Austin was among them, but
Appleby was not. In late 1976, based on no information to indicate he was alive,
Appleby was presumptively declared dead.

Nearly 2500 Americans did not come home from the war in Vietnam. Unlike "MIAs"
from previous wars, most of these men and women can be accounted for. Some
hundred were known to be held as prisoners, and some were photographed in
captivity. Others were alive and well the last time they were heard from,
describing an advancing enemy.

Years after our military involvement ended, reports of Americans held captive
continue to mount. Thousands of reports have been received related to Americans
missing in Southeast Asia, and many government officials now believe that
hundreds are still being held prisoner. The U.S. Government continues to press
the Vietnamese for information, as it has for nearly 20 years. The U.S. views
the problem as humanitarian, while the Vietnamese are concerned with
reconstruction aid promised by the United States in signed agreements, but not
delivered. Until we are willing to negotiate for their release, these Americans
will die in communist prisons wondering why their country abandoned them.


Ivan D. Appleby was promoted to the rank of Colonel during the period he was
maintained missing.
ARCURI, WILLIAM YOUL

Name: William Youl Arcuri
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit: 307th Strat Wing, Utapao
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Satellite Beach FL
Date of Loss: 20 December 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 210500N 1054000E (WJ692313)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: B52G

Other Personnel In Incident: Terry M. Geloneck; Roy Madden Jr.; Michael R.
Martini (all released POWs); Craig A. Paul; Warren R. Spencer (both remains
returned)

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, including "Linebacker" by Karl J. Eschmann.

REMARKS: 730212 RELSD BY DRV - INJ

SYNOPSIS: Frustrated by problems in negotiating a peace settlement, and
pressured by a Congress and public wanting an immediate end to American
involvement in Vietnam, President Nixon ordered the most concentrated air
offensive of the war, known as Linebacker II, in December 1972. During the
offensive, sometimes called the "Christmas bombings," 40,000 tons of bombs were
dropped, primarily over military targets in the area between Hanoi and Haiphong.
White House Press Secretary Ronald Ziegler said that the bombing would end only
when all U.S. POWs were released and an internationally recognized cease-fire
was in force.

The Christmas Bombings were of the most precise the world had seen. Pilots
involved in the immense series of strikes generally agree that the strikes
against anti-aircraft and strategic targets was so successful that the U.S.
"could have taken the entire country of Vietnam by inserting an average Boy
Scout troop in Hanoi and marching it southward."

The operation had its costs, however, in loss of aircraft and personnel. During
the month of December 1972, 62 crewmembers of B52 aircraft were shot down and
captured or went missing. Of these 62, 33 men were released in 1973. The remains
of roughly a dozen more have been returned over the years, and the rest are
still missing. At least 10 those missing survived to eject safely. Yet they did
not return at the end of the war.

On December 20, 1972, three B52 aircraft -- Quilt Cell -- departed Utapao
Airbase, Thailand for a bombing mission over Hanoi. One of the aircraft was
flown by Capt. Terry M. Geloneck. The crew consisted of 1Lt. William Y. Arcuri,
co-pilot; Capt. Craig A. Paul, Electronic Warfare Officer; Capt. Warren R.
Spencer, the radar navigator; 1LT Michael R. Martini, navigator; and SSgt. Roy
Madden, the gunner.

Approaching the initial point where the bombing run was to begin, the EWO (Paul)
reported SAM signals. The aircraft instituted evasive maneuvers while calmly
running through their checklist in preparation of releasing the twenty-seven
750-pound bomb load.

About 30 seconds to target, three or four SAMs were sighted. The crew could do
nothing but watch their progress until the "bombs away" was called and evasive
action could be taken. After releasing the bomb load, the aircraft had been in a
hard turn about 10 seconds when the loud metallic bank of an exploding SAM hit
them, accompanied by a bright white flash. The aircraft was still airborne and
in its post-target turn.

Martini reported that he, Arcuri and Spencer were okay, but that they had
sustained a fuel leak in the left main fuel tank, and that cabin pressurization
was lost. Paul had been hit and was bleeding heavily. There were four six-inch
holes in the fuselage next to Madden, and his leg was shattered.

As the aircraft began losing altitude, the crew prepared for bailout. Geloneck,
Arcuri, Martini and Madden successfully ejected from the aircraft and were
captured immediately. It is not known whether Spencer and Paul ejected.

When they were released in mid-February, 1973, Madden, Martini, Arcuri and
Geloneck were all injured; Madden's leg was still in dangerous condition, and he
was brought home on a litter. The leg was later amputated. The Vietnamese
returned the remains of Paul and Spencer on September 30, 1977, despite earlier
protestations that they knew nothing about the two.

One thing that amazed analysts about the B52 bombers that were shot down over
Hanoi during this period was the high survival rate of the crewmembers. Many
more were returned as POWs than was expected. The B52s that were shot down were
downed in extremely hostile territory with little or no chance of rescue.
However, they were fortunate to be captured during a period in which little or
no harassment and torture was being experienced by American POWs. In fact, the
Vietnamese were "fattening them up" for their imminent release.

Unfortunately, it does not appear that all the prisoners were returned in 1973
at the end of the war. Since the end of the war, thousands of reports have been
received by the U.S. Government relating to Americans still alive in captivity.
U.S. experts have stated they believe Americans are still being held prisoner in
Southeast Asia. The question is no longer whether any are alive, but who are
they, and how can we bring them home?

ARD, RANDOLPH JEFFERSON

Name: Randolph Jefferson Ard
Rank/Branch: W1/US Army
Unit: Headquarters & Headquarters Company, 1st Brigade, 5th Infantry Division
(Mechanized)
Date of Birth: 16 June 1951 (Pensacola FL)
Home City of Record: West Pensacola FL
Date of Loss: 07 March 1971
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 163700N 1063250E (XD653388)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: OH58A

Other Personnel In Incident: Phil Bodenhorn; Jerry Castillo (rescued); Sheldon
J. Burnett (missing); Mike Castro (fate unknown)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 September 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: LAM SON 719 was a large offensive operation against NVA communications
lines in Laos in the region adjacent to the two northern provinces of South
Vietnam. The operation was a raid in which ARVN troops would drive west from Khe
Sanh on Route 9, cut the Ho Chi Minh Trail, seize Tchpone, some 25 miles away,
and then return to Vietnam. The ARVN would provide and command the ground
forces, while U.S. Army and Air Force would furnish aviation airlift and
supporting firepower. The 101st Airborne Division (Airmobile) commanded all U.S.
Army aviation units in direct support of the operation.

Most of the first part of the operation, begun January 30, 1971 was called
Operation DEWEY CANYON II, and was conducted by U.S. ground forces in Vietnam.
The ARVN met their halfway point on February 11 and moved into position for the
attack across the Laotian border.

On 8 February, ARVN began pushing along Route 9 into Laos. The NVA reacted
fiercely, committing some 36,000 troops to the area. The ARVN held its
positions supported by U.S. airstrikes and resupply runs by Army helicopters.

President Nguyen Van Thieu ordered a helicopter assault on Tchepone, and the
abandoned village was seized March 6. Two weeks of hard combat were necessary
for the ARVN task force to fight its way back to Vietnam.

Randy Ard had been in Vietnam only a few weeks when an emergency call came in
for him to fly the squadron commander to a platoon command post to work his way
down to his Third Platoon, which was in ambush in the northwest segment of South
Vietnam. He flew his Kiowa Scout chopper from the 5th Mech and picked up LtCol.
Sheldon Burnett, the squadron commander; Capt. Phil Bodenhorn, Alpha Company
commander; and SP4 Mike Castro, Third Platoon RTO.

Ard mistakenly flew past the command post and west into Laos. Seeing yellow
marking smoke, he took the chopper down lower. It was too late to pull up when
they heard the sound of an RPD machine gun and AK-47's. They had been tricked
into a North Vietnamese ambush.

The helicopter went down fast, and smashed into the brush, coming down on its
side (or upside down, depending on the version of the account). Ard and Burnett
were trapped in the wreckage, but alive. Ard got on the radio and began mayday
calls. Bodenhorn and Castillo, who had been in the rear seat, got out of the
aircraft. Bodenhorn managed to free Art, but he had two broken legs and possibly
a broken hip. Burnett was completely pinned within the wreckage and injured, but
alive. Bodenhorn and Castillo positioned themselves on opposite sides of the
aircraft for security and expended all the colored smoke grenades they had,
marking their position for rescue.

[Note: Mike Castro's name appears in one account of this incident, but his fate
is not given. He does not appear in a second account from the U.S. Army Casualty
Board.]

Bodenhorn and Castillo soon heard North Vietnamese approaching, and killed these
Vietnamese. The two listened for nearly an hour as others advanced towards their
position from two directions, and 155 artillery rounds impacted very near them.
They couldn't understand why they were not being rescued, unless it was because
the enemy was so close to them. A helicopter flew over, but took heavy fire and
left. They decided to leave Ard and Burnett and escape themselves. They told
Ard, who nodded wordlessly. Burnett was drifting in and out of consciousness.
Both men were alive.

Bodenhorn and Castillo worked their way to 80 yards away when a UH1C came in on
a single run, firing flechette rockets which seemed to explode right on the
downed chopper. Later, they watched an F4 roll in for a one-bomb strike over the
crash site. Ard and Burnett were surely dead.

Bodenhorn and Castillo were rescued by ARVN troops an hour later. Ard and
Burnett were classified Missing In Action. The story was released to reporters at
Khe Sanh three days later. The army spokesman accurately described the ambush,
but told the press that Burnett had been in radio contact with the ambushed
platoon, and that he and Ard had appeared dead to the two escaping officers. The
names of the survivors were not released.

General Sutherland stated, ".. the decision was not made to employ the Air
Cavalry and the Hoc Bao to attempt to retrieve either LtCol. Burnett alive or
his body. ..Burnett had no mission nor units in Laos. He had no reason or
authority to take his helicopter over the Laotian border."

After 11 days of heavy resistance, the 11th ARVN Airborne Battalion fought their
way into the area where the helicopter had crashed. The searched the wreckage
and the surrounding area for several days, but found no sign of the two missing
men or any of their belongings or anything to indicate that either man was
buried in the area.

In 1989, a large part of this loss incident was still classified.

There can be no question that Randy Ard and Sheldon Burnett were abandoned by
the country they served.

Losses in LAM SON 719 were heavy. The ARVN suffered some 9,000 casualties,
almost 50% of their force. U.S. forces incurred some 1,462 casualties. Aviation
units lost 168 helicopters; another 618 were damaged. Fifty-five aircrewmen were
killed in action , 178 were wounded and 34 were missing in action. There were
19,360 known enemy casualties for the operation lasting until April 6, 1971.

Nearly 600 Americans were lost in Laos during the war in Vietnam. Although the
Pathet Lao stated on several occasions they held "tens of tens" of American
prisoners, Laos was not included in the agreements ending American involvement
in the war, and the U.S. has not negotiated for the freedom of these men since
that day. Consequently, not one American held in Laos has ever been released.

These Americans, too, were abandoned.
ARMISTEAD, STEVEN RAY

Name: Steven Ray Armistead
Rank/Branch: O2/US Marine Corps
Unit: VMA 533, Marine Air Group 12
Date of Birth: 15 June 1944
Home City of Record: Los Angeles CA
Date of Loss: 17 March 1969
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 161900N 1063300E (XD530190)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A6A

Other Personnel In Incident: Charles E. Finney (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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 Grumman A6 Intruder is a two-man all weather, low-altitude,
carrier based attack plane, with versions adapted as aerial tanker and
electronic warfare platform. The A6A primarily flew close-air-support, all
weather and night attacks on enemy troop concentrations, and night interdiction
missions. Its advanced navigation and attack system, known as DIANE (Digital
Integrated Attack navigation Equipment) allowed small precision targets, such as
bridges, barracks and fuel depots to be located and attacked in all weather
conditions, day or night. The planes were credited with some of the most
difficult single-plane strikes in the war, including the destruction of the Hai
Duong bridge between Hanoi and Haiphong by a single A6. Their missions were
tough, but their crews among the most talented and most courageous to serve the
United States.

1LT Steven R. Armistead was the pilot and Capt. Charles E. Finney was the
bombardier/navigator on board an A6A Intruder aircraft sent on a night mission
over Laos on March 17, 1969. The mission was in support of air activity being
conducted by the 7th Air Force.

When the aircraft had completed its target strike, it was hit by enemy fire and
went down near the city of Muong Nong, located southwest of the demilitarized
zone (DMZ), in Savannakhet Province, Laos. Air searches proved unsuccessful, and
both men were listed as Missing In Action.

The Defense Intelligence Agency further expanded Armistead's and Finney's
classifications 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.

Finney and Armistead are among nearly 600 Americans lost in the country of Laos
during the Vietnam War. Although the numbers of men actually termed "prisoner of
war" are quite low, this can be explained in understanding the blanket of
security surrounding the "secret war" the U.S. waged in Laos. To protect the
public perception that we "were not in Laos," details of many loss incidents
were "rearranged" to show a loss or casualty in South Vietnam. Only a handful of
publicly-exposed cases were ever acknowledged POW, even though scores of pilots
and ground personnel were known to have been alive and well at last contact
(thus increasing the chance they were captured alive).

The Lao communist faction, the Pathet Lao, stated on several occasions they held
"tens of tens" of American prisoners, but the Pathet Lao were not included in
the Paris Peace agreements ending American involvement in the war. Consequently,
no American POWs held in Laos were negotiated for. Not one American held in Laos
has ever been released. They were abandoned to the enemy.

Reports continue to be received that Americans are alive today, being held
captive. Whether Armistead and Finney are among them is not known. What is
certain, however, is that they deserve better than the abandonment they received
at the hands of the country they so proudly served.


Charles Finney attended the military academy at West Point, and had been named
first, to the Marine Corps Honor Guard, and later to the Silent Drill Team. He
was promoted to the rank of Captain during the period he was maintained missing.

Steven R. Armistead was promoted to the rank of Major during the period he was
missing.
ARMOND, ROBERT LAURENCE

Name: Robert Laurence Armond
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 441st Bombardment Squadron
Date of Birth: 14 May 1935
Home City of Record: San Mateo CA
Date of Loss: 18 June 1965
Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 173000N 1180000E
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: B52

Other Personnel in Incident: James A. Marshall; James M. Gehrig Jr.; Tyrrell G.
Lowry; William E. Neville; Harold J. Roberts Jr.; Frank P. Watson (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II
Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Boeing B52 Stratofortress bombers have long been the Air Force's most
important strategic bomber. Used heavily in Vietnam, the venerable aircraft
continued its role throughout the Southeast Asia conflict and played an
important role in the Persian Gulf war two decades later.

On June 18, 1965, two B52 aircraft were performing a mission over the South
China Sea when they collided. The aircraft were approximately 250 miles offshore
at the point of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) when the accident occurred.
Apparently the crew of one of the aircraft survived or were recovered, but the
entire crew of the second remain missing.

The missing crew includes pilots Capt. Robert L. Armond and 1Lt. James A.
Marshall, and crewmembers Maj. James M. Gehrig, Capt. Tyrrell G. Lowry, Capt.
Frank P. Watson, TSgt. William E. Neville, and MSgt. Harold J. Roberts Jr.

All the crew and passengers on board the B52 downed that day were confirmed
dead. It is unfortunate, but a cold reality of war that their remains were not
recoverable. They are listed with honor among the missing because their remains
cannot be buried with honor at home.

Others who are missing do not have such clear-cut cases. Some were known
captives; some were photographed as they were led by their guards. Some were in
radio contact with search teams, while others simply disappeared.

Since the war ended, over 250,000 interviews have been conducted with those who
claim to know about Americans still alive in Southeast Asia, and several million
documents have been studied. U.S. Government experts cannot seem to agree
whether Americans are there alive or not. Detractors say it would be far too
politically difficult to bring the men they believe to be alive home, and the
U.S. is content to negotiate for remains.

Well over 1000 first-hand, eye-witness reports of American prisoners still alive
in Southeast Asia have been received by 1990. Most of them are still classified.
If, as the U.S. seems to believe, the men are all dead, why the secrecy after so
many years? If the men are alive, why are they not home?


ARMSTRONG, FRANK ALTON III

Name: Frank Alton Armstrong III
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit: 1st Air Commando Squadron
Date of Birth: 07 March 1930
Home City of Record: Shreveport LA
Date of Loss: 06 October 1967
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 143757N 1072758E
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: A1E

Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II
Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: The Douglas A1 Skyraider ("Spad") is a highly maneuverable, propeller
driven aircraft designed as a multipurpose attack bomber or utility aircraft.
The E model generally carried two crewmen. The A1 was first used by the Air
Force in its Tactical Air Command to equip the first Air Commando Group engaged
in counterinsurgency operations in South Vietnam, and later used in a variety of
roles, ranging from multi-seat electronic intelligence gathering to Navy
antisubmarine warfare and rescue missions. The venerable fighter aircraft was
retired in the spring of 1968 and had flown in more than twenty model
variations, probably more than any other U.S. combat aircraft.

Maj. Frank A. Armstrong III was the pilot of an A1E which was on an ordnance
delivery mission on October 6, 1967. Armstrong's was the lead aircraft in a
flight of two A1Es from the 1st Air Commando Squadron based at Pleiku, South
Vietnam.

Armstrong's aircraft was struck by hostile ground fire as the flight was in
Attopeu Province, Laos, near the tri-border area of Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.
According to other flight members, Maj. Armstrong did not have time to parachute
out of the aircraft as it crashed to the ground in an inverted position.

Frank A. Armstrong is listed among the missing because his remains were never
found to send home to the country he served. He died a tragically ironic death
in the midst of war. But, for his family, the case seems clear that he died on
that day. The fact that they have no body to bury with honor is not of great
significance.

For other who are missing, however, the evidence leads not to death, but to
survival. Since the war ended, over 10,000 reports received relating to
Americans still unaccounted for in Indochina have convinced experts that
hundreds of men are still alive, waiting for their country to rescue them. The
notion that Americans are dying without hope in the hands of a long-ago enemy
belies the idea that we left Vietnam with honor. It also signals that tens of
thousands of lost lives were a frivolous waste of our best men.


ARMSTRONG, JOHN WILLIAM

Name: John William Armstrong
Rank/Branch: O5/USAF
Unit:
Date of Birth: 05 December 1926
Home City of Record: Dallas TX
Date of Loss: 09 November 1967
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 171500N 1060800E
Status (In 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4C

Other Personnel In Incident: Lance P. Sijan (remains returned)

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: 1Lt. Lance P. Sijan was the pilot and LtCol. John W. Armstrong the
bombardier/navigator of an F4C Phantom fighter/bomber sent on a mission over
Laos on November 9, 1967.

Sijan and Armstrong were flying low over the "Ho Chi Minh Trail" when, at
approximately 9 p.m., the aircraft was hit by a surface-to-air missile (SAM) and
crashed. The two went down near the famed Mu Gia Pass, a pass in the mountainous
border region of Laos and Vietnam. It was not until nearly six years later that
it was learned what happened to Sijan and Armstrong. They were classified
Missing in Action.

Sijan evaded capture for nearly 6 weeks. During this time, he was seriously
injured and suffered from shock and extreme weight loss due to lack of food. The
extremely rugged terrain was sometimes almost impassable, but Sijan continued to
try to reach friendly forces.

After being captured by North Vietnamese forces, Sijan was taken to a holding
point for subsequent transfer to a POW camp. In his emaciated and crippled
condition, he overpowered one of his guards and crawled into the jungle, only to
be recaptured after several hours. He was then transferred to another prison
camp where he was kept in solitary confinement and interrogated at length.
During the interrogation he was severely tortured, yet did not reveal
information to his captors.

Sijan lapsed into delirium and was placed in the care of another American POW.
During intermittent periods of consciousness, he never complained of his
physical condition, and kept talking about escaping. He was barely alive, yet
continued to fight.

During the period he was cared for, he also told the story of his shootdown and
evasion to other Americans. After their release, his incredible story was told
in "Into the Mouth of the Cat," an account written by Malcolm McConnell from
stories brought back by returning American POWs.

Sijan related to fellow POWs that the aircraft had climbed to approximately
10,000 feet after being struck. Sijan bailed out, but was unable to see what
happened to LTC Armstrong because of the darkness.

In 1977, a Pathet Lao defector, who claimed to have been a prison camp guard,
stated he had been guarding several Americans. According to his report, one was
named "Armstrong." There are only two Armstrongs listed as MIA. There is little
question that the other Armstrong died at the time of his crash. The Defense
Intelligence Agency places no validity in this report.

Sijan was finally removed from the care of other POWs and they were told he was
being taken to a hospital. They never saw him again. His remains were returned
on March 13, 1974.

In the early 1980's, LtCol. James "Bo" Gritz conducted a number of missions into
Laos attempting to obtain positive proof of live POWs there, or better, to
secure the release of at least one POW. Although Gritz failed to free any POWs,
he returned with a wealth of information on Americans. One thing Gritz recovered
was a U.S. Air Force Academy for the class of 1965, inscribed with the name
"Lance Peter Sijan." The ring was returned to Sijan's family in Wisconsin.

Lance Sijan was captured by the North Vietnamese. It is theorized that since the
Pathet Lao also operated throughout Laos, it is possible that Armstrong, if he
was captured, was captured by the Pathet Lao.

Although the Pathet Lao stated publicly they held "tens of tens" of American
POWs, the U.S. never negotiated their release because the U.S. did not
officially recognize the Pathet Lao as a governmental entity. Consequently,
nearly 600 Americans lost in Laos disappeared. Not one American held by the Lao
was ever released.

Lance P. Sijan graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1965. He was
promoted to the rank of Captain during his captivity, and was awarded the
Congressional Medal for his extraordinary heroism during his evasion and
captivity. Sijan became legendary in his escape attempts and endurance, even to
his Vietnamese captors.

John W. Armstrong graduated from Westpoint in 1949. He was promoted to the rank
of Colonel during the period he was maintained Missing in Action. The U.S.
believes that the Lao or the Vietnamese can account for him, alive or dead.


ARNOLD, WILLIAM TAMM

Name: William Tamm Arnold
Rank/Branch: O2/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 22, USS CORAL SEA (CVA 43)
Date of Birth: 25 June 1940 (Milwaukee WI)
Home City of Record: West Allis WI (family in AZ)
Date of Loss: 18 November 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 173415N 1063230E (XE590575)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A4C

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: AIRCRAFT DOWNED AT SEA

SYNOPSIS: Lt. William T. Arnold was a pilot assigned to Attack Squadron 22
onboard the aircraft carrier USS CORAL SEA. On November 8, 1966, Arnold was
flying as wingman in an A4C Skyhawk aircraft, "Beef Eater 222", during a coastal
weather reconnaissance mission.

The flight approached the North Vietnamese coast 15 to 20 miles south of Cap Mui
Ron. The weather was overcast and was solid up to approximately 7,000 feet.
Flying beneath the overcast approximately 7 miles from the coast, the flight
leader determined that the cloud base was of sufficient height to effect a
bombing maneuver. The flight leader completed his maneuver, staying beneath the
overcast, and was turning east when he heard the transmission, "I'm in the
clouds, coming down." The leader looked back, but did not see Arnold's aircraft.
The flight leader called to Arnold but received no response. He saw no evidence
of an ejection nor any debris which would indicate a crash.

Search and rescue efforts were initiated from the USS CORAL SEA, but were
negative. It is the assumption of the wingman that Arnold became disoriented in
his maneuver and in trying to recover, crashed into the sea. Further, the
possibility that he ejected in the proximity of land and was captured was
considered very remote. Arnold's last known location, however, was quite near
the coast of North Vietnam off Quang Binh Province, just south of the halfway
point between the cities of Quang Khe and Dong Hoi.

A report was received from the Vietnamese that a pilot parachuted down on shore
in the general vicinity of Arnold's disappearance, hit his head on a rock which
killed him and was then buried. This report was tentatively correlated with
Arnold's case, although the date of this alleged event was in December, and did
not match date-wise to Arnold's loss.

Even though Bill Arnold was not thought to have been captured, he was not
declared dead for over 12 years. His case was among 200 "discrepancy cases" sent
with Presidential emissary General John Vessey to Vietnam -- cases which the
Vietnamese should readily be able to resolve.

The fact is, we don't know exactly what happened to Bill Arnold on November 18,
1966. The U.S. Government felt there is sufficient doubt that he died to declare
him Missing in Action instead of dead, and enough chance that the Vietnamese
know his fate to have twice presented information on the case to them for
resolution.

Nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asia have been
received by the U.S. since the war ended. Many officials who have reviewed this
largely classified information have concluded that hundreds of Americans are
still alive in captivity. Whether Bill Arnold is one of them is unknown. But as
long as even one American remains alive, held against his will, we have a legal
and moral obligation to see that he is free. It's time our men came home.

ARROYA-BAEZ, GERASIMO
Remains Returned 20 March 1985

Name: Gerasimo Arroya-Baez
Rank/Branch: E6/US Army
Unit: MAT IV-49, MACV Advisory Team 71
Date of Birth: 05 February 1931
Home City of Record: Maunabo, Puerto Rico
Date of Loss: 24 March 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 093339N 1054938E (WR908569)
Status (In 1973): Prisoner of War
Category: 1
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel In Incident: Richard L. Bowers (prisoner of war)

REMARKS: 720822 DIC - ON PRG DIC LIST

SYNOPSIS: Gerasimo Arroya-Baez and Richard L. Bowers, two U.S. advisors, two
other Americans and a number of ARVN personnel were on duty at Tam Soc
operating base in Ba Xuayn Province, near Saigon. The base personnel awoke
early on the morning of March 24, 1969, to find the unit under attack by what
was estimated to be a company-sized Viet Cong force and a heavy weapons
sections using mortars, automatic weapons, small arms and B40 rockets.

Richard Bowers was heard on the radio calling for help when the radio went
dead. A relief force was sent out to help. When it arrived, all the Vietnamese
defenders of Tam Due Operations Base were found dead, along with two Americans.
Bowers and Arroya-Baez, the American advisors, were not to be found.

A Vietnamese civilian who had been captured and later escaped stated that
Bowers and Arroya-Baez had been taken prisoner, dressed in black pajamas, and
were seen being led off into the jungle. Numerous intelligence reports were
received concerning two U.S. POWs fitting the descriptions of Bowers and
Arroya-Baez, that were seen by ARVN and VC personnel at different times and
locations after their capture, some conflicting. A Vietnamese who was captured
and escaped stated that Arroya-Baez was alive but that Bowers had been shot the
day of capture. The combination of the most credible reports indicate that
Bowers and Arroya-Baez were captured during the battle, but in the confusion
were able to escape. The were located by the Viet Cong, however, on the same
evening. The next day, a VC guard killed Bowers after he had again attempted to
escape.

After it was determined that Bowers was dead, the guard and Arroya-Baez
departed with the rest of their group and were forced to travel a number of
days by foot and sampan.

The files of Bowers and Arroya-Baez are still classified. Gerasimo
Arroya-Baez's name appeared on the "Died in Captivity" list provided by the
Provisional Government of Vietnam in 1973, and it was stated that he died in
captivity August 22, 1972. Fourteen years later, in March 1985, the Vietnamese
"discovered" the remains of Arroya-Baez and returned them to the U.S. They have
yet to "discover" the fate or remains of Richard Lee Bowers.

ASHALL, ALAN FREDERICK

Name: Alan Frederick Ashall
Rank/Branch: O2/US Navy Reserves
Unit: Attack Squadron 85, USS AMERICA (CVA 60)
Date of Birth: 06 June 1943
Home City of Record: Billings MT
Date of Loss: 29 August 1968
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 185300N 1052300E
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: A6B

Other Personnel In Incident: Robert R. Duncan (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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: SURVIVAL UNLIKELY

SYNOPSIS: Lt.JG Robert R. Duncan was a pilot and Lt.JG Alan F. Ashall a
bombardier/navigator assigned to Attack Squadron 85 onboard the aircraft carrier
USS AMERICA (CVA 60). On August 29, 1968 he launched from the aircraft carrier
in their A6B Intruder on an armed reconnaissance mission in the Vinh Son area of
North Vietnam.

Duncan and Ashall launched at 1:00 a.m. and proceeded to their assigned station.
Three surface-to-air missiles (SAM) were observed in the area. A transmission
was received from the aircraft reporting that they were experiencing radion
trouble, and then a transmission that sounded like, "SAMs in the air" followed
by "We shot a missile" or "I got a missile". No distress signals were received
and efforts to contact them were unsuccessful.

Search and rescue efforts were initiated immediately, but the results were
negative. There was a large fireball observed on the ground in the vicinity
where the aircraft disappeared. It was suspected that the aircraft took a direct
or disabling hit by one of the three SAMs or collided with the terrain while
attempting to avoid the enemy fire.

Duncan and Ashall were classified Missing in Action. The Defense Intelligence
Agency further expanded their 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.

The Commander of the Seventh Fleet, Vice Admiral William F. Bringle,
acknowledged that the missions required of the A6 pilots over North Vietnam were
among "the most demanding missions we have ever asked our aircrews to fly."
However, he added, "there is an abundance of talent, courage and aggressive
leadership" in the A6 squadrons.

Now, nearly 20 years later, men like Duncan and Ashall are all but forgotten
except by friends, family and fellow veterans. The U.S. "priority" placed on
determining their fates pales in comparison to the results it has achieved.

Since Duncan and Ashall went down, nearly 10,000 reports have been received by
the U.S. relating to Americans who are still prisoner, missing or unaccounted
for in Southeast Asia. Many officials who have seen this largely classified
information are now convinced that hundreds of Americans are still alive in
captivity. Whether Duncan and Ashall are among them is not known. What is
certain, however, is that we, as a nation, are guilty of the abandonment of
nearly 2500 of our best and most courageous men. We cannot forget, and must do
everything in our power to bring these men home.
ASHBY, CLAYBORN WILLIS, JR

Name: Clayborn Willis Ashby, Jr.
Rank/Branch: E5/US Navy
Unit: Observation Squadron 67
Date of Birth: 16 November 1946
Home City of Record: Louisville KY
Date of Loss: 17 February 1968
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 164959N 1055858E (XD030612)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: OP2E
Other Personnel In Incident: Chester Coons, Frank Dawson; Paul Donato; Glen
Hayden; James Kravitz; James Martin; Curtis Thurman; James Wonn (all missing)

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: 1 March 1990

REMARKS: CRASH FND - NO PARBEEP - NO PERS - J

SYNOPSIS: The Lockheed P2 "Neptune" was originally designed for submarine
searching, using magnetic detection gear or acoustic buoys. Besides flying
maritime reconnaissance, the aircraft served as an experimental night attack
craft in the attempt to interdict the movement of enemy truck convoys. Another
model, the OP2E, dropped electronic sensors to detect truck movements along the
supply route through Laos known as the "Ho Chi Minh Trail".

The Ho Chi Minh Trail was used by the North Vietnamese for transporting weapons,
supplies and troops. Hundreds of American pilots were shot down trying to stop
this communist traffic to South Vietnam. Fortunately, search and rescue teams in
Vietnam were extremely successful and the recovery rate was high.

Still there were nearly 600 who were not rescued. Many of them went down along
the Ho Chi Minh Trail and the passes through the border mountains between Laos
and Vietnam. Many were alive on the ground and in radio contact with search
and rescue and other planes; some were known to have been captured. Hanoi's
communist allies in Laos, the Pathet Lao, publicly spoke of American prisoners
they held, but when peace agreements were negotiated, Laos was not included,
and not a single American was released that had been held in Laos.

The Neptune had precise navigational equipment and accurate optical bombsight.
Radar was housed in a well on the nose underside of the aircraft, and radar
technicians felt especially vulnerable working in this glass bubble nosed
aircraft. The aircraft could place seismic or acoustic devices within a few
yards of the desired point. To do so, however, the OP2E had to fly low and
level, making it an easy target for the enemy's anti-aircraft guns that were
increasing in number along the Trail.

On February 17, 1968, an OP2E from Observation Squadron 67 departed Thailand in
a flight of four aircraft on an operational mission over Laos. The crew of the
aircraft included Commander Glenn M. Hayden; Lt.Jg. James S. Kravitz; Lt. Curtis
F. Thurman; Ensign James C. Wonn; AO2 Clayborn W. Ashby, Jr.; ADJ2 Chester L.
Coons; AN Frank A. Dawson; ATN1 Paul N. Donato; and AN James E. Martin.

After completion of the first target run, the aircraft reported to its fighter
escort and forward air control aircraft that it had been hit by small arms fire
but would continue with the second target run.

During the second run, the fighter escort reported the starboard engine of the
OP2 on fire. The OP acknowledged the report and aborted the rest of their
mission to return to home base. The last radio transmission from the aircraft
was, "we're beat up pretty bad."

The fighter escort climbed to the top of the overcast to await the OP2
rendezvous, but the aircraft never emerged from the cloud base. The fighter
dropped below the clouds to search for the OP2 and found burning wreckage. No
parachutes were seen, nor were any emergency radio beepers heard. Search and
rescue efforts were negative. Investigation of the crash site was not feasible
because of enemy presence in the area. The aircraft crashed about 34 kilometers
northwest of Xepone in Savannakhet Province, Laos. The crash site was situated
2,800 meters south of Route 91 in rugged terrain on the side of a 550 meter
ridge, approximately 4 kilometers northwest of Muang Phin. The aircraft was on
a reconnaissance mission and carried no ordnance.

Because there was no direct witness to the crash of the OP2, it is not known
whether any of the crew of nine survived, but it was assumed that they did not.
All nine aboard were classified Killed, Body Not Recovered. Although this
aircraft went down in a relatively populous area, it is not known whether the
enemy knows the fates of the crewmembers.

Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing in
Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. Government. Many authorities have
reluctantly concluded that hundreds of them are still alive in captivity.
Whether the crew of the Neptune that went down on February 17, 1968 is among
them is not known. What seems certain, however, is that we must do everything
possible to bring our men home.
ASHLOCK, CARLOS

Name: Carlos Ashlock
Rank/Branch: E4/US Marine Corps
Unit: D/1/5, 1st Marine Division
Date of Birth: 19 May 1945
Home City of Record: Philadelphia PA
Date of Loss: 12 May 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 154100N 1081600E (BT095364)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: ground
Other Personnel in Incident: Jose Agosto-Santos (Released POW)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: For Americans captured in South Vietnam, daily life could be expected
to be brutally difficult. Primarily, these men suffered from disease induced by
an unfamiliar and inadequate diet - dysentery, edema, skin fungus and eczema.
The inadequate diet coupled with inadequate medical care led to the deaths of
many. Besides dietary problems, these POWs had other problems as well. They
were moved regularly to avoid being in areas that would be detected by U.S.
troops, and occasionally found themselves in the midst of U.S. bombing strikes.
Supply lines to the camps were frequently cut off, and when they were, POWs and
guards alike suffered. Unless they were able to remain in one location long
enough to grow vegetable crops and tend small animals, their diet was limited
to rice and what they could gather from the jungle.

In addition to the primitive lifestyle imposed on these men, their Viet Cong
guards could be particularly brutal in their treatment. For any minor
infraction, including conversation with other POWs, the Americans were
psychologically and physically tortured. American POWs brought back stories of
having been buried; held for days in a cage with no protection from insects and
the environment; having had water and food withheld; being shackled and beaten.
The effects of starvation and torture frequently resulted in hallucinations and
extreme disorientation. Men were reduced to animals, relying on the basic
instinct of survival as their guide. After months in this psychological
condition, many POWs, lucky to survive, discovered that they were infinitely
better treated if they became docile and helpful prisoners. Unlike in the
North, the POWs in the south did not as naturally assume a military order among
themselves - perhaps because the preponderance of POWs in the North were
officers as opposed to a larger community of enlisted men in the South - and
frequently, there was no strong leader to encourage resistance and to bring
the comfort of order to a chaotic existance.

From the camps in the South came the group of American POWs ultimately charged
with collaboration with the enemy. These charges were later dropped, but are
indicative of the strong survival instinct inherent in man, and the need for
strong leadership. It is common knowledge that nearly all POWs "violated" the
Military Code of Conduct in one way or another; some to greater degrees than
others. Those who resisted utterly, the record shows, were executed or killed
in more horrible ways.

Americans tended to be moved from camp to camp in groups. One of the groups in
South Vietnam contained a number of Americans whose fates are varied.

Capt. William "Ike" Eisenbraun was attached to the 17th Infantry regiment of
the Seventh Division ("Buffalos") when he fought in Korea. He was awarded a
Purple Heart for wounds received in Korea. In 1961, Capt. Eisenbraun
volunteered for duty in Vietnam because he believed in what we were trying to
accomplish there. He was one of the earliest to go to Southeast Asia as an
advisor to the Royal Lao and South Vietnamese Armies.

On his fourth tour of duty, Eisenbraun served as Senior Advisor, Headquarters
MACV, SQ5891, U.S. Army Special Forces. He was at jungle outpost Ba Gia near
Quang Ngai in South Vietnam when the post was overrun by an estimated 1000-1500
Viet Cong force. Newspapers described it as "one of the bloodiest battles of
the war to date". A survivor told newsmen the Viet Cong attacked in "human
waves and couldn't be stopped." There were only 180 men defending the outpost.
Captain Eisenbraun was initially reported killed in action.

Later, two Vietnamese who had been captured and escaped reported that Capt.
Eisenbraun had been captured, was being held prisoner, and was in good health.
Through the debriefings of returned POWs held with Eisenbraun, it was learned
that he died as a POW. One returned POW said that on about September 1, 1967,
Eisenbraun fell out of his hammock (which was about five feet above a pile of
logs) and landed on his right side. For about 5 days after the fall, Eisenbraun
continued his daily activites, but complained of a severe pain in his side.
After that period he stayed in bed and at about 0100 hours on September 8,
LCpl. Grissett awakened PFC Ortiz-Rivera and told him that Eisenbraun had
stopped breathing.

Another POW said Ike had died as a result of torture after an escape attempt in
1967. Robert Garwood added that Ike had provided leadership for the prisoners
at the camp, and was an obstacle to the Viet Cong in interrogating the other
prisoners. He also spoke fluent Vietnamese, which made him a definite problem.
Garwood and Eisenbraun had been held alone together at one point in their
captivity, and Ike taught Bobby the secrets of survival he had learned in SF
training, and in his years in the jungle. Bobby states that Ike knew and taught
him which insects could be eaten to fend off common jungle diseases, and that
he and Ike jokingly planned to write a cookbook called "100 ways to cook a
rat". Garwood said that Ike had been severely beaten following the escape
attempt, and that one night he was taken from his cage and not returned. The
next morning, Garwood was told that Ike had fallen from his hammock and died.

Ike Eisenbraun was buried at the camp in Quang Nam Province along with other
POWs who had died of torture and starvation. His grave was marked with a rock
inscribed by Garwood. A map has been provided to the U.S. showing the precise
location of the little cemetery and grave, yet Ike's remains have not been
returned.

Bobby Garwood had been captured on September 28, 1965 as he was driving a jeep
in Quang Nam Province. Garwood made international headlines when he created an
international incident by smuggling a note out revealing his existance. The
note resulted in his release in March 1979, after having been a prisoner of war
for 14 years. The Marine Corps immediately charged him with collaboration and
assault on a fellow POW, and he was ultimately charged and dishonorably
discharged. He is the only serviceman to be charged with these crimes from the
Vietnam War, and many feel he was singled out to discredit the stories he has
told regarding other Americans held long after the war was over in Vietnam.

Several American POWs were held at a camp in Quang Nam Province numbered ST18,
including Eisenbraun, Garwood, Grissett, LCpl. Jose Agosto-Santos, PFC Luis
Antonio Ortiz-Rivera, Marine LCpl. Robert C. Sherman, Capt. Floyd H. Kushner,
W2 Francis G. Anton, SP4 Robert Lewis, PFC James F. Pfister, PFC Earl C.
Weatherman, Cpl. Dennis W. Hammond and Sgt. Joseph S. Zawtocki.

Agosto-Santos was captured when his unit was overrun in Quang Nam Province on
May 12, 1967. Cpl. Carlos Ashlock had been killed in the same action, and he
and Agosto-Santos had been left for dead. Agosto-Santos had been wounded in the
stomach and back. For about a month, he had been cared for in a cave by the
Viet Cong. Jose felt he owed his life to the Viet Cong. He was released in a
propaganda move by the Vietnamese on January 23, 1968. Ashlock was never seen
again.

Ortiz-Rivera was a Puerto Rican who barely spoke English. His Army unit was
overrun in Binh Dinh Province several miles north of the city of Phu Cat on
December 17, 1966, and Ortiz-Rivera was captured. Ortiz-Rivera was not a
problem prisoner, according to other returnees. He was released with
Agosto-Santos January 23, 1968.

Cpl. Bobby Sherman told fellow POWs that he had been on picket duty with ARVNs
on June 24, 1967 when he decided to go to a nearby village to "get laid".
The Vietnamese girl he met there led him to the Viet Cong instead. Sherman had
been on his second tour of Vietnam. During his first tour, he had suffered
psychological problems because of the grisly job assigned to him of handling
corpses of his comrades killed in action. In the spring of 1968, Sherman,
Hammond, Weatherman, Daly, and Zawtocki, with the help of other POWs, attempted
to escape. Sherman beat a guard in the attempt and was recaptured and punished.
He was held in stocks for many days and fellow POWs said he "got crazy and
never recovered." They said he spent months as a "zombie" and "never was there"
after that. According to Harold Kushner, Bobby Sherman died on November 23,
1968. The POWs buried him in the little cemetery with Ike Eisenbraun. In March
1985, the remains of Bobby Sherman were returned during a period that
Eisenbraun's daughter was publicly asking the President to bring her father
home. A map had been published of the cemetery, and many wondered if there was
a connection.

Capt. Harold Kushner had been the sole survivor of the crash of his UH1D
helicopter on a mountainside in Quang Nam Province on November 30, 1967.
Kushner was a Army Medical Corps Flight Surgeon and had broken a tooth and
sustained a wound to his shoulder when the helicopter crashed. He was
subsequently captured by the Viet Cong. During his captivity, his wife,
Valerie, became active in the effort to end the war, believing that was the
only hope her husband had of returning home. Kushner became ambivilent about
the war himself, and when held in North Vietnam, made propaganda tapes until
informed by the more organized prisoners captured and held in the North that it
was prohibited. Kushner was released March 16, 1973 from North Vietnam.

(Note: a number of other Americans were held with this group including PFC
David N. Harker; James A. Daly; Richard R. Rehe; Willie A. Watkins; Francis E.
Cannon; Richard F. Williams; and James H. Strickland. One detailed account of
the captivity of these men can be found in "The Survivors" by Zalen Grant.
Another can be read in "Conversations With The Enemy", written by Winston Groom
and Duncan Spencer. Homecoming II Project - 2408 Hull Rd. - Kinston NC 28501
-also maintains synopsis accounts of these men.)

W2 Francis Gene "Bones" Anton was the pilot of a UH1C helicopter, code name
"Firebird". On January 5, 1968, his crewchief was SP4 Robert Lewis III, and
door gunner was PFC James F. Pfister. The crew, flying out of the 71st Assault
Helicopter Company, was shot down as they were trying to assist C Company,
under heavy mortar attack at Happy Valley in Quang Nam Province. Their co-pilot
had escaped capture. Anton is one of the few POWs who believed that Garwood,
although clearly a collaborator, was still a loyal American, helpful to his
fellow POWs. Anton, according to other POWs was "always cussing the
Vietnamese". He was released from North Vietnam on March 16, 1973. When Cannon,
Williams, Harker and McMillan were brought to the POW camp at Happy Valley,
they found Anton, Pfister and Lewis well fed and clean. Pfister later made
propaganda tapes at the Plantation in Hanoi in April 1971. Garwood called him
the "head snitch" in one of the camps along the Rock River and White River in
South Vietnam. Both Pfister and Lewis were released on March 5, 1973. None of
the three were considered by superior officers to be among those who criminally
collaborated with the enemy.

Russ Grissett was on a search mission for a missing USMC officer when he became
separated from his unit on January 22, 1966. He was with the elite 1st Force
Recon, and was captured by the Viet Cong in Quang Ngai Province. Russ was
several inches over 6' tall and carried a normal weight of around 190 pounds.
After 2 years in captivity, however, his weight had dropped to around 125
pounds. Grissett suffered particularly from dysentery and malaria, and in his
weakened condition begged his fellow POWs not to tell him any secrets. He had
already been accused of sabotaging an escape plan by Kushner. He found it
difficult to resist, and willingly made propaganda tapes about "lenient
treatment". When Ortiz-Rivera and Agosto-Santos were released, he had "behaved"
enough that he was tremendously disappointed that he was not released with
them. During one period of near-starvation, in late November 1969, Grissett
caught and killed the camp's kitchen cat. It was a dangerous move, and fellow
POWs watched helplessly and innocently as guards beat Grissett for the crime
and he never recovered. Grissett was buried in the camp's cemetery by his
fellow POWs. Harold Kushner stated that Grissett died on December 2, 1969.
David Harker, another returned POW, stated that he had died at 3:30 a.m. on
November 23, 1968. On June 23, 1989, the U.S. announced that the Vietnamese had
"discovered" the remains of Russ Grissett and returned them to the U.S. (Note:
the "cat" incident spawned the assault charges against Garwood. Garwood,
enraged that others had stood by while Grisset was mortally beaten, back-handed
one of the bystanders in the stomach and asked, "How could you let them do this
to Russ?" Some witnesses stated that the blow was not a hard one intended to
injure, but seemingly for emphasis.)

Dennis Wayne "Denny" Hammond and Joseph S. Zawtocki were Marines who were
part of a pacification team when captured during the Tet offensive on February
8, 1968. Denny was a tall, lean, good-looking man thought to be part American
Indian. He attempted escape with the other POWs in the spring of 1968 and was
shot in the leg by Montagnards in a nearby village Denny had beaten a guard to
escape. Part of the "duties" of those POWs healthy enough was to harvest
oranges in nearby Montagnard orchards. The POWs were happy to do this because
it meant badly needed exercise and the opportunity for additional food. Daly
was once accused by guards of stealing oranges that Hammond had stolen. It was
on one of these workdays that the POWs effected their ill-fated escape. After
the escape attempt and recapture, Sherman remained relatively healthy for a
time, but in early March, 1970, died. He was buried near the camp and his grave
marked by a bamboo cross. (Hammond died on 7 or 8 of March, depending on the
source.)

Joe Zawtocki was a stocky, powerful, fair-haired man of Polish descent. He and
Garwood formed a close friendship and exchanged rings. Each promised the other
that if released alone, they would contact the other's family. Joe died on
December 24, 1968 of starvation and was buried near the POW camp. Davis, a
returnee, says that Garwood lost Joe's ring. Garwood states that, upon his
return, he gave Joe's ring to the Defense Intelligence Agency. Several years
later, he learned that DIA had never returned the ring to Joe's family. Joe
Zawtocki's remains were returned to the U.S. on August 15, 1985.

Perhaps one of the strangest cases involved in this group of POWs is that of
Pvt. Earl Clyde Weatherman. Weatherman was in the Marine brig at Da Nang where
he had been confined for slugging an officer in 1967. On November 8, 1967, he
escaped the brig (which constitutes desertion). Intelligence indicates that he
paid a Vietnamese driver to take him to his Vietnamese girlfriend's house, but
the driver instead delivered him to the Viet Cong. A tall, muscular young man
of about 20 years old with reddish-blond hair and blue eyes, Weatherman was
detained in the POW camps in Quang Nam Province, and was party to the ill-fated
escape attempt in the spring of 1968. Opinion was divided among the POWs
regarding the political loyalties of Earl Weatherman. Harker felt his alliance
to the Viet Cong was only an act. Weatherman had once said to him, "Don't
believe everything you hear about me." Others felt he was clearly a turncoat.
Perhaps Garwood stated it most accurately when he said, "Weatherman's only
crime was falling in love with the wrong person - a communist."

It was widely told that during the April 1, 1968 escape attempt, Weatherman was
killed. However, Garwood states that he heard of and saw Weatherman after 1973
when other U.S. POWs were returned, and years after his supposed death in South
Vietnam. Intelligence indicates that Weatherman continued to work for the
communists, and lived with a Vietnamese wife and family. One position said to
have been held by his was with the Vietnamese government's department of
construction - the Cong Tyxay Dung. Garwood last knew him to be at Bavi, living
with a Vietnamese woman.

In 1986, several national news articles revealed that intelligence documents
showed at least 7 missing Americans had been seen alive in Vietnam in the last
dozen years, including Weatherman. Some accounts added that Weatherman had
smuggled a note out of Vietnam that he wished to come home and bring with him
his wife and children. Weatherman's father was allegedly notified of this.

The POW/MIA groups reverberated with anticipation, knowing that if Weatherman
came home, a new source of information on those men still missing would be
available. Several activists questioned a Congressional aide regarding
Weatherman. They asked, "When will Weatherman be able to come home? We
understand the holdup is visas for his wife and children."  The aide, with a
caring and sympathetic look on his face, replied, "I don't know. I just don't
know."

Of this group of prisoners and missing, only Weatherman, Hammond, Ashlock and
Eisenbraun have not returned home, alive or dead. Ashlock was left for dead on
the battlefield. Hammond and Eisenbraun are dead, but still in enemy hands.
Weatherman, for whatever reason, chose love of a woman over love of his country
and remained behind. Can America close its doors to a man who may have a wealth
of information on Americans still alive in Vietnam? If he now wishes to return
to his homeland, can we be less forgiving to him that we were to those
Americans who fled to Canada to avoid the war?




ASIRE, DONALD HENRY
Remains Returned 21 June 1989

Name: Donald Henry Asire
Rank/Branch: O5/US Air Force
Unit: 354 Tactical Fighter Squadron
Date of Birth: 08 July 1923
Home City of Record: Pomona CA
Date of Loss: 08 December 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 211500N 1051800E (WF675535)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F105D

Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II
Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: The F105 Thunderchief (or "Thud") performed yoeman service on many
diversified missions in Southeast Asia. F105s flew more combat missions over
North Vietnam than any other USAF aircraft and consequently suffered the
heaviest losses in action. They dropped bombs by day and occasionally by night
from high or low altitude and some later versions (F105D in Wild Weasel guise)
attacked SAM sites with their radar tracking air-to-ground missiles. This
versatile aircraft was also credited with downing 25 Russian MiGs.

LtCol. Donald H. Asire was the pilot of an F105D which departed Takhli Airfield,
Thailand on an operational mission over North Vietnam on December 8, 1966.
Asire's aircraft was number three in a flight of four.

Over Hos Binh Province, about 30 miles northwest of Hanoi, the flight engaged
enemy aircraft. Asire was last seen as he dove into a cloud layer with an enemy
aircraft in pursuit. Thereafter, no radio contact was made with him.

Donald Asire was continued in a missing status until 19 September 1973 when his
status was changed to presumed killed in action. During the period he was
maintained missing, he was promoted to the rank of Colonel.

For years, the  Vietnamese denied any knowledge of Donald Asire, but on 21 June,
1989, they discovered his remains and returned them to U.S. control. This return
was not publicly announced at the time.

A Vietnamese defector stated in Congressional testimony that Vietnam stockpiles
hundreds of sets of American remains. Congress believed him. He also testified
that he had personally seen live American prisoners, held long after the war was
over and all Americans had supposedly been released. Congress ignores this
testimony, although over 10,000 reports relating to Americans prisoner, missing
or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia seem to substantiate what he was saying.

The U.S. and Vietnamese "progress" at a snail's pace, while seemingly ignoring
the tremendous weight of evidence that their priority should be those Americans
still alive as captives. Meanwhile, thousands of lives are spent in the most
tortured state imaginable - unable to grieve, unable to rejoice. They wait.


ASTON, JAY STEVEN

Name: Jay Steven Aston
Rank/Branch: W1/US Army
Unit: Company C, 101st Aviation Battalion, 101st Aviation Group, 101st Airborne
Division
Date of Birth: 16 May 1949 (Cleveland OH)
Home City of Record: Rocky River OH
Date of Loss: 18 July 1971
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 155247N 1073101E (YC697557)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H
Other Personnel in Incident: Clement R. Custer (rescued)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: WO1 Jay S. Aston was the pilot and aircraft commander of a UH1H
helicopter (tail #68-15671) on which his co-pilot was CW2 Clement R. Custer
assigned an extraction mission on July 18, 1971. Aston and Custer, together
with another helicopter providing support, were to pick up four friendly
personnel from a classified area.

At the point of extraction near the Laos/South Vietnam border, ground fire was
received upon lift off. The aircraft was hit, and was seen by the second
helicopter to roll to the right and crash inverted into the trees. The
helicopter went down in Quang Nam Province, South Vietnam due east of the
Laotian city of Ban Bac.

Custer was knocked unconscious from the crash. WO Aston, shot in the head, was
pinned in the wreckage of the helicopter, and it was impossible to free him.
Sgt. Richmond, the medic with the team to be extracted, determined that Aston
was dead, because of a massive head and neck injury with extensive bleeding and
lack of vital signs. Sgt. Richmond was unable to extricate Aston's body, which
was pinned in the twisted wreckage of the helicopter.

Sgt. Richmond, CW2 Custer and the remaining team members were successfully
extracted. Because special equipment was needed to recover Aston, his body was
left behind for later removal. Because of enemy activity, however, Aston's body
was never recovered.

According to witnesses, Aston is dead. Tragically, his family has no grave
holding his body to visit. His remains are on enemy soil, and not buried in his
homeland. Even more tragically, evidence mounts that hundreds of Americans are
still alive, held captive in Southeast Asia. What must they be thinking of us?
What would WO Jay Aston think of us?
CASE SYNOPSIS: ASTORGA, JOSE MANUEL

Name: Jose Manuel Astorga
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: H/Hq Detachment, 37th Signal Battalion, 1st Signal Brigade
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Oakland CA
Loss Date: 03 April 1972
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 165022N 1070455E (YD218628)
Status (in 1973): Returned POW
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H
Personnel in Incident: April 2: Robin F. Gatwood; Wayne L. Bolte; Anthony
Giannangeli; Charles A. Levis; Henry M. Serex; (all missing from the EB66).
LtCol. Iceal Hambleton (rescued after 12 days from EB66). Ronald P. Paschall;
Byron K. Kulland; John W. Frink (all missing from UH1H rescue helicopter), Jose
M. Astorga (captured and released in 1973 from UH1H). April 3: William J.
Henderson (captured and released in 1973 from OV10A rescue craft); Mark Clark
(rescued after 12 days from OV10A rescue craft).  April 6: James H. Alley;
Allen J. Avery; Peter H. Chapman; John H. Call; William R. Pearson; Roy D.
Prater (all KIA/BNR from HH53C "Jolly 52" rescue chopper). Also in very close
proximity to "Bat 21"on April 3: Allen D. Christensen; Douglas L. O'Neil;
Edward W. Williams; Larry A. Zich (all missing from UH1H).  April 7: Bruce
Charles Walker (evaded 11 days); Larry F. Potts (captured & died in POW camp)
(both missing from OV10A).

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On the afternoon of April 2, 1972, two Thailand-based EB66 aircraft
(Bat 21 and Bat 22), from the 30th Air Division, were flying pathfinder escort
for a cell of B52s bombing near the DMZ. Bat 21 took a direct SAM hit and the
plane went down. A single beeper signal was heard, that of navigator Col. Iceal
Hambleton. At this time it was assumed the rest of the crew died in the crash.
The crew included Maj. Wayne L. Bolte, pilot; 1Lt. Robin F. Gatwood, LtCol.
Anthony R. Giannangeli, LtCol. Charles A. Levis, and Maj. Henry M. Serex, all
crew members. It should be noted that the lowest ranking man aboard this plane
was Gatwood, a First Lieutenant. This was not an ordinary crew, and its
members, particularly Hambleton, would be a prize capture for the enemy because
of military knowledge they possessed.

It became critical, therefore, that the U.S. locate Hambleton, and any other
surviving crew members before the Vietnamese did - and the Vietnamese were
trying hard to find them first.

An Army search and rescue team was nearby and dispatched two UH1H "slicks" and
two UH1B "Cobras". When they approached Hambleton's position just before dark,
at about 50 feet off the ground, with one of the AH1G Cobra gunships flying at
300 feet for cover, two of the helicopters were shot down. One, the Cobra (Blue
Ghost 28) reached safety and the crew was picked up, without having seen the
other downed helicopter. The other, a UH1H from F Troop, 8th Cavalry, 196th
Brigade, had just flown over some huts into a clearing when they encountered
ground fire, and the helicopter exploded. Jose Astorga, the gunner, was injured
in the chest and knee by the gunfire. Astorga became unconscious, and when he
recovered, the helicopter was on the ground. He found the pilot, 1Lt. Byron K.
Kulland, lying outside the helicopter. WO John W. Frink, the co-pilot, was
strapped in his seat and conscious. The crew chief, SP5 Ronald P. Paschall, was
pinned by his leg in the helicopter, but alive. WO Franks urged Astorga to
leave them, and Astorga was captured. He soon observed the aircraft to be hit
by automatic weapons fire, and to explode with the rest of the crew inside. He
never saw the rest of the crew again. Astorga was relesed by the North
Vietnamese in 1973.

The following day, Nail 38, an OV10A equipped with electronic rescue gear
enabling its crew to get a rapid "fix" on its rescue target entered Hambleton's
area and was shot down. The crew, William J. Henderson and Mark Clark, both
parachuted out safely. Henderson was captured and released in 1973. Clark
evaded for 12 days and was subsequently rescued.

On April 3, the day Nail 38 was shot down, a UH1H "slick" went down in the same
area carrying a crew of four enlisted Army personnel. They had no direct
connection to the rescue of Bat 21, but were very probably shot down by the
same SAM installations that downed Bat 21. The helicopter, from H/HQ, 37th
Signal Battalion, 1st Signal Brigade, had left Marble Mountain Airfield, Da
Nang, on a standard resupply mission to signal units in and around Quang Tri
City. The crew, consisting of WO Douglas L. O'Neil, pilot; CW2 Larry A. Zich,
co-pilot; SP5 Allen D. Christensen, crew chief; and SP4 Edward W. Williams,
gunner; remain missing in action.

On April 6, an attempt was made to pick up Clark and Hambleton which resulted
in an HH53C helicopter being shot down. The chopper was badly hit. The
helicopter landed on its side and continued to burn, consuming the entire craft,
and presumably, all 6 men aboard. The crew of this aircraft consisted of James
H. Alley; Allen J. Avery, John H. Call III, Peter H. Chapman, William R.
Pearson, and Roy D. Prater. Search and rescue noted no signs of survivors, but
it is felt that the Vientamese probably know the fate of this crew because of
the close proximity of the downed aircraft to enemy locations.

On April 7 another Air Force OV10A went down in the area with Larry Potts and
Bruce Walker aboard. Walker, the Air Force pilot of the aircraft, evaded
capture 11 days, while it is reported that Potts was captured and died in Quang
Binh prison. Potts, the observer, was a Marine Corps officer. Walker's last
radio transmission to search and rescue was for SAR not to make an attempt to
rescue, the enemy was closing in. Both men remain unaccounted for.

Hambleton and Clark were rescued after 12 incredible days. Hambleton
continually changed positions and reported on enemy activity as he went, even
to the extent of calling in close air strikes near his position. He was tracked
by a code he devised relating to the length and lie direction of various golf
holes he knew well. Another 20 or so Americans were not so fortunate.

In July 1986, the daughter of Henry Serex learned that, one week after all
search and rescue had been "called off" for Bat 21, another mission was mounted
to recover "another downed crewmember" from Bat 21. She doesn't know whether or
not it is her father or another man on the EB66 aircraft. No additional
information has been released. When the movie "Bat 21" was released, she was
horrified to learn that virtually no mention of the rest of the crew, including
her father, was made.

In Vietnam, to most fighting men, the man that fought beside them, whether in
the air or on the ground, was worth dying for. Each understood that the other
would die for him if necessary. Thus, also considering the critical knowledge
possessed by Col. Hambleton and some of the others, the seemingly uncanny means
taken to recover Clark and Hambleton are not so unusual at all.

What defies logic and explaination, however, is that the government that sent
these men to battle can distort or withold information to their families, and
knowingly abandon hundreds of men known or strongly suspected to be in enemy
hands.

Thousands of reports have been received by the U.S. Government indicating that
Americans are still alive, in captivity in Southeast Asia. It has been 17 years
for those who may have survived the 1972 Easter crashes and rescue attempts.
How much longer must they wait for their country to bring "peace with honor" to
them and bring them home?


ATTERBERRY, EDWIN LEE
Remains Returned 13 March 1974

Name: Edwin Lee Atterberry
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 03 March 1934
Home City of Record: Dallas TX
Date of Loss: 12 August 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 210800N 1055600E (WJ969369)
Status (in 1973): Prisoner of War
Category: 1
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: RF4C

Other Personnel in Incident: Thomas V. Parrott (released POW)

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: 740313 DRV RETD REMS

SYNOPSIS: On August 12, 1967, Capt. Edwin L. Atterberry and Capt. Thomas V.
Parrott were sent on a reconnaissance mission over Ha Bac Province, North
Vietnam. When they were about 10 miles northeast of the city of Gia Lam, the
aircraft was hit by enemy fire and the crew was forced to eject.

Both Atterberry and Parrott were captured by the North Vietnamese, and moved to
the Hanoi prison system. There they joined other Americans captured before them.
They discovered that despite rigorous training, they were not fully prepared for
capture by the North Vietnamese.

On May 10, 1969, after a year of planning, Atterberry and a fellow POW, John A.
Dramesi, made an almost miraculous escape from prison. The two slipped through
the roof and traveled three miles over 12 hours, but were recaptured.

Dramesi recalls the torture he could not speak of for many months. For the
escape attempt, Dramesi was put face down on a table, and while one guard held
his head, two others beat him with a four foot length of rubber taken from an
old automobile tire. They also slapped him repeatedly in the face. This went on
for days, in ninety-minute sessions, after which the left side of Dramesi's head
was swelled up like a pumpkin. They also put Dramesi on a bread and water diet
for 30 days. At other times during the next two weeks, Dramesi's arms were bound
tightly together behind him and his wrists and ankles cuffed in heavy irons. A
rope was looped around a two-inch-thick bar attached to his ankle irons, taken
around his shoulders and his head drawn between his knees.

He was held in this position for 24 hours without sleep. His circulation
impaired, the flesh on his ankles died, and he still bears the scars. After two
weeks, the Vietnamese realized he might lose his feet, so they removed the irons
and treated the wounds, but replaced them. Dramesi wore the irons continuously
for 6 months, removing them only once a week when allowed to wash.

After 38 days of this torture, Dramesi was near death.

When Dramesi and Atterberry were recaptured, one of the other POWs recalls
shaking Atterberry's hand. This was the last time he was seen by any Americans.
Like Dramesi, Atterberry was tortured, but Atterberry did not survive. The
Vietnamese told other POWs that Atterberry died of an "unusual disease." The
POWs knew the disease was attempting to escape. Atterberry's remains were
returned in March 1974.

Not only Dramesi and Atterberry were punished. The entire POW populace was
systematically worked over. After the episode was over, the senior officers
outlawed further escape attempts unless they could meet a set of stringent
conditions, including outside help. Planning escapes did not cease, but the
actual attempts were put on hold. This is an excellent example of how the Code
of Conduct was "bent" to the circumstances at hand. A necessary modification was
made to ensure the survival of the prisoners; it having been determined that it
was impossible to follow the Code literally under the circumstances.

The result of the Vietnam experience was a "new" code, the same in letter, but
different in spirit and intent than the pre-Vietnam version. Most agree it is a
more realistic form of guidance, and it stresses community organization and a
chain of command. It releases the POW from the "die-before-you-talk" syndrome
that brought so many to personal shame in Vietnam when they were finally broken.
(And all of those put to the test who survived were broken.)

Returned POWs have a special place in their hearts for Atterberry and each of
them knows what happened to Atterberry could have happened to any of them, and
in many cases, nearly did.

Since the war ended, over 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. These reports
are the source of serious distress to many returned American prisoners. They had
a code that no one could honorably return unless all of the prisoners returned.
Not only that code of honor, but the honor of our country is at stake as long as
even one man remains unjustly held. It's time we brought our men home.

Thomas V. Parrott was released from Hanoi on March 14, 1973. He served five and
one-half years as a POW.

Both Parrott and Atterberry were promoted to the rank of Major during their
captivity.
AUSTIN, CHARLES DAVID

Name: Charles David Austin
Rank/Branch: O2/USAF
Unit: 433rd Tactical Fighter Squadron, Ubon AF TH
Date of Birth: 27 February 1942
Home City of Record: New Canaan CT
Date of Loss: 24 April 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 205300N 1051000E (WJ173090)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4C

Others In Incident: Herman L. Knapp (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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: SURVIVAL UNLIKELY

SYNOPSIS: Charles Austin was lucky. All his life, according to his sister, Judy,
he always managed to get out of tough situations. "He was like Houdini", she
said.

On April 24, 1967, Charles Austin's luck ran out. On that day, Austin was
serving as bombardier/navigator onboard Maj. Herman L. Knapp's F4C Phantom
fighter/bomber. The aircraft was the lead in a flight of four dispatched from
Ubon Airfield, Thailand on a strike mission over Vietnam. The strike was on a
five-span bridge four miles north of the center of Hanoi. The raid's purpose was
to sever North Vietnam's rail links with Communist China. An electrical
transformer station seven miles north of Hanoi was also attacked.

During the strike, Knapp and Austin's aircraft was struck by a flak burst,
disintegrated, and two large pieces of flaming wreckage were seen to strike the
gound in a fireball. No parachutes were seen and no beepers were heard.
Nevertheless, it was apparently believed that Knapp and Austin may have exited
the aircraft, as both men were classified Missing in Action, rather than Killed
in Action, Body Not Recovered. Eleven years later, based on no information to
indicate the two were alive, they were administratively declared dead.

Austin and Knapp are among over 2300 Americans who remain missing from American
involvement in Southeast Asia. Unlike "MIA's" from other wars, most of these men
could be accounted for, dead or alive.

Were it not for nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing in Southeast
Asia, missing men like Knapp and Austin could be forgotten. But many officials
who have seen these largely classified reports, believe there are still hundreds
of Americans alive in captivity in Southeast Asia. As long as even one man is
alive, we owe him our very best efforts to bring him home.
AUSTIN, ELLIS ERNEST

Name: Ellis Ernest Austin
Rank/Branch: O4/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 85, USS KITTY HAWK
Date of Birth: 06 January 1922
Home City of Record: Vermontville MI
Date of Loss: 21 April 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 184900N 1054200E (WF754824)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A6A

Other Personnel In Incident: Jack E. Keller (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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: POSS DEAD/ IR 1516031772

SYNOPSIS: On April 22, 1966, a two-plane flight of A6A aircraft left the
aircraft carrier USS Kittyhawk to strike a coastal target near the mouth of an
inland waterway in North Vietnam. The target, an enemy supply area, was heavily
defended by anti-aircraft artillary, automatic weapons and small arms.

During the flight, the wingman broke away to investigate a barge, and notified
Cdr. Jack E. Keller, the pilot of the other A6A, that he was having an ordinance
malfunction and was proceeding to Hon Mat Island, less than 15 miles away, so
that he could dump the remainder of his bombload safely. While the wingman was
discharging his bombload, he heard a missile warning, but had no knowledge that
a missile had been fired. Keller conducted a radio check with both his wingman
and the E2 Command and Control aircraft to confirm that the E2 held them on
radar. The wingman advised Keller that he would hold clear of the target and
wait for Keller to finish his bombing run. Keller acknowledged. Keller and his
backseater, Ellis Austin, continued on their run.

That was the last anyone heard from Keller and Austin. The wingman later stated
that he saw a bright flash as he was heading away from the beach which he
assumed to be a bomb explosion. Both he and the E2 tried to contact Keller and
his backseater, but were unsuccessful. The E2 had lost Keller from radar.

An aerial search was conducted immediately with no visual or radio signals
received by any of the search aircraft. Both men were carried in MIA status
until June 1974, when their status was changed to killed under a presumptive
finding of death.

Austin was a 25-year career Navy officer, and had only two weeks left before he
was scheduled to return home to his wife and three children.

Nearly 10,000 reports of Americans relating to Americans missing in Southeast
Asia have been received since the end of the war. Many officials who have
reviewed this largely classified material have reluctantly concluded that
hundreds of Americans are still alive in captivity. Whether Austin and Keller
could be among them is unknown. But what is certain is that many are still
alive, waiting for their country to bring them home. Austin and Keller, if dead,
rests in enemy soil. If alive, what must they be thinking of us?

AUSTIN, JOSEPH CLAIR

Name: Joseph Clair Austin
Rank/Branch: O5/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 30 June 1929
Home City of Record: Moundsville WV
Date of Loss: 19 March 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 174200N 1055000E (WE813606)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F105D

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: SURVIVAL UNLIKELY

SYNOPSIS: The F105 Thunderchief (or "Thud") performed yoeman service on many
diversified missions in Southeast Asia. F105s flew more combat missions over
North Vietnam than any other USAF aircraft and consequently suffered the
heaviest losses in action. They dropped bombs by day and occasionally by night
from high or low altitude and some later versions (F105D in Wild Weasel guise)
attacked SAM sites with their radar tracking air-to-ground missiles. This
versatile aircraft was also credited with downing 25 Russian MiGs.

LtCol. Joseph C. Austin was an F105 pilot assigned a mission over North Vietnam
on March 19, 1967. Departing from his base (probably in Thailand), Austin
proceeded to his mission area. When Austin's aircraft was just east of the Ban
Karai Pass, it was hit by enemy fire and crashed.

The Ban Karai Pass is one of several passageways through the mountainous border
of Vietnam and Laos. American aircraft flying from Thailand to missions over
North Vietnam flew through them regularly, and many aircraft were lost. On the
Laos side of the border coursed the "Ho Chi Minh Trail", a road heavily
traveled by North Vietnamese troops moving materiel and personnel to their
destinations through the relative safety of neutral Laos. The return ratio of
men lost in and around the passes is far lower than that of those men lost in
more populous areas, even though both were shot down by the same enemy and the
same weapons. This is partly due to the extremely rugged terrain and resulting
difficulty in recovery.

It was not known if Austin safely ejected from his aircraft, but not thought
likely that he survived. However, because the opportunity existed for him to
eject safely, Austin was declared Missing in Action rather than presumed dead.

When 591 Americans were released in Operation Homecoming in 1973, Austin was not
among them. The Vietnamese denied any knowledge of him, although it was their
guns that downed him and it is unlikely that the crashing aircraft escaped their
attention. The U.S. believes the Vietnamese can account for Austin, alive or
dead.

Since American involvement in Vietnam ended in 1975, over 10,000 reports
relating to Americans missing, prisoner, or otherwise unaccounted for in
Indochina have been received by the U.S. Government. Many officials, having
examined this largely classified information, have reluctantly concluded that
many Americans are still alive today, held captive by our long-ago enemy.

The United States Government, although involved in talks with the Vietnamese
since the end of the war, has been unable to bring home a single live prisoner.
The Vietnamese, on the other hand, refuse to let the issue die, with the
ultimate hope of normalizing relations with the west.

The Americans who are still captive have been reduced to bargaining pawns
between two nations. For their sakes, everything possible must be done to bring
them home. The sacrifice of tens of thousands of America's young men is mocked
by the abandonment of their comrades. For the sake of our future fighting men
and those who have given their lives in the defense of their country, we must
see to it that we never again abandon our soldiers to enemy hands.

Joseph C. Austin graduated from West Point in 1952. He was promoted to the rank
of Colonel during the period he was maintained missing.
AUSTIN, WILLIAM RENWICK II

Name: William Renwick Austin II
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 555th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Ubon AF TH
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Simpsonville SC
Date of Loss: 07 October 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 204000N 1050800E (WH156796)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D

Other Personnel In Incident: Ivan D. Appleby (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 31 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: 730314 RELSD BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: Major Ivan D. Appleby was the pilot of an F4D aircraft flying a photo
reconnaissance escort mission over North Vietnam in October 1967. His backseater
was Capt. William R. Austin II. Austin and Appleby were onboard the lead
aircraft in a flight of F4D Phantom fighter jets.

When the flight was over Hoi Binh Province about 25 miles southwest of the city
of Hoi Binh, it encountered intense hostile fire which inflicted heavy damage to
the lead aircraft. The aircraft began burning and went out of control. One
parachute was observed prior to the aircraft crashing into a hill.

The U.S. later learned that Austin had been captured, but Appleby's fate
remained uncertain. He was listed Missing in Action.

When American prisoners were released in 1973, Austin was among them, but
Appleby was not. In late 1976, based on no information to indicate he was alive,
Appleby was presumptively declared dead.

Nearly 2500 Americans did not come home from the war in Vietnam. Unlike "MIAs"
from previous wars, most of these men and women can be accounted for. Some
hundred were known to be held as prisoners, and some were photographed in
captivity. Others were alive and well the last time they were heard from,
describing an advancing enemy.

Years after our military involvement ended, reports of Americans held captive
continue to mount. Thousands of reports have been received related to Americans
missing in Southeast Asia, and many government officials now believe that
hundreds are still being held prisoner. The U.S. Government continues to press
the Vietnamese for information, as it has for nearly 20 years. The U.S. views
the problem as humanitarian, while the Vietnamese are concerned with
reconstruction aid promised by the United States in signed agreements, but not
delivered. Until we are willing to negotiate for their release, these Americans
will die in communist prisons wondering why their country abandoned them.


Ivan D. Appleby was promoted to the rank of Colonel during the period he was
maintained missing.

AUXIER, JERRY EDWARD

Name: Jerry Edward Auxier
Rank/Branch: E6/US Army
Unit: Company C; 1st Battalion; 46th Infantry; 198th Infantry Brigade
Date of Birth: 19 January 1944 (Gauley Ridge WV)
Home City of Record: Dixie WV
Date of Loss: 29 July 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 153642N 1082124E (BT167088)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Other Personnel In Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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: SSGT Jerry E. Auxier was a rifleman in C Company, 1st Battalion, 46th
Infantry, 198th Infantry Division. On July 29, 1968, he and his company moved
into a night defensive position a few miles northwest of the city of Tam Ky in
Quang Tin Province, South Vietnam. The company commander directed that a search
be made of the area for booby traps before the men dug into their positions. No
traps were found.

Later that day, Auxier's portion of the company was notified that a helicopter
was inbound to their location. As the chopper was about to land and was about a
foot off the ground, a tremendous explosion occurred. All witnesses stated that
just prior to the blast, Auxier was seen in the blast area. He was wearing only
his fatigues and belt. His weapon, gear and steel pot were left in a rear
position. However, not until all dead and wounded were evacuated was Auxier
discovered to be missing. The unit immediately began a search of the entire area
and down into the thick vegetation as far from the site as they could. The blast
area and fox holes that had been covered over by the blast were probed, but not
a trace of Auxier was found.

Witnesses to the explosion believed it had been caused by a command detonated
250 or 500-pound bomb. Although no wires leading to the blast area were found,
the timing of the explosion to the landing of the helicopter was suspect. The
blast left a crater 12-14 feet in diameter and 7 feet deep. All things
considered, Auxier, if he was within the blast area, had no chance of survival,
and would not be found.

According to witnesses, Auxier is almost certainly dead. Tragically, his family
has no grave holding his body to visit. His remains are in enemy soil, and not
buried in his homeland. Even more tragically, evidence mounts that hundreds of
Americans are still alive, held captive in Southeast Asia. What must they be
thinking of us? What would Jerry Auxier think of us?
AVERY, ALLEN JONES

Name: Allen Jones Avery
Rank/Branch: E6/US Air Force
Unit: 37th Air Rescue Squadron, Da Nang, South Vietnam
Date of Birth: 22 February 1943
Home City of Record: Auburn MA
Date of Loss: 06 April 1972
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 164658N 1070157E (YD170595)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: HH53C
Personnel in Incident: April 2: Robin F. Gatwood; Wayne L. Bolte; Anthony
Giannangeli; Charles A. Levis; Henry M. Serex; (all missing from the EB66).
LtCol. Iceal Hambleton (rescued after 12 days from EB66). Ronald P. Paschall;
Byron K. Kulland; John W. Frink (all missing from UH1H rescue helicopter), Jose
M. Astorga (captured and released in 1973 from UH1H). April 3: William J.
Henderson (captured and released in 1973 from OV10A rescue craft); Mark Clark
(rescued after 12 days from OV10A rescue craft). April 6: James H. Alley; Allen
J. Avery; Peter H. Chapman; John H. Call; William R. Pearson; Roy D. Prater
(all KIA/BNR from HH53C "Jolly 52" rescue chopper). Also in very close
proximity to "Bat 21"on April 3: Allen D. Christensen; Douglas L. O'Neil;
Edward W. Williams; Larry A. Zich (all missing from UH1H). April 7: Bruce C.
Walker (evaded 11 days); Larry F. Potts (captured & died in POW camp) (both
missing from OV10A).

REMARKS: CRASH FIRE - AIR SEARCH NEG - J

SYNOPSIS: On the afternoon of April 2, 1972, two Thailand-based EB66 aircraft
(Bat 21 and Bat 22), from the 30th Air Division, were flying pathfinder escort
for a cell of B52s bombing near the DMZ. Bat 21 took a direct SAM hit and the
plane went down. A single beeper signal was heard, that of navigator Col. Iceal
Hambleton. At this time it was assumed the rest of the crew died in the crash.
The crew included Maj. Wayne L. Bolte, pilot; 1Lt. Robin F. Gatwood, LtCol.
Anthony R. Giannangeli, LtCol. Charles A. Levis, and Maj. Henry M. Serex, all
crew members. It should be noted that the lowest ranking man aboard this plane
was Gatwood, a First Lieutenant. This was not an ordinary crew, and its
members, particularly Hambleton, would be a prize capture for the enemy because
of military knowledge they possessed.

It became critical, therefore, that the U.S. locate Hambleton, and any other
surviving crew members before the Vietnamese did - and the Vietnamese were
trying hard to find them first.

An Army search and rescue team was nearby and dispatched two UH1H "slicks" and
two UH1B "Cobras". When they approached Hambleton's position just before dark,
at about 50 feet off the ground, with one of the AH1G Cobra gunships flying at
300 feet for cover, two of the helicopters were shot down. One, the Cobra (Blue
Ghost 28) reached safety and the crew was picked up, without having seen the
other downed helicopter. The other, a UH1H from F Troop, 8th Cavalry, 196th
Brigade, had just flown over some huts into a clearing when they encountered
ground fire, and the helicopter exploded. Jose Astorga, the gunner, was injured
in the chest and knee by the gunfire. Astorga became unconscious, and when he
recovered, the helicopter was on the ground. He found the pilot, 1Lt. Byron K.
Kulland, lying outside the helicopter. WO John W. Frink, the co-pilot, was
strapped in his seat and conscious. The crew chief, SP5 Ronald P. Paschall, was
pinned by his leg in the helicopter, but alive. WO Franks urged Astorga to
leave them, and Astorga was captured. He soon observed the aircraft to be hit
by automatic weapons fire, and to explode with the rest of the crew inside. He
never saw the rest of the crew again. Astorga was relesed by the North
Vietnamese in 1973.

The following day, Nail 38, an OV10A equipped with electronic rescue gear
enabling its crew to get a rapid "fix" on its rescue target entered Hambleton's
area and was shot down. The crew, William J. Henderson and Mark Clark, both
parachuted out safely. Henderson was captured and released in 1973. Clark
evaded for 12 days and was subsequently rescued.

On April 3, the day Nail 38 was shot down, a UH1H "slick" went down in the same
area carrying a crew of four enlisted Army personnel. They had no direct
connection to the rescue of Bat 21, but were very probably shot down by the
same SAM installations that downed Bat 21. The helicopter, from H/HQ, 37th
Signal Battalion, 1st Signal Brigade, had left Marble Mountain Airfield, Da
Nang, on a standard resupply mission to signal units in and around Quang Tri
City. The crew, consisting of WO Douglas L. O'Neil, pilot; CW2 Larry A. Zich,
co-pilot; SP5 Allen D. Christensen, crew chief; and SP4 Edward W. Williams,
gunner; remain missing in action.

On April 6, an attempt was made to pick up Clark and Hambleton which resulted
in an HH53C helicopter being shot down. The chopper was badly hit. The
helicopter landed on its side and continued to burn, consuming the entire
craft, and presumably, all 6 men aboard. The crew of this aircraft consisted of
James H. Alley; Allen J. Avery, John H. Call III, Peter H. Chapman, William R.
Pearson, and Roy D. Prater. Search and rescue noted no signs of survivors, but
it is felt that the Vientamese probably know the fate of this crew because of
the close proximity of the downed aircraft to enemy locations.

On April 7 another Air Force OV10A went down in the area with Larry Potts and
Bruce Walker aboard. Walker, the Air Force pilot of the aircraft, evaded
capture 11 days, while it is reported that Potts was captured and died in Quang
Binh prison. Potts, the observer, was a Marine Corps officer. Walker's last
radio transmission to search and rescue was for SAR not to make an attempt to
rescue, the enemy was closing in. Both men remain unaccounted for.

Hambleton and Clark were rescued after 12 incredible days. Hambleton
continually changed positions and reported on enemy activity as he went, even
to the extent of calling in close air strikes near his position. He was tracked
by a code he devised relating to the length and lie direction of various golf
holes he knew well. Another 20 or so Americans were not so fortunate.

In July 1986, the daughter of Henry Serex learned that, one week after all
search and rescue had been "called off" for Bat 21, another mission was mounted
to recover "another downed crewmember" from Bat 21. She doesn't know whether or
not it is her father or another man on the EB66 aircraft. No additional
information has been released. When the movie "Bat 21" was released, she was
horrified to learn that virtually no mention of the rest of the crew, including
her father, was made.

In Vietnam, to most fighting men, the man that fought beside them, whether in
the air or on the ground, was worth dying for. Each understood that the other
would die for him if necessary. Thus, also considering the critical knowledge
possessed by Col. Hambleton and some of the others, the seemingly uncanny means
taken to recover Clark and Hambleton are not so unusual at all.

What defies logic and explaination, however, is that the government that sent
these men to battle can distort or withold information to their families, and
knowingly abandon hundreds of men known or strongly suspected to be in enemy
hands.

Thousands of reports have been received by the U.S. Government indicating that
Americans are still alive, in captivity in Southeast Asia. It has been 17 years
for those who may have survived the 1972 Easter crashes and rescue attempts.
How much longer must they wait for their country to bring "peace with honor" to
them and bring them home?

AVOLESE, PAUL ANDREW

Name: Paul Andrew Avolese
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit: 2nd Bombardment Squadron
Date of Birth: 12 June 1932
Home City of Record: East Meadow NY
Date of Loss: 07 July 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 094357N 1065858E
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: B52D

Other Personnel in Incident: William J. Crumm; David F. Bittenbender; on second
B52: Charles H. Blankenship; George E. Jones; Olen B. McLaughlin (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II
Project.

REMARKS: AIR COLLISION - 7 RESC - N SUBJ - J

SYNOPSIS: Boeing B52 Stratofortress bombers have long been the Air Force's most
important strategic bomber. Used heavily in Vietnam, the venerable aircraft
continued its role throughout the Southeast Asia conflict and played an
important role in the Persian Gulf war two decades later.

On July 7, 1967, two B52 aircraft were enroute to a combat mission when they
collided in mid-air over the South China Sea. The aircraft were approximately
20 miles offshore at the point of Vinh Binh Province when the accident occurred.
Seven crewmembers from the aircraft were rescued, but Avolese, Crumm,
Bittenbender, Blankenship, Jones, and McLaughlin were not.

All the missing crewmen onboard the two B52 downed that day were believed to be
dead. It is unfortunate, but a cold reality of war that their remains were not
recoverable. They are listed with honor among the missing because their remains
cannot be buried with honor at home.

Others who are missing do not have such clear-cut cases. Some were known
captives; some were photographed as they were led by their guards. Some were in
radio contact with search teams, while others simply disappeared.

Since the war ended, over 250,000 interviews have been conducted with those who
claim to know about Americans still alive in Southeast Asia, and several million
documents have been studied. U.S. Government experts cannot seem to agree
whether Americans are there alive or not. Detractors say it would be far too
politically difficult to bring the men they believe to be alive home, and the
U.S. is content to negotiate for remains.

Well over 1000 first-hand, eye-witness reports of American prisoners still alive
in Southeast Asia have been received by 1990. Most of them are still classified.
If, as the U.S. seems to believe, the men are all dead, why the secrecy after so
many years? If the men are alive, why are they not home?

Major General William J. Crumm is the highest-ranking man missing.
AYERS, RICHARD LEE

Name: Richard Lee Ayers
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit: 12th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron
Date of Birth: 18 February 1933
Home City of Record: Waterloo IA
Date of Loss: 16 April 1970
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 161400N 1063700E (XC727952)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: RF4C
Other Personnel in Incident: Robert E. Rausch (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II
Project.

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.
Most pilots considered it one of the "hottest" planes around.

Capt. Robert E. Rausch was the pilot and Major Richard L. Ayers the
Weapons/Systems officer of an RF4C Phantom from the 12th Tactical Reconnaissance
Squadron based at Tan Son Nhut Airbase, South Vietnam. On April 16, 1970, Rausch
and Ayers were sent on a operational mission over Laos. When the aircraft did
not return as scheduled, Rausch and Ayers were declared Missing in Action from
the time of estimated fuel exhaustion.

In the early 1970's the Pathet Lao stated on a number of occasions that they
held "tens of tens" of American prisoners and that those captured in Laos would
also be released from Laos. Unfortunately, that release never occurred, because
the U.S. did not include Laos in the negotiations which brought American
involvement in the war to an end. The country of Laos was bombed by U.S. forces
for several months following the Peace Accords in January 1973, and Laos
steadfastly refused to talk about releasing our POWs until we discontinued
bombing in their country.

Consequently, no American held in Laos was ever returned. By 1989, these "tens
of tens" apparently have been forgotten. The U.S. has negotiated with the same
government entity which declared it held American POWs and has agreed to build
clinics and help improve relations with Laos. If, as thousands of reports
indicate, Americans are still alive in Indochina as captives, then the U.S. is
collaborating in signing their death warrants.

During the period they were maintained missing, Richard L. Ayers was promoted to
the rank of Colonel and Robert E. Rausch was promoted to the rank of Major.
AYRES, GERALD FRANCIS

Name: Gerald Francis Ayres
Rank/Branch: O4/USAF
Unit: 16th SOS (PAF), Ubon, Thailand
Date of Birth: 23 February 1937
Home City of Record: Newcastle DE
Date of Loss: 18 June 1972
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 161500N 1071200E (YC343978)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: AC130A

Other Personnel in Incident: Jacob Mercer; Richard Nyhof; Robert Wilson; Leon A.
Hunt; Larry J. Newman; Paul F. Gilbert; Stanley Lehrke; Robert Harrison; Donald
H. Klinke; Richard M. Cole; Mark G. Danielson (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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: Lockheed's versatile C130 aircraft filled many roles in Vietnam,
including transport, tanker, gunship, drone controller, airborne battlefield
command and control center, weather reconnaissance, electronic reconnaissance,
and search, rescue and recovery.

The AC130, outfitted as a gunship, was the most spectacular of the modified
C130's. These ships pierced the darkness using searchlights, flares, night
observation devices that intensified natural light, and a variety of electronic
sensors such as radar, infared equipment and even low-level television. On some
models, a computer automatically translated sensor data into instructions for
the pilot, who kept his fixed, side-firing guns trained on target by adjusting
the angle of bank as he circled. The crew of these planes were, therefore,
highly trained and capable. They were highly desirable "captures" for the enemy
because of their technical knowledge.

1LT Paul F. Gilbert was the pilot of an AC130A gunship assigned a mission near
the A Shau Valley in the Republic of Vietnam on June 18, 1972. The crew,
totaling 15 men included MAJ Gerald F. Ayres, MAJ Robert H. Harrison, CAPT
Robert A. Wilson, CAPT Mark G. Danielson, TSGT Richard M. Cole Jr., SSGT Donald
H. Klinke, SSGT Richard E. Nyhof, SSGT Larry J. Newman, SGT Leon A. Hunt, and
SGT Stanley L. "Larry" Lehrke.

During the mission, the aircraft was hit by a surface-to-air missile (SAM) and
went down near the border of Laos and Vietnam. In fact, the first location
coordinates given to the families were indeed Laos, but were quickly changed to
reflect a loss just inside South Vietnam.

Three survivors of the crash were rescued the next day. After several years of
effort, some of the family members of the other crewmembers were able to review
part of their debriefings, which revealed that a bail-out order was given, and
that at least one unexplained parachute was observed, indicating that at least
one other airman may have safely escaped the crippled aircraft.

In early 1985, resistance forces surfaced information which indicated that SGT
Mercer had survived the crash and was currently held prisoner. Parents of
another crew member, Mark G. Danielson, discovered a photograph of an
unidentified POW printed about 6 months after the crash, in their local
newspaper whom they were CONVINCED was Mark. It was several years, however,
before the U.S. Government allowed the Danielsons to view the film from which
the photo was taken. When they viewed the film, their certainty diminished.

The hope that some of the twelve missing from the AC130A gunship has not
diminished, however. Since the war ended, over 10,000 reports relating to
Americans missing, prisoner or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia have been
received by the U.S. Government, including over 1,000 first-hand live sighting
reports.

Families who might be able to lay their anguish and uncertainty to rest are
taunted by these reports, wondering if their loved one is still alive, abandoned
and alone. Since a large portion of the information is classified, it is
impossible for the families to come to their own conclusions as to the accuracy
of the reports.

The fate of the twelve missing men from the gunship lost on June 18, 1972 is
unknown. What is certain is that the governments of Southeast Asia possess far
more knowledge than they have admitted to date. A large percentage of the nearly
2500 missing Americans CAN be accounted for. There can be no question that if
even one American remains alive in captivity today, we have a moral and legal
obligation to do everything possible to bring him home.
AYRES, JAMES HENRY

Name: James Henry Ayres
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit: 34th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Korat Airbase, Thailand
Date of Birth: 30 June 1937
Home City of Record: Pampa TX
Date of Loss: 03 January 1971
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 165400N 1055300E (WD940685)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4E
Other Personnel in Incident: Charles W. Stratton (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1990 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.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On January 3, 1971, a flight of two aircraft departed Korat Airbase
Thailand for an operational mission over Laos. Both aircraft were the
reconnaissance version of the Phantom fighter bomber aircraft. The crew aboard
the lead aircraft was Major James H. Ayres, pilot, and Capt. Charles W.
Stratton, weapons systems officer.

During the mission, which took the flight over Savannakhet Province, Laos,
Ayres' aircraft was seen to crash and explode in a ball of fire prior to its
second pass over the target area. No parachutes were observed, and no emergency
radio beeper signals were detected. The loss occurred about 8 miles southeast
of the city of Ban Muong Sen.

Ayres and Stratton are among nearly 600 Americans lost in Laos. During the
course of American involvement in the war, the Pathet Lao stated on a number of
occasions that they held "tens of tens" of American prisoners and that those
captured in Laos would also be released from Laos. Unfortunately, that release
never occurred, because the U.S. did not include Laos in the negotiations which
brought American involvement in the war to an end. The country of Laos was
bombed by U.S. forces for several months following the Peace Accords in January
1973, and Laos steadfastly refused to talk about releasing our POWs until we
discontinued bombing in their country.

After the war ended, 591 Americans were released from communist prison camps in
Southeast Asia, but NOT ONE American held in Laos was released. Even though
family members of the men still missing did their best to keep their men's
plight in the public eye, these "tens of tens" were largely forgotten.

Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing in
Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. Government, many of them relating
to men lost in Laos. Tiny steps towards recognition of the communist Lao
government have been taken over the years, but no effort to negotiate the
freedom of any Americans still alive has been made.

In 1988, however, the U.S. agreed to "grease the wheels" for the humanitarian
construction of medical clinics to help improve U.S./Laos relations. In return,
the Lao agreed to excavate crash sites on a regular basis. Still, no
acknowledged negotiations have occurred which would free any living American
POWs in Laos. If, as thousands of reports indicate, Americans are still alive
in Indochina as captives, then the U.S. is collaborating in signing their death
warrants. It's time we found the means to bring our men home.

BABCOCK, RONALD LESTER

Name: Ronald Lester Babcock
Rank/Branch: O3/US Army
Unit: Troop B, 7th Squadron, 1st Cavalry, 223rd Aviation Battalion
Date of Birth: 08 October 1945 (Lincoln NE)
Home City of Record: Tucson, AZ
Date of Loss: 27 February 1971
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 162753N 1063121E (XD625208)
Status (In 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: OH6A

Other Personnel In Incident: Fred Mooney (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 September 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: Lam Son 719 was a large-scale offensive against enemy communications
lines which was conducted in that part of Laos adjacent to the two northern
provinces of South Vietnam. The South Vietnamese would provide and command
ground forces, while U.S. forces would furnish airlift and supporting fire.

Phase I, renamed Operation Dewey Canyon II, involved an armored attack by the
U.S. from Vandegrift base camp toward Khe Sanh, while the ARVN moved into
position for the attack across the Laotian border. Phase II began with an ARVN
helicopter assault and armored brigade thrust along Route 9 into Laos. ARVN
ground troops were transported by American helicopters, while U.S. Air Force
provided cover strikes around the landing zones.

During one of these maneuvers, on February 27, 1971, the Bravo Dutchmasters were
airborne over Laos, their pink teams doing low-level scouting in the area of
operations of the ARVN 1st Infantry Division. Capt. Ronald L. Babcock was flying
one of the OH6A Loaches (serial #67-16256) and his door-gunner/observer, SFC
Fred Mooney was the scout platoon sergeant. A man in his forties, Mooney was not
required to fly, but he volunteered to show the young draftees that old lifers
could be as tough as they were.

After ten minutes in the area, the formation began receiving 51 caliber ground
fire. Skimming low over the trees, the Loach was hit by NVA fire, and Babcock
made several radio transmissions, saying that his observer was hit and that he
didn't have any control over the aircraft. He radioed that they were going down.

The Command and Control ship chased after the descending ship and observed the
Loach crash on its skids on a dirt road. The last transmission heard from
Babcock was either "sit still" or "don't move." The rotor, which had lost one
blade, continued to turn. The aircraft was still intact, and the tail boom and
windshield bubble had not been damaged extensively. It looked as if someone had
thrown a smoke grenade, as there was smoke in the crash site area. However, the
aircraft had not burned.

A crew chief on one of the airborne helicopters thought he saw Mooney and
Babcock jump out and run across a grassy clearing, whereupon they were cut
down by North Vietnamese in the treeline. The C & C ship commander dropped to a
twenty-foot hover and called on the radio that, from their appearance, the two
were dead. Babcock and Mooney were seen lying face up a few feet in front of the
helicopter. Neither man was moving, and their faces were pale, with eyes wide
open. Both appeared to be bleeding from head and body wounds. The blood around
them had already started to dry, and neither man appeared to be alive. The chase
helicopter then began to receive small arms fire, and had to leave the site.

Another UH1H sent to the crash site was also able to hover a few feet above the
downed helicopter, but was unable to land. This crew also reported that two
bodies were lying face up in a crumpled position. It appeared that the crew had
been hit with ground fire after leaving the aircraft. Enemy positions in this
area were extremely well-fortified and continued firing, even after receiving
numerous air strikes. Friendly ground troops were unable to get to the crash
site because of enemy activity.

Curiously, the Army did not immediately declare Mooney and Babcock dead, but
waited nearly a year before a status change was made. At the time, the Babcock
family felt that the change was made without tangible evidence of death.
Apparently their impression was that observers were unsure whether the two men
were dead, and the delay in the status change seems to support this view. Army
accounts, however, prepared at the time of the status change, do not leave room
for doubt. It is interesting to note that in many cases the precise evidence
used to support continuation in Missing in Action status is later used,
evaluated in a different manner, as "proof" that an individual must be dead. It
is a small wonder that so many POW/MIA family members have grown to distrust
what the government has to tell them about their missing man.

Fred Mooney's tour was to be over in May and his plans were to return to
Killeen, Texas and continue his life with his wife and four children. Ron
Babcock graduated from college with a degree in forestry and was anxious to get
home and get on with his career.

Proof of the deaths of Mooney and Babcock was never found. No remains came home;
neither was released from prison camp. They were not blown up, nor did they sink
to the bottom of the ocean. Someone knows what happened to them.

Were it not for thousands of reports relating to Americans still held captive in
Southeast Asia today, the families of the OH6A helicopter crew might be able to
believe their men died with their aircraft. But until proof exists that they
died, or they are brought home alive, they will wonder and wait.

How long must they wait before we bring our men home?


BABULA, ROBERT LEO

Name: Robert Leo Babula
Rank/Branch: E2/US Marines
Unit: 1st Platoon, Company K, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Division
Date of Birth: 07 March 1947
Home City of Record: Indiana PA
Date of Loss: 28 August 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 155800N 1081500E (BT061673)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: ground

Other Personnel in Incident: John E. Bodenschatz Jr.; Robert C. Borton Jr.;
Dennis R. Carter (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II
Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: PFC Robert L. Babula, PFC Robert C. Borton Jr., PFC John E.
Bodenschatz Jr., and PFC Dennis R. Carter were members of 1st Platoon, Company
K, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines. On 28 August 1966, the four were assigned as a
fire team ambush with instructions to establish an ambush site approximately 500
meters to the south of their platoon patrol base. This specific location is in
Hoa Hai village within grid square BT 0667.

The fire team departed at 3:00 a.m. on August 28, and were given instructions
for use of the pyrotechnics they were carrying as signaling devices. They were
further instructed to relocate in the same general area or return to their
platoon patrol base in the event their ambush site was compromised, and finally
to return no later than 9:00 a.m. that morning.

When the fire team failed to return as scheduled, an immediate search of the
area was conducted by Company K with negative results. During the period of
August 29-31, the Battalion made a dovetailed search of the entire area covering
all possible routes of egress in the event the team members had been captured.

Indigenous personnel in the area were questioned, but no evidence was uncovered
which gave any clues. Villagers were questioned and a search of the area
continued. On September 4, Company K discovered part of an American wrist watch
and PFC Bodenschatz' two identification tags in the vicinity of BT 061673. The
search was intensified in that area, including the use of heavy engineer
equipment in an effort to locate graves, but no further trace was found.

On September 13, the Battalion cordoned off grid squares BT 0567, 0667, 0566,
0666 and all inhabitants were assembled, screened, and interrogated by an ARVN
interrogation team from Hoa Vang District Headquarters. Three Viet Cong suspects
were retained for further questioning, however, no additional information was
obtained concerning the four Marines.

The Battalion commander's final determination was that the four Marines were
probably captured.

In 1975, information was declassified that indicated that since the fire team's
disappearance, Marine headquarters had received two reports sighting three to
four Americans being displayed in villages south of the area in which the fire
team disappeared.

A Christmas card received by Company K/3/1 1st Marine Division, sent by Babula's
mother and sister, stated that they had recently received news that Babula was a
prisoner of war. None of the four, however, returned in the general prisoner
release in 1973.

Since the war ended, the Defense Department has received over 10,000 reports
relating to the men still unaccounted for in Southeast Asia, yet concludes that
no actionable evidence has been received that would indicate Americans are still
alive in Southeast Asia. A recent Senate investigation indicates that most of
these reports were dismissed without just cause, and that there is every
indication that Americans remained in captivity far after the war ended, and may
be alive today.

The fate of the four Marines on the fire team on 28 August 1966 remains
uncertain. What is clear, however, is that it's time we learned the truth about
our missing and brought them home.

BACKUS, KENNETH FRANK

Name: Kenneth Frank Backus
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 15 August 1938
Home City of Record: Pyrites NY
Date of Loss: 22 May 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 213300N 1063000E (XJ553835)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4C

Other Personnel In Incident: Elton L. Perrine (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 30 June 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.

1LT Kenneth F. Backus and Capt. Elton L. Perrine were F4 pilots assigned a
combat mission over North Vietnam on May 22, 1967. At a point near the city of
Nam Dinh, their F4C aircraft was struck by enemy fire and crashed. Because of
the probability that both men safely ejected from the crippled aircraft, they
were both classified Missing in Action.

(NOTE: Defense Department records indicate that both Backus and Perrine were
pilots. Usually, one is coded as the rearseater and the other is coded as the
pilot. Normally, the higher-ranking individual on the aircraft is the pilot,
although this is not always the case. However, other records list Backus as the
first loss from the aircraft, adding evidence that he was the pilot, not the
backseater. One situation where this could occur might be if Perrine was nearing
the end of his tour and Perrine near the beginning of his, Perrine taking the
rear seat in order to guide Backus through his first combat missions.)

591 American Prisoners of War were released in Operation Homecoming in the
spring of 1973, but Backus and Perrine were not. Thousands of reports have been
received by the U.S. Government that indicate hundreds of Americans are still
alive and held captive in Southeast Asia, yet the government seems unable or
unwilling to successfully achieve their release. Policy statements indicate that
"conclusive proof" is not available, but when it is, the government will act.
Detractors state that proof is in hand, but the will to act does not exist.

Henry Kissinger has said that the problem of unrecoverable Prisoners is an
"unfortunate" byproduct of limited political engagements. This does not seem to
be consistent with the high value we, as a nation, place on individual human
lives. Men like Perrine and Backus, who went to Vietnam because their country
asked it of them, are too precious to the future of this nation to write them
off as expendable.


During the period they were maintained missing, Elton L. Perrine was promoted to
the rank of Colonel and Kenneth F. Backus was promoted to the rank of Captain.
BADER, ARTHUR EDWARD JR.

Remains Returned - ID Announced 8 February 1990

Name: Arthur Edward Bader, Jr.
Rank/Branch: E5/US Army Special Forces
Unit: Command & Control North MACV-SOG, 5th Special Forces
Date of Birth: 12 July 1934
Home City of Record: Atlantic City NJ
Date of Loss: 30 November 1968
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 163852N 1062514E (XD515410)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: CH34

Other Personnel In Incident: Gary R. LaBohn; Michael H. Mein; Raymond Stacks;
Samuel K. Toomey; Klaus Scholz (all missing); Richard A. Fitts (remains
returned)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 April 1990 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.

SYNOPSIS: SFC Arthur E. Bader was born on July 12, 1934 in Atlantic City, New
Jersey. He entered the Army in May, 1964. In Vietnam, Bader was part of Military
Assistance Command Vietnam Studies and Observation Group (MACV-SOG) which was a
joint service high command unconventional warfare task force engaged in highly
classified operations throughout Southeast Asia. The 5th Special Forces
channeled personnel into MACV-SOG (though it was not a Special Forces group)
through Special Operations Augmentation (SOA) which provided their "cover" while
under secret orders to MACV-SOG. These teams performed deep penetration missions
of strategic reconnaissance and interdiction missions in Laos and Cambodia which
were called, depending on the country and time frame, "Shining Brass" or
"Prairie Fire" missions.

On November 30, 1968, Sgt. Richard A. Fitts, Sgt. Arthur E. Bader, Cpl. Gary R.
LaBohn, SSgt. Klaus D. Scholz, Maj. Samuel K. Toomey, Cpl. Michael H. Mein, 1Lt.
Raymond C. Stacks were passengers aboard a Vietnamese Air Force CH34 helicopter
(serial #14-4653) as their team was being transported to their reconnaissance
mission area in Laos. Details of their mission was classified at that time, and
remains classified in early 1990. However, information received from some of the
family members indicates that the mission was related to disarming an enemy
munitions store. This same account includes the informaton that Maj. Toomey was
a chemical warfare expert. Other information states that he was a communications
officer. Toomey's family identified his job as one that he could not talk about,
but that he was an "Advisor to the Special Forces."

The helicopter was flying at 4,000 feet when it was struck by 37mm anti-aircraft
fire, went into a spin, crashed in a mass of flames and exploded. The helicopter
crashed about 10 miles northwest of Khe Sanh, just into Laos east of Tchepone.
The crash site is in heavy jungle, near a stream. From the time the aircraft was
hit until the time it impacted out of view, the helicopter was under observation
and no one was seen to leave the aircraft during its descent. No ground search
was initiated because the location was in a denied area. Later visual search
indicated that the pilot's hatch was open, and his helmet was seen 25-30 feet
from the helicopter, but no survivors or bodies were seen. All the personnel
aboard the aircraft, however, were not declared dead, but were were declared
Missing in Action, which was procedure when no proof of death existed.

When the war ended, and 591 Americans were releaesed from prison camps in
Southeast Asia, not one man who had been held in Laos was released. Although the
Pathet Lao stated publicly that they held "tens of tens" of Americans, no
negotiations occurred which would free them at that time, nor have any occurred
since.

In March 1988, the area in which the helicopter crashed was excavated by a joint
Lao/US technical team. Human remains consisting of 17 teeth and 145 bone
fragments, none measuring over two inches, were recovered. The remains were
returned to the U.S. Army Central Identification (CIL) in Hawaii.

On January 3, 1990, it was announced that the remains of Richard Fitts had been
positively identified from the material recovered at the crash site. That
identification was determined by the government's conclusion that two of the 17
teeth belonged to Fitts. Fitts' parents, after having an independent analysis
conducted on the teeth, felt assured that the teeth belonged to their son, and
subsequently buried them in Boston, Massachusetts. The remaining 15 teeth and
145 bone fragments were said to be unidentifiable.

Barely a month later, on February 8, 1990, the Department of Defense announced
that the remainder of the crew had been positively identified and would be
buried, along with the Vietnamese crew, in a mass grave in Arlington National
Cemetery. Fitts' name was included on that tombstone along with the other
Americans because the Pentagon believed some of the bone fragments belonged to
Fitts. Thus, even though the remains were scientifically unidentifiable, the
cases were closed on these individuals.

Critics of the U.S. Government's identification of the entire crew of the
helicopter point to a similar incident some years ago. In 1968, unidentifiable
remains attributed to a group of U.S. Marines killed near Khe Sanh on February
25, 1968 were buried in a mass grave in St. Louis. One of the deceased was
identified as being Marine Sgt. Ronald Ridgeway.

Five years later, Ridgeway was released from a Vietnamese prisoner of war camp,
giving rise to considerable speculation as to the validity of the positive
identification of the other remains buried in St. Louis.

There are still over 2300 Americans who remain prisoner, missing, or otherwise
unaccounted for in Southeast Asia. Nearly 600 of them were lost in Laos. The
U.S. Government, by early 1990, had received nearly 10,000 reports relating to
Americans missing in Southeast Aisa. Many authorities believe there are hundreds
of Americans still alive today, held captive.

In recent years, the numbers of remains returned from Vietnam and excavated in
Laos has increased dramatically. Government strategists happily point to this as
"progress" on the POW/MIA issue, although most of these remains are still
unidentified. Indeed, many families, having had independent studies of the
remains to assure accurate identification, now have answers to long-awaited
concerns about their loved ones. However, when remains are positively
identified, the U.S. Government closes the books and the search for that missing
man ends. Can we afford to close the books on an American who may be alive
waiting for his country to bring him home?

How many will serve in the next war knowing they may be abandoned?



BADOLATI, FRANK NEIL

Name: Frank Neil Badolati
Rank/Branch: E6/US Army Special Forces
Unit: HQ & HQ Company, 5th Special Forces Group
Date of Birth: 19 March 1933 (New York, NY)
Home City of Record: Goffstown NH
Date of Loss: 29 January 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 143704N 1085242E (BS719172)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Other Personnel In Incident: Cecil J. Hodgson; Ronald T. Terry (both missing);
Wiley W. Grey (survived) (other survivors)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 30 June 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: BAD WOUND-PROB BLED TO DEATH-J

SYNOPSIS: Frank N. Badaloti and Ronald T. Terry were riflemen on a Special
Forces reconnaissance team operating in An Lao Valley of Binh Dinh Province 12
miles west of Tam Quan in South Vietnam when his team was split during a
firefight. The patrol came under enemy fire on the afternoon of 28 January 1966
during which time Badolati was hit. Cecil Hodgson, the patrol leader, from
Detachment B52 Delta, was apparently treating Badolati's wounds as the patrol
traveled in small groups from the location where Badolati was hit. Badolati was
with two other individuals who survived, and as he was too badly wounded to
continue, the three remained for about two hours in their position.

Badolati's condition worsened, and when the two survivors left the area, they
reported that Badolati was dead. They had no choice but to leave his body
behind.

Hodgson and Terry evaded for the rest of the day. On January 29, they moved at
first light into a defensive position, whereupon they encountered enemy forces
and another firefight ensued. Terry indicated that he had been hit, and others
thought he had been killed. When they looked for Hodgson, he was gone. Survivors
heard additional shots, which they believed were shots fired at Hodgson, and
they believed he also had been killed.

The team could not search for Hodgson because of the heavy enemy activity, and
were forced to move to a rallying point. They evaded capture for the remainder
of the day, and were ultimately picked up by helicopter.

Searches for all three missing were conducted for the next 4 days with no
results. Hodgson was classified Missing In Action. Badolati and Terry were
classified Killed/Body Not Recovered.

Since the end of the war, over 10,000 reports relating to Americans prisoner,
missing or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S
Government. Many authorities who have reviewed this intelligence material,
including a former Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, believe that
hundreds of Americans are still alive, held captive. Hodgson could be among
them. If alive, what must he be thinking of us?


Cecil J. Hodgson was promoted to the rank of Master Sergeant during the period
he was maintained missing.


BAILEY, DANIAL T.

Name: Danial T. Bailey
Rank/Branch: E3/US Army
Unit:
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record:
Date of Loss: 01 November 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates:
Status (in 1973): AWOL
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: ground

Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 September 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 Vietnam, military experts devised a system to try to relieve
the battle fatigue experienced in earlier wars by those who served long
tours with their units intact. In Vietnam, soldiers were rotated after
roughly one-year tours. The practice had noble intent, but it served to
isolate the soldier and interrupted continuity. Virtually as soon as a man
learned the ropes, he was shipped home and a green replacement arrived to
fill the gap. Some were quite literally, in the jungles one day and at
home the next. The emotional impact was terrific and thousands of veterans
are dealing with it two decades later.

Vietnam was also a limited political war, and had peculiar problems: a
vague enemy, restrictive rules of engagement, an uncertain objective,
non-military State Department minds directing many aspects of the war. In
certain periods of the war, military morale was lower than perhaps any
other time in our history.

Adding to these factors was the extremely young age of the average soldier
shipped to Vietnam. For example, the average combatant's age in World War
II was 25 years, while Vietnam soldiers were 19. The young fighters became
jaded -- or old -- or died -- long before their time.

For various reasons, some soldiers deserted or even defected to the enemy.
Their counterparts in the U.S. fled to Canada, manufactured physical or
mental problems, or extended college careers to escape the draft.

There are only a handful of American deserters or AWOL (Absent Without
Leave) maintained on missing lists. At least one of these was known to
have fallen in love with a woman whom he later learned was a communist.
Another fled because he had scrapped with a superior and feared the
consequences. This man was ultimately declared dead, and his AWOL record
expunged.

There is little information regarding those listed as AWOL on the missing
lists. For instance, the Army does not maintain a missing file of PFC
Danial T. Bailey who was reported AWOL on November 1, 1969. His story and
his fate are unknown.

Some of the reports among the over 10,000 received relating to Americans
missing or prisoner in Southeast Asia have to do with deserters, although
there is no evidence they have been asked if they want to come home. In
light of the amnesty granted draft dodgers by the United States
Government, can we be less forgiving of them?
BAILEY, JAMES WILLIAM

Name: James William Bailey
Rank/Branch: O2/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 143, USS CONSTELLATION
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Kosciusko MS
Date of Loss: 28 June 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 203300N 1060400E (XH111725)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4B

Other Personnel in Incident: William Pl Lawrence (released POW)

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: 730218 RELSD BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: The USS CONSTELLATION provided air power to the U.S. effort in Vietnam
early in the war, having participated in strikes against Loc Chao and Hon Gai in
North Vietnam during August 1964. One of the first American POWs of the war, and
certainly one of the most well-known, LTJG Everett Alverez, launched from her
decks and was captured during this series of strikes in 1964. The CONSTELLATION
was large and carried a full range of aircraft. Fighters from her air wing,
CVW-14, earned the carrier the Meritorious Unit Commendation in 1968 during a
particularly intense period of air attacks. VF-96, a premier fighter squadron
awarded the Clifton Trophy two straight years, flew from the CONSTELLATION in
October 1971. During this period, two of her pilots, LT Randall H. Cunningham
and LTJG William "Willie" Driscoll became the first American aces of the Vietnam
War, having shot down five Russian-made MiG enemy aircraft. The CONSTELLATION
remained on station throughout most of the war.

One of the aircraft launched from the decks of the CONSTELLATION was the F4
Phantom. 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.

CDR William P. "Bill" Lawrence was the commanding officer of Attack Squadron 143
onboard the USS CONSTELLATION. On 28 June 1967, Lawrence and his backseater,
LTJG James W. Bailey, flew a mission over Nam Dinh, North Vietnam in their F4B
Phantom. The aircraft was hit by enemy fire and the crew was forced to eject.
Both Lawrence and Bailey were captured by the North Vietnamese.

It was not yet known that POWs were being tortured in captivity in Vietnam, but
Lawrence was to endure five consecutive days of misery in the hands of his
captors. By the time Lawrence and Bailey reached Hanoi, other POW officers were
devising their own code of conduct that specifically applied to the problems
they encountered as prisoners of war.

For the next six years, Lawrence and Bailey were held prisoner in the Hanoi
prison system. Finally, on February 18, 1973, Bailey was released, and on March
4 Lawrence was released. The two were among 591 Americans that were released in
Operation Homecoming in the spring of 1973.

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. These reports are the source of serious distress to many returned
American prisoners. They had a code that no one could honorably return unless
all of the prisoners returned. Not only that code of honor, but the honor of our
country is at stake as long as even one man remains unjustly held. It's time we
brought our men home.


James W. Bailey was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant during his captivity.
William P. Lawrence remained in the Navy and attained the rank of Vice Admiral.

BAILEY, LAWRENCE ROBERT JR.

Name: Lawrence Robert Bailey, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O4/US Army
Unit: Assigned to Army Attache Office, Vientiane, Laos
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Albuquerque NM
Loss Date: 23 March 1961
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 192855N 1031014E (UG081550)
Status (in 1973): Released POW (1962)
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: C47
Other Personnel in Incident: Alfons A. Bankowski; Frederick Garside; Ralph W.
Magee; Glenn Matteson; Leslie V. Sampson; Edgar Weitkamp; Oscar Weston (all
missing)

REMARKS: 620815 RELEASED

SYNOPSIS: Henry Kissinger once predicted that an "unfortunate" by-product of
"limited political engagements" would be personnel who could not be recovered.
On March 23, 1961, one of the first group of Americans to fall into that
"unfortunate" category were shot from the sky by Pathet Lao antiaircraft guns.
Most Americans at that time did not even know that the United States had
military personnel in Southeast Asia. In fact, most Americans had not even
heard of the name "Laos". The Geneva Agreements had yet to be signed; air
rescue teams had yet to arrive in Southeast Asia.

The C47 aircraft crew consisted of 1Lt. Ralph W. Magee, pilot; 1Lt. Oscar B.
Weston, co-pilot; 2Lt. Glenn Matteson, navigator; SSgt. Alfons A. Bankowski,
flight engineer; SSgt. Frederick T. Garside, assistant flight engineer; SSgt.
Leslie V. Sampson, radio operator; and passengers Maj. Lawrence R. Bailey and
WO1 Edgar W. Weitkamp. Bailey and Weitkamp were assigned to the Army Attache
Office at Vientiane, Laos. The aircraft crew were all Air Force personnel
flying from the 315th Air Division, Osan Airbase, Korea.

This C47 was a specially modified intelligence-gathering SC-47 which took off
from Vientiane for Saigon. The passengers and crew were bound for "R & R" in
the "Paris of the Orient". Before heading for Saigon, the pilot turned north
toward Xieng Khouangville, a Pathet Lao stronghold on the eastern edge of the
Plain of Jars. The crew, experienced in intelligence collection, planned to use
their radio-direction finding equipment to determine the frequencies being used
by Soviet pilots to locate the Xieng Khouangville airfield through the dense
fog that often blanketed the region. Pathet Lao anti-aircraft guns downed the
plane, shearing off a wing and sending the aircraft plummeting toward the
jungle.

Maj. Bailey, who always wore a parachute when he flew, jumped from the falling
aircraft and was captured by the Pathet Lao. Bailey spent seventeen months as a
prisoner in Sam Neua, the Pathet Lao headquarters near the North Vietnamese
border, before being repatriated after the signing of the Geneva Agreements on
Laos in 1962. The caves at Sam Neua were said to have held scores of American
prisoners during and after the war.

The seven men lost on March 23, 1961 were the first of many hundreds of
American personnel shot from the sky only to disappear in the jungles of Laos.
Four Lao sources stated that 7 of the 8 personnel on board died in the crash of
the aircraft, and were buried in the vicinity.

Sixteen years later, in February 1977, several Pathet Lao films were obtained
by a friendly foreign government showing an identification card with a photo of
SSgt. Garside, and an open passport bearing 1Lt. Magee's ID number. The fact
that these items were recovered in good condition is evidence that further
information is available on the crew, due to the fact that the plane was not
completely destroyed, and the Pathet Lao were present at the site of the crash.

Clearly, someone knows what happened to the crew of the C47. Because Laos was
not included in the Paris agreements ending American involvement in Southeast
Asia, and because no agreement has been reached since regarding Lao-held
American POWs, hundreds of Americans remain missing, including the crew of the
C47. Many Americans were known to have survived, and hundreds of reports point
to their survival today.
BAILON, RUBEN C.

Name: Ruben C. Bailon
Rank/Branch: Civilian
Unit: Merchant Marine, SS Express Baltimore
Date of Birth: 25 November 1930
Home City of Record:
Date of Loss: 25 December 1965
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 160400N 1081300E (CR081220)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Other Personnel In Incident: Stephen O'Laughlin (remains returned)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 30 June 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: Ruben Bailon was a Merchant Marine seaman aboard the ship SS Express
Baltimore. On Christmas Day, he and the second officer, Stephen O'Laughlin went
to the harbor town of Qui Nhon, South Vietnam, to arrange for a flight to Saigon
to find and assist the return of the ship's captain, who had been sick. They
stayed in a cheap hotel.

The hotel owner reported seeing the two in the hotel bar the next day, but
neither boarded their planes that day. They simply disappeared. The two had
about $300 between them.

On May 26, 1968, a Vietnamese being interrogated in Binh Dinh Province
identified O'Laughlin's photo, stating he had seen Steve and two other American
POWs in a Viet Cong jungle camp near Da Nang, where he himself had been held
several months. The Vietnamese stated he saw Steve last in early May 1968,
before his own escape. Steve's family was not notified of the report until 1972.

A rallier later identified Bailon's photograph as a prisoner he had seen. CIA
analysis could find no reason for the identification as no other U.S. POWs had
reported being held with Bailon or O'Laughlin.

In June 1973, remains were recovered from a grave in Phu Yen Province, which
were identified in December 1976 as those of Stephen O'Laughlin. It is reported
that he was captured in a Saigon hospital. No one is looking for Steve any
longer.

Ruben Bailon is among nearly 2400 Americans who remain missing. Thousands of
reports have convinced experts that many are still alive, held captive. Bailon
is one of scores of civilians who disappeared. He could be alive. If so, what
must he be thinking of his country? Why don't we bring these men home?


Stephen M. O'Laughlin's name is not engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in
Washington D.C.
BAKER, ARTHUR D.

Name: Arthur D. Baker
Rank/Branch: USAF, O3
Unit:
Date of Birth: 30 July 33
Home City of Record: San Antonio, TX
Date of Loss: 07 April 65
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 193500, 1034700
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 3
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: B-57B

Remarks: Last seen on dive thru thin clouds.

Other Personnel In Incident: James W. Lewis

Source: Compiled by THE P.O.W. NETWORK 02 February 93 from the
following published sources - POW/MIA's -- Report of the Select Committee
on POW/MIA Affairs United States Senate -- January 13, 1993. "The Senate
Select Committee staff has prepared case summaries for the priority cases
that the Administration is now investigating. These provide the facts about
each case, describe the circumstances under which the individual was lost,
and detail the information learned since the date of loss.  Information in
the case summaries is limited to information from casualty files, does not
include any judgments by Committee staff, and attempts to relate essential
facts. The Committee acknowledges that POW/MIAs' primary next-of- kin know
their family members' cases in more comprehensive detail than summarized
here and recognizes the limitations that the report format imposes on these
summaries."

On April 7, 1965, Baker and James [sic] were crewmen on a B-57B, one in a
flight of four aircraft on an interdiction mission launched from Bien Hoa
Air Base, South Vietnam and with its target in Xieng Khouang Province, Laos.
The crew was last seen descending through thin overcast toward the target
area and it never reappeared. Extensive search and rescue efforts through
April 12th failed to locate either the aircraft or its crew.

On April 14, 1965, the New China News Agency reported the shoot down of a
B-57 approximately three miles north-northeast of the town of Khang Khay.
This was described as the first B-57 shoot down of an aircraft launched from
South Vietnam.

Both crewmen were initially reported missing in action in South Vietnam
while on a classified mission.  Their loss location was later changed to
Laos.  There was limited wartime reporting about U.S. aircraft losses in the
general area the crewmen were last reported but they could not be correlated
to this specific incident.  U.S. intelligence continues to receive
information which may correlate to this shoot down but provides no positive
information on the fate of the crewmen.

In January 1974 Major Baker's next-of-kin requested his case review go
forward and he was declared killed in action, body not recovered, in January
1974.  Lewis was declared dead/body not recovered, in April 1982.  Returning
POWs were unable to provide any information on the fate of these two
servicemen.
BAKER, VETO HUAPILI

Name: Veto Huapili Baker
Rank/Branch: E5/US Army
Unit:
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record:
Date of Loss: 06 October 1972
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 160400N 1081300E
Status (in 1973): AWOL
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS: RELSD VS NOV 1975

SYNOPSIS: In Vietnam, military experts devised a system to try to relieve
the battle fatigue experienced in earlier wars by those who served long
tours with their units intact. In Vietnam, soldiers were rotated after
roughly one-year tours. The practice had noble intent, but it served to
isolate the soldier and interrupted continuity. Virtually as soon as a man
learned the ropes, he was shipped home and a green replacement arrived to
fill the gap. Some were quite literally, in the jungles one day and at
home the next. The emotional impact was terrific and thousands of veterans
are dealing with it two decades later.

Vietnam was also a limited political war, and had peculiar problems: a
vague enemy, restrictive rules of engagement, an uncertain objective,
non-military State Department minds directing many aspects of the war. In
certain periods of the war, military morale was lower than perhaps any
other time in our history.

Adding to these factors was the extremely young age of the average soldier
shipped to Vietnam. For example, the average combatant's age in World War
II was 25 years, while Vietnam soldiers were 19. The young fighters became
jaded -- or old -- or died -- long before their time.

For various reasons, some soldiers deserted or even defected to the enemy.
Their counterparts in the U.S. fled to Canada, manufactured physical or
mental problems, or extended college careers to escape the draft.

There are only a handful of American deserters or AWOL (Absent Without
Leave) maintained on missing lists. At least one of these was known to
have fallen in love with a woman whom he later learned was a communist.
Another fled because he had scrapped with a superior and feared the
consequences. This man was ultimately declared dead, and his AWOL record
expunged. Most are on the list of missing because there is some doubt that their
AWOL status is valid.

There is little information regarding those listed as AWOL on the missing
lists. For instance, the Army does not maintain a missing file of Sgt. Veto H.
Baker, who was reported AWOL from Da Nang on October 6, 1972. His story and his
fate are unknown. However, it is known that his official status was changed by
1980 to reflect that he had been released in South Vietnam. Whether he was
actually a prisoner of war or caught up in the exodus from South Vietnam
following the war is not known.

Some of the reports among the over 10,000 received relating to Americans missing
or prisoner in Southeast Asia have to do with deserters, although there is no
evidence they have been asked if they want to come home. In light of the amnesty
granted draft dodgers by the United States Government, can we be less forgiving
of them?



BALAMONTI, MICHAEL DIMITRI

Name: Michael Dimitri Balamonti
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit: 41st Tactical Airlift Squadron, Ubon Airfield, Thailand
Date of Birth: 30 June 1933
Home City of Record: Glen Falls NY
Date of Loss: 24 November 1969
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 154900N 1064600E (YC902495)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: C130A
Other Personnel in Incident: Earl C. Brown; Rexford J. Dewispelaere; Charles R.
Fellenz; Richard O. Ganley; Larry I. Grewell; Peter R. Matthes; Donald L.
Wright (all missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On November 24, 1969, a C130A departed Ubon Airfield, Thailand on an
operational mission over Laos. The crew aboard the aircraft included Maj.
Michael D. Balamonti (the navigator); Capt. Earl C. Brown; Capt. Richard O.
Ganley; 1Lt. Peter R. Matthes (the copilot); and Sgts. Donald L. Wright; Larry
I. Grewell; Charles R. Fellenz; and Rexford J. DeWispelaere.

While on the mission, near Ban Bac, Savannakhet Province, Laos, the C130 was
observed to be struck by several rounds of 37mm anti-aircraft fire, burst into
flames, crash to the ground, and explode on impact. All the crew was declared
Missing in Action, but due to enemy presence in the area, it was strongly felt
that the enemy could account for them. It was not determined whether the crew
died or survived the crash of the aircraft.

The crew of the C130 are among nearly 600 Americans who were lost in Laos. When
Dr. Henry Kissinger negotiated President Nixon's Peace Agreements in Paris in
1973, ending American involvement in the Vietnam War, the Americans lost in
Laos were forgotten. Kissinger did not negotiate for them, even though several
were known to be Prisoners of War, and some 125 of them were known to have
survived their loss incidents. Furthermore, the Pathet Lao stated on several
occasions that they held "tens of tens" of American prisoners.

The nearly 600 Americans lost in Laos have never been negotiated for, and not
one American held in Laos was released at the end of the war.

Since the end of the war, nearly 10,000 reports have been received by the U.S.
relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asia. Many authorities believe that
hundreds remain alive today, held captive. Whether the crew of the C130 could
be among them is not known, but it seems certain that there are compelling
questions that need answers. Among them - why did we abandon the men who served
our country? What are we doing to bring them home?


Prepared by Homecoming II Project 01 December 1989.



BALCOM, RALPH CAROL JR

Name: Ralph Carol Balcom, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 24 December 1933
Home City of Record: Seattle WA
Date of Loss: 15 May 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam (see text)
Loss Coordinates: 171200N 1064000E (XE100100)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 1
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F105D
Other Personnel In Incident: None Missing

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 15 March 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS: NEG SAR CONT

SYNOPSIS: Ralph Balcom Jr. was shot down over North Vietnam about 20 miles north
of the Demilitarized Zone in Quang Binh Province. A radio signal indicated that
Major Balcom had parachuted to the ground, but because of zero visibility at the
time, search planes were not able to locate and rescue him.

Two months later a propaganda film appeared with a man Ralph's parents
immediately recognized as their son being paraded down the streets of Hanoi. The
U.S. Government later identified the man as a returned POW Kyle Berg, also from
the state of Washington.

In November 1973, the Air Force discovered that Joint Casualty Resolution Center
(JCRC) in Nakhon Phanom was carrying Balcom as a Prisoner of War while Defense
Intelligence Agency carried him as Missing In Action. The Air Force directed
JCRC to delete any reference pertaining to POW status in Balcom's files.
Balcom's status was changed from Prisoner of War to Missing in Action, although
analysts say today that JCRC records were the most accurate and complete because
of their close proximity to the region.

JCRC also lists Balcom as being lost in Laos, not North Vietnam. The loss
coordinates, 171200N 1064000E are in North Vietnam about 20 miles north of the
DMZ. Grid coordinates XE100100 are located a few miles northwest of the Ban
Karai Pass in Laos. It cannot be determined why there is a descrepancy in loss
locations between agencies.

Today, over 20 years have passed since Ralph Balcom's last flight over Vietnam.
His family is still not sure whether he is alive or dead. Over 10,000 reports of
Americans still held captive have been received by the U.S. Balcom could be one
of the hundreds experts believe are still alive. Isn't it time we brought these
men home?

Ralph C. Balcom was promoted to the rank of Colonel during the period he was
maintained a Prisoner of War and Missing in Action.
BALDOCK, FREDERICK CHARLES JR.

Name: Frederick Charles Baldock, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O2/US Navy
Unit:
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Pittsburgh PA
Date of Loss: 17 March 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 183700N 1054800E (WF843584)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/vehicle/Ground: A4C

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: 730212 RELSD BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: When the bombing of North Vietnam began after a Christmas moratorium
on January 31 1966, American efforts intensified to the extent the monsoon
season allowed. December 1965 had seen monthly combat sorties into North Vietnam
at about 1500 per week. In February 1966, about one hundred planes flew over
North Vietnam every day and by March the daily average of flights was 50 percent
higher.

Most of the strikes on North Vietnam were made by Navy aircraft stationed on
aircraft carriers on Yankee Station in the Gulf of Tonkin. LTJG Frederick C.
Baldock Jr. was one pilot who launched off carriers at Yankee Station. He was
the pilot of an A4C Skyhawk.

The Douglas Aircraft A4 Skyhawk was an inexpensive, lightweight attack and
ground support aircraft. The design emphasized low-speed control and stability
during take-off and landing as well as strength enough for catapult launch and
carrier landings. The plane was so compact that it did not need folding wings
for aboardship storage and handling. In spite of its diminutive size, the A4
packed a devastating punch and performed well where speed and maneuverability
were essential.

Baldock had been in Vietnam waters in 1965 onboard the USS RANGER flying strike
missions on targets in North Vietnam. On one mission, his aircraft was hit,
leaving an eight-inch hole in the tailpipe. Baldock landed at Da Nang Airbase
then returned in the aircraft to the carrier. A hazardous near miss.

On March 1966, LTJG Baldock launched in his A4C Skyhawk on a combat mission near
the city of Vinh in Ha Tinh Province, North Vietnam. During this mission,
Baldock's aircraft was again hit by enemy fire. This time, the damage to the
aircraft was more severe and Baldock was forced to eject. He was captured by the
North Vietnamese.

For the next seven years, Baldock was a "guest" of the North Vietnamese in the
Hanoi prison system. Finally, on February 12, 1973, Baldock and 590 other
Americans were released from prisoner of war camps in Vietnam.

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. These reports are the source of serious distress to many returned
American prisoners. They had a code that no one could honorably return unless
all of the prisoners returned. Not only that code of honor, but the honor of our
country is at stake as long as even one man remains unjustly held. It's time we
brought our men home.
BALLINGER, ORVILLE ROGER

Name: Orville Roger Ballinger
Rank/Branch: E5/US Army Special Forces
Unit: Company B, FFT-59, 7th Special Forces
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Columbus OH
Date of Loss: 22 April 1961
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 185521N 1022827E (TG240150)
Status (in 1973): Released POW (1962)
Category: 1
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel In Incident: Walter H. Moon; Gerald Biber; John Bischoff (all
missing)

REMARKS: RELSD 620817 VAN VIENG

SYNOPSIS: The early 1960's marked a period of civil war and military coups in
the country of Laos which resulted in major objectives being taken by Kong
Le-Pathet Lao communist forces. Kong Le had himself been a graduate of the
CIA-sponsored Philippine scout and ranger school and had announced that he was
fighting the corrupt royal government headed by Prince Souvanna Phouma. Kong Le
found support from the Soviets, who assisted him in defeating Gen. Phoumi
Nosavan's countercoup forces at the capitol city of Vientiane in December 1960.
Pathet Lao troops were airlifted by the Soviets to take the Plaine des Jarres
region in March 1961.

Although Gen. Nosavan and Groupement 12 of the new Forces Armees de Laos
continued to give chase to Kong Le and his troops, they were not successful in
regaining the Plain of Jars. In early March two Pathet Lao battalions drove
Groupement 12 back toward Vang Vieng. Capt. Walter Moon's four-man Field
Training Team FTT-59, MAAG, of the 7th Special Forces Group was attached to the
6th Bataillon d'infanterie (Lao) at Ban Pha Home, about thirty miles north of
Vang Vieng. On April 22, 1961, the battalion was subjected to a heavy and
accurate artillery barrage and was rapidly flanked at Phou Tesao.

Shortly after the battalion commander announced that they were cut off, the
perimeter collapsed and the Pathet Lao quickly overran the battalion positions.
The team's commander, Capt. Walter Moon, was captured in the initial attack.

SFC John M. Bischoff (the medic), Sgt. Gerald M. Biber (the radio operator),
and some Laotian soldiers jumped aboard an armored car, heading south on Route
13,  in a breakout effort. According to Lao survivors, they crouched behind the
turret, but the car came under heavy grenade attack. Sgt. Bischoff fired a
machine gun from the vehicle until he was shot through the neck and killed.
Sgt. Biber had already been wounded and was apparently killed by stick grenades
thrown against the armored car. The vehicle was halted and its crew captured.

Sgt. Orville R. Ballinger, demolitions sergeant, escaped through the jungle and
linked up with some Lao soldiers. They found a boat and were going downriver
when they were surprised and captured by the Pathet Lao seven days later. Sgt.
Ballenger were eventually released in August 1962.

Capt. Moon tried to escape twice during his confinement, and on the last
attempt was wounded in the chest and head. According to Ballinger, Moon's head
injury caused him to be come mentally unbalanced, and after several months of
persecution, he was executed in his prison quarters at Lat Theoung by a Meo
guard and a Pathet Lao officer on July 22, 1961. The Pathet Lao have
consistently denied knowledge of Moon, Biber or Bischoff.

In 1984, James "Bo" Gritz, a highly decorated former Special Forces colonel,
brought documents and a photograph pertaining to Moon from Laos and gave them
to the U.S. Government. Moon's wife positively identified the photograph and
Moon's signature. The Government stated that the photograph was made May 6,
1961, two weeks after Moon's capture. (Moon was normally clean-shaven but had,
according to USG, grown a full beard in 2 weeks!)

Though the documents were taken from a large collection of 250-300 similar
documents held by the Lao People's Army in Laos, the U.S. refused to demand the
information from the Lao. The Defense Intelligence Agency, according to
Congressman Stephen Solarz, has full knowledge of this collection.

Whether Biber and Bischoff survived the ambush on April 22, 1961 is unknown.
They and Moon are among nearly 600 Americans who disappeared in Laos and did
not return. The treaty which ended American involvement in the war in Southeast
Asia did not pertain to the prisoners held by the Lao, and not a single
prisoner was released from Laos in 1973. The Lao publicly stated they held
prisoners, but the U.S. has never negotiated for their release.

Were it not for thousands of reports relating to Americans still held captive
in Southeast Asia, we could simply close the door on men like Biber, Bischoff
and Moon. But as long as there is even one man alive, the nation he went to
serve must do all it can to bring him home.



BANCROFT, WILLIAM WARNER JR.

Name: William Warner Bancroft, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit: 14th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, Udorn Air Base, Thailand
Date of Birth: 12 June 1945
Home City of Record: Indianapolis IN
Date of Loss: 13 November 1970
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 180258N 1054859E (WE864957)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: RF4C
Other Personnel in Incident: David I. Wright (missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On November 13, 1970, Maj. David I. Wright, pilot, and 1Lt. William
W. Bancroft, Jr., navigator, departed their base at Udorn, Thailand on an
aerial reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam. During the mission, while
just east of Tan Ap in Ha Tinh Province, their RF4C Phantom jet was seen to
explode and crash while making a low level pass over the objective target. It
was not known at that time whether Wright and Bancroft survived.

On 18 November 1970, the U.S. intelligence community received information which
indicated that Wright and Bancroft were dead, and they were listed as Killed in
Action/Body Not Recovered. It is felt that enemy forces know their fate.

In 1980, a Vietnamese defector stated in Congressional testimony that Vietnam
stockpiles hundreds of sets of American remains. Congress believed him. Since
the war ended, some 200 sets of remains said to be those of missing Americans
have been returned by the Vietnamese at what many feel are politically
advantageous moments. Many of those known to have died as captives have not
returned. Scores of men like Wright and Bancroft, on whom it is felt that
information is available to the Vietnamese, have not returned.

The defector also testified that Vietnam holds live American prisoners, that he
had seen them. Congress says he is lying, although nearly 10,000 reports have
been received regarding missing Americans in Southeast Asia. Most authorities
believe that there are still Americans held alive. The U.S. and Vietnamese
"progress" at a snail's pace, while totally ignoring the tremendous weight of
evidence that their priority should be those Americans still alive as captives.

Meanwhile, the families of those missing spend their lives in the most tortured
state imaginable - unable to grieve, unable to rejoice. They wait. It's time
our men were brought home.

BANKOWSKI, ALFONS ALOYZE

Name: Alfons Aloyze Bankowski
Rank/Branch: E5/US Air Force
Unit: 314th Air Division - Osan Airbase, Korea
Date of Birth: 15 June 1930
Home City of Record: Stamford CT
Loss Date: 23 March 1961
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 192855N 1031014E (UG081550)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 1
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: C47
Other Personnel in Incident: Lawrence Bailey (released 1962); Frederick
Garside; Ralph W. Magee; Glenn Matteson; Leslie V. Sampson; Edgar Weitkamp;
Oscar Weston (all missing)

REMARKS: KIA - RES SHTDN/CRSH

SYNOPSIS: Henry Kissinger once predicted that an "unfortunate" by-product of
"limited political engagements" would be personnel who could not be recovered.
On March 23, 1961, one of the first group of Americans to fall into that
"unfortunate" category were shot from the sky by Pathet Lao antiaircraft guns.
Most Americans at that time did not even know that the United States had
military personnel in Southeast Asia. In fact, most Americans had not even
heard of the name "Laos". The Geneva Agreements had yet to be signed; air
rescue teams had yet to arrive in Southeast Asia.

The C47 aircraft crew consisted of 1Lt. Ralph W. Magee, pilot; 1Lt. Oscar B.
Weston, co-pilot; 2Lt. Glenn Matteson, navigator; SSgt. Alfons A. Bankowski,
flight engineer; SSgt. Frederick T. Garside, assistant flight engineer; SSgt.
Leslie V. Sampson, radio operator; and passengers Maj. Lawrence R. Bailey and
WO1 Edgar W. Weitkamp. Bailey and Weitkamp were assigned to the Army Attache
Office at Vientiane, Laos. The aircraft crew were all Air Force personnel
flying from the 315th Air Division, Osan Airbase, Korea.

This C47 was a specially modified intelligence-gathering SC-47 which took off
from Vientiane for Saigon. The passengers and crew were bound for "R & R" in
the "Paris of the Orient". Before heading for Saigon, the pilot turned north
toward Xieng Khouangville, a Pathet Lao stronghold on the eastern edge of the
Plain of Jars. The crew, experienced in intelligence collection, planned to use
their radio-direction finding equipment to determine the frequencies being used
by Soviet pilots to locate the Xieng Khouangville airfield through the dense
fog that often blanketed the region. Pathet Lao anti-aircraft guns downed the
plane, shearing off a wing and sending the aircraft plummeting toward the
jungle.

Maj. Bailey, who always wore a parachute when he flew, jumped from the falling
aircraft and was captured by the Pathet Lao. Bailey spent seventeen months as a
prisoner in Sam Neua, the Pathet Lao headquarters near the North Vietnamese
border, before being repatriated after the signing of the Geneva Agreements on
Laos in 1962. The caves at Sam Neua were said to have held scores of American
prisoners during and after the war.

The seven men lost on March 23, 1961 were the first of many hundreds of
American personnel shot from the sky only to disappear in the jungles of Laos.
Four Lao sources stated that 7 of the 8 personnel on board died in the crash of
the aircraft, and were buried in the vicinity.

Sixteen years later, in February 1977, several Pathet Lao films were obtained
by a friendly foreign government showing an identification card with a photo of
SSgt. Garside, and an open passport bearing 1Lt. Magee's ID number. The fact
that these items were recovered in good condition is evidence that further
information is available on the crew, due to the fact that the plane was not
completely destroyed, and the Pathet Lao were present at the site of the crash.

Clearly, someone knows what happened to the crew of the C47. Because Laos was
not included in the Paris agreements ending American involvement in Southeast
Asia, and because no agreement has been reached since regarding Lao-held
American POWs, hundreds of Americans remain missing, including the crew of the
C47. Many Americans were known to have survived, and hundreds of reports point
to their survival today.

BANNON, PAUL WEDLAKE

Name: Paul Wedlake Bannon
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 15 October 1934
Home City of Record: Hueytown AL
Date of Loss: 12 July 1969
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 180400N 1051300E (WE229974)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D

Other Personnel In Incident: Peter X. Pike (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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: When North Vietnam began to increase their military strength in South
Vietnam, NVA and Viet Cong troops again intruded on neutral Laos for sanctuary,
as the Viet Minh had done during the war with the French some years before. The
border road, termed the "Ho Chi Minh Trail" was used for transporting weapons,
supplies and troops. Hundreds of American pilots were shot down trying to stop
this communist traffic to South Vietnam. Fortunately, search and rescue teams in
Vietnam were extremely successful and the recovery rate was high.

Still there were nearly 600 who were not rescued. Many of them went down along
the Ho Chi Minh Trail and the passes through the border mountains between Laos
and Vietnam. Many were alive on the ground and in radio contact with search and
rescue and other planes; some were known to have been captured. But the fates of
the men lost in Laos was complicated by U.S. policy. In 1969, U.S. Defense
policy for response on U.S. operations in Laos was, "The preferable response to
questions about air operations in Laos is no comment."

Hanoi's communist allies in Laos, the Pathet Lao, publicly spoke of American
prisoners they held, but when peace agreements were negotiated, Laos was not
included, and not a single American was released that had been held in Laos.

1LT Peter X. Pike and MAJ Paul W. Bannon comprised the flight crew of an Air
Force F4D Phantom fighter/bomber sent on a mission over the northernmost Ho Chi
Minh Trail on July 12, 1969. During their flight, the aircraft was hit by enemy
fire and crashed. Because there was the opportunity for Pike (the pilot) and
Bannon (the weapon/systems operator) to safely eject, the two were classified
Missing in Action.

The Defense Intelligence Agency further expanded Pike's and Bannon's
classification to include an enemy knowledge ranking of 4. Category 4 indicates
"unknown knowledge" and includes individuals whose time and place of loss
incident are unknown (e.g. aircrew members downed at unknown locations or ground
personnel separated from their unit at an unknown time or place), and those
individuals who do not meet the criteria of Categories 1 and 2 ("confirmed" and
"suspect" knowledge).

When the war ended and 591 Americans were released from POW camps in Southeast
Asia, Pike and Bannon were not among them. In fact, no POWs held by the Lao were
released at all.

There have been over 10,000 reports received by the U.S. Government since the
end of the war concerning Americans missing, prisoner and unaccounted for in
Southeast Asia. Many authorities who have reviewed this largely-classified
information have concluded that hundreds of them are still alive in captivity
today.

Were it not for reports such as these, the families of the missing might be able
to close this tragic chapter of their lives and go on. But for them, the
agonizing uncertainty continues.

And for Americans who are still in captivity, the abandonment continues. How
much longer must they wait for their country to bring them home?


Peter X. Pike was promoted to the rank of Captain during the period he was
maintained missing. Paul W. Bannon was promoted to the rank of Colonel.
BARBAY, LAWRENCE

Name: Lawrence Barbay
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 41st Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, Takhli AB TH
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Baton Rouge LA
Date of Loss: 20 July 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 215058N 1051657E (WK292160)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: EB66C

Other Personnel in Incident: Norman A. McDaniel; Edwin L. Hubbard; William H.
Means Jr.; Glendon W. Perkins (all released POWs); Craig R. Nobert (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: 730304 RELSD BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: The Douglas EB66C Skywarrior was outfitted as an electronic warfare
aircraft which carried roughly 5 tons of electronic gear in addition to its
flight crew of three and technical personnel. The EB66C featured a pressurized
capsule installed in the bomb bay, that accommodated four technicians whose
responsibility was to operate electronic reconnaissance gear.

On July 20, 1966, an EB66C was dispatched from the 41st Tactical Reconnaissance
Squadron at Takhli Airbase in Thailand on an electronic countermeasure mission
over North Vietnam. The crew and technicians that day included Capt. Lawrence
Barbay, Capt. Glendon W. Perkins, Capt. Norman A. McDaniel, Capt. William H.
Means Jr., 1Lt. Edward L. Hubbard, and 1Lt. Craig R. Nobert. Nobert served as
the electronics warfare officer on the flight.

The flight was normal to the target area near Tuyen Quang, Quang Bac Thai
Province, North Vietnam. At this point, the aircraft was orbited east/west.
During this maneuver, the aircraft was hit by hostile fire. Two parachutes were
seen to eject the aircraft, after which the aircraft descended and
disintegrated.

In the spring of 1973, 591 Americans were released from prison camps in Vietnam,
including most of the crew of the Skywarrior lost on July 20, 1966. They had
been held in various POW camps in and around Hanoi for nearly seven years. Only
Nobert remained Missing in Action.

For 24 years, the Vietnamese have denied knowledge of the fate of Craig R.
Nobert, even though the U.S. believes there is a good possibility he was
captured and died in captivity. On January 18, 1978, the Department of the Air
Force declared Craig Nobert dead, based on no specific information he was still
alive.

Disturbing testimony was given to Congress in 1980 that the Vietnamese
"stockpiled" the remains of Americans to return at politically advantageous
times. Could Nobert be waiting, 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. Could Nobert be among these?

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.


During their captivity, Perkins, Barbay and McDaniel were promoted to the rank
of Major. Hubbard was promoted to the rank of Captain. Means was promoted to the
rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

Craig R. Nobert was promoted to the rank of Major during the period he was
maintained missing.

Norman A. McDaniel resided in Camp Springs, Maryland in early 1990.

William H. Means, Jr. died in 1986 as a result of illness stemming from his
incarceraton in Vietnam.


BARBER, THOMAS DAVID

Name: Thomas David Barber
Rank/Branch: E3/US Navy
Unit: Air Antisubmarine Squadron 23, USS Yorktown
Date of Birth: 05 March 1948
Home City of Record: Aurora CO
Date of Loss: 17 March 1968
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 191759N 1062269E (XG453344)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: S2E

Other Personnel in Incident: Lee D. Benson; Donald R. Hubbs; Randall J.
Nightingale (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS: LOST O/W - SEARCH FAILED - J

SYNOPSIS: Cdr. Donald R. Hubbs (pilot); LtJg. Lee D. Benson (co-pilot); AX2
Randall J. Nightingale (Antisubmarine Warfare Technician 2nd Class); and ADR
Thomas D. Barber (crewman) comprised the crew of an S2E aircraft assigned to Air
Antisubmarine Squadron 23 aboard the USS YORKTOWN.

As submarine action in Vietnam was virtually (if not completely) unknown, a wide
variety of activities were conducted by Anti-submarine units in Vietnam. Because
Anti-submarine warfare involves the use of magnetic detection gear or acoustic
buoys in conjunction with "listening" devices, anti-submarine aircraft and their
crews' training proved especially adaptable to reconnaissance and tracking
missions.

On March 17, 1968, Hubbs and his crew launched from the YORKTOWN on a night
surveillance mission over the North Vietnam coast in the area of Vinh. Weather
was bad with zero visibility. Approximately one hour after launch, the aircraft
reported radar problems. No other transmissions were heard, and the aircraft
disappeared from the ship's radar scope. All efforts to make contact were
unsuccessful. However, five hours after the last contact, radio signals were
heard, and North Vietnamese fishing boats were spotted in the area the next day.
The last point of contact occurred about 30 miles off the shore of North Vietnam
about 25 miles east southeast of the island of Hon Me.

On July 2O, 1968 a section of the starboard wing was found. During the period of
July through September 1973 an overwater/at-sea casualty resolution operation
was conducted to determine the feasibility and desirability of such water loses.
These operations were terminated when it was determined to be unfeasible and
nonproductive in such cases. Commander Hubbs and the rest of his crew are still
carried in the status of Presumed Dead/Remains nonrecoverable.

When considering a personnel loss at sea, the criteria for survival involves
both the location and the cause of the loss. In the case of the S2E, no reason
for loss was ever determined. Therefore, it was either shot down or went down
due to mechanical or weather difficulties.

If mechanical difficulties resulted in the downing of the S2E, in an entirely
non-hostile environment, then there can be little chance of survival for the
crew of the S2E unless they managed to cross 25 miles of ocean. If enemy
activity was present, however, there can be ample room for speculation that the
crew might have been captured by one of the fishing boats in the area.

The crew of the S2E is among nearly 3000 Americans who remained prisoner,
missing, or otherwise unaccounted for at the end of the Vietnam war. Since that
time, cases have been resolved by the return of remains and by other means.
Since the end of the war, over 10,000 reports relating to these Americans have
been received by the U.S. Government, convincing many authorities that hundreds
of Americans remain alive in enemy hands today.

Whether the crew of the S2E survived to be captured can only be speculated. It
would be kinder to them and to their families if they died on March 17, 1968.
It is impossible to imagine the agony they must feel to have been abandoned by
their country. It is heartbreaking to consider that Americans still await
rescue by the country they proudly served.



BARDEN, HOWARD LEROY

Name: Howard Leroy Barden
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 12th Air Commando Squadron
Date of Birth: 28 October 1933
Home City of Record: Cuyahoga Falls OH
Date of Loss: 31 January 1967
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 163407N 1061448E (XD331322)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UC123B

Other Personnel in Incident: Lloyd F. Walker; Roy R. Kubley; Ronald K. Miyazaki;
Harvey Mulhauser (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 September 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: CRASH - SURV POSS BT NO SIGN - J

SYNOPSIS: The Fairchild C123 "Provider" was aircraft based on an all-metal
glider designed by Chase Aircraft and was the first transport to see Vietnam
service. The Provider, when it was in camouflage paint with mottled topside and
light bottomside, resembled an arched-back whale suspended from the bottom
midpoint of huge dorsal wings. One of the Provider versions was the UC123B of
Project Ranch Hand. Ranch Hand aircraft sprayed pesticides for malaria
prevention and herbicides, including Agent Orange, that destroyed both the
forest that concealed the Viet Cong and the rice and manioc plant that fed them.

Maj. Lloyd F. Walker was the pilot of a 12th Air Commando Squadron UC123B which
was sent on a defoliation mission on January 31, 1967. His crew that day
included Capt. Howard L. Barden, Capt. Roy R. Kubley, Capt. Harvey Mulhauser,
and Airman 1st Class Ronald K. Miyazaki, the flight mechanic.

The aircraft had leveled off and started spraying when it suddenly inverted and
crashed. Further investigation revealed that hostile fire struck the propeller
causing the crash. The crash occurred about 5 miles south-southwest of Sepone in
Savannakhet Province, Laos. All crewmembers were eventually determined to have
been killed in the crash of the aircraft.

The Ranch Hand crew is among nearly 600 Americans listed missing in Laos.
Although the Pathet Lao stated on several occasions they held "tens of tens" of
American prisoners, Laos was not included in the agreements ending American
involvement in the war, and the U.S. has not negotiated for the freedom of these
men since that day. Consequently, not one American held in Laos has ever been
released.

In our haste to leave an unpopular war, it now appears we abandoned some of our
best men. In our haste to heal the wounds of this same war, will we sign their
death warrants? Or will we do what we can to bring them home?

Ronald K. Miyazaki was promoted to the rank of Sergeant prior to determination
of death.



BARKER, JACK LAMAR

Name: Jack Lamar Barker
Rank/Branch: O4/US Army
Unit: Company B, 101st Aviation Battalion,
101st Airborne Division
Date of Birth: 22 March 1939
Home City of Record: Waycross GA
Date of Loss: 20 March 1971
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 163544N 1962513E (XD515352)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H

Other Personnel in Incident: John J. Chubb; William E. Dillender; John F. Dugan
(all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 September 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: EXPLODED FIRE NO SEARCH - J

SYNOPSIS: LAM SON 719 was a large offensive operation against NVA communications
lines in Laos. The operation called for ARVN troops to drive west from Khe Sanh,
cut the Ho Chi Minh Trail, seize Tchpone and return to Vietnam. The ARVN would
provide and command the ground forces, while U.S. Army and Air Force would
furnish aviation airlift and supporting firepower. The 101st Airborne Division
commanded all U.S. Army aviation units in direct support of the operation. Most
of the first part of the operation, begun January 30, 1971, was called Operation
DEWEY CANYON II, and was conducted by U.S. ground forces in Vietnam.

The ARVN were halfway on February 11 and positioned for the attack across the
Laotian border. On 8 February, ARVN began to push into Laos. The NVA reacted
fiercely, but the ARVN held its positions supported by U.S. airstrikes and
resupply runs by Army helicopters.

President Nguyen Van Thieu ordered a helicopter assault on Tchepone, and the
abandoned village was seized March 6. Two weeks of hard combat were necessary
for the ARVN task force to fight its way back to Vietnam. Towards the end of the
removal, a helicopter from Company B, 101st Aviation Battalion was lost.

Flown by Maj. Jack L. Barker, the UH1H (serial #66-16185) was attempting to land
to extract ARVN troops about 20 miles west of Khe Sanh. During the attempt, the
aircraft came under enemy fire and was seen to spin, explode, and catch fire,
then to break up in the air. No signs of survivors were seen. The crew aboard
the aircraft were PCF John J. Chubb, Sgt. William E. Dillender, and Capt. John
F. Dugan. Because of the presence of enemy forces in the area, no subsequent
search could be made for survivors.

Losses were heavy in Lam Son 719. The ARVN lost almost 50% of their force. U.S.
aviation units lost 168 helicopters; another 618 were damaged. Fifty-five
aircrewmen were killed, 178 wounded, and 34 missing in action in the entire
operation, lasting until April 6, 1971.

In all, nearly 600 Americans were lost in Laos, but because we did not negotiate
with the Pathet Lao, no Americans held in Laos were released. Since that time,
over 10,000 reports have been received relating to Americans prisoner, missing
or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia. Although many authorities are convinced
that hundreds remain alive, the U.S. has not secured the release of a single
man.
BARNES, CHARLES RONALD

Name: Charles Ronald Barnes
Rank/Branch: O3/US Army
Unit: Command Aircraft Company, 210th Aviation Battalion, 12th Aviation Group,
1st Aviation Brigade
Date of Birth: 21 August 1942 (Philadelphia PA)
Home City of Record: Fullerton PA
Date of Loss: 16 March 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietham
Loss Coordinates: 161357N 1074448E (YC936965)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: U21A
Other Personnel In Incident: Raymond E. Bobe; Marvin L. Foster; David R. Smith;
Michael L. Batt (all missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Charles Barnes, co-pilot; David R. Smith, aircraft commander; and
passengers Michael Batt, Marvin L. Foster, and Raymond Bobe were the passengers
aboard a U21A aircraft lost in Tuan Thien Province, South Vietnam. The U21 is a
medium-sized aircraft, built to hold 8 or 10 passengers and crew. It is a
fixed-wing craft, generally used for VIP or commutes rather than surveillance
or combat support missions.

The circumstances surrounding the loss of this crew and passengers are still
completely classified as of 1989, although it is known that contact was lost
with the aircraft, and it is not strongly believed that the enemy knew the
fates of the crew and passengers. The last known location of the aircraft was
about half-way between Hue and Da Nang, South Vietnam.

Batt's photograph was selected as a known prisoner from the JCRC photo album of
those missing, but the U.S. Government states that it is unknown why the source
selected Batt's photo. Returning POWs did not indicate that any of the crew or
passengers had been held with them in their prison system.

When 591 Americans were released from Vietnamese prisons in 1973, high-ranking
military officials were shocked that "hundreds" who were expected to be
released were not.

Examination of intelligence reports suggest that there was more than one prison
"system" in Vietnam. Those prisoners who were released were maintained in the
same systems. If the missing men aboard the U21A were captured and kept in
another system, the POWs who returned would not know it.

Now, nearly 20 years later, men like these are all but forgotten except by
friends, family and fellow veterans. The U.S. "priority" placed on
determining their fates pales in comparison to the results it has achieved.

Since the U21 A was lost, nearly 10,000 reports have been received by the U.S.
relating to Americans still missing in Southeast Asia. Many authorities believe
that hundreds remain alive, waiting for their country to come for them. Whether
the men aboard the U21A are among them is not known. What is certain, however,
is that we, as a nation, are guilty of the abandonment of nearly 2500 of our
best and most courageous men. We cannot forget, and must do everything in our
power to bring these men home.
BARNETT, CHARLES EDWARD
Remains Returned November 3, 1988; Identified February 2, 1989

Name: Charles Edward Barnett
Rank/Branch: O5/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 93, USS MIDWAY (CVA-41)
Date of Birth: 18 January 1935 (Eudora MS)
Home City of Record: Houston TX
Date of Loss: 23 May 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 201700N 1062500E (XH479432)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A7B
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

REMARKS: BODY FELL IN FIELD - NHAN DAN

SYNOPSIS: Commander Charles E. Barnett was a pilot assigned to Attack Squadron
93 onboard the aircraft carrier USS Midway (CVA-41). On May 23, 1972 at 12:00
p.m., Cdr. Barnett launched in his A7B "Corsair" aircraft as the flight leader
of a strike mission into Nam Dinh, North Vietnam. Cdr. Barnett and his wingman
preceeded the strike group to suppress the two known active surface-to-air
missile (SAM) sites.

As the strike group withdrew from their attack, Cdr. Barnett and his wingman
followed. At approximately 6-8 miles from the coast-out point, Cdr. Barnett
directed his wingman over the radio to increase his speed and maneuver.
Approximately twenty seconds later, he transmitted to his wingman that he had
an electronic indication of a SAM radar. The wingman heard no further
transmissions from him and lost sight of him. The wingman attempted to contact
Cdr. Barnett by radio but with negative results. The wingman observed what
appeared to be an aircraft crash site and a column of smoke about five miles
inland. Search and rescue efforts produced negative results.

According to the U.S. Navy, that is the end of the story. Commander Barnett was
maintained in a casualty status of Missing In Action, which was changed
administratively to Presumed Killed In Action/Body Not Recovered on June 15,
1975.

A Vietnamese publication called Nhan Dan reported that Commander Barnett's body
fell into a field from his crippled aircraft, but at the end of the war, after
having signing an agreement to release all prisoners and account for as many
missing as possible, the Vietnamese denied any knowledge of Commander Barnett.

On November 3, 1988, the Vietnamese "discovered" they had the remains of
Commander Barnett and returned them to U.S. control. After going through the
identification process in the U.S., it was announced in early February 1988
that Commander Barnett had come home.

For over 16 years, the Vietnamese held Commander Barnett prisoner, whether he
was alive or dead. The U.S. government has received nearly 10,000 reports
relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asia, and many authorities believe
that there are hundreds still alive. The U.S. has not been able to secure the
release of any living POW.

Charles Barnett's family no longer has to wait, wondering what happened to him.
But for nearly 2500 other American families, life goes on in uncertain agony.
And for the hundreds of American servicemen who may still be alive, another day
in captivity and abandonment passes.
BARR,JOHN FREDERICK

Name: John Frederick Barr
Rank/Branch: O4/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 164, USS ORISKANY (CVA 43)
Date of Birth: 31 March 1934
Home City of Record: Hope AR
Date of Loss: 18 October 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 205151N 1063859E (XJ716080)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A4E

Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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 USS ORISKANY was a World War II-era carrier on duty in Vietnam as
early as 1964. The ORISKANY at one time carried the RF8A (number 144608) that
Maj. John H. Glenn, the famous Marine astronaut (and later Senator), flew in his
1957 transcontinental flight. In October, 1966 the ORISKANY endured a tragic
fire which killed 44 men onboard, but was soon back on station. In 1972, the
ORISKANY had an at-sea accident which resulted in the loss of one of its
aircraft elevators, and later lost a screw that put the carrier into drydock in
Yokosuka, Japan for major repairs, thus delaying its involvement until the late
months of the war.

The ORISKANY's 1966 tour was undoubtedly one of the most tragic deployments of
the Vietnam conflict. This cruise saw eight VA 164 "Ghostriders" lost; four in
the onboard fire, one in an aerial refueling mishap, and another three in the
operational arena. However, the 1967 deployment, which began in June and ended
on a chilly January morning as the ORISKANY anchored in San Francisco Bay,
earned near legendary status by virtue of extensive losses suffered in the
ship's squadrons, including among the Ghostriders of VA 164, and Saints of VA
163. One reason may have been that Navy aviators were, at this time, still
forbidden to strike surface-to-air missile (SAM) sites which were increasing in
number in North Vietnam.

On July 18, 1967, LCDR Richard D. Hartman's aircraft fell victim to
anti-aircraft fire near Phu Ly in Nam Ha Province, North Vietnam. Hartman, from
VA 164, ejected safely, but could not be rescued due to the hostile threat in
the area. Others in the flight were in radio contact with him and resupplied him
for about three days. He was on a karst hill in a difficult recovery area.
Eventually the North Vietnamese moved in a lot of troops and AAA guns, making
rescue almost impossible.

One of the rescue helicopters attempting to recover LCDR Hartman on the 19th was
a Sikorsky SH3A helicopter flown by Navy LT Dennis W. Peterson. The crew onboard
the aircraft included ENS Donald P. Frye and AX2 William B. Jackson and AX2
Donald P. McGrane. While attempting to rescue LCDR Hartman, this aircraft was
hit by enemy fire and crashed killing all onboard. The remains of all but the
pilot, Peterson, were returned by the Vietnamese on October 14, 1982. Peterson
remains missing.

The decision was made to leave Hartman before more men were killed trying to
rescue him. It was not an easy decision, and one squadron mate said, "To this
day, I can remember his voice pleading, 'Please don't leave me.' We had to, and
it was a heartbreaker." Hartman was captured and news returned home that he was
in a POW camp. However, he was not released in 1973. The Vietnamese finally
returned his remains on March 5, 1974. Hartman had died in captivity from
unknown causes.

In July 1967, LCDR Donald V. Davis was one of the Saints of VA 163 onboard the
ORISKANY. Davis was an aggressive pilot. On the night of July 25, 1967, Davis
was assigned a mission over North Vietnam. The procedure for these night attacks
was to drop flares over a suspected target and then fly beneath them to attack
the target in the light of the flares. Davis and another pilot were conducting
the mission about 10 miles south of Ha Tinh when Davis radioed that he had
spotted a couple of trucks. He dropped the flares and went in. On his strafing
run, he drove his Skyhawk straight into the ground and was killed immediately.
Davis is listed among the missing because his remains were never recovered.

LTJG Ralph C. Bisz was also assigned to Attack Squadron 163. On August 4, 1967,
Bisz launched on a strike mission against a petroleum storage area near
Haiphong. Approximately a minute and a half from the target area, four
surface-to-air missiles (SAM) were observed lifting from the area northeast of
Haiphong. The flight maneuvered to avoid the SAMs, however, Bisz' aircraft was
observed as it was hit by a SAM by a wingman. Bisz' aircraft exploded, burst
into flames, and spun downward in a large ball of fire. Remnants of the aircraft
were observed falling down in the large ball of fire until reaching an altitude
estimated to be 5,000 feet and then appeared to almost completely burn out prior
to reaching the ground. No parachute or ejection was observed. No emergency
beeper or voice communications were received.

Bisz' aircraft went down in a heavily populated area in Hai Duong Province,
Vietnam. Information from an indigenous source which closely parallels his
incident indicated that his remains were recovered from the wreckage and taken
to Hanoi for burial. The U.S. Government listed Ralph Bisz as a Prisoner of War
with certain knowledge that the Vietnamese know his fate. Bisz was placed in a
casualty status of Captured on August 4, 1967.

The Navy now says that the possibility of Bisz ejecting was slim. If he had
ejected, his capture would have taken place in a matter of seconds due to the
heavy population concentration in the area and that due to the lack of
additional information it is believed that Bisz did not eject from his aircraft
and that he was killed on impact of the SAM.

Classified information on Bisz' case was presented to the Vietnamese by General
Vessey in the fall of 1987 in hopes that the Vietnamese would be able to resolve
the mystery of Bisz' fate. His case is one of what are called "discrepancy"
cases, which should be readily resolved. The Vietnamese have not been
forthcoming with information on Ralph Bisz.

On August 31, three pilots from the ORISKANY were shot down on a particularly
wild raid over Haiphong. The Air Wing had been conducting strikes on Haiphong
for two consecutive days. On this, the third day, ten aircraft launched in three
flights; four from VA 164 (call sign Ghostrider), four from VA 163 (call sign
Old Salt) and two from VA 163. As the flight turned to go into Haiphong, one of
the section leaders spotted two SAMs lifting off from north of Haiphong. They
were headed towards the Saints section leader and the Ghostrider section leader,
LCDR Richard C. Perry.

The Saints section leader and his wingman pitched up and to the right, while Old
Salt 3 (LCDR Hugh A. Stafford) turned down, his wingman, LTJG David J. Carey
close behind him. Carey, an Air Force Academy graduate, was on his first
operational mission. The missile detonated right in front of them and aircraft
pieces went everywhere.

The other SAM headed towards Perry's section, and he had frozen in the cockpit.
All three planes in the division pulled away, and he continued straight and
level. His helpless flightmates watched as the missile came right up and hit the
aircraft. The aircraft was generally whole and heading for open water.

Old Salt Three and Old Salt Four, Stafford and Carey, had by that time ejected
from their ruined planes and were heading towards the ground from an altitude of
3,000 to 4,000 feet. Both were okay, but Stafford had landed in a tree near a
village, making rescue impossible. Carey had landed about a mile away near a
small village. Stafford and Carey were captured and held in various prisoner of
war camps until their release in Operation Homecoming on March 14, 1973.

Richard Perry had also ejected and was over open water. But as Perry entered the
water, his parachute went flat and he did not come up. A helicopter was on scene
within minutes, and a crewman went into the water after Perry. He had suffered
massive chest wounds, either in the aircraft or during descent in his parachute
and was dead. To recover his body was too dangerous because the North Vietnamese
were mortaring the helicopter. The helicopter left the area. Richard Perry's
remains were recovered by the Vietnamese and held until February 1987, at which
time they were returned to U.S. control.

Flight members were outraged that they had lost three pilots to SAMs that they
were forbidden to attack. Policy was soon changed to allow the pilots to strike
the sites, although never to the extent that they were disabled completely.

On October 7, 1967, VA 164 pilot LT David L. Hodges was killed when his Skyhawk
was hit by a SAM about twelve miles southwest of Hanoi. His remains were never
recovered and he is listed among those missing in Vietnam.

On October 18, 1967, VA 164 pilot LCDR John F. Barr was killed when his Skyhawk
was hit by enemy fire and slammed into the ground while on a strike mission at
Haiphong. Barr's remains were not recovered.

On November 2, 1967, VA 164 pilot LTJG Frederic Knapp launched as the lead of a
flight of two aircraft on an armed reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam.
The wingman reported that during an attack run, the aircraft appeared to have
been hit by anti-aircraft fire. The wingman saw Knapp's aircraft impact the
ground and did not see the canopy separate from the aircraft. There was no
parachute sighted or emergency radio beeper heard. The aircraft crashed about 9
kilometers west-southwest of Cho Giat, near route 116, in Nghe An Province.

A source later reported that people from his village had removed the remains of
a dead pilot from his aircraft and buried the remains nearby. These remains are
believed to be those of Knapp. On October 14, 1982, Vietnamese officials turned
over to U.S. authorities a Geneva Convention card belonging to Ltjg. Knapp. To
date, no remains have been repatriated.

Six of the thirteen pilots and crewmen lost in 1967 off the decks of the
ORISKANY remain prisoner, missing, or otherwise unaccounted for in Vietnam.
Disturbing testimony was given to Congress in 1980 that the Vietnamese
"stockpiled" the remains of Americans to return at politically advantageous
times. Could any of these six be in a casket, awaiting 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. Could any of these six be
among them?

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.



BARRAS, GREGORY INMAN

Name: Gregory Inman Barras
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 13 October 1932
Home City of Record: Jackson MS
Date of Loss: 18 December 1968
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 173500N 1053100E (WE604443)
Status (in 1973): Missing in  Action
Category: 3
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: A1H

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: The Douglas A1 Skyraider ("Spad") is a highly maneuverable, propeller
driven aircraft designed as a multipurpose attack bomber or utility aircraft.
The A1 was first used by the Air Force in its Tactical Air Command to equip the
first Air Commando Group engaged in counterinsurgency operations in South
Vietnam, and later used in roles ranging from multi-seat electronic intelligence
gathering to Navy antisubmarine warfare and rescue missions.

Maj. Gregory I. Barras was an A1 pilot sent on a combat mission on December 18,
1968. He departed his base (probably in Thailand) and continued along his
briefed flight path until he was over the Ho Chi Minh Trail area of Laos. About
20 miles west of the Mu Gia Pass, Barras' aircraft was hit by enemy fire and
crashed.

The Mu Gia Pass was one of several passageways through the mountainous border of
Vietnam and Laos. American aircraft flying from Thailand to missions over North
Vietnam flew through them regularly, and many aircraft were lost. On the Laos
side of the border coursed the "Ho Chi Minh Trail", a road heavily traveled by
North Vietnamese troops moving materiel and personnel to their destinations
through the relative safety of neutral Laos. The return ratio of men lost in and
around the passes is far lower than that of those men lost in more populous
areas, even though both were shot down by the same enemy and the same weapons.
This is partly due to the extremely rugged terrain and resulting difficulty in
recovery.

The opportunity existed that Barras ejected safely and he was classified Missing
in Action. He is among nearly 600 Americans who were lost in Laos during U.S.
involvement in Southeast Asia.

When the war ended and 591 Americans were released from POW camps, not one who
had been held in Laos came home. The U.S. did not negotiate with the Lao for the
POWs they stated they held because the U.S. did not recognize the communist
government faction, the Pathet Lao.

Since American involvement in Vietnam ended in 1975, over 10,000 reports
relating to Americans missing, prisoner, or otherwise unaccounted for in
Indochina have been received by the U.S. Government. Many officials, having
examined this largely classified information, have reluctantly concluded that
many Americans are still alive today, held captive by our long-ago enemy.

Whether Barras survived the crash of his aircraft to be captured by the
multitude of enemy along the Ho Chi Minh Trail is certainly not known. It is not
known if he might be among those thought to be still alive today. What is
certain, however, is that as long as even one American remains alive, held
against his will, we owe him our very best efforts to bring him to freedom.

Gregory I. Barras graduated from West Point in 1955. He was promoted to the rank
of Colonel during the period he was maintained missing.


BARRETT, THOMAS JOSEPH

Name: Thomas Joseph Barrett
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Lomax IL
Date of Loss: 05 October 1965
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 213200N 1062100E (XJ397815)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4C

Other Personnel in Incident: From F4: James O. Hivner (released POW); from F105D
aircraft nearby: Bruce G. Seeber (released POW); and Dean Pogreba (missing);
(both released POWs); Phillip E. Smith (captured from an F104C downed over
Chinese territory on September 20)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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: 730212 RELSD BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: On September 20, 1965 an American pilot named Capt. Phillip E. Smith
was shot down over the Chinese island of Hai Nan Tao. The case of Capt. Smith
ultimately became entwined with those of other American pilots lost in North
Vietnam the following month. Capt. Smith was flying an Air Force F104C and his
loss over Hai Nan island is perplexing.

The Lockheed F104 Starfighter was an unusual aircraft created in the mid-1950's
to fill a need for a more maneuverable, faster fighter aircraft. The result was
a Mach 2-speed aircraft thrust into a combat-aircraft world of Mach 1 and below.
The aircraft itself is spared looking like a rocket by its thin and extremely
short wings set far back on the long fuselage, and a comparatively large
tailplane carried almost at the top of an equally enormous fin. One less
apparent peculiarity was an ejection seat which shot the pilot out downwards
from under the fuselage rather than out the canopy of the cockpit. The
Starfighter was primarily a low-level attack aircraft capable of flying
all-weather electronically-guided missions at supersonic speed.

Why Capt. Smith was flying a strike aircraft over 40 miles inland in Chinese
territory is a matter for speculation. While the flight path to certain Pacific
points from Vietnam may take a pilot in the general vicinity of the island,
China was denied territory. According to one pilot, "Hai Nan was on the way to
nowhere we were supposed to be, and on the way back from the same place." Either
Smith was unbelievably lost or was on a mission whose purpose will never see the
light of day. Capt. Smith was captured by the Chinese.

Lieutenant Colonel Dean A. Pogreba was an F105D pilot attached to the 49th
Tactical Fighter Squadron at Yakota, Japan. In the fall of 1965, Pogreba was
given a temporary duty assignment to fly combat missions out of Takhli (Ta Khli)
Airbase, Thailand.

The aircraft flown by Pogreba, the F105 Thunderchief ("Thud") flew more missions
against North Vietnam than any other U.S. aircraft. It also suffered more
losses, partially due to its vulnerability, which caused the aircraft to be
constantly under revision.

On October 5, 1965, Pogreba departed Takhli as part of a five-plane combat
section on a bridge strike mission north of Hanoi in North Vietnam. Capt. Bruce
G. Seeber was Pogreba's wingman on the mission. At a point near the borders of
Lang Son and Ha Bac provinces, both Seeber's and Pogreba's aircraft were hit by
enemy fire and crashed. The location of loss given by the Defense Department is
approximately 40 miles southwest of the city of Dong Dang, which sits on the
border of North Vietnam and China. The area was "hot" with MiGs, surface-to-air
missiles (SAM) and anti-aircraft fire.

On the same day, an Air Force F4C Phantom fighter/bomber was shot down
approximately 5 miles from the city of Kep, and about 10 miles south of the
official loss location of Pogreba and Seeber. The crew of this aircraft
consisted of Major James O. Hivner and 1Lt. Thomas J. Barrett.

Curiously, Radio Peking announced the capture of an American pilot that day,
giving the pilot's name and serial number. It was Dean Pogreba that had been
captured. The U.S. never received separate confirmation of the capture, however,
and Pogreba was listed Missing in Action.

Gradually, it became known that the crew of the F4, Barrett and Hivner had been
captured by the North Vietnamese. Likewise, Bruce Seeber was also identified as
a prisoner of war of the Vietnamese. Dean Pogreba's fate was still unknown.

When American involvement in Vietnam ended, 591 Americans were released from
prisoner of war camps in Southeast Asia. Among them were Hivner, Barrett, Seeber
and Smith. Smith was released by the Chinese. Pogreba was still missing. None of
the returnees had any information regarding his fate, and all believed he had
died in the crash of his plane.

Reports of an American POW held in China that had fueled hopes for the Pogreba
family were correlated to Phillip Smith upon his release. The Pogreba family
thought this was hastily and summarily done. According to others in the flight
with Pogreba, Dean's plane had actually strayed into Chinese territory. Although
no information at all was forthcoming from the Chinese, the Pogrebas still
believed there was a good chance Dean had been captured.

Years passed, and no word of Pogreba was heard. Under the Carter Administration,
most of the men still listed prisoner, missing or unaccounted for were
administratively declared dead because of the lack of specific information that
they were alive. The Pogrebas, although haunted by the mystery of Dean's
disappearance, finally resigned themselves to the fact that he was most probably
dead, and went on with their lives. Dean's wife, Maxine, with children to raise
alone, ultimately remarried.

Then in 1989, Maxine Pogreba Barrell received some shocking news. Through an
acquaintance, she learned of a "high-ranking friend" of Dean's who claimed to
have visited Vietnam and spoken with her former husband. When she contacted this
retired Air Force Brigadier General, he told her a story quite different from
the official account given to Dean's family.

According to the General, Dean had indeed been shot down in China, but had been
brought back across the border into North Vietnam in 1965 by "friendlies."
Several attempts to rescue him had failed; two helicopters had crashed in the
effort. Then food and supplies were dropped to Dean and his rescuers; recovery
efforts were deemed impractical because of the hostile environment.

The General stated that he had never given up on Dean, and had made it his
mission to find the "gray-haired colonel" which he claimed he did in 1988 and
1989, traveling to Vietnam on a diplomatic passport. He told Dean's family that
Dean was alive and well and had adjusted to his "situation," which was a
solitary life in a village. Dean, he said, leaves the village daily to work.

Mrs. Barrell does not know how much credence to give the story. On one hand, she
says, the General asked nothing from them. He did not seek them out. On the
contrary, she and her family sought him out. Shortly after they spoke, the man
told her that he was in "trouble" with the U.S. Government and would not speak
with her again.

On the other hand, there is absolutely no way Dean's family can verify or
discount the General's story. A family, at relative peace for over a decade, is
once again suffering the uncertainty that comes with not knowing. The U.S.
Government simply isn't talking to them about it. One cannot simply fly to Hanoi
and beg permission to visit one's relative when Hanoi denies he even exists.

Unfortunately, the Pogreba story is not an aberration. Many cases of Americans
missing in Southeast Asia are fraught with inconsistencies, some to the point of
outright deception. Still others are hidden under the cloak of "national
security" classification; some cannot be revealed until after the year 2000.
These families will have to wait almost half a century to know the truth about
what happened to their men.

Since the war ended, U.S. intelligence agencies have conducted over 250,000
interviews and perused "several million documents" related to Americans still
missing, prisoner or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia. Many authorities,
including a former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, having reviewed this
largely classified information, have concluded that scores of Americans are
still alive in captivity today.

As long as even one American remains held against his will, we must do
everything in our power to bring him home. How can we afford to abandon our best
men?


BARROWS, HENRY CHARLES

Name: Henry Charles Barrows
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 307th Strat Wing, Utapao AB TH
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Westfield NJ
Loss Date: 19 December 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 205900N 1054359E (WJ762203)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: B52D

Others In Incident: Richard W. Cooper; Charlie S. Poole (both missing); Charles
A. Brown Jr.; Hal K. Wilson; Fernando Alexander (all POWs released in 1973).

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 July 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: RELSD 730329 BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: Frustrated by problems in negotiating a peace settlement, and
pressured by a Congress and public wanting an immediate end to American
involvement in Vietnam, President Nixon ordered the most concentrated air
offensive of the war - known as Linebacker II - in December 1972. During the
offensive, sometimes called the "Christmas bombings," 40,000 tons of bombs were
dropped, primarily over the area between Hanoi and Haiphong. White House Press
Secretary Ronald Ziegler said that the bombing would end only when all U.S. POWs
were released and an internationally recognized cease-fire was in force.

On the first day of Linebacker II, December 18, 129 B52s arrived over Hanoi in
three waves, four to five hours apart. They attacked the airfields at Hoa Lac,
Kep and Phuc Yen, the Kinh No complex and the Yen Vien railyards. The aircraft
flew in tight cells of three aircraft to maximize the mutual support benefits of
their ECM equipment and flew straight and level to stabilize the bombing
computers and ensure that all bombs fell on the military targets and not in
civilian areas.

The pilots of the early missions reported that "wall-to-wall SAMS" surrounded
Hanoi as they neared its outskirts. The first night of bombing, December 18 and
19, two B52s were shot down by SAMs.

Onboard the first aircraft shot down on December 18 was its pilot, LTCOL Donald
L. Rissi and crewmen MAJ Richard E. Johnson, CAPT Richard T. Simpson, CAPT
Robert G. Certain, 1LT Robert J. Thomas and SGT Walter L. Ferguson. Of this
crew, Certain, Simpson and Johnson were captured and shown the bodies of the
other crew members. Six years later, the bodies of Rissi, Thomas and Ferguson
were returned to U.S. control by the Vietnamese. Certain, Simpson and Johnson
were held prisoner in Hanoi until March 29, 1973, when they were released in
Operation Homecoming.

Capt. Hal K. Wilson was in the lead aircraft of a B52 cell from Utapoa. Also on
board his aircraft were crew men MAJ Fernando Alexander, CAPT Charles A. Brown,
Jr., CAPT Henry C. Barrows, CAPT Richard W. Cooper Jr. (the navigator), and SGT
Charlie S. Poole (the tailgunner). Wilson's aircraft was hit by a SAM near his
target area and crashed in the early morning hours of December 19, sustaining
damage to the fuselage. In the ensuing fire, there was no time for orderly
bailout, but as later examination of radio tapes indicated, all six crewmen
deployed their parachutes and evidently safely ejected. The aircraft damage
report indicated that all six men were prisoner.

Radio Hanoi announced that Poole had been captured and that he was uninjured.
Whether Cooper's name was also reported is unknown, as the airman who heard this
report on Guam heard only part of the broadcast, and being a friend of the Poole
family, remembered vividly only the parts concerning Charlie Poole. When the war
ended, however, only four of the crew returned from Hanoi prisons. Hanoi
remained silent about the fate of Charlie Poole and Richard Cooper.

The Christmas Bombings, despite press accounts to the contrary, were of the most
precise the world had seen. Pilots involved in the immense series of strikes
generally agree that the strikes against anti-aircraft and strategic targets was
so successful that the U.S., had it desired, "could have taken the entire
country of Vietnam by inserting an average Boy Scout troop in Hanoi and marching
them southward."

To achieve this precision bombing, the Pentagon deemed it necessary to stick to
a regular flight path. For many missions, the predictable B52 strikes were
anticipated and prepared for by the North Vietnamese. Later, however, flight
paths were altered and attrition all but eliminated any hostile threat from the
ground.

Linebacker II involved 155 Boeing B52 Stratofortress bombers stationed at
Anderson AFB, Guam (72nd Strat Wing) and another 50 B52s stationed at Utapoa
Airbase, Thailand (307th Strat Wing), an enormous number of bombers with over
one thousand men flying the missions. However, the bombings were not conducted
without high loss of aircraft and personnel. During the month of December 1972,
61 crewmembers onboard ten B52 aircraft were shot down and were captured or
declared missing. (The B52 carried a crew of six men; however, one B52 lost
carried an extra crewman.) Of these 61, 33 men were released in 1973. The others
remained missing at the end of the war. Over half of these survived to eject
safely. What happened to them?

Reports mount that have convinced many authorities that Americans are still held
captive in Southeast Asia. Are Poole and Cooper among them? Do they know the
country they love has abandoned them? Isn't it time we found them and brought
them home?






Name:                 Barry Kenneth Allmond
                 (Remains possibly returned)
Rank/Branch:             O3/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth:             02 February 1946
Home City of Record:         Ft. Worth TX
Date of Loss:             11 May 1972
Country of Loss:         South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates:
Status (in 1973):         Prisoner of War
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground:         Unknown
Other Personnel in Incident: (unknown)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 15 March 1991
from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency
sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources,
interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: In a war with millions of U.S. participants, clerical and
other errors in records are inevitable. Perhaps clerical error can
explain the case of Captain Barry K. Allmond.

Allmond, an Air Force Captain, was reported missing in South Vietnam on
May 11, 1972. The Department of Defense maintained him in Prisoner of
War status from at least July 1972 until October 1973, but declined to
discuss his case at that time with interested POW/MIA accountability
groups.

By 1978, Allmond's name had disappeared off all U.S. Government lists
without public explanation. In 1991, Allmond's name appears on the
Vietnam Veterans Memorial without POW/MIA designation.

Whether Allmond's remains were located or whether he was mistakenly
classified Prisoner of War is not known. Groups concerned that even one
man may be forgotten steadfastly remember him until information becomes
available.

When the war ended, and 591 Americans were released from POW camps in
Vietnam, military officials were dismayed that hundreds of Americans
known or suspected to be prisoners were not released. Since that time,
the Vietnamese have been less than forthcoming with information relating
to these men. In contrast, the U.S. seems reluctant to strongly enforce
the important clause in the peace agreements ending American involvement
in Vietnam that relates to the release of Americans and fullest possible
accounting of the missing.

Henry Kissinger once said that the problem of unrecoverable Prisoners is
an "unfortunate" byproduct of limited political engagements. This does
not seem to be consistent with the high value we, as a nation, place on
individual human lives. The men who went to Vietnam because their
country asked it of them are too precious to the future of this nation
to write them off as expendable.
BARTOCCI, JOHN EUGENE

Name: John Eugene Bartocci
Rank/Branch: O4/US Navy
Unit:
Date of Birth: 19 February 1934
Home City of Record: New York NY (family in Overland Park KS)
Date of Loss: 31 August 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: (none given)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F8H

Other Personnel In Incident: none missing

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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: John Bartocci had a bright future when he graduated from the U.S.
Naval Academy in 1958. He was married the same year and began a family. His and
Barbara's marriage was right out of a storybook. Barbara later said it was a
"happy-ever-after dream."

John's Navy career moved the family from base to base until he was ultimately
sent to Vietnam. In Vietnam, Bartocci flew the Vought F8 "Crusader". The
Crusader was used exclusively by the Navy and Marine air wings 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 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.

On August 31, 1968, during a carrier night-landing attempt, John Bartocci's
aircraft went down. His body was never recovered. His son, John was 7 years old.
He still believed his dad would come home to him.

It took John ("Barty") 15 years to understand what the loss of his father meant.
His bitter resentment of a promise broken had a disastrous impact on his life.
He was a problem child. Barbara, an accomplished author, wrote a book about the
trials of her family, "My Angry Son". Today, over 20 years later, John
Bartocci's family has grieved and accepted his death. It was a hard won victory
for all of them.

Other families suffer the same suspension of grief that Bartocci's family did,
but are not able to grieve and heal. Nearly 10,000 reports related to Americans
still missing, prisoner or otherwise unaccounted for have been received by the
U.S. Many authorities who have seen this largely classified information belive
that hundreds of Americans are still alive. Their families endure the deepest
agony wondering if their loved ones are alive or dead. There are hundreds of
children like Barty whose lives are paralized waiting for their fathers to keep
a promise to come home to them. There are hundreds of captive Americans waiting
for their country to keep a promise to them to bring them home.



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.




BATES, PAUL JENNINGS, JR.

Name: Paul Jennings Bates, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O3/US Army
Unit: 220th Aviation Company, 212th Aviation Battalion, 11th Aviation Group,
1st Aviation Division
Date of Birth: 20 February 1943 (Phoenix AZ)
Home City of Record: Mesa AZ
Date of Loss: 10 August 1971
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 165158N 1064301E (XD829654)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: O1G
Other Personnel in Incident: Thomas A. Dolan (missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On August 10, 1971, Capt. Paul J. Bates, pilot and SP5 Thomas A
Dolan, observer, were flying an O1G (serial #51-2267) conducting a visual
reconnaissance mission in Quang Tri, South Vietnam when their aircraft crashed
and burned.

At 1455 hours that day, Capt. Bates was trying to show the pilot of an
accompanying aircraft a target in the area. A few minutes later, his aircraft
appeared to fly into the trees and disappear.

The accompanying aicraft flew to the crash site and observed the wreckage
located on a slope. There were no signs of anyone moving about the area or any
bodies near the wreckage. Shortly after the crash, the aircraft began to burn.
Several aircraft conducted search operations for survivors with no success.

Those witnessing the crash and those conducting the search operations believed
that it was extremely unlikely that Capt. Bates or SP5 Dolan could have
survived the crash or escaped the fire. The cabin section, half of the wings,
and part of the tail were completely destroyed by the crash and fire.

Because of the difficult terrain and lack of visual indication of survivors, no
ground search was made. In spite of the grave outlook of the fates of Bates and
Dolan, the Army did not declare them killed, but as Missing In Action. Reasons
for this determination are not known.

Bates and Dolan are among nearly 2500 Americans who remain prisoner, missing or
unaccounted for from the Vietnam war. Unfortunately, mounting evidence
indicates that hundreds of Americans are still captive, waiting for the country
they proudly served to secure their freedom.

In our haste to leave an unpopular war, it now appears we abandoned some of our
best men. In our haste to heal the wounds of this same war, will we sign their
death warrants? Or will we do what we can to bring them home?



BATT, MICHAEL LEROY

Name: Michael Leroy Batt
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: Headquarters Company, USARV
Date of Birth: 30 May 1947
Home City of Record: Defiance OH
Date of Loss: 16 March 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietham
Loss Coordinates: 161357N 1074448E (YC936965)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: U21A
Other Personnel In Incident: Charles R. Barnes; Marvin L. Foster; David R.
Smith; Raymond E. Bobe (all missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Charles Barnes, co-pilot; David R. Smith, aircraft commander; and
passengers Michael Batt, Marvin L. Foster, and Raymond Bobe were the passengers
aboard a U21A aircraft lost in Tuan Thien Province, South Vietnam. The U21 is a
medium-sized aircraft, built to hold 8 or 10 passengers and crew. It is a
fixed-wing craft, generally used for VIP or commutes rather than surveillance
or combat support missions.

The circumstances surrounding the loss of this crew and passengers are still
completely classified as of 1989, although it is known that contact was lost
with the aircraft, and it is not strongly believed that the enemy knew the
fates of the crew and passengers. The last known location of the aircraft was
about half-way between Hue and Da Nang, South Vietnam.

Batt's photograph was selected as a known prisoner from the JCRC photo album of
those missing, but the U.S. Government states that it is unknown why the source
selected Batt's photo. Returning POWs did not indicate that any of the crew or
passengers had been held with them in their prison system.

When 591 Americans were released from Vietnamese prisons in 1973, high-ranking
military officials were shocked that "hundreds" who were expected to be
released were not.

Examination of intelligence reports suggest that there was more than one prison
"system" in Vietnam. Those prisoners who were released were maintained in the
same systems. If the missing men aboard the U21A were captured and kept in
another system, the POWs who returned would not know it.

Now, nearly 20 years later, men like these are all but forgotten except by
friends, family and fellow veterans. The U.S. "priority" placed on
determining their fates pales in comparison to the results it has achieved.

Since the U21 A was lost, nearly 10,000 reports have been received by the U.S.
relating to Americans still missing in Southeast Asia. Many authorities believe
that hundreds remain alive, waiting for their country to come for them. Whether
the men aboard the U21A are among them is not known. What is certain, however,
is that we, as a nation, are guilty of the abandonment of nearly 2500 of our
best and most courageous men. We cannot forget, and must do everything in our
power to bring these men home.

BATTISTE, JERALD T.

Name: Jerald T. Battiste
Rank/Branch: Civilian
Unit: Glomar Java Sea
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record:
Date of Loss: 25 October 1983
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates:
Status (in 1973):
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground:

Personnel in Incident: Herman Arms; Jerald T. Battiste; Sebe M. Bracey; Patrick
B. Cates; Wei Chen; Xiong Chen; Shu Guo Cheng; Jacob K. J. Chong; David P.
Clifton; James F. Cusick; Thomas J. Dixon; Shao Jien Feng; Jerald J. Flanagan;
Nigel Furness; Leonard E. Ganzinotti; La Juan A. Gilmore; Henry M. Gittings;
James K. Gittings; Terance C. Green; Jun Tian Guan; David Higgins, Jr.; Tyronne
Higgins; Hong Xi Huang; Rui Wen Huang; Yong Liang Huang; Timothy Jarvis; John W.
Jennings Jr.; Thomas J. Kofahl; Fan Xiang Kong; Guo Zhen Lai; John W. Lawrence;
Tong L. T. Lee; Chong Chang Li; Xuan Qiu Li; Zhan Jun Liang; Jie Feng Lin; Bing
Guang Liu; Edgar S. Lim; Gary Looke; Robert M. McCurry; Jerry L. Manfrida;
Raymond D. Miller; Xie Yi Mo; Tian Xue Mo; Kenneth W. Myers; Larry K. Myers;
Donald J. Ouellet; John D. Pierce; Peter Popiel; Clarence Reed; Jewell J.
Reynolds; E.J. Russell Reynolds; Walter T. Robinson; Kenneth B. Rogers; Lawrence
M. Salzwedel; William R. Schug; Richard E. Shoff; Christopher J. Sleeman; Delmar
A. Spencer; George G. Sullivan; Chong Jian Sun; Gustaf F. Swanson; Kevin C.
Swanson; Guo Dong Tang; Michael W. Thomas; Jiang Wang; Yu Fang Wang; Dong Cai
Wang; Guo Rong Wu; jing Sheng Xia; Xing Xing; Hui Xu; Ming Rui Xu; Mua Guang
Yuan; Xing Zhen Zhang; Yi Hua Zhang; Ji Chang Zhen; Shu Rong Zhou; Yao Wu Zhou;
Jie Fang Zhou; Da Huai Zhu.

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 10 December 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 5,930-ton American drilling ship, "Glomar Java Sea" was owned by
Global Marine of Houston, Texas, and leased to Atlantic Richfield Company
(ARCO). In the fall of 1983, the vessel was on duty about 200 miles east of the
Vietnamese coast. The ship was drilling for oil in the South China Sea in a
joint venture of ARCO and China Naitonal Offshore Oil Corporation, a state-owned
concern.

The "Glomar Java Sea" is a sister ship of the "Glomar Explorer," which, under
the guise of being utilized by the late Howard Hughes in a deep sea mining
operation in the Paficic, was really being used by the CIA and Navy in a $350
million project to retrieve a sunken Soviet Golf-class submarine. A large part
of the submarine was in fact recovered in 1974 before details of the project
were publicly revealed.

The Glomar Java Sea, with its crew of 81, began drilling operations on January
9, 1983 and was the first American wildcat operaton off the Chinese coast. On
October 25, 1983, the vessel was sunk during Typhoon Lex.

Documents removed from the ship by a crewman before the disaster indicate that
the vessel was being shadowed by armed Vietnamese naval craft and that there
were submarine mines beneath the "Glomar Java Sea," placed there and retrievable
by its crew. Another document indicates that the ship was damaged prior ot the
typhoon when a Chinese supply boat rammed into its side, causing some $320,000
damage to the vessel. The Glomar Java Sea did not leave its post for repairs.

Communications between ARCO and Global Marine, as well as telegraphic and radio
communications of the U.S. Western Pacific Rescue Coordination Center (WESTPAC)
reveal information about the search for the crew of the Glomar Java Sea.

The documents indicate that a number of survivors from the stricken vessel were
floundering in the water off the coast of Vietnam for hours after the disaster.
There is also indication that the men were picked up by Vietnamese coastal
patrols and are held captive of the Hanoi regime.

The crew of the Glomar Java Sea included 37 Americans, 35 Chinese, four British,
two Singaporeans, one Filipino, one Australian, and one Canadian.

From a transcript of a radio communicaton between WESTPAC and Global Marine on
October 28, three days after the sinking, WESTPAC was told:  "We are informed
that the SOS transmission could not have been transmitted except by human
operators..." There were two 64-man lifeboats aboard the drilling ship, plus
smaller lifeboats.

In an October 29 communicaton from WESTPAC to Global Marine, it is clearly
stated that five strobe lights were sighted by rescue aircraft in the vicinity
of 17-30 North 107-45 East. The aircraft were dispatched to the area because
strobe lights had been previously sighted. Lifejackets from the Glomar Java Sea
were equipped with strobe lights to signal rescuers.

Another October 29 communication between ARCO and Global Marine states that
ARCO's search aircraft had spotted survivors in the water at 17.27 North 107.54
East, and had attempted to divert surface vessels to this location. The
communication expressed the urgency to rescue the men before dark.

At 8:01 a.m. on October 29, ARCO had dropped a rescue raft to survivors.  Pickup
would be delayed for several hours, but the "Salvanquish," a Singapore-based
salvage ship, was within one half-mile of the site.

At 8:38 a.m search aircraft reported pinpointing the survivors' positions by dye
markers released by the survivors into the water. Two survivors were confirmed
with a possible third some distance away. Plans were also made to return to the
downed vessell to offlift survivors.

Another document shows that on nine different occasions radio transmissions were
picked up from a lifeboat. They ranged from "very strong" to "weak" with most
being described as "strong."

Inexplicably, despite the successful search, no rescue was made of the
survivors. Later that day, the Chinese Navy picked up a Vietnamese broadcast
reporting that the Vietnamese had sighted a lifeboat near their coast. The
location of the lifeboat was not confirmed by friendly search parties.

ARCO-Global Marine determined that this sighting was in the vicinity of Hon Gio
Island, located about 80 miles up the Vietnamese coast from the old U.S. base at
Da Nang and about 14 miles offshore, which placed it in Vietnamese territorial
waters. It appears that rescue craft were hampered in fully investigating the
report due to its location and the hint of possible interference by the
Vietnamese military.

It is likely that survivors would have been picked up by the Vietnamese if they
had in fact drifted within Vietnam's territory.

In the years following the loss of the Glomar Java Sea, a number of reports, all
unconfirmed by the U.S., indicate that survivors were seen in captivity in
Vietnam. It is known that the Vietnamese had shown a hostile interest in the
vessel, and the Glomar Java Sea had standing orders to be alert for Vietnamese
vessels in the area. The Chinese Navy served as protection for the vessel and
stood ready to take action should Vietnamese craft wander too close. The waters
below the vessel were mined.

A month after the Glomar Java Sea went down, Chinese divers went down to the
wreckage and went through the ship with a video cameras.

In March 1984, American divers were able to retrieve 31 bodies from the sunken
vessel. Fifteen of the bodies were identified as Americans. In addition, three
British and one Singaporean were identified. The bodies of another American and
two Chinese were tentatively identified. Divers photographed two bodies they
were unable to retrieve. They also found one of the Chinese divers that had
explored the wreckage in November 1983, lashed to the deck of the ship.

The American divers determined that one of the ship's large lifeboats was
launched and that an attempt had been made to launch another. Their film was
seen by the mother of one of the lost crewmen. She reported that the crack in
the hull of the ship at one point was a hole 48 inches across, which was
punctured inward, "as though the rig had been hit by something that exploded."
This fueled additional speculation that the vessel had, in fact, been attacked
rather that simply mortally damaged by the typhoon.

The National Transportaton Safety Board officially determined in November 1984
that an "unexplained crack" in the hull of the Glomar Java Sea was responsible
for its sinking during the typhoon. Apparently, the crack in the hull allowed
two storage tanks to fill with water, causing the vessel to become off-balanced,
making it vulnerable to the forces of the typhoon. Officials believed it was
possible that survivors may have been able to abandon the ship before it sank.
It was determined that the ship had been improperly prepared for the storm.

During 1984, there were reports from Southeast Asia that between six and twelve
survivors of the Glomar Java Sea were being held in prisoner of war camps in
Vietnam. One of the survivors was identified by a Vietnamese refugee as American
crewman John Pierce.

Douglas F. Pierce, father of John Pierce, reported that the refugee had seen his
son, five other Americans and eight Chinese when they were brought into a prison
in Da Nang, where the refugee was being held. John Pierce gave the refugee his
father's business card and two sticks of gum.

Mr. Pierce gave the information to Defense Intelligence Agency who determined
that the refugee had not been in the camp at all, but had received the business
card by mail from a friend, not directly from Pierce. DIA further determined
that the incident had occurred in late October 1983 (shortly after the Glomar
Java Sea went down). The refugee gave Mr. Pierce the original letter, which
contained the names and addresses of two mutual Vietnamese friends.

No followup was conducted on the two names in the letter by DIA, and DIA
discounted the information provided by the refugee. It was not until 1990 that
it became apparent that the Defense Department felt no responsibility for the
Americans lost on the Glomar Java Sea. At that time, DIA reported that the
responsibility for these civilians belonged to the U.S. State Department.

Mr. Pierce did not stop there. He uncovered a U.S. State Department document
that revealed that Cheng Quihong, the secretary and wife of the Director of
China's Visa Office, was overheard telling her companion at a Hong Kong dinner
that survivors from the Glomar had been picked up and were held by the
Vietnamese.

Pierce also learned that a JCRC report sent to DIA dated November 6, 1984,
reported that a former prisoner from Pleiku prison had been held with a Chinese
man who claimed to have been off the Glomar. The man said he was one of three
men who were captured, and that the other two were Americans.

Pierce adds that to his knowledge, neither of these reports were followed up by
U.S. officials, and Pierce has received no reply to his queries regarding them.

In 1989 a Japanese monk named Yoshida was released from prison after being held
for years by the Vietnamese. Yoshida was shown a photograph of John Pierce and
stated that Pierce looked very familiar, and that he had either seen him or
someone who looked very much like him.

In November, 1990, Vietamese Foreign Minister Nguyen Co Thach traveled to the
U.S. and spoke with U.S. officials on a variety of matters. At this time, he
announced that there was a black American named Walter T. Robinson living
illegally in Vietnam, and invited U.S. representatives to come and help find
him. Thach provided a social security number and two photographs.

The Pentagon told "The Washington Times" that the two photographs of Robinson
provided by Thach are of a black man. However, the Pentagon has since admitted
that the photos "are not very well developed" and appear to be of either a black
man or a dark Asian. Photocopies of old newspaper articles concerning Robinson,
obtained by Homecoming II, show a dark-haired man of relatively dark complexion.

The Pentagon has not released the photographs to the press.

The Defense Department determined that Walter T. Robinson had never been listed
as missing in Vietnam. Thach had provided a social security number, and
according to DOD, this information correlated to a white American living in the
Midwest. They concluded that the Thach information, therefore, was in error.

Later information indicated that a Walter T. Robinson was listed on the crew
roster of the Glomar Java Sea. When queried, the Defense Department reported
that they were aware of this Robinson, but that civilians were the
responsibility of the State Department.

It seems apparent that the U.S. is not vigorously looking for the men missing
from the Glomar Java Sea, and that like the missing and prisoners who served in
military and civilian capacities during the Vietnam war, they have been
abandoned.


BAUDER, JAMES REGINALD

Name: James Reginal Bauder
Rank/Branch: O4/U.S. Navy
Unit: Fighter Squadron 21, USS CORAL SEA (CVA-43)
Date of Birth: 17 May 1931 (San Fernando CA)
Home City of Record: La Canada CA
Date of Loss: 21 September 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 191858N 1054300E (WG753358)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4B

Other Personnel In Incident: James B. Mills (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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: Lt.Cdr. James R. Bauder was a pilot assigned to Fighter Squadron 21
onboard the USS CORAL SEA (CVA 43). On September 21, 1966, Bauder and Lt.JG
James B. Mills, the Naval Fighter Officer, launched with another F4B fighter jet
from the USS CORAL SEA on a night armed reconnaissance mission over North
Vietnam. Bauder was the flight leader of the flight. The assigned route was from
Cua Can to Thach Luyen along a river adjacent to Highway 1A.

Bauder briefed the mission for the two aircraft to penetrate the coast. The
wingman, Lt. Hanley, was in a 4-5 mile radar trail. Capt. Bauder dropped his six
flares at 3500 feet to illuminate the river for barges. His aircraft then
executed a starboard turn to watch for flak and surface-to-air missiles (SAMs)
as the wingman bombed targets of opportunity under the illumination of the
flares. The wingman was then to proceed straight ahead off the target for 45
seconds and drop his flares. Bauder and Mills would follow him north in a 4-5
mile radar trail with the intention of bombing targets illuminated by the second
series of flares.

The wingman attempted to contact Bauder by radio, but was unsucessful. He then
checked with the USS CHICAGO and the E2A air control aircraft to see if they had
radar contact with the leader's aircraft, but they did not. At no time were any
flak or SAM firings observed by the crew of the wing aircraft. Neither crew
member observed any explosions in the air or on the ground. No signals were
detected from the emergency radios carried by both Bauder and Mills. An
extensive search was conducted in the area during the night and early morning
with negative results. Bauder and Mills and their aircraft disappeared. The two
were placed in a Missing In Action category.

When 591 Americans were released in 1973, Bauder and Mills were not among them.
They are two of nearly 2500 Americans who did not return from Indochina at the
end of American involvement there. Unlike MIAs from other wars, most of the
missing in Southeast Asia can be accounted for.

Tragically, over 1200 eye-witness reports have been received that indicate that
some of these "MIAs" are actually held prisoner today. Whether James Bauder and
James Mills are among them is unknown. But their families would like to
know...and have them home, one way or another.
BAUMAN, RICHARD LEE

Name: Richard Lee Bauman
Rank/Branch: W2/US Army
Unit:
Date of Birth: 28 May 1948
Home City of Record: Columbus OH
Date of Loss: 17 March 1971
Country of Loss: Cambodia
Loss Coordinates: 121017N 1062204E (XU480455)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 1
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H

Other Personnel in Incident: On UH1H: Craig M. Dix; Bobby G. Harris (all
missing); James H. Hestand (released POW). From AH1G: Capt. David P. Schweitzer
(rescued); 1Lt. Lawrence E. Lilly (missing).

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 30 June 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: DEAD/IR 6 918 6247 74

SYNOPSIS: On March 17, 1971, Capt. David P. Schweitzer, pilot and 1Lt. Lawrence
E. Lilly, co-pilot, comprised the crew of an AH1G helicopter (serial #69-17935)
conducting a visual reconnaissance mission. As the aircraft was near a landing
zone at grid coordinates XU488458, it was hit by enemy fire of the F-21B
Infantry Regiment, 5th Viet Cong Division and forced to the ground. The LZ was
deep inside Cambodia in the Snuol District of Kracheh (Kratie) Province, near
Seang Village.

Rescue efforts were successful in extracting Capt. Schweitzer, but due to heavy
enemy fire, they were forced to leave the area before Lilly could be extracted.
Lt. Lilly was last seen by U.S. personnel lying on his back wth his shirt
partially open and blood on his chest and neck. He was observed being fired
upon by Viet Cong forces.

In mid-April 1971, a report described two U.S. personnel onboard a helicopter
shot down in this region getting out of the helicopter and climbing a tree, and
firing upon enemy forces. One of the crewmen was shot to death, and the other
was captured by Viet Cong soldiers of the 6th Company, 2nd Battalion, F21B
Infantry Regiment. The report continued that both crewmen were caucasian and
had light complexions. The source described the POW and said that he was later
told that the dead airman had been cremated by Cambodian villagers who had come
to salvage parts from the aircraft. Joint Casualty Resolution Center (JCRC)
evaluated the report and concluded that it could possibly relate either to
Lilly's incident or another the same day at the same location.

The other incident related to a UH1H helicopter flown by WO1 James H. Hestand
and carrying CW2 Richard L. Bauman; SP4 Craig M. Dix; and SP4 Bobby G. Harris.
The aircraft was shot down near Snuol. A medivac chopper lowered a jungle
penetrator to men seen on the ground through triple canopy jungle, but was
forced to leave the area due to enemy fire and low fuel.

Five ARVN were captured in the same operation and were told by Viet Cong guards
that three chopper crew members had just been captured. One was killed in the
crash, one was shot in the leg (ankle) trying to escape. The wounded crewmember
and two others were finally captured.

James Hestand was captured and was released in 1973. In his debriefing, he
reported that Craig Dix was the one who had been shot in the upper right ankle.
Hestand stated that Dix was ambulatory and evading capture at the time of his
own capture. Hestand also stated that, when last seen, CW2 Bauman was alive, in
good condition, and was hiding with Dix. Hestand said that he had seen the body
of Harris, whom he believed to be dead because of throat lacerations and a
discoloration of his body. Harris had been thrown from the aircraft. Hestand
was separated from the others when he was captured, and had no further
information on Dix, Bauman or Harris. Defense Department notes indicate that
Harris was killed in the crash. Defense Department notes indicate that some
intelligence say that Bauman, Dix and Harris are dead, yet other intelligence
reports placed Dix in a Cambodian hospital after having been captured, and
according to Hestand, the two were alive and well the last time he saw them.

An ARVN ground unit entered the battle area to try to rescue Lilly, but found
him dead. The unit came under heavy fire, and in the course of the battle, the
body was lost to the enemy. Lilly's remains were never recovered.

In 1988, the Cambodian government announced that it had the remains of a number
of American servicemen it wished to return to the United States. The U.S. did
not respond officially, however, because there are no diplomatic ties between
Cambodia and the U.S. Several U.S. Congressmen have attempted to intervene and
recover the remains on behalf of American family members, but Cambodia wishes
an official overture. Meanwhile, the bodies of Americans remain in the hands of
our former enemy.

Even more tragically, evidence mounts that many Americans are still alive in
Southeast Asia, still prisoners from a war many have long forgotten. It is a
matter of pride in the armed forces that one's comrades are never left behind.
One can imagine any of the men lost in Cambodia on March 17, 1971, being
willing to go on one more mission for the freedom of those heroes we left
behind.


BAXTER, BRUCE RAYMOND

Name: Bruce Raymond Baxter
Rank/Branch: E8/US Army Special Forces
Unit: C & C Detachment, 5th SFG
Date of Birth: 28 September 1931 (Boston MA)
Home City of Record: Lowell MA
Date of Loss: 08 November 1967
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 161458N 1065258E (YC012973)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: HH3E

Others In Incident: Joseph G. Kusick; Ralph W. Brower; Eugene L. Clay; Larry W.
Maysey (all missing); Gerald Young (rescued - awarded Congressional Medal Of
Honor for action); 3 indigenous personnel with Special Forces team (rescued)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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: CRASH-5 DED; PILOT RECV-J

SYNOPSIS: On November 8, 1967, two Air Force "Jolly Greens" (#26 and #29) from
the 37th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron were scrambled from Da Nang Air
Base at 1505 hours for an emergency extraction of five surviving members of a
Special Forces reconnaissance team which had suffered heavy casualties while
operating deep in a denied area in Laos. The recovery effort was to be recorded
by the Squadron as one of the largest and most hazardous on record.

The two Air Force helicopters were advised by forward air control to hold while
three Army UH1B gunships softened the area with rockets and machine gun fire. An
Air Force C130 gunship, meanwhile, provided flare support for the mission. At
1630Z, Jolly Green 29 picked up the three indigenous personnel before being
driven off by hostile fire. Damaged, Jolly Green 29 left and made an emergency
landing at Khe Sanh. 20 minutes later, Jolly Green 26, flown by CAPT Gerald
Young, with flight crew consisting of CAPT Ralph Brower, co-pilot; SSGT Eugene
Clay, flight engineer; and SGT Larry Maysey, rescue specialist; braved the
ground fire to pick up Special Forces SP4 Joseph G. Kusick and MSGT Bruce R.
Baxter, both wounded. The helicopter was hit by automatic weapons fire, crashed
and burst into flames.

By the afternoon of November 9, a recovery team was inserted into the area and
reached the crash site of the burned HH3. Because of fading light, it was
impossible to inspect the wreckage at that time.

On 10 November, the wreckage was searched and 3 charred remains were found. Two
of the remains had identification tags which identified them as members of the
crew. The third remains had no tags, but were identified as SP4 Kusick, radio
operator of the reconnaissance team, as the long antenna from his PRC-25 radio
were found on his body. CAPT Young had survived and was rescued 17 hours after
the crash of the aircraft.

About 34 meters downhill from the wreckage, another set of remains were found
which were readily identified as MSGT Baxter from the facial features. No trace
was found of the third crew member. The remains of the two crewmen and Kusick
were removed from the aircraft and placed with MSGT Baxter's remains so they
could be hoisted as one lift into a hovering helicopter. The identificaton tags
of the crewmembers were placed with the remains. Weather conditions and enemy
action would not permit helicopters to make the extraction either that day or
the day following.

The remains of the crew and passengers aboard Jolly Green 26 were never
recovered. Although the location of the crash is known, the bodies of the crew
and recon team who died still lie on foreign soil. The five are among nearly 600
Americans lost in Laos. Not one prisoner was released from Laos, and few remains
have been recovered.

While it is a great sadness to know a loved one is dead and his body is lying
far from home, the greater tragedy is those known to have been prisoners of war
who did not return, and those who are missing in action.

Since the war ended, "several million documents" and "over 250,000 interviews"
have been reviewed relating to Americans prisoner, missing or unaccounted for in
Southeast Asia. Many officials who have reviewed this largely-classified
information are convinced that hundreds of Americans are still alive in
captivity today.

These reports increase the agony for families who want to know what happened to
their sons, fathers and brothers. If, as the U.S. Government seems to believe,
all the men are dead, it's time the information was declassified so that all can
understand the fates of these heroes. If, as many believe, men are still alive,
it's time they were brought home to bring the war in Vietnam to an honorable
end.
BEALS, CHARLES ELBERT

Name: Charles Elbert Beals
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: Company D, 2nd Battalion, 506th Infantry, 101st Airborne Division
Date of Birth: 27 September 1949 (Union City IN)
Home City of Record: French Lick IN
Date of Loss: 07 July 1970
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 162643N 107114E (YD335193)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel in Incident: Lewis Howard (missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On July 7, 1970, SP4 Lewis Howard, point man, and PFC Charles E.
Beals, assistant machine gunner, were members of Company D, 2nd Battalion,
506th Infantry when their platoon was engaged in a fire fight in South Vietnam.
Their position at that time was in Thua Thien Province, near the border of
Quang Tri Province to the north.

As the platoon was advancing uphill on a suspected enemy location, an unknown
enemy force fired at least 3 rocket-propelled grenades (RPG) at the point
element. The platoon leader saw that Howard was hit by the first round. Beals
was wounded in the leg when the enemy first opened fire, however, before he
could be moved to cover, he was hit by at least 3 rounds of machine gun fire in
the back and the neck.

Attempts to maneuver up to the point position to retrieve Beals and Howard met
with heavy enemy attack, and the rest of the platoon were forced to withdraw,
leaving the two men behind.

After 6 hours, the enemy was still firing machine gun and rifle fire over the
area. The intense enemy fire made any further attempts to recover Beals and
Howard impossible, and the platoon withdrew from the area.

Beals was thought to be dead because of the number of rounds that hit him. He
was classified Killed in Action, Body Not Recovered. The extent of Howard's
wounds were unknown, and he was classified Missing In Action. There is a strong
probability that the enemy knows the fate of both men. If they survived, it is
very likely that they were captured.

Nearly 2500 Americans remain missing, prisoner or unaccounted for from the
Vietnam war. Since American involvement in the war ended in 1975, almost 10,000
reports have been received by the U.S. Government relating to the missing. Most
authorities believe there are hundreds of them still alive.

Whether Beals and Howard survived to be captured that day in July 1970 is not
known. What seems certain, however, is that we must bring home any Americans
being held against their will.

BEBUS, CHARLES JAMES
Remains Returned October 1988

Name: Charles James Bebus
Rank/Branch: E3/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 04 February 1951
Home City of Record: Minneapolis MN
Date of Loss: 21 December 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 210200N 1054500E (WJ779258)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: B52G
Other Personnel In Incident: Donovan Walters; Robert R. Lynn; Edward Johnson
(remains returned October 1988); Lynn R. R. Beens; James Y. Nagahiro (both
returned POWs); Keith R. Heggen (remains returned in 1974)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Frustrated by problems in negotiating a peace settlement, and
pressured by a Congress and public wanting an immediate end to American
involvement in Vietnam, President Nixon ordered the most concentrated ait
offensive of the war - known as Linebacker II - in December 1972. During the
offensive, sometimes called the "Christmas bombings", 40,000 tons of bombs were
dropped, primarily over the area between Hanoi and Haiphong. White House Press
Secretary Ronald Ziegler said that the bombing would end only when all U.S.
POWs were released and an internationally recognized cease-fire was in force.

The Christmas Bombings, despite press accounts to the contrary, were of the
most precise the world had seen. Pilots involved in the immense series of
strikes generally agree that the strikes against anti-aircraft and strategic
targets was so successfull that the U.S., had it desired, "could have taken the
entire country of Vietnam by inserting an average Boy Scout troop in Hanoi and
marching them southward."

The B52 bomber saw heavy duty in Vietnam. From June 1965 to August 1973 no
fewer than 126,615 B52 sorties were flown. Of these, 125,479 reached their
targets, and 124,532 dropped their bombs. Six percent of these sorties were
flown in North Vietnam, and 17 B52s were lost to hostile fire in North Vietnam.
During the month of December 1972, 62 crewmembers of B52 aircraft were shot
down and captured or went missing over North Vietnam. Of these 62, 33 men were
released in 1973. The remains of 14 more have been returned over the years, and
15 are still missing. At least 10 those missing survived to eject safely. Where
are they? Where have they been?

On December 21, 1972, a B52G bomber stationed on Guam was ordered to take part
in the Christmas bombings. The crew of this B52 consisted of James Y. Nagahiro,
pilot; Donovan K. Walters, co-pilot; Robert R. Lynn, electronic warfare
officer; Charles J. Bebus, gunner; and crewmembers Lynn R. Beens; Keith R.
Heggen and Edward H. Johnson.

The B52G was outfitted more or less as were the other B52 models, equipped with
50-callibre M-3 guns and around 60,000 poundd of bombload, but with the
additional capacity to carry aerial mines.

LtCol. Nagahiro's aircraft successfully completed its mission, but was hit by a
surface to air missile (SAM) in the tail section shortly after turning toward
the safety of Thailand. Nagahiro gave the order for the crew to eject.

The fate of the crew is varied. Nagahiro, Beens and Heggen were captured, and
Heggen died in captivity. Until his release, the U.S. did not know Nagahiro had
been captured. After their release in 1973, Nagahiro and Beens were able to
fill in further information on the missing crew members.

Nagahiro relates that he saw Donovan Walters eject from the plane and heard
four others, Lynn, Bebus, Heggen and Beens, go out from behind him. Beens
states that he saw Walter's identification card in a stack of cards on a desk
at Hoa Lo (Hanoi Hilton) prison in Hanoi. Nagahiro saw Johnson's name written
on a pad at the prison. Hegger was captured alive, but died in captivity.

Although the Vietnamese returned the remains of Keith Heggen in March 1974,
they have consistently denied knowledge of any of the rest of the crew.

In October 1988, the Vietnamese "discovered" the remains of Bebus, Johnson,
Lynn and Walters and returned them to U.S. control. For 16 years, they were
political prisoners - alive or dead - of a communist nation.

Mounting evidence indicates that hundreds of Americans are still alive in
captivity in Southeast Asia. The U.S. Government has regular "talks" with the
Vietnamese and has negotiated the excavation of a crash site and the return of
about 200 remains, but has failed to successfully negotiate for the return of
those Americans still held captive.

If the U.S. had negotiated more aggressively, would Bebus, Johnson, Lynn and
Walters come home dead? Or alive?
BECERRA, RUDY MORALES

Name: Rudy Morales Becerra
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: 170th Aviation Company, 17th Aviation Group, 52nd Aviation Battalion, 1st
Aviation Brigade
Date of Birth: 29 October 1950
Home City of Record: Richmond TX
Date of Loss: 24 March 1970
Country of Loss: Cambodia
Loss Coordinates: 142750N 1071816E (YB484003)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 3
Acft/Venicle/Ground: UH1H

Other Personnel in Incident: Berman Ganoe; John C. Hosken; Michael O'Donnell;
John Boronski; Gary A. Harned, Jerry L. Pool (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 July 1990 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, including James E. Lake's account found in
"Life on the Line" by Philip D. Chinnery, interviews.

REMARKS: SURVIVAL UNLIKELY - PER SAR

SYNOPSIS: Kontum, South Vietnam was in the heart of "Charlie country" -- hostile
enemy territory. The little town is along the Ia Drang River, some forty miles
north of the city of Pleiku. U.S. forces never had much control over the area.
In fact, the area to the north and east of Kontum was freefire zone where
anything and anyone was free game. The Kontum area was home base to what was
known as FOB2 (Forward Observation Base 2), a classified, long-term operations
of the Special Operations Group (SOG) that involved daily operations into Laos
and Cambodia. SOG teams operated out of Kontum, but staged out of Dak To.

The mission of the 170th Assault Helicopter Company ("Bikinis") was to perform
the insertion, support, and extraction of these SOG teams deep in the forest on
"the other side of the fence" (a term meaning Laos or Cambodia, where U.S.
forces were not allowed to be based). Normally, the teams consisted of two
"slicks" (UH1 general purpose helicopters), two Cobras (AH1 assault helicopters)
and other fighter aircraft which served as standby support.

On March 24, 1970, helicopters from the 170th were sent to extract a MACV-SOG
long-range reconnaissance patrol (LRRP) team which was in contact with the enemy
about fourteen miles inside Cambodia in Ratanokiri Province. The flight leader,
RED LEAD, serving as one of two extraction helicopters was commanded by James E.
Lake. Capt. Michael D. O'Donnell was the aircraft commander of one of the two
cover aircraft (serial #68-15262, RED THREE). His crew consisted of WO John C.
Hoskins, pilot; SP4 Rudy M. Beccera, crew chief; and SP4 Berman Ganoe, gunner.

The MACV-SOG team included 1LT Jerry L. Pool, team leader and team members SSGT
John A. Boronsky and SGT Gary A. Harned as well as five indigenous team members.
The team had been in contact with the enemy all night and had been running and
ambusing, but the hunter team pursuing them was relentless and they were
exhausted and couldn't continue to run much longer. when Lake and O'Donnell
arrived at the team's location, there was no landing zone (LZ) nearby and they
were unable to extract them immeidately. The two helicopters waited in a high
orbit over the area until the team could move to a more suitable extraction
point.

While the helicopters were waiting, they were in radio contact with the team.
After about 45 minutes in orbit, Lake received word from LT Pool that the NVA
hunter team was right behind them. RED LEAD and RED THREE made a quick trip to
Dak To for refueling. RED THREE was left on station in case of an emergency.

When Lake returned to the site, Pool came over the radio and said that if the
team wasn't extracted then, it would be too late. Capt. O'Donnell evaluated the
situation and decided to pick them up. He landed on the LZ and was on the ground
for about 4 minutes, and then transmitted that he had the entire team of eight
on board. The aircraft was beginning its ascent when it was hit by enemy fire,
and an explosion in the aircraft was seen. The helicopter continued in flight
for about 300 meters, then another explosion occurred, causing the aircraft to
crash in the jungle. According to Lake, bodies were blown out the doors and fell
into the jungle. [NOTE: According to the U.S. Army account of the incident, no
one was observed to have been thrown from the aircraft during either explosion.]

The other helicopter crewmen were stunned. One of the Cobras, Panther 13,
radioed "I don't think a piece bigger than my head hit the ground." The second
explosion was followed by a yellow flash and a cloud of black smoke billowing
from the jungle. Panther 13 made a second high-speed pass over the site and came
under fire, but made it away unscathed.

Lake decided to go down and see if there was a way to get to the crash site. As
he neared the ground, he was met with intense ground fire from the entire area.
He could not see the crash site sice it was under heavy tree cover. There was no
place to land, and the ground fire was withering. He elected to return the
extract team to Dak To before more aircraft was lost. Lake has carried the
burden of guilt with him for all these years, and has never forgiven himself for
leaving his good friend O'Donnell and his crew behind.

The Army account concludes stating that O'Donnell's aircraft began to burn
immediately upon impact. Aerial search and rescue efforts began immediately;
however, no signs of life could be seen around the crash site. Because of the
enemy situation, attempts to insert search teams into the area were futile. SAR
efforts were discontinued on April 18. Search and rescue teams who surveyed the
site reported that they did not hold much hope for survival for the men aboard,
but lacking proof that they were dead, the Army declared all 7 missing in
action.


For every patrol like that of the MACV-SOG LRRP team that was detected and
stopped, dozens of other commando teams safely slipped past NVA lines to strike
a wide range of targets and collect vital information. The number of MACV-SOG
missions conducted with Special Forces reconnaissance teams into Laos and
Cambodia was 452 in 1969. It was the most sustained American campaign of
raiding, sabotage and intelligence gathering waged on foreign soil in U.S.
military history. MACV-SOG's teams earned a global reputation as one of the most
combat effective deep penetration forces ever raised.

By 1990 over 10,000 reports have been received by the U.S. Government concerning
men missing in Southeast Asia. The government of Cambodia has stated that it
would like to return a number of American remains to the U.S. (in fact, the
number of remains mentioned is more than are officially listed missing in that
country), but the U.S., having no diplomatic relations with Cambodia, refuses to
respond officially to that offer.

Most authorities believe there are hundreds of Americans still alive in
Southeast Asia today, waiting for their country to come for them. Whether the
LRRP team and helicopter crew is among them doesn't seem likely, but if there is
even one American alive, he deserves our ultimate efforts to bring him home.


Michael O'Donnell was recommended for the Congressional Medal of Honor for his
actions on March 24, 1970. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the
Air Medal, the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart as well as promoted to the rank
of Major following his loss incident. O'Donnell was highly regarded by his
friends in the "Bikinis." They knew him as a talented singer, guitar player and
poet. One of his poems has been widely distributed, but few understand that the
author remains missing.

If you are able,
save them a place
inside of you
and save one backward glance
when you are leaving
for the places they can
no longer go.
Be not ashamed to say
you loved them,
though you may
or may not have always.
Take what they have left
and what they have taught you
with their dying
and keep it with your own.
And in that time
when men decide and feel safe
to call the war insane,
take one moment to embrace
those gentle heroes
you left behind.

Major Michael Davis O'Donnell
1 January 1970
Dak To, Vietnam



BECK, TERRY LEE

Name: Terry Lee Beck
Rank/Branch: E4/USN
Unit: Fighter Squadron 183, USS CONSTELLATION
Date of Birth: 11 January 1946
Home City of Record: Linesville PA
Date of Loss: 02 October 1969
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 175402N 1073602E (YE754810)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: C2A

Personnel In Incident: Terry L. Beck; Richard W. Bell; Michael L. Bowman; Frank
Bytheway; Rolando C. Dayao; Donald C. Dean; Herbert H. Dilger; Carl J. Ellerd;
James J. Fowler; Roy G. Fowler; Leonardo M. Gan; Paul E. Gore; William D.
Gorsuch; Rayford J. Hill; Delvin L. Kohler; Howard M. Koslosky; Robert B.
Leonard; Richard A. Livingston; Ronald W. Montgomery; William R. Moore; Paul K.
Moser; Kenneth M. Prentice; Fidel G. Salazar; Keavin L. Terrell; Michael J. Tye;
Reynaldo R. Viado (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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: On October 2, 1969, a C2A "Greyhound" cargo aircraft from Reserve
Cargo Squadron 50 departed Cubi Point Naval Air Station, Republic of the
Philippines on a shuttle flight to various aircraft carriers in the Gulf of
Tonkin in Vietnam, including the USS CONSTELLATION, the USS WALKER, the USS
HAMMER, and the USS LONG BEACH.

The flight crew onboard the aircraft, assigned to Fleet Support Squadron 50
based in Atsugi Naval Air Station, Japan, included the pilot, Lt. Herbert H.
Dilger; co-pilot, Lt. Richard A. Livingston; air crewman, Petty Officer 3rd
Class Paul K. Moser; aircraft captain, Petty Officer 3rd Class Michael J. Tye;
and loadmaster-trainee, Petty Officer 3rd Class Rayford J. Hill. Most of the
twenty passengers appear to be bound for the USS CONSTELLATION, but one was
bound for the USS LONG BEACH, one of the four Philippine citizens onboard was
headed for the USS HAMMER, and two to the USS WALKER.

The aircraft was inbound to the CONSTITUTION and made communication at about
0600 hours, reporting that operations were normal. When communicatons were
established with the Carrier Air Control, control was passed to the Marshall
controller (Approach Control). The carrier's radar continued tracking the
aircraft until approximately 0655, at which time radar contact was lost at about
10 nautical miles from the CONSTELLATION.

Helicopter search and rescue efforts were immediately initiated from the ship.
The helicopter began sighting an oil slick and debris. A few pieces of aircraft
were recovered, and analysis of this debris indicated that the aircraft was in a
relatively high speed nose down, right wing down impact with the water or had a
possible right wing failure before impact. There was no sign of survivors, nor
were any bodies recovered.

The crew and passengers onboard the C2 which went down on October 2, 1969 were
all declared Killed/Body Not Recovered. There is very little hope that they will
ever be found. They are listed with honor among the missing because no remains
were ever located to repatriate to their homeland.

For many of the missing, however, solutions are not so simple. Several were
photographed in captivity, but never returned. Others were alive and well the
last they were seen awaiting rescue. Still others described their imminent
captures. For the families of these men, the years have passed heartbreakingly
slow.

Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing in
Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. Government. Many officials who
have reviewed this largely classified information are convinced that hundreds of
Americans are still alive as captives in Southeast Asia. It's time we brought
our men home.
BECKER, JAMES CHRISTOF

Name: James Christof Becker
Rank/Branch: O2/US Army
Unit: 71st Aviation Company, 14th Aviation Battalion, 16th Aviation Group, 23rd
Infantry Division (Americal)
Date of Birth: 18 April 1944 (Oxford NE)
Home City of Record: Palestine TX
Date of Loss: 15 August 1970
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 154943N 1070111E (YC509163)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H
Other Personnel in Incident: Peter A. Schmidt (missing); Michael D. Christ;
Raymond W. Anderson (both rescued)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On August 15, 1970, 1Lt. James C. Becker, pilot; CW2 Raymond W.
Anderson, aircraft commander; SP4 Michael D. Christ, crewchief; and SP4 Peter
A. Schmidt, door gunner; were flying a UH1H helicopter (tail number 69-15375)
on a reconnaissance team extraction mission in Laos.

Because of the difficult terrain in the area of the planned extraction, the
recon team was to be lifted out by ladder. The helicopter hovered 50 feet over
the pickup zone and dropped the ladder from the right side of the aircraft.
Five of the team members climbed onto the ladder, and the helicopter began to
lift off. At about 100 feet the aircraft began to receive small arms fire and
crashed.

The five team members were stripped off the ladder by the trees as the
helicopter descended. After the crash, CW2 Anderson checked the two crewmen on
the right side of the aircraft, noticing that 1Lt. Becker was upright in his
seat, however, it seemed that he had hit his head into the overhead instrument
panel in the force of the impact. Becker's helmet was gone, and there was blood
on the floor. CW2 Anderson stated that Becker did not appear to be breathing.
Anderson then unsuccessfully attempted to free Schmidt from the right gunnel.
He noted no blood on Schmidt, but stated that Schmidt did not appear to be
breathing.

SP4 Christ checked SP4 Schmidt and noticed that he was breathing, and in short
gasps, and was losing a great deal of blood. Christ had dislocated his
collarbone, so was unable to free Schmidt from the wreckage.

Christ and Anderson returned to the pickup zone and were extracted. No attempts
were made to return and recover Becker and Schmidt because of the location and
hostile forces in the area. Although no other personnel are listed as missing
from this incident, the fate of the team members on the ladder remains unknown.
They were either recovered (dead or alive), or were indigenous personnel (and
would not be listed on U.S. casualty lists).

Becker and Schmidt are among nearly 2500 Americans who remain missing from
Vietnam. Schmidt, at least, was not dead when last seen by the surviving
crewmen of the crashed helicopter.

With thousands of reports having been received by the U.S. Government, and
still being received today, of Americans still held captive in Southeast Asia,
most experts believe there are hundreds of Americans still prisoner in
Southeast Asia. There can be no certainty that Becker and Schmidt died the day
their helicopter crashed. They could be among those said to be alive. If so,
what must they be thinking of us?
BECKWITH, HARRY MEDFORD III

Name: Harry Medford Beckwith III
Rank/Branch: E5/US Army
Unit: D Troop, 3rd Squad, 5th Cavalry, 1st Brigade, 5th Infantry Division
Date of Birth: 18 August 1948 (Ft. Dix NJ)
Home City of Record: Flint MI
Date of Loss: 24 March 1971
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 164602N 4063355E (XD668543)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: OH58A

Other Personnel In Incident: James P. Ross (survived and was rescued); William
E. Neal (body recovered).

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 September 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: LAM SON 719 was a large offensive operation against NVA communications
lines in Laos. The operation called for ARVN troops to drive west from Khe Sanh,
cut the Ho Chi Minh Trail, seize Tchpone and return to Vietnam. The ARVN would
provide and command the ground forces, while U.S. Army and Air Force would
furnish aviation airlift and supporting firepower. The 101st Airborne Division
commanded all U.S. Army aviation units in direct support of the operation. Most
of the first part of the operation, begun January 30, 1971, was called Operation
DEWEY CANYON II, and was conducted by U.S. ground forces in Vietnam.

The ARVN were halfway on February 11 and positioned for the attack across the
Laotian border. On 8 February, ARVN began to push into Laos. The NVA reacted
fiercely, but the ARVN held its positions supported by U.S. airstrikes and
resupply runs by Army helicopters.

President Nguyen Van Thieu ordered a helicopter assault on Tchepone, and the
abandoned village was seized March 6. Two weeks of hard combat were necessary
for the ARVN task force to fight its way back to Vietnam.

On March 24, a OH58A light observation helicopter (serial #69-16136) was lost
near the border of South Vietnam and Laos in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam.
The aircraft, flown by CW2 James P. Ross, was departing from its squadron
forward command post at Ham Nhi for a visual reconnaissance mission. Onboard the
aircraft were Sgt. Harry M. Beckwith III, the tailgunner, and SP4 William E.
Neal, crew member.

Shortly after takeoff, the aircraft was hit by enemy automatic ground-to-air
fire and crashed in enemy surrounded area. Within minutes, the aircraft exploded
and burned. A UH1 helicopter was sent immediately to the crash site, and a team
of aero-rifle platoon members was inserted to secure the area and to rescue any
survivors.

Once on the ground, the infantrymen encountered heavy enemy fire, but were able
to secure the aircraft. They found CW2 Ross near the aircraft, and he indicated
to Sgt. Somora, section leader of the rifle platoon, that both the other crew
members were dead, and that nothing could be done to help them due to the enemy
in the area and the extent of the aircraft fire.

A total search of the area was not made. The remains of two crewmen were put
into an extraction helicopter by infantrymen of the 101st Airborne Division.
After takeoff, another helicopter came into the landing zone about 100 meters
behind the body-carrying helicopter. Before he could land, he saw something fall
out of the departing helicopter, which turned out to be Sgt. Beckwith's body,
wrapped in a poncho liner.

The chase helicopter, a Cobra, swept in and attempted to get a location of where
the body had fallen, but because of the distance, and the fact that the poncho
liner color blended with the terrain and foliage, no definite fix could be
obtained. The pilot of the chase Cobra reported that he saw ashes and a floppy
poncho liner, indicating that there was almost nothing in it, fall from
approximately 1150 feet.

Searches during the next two days were unsuccessful. On April 7, 1971, another
visual search flight was made over the area of the incident, but with no
results. It was concluded that because of the wind conditions, the lightness of
the poncho liner, and the fact that it had literally become part of the terrain,
further attempts would be futile.

[Note: A Michigan newspaper published a brief account of Beckwith's loss in
about 1986. This account stated that Beckwith had been aboard an observation
helicopter when it was hit by rifle fire from Viet Cong guerrillas hiding in
nearby trees. It further stated that Beckwith was shot running across a rice
paddy in the Mekong Delta, and that his pilot was also shot, but escaped and was
rescued. The Michigan story appears to be accurate except for Beckwith running
across a rice paddy in the Mekong Delta. All military data indicate that
Beckwith was lost in Quang Tri Province. As the Mekong Delta is some 350 miles
south of Quang Tri Province, the "running across a rice paddy in the Mekong
Delta" portion of the Michigan story must be discounted as inaccurate.]

Losses were heavy in Lam Son 719. The ARVN lost almost 50% of their force. U.S.
aviation units lost 168 helicopters; another 618 were damaged. Fifty-five
aircrewmen were killed, 178 wounded, and 34 missing in action in the entire
operation, lasting until April 6, 1971.

Beckwith is one of nearly 2400 Americans still missing from the Vietnam war.
Like Beckwith, some certainly died. However, since the end of the war, thousands
of reports have been received that indicate that hundreds of Americans are still
alive, held captive in Southeast Asia.

The United States Government, although involved in talks with the Vietnamese
since the end of the war, has been unable to bring home a single live prisoner.
The Vietnamese, on the other hand, refuse to let the issue die, with the
ultimate hope of normalizing relations with the west.

The Americans who are still alive have been reduced to bargaining pawns between
two nations. For their sakes, everything possible must be done to bring them
home. The sacrifice of men like Harry Beckwith is mocked by the abandonment of
their comrades. For the sake of our future fighting men and those who have given
their lives in the defense of their country, we must see to it that we never
again abandon our soldiers to enemy hands.

Harry Beckwith came from a military family and planned a career in the Army. His
father, Army Sgt. Major Harry M. Beckwith, Jr., was stationed in Saigon when his
son was lost in 1971 on his third tour of Vietnam.

While a tank commander at Cu Chi in 1968, Harry Beckwith was awarded the Silver
Star for rescuing, despite his own serious injuries, three others pinned under a
tank during an armored attack.

BEDINGER, HENRY JAMES

Name: Henry James Bedinger
Rank/Branch: O2/US Navy
Unit: Fighter Squadron 143, USS CONSTELLATION (CVA 64)
Date of Birth: 30 March 1945 (Philadelphia PA)
Home City of Record: Hatboro PA
Date of Loss: 22 November 1969
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 163740N 1055807E (XD033385)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4J

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: 730327 RELSD BY PL

SYNOPSIS: The USS CONSTELLATION provided air power to the U.S. effort in Vietnam
early in the war, having participated in strikes against Loc Chao and Hon Gai in
North Vietnam during August 1964. One of the first American POWs of the war, and
certainly one of the most well-known, LTJG Everett Alverez, launched from her
decks and was captured during this series of strikes in 1964. The CONSTELLATION
was large and carried a full range of aircraft. Fighters from her air wing,
CVW-14, earned the carrier the Meritorious Unit Commendation in 1968 during a
particularly intense period of air attacks. VF-96, a premier fighter squadron
awarded the Clifton Trophy two straight years, flew from the CONSTELLATION in
October 1971. During this period, two of her pilots, LT Randall H. Cunningham
and LTJG William "Willie" Driscoll became the first American aces of the Vietnam
War, having shot down five Russian-made MiG enemy aircraft. The CONSTELLATION
remained on station throughout most of the war.

One of the aircraft launched from the decks of the CONSTELLATION was the F4
Phantom fighter jet. 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.

LTJG Henry J. Bedinger was an F4J Naval Flight Officer assigned to Fighter
Squadron 143 onboard the USS CONSTELLATION. On November 22, 1969, he and his
pilot, LT Herbert Wheeler, were launched from the carrier on a reconnaissance
mission over Laos. Their call sign was "TAPROOM".

During the flight, as they were over Savannakhet Province approximately 10 miles
west-southwest of the city of Sepone, the aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire
and the crew was forced to eject. Two full parachutes were sighted by other
aircraft in the area and contact was made on their survival radios. The pilot,
LT Wheeler, was recovered by search and rescue helicopters. Bedinger radioed
that he was surrounded by enemy troops. This, along with heavy small arms fire
from the ground, prohibited a helicopter rescue of LTJG Bedinger. His last radio
transmission was, "I guess I'm a prisoner of war." Oriental voices were heard on
the rescue frequency several times after his last message.

Bedinger had been captured by the North Vietnamese operating in Laos. He was
immediately moved to North Vietnam where he spent the next 3 1/2 years as a
prisoner of war. Unlike other POWs, however, Bedinger was held apart from
Americans captured in North Vietnam, although he was put in with an American
civilian shot down in Laos, Ernie Brace.

At the end of the war, Bedinger and about a dozen others were presented as the
so-called "Laos prisoners." The original list of releasees did not include a
single man missing in Laos, and after considerable haggling, these men, who were
captured in Laos but moved immediately to North Vietnam, were included on the
list of the returnees. It was generally presumed that these men were held by the
Pathet Lao, and they were "officially" released by the Pathet Lao, but they met
their Lao "captors" on the day of their release. Bedinger had spent only ten
days in Laos; most of those ten days were consumed in travel to North Vietnam.

Nearly 600 Americans were lost in Laos during American involvement in the
Vietnam war. Although the Pathet Lao stated during the war that they held "tens
of tens" of American prisoners of war, no negotiations were conducted which
would secure the freedom of these men.

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. These reports are the source of serious distress to many returned
American prisoners. They had a code that no one could honorably return unless
all of the prisoners returned. Not only that code of honor, but the honor of our
country is at stake as long as even one man remains unjustly held. It's time we
brought our men home.

Jim Bedinger remained in the service and worked in the office of the Joint Chiefs
of Staff at the Pentagon in the late 1980's. He was promoted to the rank of
Lieutenant during his captivity, and in the late 1980's had the rank of
Commander.
BEDNAREK, JOHNATHAN BRUCE
Remains Returned December 1988

Name: Johnathan Bruce Bednarek
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit: 421st Tactical Fighter Squadron, Da Nang, South Vietnam
Date of Birth: 18 October 1948
Home City of Record: Greenlawn NY
Date of Loss: 18 May 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 212300N 1061700E (XJ330649)
Status in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D
Other Personnel in Incident: Wesley D. Ratzel (missing)

REMARKS: PROB DEAD NHAN DAN

SYNOPSIS: Johnathan B. Bednarek flew as backseater to pilot Wesley Ratzel on
an F4D Phantom fighter/bomber jet. The team was given a mission over North
Vietnam on May 18, 1972 from which they would not return. They were lost near
the city of Kep in Ha Bac Province, North Vietnam, an area which had been the
target of American offensive in recent weeks together with targets in and
around Hanoi and Haiphong. A railroad leading to China by which arms and
materiel could be brought into Vietnam went right through the city of Kep. This
railroad may have been Bednarek and Ratzel's target that day.

An article in Nhan Dan, a Vietnamese publication, referred to a dead American
pilot. This article was correlated to Johnathan Bednarek. Defense Department
notations for Ratzel state that he was a "no show" in the Hanoi POW camp
system, indicating that the article did not state he died in the crash, and
that the possibility existed that he was a prisoner. Both men were placed in a
Missing In Action status.

When American POWs were released in 1973, Bednarek and Ratzel were not among
them. The Vietnamese, who had pledged in Paris earlier in the year to release
all American POWs and account for as many as possible of the missing, denied
any knowledge of either Ratzel or Bednarek.

By the end of 1988, the U.S. had received over 8,000 reports relating to
Americans missing in Southeast Asia. Many of them referred to U.S. POWs still
alive in captivity. The Bednarek and Ratzel families agonized between thoughts
that their men might be dead - or among those who were alive.

In December 1988, the Vietnamese "discovered" the remains of Wesley Ratzel and
Johnathan Bednarek and returned them to U.S. control. This fine flying team has
come home at last. The reports continue to flow in, reaching nearly 10,000 in
number by mid-1989, and families are still in anguish, and American POWs are
dying in hopeless despair in enemy hands.


CASE SYNOPSIS: BEECHER, QUENTIN RIPPETOE

Name: Quentin Rippetoe Beecher
Rank/Branch: W2/US Army
Unit: Company B, 227th Aviation Battalion, 11th Aviation Group, 1st Cavalry
Division (Airmobile)
Date of Birth: 14 September 1942
Home City of Record: Terre Haute IN
Loss Date: 11 June 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam - Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 131800N 1094000E (CQ555705)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 5
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1D
Other Personnel In Incident: Ralph E. Uhlmansiek; Thomas Riggs; James R. Nelson
Dean E. Clinton (all missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: The 227th Aviation Battalion (Assault Helicopter), 11th Aviation
Group was organic to the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile). From the end of
October 1966 into February 1967, the 1st Cavalry Division battled clearing Binh
Dinh Province in Operations THAYER II and PERSHING, the latter concentrated in
the rich northern coastal plain as well as the Kim Son and Luoi Ci Valleys to
the west. Throughout the rest of 1967 the division combated the North
Vietnamese Army's 610th Division and Viet Cong Units in the II Corps Tactical
Zone. There were over 7100 known enemy casualties in the two operations.

On June 11, 1967, WO1 Thomas F. Riggs, pilot; WO Dean E. Clinton, co-pilot; SP5
James R. Nelson, crew chief; and passengers WO1 Quentin R. Beecher and SP4
Ralph E. Uhlmansiek; departed Landing Zone Uplift, Qui Nhon airfield in the
southern coastal region of Binh Dinh Province, South Vietnam.

The crew and passengers were aboard a UH1D helicopter (serial #63-12958), call
sign "Bamboo Viper 47", on an operations mission in the province. At 1900
hours, Bamboo Viper 47 left the LZ at Qui Nhon. While en route, bad weather was
encountered, and the pilot requested assistance in determining his position.

Efforts by Tuy Hoa and Qui Nhon airfields, and airborne search and rescue
control aircraft failed to locate the aircraft to guide it to the airfield. At
2057 hours, the pilot reported that he was out of fuel, and was willing to make
a water landing. Search and rescue efforts started immediately, and continued
until 13 June, but was unsuccessful in locating either the helicopter or its
crew and passengers. All were declared Missing in Action, Category 5 (which
indicates that it is not felt that remains can be recovered).

There are nearly 2500 Americans who remain missing in Southeast Asia. Reports
from refugee and intelligence sources continue to mount that indicate some of
these men are alive, still held in captivity. Experts now believe that hundreds
of Americans are still held.

The case of the downed UH1D seems clear - the crew will probably never be
found. But for many of the others who are missing, endings are not so easy to
write. Many are alive and waiting for the country they proudly served to bring
them home. As long as one American is alive in captivity in the jungles of
Southeast Asia, the war is not over - our flag is still there.
BEELER, CARROL ROBERT

Name: Carrol Robert Beeler
Rank/Branch: O3/US Navy
Unit:
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Frisco TX
Date of Loss: 24 May 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 205800N 1064800E (XJ889144)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F8J

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: 730328 RELSD BY DRV

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.

Capt. Carrol R. Beeler was the pilot of an F8J assigned a mission over North
Vietnam on May 24, 1972. When Beeler was in the Haiphong Harbor region of North
Vietnam, his aircraft was shot down and he was captured by the North Vietnamese.

For the next 10 months, Beeler was held in various prisoner of war camps,
including the infamous "Hanoi Hilton" complex in Hanoi. He was released in the
general prisoner release in 1973.

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. These reports are the source of serious distress to many returned
American prisoners. They had a code that no one could honorably return unless
all of the prisoners returned. Not only that code of honor, but the honor of our
country is at stake as long as even one man remains unjustly held. It's time we
brought our men home.







BEENE, JAMES A.

Name: James A. Beene
Rank/Branch: USN, O2
Unit:
Date of Birth: 11 July 39
Home City of Record: Burbank, CA
Date of Loss: 05 October 66
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates:
Status (in 1973): Missing
Category: 3
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: A1H

Remarks: Aircraft missing over water.

Other Personnel In Incident:

Source: Compiled by THE P.O.W. NETWORK 02 February 93 from the
following published sources - POW/MIA's -- Report of the Select Committee
on POW/MIA Affairs United States Senate -- January 13, 1993. "The Senate
Select Committee staff has prepared case summaries for the priority cases
that the Administration is now investigating. These provide the facts about
each case, describe the circumstances under which the individual was lost,
and detail the information learned since the date of loss.  Information in
the case summaries is limited to information from casualty files, does not
include any judgments by Committee staff, and attempts to relate essential
facts. The Committee acknowledges that POW/MIAs' primary next-of- kin know
their family members' cases in more comprehensive detail than summarized
here and recognizes the limitations that the report format imposes on these
summaries."

On October 5, 1966, Lieutenant JG Beene was the flight leader and
pilot of an A-1 section aircraft from the U.S.S. Oriskany on an
armed reconnaissance mission over the coastal area of North Vietnam
between Cape Mui Ron and Thanh Hoa.  While in an area 15 miles
south of Hon Mat Island, Lieutenant Beene entered the base of thick
cumulus clouds and never emerged.  An oil slick was later sighted
on the ocean which might have come from submerged leaking fuel
tanks but no aircraft debris was located.

A SAR effort was unable to locate any specific trace of Lieutenant
Beene, and he was declared missing.  His name was provided to
Vietnamese officials in Paris in October 1971, but no information
was received in return.

Returning U.S. POWs were unable to provide any information about
his precise fate.  In February 1976 he was declared killed in
action, body not recovered.
BEENS, LYNN RICHARD

Name: Lynn Richard Beens
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Salt Lake City UT
Date of Loss: 21 December 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 210200N 1054500E (WJ779258)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: B52G
Other Personnel In Incident: Donovan Walters; Robert R. Lynn; Edward Johnson;
Charles J. Bebus (remains returned October 1988); James Y. Nagahiro (returned
POW); Keith R. Heggen (remains returned in 1974)

REMARKS: RELEASED 730329 BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: Frustrated by problems in negotiating a peace settlement, and
pressured by a Congress and public wanting an immediate end to American
involvement in Vietnam, President Nixon ordered the most concentrated ait
offensive of the war - known as Linebacker II - in December 1972. During the
offensive, sometimes called the "Christmas bombings", 40,000 tons of bombs were
dropped, primarily over the area between Hanoi and Haiphong. White House Press
Secretary Ronald Ziegler said that the bombing would end only when all U.S.
POWs were released and an internationally recognized cease-fire was in force.

The Christmas Bombings, despite press accounts to the contrary, were of the
most precise the world had seen. Pilots involved in the immense series of
strikes generally agree that the strikes against anti-aircraft and strategic
targets was so successfull that the U.S., had it desired, "could have taken the
entire country of Vietnam by inserting an average Boy Scout troop in Hanoi and
marching them southward."

The B52 bomber saw heavy duty in Vietnam. From June 1965 to August 1973 no
fewer than 126,615 B52 sorties were flown. Of these, 125,479 reached their
targets, and 124,532 dropped their bombs. Six percent of these sorties were
flown in North Vietnam, and 17 B52s were lost to hostile fire in North Vietnam.
During the month of December 1972, 62 crewmembers of B52 aircraft were shot
down and captured or went missing over North Vietnam. Of these 62, 33 men were
released in 1973. The remains of 14 more have been returned over the years, and
15 are still missing. At least 10 those missing survived to eject safely. Where
are they? Where have they been?

On December 21, 1972, a B52G bomber stationed on Guam was ordered to take part
in the Christmas bombings. The crew of this B52 consisted of James Y. Nagahiro,
pilot; Donovan K. Walters, co-pilot; Robert R. Lynn, electronic warfare
officer; Charles J. Bebus, gunner; and crewmembers Lynn R. Beens; Keith R.
Heggen and Edward H. Johnson.

The B52G was outfitted more or less as were the other B52 models, equipped with
50-callibre M-3 guns and around 60,000 poundd of bombload, but with the
additional capacity to carry aerial mines.

LtCol. Nagahiro's aircraft successfully completed its mission, but was hit by a
surface to air missile (SAM) in the tail section shortly after turning toward
the safety of Thailand. Nagahiro gave the order for the crew to eject.

The fate of the crew is varied. Nagahiro, Beens and Heggen were captured, and
Heggen died in captivity. Until his release, the U.S. did not know Nagahiro had
been captured. After their release in 1973, Nagahiro and Beens were able to
fill in further information on the missing crew members.

Nagahiro relates that he saw Donovan Walters eject from the plane and heard
four others, Lynn, Bebus, Heggen and Beens, go out from behind him. Beens
states that he saw Walter's identification card in a stack of cards on a desk
at Hoa Lo (Hanoi Hilton) prison in Hanoi. Nagahiro saw Johnson's name written
on a pad at the prison. Hegger was captured alive, but died in captivity.

Although the Vietnamese returned the remains of Keith Heggen in March 1974,
they have consistently denied knowledge of any of the rest of the crew.

In October 1988, the Vietnamese "discovered" the remains of Bebus, Johnson,
Lynn and Walters and returned them to U.S. control. For 16 years, they were
political prisoners - alive or dead - of a communist nation.

Mounting evidence indicates that hundreds of Americans are still alive in
captivity in Southeast Asia. The U.S. Government has regular "talks" with the
Vietnamese and has negotiated the excavation of a crash site and the return of
about 200 remains, but has failed to successfully negotiate for the return of
those Americans still held captive.

If the U.S. had negotiated more aggressively, would Bebus, Johnson, Lynn and
Walters come home dead? Or alive?

BELCHER, ROBERT ARTHUR

Name: Robert Arthur Belcher
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 11 August 1935
Home City of Record: Baton Rouge LA
Date of Loss: 28 March 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 165223N 1064635E (XD892663)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D
Other Personnel in Incident: Michael A. Miller (missing)

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.

Maj. Robert A. Belcher and 1Lt. Michael A. Miller probably felt fortunate to
fly the F4. The two were assigned a combat mission on March 28, 1969 in their
F4D. When the aircraft was near the city of Bo Ho Su, in Quang Tri Province,
South Vietnam, about 5 miles from the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), it was shot
down, and both Belcher and Miller were thought to have been killed.

Belcher and Miller are listed among the missing because their bodies were not
recovered to bury in America. Families of those classified Killed/Body Not
Recovered, Missing in Action and Prisoner of War consider all the men missing
to be prisoners of war - dead or alive. They understand that even the most
apparent "death" could have meant survival. They write no American soldier off
until there is proof they are dead and their bodies returned.

Sadly, there are many who, like Belcher and Miller, appear to have died the day
they were lost. Even more tragic are the cases of hundreds who were last known
to be alive, or known to be a prisoner of war, or who simply disappeared with
no trace. Nearly 10,000 reports have been received by the U.S. Government
concerning these Americans who are still missing, including over 1000
eye-witness reports of captive Americans. Many authorities believe that there
could be hundreds of Americans still alive in enemy hands today.

As long as even one American remains in enemy hands, there can be no honor in
the deaths of Belcher and Miller, nor in the deaths of the nearly 60,000 young
Americans who died in Vietnam. If Belcher and Miller, by some chance survived,
what would they think of their country? It's time we brought our men home.
BELL, HOLLY GENE
Remains Returned December 1988

Name: Holly Gene Bell
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 05 January 1937
Home City of Record: Beaumont TX
Date of Loss: 28 January 1970
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 180200N 1053300E (WF582048)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: HH53B

Other Personnel in Incident: Gregory L. Anderson; Leonard C. Leeser; William D.
Pruett; William C. Shinn; William C. Sutton (missing). On F105G aircraft:
Richard J. Mallon; Robert J. Panek (remains returned)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS: MIG HIT - EXPLODE - SHRT BEEPR - J

SYNOPSIS: On January 28, 1970, Capt. Richard J. Mallon, pilot; and Capt. Robert
J. Panek, electronics warfare officer, were sent as escort to a reconnaissance
aircraft on a mission in North Vietnam. Their F105 aircraft was a G model,
which was an adaptation of the F105F used in the Wild Weasel program.

The F105F Wild Weasel featured radar homing and warning gear. Upon pinpointing
the radar at a missile site, the Wild Weasel attacked with Shrike missiles that
homed in on radar emissions. The F105F was a stretch-limo F105, with a longer
fusilage to allow for a second crewman. As modified for the G, the F105
launched Standard ARM rather than the shorter range Shrike. During the period
of 1965-1972, the F105 performed on many diversified missions in Southeast
Asia, including SAM attack, bombing, and as in the case of the mission of
Mallon and Panek, armed escort/diversion.

Mallon and Panek's aircraft was shot down during the mission, and they both
successfully ejected and landed safely in an enemy controlled area about 20
miles northeast of the Mu Gia Pass on the mountainous border of North Vietnam
and Laos.

A helicopter was immediately dispatched to pick up the two downed airmen. When
the aircraft was about 50 miles northwest of the location of the F105 crash,it
was hit by a MIG and exploded. The helicopter was flown by pilot Major Holly G.
Bell, and carried crewmen Capt. Leonard C. Leeser, SMSgt. William D. Pruett;
SSgt. William C. Shinn; MSgt. William C. Sutton; and passenger Sgt. Gregory L.
Anderson. A short beeper signal was heard from the helicopter, indicating that
at least one person aboard may have exited the aircraft. All six aboard were
listed as Killed/Body Not Recovered. It was thought that in the cases of Bell
and Anderson that the enemy would not likely have knowledge of their fates, but
that the Vietnamese could probably account for the other four men. (A
determination that was probably made from the relative crew positions and their
proximity to the area of the MIG hit and the likelihood of their having escaped
obliteration by the explosion.)

Mallon and Panek, meanwhile, were in an area heavily infiltrated with the
enemy, and it was known that there were enemy troops in the vicinity. It was
thought very probable that the two were captured or killed by the enemy, but
never known for certain, as they did not appear in the Hanoi prison system to
be held with those American POWs who were released. The Vietnamese denied any
knowledge of any of the eight men missing that day.

Some time later, family members were told by a squadron mate that his
information was that Panek and Mallon had both ejected safely. Mallon had landed
on a road near the Mu Gia Pass and was captured almost immediately. Panek landed
in nearby trees and his parachute was seen 30 minutes later, being pulled from
the trees. Both men were seen in a clearing within the hour, being surrounded,
stripped to their shorts, and holding their hands in the air. Neither Mallon nor
Panek were ever classified Prisoner of War, however, but were maintained in
Missing in Action Status.

In December 1988, the Vietnamese returned a number of remains they stated were
those of American servicemen to U.S. control. The remains of Mallon, Panek, and
the helicopter pilot, Holly G. Bell were subsequently positively identified by
the U.S. Casualty Identification Laboratory in Hawaii (CILHI).

For the Panek, Mallon and Bell families, the long wait is over. They are no
longer haunted by a never-ceasing flow of reports concerning Americans alive in
Southeast Asia. For the other families, however, life goes on in agonizing
suspense. And for the hundreds of Americans said to be alive in Southeast Asia,
the days pass in imprisonment and abandonment.

Richard J. Mallon was buried in Willamette National Cemetery.

BELL, MARVIN EARL

Name: Marvin Earl Bell
Rank/Branch: E5/US Air Force
Unit: 40th Aerospace Rescue/Recovery Squadron, Udorn Airfield, Thailand
Date of Birth: 27 July 1943
Home City of Record: Blytheville AR
Date of Loss: 30 June 1970
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 165004N 1063104E (XD617617)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: HH53C

Other Personnel In Incident: Michael F. Dean; Paul L. Jenkins; John W. Goeglein;
Leroy C. Schaneberg (missing); on nearby OV10A: Williams S. Sanders (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II
Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On June 30, 1970, a crew from the 40th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery
Squadron at Udorn Airfield, Thailand was dispatched to rescue a downed flight
crew. Crew aboard the Sikorsky HH53C "Super Jolly" helicopter included the
pilot, Capt. Leroy C. Schaneberg, crewmembers Major John W. Goeglein, MSgt. Paul
L. Jenkins, SSgt. Marvin E. Bell, and SSgt. Michael F. Dean.

The members of the 40th Air R & R were trained for both air and sea recovery,
and the big "Super Jolly" was equipped to airlift both the crew and aircraft out
of sticky situations.

The downed and injured pilot was located in Savannakhet Province, Laos, about
two kilometers south of Bang Tang. The HH53C penetrated the area, known to be
hostile, in an attempt to rescue the pilot, but was forced away by hostile
ground fire. A second attempt was made, but the helicopter was hit by hostile
fire, caught on fire, went out of control and crashed. The Air Force states it
received evidence on July 4, 1970, that the crew was dead, but that evidence is
not specifically described, and no remains identifiable as Bell, Dean, Goeglein,
Schaneberg, or Jenkins have been recovered. Schaneberg received the Air Force
Cross for extraordinary heroism as the aircraft commander on this rescue
mission.

On the same day, Capt. Williams S. Sanders was flying an OV10A Bronco southeast
of Khe Sanh at a point where Laos veers north to intrude on South Vietnam. His
aircraft was shot down just inside Laos, not far from the location of the downed
helicopter. The Bronco was generally used for marking targets, armed
reconnaissance and forward air control, so the nature of Capt. Sanders' mission
and its precise relation to the mission of the Super Jolly from Udorn is
unknown. The crew of the helicopter was numerically listed missing before the
OV10, so it is does not seem likely that the helicopter was assisting the
observation aircraft, but as no other aircraft is missing on that day in that
area, either the downed pilot was Sanders or the pilot was rescued by other
means.

Unfortunately, for families of men missing in Laos, information is difficult to
obtain. Twenty and twenty-five year old records remain classified and details
obscured. Much of this information was classified to distort American
involvement in a now well known "secret" war in Laos.

Since the war's end in 1973, thousands of reports have been received by the U.S.
Government regarding Americans still in captivity in Southeast Asia. Many of the
reports involve Americans in Laos, where nearly 600 Americans went missing, and
none released despite public statements by the Pathet Lao that "tens of tens" of
Americans were being held there.

Henry Kissinger predicted, in the 50's, that future "limited political
engagements" would result, unfortunately, in nonrecoverable prisoners of war. We
have seen this prediction fulfilled in Korea and Vietnam, where thousands of men
and women remain missing, and where ample evidence exists that many of them
(from BOTH wars) are still alive today.

For Americans, the "unfortunate" abandonment of military personnel is not
acceptable, and the policy that allows it must be changed before another
generation is left behind in some faraway war.


BELL, RICHARD WILLIAM

Name: Richard William Bell
Rank/Branch: E4/USN
Unit:
Date of Birth: 30 April 1947
Home City of Record: Gibsonia PA
Date of Loss: 02 October 1969
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 175402N 1073602E (YE754810)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: C2A

Personnel In Incident: Terry L. Beck; Richard W. Bell; Michael L. Bowman; Frank
Bytheway; Rolando C. Dayao; Donald C. Dean; Herbert H. Dilger; Carl J. Ellerd;
James J. Fowler; Roy G. Fowler; Leonardo M. Gan; Paul E. Gore; William D.
Gorsuch; Rayford J. Hill; Delvin L. Kohler; Howard M. Koslosky; Robert B.
Leonard; Richard A. Livingston; Ronald W. Montgomery; William R. Moore; Paul K.
Moser; Kenneth M. Prentice; Fidel G. Salazar; Keavin L. Terrell; Michael J. Tye;
Reynaldo R. Viado (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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: On October 2, 1969, a C2A "Greyhound" cargo aircraft from Reserve
Cargo Squadron 50 departed Cubi Point Naval Air Station, Republic of the
Philippines on a shuttle flight to various aircraft carriers in the Gulf of
Tonkin in Vietnam, including the USS CONSTELLATION, the USS WALKER, the USS
HAMMER, and the USS LONG BEACH.

The flight crew onboard the aircraft, assigned to Fleet Support Squadron 50
based in Atsugi Naval Air Station, Japan, included the pilot, Lt. Herbert H.
Dilger; co-pilot, Lt. Richard A. Livingston; air crewman, Petty Officer 3rd
Class Paul K. Moser; aircraft captain, Petty Officer 3rd Class Michael J. Tye;
and loadmaster-trainee, Petty Officer 3rd Class Rayford J. Hill. Most of the
twenty passengers appear to be bound for the USS CONSTELLATION, but one was
bound for the USS LONG BEACH, one of the four Philippine citizens onboard was
headed for the USS HAMMER, and two to the USS WALKER.

The aircraft was inbound to the CONSTITUTION and made communication at about
0600 hours, reporting that operations were normal. When communicatons were
established with the Carrier Air Control, control was passed to the Marshall
controller (Approach Control). The carrier's radar continued tracking the
aircraft until approximately 0655, at which time radar contact was lost at about
10 nautical miles from the CONSTELLATION.

Helicopter search and rescue efforts were immediately initiated from the ship.
The helicopter began sighting an oil slick and debris. A few pieces of aircraft
were recovered, and analysis of this debris indicated that the aircraft was in a
relatively high speed nose down, right wing down impact with the water or had a
possible right wing failure before impact. There was no sign of survivors, nor
were any bodies recovered.

The crew and passengers onboard the C2 which went down on October 2, 1969 were
all declared Killed/Body Not Recovered. There is very little hope that they will
ever be found. They are listed with honor among the missing because no remains
were ever located to repatriate to their homeland.

For many of the missing, however, solutions are not so simple. Several were
photographed in captivity, but never returned. Others were alive and well the
last they were seen awaiting rescue. Still others described their imminent
captures. For the families of these men, the years have passed heartbreakingly
slow.

Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing in
Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. Government. Many officials who
have reviewed this largely classified information are convinced that hundreds of
Americans are still alive as captives in Southeast Asia. It's time we brought
our men home.


BELLENDORF, DIETER

Name: Dieter Bellendorf
Rank/Branch: Civilian
Unit: Cameraman, NBC
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Germany
Date of Loss: 08 April 1970
Country of Loss: Cambodia
Loss Coordinates: WT998205
Status (in 1973): Prisoner of War
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: auto
Other Personnel in Incident: Georg Gensluckner; Unh Ling Yieng (both captured)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 15 March 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: German camerman Dieter Bellendorf and Austrian newsman Georg
Gensluckner left Phnom Penh in an automobile on April 8, 1970. They were
accompanied by Cambodian citizen, Ung Ling Yieng, serving as a translator for
the group. The newsmen were heading for the front lines of fighting in Cambodia,
looking for a story as military action in Cambodia had stepped up considerably
at this time. Bellendorf was on assignment for NBC at the time.

Traveling southeast on Route One in eastern Cambodia, the three men were
captured 15 kilometers west of Chi Phu on Route 2 at grid coordinates WT998205.
Various sources including Washington Post and TV Guide articles state that
Bellendorf, at least, was seen twice in captivity, working as a laborer on a
road gang in eastern Cambodia. He apparently was wounded when captured, and
again by a B52 strike.

Author Zalin Grant interviewed returned ARVN POWs in early 1973 and released the
following data supporting other stories indicating journalists could still be
alive. "Returned ARVN POWs sighted the (unnamed) journalists on Route #7, 17
miles south of Snoul in Eastern Cambodia 7-72 in ox-carts pulled by Hondas;
another said a VC captain near Minot, eastern Cambodia (where military American
POWs were released from in 1973) reported the (unnamed) journalists held in 7-72
had cameras; Cambodian national saw (unnamed) journalists in 6-72 at Prince
Sihanouk's FUNK camp south of Route #13 in Kratie Province; returned ARVN POWs
said a guard told them in 3073 that the journalists were still alive and held in
their area." Walter Cronkite reported a sighting of (unnamed) journalists in
January, 1974.

Whether Grant's and Cronkite's information relates to Bellendorf, Gensluckner,
and Yieng is not known. The three are among 22 international journalists still
missing in Southeast Asia, most known to have been captured. For several years
during the war, the correspondents community rallied and publicized the fates of
fellow journalists. After a while, they tired of the effort, and today these men
are forgotten by all but families and friends.

Tragically, nearly the whole world turns its head while thousands of reports
continue to flow in that prisoners are still held in Southeast Asia. Cambodia
offered to return a substantial number of remains of men it says are Americans
missing in Cambodia (in fact the number offered exceeded the number of those
officially missing). But the U.S. has no formal diplomatic relations with the
communist government of Cambodia, and refused to directly respond to this offer.
Although several U.S. Congressmen offered to travel to Cambodia to receive the
remains, they have not been permitted to do so by the U.S.



BENEDETT, DANIEL ANDREW

Name: Daniel Andrew Benedett
Rank/Branch: E2/US Marine Corps
Unit: G/2nd Battalion, 9th Marines, 3rd Marine Division
Date of Birth: 30 October 1955
Home City of Record: Auburn King WA
Date of Loss: 15 May 1975
Country of Loss: Cambodia/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 101800N 1030830E (TS965400)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: CH53A
Other Personnel in Incident: Lynn Blessing; Walter Boyd; Gregory S. Copenhaver;
Andres Garcia; Bernard Gause Jr., James J. Jacques; Ronald J. Manning; James R.
Maxwell; Richard W. Rivenburgh; Antonio R. Sandoval; Kelton R. Turner; Richard
Van de Geer (all missing on CH53A); Gary L. Hall; Joseph N. Hargrove; Danny G.
Marshall (missing on Koah Tang Island); Ashton N. Loney (missing from Koah Tang
Island); Elwood E. Rumbaugh (missing from a CH53A)

REMARKS: 750515 MAYAGUEZ INCIDENT LOSS

SYNOPSIS: When U.S. troops were pulled out of Southeast Asia in early 1975,
Vietnamese communist troops began capturing one city after another, with Hue,
Da Nang and Ban Me Thuot in March, Xuan Loc in April, and finally on April 30,
Saigon. In Cambodia, communist Khmer Rouge had captured the capital city of
Phnom Penh on April 17. The last Americans were evacuated from Saigon during
"Option IV", with U.S. Ambassador Martin departing on April 29. The war,
according to President Ford, "was finished."

2Lt. Richard Van de Geer, assigned to the 21st Special Ops Squadron at NKP, had
participated in the evacuation of Saigon, where helicopter pilots were required
to fly from the decks of the 7th Fleet carriers stationed some 500 miles
offshore, fly over armed enemy-held territory, collect American and allied
personnel and return to the carriers via the same hazardous route, heavily
loaded with passengers. Van de Geer wrote to a friend, "We pulled out close to
2,000 people. We couldn't pull out any more because it was beyond human
endurance to go any more..."

At 11:21 a.m. on May 12, the U.S. merchant ship MAYAGUEZ was seized by the
Khmer Rouge in the Gulf of Siam about 60 miles from the Cambodian coastline and
eight miles from Poulo Wai island. The ship, owned by Sea-Land Corporation, was
en route to Sattahip, Thailand from Hong Kong, carrying a non-arms cargo for
military bases in Thailand.

Capt. Charles T. Miller, a veteran of more than 40 years at sea, was on the
bridge. He had steered the ship within the boundaries of international waters,
but the Cambodians had recently claimed territorial waters 90 miles from the
coast of Cambodia. The thirty-nine seamen aboard were taken prisoner.

President Ford ordered the aircraft carrier USS CORAL SEA, the guided missile
destroyer USS HENRY B. WILSON and the USS HOLT to the area of seizure. By
night, a U.S. reconnaissance aircraft located the MAYAGUEZ at anchor off Poulo
WaI island. Plans were made to rescue the crew.  A battalion landing team of
1,100 Marines was ordered flown from bases in Okinawa and the Philippines to
assemblE at Utapao, Thailand in preparation for the assault.

The first casualties of the effort to free the MAYAGUEZ are recorded on May 13
when a helicopter carrying Air Force security team personnel crashed en route
to Utapao, killing all 23 aboard.

Early in the morning of May 13, the Mayaguez was ordered to head for Koh Tang
island. Its crew was loaded aboard a Thai fishing boat and taken first to Koh
Tang, then to the mainland city of Kompong Song, then to Rong San Lem island.
U.S. intelligence had observed a cove with considerable activity on the island
of Koh Tang, a small five-mile long island about 35 miles off the coast of
Cambodia southwest of the city of Sihanoukville (Kampong Saom), and believed
that some of the crew might be held there. They also knew of the Thai fishing
boat, and had observed what appeared to be caucasians aboard it, but it could
not be determined if some or all of the crew was aboard.

The USS HOLT was ordered to seize and secure the MAYAGUEZ, still anchored off
Koh Tang. Marines were to land on the island and rescue any of the crew. Navy
jets from the USS CORAL SEA were to make four strikes on military installments
on the Cambodian mainland.

On May 15, the first wave of 179 Marines headed for the island aboard eight Air
Force "Jolly Green Giant" helicopters. Three Air Force helicopters unloaded
Marines from the 1st Battalion, 4th Marines onto the landing pad of the USS
HOLT and then headed back to Utapao to pick up the second wave of Marines.
Planes dropped tear gas on the MAYAGUEZ, and the USS HOLT pulled up along side
the vessel and the Marines stormed aboard. The MAYAGUEZ was deserted.

Simultaneously, the Marines of the 2/9 were making their landings on two other
areas of the island. The eastern landing zone was on the cove side where the
Cambodian compound was located. The western landing zone was a narrow spit of
beach about 500 feet behind the compound on the other side of the island. The
Marines hoped to surround the compound.

As the first troops began to unload on both beaches, the Cambodians opened
fire. On the western beach, one helicopter was hit and flew off crippled, to
ditch in the ocean about 1 mile away. The pilot had just disembarked his
passengers, and he was rescued at sea.

Meanwhile, the eastern landing zone had become a disaster. The first two
helicopters landing were met by enemy fire. Ground commander, (now) Col.
Randall W. Austin had been told to expect between 20 and 40 Khmer Rouge
soldiers on the island. Instead, between 150 and 200 were encountered. First,
Lt. John Shramm's helicopter tore apart and crashed into the surf after the
rotor system was hit. All aboard made a dash for the tree line on the beach.

One CH53A helicopter was flown by U.S. Air Force Major Howard Corson and 2Lt.
Richard Van de Geer and carrying 23 U.S. Marines and 2 U.S. Navy corpsmen, all
from the 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines. As the helicopter approached the island,
it was caught in a cross fire and hit by a rocket. The severely damaged
helicopter crashed into the sea just off the coast of the island and exploded.
To avoid enemy fire, survivors were forced to swim out to sea for rescue.
Twelve aboard, including Maj. Corson, were rescued. Those missing from the
helicopter were 2Lt. Richard Van de Geer, PFC Daniel A. Benedett, PFC Lynn
Blessing, PFC Walter Boyd, Lcpl. Gregory S. Copenhaver, Lcpl. Andres Garcia,
PFC James J. Jacques, PFC James R. Maxwell, PFC Richard W. Rivenburgh, PFC
Antonio R. Sandoval, PFC Kelton R. Turner, all U.S. Marines. Also missing were
HM1 Bernard Gause, Jr. and HM Ronald J. Manning, the two corpsmen.

Other helicopters were more successful in landing their passengers. One CH53A,
however was not. SSgt. Elwood E. Rumbaugh's aircraft was near the coastline
when it was shot down. Rumbaugh is the only missing man from the aircraft. The
passengers were safely extracted. (It is not known whether the passengers went
down with the aircraft or whether they were rescued from the island.)

By midmorning, when the Cambodians on the mainland began receiving reports of
the assault, they ordered the crew of the MAYAGUEZ on a Thai boat, and then
left. The MAYAGUEZ crew was recovered by the USS WILSON before the second wave
of Marines was deployed, but the second wave was ordered to attack anyway.

Late in the afternoon, the assault force had consolidated its position on the
western landing zone and the eastern landing zone was evacuated at 6:00 p.m. By
the end of the 14-hour operation, most of the Marines were extracted from the
island safely, with 50 wounded. Lcpl. Ashton Loney had been killed by enemy
fire, but his body could not be recovered.

Protecting the perimeter during the final evacuation was the machine gun squad
of PFC Gary L. Hall, Lcpl. Joseph N. Hargrove and Pvt. Danny G. Marshall. They
had run out of ammunition and were ordered to evacuate on the last helicopter.
It was their last contact. Maj. McNemar and Maj. James H. Davis made a final
sweep of the beach before boarding the helicopter and were unable to locate
them. They were declared Missing in Action.

The eighteen men missing from the MAYAGUEZ incident are listed among the
missing from the Vietnam war. Although authorities believe that there are
perhaps hundreds of American prisoners still alive in Southeast Asia from the
war, most are pessimistic about the fates of those captured by the Khmer Rouge.

In 1988, the communist government of Kampuchea (Cambodia) announced that it
wished to return the remains of several dozen Americans to the United States.
(In fact, the number was higher than the official number of Americans missing
in Cambodia.) Because the U.S. does not officially recognize the Cambodian
government, it has refused to respond directly to the Cambodians regarding the
remains. Cambodia, wishing a direct acknowledgment from the U.S. Government,
still holds the remains.


BENGE, MICHAEL DENNIS

Name: Michael Dennis Benge
Rank/Branch: U.S. Civilian
Unit: Agency for International Development
Date of Birth: 1935
Home City of Record: Oregon
Date of Loss: 31 January 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 124049N 1080235E (AQ800030)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Other Personnel in Incident: Betty Ann Olsen; Henry F. Blood (both captured);
Rev.Griswald (killed); Carolyn Griswald (daughter of Rev.Griswald, survived
first attack, died of wounds); Rev. Zeimer (killed); Mrs.Robert Zeimer (wounded,
first attack, evaded, survived); Rev.& Mrs.Thompson; Miss Ruth Whilting (all
killed)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 30 June 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: 730305 RELEASED BY PRG

SYNOPSIS: Michael D. Benge was born in 1935 and raised on a ranch in eastern
Oregon. After college at Oregon State, he applied to the CIA, because he wanted
to travel the world. CIA told him to try the Agency for International
Development (AID). AID sent him to International Voluntary Services (IVS). After
two years in Vietnam with IVS, Benge transferred to AID and served as an AID
agricultural advisor. By the time of the Tet offensive of 1968, he had been
in-country five years, working almost the whole time with the Montagnards in the
highlands. He spoke fluent Vietnamese and several Montagnard dialects.

On January 31, 1968, Benge was captured while riding in a jeep near Ban Me
Thuot, South Vietnam. Learning of the Tet offensive strikes, Benge was checking
on some IVS volunteers who were living in a hamlet with three companies of
Montagnard rebels who had just been through a lot of fighting as the NVA went
through the Ban Me Thuot area. His plan was to pick up the IVS "kids" and then
go down to pick up some missionaries in the area.

Benge was captured a few miles from the Leprosarium at Ban Me Thuot. This center
treated anyone with a need as well as those suffering from leprosy. It was at
the Leprosarium that Rev. Archie Mitchell, Dr. Eleanor Vietti and Daniel Gerber
had been taken prisoner in 1962. The Viet Cong regularly harassed and attacked
the center in spite of its humanitarian objectives.

During the Tet offensive, the Viet Cong again tried to wipe out the Christian
missionary influence in Dar Lac Province, and over a three day period attacked
the hospital compound several times.

Betty Ann Olsen was born to Missionary parents in Bouake, Ivory Coast. She had
attended a religious school and missionary college in Nyack, New York. Curious
about the way the other part of the world lived, she went to Vietnam in 1964 as
a missionary nurse for Christian and Missionary Alliance, and was assigned to
the Leprosarium at Ban Me Thuot. Henry F. Blood was a missionary serving as
translator and linguist for Wickcliff Translators at the Leprosarium.

During one of the earlier attacks on the hospital compound, three staff homes
were destroyed, one housing Rev. Griswald, who was killed, and his grown
daughter Carolyn, who survived the explosion but later died of her wounds.
During the same attack, Rev. and Mrs. Zeimer, Rev.and Mrs. Thompson and Miss
Ruth Whilting were trapped and machine gunned. Only Mrs. Zeimer survived her
20-30 wounds and was later evacuated to Cam Ranh Bay. Blood and Olsen escaped
injury for the moment.

Two days later, on February 1, 1968, as Olsen was preparing to escape with the
injured Griswald, she and Henry Blood were captured during another attack on the
hospital.

For the next month or so, Benge, Blood and Olsen were held in a POW camp in
Darlac Province, about a day's walk from Ban Me Thuot, and were held in cages
where they had nothing to eat but boiled manioc (a large starchy root from which
tapioca is made).

The Vietnamese kept moving their prisoners, hiking through the jungles and
mountains. The camp areas, swept very clean of leaves to keep the mosquito
population down (and the ensuing malaria threat), were clearly visible from the
sky. Once, Benge reports, an American aircraft came so close to the camp that he
could see the pilot's face. The pilot "wagged his wings" and flew away. The
Vietnamese, fearing rescue attempts and U.S. air strikes, kept moving.

For months Olsen, Blood and Benge were chained together and moved north from one
encampment to another, moving over 200 miles through the mountainous jungles.
The trip was grueling and took its toll on the prisoners. They were physically
depleted, sick from dysentery and malnutrition; beset by fungus, infection,
leeches and ulcerated sores.

Mike Benge contracted cerebral malaria and nearly died. He credits Olsen with
keeping him alive. She forced him to rouse from his delirium to eat and drink
water and rice soup. Mike Benge describes Olsen as "a Katherine Hepburn
type...[with] an extra bit of grit."

In the summer of 1968, the prisoners, again on the trail, were left exposed to
the rain during the rainy season. Hank Blood contracted pneumonia, weakened
steadily, and eventually died in July. (July 1968 is one of the dates given by
the Vietnamese - the other, according to classified information the U.S. gave to
the Vietnamese through General John Vessey indicates that Mr. Blood died on
October 17, 1972. Mike Benge says Blood died around July 4.) Blood was buried in
a shallow grave along the trail, with Olsen conducting grave-side services.

Benge and Olsen were kept moving. Their bodies were covered with sores, and they
had pyorrhea from beri-beri. Their teeth were loosening and gums infected. They
spent a lot of time talking about good meals and good places to eat, planning to
visit their favorite restaurants together when they went home. They moved every
two or three days.

Benge and Olsen were moved near Tay Ninh Province, almost to Da Lat, then back
to Quang Duc Province. Olsen was getting weak, and the Vietnamese began to kick
and drag her to keep her moving. Benge, trying to defend her, was beaten with
rifle butts.

Just before crossing the border into Cambodia, Olsen weakened to the point that
she could no longer move. Ironically, in this area, near a tributary to the
Mekong river, fish and livestock abounded, and there was a garden, but the food
was denied to the prisoners. They were allowed to gather bamboo shoots, but were
not told how to cook it.

Bamboo needs to be boiled in two waters to extract an acid substance. Not
knowing this, Olsen and Benge boiled their food only once and were beset with
immobilizing stomach cramps within a half-hour; diarrhea soon followed. Betty
Ann Olsen weakened and finally died September 29, 1968 (Vessey information
indicates this date as September 26), and was buried by Benge.

Finally, Benge was taken to Cambodia, turned over to the North Vietnamese, and
another long, grueling trek began. Benge, however, had made his mind up that he
wouldn't die. He treated his ulcerated body by lying in creeks and allowed small
fish to feed off the dead tissue (a primitive debridement), then caught the fish
and ate them raw. He caught small, green frogs and swallowed them whole. He did
everything he could to supplement his meager food ration.

By the time he reached the camp the Vietnamese called "the land of milk and
honey" his hair was white and he was so dehydrated and emaciated that other POWs
estimated his age to be over seventy years old. He was, at the time, only
thirty-three.

After a year in Cambodia, Benge was marched north on the Ho Chi Minh Trail to
Hanoi. He spent over three years in camps there, including a total of
twenty-seven months in solitary confinement. Upon his return, he verified
collaboration charges against eight of his fellow POWs, in a prosecution effort
initiated by Col. Theodore Guy (this action was discouraged by the U.S.
Government and the effort was subsequently abandoned.) Mike Benge then returned
to Vietnam and worked with the Montagnards until the end of the war.

The Vietnamese have never attempted return the remains of Henry Blood and Betty
Olsen. They are two individuals that the Vietnamese could provide a wealth of
information on. Since they pride themselves on being "humanitarians," it would
not be in keeping with this image to reveal the horror Olsen and Blood endured
in their hands. It is not surprising, then, that the Vietnamese have not
publicly told their stories.

Olsen and Blood are among nearly 2500 Americans, including several civilians,
who are still unaccounted for, missing or prisoner from the Vietnam war. Since
the war ended, over 10,000 reports have been received concerning these missing
Americans which have convinced many authorities that hundreds are still alive in
communist hands. While Blood and Olsen may not be among them, they went to
Vietnam to help. They would not turn their backs on their fellow man. Why has
their own country turned its back on them?
 BENNETT, HAROLD GEORGE

Name: Harold George Bennett
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit:
Date of Birth: 16 October 1940 (Thornburg AR)
Home City of Record: Perryville AR
Date of Loss: 29 December 1964
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 103740N 1071950E (YS549755)
Status (in 1973): Killed In Captivity
Category: 1
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel In Incident: Charles Crafts (released 1967)

REMARKS: 6506 ON PRG DIC LIST

SYNOPSIS: Harold Bennett and Charles Crafts were MACV advisors to an ARVN unit
operating in Phuoc Tuy Province, South Vietnam. A native of Maine, Crafts had
been in country about 1 month.

On the afternoon of December 29, 1964, Bennett, Crafts and their ARVN unit made
contact with Viet Cong guerrillas and the unit engaged in a firefight. During
the firefight, both were taken prisoner.

By early 1965, Crafts and Bennett joined other prisoners held by the Viet Cong.
Those who returned supplied information on the fates of those who did not. In
late spring, 1965, Bennett began to refuse food. This was not an uncommon
occurrence among prisoners suffering dysentery, malnutrition, malaise, injury
and other ills that were common among prisoners of war in the South. Normally,
the other prisoners worked hard to prevent further illness by forcing food on
the POW who refused food, provided the sick man was not isolated. Returned
POWs report the death of several men from the cycle of illness-refusal to eat-
depression-starvation.

Bennett apparently did not die of starvaton, however. The Vietnamese National
Liberation Front (NLF) announced on Radio Hanoi on June 24, 1965 that Bennett
had been shot in retaliation for Viet Cong terrorist Tran Van Dong's execution
by South Vietnam. He was the first POW to be executed in retaliation.

When the war ended in 1973, the Vietnamese listed Bennett as having died in
captivity. They did not return his remains. He is one of nearly 2400
Americans still missing in Southeast Asia. Many, like Bennett did not survive.
But experts now say, based on thousands of reports received, that hundreds are
still alive.

We, as Americans had no say in the death of Harold Bennett. We do, however,
have the power to prevent the deaths of the hundreds still alive. If we do
nothing, we will be guilty of their deaths. We must bring them home, while
there is still time.

BENNETT, ROBERT ELWOOD III

Name: Robert Elwood Bennett III
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit: 558th Tactical Fighter Squadron
Date of Birth: 08 December 1942
Home City of Record: Springfield NJ
Date of Loss: 13 December 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 100200N 1061857E (XS431091)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4C

Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II
Project.

REMARKS: PARACHUTED IN RIVER AND SANK

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.
Most pilots considered it one of the "hottest" planes around.

1Lt. Robert E. Bennett III was the pilot of an F4C aircraft which was assigned a
close air support mission in South Vietnam on December 13, 1967. His aircraft,
the number two plane in a flight of two, had delivered its ordnance and the
crewmembers were instructed to drop the canisters in a river. They acknowledged
the transmission and immediately thereafter they were seen to eject with good
parachutes. (There is no indication in public records why the crew ejected.)

Bennett and his Bombardier/Navigator landed in a river (from coordinates,
probably the Song Co Chien river, a large body of water separating Vinh Binh and
Kien Hoa Provinces on the southern coast of Vietnam). According to Air Force
records, one crewman was rescued uninjured, and he was the pilot of the
aircraft. Defense Department records indicate that Bennett was the pilot of the
aircraft. Bennett's parachute sank before rescue personnel could reach him.

Since the war ended in Vietnam, refugees have flooded the world, bringing with
them stories of American soldiers still held prisoner in their homeland. Many
authorities now believe that hundreds were left behind as living hostages.

Robert E. Bennett apparently did not survive the events of December 13, 1967.
His family has accepted that he is dead. They no longer expect him to come home
someday. But hundreds of families wait expectantly and in the special agony only
uncertainty can bring. Hundreds of men wait in caves, cages and prisons. How
much longer will we allow the abandonment of our best men? It's time we brought
them home.


BENNETT, THOMAS WARING, JR.

Name: Thomas Waring "Buddy" Bennett, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O3/USAF
Unit: 22nd Bomber Wing, Utapao Airfield, Thailand
Date of Birth: 22 December 1942
Home City of Record: Natchez MS
Date of Loss: 22 December 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 212500N 1062500E (WJ866264)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: B52D

Other Personnel In Incident: Joseph B. Copack; Gerald W. Alley (remains
returned); Peter Camerota, Peter Giroux; Louis E. LeBlanc (all three returned
POWs in 1973)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 31 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: Frustrated by problems in negotiating a peace settlement, and
pressured by a Congress and public wanting an immediate end to American
involvement in Vietnam, President Nixon ordered the most concentrated air
offensive of the war - known as Linebacker II - in December 1972. During the
offensive, sometimes called the "Christmas bombings," 40,000 tons of bombs were
dropped, primarily over the area between Hanoi and Haiphong. White House Press
Secretary Ronald Ziegler said that the bombing would end only when all U.S. POWs
were released and an internationally recognized cease-fire was in force.

In early December 1972, several men stationed at Utapao, Thailand sent Christmas
presents home and readied themselves for a few final runs they would have to
make before Christmas. They were looking forward to returning to Thailand in
time to see Bob Hope on December 22. They never saw Bob Hope, and none of them
returned for Christmas.

On December 22, a B52D crew consisting of Capt. Thomas W. Bennett, co-pilot;
LtCol. Gerald W. Alley; Capt. Peter P. Camerota, bombardier; 1Lt. Joseph B.
Copack, Jr., navigator; Capt. Peter J. Giroux, pilot; and MSgt. Louis E.
LeBlanc, tailgunner; departed Utapao on a bombing mission over Hanoi.

When the B52D was about 50 miles northwest of Hanoi, it was hit by Surface to
Air Missiles (SAM). Bennett called the mayday and manually ejected the pilot,
who had blacked out and then bailed out himself. The tailgunner later reported
that he observed in the bright moonlight that the entire crew of six had
deployed parachutes. Three of them, Camerota, Giroux and LeBlanc were released
from prisoner of war camps in Hanoi a few months later in the general prisoner
release of 1973. The U.S. was not expecting them. They had not known that the
three were being held prisoner. Alley, Copack and Bennett were not released and
remained Missing in Action.

During the month of December, 62 crewmembers of B52 aircraft were shot down and
captured or went missing. Of these 62, 33 men were released in 1973. The remains
of about a dozen more have been returned over the years, and the rest are still
missing. At least 10 of those missing survived to eject safely. Where are they?

As reports mounted following the war convinced many authorities that hundreds of
Americans were still held captive in Southeast Asia, many families wonder if
their men were among those said to be still alive in captivity, and are
frustrated at inadequate efforts by the U.S. Government to get information on
their men.

On June 23, 1989, the U.S. announced that the Vietnamese had "discovered" the
remains of Gerald W. Alley and Josepg B. Copack and had sent them home at last.
For 17 years, Alley and Copack - alive or dead - were prisoners in enemy hands.
Their families at last know for certain that their sons are dead. What they may
never know, however, is how - and when - they died, and if they knew that their
country had abandoned them.


Gerald W. Alley was promoted to the rank of Colonel, Thomas W. Bennett was
promoted to the rank of Major and Joseph B. Copack was promoted to the rank of
Captain during the period they were maintained missing.

BENNETT, WILLIAM GEORGE

Name: William George Bennett
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 15 September 1927
Home City of Record: Birmingham AL
Date of Loss: 02 September 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 173000N 1061500E (XE335357)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F105D
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 15 March 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS: SURVIVAL UNLIKELY

SYNOPSIS: The F105 Thunderchief (or "Thud") performed yoeman service on many
diversified missions in Southeast Asia. F105s flew more combat missions over
North Vietnam than any other USAF aircraft and consequently suffered the
heaviest losses in action.

Maj. William G. Bennett was the pilot of an F105D Thunderchief sent on a mission
in North Vietnam on September 2, 1967. During the mission, the aircraft was shot
down and Maj. Bennett was declared Missing in Action. Bennett's last known
location was in Quang Binh Province, North Vietnam, about 15 miles north of the
Ban Karai Pass. The Department of Defense added remarks "Survival Unlikely" but
it is not known what nature of evidence is available to support this remark.

Unconfirmed reports were received by Bennett's family that he had been killed
while attempting to escape a POW camp, but Bennett's name did not appear on the
list provided by the Vietnamese of those POWs who had died in captivity.

Some years later, in an attempt to establish a ranking for those cases that
could be readily resolved by the Vietnamese should they wish to cooperate, the
Defense Intelligence Agency devised "enemy knowledge categories 1-5." Category 1
indicated certain enemy knowledge, a category generally reserved for those who
were known POWs. Category 5, on the other end of the scale, related personnel
who were killed and remains were considered nonrecoverable. Bennett was placed
in category 2, indicating there was a good chance the enemy knows his fate.

Mounting evidence indicates that some Americans are still alive being held
prisoner of war in Southeast Asia. The Vietnamese pledged to return all
prisoners of war and provide the fullest possible accounting of the missing in
the peace accords signed in 1973. They have done neither, and the U.S. has not
compelled them to do so.

The United States government pledged that the POW/MIA issue is of "highest
national priority" but has not achieved results indicative of a priority.
Mitchell and the nearly 2500 Americans who remain unaccounted for in Southeast
Asia deserve our best efforts to bring them home, not empty rhetoric.

William G. Bennett was promoted to the rank of Colonel during the period he was
maintained Missing in Action.
BENSON, LEE DAVID

Name: Lee David Benson
Rank/Branch: O2/US Navy
Unit: Air Antisubmarine Squadron 23, USS Yorktown
Date of Birth: 17 August 1943
Home City of Record: San Mateo CA
Date of Loss: 17 March 1968
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 191759N 1062269E (XG453344)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: S2E

Other Personnel in Incident: Thomas D. Barber; Donald R. Hubbs; Randall J.
Nightingale (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS: LOST O/W - SEARCH FAILED - J

SYNOPSIS: Cdr. Donald R. Hubbs (pilot); LtJg. Lee D. Benson (co-pilot); AX2
Randall J. Nightingale (Antisubmarine Warfare Technician 2nd Class); and ADR
Thomas D. Barber (crewman) comprised the crew of an S2E aircraft assigned to Air
Antisubmarine Squadron 23 aboard the USS YORKTOWN.

As submarine action in Vietnam was virtually (if not completely) unknown, a wide
variety of activities were conducted by Anti-submarine units in Vietnam. Because
Anti-submarine warfare involves the use of magnetic detection gear or acoustic
buoys in conjunction with "listening" devices, anti-submarine aircraft and their
crews' training proved especially adaptable to reconnaissance and tracking
missions.

On March 17, 1968, Hubbs and his crew launched from the YORKTOWN on a night
surveillance mission over the North Vietnam coast in the area of Vinh. Weather
was bad with zero visibility. Approximately one hour after launch, the aircraft
reported radar problems. No other transmissions were heard, and the aircraft
disappeared from the ship's radar scope. All efforts to make contact were
unsuccessful. However, five hours after the last contact, radio signals were
heard, and North Vietnamese fishing boats were spotted in the area the next day.
The last point of contact occurred about 30 miles off the shore of North Vietnam
about 25 miles east southeast of the island of Hon Me.

On July 2O, 1968 a section of the starboard wing was found. During the period of
July through September 1973 an overwater/at-sea casualty resolution operation
was conducted to determine the feasibility and desirability of such water loses.
These operations were terminated when it was determined to be unfeasible and
nonproductive in such cases. Commander Hubbs and the rest of his crew are still
carried in the status of Presumed Dead/Remains nonrecoverable.

When considering a personnel loss at sea, the criteria for survival involves
both the location and the cause of the loss. In the case of the S2E, no reason
for loss was ever determined. Therefore, it was either shot down or went down
due to mechanical or weather difficulties.

If mechanical difficulties resulted in the downing of the S2E, in an entirely
non-hostile environment, then there can be little chance of survival for the
crew of the S2E unless they managed to cross 25 miles of ocean. If enemy
activity was present, however, there can be ample room for speculation that the
crew might have been captured by one of the fishing boats in the area.

The crew of the S2E is among nearly 3000 Americans who remained prisoner,
missing, or otherwise unaccounted for at the end of the Vietnam war. Since that
time, cases have been resolved by the return of remains and by other means.
Since the end of the war, over 10,000 reports relating to these Americans have
been received by the U.S. Government, convincing many authorities that hundreds
of Americans remain alive in enemy hands today.

Whether the crew of the S2E survived to be captured can only be speculated. It
would be kinder to them and to their families if they died on March 17, 1968.
It is impossible to imagine the agony they must feel to have been abandoned by
their country. It is heartbreaking to consider that Americans still await
rescue by the country they proudly served.



BENTON, GREGORY REA, JR.

Name: Gregory Rea Benton, Jr.
Rank/Branch: E2/US Marine Corps
Unit: Company D, 1st Battalion, 9th Marines, 3rd Marine Division
Date of Birth: 19 November 1950
Home City of Record: Vallejo CA
Date of Loss: 23 May 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 160700N 1072000E
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Other Personnel In Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 March 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II
Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Greg Benton is an American Indian and above all he wanted to do his
part for his country. He has a pin in his leg as a result of a car accident
while delivering newspapers as a boy. Because of the pin, Greg had to fight to
get into the Marine Corps and had a difficult time in boot camp because of it.
But he badly wanted to become a Marine.

When PFC Benton went to Vietnam, he was assigned to Company D, 1st Battalion,
9th Marines in Vietnam. Like other soldiers in Vietnam, Benton was overwhelmed
by the death of his comrades. In a letter home he wrote: "Death is slowly
catching up with me, and I cannot avoid it much longer. I dislike having my life
end in this hole, but there is little I can do to prevent it. Though my body may
be weak and soft my spirit is strong and bold."

On May 23, 1969, Benton was part of a security force evacuating casualties at
Quang Tri when his helicopter landing zone was overrun. A firefight ensued, and
when it was over, search efforts were conducted of the area. All personnel were
accounted for except for Benton. No trace was found. It was not known whether he
had been injured, captured, or killed. Benton was classified Missing In Action.

When U.S. involvement the war ended in 1975, thousands of refugees fled Vietnam
to escape the communist regime, bringing with them stories of Americans still
in their country. Since then, over 10,000 such reports have accumulated in U.S.
agency files. Many experts, after reviewing the information, believe hundreds
may still be alive today, still prisoners.

It is not known if Benton survived the attack on the landing zone on May 23,
1969 or if he is one of those said to be still alive. If he is still alive, he
surely remembers and has lived by the Marine Corps slogan, "Semper Fideles". He
knows the importance his fellow Marines placed on recovering even the dead from
the battlefield. If he is alive, he must wonder why his country has broken faith
with him and why he has been abandoned. It's time we brought our men home.


BERDAHL, DAVID DONALD

Name: David Donald Berdahl
Rank/Branch: E3/US Army
Unit: Troop D, 3rd Squadron, 5th Cavalry, 101st Airborne Division
Date of Birth: 16 January 1953 (Michigan ND)
Home City of Record: Minot ND
Date of Loss: 20 January 1972
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 163837N 1064557E (XD883408)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H
Other Personnel in Incident: Harry J. Edwards (missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On January 20, 1972, SP4 Harry J. Edwards, one of four riflemen; PFC
David D. Berdahl, the door gunner, and a four man crew were aboard a UH1H
helicopter (tail #69-16717) on a recovery mission for downed F4 fighter jet
pilots.

At about 1815 hours, the aircraft was returning from the mission northwest of
Kne Sanh in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam, when an anti-aircraft weapon
fired on and hit the aircraft, causing it to catch fire.

At first, the fire appeared at the forward end of the tail boom, but
immediately spread over the boom and then engulfed the entire aircraft. The
helicopter autorotated to the bank of the Raoquan River, landed hard and rolled
over onto its left side.

The aircraft commander of another UH1H followed the burning aircraft down, made
a pass overhead, and came to a hover adjacent to the downed helicopter. Landing
was impossible because of jagged rocks. While in a hover, the aircraft
commander saw one man dressed in a flight suit, helmet and armored vest pinned
down in the burning aircraft. This individual was apparently Berdahl.

The hovering helicopter was forced to leave because the downed aircraft started
to explode. He did not observe anyone leaving the aircraft alive, but picked up
5 survivors from the crash site and flew about 50 feet downstream to pick up
another survivor.

Berdahl and Edwards were declared Killed in Action, Body Not Recovered. It has
not been possible since that day to locate them if alive, or to recover their
bodies, if dead.

It was not uncommon for men to die trying to rescue another wounded or downed
comrade - each would say it was their duty, and that the same would be done for
them. They kept the faith with each other. Edwards had only turned 20 years old
the previous November, and Berdahl was only four days older than the legal age
for being in a combat zone. He was just 19 years old.

Since the war ended, many thousands of reports have come in convincing many
authorities that hundreds of Americans remain alive in enemy hands. The U.S.
Government, although admitting the "possibility", continues to assert that
there is no "proof". Have we kept the faith with the men we sent to fight for
us? What would Berdahl and Edwards say?


BERG, BRUCE ALLAN

Name: Bruce Allan Berg
Rank/Branch: E5/US Army
Unit: USARV Training Operational Group TF1AE TSH NHA
Date of Birth: 22 April 1950
Home City of Record: Olympia WA
Date of Loss: 07 August 1971
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 164700N 1064732E
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On August 7, 1971, Sgt. Berg was serving in a reconnaissance unit in
Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam. That morning, Sgt. Berg and an indigenous
soldier left their night defensive position, a bunker, to recover a Claymore
mine which had been positioned the night before.

The indigenous soldier reported that Sgt. Berg was hit in the head by small
arms fire about 6 feet from the bunker. No effort could be made by other U.S.
members of the team to recover Sgt. Berg, as the team came under heavy enemy
pressure.

During the ensuing fire fight, a large amount of friendly infantry ordnance was
fired into the vicinity of Sgt. Berg's last known position. The surviving
members of the team were later forced to withdraw, leaving behind Sgt. Berg,
one other U.S. soldier, and several indigenous soldiers.

At an unspecified date, another team went to the location of the incident and
recovered the bodies of the other U.S. soldier and the three indigenous bodies,
but was not able to locate Sgt. Berg.

Berg's condition at the time of withdrawal of the unit is unknown. The initial
shot in his head may or may not have been mortal. The artillery fire may or may
not have killed him, but if so, may or may not have obliterated any trace of
his body. These details may never be known.

It is noteworthy that although the recovery team located the bodies of the
other dead personnel, they did not find any trace of Berg. It is possible,
although remotely so, that he recovered from the shock of his initial wound,
left his original position, and survived to be captured.

Since the end of the war, several million documents have been reviewed by the
U.S. Government and hundreds of thousands of interviews conducted on the
subject of Americans missing in Southeast Asia. Many authorities are convinced
that hundreds are still alive in captivity. If Sgt. Berg survived, perhaps he
is one of them. It's time we brought these men home.


BERG, GEORGE PHILLIP

Name: George Phillip Berg
Rank/Branch: W1/US Army
Unit: Company A, 101st Aviation Battalion, 101st Airborne Division
Date of Birth: 16 July 1946 (Seattle WA)
Home City of Record: Belford NJ
Date of Loss: 18 February 1971
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 160431N 1071910E (YC481785)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H
Other Personnel in Incident: Walter E. Demsey; Gary L. Johnson; Gerald E. Woods
(all missing from UH1H); Allen R. Lloyd; Ronald L. Watson (missing from Special
Forces team)

REMARKS: KIA CRASH - REMS TAGD - NO RECV - J

SYNOPSIS: WO Gerald E. Woods, pilot; WO George P. Berg, aircraft commander; SP4
Gary L. Johnson, door gunner; SP4 Walter Demsey, crew chief; were assigned to
Company A, 101st Aviation Battalion, 101st Airborne Division. On February 18,
1971, their UH1H was dispatched as part of a flight of four on an emergency
patrol extraction mission on the west side of the A Shau Valley in Thua Tin
Province, South Vietnam. The patrol to be rescued included Sgt. Allen R. Lloyd,
Capt. Ronald L. Watson and SFC Samuel Hernandez, part of Special Operations
Augmentation, Command & Control North, 5th Special Forces Group.

The team was assigned to MACV-SOG (Military Assistance Command, Vietnam Studies
and Observation Group). MACV-SOG was a joint service high command
unconventional warfare task force engaged in highly classified operations
throughout Southeast Asia. The 5th Special Forces channeled personnel into
MACV-SOG (although it was not a Special Forces group) through Special
Operations Augmentation (SOA), which provided their "cover" while under secret
orders to MACV-SOG. The teams performed deep penetration missions of strategic
reconnaissance and interdiction which were called, depending on the time frame,
"Shining Brass" or "Prairie Fire" missions.

During the attempt to recover the patrol, Woods' helicopter came under heavy
fire and had to leave the pick-up zone with Lloyd, Watson and Hernandez
attached to the three-staple rig. While in flight, the rope broke, and
Hernandez fell 30-40 feet, landing in double canopy jungle. He was rescued the
following day. The helicopter continued a short distance, and was hit by enemy
anti-aircraft fire, crashed and burned.

On February 19, a Special Forces recovery team was inserted at the crash site
to search the area. Woods and Berg were found dead in their seats. Johnson's
body was found in a tree. One leg of Demsey, the burned crew chief, was found
in the cargo compartment. All remains were prepared for extraction, and the
team left to establish a night defensive position. En route, the team found the
remains of Lloyd and Watson, still on their rope slings, in the trees on the
edge of a cliff. Because of the rugged terrain and approaching darkness, the
rescue team leader decided to wait until morning to recover these two remains.
However, the following morning, the search team came under intense fire, and
the team leader requested an emergency extraction, and in doing so, left all
remains behind.

All the crew and passengers on board the UH1H downed on the border of Laos and
Vietnam west of the A Shau Valley that day were confirmed dead. It is
unfortunate, but a reality of war that their remains were left behind out of
necessity to protect the lives of the search team who found them. They are
listed with honor among the missing because their remains cannot be buried with
honor at home.

The crew and passengers lost on February 18 are among nearly 600 Americans
listed as missing in Laos. Although the Pathet Lao stated publicly they held
American Prisoners of War, they insisted that they would only be released from
Laos. Because the U.S. did not recognize the communist government of Laos, no
negotiations were ever conducted for Americans held in Laos. Not one American
has been released from Laos.

As thousands of reports mount indicating that many American prisoners are still
held in Southeast Asia, one wonders if we will ever be able to bring the
Vietnam War to an honorable end - by bringing all our soldiers home.
BERGEVIN, CHARLES LEE

Name: Charles Lee Bergevin
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit: 14th Tactical Recon Squadron, Udorn AFB, Thailand
Date of Birth: 10 June 1944
Home City of Record: Torrington CT
Date of Loss: 23 August 1968
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 175400N 1054900E (VE256146)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: RF4C
Other Personnel In Incident: Francis L. Setterquist (missing)
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1990 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.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On August 23, 1968, aircraft commander, 1Lt. Francis L. Setterquist,
and his navigator, 1Lt. Charles Bergevin, were assigned a low altitude night
reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam. Their aircraft was the reconnaissance
version of the F4 Phantom - the RF4C. The target area was about 50 miles
northwest of Dong Hoi in Quang Binh Province. Clearance to proceed with the
mission was granted and radio-radar contact broken at approximately 8:30 p.m. No
undue concern was felt until 10:59 p.m. when the aircraft was due back at Udorn
and the fuel exhaustion point was reached and Setterquist's aircraft did not
return to base.

A later North Vietnamese news release stated that an RF4 had been shot down, but
there was no mention of the fate of the two man crew. Assuming Bergevin and
Setterquist were able to successfully eject and parachute safely to the ground,
it is doubtful they would be able to evade capture due to the large
concentration of enemy forces in their flight area.

While loss coordinates maintained by the Air Force and Department of Defense
indicate that Bergevin and Setterquist were downed in Quang Binh Province, North
Vietnam, Joint Casualty Resolution Center (JCRC) records show a loss area of
Thailand. No explaination is given for this discrepancy.

In 1973, 591 lucky American prisoners were released from North Vietnam. Bergevin
and Setterquist were not among them. Since that time, the U.S. has recived
nearly 10,000 reports of Americans still missing in Southeast Asia, and many
authorities are convinced that hundreds of them are still alive. The U.S. has
not been able to find a way to free any who may still be alive, or to obtain
information on a significant number of other Americans who may have perished.


Francis L. Setterquist graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1966.
BERNASCONI, LOUIS HENRY

Name: Louis Henry Bernasconi
Rank/Branch: O5/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Napa CA
Date of Loss: 22 December 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 210125N 1055100E (WJ880210)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: B52

Other Personnel in Incident: Gary L. Morgan; William T. Mayall; David I.
Drummond; William W. Conlee; John H. Yuill (all released POWs)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 July 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: RELSD 730329 BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: Frustrated by problems in negotiating a peace settlement, and
pressured by a Congress and public wanting an immediate end to American
involvement in Vietnam, President Nixon ordered the most concentrated air
offensive of the war - known as Linebacker II - in December 1972. During the
offensive, sometimes called the "Christmas bombings," 40,000 tons of bombs were
dropped, primarily over the area between Hanoi and Haiphong. White House Press
Secretary Ronald Ziegler said that the bombing would end only when all U.S. POWs
were released and an internationally recognized cease-fire was in force.

Linebacker II flights generally arrived over Hanoi in tight cells of three
aircraft to maximize the mutual support benefits of their ECM equipment and flew
straight and level to stabilize the bombing computers and ensure that all bombs
fell on the military targets and not in civilian areas.

The pilots of the early missions reported that "wall-to-wall SAMS" surrounded
Hanoi as they neared its outskirts. The Christmas Bombings, despite press
accounts to the contrary, were of the most precise the world had seen. Pilots
involved in the immense series of strikes generally agree that the strikes
against anti-aircraft and strategic targets was so successful that the U.S., had
it desired, "could have taken the entire country of Vietnam by inserting an
average Boy Scout troop in Hanoi and marching them southward."

To achieve this precision bombing, the Pentagon deemed it necessary to stick to
a regular flight path. For many missions, the predictable B52 strikes were
anticipated and prepared for by the North Vietnamese. Later, however, flight
paths were altered and attrition all but eliminated any hostile threat from the
ground.

Still, aircraft were shot down near the end of the campaign. On December 22,
1972, a B52 was shot down near Hanoi. Its crew included LTCOL John H. Yuill,
LTCOL Louis H. Bernasconi, LTCOL William W. Conlee, CAPT David I. Drummond, 1LT
William T. Mayall, and TSGT Gary L. Morgan. This crew was exceptionally
fortunate--they were all were captured by the North Vietnamese. The captured
crew was held in Hanoi until March 29, 1973, at which time they were released in
Operation Homecoming. The U.S. did not know all of them had been captured.

Linebacker II involved 155 Boeing B52 Stratofortress bombers stationed at
Anderson AFB, Guam (72nd Strat Wing) and another 50 B52s stationed at Utapoa
Airbase, Thailand (307th Strat Wing), an enormous number of bombers with over
one thousand men flying the missions. However, the bombings were not conducted
without high loss of aircraft and personnel. During the month of December 1972,
61 crewmembers onboard ten B52 aircraft were shot down and were captured or
declared missing. (The B52 carried a crew of six men; however, one B52 lost
carried an extra crewman.) Of these 61, 33 men were released in 1973. The others
remained missing at the end of the war. Over half of these survived to eject
safely.

Since the war ended, over 10,000 reports have been received relating to
Americans missing, prisoner or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia. The crew of
the B52 shot down on December 22 was lucky to have survived and only have a few
weeks imprisonment. Many authorities are now convinced that many Americans are
still held captive in Southeast Asia. It's time we found them and brought them
home.


BERNHARDT, ROBERT EDWARD
Remains recovered 09 February 1973, ID'd February 13, 1973

Name: Robert Edward Bernhardt
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit: 361st Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron, Nakhon Phanom, Thailand OR
Detachment 3, 6994th Security Squadron from Ubon, Thailand
Date of Birth: 12 May 1948
Home City of Record: Richmond VA
Date of Loss: 05 Feb 1973
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 153755N 1065957E (YC143291)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action/Killed In Action
Category: 1
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: EC47Q
Other Personnel in Incident: Arthur R. Bollinger; Dale Brandenburg; Todd M.
Melton; George R. Spitz; Severo J. Primm III; Peter R. Cressman; Joseph Matejov
(all missing)

REMARKS: KIA 3 - POSS CAPT 4

SYNOPSIS: On February 5, 1973, about a week after the signing of the Paris
Peace Agreement, an EC47Q aircraft was shot down over Saravane Province, Laos,
about 50 miles east of the city of Saravane. The crew of the aircraft consisted
of the pilot, Capt. George R. Spitz; Capt. Arthur R. Bollinger, 2Lt. Severo J.
Primm III, 1Lt. Robert E. Bernhardt, Sgt. Dale Brandenburg, Sgt. Peter R.
Cressman, Sgt. Joseph A. Matejov, SSgt. Todd M. Melton, all listed as crew
members. The families of all aboard the aircraft were told the men were dead,
and advised to conduct memorial services.

It is known that the four enlisted men were members of Detachment 3, 6994th
Security Squadron from Ubon, Thailand. The aircraft, however, was flying out of
the 361st TEW Squadron (Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron) at Nakhon Phanom
Airbase, Thailand. It is not known which, if any, of the officers aboard were
assigned to the 6994th at Ubon, and which, besides Spitz, were assigned to the
361st at NKP.

The men in the 6994th were highly trained and operated in the greatest of
secrecy. They were not allowed to mingle with others from their respective
bases, nor were the pilots of the aircraft carrying them on their missions
always told what their objective was. They were cryptology experts, language
experts, and knew well how to operate some of the Air Force's most
sophisticated equipment. They were the first to hear the enemy's battle plans.

Over five years later, Joe Matejov's mother, Mary Matejov, heard columnist Jack
Anderson, on "Good Morning America", describe a Pathet Lao radio communique
which described the capture of four "air pirates" on the same day as the EC47Q
carrying her son was shot down. NO OTHER PLANE WAS MISSING THAT DAY. Anderson's
information indicated that reconnaissance personnel had 40 uninterrupted
minutes in which to survey the crash site.

The report of the reconnaissance team, which was not provided to the families
for over five years, showed that three bodies, which were thought to have been
higher ranking officers because of the seating arrangement, were found strapped
in seats. Four of the men aboard the aircraft were not in or around the
aircraft, and the partial remains of the eighth man was recovered. No
identification was brought out from the crash site, and no attempt was made to
recover the three bodies from the downed aircraft. It is assumed that the
reconnaissance team was most interested in recovering the sensitive equipment
aboard the EC47Q. The EC47Q became known as the "Flying Pueblo". Most of the
"kids" in back, as some pilots called them, were young, in good health, and
stood every chance of surviving captivity.

There were specific reports intercepted regarding the four missing men from the
aircraft missing on February 5, 1973. Radio reports indicated that the four
were transported to the North Vietnam border. None were released in the general
POW release beginning the next month.

Peter Cressman enlisted in the United States Air Force in August, 1969 and
after two years at Elmendorf AFB in Anchorage, Alaska he volunteered for
service in Vietnam and left for Da Nang in June 1972.

In Da Nang, Peter spent his free hours at Sacred Heart Orphanage. His letters
to his hometown priest in Oakland, New Jersey, resulted in the forming of
"Operation Forget-Me-Not". Community schools, churches, merchants and citizens
joined the effort to help the innocent victims of war. The group eventually
provided a boxcar of supplies to the orphans.

Peter was transferred to the airbase at Ubon, Thailand. He was intensely
opposed to the secret missions being flown into Laos, and had written letters
to his congressman in that regard. His family has been active in efforts to
locate information on Peter and the nearly 2500 others who remain unaccounted
for. They founded the National Forget-Me-Not Association for POW/MIAs in
St.Petersburg, Florida, the largest POW advocacy group in the country.

Joseph Matejov enlisted in the Air Force in 1970 from his home state of New
York and went to Southeast Asia in April, 1972. Joe's father and two brothers
were career military. His sister graduated from West Point in 1981. Steven
Matejov died in 1984 not knowing what happened to his son. Joe's mother, Mary
says, "Joe may be alive. If so, this government has a legal and moral
responsibility to get him home.  The next generation of servicemen should not
have to wonder if they will answer the call to defend their country only to be
abandoned. We must stop this tragedy now, and never allow it to happen again."

Thousands of reports received by the U.S. Government have convinced many
experts that hundreds of Americans remain captive in Southeast Asia. Members of
a crew flying a secret mission after a peace agreement had been signed would
likely be considered war criminals. If they are among those thought to be
alive, the survivors of the EC47Q have been held captive over 15 years. It's
time we brought our men home.

BERRY, JOHN ALVIN

Name: John Alvin Berry
Rank/Branch: W1/US Army
Unit: HHC; 1st Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division
Date of Birth: 14 February 1946 (Delta CO)
Home City of Record: Naturita CO
Date of Loss: 05 December 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 113045N 1055322E (WT970727)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: OH6A

Other Personnel In Incident: Billy K. Evans (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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 Hughes Aircraft OH6A Cayuse ("Loach") was envisioned as an
all-purpose helicopter to perform such duties as personnel or cargo transport,
light ground attack or casualty evacuation, observation, and photographic
reconnaissance. But the Loach proved most effective at visual reconnaissance,
searching out signs of the enemy even in heavily defended areas. The light
helicopter skimmed the treetops, its crew peering through gaps in the jungle
canopy in search of tracks, cooking fires, huts, or other signs of the enemy.

On December 5, 1968, SP4 Billy K. Evans Jr., observer, and WO1 John A. Berry,
pilot, were aboard the lead OH6A helicopter (tail #67-16341), in a flight of two
OH6As on a reconnaissance mission on a suspected enemy bunker complex in Tay
Ninh Province, South Vietnam, very near the border of Cambodia. During a pass
over the complex, Berry's aircraft received fire, and he notified his wingman of
the situation. Berry's helicopter then turned left, nosed over, crashed and
burned. The wingman and his observer had continuous observation of the incident
and saw no one thrown from the aircraft or departing the wreckage.

An aerial search of the open area around the crash site indicated no survivors.
No ground search was possible due to enemy anti-aircraft weapons and extensive
enemy bunkers in the area. At the time of the crash, Berry's OH6A had half a
tank of fuel and more than 3000 rounds of ammunition aboard. A small portion of
the tail boom and a piece of the tail rudder were the only recognizable portions
of the aircraft remaining. Both Berry and Evans were initially declared Missing
in Action, on the chance that they may have escaped the burning aircraft.

On October 18, 1973, a message from DIA cited a captured enemy film of a crash
site which showed 2 deceased American helicopter crewmembers. Based on the
analysis of this film, the status of Evans and Berry was changed to Killed in
Action, Bodies Not Recovered (KIA/BNR) by the U.S. Army.

A hearsay report was later received indicating that a set of remains had been
found in a crashed helicopter in the jungles of Tay Ninh Province. Allegedly,
the remains were those of a Second Lieutenant named Bill. This may correlate to
SP4 Billy Evans. Jr.

Like hundreds of others, Berry and Evans fate is unknown. While it is thought
they are dead, their families cannot be sure. Increasing number of reports of
Americans still alive and held captive prevent the families from being able to
lay the matter to rest. Until these men are brought home, someone will always
wonder, "Where are John Berry and Billy Evans?"
BESSOR, BRUCE CARLETON

Name: Bruce Carleton Bessor
Rank/Branch: O2/US Army
Unit: 219th Aviation Company, 17th Aviation Group, 1st Aviation Brigade
Date of Birth: 10 January 1948 (Arlington VA)
Home City of Record: Fairfax VA
Date of Loss: 13 May 1969
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 152330N 1073600E (YC787037)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: O1G
Other Personnel in Incident: Mike J. Scott (missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On May 23, 1969, 1Lt. Bruce Bessor, pilot, and SFC Mike J. Scott,
observer were flying on an O1G aircraft (serial #51-16959) on a radio relay
mission for a Special Forces reconnaissance team in the area of the
Vietnam/Laos border. SFC Scott was assigned to Command and Control Central,
MACV-SOG (Military Assistance Command, Vietnam Studies and Observation Group).
MACV-SOG was a joint service high command unconventional warfare task force
engaged in highly classified operations throughout Southeast Asia. The 5th
Special Forces channeled personnel into MACV-SOG (although it was not a Special
Forces group) through Special Operations Augmentation (SOA), which provided
their "cover" while under secret orders to MACV-SOG. The teams performed deep
penetration missions of strategic reconnaissance and interdiction which were
called, depending on the time frame, "Shining Brass" or "Prairie Fire" missions.

At about 0800 hours, when the recon team had radio contact with 1Lt. Bessor's
aircraft, they heard aircraft engine noise southwest of their position followed
by 15 rounds of 37mm fire and engine sputtering but no sound of crash, then a
large volume of rifle fire from the same direction. The reconnaissance team
then lost radio contact with the aircraft.

Search aircraft attempted to enter into the suspected crash control site, but
cloud cover and enemy fire prevented them from doing so. On May 18, the area
was visually searched, but nothing was found. Bessor and Scott were declared
Missing in Action. They are among nearly 600 Americans still missing in Laos.

In the early 1970's the Pathet Lao stated on a number of occasions that they
held "tens of tens" of American prisoners and that those captured in Laos would
also be released from Laos. Unfortunately, that release never occurred, because
the U.S. did not include Laos in the negotiations which brought American
involvement in the war to an end. The country of Laos was bombed by U.S. forces
for several months following the Peace Accords in January 1973, and Laos
steadfastly refused to talk about releasing our POWs until we discontinued
bombing in their country.

Consequently, no American held in Laos was ever returned. By 1989, these "tens
of tens" apparently have been forgotten. The U.S. has negotiated with the same
government entity which declared it held American POWs and has agreed to build
clinics and help improve relations with Laos. If, as thousands of reports
indicate, Americans are still alive in Indochina as captives, then the U.S. is
collaborating in signing their death warrants.
BEUTEL, ROBERT DONALD

Name: Robert Donald Beutel
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit: 497th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Ubon Airfield, Thailand
Date of Birth: 06 April 1946
Home City of Record: Tremont IL
Date of Loss: 26 November 1971
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 162000N 1045800E (WC015965)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D
Other Personnel In Incident: James E. Steadman (missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: 1Lt. Robert D. Beutel flew backseater for Capt. James E. Steadman on
an F4D Phantom jet assigned to the 497th TFS at Ubon, Thailand. On November 26,
1971, the two were flying a mission out of Thailand and over Laos. Just inside
Laos, in Savannakhet Province, their plane disappeared. No one knew for sure if
it was hit, or had mechanical trouble - it just vanished. No remains or
wreckage of the plane was ever found.

Bob Beutel and Jim Steadman were declared Missing in Action. The Air Force
maintained them in that classification for 7 years, and then declared them
dead, because there was "no evidence" to believe they were alive. There was
also no evidence that the two were dead.

Bob Beutel was packed for R & R in Australia after being overseas for 6 months.
He was on his last flight before his departure. Jim Steadman, a young officer
from the Air Force Academy left a wife of only a short duration to wonder what
happened to him.

Beutel and Steadman are among nearly 600 Americans who disappeared in Laos
during the war with Vietnam. Although the Pathet Lao stated on several
occasions that they held "tens of tens" of American prisoners, not a single man
held in Laos was ever released - or negotiated for.

Thousands of reports have been received which cause experts to believe that
hundreds of Americans are still alive in captivity. Even the most skeptical
believe a number of prisoners may be held in Laos today. What must these men,
who willingly went to serve their country, be thinking of us? It's time we
brought them home.
BEYER, THOMAS JOHN

Name: Thomas John Beyer
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 20th Tactical Air Support Squadron, Chu Lai AB SV
Date of Birth: 01 March 1941
Home City of Record: Fargo ND
Date of Loss: 30 July 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 152800N 1075800E (ZC195125)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 3
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: O2A

Other Personnel In Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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: All tactical strike aircraft operating in Southeast Asia had to be
under the control of a Forward Air Control (FAC), who was intimately familiar
with the locale, the populous, and the tactical situation. The FAC would find
the target, order up U.S. fighter/bombers from an airborne command and control
center or ground based station, mark the target accurately with white phosphorus
(Willy Pete) rockets, and control the operation throughout the time the planes
remained on station. After the fighters had departed, the FAC stayed over the
target to make a bomb damage assessment (BDA).

The FAC also had to ensure that there were no attacks on civilians, a complex
problem in a war where there were no front lines and any hamlet could suddenly
become part of the combat zone. A FAC needed a fighter pilot's mentality, but
but was obliged to fly slow and low in such unarmed and vulnerable aircraft as
the Cessna O1 Bird Dog, and the Cessna O2.

Captain Thomas J. Beyer was an O2A pilot stationed at Chu Lai Air Base, Republic
of Vietnam with the 20th Tactical Air Support Squadron. At 1220 hours on July
30, 1968, Beyer was assigned a visual reconnaissance/forward air controller
mission over South Vietnam.

A routine radio transmission was received from Beyer at 1345 hours at which time
his position was about 40 miles WNW of Chu Lai. He gave no indication that he
was experiencing any difficulty and advised that he was proceeding to a point 20
miles west of Kham Duc. Beyer was scheduled to return to Chu Lai at 1500 hours.
When he had not arrived by 1540 hours, and no further calls were received from
him, a communications check was initiated. This check was to no avail, and
search and rescue forces were alerted.

Search and rescue operations were continued for five days over the dense jungle
area where Beyer was to operate, as well as his intended flight path to and from
that area. No sightings were made nor signals received which would indicate
Beyer's whereabouts. Beyer was declared Missing in Action.

Nearly 2500 Americans did not return from the war in Vietnam. Thousands of
reports have been received convincing many authorities that some hundreds remain
alive in captivity. Whether Beyer is alive is not known. What is certain,
however, is that Vietnam and her communist allies can tell us what happened to
most of our men. And we have a legal and moral responsibility to do everything
possible to bring home any who are still alive.
BEZOLD, STEVEN NEIL

Name: Steven Neil Bezold
Rank/Branch: O2/US Army
Unit: HHB, 2nd Btn, 94th Artillery, 108th Artillery Group
Date of Birth: 12 June 1944 (Hermann MO)
Home City of Record: McKittrick MO
Date of Loss: 29 October 1968
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 165627N 1065614E (YD063739)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: O1G

Other Personnel In Incident: Donald L. Harrison (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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: On the afternoon of October 29, 1968, 1LT Donald L. Harrison, pilot,
and 1LT Steven N. Bezold, observer, were flying in a Cessna O1G Bird Dog
observation plane (tail #57-6027), with another O1G on an artillery adjustment
mission over the DMZ.

As the two planes entered the mission area, they were briefed by departing
aircraft who had been receiving anti-aircraft flak from the northern edge of the
mission area. Lt. Harrison worked the southern end of the Demilitarized Zone
(DMZ) while the other aircraft went north to try to find the source of the
anti-aircraft fire.

The northern aircraft, while observing for a pair of fighter aircraft on a gun
position, had a malfunction and could not mark the target, so the observer
pilots agreed to trade area locations. During the change, as the aircraft
passed each other, 1LT Harrison's plane was hit in the left rear cockpit area,
between the pilot and the observer. The aircraft continued straight for a few
seconds, and then started a slow descending right turn. The turn became tighter
as the descent rate increased until impact. There were no radio transmissions
from Harrison's plane after it was hit.

Due to approaching darkness, and the difficulty in locating the crash site, only
an electronic search could be made that night. The next day, the downed plane's
wing and fuselage were located and vehicle tracks around the wreckage were seen.
It appeared that the wreckage had been moved to a more visible location in order
to draw rescue aircraft into a trap. As aircraft went near the wing, intense
anti-aircraft fire was received. No contact was ever made with the crew. The
area was never searched because of intense hostility in the area.

When 591 Americans were released from Vietnamese prisons at the end of the war,
Bezold and Harrison were not among them. They are among nearly 2400 who are
still missing in Southeast Asia.

Tragically, over 10,000 reports relating to Americans prisoner, missing, or
unaccounted for in Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. Government,
convincing many experts that hundreds of Americans are still alive, waiting for
their country to come for them. Steven Bezold and Donald Harrison could be among
them. It's time we brought our men home.


Donald Harrison was promoted to the rank of Major and Steven Bezold to the rank
of Captain during the period they were maintained missing.

BIBBS, WAYNE (NMN)

Name: Wayne Bibbs
Rank/Branch: E3/US Army
Unit:
Date of Birth: 14 June 1954 (Chicago IL)
Home City of Record: Blue Island IL
Date of Loss: 11 June 1972
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 162326N 1072407E (YD565135)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: OH6A
Other Personnel In Incident: Arnold E. Holm; Robin R. Yeakley (missing from one
OH6A); James E. Hackett; James R. McQuade, Richard D. Wiley (missing from
second OH6A).

REMARKS: EXPLODE - NO PARABEEPERS - J

SYNOPSIS: By December 1971, U.S. troops in-country had declined dramatically -
from the 1968 peak of nearly 55,000 to less than 30,000. The enemy, temporarily
on the defensive by the moves into Cambodia in 1970 and Laos in 1971, began
deploying new NVA forces southward in preparation for another major offensive.

In March 1972, the Vietnamese launched a three-pronged invasion of the South.
One NVA force swept south across the DMZ, its goal apparently the conquest of
the northern provinces and the seizure of Hue. A second NVA force drove from
Laos into the Central Highlands, and a third effort involved a drive from
Cambodia into provinces northwest of Saigon.

Fierce fighting ensued on all three fronts, with NVA success the greatest in
the northern provinces. Fighting continued until by June, the North Vietnamese
began withdrawing from some of their advance positions, still holding
considerable amounts of South Vietnamese territory in the northern provinces.

On June 11, 1972, Capt. Arnold Holm, pilot, PFC Wayne Bibbs, gunner, and SP4
Robin Yeakley, passenger, were aboard an OH6A observation helicopter flying
from Camp Eagle to the Northern Provinces of South Vietnam on a visual
reconnaissance mission. The function of their "Loach" chopper was searching out
signs of the enemy around two landing zones (LZ's). The OH6 joined with the
AH1G Cobra gunship as "Pink Teams" to screen the deployment of air cavalry
troops. On this day, Holm's aircraft was monitoring an ARVN team insertion.

During the mission, Holm reported that he saw enemy living quarters, bunkers,
and numerous trails. On his second pass over a ridge, at about 25' altitude,
the aircraft exploded and burned. It was reported that before the aircraft
crashed that smoke and white phosphorous grenades began exploding. After the
aircraft impacted with the ground, it exploded again. Other aircraft in the
area received heavy anti-aircraft fire. No one was seen to exit the downed
helicopter, nor were emergency radio beepers detected.

In another OH6A (tail #67-16275), 1Lt. James R. McQuade, pilot, and SP4 James
E. Hackett, gunner, tried to enter the area of the crashed OH6A, but
encountered heavy fire and their aircraft was also shot down. McQuade's
aircraft was hit, and the intensity of the resulting fire caused white
phosphorous and smoke grenades carried aboard the aircraft to explode prior to
hitting the ground. The aircraft continued to burn after impact and no crewmen
left the ship before or after the crash.

No ground search was made for survivors or remains of either aircraft because
of hostile fire in the area.

There are unanswered questions remaining from Vietnam. Of the nearly 2500
Americans who did not return alive or dead, experts venture that hundreds may
still be alive. Thousands of reports have been received concerning them.
Whether the two OH6A crews are among those seems unlikely. But one can imagine
their willingness to deploy on one more combat team to bring those who are
alive home to freedom.

CASE SYNOPSIS: BIBER, GERALD MACK

Name: Gerald Mack Biber
Rank/Branch: E5/US Army Special Forces
Unit: Advisor, B Company, FFT-59, 7th Special Forces Group
Date of Birth: 27 July 1935 (Ravenna NE)
Home City of Record: Benkelman NE
Date of Loss: 22 April 1961
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 185521N 1022827E (TG240150)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 1
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel In Incident: Orville Ballenger (released 1962); John Bischoff;
Walter H. Moon (all missing)

REMARKS: PROB KIA N AMBUSH AFT OVRUN

SYNOPSIS: The early 1960's marked a period of civil war and military coups in
the country of Laos which resulted in major objectives being taken by Kong
Le-Pathet Lao communist forces. Kong Le had himself been a graduate of the
CIA-sponsored Philippine scout and ranger school and had announced that he was
fighting the corrupt royal government headed by Prince Souvanna Phouma. Kong Le
found support from the Soviets, who assisted him in defeating Gen. Phoumi
Nosavan's countercoup forces at the capitol city of Vientiane in December 1960.
Pathet Lao troops were airlifted by the Soviets to take the Plaine des Jarres
region in March 1961.

Although Gen. Nosavan and Groupement 12 of the new Forces Armees de Laos
continued to give chase to Kong Le and his troops, they were not successful in
regaining the Plain of Jars. In early March two Pathet Lao battalions drove
Groupement 12 back toward Vang Vieng. Capt. Walter Moon's four-man Field
Training Team FTT-59, MAAG, of the 7th Special Forces Group was attached to the
6th Bataillon d'infanterie (Lao) at Ban Pha Home, about thirty miles north of
Vang Vieng. On April 22, 1961, the battalion was subjected to a heavy and
accurate artillery barrage and was rapidly flanked at Phou Tesao.

Shortly after the battalion commander announced that they were cut off, the
perimeter collapsed and the Pathet Lao quickly overran the battalion positions.
The team's commander, Capt. Walter Moon, was captured in the initial attack.

SFC John M. Bischoff (the medic), Sgt. Gerald M. Biber (the radio operator),
and some Laotian soldiers jumped aboard an armored car, heading south on Route
13,  in a breakout effort. According to Lao survivors, they crouched behind the
turret, but the car came under heavy grenade attack. Sgt. Bischoff fired a
machine gun from the vehicle until he was shot through the neck and killed.
Sgt. Biber had already been wounded and was apparently killed by stick grenades
thrown against the armored car. The vehicle was halted and its crew captured.

Sgt. Orville R. Ballinger, demolitions sergeant, escaped through the jungle and
linked up with some Lao soldiers. They found a boat and were going downriver
when they were surprised and captured by the Pathet Lao seven days later. Sgt.
Ballenger were eventually released in August 1962.

Capt. Moon tried to escape twice during his confinement, and on the last
attempt was wounded in the chest and head. According to Ballinger, Moon's head
injury caused him to be come mentally unbalanced, and after several months of
persecution, he was executed in his prison quarters at Lat Theoung by a Meo
guard and a Pathet Lao officer on July 22, 1961. The Pathet Lao have
consistently denied knowledge of Moon, Biber or Bischoff.

In 1984, James "Bo" Gritz, a highly decorated former Special Forces colonel,
brought documents and a photograph pertaining to Moon from Laos and gave them
to the U.S. Government. Moon's wife positively identified the photograph and
Moon's signature. The Government stated that the photograph was made May 6,
1961, two weeks after Moon's capture. (Moon was normally clean-shaven but had,
according to USG, grown a full beard in 2 weeks!)

Though the documents were taken from a large collection of 250-300 similar
documents held by the Lao People's Army in Laos, the U.S. refused to demand the
information from the Lao. The Defense Intelligence Agency, according to
Congressman Stephen Solarz, has full knowledge of this collection.

Whether Biber and Bischoff survived the ambush on April 22, 1961 is unknown.
They and Moon are among nearly 600 Americans who disappeared in Laos and did
not return. The treaty which ended American involvement in the war in Southeast
Asia did not pertain to the prisoners held by the Lao, and not a single
prisoner was released from Laos in 1973. The Lao publicly stated they held
prisoners, but the U.S. has never negotiated for their release.

Were it not for thousands of reports relating to Americans still held captive
in Southeast Asia, we could simply close the door on men like Biber, Bischoff
and Moon. But as long as there is even one man alive, the nation he went to
serve must do all it can to bring him home.
BIDWELL, BARRY ALAN

Name: Barry Alan Bidwell
Rank/Branch: E5/US Navy
Unit: Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 130, Detachment 3
Date of Birth: 13 January 1948
Home City of Record: Greensburg PA
Date of Loss: 18 June 1971
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 185559N 1072457E (YF544950)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: EKA3B

Other Personnel In Incident: Raymond V. DeBlasio; John R. Painter (both missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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: CRASH IN WATER - N RADI - N SURV - J

SYNOPSIS: Lt. John R. Painter, Jr. was a pilot assigned to Tactical Electronic
Warfare Squadron 130, Detachment 3. On June 18, 1971, he launched in his EKA3B
Skywarrior aircraft on an operational flight. The other crew onboard the
aircraft that day consisted of LTJG Raymond V. DeBlasio and ADJ2 Barry A.
Bidwell.

The A3 Skywarrior is a three-place light bomber, reconnaisance plane, electronic
warfare craft or aerial tanker, depending upon its outfitting. The Skywarrior
flown by Painter aircraft was outfitted to serve as the tanker aircraft,
prepared to render valuable assistance to other aircraft returning to the ship
with very little fuel. This was an extremely important job, as some types of
fighter aircraft launched with a minimum amount of fuel in order to accomodate a
heavier bomb load, and sometimes arrived back at ship low on fuel.

Upon launch, Painter's aircraft had some mechanical failure and crashed into the
Gulf of Tonkin. No remains were recovered for the crew. They were listed as
Reported Dead/Body Not Recovered and as a Non-Battle casualty.

The three-man crew were listed as killed, body not recovered. They are among
over 2300 Americans who remain unaccounted for from the Vietnam war. The cases
of some, like Painter, DeBlasio and Bidwell seem clear - that they perished and
cannot be recovered. Unfortunately, mounting evidence indicates that hundreds of
Americans are still captive, waiting for the country they proudly served to
secure their freedom.

In our haste to leave an unpopular war, it now appears we abandoned some of our
best men. In our haste to heal the wounds of this same war, will we sign their
death warrants? Or will we do what we can to bring them home?

BIFOLCHI, CHARLES LAWRENCE

Name: Charles Lawrence Bifolchi
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit: 16th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, Tan Son Nhut Airbase
Date of Birth: 27 October 1943
Home City of Record: Quincy MA
Date of Loss: 08 January 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 145500N 1075400E (ZB125515)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: RF4C
Other Personnel in Incident: Hallie W. Smith (missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Capt. Hallie W. Smith was the pilot and 1Lt. Charles L. Bifolchi the
navigator aboard an RF4C Phantom reconnaissance jet from the 16th Tactical
Recon Squadron at Than Son Nhut Airbase, South Vietnam. On January 8, 1968,
Smith and Bifolchi were assigned a reconnaissance mission and were en route to
the target when radar and radio contact was lost in Kontum Province, South
Vietnam, about 15 miles north of the city of Dak To.

Neither the aircraft nor the crew was ever located, despite search efforts.
Because of circumstances surrounding the incident, both men were classified
Missing in Action, and there is a strong probability that the enemy knows their
fates - dead or alive.

When the last American troops left Southeast Asia in 1975, some 2500 Americans
were unaccounted for. Reports received by the U.S. Government since that time
build a strong case for belief that hundreds of these "unaccounted for"
Americans are still alive and in captivity.

Henry Kissinger has said that the problem of unrecoverable Prisoners is an
"unfortunate" byproduct of limited political engagements. This does not seem to
be consistent with the high value we, as a nation, place on individual human
lives. Men like Smith and Bifolchi, who went to Vietnam because their country
asked it of them are too precious to the future of this nation to write them
off as expendable.

Whether Smith and Bifolchi survived the downing of their aircraft to be
captured is unknown. Whether they are among those said to be alive is
uncertain. What seems clear, however, is that as long as even one man remains
alive, held against his will, we owe him our very best efforts to bring him
home.


BIGGS, EARL ROGER

Remains Returned - ID Announced 900103

Name: Earl Roger Biggs
Rank/Branch: E7/US Army Special Forces
Unit: Company D, Detachment A-411, 5th SFG
Date of Birth: 23 March 1932
Home City of Record: Matheny WV
Date of Loss: 16 January 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 102755N 1060838E (XS252570)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 1
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Other Personnel In Incident: Frank C. Parrish (fate unknown - see text)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 April 1990 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.

REMARKS: ARVN ADV - UNIT AMBUSHED

SYNOPSIS: On January 16, 1968, SFC Earl Biggs and SFC Frank Parrish were serving
as advisors to a Vietnamese strike force. That morning, they departed with a
camp strike force company from Phuoc Tay on a search operation extending east of
the camp. At 1215 hours, about 16 miles northwest of My Tho, Vietnam, the strike
force was ambushed by Vietnamese communists. Later that afternoon, two companies
were inserted into the same area to look for survivors.

Search efforts were continued until January 18 without the recovery of Biggs or
Parrish. CIDG and LLDB survivors reported that the Viet Cong captured and
summarily executed both Biggs and Parrish. Both men were classified Missing in
Action. The Defense Intelligence Agency further expanded the classification to
include an enemy knowledge ranking of 1. Category 1 indicates "confirmed
knowledge" and includes all personnel who were identified by the enemy by name,
identified by reliable information received from escapees or releasees, reported
by highly reliable intelligence sources, or identified through analysis of
all-source intelligence.

On January 17, 1972, remains were reported in the vicinity of the action which
were determined to be those of SFC Parrish. These remains were recovered and
identified in June, 1973 and returned to Parrish's family for burial. Parrish's
brother, Johnnie, thought the forensic evidence was inadequate.

Government forensics experts had based their identification of Sgt. Parrish on
three pieces of evidence: (1) the remains had been found near where St. Parrish
had been ambushed; (2) photographs of Parrish supposedly corresponded with
x-rays of the skull, even though the skull had neither jawbone nor teeth; and
(3) medical equipment like that which Sgt. Parrish carried was found near the
ambush site.

The Pentagon informed Johnnie Parrish that he could accept it or reject it, but
the identification was final. It was "concrete proof."  Parrish's parents
accepted the identification, and eventually, Johnnie Parrish did also, however
reluctantly.

After American involvement in Indochina ended in 1975, reports relating to
Americans missing in Southeast Asia began to be received by the U.S. Government.
There have been reports of other remains having been exhumed by local farmers,
but no confirmation has been possible of their identity. These reports have been
tentatively correlated to several cases of missing Americans.

On Friday, December 29, 1989, members of Frank Parrish's family met with
government officials (a military man named Cole and a civilian named Manning)
who explained that an error had been made in 1973. Newly recovered remains
returned by the Vietnamese to U.S. control had been positively identified as
those of Frank Parrish. At the same time, the remains of Parrish's partner, SFC
Earl R. Biggs, had been recovered and identified. The family was shown new
forensic data, including dental records. This time, Johnnie Parrish felt assured
that the identification had been accurately made. The officials explained that a
meeting would be held in Washington the following Tuesday, following the holiday
weekend, to record the family's acceptance of the new remains identification and
to establish a timetable for exchanging the remains. Johnnie Parrish requested
that he be kept fully informed, and was assured that he would be.

On Saturday, December 30, John Parrish drove from his home in Joshua, Texas to
the Rose Hill Cemetery in Cleburn to visit his brother's grave. He photographed
the grave.

On New Year's Day, 1990, John Parrish again drove from his home to Rose Hill
Cemetery for a funeral ceremony for an old friend. After the ceremony, Parrish
decided to again visit the gravesite of his younger brother. What he found there
shocked and angered him. His brother's grave had been opened and the remains
removed. He had not been informed.

Parrish immediately drove to the Crusier-Pearson-Mayfield Funeral Home and was
told that the grave had been opened because they had needed to prepare the
gravesite for his brother's body, which would be buried at 1:00 the following
day. Parrish was once again shocked and angered that he had not been told.

January 2, 1990, on the day of the supposed meeting to determine a timetable for
exchange of remains, Frank Parrish was buried in his home state of Texas. On
January 3, 1990, the U.S. announced that remains returned by the Vietnamese
during 1989 had been positively identified as being those of SFC Earl R. Biggs.
No public mention was made of the newly-identified remains of Frank Parrish.

Further investigation revealed that neither the U.S. Government nor the funeral
home had obtained proper exhumation and transportation permits to remove and
transport the remains from Frank Parrish's grave. Over a holiday weekend, the
government had secretly and illegally removed the body, and had not notified the
family as promised. Had John Parrish not investigated, Frank Parrish might have
been buried without his family present. Critics began using terms like
"grave-robbing" in relation to the Parrish case.

In the Parrish case, the 1973 identification was hastily and incorrectly made.
Other similar cases support criticism that the U.S. Government is making
positive identifications, sometimes upon the flimsiest of evidence, in order to
more quickly resolve the issue of the more than 2300 Americans missing in
Southeast Asia. In this case, the family was further grieved by the inept
conduct of the government in notifying them of the exchange and burial schedule.

Of the greatest concern, however, is the fact that, for 17 years, the U.S.
Government had considered Frank Parrish "accounted for." Therefore, even if a
first-hand live sighting report had been received that Parrish was alive, it
would have been discredited on the basis that he was dead. The government had
"concrete proof."

Tragically, reports of Americans still held in captivity continue to flow into
the U.S. intelligence community. Many officials who have seen these largely
classified reports are convinced that hundreds of Americans are still alive in
Southeast Asia, still prisoners of a war that most Americans would like to put
behind them.

Many fear the books are being closed on Americans who are alive. If so, what
would they think of us for allowing it to happen? How many would serve the next
time their country called them if they knew they could be abandoned?


CASE SYNOPSIS: BINGHAM, KLAUS YRURGEN

Name: Klaus Yrurgen Bingham
Rank/Branch: E6/US Army Special Forces
Unit: Task Force 1, Advisory Element (assigned to Support Headquarters,
USARV)
Date of Birth: 14 March 1943 (Metz, France)
Home City of Record: Wahiawa HI
Date of Loss: 10 May 1971
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 155250N 1073426E (YC756573)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel In Incident: Lewis C. Walton; James Luttrell (both missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: James Luttrell, Lewis Walton and Klaus Bingham were members of a
long-range reconnaissance (LRRP) team "Asp" which was inserted into western
Quang Nam Province 12 miles from Laos on May 3, 1971.

The Asp team was inserted without ground fire or radio transmission. On May 4,
the area was searched by Forward Air Controllers (FAC) who neither saw nor
heard anything from the team.

On May 5, two pilots flying in the area reported seeing a mirror and a panel
signal 50 meters west of the LZ for about 15 minutes. The area was searched
again for about 3 hours, and the FAC attempted to raise the team on radio. At
1404 hours on May 5, the FAC saw two people wearing dark green fatigues
locating panel signals. Helicopters were launched at 1500 hours that day with a
rescue team, but could not be inserted because of bad weather. The FAC stayed
on station until 1700 hours that day, but no communication was ever established
with the team.

On May 6, weather again prohibited search attempts.

On May 7, hostile fire in the area prevented the insertion of a rescue team.
Poor weather prevented the insertion of a search team until May 14. The team
was extracted the same day, without ever having heard or seen the patrol.

Luttrell, Walton and Bingham disappeared. The three were classified Missing In
Action. They are among nearly 2400 Americans who are still missing from the
Vietnam war. Experts now believe that hundreds of these men are still alive.

Klaus Bingham was a seasoned soldier when he disappeared. He was trained for
survival under adverse circumstances. Under the circumstances of his
disappearance, the U.S. Army believes the enemy may know what happened to him.
He could be alive.

In our haste to leave Southeast Asia, we abandoned 2400 of our best.
Surprisingly, in 1988, overtures by many U.S. government officials hint at
normalization of relations with Vietnam, yet no agreements have been reached
which would free those Americans still held in Southeast Asia. In our haste to
return to Indochina will we again abandon our men?
BIRCH, JOEL RAY
Partial Remains Recovered near Crash Site December 1972

Name: Joel Ray Birch
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 16th Special Operations Squadron, Ubon AB, Thailand
Date of Birth: 20 January 1936
Home City of Record: Phoenix AZ
Date of Loss: 21 December 1972
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 152712N 1060048E (XC087086)
Status (in 1973):
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: AC130A

Other Personnel In Incident: Rollie Reaid; George D. MacDonald; John Winningham;
Francis Walsh; James R. Fuller; Robert T. Elliott; Robert L. Liles; Harry
Lagerwall; Paul Meder; Delma Dickens; Stanley Kroboth; Charles Fenter; Thomas T.
Hart (all missing/remains returned --see text); Richard Williams, Carl E.
Stevens (rescued).

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1990 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.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: An AC130A gunship, "Spectre 17", flown by Capt. Harry R. Lagerwall,
departed Ubon Airbase, Thailand on an interdiction mission to interrupt enemy
cargo movements along the Ho Chi Minh Trail on December 21, 1972. The crew
onboard numbered 16. During the flight to the target, the aircraft was hit by
ground fire and after 10 minutes of level flight, the fuel exploded. Two of the
crew, Richard Williams and Carl E. Stevens, bailed out safely and were
subsequently rescued hours later. The partial body of Joel Birch (an arm) was
later recovered some distance away from the crash site.

Heat-sensitive equipment which would pinpoint the location of human beings in
the jungles was used to search for the rest of the crew with no success. It was
assumed that the missing crewmen were either dead or were no longer in the area.

According to intelligence reports, several piles of bloody bandages and 5
deployed parachutes were seen and photographed at the crash site. Also, later
requests through the Freedom of Information Act revealed a photo of what
appeared to be the initials "TH" stomped in the tall elephant grass near the
crash site. A number of reports have been received which indicate Tom Hart, if
not others, was still alive as late as 1988.

In the early 1980's a delegation comprised in part of several POW/MIA family
members visited the site of the aircraft crash in Laos. Mrs. Anne Hart found
material on the ground in the area which she believed to be bone fragment. She
photographed the material and turned it over to the U.S. Government.

In February, 1985, a joint excavation of the crash site was done by the U.S. and
Laos from which a large number of small bone fragments were found. Analysis by
the U.S. Army's Central Identification Laboratory (CIL) in Hawaii reported the
positive identification of all 13 missing crewmembers. Some critics dubbed this
identificatin "Voodoo Forensics."

Mrs. Hart was immediately skeptical.  She was concerned that the positive
identification of all 13 missing men onboard the aircraft had seemed too
convenient. She was further concerned that among the remains said to be those of
her husband, she found the bone fragment which she had herself found at the
crash site location several years before. She believed this was too much of a
coincidence.

Anne Hart had an independent analysis of the seven tiny fragments of bone which
the government said constituted the remains of her husband. Dr. Michael Charney
of Colorado State University, an internationally respected Board Certified
Forensic Anthropologist with nearly 50 years of experience in anthropology,
conducted the study.

"It is impossible," Charney wrote in his report, "to determine whether these
fragments are from LTC Hart or any other individual, whether they are from one
individual or several, or whether they are even from any of the crew members of
the aircraft in study."

Mrs. Hart refused to accept the remains and sued the government, challenging its
identification procedures. Her challenge produced additional criticism of CIL
and the techniques it uses in identifying remains. Some scientists, including
Charney, charged that CIL deliberately misinterpreted evidence in order to
identify remains. They said the Army consistently drew unwarranted conclusions
about height, weight, sex and age from tiny bone fragments. Eleven of the
"positive" identifications made on the AC130 crew were determined to be
scientifically impossible.

"These are conclusions just totally beyond the means of normal identification,
our normal limits and even our abnormal limits," said Dr. William Maples,
curator of physical anthropology at Florida State Museum.

Among the egregious errors cited by Charney was a piece of pelvic bone that the
laboratory mistakenly said was a part of a skull bone and was used to identify
Chief Master Sgt. James R. Fuller. The Reaid ID had been made based on bits of
upper arm and leg bones and a mangled POW bracelet said to be like one Reaid
wore. The MacDonald ID had been made based on the dental records for a single
tooth.

Mrs. Hart won her suit against the government. Her husband's identification, as
well as that of George MacDonald, was rescinded. The Government no longer
claimed that the identifications were positive. However, these two men were
listed as "accounted for."

Mrs. Hart's suit on behalf of her husband made it U.S. Government policy for a
family to be given the opportunity to seek outside confirmation of any
identification of remains said to be their loved ones. Mrs. Hart also believed
that the suit was successful in keeping her husband's file open. Reports were
still being received related to him.

In 1988, the Air Force forwarded a live sighting report of Tom Hart to Mrs.
Hart. The Air Force had concluded the report was false or irrelevant because
Tom Hart was "accounted for." Mrs. Hart again went to court to try and ensure
that her husband was not abandoned if, indeed, he is still alive. She wanted him
put back on the "unaccounted for" list.

In early March, 1990, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the lower
court decision that had ruled the U.S. Government erred in identifying bone
fragments as being the remains of Thomas Hart. The appellate court ruled that
the government is free to use "its discretion" in handling the identification of
victims of war and that courts should not second-guess government decisions on
when to stop searching for soldiers believed to be killed in action.

The court also denied Mrs. Hart's request to have her husband returned to the
"unaccounted for" list. "The government must make a practical decision at some
point regarding when to discontinue the search for personnel," the court said in
its ruling.

Most Americans would make the practical decision to serve their country in war,
if asked to do so. Even though there is evidence that some of this crew did not
die in the crash of the aircraft, the U.S. Government has made the "practical
decision," and obtained the support of the Justice system, to quit looking for
them.

How can we allow our government to close the books on men who have not been
proven dead whose biggest crime is serving their country? If one or more of them
are among the hundreds many believe are still alive in captivity, what must they
be thinking of us?

Knowing one could be so callously abandoned, how many will serve when next asked
to do so?

BIRCHIM, JAMES DOUGLAS

Name: James Douglas Birchim
Rank/Branch: O2/US Army Special Forces
Unit: FOB 2, CCN, 5th SFG
Date of Birth: 16 July 1946
Home City of Record: Independence CA
Date of Loss: 15 November 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 144520N 1074549E (YB975330)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Other Personnel In Incident: (None missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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: On November 15, 1968, 1st Lt. Bircham was the patrol leader of an 8
man LRRP (long-range reconnaisaince patrol) of the FOB2, 5th Special Forces
Group on a search mission in Laos. During the mission, the patrol was ambushed,
and in evading the enemy, Bircham suffered a broken ankle and fragmentaion
wounds. He radioed and requested that the patrol be extracted that evening.

Because of the difficult terrain, which prevented the helicopters from landing
to exfiltrate the patrol, the men were to be picked up by McGuire extraction
rigs. These devices were dropped through the trees near the ground, where the
men situated themselves on them, were pulled up through the trees, and carried
in suspension until they could safely be brought aboard the helicopter or placed
on ground.

After 4 members of the patrol were sucessfully extracted in the first
helicopter, the second aircraft hovered to pick up the other four men, with only
3 rigs. Lt. Birchim ensured that the other 3 men were situated and then hung on
the back of one of his men. Their rig was dragged through the trees, nearly
dislodging them, but Birchim hung on for what was estimated to be about 30-45
minutes before falling from a height of about 2500 feet. The exact location can
only be approximated by time from the known pickup point.

All elements of 5th Special Forces Group in the area were notified, but
Birchim's body was never found. It is estimated that Birchim's last location was
in Kontum Province, South Vietnam, about half-way between the towns of Dak Sut
and Dak To.

Barbara Birchim was 21 when she was notified of the loss of her husband. He had
been declared Killed/Body Not Recovered. When she received documents related to
the loss, however, doubts remained. There just was not enough solid information
for her to let go of the hope that somehow he survived.

In 1988, Mrs. Birchim traveled to Vietnam hoping to find some clue to the fate
of her husband or others who remained prisoner, missing or unaccounted for in
Southeast Asia. She has devoted half her life to resolving the mystery of
the loss of these men.

Since American involvement in Vietnam ended in 1975, nearly 10,000 reports
relating to Americans missing, prisoner, or otherwise unaccounted for in
Indochina have been received by the U.S. Government. Many officials, having
examined this largely classified information, have reluctantly concluded that
many Americans are still alive today, held captive by our long-ago enemy.

Whether James Birchim survived the the fall from the McGuire rig to be captured
is certainly not known. It is not known if he might be among those thought to be
still alive today. What is certain, however, is that as long as even one
American remains alive, held against his will, we owe him our very best efforts
to bring him to freedom.


James Douglas Birchim was promoted to the rank of Captain during the period he
was maintained missing.
CASE SYNOPSIS: BISCHOFF, JOHN MALCOLM

Name: John Malcolm Bischoff
Rank/Branch: E7/US Army Special Forces
Unit: Advisor, B Company, FFT-59, 7th Special Forces Group
Date of Birth: 18 July 1929 (Greenville SC)
Home City of Record: Mountain Rest SC
Date of Loss: 22 April 1961
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 185521N 1022827E (TG240150)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 1
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel In Incident: Orville Ballenger (released 1962); Gerald Biber;
Walter H. Moon (all missing)

REMARKS: PROB KIA N AMBUSH AFT OVRUN

SYNOPSIS: The early 1960's marked a period of civil war and military coups in
the country of Laos which resulted in major objectives being taken by Kong
Le-Pathet Lao communist forces. Kong Le had himself been a graduate of the
CIA-sponsored Philippine scout and ranger school and had announced that he was
fighting the corrupt royal government headed by Prince Souvanna Phouma. Kong Le
found support from the Soviets, who assisted him in defeating Gen. Phoumi
Nosavan's countercoup forces at the capitol city of Vientiane in December 1960.
Pathet Lao troops were airlifted by the Soviets to take the Plaine des Jarres
region in March 1961.

Although Gen. Nosavan and Groupement 12 of the new Forces Armees de Laos
continued to give chase to Kong Le and his troops, they were not successful in
regaining the Plain of Jars. In early March two Pathet Lao battalions drove
Groupement 12 back toward Vang Vieng. Capt. Walter Moon's four-man Field
Training Team FTT-59, MAAG, of the 7th Special Forces Group was attached to the
6th Bataillon d'infanterie (Lao) at Ban Pha Home, about thirty miles north of
Vang Vieng. On April 22, 1961, the battalion was subjected to a heavy and
accurate artillery barrage and was rapidly flanked at Phou Tesao.

Shortly after the battalion commander announced that they were cut off, the
perimeter collapsed and the Pathet Lao quickly overran the battalion positions.
The team's commander, Capt. Walter Moon, was captured in the initial attack.

SFC John M. Bischoff (the medic), Sgt. Gerald M. Biber (the radio operator),
and some Laotian soldiers jumped aboard an armored car, heading south on Route
13,  in a breakout effort. According to Lao survivors, they crouched behind the
turret, but the car came under heavy grenade attack. Sgt. Bischoff fired a
machine gun from the vehicle until he was shot through the neck and killed.
Sgt. Biber had already been wounded and was apparently killed by stick grenades
thrown against the armored car. The vehicle was halted and its crew captured.

Sgt. Orville R. Ballinger, demolitions sergeant, escaped through the jungle and
linked up with some Lao soldiers. They found a boat and were going downriver
when they were surprised and captured by the Pathet Lao seven days later. Sgt.
Ballenger were eventually released in August 1962.

Capt. Moon tried to escape twice during his confinement, and on the last
attempt was wounded in the chest and head. According to Ballinger, Moon's head
injury caused him to be come mentally unbalanced, and after several months of
persecution, he was executed in his prison quarters at Lat Theoung by a Meo
guard and a Pathet Lao officer on July 22, 1961. The Pathet Lao have
consistently denied knowledge of Moon, Biber or Bischoff.

In 1984, James "Bo" Gritz, a highly decorated former Special Forces colonel,
brought documents and a photograph pertaining to Moon from Laos and gave them
to the U.S. Government. Moon's wife positively identified the photograph and
Moon's signature. The Government stated that the photograph was made May 6,
1961, two weeks after Moon's capture. (Moon was normally clean-shaven but had,
according to USG, grown a full beard in 2 weeks!)

Though the documents were taken from a large collection of 250-300 similar
documents held by the Lao People's Army in Laos, the U.S. refused to demand the
information from the Lao. The Defense Intelligence Agency, according to
Congressman Stephen Solarz, has full knowledge of this collection.

Whether Biber and Bischoff survived the ambush on April 22, 1961 is unknown.
They and Moon are among nearly 600 Americans who disappeared in Laos and did
not return. The treaty which ended American involvement in the war in Southeast
Asia did not pertain to the prisoners held by the Lao, and not a single
prisoner was released from Laos in 1973. The Lao publicly stated they held
prisoners, but the U.S. has never negotiated for their release.

Were it not for thousands of reports relating to Americans still held captive
in Southeast Asia, we could simply close the door on men like Biber, Bischoff
and Moon. But as long as there is even one man alive, the nation he went to
serve must do all it can to bring him home.

BISHOP, EDWARD JAMES JR.

Name: Edward James Bishop, Jr.
Rank/Branch: E3/US Army
Unit: Company A, 2nd Battalion, 501st Infantry, 101st Airborne Division
Date of Birth: 27 January 1949
Home City of Record: Hartford CT
Date of Loss: 29 April 1970
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 162622N 1071704E (YD439188)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: At about 2200 hours on April 29, 1970, PFC Bishop, a rifleman for A
Company, 2nd Battalion, 501st Infantry, was part of a security element at Fire
Support Base Granite in Kontum Province, South Vietnam when the firebase came
under hostile mortar and ground attack.

The platoon leader last saw PFC Bishop firing at an enemy to his front. As the
platoon leader was crawling away from Bishop's position, he looked back and saw
a large explosion and what appeared to be bodies flying through the air. As
Bishop was last seen only seconds before, indications are that he was at the
location of the blast.

The next morning, searches were conducted during which parts of another
soldier's body were found, but there was no trace of PFC Bishop. Because it was
deemed possible that he left his position and escaped the blast, PFC Bishop was
not immediately classified killed, but rather listed Missing In Action, a
classification that remained until his presumptive finding of death some years
later.

Families of missing men are taunted by the nearly 10,000 reports that have been
received since the end of American involvement in the war relating to missing
Americans in Southeast Asia. Even those whose loved one is considered dead
cannot avoid wondering if by some miracle he escaped only to be captured. For
those families whose men are specifically mentioned by name and location, the
grief is especially intense. There is absolutely nothing they can do to bring
their sons, fathers, or husbands home.

Whether Edward Bishop escaped being blown to bits by the explosion that hit his
position is unknown. What seems certain, however, is that if there is only one
man alive in Southeast Asia held against his will, we must do everything
possible to bring him home.

BISS, ROBERT IRVING

Name: Robert Irving Biss
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Cherry Tree PA
Date of Loss: 11 November 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 170000N 1065800E (YD093804)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4C

Other Personnel in Incident: Harold D. Monlux (released); Nearby F4C same day:
Richard L. Butt (remains returned); Herbert B. Ringsdorf (released);

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS: RELSD 730218 BY DRV

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.
Most pilots considered it one of the "hottest" planes around.

On November 11, 1966, two F4C aircraft were shot down about 5 miles west of the
city of Vinh Linh in Quang Binh Province, North Vietnam. The crew of one
consisted of pilot 1Lt. Herbert B. Ringsdorf and weapons/system operator 1Lt.
Richard L. Butt. Of this crew, both were apparently captured, but only Ringsdorf
was released at the end of the war. The Department of Defense received
intelligence that Butt was dead, but evidently did not feel it was compelling
enough to declare Butt Killed in Action, as he remained in Prisoner of War
status for several years.

On April 10, 1986, Butt's remains were "discovered" and returned by the
Vietnamese and positively identified. For twenty years, Richard L. Butt was a
prisoner of war - alive or dead.

The crew of the second F4C to be shot down on November 11, 1966 was 1Lt. Harold
D. Monlux and Capt. Robert I. Biss. Both men were captured and released at the
end of the war.

There is some confusion as to the location of the loss incidents of these four
individuals. While the loss coordinates place all four in Quang Binh Province,
certain records indicate that Biss and Monlux were lost in the next province to
the north, Ha Tinh. Their grid coordinates (YD108825 and YD093804) are close
enough to be all in Quang Binh Province.

Since the war ended, over 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. These reports
are the source of serious distress to many returned American prisoners. They had
a code that no one could honorably return unless all of the prisoners returned.
Not only that code of honor, but the honor of our country is at stake as long as
even one man remains unjustly held. It's time we brought our men home.

Richard Butt, Herbert Ringsdorf and Harold Monlux were promoted to the rank of
Captain during the period they were maintained Prisoner of War. Robert Biss was
promoted to the rank of Major.



BISZ, RALPH CAMPION

Name: Ralph Campion Bisz
Rank/Branch: O2/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 163, USS ORISKANY
Date of Birth: 28 March 1942
Home City of Record: Miami FL
Date of Loss: 04 August 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 205300N 1063100E (XJ577097)
Status (in 1973): Prisoner of War
Category: 1
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A4E

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: DEAD - IR 6 918 5348 73

SYNOPSIS: The USS ORISKANY was a World War II-era carrier on duty in Vietnam as
early as 1964. The ORISKANY at one time carried the RF8A (number 144608) that
Maj. John H. Glenn, the famous Marine astronaut (and later Senator), flew in his
1957 transcontinental flight. In October, 1966 the ORISKANY endured a tragic
fire which killed 44 men onboard, but was soon back on station. In 1972, the
ORISKANY had an at-sea accident which resulted in the loss of one of its
aircraft elevators, and later lost a screw that put the carrier into drydock in
Yokosuka, Japan for major repairs, thus delaying its involvement until the late
months of the war.

The ORISKANY's 1966 tour was undoubtedly one of the most tragic deployments of
the Vietnam conflict. This cruise saw eight VA 164 "Ghostriders" lost; four in
the onboard fire, one in an aerial refueling mishap, and another three in the
operational arena. However, the 1967 deployment, which began in June and ended
on a chilly January morning as the ORISKANY anchored in San Francisco Bay,
earned near legendary status by virtue of extensive losses suffered in the
ship's squadrons, including among the Ghostriders of VA 164, and Saints of VA
163. One reason may have been that Navy aviators were, at this time, still
forbidden to strike surface-to-air missile (SAM) sites which were increasing in
number in North Vietnam.

On July 18, 1967, LCDR Richard D. Hartman's aircraft fell victim to
anti-aircraft fire near Phu Ly in Nam Ha Province, North Vietnam. Hartman, from
VA 164, ejected safely, but could not be rescued due to the hostile threat in
the area. Others in the flight were in radio contact with him and resupplied him
for about three days. He was on a karst hill in a difficult recovery area.
Eventually the North Vietnamese moved in a lot of troops and AAA guns, making
rescue almost impossible.

One of the rescue helicopters attempting to recover LCDR Hartman on the 19th was
a Sikorsky SH3A helicopter flown by Navy LT Dennis W. Peterson. The crew onboard
the aircraft included ENS Donald P. Frye and AX2 William B. Jackson and AX2
Donald P. McGrane. While attempting to rescue LCDR Hartman, this aircraft was
hit by enemy fire and crashed killing all onboard. The remains of all but the
pilot, Peterson, were returned by the Vietnamese on October 14, 1982. Peterson
remains missing.

The decision was made to leave Hartman before more men were killed trying to
rescue him. It was not an easy decision, and one squadron mate said, "To this
day, I can remember his voice pleading, 'Please don't leave me.' We had to, and
it was a heartbreaker." Hartman was captured and news returned home that he was
in a POW camp. However, he was not released in 1973. The Vietnamese finally
returned his remains on March 5, 1974. Hartman had died in captivity from
unknown causes.

In July 1967, LCDR Donald V. Davis was one of the Saints of VA 163 onboard the
ORISKANY. Davis was an aggressive pilot. On the night of July 25, 1967, Davis
was assigned a mission over North Vietnam. The procedure for these night attacks
was to drop flares over a suspected target and then fly beneath them to attack
the target in the light of the flares. Davis and another pilot were conducting
the mission about 10 miles south of Ha Tinh when Davis radioed that he had
spotted a couple of trucks. He dropped the flares and went in. On his strafing
run, he drove his Skyhawk straight into the ground and was killed immediately.
Davis is listed among the missing because his remains were never recovered.

LTJG Ralph C. Bisz was also assigned to Attack Squadron 163. On August 4, 1967,
Bisz launched on a strike mission against a petroleum storage area near
Haiphong. Approximately a minute and a half from the target area, four
surface-to-air missiles (SAM) were observed lifting from the area northeast of
Haiphong. The flight maneuvered to avoid the SAMs, however, Bisz' aircraft was
observed as it was hit by a SAM by a wingman. Bisz' aircraft exploded, burst
into flames, and spun downward in a large ball of fire. Remnants of the aircraft
were observed falling down in the large ball of fire until reaching an altitude
estimated to be 5,000 feet and then appeared to almost completely burn out prior
to reaching the ground. No parachute or ejection was observed. No emergency
beeper or voice communications were received.

Bisz' aircraft went down in a heavily populated area in Hai Duong Province,
Vietnam. Information from an indigenous source which closely parallels his
incident indicated that his remains were recovered from the wreckage and taken
to Hanoi for burial. The U.S. Government listed Ralph Bisz as a Prisoner of War
with certain knowledge that the Vietnamese know his fate. Bisz was placed in a
casualty status of Captured on August 4, 1967.

The Navy now says that the possibility of Bisz ejecting was slim. If he had
ejected, his capture would have taken place in a matter of seconds due to the
heavy population concentration in the area and that due to the lack of
additional information it is believed that Bisz did not eject from his aircraft
and that he was killed on impact of the SAM.

Classified information on Bisz' case was presented to the Vietnamese by General
Vessey in the fall of 1987 in hopes that the Vietnamese would be able to resolve
the mystery of Bisz' fate. His case is one of what are called "discrepancy"
cases, which should be readily resolved. The Vietnamese have not been
forthcoming with information on Ralph Bisz.

On August 31, three pilots from the ORISKANY were shot down on a particularly
wild raid over Haiphong. The Air Wing had been conducting strikes on Haiphong
for two consecutive days. On this, the third day, ten aircraft launched in three
flights; four from VA 164 (call sign Ghostrider), four from VA 163 (call sign
Old Salt) and two from VA 163. As the flight turned to go into Haiphong, one of
the section leaders spotted two SAMs lifting off from north of Haiphong. They
were headed towards the Saints section leader and the Ghostrider section leader,
LCDR Richard C. Perry.

The Saints section leader and his wingman pitched up and to the right, while Old
Salt 3 (LCDR Hugh A. Stafford) turned down, his wingman, LTJG David J. Carey
close behind him. Carey, an Air Force Academy graduate, was on his first
operational mission. The missile detonated right in front of them and aircraft
pieces went everywhere.

The other SAM headed towards Perry's section, and he had frozen in the cockpit.
All three planes in the division pulled away, and he continued straight and
level. His helpless flightmates watched as the missile came right up and hit the
aircraft. The aircraft was generally whole and heading for open water.

Old Salt Three and Old Salt Four, Stafford and Carey, had by that time ejected
from their ruined planes and were heading towards the ground. Both were okay,
but Stafford had landed in a tree near a village, making rescue impossible.
Stafford and Carey were captured and held in various prisoner of war camps until
their release in Operation Homecoming on March 14, 1973.

Richard Perry had also ejected and was over open water. But as Perry entered the
water, his parachute went flat and he did not come up. A helicopter was on scene
within minutes, and a crewman went into the water after Perry. He had suffered
massive chest wounds, either in the aircraft or during descent in his parachute
and was dead. To recover his body was too dangerous because the North Vietnamese
were mortaring the helicopter. The helicopter left the area. Richard Perry's
remains were recovered by the Vietnamese and held until February 1987, at which
time they were returned to U.S. control.

Flight members were outraged that they had lost three pilots to SAMs that they
were forbidden to attack. Policy was soon changed to allow the pilots to strike
the sites, although never to the extent that they were disabled completely.

On October 7, 1967, VA 164 pilot LT David L. Hodges was killed when his Skyhawk
was hit by a SAM about twelve miles southwest of Hanoi. His remains were never
recovered and he is listed among those missing in Vietnam.

On October 18, 1967, VA 164 pilot LCDR John F. Barr was killed when his Skyhawk
was hit by enemy fire and slammed into the ground while on a strike mission at
Haiphong. Barr's remains were not recovered.

On November 2, 1967, VA 164 pilot LTJG Frederic Knapp launched as the lead of a
flight of two aircraft on an armed reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam.
The wingman reported that during an attack run, the aircraft appeared to have
been hit by anti-aircraft fire. The wingman saw Knapp's aircraft impact the
ground and did not see the canopy separate from the aircraft. There was no
parachute sighted or emergency radio beeper heard. The aircraft crashed about 9
kilometers west-southwest of Cho Giat, near route 116, in Nghe An Province.

A source later reported that people from his village had removed the remains of
a dead pilot from his aircraft and buried the remains nearby. These remains are
believed to be those of Knapp. On October 14, 1982, Vietnamese officials turned
over to U.S. authorities a Geneva Convention card belonging to Ltjg. Knapp. To
date, no remains have been repatriated.

Six of the thirteen pilots and crewmen lost in 1967 off the decks of the
ORISKANY remain prisoner, missing, or otherwise unaccounted for in Vietnam.
Disturbing testimony was given to Congress in 1980 that the Vietnamese
"stockpiled" the remains of Americans to return at politically advantageous
times. Could any of these six be in a casket, awaiting 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. Could any of these six be
among them?

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.





BITTENBENDER, DAVID FRITZ

Name: David Fritz Bittenbender
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 2nd Bombardment Squadron
Date of Birth: 27 July 1940
Home City of Record: Niagara Falls NY
Date of Loss: 07 July 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 094357N 1065858E
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: B52D

Other Personnel in Incident: William J. Crumm; Paul A. Avolese; on second B52:
Charles H. Blankenship; George E. Jones; Olen B. McLaughlin (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II
Project.

REMARKS: AIR COLLISION - 7 RESC - N SUBJ - J

SYNOPSIS: Boeing B52 Stratofortress bombers have long been the Air Force's most
important strategic bomber. Used heavily in Vietnam, the venerable aircraft
continued its role throughout the Southeast Asia conflict and played an
important role in the Persian Gulf war two decades later.

On July 7, 1967, two B52 aircraft were enroute to a combat mission when they
collided in mid-air over the South China Sea. The aircraft were approximately
20 miles offshore at the point of Vinh Binh Province when the accident occurred.
Seven crewmembers from the aircraft were rescued, but Avolese, Crumm,
Bittenbender, Blankenship, Jones, and McLaughlin were not.

All the missing crewmen onboard the two B52 downed that day were believed to be
dead. It is unfortunate, but a cold reality of war that their remains were not
recoverable. They are listed with honor among the missing because their remains
cannot be buried with honor at home.

Others who are missing do not have such clear-cut cases. Some were known
captives; some were photographed as they were led by their guards. Some were in
radio contact with search teams, while others simply disappeared.

Since the war ended, over 250,000 interviews have been conducted with those who
claim to know about Americans still alive in Southeast Asia, and several million
documents have been studied. U.S. Government experts cannot seem to agree
whether Americans are there alive or not. Detractors say it would be far too
politically difficult to bring the men they believe to be alive home, and the
U.S. is content to negotiate for remains.

Well over 1000 first-hand, eye-witness reports of American prisoners still alive
in Southeast Asia have been received by 1990. Most of them are still classified.
If, as the U.S. seems to believe, the men are all dead, why the secrecy after so
many years? If the men are alive, why are they not home?

Major General William J. Crumm is the highest-ranking man missing.

BIVENS, HERNDON ARRINGTON

Name: Herndon Arrington Bivens
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: Security Platoon, 52nd Aviation Battalion, 17th Aviation Group, 1st
Aviation Brigade
Date of Birth: 01 January 1951 (Frankfort Germany)
Home City of Record: Jamaica NY
Date of Loss: 15 April 1970
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 145127N 1074126E (YB895442)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 1
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H

Other Personnel in Incident: Roger A. Miller (Released POW)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 July 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: 730305 RELSD BY PRG - INJURED

SYNOPSIS: Kontum, South Vietnam was in the heart of "Charlie country" -- hostile
enemy territory. The little town is along the Ia Drang River, some forty miles
north of the city of Pleiku. U.S. forces never had much control over the area.
In fact, the area to the north and east of Kontum was freefire zone where
anything and anyone was free game. The Kontum area was home base to what was
known as FOB2 (Forward Observation Base 2), a classified, long-term operations
of the Special Operations Group (SOG) that involved daily operations into Laos
and Cambodia. SOG teams operated out of Kontum, but staged out of Dak To.

On April 15, 1970, helicopters from the 170th Assault Helicopter Company
("Bikinis") flown by James E. Lake and Bill McDonald, were flying a routine FOB
mission when they got word that some of the unit's other helicopters were in
heavy action at Dak Seang. [Much of the following is extracted from Lake's
account of the incident found in "Life on the Line."] Dak Seang was a Special
Forces camp about twenty miles north of Dak To, located in a valley surrounded
by high mountains, deep in Charlie country.

The helicopter unit had made a combat assault, carrying ARVN troops to the top
of a small hill just north of the camp. CPL Herndon A. Bivens, a pathfinder with
a security detachment, 52nd Aviation Battalion, was riding in the lead
helicopter as elements of the 52nd Aviation Battalion attempted to insert the
3rd Battalion, 42nd Regiment, Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) into the
area. CPL Bivens and another pathfinder, SGT Rosindo Montana and 6 ARVN soldiers
were successfully inserted by the lead helicopter without receiving fire.

In a common tactic used by the North Vietnamese, the first aircraft had been
allowed to land, drop its troops and depart the LZ. As soon as the second bird
neared the ground, the NVA fired at it from all sides and it crashed on the
landing zone. The second aircraft, UH1H (serial #68-16203) was flown by WO1
Roger A. Miller (only two weeks in-country), and aircraft commander WO Albert L.
Barthelme Jr.. Also onboard the aircraft were SP4 Vincent S. Davis, SP5 Donald
C. Summers and 6 ARVN soldiers. Two of the ARVN died in the crash of the
aircraft. Miller was unhurt, as were Davis and Summers, the gunner and crew
chief. Barthelme crawled through the chin bubble to exit the aircraft, but was
then hit in the back and fell or was dragged into a bomb crater. They were
surrounded by NVA at a range of twenty meters in fortified positions.

When the second aircraft hit the LZ, Cpl. Bivens was near the landing zone. One
by one, other helicopters tried to get the survivors off the hill, but were shot
down. Three unsuccessful extraction attempts were made to rescue the survivors
of the second aircraft and the passengers of the first.

The Air Force had called on SAR helicopters, Jolly 27 and Jolly 29 accompanied
by four A1E Skyraiders (Sandys), to try and rescue the survivors of the two
helicopters. After some F4 fighters strafed the surrounding area, Jolly 27
started his approach, immediately receiving enemy fire. The aircraft was shot
down and crashed in the trees. Jolly 29 didn't get that close, but received
crippling enemy fire and returned to Pleiku.

Several hours passed before Lake and McDonald arrived in their helicopters to do
what they could to retrieve their friends. Monitoring the Air Force efforts,
they returned to Dak To and requested the assistance of what SOG called the
"Bright Light Team." This was an emergency response team consisting of select
Special Forces people who would respond in an extreme situation. They were very
tough, courageous, and they were often killed. The request was granted, and with
the Bright Light team on McDonald's aircraft, Lake and McDonald returned to Dak
Seang. McDonald and Barthelme were high school friends that had grown up
together in St. Mary's County, Maryland. It was decided that McDonald would make
the first approach and Lake would cover him.

Like Jolly 27, McDonald started to receive heavy ground fire a quarter mile from
the LZ. Undaunted, he pressed on and landed next to the downed crew under heavy
close-range fire from 360 degrees. The door gunner and crew chief were firing
back into the charging NVA soldiers, who were running within a few feet of the
aircraft. Tom Benne, McDonald's pilot, was shot through both legs by a round
that came through the armored seat. The door gunner and the crew chief from
Barthelm's aircraft, SP4 Davis and SP5 Summers, leaped on and were both shot
multiple times in the process. Miller also jumped on and then jumped off again,
saying he was going back for Barthelme.

When McDonald touched down on the LZ, he had 1,100 pounds of fuel. After 30
seconds on the ground, he reported that he had only 400 pounds left, that
everyone was hit and he was coming out. Soon after liftoff he lost pedal
control. Fuel was pouring out of a huge hole in the fuel cells. He made a slow
turn to the south and made an approach to the wire at Dak Seang, landing just
inside the wire. There were hundreds of NVA just outside the wire, less than a
hundred meters away.

Lake's aircraft began to take ground fire on his approach to the wire at Dak
Seang, but he also landed safely a few seconds after McDonald. As he landed
facing McDonald's aircraft, bodies were falling out of the doors. Lake's gunner
and crew chief left their seats and ran to assist. John Kemper, an ex-Special
Forces E6 on his third tour of Vietnam, was Lake's pilot. He jumped out to help.
Ground fire was continuous, and bullets were smashing through the windscreen and
the instrument panel as they carried the wounded from McDonald's to Lake's
aircraft. Everyone except McDonald had been shot, most of them several times,
and blood was everywhere. Lake lifted off, believing he also had Barthelme
aboard, but he was wrong.

Summers and Davis reported that WO Barthelme was badly wounded, and that one of
the pathfinders was dead. Two ARVN survivors from the first helicopter were able
to evade capture. Before they left the LZ that night, they asked CPL Bivens and
WO Miller to go with them, but the Americans chose to stay on the LZ and await
rescue.

WO Miller was captured by the Viet Cong and eventually moved to Hanoi and was
released in Operation Homecoming in March 1973. When he was released, he
reported that he and Bivens had spent the night on the LZ, and on the morning of
April 16 attempted to return to friendly lines. At an unknown location they were
ambushed by two enemy squads. WO Miller saw that Bivens had been wounded in the
chest 5 or 6 times by small arms fire. After their capture they were separated
and given medical attention. The last Miller saw of Bivens was when he was taken
from the site of the ambush on a stretcher. At that time, Bivens was still
undergoing medical treatment. About four days later, the camp commander where
Miller was being held told him that Bivens had died about 2 hours after capture.

On April 29, 1970, a U.S. search and recovery team was able to examine the crash
site and recover the remains of WO Barthelme and Sgt. Montana. The only
identifiable thing about Barthelme was the green St. Mary's County t-shirt he
wore.

Herndon Bivens has been missing nearly 20 years, and there can be no question
that the Vietnamese know precisely what happened to him, but they deny any
knowledge of his fate. Further, even though WO Miller knew that Bivens had been
captured, Bivens is classified Missing in Action rather than the more
appropriate category of Prisoner of War. His name did not appear on Henry
Kissinger's descrepancy case list at the end of the war.

There are nearly 2500 Americans still prisoner, missing or unaccounted for from
the war in Vietnam. Tragically, most experts agree, based on evidence received
in thousands of refugee reports, that many of them are still alive. Bivens could
be among them. What are we doing to bring these men home?




BLACK, ARTHUR NEIL

Name: Arthur Neil Black
Rank/Branch: E2/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Bethlehem PA
Date of Loss: 20 September 1965
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 180500N 1054400E (WF775009)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: HH43B
Other Personnel in Incident: Duane W. Martin; William A. Robinson; Thomas J.
Curtis (all returned POWs)

REMARKS: 730212 RELSD BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: On September 20, 1965, 1Lt. Duane W. Martin, Capt. Thomas J. Curtis,
SSgt. William A. Robinson, and Airman Arthur N. Black comprised the crew and
passengers of an HH43B "Huskie" helicopter operating about 10 miles from the
border of Laos in Ha Tinh Province, North Vietnam.

The Huskie is typically a crash rescue helicopter, and although it was
considered to be inadequate for Southeast Asia duty, the Air Force had no other
options at the time. The increase in combat called for an ever increasing need
for rescue services. Some of the Huskies were shored up with heavy armor plate
to protect the crews, and outfitted with long cables to facilitate rescue in
the high rain forest. During the period Martin, Curtis, Robinson and Black were
on their mission in Ha Tinh Province, most of the rescue crews were dispatched
out of Nakhon Phanom, Thailand and Bien Hoa, South Vietnam, both being stop-gap
installations until the primary rescue agency, 3rd Aerospace Rescue and
Recovery Group was formed at Tan Son Nhut in January 1966.

Public records do not indicate the precise nature of the mission undertaken on
September 20, 1965, but the HH43B went down near the city of Tan An, and all
four personnel aboard the aircraft were captured. It is not clear if the four
were captured by North Vietnamese or Pathet Lao troops or a combination of the
two. Duane W. Martin was taken to a camp controlled by Pathet Lao. Curtis,
Robinson and Black were released in 1973 by the North Vietnamese, and were in
the Hanoi prison system as early as 1967.

Duane Martin found himself held by the Pathet Lao with other Americans. Some of
them had been held for more than two years. (Note: This would indicate that
there were Americans in this camp who had been captured in 1964. The only
American officially listed as captured in Laos in 1964 is Navy Lt. Charles F.
Klushann, who was captured in June 1964 and escaped in August 1964. Source for
the "two years" information is Mersky & Polmer's "The Naval Air War in
Vietnam", and this source does not identify any Americans by name who had been
held "for more than two years". Civilian Eugene DeBruin, an acknowledged Laos
POW, had been captured in the fall of 1963. Dengler has stated that a
red-bearded DeBruin was held in one of the camps in which he was held. All
previous Laos loss incidents occurred in 1961 and 1962.)

One American who joined the group in February 1966 was U.S. Navy pilot Lt.
Dieter Dengler. Lt. Dengler had launched on February 1, 1966 from the aircraft
carrier USS RANGER in an A1H Skyraider as part of an interdiction mission near
the border of Laos. Ground fire severely damaged his aircraft, and he was
forced to crash land in Laos. Although he had successfully evaded capture
through that night, he was finally caught by Pathet Lao troops, who tortured
him as they force-marched him through several villages.

Throughout the fall of 1965 and into spring and summer of 1966, the group of
Americans suffered regular beatings, torture, harassment, hunger and illness in
the hands of their captors. According to an "American Opinion" special report
entitled "The Code" (June 1973), Dengler witnessed his captors behead an
American Navy pilot and execute six wounded Marines. (Note: no other source
information available at time of writing reveals the names of these seven
Americans.)

On June 29, 1965, after hearing the prisoners were to be killed, Martin and
Dengler and unnamed others (Eugene DeBruin was apparently part of this group,
but was recaptured, and according to information received by his family, was
alive at least until January 1968, when he was taken away with other prisoners
by North Vietnamese regular army troops.) decided to make their escape in a
hail of gunfire in which six communist guards were killed. Dengler was
seriously ill with jaundice, and Martin was sick with malaria. Dengler and
Martin and the others made their way through the dense jungle surviving on
fruits, berries, and some rice they had managed to save during their captivity.

They floated down river on a raft they had constructed, eventually coming to an
abandoned village where the men found some corn. After a night's rest, Dengler
and Martin made their way downstream to another village. This settlement was
occupied, however, and the two Americans were suddenly attacked by a villager
with a machete. Dengler managed to escape back into the jungle, but Martin was
fatally wounded by the assailant. It had been 18 days since their escape.

Dengler made his way alone, and on the 22 day, with his strength almost gone,
he was able to form an SOS with some rocks, and waited, exausted to be rescued
or die. Luck was with him, for by late morning, an Air Force A1E spotted the
signal and directed a helicopter to pick up Dengler. He weighed 98 pounds. When
he had launched from his aircraft carrier 5 months earlier, he had weighed 157
pounds.

Curtis, Robinson and Black were released from Hanoi on February 12, 1973, over
seven years from the time of their capture. Lt. Duane Martin's fate remains
uncertain. If, as reported, he was killed during the escape attempt, no effort
has been made by the Lao to return his body.

Martin is one of nearly 600 Americans who remain prisoner, missing or otherwise
unaccounted for in Laos. Although the U.S. maintained only a handful of these
men in POW status, over 100 were known to have survived their loss incident.
The Pathet Lao stated during the war that they held "tens of tens" of American
prisoners, but they would be released only from Laos (meaning that the U.S.
must negotiate directly with the Pathet Lao).

The Pathet Lao were not part of the agreements that ended American involvement
in Southeast Asia, and no negotiations have been conducted with them since for
the prisoners they held.

Reports continue to come in related to missing Americans in Southeast Asia. It
does not seem likely that Martin is among the hundreds thought by many
authorities to be still alive, but what would he think of the abandonment of
his fellow Americans. Are we doing enough to bring these men home?

Prepared by Homecoming II Project 01 December 1989



BLACK, COLE

Name: Cole Black
Rank/Branch: O4/US Navy
Unit:
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Lake City MN
Date of Loss: 21 June 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 213400N 1063900E (XJ708855)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
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: 730212 RELSD BY DRV

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.

Major Cole Black was the pilot of an F8E sent on a combat mission over North
Vietnam on June 21, 1966. His flight route took him northeast of Hanoi, where he
was shot down near the border of Lang Son and Ha Bac Provinces about 15 miles
southwest of the city of Lang Son.

For the next 7 years, Black was held in various prisoner of war camps, including
the infamous "Hanoi Hilton" complex in Hanoi. He was released in the general
prisoner release in 1973.

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. These reports are the source of serious distress to many returned
American prisoners. They had a code that no one could honorably return unless
all of the prisoners returned. Not only that code of honor, but the honor of our
country is at stake as long as even one man remains unjustly held. It's time we
brought our men home.


BLACK, PAUL VERNON

Name: Paul Vernon Black
Rank/Branch: W1/US Army
Unit: 11th Aviation Group, 1st Cavalry Division
Date of Birth: 26 April 1948 (Santa Cruz CA)
Home City of Record: Central Valley CA
Date of Loss: 01 March 1971
Country of Loss: Cambodia
Loss Coordinates: 115940N 1055238E (WU955265)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On March 1, 1971, W1 Paul V. Black was the aircraft commander of a
UH1H helicopter on a combat mission about 15 miles within Cambodia in Kampong
Cham Province. During the mission, the aircraft received enemy ground fire,
crashed and burned. The helicopter apparently lost its main rotor on impact
with the ground. The vehicle exploded into a fireball. All the crew members
were aboard the aircraft at the time, and none were seen to exit.

Subsequent recovery efforts recovered the remains of the pilot and passengers
(no further identification available), but no trace could be found of W1 Black.
Although he is thought to have perished in the crash of the aircraft, the U.S.
believes that the enemy forces in the area probably know his fate.

Fifteen years after the war, the Cambodian (Kampuchean) government let it be
known that they had the remains of nearly 100 Americans. Unfortunately, the
U.S. has no diplomatic relations with Kampuchea and would not officially
respond. Although several U.S. Congressmen have attempted to recover the
remains of these Americans, the government of Kampuchea clearly wishes an
official request from the U.S., which the U.S. Government is unwilling to give.

It is not thought that Americans captured by the Cambodian communists were
allowed to survive, but were instead executed. As Vietnamese troops also
coursed through Cambodia, as in Laos, however, a significant number of these
downed pilots and crew might have been captured by the Vietnamese, thus
escaping the post-war holocost caused by the Pol Pot regime in Cambodia.

The governments of Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and the United States have for
nearly 20 years engaged in political pandering while reports mount that
Americans are still alive in Southeast Asia. It's time we brought our men home.



BLACKBURN, HARRY LEE JR.
Remains returned April 10, 1986

Name: Harry Lee Blackburn, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O5/US Navy
Unit: Fighter Squadron 92, USS CONSTELLATION (CVA 64)
Date of Birth: 28 December 1935 (Ft. Benning GA)
Home City of Record: Highland Springs VA
Date of Loss: 10 May 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 205700N 1062000E (XJ384165)
Status (in 1973): Prisoner of War
Category: 1
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4J

Other Personnel in Incident: Stephen A. Rudloff (Released POW)

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: POSS DED RO85 RPTS ALGD SUICI

SYNOPSIS: Commander Harry L. Blackburn Jr. was a pilot assigned to Fighter
Squadron 92 onboard the USS CONSTELLATION. On May 10, 1972 he launched with his
radar intercept officer (RIO), Lt. Stephen A. Rudloff in their F4J Phantom
fighter aircraft. They were assigned on a flak suppression mission against the
Guan Lang Airfield near Hai Duong, Hai Hung Province, North Vietnam.

After effectively hitting two anti-aircraft positions, Cdr. Blackburn was in the
process of engaging enemy MiG aircraft when his plane was hit by ground fire and
he and Rudloff were forced to eject from the aircraft. Both cremen were seen by
other aircraft to safely eject with good parachutes, and were seen to land on
the ground several hundred yards apart.

Blackburn and Rudloff were initially placed in a category of Missing in Action,
which was later changed to captured (POW). Rudloff was released as a POW in
1973, but Blackburn was not, nor did his name appear on any list provided by the
Vietnamese. The U.S. does not classify persons as prisoner of war without
reason, and doubtless received intelligence to confirm the capture of both men.

When Rudloff was released, he reported that he was taken prisoner and locked in
a room in a nearby compound. The night of his capture, Rudloff heard a vehicle
drive up to the building and saw a light go on in the room next to his. Next, he
heard a noise which he described as a "hand slapping a face". Thinking the man
in the next room might be Blackburn, he began to shout, but was immediately
hushed by the guards. The light in the next room was then turned off and the
vehicle drove away. Rudloff believes this is the last contact he had with his
pilot.

The Defense Department further notes "POSS DED R085 RPTS ALGD SUICI", which
translates to "Possibly dead. R085 (Rudloff) reports alleged suicide." There is
no reference to this data remark in public U.S. Navy records.

In 1973, returning POWs reported seeing Blackburn's name scrawled on the walls
of their cells. Hanoi denied any knowledge of Harry Blackburn.

April 10, 1986, the Vietnamese returned remains they had "discovered" which were
positively identified as being those of Harry Blackburn. For 14 years, he was a
prisoner of war -- alive or dead. It is unclear how or when Blackburn died.

Since American involvement in Vietnam ended in 1975, nearly 10,000 reports
relating to Americans missing, prisoner, or otherwise unaccounted for in
Indochina have been received by the U.S. Government. Many officials, having
examined this largely classified information, have reluctantly concluded that
many Americans are still alive today, held captive by our long-ago enemy.

It is not known how long Harry Blackburn lived as a prisoner of war. He is one
of about 100 Americans who were confirmed prisoners of war, and about whom the
Vietnamese denied knowledge. The Vietnamese also deny knowledge of the over 2300
other Americans still prisoner, missing or otherwise unaccounted for in
Southeast Asia. And the U.S. accepts them at their word and gratefully accepts
the "gift" of remains that should have been returned decades ago.

If even one American is still alive in captivity today, it represents our
nation's greatest shame. We must do everything possible to bring our men home.


Harry Lee Blackburn, Jr. was promoted to the rank of Captain during the period
he was maintained as a Prisoner of War.


BLACKMAN, THOMAS JOSEPH

Name: Thomas Joseph Blackman
Rank/Branch: E2/US Marine Corps
Unit: Battery D, 2nd Battalion, 13th Marines, 1st Marine Division
Date of Birth: 29 February 1949
Home City of Record: Racine WI
Date of Loss: 10 May 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 152208N 1074540E (YC965009)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Personnel in Incident: Ngok Tavak: Horace H. Fleming; Thomas J. Blackman;
Joseph F. Cook; Paul S. Czerwonka; Thomas W. Fritsch; Barry L. Hempel; Raymond
T. Heyne; Gerald E. King; Robert C. Lopez; William D. McGonigle; Donald W.
Mitchell; James R. Sargent (members of USMC search team - all missing); Glenn
E. Miller; Thomas H. Perry (USSF teammembers - missing); Kham Duc: Richard E.
Sands (missing from CH47); Bernard L. Bucher; Frank M. Hepler; George W. Long;
John L. McElroy; Stephan C. Moreland (USAF crew of C130 - all missing); Warren
R. Orr (USSF on C130 - missing); Harry B. Coen; Andrew J. Craven; Juan M.
Jimenez; Frederick J. Ransbottom; Maurice H. Moore; Joseph L. Simpson; William
E. Skivington; John C. Stuller; Imlay S. Widdison; Danny L. Widner; Roy C.
Williams (all missing); Julius W. Long (released POW).

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Kham Duc Special Forces camp (A-105), was located on the western
fringes of Quang Tin ("Great Faith") Province, South Vietnam. In the spring of
1968, it was the only remaining border camp in Military Region I. Backup
responsibility for the camp fell on the 23rd Infantry Division (Americal),
based at Chu Lai on the far side of the province.

The camp had originally been built for President Diem, who enjoyed hunting in
the area. The 1st Special Forces detachment (A-727B) arrived in September 1963
and found the outpost to be an ideal border surveillance site with an existing
airfield. The camp was located on a narrow grassy plain surrounded by rugged,
virtually uninhabited jungle. The only village in the area, located across the
airstrip, was occupied by post dependents, camp followers and merchants. The
camp and airstrip were bordered by the Ngok Peng Bum ridge to the west and Ngok
Pe Xar mountain, looming over Kham Duc to the east. Steep banked streams full
of rapids and waterfalls cut through the tropical wilderness. The Dak Mi River
flowed past the camp over a mile distant, under the shadow of the Ngok Pe Xar.

Five miles downriver was the small forward operating base of Ngok Tavak,
defended by the 113-man 11th Mobile Strike Force Company with its 8 Special
Forces and 3 Australian advisors. Since Ngok Tavak was outside friendly
artillery range, 33 Marine artillerymen of Battery D, 2nd Battalion, 13th
Marines, with two 105mm howitzers were located at the outpost.

Capt. Christopher J. Silva, commander of Detachment A-105 helicoptered into
Ngok Tavak on May 9, 1968 in response to growing signs of NVA presence in the
area. Foul weather prevented his scheduled evening departure. A Kham Duc CIDG
platoon fleeing a local ambush also arrived and was posted to the outer
perimeter. It was later learned that the CIDG force contained VC infiltrators.

Ngok Tavak was attacked by an NVA infantry battalion at 0315 hours on May 10.
The base was pounded by mortars and direct rocket fire. As the frontal assault
began, the Kham Duc CIDG soldiers moved toward the Marines in the fort yelling,
"Don't shoot, don't shoot! Friendly, friendly!" Suddenly they lobbed grenades
into the Marine howitzer positions and ran into the fort, where they shot
several Marines with carbines and sliced claymore mine and communication wires.

The defenders suffered heavy casualties but stopped the main assault and killed
the infiltrators. The NVA dug in along the hill slopes and grenaded the trenches
where the mobile strike force soldiers were pinned by machine gun and rocket
fire. An NVA flamethrower set the ammunition ablaze, banishing the murky flare-
lighted darkness for the rest of the night. SFC Harold M. Swicegood and the
USMC platoon leader, Lt. Adams, were badly wounded and moved to the command
bunker. Medical Spec4 Blomgren reported that the CIDG mortar crews had abandoned
their weapons. Silva tried to operate the main 4.2 inch mortar but was wounded.
At about 0500 hours, Sgt. Glenn Miller, an A-105 communications specialist, was
shot through the head as he ran over to join the Marine howitzer crews.

The NVA advanced across the eastern side of Ngok Tavak and brought forward more
automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenade launchers. In desperation, the
defenders called on USAF AC-47 "Spooky" gunships to strafe the perimeter and
the howitzers, despite the possible presence of friendly wounded in the gun
pits. The NVA countered with tear gas, but the wind kept drifting the gas over
their own lines. After three attempts, they stopped. A grenade fight between
the two forces lasted until dawn.

At daybreak Australian Warrant Officers Cameron and Lucas, joined by Blomgren,
led a CIDG counterattack. The North Vietnamese pulled back under covering fire,
and the howitzers were retaken. The Marines fired the last nine shells and
spiked the tubes. Later that morning medical evacuation helicopters supported
by covering airstrikes took out the seriously wounded, including Silva and
Swicegood. Two CH46's were able to land 45 replacements from the 12th Mobile
Strike Force Company, accompanied by Capt. Euge E. Makowski (who related much
of this account to Shelby Stanton, author of "Green Berets at War"), but one
helicopter was hit in the fuel line and forced down. Another helicopter was hit
by a rocket and burst into flames, wrecking the small helipad. The remaining
wounded were placed aboard a hovering helicopter. As it lifted off, two Mike
Force soldiers and 1Lt. Horace Fleming, one of the stranded aviation crewmen,
grabbed the helicopter skids. All three fell to their deaths after the
helicopter had reached an altitude of over one hundred feet.

The mobile strike force soldiers were exhausted and nervous. Ammunition and
water were nearly exhausted, and Ngok Tavak was still being pounded by sporadic
mortar fire. They asked permission to evacuate their positions, but were told
to "hold on" as "reinforcements were on the way". By noon the defenders decided
that aerial reinforcement or evacuation was increasingly unlikely, and night
would bring certain destruction. An hour later, they abandoned Ngok Tavak.

Thomas Perry, a medic from C Company, arrived at the camp at 0530 hours the
morning of the 10th. He cared for the wounded and was assisting in an attempt
to establish a defensive perimeter when the decision was made to evacuate the
camp. As survivors were leaving, Perry was seen by Sgt. Cordell J. Matheney,
Jr., standing 20 feet away, as Australian Army Capt. John White formed the
withdrawal column at the outer perimeter wire on the eastern Ngok Tavak
hillside. It was believed that Perry was going to join the end of the column.

All the weapons, equipment and munitions that could not be carried were hastily
piled into the command bunker and set afire. The helicopter that had been
grounded by a ruptured fuel line was destroyed with a LAW. Sgt. Miller's body
was abandoned.

After survivors had gone about 1 kilometer, it was discovered that Perry was
missing. Efforts were conducted to locate both Perry and Miller, including a
search by a group from Battery D. They were searching along the perimeter when
they were hit by enemy grenades and arms fire. Neither the men on the team nor
Perry was ever found. Included in this team were PFC Thomas Blackman; LCpl.
Joseph Cook; PFC Paul Czerwonka; LCpl. Thomas Fritsch; PFC Barry Hempel; LCpl.
Raymond Heyne; Cpl. Gerald King; PFC Robert Lopez; PFC William McGonigle; LCpl.
Donald Mitchell; and LCpl. James Sargent. The remaining survivors evaded
through dense jungle to a helicopter pickup point midway to Kham Duc. Their
extraction was completed shortly before 1900 hours on the evening of May 10.

In concert with the Ngok Tavak assault, the Kham Duc was blasted by a heavy
mortar and recoilless rifle attack at 0245 hours that same morning. Periodic
mortar barrages ripped into Kham Duc throughout the rest of the day, while the
Americal Division airmobiled a reinforced battalion of the 196th Infantry
Brigade into the compound. A Special Forces command party also landed, but the
situation deteriorated too rapidly for their presence to have positive effect.

The mortar attack on fog-shrouded Kham Duc resumed on the morning of May 11.
The bombardment caused heavy losses among the frightened CIDG soldiers, who
fled from their trenches across open ground, seeking shelter in the bunkers.
The LLDB commander remained hidden. CIDG soldiers refused orders to check the
rear of the camp for possible North Vietnamese intruders. That evening the 11th
and 12th Mobile Strike Force companies were airlifted to Da Nang, and half of
the 137th CIDG Company from Camp Ha Thanh was airlanded in exchange.

The 1st VC Regiment, 2nd NVA Division, began closing the ring around Kham Duc
during the early morning darkness of 12 May. At about 0415 to 0430 hours, the
camp and outlying positions came under heavy enemy attack. Outpost #7 was
assaulted and fell within a few minutes. Outposts #5, #1 and #3 had been
reinforced by Americal troops but were in North Vietnamese hands by 0930 hours.

OP1 was manned by PFC Harry Coen, PFC Andrew Craven, Sgt. Joseph Simpson, and
SP4 Julius Long from Company E, 2nd of the 1st Infantry. At about 0415 hours,
when OP1 came under heavy enemy attack, PFC Coen and SP4 Long were seen trying
to man a 106 millimeter recoilless rifle. Survivors reported that in the
initial enemy fire, they were knocked off their bunker. Both men again tried to
man the gun, but were knocked down again by RPG fire.

PFC Craven, along with two other men, departed the OP at 0830 hours on May 12.
They moved out 50 yards and could hear the enemy in their last position. At
about 1100 hours, as they were withdrawing to the battalion perimeter, they
encountered an enemy position. PFC Craven was the pointman and opened fire. The
enemy returned fire, and PFC Craven was seen to fall, with multiple chest
wounds. The other two men were unable to recover him, and hastily departed the
area. PFC Craven was last seen lying on his back, wounded, near the camp.

OP2 was being manned by 1Lt. Frederick Ransbottom, SP4 Maurice Moore, PFC Roy
Williams, PFC Danny Widner, PFC William Skivington, PFC Imlay Widdison, and SP5
John Stuller, from the 2nd of the 3rd Infantry when it came under attack.
Informal questioning of survivors of this position indicated that PFC Widdison
and SP5 Stuller may have been killed in action. However, the questioning was
not sufficiently thorough to produce enough evidence to confirm their deaths.

The only information available concerning 1Lt. Ransbottom, SP4 Moore, PFC Lloyd
and PFC Skivington that Lt. Ransbottom allegedly radioed PFC Widner and PFC
Williams, who were in the third bunker, and told them that he was shooting at
the enemy as they entered his bunker.

SP4 Juan Jimenez, a rifleman assigned to Company A, 2nd of the 1st Infantry,
was occupying a defensive position when he was severely wounded in the back by
enemy mortar fire. SP4 Jimenez was declared dead by the Battalion Surgeon in
the early morning hours of May 12. He was then carried to the helipad for
evacuation. However, due to the situation, space was available in the
helicopter for only the wounded, and SP4 Jimenez'remains were left behind.

At noon a massive NVA attack was launched against the main compound. The charge
was stopped by planes hurling napalm, cluster bomb units and 750 pound bombs
into the final wire barriers. The decision was made by the Americal Division
officers to call for immediate extraction.

The evacuation was disorderly, and at times, on the verge of complete panic.
One of the first extraction helicopters to land was exploded by enemy fire,
blocking the airstrip. Engineers of Company A, 70th Engineer Battalion,
frantically reassembled one of their dozers (previously torn apart to prevent
capture) to clear the runway. Eight more aircraft were blown out of the sky.

PFC Richard E. Sands was a member of Company A, 1st Battalion, 46th Infantry,
198th Light Infantry Brigade being extracted on a CH47 helicopter (serial
#67-18475). The helicopter was hit by 50 calliber machine gun fire at an
altitude of 1500-1600 feet shortly after takeoff.

Sands, who was sitting near the door gunner, was hit in the head by an incoming
rounds. The helicopter made a controlled landing and caught fire. During the
evacuation from the burning helicopter, four personnel and a medic checked PFC
Sands and indicated that he had been killed instantly. Because of the danger of
incoming mortar rounds and the fire, personnel attempting to remove PFC Sands
from the helicopter were ordered to abandon their attempt. The remaining
personnel were evacuated from the area later by another helicopter.

Intense antiaircraft fire from the captured outposts caused grave problems.
Control over the indigenous forces was difficult. One group of CIDG soldiers
had to be held in trenches at gunpoint to prevent them from mobbing the runway.

As evacuation was in progress, members of Company A, 1/46, who insisted on
boarding the aircraft first, shoved Vietnamese dependents out of the way. As
more Americal infantry tried to clamber into the outbound planes, the outraged
Special Forces staff convinced the Air Force to start loading civilians onboard
a C130, then watched as the civilians pushed children and weaker adults aside.

The crew of the U.S. Air Force C130 aircraft (serial #60-0297) consisted of
Maj. Bernard Bucher, pilot; SSgt. Frank Hepler, flight engineer; Maj. John
McElroy, navigator; 1Lt. Steven Moreland, co-pilot; George Long, load master;
Capt. Warren Orr, passenger, and an undetermined number of Vietnamese civilians.

The aircraft reported receiving ground fire on takeoff. The Forward Air Control
(FAC) in the area reported that the aircraft exploded in mid-air and crashed in
a fire ball about one mile from camp. All crew and passengers were believed
dead, as the plane burned quickly and was completely destroyed except for the
tail boom. No remains were recovered from the aircraft.

Capt. Orr was not positively identified by U.S. personnel as being aboard the
aircraft. He was last seen near the aircraft helping the civilians to board.
However, a Vietnamese stated that he had seen Capt. Orr board the aircraft and
later positively identified him from a photograph. Rescue efforts were
impossible because of the hostile threat in the area.

At the time the order was given to escape and evade, SP4 Julius Long was was
with Coen and Simpson. All three had been wounded, and were trying to make
their way back to the airfield about 350 yards away. As they reached the
airfield, they saw the last C130 departing. PFC Coen, who was shot in the
stomach, panicked and started running and shooting his weapon at random. SP4
Long tried to catch him, but could not, and did not see PFC Coen again. Long
then carried Sgt. Simpson to a nearby hill, where they spent the night.

During the night, the airfield was strafed and bombed by U.S. aircraft. SP4
Long was hit twice in the back by fragments, and Sgt. Simpson died during the
night. SP4 Long left him lying on the hill near the Cam Duc airfield and
started his escape and evasion toward Chu Lai, South Vietnam. SP4 Long was
captured and was released in 1973 from North Vietnam.

The Special Forces command group was the last organized group out of the camp.
As their helicopter soared into the clouds, Kham Duc was abandoned to advancing
NVA infantry at 4:33 p.m. on May 12, 1968. The last Special Forces camp on the
northwestern frontier of South Vietnam had been destroyed.

Two search and recovery operations were conducted in the vicinity of OP1 and
OP2 and the Cam Duc airfield on July 18, 1970 and August 17, 1970. In these
operations, remains of personnel previously reported missing from this incident
were recovered and subsequently identified. (SP4 Bowers, PFC Lloyd, Sgt. Sisk,
PFC Guzman-Rios and SSgt. Carter). However, extensive search and excavation
could not be completed at OP1 and OP2 because of the tactical situation.

It was assumed that all the missing at Kham Duc were killed in action until
about 1983, when the father of one of the men missing discovered a Marine Corps
document which indicated that four of the men had been taken prisoner. The
document listed the four by name. Until then, the families had not been advised
of the possibility there were any American prisoners taken other than Julius
Long. A Vietnamese rallier identified the photograph of Roy C. Williams as
positively having been a POW.

Until proof is obtained that the rest of the men lost at Ngok Tavak and Kham
Duc are dead, their families will always wonder if they are among those said to
still be alive in Southeast Asia.




BLACKWOOD, GORDON BYRON
Remains Returned - ID Announced 20 November 1989

Name: Gordon Byron Blackwood
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 18 July 1938
Home City of Record: Palo Verde CA
Date of Loss: 27 May 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 211600N 1061100E (XJ245538)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F105D
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project with the assistance of Task Force
Omega from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency
sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews.
Date Compiled: 01 January 1990

REMARKS: DEAD/IR 1516-0406-71

SYNOPSIS: The F105 Thunderchief ("Thud"), in its various versions, flew more
missions against North Vietnam than any other U.S. aircraft. It also suffered
more losses, partially due to its vulnerability, which was constantly under
revision. Between 1965 and 1971, the aircraft was equipped with armor plate, a
secondary flight control system, an improved pilot ejection seat, a more
precise navigation system, better blind bombing capability and ECM pods for the
wings. The D version was a single-place aircraft.

Eighty-six F-105Ds fitted with radar homing and warning gear formed the
backbone of the Wild Weasel program, initiated in 1965 to improve the Air
Force's electronic warfare capability. Upon pinpointing the radar at a missile
site, the Wild Weasel attacked with Shrike missiles that homed on radar
emissions. The versatile aircraft was also credited with downing 25 Russian
MiGs. Thirteen of these modified F's were sent to Southeast Asia in 1966.

Capt. Gordon B. Blackwood was the pilot of an F105D assigned a mission over
North Vietnam on May 27, 1967. During the mission, near the city of Bac Giang
in Ha Bac Province, North Vietnam, Blackwood's aircraft was shot down and he
was classified Missing in Action.

Intelligence sources later reported that Capt. Blackwood was dead, but U.S. Air
Force public information does not reveal details of this report. Capt.
Blackwood's name and case information have been given to the Vietnamese as one
of several score "discrepancy cases" on which the Vietnamese should have
knowledge, but no information has been forthcoming.

Finally, on November 20, 1989, the U.S. Government announced that remains
returned by the Vietnamese had been positively identified as being those of
Capt. Gordon B. Blackwood. For his family, the long wait was over.

Still, reports continue to mount and many authorities are convinced that
hundreds of Americans are still alive in captivity, Blackwood's family now
knows that he is dead. They may never for sure know how - or when - he died.
Are we doing enough to bring those men who are still alive home?

BLANKENSHIP, CHARLES HERMAN

Name: Charles Herman Blankenship
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 2nd Bombardment Squadron
Date of Birth: 11 April 1938
Home City of Record: Suitland MD
Date of Loss: 07 July 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 094357N 1065858E
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: B52D

Other Personnel in Incident: George E. Jones; Olen B. McLaughlin. On second B52:
Paul A. Avolese; William J. Crumm; David F. Bittenbender  (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II
Project.

REMARKS: AIR COLLISION - 7 RESC - N SUBJ - J

SYNOPSIS: Boeing B52 Stratofortress bombers have long been the Air Force's most
important strategic bomber. Used heavily in Vietnam, the venerable aircraft
continued its role throughout the Southeast Asia conflict and played an
important role in the Persian Gulf war two decades later.

On July 7, 1967, two B52 aircraft were enroute to a combat mission when they
collided in mid-air over the South China Sea. The aircraft were approximately
20 miles offshore at the point of Vinh Binh Province when the accident occurred.
Seven crewmembers from the aircraft were rescued, but Avolese, Crumm,
Bittenbender, Blankenship, Jones, and McLaughlin were not.

All the missing crewmen onboard the two B52 downed that day were believed to be
dead. It is unfortunate, but a cold reality of war that their remains were not
recoverable. They are listed with honor among the missing because their remains
cannot be buried with honor at home.

Others who are missing do not have such clear-cut cases. Some were known
captives; some were photographed as they were led by their guards. Some were in
radio contact with search teams, while others simply disappeared.

Since the war ended, over 250,000 interviews have been conducted with those who
claim to know about Americans still alive in Southeast Asia, and several million
documents have been studied. U.S. Government experts cannot seem to agree
whether Americans are there alive or not. Detractors say it would be far too
politically difficult to bring the men they believe to be alive home, and the
U.S. is content to negotiate for remains.

Well over 1000 first-hand, eye-witness reports of American prisoners still alive
in Southeast Asia have been received by 1990. Most of them are still classified.
If, as the U.S. seems to believe, the men are all dead, why the secrecy after so
many years? If the men are alive, why are they not home?

Major General William J. Crumm is the highest-ranking man missing.

BLANTON, CLARENCE FINLEY

Name: Clarence Finley Blanton
Rank/Branch: O5/US Air Force
Unit: TDY-Civilian/Lockheed, Lima Site 85, Phou Pha Thi, Laos
Date of Birth: 01 September 1921
Home City of Record: El Reno OK
Date of Loss: 11 March 1968
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 202600N 1034400E (UH680600)
Status (in 1973): Killed In Action/Body Not Recovered
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Other Personnel In Incident: James H. Calfee; James W. Davis; Henry G. Gish;
Willis R. Hall; Melvin A. Holland; Herbert A. Kirk; David S. Price; Patrick L.
Shannon; Donald K. Springsteadah; Don F. Worley (all missing from Lima 85);
Donald Westbrook (missing from SAR 13 March)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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: When Clarence Blanton volunteered for a sensitive assignment called
Project Heavy Green, his wife had to sign a secrecy agreement too. Blanton, an
Air Force officer, was to be temporarily relieved of duty to take a civilian job
with Lockheed Aircraft. He would be helping operate radar equipment at Lima Site
85, a radar base in Laos, whose neutrality prohibited U.S. military presence.
The site helped direct navigation over hostile areas of Laos for U.S. bombers
headed towards North Vietnam. No one was to know.

Lima 85 was on a peak in the Annam Highlands near the village of Sam Neua on a
5860-foot mountain called Phou Pha Thi. The mountain was protected by sheer
cliffs on three sides, and guarded by 300 tribesmen working for CIA. Unarmed US
"civilians" operated the radar which swept across the Tonkin Delta to Hanoi.

For three months in early 1968, a steady stream of intelligence was received
which indicated that communist troops were about to launch a major attack on
Lima 85. Intelligence watched as enemy troops even built a road to the area to
facilitate moving heavy weapons, but the site was so important that William H.
Sullivan, U.S. Ambassador to Laos, made the decision to leave the men in place.
When the attack finally came March 11, some were rescued by helicopter, but
eleven men were missing. The President announced a halt in the bombing of North
Vietnam.

Donald Westbrook was flying one of 4 A1E's orbiting on stand-by to search for
survivors of the attack at Phou Pha Thi when his plane was shot down March 13.
Westbrook was never found. Finding no survivors, the Air Force destroyed Lima 85
to prevent the equipment from falling into the hands of the enemy.

In mid March, Norma Blanton was notified that Lima Site 85 had been overrun by
enemy forces, and that her husband and the others who had not escaped had been
killed. Many years later, she learned that was not the whole truth.

Two separate reports indicate that all the men missing at Phou Pha Thi did not
die. One report suggests that at least one of the 11 was captured, and another
indicates that 3 were captured; another that 6 were captured. Information has
been hard to get. The fact that Lima Site 85 existed was only declassified in
1983, and finally the wives could be believed when they said their husbands were
missing in Laos. Some of the men's files were shown to their families for the
first time in 1985.

Norma Blanton and the other wives have talked and compared notes. They still
feel there is a lot of information to be had. They believe someone survived the
attack on Lima Site 85 that day in March 1968. They wonder if their country will
bring those men home.
BLESSING, LYNN

Name: Lynn Blessing
Rank/Branch: E2/US Marine Corps
Unit: G/2nd Battalion, 9th Marines, 3rd Marine Division
Date of Birth: 16 January 1957
Home City of Record: Lancaster PA
Date of Loss: 15 May 1975
Country of Loss: Cambodia/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 101800N 1030830E (TS965400)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: CH53A
Other Personnel in Incident: Daniel A. Benedett; Walter Boyd; Gregory S.
Copenhaver; Andres Garcia; Bernard Gause Jr., James J. Jacques; Ronald J.
Manning; James R. Maxwell; Richard W. Rivenburgh; Antonio R. Sandoval; Kelton
R. Turner; Richard Van de Geer (all missing on CH53A); Gary L. Hall; Joseph N.
Hargrove; Danny G. Marshall (missing on Koah Tang Island); Ashton N. Loney
(missing from Koah Tang Island); Elwood E. Rumbaugh (missing from a CH53A)

REMARKS: 750515 MAYAGUEZ INCIDENT LOSS

SYNOPSIS: When U.S. troops were pulled out of Southeast Asia in early 1975,
Vietnamese communist troops began capturing one city after another, with Hue,
Da Nang and Ban Me Thuot in March, Xuan Loc in April, and finally on April 30,
Saigon. In Cambodia, communist Khmer Rouge had captured the capital city of
Phnom Penh on April 17. The last Americans were evacuated from Saigon during
"Option IV", with U.S. Ambassador Martin departing on April 29. The war,
according to President Ford, "was finished."

2Lt. Richard Van de Geer, assigned to the 21st Special Ops Squadron at NKP, had
participated in the evacuation of Saigon, where helicopter pilots were required
to fly from the decks of the 7th Fleet carriers stationed some 500 miles
offshore, fly over armed enemy-held territory, collect American and allied
personnel and return to the carriers via the same hazardous route, heavily
loaded with passengers. Van de Geer wrote to a friend, "We pulled out close to
2,000 people. We couldn't pull out any more because it was beyond human
endurance to go any more..."

At 11:21 a.m. on May 12, the U.S. merchant ship MAYAGUEZ was seized by the
Khmer Rouge in the Gulf of Siam about 60 miles from the Cambodian coastline and
eight miles from Poulo Wai island. The ship, owned by Sea-Land Corporation, was
en route to Sattahip, Thailand from Hong Kong, carrying a non-arms cargo for
military bases in Thailand.

Capt. Charles T. Miller, a veteran of more than 40 years at sea, was on the
bridge. He had steered the ship within the boundaries of international waters,
but the Cambodians had recently claimed territorial waters 90 miles from the
coast of Cambodia. The thirty-nine seamen aboard were taken prisoner.

President Ford ordered the aircraft carrier USS CORAL SEA, the guided missile
destroyer USS HENRY B. WILSON and the USS HOLT to the area of seizure. By
night, a U.S. reconnaissance aircraft located the MAYAGUEZ at anchor off Poulo
WaI island. Plans were made to rescue the crew.  A battalion landing team of
1,100 Marines was ordered flown from bases in Okinawa and the Philippines to
assemblE at Utapao, Thailand in preparation for the assault.

The first casualties of the effort to free the MAYAGUEZ are recorded on May 13
when a helicopter carrying Air Force security team personnel crashed en route
to Utapao, killing all 23 aboard.

Early in the morning of May 13, the Mayaguez was ordered to head for Koh Tang
island. Its crew was loaded aboard a Thai fishing boat and taken first to Koh
Tang, then to the mainland city of Kompong Song, then to Rong San Lem island.
U.S. intelligence had observed a cove with considerable activity on the island
of Koh Tang, a small five-mile long island about 35 miles off the coast of
Cambodia southwest of the city of Sihanoukville (Kampong Saom), and believed
that some of the crew might be held there. They also knew of the Thai fishing
boat, and had observed what appeared to be caucasians aboard it, but it could
not be determined if some or all of the crew was aboard.

The USS HOLT was ordered to seize and secure the MAYAGUEZ, still anchored off
Koh Tang. Marines were to land on the island and rescue any of the crew. Navy
jets from the USS CORAL SEA were to make four strikes on military installments
on the Cambodian mainland.

On May 15, the first wave of 179 Marines headed for the island aboard eight Air
Force "Jolly Green Giant" helicopters. Three Air Force helicopters unloaded
Marines from the 1st Battalion, 4th Marines onto the landing pad of the USS
HOLT and then headed back to Utapao to pick up the second wave of Marines.
Planes dropped tear gas on the MAYAGUEZ, and the USS HOLT pulled up along side
the vessel and the Marines stormed aboard. The MAYAGUEZ was deserted.

Simultaneously, the Marines of the 2/9 were making their landings on two other
areas of the island. The eastern landing zone was on the cove side where the
Cambodian compound was located. The western landing zone was a narrow spit of
beach about 500 feet behind the compound on the other side of the island. The
Marines hoped to surround the compound.

As the first troops began to unload on both beaches, the Cambodians opened
fire. On the western beach, one helicopter was hit and flew off crippled, to
ditch in the ocean about 1 mile away. The pilot had just disembarked his
passengers, and he was rescued at sea.

Meanwhile, the eastern landing zone had become a disaster. The first two
helicopters landing were met by enemy fire. Ground commander, (now) Col.
Randall W. Austin had been told to expect between 20 and 40 Khmer Rouge
soldiers on the island. Instead, between 150 and 200 were encountered. First,
Lt. John Shramm's helicopter tore apart and crashed into the surf after the
rotor system was hit. All aboard made a dash for the tree line on the beach.

One CH53A helicopter was flown by U.S. Air Force Major Howard Corson and 2Lt.
Richard Van de Geer and carrying 23 U.S. Marines and 2 U.S. Navy corpsmen, all
from the 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines. As the helicopter approached the island,
it was caught in a cross fire and hit by a rocket. The severely damaged
helicopter crashed into the sea just off the coast of the island and exploded.
To avoid enemy fire, survivors were forced to swim out to sea for rescue.
Twelve aboard, including Maj. Corson, were rescued. Those missing from the
helicopter were 2Lt. Richard Van de Geer, PFC Daniel A. Benedett, PFC Lynn
Blessing, PFC Walter Boyd, Lcpl. Gregory S. Copenhaver, Lcpl. Andres Garcia,
PFC James J. Jacques, PFC James R. Maxwell, PFC Richard W. Rivenburgh, PFC
Antonio R. Sandoval, PFC Kelton R. Turner, all U.S. Marines. Also missing were
HM1 Bernard Gause, Jr. and HM Ronald J. Manning, the two corpsmen.

Other helicopters were more successful in landing their passengers. One CH53A,
however was not. SSgt. Elwood E. Rumbaugh's aircraft was near the coastline
when it was shot down. Rumbaugh is the only missing man from the aircraft. The
passengers were safely extracted. (It is not known whether the passengers went
down with the aircraft or whether they were rescued from the island.)

By midmorning, when the Cambodians on the mainland began receiving reports of
the assault, they ordered the crew of the MAYAGUEZ on a Thai boat, and then
left. The MAYAGUEZ crew was recovered by the USS WILSON before the second wave
of Marines was deployed, but the second wave was ordered to attack anyway.

Late in the afternoon, the assault force had consolidated its position on the
western landing zone and the eastern landing zone was evacuated at 6:00 p.m. By
the end of the 14-hour operation, most of the Marines were extracted from the
island safely, with 50 wounded. Lcpl. Ashton Loney had been killed by enemy
fire, but his body could not be recovered.

Protecting the perimeter during the final evacuation was the machine gun squad
of PFC Gary L. Hall, Lcpl. Joseph N. Hargrove and Pvt. Danny G. Marshall. They
had run out of ammunition and were ordered to evacuate on the last helicopter.
It was their last contact. Maj. McNemar and Maj. James H. Davis made a final
sweep of the beach before boarding the helicopter and were unable to locate
them. They were declared Missing in Action.

The eighteen men missing from the MAYAGUEZ incident are listed among the
missing from the Vietnam war. Although authorities believe that there are
perhaps hundreds of American prisoners still alive in Southeast Asia from the
war, most are pessimistic about the fates of those captured by the Khmer Rouge.

In 1988, the communist government of Kampuchea (Cambodia) announced that it
wished to return the remains of several dozen Americans to the United States.
(In fact, the number was higher than the official number of Americans missing
in Cambodia.) Because the U.S. does not officially recognize the Cambodian
government, it has refused to respond directly to the Cambodians regarding the
remains. Cambodia, wishing a direct acknowledgment from the U.S. Government,
still holds the remains.



BLEWETT, ALLAN L.

Name: Allan L. Blewett
Rank/Branch: Civilian
Unit: Pilot for B.I. Bird & Sons Co.
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record:
Date of Loss: 14 July 1962
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 175848N 1023405E (TE425895)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Navion

Other Personnel In Incident: Raymond F. Parks (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 30 June 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: NO CONTACT-AIRGND SRCH NEGAT-J

SYNOPSIS: Raymond Parks and a Thai interpreter were aboard a Camair Navion
aircraft, tail number N229, flown by Alan Blewett on July 14, 1962. The
aircraft, owned and operated by B.I. Bird & Sons Company, was flying a U.S.
Government contract mission inside Laos. On that day, the Navion was on a flight
from Vientianne to Saravane, Laos.

Parks was working in the WHITE STAR operation, which, depending on the time
frame, trained and advised the Forces Armees du Royaume, staffed Laotian
military schools, and conducted Meo and Kha unconventional warfare programs. At
times WHITE STAR personnel worked under the auspices of the CIA, training Meo
100-man "Auto Defense de Choc" (shock) teams to be dispersed throughout the
highlands to ambush and raid Pathet Lao forces, and at other times were the
"eyes and ears" of MAAG, gathering intelligence and reporting how equipment and
supplies were being used. By July, 1962, WHITE STAR had reached its peak
strength of 433 uniformed Special Forces personnel.

When Blewett's aircraft failed to arrive at its interim stop at Pak Sane as
scheduled, a communications check was initiated, with no response. Aerial and
ground searches were initiated, including visits along the suspected flight
path. No trace was ever found of the aircraft or its crew.

Parks and Blewett are among nearly 600 Americans who disappeared in Laos. As
Laos was never part of the negotiating process which ended American involvement
in the Vietnam war in 1973, no prisoners held by the Lao were ever released. No
agreement has been struck since that time to release the "tens of tens" of
American prisoners the Pathet Lao stated they held.

Whether Parks or Blewett survived is unknown. But experts now say hundreds
did and are still waiting for their country to bring them home.

CASE SYNOPSIS: BLODGETT, DOUGLAS RANDOLPH

Name: Douglas Randolph Blodgett
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: Company A, 228th Aviation Battalion (Assault Support Helicopter), 11th
Aviation Group, 1st Cavalry Division
Date of Birth: 01 May 1947 (Ft. Belvoir VA)
Home City of Record: Alexandria VA
Date of Loss: 19 April 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 162247N 1070658E (YD290105)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: CH47A
Other Personnel In Incident: William R. Dennis; Jesus A. Gonzales (missing
from CH47A, coordinates YD290105 pilot and co-pilot survived); Michael J.
Wallace, Anthony F. Housh; (missing from CH47, coordinates YD291087-LZ Tiger;
pilot, co-pilot and gunner survived); Arthur J. Lord; Charles W. Millard;
Philip R. Shafer; Michael R. Werdehoff (missing on CH54, coordinates
YD255095-LZ Tiger)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On April 19, 1968 three Army helicopters were shot down in the A Shau
Valley of South Vietnam. All three were making supply runs to Landing Zone
Tiger in Quang Tri Province. Five men survived the three crashes, and nine men
remain missing.

The CH47A on which Douglas Blodgett was a crewman, William Dennis was flight
engineer, and Jesus Gonzales was crewchief was resupplying ammunition at the LZ
when it received small arms fire from the ground and crashed. The pilot and
co-pilot were able to crawl away, but the rest of the crew was never found.
They were declared Missing In Action.

The CH47 on which Anthony Housh was flight engineer and Michael Wallace was
crewchief was hit by 50 calibre and 37 mm ground fire on its approach to the
LZ. Housh and Wallace jumped from the aircraft from an altitude of 50-100 feet
above the jungle canopy. The others were rescued. No trace of Housh and Wallace
was ever found. They were declared Missing In Action.

The CH54 "Flying Crane" on which Arthur Lord was aircraft commander, Charles
Millard pilot, Arthur J. Lord co-pilot, Michael Werdehoff flight engineer, and
Philip Shafer crewchief was carrying a bulldozer into the recently resecured LZ
Tiger when the aircraft was hit and crashed. All the crew were classified
Missing In Action.

Thorough searches for the 3 helicopters were not immediately possible because
of the enemy situation. A refugee later reported that he had found the wreckage
of two U.S. helicopters, one with 3 sets of skeletal remains, in Quang Tri
Province. The U.S. Army believes this could correlate with any of the three
helicopters lost on April 19, 1968, but no firm evidence has been secured that
would reveal the fate of the nine missing servicemen.

Some 250,000 interviews and "millions of documents" have been analyzed relating
to Americans who may still be alive, captive, in Southeast Asia. Many experts
believe there are hundreds of men still alive, waiting for their country to
rescue them. Whether any of the nine missing from near LZ Tiger is among them is
unknown, but it is clearly past time for us to bring our men home.





















BLOOD, HENRY FLORENTINE

Name: Henry Florentine Blood
Rank/Branch: U.S. Civilian
Unit: missionary translator/linguist for Wickcliff Translators
Date of Birth: 15 August 1919
Home City of Record:
Date of Loss: 01 February 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 124033N 1080330E (AQ776008)
Status (in 1973): Killed in Captivity
Category: 1
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Other Personnel in Incident: Mike Benge (released POW); Betty Ann Olsen
(captured); Rev.Griswald (killed); Carolyn Griswald (daughter of Rev.Griswald,
survived first attack, died of wounds); Rev. Zeimer (killed); Mrs.Robert Zeimer
(wounded, first attack, evaded, survived); Rev.& Mrs.Thompson; Miss Ruth
Whilting (all killed)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 30 June 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: 680700 DIC - PRG LIST

SYNOPSIS: Michael D. Benge was born in 1935 and raised on a ranch in eastern
Oregon. After college at Oregon State, he applied to the CIA, because he wanted
to travel the world. CIA told him to try the Agency for International
Development (AID). AID sent him to International Voluntary Services (IVS). After
two years in Vietnam with IVS, Benge transferred to AID and served as an AID
agricultural advisor. By the time of the Tet offensive of 1968, he had been
in-country five years, working almost the whole time with the Montagnards in the
highlands. He spoke fluent Vietnamese and several Montagnard dialects.

On January 31, 1968, Benge was captured while riding in a jeep near Ban Me
Thuot, South Vietnam. Learning of the Tet offensive strikes, Benge was checking
on some IVS volunteers who were living in a hamlet with three companies of
Montagnard rebels who had just been through a lot of fighting as the NVA went
through the Ban Me Thuot area. His plan was to pick up the IVS "kids" and then
go down to pick up some missionaries in the area.

Benge was captured a few miles from the Leprosarium at Ban Me Thuot. This center
treated anyone with a need as well as those suffering from leprosy. It was at
the Leprosarium that Rev. Archie Mitchell, Dr. Eleanor Vietti and Daniel Gerber
had been taken prisoner in 1962. The Viet Cong regularly harassed and attacked
the center in spite of its humanitarian objectives.

During the Tet offensive, the Viet Cong again tried to wipe out the Christian
missionary influence in Dar Lac Province, and over a three day period attacked
the hospital compound several times.

Betty Ann Olsen was born to Missionary parents in Bouake, Ivory Coast. She had
attended a religious school and missionary college in Nyack, New York. Curious
about the way the other part of the world lived, she went to Vietnam in 1964 as
a missionary nurse for Christian and Missionary Alliance, and was assigned to
the Leprosarium at Ban Me Thuot. Henry F. Blood was a missionary serving as
translator and linguist for Wickcliff Translators at the Leprosarium.

During one of the earlier attacks on the hospital compound, three staff homes
were destroyed, one housing Rev. Griswald, who was killed, and his grown
daughter Carolyn, who survived the explosion but later died of her wounds.
During the same attack, Rev. and Mrs. Zeimer, Rev.and Mrs. Thompson and Miss
Ruth Whilting were trapped and machine gunned. Only Mrs. Zeimer survived her
20-30 wounds and was later evacuated to Cam Ranh Bay. Blood and Olsen escaped
injury for the moment.

Two days later, on February 1, 1968, as Olsen was preparing to escape with the
injured Griswald, she and Henry Blood were captured during another attack on the
hospital.

For the next month or so, Benge, Blood and Olsen were held in a POW camp in
Darlac Province, about a day's walk from Ban Me Thuot, and were held in cages
where they had nothing to eat but boiled manioc (a large starchy root from which
tapioca is made).

The Vietnamese kept moving their prisoners, hiking through the jungles and
mountains. The camp areas, swept very clean of leaves to keep the mosquito
population down (and the ensuing malaria threat), were clearly visible from the
sky. Once, Benge reports, an American aircraft came so close to the camp that he
could see the pilot's face. The pilot "wagged his wings" and flew away. The
Vietnamese, fearing rescue attempts and U.S. air strikes, kept moving.

For months Olsen, Blood and Benge were chained together and moved north from one
encampment to another, moving over 200 miles through the mountainous jungles.
The trip was grueling and took its toll on the prisoners. They were physically
depleted, sick from dysentery and malnutrition; beset by fungus, infection,
leeches and ulcerated sores.

Mike Benge contracted cerebral malaria and nearly died. He credits Olsen with
keeping him alive. She forced him to rouse from his delirium to eat and drink
water and rice soup. Mike Benge describes Olsen as "a Katherine Hepburn
type...[with] an extra bit of grit."

In the summer of 1968, the prisoners, again on the trail, were left exposed to
the rain during the rainy season. Hank Blood contracted pneumonia, weakened
steadily, and eventually died in July. (July 1968 is one of the dates given by
the Vietnamese - the other, according to classified information the U.S. gave to
the Vietnamese through General John Vessey indicates that Mr. Blood died on
October 17, 1972. Mike Benge says Blood died around July 4.) Blood was buried in
a shallow grave along the trail, with Olsen conducting grave-side services.

Benge and Olsen were kept moving. Their bodies were covered with sores, and they
had pyorrhea from beri-beri. Their teeth were loosening and gums infected. They
spent a lot of time talking about good meals and good places to eat, planning to
visit their favorite restaurants together when they went home. They moved every
two or three days.

Benge and Olsen were moved near Tay Ninh Province, almost to Da Lat, then back
to Quang Duc Province. Olsen was getting weak, and the Vietnamese began to kick
and drag her to keep her moving. Benge, trying to defend her, was beaten with
rifle butts.

Just before crossing the border into Cambodia, Olsen weakened to the point that
she could no longer move. Ironically, in this area, near a tributary to the
Mekong river, fish and livestock abounded, and there was a garden, but the food
was denied to the prisoners. They were allowed to gather bamboo shoots, but were
not told how to cook it.

Bamboo needs to be boiled in two waters to extract an acid substance. Not
knowing this, Olsen and Benge boiled their food only once and were beset with
immobilizing stomach cramps within a half-hour; diarrhea soon followed. Betty
Ann Olsen weakened and finally died September 29, 1968 (Vessey information
indicates this date as September 26), and was buried by Benge.

Finally, Benge was taken to Cambodia, turned over to the North Vietnamese, and
another long, grueling trek began. Benge, however, had made his mind up that he
wouldn't die. He treated his ulcerated body by lying in creeks and allowed small
fish to feed off the dead tissue (a primitive debridement), then caught the fish
and ate them raw. He caught small, green frogs and swallowed them whole. He did
everything he could to supplement his meager food ration.

By the time he reached the camp the Vietnamese called "the land of milk and
honey" his hair was white and he was so dehydrated and emaciated that other POWs
estimated his age to be over seventy years old. He was, at the time, only
thirty-three.

After a year in Cambodia, Benge was marched north on the Ho Chi Minh Trail to
Hanoi. He spent over three years in camps there, including a total of
twenty-seven months in solitary confinement. Upon his return, he verified
collaboration charges against eight of his fellow POWs, in a prosecution effort
initiated by Col. Theodore Guy (this action was discouraged by the U.S.
Government and the effort was subsequently abandoned.) Mike Benge then returned
to Vietnam and worked with the Montagnards until the end of the war.

The Vietnamese have never attempted return the remains of Henry Blood and Betty
Olsen. They are two individuals that the Vietnamese could provide a wealth of
information on. Since they pride themselves on being "humanitarians," it would
not be in keeping with this image to reveal the horror Olsen and Blood endured
in their hands. It is not surprising, then, that the Vietnamese have not
publicly told their stories.

Olsen and Blood are among nearly 2500 Americans, including several civilians,
who are still unaccounted for, missing or prisoner from the Vietnam war. Since
the war ended, over 10,000 reports have been received concerning these missing
Americans which have convinced many authorities that hundreds are still alive in
communist hands. While Blood and Olsen may not be among them, they went to
Vietnam to help. They would not turn their backs on their fellow man. Why has
their own country turned its back on them?

BLOODWORTH, DONALD BRUCE

Name: Donald Bruce Bloodworth
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit: 555th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Ubon AF TH
Date of Birth: 28 December 1944
Home City of Record: San Diego CA
Date of Loss: 24 July 1970
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 193031N 1031928E (UG242578)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 1
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D

Other Personnel In Incident: James W. "Bill" Reed (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 31 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: Capt. James W. "Bill" Reed was a pilot assigned to the 555th Tactical
Fighter Squadron at Ubon Airfield, Thailand. On July 24, 1970, he and his
navigator, 1Lt. Donald B. Bloodworth were assigned an operational mission over
Laos in their F4D Phantom fighter/bomber.

Their mission that day took them over the Plaine des Jarres (Plain of Jars)
region of northern Laos in Xiangkhoang Province. As the aircraft was making a
strafing pass over a communist truck convoy, it took enemy fire. The crew of a
C123 observed the Phantom crash after it had made its pass over the target, but
no one saw parachutes before seeing a huge explosion, and no recognizable
aircraft parts were found. No emergency radio beeper signals were heard.
Nevertheless, there remained the possibility that the men safely ejected.

Bloodworth was listed Missing In Action, Category 1, which means that the U.S.
is certain the enemy knows what happened to him. As backseater, he would have
been first to eject from the crippled plane, so he would not necessarily land
close to his pilot. Bill Reed is Missing In Action, Category 2, meaning there is
strong reason to suspect the enemy knows his fate.

Reed and Bloodworth are among nearly 600 Americans who disappeared in Laos
during the Vietnam war. As Laos did not take part in the agreements that ended
American involvement in Indochina, no prisoner release was ever negotiated with
Laos. Although the Pathet Lao stated on several occasions that they held "tens
of tens" of American prisoners, not one man held in Laos has ever been released,
and no agreement has been reached to free them.

Over the years since the war ended, thousands of reports have been received
which have convinced many that hundreds of Americans are still alive in
Southeast Asia, held against their will. Bill Reed and Donald Bloodworth could
be among them. If so, what must they be thinking of us?


Donald B. Bloodworth was promoted to the rank of Captain and James W. Reed was
promoted to the rank of Major during the period they were maintained missing.

BLOOM, DARL RUSSELL

Name: Darl Russell Bloom
Rank/Branch: O3/US Marine Corps
Unit: VMCJ 1, MAG 12
Date of Birth: 25 July 1933
Home City of Record: Morrisdale PA
Date of Loss: 13 November 1964
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 161438N 1080452E (AT880980)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Veicle/Ground: RF8A

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: AIR COLLISION - NO PARA SEEN - J

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-A models were equipped for photo reconnaissance. The RF-G
were also photographic versions, but with additional cameras and navigational
equipment.

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. In addition, there were 16
pilots who went down on photographic versions of the aircraft. Of these 16,
seven were captured (six were released, one died in captivity).

Capt. Darl R. Bloom was the pilot of an RF8A conducting a flight near Da Nang,
South Vietnam when his aircraft collided with another. No parachute was seen,
and it was presumed that Capt. Bloom went down with his aircraft. It was felt
that there was little or no hope that he survived, and he was declared
Killed/Body Not Recovered. Capt. Bloom's loss is classified as non-combat.

Bloom is listed among the missing because his remains were never located to
return home. He is among over 2300 still prisoner, missing, or otherwise
unaccounted for from the Vietnam War.

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 some of them could be abandoned by the
country they proudly served.
BOBE, RAYMOND EDWARD

Name: Raymond Edward Bobe
Rank/Branch: E3/US Army
Unit: Headquarters Company, USARV
Date of Birth: 30 August 1948
Home City of Record: Tarrant AL
Date of Loss: 16 March 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietham
Loss Coordinates: 161357N 1074448E (YC936965)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: U21A
Other Personnel In Incident: Charles R. Barnes; Marvin L. Foster; David R.
Smith; Michael L. Batt (all missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Charles Barnes, co-pilot; David R. Smith, aircraft commander; and
passengers Michael Batt, Marvin L. Foster, and Raymond Bobe were the passengers
aboard a U21A aircraft lost in Tuan Thien Province, South Vietnam. The U21 is a
medium-sized aircraft, built to hold 8 or 10 passengers and crew. It is a
fixed-wing craft, generally used for VIP or commutes rather than surveillance
or combat support missions.

The circumstances surrounding the loss of this crew and passengers are still
completely classified as of 1989, although it is known that contact was lost
with the aircraft, and it is not strongly believed that the enemy knew the
fates of the crew and passengers. The last known location of the aircraft was
about half-way between Hue and Da Nang, South Vietnam.

Batt's photograph was selected as a known prisoner from the JCRC photo album of
those missing, but the U.S. Government states that it is unknown why the source
selected Batt's photo. Returning POWs did not indicate that any of the crew or
passengers had been held with them in their prison system.

When 591 Americans were released from Vietnamese prisons in 1973, high-ranking
military officials were shocked that "hundreds" who were expected to be
released were not.

Examination of intelligence reports suggest that there was more than one prison
"system" in Vietnam. Those prisoners who were released were maintained in the
same systems. If the missing men aboard the U21A were captured and kept in
another system, the POWs who returned would not know it.

Now, nearly 20 years later, men like these are all but forgotten except by
friends, family and fellow veterans. The U.S. "priority" placed on
determining their fates pales in comparison to the results it has achieved.

Since the U21 A was lost, nearly 10,000 reports have been received by the U.S.
relating to Americans still missing in Southeast Asia. Many authorities believe
that hundreds remain alive, waiting for their country to come for them. Whether
the men aboard the U21A are among them is not known. What is certain, however,
is that we, as a nation, are guilty of the abandonment of nearly 2500 of our
best and most courageous men. We cannot forget, and must do everything in our
power to bring these men home.

CASE SYNOPSIS: BODDEN, TIMOTHY ROY

Name: Timothy Roy Bodden
Rank/Branch: E5/US Marine Corps
Unit: HMM 165, Marine Air Group 36
Date of Birth: 06 November 1942
Home City of Record: Downer's Grove IL
Loss Date: 03 June 1967
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 161914N 1064049E (XD795050)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: CH46A
Other Personnel In Incident: Frank E. Cius (returned POW 1973); Ronald J.
Dexter; John G. Gardner; Stephen Hanson; Billy Laney; (all missing); Mr. Ky
(Nung Cdr. - wounded and rescued); Charles F. Wilklow (rescued)

REMARKS: LAST SEEN IN CRASHED AIRCRAFT

SYNOPSIS: On June 3, 1967, Capt. Steven P. Hanson, pilot; 1Lt. John G. Gardner,
co-pilot; Sgt. Timothy R. Bodden, crew chief/door gunner; LCpl. Frank E. Cius,
doorgunner; SFC Billy R. Laney, SFC Ronald J. Dexter, SFC Charles F. Wilklow
and an unknown number of ARVN personnel, all passengers, were aboard a CH46A
helicopter (serial #150955) on an extraction mission in Laos.

The USMC aircraft picked up a U.S. Army Special Forces team attached to
MACV-SOG, Command and Control, and the ARVN troops they were working with.
Military Assistance Command Vietnam Studies and Observation Group (MACV-SOG)
was a joint service high command unconventional warfare task force engaged in
highly classified operations throughout Southeast Asia. The 5th Special Forces
channeled personnel into MACV-SOG (not a Special Forces group) through Special
Operations Augmentation (SOA) which provided their "cover" while under secret
orders to MACV-SOG. These teams performed deep penetration missions of
strategic reconnaissance and interdiction which were called, depending on the
time frame, "Shining Brass" or "Prairie Fire" missions.

The aircraft received extensive automatic small arms fire upon takeoff from the
Landing Zone, took numerous hits and crashed 350 meters from the LZ, located
about 15 miles inside Laos west of the A Shau Valley. The helicopter did not
burn on impact, and continued to receive fire. Three ARVN troops were able to
return to the LZ where the troops remaining at the LZ were extracted the
following day.

The troops waiting at the LZ could not search because of the hostile threat in
the area. Air searches located the survivors of the crash, but they could not
be evacuated. The only America found to be in a position to be safely evacuated
was SFC Wilklow. He gave the following account of what happened to the crew and
passengers aboard the CH46:

SFC Dexter appeared uninjured and left the wreckage with a large number of ARVN
troops. Capt. Hanson was wounded and outside the helicopter, but stated that he
had to return to get his carbine. The Marine Corps believes he died of the
wounds he received when the aircraft was overrun, although Hanson's wife later
identified her husband in a widely distributed Vietnamese propaganda photograph
of a pilot being captured. When last seen, all the other Americans were still
in the wreckage, and enemy troops (the U.S. Army says they were Viet Cong; the
U.S. Marines say they were North Vietnamese Army - possibly a joint force of
both) were tossing grenades toward the aircraft with no attempt to capture the
personnel inside. Wilklow left the crash site, and noted that gunfire suddenly
stopped. He continued to evade the enemy and was picked up 3 days later.

When Mr. Ky, the Nung Commander was being evacuated by the last helicopter out,
he noted several men (undoubtedly Dexter and the ARVN) in a large bomb crater
firing red star clusters from a flare gun. Frank Cius was taken prisoner and
released from Hanoi in 1973. He was one of the dozen or so captured by the
Vietnamese and taken immediately to Hanoi claimed to be the "Laos" prisoners.
In reality, none of the dozen had been held in Laos. Ronald Dexter, according
to Frank Cius, was captured, and died in captivity on July 29, 1967. John
Gardner, according to the USMC, died on the ground after the crash of the
aircraft due to intense enemy fire. Billy Laney was last seen lying wounded on
the floor of the aircraft between a crewmember with a broken back and the door
gunner with a head wound.

NOTE: the USMC states that Bodden, crewchief/door gunner was shot in the back
and never left the aircraft, but reports received by the National League of
Families indicate that he was definitely alive after the aircraft crashed. The
U.S. did not know Cius was captured until he was released, evidently believing
he never exited the aircraft, and Wilklow had indicated that the Vietnamese
were not trying to capture the occupants of the aircraft. Therefore, as door
gunner, he must have been the "door gunner with the head wound", and Bodden the
"crewmember with a broken back".)

Since 1975, the U.S. Government has received thousands of reports relating to
Americans still alive in Southeast Asia. Many of them cannot be dismissed as
untrue. Officially, the U.S. says it is operating under the assumption that men
are being held, and that the matter is of "highest national priority". Yet, we
seem unable to resolve the mystery. Nor have they ever negotiated for the "tens
of tens" of American prisoners the Lao stated they held.

There can be no question that the communists know the fate of those who were
last seen on the ill-fated CH 46A that day. The men aboard this craft were
inserted into Laos for exceedingly dangerous and important missions. They
deserve no less than America's very best efforts to determine their fates. If
any of them are alive, they must be brought home.
BODENSCHATZ, JOHN EUGENE JR.

Name: John Eugene Bodenschatz, Jr.
Rank/Branch: E2/US Marines
Unit: 1st Platoon, Company K, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Division
Date of Birth: 29 May 1946
Home City of Record: Los Angeles CA
Date of Loss: 28 August 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 155800N 1081500E (BT061673)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: ground

Other Personnel in Incident: Robert L. Babula; Robert C. Borton Jr.; Dennis R.
Carter (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II
Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: PFC Robert L. Babula, PFC Robert C. Borton Jr., PFC John E.
Bodenschatz Jr., and PFC Dennis R. Carter were members of 1st Platoon, Company
K, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines. On 28 August 1966, the four were assigned as a
fire team ambush with instructions to establish an ambush site approximately 500
meters to the south of their platoon patrol base. This specific location is in
Hoa Hai village within grid square BT 0667.

The fire team departed at 3:00 a.m. on August 28, and were given instructions
for use of the pyrotechnics they were carrying as signaling devices. They were
further instructed to relocate in the same general area or return to their
platoon patrol base in the event their ambush site was compromised, and finally
to return no later than 9:00 a.m. that morning.

When the fire team failed to return as scheduled, an immediate search of the
area was conducted by Company K with negative results. During the period of
August 29-31, the Battalion made a dovetailed search of the entire area covering
all possible routes of egress in the event the team members had been captured.

Indigenous personnel in the area were questioned, but no evidence was uncovered
which gave any clues. Villagers were questioned and a search of the area
continued. On September 4, Company K discovered part of an American wrist watch
and PFC Bodenschatz' two identification tags in the vicinity of BT 061673. The
search was intensified in that area, including the use of heavy engineer
equipment in an effort to locate graves, but no further trace was found.

On September 13, the Battalion cordoned off grid squares BT 0567, 0667, 0566,
0666 and all inhabitants were assembled, screened, and interrogated by an ARVN
interrogation team from Hoa Vang District Headquarters. Three Viet Cong suspects
were retained for further questioning, however, no additional information was
obtained concerning the four Marines.

The Battalion commander's final determination was that the four Marines were
probably captured.

In 1975, information was declassified that indicated that since the fire team's
disappearance, Marine headquarters had received two reports sighting three to
four Americans being displayed in villages south of the area in which the fire
team disappeared.

A Christmas card received by Company K/3/1 1st Marine Division, sent by Babula's
mother and sister, stated that they had recently received news that Babula was a
prisoner of war. None of the four, however, returned in the general prisoner
release in 1973.

Since the war ended, the Defense Department has received over 10,000 reports
relating to the men still unaccounted for in Southeast Asia, yet concludes that
no actionable evidence has been received that would indicate Americans are still
alive in Southeast Asia. A recent Senate investigation indicates that most of
these reports were dismissed without just cause, and that there is every
indication that Americans remained in captivity far after the war ended, and may
be alive today.

The fate of the four Marines on the fire team on 28 August 1966 remains
uncertain. What is clear, however, is that it's time we learned the truth about
our missing and brought them home.


BOFFMAN, ALAN BRENT
Remains Recovered January 1990, ID Announced 19 July 1990

Name: Alan Brent Boffman
Rank/Branch: O2/US Army
Unit: D Company, 101st Aviation Battalion, 101st Airborne Division
Date of Birth: 08 June 1946
Home City of Record: Norfolk VA
Date of Loss: 18 March 1971
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 163811N 1062239E (XD469397)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: AH1G

Other Personnel In Incident: Keith A. Brandt (remains recovered)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 September 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: Lam San 719 was the last major operation of the Vietnam War. It
involved American multi-service support of ARVN troops in an invasion of Laos.
The targeted area began around the city of Tchepone and extended south along the
Ho Chi Minh Trail. The operation was a concentrated attempt to halt North
Vietnamese troop and supply movements.

After the ARVN successfully took Tchepone, they elected to withdraw. American
Marines and Army aircraft helped them withdraw back into Vietnam. All the while,
NVA troops followed, and withdrawal, at times, was very difficult.

As the last of the ARVN 4/1 were being extracted and returned to Vietnam, and
had been trapped in a crater, Capt. Keith Brandt came on station leading a
flight of Cobra gunships in response to Command & Control request for assistance
to all helicopters. The ARVN on the ground radioed Brandt, "We're completely
surrounded," and asked Brandt to expend ordnance on his smoke (a detonated smoke
grenade, used to mark location).

For the rest of the afternoon, Brandt and his crewmember, Alan Boffman stayed
over the ARVN, returning to Khe Sahn for refueling and rearming three times. He
expended ordnance as directed by the ARVN sergeant on radio and dodged NVA fire
on low-level flights to pinpoint the exact ARVN location and calculate the best
approach route for rescue helicopters.

At nearly five in the afternoon, the 173rd Robinhoods began coming in from the
east to extract the beseiged ARVN. Brandt was still circling, and volunteered to
lead the helicopters in, as the ARVN had expended their last smoke grenade some
hours earlier. He radioed, "This is Music One-six. Follow me, Robinhood 3, and
I'll lead you to the friendlies." As they moved in, NVA fire exploded around
them. Brandt's Cobra shuddered and he radioed, "I've lost my engine and my
transmission is breaking up. Good-bye. Send my love to my family. I'm dead."
Then, the Cobra became a ball of fire and crashed in the trees, rolling onto its
right side.

With knots in their throats, the extraction helicopters continued their mission.
Of the original 420 ARVN who entered Laos, only 88 were left. They had fought
hard for 6 weeks. The helicopters were clearly overloaded, and some had great
difficulty staying airborne on the trip back to Khe Sanh. ARVN were hanging from
the skids of the aircraft in a desperate attempt to reach the safety of Vietnam.
Many fell, some were injured on landing. Of the 88 at the crater, only 36 made
it back to the safety of Khe Sanh.

For Brandt and Boffman, little hope remained. They died as they lived, helping
others, and with honor.

In mid-January 1990, a joint U.S./Lao team excavated the crash site of Brandt's
helicopter and recovered human remains which were later identified as being
those of both Brandt and Boffman. For their families, at least, comes the
certainty of death.

For many of their comrades, however, clear answers are not forthcoming. Laos is
often called the "Black Hole" of the POW issue because, of nearly 600 Americans
lost there, not a single man was ever released that had been held in Laos. The
Pathet Lao stated on several occasions that they held prisoners, yet we never
negotiated for their freedom. These men were abandoned by the government for
which they bravely fought.


BOGARD, LONNIE PAT

Name: Lonnie Pat Bogard
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 435th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Ubon AF TH
Date of Birth: 11 May 1942
Home City of Record: Metairie LA
Date of Loss: 12 May 1972
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 171200N 1960900E (XE222018)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D

Other Personnel in Incident: William H. Ostermeyer (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 30 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 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.

Capt. Lonnie P. Bogard, had celebrated his birthday the day before he was
assigned a night low-level reconnaissance mission along the Ho Chi Minh trail on
May 12, 1972. Bogard was the pilot, and 1Lt. William H. Ostermeyer the
electronics officer comprising the crew of an F4D Phantom. The mission went
according to plan until after a scheduled mid-air refueling, after which radio
contact was lost with the aircraft. At last contact, Bogard and Ostermeyer were
near the Ban Karai Pass in Savannakhet Province, Laos.

The Ban Karai Pass was one of several passageways through the mountainous border
of Vietnam and Laos. American aircraft flying from Thailand to missions over
North Vietnam flew through them regularly, and many aircraft were lost. On the
Laos side of the border coursed the "Ho Chi Minh Trail", a road heavily
traveled by North Vietnamese troops moving materiel and personnel to their
destinations through the relative safety of neutral Laos. The return ratio of
men lost in and around the passes is far lower than that of those men lost in
more populous areas, even though both were shot down by the same enemy and the
same weapons. This is partly due to the extremely rugged terrain and resulting
difficulty in recovery.

The U.S. Air Force placed Bogard and Ostermeyer in the category of Missing in
Action. The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) further refined that category to
include the likelihood of enemy knowledge, classifying Bogard and Ostermeyer as
Category 4. Category 4 includes those individuals on whom no intelligence exists
to support the belief that the enemy knew details of the loss, or individuals
whose loss time and location are unknown.

The families of Bogard and Ostermeyer understood that the two could have been
captured by either Pathet Lao forces or North Vietnamese, and waited for the war
to end.

When peace agreements were signed, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger informed
the families of the men prisoner and missing that their men would soon come
home. When asked specifically if the agreements included all countries (Vietnam,
Cambodia, China and Laos), Kissinger replied, "What do you think took us so
long."

When 591 American prisoners were released in the spring of 1973, it became
evident that Kissinger had lied to the families. No prisoners held by the
Chinese, Lao or Cambodians were released, even though the Pathet Lao had stated
on a number of occasions that they held "tens of tens" of Americans. Kissinger
had not negotiated for these men.

In Laos alone, nearly 600 Americans are Prisoner of War or Missing in Action.
Since 1975, nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans still missing in
Southeast Asia, convincing many authorities that hundreds of Americans are still
held in captivity. Lonnie Bogard and William Ostermeyer could be among them.
It's time we brought our men home.
BOGIAGES, CHRISTOS CONSTANTINE JR.

Name: Christos Constantine Bogiages, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit: 357th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Takhli Airbase, Thailand
Date of Birth: 30 March 1934
Home City of Record: Clearwater FL
Date of Loss: 02 March 1969
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 192300N 1030900E (UG056443)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F105D
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: The Plain of Jars region of Laos was long been controlled by the
communist Pathet Lao and a continual effort was made by the secret CIA-directed
force of some 30,000 indigenous tribesmen to strengthen anti-communist
strongholds there. The U.S. committed hundreds of millions of dollars to the
secret war effort in Laos. Details of this operation were not released to
Congress and the American public until August 1971.

On March 2, 1969, Maj. Christos C. Bogiages, Jr. was sent on a mission over the
Plain of Jars in Laos in an F105D Thunderchief. The "Thud" flew more missions
against North Vietnam than any other U.S. aircraft, but it also suffered more
losses, partially due to its vulnerability, which was constantly under revision.
Maj. Bogiages aircraft went down in Xiangkhoang Province, Laos, about 5 miles
southwest of the city of Ban Na Mai.

According to 1989 public information from the U.S. Air Force, Maj. Bogiages'
aircraft was hit by hostile fire and crashed. No parachute was seen, and no
emergency radio beeper signals were heard. According to information given to
his family at the time, Maj. Bogiages survived the crash of his aircraft. His
family waited for the war to end, understanding that he could have been
captured, either by the Pathet Lao or the North Vietnamese.

Throughout the war, names of hundreds of Americans held by the North Vietnamese
became known to the U.S. The Pathet Lao stated on a number of occasions that
they also held "tens of tens" of Americans, but that they would be released
only from Laos. The names of only a few of these men held in Laos were known.

When peace agreements were signed, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger informed
the families of the men prisoner and missing that their men would soon come
home. When asked specifically if the agreements included all countries
(Vietnam, Cambodia, China and Laos), Kissinger replied, "What do you think took
us so long."

When 591 American prisoners were released in the spring of 1973, it became
evident that Kissinger had lied to the families. No prisoners held by the
Chinese, Lao or Cambodians were released. Kissinger had not negotiated for
these men.

In Laos alone, nearly 600 Americans are Prisoner of War or Missing in Action.
Since 1975, nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans still missing in
Southeast Asia, convincing many authorities that hundreds of Americans are
still held in captivity. Christos Bogiages could be among them. It's time we
brought our men home.






BOHLSCHEID, CURTIS RICHARD

Name: Curtis Richard Bohlscheid
Rank/Branch: O3/US Marine Corps
Unit: HMM 265, Marine Air Group 16
Date of Birth: 09 December 1936
Home City of Record: Pocatello ID
Date of Loss: 11 June 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 165454N 1065530E (YD048689)
Status (in 1973): Killed In Action/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: CH46A

Other Personnel In Incident: Dennis R. Christie, Charles D. Chomel; John J.
Foley; Jose J. Gonzales; Thomas M. Hanratty; Michael W. Havranek; James W. Kooi,
Jim E. Moshier; John S. Oldham; James E. Widener (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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: A/C CRASH-EXPLODED-NO SURVS OBS-J

SYNOPSIS: On 11 June 1967, 1LT Curtis Bohlscheid was the pilot of a CH46A
helicopter inserting a seven-man Marine Force Recon team into a predesignated
area 11 1/2 nautical miles northwest of Dong Ha, South Vietnam -- right on the
Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). A total of four aircraft were involved in the mission,
two CH46's and two UH1E helicopter gunships. Bohlscheid flew the lead aircraft.
His crew included MAJ John S. Oldham, LCPL Jose J. Gonzales (crew chief), and
PFC Thomas M. Hanratty (crew chief).

Members of the 3rd Recon Company, 3rd Recon Battalion, 3rd Marine Division who
were being inserted were CPL Jim E. Moshier, LCPL Dennis R. Christie, LCPL John
J. Foley III, LCPL Michael W. Havranek, LCPL James W. Kooi, PFC Charles D.
Chomel, and PFC James E. Widener.

The flight departed Dong Ha at about 11:15 a.m. and proceeded to the insertion
location. The gunships made low strafing runs over the landing zone to clear
booby traps and to locate any enemy troops in the area. No enemy fire was
received and no activity was observed. The lead aircraft then began its approach
to the landing zone. At an estimated altitude of 400-600 feet, the helicopter
was observed to climb erratically, similar to an aircraft commencing a loop.
Machinegunmen had been waiting for the opportune time to fire on the aircraft.
Portions of the rear blades were seen to separate from the aircraft and a radio
transmission was received from the aircraft indicating that it had been hit. The
helicopter became inverted and continued out of control until it was seen to
crash by a stream in a steep ravine.

Subsequent efforts by ground units to reach the crash area failed due to a heavy
bunker complex surrounding the site. The ground units inspected the site from
within 500 meters through binoculars and observed no survivors. All eleven
personnel aboard the helicopter were therefore classified Killed In Action, Body
Not Recovered. Other USMC records indicate that the helicopter also burst into
flames just prior to impacting the ground.

For the crew of the CH46A lost on June 11, 1967, death seems a certainty. For
hundreds of others, however, simple answers are not possible. Adding to the
torment of nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asia
is the certain knowledge that some Americans who were known to be prisoners of
war were not released at the end of the war. Others were suspected to be
prisoners, and still others were in radio contact with would-be rescuers when
last seen alive. Many were known to have survived their loss incidents, only to
disappear without a trace.

The problem of Americans still missing torments not only the families of those
who are missing, but the men who fought by their sides, and those in the general
public who realize the full implication of leaving men unaccounted for at the
end of a war.

Tragically, many authorities believe there are hundreds of Americans still alive
in captivity in Southeast Asia today.  What must they be thinking of us? What
will our next generation say if called to fight if we are unable to bring these
men home from Southeast Asia?
BOLES, WARREN WILLIAM

Name: Warren William Boles
Rank/Branch: O2/US Navy
Unit: Fighter Squadron 114, USS KITTY HAWK (CVA 63)
Date of Birth: 14 December 1940 (Salem MA)
Home City of Record: Marblehead Neck MA
Date of Loss: 18 January 1968
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 192859N 1065859E (YG081553)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4B

Other Personnel In Incident: Ronald L. Roehrich (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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: Lt.JG Warren W. Boles was a pilot assigned to Fighter Squadron 114
onboard the aircraft carrier USS KITTY HAWK. On January 18, 1968, he and his
radar intercept officer (RIO), Lt.JG Ron Roehrich launched in their F4B Phantom
fighter aircraft as the second plane of a two-plane section. Their assigned
mission was as Barrier Combat Air Patrol Mission to protect friendly air and
surface units in the Gulf of Tonkin.

The two aircraft were launched independently and proceeded to their assigned
station separately. Enroute to the station, Boles established radio contact with
his airborne controller and was immediately vectored to investigate an
unidentified surface contact in a threatening position in the Gulf. Boles
descended through a low overcast and positively identified the contact as a
non-hostile, cargo-type ship. Seconds later, radio and radar contact were lost
with Bole's aircraft.

Search and rescue helicopters were immediately sent to the scene and confirmed,
by a fuel slick and debris, that the aircraft had crashed at sea. Although an
exhaustive search was conducted, no survivors were found. The weather at the
scene was about 700 feet overcast with low visibility and it was very dark.

Final analysis of the accident concluded that Boles apparently became
disoriented while visually tring to identify the surface contact and flying on
instruments and inadvertently collided with the water. The Commanding Officer
believed that Boles had no warning of his impending crash and that his death was
instantaneous.

Boles and Roehrich appear to have perished in the unexplained crash of their
aircraft that January day in 1968. They are among nearly 2500 Americans who
remain missing or unaccounted for from the Vietnam War. Thousands of refugee
reports have been received since the war ended which have convinced many
authorities that hundreds of these Americans are still alive. While Boles and
Roehrich may not be among them, one can imagine their cheerfully accepting one
more mission to help guard their flight to safety.

BOLLINGER, ARTHUR RAY

Name: Arthur Ray Bollinger
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 361st Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron, Nakhon Phanom, Thailand
Date of Birth: 13 June 1944
Home City of Record: Greenville IL
Date of Loss: 05 February 1973
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 153755N 1065957E (YC143291)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action/Killed In Action
Category: 1
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: EC47Q

Other Personnel in Incident: Dale Brandenburg; Todd M. Melton; George R. Spitz;
Severo J. Primm III; Peter R. Cressman; Joseph Matejov (all missing); Robert E.
Bernhardt (remains recovered)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II
Project.

REMARKS: KIA 3 - POSS CAPT 4

SYNOPSIS: On February 5, 1973, about a week after the signing of the Paris
Peace Agreement, an EC47Q aircraft was shot down over Saravane Province, Laos,
about 50 miles east of the city of Saravane. The crew of the aircraft consisted
of the pilot, Capt. George R. Spitz; co-pilot, 2Lt. Severo J. Primm III, Capt.
Arthur R. Bollinger, 1Lt. Robert E. Bernhardt, Sgt. Dale Brandenburg, Sgt.
Joseph A. Matejov, all listed as crew members, and Sgt. Peter R. Cressman and
SSgt. Todd M. Melton, both systems operators. The families of all aboard the
aircraft were told the men were dead, and advised to conduct memorial services.

It is known that Cressman and Matejov were members of Detachment 3, 6994th
Security Squadron from Ubon, Thailand. The aircraft, however, was flying out of
the 361st TEW Squadron (Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron) at Nakhon Phanom
Airbase, Thailand. Primm, Melton, Spitz, Brandenburg and Bernhardt were assigned
to the 361st TEW Squadron. Bollinger's unit is unknown.

The men in the 6994th were highly trained and operated in the greatest of
secrecy. They were not allowed to mingle with others from their respective
bases, nor were the pilots of the aircraft carrying them on their missions
always told what their objective was. They were cryptology experts, language
experts, and knew well how to operate some of the Air Force's most sophisticated
equipment. They were the first to hear the enemy's battle plans.

Over five years later, Joe Matejov's mother, Mary Matejov, heard columnist Jack
Anderson, on "Good Morning America", describe a Pathet Lao radio communique
which described the capture of four "air pirates" on the same day as the EC47Q
carrying her son was shot down. NO OTHER PLANE WAS MISSING THAT DAY. Anderson's
information indicated that reconnaissance personnel had 40 uninterrupted minutes
in which to survey the crash site.

The report of the reconnaissance team, which was not provided to the families
for over five years, showed that three bodies, which were thought to have been
higher ranking officers because of the seating arrangement, were found strapped
in seats. Four of the men aboard the aircraft were not in or around the
aircraft, and the partial remains of the eighth man (Bernhardt) was recovered.
No identification was brought out from the crash site, and no attempt was made
to recover the three bodies from the downed aircraft. It is assumed that the
reconnaissance team was most interested in recovering the sensitive equipment
aboard the EC47Q. The EC47Q became known as the "Flying Pueblo". Most of the
"kids" in back, as some pilots called them, were young, in good health, and
stood every chance of surviving captivity.

There were specific reports intercepted regarding the four missing men from the
aircraft missing on February 5, 1973. Radio reports indicated that the four were
transported to the North Vietnam border. None were released in the general POW
release beginning the next month.

Peter Cressman enlisted in the United States Air Force in August, 1969 and after
two years at Elmendorf AFB in Anchorage, Alaska he volunteered for service in
Vietnam and left for Da Nang in June 1972.

In Da Nang, Peter spent his free hours at Sacred Heart Orphanage. His letters to
his hometown priest in Oakland, New Jersey, resulted in the forming of
"Operation Forget-Me-Not". Community schools, churches, merchants and citizens
joined the effort to help the innocent victims of war. The group eventually
provided a boxcar of supplies to the orphans.

Peter was transferred to the airbase at Ubon, Thailand. He believed the secret
missions being flown into Laos were illegal, and had written letters to his
congressman in that regard. His family has been active in efforts to locate
information on Peter and the nearly 2500 others who remain unaccounted for. They
founded the National Forget-Me-Not Association for POW/MIAs in St.Petersburg,
Florida, the largest POW advocacy group in the country.

Joseph Matejov enlisted in the Air Force in 1970 from his home state of New York
and went to Southeast Asia in April, 1972. Joe's father and two brothers were
career military. His sister graduated from West Point in 1981. Steven Matejov
died in 1984 not knowing what happened to his son. Joe's mother, Mary says, "Joe
may be alive. If so, this government has a legal and moral responsibility to get
him home.  The next generation of servicemen should not have to wonder if they
will answer the call to defend their country only to be abandoned. We must stop
this tragedy now, and never allow it to happen again."

Thousands of reports received by the U.S. Government have convinced many experts
that hundreds of Americans remain captive in Southeast Asia. Members of a crew
flying a secret mission after a peace agreement had been signed would likely be
considered war criminals. If they are among those thought to be alive, the
survivors of the EC47Q have been held captive over 15 years. It's time we
brought our men home.



CASE SYNOPSIS: BOLTE, WAYNE LOUIS

Name: Wayne Louis Bolte
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit: 30th Air Division
Date of Birth: 27 January 1935
Home City of Record: Claremore OK
Loss Date: 02 April 1972
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 165000N 1070100E (YD146612)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: EB66E ("Bat 21")
Personnel in Incident: April 2: Robin F. Gatwood; Wayne L. Bolte; Anthony
Giannangeli; Charles A. Levis; Henry M. Serex; (all missing from the EB66).
LtCol. Iceal Hambleton (rescued after 12 days from EB66). Ronald P. Paschall;
Byron K. Kulland; John W. Frink (all missing from UH1H rescue helicopter), Jose
M. Astorga (captured and released in 1973 from UH1H). April 3: William J.
Henderson (captured and released in 1973 from OV10A rescue craft); Mark Clark
(rescued after 12 days from OV10A rescue craft).  April 6: James H. Alley;
Allen J. Avery; Peter H. Chapman; John H. Call; William R. Pearson; Roy D.
Prater (all KIA/BNR from HH53C "Jolly 52" rescue chopper). Also in very close
proximity to "Bat 21"on April 3: Allen D. Christensen; Douglas L. O'Neil;
Edward W. Williams; Larry A. Zich (all missing from UH1H).  April 7: Bruce
Charles Walker (evaded 11 days); Larry F. Potts (captured & died in POW camp)
(both missing from OV10A).

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On the afternoon of April 2, 1972, two Thailand-based EB66 aircraft
(Bat 21 and Bat 22), from the 30th Air Division, were flying pathfinder escort
for a cell of B52s bombing near the DMZ. Bat 21 took a direct SAM hit and the
plane went down. A single beeper signal was heard, that of navigator Col. Iceal
Hambleton. At this time it was assumed the rest of the crew died in the crash.
The crew included Maj. Wayne L. Bolte, pilot; 1Lt. Robin F. Gatwood, LtCol.
Anthony R. Giannangeli, LtCol. Charles A. Levis, and Maj. Henry M. Serex, all
crew members. It should be noted that the lowest ranking man aboard this plane
was Gatwood, a First Lieutenant. This was not an ordinary crew, and its
members, particularly Hambleton, would be a prize capture for the enemy because
of military knowledge they possessed.

It became critical, therefore, that the U.S. locate Hambleton, and any other
surviving crew members before the Vietnamese did - and the Vietnamese were
trying hard to find them first.

An Army search and rescue team was nearby and dispatched two UH1H "slicks" and
two UH1B "Cobras". When they approached Hambleton's position just before dark,
at about 50 feet off the ground, with one of the AH1G Cobra gunships flying at
300 feet for cover, two of the helicopters were shot down. One, the Cobra (Blue
Ghost 28) reached safety and the crew was picked up, without having seen the
other downed helicopter. The other, a UH1H from F Troop, 8th Cavalry, 196th
Brigade, had just flown over some huts into a clearing when they encountered
ground fire, and the helicopter exploded. Jose Astorga, the gunner, was injured
in the chest and knee by the gunfire. Astorga became unconscious, and when he
recovered, the helicopter was on the ground. He found the pilot, 1Lt. Byron K.
Kulland, lying outside the helicopter. WO John W. Frink, the co-pilot, was
strapped in his seat and conscious. The crew chief, SP5 Ronald P. Paschall, was
pinned by his leg in the helicopter, but alive. WO Franks urged Astorga to
leave them, and Astorga was captured. He soon observed the aircraft to be hit
by automatic weapons fire, and to explode with the rest of the crew inside. He
never saw the rest of the crew again. Astorga was relesed by the North
Vietnamese in 1973.

The following day, Nail 38, an OV10A equipped with electronic rescue gear
enabling its crew to get a rapid "fix" on its rescue target entered Hambleton's
area and was shot down. The crew, William J. Henderson and Mark Clark, both
parachuted out safely. Henderson was captured and released in 1973. Clark
evaded for 12 days and was subsequently rescued.

On April 3, the day Nail 38 was shot down, a UH1H "slick" went down in the same
area carrying a crew of four enlisted Army personnel. They had no direct
connection to the rescue of Bat 21, but were very probably shot down by the
same SAM installations that downed Bat 21. The helicopter, from H/HQ, 37th
Signal Battalion, 1st Signal Brigade, had left Marble Mountain Airfield, Da
Nang, on a standard resupply mission to signal units in and around Quang Tri
City. The crew, consisting of WO Douglas L. O'Neil, pilot; CW2 Larry A. Zich,
co-pilot; SP5 Allen D. Christensen, crew chief; and SP4 Edward W. Williams,
gunner; remain missing in action.

On April 6, an attempt was made to pick up Clark and Hambleton which resulted
in an HH53C helicopter being shot down. The chopper was badly hit. The
helicopter landed on its side and continued to burn, consuming the entire craft,
and presumably, all 6 men aboard. The crew of this aircraft consisted of James
H. Alley; Allen J. Avery, John H. Call III, Peter H. Chapman, William R.
Pearson, and Roy D. Prater. Search and rescue noted no signs of survivors, but
it is felt that the Vientamese probably know the fate of this crew because of
the close proximity of the downed aircraft to enemy locations.

On April 7 another Air Force OV10A went down in the area with Larry Potts and
Bruce Walker aboard. Walker, the Air Force pilot of the aircraft, evaded
capture 11 days, while it is reported that Potts was captured and died in Quang
Binh prison. Potts, the observer, was a Marine Corps officer. Walker's last
radio transmission to search and rescue was for SAR not to make an attempt to
rescue, the enemy was closing in. Both men remain unaccounted for.

Hambleton and Clark were rescued after 12 incredible days. Hambleton
continually changed positions and reported on enemy activity as he went, even
to the extent of calling in close air strikes near his position. He was tracked
by a code he devised relating to the length and lie direction of various golf
holes he knew well. Another 20 or so Americans were not so fortunate.

In July 1986, the daughter of Henry Serex learned that, one week after all
search and rescue had been "called off" for Bat 21, another mission was mounted
to recover "another downed crewmember" from Bat 21. She doesn't know whether or
not it is her father or another man on the EB66 aircraft. No additional
information has been released. When the movie "Bat 21" was released, she was
horrified to learn that virtually no mention of the rest of the crew, including
her father, was made.

In Vietnam, to most fighting men, the man that fought beside them, whether in
the air or on the ground, was worth dying for. Each understood that the other
would die for him if necessary. Thus, also considering the critical knowledge
possessed by Col. Hambleton and some of the others, the seemingly uncanny means
taken to recover Clark and Hambleton are not so unusual at all.

What defies logic and explaination, however, is that the government that sent
these men to battle can distort or withold information to their families, and
knowingly abandon hundreds of men known or strongly suspected to be in enemy
hands.

Thousands of reports have been received by the U.S. Government indicating that
Americans are still alive, in captivity in Southeast Asia. It has been 17 years
for those who may have survived the 1972 Easter crashes and rescue attempts.
How much longer must they wait for their country to bring "peace with honor" to
them and bring them home?




BOLTZE, BRUCE EDWARD

Name: Bruce Edward Boltze
Rank/Branch: W2/US Marine Corps
Unit: SU1, 1 Anglico
Date of Birth: 31 January 1938
Home City of Record: Flint MI
Date of Loss: 06 October 1972
Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 161357N 1080958E (AT971966)
Status (in 1973): Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: OV10A

Other Personnel In Incident: Carl O. McCormick (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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: All tactical strike aircraft operating in Southeast Asia had to be
under the control of a Forward Air Control (FAC), who was intimately familiar
with the locale, the populous, and the tactical situation. The FAC would find
the target, order up U.S. fighter/bombers from an airborne command and control
center or ground based station, mark the target accurately with white phosphorus
(Willy Pete) rockets, and control the operation throughout the time the planes
remained on station. After the fighters had departed, the FAC stayed over the
target to make a bomb damage assessment (BDA).

The FAC also had to ensure that there were no attacks on civilians, a complex
problem in a war where there were no front lines and any hamlet could suddenly
become part of the combat zone. A FAC needed a fighter pilot's mentality, but
but was obliged to fly slow and low in such unarmed and vulnerable aircraft as
the Cessna O1 Bird Dog, the Cessna O2 and the North American OV10 Bronco.

The OV10 Bronco was among the aircraft most feared by the Viet Cong and NVA
forces, because whenever the Bronco appeared overhead, an air strike seemed
certain to follow. Although the glassed-in cabin could become uncomfortably
warm, it provided splendid visibility. The two-man crew had armor protection and
could use machine guns and bombs to attack, as well as rockets to mark targets
for fighter bombers. This versatility enabled the plane to fly armed
reconnaissance missions, in addition to serving as vehicle for forward air
controllers.

Air Force LTC Carl O. McCormick was the pilot and CWO Bruce E. Boltze the
spotter in an OV10A Bronco helping to direct Naval gunfire near the city of Da
Nang, Republic of Vietnam on October 6, 1972.

During the operation, the aircraft was seen to explode (cause unknown) and to
fall into the South China Sea where it disintegrated upon impact. A quantity of
debris was recovered, along with partial human remains, but the remains could
not be identified as either McCormick or Boltze.

The Marine Corps states that neither man could have survived the catastrophic
explosion and disintegration of the helicopter. Because their remains were not
recovered, they are carried on the roll of the missing.

For Boltze and McCormick, death seems a certainty. For hundreds of others,
however, simple answers are not possible. Adding to the torment of nearly 10,000
reports relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asia is the certain knowledge
that some Americans who were known to be prisoners of war were not released at
the end of the war. Others were suspected to be prisoners, and still others were
in radio contact with would-be rescuers when last seen alive. Many were known to
have survived their loss incidents, only to disappear without a trace.

The problem of Americans still missing torments not only the families of those
who are missing, but the men who fought by their sides, and those in the general
public who realize the full implication of leaving men unaccounted for at the
end of a war.

Tragically, many authorities believe there are hundreds of Americans still alive
in captivity in Southeast Asia today.  What must they be thinking of us? What
will our next generation say if called to fight if we are unable to bring these
men home from Southeast Asia?
BOMAR, JACK WILLIAMSON

Name: Jack Williamson Bomar
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Ft. Madison IA
Date of Loss: 04 February 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 221546N 1055300E (WK910620)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: EB66C
Other Personnel in Incident: John O. Davies; John Fer (both released POWs);
Russell A. Poor (missing); Herb Doby; Woodrow H. Wilburn (remains returned)
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1990 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.

REMARKS: 730304 RELSD BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: The Douglas EB66C Skywarrior was outfitted as an electronic warfare
aircraft which carried roughly 5 tons of electronic gear in addition to its
flight crew of three and technical personnel. The EB66C featured a pressurized
capsule installed in the bomb bay, that accommodated four technicians whose
responsibility was to operate electronic reconnaissance gear.

On February 4, 1967, an EB66C was dispatched on an operational mission over
North Vietnam. The crew and technicians that day included Maj. Jack W. Bomar,
1Lt. John O. Davies, Capt. John Fer, Capt. Russell A. Poor, Capt. Herb Doby, and
Maj. Woodrow Hoover.

At a point about 40 miles from the China border in Bac Thai Province, North
Vietnam, the EB66C was shot down. Bomar, Fer and Davies were captured. The fates
of Doby, Poor and Wilburn were uncertain.

In the spring of 1973, 591 Americans were released from prison camps in Vietnam,
including Bomar, Davies and Fer. They had been POWs for just over six years.
Poor, Doby and Wilburn remained Missing in Action.

In 1977, the Vietnamese returned remains which were identified as being those of
Capt. Herb Doby, but denied any knowledge of the fates of Poor and Wilburn.

In 1990, it was announced that the Vietnamese had "discovered" and returned the
remains of Maj. Woodrow Wilburn.

For 23 years, the Vietnamese have denied knowledge of the fates of the missing
from the EB66C they shot down on February 4, 1967. Among the entire crew, only
Poor remains missing.

Disturbing testimony was given to Congress in 1980 that the Vietnamese
"stockpiled" the remains of Americans to return at politically advantageous
times. Could Poor be waiting, 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. Could Poor be among these?

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.
BOND, RONALD LESLIE

Name: Ronald Leslie Bond
Rank/Branch: 03/US Air Force
Unit: 390th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Da Nang, South Vietnam
Date of Birth: 14 December 1947
Home City of Record: Haddonfield CT
Date of Loss: 30 September 1971
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 160500N 1063300E (XD619099)
Status (In 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4E

Other Personnel in Incident: Michael L. Donovan (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 31 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: Michael L. Donovan was born November 9, 1944 in Huntington Park,
California. His family later moved to Norton, Kansas, where he graduated from
Norton Community High School in 1962. He was married before entering Fort Hays
State College where he graduated in 1966 with a degree in Agriculture.

In the summer of 1966, Mike entered the Air Force and was commissioned as a
Second Lieutenant. He received training in Texas and Florida and in 1968 became
a pilot of the F-4 Phantom jet. Mike was promoted to Captain while serving an
overseas tour in Japan.

In January, 1971, Mike left for his last assignment in South Vietnam, and was
stationed at Da Nang Airfield with the 421st Tactical Fighter Squadron.

Ronald L. Bond was born in Camden, New Jersey on December 14, 1947. He grew up
in Haddonfield, New Jersey. At the age of 12, Ron was on the Haddonfield Little
League team that went to the New Jersey finals. In that same year he was Middle
Atlantic AAU, 12 and under Diving Champion and a tri-county swimming and diving
champion. In his high school years at Haddonfield Memorial High School, he was
wrestling champion in his weight class. When Ron graduated from high school in
1965, he was accepted at the University of Delaware, but was also granted an
appointment to the Air Force Academy, which he accepted.

His first assignment after graduating from the Academy in 1969 was navigator
school, then training to be "Guy in Back" in the F4 fighter bomber, then an
unexpected (and unwanted) assignment to South Korea. Ron did everything he could
think of to get a Vietnam assignment, and the orders to go to Vietnam came while
he was home just prior to leaving for Korea. With his heavy clothes on their way
to Korea and his lighter clothes shipped home to Haddonfield, he left for Da
Nang, South Vietnam, arriving there February 6, 1971.

Ron was home again in July, 1971. He was on R & R, but had come home to be
fitted with contact lenses so that he could become a pilot. Shortly after his
return to Da Nang, Ron began flying Forward Air Controller reconnaissance
missions. He was attached to the 390th Tactical Fighter Squadron.

On September 30, 1971, Donovan and Bond teamed up on an operational mission over
Laos. On the mission, Donovan was the pilot and Bond the "Guy in Back"
(navigator). The pair were on the last leg of their mission having mated up
twice with a KC135 (for fuel). The aircraft failed to return on schedule to Da
Nang, and after an extensive search, the two men were declared Missing In
Action.

Bond and Donovan are two of the nearly 600 men missing in action over Laos. The
poorly-negotiated Paris Peace Agreement ending American involvement in Southeast
Asia did not address the prisoners of war and missing held in Laos, and no
subsequent negotiations ever held to secure their freedom. As a result, even
though the Pathet Lao stated publicly that they held "tens of tens" of American
prisoners, not one man held in Laos was released.

Ronald Bond's parents moved to California about a year after his disappearance
and remain active in their search for information about their son. They feel
there is a possibility their son could be alive and a prisoner. They believe
some, perhaps many, Americans are still alive and held prisoner in Southeast
Asia. They will not rest until these men are returned and they know the fate
of their son.

BOOKOUT, CHARLES FRANKLIN

Name: Charles Franklin Bookout
Rank/Branch: E7/US Army Special Forces
Unit: CCN/MACV-SOG, 5th Special Forces Group
Date of Birth: 01 December 1934 (Sayre OK)
Home City of Record: Oklahoma City OK
Date of Loss: 04 July 1970
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 154852N 1071220E (YC362495)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: SFC Charles F. Bookout was a squad leader assigned to MACV-SOG
(Military Assistance Command, Vietnam Studies and Observation Group). MACV-SOG
was a joint service high command unconventional warfare task force engaged in
highly classified operations throughout Southeast Asia. The 5th Special Forces
channeled personnel into MACV-SOG (although it was not a Special Forces group)
through Special Operations Augmentation (SOA), which provided their "cover"
while under secret orders to MACV-SOG. The teams performed deep penetration
missions of strategic reconnaissance and interdiction which were called,
depending on the time frame, "Shining Brass" or "Prairie Fire" missions.

On the Fourth of July in 1970, SFC Bookout was conducting a reconnaissance
mission when his unit was ambushed in Laos. The team's position was near the
border of Laos and South Vietnam, south of the South Vietnam city of A Shau, in
Saravane Province, Laos.

On the first burst of fire, SFC Bookout was wounded. He was examined by one of
the squad members, and a single bullet hole was found in the left side of his
back. About 10 minutes later he stopped breathing, and no pulse could be found.
Due to the tactical situation and the intense enemy fire, the team was
instructed to move to a clearing for extraction.

SFC Bookout was left behind, because it would have slowed the progress and
endangered the lives of the rest of the team to try and carry him to safety. It
was believed that he was dead. The rest of the team was extracted safely at
about 1900 hours that day. No search teams were inserted to recover Bookout
because of impending darkness and the enemy situation.

For every insertion like SFC Charles Bookout's that was detected and stopped,
dozens of other commando teams safely slipped past NVA lines to strike a wide
range of targets and collect vital information. The number of MACV-SOG missions
conducted with Special Forces reconnaissance teams into Laos and Cambodia was
452 in 1969. It was the most sustained American campaign of raiding, sabotage
and intelligence gathering waged on foreign soil in U.S. military history.
MACV-SOG's teams earned a global reputation as one of the most combat effective
deep-penetration forces ever raised.

The missions Bookout and others were assigned were exceedingly dangerous and of
strategic importance. The men who were put into such situations knew the
chances of their recovery if captured was slim to none. They quite naturally
assumed that their freedom would come by the end of the war. For 591 Americans,
freedom did come at the end of the war. For another 2500, however, freedom has
never come.

Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports relating to missing Americans in
Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S., convincing many authorities that
hundreds remain alive in captivity. It seems unlikely that Charles Bookout is
among them, but one can be sure he would risk one more dangerous mission to
help bring those who are alive to freedom if he could. What are we doing to
bring our men home?



BOOTH, GARY PRESTON

Name: Gary Preston Booth
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: 18th Aviation Company, 223rd Aviation Battalion, 1st Aviation Brigade
Date of Birth: 11 April 1950 (Chehalif WA)
Home City of Record: Olympia WA
Date of Loss: 23 December 1970
Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 125821N 1092507E (CQ285345)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: U1A
Other Personnel in Incident: Michael W. McAndrews; Bain W. Wiseman (missing)

REMARKS: A/C BROKE UP - SAR NEG - J

SYNOPSIS: On December 23, 1970, WO1 Michael W. McAndrews, aircraft commander;
WO1 Bain W. Wiseman, pilot; and SP4 Gary P. Booth, crew chief, were flying a
U1A "Otter" aircraft (tail number 55-3298), call sign Reliable 298, on a
courier mission over South Vietnam.

At 1845 hours, trained observers on the ground reported seeing an aircraft,
later determined to be Reliable 298, break up in mid-air about 10 miles south
of Tuy Hoa Air Base. Information indicates that Reliable 298 may have been on
fire at the time it broke up. The observers reported that the aircraft broke
into two parts, and that these parts crashed in the vicinity.

U.S. Army helicopters arrived shortly after the incident and began an
unsuccessful search for survivors. Aerial searches the next day were
supplimented by ground searches along the nearby beaches. While parts of the
aircraft and individual flight equipment were found along the beach, no trace
was found of survivors.

It was the opinion of the U.S. Army that the crew of Reliable 298 died when it
went down on December 23, 1970. Because no remains were found, all the crew was
listed among the nearly 2500 Americans missing from the Vietnam war.

For others who are missing, determination of death is not possible. Some of the
missing were last seen being led away by enemy troops. A few wrote home from
POW camps, but were not released at the end of the war. Others were in radio
contact with search and rescue teams and advised them of their imminent capture.

Since the war ended, thousands of reports have accumulated indicating that
hundreds of Americans are still alive, captives of our long-ago enemy. While
the crew of Reliable 298 may not be among them, their deaths have little
meaning until this war is completely ended - and all Americans come home.



BOOTH, JAMES ERVIN

Name: James Ervin Booth
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit: 497th Tactical Fighter Squadron
Date of Birth: 29 December 1939 (Bethany MO)
Home City of Record: Roseville CA
Date of Loss: 23 June 1968
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 175200N 1055500E (WE971755)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D

Other Personnel In Incident: Donald F. Casey (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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:  DEAD/VIETNAM COURIER

SYNOPSIS: Jim Booth was the second of nine children born on a farm near Bethany,
Missouri. All his life, he knew that what he wanted to do was fly. When he grew
up, Booth worked for a while as an economic analyst for the state of California;
then he joined the Air Force and received weapons/systems training onboard the
F4 phantom fighter jet.

By mid-1968, the war in Vietnam was escalating, and Booth and other pilots were
called on to fly long hours over enemy targets. Having flown nightly for two
weeks, Booth should have been due some R & R, but instead, volunteered to fly
backseater for Col. Donald Casey on a night bombing mission over North Vietnam.

Casey and Booth were to bomb a target in the mountains near the border of North
Vietnam and Laos in Quang Binh Province. Just as Casey's aircraft rolled in to
make a bombing run, the pilot of a nearby plane saw a large fireball on the side
of a mountain. No parachutes were observed, and no emergency radio beeper
signals were heard. Attempts to raise Booth and Casey by radio were
unsuccessful.

Information was later received that both Casey and Booth were dead. However,
since this information was not confirmed by separate sources, Casey and Booth
were maintained as Missing in Action. Other men lost in similar circumstances
had survived to be captured -- there was no proof that Casey and Booth were
dead.

Since the war ended in Vietnam, refugees have flooded the world, bringing with
them stories of Americans still held in Indochina. Many authorities, having
reviewed this largely classified information, now believe that hundreds of
American POWs are still alive, waiting for their country to come for them.

Whether Casey and Booth actually survived the downing of their aircraft on June
23, 1968 is unknown. Their families cannot be sure. Until the U.S. insists on a
full accounting of those missing, and more critically, the return of those said
to be still alive, Casey's and Booth's fates will remain a mystery.



BOOTH, LAWRENCE RANDOLPH

Name: Lawrence Randolph Booth
Rank/Branch: O3/US Army
Unit: 131st Aviation Company, 212th Aviation Battalion, 16th Aviation Group
Date of Birth: 11 November 1944
Home City of Record: Stoney Creek VA
Date of Loss: 16 October 1969
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 184227N 1032748E (UF380690)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: OV1C
Other Personnel in Incident: Dennis M. Rattin (missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Capt. Lawrence R. Booth was the pilot and SP4 Dennis M. Rattin the
observer aboard an OV1 Mohawk aircraft assigned a surveillance mission over
hostile territory on October 16, 1969. (NOTE: records vary as to the model OV1
Booth and Rattin were on. Defense and JCRC records record the C model, and U.S.
Army records the B model. Both were equipped for night surveillance - the B
using side-looking radar, and the C using infrared detection equipment).

The aircraft departed its base in late evening on October 16, and was to return
later that night. The mission was tracked on radar to its mission area, but at
about 1015 hours, the pilot radioed that he was returning to base. That was the
last contact received from the aircraft.

The 131st Aviation Company was known as "Nighthawks", and was a surveillance
aircraft company. The 131st had been assigned to I Corps Aviation Battalion
since June 1966, when it arrived in Vietnam. In August 1967, the 131st Aviation
Company was reassigned to the 212th Aviation Battalion where it remained until
July 1971, whereupon it transferred out of Vietnam. When the 131st/212th was
under the authority of the 16th Group, it also provided fixed wing support for
the 23rd Infantry Division (Americal) in I Corps.

There were a large number of pilots lost from this unit, including Thaddeus E.
Williams and James P. Schimberg (January 9, 1966); John M. Nash and Glenn D.
McElroy (March 15, 1966); James W. Gates and John W. Lafayette (April 6, 1966);
Robert G. Nopp and Marshall Kipina (July 14, 1966); Jimmy M. Brasher and Robert
E. Pittman (September 28, 1966); James M. Johnstone and James L. Whited
(November 19, 1966); Larry F. Lucas (December 20, 1966); and Jack W. Brunson
and Clinton A. Musil (May 31, 1971). Missing OV1 aircraft crew from the
20th/131st represent well over half of those lost on OV1 aircraft during the
war.

The location of the mission Rattin and Booth were assigned to is classified, as
are their complete files relating to the loss incident. The coordinates given
for Booth locate the loss in Borikhane Province, Laos near the Nam Nhiep River,
and about 70 miles northeast of the capitol city of Vientane. His coordinates
are fairly specific. Rattin's coordinates are generalized, but also place the
loss in the same 70 miles radius of Vientiane, only north northeast, and in
Xiangkhoang Province, Laos.

Rattin's coordinates place the loss only about 30 miles south of the Plain of
Jars, a region heavily infiltrated by communist troops. It is plausible that
their mission was over this highly contested and "hot" area. There are many
possibilities as to the reason this plane was in south central Laos. This is
NOT the normal area of operations for the 131st, and while many of its aircraft
were lost in Laos, most were lost along the eastern edge of the country. Their
primary arena of operations were in I Corps (the northernmost 5 Provinces of
South Vietnam).

Full scale searches were conducted the next day for Booth and Rattin and their
aircraft, but with no results. The two were classified missing in action.

Booth and Rattin are among nearly 600 Americans who disappeared in Laos. The
Pathet Lao continually stated that they held American prisoners, but insisted
that they would be released only from Laos. The U.S. Government refused to
negotiate with the Pathet Lao, a "government" they did not recognized, and as a
consequence, no American held in Laos was ever released. Further, no
negotiations for these men have occurred since the war ended, even though the
U.S. and communist Lao exchange diplomats on a charge' level.

As thousands of reports continue to flow in regarding the men missing in
Southeast Asia, one must wonder if Booth and Rattin are among the hundreds
thought to be still alive. Doubtless their qualification for such a classified
mission prepared them for the danger. They were prepared to be wounded or to
die. They understood that they could be captured. But the thought that they
would be abandoned by their country probably never crossed their minds.




BOOZE, DELMAR GEORGE

Name: Delmar George Booze
Rank/Branch: O1/US Marine Corps
Unit: VMFA 315, MAG 11
Date of Birth: 07 January 1937
Home City of Record: Papillion NE (Omaha)
Date of Loss: 24 January 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 161900N 1073900E (YD830065)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4B
Other Personnel in Incident: Doyle R. Sprick (missing); on another F4B same
date, same coordinates: Albert Pitt, Lawrence N. Helber (both missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Capt. Doyle R. Sprick was the pilot and 2Lt. Delmar G. Booze his
navigator/bombadier on board an F4B Phantom fighter jet flying out of Da Nang
Airbase, South Vietnam on January 24, 1966. Sprick and Booze were part of a
multi-aircraft strike mission during a Christmas moratorium. At some point
during their mission, while over Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam and about
10 miles south of the city of Hue, the aircraft flown by Sprick and Booze went
down. Both men were declared Missing in Action.

Another F4B, apparently on the same strike mission, was downed at the same
location on that day. This aircraft was also flying out of VMFA 314, 11th
Marine Air Group, and presumably departed Da Nang as well. The second Phantom
was flown by Capt. Albert Pitt, accompanied by navigator 2Lt. Lawrence N.
Helber. This aircraft disappeared after striking a target. The last contact
with the aircraft was a report that their strike on the target had been
successful. Helber and Pitt were declared Missing in Action.

All four Marines lost that day were also given a clarifying code indicating the
degree of enemy knowledge of their fates. These four were all classified
Category 4, which means U.S. Intelligence has no information to indicate that
the Vietnamese know their fates.

According to Doyle Sprick's twin brother, Duane, searches were conducted for
the aircraft which were extensive and thorough for the time and condition. The
Da Nang area, according to Duane, was unfriendly, so the search and rescue was
fairly restricted since the area was "owned by the Viet Cong at the time."

In 1969, the Central Intelligence Agency received a rather extensive and
detailed report relating to a POW camp near the city of Hue in which scores of
Americans had been held. When asked to review photographs of Americans still
missing, the source giving the information positively identified Albert Pitt as
having been detained in this camp. This identification was made on April 11,
1969. The source also listed the Viet Cong Huong Thuy District Committee
members and provided sketches of the committee's headquarters and POW camp.

The U.S. intelligence community determined that it could not "be determined why
the source selected (Pitt's) photograph" as he "was never seen by other US PWs
following his loss incident". The source was summarily dismissed, and his
information discounted. The report was classified.

Over 15 years later, this report was unearthed by a concerned citizen through
the Freedom of Information Act. He immediately contacted the family of one of
the men on the "positive ID" list, and was shocked to learn that they had never
been told of the report's existence, nor did they have any clue that their son
could possibly have been captured.

Since that time, the lengthy report was distributed widely, and came into the
hands of two of the men whose name appeared on the "Positive ID" list who had
been fortunate enough to be released in 1973 by the North Vietnamese. These
returned POWs verified the accuracy of the report insofar as the compound was
concerned and added that it was a "way station", or temporary holding center in
which POWs were held only for brief periods of time. Thus, they were not
surprised to see many names on the list of men they had not seen at this
facility.

Since American involvement in the Vietnam war ended in 1975, nearly 10,000
reports concerning Americans missing in Southeast Asia have been received by the
U.S. Government. Less than 200 of them have been determined to be false, or
fabricated reports. Many have been correlated to individuals who returned to
the U.S. in 1973. In late 1989 about 125 cases were still under investigation,
undergoing the "closest scrutiny" the U.S. intelligence community could give
them. Thus far, according to the U.S. Government, it has not been possible to
resolve these cases as false or true. Many authorities are convinced that
hundreds of Americans are still being held prisoner in Southeast Asia.

If Albert Pitt was accurately identified by the Vietnamese source in 1969, he
has been criminally abandoned by the country he proudly served. If Albert Pitt
could be forgotten and be held unseen by other American POWs, why not Sprick?
Booze? Helber? Why not several hundred of the nearly 2500 still missing? If
they are alive, why are they not home? Are we doing enough to learn the fates
of our heroes?


Prepared by Homecoming II Project 01 December 1989.

BORAH, DANIEL VERNOR, JR.

Name: Daniel Vernor Borah, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O3/US Navy (Reserve)
Unit: Attack Squadron 155, USS ORISKANY (CV-34)
Date of Birth: 18 June 1946
Home City of Record: Olney IL
Date of Loss: 24 September 1972
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 164635N 1072035E (YD140540)
Status (in 1973): Prisoner Of War
Category: 1
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A7B
Other Personnel In Incident: (none missing)

REMARKS: ALIVE IN CHUTE-NO MORE CONTACT

SYNOPSIS: On September 24, 1972, Lt. Daniel Borah launched from the USS
ORISKANY in his A7B Corsair II subsonic attack plane as the flight leader of a
two plane strike against North Vietnamese troops entrenched in bunkers
northwest of the city of Quang Tri, South Vietnam. They were directed to the
target area by a Forward Air Controller aircraft (FAC).

Lt. Borah and his wingman began their initial bombing run as briefed. Due to an
improper switch setting, the wingman expended his entire ordnance load on the
first load instead of the several runs that were briefed for. He then proceeded
to a holding position at 13,000 feet overhead the target to observe Borah's
succeeding bombing runs.

During the second run, Borah's aircraft was seen to draw a barrage of 37mm
anti-aircraft fire. His wingman radioed for evasive action, then almost
immediately saw Borah's aircraft burst into flames. The FAC saw Borah eject
safely from the aircraft and later established emergency radio contact with him
for 10-15 seconds. No other contact was received during the following two days
of search and rescue efforts.

Intelligence reports indicated that North Vietnamese soldiers removed Borah's
parachute from a tree within half hour of his landing on the ground, and he is
believed to have been captured alive.

When the war ended, and 591 Americans were released from Vietnamese prisons,
Borah was not among them. The Vietnamese deny knowledge of his fate. As
thousands of reports of Americans still alive in captivity accumulate, Borah's
family must wonder if he is still alive waiting for his country to bring him
home. Whether Borah is still alive is unknown. What is certain, however, is
someone knows what happened to him. It's time we got answers and brought our
men home.

BORDEN, MURRAY LYMAN

Name: Murray Lyman Borden
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit: 480th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Da Nang
Date of Birth: 02 January 1941
Home City of Record: Goldsboro NC
Date of Loss: 13 October 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 170400N 1064000E (XD750810)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4C
Other Personnel in Incident: Eugene T. Meadows (missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On 13 October 1966, 1Lt. Eugene T. Meadows and 1Lt. Murray L. Borden
departed their base at Da Nang, South Vietnam on an armed reconnaissance
mission over North Vietnam. The aircraft was one in a flight of two F4C Phantom
fighter jets. (NOTE: most U.S. Government records list Meadows as the pilot and
Borden as the navigator of the aircraft, but U.S. Air Force records indicate
that Borden is the pilot of the aircraft.)

The flight of two F4's was to make four passes over its target in Quang Binh
Province, North Vietnam, about 10 miles north of the eastern side of the
Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). On its fourth pass, the Meadows/Borden aircraft
failed to radio in, and crew members of the other aircraft observed a large
explosion while on a down run. They circled the area, but heard no emergency
radio signals ("beepers"). Shortly thereafter, however, a beeper was heard by
search aircraft, but neither the crew nor the aircraft could be located. The
two First Lieutenants were declared Missing in Action. It was strongly felt
that the enemy knows their fates.

When 591 American POWs were released from Vietnamese prisons in 1973, Meadows
and Borden were not among them. Military authorities expressed their dismay at
the time that, "hundreds" expected to return, did not return, nor did they
appear on any list provided by the Vietnamese of American POWs.

Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports have been received relating to
Americans missing in Southeast Asia. Most authorities agree that Americans are
still alive, being held prisoner. Few agree on the best way to bring them home.

Whether Borden and Meadows are among those thought to be still alive is not
known. What is certain, however, is that as long as one American remains alive,
we must do everything possible to bring him home.

BORJA, DOMINGO R.S.

Name: Domingo R.S. Borja
Rank/Branch: E7/US Army Special Forces
Unit: HHC, C & C Detachment, 5th Special Forces Group
Date of Birth: 01 February 1931 (Cabatuan Iloilo, PI)
Home City of Record: San Francisco CA
Date of Loss: 21 February 1967
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 161656N 1070252E (YD188011)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Other Personnel In Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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: Domingo Borja was a member of a Special Forces reconnaissance team
attached to Headquarters & Headquarters Company, Command & Control Detachment,
5th Special Forces Group. On February 21, 1967, the team was operating in Laos
near the Laos/South Vietnam border, in extreme northern Saravane Province very
near the province boundary of Savannakhet Province. The location is so near
Vietnam that some lists locate Borja's area of operations in South Vietnam.

While trying to assist a wounded teammember, Borja was confronted by an enemy
soldier. Each fired at the other simultaneously, and both were killed instantly.
Both bodies were checked by 2 teammembers who detected no signs of life
whatever.

Because of the enemy presence in the area, the remainder of the team evaded and
left the body of Borja behind for later recovery. Subsequent efforts to locate
and recover the remains for the next 5 days were unsuccessful.

Borja is one of nearly 600 Americans missing in Laos. Many were alive and seen
to be captured; some are known to be dead, many just vanished. Although the
Pathet Lao stated on several occasions that they held "tens of tens" of American
prisoners, not one man held in Laos has ever been released.

Although Borja did not survive, others did. Experts now estimate hundreds of
Americans are still alive, waiting for their country to bring them home from
Southeast Asia. Borja, if alive, would gladly go to their aid. When will we?
BORONSKI, JOHN ARTHUR

Name: John Arthur Boronski
Rank/Branch: E6/US Army Special Forces
Unit: SOA (MACV-SOG) CCC, 5th Special Forces Group
Date of Birth: 24 July 1944 (North Hampton MA)
Home City of Record: Ware MA
Date of Loss: 24 March 1970
Country of Loss: Cambodia
Loss Coordinates: 142750N 1071816E (YB484003)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 3
Acft/Venicle/Ground: UH1H

Other Personnel in Incident: Berman Ganoe; John C. Hosken; Rudy M. Becerra;
Michael O'Donnell; Gary A. Harned, Jerry L. Pool (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 July 1990 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, including James E. Lake's account found in
"Life on the Line" by Philip D. Chinnery, interviews.

REMARKS: SURVIVAL UNLIKELY - PER SAR

SYNOPSIS: Kontum, South Vietnam was in the heart of "Charlie country" -- hostile
enemy territory. The little town is along the Ia Drang River, some forty miles
north of the city of Pleiku. U.S. forces never had much control over the area.
In fact, the area to the north and east of Kontum was freefire zone where
anything and anyone was free game. The Kontum area was home base to what was
known as FOB2 (Forward Observation Base 2), a classified, long-term operations
of the Special Operations Group (SOG) that involved daily operations into Laos
and Cambodia. SOG teams operated out of Kontum, but staged out of Dak To.

The mission of the 170th Assault Helicopter Company ("Bikinis") was to perform
the insertion, support, and extraction of these SOG teams deep in the forest on
"the other side of the fence" (a term meaning Laos or Cambodia, where U.S.
forces were not allowed to be based). Normally, the teams consisted of two
"slicks" (UH1 general purpose helicopters), two Cobras (AH1 assault helicopters)
and other fighter aircraft which served as standby support.

On March 24, 1970, helicopters from the 170th were sent to extract a MACV-SOG
long-range reconnaissance patrol (LRRP) team which was in contact with the enemy
about fourteen miles inside Cambodia in Ratanokiri Province. The flight leader,
RED LEAD, serving as one of two extraction helicopters was commanded by James E.
Lake. Capt. Michael D. O'Donnell was the aircraft commander of one of the two
cover aircraft (serial #68-15262, RED THREE). His crew consisted of WO John C.
Hoskins, pilot; SP4 Rudy M. Beccera, crew chief; and SP4 Berman Ganoe, gunner.

The MACV-SOG team included 1LT Jerry L. Pool, team leader and team members SSGT
John A. Boronsky and SGT Gary A. Harned as well as five indigenous team members.
The team had been in contact with the enemy all night and had been running and
ambusing, but the hunter team pursuing them was relentless and they were
exhausted and couldn't continue to run much longer. when Lake and O'Donnell
arrived at the team's location, there was no landing zone (LZ) nearby and they
were unable to extract them immeidately. The two helicopters waited in a high
orbit over the area until the team could move to a more suitable extraction
point.

While the helicopters were waiting, they were in radio contact with the team.
After about 45 minutes in orbit, Lake received word from LT Pool that the NVA
hunter team was right behind them. RED LEAD and RED THREE made a quick trip to
Dak To for refueling. RED THREE was left on station in case of an emergency.

When Lake returned to the site, Pool came over the radio and said that if the
team wasn't extracted then, it would be too late. Capt. O'Donnell evaluated the
situation and decided to pick them up. He landed on the LZ and was on the ground
for about 4 minutes, and then transmitted that he had the entire team of eight
on board. The aircraft was beginning its ascent when it was hit by enemy fire,
and an explosion in the aircraft was seen. The helicopter continued in flight
for about 300 meters, then another explosion occurred, causing the aircraft to
crash in the jungle. According to Lake, bodies were blown out the doors and fell
into the jungle. [NOTE: According to the U.S. Army account of the incident, no
one was observed to have been thrown from the aircraft during either explosion.]

The other helicopter crewmen were stunned. One of the Cobras, Panther 13,
radioed "I don't think a piece bigger than my head hit the ground." The second
explosion was followed by a yellow flash and a cloud of black smoke billowing
from the jungle. Panther 13 made a second high-speed pass over the site and came
under fire, but made it away unscathed.

Lake decided to go down and see if there was a way to get to the crash site. As
he neared the ground, he was met with intense ground fire from the entire area.
He could not see the crash site sice it was under heavy tree cover. There was no
place to land, and the ground fire was withering. He elected to return the
extract team to Dak To before more aircraft was lost. Lake has carried the
burden of guilt with him for all these years, and has never forgiven himself for
leaving his good friend O'Donnell and his crew behind.

The Army account concludes stating that O'Donnell's aircraft began to burn
immediately upon impact. Aerial search and rescue efforts began immediately;
however, no signs of life could be seen around the crash site. Because of the
enemy situation, attempts to insert search teams into the area were futile. SAR
efforts were discontinued on April 18. Search and rescue teams who surveyed the
site reported that they did not hold much hope for survival for the men aboard,
but lacking proof that they were dead, the Army declared all 7 missing in
action.


For every patrol like that of the MACV-SOG LRRP team that was detected and
stopped, dozens of other commando teams safely slipped past NVA lines to strike
a wide range of targets and collect vital information. The number of MACV-SOG
missions conducted with Special Forces reconnaissance teams into Laos and
Cambodia was 452 in 1969. It was the most sustained American campaign of
raiding, sabotage and intelligence gathering waged on foreign soil in U.S.
military history. MACV-SOG's teams earned a global reputation as one of the most
combat effective deep penetration forces ever raised.

By 1990 over 10,000 reports have been received by the U.S. Government concerning
men missing in Southeast Asia. The government of Cambodia has stated that it
would like to return a number of American remains to the U.S. (in fact, the
number of remains mentioned is more than are officially listed missing in that
country), but the U.S., having no diplomatic relations with Cambodia, refuses to
respond officially to that offer.

Most authorities believe there are hundreds of Americans still alive in
Southeast Asia today, waiting for their country to come for them. Whether the
LRRP team and helicopter crew is among them doesn't seem likely, but if there is
even one American alive, he deserves our ultimate efforts to bring him home.


Michael O'Donnell was recommended for the Congressional Medal of Honor for his
actions on March 24, 1970. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the
Air Medal, the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart as well as promoted to the rank
of Major following his loss incident. O'Donnell was highly regarded by his
friends in the "Bikinis." They knew him as a talented singer, guitar player and
poet. One of his poems has been widely distributed, but few understand that the
author remains missing.

If you are able,
save them a place
inside of you
and save one backward glance
when you are leaving
for the places they can
no longer go.
Be not ashamed to say
you loved them,
though you may
or may not have always.
Take what they have left
and what they have taught you
with their dying
and keep it with your own.
And in that time
when men decide and feel safe
to call the war insane,
take one moment to embrace
those gentle heroes
you left behind.

Major Michael Davis O'Donnell
1 January 1970
Dak To, Vietnam





BORS, JOSEPH CHESTER

Name: Joseph Chester Bors
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit: 16th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, Tan San Nhut Airbase, South Vietnam
Date of Birth: 20 April 1935
Home City of Record: Binghamton NY
Date of Loss: 28 April 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 152300N 1083200E
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: RF4C

Other Personnel In Incident: William R. Cook (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Capt. Joseph C. Bors was flying backseater aboard LtCol. William R.
Cook's RF4C Phantom jet when the two departed Tan San Nhut Airbase in South
Vietnam on 28 April 1968 on a day photo reconnaissance mission.

The RF4 version of the Phantom is a reconnaissance aircraft outfitted for
photographic and electronic reconnaissance missions. Its principal drawback was
in its use for night photography. Photo flash cartridges, ejected from the
plane's fuselage gave the necessary light, but also alerted enemy gunners of
the aircraft's location, making it somewhat vulnerable, particularly on low
level flights.

Cook and Bors' mission took them into Military Region 1, and into Quang Tin
Province, South Vietnam. When they were about 20 miles west southwest of the
city of Chu Lai, all contact with the aircraft was lost. Both men were
classified Missing In Action.

A list was published in 1974 by a POW organization called FACK, which contained
19 individuals who had not been released and whom were known to have survived
their loss incident. On the list was the name of Joseph C. Bors.

Bill Cook's photograph was identified by a rallier as an American prisoner of
war, but as none of the returning prisoners saw Cook, CIA analysts questioned
the identification. Perhaps the identification was in error, but it is now
widely known that a second and perhaps third prison system existed in Vietnam,
and it is possible that returned prisoners did not see the Americans held in
other prison systems. No further word of Bors has surfaced.

Cook and Bors are among nearly 2400 Americans who are still missing in
Southeast Asia. Thousands of sighting reports have accumulated over the years,
convincing many that hundreds of Americans are still alive, held prisoner.
Whether Cook or Bors is among them is unknown, but what is certain is that it
is long past time to bring these men home.


BORTON, ROBERT CURTIS JR.

Name:  Robert Curtis Borton, Jr.
Rank/Branch: E2/US Marines
Unit: 1st Platoon, Company K, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Division
Date of Birth: 24 June 1946
Home City of Record: Benton Harbor MI
Date of Loss: 28 August 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 155800N 1081500E (BT061673)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: ground

Other Personnel in Incident: John E. Bodenschatz Jr.; Robert L. Babula; Dennis
R. Carter (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II
Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: PFC Robert L. Babula, PFC Robert C. Borton Jr., PFC John E.
Bodenschatz Jr., and PFC Dennis R. Carter were members of 1st Platoon, Company
K, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines. On 28 August 1966, the four were assigned as a
fire team ambush with instructions to establish an ambush site approximately 500
meters to the south of their platoon patrol base. This specific location is in
Hoa Hai village within grid square BT 0667.

The fire team departed at 3:00 a.m. on August 28, and were given instructions
for use of the pyrotechnics they were carrying as signaling devices. They were
further instructed to relocate in the same general area or return to their
platoon patrol base in the event their ambush site was compromised, and finally
to return no later than 9:00 a.m. that morning.

When the fire team failed to return as scheduled, an immediate search of the
area was conducted by Company K with negative results. During the period of
August 29-31, the Battalion made a dovetailed search of the entire area covering
all possible routes of egress in the event the team members had been captured.

Indigenous personnel in the area were questioned, but no evidence was uncovered
which gave any clues. Villagers were questioned and a search of the area
continued. On September 4, Company K discovered part of an American wrist watch
and PFC Bodenschatz' two identification tags in the vicinity of BT 061673. The
search was intensified in that area, including the use of heavy engineer
equipment in an effort to locate graves, but no further trace was found.

On September 13, the Battalion cordoned off grid squares BT 0567, 0667, 0566,
0666 and all inhabitants were assembled, screened, and interrogated by an ARVN
interrogation team from Hoa Vang District Headquarters. Three Viet Cong suspects
were retained for further questioning, however, no additional information was
obtained concerning the four Marines.

The Battalion commander's final determination was that the four Marines were
probably captured.

In 1975, information was declassified that indicated that since the fire team's
disappearance, Marine headquarters had received two reports sighting three to
four Americans being displayed in villages south of the area in which the fire
team disappeared.

A Christmas card received by Company K/3/1 1st Marine Division, sent by Babula's
mother and sister, stated that they had recently received news that Babula was a
prisoner of war. None of the four, however, returned in the general prisoner
release in 1973.

Since the war ended, the Defense Department has received over 10,000 reports
relating to the men still unaccounted for in Southeast Asia, yet concludes that
no actionable evidence has been received that would indicate Americans are still
alive in Southeast Asia. A recent Senate investigation indicates that most of
these reports were dismissed without just cause, and that there is every
indication that Americans remained in captivity far after the war ended, and may
be alive today.

The fate of the four Marines on the fire team on 28 August 1966 remains
uncertain. What is clear, however, is that it's time we learned the truth about
our missing and brought them home.


BOSILJEVAC, MICHAEL JOSEPH
Remains returned September 1987

Name: Michael Joseph Bosiljevac
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 17th Wild Weasels, 388th Tactical Fighter Wing, Korat RTAFB
Date of Birth: 09 October 1945
Home City of Record: Omaha NE
Date of Loss: 29 September 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 210200N 1052200E (WJ380256)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F105G

Other Personnel In Incident: James W. O'Neil (released POW)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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: GD CHUT-CAPTURED-CRWM REL PW;
BEEPER-VOICE CONT-CROW-01 ALPHA/BETA-PER RED CROWN

SYNOPSIS: Lt.Col. James W. O'Neil was the pilot and Capt. Michael J. Bosiljevac
the EWO (Electronic Warfare Officer) of an F105G jet fighter which was shot down
by a Soviet SAM (Surface to Air Missile) on September 29, 1972. Both Bosiljevac
and O'Neil ejected successfully, and landed 23 miles southwest of Hanoi. Radio
Hanoi/Moscow/Cuba reported the capture of both "pilots" alive (FIBIS) on 29
September 1972. O'Neil was subsequently transferred to Hoa Lo (the "Hanoi
Hilton") and repatriated March 29, 1973.

Upon his release, O'Neil stated that he had observed Bosiljevac in the
parachute, and that Bosiljevac had manually cut the parachute risers for control
and deployed his survival kit for landing. On about the fifth day of his
confinement O'Neil asked an English-speaking turnkey about Bosiljevac. The
turnkey later returned and said, "He is alive, well, uninjured, and luckier than
you."

Repeated USG, as well as family, inquiries met with little response from the
DRV/SRV. In fact, the Socialists Republic of Vietnam (SRV) wrote to the family
of Mike Bosiljevac and claimed to have "no knowledge of Mr. Michael joseph
Bosiljevac," and further stated that "they no longer hold prisoners within
Vietnam."

Yet, on September 21, 1987, the government of Vietnam provided Bosiljevac's name
and his remains were returned to USG control on September 24, 1987. The Central
Identification Laboratory in Hawaii (CILHI) released the remains for a second
opinion in January of 1988, and final identification occurred in January 1988.
Bosiljevac's remains were returned to Omaha, Nebraska for burial on February 10,
1988.

On August 1, 1989, Mike Bosiljevac's records were corrected to reflect that he
Died in Captivity. While this correction does not define the total duration of
his captivity, it stands as a matter of record.


Michael J. Bosiljevac was promoted to the rank of Major during the period he was
maintained in Missing in Action status.

BOSSIO, GALILEO FRED

Name: Galileo Fred Bossio
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit: 388th Combat Support Group, Udorn Airbase, Thailand
Date of Birth: 12 March 1920
Home City of Record: Deer Park WA
Date of Loss: 29 July 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 204300N 10454953E (VH998943)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: RC47D
Other Personnel in Incident: Robert Hoskinson; Robert DiTommaso; (still
missing) Bernard Conklin; James S. Hall; John Mamiya; Herbert E. Smith; Vincent
Chiarello (remains returned)

REMARKS: DEAD/FIR 317-09130 74

SYNOPSIS: On July 19, 1966, an RC47D aircraft departed Udorn Airfield in
Thailand en route to Sam Neua, Laos. The crew abord the aircraft included Capt.
Robert E. Hoskinson, pilot; Maj. Galileo F. Bossio, 1Lt. Vincent A. Chiarello,
Capt. Bernard Conklin, 1Lt. Robert J. Di Tommaso, SSgt. James S. Hall, TSgt.
John M. Mamiya and TSgt. Herbert E. Smith, crewmen. The aircraft was an unarmed
RC47D Command and Control airship (Dogpatch 2).

When the aircraft was 10-20 miles south of Sam Neua, it was attacked by enemy
fighters. Radio contact was lost and the families were initially told there was
no further word of the plane or crew - that they had all been lost on an
operational mission in North Vietnam.

It was later learned, however, that at least one, possibly two parachutes were
observed in the air from persons on the ground, and the loss had occurred not
in North Vietnam, but at 201200N 1041700E, which is in Laos.

Primary objective of the C-47 in Laos at that point in the war was visual
reconnaissance. American forces worked closely with CAS (CIA) primarily to
weaken the communist supply link to South Vietnam via the "Ho Chi Minh Trail".
This particular plane, however, was working in support of the CIA's secret
indigenous army which was attempting to prevent a communist takeover in Laos.

The crewmembers on these missions were normally highly trained in electronic
surveillance techniques as well as versed in codes and languages. Accordingly,
and as "there was no war in Laos", certain details of the mission, such as the
precise location of loss, were originally distorted. Later reports indicate
that some of the crew survived the attack on July 29, 1966. According to a
March, 1974 list published by the National League of Families of POW/MIAs,
Bossio survived the incident and was missing in Laos. One 1971 report states
that as many as 5 of the crew were captured. Chiarello and Di Tommaso were
identified as survivors by Capt. Adair of Project Dogpatch. U.S. Air Force
records still reflect the loss as having occurred in North Vietnam.

In 1988, the remains of Conklin, Chiarello, Hall, Mamiya and Smith were
returned to U.S. control. They were positively identified and returned to their
families for burial. The Di Tommaso family was also notified, and Mafalda Di
Tommaso rushed to Hawaii to sadly welcome her son home. She was shocked to
learn that no body had returned - only information which added nothing to the
mystery surrounding her son's loss.

The families of Bossio, Hoskinson and Di Tommaso have the right to know what
happened on July 29, 1966. The communist governments of Southeast Asia can
account for the large majority of the nearly 2500 Americans still missing
there. The weight of the evidence shows that some of them are still being held
captive. It's time the veil of secrecy was lifted on these men and the others.
It's time they came home.
BOSSMAN, PETER ROBERT

Name: Peter Robert Bossman
Rank/Branch: E4/US Navy
Unit: Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 363,
Marine Air Group 13, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing
Date of Birth: 03 December 1944
Home City of Record: West Seneca NY
Date of Loss: 25 September 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 164656N 1065421E
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH34D
Other Personnel In Incident: Phillip A. Ducat; Dean W. Reiter (both missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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: Capt. Phillip A. Ducat was a helicopter pilot assigned to HHM 161,
Marine Air Group 16. On Sepember 26, 1966, Ducat was assigned a medical
evacuation mission in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam. His co-pilot was 1Lt.
Dean W. Reiter of the same Marine helicopter company and Hospital Corpsman Third
Class Peter Robert Bossman, a U.S. Navy Corpsman. (NOTE: According to Navy
records, Bossman was assigned to HHM 161, MAG 16.)

When the helicopter was approximately 22 miles west of Dong Ha, Quang Tri
Province, South Vietnam, the aircraft was hit by enemy ground fire, burst into
flames and exploded prior to impact with the ground. The crew aboard was killed,
and the intense fire of the crash consumed all remains.

The crew of the UH34 was was listed as killed, body not recovered. They are
among over 2300 Americans who remain prisoner, missing or otherwise unaccounted
for from the Vietnam war. The cases of some, like Bossman, Ducat and Reiter,
seem clear - that they perished and cannot be recovered. Unfortunately, many
other cases are clouded with doubt. Some were known to be in enemy hands. Others
described their imminent capture by radio. Others simply disappeared.

Since American involvement in Vietnam ended in 1975, nearly 10,000 reports
relating to Americans missing, prisoner, or otherwise unaccounted for in
Indochina have been received by the U.S. Government. Many officials, having
examined this largely classified information, have reluctantly concluded that
many Americans are still alive today, held captive by our long-ago enemy.

In our haste to leave an unpopular war, it now appears we abandoned some of our
best men. In our haste to heal the wounds of this same war, will we sign their
death warrants? Or will we do what we can to bring them home?
BOSTON, LEO SIDNEY

Name: Leo Sidney Boston
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 602 Tactical Fighter Squadron
Date of Birth: 12 May 1935
Home City of Record: Canon City CO
Date of Loss: 29 April 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 212000N 1041500E (VJ740404)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: A1E

Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II
Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: The Douglas A1 Skyraider ("Spad") is a highly maneuverable, propeller
driven aircraft designed as a multipurpose attack bomber or utility aircraft.
The E model generally carried two crewmen. The A1 was first used by the Air
Force in its Tactical Air Command to equip the first Air Commando Group engaged
in counterinsurgency operations in South Vietnam, and later used in a variety of
roles, ranging from multi-seat electronic intelligence gathering to Navy
antisubmarine warfare and rescue missions. The venerable fighter aircraft was
retired in the spring of 1968 and had flown in more than twenty model
variations, probably more than any other U.S. combat aircraft.

The general procedure for a rescue escort entailed two A1 aircraft flying
directly to the search area to look for sign of the downed crewmen while two
other A1s escorted the rescue helicopter to the area. If it was necessary, the
A1s would attack enemy in the area with bombs, rockets and cannon fire so that
the helicopter could land.

Capt. Leo S. Boston was the pilot of an A1E aircraft which was on a search and
rescue mission when he was reported missing. His aircraft, the lead plane in a
flight of two, departed Ubon Airfield, Thailand, and became separated from the
other aircraft during the mission. No visual contact was made and no radio
transmissions were received from him. The last known location of the flight was
about 5 miles west of the Black River in Son La Province, North Vietnam. The
object of Boston's search is unknown. There are several pilots missing from this
general vicinity on that day.

Leo Boston was continued in a missing status until 27 April 1978 when his status
was changed to presumed dead. During the time he was maintained missing, he was
promoted to the rank of Colonel.

Nearly 2500 Americans remain missing or otherwise unaccounted for in Vietnam.
Since the war ended, over 10,000 reports concerning missing Americans in
Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. Government. Many experts are
completely convinced that hundreds of Americans are still held captive.

One set of critics say that the U.S. has done little to address the issue of
live POWs, preferring the politically safer issue of remains return. Others
place the blame on the Vietnamese, for using the issue of POW/MIA to their
political advantage. Regardless of blame, no living American has returned
through the efforts of negotiations between the countries, and the reports
continue to pour in. Are we doing enough to bring these men home?

BOTT, RUSSELL PETER

Name: Russell Peter Bott
Rank/Branch: E6/US Army Special Forces
Unit: Detatchment B-52 DELTA, 5th Special Forces Group
Date of Birth: 05 September 1936 (North Easton MA)
Home City of Record: Worchester MA
Date of Loss: 02 December 1966
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 165048N 1063158E (XD634633)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel In Incident: Willie E. Stark (missing with Bott); Daniel
Sulander; Irby Dyer (missing from UH1D exfiltration aircraft)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: In late November 1966, Russell Bott and Willie Stark were inserted
about 1 1/2 miles into Laos west of the DMZ along with a number of Vietnamese
Special Forces (LLDB) "strikers". The team, a long-range reconnaissance patrol
(LRRP), was soon discovered by a superior North Vietnamese force, members of
the 325B NVA Division. A two day running battle ensued.

Near the end, Bott radioed that he was down to one grenade ond one magazine of
ammunition. He also stated that several of the Vietnamese members of his team
were dead or wounded. Willie Stark was wounded in the chest and leg, but was
alive. Bott requested exfiltration at that time. He refused to leave his
wounded teammate to seek safety, and in his last radio message, Bott indicated
that he was going to destroy his radio, that he felt capture was imminent.

Two gunships working the area were hit by enemy fire. Also, the exfiltration
helicopter from 281st Assault Helicopter Company was hit, and crashed and
burned, killing the crew of four and Irby Dyer, a medic from Det. B-52 Delta
who had gone in to help treat the wounded. The wreckage of the plane and all
five remains were found in searches conducted December 10-13. The remains,
which had been horribly mutilated by the enemy, were left at the site. When a
team returned to recover the remains, U.S. bombing and strafing activities had
destroyed them further. The identifiable remains of three of the crew were
recovered, but those of Daniel Sulander and Irby Dyer were not.

Searches for Bott and Stark were unsuccessful. Vietnamese team members who
evaded capture reported that they had heard North Vietnamese soldiers say,
"Here you are! We've been looking for you! Tie his hands, we'll take him this
way."

Sgt. First Class Norman Doney, who was Operations Sergeant at that time at B-52
headquarters at Khe Sanh, overheard the Intelligence Sergeant on the "52 Desk"
reviewing intelligence about Bott. Doney states that it was reported that Bott
was seen with his arms tied behind his back going through a village, and that
he was alive 3 days after he became missing.

Bott, Dyer, Sulander and Stark are among nearly 600 Americans lost in Laos
during the Vietnam war. Although the Pathet Lao stated on several occasions
that they held "tens of tens" of American prisoners, not one man held in Laos
was ever released...or negotiated for. Dyer and Sulander died for their
country. Stark's fate is unknown. He may have died from his wounds or survived
to be captured. Bott, at least, could be one of the hundreds of Americans
experts believe to be alive today. He was loyal to his comrades and to his
country. If he is alive, what must he be thinking of us?

BOUCHARD, MICHAEL LORA

Name: Michael Lora Bouchard
Rank/Branch: O3/US Navy
Unit:
Date of Birth: 01 November 1938
Home City of Record: Missoula MT
Date of Loss: 20 December 1938
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 161800N 1063400E (XD673026)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: A6A
Other Personnel In Incident: (backseater rescued)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 15 March 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: When North Vietnam began to increase their military strength in South
Vietnam, NVA and Viet Cong troops again intruded on neutral Laos for sanctuary,
as the Viet Minh had done during the war with the French some years before. The
border road, termed the "Ho Chi Minh Trail" was used for transporting weapons,
supplies and troops. Hundreds of American pilots were shot down trying to stop
this communist traffic to South Vietnam. Fortunately, search and rescue teams in
Vietnam were extremely successful and the recovery rate was high.

Still there were nearly 600 who were not rescued. Many of them went down along
the Ho Chi Minh Trail and the passes through the border mountains between Laos
and Vietnam. Many were alive on the ground and in radio contact with search and
rescue and other planes; some were known to have been captured. Hanoi's
communist allies in Laos, the Pathet Lao, publicly spoke of American prisoners
they held, but when peace agreements were negotiated, Laos was not included, and
not a single American was released that had been held in Laos.

One of the aircraft dispatched on strike missions over the Ho Chi Minh Trail was
the Grumman A6 Intruder. The Intruder is a two-man all-weather, low-altitude,
carrier-based attack plane, with versions adapted as aerial tanker and
electronic warfare platform.

The Intruder's advanced navigation and attack system, known as DIANE (Digital
Integrated Attack navigation Equipment) allowed small precision targets, such as
bridges, barracks and fuel depots to be located and attacked in all weather
conditions, day or night, from a minimum safe altitude. The crews of the A6,
were in the words of the commander of the Seventh Fleet, among the most talented
and courageous pilots in the air. The planes were credited with some of the most
difficult single-plane strikes in the war, including the destruction of the Hai
Duong bridge between Hanoi and Haiphong by a single A6.

LT Michael L. Bouchard was an Intruder pilot assigned a night mission over Laos
on December 20, 1968. He and his Radar Intercept Officer (RIO) proceeded over
the city of Muong Nong in Savannakhet Province, Laos for their mission over the
famed Ho Chi Minh Trail.

At about 1:15 a.m., the aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire on the
bombardier/navigator's side of the aircraft. The navigator called for Bouchard
to eject and got out himself. The backseater's parachute was seen by other
pilots and two emergency beeper signals were heard (indicating that both crew
members ejected safely), but Bouchard was not located. The navigator searched
for Bouchard for a half hour, but then had to leave the area of heavy enemy
activity for his own rescue. Rescue attempts for Bouchard were delayed because
of heavy enemy in the area, and later, no trace was ever found. Mike Bouchard
was placed in Missing In Action status.

Since American involvement in Vietnam ended in 1975, over 10,000 reports
relating to Americans missing, prisoner, or otherwise unaccounted for in
Indochina have been received by the U.S. Government. Many officials, having
examined this largely classified information, have reluctantly concluded that
many Americans are still alive today, held captive by our long-ago enemy.

Whether Bouchard survived the downing of his plane is unknown. What is certain,
however, is that the U.S. has a legal and moral responsibility to do everything
possible to bring him home.

BOWER, JOSEPH EDWARD

Name: Joseph Edward Bower
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit: 421st Tactical Fighter Squadron, McConnell AFB KS
Date of Birth: 21 June 1929
Home City of Record: Ely NV
Date of Loss: 03 August 1965
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 182459N 1055159E (WF930880)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F105D

Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 30 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 F105 Thunderchief ("Thud"), in its various versions, flew more
missions against North Vietnam than any other U.S. aircraft. It also suffered
more losses, partially due to its vulnerability, which was constantly under
revision. Between 1965 and 1971, the aircraft was equipped with armor plate, a
secondary flight control system, an improved pilot ejection seat, a more precise
navigation system, better blind bombing capability and ECM pods for the wings.
While the D version was a single-place aircraft, the F model carried a second
crewman which made it well suited for the role of suppressing North Vietnam's
missile defenses.

Major Joseph E. Bower was an F105D pilot assigned an operational mission over
North Vietnam on August 3, 1965. During the mission, Bower's aircraft was struck
by hostile fire and Bower radioed that he was heading for sea (to facilitate
easier rescue). Shortly afterward, the aircraft became uncontrollable. Bower
ejected from the aircraft. He was at that time about 20 miles southeast of the
city of Vinh in Ha Tinh Province, North Vietnam, very near the coastline.

Observers say that Bower's parachute did not open until just prior to his impact
with the water. Air Force narratives do not describe search and recovery
efforts, but Bower was not recovered, and was declared Missing in Action.
Because of the proximity to the coastline, there was every reason to suspect
that, if he survived the ejection, Bower might have been captured by any of the
multitude of enemy vessels which dotted the coastline.

On August 9, unspecified information was received by U.S. intelligence that
Bower died at the time of the incident. He was then declared Killed in
Action/Body Not Recovered. Because his remains have not been recovered and
returned, Bower is listed by the Department of Defense as unaccounted for in
Southeast Asia.

Bower's unit in Vietnam is not recorded by the Air Force. His last known duty
assignment was with the 421st Tactical Fighter Squadron at McConnell Air Force
Base, Kansas.

BOWERS, RICHARD LEE

Name: Richard Lee Bowers
Rank/Branch: O3/US Army
Unit: MAT IV-49, MACV Advisory Team 71
Date of Birth: 20 July 1946 (Oregon WI)
Home City of Record: Lake Mills WI
Date of Loss: 24 March 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 093339N 1054938E (WR908569)
Status (In 1973): Prisoner of War
Category: 1
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel In Incident: Gerasimo Arroyo-Baez (Prisoner, remains returned)

REMARKS: DIED IN ESCAPE ON CAPTURE DAY

SYNOPSIS: Gerasimo Arroya-Baez and Richard L. Bowers, two U.S. advisors, two
other Americans and a number of ARVN personnel were on duty at Tam Soc
operating base in Ba Xuayn Province, near Saigon. The base personnel awoke
early on the morning of March 24, 1969, to find the unit under attack by what
was estimated to be a company-sized Viet Cong force and a heavy weapons
sections using mortars, automatic weapons, small arms and B40 rockets.

Richard Bowers was heard on the radio calling for help when the radio went
dead. A relief force was sent out to help. When it arrived, all the Vietnamese
defenders of Tam Due Operations Base were found dead, along with two Americans.
Bowers and Arroya-Baez, the American advisors, were not to be found.

A Vietnamese civilian who had been captured and later escaped stated that
Bowers and Arroya-Baez had been taken prisoner, dressed in black pajamas, and
were seen being led off into the jungle. Numerous intelligence reports were
received concerning two U.S. POWs fitting the descriptions of Bowers and
Arroya-Baez, that were seen by ARVN and VC personnel at different times and
locations after their capture, some conflicting. A Vietnamese who was captured
and escaped stated that Arroya-Baez was alive but that Bowers had been shot the
day of capture. The combination of the most credible reports indicate that
Bowers and Arroya-Baez were captured during the battle, but in the confusion
were able to escape. The were located by the Viet Cong, however, on the same
evening. The next day, a VC guard killed Bowers after he had again attempted to
escape.

After it was determined that Bowers was dead, the guard and Arroya-Baez
departed with the rest of their group and were forced to travel a number of
days by foot and sampan.

The files of Bowers and Arroya-Baez are still classified. Gerasimo
Arroya-Baez's name appeared on the "Died in Captivity" list provided by the
Provisional Government of Vietnam in 1973, and it was stated that he died in
captivity August 22, 1972. Fourteen years later, in March 1985, the Vietnamese
"discovered" the remains of Arroya-Baez and returned them to the U.S. They have
yet to "discover" the fate or remains of Richard Lee Bowers.


BOWLING, ROY HOWARD "HAP"
Remains Returned 18 March 1977

Name: Roy Howard "Hap" Bowling
Rank/Branch: O4/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 163, USS ORISKANY (CVA 34)
Date of Birth: 16 December 1929 (Cuba NM)
Home City of Record: San Bernardino CA
Date of Loss: 17 November 1965
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 205000N 1062700E (XJ509042)
Status (in 1973): Prisoner of War
Category: 1
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A4E

Other Personnel in Incident: Jesse Taylor Jr. (remains returned)

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: SRV RET REMS TO PCOM 770318

SYNOPSIS: The USS ORISKANY was a World War II-era carrier on duty in Vietnam as
early as 1964. The ORISKANY at one time carried the RF8A (number 144608) flown
by Maj. John H. Glenn, the famous Marine astronaut (and later Senator) flew in
his 1957 transcontinental flight. In October, 1966 the ORISKANY endured a tragic
fire which killed 44 men onboard, but was soon back on station. In 1972, the
ORISKANY had an at-sea accident which resulted in the loss of one of its
aircraft elevators, and later lost a screw that put the carrier into drydock in
Yokosuka, Japan for major repairs, thus delaying its involvement until the late
months of the war.

There were many strikes in the "Iron Triangle" area of Vietnam - Hanoi, Haiphong
and Thanh Hoa - in the early weeks of ROLLING THUNDER operations in 1965. The
Air Wing 16 commander, CDR Harry T. Jenkins, Jr. had been captured four days
when when the Saints of Attack Squadron 163 launched on a strike on the Hai
Duong Bridge halfway between Hanoi and Haiphong in North Vietnam on November 17,
1965. On that day, a number of aircraft launched from the ORISKANY inlcuding
LCDR Roy H. "Hap" Bowling, the squadron's operations officer and the pilot of an
A4E Skyhawk light attack aircraft.

LTCDR Bowling was flying a high speed, low-level retirement after attacking the
target near the city of Hai Duong, Hai Hung Province, North Vietnam, when his
wingman, flying immediately behind him, observed the starboard horizontal
stabilizer fly off the aircraft, having been hit by enemy fire. The aircraft
then rolled to the right and flew into the ground.

A third pilot in the flight momentarily observed a deployed parachute at an
altitude of about 100 feet. A fourth pilot in the flight flying past the
parachute a few seconds later stated he saw the pilot hanging in the parachute
appeared limp, and was not wearing his helmet. About a minute later, two
airborne pilots observed a collapsed parachute on the ground in the vicinity of
a well-populated area. One pilot saw what he described as "an inert form" under
the collapsed parachute. The pilot stated that within three minutes time, the
parachute had disappeared.

Although search and rescue efforts in Vietnam were the best history had seen,
only one out of six Americans shot down in the Iron Triangle region who were
alive on the ground were rescued. The area was heavily populated, and villagers
were eager to seize "air pirates" who came their way. It was also common for
entire aircraft to be carried away, piece by piece, in an amazingly short period
of time to reappear as parts of huts, souvenirs, or melted into a variety of
objects.

Two other officers from VA 163, Eric Shade and Jesse Taylor, Jr., went in to
reconnoiter Bowling's position to see if there was a chance he could be
extracted by helicopter. Both Shade's and Taylor's A1H aircraft were hit by
enemy fire. Shade luckily made it out safely. Taylor's aircraft crashed. It was
deemed that he was killed in the crash.

Intense enemy anti-aircraft fire in the area precluded a prolonged search effort
and the search was terminated within 20 minutes of the initial incident. Bowling
was not declared dead, however, but Prisoner of War. He was maintained in that
status until the war ended.

When 591 Americans were released from Vietnamese prisoner of war camps in 1973,
Bowling and Taylor were not among them. The Vietnamese denied any knowledge of
the two naval officers.

Then in 1975, the Vietnamese, in a gesture of "good will" presented the remains
of Jesse Taylor Jr. to the U.S. The U.S. gratefully accepted the "gift" of
remains which should have been returned years before.

Then on March 18, 1977, the remains of Hap Bowling were given to a U.S.
presidentially-appointed commission visiting Hanoi. Roy Bowling's remains were
accepted without question.

A Vietnamese defector stated in Congressional testimony that Vietnam stockpiles
hundreds of sets of American remains. Congress believed him. He also testified
that Vietnam holds live American prisoners, that he had seen them. Congress says
he is lying, although nearly 10,000 reports help substantiate that Americans are
being held alive. The U.S. and Vietnamese "progress" at a snail's pace, while
totally ignoring the tremendous weight of evidence that their priority should be
those Americans still alive as captives. Meanwhile, thousands of lives are spent
in the most tortured state imaginable - unable to grieve, unable to rejoice.
They wait.

Roy H. Bowling was promoted to the rank of Captain during the period he was
maintained Prisoner of War.

BOWMAN, MICHAEL LEE

Name: Michael Lee Bowman
Rank/Branch: E4/USN
Unit: Attack Squadron 27, USS CONSTELLATION
Date of Birth: 26 October 1948
Home City of Record: Warren OH
Date of Loss: 02 October 1969
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 175402N 1073602E (YE754810)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: C2A

Personnel In Incident: Terry L. Beck; Richard W. Bell; Michael L. Bowman; Frank
Bytheway; Rolando C. Dayao; Donald C. Dean; Herbert H. Dilger; Carl J. Ellerd;
James J. Fowler; Roy G. Fowler; Leonardo M. Gan; Paul E. Gore; William D.
Gorsuch; Rayford J. Hill; Delvin L. Kohler; Howard M. Koslosky; Robert B.
Leonard; Richard A. Livingston; Ronald W. Montgomery; William R. Moore; Paul K.
Moser; Kenneth M. Prentice; Fidel G. Salazar; Keavin L. Terrell; Michael J. Tye;
Reynaldo R. Viado (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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: On October 2, 1969, a C2A "Greyhound" cargo aircraft from Reserve
Cargo Squadron 50 departed Cubi Point Naval Air Station, Republic of the
Philippines on a shuttle flight to various aircraft carriers in the Gulf of
Tonkin in Vietnam, including the USS CONSTELLATION, the USS WALKER, the USS
HAMMER, and the USS LONG BEACH.

The flight crew onboard the aircraft, assigned to Fleet Support Squadron 50
based in Atsugi Naval Air Station, Japan, included the pilot, Lt. Herbert H.
Dilger; co-pilot, Lt. Richard A. Livingston; air crewman, Petty Officer 3rd
Class Paul K. Moser; aircraft captain, Petty Officer 3rd Class Michael J. Tye;
and loadmaster-trainee, Petty Officer 3rd Class Rayford J. Hill. Most of the
twenty passengers appear to be bound for the USS CONSTELLATION, but one was
bound for the USS LONG BEACH, one of the four Philippine citizens onboard was
headed for the USS HAMMER, and two to the USS WALKER.

The aircraft was inbound to the CONSTITUTION and made communication at about
0600 hours, reporting that operations were normal. When communicatons were
established with the Carrier Air Control, control was passed to the Marshall
controller (Approach Control). The carrier's radar continued tracking the
aircraft until approximately 0655, at which time radar contact was lost at about
10 nautical miles from the CONSTELLATION.

Helicopter search and rescue efforts were immediately initiated from the ship.
The helicopter began sighting an oil slick and debris. A few pieces of aircraft
were recovered, and analysis of this debris indicated that the aircraft was in a
relatively high speed nose down, right wing down impact with the water or had a
possible right wing failure before impact. There was no sign of survivors, nor
were any bodies recovered.

The crew and passengers onboard the C2 which went down on October 2, 1969 were
all declared Killed/Body Not Recovered. There is very little hope that they will
ever be found. They are listed with honor among the missing because no remains
were ever located to repatriate to their homeland.

For many of the missing, however, solutions are not so simple. Several were
photographed in captivity, but never returned. Others were alive and well the
last they were seen awaiting rescue. Still others described their imminent
captures. For the families of these men, the years have passed heartbreakingly
slow.

Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing in
Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. Government. Many officials who
have reviewed this largely classified information are convinced that hundreds of
Americans are still alive as captives in Southeast Asia. It's time we brought
our men home.


BOYANOWSKI, JOHN GORDON

Name: John Gordon Boyanowski
Rank/Branch: O5/US Army
Unit: Quartermaster School (QMC), Training Advance Detachment, Training
Directorate, MACV
Date of Birth: 21 November 1935
Home City of Record: Harrisburg PA
Date of Loss: 14 December 1971
Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 151835N 1081635E (BU090050)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: U21A
Other Personnel in Incident: Dwight A. Bremmer; Floyd D. Caldwell; Gregg N.
Hollinger; Cecil C. Perkins Jr.; Otha L. Perry (all missing)

REMARKS: R/R CONT LOST - SEARCH NEG - J

SYNOPSIS: On December 14, 1971, CW2 Otha L. Perry, pilot; Capt. Cecil C.
Perkins, co-pilot; LtCol. John Boyanowski, Capt. Gregg N. Hollinger, SP4 Dwight
A. Bremmer and SSgt. Floyd D. Caldwell, passengers; were aboard a U21A aircraft
(tail #18041), call sign "Long Trip 041, which was lost while flying an
administrative mission from Phu Bai to Da Nang, South Vietnam.

During the flight, about 15 miles northeast of Da Nang, the aircraft
experienced an inflight emergency. The pilot reported that he had lost his
number 2 engine, and had a fire. Within minutes after the emergency, both radio
and radar contact was lost. The aircraft was never seen or heard from again.

Search aircraft proceeded to the last known location of Long Trip 041, but
inclement weather and poor visibility curtailed the search. Extensive searches
were conducted for the next three days, but no trace of the aircraft or
personnel was ever found. The personnel aboard the aircraft were declared dead,
bodies not recoverable.

Sixty days of case study was conducted before declaring these men dead. Early
along in the war, pilots and crew members had been declared dead because
circumstances seemed to dictate that was the case. Later, however, some of
these "dead" pilots turned up in POW camps in North Vietnam, causing a serious
effort to commence NOT to declare a man dead if there was a reasonable chance
(with or without evidence) that he survived.

It is pretty clear that Long Trip ditched. What is not clear from public
record, however, is that the crew died. With no proof of death, no proof of
life, their families are suspended in tortured uncertainty. Jessie Edwards,
mother of Otha Lee Perry says, "He told me if anything happened not to give up
looking for him...no matter how long it's been, I cannot." Perry had been a
former Green Beret who was a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division at Ft.
Bragg. He had received 15 major decorations for Vietnam Service, and had served
in both South Korea and the Dominican Republic. Like the families of all the
crew of Long Trip 041, Jessie Edwards will never give up hope.

Many authorities have examined the thousands of reports relating to Americans
still missing in Southeast Asia, and have come away with the conviction that
hundreds are still captive in communist prisons there.

It would be kindest to hope that the crew of Long Trip 041 died on December 14,
1971. If they didn't, what must they be enduring? What must they think of their
country?


BOYD, CHARLES GRAHAM

Name: Charles Graham Boyd
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: Korat Airbase, Thailand
Date of Birth: 15 April 1938
Home City of Record: Rockwell City IA
Date of Loss: 22 April 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 212500N 1052000E (WJ339662)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F105

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: 730212 RELSD BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: The F105 Thunderchief ("Thud") performed yoeman service on many
diversified missions in Southeast Asia. F105s flew more combat missions over
North Vietnam than any other USAF aircraft and consequently suffered the
heaviest losses in action. They dropped bombs by day and occasionally by night
from high or low altitude. Some later versions attacked SAM sites with their
radar tracking air-to-ground missiles. This versatile aircraft was credited with
downing 25 Russian MiGs.

Capt. Charles G. Boyd was a pilot trained on the F105D who was shipped to
Vietnam in November 1965. On his 105th combat mission, he departed Korat Airbase
on April 22, 1966 on a combat mission near Hanoi.

During the mission, while over Vinh Phu Province and about 5 miles northeast of
the city of Phu Tho, Boyd's aircraft was hit by enemy fire and he was forced to
eject. Boyd was captured by the Vietnamese and taken to Hanoi.

For the next seven years, Boyd was a "guest" of the North Vietnamese. Like other
Americans captured during this period, he was frequently held in isolation and
frequently "interrogated" in sessions that were more often torture.

On February 12, 1973, Boyd was released in Operation Homecoming, which resulted
in the release of 591 Americans from Hanoi. At the time, military officials were
dismayed that "hundreds" of known or suspected POWs were not released.

Since the war ended, over 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. These reports
are the source of serious distress to many returned American prisoners. They had
a code that no one could honorably return unless all of the prisoners returned.
Not only that code of honor, but the honor of our country is at stake as long as
even one man remains unjustly held. It's time we brought our men home.

Charles G. Boyd was promoted to the rank of Major during his captivity.
BOYD, WALTER

Name: Walter Boyd
Rank/Branch: E2/US Marine Corps
Unit: G/2nd Battalion, 9th Marines, 3rd Marine Division
Date of Birth: 17 April 1956
Home City of Record: Norfolk VA
Date of Loss: 15 May 1975
Country of Loss: Cambodia/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 101800N 1030830E (TS965400)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: CH53A
Other Personnel in Incident: Daniel A. Benedett; Lynn Blessing; Gregory S.
Copenhaver; Andres Garcia; Bernard Gause Jr., James J. Jacques; Ronald J.
Manning; James R. Maxwell; Richard W. Rivenburgh; Antonio R. Sandoval; Kelton
R. Turner; Richard Van de Geer (all missing on CH53A); Gary L. Hall; Joseph N.
Hargrove; Danny G. Marshall (missing on Koah Tang Island); Ashton N. Loney
(missing from Koah Tang Island); Elwood E. Rumbaugh (missing from a CH53A)

REMARKS: 750515 MAYAGUEZ INCIDENT LOSS

SYNOPSIS: When U.S. troops were pulled out of Southeast Asia in early 1975,
Vietnamese communist troops began capturing one city after another, with Hue,
Da Nang and Ban Me Thuot in March, Xuan Loc in April, and finally on April 30,
Saigon. In Cambodia, communist Khmer Rouge had captured the capital city of
Phnom Penh on April 17. The last Americans were evacuated from Saigon during
"Option IV", with U.S. Ambassador Martin departing on April 29. The war,
according to President Ford, "was finished."

2Lt. Richard Van de Geer, assigned to the 21st Special Ops Squadron at NKP, had
participated in the evacuation of Saigon, where helicopter pilots were required
to fly from the decks of the 7th Fleet carriers stationed some 500 miles
offshore, fly over armed enemy-held territory, collect American and allied
personnel and return to the carriers via the same hazardous route, heavily
loaded with passengers. Van de Geer wrote to a friend, "We pulled out close to
2,000 people. We couldn't pull out any more because it was beyond human
endurance to go any more..."

At 11:21 a.m. on May 12, the U.S. merchant ship MAYAGUEZ was seized by the
Khmer Rouge in the Gulf of Siam about 60 miles from the Cambodian coastline and
eight miles from Poulo Wai island. The ship, owned by Sea-Land Corporation, was
en route to Sattahip, Thailand from Hong Kong, carrying a non-arms cargo for
military bases in Thailand.

Capt. Charles T. Miller, a veteran of more than 40 years at sea, was on the
bridge. He had steered the ship within the boundaries of international waters,
but the Cambodians had recently claimed territorial waters 90 miles from the
coast of Cambodia. The thirty-nine seamen aboard were taken prisoner.

President Ford ordered the aircraft carrier USS CORAL SEA, the guided missile
destroyer USS HENRY B. WILSON and the USS HOLT to the area of seizure. By
night, a U.S. reconnaissance aircraft located the MAYAGUEZ at anchor off Poulo
WaI island. Plans were made to rescue the crew.  A battalion landing team of
1,100 Marines was ordered flown from bases in Okinawa and the Philippines to
assemblE at Utapao, Thailand in preparation for the assault.

The first casualties of the effort to free the MAYAGUEZ are recorded on May 13
when a helicopter carrying Air Force security team personnel crashed en route
to Utapao, killing all 23 aboard.

Early in the morning of May 13, the Mayaguez was ordered to head for Koh Tang
island. Its crew was loaded aboard a Thai fishing boat and taken first to Koh
Tang, then to the mainland city of Kompong Song, then to Rong San Lem island.
U.S. intelligence had observed a cove with considerable activity on the island
of Koh Tang, a small five-mile long island about 35 miles off the coast of
Cambodia southwest of the city of Sihanoukville (Kampong Saom), and believed
that some of the crew might be held there. They also knew of the Thai fishing
boat, and had observed what appeared to be caucasians aboard it, but it could
not be determined if some or all of the crew was aboard.

The USS HOLT was ordered to seize and secure the MAYAGUEZ, still anchored off
Koh Tang. Marines were to land on the island and rescue any of the crew. Navy
jets from the USS CORAL SEA were to make four strikes on military installments
on the Cambodian mainland.

On May 15, the first wave of 179 Marines headed for the island aboard eight Air
Force "Jolly Green Giant" helicopters. Three Air Force helicopters unloaded
Marines from the 1st Battalion, 4th Marines onto the landing pad of the USS
HOLT and then headed back to Utapao to pick up the second wave of Marines.
Planes dropped tear gas on the MAYAGUEZ, and the USS HOLT pulled up along side
the vessel and the Marines stormed aboard. The MAYAGUEZ was deserted.

Simultaneously, the Marines of the 2/9 were making their landings on two other
areas of the island. The eastern landing zone was on the cove side where the
Cambodian compound was located. The western landing zone was a narrow spit of
beach about 500 feet behind the compound on the other side of the island. The
Marines hoped to surround the compound.

As the first troops began to unload on both beaches, the Cambodians opened
fire. On the western beach, one helicopter was hit and flew off crippled, to
ditch in the ocean about 1 mile away. The pilot had just disembarked his
passengers, and he was rescued at sea.

Meanwhile, the eastern landing zone had become a disaster. The first two
helicopters landing were met by enemy fire. Ground commander, (now) Col.
Randall W. Austin had been told to expect between 20 and 40 Khmer Rouge
soldiers on the island. Instead, between 150 and 200 were encountered. First,
Lt. John Shramm's helicopter tore apart and crashed into the surf after the
rotor system was hit. All aboard made a dash for the tree line on the beach.

One CH53A helicopter was flown by U.S. Air Force Major Howard Corson and 2Lt.
Richard Van de Geer and carrying 23 U.S. Marines and 2 U.S. Navy corpsmen, all
from the 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines. As the helicopter approached the island,
it was caught in a cross fire and hit by a rocket. The severely damaged
helicopter crashed into the sea just off the coast of the island and exploded.
To avoid enemy fire, survivors were forced to swim out to sea for rescue.
Twelve aboard, including Maj. Corson, were rescued. Those missing from the
helicopter were 2Lt. Richard Van de Geer, PFC Daniel A. Benedett, PFC Lynn
Blessing, PFC Walter Boyd, Lcpl. Gregory S. Copenhaver, Lcpl. Andres Garcia,
PFC James J. Jacques, PFC James R. Maxwell, PFC Richard W. Rivenburgh, PFC
Antonio R. Sandoval, PFC Kelton R. Turner, all U.S. Marines. Also missing were
HM1 Bernard Gause, Jr. and HM Ronald J. Manning, the two corpsmen.

Other helicopters were more successful in landing their passengers. One CH53A,
however was not. SSgt. Elwood E. Rumbaugh's aircraft was near the coastline
when it was shot down. Rumbaugh is the only missing man from the aircraft. The
passengers were safely extracted. (It is not known whether the passengers went
down with the aircraft or whether they were rescued from the island.)

By midmorning, when the Cambodians on the mainland began receiving reports of
the assault, they ordered the crew of the MAYAGUEZ on a Thai boat, and then
left. The MAYAGUEZ crew was recovered by the USS WILSON before the second wave
of Marines was deployed, but the second wave was ordered to attack anyway.

Late in the afternoon, the assault force had consolidated its position on the
western landing zone and the eastern landing zone was evacuated at 6:00 p.m. By
the end of the 14-hour operation, most of the Marines were extracted from the
island safely, with 50 wounded. Lcpl. Ashton Loney had been killed by enemy
fire, but his body could not be recovered.

Protecting the perimeter during the final evacuation was the machine gun squad
of PFC Gary L. Hall, Lcpl. Joseph N. Hargrove and Pvt. Danny G. Marshall. They
had run out of ammunition and were ordered to evacuate on the last helicopter.
It was their last contact. Maj. McNemar and Maj. James H. Davis made a final
sweep of the beach before boarding the helicopter and were unable to locate
them. They were declared Missing in Action.

The eighteen men missing from the MAYAGUEZ incident are listed among the
missing from the Vietnam war. Although authorities believe that there are
perhaps hundreds of American prisoners still alive in Southeast Asia from the
war, most are pessimistic about the fates of those captured by the Khmer Rouge.

In 1988, the communist government of Kampuchea (Cambodia) announced that it
wished to return the remains of several dozen Americans to the United States.
(In fact, the number was higher than the official number of Americans missing
in Cambodia.) Because the U.S. does not officially recognize the Cambodian
government, it has refused to respond directly to the Cambodians regarding the
remains. Cambodia, wishing a direct acknowledgment from the U.S. Government,
still holds the remains.



BOYER, ALAN LEE

Name: Alan Lee Boyer
Rank/Branch: E5/US Army Special Forces
Unit: C & C Detachment, Drawer 22 (MACV-SOG), 5th Special Forces Group
Date of Birth: 08 March 1946
Home City of Record: Missoula MT
Date of Loss: 28 March 1968
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 164730N 1062000E (XD434574)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Other Personnel In Incident: Charles Huston; George R. Brown (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 30 June 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: MACV-SOG (Military Assistance Command, Vietnam Studies and Observation
Group). MACV-SOG was a joint service high command unconventional warfare task
force engaged in highly classified operations throughout Southeast Asia. The 5th
Special Forces channeled personnel into MACV-SOG (although it was not a Special
Forces group) through Special Operations Augmentation (SOA), which provided
their "cover" while under secret orders to MACV-SOG. The teams performed deep
penetration missions of strategic reconnaissance and interdiction which were
called, depending on the time frame, "Shining Brass" or "Prairie Fire" missions.

On March 28, 1968, Sgt. Alan L. Boyer, Sgt. Charles G. Huston, both riflemen,
and SFC George R. Brown, intelligence sergeant, were conducting a reconnaissance
patrol in Laos, along with 7 Vietnamese personnel. The men were attached to
Command and Control Detachment, MACV-SOG. About 15 miles inside Laos, northeast
of Tchepone, the patrol made contact with an unknown enemy force and requested
exfiltration by helicopter.

Because of the terrain in the area, the helicopter could not land, and a rope
ladder was dropped in for the team to climb up to board the aircraft. Six of the
Vietnamese had already climbed to the aircraft, when, as the 7th climbed aboard,
the helicopter began receiving heavy automatic weapons fire. This forced the
helicopter to leave the area.

Simultaneous to these events, Sgt. Boyer began to climb the ladder when seconds
later, the ladder broke. When last seen during the extraction, the other 2
sergeants (Huston and Brown) still on the ground were alive and appeared
unwounded. On April 1, a search team was inserted into the area and searched 6
hours, but failed to locate any evidence of the three men.

Boyer, Huston and Brown are among the nearly 600 Americans missing in Laos. When
the war ended, agreements were signed releasing American Prisoners of War from
Vietnam. Laos was not part of the peace agreement, and although the Pathet Lao
stated publicly that they held "tens of tens" of prisoners, not a single
American held in Laos has ever been released.

Any of the three members of the reconnaissance team operating that day in March
1968 could be among the hundreds of Americans experts believe to be alive today.
The last they saw of America, it was flying away, abandoning them to the jungle
and the enemy. What must they be thinking of us now?
BOYLE, WILLIAM

Name: William Boyle
Rank/Branch: E7/US Army Special Forces
Unit: CCC/MACV-SOG, 5th Special Forces Group
Date of Birth: 26 November 1938 (Brooklyn NY)
Home City of Record: Watrous PA
Date of Loss: 28 February 1970
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 143753N 1072404E (YB586188)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: CH34
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: SFC William Boyle was assigned to MACV-SOG (Military Assistance
Command, Vietnam Studies and Observation Group). MACV-SOG was a joint service
high command unconventional warfare task force engaged in highly classified
operations throughout Southeast Asia. The 5th Special Forces channeled
personnel into MACV-SOG (although it was not a Special Forces group) through
Special Operations Augmentation (SOA), which provided their "cover" while under
secret orders to MACV-SOG. The teams performed deep penetration missions of
strategic reconnaissance and interdiction which were called, depending on the
time frame, "Shining Brass" or "Prairie Fire" missions.

On February 28, 1970, SFC Boyle was a passenger in an ARVN CH34 Sikorski
helicopter (serial #554324), call sign "King Bee". The CH34 was a huge gas
powered aircraft that sat high on two great wheels in front, making the pilots
appear to be sitting 2 stories above the ground, and tapering down in back. The
aircraft was an outstanding transport vehicle. The ARVN used the CH34 before
they acquired "Huey" helicopters from the U.S.

Boyle's aircraft was on a resupply/medivac mission in the tri-border area in
Attopeu Province, Laos, when it was hit by enemy ground fire. SFC Boyle had
just completed loading wounded personnel when an enemy rocket hit the
helicopter, cuasing an explosion and subsequent fire. SFC Boyle was observed
just prior to rocket impact standing inside the helicopter and was apparently
trapped inside the aircraft and burned with it.

The wrecked remains of the helicopter and surrounding area were checked
thoroughly, but no bodies could be found after the fire. No other U.S. Army
personnel were lost in the crash of the aircraft. William Boyle was listed as
Killed in Action - Body Not Recovered.

Because no remains were found for SFC Boyle, he is listed with honor among the
missing. Unlike Boyle, the fates of other missing Americans are not as simple.
Many were alive and well the last time they were seen. Some were photographed
or known to have been captives, yet simply disappeared from the prison system.
In all, there are nearly 2500 still missing, prisoner, or unaccounted for in
Indochina.

When American involvement in the Indochina war ended in 1975, refugees began to
flood the world, bringing with them stories of Americans still held captive.
Since that time, nearly 10,000 reports have been received regarding missing
Americans. Most authorities believe Americans are still alive. Few agree on how
to bring them home.
BOYLES, HOWARD RICHARD JR.
Remains Returned 1 April 1973 - ID Refuted

Name: Howard Richard Boyles, Jr.
Rank/Branch: Civilian
Unit: Air America
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record:
Date of Loss: 09 February 1973
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 171600N 1045500E (VE909094)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: C123
Other Personnel in Incident: Jack W. Cavil (remains returned)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 15 March 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: During the 1950's a deteriorating political situation in Laos had
allowed NVA troops and Pathet Lao guerrillas to seize the Laotian panhandle from
the Royal Lao Army. Prevented by Geneva Accords from having a large military
presence in Laos, the U.S. established a "Program Evaluation Office" (PEO) in
1958 as a CIA cover for anti-communist covert actions. One activity, begun in
1958, used Meo tribesmen for a small pilot guerrilla program, which soon became
the largest clandestine army in CIA history. In the first year, using U.S.
Special Forces White Star teams as PEO "civilians", a few CIA officers and 90
elite Thai Border guards, an army of 9000 Meo (A term for Hmong tribesmen which
most consider derogatory) was trained for behind-lines guerrilla activity.
Within 10 years, the Hmong army grew to over 40,000 guerrillas, becoming the
most effective fighting force in Laos.

The CIA's covert airline, known as "Air America" (AA) supported the Hmong as
well as numerous other CIA-backed clandestine guerrilla armies. With the
escalating war, a large US military presence guaranteed that Air America could
operate in relative obscurity. With little fanfare throughout the war, AA fought
in the front lines of unconventional war. AA pilots flew "black missions" over
China, North Vietnam and the Laotian panhandle. AA flew in every type of
aircraft from 727 jets to small Cessnas and junk aircraft, transporting
everything from combat troops (alive, wounded or dead) to baby chicks, dropping
rice to refugees and specially trained Nung trailwatchers into denied areas. AA
contracted both with the Drug Enforcement Agency (to track international drug
smugglers) and with the Hmong (to haul its annual and valuable opium crop).

As U.S. forces pulled out, AA picked up the slack, straining to maintain the
status quo. The communists drove the Hmong from their homelands in the early
1970's, and as the Hmong retreated, AA was in the position of hauling (and
feeding) tens of thousands of refugees. There were problems as the CIA fell
under Congressional scrutiny of its world-wide paramilitary activities and
public pressure to divest itself of Air America. South Vietnam's rapid collapse
in 1975 signified the end of the clandestine war that began in Vietnam thirty
years earlier.

Jack W. Cavil and Howard H. Boyles, Jr., were the crew of an Air America C123
transport operating in Laos near the Mekong river town of Thakkek, Laos. Just
outside of town, the aircraft took heavy anti-aircraft fire and crashed. Rescue
teams could see two bodies but were driven from the scene by heavy enemy fire.

Over a period of six weeks, reconnaissance was conducted on the site revealing a
deeply-seated aircraft with an empty cockpit. Both seat belts were open. There
is no mention of a catastrophic fire in these reports.

Two months later, on April 1, ashes were recovered from the scene which were
later (November 12) positively identified as being those of Cavil and Boyles.
Mrs. Mary Boyles did not accept what she described as 6 ounces of ashes as being
her husband and refuted the positive identification. She quite naturally felt
that there had been an opportunity for her husband to escape the aircraft, since
the cockpit had been found empty and apparently intact, with two open seat
belts.

Cavil and Boyles are among nearly 600 Americans who disappeared in Laos. Many
are known to have been alive on the ground following their shoot downs. Although
the Pathet Lao publicly stated on several occasions that they held "tens of
tens" of American prisoners, not one American held in Laos has ever been
released. Laos did not participate in the Paris Peace accords ending American
involvement in the war in 1973, and no treaty has ever been signed that would
free the Americans held in Laos.

Americans prisoner, missing, or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia have been
received by the U.S. since the end of the war, convincing many authorities that
hundreds are still alive.

Whether Cavil and Boyles were alive when the aircraft went down and survived to
be captured will perhaps never be known. As far as the U.S. Government is
concerned, the two are accounted for.



BRACEY, SEBE M.

Name: Sebe M. Bracey
Rank/Branch: Civilian
Unit: Glomar Java Sea
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record:
Date of Loss: 25 October 1983
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates:
Status (in 1973):
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground:

Personnel in Incident: Herman Arms; Jerald T. Battiste; Sebe M. Bracey; Patrick
B. Cates; Wei Chen; Xiong Chen; Shu Guo Cheng; Jacob K. J. Chong; David P.
Clifton; James F. Cusick; Thomas J. Dixon; Shao Jien Feng; Jerald J. Flanagan;
Nigel Furness; Leonard E. Ganzinotti; La Juan A. Gilmore; Henry M. Gittings;
James K. Gittings; Terance C. Green; Jun Tian Guan; David Higgins, Jr.; Tyronne
Higgins; Hong Xi Huang; Rui Wen Huang; Yong Liang Huang; Timothy Jarvis; John W.
Jennings Jr.; Thomas J. Kofahl; Fan Xiang Kong; Guo Zhen Lai; John W. Lawrence;
Tong L. T. Lee; Chong Chang Li; Xuan Qiu Li; Zhan Jun Liang; Jie Feng Lin; Bing
Guang Liu; Edgar S. Lim; Gary Looke; Robert M. McCurry; Jerry L. Manfrida;
Raymond D. Miller; Xie Yi Mo; Tian Xue Mo; Kenneth W. Myers; Larry K. Myers;
Donald J. Ouellet; John D. Pierce; Peter Popiel; Clarence Reed; Jewell J.
Reynolds; E.J. Russell Reynolds; Walter T. Robinson; Kenneth B. Rogers; Lawrence
M. Salzwedel; William R. Schug; Richard E. Shoff; Christopher J. Sleeman; Delmar
A. Spencer; George G. Sullivan; Chong Jian Sun; Gustaf F. Swanson; Kevin C.
Swanson; Guo Dong Tang; Michael W. Thomas; Jiang Wang; Yu Fang Wang; Dong Cai
Wang; Guo Rong Wu; jing Sheng Xia; Xing Xing; Hui Xu; Ming Rui Xu; Mua Guang
Yuan; Xing Zhen Zhang; Yi Hua Zhang; Ji Chang Zhen; Shu Rong Zhou; Yao Wu Zhou;
Jie Fang Zhou; Da Huai Zhu.

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 10 December 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 5,930-ton American drilling ship, "Glomar Java Sea" was owned by
Global Marine of Houston, Texas, and leased to Atlantic Richfield Company
(ARCO). In the fall of 1983, the vessel was on duty about 200 miles east of the
Vietnamese coast. The ship was drilling for oil in the South China Sea in a
joint venture of ARCO and China Naitonal Offshore Oil Corporation, a state-owned
concern.

The "Glomar Java Sea" is a sister ship of the "Glomar Explorer," which, under
the guise of being utilized by the late Howard Hughes in a deep sea mining
operation in the Paficic, was really being used by the CIA and Navy in a $350
million project to retrieve a sunken Soviet Golf-class submarine. A large part
of the submarine was in fact recovered in 1974 before details of the project
were publicly revealed.

The Glomar Java Sea, with its crew of 81, began drilling operations on January
9, 1983 and was the first American wildcat operaton off the Chinese coast. On
October 25, 1983, the vessel was sunk during Typhoon Lex.

Documents removed from the ship by a crewman before the disaster indicate that
the vessel was being shadowed by armed Vietnamese naval craft and that there
were submarine mines beneath the "Glomar Java Sea," placed there and retrievable
by its crew. Another document indicates that the ship was damaged prior ot the
typhoon when a Chinese supply boat rammed into its side, causing some $320,000
damage to the vessel. The Glomar Java Sea did not leave its post for repairs.

Communications between ARCO and Global Marine, as well as telegraphic and radio
communications of the U.S. Western Pacific Rescue Coordination Center (WESTPAC)
reveal information about the search for the crew of the Glomar Java Sea.

The documents indicate that a number of survivors from the stricken vessel were
floundering in the water off the coast of Vietnam for hours after the disaster.
There is also indication that the men were picked up by Vietnamese coastal
patrols and are held captive of the Hanoi regime.

The crew of the Glomar Java Sea included 37 Americans, 35 Chinese, four British,
two Singaporeans, one Filipino, one Australian, and one Canadian.

From a transcript of a radio communicaton between WESTPAC and Global Marine on
October 28, three days after the sinking, WESTPAC was told:  "We are informed
that the SOS transmission could not have been transmitted except by human
operators..." There were two 64-man lifeboats aboard the drilling ship, plus
smaller lifeboats.

In an October 29 communicaton from WESTPAC to Global Marine, it is clearly
stated that five strobe lights were sighted by rescue aircraft in the vicinity
of 17-30 North 107-45 East. The aircraft were dispatched to the area because
strobe lights had been previously sighted. Lifejackets from the Glomar Java Sea
were equipped with strobe lights to signal rescuers.

Another October 29 communication between ARCO and Global Marine states that
ARCO's search aircraft had spotted survivors in the water at 17.27 North 107.54
East, and had attempted to divert surface vessels to this location. The
communication expressed the urgency to rescue the men before dark.

At 8:01 a.m. on October 29, ARCO had dropped a rescue raft to survivors.  Pickup
would be delayed for several hours, but the "Salvanquish," a Singapore-based
salvage ship, was within one half-mile of the site.

At 8:38 a.m search aircraft reported pinpointing the survivors' positions by dye
markers released by the survivors into the water. Two survivors were confirmed
with a possible third some distance away. Plans were also made to return to the
downed vessell to offlift survivors.

Another document shows that on nine different occasions radio transmissions were
picked up from a lifeboat. They ranged from "very strong" to "weak" with most
being described as "strong."

Inexplicably, despite the successful search, no rescue was made of the
survivors. Later that day, the Chinese Navy picked up a Vietnamese broadcast
reporting that the Vietnamese had sighted a lifeboat near their coast. The
location of the lifeboat was not confirmed by friendly search parties.

ARCO-Global Marine determined that this sighting was in the vicinity of Hon Gio
Island, located about 80 miles up the Vietnamese coast from the old U.S. base at
Da Nang and about 14 miles offshore, which placed it in Vietnamese territorial
waters. It appears that rescue craft were hampered in fully investigating the
report due to its location and the hint of possible interference by the
Vietnamese military.

It is likely that survivors would have been picked up by the Vietnamese if they
had in fact drifted within Vietnam's territory.

In the years following the loss of the Glomar Java Sea, a number of reports, all
unconfirmed by the U.S., indicate that survivors were seen in captivity in
Vietnam. It is known that the Vietnamese had shown a hostile interest in the
vessel, and the Glomar Java Sea had standing orders to be alert for Vietnamese
vessels in the area. The Chinese Navy served as protection for the vessel and
stood ready to take action should Vietnamese craft wander too close. The waters
below the vessel were mined.

A month after the Glomar Java Sea went down, Chinese divers went down to the
wreckage and went through the ship with a video cameras.

In March 1984, American divers were able to retrieve 31 bodies from the sunken
vessel. Fifteen of the bodies were identified as Americans. In addition, three
British and one Singaporean were identified. The bodies of another American and
two Chinese were tentatively identified. Divers photographed two bodies they
were unable to retrieve. They also found one of the Chinese divers that had
explored the wreckage in November 1983, lashed to the deck of the ship.

The American divers determined that one of the ship's large lifeboats was
launched and that an attempt had been made to launch another. Their film was
seen by the mother of one of the lost crewmen. She reported that the crack in
the hull of the ship at one point was a hole 48 inches across, which was
punctured inward, "as though the rig had been hit by something that exploded."
This fueled additional speculation that the vessel had, in fact, been attacked
rather that simply mortally damaged by the typhoon.

The National Transportaton Safety Board officially determined in November 1984
that an "unexplained crack" in the hull of the Glomar Java Sea was responsible
for its sinking during the typhoon. Apparently, the crack in the hull allowed
two storage tanks to fill with water, causing the vessel to become off-balanced,
making it vulnerable to the forces of the typhoon. Officials believed it was
possible that survivors may have been able to abandon the ship before it sank.
It was determined that the ship had been improperly prepared for the storm.

During 1984, there were reports from Southeast Asia that between six and twelve
survivors of the Glomar Java Sea were being held in prisoner of war camps in
Vietnam. One of the survivors was identified by a Vietnamese refugee as American
crewman John Pierce.

Douglas F. Pierce, father of John Pierce, reported that the refugee had seen his
son, five other Americans and eight Chinese when they were brought into a prison
in Da Nang, where the refugee was being held. John Pierce gave the refugee his
father's business card and two sticks of gum.

Mr. Pierce gave the information to Defense Intelligence Agency who determined
that the refugee had not been in the camp at all, but had received the business
card by mail from a friend, not directly from Pierce. DIA further determined
that the incident had occurred in late October 1983 (shortly after the Glomar
Java Sea went down). The refugee gave Mr. Pierce the original letter, which
contained the names and addresses of two mutual Vietnamese friends.

No followup was conducted on the two names in the letter by DIA, and DIA
discounted the information provided by the refugee. It was not until 1990 that
it became apparent that the Defense Department felt no responsibility for the
Americans lost on the Glomar Java Sea. At that time, DIA reported that the
responsibility for these civilians belonged to the U.S. State Department.

Mr. Pierce did not stop there. He uncovered a U.S. State Department document
that revealed that Cheng Quihong, the secretary and wife of the Director of
China's Visa Office, was overheard telling her companion at a Hong Kong dinner
that survivors from the Glomar had been picked up and were held by the
Vietnamese.

Pierce also learned that a JCRC report sent to DIA dated November 6, 1984,
reported that a former prisoner from Pleiku prison had been held with a Chinese
man who claimed to have been off the Glomar. The man said he was one of three
men who were captured, and that the other two were Americans.

Pierce adds that to his knowledge, neither of these reports were followed up by
U.S. officials, and Pierce has received no reply to his queries regarding them.

In 1989 a Japanese monk named Yoshida was released from prison after being held
for years by the Vietnamese. Yoshida was shown a photograph of John Pierce and
stated that Pierce looked very familiar, and that he had either seen him or
someone who looked very much like him.

In November, 1990, Vietamese Foreign Minister Nguyen Co Thach traveled to the
U.S. and spoke with U.S. officials on a variety of matters. At this time, he
announced that there was a black American named Walter T. Robinson living
illegally in Vietnam, and invited U.S. representatives to come and help find
him. Thach provided a social security number and two photographs.

The Pentagon told "The Washington Times" that the two photographs of Robinson
provided by Thach are of a black man. However, the Pentagon has since admitted
that the photos "are not very well developed" and appear to be of either a black
man or a dark Asian. Photocopies of old newspaper articles concerning Robinson,
obtained by Homecoming II, show a dark-haired man of relatively dark complexion.

The Pentagon has not released the photographs to the press.

The Defense Department determined that Walter T. Robinson had never been listed
as missing in Vietnam. Thach had provided a social security number, and
according to DOD, this information correlated to a white American living in the
Midwest. They concluded that the Thach information, therefore, was in error.

Later information indicated that a Walter T. Robinson was listed on the crew
roster of the Glomar Java Sea. When queried, the Defense Department reported
that they were aware of this Robinson, but that civilians were the
responsibility of the State Department.

It seems apparent that the U.S. is not vigorously looking for the men missing
from the Glomar Java Sea, and that like the missing and prisoners who served in
military and civilian capacities during the Vietnam war, they have been
abandoned.


BRAM, RICHARD C.

Name: Richard C. Bram
Rank/Branch: USMC, E6
Unit: VMFA 225 MAG 12
Date of Birth: 25 November 35
Home City of Record: Cleves, OH
Date of Loss: 08 July 65
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 1084630E 152114N
Status (in 1973): Missing
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Remarks: SVN POL SAY PP/KK SEARCH NEG-J

Other Personnel In Incident: John. F. Dingwall (still missing).

Source: Compiled by THE P.O.W. NETWORK 02 February 1993 from the
following published sources - POW/MIA's -- Report of the Select Committee
on POW/MIA Affairs United States Senate -- January 13, 1993. "The Senate
Select Committee staff has prepared case summaries for the priority cases
that the Administration is now investigating. These provide the facts about
each case, describe the circumstances under which the individual was lost,
and detail the information learned since the date of loss.  Information in
the case summaries is limited to information from casualty files, does not
include any judgments by Committee staff, and attempts to relate essential
facts. The Committee acknowledges that POW/MIAs' primary next-of- kin know
their family members' cases in more comprehensive detail than summarized
here and recognizes the limitations that the report format imposes on these
summaries."

On July 8, 1966, Staff Sergeant Bram and Gunnery Sergeant Dingwall
left their unit at Chu Lai Air Base for a hike in the surrounding
countryside.  They were last seen in a local hamlet.

Local South Vietnamese police reported on July 8th that the Viet
Cong had captured and killed two Americans and then buried their
bodies.  This report led to a muster of the unit and the discovery
that Sergeants Bram and Dingwall were missing.  A search of the
area in which they were last seen produced hearsay information that
the two had been captured, but there was conflicting information on
their fate.  They were never seen alive again, and their remains
were never located.

Both individuals were initially declared missing.  In September
1978 they were declared dead/body not recovered.  Returning U.S.
POWs were unable to provide any information on their survival in
captivity, and U.S. investigation teams in Vietnam have been unable
to learn anything further concerning their precise fate.
BRANCH, JAMES ALVIN

Name: James Alvin Branch
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 6233rd Combat Support Group, Ubon RTAFB
Date of Birth: 06 April 1934
Home City of Record: Park Forest IL
Date of Loss: 04 September 1965
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 190457N 1053657E (WE666169)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 1
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4C

Other Personnel in Incident: Eugene M. Jewell (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 31 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: SURVIVAL UNLIKELY

SYNOPSIS: Capt. James A. Branch and 1Lt. Eugene M. Jewell probably thought they
were fortunate to have been selected to fly the F4 Phantom fighter jet. 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.

On September 4, 1965, Branch and Jewell comprised the crew of an F4C assigned a
bombing mission over North Vietnam. The mission target was in Nghe An Province,
near a railroad about halfway between the cities of Tho Trang and Phu Dien Chau.
During a low-altitude strafing run, the aircraft was shot down, crashed and
exploded. No parachutes were observed departing the crippled aircraft.

The U.S. Air Force placed both men in the category of Missing in Action. The
Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) further refined that category according to
enemy knowledge. Category 1, for instance, was reserved for those men on whom it
was certain the enemy had knowledge - such as prisoners of war. Category 2
generally included men involved in loss incidents with others who were known to
be captured, or who were lost in populous regions where the enemy would more
than likely know their fates.

Inexplicably, Branch is listed as Category 1, and Jewell is listed as Category
2. Both men are coded as pilots, so it is unclear who was flying the aircraft
and who was operating the bombing/navigation equipment from the rear seat.
Ordinarily, the rear seater ejects from the aircraft first in a bail-out
situation.

Since 1975, nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans still missing in
Southeast Asia, convincing many authorities that hundreds of Americans are still
held in captivity. James A. Branch and Eugene M. Jewell could be among them.
It's time we brought our men home.

CASE SYNOPSIS: BRANDE, HARVEY GORDAN

Name: Harvey Gordan Brande
Rank/Branch: E7/US Army Special Forces
Unit: Company C, Detachment A-101, 5th Special Forces Group
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Long Beach CA
Loss Date: 07 February 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 163602N 1064058E (XD795360)
Status (In 1973): Returned POW
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Personnel In Incident: Dennis L. Thompson; William G. McMurry; Harvey G.
Brande; (all released 1973). Kenneth Hanna; Daniel R. Phillips; James W. Holt;
James Moreland; Charles Lindewald; (all missing); Eugene Ashley Jr. (killed)

REMARKS: RELEASED 730316 BY PRG

SYNOPSIS: The Lang Vei Special Forces camp in the northwestern corner of South
Vietnam along Route 9, a mile and a half from the Laotian border.had been
established in late December 1966 as a result of the Special Forces Detachment
A101 having been moved out of its former Khe Sanh location. It seemed ill fated
from the beginning.

In March 1967, one of the worst tragedies to befall the Special Forces CIDG
program during the war occurred. U.S. Air Force released napalm ordnance on the
nearby village which spewed exploding fire over the camp, landing zone,
minefield and village. 135 CIDG and native civilians were killed, and 213 were
horribly wounded, burned or disfigured.

Only two months later, on May 4, a Viet Cong night attack on the camp wiped out
the Special Forces command group, all in one bunker, and killed the detachment
commander and his executive officer, as well as seriously wounding the team
sergeant. This attack was a prelude to the larger siege of Khe Sanh, and was a
grim reminder of the dangerous neighborhood Special Forces had moved into.

By January 1968, several North Vietnamese Army divisions had encircled the
Marine combat base at Khe Sanh, placing the more westerly Lang Vei Special
Forces frontier surveillance camp in imminent danger. The camp was occupied by
Detachment A101 commanded by Capt. Frank C. Willoughby. Willoughby was
rebuilding and reinforcing the camp at the time, while soldiers and dependants
from the Kha tribal 33rd Laotian Volunteer Battalion streamed into the camp
after being overrun by NVA tanks across the border.

On the evening of January 24, the camp was pounded by mortars in conjunction
with a heavy shelling of the Marine Khe Sanh base, which prevented any
effective artillery support for Lang Vei. 1Lt. Paul R. Longgrear had only
recently arrived with his Hre tribal 12th Mobile Strike Force Company to help
shore up defensive firepower.

The influx of the Laotians caused some problems. For example, the Lao battalion
commander refused to take orders from the American captain, forcing the Company
C commander, LtCol. Daniel F. Schungel, to come to Lang Vei on his first
Special Forces assignment on February 6 to provide an officer of equal rank.

Camp strength on February 6 totalled 24 Special Forces, 14 LLDB, 161 mobile
strike force, 282 CIDG (Bru and Vietnamese), 6 interpreters and 520 Laotian
soldiers, plus a number of civilians.

Shortly after midnight on February 7, 1968, a combined NVA infantry-tank
assault drove into Lang Vei. Two PT-76 tanks threatened the outer perimeter of
the camp as infantry rushed behind them. SFC James W. Holt destroyed both tanks
with shots from his 106mm recoilless rifle. More tanks came around the burning
hulks of the first two tanks and began to roll over the 104th CIDG Company's
defensive positions. SSgt. Peter Tiroch, the assistant intelligence sergeant,
ran over to Holt's position and helped load the weapon. Holt quickly lined up a
third tank in his sights and destroyed it with a direct hit. After a second
shot at the tank, Holt and Tiroch left the weapons pit just before it was
demolished by return cannon fire. Tiroch watched Holt run over to the
ammunition bunker to look for some hand-held Light Anti-tank Weapons (LAWs). It
was the last time Holt was ever seen.

LtCol. Schungel, 1Lt. Longgrear, SSgt. Arthur Brooks, Sgt. Nikolas Fragos, SP4
William G. McMurry, Jr., and LLDB Lt. Quy desperately tried to stop the tanks
with LAWs and grenades. They even climbed on the plated engine decks, trying to
pry open hatches to blast out the crews. NVA infantrymen followed the vehicles
closely, dusting their sides with automatic rifle fire. One tank was stopped by
five direct hits, and the crew killed as they tried to abandon the vehicle. 1Lt.
Miles R. Wilkins, the detachment executive officer, left the mortar pit with
several LAWs and fought a running engagement with one tank beside the team
house without much success.

Along the outer perimeters, the mobile strike force outpost was receiving fire.
Both Kenneth Hanna, a heavy weapons specialist, and Charles W. Lindewald, 12th
Mobile Strike Force platoon leader, were wounded. Hanna, wounded in the scalp,
left shoulder and arm tried to administer first aid to Lindewald. The two were
last seen just before their position was overrun. Harvey Brande spoke with them
by radio and Hanna indicated that Lindewald was then dead, and that he himself
was badly wounded. Daniel R. Phillips, a demolitions specialist, was wounded in
the face and was last seen trying to evade North Vietnamese armor by going
through the northern perimeter wire.
.
NVA sappers armed with satchel charges, tear gas grenades and flamethrowers
fought through the 101st, 102nd and 103rd CIDG perimeter trenches and captured
both ends of the compound by 2:30 a.m. Spearheaded by tanks, they stormed the
inner compound. LtCol. Schungel and his tank-killer personnel moved back to the
command bunker for more LAWs. They were pinned behind a row of dirt and rock
filled drums by a tank that had just destroyed one of the mortar pits. A LAW
was fired against the tank with no effect. The cannon swung around and blasted
the barrels in front of the bunker entrance. The explosion temporarily blinded
McMurry and mangled his hands, pitched a heavy drum on top of Lt. Wilkins and
knocked Schungel flat. Lt. Quy managed to escape to another section of the
camp, but the approach of yet another tank prevented Schungel and Wilkins from
following. At some point during this period, McMurry, a radioman, disappeared.

The tank, which was shooting at the camp observation post, was destroyed with a
LAW. Schungel helped Wilkins over to the team house, where he left both doors
ajar and watched for approaching NVA soldiers. Wilkins was incapacitated and
weaponless, and Schungel had only two grenades and two magazines of ammunition
left. He used one magazine to kill a closely huddled five-man sapper squad
coming toward the building. He fed his last magazine into his rifle as the team
house was rocked with explosions and bullets. The two limped over to the
dispensary, which was occupied by NVA soldiers, and hid underneath it, behind a
wall of sandbags.

At some point, Brande, Thompson and at least one Vietnamese interpreter were
captured by the North Vietnamese. Thompson was uninjured, but Brande had taken
shrapnel in his leg. Brande and Thompson were held separately for a week, then
rejoined in Laos. Joined with them was McMurry, who had also been captured
from the camp. The three were moved up the Ho Chi Minh trail to North Vietnam
and held until 1973. The U.S. did not immediately realize they had been
captured, and carried them in Missing in Action status thoughout the rest of
the war, although Brande's photo was positively identified by a defector in
April 1969 as being a Prisoner of War. A Vietnamese interpreter captured from
the camp told Brande later that he had seen both Lindewald and Hanna, and that
they both were dead.

Several personnel, including Capt. Willoughby, SP4 James L. Moreland, the medic
for the mobile strike force, and Lt. Quan, the LLDB camp commander, were
trapped in the underground level of the command bunker. Lt. Longgrear had also
retreated to the command bunker. Satchel charges, thermite grenades and gas
grenades were shoved down the bunker air vents, and breathing was very
difficult. Some soldiers had gas masks, but others had only handkerchiefs or
gauze from their first aid packets.

The NVA announced they were going to blow up the bunker, and the LLDB personnel
walked up the stairs to surrender, and were summarily executed. At dawn, two
large charges were put down the vent shaft and detonated, partially demolishing
the north wall and creating a large hole through which grenades were pitched.
The bunker defenders used upturned furniture and debris to shield themselves.
Willoughby was badly wounded by grenade fragments and passed out at 8:30 a.m.
Moreland had been wounded and became delirious after receiving a head injury in
the final bunker explosion. Incredibly, the battle was still going on in other
parts of the camp.

Aircraft had been strafing the ravines and roads since 1:00 a.m. Throughout the
battle, the Laotians refused to participate, saying they would attack at first
light. Sfc. Eugene Ashley, Jr., the intelligence sergeant, led two assistant
medical specialists, Sgt. Richard H. Allen and SP4 Joel Johnson as they
mustered 60 of the Laotian soldiers and counterattacked into Lang Vei. The
Laotians bolted when a NVA machine gun crew opened fire on them, forcing the
three Americans to withdraw.

Team Sfc. William T. Craig and SSgt. Tiroch had chased tanks throughout the
night with everything from M-79 grenade launchers to a .50 caliber machine gun.
After it had become apparent that the camp had been overrun, they escaped
outside the wire and took temporary refuge in a creek bed. After daylight, they
saw Ashley's counterattack force and joined him. The Special Forces sergeants
persuaded more defenders fleeing down Route 9 to assist them and tried second,
third and fourth assaults. Between each assault, Ashley directed airstrikes on
the NVA defensive line, while the other Special Forces soldiers gathered tribal
warriors for yet another attempt. On the fifth counterattack, Ashley was
mortally wounded only thirty yards from the command bunker.

Capt. Willoughby had regained consciousness in the bunker about 10:00 a.m. and
established radio contact with the counterattacking Americans. The continual
American airstrikes had forced the North Vietnamese to begin withdrawing from
the camp. Col. Schungel and Lt. Wilkins emerged from under the dispensary after
it was vacated by the North Vietnamese and hobbled out of the camp.

The personnel in the bunker also left in response to orders to immediately
evacuate the camp. They carried Sgt. John D. Early, who had been badly wounded
by shrapnel while manning the tower, but were forced to leave SP4 Moreland
inside the bunker. 1Lt. Thomas D. Todd, an engineer officer in charge of
upgrading Lang Vei's airstrip, held out in the medical bunker throughout the
battle. That afternoon, he was the last American to pass through the ruined
command bunker. He saw Moreland, who appeared to be dead, covered with debris.

Maj. George Quamo gathered a few dozen Special Forces commando volunteers from
the MACV-SOG base at Khe Sanh (FOB #3) and led a heroic reinforcing mission
into Lang Vei. His arrival enabled the Lang Vei defenders to evacuate the area,
many by Marine helicopters in the late afternoon.

Sgt. Richard H. Allen - Survivor
Sfc Eugene Ashley, Jr. - Awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for Lang Vei
Harvey Gordon Brande - Captured - released POW in 1973
SSgt. Arthur Brooks - Survivor
Sfc. William T. Craig - Survivor
Sgt. John D. Early - Survivor
Sgt. Nikolas Fragos - Survivor
Kenneth Hanna - Missing In Action
James William Holt - Missing In Action
SP4 Joel Johnson - Survivor
Charles Wesley Lindewald, Jr. - Missing In Action
1Lt. Paul R. Longgrear - Survivor
SP4 William G. McMurry - Captured - released POW in 1973
James Leslie Moreland - Missing In Action
Daniel Raymond Phillips - Missing In Action
Maj. George Quamo - Killed in Action April 14, 1968
Lt. Quy - Survivor
LtCol. Daniel F. Schungel - appointed deputy commander of the 5th Special Forces
Dennis L. Thompson - Captured - released POW in 1973
SSgt. Peter Tiroch - Survivor
1Lt. Thomas D. Todd - Survivor
1Lt. Miles R. Wilkins - Survivor
Capt. Frank C. Willoughby - Survivor







BRANDENBURG, DALE

Name: Dale Brandenburg
Rank/Branch: E4/US Air Force
Unit: 361st Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron
Date of Birth: 11 November 1948
Home City of Record: Capitol Heights MD
Date of Loss: 05 February 1973
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 153755N 1065957E (YC143291)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action/Killed In Action
Category: 1
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: EC47Q

Other Personnel in Incident: Arthur R. Bollinger; Todd M. Melton; George R.
Spitz; Severo J. Primm III; Peter R. Cressman; Joseph Matejov (all missing);
Robert E. Bernhardt (remains recovered)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II
Project.

REMARKS: KIA 3 - POSS CAPT 4

SYNOPSIS: On February 5, 1973, about a week after the signing of the Paris
Peace Agreement, an EC47Q aircraft was shot down over Saravane Province, Laos,
about 50 miles east of the city of Saravane. The crew of the aircraft consisted
of the pilot, Capt. George R. Spitz; co-pilot, 2Lt. Severo J. Primm III, Capt.
Arthur R. Bollinger, 1Lt. Robert E. Bernhardt, Sgt. Dale Brandenburg, Sgt.
Joseph A. Matejov, all listed as crew members, and Sgt. Peter R. Cressman and
SSgt. Todd M. Melton, both systems operators. The families of all aboard the
aircraft were told the men were dead, and advised to conduct memorial services.

It is known that Cressman and Matejov were members of Detachment 3, 6994th
Security Squadron from Ubon, Thailand. The aircraft, however, was flying out of
the 361st TEW Squadron (Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron) at Nakhon Phanom
Airbase, Thailand. Primm, Melton, Spitz, Brandenburg and Bernhardt were assigned
to the 361st TEW Squadron. Bollinger's unit is unknown.

The men in the 6994th were highly trained and operated in the greatest of
secrecy. They were not allowed to mingle with others from their respective
bases, nor were the pilots of the aircraft carrying them on their missions
always told what their objective was. They were cryptology experts, language
experts, and knew well how to operate some of the Air Force's most sophisticated
equipment. They were the first to hear the enemy's battle plans.

Over five years later, Joe Matejov's mother, Mary Matejov, heard columnist Jack
Anderson, on "Good Morning America", describe a Pathet Lao radio communique
which described the capture of four "air pirates" on the same day as the EC47Q
carrying her son was shot down. NO OTHER PLANE WAS MISSING THAT DAY. Anderson's
information indicated that reconnaissance personnel had 40 uninterrupted minutes
in which to survey the crash site.

The report of the reconnaissance team, which was not provided to the families
for over five years, showed that three bodies, which were thought to have been
higher ranking officers because of the seating arrangement, were found strapped
in seats. Four of the men aboard the aircraft were not in or around the
aircraft, and the partial remains of the eighth man (Bernhardt) was recovered.
No identification was brought out from the crash site, and no attempt was made
to recover the three bodies from the downed aircraft. It is assumed that the
reconnaissance team was most interested in recovering the sensitive equipment
aboard the EC47Q. The EC47Q became known as the "Flying Pueblo". Most of the
"kids" in back, as some pilots called them, were young, in good health, and
stood every chance of surviving captivity.

There were specific reports intercepted regarding the four missing men from the
aircraft missing on February 5, 1973. Radio reports indicated that the four were
transported to the North Vietnam border. None were released in the general POW
release beginning the next month.

Peter Cressman enlisted in the United States Air Force in August, 1969 and after
two years at Elmendorf AFB in Anchorage, Alaska he volunteered for service in
Vietnam and left for Da Nang in June 1972.

In Da Nang, Peter spent his free hours at Sacred Heart Orphanage. His letters to
his hometown priest in Oakland, New Jersey, resulted in the forming of
"Operation Forget-Me-Not". Community schools, churches, merchants and citizens
joined the effort to help the innocent victims of war. The group eventually
provided a boxcar of supplies to the orphans.

Peter was transferred to the airbase at Ubon, Thailand. He believed the secret
missions being flown into Laos were illegal, and had written letters to his
congressman in that regard. His family has been active in efforts to locate
information on Peter and the nearly 2500 others who remain unaccounted for. They
founded the National Forget-Me-Not Association for POW/MIAs in St.Petersburg,
Florida, the largest POW advocacy group in the country.

Joseph Matejov enlisted in the Air Force in 1970 from his home state of New York
and went to Southeast Asia in April, 1972. Joe's father and two brothers were
career military. His sister graduated from West Point in 1981. Steven Matejov
died in 1984 not knowing what happened to his son. Joe's mother, Mary says, "Joe
may be alive. If so, this government has a legal and moral responsibility to get
him home.  The next generation of servicemen should not have to wonder if they
will answer the call to defend their country only to be abandoned. We must stop
this tragedy now, and never allow it to happen again."

Thousands of reports received by the U.S. Government have convinced many experts
that hundreds of Americans remain captive in Southeast Asia. Members of a crew
flying a secret mission after a peace agreement had been signed would likely be
considered war criminals. If they are among those thought to be alive, the
survivors of the EC47Q have been held captive over 15 years. It's time we
brought our men home.



BRANDT, KEITH ALLAN
Remains Recovered January 1990, ID Announced 19 July 1990

Name: Keith Allan Brandt
Rank/Branch: O3/US Army
Unit: D Company, 101st Aviation Battalion, 101st Airborne Division
Date of Birth: 27 December 1940
Home City of Record: Bellingham WA
Date of Loss: 18 March 1971
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 163811N 1062239E (XD469397)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: AH1G

Other Personnel In Incident: Alan B. Boffman (remains recovered)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 September 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: Lam San 719 was the last major operation of the Vietnam War. It
involved American multi-service support of ARVN troops in an invasion of Laos.
The targeted area began around the city of Tchepone and extended south along the
Ho Chi Minh Trail. The operation was a concentrated attempt to halt North
Vietnamese troop and supply movements.

After the ARVN successfully took Tchepone, they elected to withdraw. American
Marines and Army aircraft helped them withdraw back into Vietnam. All the while,
NVA troops followed, and withdrawal, at times, was very difficult.

As the last of the ARVN 4/1 were being extracted and returned to Vietnam, and
had been trapped in a crater, Capt. Keith Brandt came on station leading a
flight of Cobra gunships in response to Command & Control request for assistance
to all helicopters. The ARVN on the ground radioed Brandt, "We're completely
surrounded," and asked Brandt to expend ordnance on his smoke (a detonated smoke
grenade, used to mark location).

For the rest of the afternoon, Brandt and his crewmember, Alan Boffman stayed
over the ARVN, returning to Khe Sahn for refueling and rearming three times. He
expended ordnance as directed by the ARVN sergeant on radio and dodged NVA fire
on low-level flights to pinpoint the exact ARVN location and calculate the best
approach route for rescue helicopters.

At nearly five in the afternoon, the 173rd Robinhoods began coming in from the
east to extract the beseiged ARVN. Brandt was still circling, and volunteered to
lead the helicopters in, as the ARVN had expended their last smoke grenade some
hours earlier. He radioed, "This is Music One-six. Follow me, Robinhood 3, and
I'll lead you to the friendlies." As they moved in, NVA fire exploded around
them. Brandt's Cobra shuddered and he radioed, "I've lost my engine and my
transmission is breaking up. Good-bye. Send my love to my family. I'm dead."
Then, the Cobra became a ball of fire and crashed in the trees, rolling onto its
right side.

With knots in their throats, the extraction helicopters continued their mission.
Of the original 420 ARVN who entered Laos, only 88 were left. They had fought
hard for 6 weeks. The helicopters were clearly overloaded, and some had great
difficulty staying airborne on the trip back to Khe Sanh. ARVN were hanging from
the skids of the aircraft in a desperate attempt to reach the safety of Vietnam.
Many fell, some were injured on landing. Of the 88 at the crater, only 36 made
it back to the safety of Khe Sanh.

For Brandt and Boffman, little hope remained. They died as they lived, helping
others, and with honor.

In mid-January 1990, a joint U.S./Lao team excavated the crash site of Brandt's
helicopter and recovered human remains which were later identified as being
those of both Brandt and Boffman. For their families, at least, comes the
certainty of death.

For many of their comrades, however, clear answers are not forthcoming. Laos is
often called the "Black Hole" of the POW issue because, of nearly 600 Americans
lost there, not a single man was ever released that had been held in Laos. The
Pathet Lao stated on several occasions that they held prisoners, yet we never
negotiated for their freedom. These men were abandoned by the government for
which they bravely fought.

BRASHEAR, WILLIAM JAMES

Name: William James Brashear
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 01 March 1934
Home City of Record: Chula Vista CA
Date of Loss: 08 May 1969
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 152000N 1070500E (YB236975)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4C
Other Personnel in Incident: Henry G. Mundt II (missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Maj. William J. Brashear and 1Lt. Henry G. Mundt probably thought
they were fortunate to have been selected to fly the F4 Phantom fighter jet.
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.

On May 8, 1969 Mundt was the pilot and Brashear the bombardier/navigator on
board an F4C assigned a mission over Laos. As they were over Attopeu Province,
near Chavane, the aircraft was shot down.

The U.S. Air Force placed both men in the category of Missing in Action. The
Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) further refined that category according to
enemy knowledge, concluding that there was ample reason to believe the enemy
knows the fate of 1Lt. Mundt and Maj. Brashear.

The families of Brashear and Mundt understood that the two could have been
captured by either Pathet Lao forces or North Vietnamese, and waited for the
war to end.

When peace agreements were signed, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger informed
the families of the men prisoner and missing that their men would soon come
home. When asked specifically if the agreements included all countries
(Vietnam, Cambodia, China and Laos), Kissinger replied, "What do you think took
us so long."

When 591 American prisoners were released in the spring of 1973, it became
evident that Kissinger had lied to the families. No prisoners held by the
Chinese, Lao or Cambodians were released, even though the Pathet Lao had stated
on a number of occasions that they held "tens of tens" of Americans. Kissinger
had not negotiated for these men.

In Laos alone, nearly 600 Americans are Prisoner of War or Missing in Action.
Since 1975, nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans still missing in
Southeast Asia, convincing many authorities that hundreds of Americans are
still held in captivity. William Brashear and Henry Mundt could be among them.
It's time we brought our men home.

(Henry G. Mundt II graduated from Texas A & M in 1964)






CASE SYNOPSIS: BRASHER, JIMMY MAC

Name: Jimmy Mac Brasher
Rank/Branch: O2/US Army
Unit: 131st Aviation Company (see note in text)
Date of Birth: 09 April 1941 (Plainview TX)
Home City of Record: Canyon TX
Loss Date: 28 September 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam - Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 184358N 106185E (XE766761)
Status (in 1973): Killed in Action/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: OV1B
Other Personnel In Incident: Robert E. Pittman (missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On September 28, 1966, 1Lt. Jimmy Mac Brasher, pilot; and PFC Robert
E. Pittman, observer; departed the Hue/Phu Bai airstrip in an OV1B Mohawk
aircraft (serial #64-14266, call sign Spud 09) on a reconnaissance mission off
the coast of North Vietnam.

At 0400 hours, a Surface to Air Missile (SAM) warning was broadcast for the
area in which Spud 19 was located. At this time, radio and radar contact was
lost with Spud 19. It is assumed that one or more of the SAM missiles launched
that night hit the plane and that it crashed into the sea. No trace of the
plane or crew was found. The last known location was about 40 miles due east of
the city of Phuc Loi (and east-northeast of Vinh) in the Gulf of Tonkin. Both
men were declared killed in action, body not recovered. No trace of the
aircraft or the crew was ever found.

The OV1B carried side-looking airborne radar (SLAR) housed in a long pod
beneath the forward part of the fuselage and could maintain night surveillance
and detect targets for Air Force gunships or fighter-bombers. The radar
equipment scanned on either side of the aircraft, fashioning a radar map that
could be reproduced photographically while the Mohawk was in flight.

Brasher and Pittman did not, evidently survive their last flight. They are
among nearly 2500 who did not return at the end of the war in Vietnam.
Tragically, all 2500 did not die in action, but hundreds survive, still in
communist prisons. Over 8000 reports regarding Americans still in Southeast
Asia have been received by the U.S. Government. Until these men are brought
home, there can be no end of the war to those who fought it, nor honor for
the nation that sent them.


NOTE: The 20th Aviation Detachment existed until December 1966, at which time
it was reassigned as the 131st Aviation Company, 223rd Aviation Battalion
(Combat Support). The 131st Aviation Company had been assigned to I Corps
Aviation Battalion since June 1966, when it arrived in Vietnam. In August 1967,
the 131st Aviation Company was reassigned to the 212th Aviation Battalion where
it remained until July 1971, whereupon it transferred out of Vietnam.

There were a large number of pilots lost from this unit, including Thaddeus E.
Williams and James P. Schimberg (January 9, 1966); John M. Nash and Glenn D.
McElroy (March 15, 1966); James W. Gates and John W. Lafayette (April 6, 1966);
Robert G. Nopp and Marshall Kipina (July 14, 1966); Jimmy M. Brasher and Robert
E. Pittman (September 28, 1966); James M. Johnstone and James L. Whited
(November 19, 1966); Larry F. Lucas (December 20, 1966); and Jack W. Brunson
and Clinton A. Musil (May 31, 1971). Missing OV1 aircraft crew from the
20th/131st represent well over half of those lost on OV1 aircraft during the
war.

U.S. Army records list both Nopp and Kipina as part of the "131st Aviation
Company, 14th Aviation Battalion", yet according to "Order of Battle" by Shelby
Stanton, a widely recognized military source, this company was never assigned
to the 14th Aviation Battalion. The 131st was known as "Nighthawks", and was a
surveillance aircraft company.

BRASSFIELD, ANDREW THOMAS

Name: Andrew Thomas Brassfield
Rank/Branch: E6/US Army Special Forces
Unit: CCN/MACV-SOG, 5th Special Forces Group
Date of Birth: 04 February 1937 (St. Louis MO)
Home City of Record: Sylvania OH
Date of Loss: 06 April 1970
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 161932N 1065123E (XD983057)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: SSgt. Andrew T. Brassfield was assigned to MACV-SOG (Military
Assistance Command, Vietnam Studies and Observation Group). MACV-SOG was a
joint service high command unconventional warfare task force engaged in highly
classified operations throughout Southeast Asia. The 5th Special Forces
channeled personnel into MACV-SOG (although it was not a Special Forces group)
through Special Operations Augmentation (SOA), which provided their "cover"
while under secret orders to MACV-SOG. The teams performed deep penetration
missions of strategic reconnaissance and interdiction which were called,
depending on the time frame, "Shining Brass" or "Prairie Fire" missions.

On April 6, 1970, SSgt. Brassfield was operating in Laos with a team known as
Reconnaissance Team Missouri on an intelligence gathering mission. The team was
operating about 5 miles inside Laos east of Muong Nong in Savannakhet Province.

As the team stopped for a rest, it came under heavy enemy fire. In attempting
to gain better cover, Brassfield was fatally wounded. The remaining team
members were unable to recover his body because they had all been injured and
were unable to carry him while trying to break contact with the enemy.
Brassfield was never found.

For every insertion like Brassfield's that were detected and stopped, dozens of
other commando teams safely slipped past NVA lines to strike a wide range of
targets and collect vital information. The number of MACV-SOG missions
conducted with Special Forces reconnaissance teams into Laos and Cambodia was
452 in 1969. It was the most sustained American campaign of raiding, sabotage
and intelligence-gathering waged on foreign soil in U.S. military history.
MACV-SOG's teams earned a global reputation as one of the most combat effective
deep-penetration forces ever raised.

The missions Brassfield and others were assigned were exceedingly dangerous and
of strategic importance. The men who were put into such situations knew the
chances of their recovery if captured was slim to none. They quite naturally
assumed that their freedom would come by the end of the war. For 591 Americans,
freedom did come at the end of the war. For another 2500, however, freedom has
never come.

Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports relating to missing Americans in
Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S., convincing many authorities that
hundreds remain alive in captivity. While Brassfield may not be among them,
what would he think of his country abandoning its best men?

BRAUNER, HENRY PAUL

Name: Henry Paul Brauner
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit: 16th Special Operations Squadron, Ubon Airfield, Thailand
Date of Birth: 26 January 1936
Home City of Record: Franklin Park NJ
Date of Loss: 29 March 1972
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 163900N 1060600E (XD165414)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: AC130A

Other Personnel In Incident: Barclay Young; Howard Stephenson; James Caniford;
Curtis D. Miller; Robert Simmons; Edwin Pearce (all missing); Edward Smith;
Richard Halpin; Irving Ramsower; Richard Castillo; Charles Wanzel; Merlyn
Paulson; William Todd; (remains returned)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II
Project.

REMARKS: NO PARA - NO RAD CNTCT - SAR NEGA

SYNOPSIS: On the night of March 29, 1972, an AC130A Hercules "Spectre" gunship
departed Ubon Airfield, Thailand on a night reconnaissance mission over supply
routes used by North Vietnamese forces in Laos. The crew of the aircraft
consisted of pilots Maj. Irving B. Ramsower II and 1Lt. Charles J. Wanzel III,
the navigator, Maj. Henry P. Brauner, and crew members Maj. Howard D.
Stephenson, Capt. Curtis D. Miller, Capt. Barclay B. Young, Capt. Richard
Castillo, Capt. Richard C. Halpin, SSgt. Merlyn L. Paulson, SSgt. Edwin J.
Pearce, SSgt. Edward D. Smith Jr., SSgt. James K. Caniford; and Airmen First
Class William A. Todd and Robert E. Simmons.

As the aircraft was in the jungle foothills 56 miles east of Savannakhet in
southern Laos, it was shot down by a Russian Surface to Air Missile (SAM). U.S.
government sources stated in February 1986 that a fighter escort plane reported
that the aircraft crashed in a fireball, no parachutes were seen, nor was radio
contact made with the AC130 or any of its crew. In 1972, however, the Pearce
family was told that an F4 support plane traveling with the AC130 heard "so many
beepers they couldn't count them" and that the emergency beeper type carried by
the crew could only be activated manually. The Pearce family took this as
strong proof that a number of the crew survived. The support aircraft plane left
the area to refuel. When it returned, there were no signs of life.

The inscribed wedding band of Curtis Miller was recovered by a reporter and
returned to Miller's family. The existence of the ring suggests to Miller's
mother that the plane did not burn, and gives her hope that he survived.

A May 1985 article appearing in a Thai newspaper stated that the bodies of
Simmons and Wanzel were among 5 bodies brought to the base camp of Lao
Liberation forces. The same article reported a group of 21 Americans still
alive, held prisoner at a camp in Khammouane Province, Laos. At about this same
time, Simmons' dog tag was mailed anonymously to the U.S. Embassy in Laos. FBI
tests failed to show fire residue on the tag, proving to the Simmons family that
Skeeter did not die in the explosion and go down in the fiery crash.

The U.S. and Laos excavated this aircraft's crash site in February 1986. The
teams recovered a limited number of human bone fragments, personal effects and
large pieces of plane wreckage. It was later announced by the U.S. Government
that the remains of Castillo, Halpin, Ramsower, Simmons, Todd, Paulson, Pearce,
Wanzel and Smith had been positively identified from these bone fragments.

In a previous excavation at Pakse, Laos in 1985, remains recovered were
positively identified as the 13 crew members, although independent examiners
later proved that only 2 of those identifications were scientifically possible.
The U.S. Government has acknowledged the errors made in identification on two of
the men, but these two individuals are still considered "accounted for".

Because of the identification problems of the first excavation, the families of
the Savannakhet AC130 have carefully considered the information given them about
their loved ones. The families of Robert Simmons and Edwin Pearce have actively
resisted the U.S. Government's identification, which is in both cases based on a
single tooth. These families do not know if their men are alive or dead, but
will insist that the books are kept open until proof dictates that there is no
longer any hope for their survival.

In January 1991, a federal judge ruled that when the Simmons family collected
death benefits for Skeeter, they lost the right to question whether he was dead.
They have continued to fight a positive identification based on a single tooth.
The Assistant U.S. Attorney, William H. Pease, added that the court has no
jurisdiction over military identification of remains.

Nearly 600 Americans were lost in Laos during the Vietnam war, and many were
known to have survived their loss incident. However, the U.S. did not negotiate
with Laos for these men, and consequently, not one American held in Laos has
ever been released.



BREINER, STEPHEN E.

Name:  Stephen E. Breiner
Rank/Branch:  E2/USMC
Unit: 1st Engineer Battalion, 1st Marine Division
Date of Birth: 5 July 1947
Home City of Record: Decatur, IN (born Fort Wayne, IN)
Date of Loss: 24 September 1968
Country of Loss:  South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates:
Status (in 1973): Died of Accidental Injury/Body not Recovered
Category:  5
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Other Personnel in Incident: none

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project and the P.O.W. NETWORK 2 April
1992 from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government
agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources,
interviews. Copyright 1992 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: While attempting to cross the Bon River in the vicinity of
Quang Nam Province, Republic of Vietnam, Private First Class Stephen
Breiner was caught in the current and drowned.

In recent years, the numbers of remains returned from Vietnam and
excavated in Laos has increased dramatically. Government strategists
happily point to this as "progress" on the POW/MIA issue, although most of
these remains are still unidentified. Indeed, many families, having had
independent studies of the remains to assure accurate identification, now
have answers to long-awaited concerns about their loved ones. However,
when remains are positively identified, the U.S. Government closes the
books and the search for that missing man ends. Can we afford to close the
books on an American who may be alive waiting for his country to bring him
home?

How many will serve in the next war knowing they may be abandoned?

BRELLENTHIN, MICHAEL

Name: Michael Brellenthin
Rank/Branch: E3/US Marine Corps
Unit: Company B, 1st Battalion, 26th Marines, Khe Sanh
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record:
Date of Loss: 25 February 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 164500N 1061500E (XD850410)
Status (In 1973): Killed In Action
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Other Personnel In Incident: Ronald Ridgeway (Released 1973); several others
from same unit

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 1990 from one or more of the
following: correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources including
U.S. Veteran News & Report (April 1990), interviews.

REMARKS: **NOT ON MISSING LISTS**

SYNOPSIS: PFC Ronald L. Ridgeway and LCPL Michael Brellenthin were in a Marine
weapons platoon assigned to a patrol outside the perimeter of the Khe Sanh
Combat Base. At approximately 9:30 a.m., the patrol made contact with an NVA
force of unknown size. Although the ambush site was within view of the base,
Brellenthin's unit was pinned down by heavy fire and attempts to reinforce it
were driven back by the NVA.

When the Marine unit finally was able to break contact and return to base, they
were forced to leave their dead behind. It was several days before they could
attempt to recover the dead because of heavy enemy activity. When they were
finally able to get back into the area, the Marines found that repeated
harassment and interdiction fire had badly scrambled the remains of their fellow
Marines. They recovered what they had thought were the remains of nine dead
Marines, none of whom could be individually identified. Among them, according to
the government forensics experts, were Brellenthin and Ridgeway.

Those sets of remains were combined with the remains of nine Navy men who had
died in a separate incident and were interred in a mass grave in St. Louis.

On January 28, 1973, PFC Ronald Ridgeway, one of those 18 "dead" and buried
servicemen, was released from a POW camp in Hanoi. Ridgeway had been held in
South Vietnam with known POWs such as Harvey Brande, William G. McMurray, and
Dennis L. Thompson. The U.S. had no idea any of these men were POWs until they
were released. Ridgeway had come back from the dead, much to the chagrin of the
U.S. Government.

Although the relatives of seven of the Marines believed buried in St. Louis
found little hope in Ridgeway's return, Brellenthin's wife, Ruth, thought it
entirely possible that her husband might have escaped with Ridgeway. How many
others, she wondered, had been captured without the U.S. finding out?

For five years the government refused to give Mrs. Brellenthin information about
Ridgeway's whereabouts so she could question him about the incident. When she
finally found him on her own, it was 1978, 10 years after the ambush. Ridgeway
told her he had not seen Michael Brellenthin during or after the ambush.

But an intelligence report obtained by Mrs. Brellenthin indicated that in late
February, 1968, approximately 20-30 American POWs were sighted near Khe Sanh.
According to the report, "Source observed several of the PWs wearing 'strange
caps.' He described this cap as olive drab in color and made of cloth. The caps
described resemble the USMC fatigue cap."

The U.S. Government continued to state unequivocally that LCPL Michael
Brellenthin had been killed in action because Mrs. Brellenthin could not produce
proof otherwise. Although the government lacked positive evidence that Michael
was dead, its assumption that he was dead overruled Mrs. Brellenthin's
assumption that he might be alive. The Marine Corps has admitted that some of
those "buried" men could have been captured, but that it is doubtful. Even
though considerable doubt surrounds the identification of the Marines buried in
St. Louis, and, indeed, some of them might have survived, official status change
was denied.

Since the war ended, over 10,000 reports of Americans prisoner, missing or
unaccounted for have been received by the U.S. Government. It would not be
erroneous to speculate that if the U.S. received a first-hand live sighting
report on Michael Brellenthin, that report would be debunked because "Michael
Brellenthin is dead."

Although many experts who have reviewed the largely-classified information
relating to Americans still missing in Southeast Asia have concluded that
hundreds of them are still alive in captivity, the USG cannot seem to make up
its mind.

Meanwhile, how many wait for their country to come for them? Who will look for
men like Michael Brellenthin?


Michael Brellenthin was married only two weeks prior to his going to Vietnam.
His wife, who has recently remarried, is still actively pursuing information as
to her husband's fate. Ronald Ridgeway was hastily promoted to the rank of
Sergeant, in keeping with military procedure relating POWs, upon his release.

BREMMER, DWIGHT AMOS

Name: Dwight Amos Bremmer
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: Quartermaster School (QMC), Training Advance Detachment, Training
Directorate, MACV
Date of Birth: 01 December 1948 (Cold Water MS)
Home City of Record: Oakland TN
Date of Loss: 14 December 1971
Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 151835N 1081635E (BU090050)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: U21A
Other Personnel in Incident: John G. Boyanowski; Floyd D. Caldwell; Gregg N.
Hollinger; Cecil C. Perkins Jr.; Otha L. Perry (all missing)

REMARKS: R/R CONT LOST - SEARCH NEG - J

SYNOPSIS: On December 14, 1971, CW2 Otha L. Perry, pilot; Capt. Cecil C.
Perkins, co-pilot; LtCol. John Boyanowski, Capt. Gregg N. Hollinger, SP4 Dwight
A. Bremmer and SSgt. Floyd D. Caldwell, passengers; were aboard a U21A aircraft
(tail #18041), call sign "Long Trip 041, which was lost while flying an
administrative mission from Phu Bai to Da Nang, South Vietnam.

During the flight, about 15 miles northeast of Da Nang, the aircraft
experienced an inflight emergency. The pilot reported that he had lost his
number 2 engine, and had a fire. Within minutes after the emergency, both radio
and radar contact was lost. The aircraft was never seen or heard from again.

Search aircraft proceeded to the last known location of Long Trip 041, but
inclement weather and poor visibility curtailed the search. Extensive searches
were conducted for the next three days, but no trace of the aircraft or
personnel was ever found. The personnel aboard the aircraft were declared dead,
bodies not recoverable.

Sixty days of case study was conducted before declaring these men dead. Early
along in the war, pilots and crew members had been declared dead because
circumstances seemed to dictate that was the case. Later, however, some of
these "dead" pilots turned up in POW camps in North Vietnam, causing a serious
effort to commence NOT to declare a man dead if there was a reasonable chance
(with or without evidence) that he survived.

It is pretty clear that Long Trip ditched. What is not clear from public
record, however, is that the crew died. With no proof of death, no proof of
life, their families are suspended in tortured uncertainty. Jessie Edwards,
mother of Otha Lee Perry says, "He told me if anything happened not to give up
looking for him...no matter how long it's been, I cannot." Perry had been a
former Green Beret who was a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division at Ft.
Bragg. He had received 15 major decorations for Vietnam Service, and had served
in both South Korea and the Dominican Republic. Like the families of all the
crew of Long Trip 041, Jessie Edwards will never give up hope.

Many authorities have examined the thousands of reports relating to Americans
still missing in Southeast Asia, and have come away with the conviction that
hundreds are still captive in communist prisons there.

It would be kindest to hope that the crew of Long Trip 041 died on December 14,
1971. If they didn't, what must they be enduring? What must they think of their
country?

BRENNAN, HERBERT OWEN

Name: Herbert Owen Brennan
Rank/Branch: 06/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 27 August 1926
Home City of Record: O'Neill NE
Date of Loss: 26 November 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 172200N 1062000E (XE293215)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4C
Other Personnel in Incident: Douglas C. Condit (missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: 1Lt. Douglas C. Condit and Col. Herbert O. Brennan probably thought
they were fortunate to have been selected to fly the F4 Phantom fighter jet.
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.

Brennan, a full colonel had not been required to serve in Vietnam. The 1947
West Point graduate had a distinguished Air Force career, and served as an
instructor at the United States Air Force Academy before volunteering for
Vietnam Service.

On November 26, 1967, Condit was serving as pilot and Brennan as
bombardier/navigator on board an F4C assigned a mission over North Vietnam. As
the aircraft was over Quang Binh Province, about 12 miles from the Ban Karai
pass, the aircraft was shot down.

The Ban Karai Pass was one of several passageways through the mountainous
border of Vietnam and Laos. American aircraft flying from Thailand to missions
over North Vietnam flew through them regularly, and many aircraft were lost. On
the Laos side of the border coursed the "Ho Chi Minh Trail", a road heavily
travelled by North Vietnamese troops moving materiel and personnel to their
destinations through the relative safety of neutral Laos. The return ratio of
men lost in and around the passes is far lower than that of those men lost in
more populous areas, even though both were shot down by the same enemy and the
same weapons. This is partly due to the extremely rugged terrain and resulting
difficulty in recovery.

It seems improbable that in one of the most heavily traveled sections of the Ho Chi
Minh Trail, the many Americans lost went unnoticed by the other side. The
governments of Laos and Vietnam claim no knowledge of the fates of Condit or
Brennan.

The U.S. Air Force placed both men in the category of Missing in Action. The
Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) further refined that category according to
enemy knowledge, concluding that there is ample reason to believe that the
enemy knows the fates of Brennan and Condit.

Since 1975, nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans still missing in
Southeast Asia, convincing many authorities that hundreds of Americans are
still held in captivity. Condit and Brennan could be among them. It's time we
brought our men home.



BRENNING, RICHARD DAVID

Name: Richard David Brenning
Rank/Branch: O3/US Navy Reserves
Unit: Attack Squadron 112, USS TICONDEROGA (CVA 14)
Date of Birth: 22 April 1944 (Billings MT)
Home City of Record: Lincoln NE
Date of Loss: 26 July 1969
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 180600N 1072658E
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A4C

Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 30 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: When Douglas Aircraft created the A4 Skyhawk the intent was to provide
the Navy and Marine Corps with an inexpensive, lightweight attack and ground
support aircraft. The design emphasized low-speed control and stability during
take-off and landing as well as strength enough for catapult launch and carrier
landings. The plane was so compact that it did not need folding wings for
aboardship storage and handling. In spite of its diminutive size, the A4 packed
a devastating punch and performed well where speed and maneuverability were
essential.

Lt. Richard D. Brenning was an A4 pilot assigned to attack Squadron 112 onboard
the USS TICONDEROGA. The TICONDEROGA had first been in Vietnam waters in 1945
when fighter planes from the TICONDEROGA and the USS HANCOCK flew strike
missions against enemy vessels in Saigon Harbor. The TICONDEROGA was on station
during the very early years of the Vietnam war and remained throughout most of
the duration of the war.

On July 26, 1969, Lt. Brenning was killed in an airplane accident upon
commencement of a combat flight. His A4C aircraft impacted the water about sixty
miles offshore from Ha Tinh Province, North Vietnam in the Gulf of Tonkin.
Search efforts were negative.

Since the war ended in Vietnam, refugees have flooded the world, bringing with
them stories of American soldiers still held prisoner in their homeland. Many
authorities now believe that hundreds were left behind as living hostages.

Lt. Richard Brenning did not survive the events of 26 July 1969. His family has
accepted that he is dead. They no longer expect him to come home someday. But
hundreds of families wait expectantly and in the special agony only uncertainty
can bring. Hundreds of men wait in caves, cages and prisons. How much longer
will we allow the abandonment of our best men? It's time we brought them home.

BRETT, ROBERT ARTHUR JR.

Name: Robert Arthur Brett, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 16 April 1948
Home City of Record: Corvallis OR
Date of Loss: 29 September 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 213551N 1045921E (VJ989881)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F111A

Other Personnel In Incident: William C. Coltman (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 April 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II
Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: The F111 was first used in Southeast Asia in March 1968 during
Operation Combat Lancer and flew nearly 3,000 missions during the war despite
frequent periods of grounding. From 1968 to 1973, the F111 was grounded several
months because of excess losses of aircraft. By 1969, there had been 15 F111's
downed by malfunction or enemy fire. The major malfunctions involved engine
problems and problems with the terrain following radar (TFR) which reads the
terrain ahead and flies over any obstructions. Eight of the F111's downed during
the war were flown by crews that were captured or declared missing.

In September 1972, F111As were returned to Southeast Asia after a long grounding
period. On September 28, 1972, the F111A flown by Maj. William C. Coltman and
commanded by 1Lt. Robert A. Brett, Jr. went out of radio contact in North
Vietnam on the Red River about 10 miles southwest of the city of Yen Bai. At
1:15 a.m., September 29, when the aircraft failed to return from their mission,
the two were declared missing at the time of estimated fuel exhaustion.

A news release issued by North Vietnam claimed the downing of an F111 in the
same area near Yen Bai, but made no mention of the fate of the crew. A second
North Vietnamese news release, monitored by the BBC in Hong Kong, claimed to
have downed an F111 on September 28 and captured the crew. Brett and Coltman
were the only F111 aircrew operating in that area.

The National League of Families published a list in 1974 that indicated that
Robert A. Brett had survived the downing of his aircraft, and that the loss
location was in Laos, not North Vietnam.

The last missing F111A team to be shot down was Capt. Robert D. Sponeyberger and
1Lt. William W. Wilson. Sponeyberger and Wilson were flying a typical F111
tactical mission when they were hit - flying at supersonic speed only a few
hundred feet altitude. They were declared Missing in Action.

In 1973, however, Sponeyberger and Wilson were released by the North Vietnamese,
who had held them prisoner since the day their aircraft was shot down. Their
story revealed another possibility as to why so many F111's had been lost. Air
Force officials had suspected mechanical problems, but really had no idea why
the planes were lost because they fly singly and out of radio contact. Capt.
Sponeyberger and 1Lt. Wilson had ruled out mechanical problems. "It seems
logical that we were hit by small arms," Wilson said, "By what you would
classify as a 'Golden BB' - just a lucky shot." Sponeyberger added that small
arms at low level were the most feared weapons by F111 pilots. The SAM-25 used
in North Vietnam was ineffective at the low altitudes flown by the F111, and
anti-aircraft cannot sweep the sky fast enough to keep up with the aircraft.

That a 91,000 pound aircraft flying at supersonic speeds could be knocked out of
the air by an ordinary bullet from a hand-held rifle or machine gun is a David
and Goliath-type story the Vietnamese must love to tell and retell.

As reports continue to be received by the U.S.Government build a strong case for
belief that hundreds of these missing Americans are still alive and in
captivity, one must wonder if their retention provides yet another David and
Goliath story for Vietnamese propaganda. The F111 missions were hazardous and
the pilots who flew them brave and skilled. Fourteen Americans remain missing
from F111 aircrafts downed in Southeast Asia. If any of them are among those
said to be still missing, what must they be thinking of us?


BREUER, DONALD C.

Name: Donald C. Breuer
Rank/Branch: USMC, O3
Unit: VMFA 232 MAG 15
Date of Birth: 26 October 46
Home City of Record: New York, NY
Date of Loss: 20 November 72
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 163500N 1063300E
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4J

Other Personnel In Incident: Captian Anderson (rescued)

Source: Compiled by THE P.O.W. NETWORK 02 February 93 from the
following published sources - POW/MIA's -- Report of the Select Committee
on POW/MIA Affairs United States Senate -- January 13, 1993. "The Senate
Select Committee staff has prepared case summaries for the priority cases
that the Administration is now investigating. These provide the facts about
each case, describe the circumstances under which the individual was lost,
and detail the information learned since the date of loss.  Information in
the case summaries is limited to information from casualty files, does not
include any judgments by Committee staff, and attempts to relate essential
facts. The Committee acknowledges that POW/MIAs' primary next-of- kin know
their family members' cases in more comprehensive detail than summarized
here and recognizes the limitations that the report format imposes on these
summaries."

On November 20, 1972, Captain Breuer and Captain Anderson were the
crew on-board an F-4J, one in a flight of two aircraft on a combat
operation over Savannakhet Province, Laos.  Their aircraft was hit
by anti-aircraft fire and crashed 35 kilometers southeast of
Tchepone and 300 meters from Route 90.  This is in an area
southwest of the Demilitarized Zone separating North and South
Vietnam.  Captain Anderson parachuted safely from the aircraft, was
located by search and rescue forces, and was recovered.  He stated
he didn't see Captain Breuer parachute from their damaged aircraft
and did not hear a beeper from him.  Captain Breuer was declared
missing in action.

After the crash, a North Vietnamese Army unit reported on November
20th that a pilot had landed but there was no mention of the
specific type of aircraft involved and the pilot's nationality was
not given.  The report was associated with an incident occurring in
the general area of the Demilitarized Zone separating North and
South Vietnam.  An intelligence comment on this report indicated a
tentative correlation of the report to this loss incident based on
it being the only reported aircraft loss at this point in time.

On April 28, 1972, Pathet Lao radio news service reported three
U.S. aircraft were hit in Saravane Province on November 18th and
19th.  Pilots were killed in two F-4 and one T-28 air incident.
This report was placed in the files of these individuals because of
the country of loss and date of incident.

Returning U.S. POWs during Operation Homecoming early in 1973 had
no information on Captain Breuer's fate.  After Operation
Homecoming Captain Breuer was declared killed in action, body not
recovered, based on a presumptive finding of death.

In April 1973, a North Vietnamese soldier from Binh Tram 41, 473rd
Transportation Division, Group 559, reported having seen an
American F-4 hit by antiaircraft fire and crash near the village of
Ban Dong, Savannakhet Province, east of the border with Thua Thien
Province, South Vietnam and in the area in which his division was
operating.  This is in an area west of the DMZ and in the general
area of Highway 9.  He reported seeing two parachutes.  One airman
landed and was rescued.  Later, he observed a body of an American
airman which had been stripped nude and was told the other airman
had died.  The area of the sighting was correlated to this loss
incident.

This loss incident crash site was visited by a joint U.S./Lao team
in Muong Nong District, Savannakhet Province, during 28 October-1
November 1992.  The team recovered artifacts said to have belonged
to the pilot who was rescued.  There was no specific information on
the fate of the second crewman.

BRIDGES, JERRY GLEN

Name:  Jerry Glen Bridges
Rank/Branch: E5/US Army
Unit: 243rd Assault Helicopter Company, 10th Combat Aviation Battalion
Date of Birth: 07 January 1948 (Tamms IL)
Home City of Record: Columbia TN
Date of Loss: 20 October 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 122945N 1090753E (BP890830)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: CH47

Other Personnel In Incident: Charles E. Deitsch; Henry C. Knight; Charles H.
Meldahl; Ronald V. Stanton (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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: On October 20, 1968, CW3 Deitsch, aircraft commander; WO1 Knight,
pilot; SP5 Meldahl, crewchief; SP4 Bridges, flight engineer; and SP4 Stanton,
door gunner, departed Dong Ba Thien Airfield, South Vietnam, in a CH47A
helicopter (serial #66-19053) on a resupply mission to Ban Me Thuot, South
Vietnam.

The CH47 "Chinook" helicopter was one of the workhorses of the Army's air fleet.
As a cargo lift, the Chinook could carry up to 28,000 pounds on its external
cargo hook, and is credited with the recovery of 11,500 disabled aircraft worth
more than $3 billion. As troop carrier, the aircraft could be fitted with 24
litters for medical evacuation, or carry 33-44 troops in addition to the crew.
On one occasion, a Chinook evacuated 147 refugees and their possessions on a
single flight. The Chinook could be outfitted for bombing missions, dropping
tear gas or napalm in locations fixed wing aircraft could not reach. The big
bird could carry a large cargo of supplies.

Deitsch radioed at 0700 hours on October 20 that his aircraft was over the Ninh
Hoa Valley. That was the last anyone heard of the CH47. At about 0800 hours, it
was determined that the helicopter was overdue.

An intensive search effort was made, but no wreckage was ever found of the CH47,
and search efforts were concluded on October 28. Villagers were later canvassed
throughout the Ninh Ho Valley, and literature was distributed asking about the
crash of the Chinook, but no new information was ever discovered.

The five men aboard the Chinook lost on October 20, 1968 were classified Missing
In Action. They are among nearly 2400 Americans who are unaccounted for from
American involvement in Vietnam. Experts now believe that hundreds of Americans
are still alive in Southeast Asia, waiting for their country to come for them.
The crew of the CH47 lost on October 20, 1968 could be among them. It's time we
brought them home.
BRIDGES, PHILIP WAYNE

Name: Philip Wayne Bridges
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: Troop F, 17th Cavalry (Armored), 23rd Infantry Division (Americal)
Date of Birth: 13 April 1948 (Tulare CA)
Home City of Record: Tipton CA
Date of Loss: 30 June 1971
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 160101N 1081525E (BT065726)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: 3/4 TRK
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On June 30, 1971, SP4 Philip W. Bridges of F Troop, 17th Cavalry,
23rd Division, was killed with the truck filled with explosives in which he was
riding blew up.

SP4 Bridges was to assist in unloading the truck with two other soldiers in the
motor pool at Camp Faulkner, Da Nang, South Vietnam. After the explosion,
members of his unit were able to recover the remains of the other two men in
the truck, mostly intact. Only scattered unidentifiable tissue and parts of a
uniform were found that could be related to SP4 Bridges.

As no identifiable remains were found, U.S. forces immediately began a search
for Bridges, in case he had left the area unseen. No trace of him was found,
and it was logically presumed that Bridges had died in the explosion. No
remains could be located because of the violence of the incident.

The fact that Bridges died an accidental death in the midst of war is
tragically ironic. He is listed among the missing with honor, because his body
was never found to be returned to the country he served.

Others who are missing do not have such clear cut cases. Some were known
captives; some were photographed as they were led by their guards. Some were in
radio contact with search teams while others simply disappeared.

Since the war ended, over 250,000 interviews have been conducted with those who
claim to know about Americans still missing in Southeast Asia, and several
million documents have been studied. U.S. Government experts cannot seem to
agree whether Americans are there alive or not. Detractors say it would be far
too politically difficult to bring the men they believe to be alive home, and
the U.S. is content to negotiate for remains.

Over 1000 eye-witness reports of living American prisoners were received by
1989. Most of them are still classified. If, as the U.S. seems to believe, the
men are all dead, why the secrecy after so many years? If the men are alive,
why are they not home?



BRIGGS, ERNEST FRANK JR.

Name: Ernest Frank Briggs, Jr.
Rank/Branch: SP5/US Army
Unit: 176th Aviation Company, 14th Aviation Battalion, 23rd Infantry Division
(Americal)
Date of Birth: 12 December 1944 (Heflin AL)
Home City of Record: Devine TX (some records say San Antonio TX)
Date of Loss: 05 January 1968
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 161907N 1063445E (XD701021)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1D
Other Personnel In Incident: James Williamson; John T. Gallagher; Dennis C.
Hamilton; Sheldon D. Schultz (all missing); (indigenous team members, names,
numbers, fates unknown)

REMARKS: NO SIGN OF CREW

SYNOPSIS: On January 5, 1968, WO Dennis C. Hamilton, aircraft commander; WO
Sheldon D. Schultz, pilot; SP5 Ernest F. Briggs, Jr., crew chief; SP4 James P.
Williamson, crewman, and SSgt. John T. Gallagher, passenger; were aboard a UH1D
helicopter (tail # 66-1172) on a mission to infiltrate an indigenous
reconnaissance patrol into Laos.

The reconnaissance patrol and SSgt. Gallagher were operating under orders to
Command & Control North, MACV-SOG (Military Assistance Command, Vietnam Studies
and Observation Group). MACV-SOG was a joint service high command
unconventional warfare task force engaged in highly classified operations
throughout Southeast Asia. The 5th Special Forces channeled personnel into
MACV-SOG (although it was not a Special Forces group) through Special
Operations Augmentation (SOA), which provided their "cover" while under secret
orders to MACV-SOG. The teams performed deep penetration missions of strategic
reconnaissance and interdiction which were called, depending on the time frame,
"Shining Brass" or "Prairie Fire" missions.

As the aircraft approached the landing zone about 20 miles inside Laos south of
Lao Bao, it came under heavy 37mm anti-aircraft fire while at an altitude of
about 300 feet above ground level. The aircraft immediately entered a nose-low
vertical dive and crashed.

Upon impact with the ground, the aircraft burst into flames which were 10 to 20
feet high. No radio transmissions were heard during the helicopter's descent,
nor were radio or beeper signals heard after impact. Four attempts to get into
the area of the downed helicopter failed due to intense ground fire.

During the next two days more attempts to get to the wreckage failed. The pilot
of one search helicopter maneuvered to within 75 feet of the crash site before
being forced out by enemy fire. The pilot who saw the wreckage stated that the
crashed helicopter was a mass of burned metal and that there was no part of the
aircraft that could be recognized. No signs of life were seen in the crash area.

Weather delayed further search attempts for a couple of days. After the weather
improved, the successful insertion of a ground team was made east of the crash
site to avoid enemy fire. The team was extracted after the second day, finding
nothing. The crash site was located near the city of Muong Nong in Savannakhet
Province, Laos.

Nearly 600 Americans were lost in Laos. The Pathet Lao insisted that the "tens
of tens" of Americans they held would only be released from Laos, but the U.S.
did not officially recognize the communist faction in Laos and did not
negotiate for American prisoners being held by them. Not one American held by
the Lao was ever released.

Alarmingly, evidence continues to mount that Americans were left as prisoners
in Southeast Asia and continue to be held today. Unlike "MIAs" from other wars,
most of the nearly 2500 men and women who remain missing in Southeast Asia can
be accounted for. Perhaps the crew of the helicopter did not survive the crash,
but until there is positive proof of their deaths, we cannot forget them. If
even one was left behind at the end of the war, alive, (and many authorities
estimate the numbers to be in the hundreds), we have failed as a nation until
and unless we do everything possible to secure his freedom and bring him home.


BRIGGS, RONALD DANIEL

Name: Ronald Daniel Briggs
Rank/Branch: O2/US Army
Unit: Advisory Team 4, MACV
Date of Birth: 24 March 1944
Home City of Record: Philadelphia PA
Date of Loss: 06 February 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 162750N 1070238E (YD182212)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H

Other Personnel In Incident: Robert C. O'Hara; Charles I. Stanley; David E.
Padgett; Eugene F. Christiansen; Donald E. Parsons (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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: On February 6, 1969, CW2 Charles I. Stanley, pilot; 1Lt. David E.
Padgett, aircraft commander; SP5 Robert C. O'Hara, crew chief; PFC Eugene F.
Christiansen, door gunner; LtCol. Donald E. Parsons, 1Lt. Ronald D. Briggs, and
Maj. Vu Vanh Phao, ARVN, all passengers, were aboard a UH1H (serial #67-17499)
on a resupply mission in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam.

While in route from Landing Zone Vandergrift to LZ Tornado, 1Lt. Padget
contacted the LZ Tornado radio operator at about 1100 hours and stated that due
to poor weather conditions and poor visibility, the flight was returning to LZ
Vandergrift.

At that time, the radio operator at LZ Tornado could hear the helicopter
northeast of his location, which sounded as if it were heading in a northerly
direction. When the aircraft failed to return to LZ Vandergrift, a coordinated
search and rescue operation was initiated and continued for seven consecutive
days, finding nothing.

However, on the morning of February 7, Crown, an airborne control aircraft,
reported receiving radio beeper signals several times from the general vicinity
of where Lt. Padgett's aircraft was last reported. The beeper signals were
estimated to emanate from that general direction. The source of the signals was
never determined.

The area in which the aircraft was estimated to go down has been dubbed "Antenna
Valley" and is located west of Cam Lo and on the backside of Camp Carrol. The
area was occupied by NVA regulars, and was never cleared. On-site search was not
possible at that time.

On September 4, 1969, an ARVN source reported that in August he had seen LTC
Parsons, Maj. Phao, LT Briggs, and four other unidentified American POWs in a
hospital in Laos. The U.S. Army determined that the four unidentified Americans
could possibly be Christiansen, Stanley, Padgett and O'Hara.

On July 5, 1972, an NVA rallier reported seeing two caucasian POWs in the
vicinity of a T-35 commo-liaison station on the 499th infiltration corridor in
Laos. The two POWs were being taken to North Vietnam. This information was
tentatively correlated to LT Padgett and PCF Christiansen.

In September 1970, LTC Parson's wife and friends identified him in a North
Vietnamese film of a protestant service in a POW environment. CW2 Stanley's
mother made a tentative identification of her son in the same film.

In December 1979, an alleged "gun-runner", Sean O'Toolis reported that he had
the fingerprints of Robert O'Hara, and that O'Hara was at that time being held
south of Hanoi near Bong Song. O'Toolis' information was summarily dismissed by
the U.S. Government and he was thoroughly discredited, thus it is not clear how
much credence can be given to his information.

The reports relating to the crew of the UH1H that went down on February 6, 1969
are typical of the over 10,000 reports received by the U.S. Government relating
to Americans prisoner, missing or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia. After
reviewing "several million documents" and conducting "over 250,000 interviews"
the USG has been unable to state categorically that Americans are still alive.

Many authorities, however, including a former Director of Defense Intelligence
Agency, have reluctantly concluded that there are many Americans still held
against their will in Southeast Asia.

Families who receive these reports are especially tortured. With no means to
prove or disprove them, the tormen is indescribable. When they turn to their
government, they are usually met with the "mindset to debunk" described by one
high official in Congressional hearings. When they approach Vietnam, they are
told the person they seek is unknown to them. Yet the reports continue to flow
in, month after month, year after year. And year after year, families wait.

And year after year, American servicemen wait -- wondering if their country will
ever bring them home.

BROMS, EDWARD JAMES JR.

Name: Edward James Broms, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O2/U.S. Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 66, USS INTREPID (CVS 11)
Date of Birth: 06 May 1943
Home City of Record: Meadville PA
Date of Loss: 01 August 1968
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 181100N 1055100E (WF908109)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: A4C

Other Personnel In Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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: RADIO CONTACT LOST

SYNOPSIS: The McDonnell Douglas A4 Skyhawk was intended to provide the Navy and
Marine Corps with an inexpensive, lightweight attack and ground support
aircraft. The design emphasized low-speed control and stability during take-off
and landing, as well as strength enough for catapult launch and carrier
landings. The plane was so compact that it did not need folding wings for
aboardship storage and handling.

LTJG Edward J. Broms was a pilot assigned to Attack Squadron 66 onboard the
aircraft carrier USS INTREPID in the Gulf of Tonkin. On August 1, 1968, he was
assigned the fourth position in a 4-plane day strike mission on Dong Dun, Ha
Tiny Province, North Vietnam, code-named "Rolling Thunder".

Broms launched in his A4C Skyhawk attack bomber aircraft and the four aircraft
rolled in on the target as briefed. During pullout, Broms was heard to transmit,
"Puffs (flak) all around me." No other radio or visual contact was made tih LTJG
Broms and an extensive electronic and visual search was started. The search was
called off when all efforts produced negative results. the opinion of the
incident review board was that there was a low probability of survival.

A Radio Hanoi broadcast confirmed the loss of an A4 aircraft during this same
time frame, yet no mention was made of the pilot. LTJG Broms was classified
Missing in Action. It was felt that the enemy very probably knew his fate.

The following day, three American pilots recently released by Hanoi arrived in
Laos and reported that they had been well treated. The majority of prisoners, it
was learned later, were not well treated. When 591 American prisoners of war
were released at the end of the war in 1973, Broms was not among them. The
Vietnamese deny any knowledge of him.

Alarmingly, evidence continues to mount that Americans were left as prisoners in
Southeast Asia and continue to be held today. Unlike "MIAs" from other wars,
most of the nearly 2500 Americans who remain missing in Southeast Asia can be
accounted for. Government officials have said it is their belief that Americans
are being held, but have not yet found the formula that would bring them home.
BROOKENS, NORMAN JOHN

Name: Norman John Brookens
Rank/Branch: Civilian
Unit: Maintenance Employee/USAID
Date of Birth: (ca 1926)
Home City of Record: Fayetteville PA
Date of Loss: 04 February 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 104500N 1064000E (XS850950)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Auto

Other Personnel in Incident: Richard W. Utecht; held with: James U. Rollins;
Charles K. Hyland; Thomas H. Van Putten (all released POWs)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 October 1990 from: raw data from
U.S. Government agency sources, published sources including "Civilian POW:
Terror and Torture in South Vietnam" by Norman J. Brookens.

REMARKS: 730212 RELSD BY PRG - INJ

SYNOPSIS: Norm Brookens arrived in Vietnam in June of 1967 to work as a
maintenance employee for USAID, the U.S. State Department's Agency for
International Development. He lived in a small apartment about a block from the
U.S. Embassy in Saigon.

In the early morning of January 31, 1968, Brookens was awakened by an explosion
at the U.S. Embassy. The explosion had been triggered by a Viet Cong 15-man
suicide squad who blew a hole in the tall masonry wall surrounding the embassy
compound. Within seconds, the VC were inside the walls. After hours of fighting,
five Americans, five South Vietnamese, and 15 Viet Cong were dead.

Saigon was not the only city struck by the Viet Cong. The communists had
launched the Tet Offensive. The Viet Cong penetrated 13 cities including Saigon,
Da Nang and Hue; the latter being the longest and bloodiest of the battles.

Five days after the attack on Saigon -- on February 4 -- Brookens and Richard
Utecht, a maintenance officer for General Service, USAID, left to pick up a tire
from a nearby U.S. Army compound to deliver to one an AID bus that had gone out
of service. It was 11:30 on a bright Sunday morning.

Brookens and Utecht left the apartment and took a side street to the compound.
They stopped when their way was blocked by a cyclo (a small motorcycle with a
seat mounted on the front for passengers). Within seconds, three Viet Cong armed
with U.S. carbines moved in on Utecht's Jeep.

Assuming that their vehicle was being confiscated, Utecht followed VC orders
directing them out of the city limits to a small village. It was here that the
two men were bound with dynamite wire and they knew they were in trouble.

Brookens and Utecht were marched to Cambodia, a 50-mile trip. The Americans
endured taunts from villagers and were hidden from U.S. military. They were
bound so tightly that their arms swelled twice their normal size.

Around mid-March, they arrived at a camp with a group of grass huts in the
middle of a field. Outside the huts, 14 VC guards were watching over 10 captured
ARVN soldiers. They were allowed to wash in a shallow, dirty water hole, and
given plain rice to cook. After several days at this camp, two more civilian
prisoners were brought to their hut -- an American named James Rollins, and an
Australian businessman, Keith Hyland, who had been captured a month before near
Saigon.

The punishment for speaking to one another was buffalo iron shackles and
starvation. The men began to lose weight fast. They dreamed of food and
escape, but with shackles on their ankles 24 hours a day, it seemed impossible.

Before long, the prisoners were moved again. It was a mental challenge to try to
keep track of their location, and at this time, they believed they were in
Cambodia. They later they walked to a trail which they believed to be the Ho Chi
Minh Trail. During the journey they were held in cages or in deep holes.

On April 22, the four POWs dared an escape. They had secretly learned to remove
their chains, and on this rainy night they made their break. Within seconds of
their freedom, they were soaked. It was impossible to walk in the thick jungle,
so they crawled on hands and knees. They immediately became separated, and had
had barely reached the camp border when they were surrounded and recaptured.

For the next ten days, they were given only several spoons of rice and a pinch
of salt. They were chained and bound with ropes so tight their arms and legs
went completely numb. The ropes were removed after a month, but the chains
remained. The four were rotated between a cage and a pit. Brookens remained in
the pit for several months, lying in his own body waste.

In mid-July, the prisoners were moved to another camp, but Keith Hyland was left
behind. Hyland was released on November 26, 1968. For the first time, State
Department learned that Brookens and Utecht had definitely been captured.

For the next three years, the Americans were moved frequently as U.S. air and
artillery strikes came closer. The journeys were pure torture, and the POWs were
often chained to trees while cages were were built for them. They were sometimes
held in swampy areas teeming with snakes and malaria-carrying mosquitoes. Some
of the marches occurred during monsoon season, and the prisoners, still wearing
leg chains, walked in neck-deep water. During the frequent U.S. strikes, some of
them thundering B52 and artillery strikes, the men hid in bunkers. During one
such raid, a camp was completely destroyed.

The POWs' health began to reach its limits. Brookens was suffering from
dysentery and beriberi from which he never completely recovered. In April, they
moved again, living in the jungle until a new camp was built in Cambodia.

In early April 1969, an American prisoner escaped. Army Cpl. Thomas H. Van
Putten had been captured near Tay Ninh as he operated a road grader on February
11, 1968. After making his way to friendly forces, Van Putten tentatively
identified Brookens as one of the POWs held by the  Viet Cong in his camp.

In July 1969, a POW committed a minor offense for which the entire camp was
severely punished for 30 days. The prisoner who caused the commotion was later
taken from the camp. Some POWs reported that they last saw the man, who was only
21 years old, laying on the ground near his cage covered by a piece of plastic.
They believed he was dead. The other prisoners said that the man had died of
torture, starvation and lack of medicine for his ailments. [NOTE: Brookens does
not give the name of this POW who apparently died in July 1969.]

On April 29, four new prisoners [unnamed in Brookens' account] joined the group.
They eventually reached a nearly-completed camp with above-ground cages, which
they believed was northwest of Tay Ninh near the Cambodian border. Brookens and
Utecht were put in the same cage, and it was the first time Brookens had had a
chance to talk to an American since the aborted escape attempt two years before.

By June, encroaching artillery forced the POWs westward into Cambodia, but on
July 14, they returned to the border camp where they remained until December
1970. At this time, they were moved deep into Cambodia. Again they were chained
while cages were built. The POWs remained here until April 1972, when they were
moved to a new, and final camp.

The POWs were in terrible condition -- painfully thin, with all manner of skin
ailments, dysentery, and malaria. Brookens was so physically depleted that he
could barely walk without the aid of walking sticks. Then on the morning of
February 12, 1973, the men were told they were going home. There were 27 in all,
five of them civilians. The group was taken to a small airport outside Loc Ninh,
and after 11 hours of waiting, finally started for home.

Norm Brookens had lost 55 pounds since his capture, and was treated for a
ruptured colon, a heart condition, jungle rot, malaria and beriberi.

Thomas H. Van Putten resides in Michigan and had a leg amputated in September
1990 as a result of complications stemming from injuries during his captivity.


BROOKS, JOHN HENRY RALPH

Name: John Henry Ralph Brooks
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: 129th Aviation Company, 268th Aviation Battalion, 17th Aviation Group
Date of Birth: 08 April 1949 (Lewiston ME)
Home City of Record: Bryant Pond ME
Date of Loss: 13 May 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 135615N 1084752E (BR621418)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On May 13, 1969, SP4 John H.R. Brooks was the crew chief aboard one
of three helicopters assigned the task of inserting Republic of Korea soldiers
into Binh Dinh Province, South Vietnam.

While approaching the landing zone (LZ), the three aircraft came under enemy
fire, and during the insertion, SP4 Brooks' aircraft was hit, spun in the air
and crashed.

Three of the 9 Koreans aboard the aircraft survived, evaded capture and were
able to link up with Korean and American units the next day. One evadee
reported that one Korean was killed in the helicopter and the American who was
firing the machine gun on the left side of the helicopter was also killed.
After the helicopter crashed, he saw the same American pinned under the
helicopter. (This should be the door gunner.)

The next day the bodies of all the other American crewmen except Brooks were
found. Equipment thought to belong to Brooks was discovered near the burned
helicopter. There was no sign of Brooks.

Members of the crash site team agreed that while at the crash site a Korean
soldier who had been in the helicopter reported that he had seen one American
and two Koreans running down the hill from the crash site. No U.S. bodies were
found down the hill; all of them were found at the top of the hill where the
crash occurred.

Crew members of the other aircraft reported seeing what they felt was SP4
Brooks exit the aircraft after it crashed and burned, yet there was now no sign
of him.

It is clear that the possibility exists that Brooks was captured. He is one of
nearly 2500 Americans who remain prisoner, missing or unaccounted for from
American involvement in Indochina.

Since the war ended, thousands of reports have been received by the U.S.
Government regarding Americans missing in Southeast Asia. Many authorities now
believe that there are hundreds of them still alive, held against their will.
One of them could be John Brooks. What are we doing to bring these men home?
BROOKS, NICHOLAS GEORGE
Remains Returned February, 1982

Name: Nicholas George "Nick" Brooks
Rank/Branch: O3/US Navy
Unit: USS Ranger
Date of Birth: 18 May 1943
Home City of Record: Newburgh NY
Date of Loss: 02 January 1970
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 173400N 1053900E
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A6A

Other Personnel In Incident: Bruce C. Fryar (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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: On the second day of 1970, warplanes were launched from the American
aircraft carrier USS Ranger, passed over the South China Sea and central Vietnam
and began once again the almost impossible task of trying to close the Ho Chi
Minh Trail with bombs and guns.

The planes included A6 Intruders, at the time the best all-weather, ship-based
attack aircraft in the world. Sophisticated radar and other advanced technology
allowed the strangely shaped planes to bomb through the clouds as well as
veteran pilots usually did in the sunshine.

Flying one particular A6, the A model, was Lt. Bruce Fryar. The primary missions
of the A models were close-air-support, all-weather and night attacks on enemy
troop concentrations, and night interdiction. Flying with Fryar was Lt. Nicholas
G. Brooks, the Bombardier/Navigator (BN). At an altitude of approximate 7,000
feet, during a visual dive-bombing attack on a target, the aircraft was struck
by enemy aiti-aircraft fire. The Intruder immediately begain breaking up and
subsequently impacted the ground, exploded and burned.

Both the strike control aircraft and the downed aircraft's wingman observed two
parachutes, and heard the beeper signals from two survival radios. Both crewmen
had safely ejected from the crippled aircraft.

Search and Rescue (SAR) efforts began immediately. Incident to SAR efforts, one
man was sighted on the ground in a prone position with the parachute still
attached. A SAR helicopter crewman was lowered to the ground and attempted to
attach a hoist to the prone man. Heavy enemy ground fire forced the helicopter
to depart prior to hoisting the downed flyer. The SAR crewman had scarcely
seconds to attempt the recovery, but was able to identify the downed crewman as
Lt. Fryar. The SAR crewman indicated that the flyer was unconscious but did not
have time to determine if he was dead or alive. Darkness precluded further
rescue attempts that day.

Upon resumption of rescue efforts at first light on January 3, the SAR helo
returned to the location of the prone man to find that he and the parachute were
no longer in sight. An emergency beeper was heard during the morning, but
attempts to have any pattern of transmission or voice contact were unsuccessful.
SAR efforts were eventually called off several days later. Both men were
classified Missing in Action.

The Brooks family later received information that Nick had been captured and
escaped at least three times. In 1982, Nick Brooks' remains were returned to his
family. His parents had his remains independently analyzed, and satisfied with
the results, buried their son at sea on March 25, 1982. They had been recovered
by "Lao Nationals" (freedom fighters), and returned through an American working
with resistance elements in Laos in an attempt to bring home living American
POWs.

Brooks' remains are among very few recovered from Laos. Nearly 600 Americans
disappeared there during the war, but as Laos was not included in the peace
agreements which ended American involvement in Southeast Asia, no Americans held
in Laos were released at the end of the war...or since.

Brooks and Fryar did not die when their plane was shot down. Brooks is home.
Fryar could be one of the hundreds of Americans experts believe are still alive,
waiting for their country to bring them home. It's time we did.


Nicholas G. Brooks graduated from the Naval Academy in 1966.
BROOKS, WILLIAM LESLIE

Name: William Leslie Brooks
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit: 16th Special Operations Squadron, Ubon Airbase, Thailand
Date of Birth: 24 April 1933
Home City of Record: Tolar TX
Date of Loss: 22 April 1970
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 154400N 1065100E (XC990410)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: AC130A

Other Personnel in Incident: Ronnie Hensley; Robert Ireland;Stephen Harris;
Donald Lint; Thomas Adachi; Charles B.Davis; Donald G. Fisher; John C. Towle;
Charles Rowley (all missing); Eugene L. Fields (rescued).

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: In the early hours of April 22, 1970, an AC130 gunship flown by
veteran pilot Major William Brooks departed Ubon Airbase with a crew of ten for
a Commando Hunt mission over the Ho Chi Minh Trail in southern Laos. The
aircraft, code named "Ad Lib", was joined near its destination by two jet escort
fighter bombers, code named "Killer 1" and "Killer 2", and immediately began air
strikes against enemy traffic below. The crew of the aircraft included Brooks,
the pilot; SSgt. Thomas Y. Adachi, the aerial gunner; LtCol. Charlie B. Davis, a
navigator; Maj. Donald G. Fisher, a navigator; SSgt. Stephen W. Harris; SSgt.
Ronnie L. Hensley; Master Sgt. Robert N. Ireland; Airman Donald M. Lint; LtCol.
Charles S. Rowley; and 1Lt. John C. Towle.

During its fourth strike, the gunship was hit by anti-aircraft fire and began
burning. Brooks radioed, "I've been hit, babe". Fisher, the navigator, reported
that his position was OK. Fields and Hensley, battling the blaze in the rear of
the aircraft, lost contact with each other in the smoke. Fields inched his way
to Adachi's position, and found Adachi gone and the left scanner window open.
Fields used an auxiliary parachute to abandon the aircraft.

Killer 1 reported seeing no parachutes, although Killer 2 reported the crew was
bailing out. Just before Killer 1 departed the area for refueling, it received
one emergency beeper signal from the ground. Killer 2 established voice contact
with a member of the crew identifying himself as Ad-Lib 12 (Fisher), who
reported that he had burns on his face and hands. Killer 2 also left for
refueling, while other aircraft monitored the downed craft and waited for
morning to attempt rescue of the survivors.

The following morning, Ad-Lib 11 (Fields) was rescued, but due to hostile ground
forces, no ground search or photographs were made at the time. The Air Force
assumed at the time that Fields had incorrectly identified himself, and
announced that 6 of the crew had been killed and four were missing.

The rest of the story is confusing. The family of one of the crew was told that
a ground crew had been inserted and that partial remains of one crew member had
been recovered. Another family was advised that photographs of the crashsite
existed. A photograph of a captive airman having burn bandages on his hands was
identified as being Fisher by his family. Rowley's family was informed of a
secret intelligence report indicating that 8 of the crew had been captured, and
that a controlled American source had witnessed them being tortured to death for
their "crimes".

A returned POW reported seeing Rowley in a propaganda film. Another returned POW
stated that Fisher had been a POW. Although the Air Force would not allow family
members to contact the only survivor, Fields, Fisher's son located him after 18
years. Fisher denied ever being in contact with any of the Killer jet escorts.
It was not he who identified himself by radio to rescue forces.

In 1974 William L. Brook's name appeared on a list published by the National
League of POW/MIA Families as having survived his loss incident.

Apparently, at least some of the crew of Ad Lib survived to be captured in Laos,
often called the "Black Hole" of the POW issue because of nearly 600 lost there,
not a SINGLE man was released that had been held in Laos. The Pathet Lao stated
on several occasions that they held prisoners, yet we never negotiated their
freedom, and reports continue to be received that some of these men are still
alive. The surviving crew members lost that day were abandoned by the country
for which they bravely fought.


BROWER, RALPH WAYNE

Name: Ralph Wayne Brower
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 37th Aerospace Rescue & Recovery Squadron, Da Nang
Date of Birth: 24 November 1939
Home City of Record: Stow OH
Date of Loss: 08 November 1967
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 161458N 1065258E (YC012973)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: HH3E

Others In Incident: Joseph G. Kusick; Bruce R. Baxter; Eugene L. Clay; Larry W.
Maysey (all missing); Gerald Young (rescued - awarded Congressional Medal Of
Honor for action); 3 indigenous personnel with Special Forces team (rescued)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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: CRASH-5 DED; PILOT RECV-J

SYNOPSIS: On November 8, 1967, two Air Force "Jolly Greens" (#26 and #29) from
the 37th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron were scrambled from Da Nang Air
Base at 1505 hours for an emergency extraction of five surviving members of a
Special Forces reconnaissance team which had suffered heavy casualties while
operating deep in a denied area in Laos. The recovery effort was to be recorded
by the Squadron as one of the largest and most hazardous on record.

The two Air Force helicopters were advised by forward air control to hold while
three Army UH1B gunships softened the area with rockets and machine gun fire. An
Air Force C130 gunship, meanwhile, provided flare support for the mission. At
1630Z, Jolly Green 29 picked up the three indigenous personnel before being
driven off by hostile fire. Damaged, Jolly Green 29 left and made an emergency
landing at Khe Sanh. 20 minutes later, Jolly Green 26, flown by CAPT Gerald
Young, with flight crew consisting of CAPT Ralph Brower, co-pilot; SSGT Eugene
Clay, flight engineer; and SGT Larry Maysey, rescue specialist; braved the
ground fire to pick up Special Forces SP4 Joseph G. Kusick and MSGT Bruce R.
Baxter, both wounded. The helicopter was hit by automatic weapons fire, crashed
and burst into flames.

By the afternoon of November 9, a recovery team was inserted into the area and
reached the crash site of the burned HH3. Because of fading light, it was
impossible to inspect the wreckage at that time.

On 10 November, the wreckage was searched and 3 charred remains were found. Two
of the remains had identification tags which identified them as members of the
crew. The third remains had no tags, but were identified as SP4 Kusick, radio
operator of the reconnaissance team, as the long antenna from his PRC-25 radio
were found on his body. CAPT Young had survived and was rescued 17 hours after
the crash of the aircraft.

About 34 meters downhill from the wreckage, another set of remains were found
which were readily identified as MSGT Baxter from the facial features. No trace
was found of the third crew member. The remains of the two crewmen and Kusick
were removed from the aircraft and placed with MSGT Baxter's remains so they
could be hoisted as one lift into a hovering helicopter. The identificaton tags
of the crewmembers were placed with the remains. Weather conditions and enemy
action would not permit helicopters to make the extraction either that day or
the day following.

The remains of the crew and passengers aboard Jolly Green 26 were never
recovered. Although the location of the crash is known, the bodies of the crew
and recon team who died still lie on foreign soil. The five are among nearly 600
Americans lost in Laos. Not one prisoner was released from Laos, and few remains
have been recovered.

While it is a great sadness to know a loved one is dead and his body is lying
far from home, the greater tragedy is those known to have been prisoners of war
who did not return, and those who are missing in action.

Since the war ended, "several million documents" and "over 250,000 interviews"
have been reviewed relating to Americans prisoner, missing or unaccounted for in
Southeast Asia. Many officials who have reviewed this largely-classified
information are convinced that hundreds of Americans are still alive in
captivity today.

These reports increase the agony for families who want to know what happened to
their sons, fathers and brothers. If, as the U.S. Government seems to believe,
all the men are dead, it's time the information was declassified so that all can
understand the fates of these heroes. If, as many believe, men are still alive,
it's time they were brought home to bring the war in Vietnam to an honorable
end.

BROWN, CHARLES ARTHUR JR.

Name: Charles Arthur Brown, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 307th Strat Wing, Utapao AB TH
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Boston MA
Loss Date: 19 December 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 205900N 1054359E (WJ762203)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: B52D

Others In Incident: Richard W. Cooper; Charlie S. Poole (both missing); Henry C.
Barrows; Hal K. Wilson; Fernando Alexander (all POWs released in 1973).

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 July 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: RELDS 730329 BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: Frustrated by problems in negotiating a peace settlement, and
pressured by a Congress and public wanting an immediate end to American
involvement in Vietnam, President Nixon ordered the most concentrated air
offensive of the war - known as Linebacker II - in December 1972. During the
offensive, sometimes called the "Christmas bombings," 40,000 tons of bombs were
dropped, primarily over the area between Hanoi and Haiphong. White House Press
Secretary Ronald Ziegler said that the bombing would end only when all U.S. POWs
were released and an internationally recognized cease-fire was in force.

On the first day of Linebacker II, December 18, 129 B52s arrived over Hanoi in
three waves, four to five hours apart. They attacked the airfields at Hoa Lac,
Kep and Phuc Yen, the Kinh No complex and the Yen Vien railyards. The aircraft
flew in tight cells of three aircraft to maximize the mutual support benefits of
their ECM equipment and flew straight and level to stabilize the bombing
computers and ensure that all bombs fell on the military targets and not in
civilian areas.

The pilots of the early missions reported that "wall-to-wall SAMS" surrounded
Hanoi as they neared its outskirts. The first night of bombing, December 18 and
19, two B52s were shot down by SAMs.

Onboard the first aircraft shot down on December 18 was its pilot, LTCOL Donald
L. Rissi and crewmen MAJ Richard E. Johnson, CAPT Richard T. Simpson, CAPT
Robert G. Certain, 1LT Robert J. Thomas and SGT Walter L. Ferguson. Of this
crew, Certain, Simpson and Johnson were captured and shown the bodies of the
other crew members. Six years later, the bodies of Rissi, Thomas and Ferguson
were returned to U.S. control by the Vietnamese. Certain, Simpson and Johnson
were held prisoner in Hanoi until March 29, 1973, when they were released in
Operation Homecoming.

Capt. Hal K. Wilson was in the lead aircraft of a B52 cell from Utapoa. Also on
board his aircraft were crew men MAJ Fernando Alexander, CAPT Charles A. Brown,
Jr., CAPT Henry C. Barrows, CAPT Richard W. Cooper Jr. (the navigator), and SGT
Charlie S. Poole (the tailgunner). Wilson's aircraft was hit by a SAM near his
target area and crashed in the early morning hours of December 19, sustaining
damage to the fuselage. In the ensuing fire, there was no time for orderly
bailout, but as later examination of radio tapes indicated, all six crewmen
deployed their parachutes and evidently safely ejected. The aircraft damage
report indicated that all six men were prisoner.

Radio Hanoi announced that Poole had been captured and that he was uninjured.
Whether Cooper's name was also reported is unknown, as the airman who heard this
report on Guam heard only part of the broadcast, and being a friend of the Poole
family, remembered vividly only the parts concerning Charlie Poole. When the war
ended, however, only four of the crew returned from Hanoi prisons. Hanoi
remained silent about the fate of Charlie Poole and Richard Cooper.

The Christmas Bombings, despite press accounts to the contrary, were of the most
precise the world had seen. Pilots involved in the immense series of strikes
generally agree that the strikes against anti-aircraft and strategic targets was
so successful that the U.S., had it desired, "could have taken the entire
country of Vietnam by inserting an average Boy Scout troop in Hanoi and marching
them southward."

To achieve this precision bombing, the Pentagon deemed it necessary to stick to
a regular flight path. For many missions, the predictable B52 strikes were
anticipated and prepared for by the North Vietnamese. Later, however, flight
paths were altered and attrition all but eliminated any hostile threat from the
ground.

Linebacker II involved 155 Boeing B52 Stratofortress bombers stationed at
Anderson AFB, Guam (72nd Strat Wing) and another 50 B52s stationed at Utapoa
Airbase, Thailand (307th Strat Wing), an enormous number of bombers with over
one thousand men flying the missions. However, the bombings were not conducted
without high loss of aircraft and personnel. During the month of December 1972,
61 crewmembers onboard ten B52 aircraft were shot down and were captured or
declared missing. (The B52 carried a crew of six men; however, one B52 lost
carried an extra crewman.) Of these 61, 33 men were released in 1973. The others
remained missing at the end of the war. Over half of these survived to eject
safely. What happened to them?

Reports mount that have convinced many authorities that Americans are still held
captive in Southeast Asia. Are Poole and Cooper among them? Do they know the
country they love has abandoned them? Isn't it time we found them and brought
them home?





BROWN, DONALD ALAN

Name: Donald Alan Brown
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 14th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, Udorn AB TH
Date of Birth: 19 July 1939
Home City of Record: Phoenix AZ
Date of Loss: 30 July 1970
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 151300N 1064900E (XB987810)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: RF4C

Other Personnel in Incident: Gary A. Chavez (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 30 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 Phantom, used by Air Force, Marine and Navy air wings, served a
multitude of functions including fighter-bomber and interceptor, photo and
electronic surveillance and reconnaissance. 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.

Capt. Gary A. Chavez and Capt. Donald A. Brown were pilots assigned to the 14th
Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron at Udorn Airbase, Thailand. On July 30, 1970,
Chavez and Brown were assigned an operational mission over Laos. Chavez served
as pilot in their RF4C while Brown was the navigator.

Chavez and Brown did not return to friendly control when expected. Their last
known location was just east of the ridge which marks the Plateau des Bolovens
in Attopeu Province, Laos. Both men were declared Missing in Action.

The war continued about three more years, and the families of the men missing in
action and prisoner of war waited for the war to end. The Pathet Lao stated
publicly that they held "tens of tens" of American prisoners. Only a handful
were known by name or photographed in captivity. No letters came home from the
men in Laos.

In early 1973, Henry Kissinger, President Nixon's chief negotiator with the
Vietnamese, informed the families that agreements would soon be signed. When
queried about the men lost in Laos, Cambodia and China, Kissinger replied, "What
do you think took so long?"

In the spring of 1973, 591 Americans were released from communist prisoner of
war camps. No Americans held in Laos were released. The U.S. had failed to
negotiate with Laos, Cambodia and China. Nearly 600 Americans lost in Laos had
been abandoned--even those who were known to be alive.


Donald A. Brown was promoted to the rank of Major during the period he was
maintained missing. He was continued in MIA status until October 1973, at which
time he was declared dead based on no specific information to the contrary.







BROWN, DONALD HUBERT JR.
Remains Returned 14 August 1985

Name: Donald Hubert Brown, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O2/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 23, USS MIDWAY
Date of Birth: 22 August 1938
Home City of Record: Berkely CA
Date of Loss: 12 August 1965
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 201159N 1053200E (WH557335)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A4E

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: PROB SAM HIT - NO PARABEEP - J

SYNOPSIS: North Vietnam learned the lessons of modern aerial warfare rapidly.
Over the short span of 36 months, Ho Chi Minh, with the help of his supporters,
led the North Vietnamese military from technology-poor and ground-oriented
military to one with one of the world's strongest and most sophisticated air
defense networks.

The motivation was simple. During the 1965-1968 ROLLING THUNDER program, U.S.
aircraft dropped a daily average of 800 tons of bombs, rockets and missiles on
North Vietnam. The Soviet Union and China to a lesser degree, provided
surface-to-air missiles (SAM), anti-aircraft guns, small arms and jet aircraft
almost as fast as the dock workers at Haiphong could unload the cargo. They also
sent an array of technical advisors and food products to support their communist
brethren.

Consequently, North Vietnamese missile sites grew from ground zero in 1965 to
estimates three years later of two hundred SAM sites nationwide and some thirty
missile battalions in the Hanoi area alone. Each battalion contained up to six
missile launchers plus accompanying radar, computers and generators.

Surface-to-air missiles, however, were just one element for U.S. pilots to
reckon with. By September 1967 the defense system included some eight thousand
lethal AAA guns firing twenty-five thousand tons of ammunition each month at
American planes, a complex radar system, and computerized control centers. An
elaborate warning system was devised, the more sophisticated systems keyed by
Soviet observation trawlers on duty near American carriers. These spy ships
relayed how many aircraft were leaving the deck, their bomb loads and side
numbers, and it was not too difficult for North Vietnam to compute where and
when the aircraft would arrive and to prepare a proper welcome. The primitive
alarm systems utilized observation towers, whistles, gongs, drums and triangles
to warn of impending attacks.

The rules of engagement (ROE) limited ROLLING THUNDER's damage on the enemy. It
was actually designed only to apply military pressure "for the specific purpose
of halting aggression in South Vietnam," not for inflicting maximum damage.
Unfortunately, U.S. aircrews died while fighting under these less than ideal
conditions as the North Vietnamese became very efficient at employing their
defense network.

The SAMs (Soviet-supplies SA-2 Guideline missiles) consisted of a
thirty-five-foot-high, two-stage, radar-guided rocket topped by a 350-pound
explosive warhead. The missile, with a ceiling of sixty thousand feet, was fused
to go off on contact; by proximity or altitude; or on command from below. SAMs
were typically fired in pairs, and in most cases were lethal if they exploded
within three hundred feet of an aircraft.

The first SAM site was discovered in April 1965, yet U.S. pilots were forbidden
to take immediate defensive action. A second SAM site was spotted about a year
later, and by mid-July, several more sites were photographed in the area of
Hanoi and Haiphong. Defensive strikes were not approved for any of the sites,
primarily because Washington leadership feared killing Soviet personnel involved
in training the North Vietnamese crews. It was not until the North Vietnamese
had shot down a number of U.S. aircraft that U.S. air forces were permitted to
strike back at the sites.

On the night of August 11-12, the first Navy aircraft fell victim to SAMs. LCDR
Francis D. Roberge and LTJG Donald H. Brown of VA 23, flying A4Es from the deck
of the carrier USS MIDWAY, were struck by SAMS while on a road reconnaissance
some sixty miles south of Hanoi. The pilots saw what they believed were two
flares glowing beneath the clouds and coming closer. Too late, they realized
that glowing missile propellant was the source of the light. Brown's aircraft
exploded and crashed, while Roberge's limped back to the ship with a horribly
scorched and peppered belly.

Navy reaction was immediate, but costly. On Black Friday, August 13 1965,
seventy-six low-level "Iron Hand" missions were launched to seek out and destroy
SAM sites. Five aircraft and three pilots were lost to enemy guns, and seven
other planes were damaged, but no SAMs were discovered.

One of the pilots lost on August 13 were Navy CDR Harry E. Thomas, skipper of
the "Blue Tails -- VA 153, an attack squadron flying off the carrier CORAL SEA.
Thomas, a Korean War veteran had been skipper of the squadron since May. He had
a lot of air combat experience, and important to the squadron, a lot of night
experience. He taught the younger officers night flying, which in Vietnam,
proved to be not only highly successful, but also safer than day strikes. The
method used was to fly low at about 100 or 200 feet beneath the flares to find
the target and, using low-level, lay-down ordnance such as snakeyes, cluster
bombs or gun pods, to destroy such targets as enemy truck convoys.

On the August 13 mission, Blue Tail members went on a mass, low-level strike
looking for SAM sites. Thomas' aircraft flew into a volley of flak and was hit
by heavy anti-aircraft fire and crashed. Observers noted that the canopy was
still intact on the aircraft, thus precluding any chance that Thomas survived.
He was listed Killed in Action, Body Not Recovered.

SAM evasion tactics were still being devised. The current tactic was to fly in
low, below two thousand feet because thei North Vietnamese could not get the
radar guidance working at that altitude. But it also put a pilot right down into
the fire zone of small arms and even foreign objects thrown by hand that the
aircraft could conceivably ingest and go down from. Thomas had not believed the
tactic of flying en masse at low levels was smart, but was not given the normal
tactical flexibility to change it. The Navy never used this particular tactic
again. They learned that, even at high speed, you couldn't beat massed automatic
weapons. Eventually, the military moved from medium alititude to 3,000 to 5,000
feet and had more success dealing with SAMs.

Perhaps the greatest tragedy was that VA153's aircraft was fitted with the
APR-23 Redhead, a device that would have been helpful in locating SAM sites, had
the squadron been trained to use them. Thomas and CDR David Leue, who replaced
him as squadron skipper, tried to generate interest in using this device rather
than sending in a mass, low-level group looking for SAMS. Their efforts were
futile. Following Thomas' death, however, tactics were changed, based on the
material and information available at the time.

The second pilot lost on Black Friday was Air Force Captain Fredric M. Mellor.
Mellor was the pilot of an RF101C "Voodoo" tactical reconnaissance aircraft.
During his mission, Mellor's aircraft was hit by enemy fire and crashed. Mellor
radioed that he had successfully ejected and was on the ground without serious
injury. He was advised to avoid further radio contact until the arrival of
rescue forces. When the rescue helicopter approached the area and attempted to
make radio contact with Mellor, there was no reply. Subsequent search operations
were negative. Mellor had disappeared.

In U.S. Government records dated 1970-1973, Mellor's last known location was
listed in Son La Province, North Vietnam, about 25 miles due west of the city of
Hoa Binh. Defense Department records of 25 July 1980 show he disappeared about
25 miles east-northeast of that location, or about 100 miles due west of Hanoi
on the tri-province borders of Son La, Nghia Lo and Hoa Binh.

The third pilot shot down on Black Friday was U.S. Navy LT Gene R. Gollahon
F8D pilot. Gollahon's aircraft was hit by enemy fire about 10 miles west of the
city of Phat Diem in Thanh Hoa Province, North Vietnam. The aircraft crashed and
exploded. No parachute was noted and no emergency radio beeper signals were
heard. Little hope was held out for Gollahon's survival and he was declared
Killed/Body Not Recovered.

Of the four pilots lost in the beginning days of ROLLING THUNDER, three were
declared dead. On August 14, 1985, twenty years and two days after he was shot
down, the Vietnamese "discovered" the remains of Donald H. Brown, Jr. and
returned them to U.S. control. Of the four, only Fredric Mellor was declared
Missing in Action. Public perception of the word "MIA" is ashes on an isolated
mountainside, or someone lost at the bottom of the sea. Mellor was alive and
well on the ground. There is every reason to believe he was captured, or that
the North Vietnamese know very well what happened to him on that day. Yet, the
Vietnamese deny knowledge of him, and the U.S. has not found a way to bring him
home -- dead or alive.


Between 1965 and 1968, the Navy's Seventh Fleet lost 382 planes over Southeast
Asia, of which fifty-eight fell victim to SAMs nd the rest to AAA and small arms
fire.


Fredric M. Mellor was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel during the
period he was maintained missing.
BROWN, EARL CARLYLE

Name: Earl Carlyle Brown
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 41st Tactical Airlift Squadron, Ubon Airfield, Thailand
Date of Birth: 10 January 1943
Home City of Record: Stanley NC
Date of Loss: 24 November 1969
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 154900N 1064600E (YC902495)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: C130A
Other Personnel in Incident: Michael D. Balamonti; Rexford J. Dewispelaere;
Charles R. Fellenz; Richard O. Ganley; Larry I. Grewell; Peter R. Matthes;
Donald L. Wright (all missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On November 24, 1969, a C130A departed Ubon Airfield, Thailand on an
operational mission over Laos. The crew aboard the aircraft included Maj.
Michael D. Balamonti (the navigator); Capt. Earl C. Brown; Capt. Richard O.
Ganley; 1Lt. Peter R. Matthes (the copilot); and Sgts. Donald L. Wright; Larry
I. Grewell; Charles R. Fellenz; and Rexford J. DeWispelaere.

While on the mission, near Ban Bac, Savannakhet Province, Laos, the C130 was
observed to be struck by several rounds of 37mm anti-aircraft fire, burst into
flames, crash to the ground, and explode on impact. All the crew was declared
Missing in Action, but due to enemy presence in the area, it was strongly felt
that the enemy could account for them. It was not determined whether the crew
died or survived the crash of the aircraft.

The crew of the C130 are among nearly 600 Americans who were lost in Laos. When
Dr. Henry Kissinger negotiated President Nixon's Peace Agreements in Paris in
1973, ending American involvement in the Vietnam War, the Americans lost in
Laos were forgotten. Kissinger did not negotiate for them, even though several
were known to be Prisoners of War, and some 125 of them were known to have
survived their loss incidents. Furthermore, the Pathet Lao stated on several
occasions that they held "tens of tens" of American prisoners.

The nearly 600 Americans lost in Laos have never been negotiated for, and not
one American held in Laos was released at the end of the war.

Since the end of the war, nearly 10,000 reports have been received by the U.S.
relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asia. Many authorities believe that
hundreds remain alive today, held captive. Whether the crew of the C130 could
be among them is not known, but it seems certain that there are compelling
questions that need answers. Among them - why did we abandon the men who served
our country? What are we doing to bring them home?


Prepared by Homecoming II Project 01 December 1989.




BROWN, EDWARD DEAN JR.

Name: Edward Dean Brown, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O2/US Navy
Unit: Fighter Squadron 191, USS BON HOMME RICHARD
Date of Birth: 21 March 1940 (Spartanburg NC)
Home City of Record: Charlotte NC
Date of Loss: 29 July 1965
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 095941N 1061533E (XS380050)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F8E

Other Personnel In Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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: KIA N CRASH - REMS DISINTIGRATED - J

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 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.

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. The breakdown of those not
recovered is as follows:

Lt. Edward D. Brown was a pilot assigned to Fighter Squadron 191 onboard the
aircraft carrier USS Bon Homme Richard (CVA-31). On July 29, 1965 he launched in
his F8E Crusader aircraft on a strike mission over South Vietnam. The mission
would take him into the Delta region of South Vietnam, in Vinh Binh Province
near the city of Phu Vinh.

On a strafing pass, Brown's aircraft was seen to impact the ground. No evidence
of ejection attempt was observed, and it was felt that if Brown went down with
his plane, no remains were recoverable. Hostile fire was observed in the
vicinity. Brown was classified Killed in Action/Body Not Recovered.

Edward Brown is listed with honor among the missing because his remains were
never returned to the country he fought for. His case seems quite clear. For
others who are listed missing, resolution is not as simple. Many were known to
have survived their loss incident. Quite a few were in radio contact with search
teams and describing an advancing enemy. Some were photographed or recorded in
captivity. Others simply vanished without a trace.

Reports continue to mount that we abandoned hundreds of Americans to the enemy
when we left Southeast Asia. While Brown may not be among them, one can imagine
his proud willingness to fly one more mission to help secure their freedom.

BROWN, GEORGE R.

Name: George R. Brown
Rank/Branch: E5/US Army Special Forces
Unit: C & C Detachment, Drawer 22 (MACV-SOG), 5th Special Forces Group
Date of Birth: 19 September 1935
Home City of Record: Hollyhill FL
Date of Loss: 28 March 1968
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 164730N 1062000E (XD434574)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Other Personnel In Incident: Charles Huston; Alan L. Boyer (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 30 June 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: MACV-SOG (Military Assistance Command, Vietnam Studies and Observation
Group). MACV-SOG was a joint service high command unconventional warfare task
force engaged in highly classified operations throughout Southeast Asia. The 5th
Special Forces channeled personnel into MACV-SOG (although it was not a Special
Forces group) through Special Operations Augmentation (SOA), which provided
their "cover" while under secret orders to MACV-SOG. The teams performed deep
penetration missions of strategic reconnaissance and interdiction which were
called, depending on the time frame, "Shining Brass" or "Prairie Fire" missions.

On March 28, 1968, Sgt. Alan L. Boyer, Sgt. Charles G. Huston, both riflemen,
and SFC George R. Brown, intelligence sergeant, were conducting a reconnaissance
patrol in Laos, along with 7 Vietnamese personnel. The men were attached to
Command and Control Detachment, MACV-SOG. About 15 miles inside Laos, northeast
of Tchepone, the patrol made contact with an unknown enemy force and requested
exfiltration by helicopter.

Because of the terrain in the area, the helicopter could not land, and a rope
ladder was dropped in for the team to climb up to board the aircraft. Six of the
Vietnamese had already climbed to the aircraft, when, as the 7th climbed aboard,
the helicopter began receiving heavy automatic weapons fire. This forced the
helicopter to leave the area.

Simultaneous to these events, Sgt. Boyer began to climb the ladder when seconds
later, the ladder broke. When last seen during the extraction, the other 2
sergeants (Huston and Brown) still on the ground were alive and appeared
unwounded. On April 1, a search team was inserted into the area and searched 6
hours, but failed to locate any evidence of the three men.

Boyer, Huston and Brown are among the nearly 600 Americans missing in Laos. When
the war ended, agreements were signed releasing American Prisoners of War from
Vietnam. Laos was not part of the peace agreement, and although the Pathet Lao
stated publicly that they held "tens of tens" of prisoners, not a single
American held in Laos has ever been released.

Any of the three members of the reconnaissance team operating that day in March
1968 could be among the hundreds of Americans experts believe to be alive today.
The last they saw of America, it was flying away, abandoning them to the jungle
and the enemy. What must they be thinking of us now?

CASE SYNOPSIS: BROWN, HARRY WILLIS

Name: Harry Willis Brown
Rank/Branch: E5/US Army
Unit: 50th Medical Detachment, 43rd Medical Group, 44th Medical Brigade
Date of Birth: 16 August 1943
Home City of Record: Charleston SC
Date of Loss: 12 February 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 121721N 1074713E (ZU030600)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H
Other Personnel In Incident: Wade L. Groth, Alan W. Gunn, Jerry L. Roe (all
missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On February 12, 1968, SP5 Harry Brown, medic; 1Lt. Jerry Roe, aircraft
commander; WO Alan Gunn, pilot; and SP4 Wade Groth, crewchief, were flying a
UH1H (tail #66-17027) dispatched on a night medical evacuation mission
(dustoff). Dustoff 90 departed Ban Me Thuot, South Vietnam for Gia Nghai
Special Forces camp.

As U.S. Air Force Tactical Control Radar operators at Ban Me Thuot tracked the
flight, the blip that was the UH1H dustoff chopper disappeared from the screen
at 2019 hours. The helicopter apparently went down 20 minutes outbound from its
base in a mountainous region of Quang Duc Province.

An Army Infantry unit searched the apparent crash site near the Cambodian
border for 36 hours, but found neither the helicopter nor its crew. Snipers
were not known to be in the area, and it is not believed the helicopter was
shot down, according to an Army report, indicating possible mechanical trouble.

In April 1969, CIA was asked to analyze the positive identifications made by a
rallier of a number of photographs of missing Americans. The rallier selected
the photos of both Harry Brown and Jerry Roe as two men he believed to have
been prisoners of war. CIA could not determine why the source selected them.

In 1979, Sean O'Toolis, an Irish-American, was touring Bong Song Camp, 40 miles
south of Hanoi, on an IRA gun-buying mission, when he alleges he met and spoke
with American prisoners, Brendon Foley and Wade Groth, a prison workmate of
Foley's. He also claims to have talked to men named MacDonald, Jenning and an
O'Hare or O'Hara. He brought a message to Foley's brother and fingerprints of
Foley and O'Hara. He identified old photos of Groth, and gave believable
descriptions of Foley and Groth. Neither family knows whether or not to believe
O'Toolis, as much of his account of his travels seems incorrect.

Whether the four men aboard the dustoff lost on February 12, 1968 survived to
be captured is unknown. The coincidence of two separate sources identifying
three members of the crew seems to strong to ignore. The U.S. Government does
not believe there is any substance to these reports. Based on thousands of
still-classified sighting reports, many experts believe hundreds of Americans
did survive, and are still alive, waiting to be brought home. If even one is
alive, he must be brought home.







BROWN, JAMES AUSTON

Name: James Auston Brown
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: 32nd Engineer Company, 588th Engineer Battalion, 20th Engineer Brigade
Date of Birth: 18 September 1949
Home City of Record: Humboldt TN
Date of Loss: 12 August 1970
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 112518N 1061627E (XT390628)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Boat
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On August 12, 1970, SP4 James A. Brown was serving as an engineer in
South Vietnam. He was assigned to the 32nd Engineer Company, 588th Battalion.
At abou 1730 hours, while bathing in a river in Tay Ninh Province (about 25
miles west of the city of Chon Thanh), SP4 Brown lost his footing and was swpet
downstream. Immediate rescue efforts were made, but were unsuccessful. The next
day, extensive water, ground and aerial searches were made without success. SP4
Brown was on a non-duty position at the time he was lost.

Although some U.S. Government records state that SP4 Brown was lost on a boat,
U.S. Army records relate the loss to a drowning in the river, and no mention is
made of a boat.

James Austin is one of nearly 2500 Americans who are still missing from the
Vietnam War. Although it seems clear that Brown died the day he was missing, he
is listed among the missing because no remains were ever found to return home.

The cases of others who are missing are not as clear. Some were known captives;
others were in radio contact with search teams. Still others were alive and
well when last seen, but simply vanished.

Since American military involvement in Southeast Asia ended in 1975, thousands
of refugee reports have been received by the U.S. Government indicating to many
authorities that hundreds of Americans are still alive, held captive by
communist governments of Southeast Asia. Reports continue to come in, haunting
not only those who care for these men and want them home, but also those who
fear for the next generation who goes to fight for their country.


BROWN, JOSEPH ORVILLE

Name: Joseph Orville Brown
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: Detachment 3, 505th TAC Control Group
Date of Birth: 29 September 1934
Home City of Record: Norwalk CT
Date of Loss: 19 April 1966
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 173257N 1954157E (WE743404)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: O1F

Other Personnel in Incident: Richard J. Robbins (missing from nearby A1E)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 July 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 Southeast Asia, all tactical strike aircraft had to be under the
control of a FAC, who was intimately familiar with the locale, the populous, and
the tactical situation. The FAC would find the target, order up U.S.
fighter/bombers from an airborne command and control center, mark the target
accurately with white phosphorus (Willy Pete) rockets, and control the operation
throughout the time the planes remained on station. After the fighters had
departed, the FAC stayed over the target to make a bomb damage assessment (BDA).

The FAC also had to ensure that there were no attacks on civilians, a complex
problem in a war where there were no front lines and any hamlet could suddenly
become part of the combat zone. A FAC needed a fighter pilot's mentality, but
but was obliged to fly slow and low in such unarmed and vulnerable aircraft as
the Cessna O1 Bird Dog, and the Cessna O2.

On April 19, 1966, an O1F Bird Dog and a A1E Spad were lost near Na Pho in
Khammouane Province, Laos. Their precise missions are not clear from public
records, and in fact, the Air Force cannot determine the unit assignment of the
O1F pilot, Capt. Joseph O. Brown. Both Brown and the A1 pilot, Capt. Richard J.
Robbins were lost in hostile situations, and both are listed as Killed in
Action, Body Not Recovered.

The Air Force reports that Brown's aircraft was on a FAC mission when his
aircraft was struck by hostile fire. Brown then radioed that part of the right
horizontal stabilizer had been blown off, and that he was going to a higher
altitude. The aircraft was observed to roll twice while in a steep dive and
crash. No parachute was seen, but white smoke was seen to rise from the crash
site. Unspecified evidence was received by the Department of the Air Force on
April 24, 1966 to confirm that Capt. Brown died at the time of the incident.

Brown and Robbins are among nearly 600 Americans lost in Laos. Even though the
Pathet Lao stated publicly that they held "tens of tens" of American prisoners,
not one American held in Laos was ever released. Tragically, since U.S.
involvement in the Vietnam War ended, nearly 10,000 reports have been received
by the U.S. Government relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asia. Many
authorities have reluctantly concluded that hundreds are still alive in
captivity today. There is every indication that the Lao can account for Robbins
and Brown -- dead or alive. It's time we brought our men home.

BROWN, ROBERT MACK

Name: Robert Mack Brown
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit: 474th Tactical Fighter Wing, Takhli AB, Thailand
Date of Birth: 01 October 1933
Home City of Record: Portsmouth VA
Date of Loss: 07 November 1972
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 171000N 1054500E (XD878966)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F111A
Other Personnel In Incident: Robert D. Morrissey (missing)

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: 01 January 1990

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: The F111 was first used in Southeast Asia in March 1968 during
Operation Combat Lancer and flew nearly 3,000 missions during the war despite
frequent periods of grounding. From 1968 to 1973, the F111 was grounded several
months because of excess losses of aircraft. By 1969, there had been 15 F111's
downed by malfunction or enemy fire. The major malfunctions involved engine
problems and problems with the terrain following radar (TFR) which reads the
terrain ahead and flies over any obstructions.

Eight of the F111's downed during the war were flown by crews that were
captured or declared missing. The first was one of two F111's downed during
Operation Combat Lancer, during which the F111 crews conducted night and
all-weather attacks against targets in North Vietnam. On March 28, the F111A
flown by Maj. Henry E. MacCann and Capt. Dennis L. Graham was downed near the
airfield at Phu Xa, about 5 miles northwest of the city of Dong Hoi in Quang
Binh Province, North Vietnam. Both MacCann and Graham were declared Missing in
Action. Graham had been a graduate of Texas A & M in 1963. The crew of the
second F111 downed during March 1968 was recovered.

On April 22, 1968 at about 7:30 p.m., Navy LCdr. David L. Cooley and Air Force
LtCol. Edwin D. Palmgren departed the 428th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Ubon
Air Base, Thailand to fly an attack mission against the Mi Le Highway Ferry
over Dai Giang along Route 101. They were to pass over very heavily defended
areas of Laos at rather low altitude. Although searches continued for four
days, no wreckage was ever found. The loss coordinates are located near Quang
Bien, in Laos, although the two men are listed as Missing in Action in North
Vietnam.

As a result of the loss of the Cooley/Palmgren F111A, the Air Force suspended
use of the aircraft for a limited period to investigate the cause of the losses
and make any necessary modifications. After the aircraft returned to the air,
the crashes resumed. When the 15th F111 went down in late 1969 because of
mechanical failure, all F111's were grounded and the plane did not return to
Vietnam service for several months.

In September 1972 F111A's were returned to Southeast Asia. On September 29,
1972, the F111A flown by Maj. William C. Coltman and commanded by 1Lt. Robert
A. Brett, Jr. went down in North Vietnam on the Red River about 10 miles
southwest of the city of Yen Bai. Inexplicably, the National League of Families
published a list in 1974 that indicated that Robert A. Brett had survived the
downing of his aircraft, and that the loss location was in Laos, not North
Vietnam. Both men remain Missing in Action.

On October 17, 1972, Capt. James A. Hockridge and 1Lt. Allen U. Graham were
flying an F111A near the city of Cho Moi in Bac Thai Province, North Vietnam,
when their aircraft went down. Both men were listed as Missing in Action, until
their remains were returned September 30, 1977.

On November 7, 1972, Maj. Robert M. Brown was the pilot and Maj. Robert D.
Morrissey the weapons system officer abord an F111A sent on a mission over
North Vietnam. Morrissey, on his second tour of Vietnam, was a 20 year veteran
of the Air Force. The aircraft was first reported lost over North Vietnam, but
loss coordinates released later indicated that the aircraft was lost in
Khammouane Province, Laos, near the city of Ban Phaphilang. Both Brown and
Morrissey remain missing.

On November 21, 1972, the F111A flown by Capt. Ronald D. Stafford and Capt.
Charles J. Caffarelli went down about halfway between Hue and Da Nang in South
Vietnam. Both the pilot and backseater were thought to have died in the crash
into the South China Sea, but no remains were ever found.

On December 18, 1972, LtCol. Ronald J. Ward and Maj. James R. McElvain were
flying an F111 on a combat mission over North Vietnam when their aircraft was
forced to ditch in the Gulf of Tonkin near the coastline at Hoanh Dong. It was
suspected that these two airmen may have ejected. They remain Missing in Action.

The last missing F111A team to be shot down was Capt. Robert D. Sponeyberger
and 1Lt. William W. Wilson. Sponeyberger and Wilson were flying a typical F111
tactical mission when they were hit - flying at supersonic speed only a few
hundred feet altitude. They were declared Missing in Action.

In 1973, however, Sponeyberger and Wilson were released by the North
Vietnamese, who had held them prisoner since the day their aircraft was shot
down. Their story revealed another possibility as to why so many F111's had
been lost.

Air Force officials had suspected mechanical problems, but really had no idea
why the planes were lost because they fly singly and out of radio contact.
Capt. Sponeyberger and 1Lt. Wilson had ruled out mechanical problems. "It seems
logical that we were hit by small arms," Wilson said, "By what you would
classify as a 'Golden BB' - just a lucky shot." Sponeyberger added that small
arms at low level were the most feared weapons by F111 pilots. The SAM-25 used
in North Vietnam was ineffective at the low altitudes flown by the F111, and
anti-aircraft cannot sweep the sky fast enough to keep up with the aircraft.

That a 91,000 pound aircraft flying at supersonic speeds could be knocked out
of the air by an ordinary bullet from a hand-held rifle or machine gun is a
David and Goliath-type story the Vietnamese must love to tell and retell.

As reports continue to be received by the U.S.Government build a strong case
for belief that hundreds of these missing Americans are still alive and in
captivity, one must wonder if their retention provides yet another David and
Goliath story for Vietnamese propaganda. The F111 missions were hazardous and
the pilots who flew them brave and skilled. Fourteen Americans remain missing
from F111 aircrafts downed in Southeast Asia. If any of them are among those
said to be still missing, what must they be thinking of us?


Robert Mack Brown was appointed to the United States Air Force Academy in 1963.
BROWN, THOMAS EDWARD

Name: Thomas Edward Brown
Rank/Branch: O2/US Navy
Unit: Fighter Squadron 211, USS HANCOCK (CVA-19)
Date of Birth: 21 September 1941
Home City of Record: Danville IL
Date of Loss: 29 April 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 204458N 1070757E (YH220957)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F8E
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: The Vought F-8 "Crusader" represented half or more of the carrier
fighters in the Tonkin Gulf in the first four years of the Vietnam war. The
Crusader sometimes played the role of decoy in battles against SAMs (surface
to air missiles), tricking the radar controlled SAM battery to follow the F8
and allow following fighter/bombers to reach their targets. On these type
missions the F8 carried no external armament, to attain better maneuverability
and airspeed.

The F8 also did much work in Vietnam in the ground attack role, and were used
in the myriad attacks against strategic targets in North Vietnam (Rolling
Thunder).

The Crusader was also a MiG fighter, either escorting strike and reconnaissance
aircraft or patrolling sectors in hope of engaging MiGs enroute to intercepting
U.S. formations. The Crusader was credited with nearly 53% of all MiG kills
during the war. From 1964 to 1973, 83 Crusaders were either lost or destroyed
by enemy fire. Another 109 aircraft needed major rebuilding.

On April 29, 1966 LtJG Thomas E. Brown launched from the aircraft carrier USS
Hancock in his F8E Crusader fighter aircraft with others from his squadron on a
strike mission against targets in North Vietnam. Lt. Brown's aircraft was
engaged in a strafing run on a surface vessel when his aircraft was seen to
collide with a karst rock jutting out of the water 300 yards past the target.
No ejection was seen by the wingman. Brown and the rest of the flight were
striking in the vicinity of Haiphong Harbor, near the coastal city of Pho Cat
Ba in North Vietnam.

LtJG Brown was classified Killed/Body Not Recovered. The Defense Intelligence
Agency further expanded the KIA/BNR classification to include an enemy
knowledge ranking of 3. Category 3 indicates "doubtful knowledge" and includes
personnel whose loss incident is such that it is doubtful that the enemy wound
have knowledge of the specific individuals (e.g. aircrews lost over water or
remote areas).

Brown's name is carried on the rolls of the missing because his body was not
found to be returned home. His family can be as certain as it is possible to be
that he died a swift death on April 29, 1966. Other families of the missing,
however cannot be so consoled. They are taunted by nearly 10,000 reports
received which have convinced many authorities that hundreds of Americans
remain alive in enemy hands in Southeast Asia. Brown may not be among those
said to be alive, but what would he think of our efforts to bring these
American fighting men home?

Prepared by Homecoming II Project 01 December 1989

BROWN, WAYNE GORDON II

Name: Wayne Gordon Brown II
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 29 April 1943 (graduated High School NY)
Home City of Record: Tacoma WA
Date of Loss: 17 July 1972
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 162200N 1071100E (YD351055)
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 June 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: Wayne Brown went to the Air Force Academy straight from high school in
New York. He was active in the Radio Club, and his special affection was for his
1958 Chevrolet. He wanted first to fly, then later, perhaps to do graduate work
in mathematics. He majored in Science, and graduated from the Academy in 1965.

When Wayne finished flight training, he was trained on the F4 Phantom
fighter/bomber and shipped to Vietnam as an Air Force Captain. There, on July
17, 1972, about 30 miles west southwest of the city of Hue, he disappeared. He
was flying as backseater on an F4D aircraft. As backseater, Brown would have
ejected first; the pilot would eject, according to procedure a little later.
Thus, the two crewmen could be separated by some distance on the ground.

About 30 miles southwest of Hue was a Viet Cong camp which served as a
processing station and temporary detention center for American prisoners on
their way north to Hanoi. Although it is uncertain whether or not Brown was
captured, this facility may have been his first prison if he was. Certainly, the
U.S. believes that the Vietnamese could tell us what happened to Wayne Brown.

Since the war ended in 1973, thousands of reports have been received concerning
Americans still prisoner, missing, or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia. The
U.S. maintains that it has been unable to confirm these reports, although its
intelligence assets are "fully focused" on the region.

One of these Americans still captive could be Wayne Brown, Academy graduate. If
he were home and still in the Air Force, he would probably be a Colonel or a
General and a leader. We cannot afford to abandon our best men. It's time we
brought them home.


Wayne G. Brown II was promoted to the rank of Major during the period he was
maintained missing. He graduated the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1965.
BROWN, WILBUR RONALD

Name: Wilbur Ronald Brown
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 22 July 1936
Home City of Record: Wilmington NC
Date of Loss: 03 February 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 163000N 1064000E (YD008434)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: C123C

Other Personnel In Incident: James L. Carter; Edward M. Parsley; Therman M.
Waller (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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: NO RAD CNTCT-REK SITE UNCONF-J

SYNOPSIS: The Fairchild C123 "Provider" was a night attack system/transport
aircraft based on an all-metal glider designed by Chase Aircraft. The airplane's
C123B prototype first flew on September 1, 1954. The C123B, in the hands of a
group of airmen who called themselves "The Mule Train" became the first
transport to see Vietnam service. The C123B transports were soon joined by
UC123Bs of the now-controversial Project Ranch Hand which sprayed pesticides and
herbicides over Vietnam, including Agent Orange.

The Provider, particularly in camoflage paint with mottled topside and light
bottomside, resembled an arched-back whale suspended from the bottom midpoint of
huge dorsal wings. Like other transports, the Provider proved its versatility
during the Vietnam war. The C123 also dispensed flares to illuminate targets for
fighters or tactical bombers, and were dubbed "Candlestick" when they served in
this capacity.

On February 3, 1966, a C123C Provider aircraft with a crew of four, including
its pilot, Capt. Wilbur R. Brown, and crewmembers James L. Carter, SGT Edward M.
Parsley and SGT Therman M. Waller, was assigned a mission on the border of Laos
and South Vietnam about 10 miles southwest of Khe Sanh.

During the mission, radio contact was lost with the Provider and its whereabouts
or those of the crew were never determined.

In April 1969, a rallier identified a number of photographs of missing Americans
as men he believed to have been captured. Wilbur Brown was among those the
rallier selected. CIA questioned the identification as no returned POWs reported
having seen any of the Provider crew in POW camps. It should be noted, however,
that it is now widely believed that more than one prison system existed in
Vietnam, and that prisoners in one were not mingled with prisoners from another.
(Also, given the location of the crash, the possibility exists that the crew, if
captured, may have been taken by Pathet Lao forces. No Americans were ever
released that were held in Laos.)

The mission flown by the C123 lost on February 3, 1966 is not indicated in
public records. It is known that "Candlestick" missions, dispensing flares to
illuminate targets for fighters or tactical bombers, was very effective against
truck traffic in Laos, except in those areas where anti-aircraft defenses became
too formidable. It it possible that the C123C might been on a "Candlestick"
mission.

Brown, Carter, Parsley and Waller were declared Missing In Action by the U.S.
Air Force. They are among nearly 2400 Americans who are unaccounted for from the
Vietnam war. Experts believe there are hundreds of these men still alive today,
waiting for their country to come for them.

Whether the missing men from the Provider lost on February 3, 1966 are among
those still alive is not know. What is certain, however, is that the U.S. has a
moral and legal obligation to do everything possible to bring home those who are
alive.
BROWN, WILLIAM THEODORE

Name: William Theodore Brown
Rank/Branch: E6/US Army Special Forces
Unit: SOA, Command & Control North, (MACV-SOG), 5th Special Forces Group
Date of Birth: 20 February 1945 (Chicago IL)
Home City of Record: La Habra CA
Date of Loss: 03 November 1969
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 154800N 1064700E (XD643674)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel in Incident: Gunther H. Wald; Donald M. Shue (both missing);
six Montangards (two missing, four escaped).

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Bill Brown was born in Chicago, Illinois February 20, 1945, the
youngest of three boys.  When Bill was two, his family moved to California,
where they remained, and where he attended Cerritos College. Bill was an
excellent swimmer and golfer.

In September 1965, Bill joined the Army and earned his Beret and paratrooper
badge. He was sent to Vietnam on December 14, 1967. He is a demolitions expert
and fluent in the Vietnamese language. In Vietnam, he helped train Montagnard
tribesmen, and was so drawn to them that he reenlisted after his tour and
returned to Vietnam in May 1969.

On his second tour, Bill was attached to MACV-SOG, Command and Control North.
MACV-SOG (Military Assistance Command Vietnam Studies and Observation Group)
was a joint service high command unconventional warfare task force engaged in
highly classified operations throughout Southeast Asia. The 5th Special Forces
channelled personnel into MACV-SOG (though it was not a Special Forces group)
through Special Operations Augmentation (SOA), which provided their "cover"
while under secret orders to MACV-SOG. The teams performed deep penetration
missions of strategic reconnaissance and interdiction which were called,
depending on the time frame, "Shining Brass" or "Prairie Fire" missions.

It was on such a mission that SSgt. Brown, SSgt. Gunther Wald, SP4 Donald Shue
and two of the six Montagnards went missing. The Americans and Montagnards were
members of a patrol operating in Laos. The patrol team was attacked by a
numerically superior force 30 miles inside Laos near Ban Chakevy Tai in
Saravane Province. Four of the Montangards escaped and returned to camp to
report the ambush and capture of their comrades.

When last seen, Brown had been wounded by a gunshot just below the rib cage.
He was lying on the ground as the attackers shouted, "Capture the Americans".
SSgt. Wald and SP4 Shue were also seen to receive numerous schrapnel wounds
from a fragmentation grenade. The other team members were forced to withdraw
leaving the others behind.

Due to bad weather, a recovery team could not reenter the area until November
11. They searched the entire area, but could only find some web gear which was
identified as belonging to three of the indigenous team members and SP4 Shue.
There was no trace of any graves, or of the three missing Americans. They were
classified as Missing In Action.

The U.S. did not negotiate for the release of any of the nearly 600 Americans
lost in Laos. No American serviceman held in Laos has been released.
Tragically, the U.S. has received over 6000 reports indicating that many
Americans are still held prisoner today. Many men were seriously wounded and
survived captivity. No one saw Brown, Shue or Wald die. They could be among the
hundreds many authorities believe to be alive today. If so, what must they be
thinking of us?
BROWNLEE, CHARLES RICHARD

Name: Charles Richard Brownlee
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 03 August 1931
Home City of Record: Alamosa CO
Date of Loss: 24 December 1968
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 170600N 1055600E (WD980925)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 1
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F105D

Other Personnel In Incident: Charles D. King (missing from rescue helicopter)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On Christmas Eve, 1968, Major Charles R. Brownlee's F105D aircraft was
shot down over Laos between the city of Ban Phaphilang and the Ban Karai Pass.
Brownlee successfully ejected from his plane and landed safely on the ground.

On Christmas Day, Doug King volunteered to be aboard an HH3E helicopter leaving
Nakhon Phenom Air Base to rescue Major Brownlee. The helicopter located the
pilot, believed to be dead by then, and King was lowered 100 feet into the
jungle to the ground. Once on the ground, King freed Brownlee from his
parachute, secured him to the rescue device and dragged him to a point near the
hovering helicopter.

Suddenly enemy soldiers closed in and began firing. King radioed that he was
under fire and for the helicopter to pull away. Brownlee was secured to the
hoist cable, but King had not yet secured himself to the cable. When the
helicopter pulled away, the hoist line snagged in a tree and broke, dropping
King and Brownlee about 10 feet to the ground.

No news surfaced about King or Brownlee until February 1986, when a Lao refugee
came to the United States and reported that he had witnessed King's capture, and
watched as he was taken away in a truck. The refugee's story matched most
details of King's loss incident. Less clear were the details of Brownlee's fate,
although a 1974 list published by the National League of POW/MIA Families states
that he survived his loss incident.

When the last American troops left Southeast Asia in 1975, some 2500 Americans
were unaccounted for. Over 10,000 reports, such as that of the Lao refugee,
received by the U.S.Government since 1975 build a strong case for belief that
hundreds of these "unaccounted for" Americans are still alive and in captivity.

"Unaccounted for" is a term that should apply to numbers, not men. Nearly 600
men were left behind in Laos, and our government did not negotiate their
release. We, as a nation, have a moral and legal obligation to do everything we
can to find these men and bring them home. Until we do, there can be no "peace
with honor" from the Vietnam war.

During the period they were maintained Missing in Action, Charles R. Brownee was
promoted to the rank of Colonel, and Charles D. King to the rank of Chief Master
Sergeant.


BROWNLEE, ROBERT WALLACE, JR.

Name: Robert Wallace Brownlee, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O5/US Army
Unit: Advisor Team 22, MACV
Date of Birth: 27 July 1921
Home City of Record: Chicago IL
Date of Loss: 25 April 1972
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 143858N 1074730E (ZB011211)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 1
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel in Incident: George W. Carter; Wayde L. Ellen; James E.
Hunsicker; Johnny M. Jones; Kenneth J. Yonan; Franklin Zollicoffer (all
missing); Charles M. Lea; Ricky B. Bogle (helicopter crew, rescued); Julius G.
Warmath; John P. Keller; Walter H. Ward (helicopter passengers, rescued);
Charles W. Gordon, Cao Ky Chi (evaded capture near Dak To)

REMARKS: EVADED ACROSS DAK POKO RIVER

SYNOPSIS: On the evening of April 23, 1972, Capt. Kenneth J. Yonan accompanied
his ARVN counterpart to a water tower located on the northwestern edge of the
Tanh Canh base camp compound near Dak To, Kontum Province, South Vietnam. Yonan
was an advisor assigned to Advisory Team 22, MACV, and was assisting the ARVN
42nd Regiment based there.

At about 0530 hours on April 24, Capt. Yonan was still in the water tower when
Viet Cong attacked the camp perimeter. Although tanks fired at and hit the
water tower, two other advisors spoke to Capt. Yonan after the firing and Yonan
reported that he was not hit and planned to join the other advisors when it was
safe to do so. Radio contact was maintained with Yonan until 0730 hours. The
other U.S. advisors began escape and evasion operations from the beleaguered
compound.

Team 22 Advisors Maj. George W. Carter, Maj. Julius G. Warmath, and Capt. John
P. Keller, were extracted by helicopter. The aircraft was a UH1H from the 52nd
Aviation Battalion, 17th Aviation Group, (serial #69-15715) and was flown by
Lt. James E. Hunsicker. WO Wade L. Ellen was the co-pilot of the chopper, and
SP4 Charles M. Lea, and SP5 Ricky B. Bogle were crewmen. Other persons
extracted included 1Lt. Johnny M. Jones, from the 52nd Aviation Battalion; SP4
Franklin Zollicoffer, from the U.S. Army Installation at Pleiku, and Sgt.
Walter H. Ward, unit not specified.

The helicopter departed to the northwest from Dak To, but was apparently hit by
enemy fire, as it crashed and burned on a small island in the Dak Poko River
about 500 meters from the end of the dock to the runway. Because of the rolling
terrain, personnel at the airfield did not see the aircraft impact. A pilot
flying over the wreckage reported that the helicopter was burning, but they
could see no survivors. It was later discovered that five people did survive
the crash - Warmath, Keller, Bogle, Ward and Lea. According to their
statements, Hunsicker, Ellen, Zollicoffer, Jones and Carter were all dead.

Two other Team 22, MACV Advisors, LtCol. Robert W. Brownlee and Capt. Charles
W. Gordon, and their ARVN interpreter, Sgt. Cao Ky Chi, were in a bunker near
the airstrip approximately 4 kilometers to the west of the base camp when they
were forced to withdraw under heavy enemy attack. They proceeded south of the
compound across the Dak Poko River, but LtCol. Brownlee became separated from
the others as they were advancing up a hill. Sgt. Chi and Capt. Gordon called
out to him, but received no response. From the top of the hill, Sgt. Chi heard
the enemy call out to someone in Vietnamese to halt and raise their hands. Sgt.
Chi believed the Viet Cong were speaking to LtCol. Brownlee. Gordon and Chi
evaded capture and eventually made their way to safety.

A Vietnamese who was captured and subsequently released reported that he had
talked to another prisoner who had witnessed LtCol.Brownlee's death. He was
told that LtCol. Brownlee had killed himself with his own pistol when communist
soldiers told him to raise his hands in an attempt to capture him. Additional
hearsay reports of his suicide were reported by another ARVN source.

Yonan never caught up with the others. For three days, helicopter searches were
made of the area with no success. Ground search, because of the hostile threat
in the area, was not practical.

In April 1988, the Vietnamese "discovered" the remains of Capt. Kenneth J.
Yonan and returned them to the U.S. in a spirit of stepped-up cooperation on
the POW/MIA issue. For nearly 20 years, this 1969 West Point graduate was a
prisoner of war - alive or dead. His family now knows with certainty that he is
dead, but may never learn how - or when - he died.

In addition to the reports regarding Brownlee's death, a South Vietnamese
soldier reported that he observed the capture of one "big" American from the
camp. Another report described the capture of a U.S. Captain stationed at the
camp.

Since the war ended, reports and refugee testimony have convinced many
authorities that not only do the Vietnamese possess several hundred sets of
Americans' remains, more startlingly, they also control hundreds of living
American prisoners.

As long as they are allowed to do so, the Vietnamese will return remains at
politically expedient intervals. As long as they are allowed to do so, they
will hold our men prisoner.
BRUCH, DONALD WILLIAM, JR.

Name: Donald William Bruch, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 27 August 1941
Home City of Record: Montclair NJ
Date of Loss: 29 April 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 213258N 1055100E (WJ880831)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 1
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F105D
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II
Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: The F105 Thunderchief ("Thud"), in its various versions, flew more
missions against North Vietnam than any other U.S. aircraft. It also suffered
more losses, partially due to its vulnerability, which was constantly under
revision. Between 1965 and 1971, the aircraft was equipped with armor plate, a
secondary flight control system, an improved pilot ejection seat, a more
precise navigation system, better blind bombing capability and ECM pods for the
wings. The D version was a single-place aircraft.

Eighty-six F-105Ds fitted with radar homing and warning gear formed the
backbone of the Wild Weasel program, initiated in 1965 to improve the Air
Force's electronic warfare capability. Upon pinpointing the radar at a missile
site, the Wild Weasel attacked with Shrike missiles that homed on radar
emissions. The versatile aircraft was also credited with downing 25 Russian
MiGs. Thirteen of these modified F's were sent to Southeast Asia in 1966.

On April 29, 1966, 1Lt. Donald W. Bruch Jr., was the pilot of an F105D sent on
a combat mission over North Vietnam. As his aircraft was about 12 miles
northeast of the city of Hanoi, it was struck by antiaircraft fire while making
an attack on the target. Lt. Bruch was instructed to climb and as he did the
aircraft went out of control, entered a steep dive, and crashed. No parachutes
were seen and no beepers were heard. Donald Bruch was not recovered.

Public records available from the U.S. Air Force indicate only that 1Lt. Bruch
was killed on April 29, 1966 on a combat mission. The Defense Intelligence
Agency further refines the classification of Killed/Body Not Recovering by
adding an enemy knowledge qualifier of Category, concluding that the enemy
definitely knows his fate.

When the war ended, and 591 American Prisoners of War were released from
communist prisons, Bruch was not among them. Military officials expressed their
dismay that "hundreds" of suspected prisoners were not released. Then-Secretary
of State Henry Kissinger gave the Vietnamese a list of these so-called
"discrepancy cases" requesting further information and clarification.
Inexplicably, 1Lt. Bruch's name did not appear on the list, and although
evidence apparently exists to prove otherwise, the Vietnamese deny knowledge of
1Lt. Donald W. Bruch.

Since 1975, when American involvement ended in Southeast Asia, nearly 10,000
reports relating to the Missing and Prisoner in Southeast Asia have been
received by the U.S. Government. Many who have seen this classified information
believe that hundreds of Americans remain alive in captivity today.

Although 1Lt. Bruch is evidently not among them, his death, as well as the
deaths of nearly 60,000 young Americans can have no honor or meaning as long as
even one American fighting man is abandoned to enemy hands. It's time we brought
an end to the Vietnam war and brought our men home.

BRUCHER, JOHN MARTIN

Name: John Martin Brucher
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 44th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Takhli Airbase, Thailand
Date of Birth: 15 August 1936
Home City of Record: Clatskanie OR
Date of Loss: 18 February 1969
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 171800N 1061100E (XE290125)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F105D

Other Personnel In Incident: (none missing)

REMARKS: VOICE CONTACT INJURED IN TREE

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

SYNOPSIS: Major John M. Brucher was flying a mission over North Vietnam in an
F105D aircraft when it was hit by hostile fire and crashed on February 18, 1969.
Brucher was seen to eject and land in trees, and emergency beeper signals were
heard. Brucher reported by radio that he had landed in a tree, and that he was
suspended in mid-air and unable to free himself from his parachute. He later
reported having a discloated shoulder. Rescue efforts were suspended until the
following day because of intense hostile fire in the area. When the rescue
helicopters returned, Brucher's parachute was found still hanging in the tree,
empty. Attempts at radio contact with Brucher were unsuccessful.

Brucher's last known location near the Ban Karai Pass in Quang Binh Province,
North Vietnam. He was listed Missing In Action, even though there is every
reason to believe the Vietnamese know his fate.

Some analysts have suggested that the pilots flying near the border of Laos near
the DMZ were aggressively pursued by the Vietnamese. During this time of the
American ground operation known as Dewey Canyon II, the Vietnamese had troop and
equipment buildup sites in the region they wished to keep secret. Pilots flying
overhead might compromise that information, if not destroy the sites themselves.
The Vietnamese, therefore sought to eliminate the planes.

Thousands of reports of Americans alive in the hands of the Vietnamese have been
received by the U.S. since the end of the war. Many government officials state
that they believe Americans are currently being held against their will in
Southeast Asia. The question is, who are they, and how will we bring them home?
Is one of them John Brucher?

BRUNHAVER, RICHARD MARVIN

Name: Richard Marvin Brunhaver
Rank/Branch: O2/US Navy Reserves
Unit: Attack Squadron 22, USS MIDWAY (CVA 41)
Date of Birth: 16 February 1940 (Wapto WA)
Home City of Record: Yakima WA
Date of Loss: 24 August 1965
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 191500N 1054300E (WG753284)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A4C

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: 730212 RELSD BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: The USS MIDWAY was one of three "large" aircraft carriers built just
after World War II. She was in Vietnam waters in February 1961, patrolling the
beat in the South China Sea while turbulence ashore continued in Vietnam from
French involvement, and in Laos. Back to Vietnam by 1965, F4 aircraft from
Fighter Squadron 21 onboard the MIDWAY scored the first MiG kills of the war. As
it happens, fighters from the MIDWAY also shot down the last MiGs of the Vietnam
war in January 1973. The MIDWAY was recalled to Vietnam to cover Operation Eagle
Pull -- the evacuation of Saigon in 1975.

One of the aircraft that launched from the decks of the USS MIDWAY was the A4
Skyhawk. Douglas Aircraft had created the A4 Skyhawk with the intent of
providing the Navy and Marine Corps with an inexpensive, lightweight attack and
ground support aircraft. The design emphasized low-speed control and stability
during take-off and landing as well as strength enough for catapult launch and
carrier landings. The plane was so compact that it did not need folding wings
for aboardship storage and handling. In spite of its diminutive size, the A4
packed a devastating punch and performed well where speed and maneuverability
were essential.

LTJG Richard M. Brunhaver was an A4C Skyhawk pilot assigned to Attack Squadron
22 onboard the USS MIDWAY. At 4:30 p.m. on August 24, 1965, he launched in his
Skyhawk as a member of a three-plane formation for an armed road reconnaissance
mission over North Vietnam. (In Vietnam, "armed reconnaissance" meant look for
targets of opportunity and destroy them.)

At 5:45 p.m. the flight began a normal low-level bombing attack against a
bridge. Upon recovery from their bombing run, LTJG Brunhaver's aircraft was
observed to be on fire and he was advised to eject. The flight leader observed a
parachute fully deployed as the aircraft commenced to break up. The parachute
landed in an area of heavy brush and shortly afterward an emergency radio beeper
was heard. Due to low fuel states, the two planes in his formation had to return
to the carrier, but not before plotting the location of the crash site and
calling for helicopter search and rescue. The search was called off because of
darkness and started up again the next morning with negative results.

LTJG Brunhaver was placed in a Missing in Action status. In July 1966,
information was acquired from a source which established the Brunhaver was a
prisoner in a North Vietnamese POW camp. His status was changed to Captured.

On February 12, 1973, Brunhaver was released from Hanoi along with 590 other
Americans. He had been a POW for 6 1/2 years. During his years of captivity,
Brunhaver was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Commander.

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. These reports are the source of serious distress to many returned
American prisoners. They had a code that no one could honorably return unless
all of the prisoners returned. Not only that code of honor, but the honor of our
country is at stake as long as even one man remains unjustly held. It's time we
brought our men home.

CASE SYNOPSIS:  BRUNSON, JACK WALTER

Name: Jack Walter Brunson
Rank/Branch: W2/US Army
Unit: 131st Aviation Company, 212th Aviation Battalion, 11th Aviation
Brigade (see note in text)
Date of Birth: 14 March 1949 (Jamestown NY)
Home City of Record: Sinclairville NY
Date of Loss: 31 May 1971
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 162013N 1065308E (YD014094)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: OV1A
Other Personnel In Incident: Clinton A. Musil (missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On May 31, 1971, WO Jack Brunson, pilot, and Clinton Musil, observer,
were flying on a visual reconnaissance mission when their OV1A Mohawk crashed
and burned due to unknown causes about 6 kilometers south-southwest of Phou Ke
Dai, Savannakhet Province, Laos.

The crew of another aircraft in the area stated that the flight was proceeding
normally, and that Brunson was having no problems. On the fifth pass over the
target, and in a steep left turn, the observing aircraft lost sight of Brunson
and Musil's aircraft. The observing aircraft saw a huge ball of flame on the
ground. Radio contact was attempted, but could not be established. There were
no parachutes observed, no electronic beacon signals heard, and no survivors
were seen on the ground. Due to the hostile threat in the area, no search and
rescue operation was initiated.

Brunson and Musil are among nearly 600 Americans lost in Laos. Because Laos was
not party to the agreements ending American involvement in Southeast Asia, none
of the Americans the Pathet Lao said they held were ever released.

Witnesses believe that Brunson and Musil perished in the crash of their light
observation plane on May 31, 1971. Experts believe that hundreds of other
Americans are still alive today, held prisoner against their will. Brunson and
Musil would gladly fly one more mission for them. Why can't we bring our men
home?


NOTE: The 20th Aviation Detachment existed until December 1966, at which time
it was reassigned as the 131st Aviation Company, 223rd Aviation Battalion
(Combat Support). The 131st Aviation Company had been assigned to I Corps
Aviation Battalion since June 1966, when it arrived in Vietnam. In August 1967,
the 131st Aviation Company was reassigned to the 212th Aviation Battalion where
it remained until July 1971, whereupon it transferred out of Vietnam.

There were a large number of pilots lost from this unit, including Thaddeus E.
Williams and James P. Schimberg (January 9, 1966); John M. Nash and Glenn D.
McElroy (March 15, 1966); James W. Gates and John W. Lafayette (April 6, 1966);
Robert G. Nopp and Marshall Kipina (July 14, 1966); Jimmy M. Brasher and Robert
E. Pittman (September 28, 1966); James M. Johnstone and James L. Whited
(November 19, 1966); Larry F. Lucas (December 20, 1966); and Jack W. Brunson
and Clinton A. Musil (May 31, 1971). Missing OV1 aircraft crew from the
20th/131st represent well over half of those lost on OV1 aircraft during the
war.

U.S. Army records list both Nopp and Kipina as part of the "131st Aviation
Company, 14th Aviation Battalion", yet according to "Order of Battle" by Shelby
Stanton, a widely recognized military source, this company was never assigned
to the 14th Aviation Battalion. The 131st was known as "Nighthawks", and was a
surveillance aircraft company.

BUCHANAN, HUBERT ELLIOT

Name: Hubert Elliot Buchanan
Rank/Branch: O2/USAF
Unit: Ubon, Thailand
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Indianapolis IN
Date of Loss: 16 September 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 211157N 1062558E (XJ487447)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4C

Other Personnel In Incident: John L. Robertson (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: 730304 RELSE BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: Maj. John L. Robertson was a highly valued member of the Inspector
General's team that checked combat readiness of the nation's air bases when he
wrote a 28-page letter requesting Vietnam service. When his request was granted
and he was assigned to Ubon Air Base, Thailand, he was so elated that he did
cartwheels and back flips around the family pool.

On September 16, 1966, a four-plane squadron headed from Ubon for a railroad
bridge in the Red River Delta. Robertson's plane was in the number three
position designated "Moonglow 3", and his systems operator on the flight was
1Lt. Hubert E. Buchanan. The squadron came under heavy fire, Robertson's plane
was hit and went down. Buchanan successfully ejected, and was taken prisoner.

John Robertson's fate is unknown. When he was released in 1973, Buchanan
supplied more information about the events of September 16, 1966. During his
descent after ejection, Buchanan could not see above his parachute (the
back-seater ejects first) to verify that Robertson had also ejected. He saw a
large fire about one half mile away, but could not say with certainty that it
was the plane or jettisoned fuel that was burning.

Buchanan later reported that because the Vietnamese did not display any strong
reaction to the lies he told them regarding his mission, he presumed that they
were only hearing one (his) story. Further, another returned prisoner, Maj.
Douglas B. Peterson, was shown Robertson's ID card during an interrogation
session.

If Robertson went down in a burning plane, how did his ID card survive? If he
survived the crash, what happened to him?

The Vietnamese have certain knowledge of the fate of John Robertson. Robertson's
wife and four children still work to find information that will answer their
questions. They wait as sightings of live Americans mount into the thousands.
Barbara Robertson says, "I don't think about if it's Johnny (that's alive), but
rather that there are live prisoners over there. My husband is so special, but
each one of those men is so special, and each one is someone's husband or father
or son."

John L. Robertson was promoted to the rank of Colonel during the period he was
maintained Missing in Action. Hubert E. Buchanan was promoted to the rank of
Captain during his captivity.

BUCHER, BERNARD LUDWIG

Name: Bernard Ludwig Bucher
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 28 February 1922
Home City of Record: Eureka IL
Date of Loss: 12 May 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 152601N 1074801E (ZC031110)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: C130B
Personnel in Incident: Ngok Tavak: Horace H. Fleming; Thomas J. Blackman;
Joseph F. Cook; Paul S. Czerwonka; Thomas W. Fritsch; Barry L. Hempel; Raymond
T. Heyne; Gerald E. King; Robert C. Lopez; William D. McGonigle; Donald W.
Mitchell; James R. Sargent (members of USMC search team - all missing); Glenn
E. Miller; Thomas H. Perry (USSF teammembers - missing); Kham Duc: Richard E.
Sands (missing from CH47); Bernard L. Bucher; Frank M. Hepler; George W. Long;
John L. McElroy; Stephan C. Moreland (USAF crew of C130 - all missing); Warren
R. Orr (USSF on C130 - missing); Harry B. Coen; Andrew J. Craven; Juan M.
Jimenez; Frederick J. Ransbottom; Maurice H. Moore; Joseph L. Simpson; William
E. Skivington; John C. Stuller; Imlay S. Widdison; Danny L. Widner; Roy C.
Williams (all missing); Julius W. Long (released POW).

REMARKS: EXPLODE - N RESC - HOSTIL AR - J

SYNOPSIS: Kham Duc Special Forces camp (A-105), was located on the western
fringes of Quang Tin ("Great Faith") Province, South Vietnam. In the spring of
1968, it was the only remaining border camp in Military Region I. Backup
responsibility for the camp fell on the 23rd Infantry Division (Americal),
based at Chu Lai on the far side of the province.

The camp had originally been built for President Diem, who enjoyed hunting in
the area. The 1st Special Forces detachment (A-727B) arrived in September 1963
and found the outpost to be an ideal border surveillance site with an existing
airfield. The camp was located on a narrow grassy plain surrounded by rugged,
virtually uninhabited jungle. The only village in the area, located across the
airstrip, was occupied by post dependents, camp followers and merchants. The
camp and airstrip were bordered by the Ngok Peng Bum ridge to the west and Ngok
Pe Xar mountain, looming over Kham Duc to the east. Steep banked streams full
of rapids and waterfalls cut through the tropical wilderness. The Dak Mi River
flowed past the camp over a mile distant, under the shadow of the Ngok Pe Xar.

Five miles downriver was the small forward operating base of Ngok Tavak,
defended by the 113-man 11th Mobile Strike Force Company with its 8 Special
Forces and 3 Australian advisors. Since Ngok Tavak was outside friendly
artillery range, 33 Marine artillerymen of Battery D, 2nd Battalion, 13th
Marines, with two 105mm howitzers were located at the outpost.

Capt. Christopher J. Silva, commander of Detachment A-105 helicoptered into
Ngok Tavak on May 9, 1968 in response to growing signs of NVA presence in the
area. Foul weather prevented his scheduled evening departure. A Kham Duc CIDG
platoon fleeing a local ambush also arrived and was posted to the outer
perimeter. It was later learned that the CIDG force contained VC infiltrators.

Ngok Tavak was attacked by an NVA infantry battalion at 0315 hours on May 10.
The base was pounded by mortars and direct rocket fire. As the frontal assault
began, the Kham Duc CIDG soldiers moved toward the Marines in the fort yelling,
"Don't shoot, don't shoot! Friendly, friendly!" Suddenly they lobbed grenades
into the Marine howitzer positions and ran into the fort, where they shot
several Marines with carbines and sliced claymore mine and communication wires.

The defenders suffered heavy casualties but stopped the main assault and killed
the infiltrators. The NVA dug in along the hill slopes and grenaded the trenches
where the mobile strike force soldiers were pinned by machine gun and rocket
fire. An NVA flamethrower set the ammunition ablaze, banishing the murky flare-
lighted darkness for the rest of the night. SFC Harold M. Swicegood and the
USMC platoon leader, Lt. Adams, were badly wounded and moved to the command
bunker. Medical Spec4 Blomgren reported that the CIDG mortar crews had abandoned
their weapons. Silva tried to operate the main 4.2 inch mortar but was wounded.
At about 0500 hours, Sgt. Glenn Miller, an A-105 communications specialist, was
shot through the head as he ran over to join the Marine howitzer crews.

The NVA advanced across the eastern side of Ngok Tavak and brought forward more
automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenade launchers. In desperation, the
defenders called on USAF AC-47 "Spooky" gunships to strafe the perimeter and
the howitzers, despite the possible presence of friendly wounded in the gun
pits. The NVA countered with tear gas, but the wind kept drifting the gas over
their own lines. After three attempts, they stopped. A grenade fight between
the two forces lasted until dawn.

At daybreak Australian Warrant Officers Cameron and Lucas, joined by Blomgren,
led a CIDG counterattack. The North Vietnamese pulled back under covering fire,
and the howitzers were retaken. The Marines fired the last nine shells and
spiked the tubes. Later that morning medical evacuation helicopters supported
by covering airstrikes took out the seriously wounded, including Silva and
Swicegood. Two CH46's were able to land 45 replacements from the 12th Mobile
Strike Force Company, accompanied by Capt. Euge E. Makowski (who related much
of this account to Shelby Stanton, author of "Green Berets at War"), but one
helicopter was hit in the fuel line and forced down. Another helicopter was hit
by a rocket and burst into flames, wrecking the small helipad. The remaining
wounded were placed aboard a hovering helicopter. As it lifted off, two Mike
Force soldiers and 1Lt. Horace Fleming, one of the stranded aviation crewmen,
grabbed the helicopter skids. All three fell to their deaths after the
helicopter had reached an altitude of over one hundred feet.

The mobile strike force soldiers were exhausted and nervous. Ammunition and
water were nearly exhausted, and Ngok Tavak was still being pounded by sporadic
mortar fire. They asked permission to evacuate their positions, but were told
to "hold on" as "reinforcements were on the way". By noon the defenders decided
that aerial reinforcement or evacuation was increasingly unlikely, and night
would bring certain destruction. An hour later, they abandoned Ngok Tavak.

Thomas Perry, a medic from C Company, arrived at the camp at 0530 hours the
morning of the 10th. He cared for the wounded and was assisting in an attempt
to establish a defensive perimeter when the decision was made to evacuate the
camp. As survivors were leaving, Perry was seen by Sgt. Cordell J. Matheney,
Jr., standing 20 feet away, as Australian Army Capt. John White formed the
withdrawal column at the outer perimeter wire on the eastern Ngok Tavak
hillside. It was believed that Perry was going to join the end of the column.

All the weapons, equipment and munitions that could not be carried were hastily
piled into the command bunker and set afire. The helicopter that had been
grounded by a ruptured fuel line was destroyed with a LAW. Sgt. Miller's body
was abandoned.

After survivors had gone about 1 kilometer, it was discovered that Perry was
missing. Efforts were conducted to locate both Perry and Miller, including a
search by a group from Battery D. They were searching along the perimeter when
they were hit by enemy grenades and arms fire. Neither the men on the team nor
Perry was ever found. Included in this team were PFC Thomas Blackman; LCpl.
Joseph Cook; PFC Paul Czerwonka; LCpl. Thomas Fritsch; PFC Barry Hempel; LCpl.
Raymond Heyne; Cpl. Gerald King; PFC Robert Lopez; PFC William McGonigle; LCpl.
Donald Mitchell; and LCpl. James Sargent. The remaining survivors evaded
through dense jungle to a helicopter pickup point midway to Kham Duc. Their
extraction was completed shortly before 1900 hours on the evening of May 10.

In concert with the Ngok Tavak assault, the Kham Duc was blasted by a heavy
mortar and recoilless rifle attack at 0245 hours that same morning. Periodic
mortar barrages ripped into Kham Duc throughout the rest of the day, while the
Americal Division airmobiled a reinforced battalion of the 196th Infantry
Brigade into the compound. A Special Forces command party also landed, but the
situation deteriorated too rapidly for their presence to have positive effect.

The mortar attack on fog-shrouded Kham Duc resumed on the morning of May 11.
The bombardment caused heavy losses among the frightened CIDG soldiers, who
fled from their trenches across open ground, seeking shelter in the bunkers.
The LLDB commander remained hidden. CIDG soldiers refused orders to check the
rear of the camp for possible North Vietnamese intruders. That evening the 11th
and 12th Mobile Strike Force companies were airlifted to Da Nang, and half of
the 137th CIDG Company from Camp Ha Thanh was airlanded in exchange.

The 1st VC Regiment, 2nd NVA Division, began closing the ring around Kham Duc
during the early morning darkness of 12 May. At about 0415 to 0430 hours, the
camp and outlying positions came under heavy enemy attack. Outpost #7 was
assaulted and fell within a few minutes. Outposts #5, #1 and #3 had been
reinforced by Americal troops but were in North Vietnamese hands by 0930 hours.

OP1 was manned by PFC Harry Coen, PFC Andrew Craven, Sgt. Joseph Simpson, and
SP4 Julius Long from Company E, 2nd of the 1st Infantry. At about 0415 hours,
when OP1 came under heavy enemy attack, PFC Coen and SP4 Long were seen trying
to man a 106 millimeter recoilless rifle. Survivors reported that in the
initial enemy fire, they were knocked off their bunker. Both men again tried to
man the gun, but were knocked down again by RPG fire.

PFC Craven, along with two other men, departed the OP at 0830 hours on May 12.
They moved out 50 yards and could hear the enemy in their last position. At
about 1100 hours, as they were withdrawing to the battalion perimeter, they
encountered an enemy position. PFC Craven was the pointman and opened fire. The
enemy returned fire, and PFC Craven was seen to fall, with multiple chest
wounds. The other two men were unable to recover him, and hastily departed the
area. PFC Craven was last seen lying on his back, wounded, near the camp.

OP2 was being manned by 1Lt. Frederick Ransbottom, SP4 Maurice Moore, PFC Roy
Williams, PFC Danny Widner, PFC William Skivington, PFC Imlay Widdison, and SP5
John Stuller, from the 2nd of the 3rd Infantry when it came under attack.
Informal questioning of survivors of this position indicated that PFC Widdison
and SP5 Stuller may have been killed in action. However, the questioning was
not sufficiently thorough to produce enough evidence to confirm their deaths.

The only information available concerning 1Lt. Ransbottom, SP4 Moore, PFC Lloyd
and PFC Skivington that Lt. Ransbottom allegedly radioed PFC Widner and PFC
Williams, who were in the third bunker, and told them that he was shooting at
the enemy as they entered his bunker.

SP4 Juan Jimenez, a rifleman assigned to Company A, 2nd of the 1st Infantry,
was occupying a defensive position when he was severely wounded in the back by
enemy mortar fire. SP4 Jimenez was declared dead by the Battalion Surgeon in
the early morning hours of May 12. He was then carried to the helipad for
evacuation. However, due to the situation, space was available in the
helicopter for only the wounded, and SP4 Jimenez'remains were left behind.

At noon a massive NVA attack was launched against the main compound. The charge
was stopped by planes hurling napalm, cluster bomb units and 750 pound bombs
into the final wire barriers. The decision was made by the Americal Division
officers to call for immediate extraction.

The evacuation was disorderly, and at times, on the verge of complete panic.
One of the first extraction helicopters to land was exploded by enemy fire,
blocking the airstrip. Engineers of Company A, 70th Engineer Battalion,
frantically reassembled one of their dozers (previously torn apart to prevent
capture) to clear the runway. Eight more aircraft were blown out of the sky.

PFC Richard E. Sands was a member of Company A, 1st Battalion, 46th Infantry,
198th Light Infantry Brigade being extracted on a CH47 helicopter (serial
#67-18475). The helicopter was hit by 50 calliber machine gun fire at an
altitude of 1500-1600 feet shortly after takeoff.

Sands, who was sitting near the door gunner, was hit in the head by an incoming
rounds. The helicopter made a controlled landing and caught fire. During the
evacuation from the burning helicopter, four personnel and a medic checked PFC
Sands and indicated that he had been killed instantly. Because of the danger of
incoming mortar rounds and the fire, personnel attempting to remove PFC Sands
from the helicopter were ordered to abandon their attempt. The remaining
personnel were evacuated from the area later by another helicopter.

Intense antiaircraft fire from the captured outposts caused grave problems.
Control over the indigenous forces was difficult. One group of CIDG soldiers
had to be held in trenches at gunpoint to prevent them from mobbing the runway.

As evacuation was in progress, members of Company A, 1/46, who insisted on
boarding the aircraft first, shoved Vietnamese dependents out of the way. As
more Americal infantry tried to clamber into the outbound planes, the outraged
Special Forces staff convinced the Air Force to start loading civilians onboard
a C130, then watched as the civilians pushed children and weaker adults aside.

The crew of the U.S. Air Force C130 aircraft (serial #60-0297) consisted of
Maj. Bernard Bucher, pilot; SSgt. Frank Hepler, flight engineer; Maj. John
McElroy, navigator; 1Lt. Steven Moreland, co-pilot; George Long, load master;
Capt. Warren Orr, passenger, and an undetermined number of Vietnamese civilians.

The aircraft reported receiving ground fire on takeoff. The Forward Air Control
(FAC) in the area reported that the aircraft exploded in mid-air and crashed in
a fire ball about one mile from camp. All crew and passengers were believed
dead, as the plane burned quickly and was completely destroyed except for the
tail boom. No remains were recovered from the aircraft.

Capt. Orr was not positively identified by U.S. personnel as being aboard the
aircraft. He was last seen near the aircraft helping the civilians to board.
However, a Vietnamese stated that he had seen Capt. Orr board the aircraft and
later positively identified him from a photograph. Rescue efforts were
impossible because of the hostile threat in the area.

At the time the order was given to escape and evade, SP4 Julius Long was was
with Coen and Simpson. All three had been wounded, and were trying to make
their way back to the airfield about 350 yards away. As they reached the
airfield, they saw the last C130 departing. PFC Coen, who was shot in the
stomach, panicked and started running and shooting his weapon at random. SP4
Long tried to catch him, but could not, and did not see PFC Coen again. Long
then carried Sgt. Simpson to a nearby hill, where they spent the night.

During the night, the airfield was strafed and bombed by U.S. aircraft. SP4
Long was hit twice in the back by fragments, and Sgt. Simpson died during the
night. SP4 Long left him lying on the hill near the Cam Duc airfield and
started his escape and evasion toward Chu Lai, South Vietnam. SP4 Long was
captured and was released in 1973 from North Vietnam.

The Special Forces command group was the last organized group out of the camp.
As their helicopter soared into the clouds, Kham Duc was abandoned to advancing
NVA infantry at 4:33 p.m. on May 12, 1968. The last Special Forces camp on the
northwestern frontier of South Vietnam had been destroyed.

Two search and recovery operations were conducted in the vicinity of OP1 and
OP2 and the Cam Duc airfield on July 18, 1970 and August 17, 1970. In these
operations, remains of personnel previously reported missing from this incident
were recovered and subsequently identified. (SP4 Bowers, PFC Lloyd, Sgt. Sisk,
PFC Guzman-Rios and SSgt. Carter). However, extensive search and excavation
could not be completed at OP1 and OP2 because of the tactical situation.

It was assumed that all the missing at Kham Duc were killed in action until
about 1983, when the father of one of the men missing discovered a Marine Corps
document which indicated that four of the men had been taken prisoner. The
document listed the four by name. Until then, the families had not been advised
of the possibility there were any American prisoners taken other than Julius
Long. A Vietnamese rallier identified the photograph of Roy C. Williams as
positively having been a POW.

Until proof is obtained that the rest of the men lost at Ngok Tavak and Kham
Duc are dead, their families will always wonder if they are among those said to
still be alive in Southeast Asia.






BUCK, ARTHUR CHARLES

Name: Arthur Charles Buck
Rank/Branch: O2/US Navy
Unit: Observation Squadron 67, Nakhon Phanom RTAFB, Thailand
Date of Birth: 23 October 1941
Home City of Record: Sandusky OH
Date of Loss: 11 January 1968
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 171800N 1055258E (WE938123)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: OP2E
Other Personnel In Incident: Denis Anderson; Richard Mancini; Delbert Olson;
Michael Roberts; Gale Siow; Phillip Stevens; Donald Thoresen, Kenneth Widon (all
missing)
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1990 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.

REMARKS: CRASH CNFM - WE 938123 - NO SERCH -J

SYNOPSIS: The Lockheed P2 "Neptune" was originally designed for submarine
searching, using magnetic detection gear or accoustic buoys. Besides flying
maritime reconnaissance, the aircraft served as an experimental night attack
craft in the attempt to interdict the movement of enemy truck convoys. Another
model, the OP2E, dropped electronic sensors to detect truck movements along the
supply route through Laos known as the "Ho Chi Minh Trail".

The Ho Chi Minh Trail was used by the North Vietnamese for transporting weapons,
supplies and troops. Hundreds of American pilots were shot down trying to stop
this communist traffic to South Vietnam. Fortunately, search and rescue teams in
Vietnam were extremely successful and the recovery rate was high.

Still there were nearly 600 who were not rescued. Many of them went down along
the Ho Chi Minh Trail and the passes through the border mountains between Laos
and Vietnam. Many were alive on the ground and in radio contact with search and
rescue and other planes; some were known to have been captured. Hanoi's
communist allies in Laos, the Pathet Lao, publicly spoke of American prisoners
they held, but when peace agreements were negotiated, Laos was not included, and
not a single American was released that had been held in Laos.

Delbert Olson was the pilot of an OP2E electronic observation aircraft assigned
to Observation Squadron 67 at Nakhon Phanom, Thailand. On January 11, 1968, he
and a crew of eight, including Denis Anderson, were dispatched on an armed
reconnaissance mission over Laos. The aircraft lost radio and radar contact at
9:57 a.m. When the plane failed to return within a reasonable time, an extensive
visual, electronic and photographic search was conducted in the area of the
aircraft's last known position.

On January 23, a USAF A1 located a suspected crash site. On January 25th an O2
from the 23rd Tactical Air Support Squadron photographed the site. Using the
photographs for photo interpretation, and in conjunction with visual air
reconnaissance of the site, it was determined that the wreckage was that of
Commander Olson's aircraft. The aircraft crashed on the northern side of a sheer
cliff, 150 feet below the 4583 foot summit line, about 15 kilometers northeast
of Ban Nalouangnua, Khammouane Province, Laos. It was decided that all
indications were that there were no survivors and most probably no identifiable
remains. Because of the heavy jungle canopy, irregular terrain and the close
proximity of enemy forces, no ground team was inserted to inspect the crash site
for remains. There was no indication as to the exact cause of the crash.

All members of the crew were placed in an initial casualty status of Missing In
Action. On February 23, 1968, the crew was placed in a casualty status of
Presumed Killed in Action/Body Not Recovered.

The crew of the OP2E lost on January 11, 1968 are among nearly 600 Americans
lost in Laos. Because Laos was not a party to the agreements ending the war, no
Americans held by Laos were ever released. Since the war ended, nearly 10,000
reports have convinced many experts that hundreds of Americans are still being
held captive in Southeast Asia. While the crew of the OP2E may not be among
them, one can imagine them proudly flying one more mission to bring home the
evidence needed to bring them to freedom.

BUCKLEY, JIMMY LEE
Remains Returned 16 December 1975

Name: Jimmy Lee Buckley
Rank/Branch: O4/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 196, USS CONSTELLATION
Date of Birth: 25 March 1935
Home City of Record: Sac City IA
Date of Loss: 21 August 1967
Country of Loss: China
Loss Coordinates: 213258N 1073159E (YJ519957)
Status (in 1973): Remains Returned
Category: 1
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A6A
Other Personnel in Incident: Robert J. Flynn (Released POW); from other A6s:
Forrest G. Trembley and Dain V. Scott (both missing); Leo T. Profilet and
William M. Hardman (both released POWs); 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: 751216 PRC RETD REMAINS

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.



CASE SYNOPSIS: BUCKLEY, LOUIS JR.

Name: Louis Buckley, Jr.
Rank/Branch: E5/US Army
Unit: Mortar Platoon, Company C, 1st Battalion (Airborne), 12th Cavalry
Date of Birth: 20 May 1943
Home City of Record: Detroit MI
Loss Date: 21 May 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 141048N 1083002E (BR664628)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Sgt. Louis Buckley was attached to a mortar platoon based at An Khe,
South Vietnam. The day after his 33rd birthday, Buckley's 22 man platoon was
inserted by helicopter to LZ Hereford, located northeast of An Khe near the
Song Ba River. The platoon was to provide continuous fire support for C
Company's sweep of the area lying between LZ Hereford and LZ Milton to the
south.

Everything went without a hitch, and around 1200 hours, the platoon prepared to
be picked up to rejoin the rest of the Company at the bottom of the valley.
Helicopters were inbound when mortar platoon members saw a number of enemy
soldiers five meters away, and opened fire with their M16s. As if by signal,
other enemy located on a hill about 300 meters away poured a hail of
machinegun, mortar and rocket launcher fire onto the platoon's position. The
platoon's 81mm mortar was knocked out almost immediately, and the platoon,
taking heavy casualties, called for help.

The company commander immediately ordered his 1st Platoon to get up the hill,
and led the rest of the company, scrambling, sliding and falling in a desperate
effort to reach the mortar platoon. The commander did not realize until later
the scope of the attack and that his entire company might have been in a
classic ambush. The enemy had watched patiently until the Americans felt
confident that the LZ was secure, and they launched their attack. The mortar
company had 6 wounded, 15 dead and one missing.

The Viet Cong on top of the hill divided into two groups to search for the
remaining Americans, loot the dead and grab what arms and munitions they could.
Just 35 minutes after the first call for help, the enemy was gone, and so was
Sgt. Louis Buckley. His pack was found with blood on it. He was declared
Missing In Action. Survivors reported seeing Sgt. Buckley withdrawing at a
southwesterly direction by himself. He is reported to have had blood on his
shirt and arm, although it is not known for certain if he was wounded.

Buckley is one of nearly 2500 Americans who are still missing from the Vietnam
war. Unlike MIAs from other wars, where many men were lost at sea and could not
be recovered, most of the missing in Vietnam can be accounted for. Tragically,
"several million documents" and over "250,000 interviews" (State Department
report, November 1988) are testimony that in our haste to end the war, we
abandoned hundreds of our men to enemy hands.

Were it not for the thousands of still-classified reports, Buckley's family
might be able to assume Louis was killed that day. But as long as men are
alive, and one of them could be Louis Buckley, they cannot forget. Can we?
BUCKLEY, VICTOR PATRICK

Name: Victor Patrick Buckley
Rank/Branch: O3/US Navy
Unit:
Date of Birth: 04 August 1944
Home City of Record: Falls Church VA
Date of Loss: 16 December 1969
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 173758N 1073857E (YE811514)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Veicle/Ground: RF8G

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-A models were equipped for photo reconnaissance. The RF-G
were also photographic versions, but with additional cameras and navigational
equipment.

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. In addition, there were 16
pilots who went down on photographic versions of the aircraft. Of these 16,
seven were captured (six were released, one died in captivity).

Lt. Victor P. Buckley was the pilot of an RF8A on a combat mission in North
Vietnam on December 16, 1969. His aircraft was hit by enemy fire, and he
evidently headed out to sea for easier rescue, as the site where his aircraft is
recorded to have crashed is about 75 miles offshore east of the city of Quang
Khe in the Gulf of Tonkin. It was felt that there was little or no hope that he
survived, and Buckley was declared Killed/Body Not Recovered.

The Defense Intelligence Agency further expanded Buckley'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.

Buckley is listed among the missing because his remains were never located to
return home. He is among over 2300 still prisoner, missing, or otherwise
unaccounted for from the Vietnam War.

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 some of them could be abandoned by the country they
proudly served.


BUELL, KENNETH RICHARD

Name: Kenneth Richard Buell
Rank/Branch: O4/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 35, USS AMERICA
Date of Birth: 24 August 1934
Home City of Record: Kankakee IL
Date of Loss: 17 September 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 205620N 1062000E (XJ387158)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A6A

Other Personnel in Incident: Verne G. Donnelly (remains returned)

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: The Grumman A6 Intruder is a two-man all weather, low-altitude,
carrier-based attack plane, with versions adapted as aerial tanker and
electronic warfare platform. The A6A primarily flew close-air-support,
all-weather and night attacks on enemy troop concentrations, and night
interdiction missions. Its advanced navigation and attack system, known as
DIANE (Digital Integrated Attack navigation Equipment) allowed small precision
targets, such as bridges, barracks and fuel depots to be located and attacked
in all weather conditions, day or night. The planes were credited with some of
the most difficult single-plane strikes in the war, including the destruction
of the Hai Duong bridge between Hanoi and Haiphong by a single A6. Their
missions were tough, but their crews among the most talented and most
courageous to serve the United States.

On September 17, 1972, Cdr. Verne G. Donnelly, pilot, and LtCdr. Kenneth R.
Buell, co-pilot, launched from the USS America (CVA-66) on a combat mission
over the vicinity of Hai Duong, North Vietnam. As the aircraft was about eight
miles west of that city, it went down, and both crew men were declared Missing
in Action.

Information from U.S. Navy public records are scanty, indicating only that
Buell and Donnelly were Missing in Action on a combat mission. The Defense
Intelligence Agency further defines this classification by adding an enemy
knowledge category. Buell and Donnelly are category 4, which indicates that
their time and location may have been unknown, or that there is no intelligence
to support belief that the enemy knows their fates.

It seems improbable that Buell and Donnelly's aircraft went down unnoticed by
the Vietnamese in this relatively populous area, but the Vietnamese
consistently have denied any knowledge of the fates of either man.

When American involvement in the war ended, 591 Americans were released from
prison camps in Southeast Asia, but Buell and Donnelly were not among them.
Military experts expressed their dismay that "some hundreds" suspected to be
prisoner were not released. Since that time, U.S. Government intelligence
agencies have conducted "over 250,000 interviews" and analyzed "several million
documents" relating to Americans missing in Indochina. Many government
officials who have seen this classified data believe that hundreds of Americans
remain alive in captivity today.

Whether Buell and Donnelly survived to be captured is not known. Whether they
are among the hundreds said to be still alive is uncertain as well. What is
certain, however, is that there can be no honorable end to the Vietnam war as
long as even one American serviceman remains in enemy hands. It's time we
brought our men home.

On February 5, 1991, the U.S. announced that remains had been returned by the
Vietnamese which had been positively identified as being those of Verne G.
Donnelly. After 25 years, Donnelly was finally home.




BULLARD, WILLIAM HARRY

Name: William Harry Bullard
Rank/Branch: O2/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 164, USS ORISKANY
Date of Birth: 03 August 1942
Home City of Record: Elsinore CA
Date of Loss: 25 August 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 182036N 1073608E (YF750300)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A4E

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, including "Alpha Strike Vietnam" by Jeffrey
L. Levinson, personal interviews.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: The USS ORISKANY was a World War II-era carrier on duty in Vietnam as
early as 1964. The ORISKANY at one time carried the RF8A (number 144608) flown
by Maj. John H. Glenn, the famous Marine astronaut (and later Senator) flew in
his 1957 transcontinental flight. In October, 1966 the ORISKANY endured a tragic
fire which killed 44 men onboard, but was soon back on station. In 1972, the
ORISKANY had an at-sea accident which resulted in the loss of one of its
aircraft elevators, and later lost a screw that put the carrier into drydock in
Yokosuka, Japan for major repairs, thus delaying its involvement until the late
months of the war.

The ORISKANY's 1966 tour was undoubtedly one of the most tragic deployments of
the Vietnam conflict. This cruise saw eight VA 164 "Ghostriders" lost; four in
the onboard fire, one in an aerial refueling mishap, and another three in the
operational arena.

On July 28, 1966, Ensign George P. McSwain, Jr. was flying an A4E Skyhawk in a
strike mission near the city of Vinh, Nghe An Province, North Vietnam, when his
aircraft was hit by a surface-to-air missile (SAM). McSwain successfully ejected
and reached the ground safely, but rescue was not possible because of the hostile
area in which he landed. McSwain was captured by the North Vietnamese and for
the next six and one-half years, was a prisoner of war. He was released in
Operation Homecoming on March 4, 1973. (NOTE: Even though on page 30 of "Alpha
Strike Vietnam" it is stated that McSwain was killed on this mission, he was a
released POW. Probably this information was given the author by a shipmate who
had not learned McSwain had been captured.)

On August 26, 1966, LTJG William H. Bullard launched from the decks of the
ORISKANY in his A4E Skyhawk on a night combat mission. Mechanical problems were
encountered during the launch, and Bullard's aircraft went down near the
carrier. Bullard was never found, and was listed Killed, Body Not Recovered. He
is listed among those still prisoner and missing in Southeast Asia because his
remains were never found. The ORISKANY was on station in the Gulf of Tonkin
about 110 miles east of the city of Ha Tinh at that time.

On October 12, 1966 still another Ghostrider was shot down. LT Frank C. Elkins
was on a strike mission near the city of Tho Trang, about five miles from the
coast of Nghe An Province, when his aircraft went down. His A4E Skyhawk had been
damaged by SAM. It was not known what happened to Elkins after the crash of his
aircraft, and he was classified Missing in Action. In March 1990, the Vietnamese
"discovered" the mortal remains of Elkins and returned them to U.S. control.

When the war ended, 591 Americans were released from POW camps. Military
authorities at the time were shocked that hundreds more known or suspected to be
held captive were not released.

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. These reports are the source of serious distress to many returned
American prisoners. They had a code that no one could honorably return unless
all of the prisoners returned. Not only that code of honor, but the honor of our
country is at stake as long as even one man remains unjustly held. It's time we
brought our men home.


George P. McSwain Jr. was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant during the period
he was a prisoner of war.

Frank C. Elkins was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Commander during the
period he was listed missing.
BULLOCK, LARRY ALAN

Name: Larry Alan Bullock
Rank/Branch: E3/US Army
Unit: Company C, 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division
Date of Birth: 01 January 1947
Home City of Record: Somerset KY
Date of Loss: 01 January 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 142220N 1090739E (BR981896)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Other Personnel In Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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: On his 20th birthday, Larry Bullock was on a company-size operation in
Binh Dinh Province. He had been on patrol for several days, and at the time of
this incident, his unit was at a landing zone. Because they had not encountered
any enemy resistance in the area, the company was allowed to go to the South
China Sea for swimming, near grid coordinates BR 981 896.

When the men first entered the water, the winds and the surf were calm and
suitable for swimming, however, a short time later, surf rose and strong
undertow developed which caused a number of the bathers some difficulty.

Once onshore, a headcount was taken and Bullock was discovered missing. An
unsuccessful search was conducted along the beach and choppers circled over the
sea where the unit was swimming, but Bullock was not found. Other units
operating in the area were notified to watch for Bullock or his body, but no
trace was ever found.

Larry Bullock was a good soldier that got unlucky. His is one of the unfortunate
accidental deaths that occur wherever people are. The fact that he died an
accidental death in the midst of war is tragically ironic. He is listed among
the missing with honor, because his body was never found to be returned to the
country he served.

Others who are missing do not have such clear cut cases. Some were known
captives; some were photographed as they were led by their guards. Some were in
radio contact with search teams, while others simply disappeared.

Since the war ended, over 250,000 interviews have been conducted with those who
claim to know about Americans still alive in Southeast Asia, and several million
documents have been studied. U.S. Government experts cannot seem to agree
whether Americans are there alive or not. Distractors say it would be far too
politically difficult to bring the men they believe to be alive home, and the
U.S. is content to negotiate for remains.

Over 1000 eye-witness reports of living American prisoners were received by
1990. Most of them are still classified. If, as the U.S. seems to believe, the
men are all dead, why the secrecy after so many years? If the men are alive, why
are they not home?


BUNDY, NORMAN LEE

Name: Norman Lee Bundy
Rank/Branch: O2/US Navy
Unit:
Date of Birth: 26 January 1941
Home City of Record: Miami FL
Date of Loss: 06 September 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 194500N 1060559E (XG152840)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Veicle/Ground: RF8G

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-A models were equipped for photo reconnaissance. The RF-G
were also photographic versions, but with additional cameras and navigational
equipment.

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. In addition, there were 16
pilots who went down on photographic versions of the aircraft. Of these 16,
seven were captured (six were released, one died in captivity).

Lt.JG Norman L. Bundy was the pilot of an RF8A conducting a flight over the Gulf
of Tonkin on September 6, 1966. Bundy's aircraft crashed about 20 miles east of
the city of Thanh Hoa Province, North Vietnam. Because of the location, it is
believed that Bundy was either traveling to or egressing from a combat mission,
although his loss is classified as non-combat. It was felt that there was little
or no hope that he survived, and Bundy was declared Killed/Body Not Recovered.

Bundy is listed among the missing because his remains were never located to
return home. He is among over 2300 still prisoner, missing, or otherwise
unaccounted for from the Vietnam War.

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 some of them could be abandoned by the country they
proudly served.



BUNKER, PARK GEORGE

Name: Park George Bunker
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 432nd Combat Support Group, Udorn AF TH under secret
Assignment to 56th Special Operations Wing, Udorn (RAVENS)
Date of Birth: 10 December 1940
Home City of Record: Homewood IL
Date of Loss: 30 December 1970
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 193100N 1031300E (UG129588)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: O1F
Other Personnel In Incident: (none missing)
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1990 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.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: The Steve Canyon program was a highly classified FAC (forward air
control) operation covering the military regions of Laos. U.S. military
operations in Laos were severely restricted during the Vietnam War era because
Laos had been declared neutral by the Geneva Accords.

The non-communist forces in Laos, however, had a critical need for military
support in order to defend territory used by Lao and North Vietnamese communist
forces. The U.S., in conjunction with non-communist forces in Laos, devised a
system whereby U.S. military personnel could be "in the black" or "sheep-dipped"
(clandestine; mustered out of the military to perform military duties as a
civilian) to operate in Laos under supervision of the U.S. Ambassador to Laos.

RAVEN was the radio call sign which identified the flyers of the Steve Canyon
Program. Men recruited for the program were rated Air Force officers with at
least six months experience in Vietnam. They tended to be the very best of
pilots, but by definition, this meant that they were also mavericks, and
considered a bit wild by the mainstream military establishment.

The Ravens came under the formal command of CINCPAC and the 7/13th Air Force
56th Special Operations Wing at Nakhon Phanom, but their pay records were
maintained at Udorn with Detachment 1. Officially, they were on loan to the U.S.
Air Attache at Vientiane. Unofficially, they were sent to outposts like Long
Tieng, where their field commanders were the CIA, the Meo Generals, and the U.S.
Ambassador. Once on duty, they flew FAC missions which controlled all U.S. air
strikes over Laos.

All tactical strike aircraft had to be under the control of a FAC, who was
intimately familiar with the locale, the populous, and the tactical situation.
The FAC would find the target, order up U.S. fighter/bombers from an airborne
command and control center, mark the target accurately with white phosphorus
(Willy Pete) rockets, and control the operation throughout the time the planes
remained on station. After the fighters had departed, the FAC stayed over the
target to make a bomb damage assessment (BDA).

The FAC also had to ensure that there were no attacks on civilians, a complex
problem in a war where there were no front lines and any hamlet could suddenly
become part of the combat zone. A FAC needed a fighter pilot's mentality, but
but was obliged to fly slow and low in such unarmed and vulnerable aircraft as
the Cessna O1 Bird Dog, and the Cessna O2. Consequently, aircraft used by the
Ravens were continually peppered with ground fire. A strong fabric tape was
simply slapped over the bullet holes until the aircraft could no longer fly.

Ravens were hopelessly overworked by the war. The need for secrecy kept their
numbers low (never more than 22 at one time), and the critical need of the Meo
sometimes demanded each pilot fly 10 and 12 hour days. Some Ravens completed
their tour of approximately 6 months with a total of over 500 combat missions.

The Ravens in at Long Tieng in Military Region II, had, for several years, the
most difficult area in Laos. The base, just on the southern edge of the Plain of
Jars, was also the headquarters for the CIA-funded Meo army commanded by General
Vang Pao. An interesting account of this group can be read in Christopher
Robbins' book, "The Ravens". The following account of Capt. Park George Bunker,
lost on December 30, 1970, is found in this book:

"..Bunker [was] a tall, reserved man who kept his distance. A senior captain in
his early thirties with a receding hairline--and married, with two children--he
was looked upon as ancient by his companions.

"Despite his reserve on the ground, Bunker [seemed indifferent] to enemy fire
and held the current record among his group for the most bullet holes in his
O-1. Just before the new year he flew out to the northern edge of the Plain of
Jars, near Roadrunner Lake, to verify a recorded sighting of enemy tanks. Sure
enough, he spotted the front of a tank protruding from a group of trees and
dropped low for a better look. A rapid-fire 14.5 mm antiaircraft gun--deadly to
a height of 4,500 feet--opened up at close range and nailed the engine.

"Bunker put out a Mayday call before managing to [maneuver] the O-1 onto a flat
area in the middle of a horseshoe formed by a bend in a small river. When Bunker
climbed out of the cockpit he found himself in open country.... He lowered
himself into...a small gully choked with brush.... Unknown to him, a large group
of NVA soldiers were bivouacked along the bank of a distant treeline that
followed the curve in the river. He was surrounded on three sides.

"Four Ravens heard the distress call and headed toward the downed plane. Bunker
said he was hiding in a gully by the side of the O-1 and was being shot at from
three sides. Gunfire could be heard over the radio. It seemed to...grow louder
until Bunker announced he was going to make a run for it.

"...the Ravens raced toward the crash site, listening helplessly to [Bunker's}
desperate transmissions. When Bunker next came on the radio, he was out of
breath. 'They're all shooting at me! I've been hit! I'm hit! I've been hit
twice--God, I've been shot five times. I'm not going to make it. I'm as good as
dead.'"

When the first Raven arrived on the scene, Bunker could not be found. One of the
Ravens, Chuck Engle, took his plane almost to ground level for a closer look,
braving enemy fire. He did see something under a tree, but his aircraft was so
badly shot up, he had to return to Long Tieng. A Skyraider pilot volunteered to
look, but was met with the same withering fire as Engle had encountered. He
confirmed that there was a body under a tree wearing a blood-covered survival
vest. "The Ravens" continues:

"The description certainly sounded like Bunker, who always flew to war in a
chocolate-colored walking suit and a green survival vest, while most of the
other Ravens draped theirs over their seats. The growing dark made it impossible
to check, and when the Ravens returned the following morning the body had been
removed."

Bunker had only 30 days to run before the end of his tour. Ironically, the
Ravens, wishing to spare his family the grief of uncertainty, declared him dead.
It was a matter of honor with them that they either got their men out or
determined positively they were dead. The Ravens began a ritual after Bunker
died that they continue to this day -- reading a list of those Ravens who are no
longer among them, drinking to their memories, and then shattering the drink
glasses.

Bunker is one of nearly 600 Americans lost in Laos. His comrades believe he was
dead when last seen. The Pathet Lao, however should be able to provide
information to confirm this, and even produce his body for honorable burial.
Even though the Pathet Lao stated publicly that they held "tens of tens" of
American prisoners, not one American held in Laos was ever released -- or
negotiated for.

Since U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War ended, nearly 10,000 reports have been
received by the U.S. Government relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asia.
Many authorities have reluctantly concluded that hundreds are still alive in
captivity today. Bunker and the others were abandoned by their own country.


Park George Bunker graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1963.
BURD, DOUGLAS GLENN

Name: Douglas Glenn Burd
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 08 November 1945
Home City of Record: Hampton VA
Date of Loss: 01 August 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 145936N 1082847E (BS281589)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4E

Other Personnel In Incident: Tommy L. Callies (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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: On August 1, 1969, just four years after he graduated from the Air
Force Academy, Capt. Tommy Callies found himself in the Vietnam war as the pilot
of an F4E Phantom fighter/bomber jet. On this day, 1LT Douglas Burd was his
back-seater, having charge of navigation and bombing. It was Callies' dream to
become a career pilot, and he and Burd were flying one of the most exciting
aircraft of the time.

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. It was equipped with
Skyspot radar, which helped ground radar track the plane.

When the Phantom flown by Callies was in Quang Ngai Province, South Vietnam,
just about 25 miles southwest of the city of Quang Ngai, the Skyspot was put to
test. The plane was shot down.

Observers feel that Tommy Callies and Doug Burd died in the crash of their
plane, and circumstances surrounding the area of crash indicate a very good
chance the enemy knew what happened to them. The two are on the rolls of the
missing because their bodies are in enemy hands.

For the nearly 2400 other Americans unaccounted for, simple explanations are not
so easy. Experts now believe that hundreds of Americans are still alive, held
captive by a long-ago enemy. While Callies and Burd are not, evidently, among
this number, one can imagine their willingness to fly one more mission for their
missing comrades. Why have 15 years gone by without our bringing these men home?
BURDETT, EDWARD BURKE
Remains Returned 18 November 1967

Name: Edward Burke Burdett
Rank/Branch: O6/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 10 March 1921
Home City of Record: Macon GA
Date of Loss: 18 November 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 210500N 1063400E (WJ063312)
Status (in 1973): Prisoner of War
Category: 1
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F105D

Other Personnel in Incident: From nearby F105s: Edward W. Lehnhoff; Leslie J.
Hauer; Oscar M. Dardeau, Jr. (all remains returned)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS: 740306 DRV RET REMS

SYNOPSIS: The F105 Thunderchief (or "Thud") performed yoeman service on many
diversified missions in Southeast Asia. F105s flew more combat missions over
North Vietnam than any other USAF aircraft and consequently suffered the
heaviest losses in action. They dropped bombs by day and occasionally by night
from high or low altitude and some later versions (F105D in Wild Weasel guise)
attacked SAM sites with their radar tracking air-to-ground missiles. This
versatile aircraft was also credited with downing 25 Russian MiGs.

On November 18, 1967, three F105s were shot down over Vinh Phu Province. It is
likely that the three were part of a multi-plane strike on military targets
around Hanoi.

The first F105 to be shot down, a D model, was flown by Col. Edward Burke
Burdett. The aircraft was shot down about 20 miles from Hanoi. Burdett was
captured by the Vietnamese, but, according to a list provided by the Vietnamese,
died in captivity the same day he was shot down. Whether Burdett was so severely
injured in the bail-out or was tortured to death is unknown. His remains were
not returned until March 6, 1974.

The second F105 was an F model and was flown by Maj. Oscar M. Dardeau, Jr. His
co-pilot on the flight was Capt. Edward W. Lehnhoff, Jr. Their aircraft was shot
down about 10 miles north of the city of Phy Tho. The fate of these two remains
uncertain, but they were classified Missing in Action, and there were
indications that the Vietnamese knew their fates. The Vietnamese "discovered"
and returned their remains on November 25, 1987.

Maj. Leslie J. Hauer was the pilot of the third F105 to be shot down at Vinh
Yen. Maj. Hauer was declared Missing in Action. In June, 1977, the Vietnamese
told U.S. officials they would return Maj. Hauer's remains in September. In
September, thirteen years later, they did just that.

Whether all the four airmen shot down on November 18, 1967 survived to be
captured is uncertain, but the notion is not unreasonable. Although the
Vietnamese have conducted site excavations in an effort to show "good will" in
recovering U.S. remains, they are known to have stockpiled hundreds of American
bodies awaiting politically expedient moments to return them, a few at a time.

Mounting evidence indicates that some Americans are still alive being held
prisoner of war in Southeast Asia. The Vietnamese pledged to return all
prisoners of war and provide the fullest possible accounting of the missing in
the peace accords signed in 1973. They have done neither, and the U.S. has not
compelled them to do so.

The United States government pledged that the POW/MIA issue is of "highest
national priority" but has not achieved results indicative of a priority.
Mitchell and the nearly 2500 Americans who remain unaccounted for in Southeast
Asia deserve our best efforts to bring them home, not empty rhetoric.

Edward W. Lehnhoff, Jr. was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, Oscar M.
Dardeau, Jr. and Leslie J. Hauer were promoted to the rank of Colonel, during
the period they were maintained Missing in Action.



BURGESS, JOHN LAWRENCE

Name: John Lawrence Burgess
Rank/Branch: E5/US Army
Unit: Company B, 227th Aviation Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile)
Date of Birth: 05 April 1949 (Sutton's Bay MI)
Home City of Record: Kingsley MI
Date of Loss: 30 June 1970
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 121557N 1071051E (YU372568)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On June 30, 1970, SP5 John L. Burgess was the crew chief of a UH1H
helicopter on a command and control mission when it was hit by enemy fire,
crashed, and burned near the Cambodia/South Vietnam border in Phuoc Long
Province, South Vietnam.

The other individuals aboard the aircraft included 1Lt. Leslie F. Douglas, Jr.,
1Lt. Richard Dyer, SFC Juan Colon-Diaz, and PFC Goosman. PFC Goosman, who was
thrown clear of the aircraft (he was probably the door gunner), was the only
survivor of the crash.

PFC Goosman later stated that he pulled the aircraft commander clear of the
aircraft, but because of the fire, was unable to free any of the crew members
or the one passenger from the aircraft. Goosman was able to determine that no
one else had survived the crash. He remained at the scene of the crash site
until friendly troops arrived to secure the aircraft wreckage. The remains of
the four crew members were placed in four body bags and evacuated.

Major Knudson, who arrived shortly after the crash, landed in a secure LZ
adjacent to the crash and picked up Goosman and the 4 body bags. They were
transported directly from the crash site to medical facilities located at Camp
Gorvad, Phuoc Vinh, South Vietnam. Graves Registration at Camp Gorvad forwarded
the four body bags to the mortuary at Than San Nhut to undergo autopsies. At
the mortuary, as identification was conducted, it was determined that they only
had 3 sets of remains rather than four. While processing the remains at the
mortuary, it was discovered that one of the body bags contained portions of the
upper torso and another bag contained portions of the lower torso of the same
individual. After this discovery, they were combined and positive
identifications made of the three individuals, Douglas, Dyer and Colon-Diaz.

Than San Nhut Mortuary never received any remains correlating to SP5 Burgess,
and it was believed that the remains of Burgess were either burned beneath the
wreckage of the aircraft or incinerated in the fire which engulfed the aircraft
after it crashed. The mortuary suggested another search of the crash site area,
but additional searches were not considered possible because of enemy presence
in the area. When a final review of aerial photographs was made in 1973, there
was no evidence of the crashed aircraft.

SP5 John L. Burgess is maintained with honor among the missing because his
remains were never found to be sent home for burial in the soil for which he
fought. His family can grieve for his death.

For the families of nearly 2500 other missing Americans, grief cannot occur.
They are caught in the uncertainty of not knowing. They are tantalized and
tortured by nearly 10,000 reports received regarding missing Americans in
Southeast Asia. Many of the missing were alive and well the last time they were
seen. Some were in radio contact with would-be rescuers. Others were seen in
captivity and even photographed, only to disappear from the prison systems.

While Burgess may not be among the hundreds of Americans thought to be still
alive, one can imagine his gladly flying one more mission to help bring his
comrades home - alive.
BURKART, CHARLES WILLIAM JR.

Name: Charles William Burkart, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 13th Bomber Squadron, Da Nang AB SV
Date of Birth: 17 May 1931
Home City of Record: Selkirk NY
Date of Loss: 13 June 1966
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 171500N 1054500E (WE778137)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: B57

Other Personnel in Incident: Everett O. Kerr (Missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 30 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: When North Vietnam began to increase their military strength in South
Vietnam, NVA and Viet Cong troops again intruded on neutral Laos for sanctuary,
as the Viet Minh had done during the war with the French some years before. The
border road, termed the "Ho Chi Minh Trail" was used for transporting weapons,
supplies and troops. Hundreds of American pilots were shot down trying to stop
this communist traffic to South Vietnam. Fortunately, search and rescue teams in
Vietnam were extremely successful and the recovery rate was high.

Still there were nearly 600 who were not rescued. Many of them went down along
the Ho Chi Minh Trail and the passes through the border mountains between Laos
and Vietnam. Many were alive on the ground and in radio contact with search and
rescue and other planes; some were known to have been captured. Hanoi's
communist allies in Laos, the Pathet Lao, publicly spoke of American prisoners
they held, but when peace agreements were negotiated, Laos was not included, and
not a single American was released that had been held in Laos.

The B57 Canberra was one of the aircraft used by the U.S. Air Force to bomb the
Ho Chi Minh Trail. The Canberra first came to the Vietnam theater at the time of
the Gulf of Tonkin incident om 1964. It proved to vulnerable and difficult to
repair for working targets over North Vietnam, but proved effective in the armed
reconnaissance Trail operations of Operation Steel Tiger. The Canberra was
sometimes used in conjunction with other, more sophisticated aircraft, such as
the C130, and was especially effective on night missions.

Capt. Charles W. Burkart Jr. was the pilot and Capt. Everett O. Kerr the
navigator of a B57 Canberra assigned a night strike mission over Laos on June
13, 1966. Capt. Burkart's aircraft was flying in a flight of three planes.

Prior to reaching the target area, the flight became separated due to bad
weather. The last known radio contact from Burkart and Kerr was approximately 50
minutes after takeoff at Da Nang. Their approximate location was about 8 miles
southeast of the city of Ban Som Peng in the Ban Karai Pass region of
Khammouane Province, Laos.

Despite search efforts, no aircraft wreckage was located, and no emergency
beeper signals were detected. Burkart and Kerr were classified Missing in
Action.

When 591 Americans were released from prisoner of war camps at the end of
American involvement in the war, Kerr and Burkart were not among them. Not one
American held in Laos had been released.

In early 1979, thirteen years after their disappearance, Kerr and Burkart were
administratively declared dead based on no specific information that they were
alive.

Were it not for the thousands of reports concerning Americans still held captive
in Southeast Asia, the Kerr and Burkart families might be able to close this
tragic chapter of their lives. But as long as Americans are alive, being held
captive, Kerr and Burkart could be among them. It's time we brought these men
home.


Charles W. Burkart was promoted to the rank of Colonel and Everett O. Kerr was
promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel during the period they were
maintained missing.

BURKE, MICHAEL JOHN

Name: Michael John Burke
Rank/Branch: E3/US Marine Corps
Unit: Company D, 1st Battalion, 4th Marines, 3rd Marine Division
Date of Birth: 26 April 1946
Home City of Record: Chicago IL
Date of Loss: 19 October 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 165400N 1071100E (YD344698)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 3
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Other Personnel In Incident: Richard Mishuk, L.J. Lewandowski (both missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Lance Corporal Michael J. Burke, PFC Leonard J. Lewandowski Jr. and
PFC Richard E. Mishuk were assigned to Company D, 1st Battalion, 4th Marines in
Vietnam. On October 19, 1966, their Marine Corps unit was operating in northern
Quang Nam Province about 15 miles northwest of Da Nang when the three men went
missing. Oddly, USMC notations indicate that the three were swimming near the
Cua Viet River when they were last seen, yet the incident is considered
battle-related. No one saw them drown or die; if they were captured, no one
witnessed it. The men were classified Missing in Action, and their families
waited for word.

The Burke family spoke with a member of the 1st Marines who was part of a search
party for the three. They were told that the unit tracked their son for three
months as the Viet Cong moved him from village to village.

The Mishuk family was told by Marine officials that it was "unusual to find no
bodies at all if all three drowned."

When American prisoners were released 6 1/2 years later, the Burke, Lewandowski
and Mishuk families were heartbroken that their sons were among them. Military
authorities at the time were shocked that hundreds known or suspected prisoners
of war were not released.

No information ever surfaced on the fates of Burke, Lewandowski and Mishuk.
By 1980, the U.S. declared them dead based on the fact that there was no
specific evidence that they were still alive. Disturbing testimony was given to
Congress in 1980 that the Vietnamese "stockpiled" the remains of Americans to
return at politically advantageous times. The same source indicated that he had
also seen five Americans in captivity after the war ended. This source was
considered to be highly credible.

Even more disturbing are the over 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.

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.

Whether the three Marines lost near Dong Ha on October 19, 1966 could be among
those thought to be still alive is not known. What is certain, however is that
as long as even one American remains alive, held against his will, we must do
everything possible to bring him home -- alive.


BURKE, WALTER FRANCIS
Remains Returned (see text)

Name: Walter Francis Burke
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 6994th Security Squadron
Date of Birth: 19 August 1940
Home City of Record: Flushing NY
Date of Loss: 05 February 1969
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 152600N 1064700E (approx)
Status (in 1973): Killed In Action
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: EC47

Other Personnel in Incident: Hugh L. Sherburn; Robert E. Olson; Louis J. Clever;
Harry T. Niggle; Clarence L. McNeill; Homer M. Lynn; James V. Dorsey Jr.; Rodney
H. Gott; Wilton N. Hatton (all reported KIA)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 September 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: ** NOT ON MISSING LISTS **

SYNOPSIS: The Douglas C47 was designed as a transport, gunship, and electronic
or regular reconnaissance aircraft, depending on the configuration. The aircraft
served in World War II and served French forces in Indochina in the 1950's, and
returned to Vietnam at the outset of American involvement there.

On February 5, 1969, an EC47 (electronic surveillance) departed Pleiku Airbase,
Republic of Vietnam on a tactical reconnaissance mission over Laos. The aircraft
crew included LtCol. Harry T. Niggle, Capt. Walter F. Burke, Major Robert E.
Olson, Major Homer M. Lynn Jr., MSgt. Wilton N. Hatton, SSgt. Rodney H. Gott,
TSgt. Louis J. Clever, SSgt. James V. Dorsey Jr., SSgt. Hugh L. Sherburn (radio
operator on the aircraft), and Sgt. Clarence L. McNeill. The last radio contact
with the aircraft was at 8:10 a.m. at which time it was located about 21 miles
west-northwest of the city of Chavane in Saravane Province, Laos.

When the aircraft failed to make a scheduled stop at Phu Bai Airport near Hue
shortly before noon, search efforts were initiated to locate the aircraft.
During the remainder of the day and for six succeeding days, extensive
communication and ramp checks were made, as well as a visual search of the area
from the last known position of the aircraft through its intended flight path.
Because no information was forthcoming which would reveal the whereabouts of the
missing aircraft and crew, the search was then terminated.

In the fall of 1969, the wreckage of an EC47 was located in a jungle-covered
mountainous area in the approximate last known location of Sherburn's aircraft.
The wreckage site was searched, and remains and a number of items were
recovered. These items were later correlated to Sherburn's aircraft.

The Department of the Air Force believes that the aircraft was faced with a
sudden airborne emergency since the right wing of the aircraft was found some
500 meters from the main wreckage site. It was believed that the engine caught
fire causing the wing to separate from the fuselage while the aircraft was still
in the air. Further, the Air Force states that although the crew members had
parachutes, it is unlikely that the apparent suddenness of the emergency would
have permitted anyone to abandon the aircraft. The absence of emergency radio
signals further diminished the hope that any of the crew members could have
survived.

At this time, the Air Force declared the ten men onboard the aircraft to be
dead, and so notified the families. The remains found at the crash site were
interred in a single grave at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St. Louis.
Military officials told eight of the families that the remains of only two
individuals had been identified, but would not reveal those identities to them.
(It is assumed that the families of the two individuals identified were
informed.)

In February 1970, the Sherburn family was informed that the remains found at the
crash site were skeletal and commingled, and that Air Force identification
specialists were unable to determine that they had a composite of ten
individuals -- and were unable to establish the identity of any of the remains.

About the same time the crew of the EC47 was being interred in St. Louis,
another mass burial was conducted, containing 18 USMC and Navy personnel. On
January 28, 1973, PFC Ronald Ridgeway, one of those 18 "dead and buried"
servicemen, was released alive from a POW camp in Hanoi. The U.S. had not known
that he was a prisoner of war.

Although the relatives found little hope in Ridgeway's return, some thought
it entirely possible that others might have escaped with Ridgeway. How many
others, some family members wondered, had been captured without the U.S. finding
out?

If such a thing could happen to the Marine and Navy group, what about the EC47
lost in Laos? Unfortunately, when the war ended, no American held in Laos was
released. The U.S. has not negotiated the freedom of a single man the Pathet Lao
asserted they held prisoner in Laos.

The U.S. Government has never changed its position on the Marines, Navy and Air
Force personnel interred in mass graves in St. Louis, and has continued to state
unequivocally that they were killed in action because the families could not
produce proof otherwise. Although the government lacked positive evidence that
most of these men were dead, its assumption that they were dead overruled any
assumption that they might be alive. The Marine Corps has admitted that some of
those "buried" men could have been captured, but that it is doubtful. Even
though considerable doubt surrounds the identification of the men buried in St.
Louis, and, indeed, some of them might have survived, official status change has
been denied.

Since the war ended, over 10,000 reports of Americans prisoner, missing or
unaccounted for in Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. Government. It
would not be erroneous to speculate that if the U.S. received a first-hand, live
sighting report on the men "buried" in St. Louis, that report would be debunked
because they are all "dead."

Although many experts who have reviewed the largely-classified information
relating to Americans still missing in Southeast Asia have concluded that
hundreds of them are still alive in captivity, the USG cannot seem to make up
its mind. Meanwhile, how many wait for their country to come for them? Who will
look for these men?








BURNETT, DONALD FREDERICK

Name: Donald Frederick Burnett
Rank/Branch: E8/US Navy
Unit: Patrol Squadron 26, U Tapao Airbase, Thailand
Date of Birth: 06 July 1935
Home City of Record: Montgomery AL
Date of Loss: 06 February 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 093050N 1040730E (VR040520)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: P3B
Other Personnel in Incident: Armando Chapa, Jr.; William F. Farris; Donald L.
Gallagher; Roy A. Huss; Thomas P. Jones; Homer E. McKay; James C. Newman, Jr.;
Melvin C. Thompson; Lynn M. Travis (all missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: At 0900 hours on February 5, 1968, a P3 "Orion" aircraft assigned to
Patrol Squadron 26 at U Tapao Airbase, Thailand, left on a "Market Time"
mission over the Gulf of Thailand (Gulf of Siam). They were scheduled to return
to their base at about 0900 hours the following morning.

The crew on board the aircraft included Lt. Thomas P. Jones; LtJg. Lynn M.
Travis; LtJg. Roy A. Huss; AXCS Donald F. Burnett; AX3 Armando
Chapa Jr.; AX3 William F. Farris (AX designates Antisubmarine warfare
technicians and related duties); AOC Donald L. Gallagher; AMH2 Homer E. McKay;
ADR1 James C. Newman Jr.; AE1 Melvin C. Thompson (A designates in many cases,
aviation personnel, i.e. AE1 is Aviation Electrician's Mate First Class).

As antisubmarine warfare was all but unknown in Vietnam, there were a variety
of duties handled by those trained in antisubmarine warfare. As marking
submarines, and/or destroying them involved the use of marking buoys,
electronic "ears" and other technical equipment suited for target marking,
antisubmarine teams were frequently used for search missions. They also
sometimes assisted in attacks on small enemy water craft.

Shortly after midnight on February 6, the Orion reported a surface contact.
Some two hours later it reported another contact somewhat further east. The
last report received from the Orion was after 0300 hours. No subsequent
communication was received.

An emergency communication alert for the aircraft was declared shortly after
daybreak and a full search and rescue (SAR) was declared. In the late
afternoon of February 6, wreckage and debris were sighted and identified.

On February 7 search and rescue operations were terminated at sundown. Salvage
operations were conducted from February 11 through March 21. The investigating
officer concluded that the Orion had impacted with the water, and that the
aircraft had been completely destroyed, and that all of the crewmembers had
died instantly.

The Orion went down about 50 miles off the shores of South Vietnam's An Xuyen
Province in the Gulf of Thailand. Presumably, all the crew aboard are "buried"
at sea - an honorable burial for a naval man. This crew is listed with honor
among the missing because no remains were ever found.

For the crew of the Orion, death seems a certainty. For hundreds of others,
however, simple answers are not possible. Adding to the torment of nearly
10,000 reports relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asia is the certain
knowledge that some Americans who were known to be prisoners of war were not
released at the end of the war. Others were suspected to be prisoners, and
still others were in radio contact with would-be rescuers when last seen alive.
Many were known to have survived their loss incidents, only to disappear
without a trace.

The problem of Americans still missing torments not only the families of those
who are missing, but the men who fought by their sides, and those in the
general public who realize the full implication of leaving men unaccounted for
at the end of a war.

Tragically, many authorities believe there are hundreds of Americans still
alive in captivity in Southeast Asia today.  What must they be thinking of us?
What will our next generation say if called to fight if we are unable to bring
these men home from Southeast Asia?


Prepared by Homecoming II Project 01 December 1989.
BURNETT, SHELDON JOHN

Name: Sheldon John Burnett
Rank/Branch: O5/US Army
Unit: Headquarters & Headquarters Troop, 1st Squad, 1st Cavalry, 23rd Infantry
Division
Date of Birth: 09 June 1931 (Milwaukee WI)
Home City of Record: Pelham NH
Date of Loss: 07 March 1971
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 163700N 1063250E (XD653388)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: OH58A

Other Personnel In Incident: Phil Bodenhorn; Jerry Castillo (rescued); Randolph
J. Ard (missing); Mike Castro (fate unknown)

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: LAM SON 719 was a large offensive operation against NVA communications
lines in Laos in the region adjacent to the two northern provinces of South
Vietnam. The operation was a raid in which ARVN troops would drive west from Khe
Sanh on Route 9, cut the Ho Chi Minh Trail, seize Tchpone, some 25 miles away,
and then return to Vietnam. The ARVN would provide and command the ground
forces, while U.S. Army and Air Force would furnish aviation airlift and
supporting firepower. The 101st Airborne Division (Airmobile) commanded all U.S.
Army aviation units in direct support of the operation.

Most of the first part of the operation, begun January 30, 1971 was called
Operation DEWEY CANYON II, and was conducted by U.S. ground forces in Vietnam.
The ARVN met their halfway point on February 11 and moved into position for the
attack across the Laotian border.

On 8 February, ARVN began pushing along Route 9 into Laos. The NVA reacted
fiercely, committing some 36,000 troops to the area. The ARVN held its positions
supported by U.S. airstrikes and resupply runs by Army helicopters.

President Nguyen Van Thieu ordered a helicopter assault on Tchepone, and the
abandoned village was seized March 6. Two weeks of hard combat were necessary
for the ARVN task force to fight its way back to Vietnam.

Randy Ard had been in Vietnam only a few weeks when an emergency call came in
for him to fly the squadron commander to a platoon command post to work his way
down to his Third Platoon, which was in ambush in the northwest segment of South
Vietnam. He flew his Kiowa Scout chopper from the 5th Mech and picked up LtCol.
Sheldon Burnett, the squadron commander; Capt. Phil Bodenhorn, Alpha Company
commander; and SP4 Mike Castro, Third Platoon RTO.

Ard mistakenly flew past the command post and west into Laos. Seeing yellow
marking smoke, he took the chopper down lower. It was too late to pull up when
they heard the sound of an RPD machine gun and AK-47's. They had been tricked
into a North Vietnamese ambush.

The helicopter went down fast, and smashed into the brush, coming down on its
side (or upside down, depending on the version of the account). Ard and Burnett
were trapped in the wreckage, but alive. Ard got on the radio and began mayday
calls. Bodenhorn and Castillo, who had been in the rear seat, got out of the
aircraft. Bodenhorn managed to free Art, but he had two broken legs and possibly
a broken hip. Burnett was completely pinned within the wreckage and injured, but
alive. Bodenhorn and Castillo positioned themselves on opposite sides of the
aircraft for security and expended all the colored smoke grenades they had,
marking their position for rescue.

[Note: Mike Castro's name appears in one account of this incident, but his fate
is not given. He does not appear in a second account from the U.S. Army Casualty
Board.]

Bodenhorn and Castillo soon heard North Vietnamese approaching, and killed these
Vietnamese. The two listened for nearly an hour as others advanced towards their
position from two directions, and 155 artillery rounds impacted very near them.
They couldn't understand why they were not being rescued, unless it was because
the enemy was so close to them. A helicopter flew over, but took heavy fire and
left. They decided to leave Ard and Burnett and escape themselves. They told
Ard, who nodded wordlessly. Burnett was drifting in and out of consciousness.
Both men were alive.

Bodenhorn and Castillo worked their way to 80 yards away when a UH1C came in on
a single run, firing flechette rockets which seemed to explode right on the
downed chopper. Later, they watched an F4 roll in for a one-bomb strike over the
crash site. Ard and Burnett were surely dead.

Bodenhorn and Castillo were rescued by ARVN troops an hour later. Ard and
Burnett were classified Missing In Action. The story was released to reporters at
Khe Sanh three days later. The army spokesman accurately described the ambush,
but told the press that Burnett had been in radio contact with the ambushed
platoon, and that he and Ard had appeared dead to the two escaping officers. The
names of the survivors were not released.

General Sutherland stated, ".. the decision was not made to employ the Air
Cavalry and the Hoc Bao to attempt to retrieve either LtCol. Burnett alive or
his body. ..Burnett had no mission nor units in Laos. He had no reason or
authority to take his helicopter over the Laotian border."

After 11 days of heavy resistance, the 11th ARVN Airborne Battalion fought their
way into the area where the helicopter had crashed. The searched the wreckage
and the surrounding area for several days, but found no sign of the two missing
men or any of their belongings or anything to indicate that either man was
buried in the area.

In 1989, a large part of this loss incident was still classified.

There can be no question that Randy Ard and Sheldon Burnett were abandoned by
the country they served.

Losses in LAM SON 719 were heavy. The ARVN suffered some 9,000 casualties,
almost 50% of their force. U.S. forces incurred some 1,462 casualties. Aviation
units lost 168 helicopters; another 618 were damaged. Fifty-five aircrewmen were
killed in action , 178 were wounded and 34 were missing in action. There were
19,360 known enemy casualties for the operation lasting until April 6, 1971.

Nearly 600 Americans were lost in Laos during the war in Vietnam. Although the
Pathet Lao stated on several occasions they held "tens of tens" of American
prisoners, Laos was not included in the agreements ending American involvement
in the war, and the U.S. has not negotiated for the freedom of these men since
that day. Consequently, not one American held in Laos has ever been released.

These Americans, too, were abandoned.

Sheldon J. Burnett graduated from Westpoint in 1954. He was promoted to the rank
of Colonel during the period he was maintained missing.
BURNHAM, DONALD DAWSON

Name: Donald Dawson Burnham
Rank/Branch: O3/US Army
Unit: B Troop, 1st Squad, 9th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division
Date of Birth: 20 April 1940
Home City of Record: Webb AL
Date of Loss: 02 February 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 161209N 1081006E (AT960937)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H

Other Personnel In Incident: Kenneth J. Patton; Joe H. Pringle; Joseph Puggi;
Charles Adkins (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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:CRASHSITE/PRINGLE ID FOUND

SYNOPSIS: Donald Burnham was the pilot of a UH1H helicopter (#66-16442) that
departed Camp Evans, Quang Tri, Republic of Vietnam for Chu Lai, Republic of
Vietnam on February 2, 1968. Also aboard were SP4 Charles Adkins, SFC Joe
Pringle, SSgt Joseph Puggi, passengers; and SP4 Kenneth Patton, crewchief. The
personnel aboard the aircraft were all members of B Troop, 1st Squad, 9th
Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division.

During a ground radar-controlled approach to Da Nang Airbase, the controller
lost radio contact with the helicopter and subsequently lost radar contact. The
last positive position of the aircraft was 12 miles north of Da Nang.

After attempts to contact Captain Burnham by radio failed, ramp checks were
conducted by another pilot from his unit. Search of the area to the north of Da
Nang failed to locate the missing aircraft.

On May 28, 1968, a crashed and burned UH1H helicopter (tail #6442) was located
in the appropriate vicinity and a search party recovered an ID tag belonging to
SFC Pringle, several weapons, and some human bones. The ID tag and weapons were
given to an unidentified major; subsequent attempts to trace the weapons have
been unsuccessful.

All human remains were given to the U.S. Army Mortuary at Da Nang, and were
subsequently determined unidentifiable. Search attempts terminated on November
16, 1972. Because of the density of the underbrush, no attempt to recover
further remains was made. The crash site was photographed in July 1974, at which
time it became known that parts of the aircraft had been recovered by a
Vietnamese woodcutter. No evidence of human remains were found in the area.

Donald Burnham's photograph was identified by a Vietnamese rallier as having
been a prisoner of war. CIA analysis failed to determine why Burnham's photo was
selected, as neither he nor the other crew were seen by returned POWs.

If it were not for over 10,000 reports of Americans still held captive in
Southeast Asia, the families of the men aboard UH1H #6442 might be able to give
up hope of seeing their sons and brothers again. But as long as there is
evidence that even one is alive, the possibility exists that any of the crew of
the UH1H lost on February 2, 1968 could be alive.

BURNHAM, MASON IRWIN

Name: Mason Irwin Burnham
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 19 September 1943
Home City of Record: Portland OR
Date of Loss: 20 April 1972
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 152900N 1073100E (YC699138)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: AC130

Other Personnel In Incident: Thomas H. Amos (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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: Lockheed's versatile C130 aircraft filled many roles in Vietnam,
including transport, tanker, gunship, drone controller, airborne battlefield
command and control center, weather reconnaissance, electronic reconnaissance,
and search, rescue and recovery.

The AC130, outfitted as a gunship, was the most spectacular of the modified
C130's. These ships pierced the darkness using searchlights, flares, night
observation devices that intensified natural light, and a variety of electronic
sensors such as radar, infared equipment and even low-level television. On some
models, a computer automatically translated sensor data into instructions for
the pilot, who kept his fixed, side-firing guns trained on target by adjusting
the angle of bank as he circled. The crew of these planes were, therefore,
highly trained and capable. They were highly desirable "captures" for the enemy
because of their technical knowledge.

Captains Thomas H. Amos and Mason I. Burnham were pilot and co-pilot of an AC130
on a mission near the border of South Vietnam and Laos on April 20, 1973 when
their plane was shot down by enemy fire. Because there existed the possibility
that the two safely ejected the aircraft, they were declared missing in action.
The fate of the rest of the crew (some 8-12 men) is not indicated in public
records. The aircraft went down in Quang Tin Province, about halfway between Ben
Giang, South Vietnam and Chavane, Laos.

The Defense Intelligence Agency further expanded Amos' and Burnham'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 war in Vietnam ended, and 591 American Prisoners of War were released,
Amos and Burnham were not among them. As time passed, reports amassed, to a
current number of over 10,000. Many authorities who have reviewed this
largely-classified information have concluded that hundreds of Americans are
still alive in captivity today.

The United States Government seems unable to decide whether or not men are still
alive in captivity in Southeast Asia, preferring the less controversial (and
less liable) position of operating "under the assumption that one or more" are
alive.

Whether Thomas Amos and Mason Burnham survived the crash of their aircraft to be
captured has never been determined. Whether they are among those thought to be
still alive is uncertain. What is clear, however, is that if there is even one
American being held against his will in Southeast Asia, we have a legal and
moral responsibility to do everything possible to bring him home.

BURNS, DONALD RAY

Name: Donald Ray Burns
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Mineral Wells TX
Date of Loss: 02 December 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 214400N 1052000E (WF344995)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4C

Other Personnel in Incident: Bruce C. Ducat (remains returned)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS: 730304 RELSD BY DRV

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.
Most pilots considered it one of the "hottest" planes around.

1Lt. Bruce C. Ducat was the pilot and Maj. Donald R. burns the weapons/systems
operator of an F4C sent on a combat mission over North Vietnam on December 2,
1966. During the mission, the aircraft was shot down about 40 miles northwest of
Hanoi and both men were captured by the North Vietnamese.

During the years before the war ended, families waited until their loved ones
who had been captured were returned. Knowing the torture being received by U.S.
POWs in the hands of the Vietnamese, Ducat's father publicly offered an exchange
- himself for his son. The Vietnamese ignored the offer.

In 1973, 591 Americans were released by the Vietnamese in Operation Homecoming.
One of them was Donald R. Burns, but Ducat was not among them. The Vietnamese
denied any knowledge of his fate.

Then on March 18, 1977, the Vietnamese "discovered" and returned the remains of
Bruce C. Ducat. For eleven years, Ducat, alive or dead, was a prisoner of war.

It is comforting for each family to receive, after years and years of grief and
wonder, the remains of their loved ones. However, it is tragic to receive the
remains of persons such as Bruce Ducat and others who were known to have been
POWs when the Vietnamese continually denied knowledge of them. The U.S. points
to such returns of remains as "progress" on the POW/MIA issue, when actually, we
are subjugating our honor to our long-ago enemy, and gratefully accepting the
"gift" of remains which should have been returned decades ago. We have allowed
the Vietnamese to use the remains as political leverage.

Since the war ended, over 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. In light of
this information, it is doubly questionable that the U.S. is pursuing an
honorable solution of the POW/MIA issue.






BURNS, FREDERICK JOHN

Name: Frederick John Burns
Rank/Branch: E3/US Marine Corps
Unit: H/2/3 1st Marine Division
Date of Birth: 11 June 1949
Home City of Record: Merrick NY
Date of Loss: 25 December 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 155700N 1081651E (BT089659)
Status (in 1973): Killed in Captivity
Category: 1
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Marine LCpl. Fred Burns was just over 18 and had been in Vietnam a
very short time when he was sent out his first mission - a patrol southwest of
Da Nang. While on patrol, Burns reportedly dropped a grenade, and dropped back
to find it. Fred Burns was captured by the Viet Cong and moved about among the
prison camps in South Vietnam.

At least one returned POW provides further information on LCpl. Burns. Fred
evidently had difficulty adapting to Vietnam service, and felt unliked by his
patrol members. He told at least one fellow POW that he had fallen asleep and
the rest of the patrol had moved out, leaving him behind purposely. He also
told fellow POWs that, a devout Catholic, he had attended Notre Dame on a
scholarship. Fred, described as a baby faced young man with light brown hair,
neither smoked, drank or swore.

Life in camps in South Vietnam under the care of the Viet Cong was difficult.
Some camps were in hostile areas, and POWs and guards alike were subject to air
strikes. Air strikes and U.S. presence also sometimes prevented food and other
supplies from reaching the camps, and unless the camp was secure enough to have
grown vegetables or other food crops, POWs and guards alike suffered from lack
of food.

The American POWs were ill suited for the dietary deprivation they experienced,
and unaccustomed to the Vietnamese diet. Consequently, dysentery was common,
and freqently led to worse conditions. The Americans were also subject to such
jungle diseases as malaria. While some POWs report they received adequate
medical attention, others report criminal neglect in this area. Some POWs died
from wounds, others literally starved to death.

Starvation did not usually occur because of lack of food, but more often
because the deteriorated physical and mental condition of the POWs caused them
to lose the will to survive. In less than a year, Fred Burns had suffered to
this point. Fellow POWs answered his calls in the night, and continually pushed
him to eat and tried to rebuild the hope he had lost. Finally, on January 2,
1969, Fred Burns died at age 19. He was buried by fellow POWs near the POW camp
in Happy Valley, Quang Nam Province, South Vietnam near other POWs who had died
before him. Fred, according to other POWs, never lost his gentle manners.

When 591 American prisoners were released, a small number of remains were also
sent home for burial, but not those of Fred Burns. For some reason, the
Vietnamese have never returned Fred's body or many of those buried at Happy
Valley.

Fred Burns became a Sergeant while in captivity, but probably never knew it.
Tragically, his family must live with the knowledge that he has died, but for
over 20 years has remained a Prisoner of War.

Even more tragically, the U.S. has conducted "over 250,000" and analyzed
"several million documents" related to Americans still missing in Southeast
Asia and many government authorities believe there are still hundreds of
Americans alive in captivity. The return of those Americans said to be still
alive could give Fred Burns the greatest gift we have to offer - that of having
died for an honorable country.



BURNS, JOHN ROBERT

Name: John Robert Burns
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: (unknown per USAF)
Date of Birth: 08 December 1932
Home City of Record: Memphis TN
Date of Loss: 04 August 1966
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 201858N 1042358E (VH443483)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A1E

Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 September 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 Douglas A1 Skyraider ("Spad") is a highly maneuverable, propeller
driven aircraft designed as a multipurpose attack bomber or utility aircraft.
The A1 was first used by the Air Force in its Tactical Air Command to equip the
first Air Commando Group engaged in counterinsurgency operations in South
Vietnam, and later used in a variety of roles, including rescue missions.

Capt. John R. Burns was the pilot of an A1E aircraft on an operational mission
with another plane about 20 miles southeast of the city of Sam Neua, Laos on
August 4, 1966. Burns radioed his wingman for directions and after receiving
them the wingman's aircraft flew into a rain cloud. After emerging from the
clouds, the wingman observed Burns' aircraft to crash. No parachute was seen and
no emergency radio beeper was heard. Burns was declared Missing in Action, based
on the possibility that he had ejected unseen.

Burns was flying the E model of the Skyraider, which usually carries two
crewmen. There is no mention of a second crewman on this flight in Air Force
data, and there is no other American missing on that day. It is assumed that
Burns was flying alone.

The nature of Burns' mission is not stated in Air Force summaries. Because of
the rather remote area of loss, it is not believed that the A1E was on a rescue
mission, but probably a bombing mission.

According to the Air Force account, information that Burns died at the time of
the incident was received in the Department of the Air Force which led to Burns'
status being changed to killed in action on October 11, 1966. The nature of the
information is not addressed in the account.

John R. Burns is still listed among the missing because no body has been found.
Since the war ended in Vietnam, refugees have flooded the world, bringing with
them stories of American soldiers still held prisoner in their homeland. Many
authorities now believe that hundreds were left behind as living hostages.

John R. Burns apparently did not survive the crash of his aircraft. His family
has undoubtedly accepted his death, and no longer expect him to come home. But
hundreds of families wait expectantly and in the special agony only uncertainty
can bring. Hundreds of men wait in caves, cages and prisons. How much longer
will we allow the abandonment of our best men? It's time we brought them home.





BURNS, MICHAEL PAUL

Name: Michael Paul Burns
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army Special Forces
Unit: C & C North, MACV-SOG, 5th Special Forces Group
Date of Birth: 25 April 1947 (Oconto Falls WI)
Home City of Record: El Paso TX
Date of Loss: 31 July 1969
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 162700N 1065200E (YD003191)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel In Incident: Dennis P. Neal (missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: In Vietnam, SP4 Michael P. Burns and Capt. Dennis P. Neal were
assigned through the 5th Special Forces to MACV-SOG (Military Assistance
Command, Vietnam Studies and Observation Group). MACV-SOG was a joint service
high command unconventional warfare task force engaged in highly classified
operations throughout Southeast Asia. The 5th Special Forces channeled
personnel into MACV-SOG (although it was not a Special Forces group) through
Special Operations Augmentation (SOA), which provided their "cover" while under
secret orders to MACV-SOG. The teams performed deep penetration missions of
strategic reconnaissance and interdiction which were called, depending on the
time frame, "Shining Brass" or "Prairie Fire" missions.

On July 31, 1969, Capt. Neal was the team leader on a reconnaissance mission
with a six-man patrol just inside Laos due west of the South Vietnam city of
Hue. The team had completed its mission and were awaiting extraction along with
4 indigenous team members. It was at this time that one of the indigenous
opened fire on 5 enemy personnel trying to crawl up to their position. The
enemy signalled and the result was heavy enemy fire, including B40 rocket and
machine gun fire. A B40 rocket hit their position, killing Capt. Neal and SP4
Burns and two of the four indigenous. The other two indigenous team members
were slightly wounded. Neal had been wounded in the chest.

Burns was also severely wounded in the head by the same B-40 rocket blast, and
was last seen lying on his back, possibly dead, by Pan and Comen, the surviving
commandos.

When Pan and Comen turned Neal over to take off one of his emergency UHF radios
prior to retreating because of wounds and intense fire, forward air control
aircraft heard an emergency radio transmit, "Help, help, help, for God's sake,
help."

The two commandos were ultimately extracted, and search teams were later
dispatched to the area, but no trace was found of Neal and Burns. When all
details were compared, both from the surviving commandos and the FAC aircraft,
it could not be determined that Burns and Neal had, in fact, died. The two were
classfied Missing In Action.

For every insertion like Neal and Burns' that were detected and stopped, dozens
of other commando teams safely slipped past NVA lines to strike a wide range of
targets and collect vital information. The number of MACV-SOG missions
conducted with Special Forces reconnaissance teams into Laos and Cambodia was
452 in 1969. It was the most sustained American campaign of raiding, sabotage
and intelligence-gathering waged on foreign soil in U.S. military history.
MACV-SOG's teams earned a global reputation as one of the most combat effective
deep-penetration forces ever raised.

The missions Neal, Burns and others were assigned were exceedingly dangerous
and of strategic importance. The men who were put into such situations knew the
chances of their recovery if captured was slim to none. They quite naturally
assumed that their freedom would come by the end of the war. For 591 Americans,
freedom did come at the end of the war. For another 2500, however, freedom has
never come.

Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports relating to missing Americans in
Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S., convincing many authorities that
hundreds remain alive in captivity. Neal and Burns could be among them. If so,
what must they think of us?





















BURRIS, DONALD DEANE JR.

Name: Donald Deane Burris, Jr.
Rank/Branch: W2/US Army
Unit: 57th Aviation Company, 52nd Aviation Battalion, 17th Aviation Group
Date of Birth: 26 December 1946 (Philadelphia PA)
Home City of Record: Wayne PA
Date of Loss: 22 December 1969
Country of Loss: Laos (some records say Cambodia)
Loss Coordinates: 152029N 1072941E (YA678975)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1C
Others In Incident: James E. Kennedy (missing); John H. Husicker, Timothy A.
Purser (both rescued)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On December 22, 1969 SP4 James E. Kennedy, door gunner; WO Donald D.
Burris Jr., pilot; WO John H. Hunsicker, aircraft commander; and SP5 Timothy A.
Purser, crew chief; were the crew of a UH1C helicopter (serial #66-00587) on a
combat support mission when it developed mechanical problems and crashed landed.

Official records differ as to the location of the crash. U.S. Army casualty
and Joint Casualty Resolution Center records indicate that the crash was in
Cambodia, yet Defense Department, State Department and other records indicate
that the crash occurred near the border of Attopeu and Saravane Provinces in
Laos, some 30-35 miles north of the closest point in Cambodia. Coordinates
152029N 1972941E are that location. The locality of YA678975 is undoubtedly
Cambodia. It is possible that their combat support mission was in Cambodia, and
the subsequent rescue flight took a circular northwesterly course around the
mountains in northern Cambodia along the Laos border, circled back east towards
Dak To (its destination), and that some records pinpoint the actual location of
loss at the beginning of the flight, while others record it during flight.

Regardless, when the aircraft landed, Burris, Purser and Hunsicker had survived
the crash, but they could not locate the door gunner, James Kennedy. WO
Hunsicker and WO Burris escaped therough the left cargo door uninjured. They
found the crew chief (Purser), who had also scrambled free of the wreckage. He
had a broken arm. A search of the general area around the crashed helicopter
revealed no trace of SP4 Kennedy, and he was not trapped in the wreckage. (As
door gunner, and at a position on the side of the main cargo area of the
aircraft positioned at an open door, Kennedy may have decided to bail out of
the descending aircraft, or may have fallen, - although the gunners were
generally strapped in to the frame of the helicopter so this seems unlikely -
thus becoming separated from the others.)

Minutes after the helicopter crashed, a recovery helicopter arrived in the area
and lowered ropes with McGuire rigs attached through the dense jungle to the
downed men. The survivors were not trained in the proper use of this equipment,
and SP5 Purser fell out of his rig a few feet off the ground. WO Burris and WO
Hunsicker remained in their rigs and were lifted out, and the helicopter
started toward Dak To, with the two rescued men still on the ropes. Five
minutes into the flight, Burris lost his grip on the rope and fell from an
altitude of from 2500 to 3000 feet. The rescue helicopter continued to the
nearest landing area.

A search and rescue team was inserted into the crash site area and recovered
Purser, who was injured. The team searched widely for SP4 Kennedy, but found no
trace of him, and concluded their search on December 25. No search was made for
Burris because of the lack of positive information to pinpoint his loss site
and the hostile threat in the area.

Burris and Kennedy are two of nearly 2500 Americans who did not return from
Southeast Asia at the end of American involvement there, including nearly 600
in Laos. The Pathet Lao publicly stated they held many American prisoners, but
not a single American serviceman held in Laos was ever released. In Cambodia,
there were substantially fewer missing than in Laos or Vietnam. Cambodia has
publicly offered to return the bodies of a number of American servicemen to the
U.S. (in fact, MORE bodies than are officially listed as lost there...), but
the U.S. has no diplomatic relations with Cambodia, and will not acknowledge
the offer officially. The U.S. is unusually silent on the matter of men lost in
Laos and Cambodia.

At the end of the war, military officials expressed their shock and anger that
only 591 Americans were released when hundreds more were expected. Word of
Americans still held captive has continually come in. At the end of 1988, a
U.S. Government report stated that the U.S. has conducted "over 250,000"
interviews and analyzed "millions of documents", yet still maintains no proof
exists that Americans are still held.

Meanwhile the Burris and Kennedy families wonder if they will ever know what
happened to their men - if they are alive - or if they are dead.
BUSCH, JON THOMAS
Remains returned 13 July 1988 - ID'D October 1988

Name: Jon Thomas Busch
Rank/Branch: O2/USAF
Unit: 398th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Da Nang, South Vietnam
Date of Birth: May 7, 1941
Home City of Record: Columbus OH
Date of Loss: 08 June 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 173900N 1061600E (XE343517)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4C

Other Personnel in Incident: Victor J. Apodaca, Jr.

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 30 June 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: On the evening of June 8, 1967, two F4C Phantom planes departed Da
Nang Airbase on an armed reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam. Hambone 1
took the lead, followed about a mile behind by Hambone 2, commanded by Capt.
Victor Apodaca, Jr. and flown by Capt. Jon T. Busch. The two aircraft were
flying at an altitude of about 4500 feet over a river valley with rolling to
mountainous terrain about 22 miles northeast of Dong Hoi, North Vietnam.

Hambone 1 radioed Hambone 2 that he was encountering heavy and accurate ground
fire. Fifteen seconds later, Apodaca acknowledged the warning and reported that
his aircraft had been hit. Hambone 1 advised Apodaca to exit the area and head
for the coast (where a safer at-sea rescue could occur). Moments later, Hambone
2 reported that it was experiencing control and hydraulics problems. The last
message from Hambone 2 gave the direction of the aircraft and its altitude,
which was 16,000 feet.

Seconds later, emergency signals were received for about 25 seconds, but it was
not possible to determine whether one or two radio signals were broadcasting,
nor could the precise point of origination be determined. Hambone 1, critically
low on fuel, was forced to return to base.

An electronic search was conducted, but suspended due to darkness, bad weather
and heavy anti-aircraft fire. During the search, no electronic or visual contact
was made and no evidence of the aircraft was found.

The Air Force told the families they could not determine whether or not the men
survived. Neither man was among the prisoners released in 1973 from Vietnam, and
the Hanoi government denies any knowledge of them for 20 years.

On November 12, 1973, a refugee reported the death of an American airman which
occurred in Bo Trach District, Quang Binh Province, North Vietnam at about 1500
hours one day in June 1967. According to the report, a U.S. F4 jet flying with
about five other jets bombing a bridge on Route 1A was hit by 37mm anti-aircraft
fire, crashed into Doi Troc Hill in Chanh Hoa II village. The source further
stated that an airman bailed out and landed in a forest near the same village.
At about 1530 hours, the refugee went to where the airman landed and saw his
body lying in the grass. He was told by villagers that approximately 10 minutes
after the airman had landed, militiamen from the village found him hiding in a
bamboo thicket and captured him. The villagers then watched as the militiamen
beat the American to death with hoes and bamboo sticks.

The refugee said he observed the dead American for about 10 minutes from a
distance of about 5 meters. He described the airman as a caucasian, about 45
years old, 5' 11" tall, weighing about 220 pounds with fair complexion, short
blonde hair, a moustache about one centimeter long and a heavy beard. He was
unable to identify the airman from photos of the missing. JCRC correlated the
report to the Busch/Apodaca incident.

In the spring of 1988, remains identified as Jon Busch, a burned map, three
pieces of bone (which were identified as non-human by a Vietnamese
anthropologist) and a charred and battered nameplate bearing Apodaca's name were
returned to Presidential Envoy General John Vessey.

Busch's remains were positively identified by the U.S. Army Central
Identification Laboratory in Hawaii, based largely on the correlation of the
refugee report, which evidently matched information given over by the Vietnamese
with the remains. The status of "Box 19", which purportedly hold the effects of
Victor Apodaca Jr, are still unknown to his family.

There are serious discrepancies in the refugee report as it relates to Busch and
Apodaca. Jon Busch has red hair, not blonde. Vic Apodaca has black hair. Both
men were clean shaven, and were forbidden by the Air Force to grow a beard. The
Hambone flight departed at 5 p.m. in the evening, while the CIA report claimed
the airman was killed at 3:30 p.m. just following his landing. The Hambone
flight, while armed, was not involved in a bombing mission at all. Jon Busch was
declared dead in 1967. Victor Apodaca was declared dead three days after the CIA
received the refugee report.

The Apodaca family was never given the report by the U.S. Government. They
discovered the report through a Freedom of Information Act request they filed in
1985. To many observers, there is a serious problem with the identification of
these remains. Many will retain Jon Busch on the lists of missing because the
discrepancies are too outrageous to make the correlation possible.

Jon Busch and Vic Apodaca are two of nearly 2500 Americans who were declared
missing in Southeast Asia. Thousands of reports add to the evidence that perhaps
hundreds of them are still held prisoner of war. Perhaps Jon and Vic died on the
day of the crash of their aircraft. But, perhaps they did not. If the remains
returned are not Jon Busch's, who will be looking for him? Not the U.S.
Government. His case is officially closed. Vic Apodaca's family wants the truth.
His sister Dolores says, "I won't just let them bury his memory based on some
report with that many discrepancies. It's been 22 years, but none of us are so
tired that we'll drop this without a fight."

Victor Joe Apodaca, Jr. was appointed to the Air Force Academy in 1957. He was
the first Spanish/American/Navajo Indian to attend the Academy.
BUSH, ELBERT WAYNE

Name: Elbert Wayne Bush
Rank/Branch: E6/US Army
Unit: AGC Army Advisory Group Headquarters - MACV
Date of Birth: 31 October 1946 (Starksville MS)
Home City of Record: Jackson MS
Date of Loss: 08 January 1973
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 16421N 1070956E (YD324528)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 1
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H

Other Personnel in Incident: William L. Deane; Richard A. Knutson; Manuel A.
Lauterio; William S. Stinson; Mickey A. Wilson (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: WO1 Richard Knutson, pilot; WO1 Mickey A. Wilson, aircraft commander;
SP5 William S. Stinson, gunner; SP5 Manuel A. Lauterio, crew chief; and SSgt.
Elbert W. Bush and Maj. William L. Dean, both passengers; were aboard a UH1H
helicopter (serial #69-15619) that flew in support of the American Senior
Advisor to the Vietnamese Airborne Division in Quang Tri and Thua Thien
Provinces, working between the provincial capitals of Hue and Quang Tri.

On January 8, 1973, at about 1430 hours, the aircraft had departed a landing
zone en route to other LZs without making radio contact with the 2nd Battalion
Technical Operations Center. When no radio contact was received by 1500 hours,
the other LZs were queried. The helicopter did not go to either of the two
designated LZs, nor had any communication been established with them.

The helicopter's intended route would have taken it northwest toward Quang Tri,
with a left turn to an LZ south of the Thach Han River. Although the helicopter
failed to contact either LZ along the route, it was later seen flying northwest
toward Quang Tri City and crossing the Thach Han River into enemy held
territory. While in this area, the helicopter was seen to circle with door guns
firing. Enemy automatic weapons fire was heard, and a direct hit was made on
the tail boom by a missile, reportedly an SA7.

Aerial searches of the suspected crash site on January 8 and 9 failed to locate
either the wreckage or the crew. The aircraft was shot down less than three
weeks before American involvement in the war came to an official end.

Intelligence reports indicated that of the six men aboard, four were seen alive
on the ground. Further information indicated that the aircraft did not explode
or burn on impact. The families of the men assumed that their loved ones would
be released with the other POWs. Some were even so informed.

But the crew of the UH1H was not released, and have not been released or found
since that day. As thousands of reports of Americans alive in Southeast Asia
mount, these familes wonder if their men are among the hundreds thought to be
still alive.


BUSH, JOHN ROBERT

Name: John Robert Bush
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit: 497th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Ubon AF TH
Date of Birth: 17 May 1943
Home City of Record: Ft. Walton Beach FL
Date of Loss: 24 July 1968
Country of Loss: North Vietnam - Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 174400N 1064400E (XE747760)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D

Other Personnel In Incident: Harley B. Hackett (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 31 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: Capt. Harley B. Hackett III and 1Lt. John R. Bush were pilots assigned
to the 497th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Ubon Airfield, Thailand. On July 24,
1968, they comprised the crew of an F4D Phantom fighter jet sent on an armed
reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam. Hackett was the pilot of the aircraft
and Bush was his backseater. Their aircraft was number two in a flight of two.

During the mission, the lead aircraft was struck by enemy fire, and Hackett
vectored the lead aircraft over water where the crew of the lead aircraft
ejected and were recovered. The crew of a naval aircraft in the vicinity saw a
second aircraft crash which was believed to be the number two aircraft (with
Hackett and Bush onboard).

The incident was off the coast of North Vietnam in the Gulf of Tonkin, about 20
miles east of the city of Ba Don. The two were declared Missing In Action, and
it was felt that there was a good chance that the enemy forces knew their fate.
No parachutes were seen ejecting the aircraft and no emergency radio beeper
signals were heard. Still, there was the possibility that the crew ejected
safely.

Nearly 2500 Americans were lost in Southeast Asia during our military
involvement there. Since the war in Southeast Asia ended in 1973, thousands of
reports of Americans still in captivity have been received by the U.S.
Government. The official policy is that no conclusive proof has been obtained
that is current enough to act upon. Detractors of this policy say conclusive
proof is in hand, but that the willingness or ability to rescue these prisoners
does not exist.

John Bush and Harley Hackett, if among the hundreds said to be still alive and
in captivity, must be wondering, "Where ARE you, America?" Where are we,
America, when the life of even one American is not worth the effort of recovery?
When the next war comes, and it is our sons lost, will we then care enough to do
everything we can to bring our prisoners home?


Harley B. Hackett III graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1965.
John R. Bush graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1966.
BUSH, ROBERT EDWARD
Remains Returned December 15, 1988

Name: Robert Edward Bush
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 421st Tactical Fighter Squadron
Date of Birth: 04 October 1928
Home City of Record: Hamden CT (family in KS)
Date of Loss: 24 March 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 174200N 1063000E (XE573578)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F105D

Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 July 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 F105 Thunderchief ("Thud"), in its various versions, flew more
missions against North Vietnam than any other U.S. aircraft. It also suffered
more losses, partially due to its vulnerability, which was constantly under
revision. Capt. Robert E. Bush was the pilot of an F105D aircraft assigned a
mission over North Vietnam on March 24, 1966. During the mission, while the
aircraft was over Quang Binh Province, about 5 miles southeast of Quang Khe,
Capt. Bush's aircraft was hit by hostile ground fire, crashed in a river and
sank. The Air Force classified him as Missing in Action.

The Defense Intelligence Agency further expanded the Missing classification to
include an enemy knowledge ranking of 3. Category 3 indicates "doubtful
knowledge" and includes personnel whose loss incident is such that it is
doubtful that the enemy wound have knowledge of the specific individuals (e.g.
aircrews lost over water or remote areas). No explanation is given as to why the
residents or military personnel who shot down Capt. Bush's aircraft failed to
know where or when it went down.

Bush's family waited for the war to end, knowing there was a chance that he had
been taken prisoner, but in 1973, when other American POWs were released, Capt.
Bush was not among them. The Vietnamese denied any knowledge of him. Then, in
December 1988, the Vietnamese "discovered" and returned to U.S. control the
remains of Capt. Robert E. Bush. The positive identification of his remains were
announced the following September. Capt. Bush had been a Prisoner of War - alive
or dead - for over 22 years.

Since the end of the war, refugees have fled Indochina, bringing with them
reports of Americans still held in captivity in their homelands. The U.S. has
conducted some "250,000 interviews" with these refugees, and have analyzed
"several million documents" relating to Americans still missing in Southeast
Asia. Much of this material is still classified and unavailable to the public,
but the U.S. Government would like the public to believe its analysis that
there is no actionable evidence that Americans are still alive in Indochina.

Progress is agonizingly slow on the issue of American POW/MIAs. Many
authorities who have seen the classified files on these men believe that
hundreds of them are still alive. It's time they were home.

BUSHNELL, BRIAN LEE

Name: Brian Lee Bushnell
Rank/Branch: E3/US Navy
Unit: Carrier Early Warning Squadron 116, US CORAL SEA (CVA 43)
Date of Birth: 09 March 1949
Home City of Record: Tualiton OR
Date of Loss: 09 April 1970
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 174757N 1074659E (YE950700)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: E2A

Other Personnel in Incident: Larry C. Knight; Charles B. Pfaffmann; Andrew A.
Horchar Jr. (all 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: DWN AT SEA - NO SURV OBS - J

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.

One of the aircraft that launched from the decks of the CORAL SEA was the
Grumman E2A Hawkeye was a strange-looking aircraft, with twin turboprop engines,
four vertical stabilizers (three of which were actually necessary for controlled
flight, the remaining surface being added for appearance's sake), and a large,
24-foot diameter radome which rotated at six revolutions per minute, on a pylon
directly above the fuselage. The E2A mission was airborne early warning,
vectoring fighters and strike bombers to and from targets on the ground, as well
as airborne threats of MiG interceptors. The Hawkeye was literally the aerial
nerve center of the fleet, controlling bomber strikes and MiG-killing missions
with equal facility.

LTJG Charles B. Pfaffmann was an E2A pilot assigned to Carrier Early Warning
Squadron 116 onboard the USS CORAL SEA. On April 9, 1970, he and his co-pilot LT
Larry C. Knight and technicians Seamen Brian L. Bushnell and Andrew A. Horchar
Jr. were launched in their E2A Hawkeye on a routine mission over Vietnam.
Immediately after launch, the aircraft crew reported a fire and their intention
to return to the ship. LT Pfaffmann's aircraft impacted the water about three
miles ahead of the CORAL SEA. A rescue helicopter and escort destroyer were on
the scene within minutes. No survivors were seen, and no remains were recovered.

The crew of the Hawkeye is listed among the missing because their remains were
never found to send home to the country they served. They died a tragically
ironic death in the midst of war. But, for their families, the case seems clear
that the men died on that day. The fact that they have no bodies to bury with
honor is not of great significance.

For other who are missing, however, the evidence leads not to death, but to
survival. Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports received relating to
Americans still held captive in Indochina have convinced experts that hundreds
of men are still alive, waiting for their country to rescue them. The notion
that Americans are dying without hope in the hands of a long-ago enemy belies
the idea that we left Vietnam with honor. It also signals that tens of thousands
of lost lives were a frivolous waste of our best men.


BUTLER, DEWEY RENEE

Name: Dewey Renee Butler
Rank/Branch: E3/US Army
Unit: Troop C; 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry; 1st Cavalry Division
Date of Birth: 15 August 1949 (Goldsboro NC)
Home City of Record: Washington DC
Date of Loss: 14 July 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 111559N 1064500E (XT910459)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1B
Other Personnel In Incident: Ernest Burns (on OH6A); Ray G. Davis, Thomas M. Felton
(on UH1B); all killed, remains recovered.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On a rainy July 14, 1969, a UH1B helicopter from Troop C, 1st
Squadron, 9th Cavalry was sent on a night combat support mission in Binh Duong
Province, South Vietnam about 10 miles northeast of Ben Cat. Its crew included
Maj. Thomas M. Felton, pilot, PFC Dewey R. Butler, door gunner; Sgt. Ray G.
Davis and another unnamed crewman (these two served as aircraft commander and
crew chief). The UH1B was operating with a "Pink Team" when it collided in
mid-air with the team's OH6A Loach helicopter, flown by Ernest Burns.

The UH1B exploded and caught fire, and continued in a northwesterly heading
until it hit trees and exploded. It then crashed and burned. All four
crewmembers of the UH1B were killed, but the three crewmembers of the OH6A
survived and were evacuated from the area.

The color system of identifying the various units was peculiar to cavalry
units. The white section, or "Whites" were the scouts. The Loach lost on July
14, was a "White". The "Reds" were the gun platoon, and were normally Cobra
gunships. The blue section was the Aero Rifle Platoon. The common acronym used
to describe infantry within the cavalry unit is "Blues", just as other units
described infantry as "grunts". The team of two Loach and Cobra helicopters
came to be known as a "Pink" team. When the pink team found an enemy unit that
they wanted to pursue, they would call the "Blues". The "Whites" would provide
assistance in inserting and extracting "Blues", while the "Reds" provided
cover. Butler's aircraft was undoubtedly a "Blue", and probably completing an
insertion of troops.

When search teams located the wreckage of the planes, they recovered the bodies
of Burns, Davis and Felton. Butler's remains had been mutilated, leaving only
portions of his body, but identification was still possible. The Captain on the
search and rescue team recognized Butler's negroid features immediately. It was
felt that the mutilation was not done by the enemy because, although an old
AK47 clip was found, no recent sign of enemy presence was found. Butler's
remains were brought back to camp, but disappeared before an official positive
identification could be made. As pig tracks were found leading away from the
area, it was belived that the remains may have been carried away by animals and
could not be recovered.

Dewey Butler's name is on the roll of missing because his family has received
no body to bury. Others on the lists of unaccounted for cannot be so easily
explained. Experts now believe that hundreds of the nearly 2400 missing are
still alive, held captive. Dewey Butler may be dead, but he would surely be
willing to fly one more mission to help his comrades to freedom were he alive.
Why can't we bring these men home?

BUTLER, JAMES EDWARD

Name: James Edward Butler
Rank/Branch: W1/US Army
Unit: Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 214th Aviation Battalion, 164th
Aviation Group, 1st Aviation Brigade
Date of Birth: 13 June 1936 (Lillington NC)
Home City of Record: Buies Creek NC
Date of Loss: 20 March 1970
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 095900N 1062045E (XS475038)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 1
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: O1G

Other Personnel In Incident: Robert G. Cozart (remains returned)

REMARKS: IR SAYS BOTH CREWMEMBERS KILLED

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

SYNOPSIS: On March 20, 1970, Capt. Robert G. Cozart, pilot, and WO James E.
Butler departed Vinh Long, South Vietnam aboard an O1G (serial #51-12899) at
1016 hours on a visual reconnaissance mission over Vinh Binh Province with a
stop at the Province capitol of Phu Vinh. At 1028 hours, a radio transmission
was received from WO Butler advising the Team 72 Tactical Operations Center that
they were airborne and en route to Tra Vinh. This was the last communication
with the crew. The aircraft never landed at Tra Vinh.

Upon receiving notification that the aircraft was missing, a province-wide
search was initiated. All immediate search efforts were unsuccessful. Vietnamese
civilians, however, reported that an aircraft had been downed in the vicinity of
Tra Vinh. Local forces with U.S. advisors, U.S. troops, coastal patrol boats and
light aircraft conducted extensive search efforts from March 20 through March
27. During the search efforts, one control communications set and one control
radio set were located, but were never identified as positively being from Capt.
Cozart's aircraft. However, they were of the sort used on the O1G.

According to Butler's wife, a Vietnamese civilian had reported the crash,
prompting the search in the area. Another Vietnamese civilian report indicated
that the pilot of the plane (Cozart) had been killed in the crash and the Viet
Cong killed or wounded the other crewman (Butler) and either took the bodies to
cang Long Base area for display or threw them into the river and dismantled the
aircraft. Another Vietnamese civilian report indicated that part of the plane
was located but a September 21, 1970, search was aborted due to booby traps. The
tail section of the aircraft was finally recovered and identified October 23,
1970.

The United States Government has classified both Cozart and Butler as "Category
1," which means that there is certain evidence to indicate that the enemy forces
know the fate of the Americans. In the Peace agreement signed in Paris in 1973,
the Vietnamese agreed to release all American prisoners of war and account for
the missing. They have not done so. The U.S. Government has named the return and
accounting of Americans "highest national priority", yet has dealt with the
issue with less than "high priority."

On August 1, 1989, the U.S. announced that remains returned by the Vietnamese
had been positively identified as those of Buster Cozart. It is has been widely
known for several years that the Vietnamese maintain a large store of remains
from which to select shipments to the U.S. when it is politically favorable to
do so. Buster Cozart - living or dead - was a prisoner of war for nearly 20
years. Although the uncertainty his family has had to endure is now at an end,
they may never know how - or when - Buster died. The fate of James E. Butler
remains unknown.

Evidence continues to mount that some of the nearly 2500 Americans left behind
in Southeast Asia are alive, in captivity, awaiting their country to come to
their rescue. If Cozart's body could be "discovered", why not that of Butler?
Could he be one of the hundreds said to be still alive?


BUTT, RICHARD LEIGH
Remains Returned 10 April 1986

Name: Richard Leigh Butt
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 28 February 1943
Home City of Record: Norfolk VA
Date of Loss: 11 November 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 170300N 1065800E (YD108825)
Status (in 1973): Prisoner of War
Category: 1
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4C

Other Personnel in Incident: Herbert B. Ringsdorf (released); nearby F4C same
day: Robert I. Biss; Harold D. Monlux (both released)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS: DEAD/IR 1 516 0176 71

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.
Most pilots considered it one of the "hottest" planes around.

On November 11, 1966, two F4C aircraft were shot down about 5 miles west of the
city of Vinh Linh in Quang Binh Province, North Vietnam. The crew of one
consisted of pilot 1Lt. Herbert B. Ringsdorf and weapons/system operator 1Lt.
Richard L. Butt. Of this crew, both were apparently captured, but only Ringsdorf
was released at the end of the war. The Department of Defense received
intelligence that Butt was dead, but evidently did not feel it was compelling
enough to declare Butt Killed in Action, as he remained in Prisoner of War
status for several years.

On April 10, 1986, Butt's remains were "discovered" and returned by the
Vietnamese and positively identified. For twenty years, Richard L. Butt was a
prisoner of war - alive or dead.

The crew of the second F4C to be shot down on November 11, 1966 was 1Lt. Harold
D. Monlux and Capt. Robert I. Biss. Both men were captured and released at the
end of the war.

There is some confusion as to the location of the loss incidents of these four
individuals. While the loss coordinates place all four in Quang Binh Province,
certain records indicate that Biss and Monlux were lost in the next province to
the north, Ha Tinh. Their grid coordinates (YD108825 and YD093804) are close
enough to be all in Quang Binh Province.

Since the war ended, over 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. These reports
are the source of serious distress to many returned American prisoners. They had
a code that no one could honorably return unless all of the prisoners returned.
Not only that code of honor, but the honor of our country is at stake as long as
even one man remains unjustly held. It's time we brought our men home.

Richard Butt, Herbert Ringsdorf and Harold Monlux were promoted to the rank of
Captain during the period they were maintained Prisoner of War. Robert Biss was
promoted to the rank of Major.

BYNUM, NEIL STANLEY

Name: Neil Stanley Bynum
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 29 August 1943
Home City of Record: Vian OK
Date of Loss: 26 October 1969
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 171300N 1060800E (XE212041)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D

Other Personnel In Incident: Gray D. Warren (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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: When North Vietnam began to increase their military strength in South
Vietnam, NVA and Viet Cong troops again intruded on neutral Laos for sanctuary,
as the Viet Minh had done during the war with the French some years before. The
border road, termed the "Ho Chi Minh Trail" was used for transporting weapons,
supplies and troops.

The communists poured through the Mu Gia, Bartholemy and Ban Karai Passes in the
mountains along the border of Laos and Vietnam and went over into Laos and down
the trail. As time went by, the NVA established substantial missile and AAA
sites as well as logistic facilities near the passes as well as in a sector
north of the DMZ. The passes were of special concern, as U.S. fighter planes
were frequently routed through them when they were headed into Vietnam from
Thailand. Efforts were continually being made to clear these areas. Hundreds of
American pilots were shot down trying to stop this communist traffic to South
Vietnam. Fortunately, search and rescue teams in Vietnam were extremely
successful and the recovery rate was high.

Still there were nearly 600 who were not rescued. Many were alive on the ground
and in radio contact with search and rescue and other planes; some were known to
have been captured. Hanoi's communist allies in Laos, the Pathet Lao, publicly
spoke of American prisoners they held, but when peace agreements were
negotiated, Laos was not included, and not a single American was released that
had been held in Laos.

On April 23, 1LT Neil S. Bynum and Capt. Gray D. Warren were flying an F4D
Phantom on a mission near the Ban Karai pass when the plane was shot down. Both
men were declared missing in action. It was felt that ample evidence existed
that the enemy could account for both men.

In 1973, when American prisoners were released, the families of those men lost
in Laos were shocked to find that not one man had been released from Laos,
although they had been told negotiations had included them. Many knew their man
had survived, some had evidence of captivity.

There has been no negotiated release of prisoners from Laos since the war ended.
The nearly 600 Americans are still there, and tragically, reports continue to be
received that some are still alive as captives. Neil Bynum and Gray Warren could
be among them. It's long past time we brought our men home.


Gray D. Warren graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1965. Neil S. Bynum
was promoted to the rank of Captain during the period he was maintained missing.
CASE SYNOPSIS: BYRD, HUGH MCNEIL, JR.

Name: Hugh McNeil Byrd, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O3/US Army
Unit: 220th Aviation Company, 212th Aviation Battalion, 1st Aviation Brigade
Date of Birth: 22 October 1943 (Pueblo CO)
Home City of Record: Berea KY
Date of Loss: 09 January 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 162816N 1070200E (YD170220)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: O1G
Other Personnel In Incident: Kevin O'Brien (missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On January 9, 1969, Capt. Hugh Byrd, pilot, and 1Lt. Kevin O'Brien,
observer, were on a visual reconnaissance mission over the Khe Sanh area of
South Vietnam in an O1G Bird Dog aircraft, tail #51-5059. Byrd's aircraft flew
from the 200th Aviation Company, 212th Aviation Battalion, 1st Aviation
Brigade. O'Brian's job as observer from HHC, 2nd Battalion, 94th Artillery, was
to identify artillery targets. The plane diverted to assist a reconnaissance
team that was in enemy contact in the Khe Sanh area.

After aiding the team and being relieved by another aircraft, Byrd headed his
plane back to Phu Bai. The weather was bad and the pilot reported at 1940 hours
that that he was lost and the weather was worsening. The aircraft was not
equipped to fly instrument in meterological conditions. Dong Ha and other radar
controllers tried to get a fix on the Bird Dog, and were able to maintain
constant radio contact, but were able only to get an imprecise location. Based
on the direction the aircraft told them it was flying, the radar station
advised it to climb because of mountains in the area. No further transmissions
were heard.

Numerous searches were initiated following the disappearance of the aircraft,
but were broken off after a few days due to weather conditions. When searches
were resumed when the weather cleared, they failed to locate any wreckage. Byrd
and O'Brien were declared Missing In Action.

In August 1975, in the presumed crash area, a refugee reported seeing 2 downed
U.S. aircraft which he described as one F5 jet and one L19. He was told that 2
Americans on the L19 were killed and buried 1 kilometer from the crash. The
Army feels this report could possibly relate to Byrd and O'Brien. (The O1 was
formerly known as L19.)

Many authorities believe, based on thousands of refugee reports, that hundreds
of Americans are still alive, held captive in Southeast Asia. If Byrd and
O'Brien are among them is unknown. Dead or alive, they are in enemy hands. It's
time to bring these men home.














            CASE SYNOPSIS:    BYTHEWAY, FRANK L.

  ============================================================================

Name:                Frank L. Bytheway
Rank/Branch:            Civilian
Unit:
                NAS Cubi Point
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record:
Date of Loss:            02 October 1969
Country of Loss:        North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates:        175402N 1073602E
Status (in 1973):        Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category:            5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground:    C2A "Trader" Cargo Aircraft
Other Personnel
In Incident:            Terry L. Beck; Richard W. Bell; Michael L.
Bowman; Rolando C. Dayao; Donald C. Dean; Herbert H. Dilger; Carl J.
Ellerd; James J. Fowler; Roy G. Fowler; Leonardo M. Gan; Paul E. Gore;
William D. Gorsuch; Rayford J. Hill; Delvin L. Kohler; Howard M. Koslosky;
Robert B. Leonard; Richard A. Livingston; Ronald W. Montgomery; William R.
Moore; Paul K. Moser; Kenneth M. Prentice; Fidel G. Salazar; Keavin L.
Terrell; Michael J. Tye; Reynaldo R. Viado;

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS:  Frank L. Bytheway was a civilian working at Cubi Point Naval
Air Station.  On October 2, 1969 a C2A "Trader" cargo aircraft from
Reserve Cargo Squadron 50 was transferring crewmen from the Naval Air
Station Cubi Point, Republic of the Philippines to the USS Constellation
on station in the Gulf of Tonkin.  Frank Bytheway was a passenger on the
aircraft.

The C2A was inbound and in the hands of the marshall air controller up to
10 nautical miles from the ship when it went off the radar scopes.
Helicopter search and rescue was initiated from the ship.  The helicopter
began sighting an oil slick and debris.  No bodies were found of the 26
crew and passengers.  Recovered debris indicated that the aircraft was in
a releatively high speed nose down, right wing down impact with the water
or a possible right wing failure before impact.

Frank Bytheway is listed as a non-battle death, body not recovered.  He is
not carried on the military lists of missing.
CADWELL, ANTHONY BLAKE

Name: Anthony Blake Cadwell
Rank/Branch: E2/US Army
Unit: 188th Maintenance Battalion
Date of Birth: 09 August 1945 (Oakland CA)
Home City of Record: Missoula MT
Date of Loss: 17 October 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 152722N 1084011E (BT540075)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Other Personnel In Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 30 June 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: On October 17, 1967, Private Anthony B. Cadwell and a friend departed
their unit area to go swimming at the USO Beach at Chu Lai, South Vietnam.  At
1400 hours, they entered the water. After 10 minutes, the friend noticed that
Cadwell was being carried away by the current and undertow, so he returned to
shore, although with some difficulty.

When Cadwell's friend reached shore, he looked back and saw Cadwell floating on
his back about 100 yards offshore. Two swimmers with air mattresses attempted to
reach him as he called for help. Another swimmer was observed attempting to
reach him, and the friend went for more help. However, before help could reach
him, Private Cadwell sank and was not seen again. Search efforts were conducted
by helicopter and divers without success.

Cadwell is one of nearly 60,000 casualties of the Vietnam War. Some deaths, like
his, were unrelated to battle. Cadwell is listed with honor among the nearly
2500 Americans who remained unaccounted for in Southeast Asia at the end of the
war, because his remains were never found.

Unlike Cadwell, the bulk of the missing could be readily accounted for. The
communist governments of Southeast Asia remain resolute in their refusal to do
so in a timely manner. Tragically, thousands of reports of Americans still held
captive have been received. Many experts believe hundreds are still alive. It's
time we brought our men home.
CAFFARELLI, CHARLES JOSEPH

Name: Charles Joseph Caffarelli
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 31 July 1942
Home City of Record: Tyrone PA
Date of Loss: 21 November 1972
Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 162442N 1075155E (ZD060160)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F111A
Other Personnel In Incident: Ronald D. Stafford (missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: The F111 was first used in Southeast Asia in March 1968 during
Operation Combat Lancer and flew nearly 3,000 missions during the war despite
frequent periods of grounding. From 1968 to 1973, the F111 was grounded several
months because of excess losses of aircraft. By 1969, there had been 15 F111's
downed by malfunction or enemy fire. The major malfunctions involved engine
problems and problems with the terrain following radar (TFR) which reads the
terrain ahead and flies over any obstructions.

Eight of the F111's downed during the war were flown by crews that were
captured or declared missing. The first was one of two F111's downed during
Operation Combat Lancer, during which the F111 crews conducted night and
all-weather attacks against targets in North Vietnam. On March 28, the F111A
flown by Maj. Henry E. MacCann and Capt. Dennis L. Graham was downed near the
airfield at Phu Xa, about 5 miles northwest of the city of Dong Hoi in Quang
Binh Province, North Vietnam. Both MacCann and Graham were declared Missing in
Action. Graham had been a graduate of Texas A & M in 1963. The crew of the
second F111 downed during March 1968 was recovered.

On April 22, 1968 at about 7:30 p.m., Navy LCdr. David L. Cooley and Air Force
LtCol. Edwin D. Palmgren departed the 428th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Ubon
Air Base, Thailand to fly an attack mission against the Mi Le Highway Ferry
over Dai Giang along Route 101. They were to pass over very heavily defended
areas of Laos at rather low altitude. Although searches continued for four
days, no wreckage was ever found. The loss coordinates are located near Quang
Bien, in Laos, although the two men are listed as Missing in Action in North
Vietnam.

As a result of the loss of the Cooley/Palmgren F111A, the Air Force suspended
use of the aircraft for a limited period to investigate the cause of the losses
and make any necessary modifications. After the aircraft returned to the air,
the crashes resumed. When the 15th F111 went down in late 1969 because of
mechanical failure, all F111's were grounded and the plane did not return to
Vietnam service for several months.

In September 1972 F111A's were returned to Southeast Asia. On September 29,
1972, the F111A flown by Maj. William C. Coltman and commanded by 1Lt. Robert
A. Brett, Jr. went down in North Vietnam on the Red River about 10 miles
southwest of the city of Yen Bai. Inexplicably, the National League of Families
published a list in 1974 that indicated that Robert A. Brett had survived the
downing of his aircraft, and that the loss location was in Laos, not North
Vietnam. Both men remain Missing in Action.

On October 17, 1972, Capt. James A. Hockridge and 1Lt. Allen U. Graham were
flying an F111A near the city of Cho Moi in Bac Thai Province, North Vietnam,
when their aircraft went down. Both men were listed as Missing in Action, until
their remains were returned September 30, 1977.

On November 7, 1972, Maj. Robert M. Brown and Maj. Robert D. Morrissey flew an
F111A on a mission over North Vietnam. Morrissey, on his second tour of
Vietnam, was a 20 year veteran of the Air Force. The aircraft was first
reported lost over North Vietnam, but loss coordinates released later indicated
that the aircraft was lost in Khammouane Province, Laos near the city of Ban
Phaphilang. Both Brown and Morrissey remain missing.

On November 21, 1972, the F111A flown by Capt. Ronald D. Stafford and Capt.
Charles J. Caffarelli went down about halfway between Hue and Da Nang in South
Vietnam. Both the pilot and backseater were thought to have died in the crash
into the South China Sea, but no remains were ever found.

On December 18, 1972, LtCol. Ronald J. Ward and Maj. James R. McElvain were
flying an F111 on a combat mission over North Vietnam when their aircraft was
forced to ditch in the Gulf of Tonkin near the coastline at Hoanh Dong. It was
suspected that these two airmen may have ejected. They remain Missing in Action.

The last missing F111A team to be shot down was Capt. Robert D. Sponeyberger
and 1Lt. William W. Wilson. Sponeyberger and Wilson were flying a typical F111
tactical mission when they were hit - flying at supersonic speed only a few
hundred feet altitude. They were declared Missing in Action.

In 1973, however, Sponeyberger and Wilson were released by the North
Vietnamese, who had held them prisoner since the day their aircraft was shot
down. Their story revealed another possibility as to why so many F111's had
been lost.

Air Force officials had suspected mechanical problems, but really had no idea
why the planes were lost because they fly singly and out of radio contact.
Capt. Sponeyberger and 1Lt. Wilson had ruled out mechanical problems. "It seems
logical that we were hit by small arms," Wilson said, "By what you would
classify as a 'Golden BB' - just a lucky shot." Sponeyberger added that small
arms at low level were the most feared weapons by F111 pilots. The SAM-25 used
in North Vietnam was ineffective at the low altitudes flown by the F111, and
anti-aircraft cannot sweep the sky fast enough to keep up with the aircraft.

That a 91,000 pound aircraft flying at supersonic speeds could be knocked out
of the air by an ordinary bullet from a hand-held rifle or machine gun is a
David and Goliath-type story the Vietnamese must love to tell and retell.

As reports continue to be received by the U.S.Government build a strong case
for belief that hundreds of these missing Americans are still alive and in
captivity, one must wonder if their retention provides yet another David and
Goliath story for Vietnamese propaganda. The F111 missions were hazardous and
the pilots who flew them brave and skilled. Fourteen Americans remain missing
from F111 aircrafts downed in Southeast Asia. If any of them are among those
said to be still missing, what must they be thinking of us?


Robert Mack Brown was appointed to the United States Air Force Academy in 1963.



CAIRNS, ROBERT ALEXANDER

Name: Robert Alexander Cairns
Rank/Branch: E5/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 15 December 1931
Home City of Record: Highland CA
Date of Loss: 17 June 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 125336N 1093123E (CQ398257)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: C130E
Other Personnel in Incident: Ralph B. Cobbs; Jack I. Dempsey; Stanley J. Freng;
Edward L. Romig; M.J. Savoy; Donald E. Siegwarth; Curtis D. Collette; Gene K.
Hess; Connie M. Gravitte; Oley N. Adams; Larry E. Washburn (all missing)

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: EXPLODE AIR & IMPACT SEA - J

SYNOPSIS: On June 17, 1966, a C130E "Hercules" aircraft departed Cam Ranh Bay,
South Vietnam en route to Kadena Air Base, Okinawa on an operational airlift
support mission. Aboard the flight were the crew, consisting of LtCdr. Ralph B.
Cobbs; ADJ2 Curtis D. Collette; YN2 Jack I. Dempsey; ADR2 Stanley J. Freng;
Ltjg. Edward L. Romig; AN M.J. Savoy; and Ltjg. Donald E. Siegwarth. All were
assigned to the 7th Air Transport Squadron. Also aboard the aircraft were U.S.
Air Force personnel SSgt. Robert A. Cairns; SSgt. Gene K. Hess; Capt. Connie M.
Gravitte; SSgt. Oley N. Adams; and A1 Larry E. Washburn, and one other
individual.

About 30 minutes into the flight, when the aircraft was 43 miles northeast of
Nha Trang, the crew of a naval gunboat cruising off the South Vietnam coast
observed the C130 explode and crash into the South China Sea. No hostile fire
was observed, and the exact cause of the crash could not be determined. The
vessell arrived at the crash scene only minutes after the impact and began an
immediate search. The accident took place so swiftly that it must be assumed
all aboard perished instantly. Some debris and wreckage have been recovered
including parts of the aircraft and personal belongings. Only one body was
recovered from the crash site. The others are listed as "Dead/Body Not
Recovered."

Cobbs and Siegworth were pilots, and probably the co-pilots of the aircraft,
although this information is not included in public data relating to the loss.
Crew positions of the remaining crew members are not available.

Inexplicably, Cobbs' loss coordinates place him on the coast of South Vietnam a
few miles northeast of Tuy Hoa, while the others aboard are listed as lost
northeast of Na Trang. (This is a difference of about 55 miles.) Also, the
entire crew of the aircraft has been assigned "Knowledge Category 4", while the
passengers are in "Knowledge Category 5". Category 5 includes those individuals
whose remains have been determined to be non-recoverable. Category 4 includes
individuals whose loss details, such as location and time, are unknown and who
do not fit into any of the varying degrees of knowledge other than category 5.
No reason for this discrepancy can be determined.

The Americans aboard the C130E are listed among the missing because their
remains were never found to be returned to their homeland. They are among
nearly 2500 Americans who remain unaccounted for from the Vietnam war. The
cases of some, like the C130E crew, seem clear - that they perished and cannot
be recovered, Unfortunately, many others who are missing do not have such clear
cut cases. Some were known captives; some were photographed as they were led by
their guards. Some were in radio contact with search teams, while others simply
disappeared.

Since the war ended, over 250,000 interviews have been conducted with those who
claim to know about Americans still alive in Southeast Asia, and several
million documents have been studied. U.S. Government experts cannot seem to
agree whether Americans are there alive or not. Distractors say it would be far
too politically difficult to bring the men they believe to be alive home, and
the U.S. is content to negotiate for remains.

Over 1000 eye-witness reports of living American prisoners were received by
1989. Most of them are still classified. If, as the U.S. seems to believe, the
men are all dead, why the secrecy after so many years? If the men are alive,
why are they not home?

In our haste to leave an unpopular war, it now appears we abandoned some of our
best men. In our haste to heal the wounds of this same war, will we sign their
death warrants? Or will we do what we can to bring them home?



CALDWELL, FLOYD DEAN

Name: Floyd Dean Caldwell
Rank/Branch: E6/US Army
Unit: Quartermaster School (QMC), Training Advance Detachment, Training
Directorate, MACV
Date of Birth: 15 August 1034 (Jonesboro AR)
Home City of Record: St. Louis MO
Date of Loss: 14 December 1971
Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 151835N 1081635E (BU090050)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: U21A
Other Personnel in Incident: Dwight A. Bremmer; John G. Boyanowski; Gregg N.
Hollinger; Cecil C. Perkins Jr.; Otha L. Perry (all missing)

REMARKS: R/R CONT LOST - SEARCH NEG - J

SYNOPSIS: On December 14, 1971, CW2 Otha L. Perry, pilot; Capt. Cecil C.
Perkins, co-pilot; LtCol. John Boyanowski, Capt. Gregg N. Hollinger, SP4 Dwight
A. Bremmer and SSgt. Floyd D. Caldwell, passengers; were aboard a U21A aircraft
(tail #18041), call sign "Long Trip 041, which was lost while flying an
administrative mission from Phu Bai to Da Nang, South Vietnam.

During the flight, about 15 miles northeast of Da Nang, the aircraft
experienced an inflight emergency. The pilot reported that he had lost his
number 2 engine, and had a fire. Within minutes after the emergency, both radio
and radar contact was lost. The aircraft was never seen or heard from again.

Search aircraft proceeded to the last known location of Long Trip 041, but
inclement weather and poor visibility curtailed the search. Extensive searches
were conducted for the next three days, but no trace of the aircraft or
personnel was ever found. The personnel aboard the aircraft were declared dead,
bodies not recoverable.

Sixty days of case study was conducted before declaring these men dead. Early
along in the war, pilots and crew members had been declared dead because
circumstances seemed to dictate that was the case. Later, however, some of
these "dead" pilots turned up in POW camps in North Vietnam, causing a serious
effort to commence NOT to declare a man dead if there was a reasonable chance
(with or without evidence) that he survived.

It is pretty clear that Long Trip ditched. What is not clear from public
record, however, is that the crew died. With no proof of death, no proof of
life, their families are suspended in tortured uncertainty. Jessie Edwards,
mother of Otha Lee Perry says, "He told me if anything happened not to give up
looking for him...no matter how long it's been, I cannot." Perry had been a
former Green Beret who was a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division at Ft.
Bragg. He had received 15 major decorations for Vietnam Service, and had served
in both South Korea and the Dominican Republic. Like the families of all the
crew of Long Trip 041, Jessie Edwards will never give up hope.

Many authorities have examined the thousands of reports relating to Americans
still missing in Southeast Asia, and have come away with the conviction that
hundreds are still captive in communist prisons there.

It would be kindest to hope that the crew of Long Trip 041 died on December 14,
1971. If they didn't, what must they be enduring? What must they think of their
country?



CALFEE, JAMES HENRY

Name: James Henry Calfee
Rank/Branch: E7/US Air Force
Unit: TDY-Civilian/Lockheed, Lima Site 85, Phou Pha Thi, Laos
Date of Birth: 05 January 1932
Home City of Record: Newgulf TX
Date of Loss: 11 March 1968
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 202600N 1034400E (UH680600)
Status (in 1973): Killed In Action/Body Not Recovered
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Other Personnel In Incident: Clarence Blanton; James Davis; Henry Gish; Willis
Hall; Melvin Holland; Herbert Kirk; David Price; Patrick Shannon; Donald
Springsteadah; Don Worley (all missing from Lima 85); Donald Westbrook (missing
from SAR 13 March)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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: When James Calfee volunteered for a sensitive assignment called
Project Heavy Green, his wife had to sign a secrecy agreement too. Calfee, an
Air Force man, was to be temporarily relieved of duty to take a civilian job
with Lockheed Aircraft. He would be helping operate Lima 85, a radar base in
Laos, whose neutrality prohibited U.S. military presence. The radar site would
direct U.S. air traffic from Thailand over the hostile territory of Laos and
into North Vietnam. No one was to know.

Lima 85 was on a peak in the Annam Highlands near the village of Sam Neua on a
5860 ft. mountain called Phou Pha Thi. The mountain was protected by sheer
cliffs on three sides, and guarded by 300 tribesmen working for CIA. Unarmed US
"civilians" operated the radar which swept across the Tonkin Delta to Hanoi.

For three months in early 1968, a steady stream of intelligence was received
which indicated that communist troops were about to launch a major attack on
Lima 85. Intelligence watched as enemy troops even built a road to the area to
facilitate moving heavy weapons, but the site was so important that William H.
Sullivan, U.S. Ambassador to Laos, made the decision to leave the men in place.

When the attack finally came March 11, some were rescued by helicopter, but
eleven men were missing. The President announced a halt in the bombing of North
Vietnam.

Donald Westbrook was flying one of four A1Es orbiting on stand-by to search for
survivors of the attack at Phou Pha Thi when his plane was shot down March 13.
Westbrook was never found. Finding no survivors, the Air Force destroyed Lima 85
to prevent the equipment from falling into the hands of the enemy.

In mid-March, Edna Calfee was notified that Lima Site 85 had been overrun by
enemy forces, and that her husband and the others who had not escaped had been
killed. Many years later, she learned that was not the whole truth.

Two separate reports indicate that all the men missing at Phou Pha Thi did not
die. One report suggests that at least one of the 11 was captured, and another
indicates that 3 were captured; another that 6 were captured. Information has
been hard to get. The fact that Lima Site 85 existed was only declassified in
1983, and finally the wives could be believed when they said their husbands were
missing in Laos. Some of the men's files were shown to their families for the
first time in 1985.

Edna Calfee and the other wives have talked and compared notes. They still feel
there is a lot of information to be had. They believe someone survived the
attack on Lima Site 85 that day in March 1968. They wonder if their country will
ever bring those men home.
CALHOUN, JOHNNY C.

Name: Johnny C. Calhoun
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army Special Forces
Unit: Command & Control, MACV-SOG, 5th Special Forces Group
Date of Birth: 14 July 1945 (Roanoke AL)
Home City of Record: Newman GA
Date of Loss: 27 March 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 161130N 1071600E (YC422918)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Other Personnel In Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 30 June 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: MACV-SOG (Military Assistance Command, Vietnam Studies and Observation
Group). MACV-SOG was a joint service high command unconventional warfare task
force engaged in highly classified operations throughout Southeast Asia. The 5th
Special Forces channeled personnel into MACV-SOG (although it was not a Special
Forces group) through Special Operations Augmentation (SOA), which provided
their "cover" while under secret orders to MACV-SOG. The teams performed deep
penetration missions of strategic reconnaissance and interdiction which were
called, depending on the time frame, "Shining Brass" or "Prairie Fire" missions.

Corporal Johnny C. Calhoun was assigned to Command and Control, MACV-SOG in
Vietnam. On March 27, 1968, he was the  team leader of a strategic
reconnaissance team that was operating one and one-half miles south of Ta Bat in
the A Shau Valley in Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam. The team was awaiting
exfiltration when it was attacked by a numerically superior enemy force. CPL
Calhoun provided covering fire for the rest of the patrol while ordering the
other five members to withdraw.

The second in command stated in the board of inquiry that he saw CPL Calhoun hit
by at least 3 rounds in the chest and stomach, fall to the ground and not move.
The interpreter, Ho-Thong, stated that when Calhoun slumped to the ground, he
pulled the pin from a grenade, and clutched it to explode among advancing enemy.
Calhoun's ultimate fate is unknown because of the rapid retreat of the
survivors. It was not known if the grenade exploded on Calhoun's position.

The survivors of the team were extracted about 20 hours after the initial
contact. Because of hostile threat in the area, a further search was not made.
CPL Calhoun was classified as Missing In Action until September 3, 1974, at
which time he was legally declared dead for lack of positive information that he
was alive.

The MACV-SOG teams performed exceedingly dangerous and strategic missions.
Johnny Calhoun probably knew that because of the nature of these missions, he
would be a valuable capture, and accordingly, determined that he would not be
captured. If he did not die, and was ultimately captured by the advancing enemy,
he knew the chances were slim that he would ever be rescued.

Tragically, evidence mounts that hundreds of the nearly 2500 Americans still
missing in Southeast Asia are still alive, awaiting their freedom. One of them
could be Johnny Calhoun. He jeopardized his own safety for that of his team.
What have we done for him?


Johnny C. Calhoun was promoted to the rank of Sergeant First Class during the
period he was maintained missing.
CALL, JOHN HENRY III

Name: John Henry Call III
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit: 37th Air Rescue Squadron, Da Nang, South Vietnam
Date of Birth: 09 February 1947
Home City of Record: Potomac MD
Date of Loss: 06 April 1972
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 164658N 1070157E (YD170595)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: HH53C
Personnel in Incident: April 2: Robin F. Gatwood; Wayne L. Bolte; Anthony
Giannangeli; Charles A. Levis; Henry M. Serex; (all missing from the EB66).
LtCol. Iceal Hambleton (rescued after 12 days from EB66). Ronald P. Paschall;
Byron K. Kulland; John W. Frink (all missing from UH1H rescue helicopter), Jose
M. Astorga (captured and released in 1973 from UH1H). April 3: William J.
Henderson (captured and released in 1973 from OV10A rescue craft); Mark Clark
(rescued after 12 days from OV10A rescue craft). April 6: James H. Alley; Allen
J. Avery; Peter H. Chapman; John H. Call; William R. Pearson; Roy D. Prater
(all KIA/BNR from HH53C "Jolly 52" rescue chopper). Also in very close
proximity to "Bat 21"on April 3: Allen D. Christensen; Douglas L. O'Neil;
Edward W. Williams; Larry A. Zich (all missing from UH1H). April 7: Bruce C.
Walker (evaded 11 days); Larry F. Potts (captured & died in POW camp) (both
missing from OV10A).

REMARKS: CRASH FIRE - AIR SEARCH NEG - J

SYNOPSIS: On the afternoon of April 2, 1972, two Thailand-based EB66 aircraft
(Bat 21 and Bat 22), from the 30th Air Division, were flying pathfinder escort
for a cell of B52s bombing near the DMZ. Bat 21 took a direct SAM hit and the
plane went down. A single beeper signal was heard, that of navigator Col. Iceal
Hambleton. At this time it was assumed the rest of the crew died in the crash.
The crew included Maj. Wayne L. Bolte, pilot; 1Lt. Robin F. Gatwood, LtCol.
Anthony R. Giannangeli, LtCol. Charles A. Levis, and Maj. Henry M. Serex, all
crew members. It should be noted that the lowest ranking man aboard this plane
was Gatwood, a First Lieutenant. This was not an ordinary crew, and its
members, particularly Hambleton, would be a prize capture for the enemy because
of military knowledge they possessed.

It became critical, therefore, that the U.S. locate Hambleton, and any other
surviving crew members before the Vietnamese did - and the Vietnamese were
trying hard to find them first.

An Army search and rescue team was nearby and dispatched two UH1H "slicks" and
two UH1B "Cobras". When they approached Hambleton's position just before dark,
at about 50 feet off the ground, with one of the AH1G Cobra gunships flying at
300 feet for cover, two of the helicopters were shot down. One, the Cobra (Blue
Ghost 28) reached safety and the crew was picked up, without having seen the
other downed helicopter. The other, a UH1H from F Troop, 8th Cavalry, 196th
Brigade, had just flown over some huts into a clearing when they encountered
ground fire, and the helicopter exploded. Jose Astorga, the gunner, was injured
in the chest and knee by the gunfire. Astorga became unconscious, and when he
recovered, the helicopter was on the ground. He found the pilot, 1Lt. Byron K.
Kulland, lying outside the helicopter. WO John W. Frink, the co-pilot, was
strapped in his seat and conscious. The crew chief, SP5 Ronald P. Paschall, was
pinned by his leg in the helicopter, but alive. WO Franks urged Astorga to
leave them, and Astorga was captured. He soon observed the aircraft to be hit
by automatic weapons fire, and to explode with the rest of the crew inside. He
never saw the rest of the crew again. Astorga was relesed by the North
Vietnamese in 1973.

The following day, Nail 38, an OV10A equipped with electronic rescue gear
enabling its crew to get a rapid "fix" on its rescue target entered Hambleton's
area and was shot down. The crew, William J. Henderson and Mark Clark, both
parachuted out safely. Henderson was captured and released in 1973. Clark
evaded for 12 days and was subsequently rescued.

On April 3, the day Nail 38 was shot down, a UH1H "slick" went down in the same
area carrying a crew of four enlisted Army personnel. They had no direct
connection to the rescue of Bat 21, but were very probably shot down by the
same SAM installations that downed Bat 21. The helicopter, from H/HQ, 37th
Signal Battalion, 1st Signal Brigade, had left Marble Mountain Airfield, Da
Nang, on a standard resupply mission to signal units in and around Quang Tri
City. The crew, consisting of WO Douglas L. O'Neil, pilot; CW2 Larry A. Zich,
co-pilot; SP5 Allen D. Christensen, crew chief; and SP4 Edward W. Williams,
gunner; remain missing in action.

On April 6, an attempt was made to pick up Clark and Hambleton which resulted
in an HH53C helicopter being shot down. The chopper was badly hit. The
helicopter landed on its side and continued to burn, consuming the entire
craft, and presumably, all 6 men aboard. The crew of this aircraft consisted of
James H. Alley; Allen J. Avery, John H. Call III, Peter H. Chapman, William R.
Pearson, and Roy D. Prater. Search and rescue noted no signs of survivors, but
it is felt that the Vientamese probably know the fate of this crew because of
the close proximity of the downed aircraft to enemy locations.

On April 7 another Air Force OV10A went down in the area with Larry Potts and
Bruce Walker aboard. Walker, the Air Force pilot of the aircraft, evaded
capture 11 days, while it is reported that Potts was captured and died in Quang
Binh prison. Potts, the observer, was a Marine Corps officer. Walker's last
radio transmission to search and rescue was for SAR not to make an attempt to
rescue, the enemy was closing in. Both men remain unaccounted for.

Hambleton and Clark were rescued after 12 incredible days. Hambleton
continually changed positions and reported on enemy activity as he went, even
to the extent of calling in close air strikes near his position. He was tracked
by a code he devised relating to the length and lie direction of various golf
holes he knew well. Another 20 or so Americans were not so fortunate.

In July 1986, the daughter of Henry Serex learned that, one week after all
search and rescue had been "called off" for Bat 21, another mission was mounted
to recover "another downed crewmember" from Bat 21. She doesn't know whether or
not it is her father or another man on the EB66 aircraft. No additional
information has been released. When the movie "Bat 21" was released, she was
horrified to learn that virtually no mention of the rest of the crew, including
her father, was made.

In Vietnam, to most fighting men, the man that fought beside them, whether in
the air or on the ground, was worth dying for. Each understood that the other
would die for him if necessary. Thus, also considering the critical knowledge
possessed by Col. Hambleton and some of the others, the seemingly uncanny means
taken to recover Clark and Hambleton are not so unusual at all.

What defies logic and explaination, however, is that the government that sent
these men to battle can distort or withold information to their families, and
knowingly abandon hundreds of men known or strongly suspected to be in enemy
hands.

Thousands of reports have been received by the U.S. Government indicating that
Americans are still alive, in captivity in Southeast Asia. It has been 17 years
for those who may have survived the 1972 Easter crashes and rescue attempts.
How much longer must they wait for their country to bring "peace with honor" to
them and bring them home?

CALLAHAN, DAVID FRANCIS JR.

Name: David Francis Callahan, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O4/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 106, USS INTREPID (CVS 11)
Date of Birth: 10 November 1934 (Lynn MA)
Home City of Record: Windsor VT
Date of Loss: 23 September 1968
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 181201N 1070858E (YF273135)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A4E

Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 30 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: When Douglas Aircraft created the A4 Skyhawk the intent was to provide
the Navy and Marine Corps with an inexpensive, lightweight attack and ground
support aircraft. The design emphasized low-speed control and stability during
take-off and landing as well as strength enough for catapult launch and carrier
landings. The plane was so compact that it did not need folding wings for
aboardship storage and handling. In spite of its diminutive size, the A4 packed
a devastating punch and performed well where speed and maneuverability were
essential.

LCDR David F. Callahan, Jr. was a pilot assigned to Attack Squadron 106 onboard
the USS INTREPID. The INTREPID was a World War II-era Essex-class aircraft
carrier which had been adapted for jet operations in the 1950s. Its early tours
of Vietnam were spent on Dixie Station in South Vietnam in support of operations
there. Later, the antisubmarine carrier traded its S2 Trackers, SH3 helicopters
and E1 Tracers for Skyhawks and Skyraiders and joined her sister ships on Yankee
Station to supply air power for strikes over North Vietnam.

On September 23, 1968, LCDR Callahan launched in his A4E Skyhawk light attack
aircraft on a routine mission. He radioed that his generator had failed and that
he was returning to ship. He was routed for a straight-in approach. He flew the
approach well, until in close to the carrier when the aircraft began a left
bank, nose dropping, touching down just short of the landing deck and striking
the Landing Signals Officer (LSO) platform. The aircraft continued a left roll
impacting the water in an approximate 90 degree angle. There was no apparent
ejection attempt.

LCDR Callahan was listed Killed/Body Not Recovered. His loss is listed as
non-combat related. Callahan is listed among the missing because his body was
never recovered. He is among over 2300 Americans who remain prisoner, missing or
otherwise unaccounted for in Southeast Asia.

Others who are missing do not have such clear cut cases. Some were known
captives; some were photographed as they were led by their guards. Some were in
radio contact with search teams, while others simply disappeared.

Since the war ended, over 250,000 interviews have been conducted with those who
claim to know about Americans still alive in Southeast Asia, and several million
documents have been studied. U.S. Government experts cannot seem to agree
whether Americans are there alive or not. Distractors say it would be far too
politically difficult to bring the men they believe to be alive home, and the
U.S. is content to negotiate for remains.

Over 1000 eye-witness reports of living American prisoners were received by
1989.  Most of them are still classified. If, as the U.S. seems to believe, the
men are all dead, why the secrecy after so many years? If the men are alive, why
are they not home?
CALLIES, TOMMY LEON

Name: Tommy Leon Callies
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 31 May 1943
Home City of Record: Howard SD
Date of Loss: 01 August 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 145936N 1082847E (BS281589)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4E

Other Personnel In Incident: Douglas G. Burd (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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: On August 1, 1969, just four years after he graduated from the Air
Force Academy, Capt. Tommy Callies found himself in the Vietnam war as the pilot
of an F4E Phantom fighter/bomber jet. On this day, 1LT Douglas Burd was his
back-seater, having charge of navigation and bombing. It was Callies' dream to
become a career pilot, and he and Burd were flying one of the most exciting
aircraft of the time.

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. It was equipped with
Skyspot radar, which helped ground radar track the plane.

When the Phantom flown by Callies was in Quang Ngai Province, South Vietnam,
just about 25 miles southwest of the city of Quang Ngai, the Skyspot was put to
test. The plane was shot down.

Observers feel that Tommy Callies and Doug Burd died in the crash of their
plane, and circumstances surrounding the area of crash indicate a very good
chance the enemy knew what happened to them. The two are on the rolls of the
missing because their bodies are in enemy hands.

For the nearly 2400 other Americans unaccounted for, simple explanations are not
so easy. Experts now believe that hundreds of Americans are still alive, held
captive by a long-ago enemy. While Callies and Burd are not, evidently, among
this number, one can imagine their willingness to fly one more mission for their
missing comrades. Why have 15 years gone by without our bringing these men home?

CALLOWAY, PORTER EARL

Name: Porter Earl Calloway
Rank/Branch: E5/US Army
Unit: Company B, 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry, 196th Light Infantry Brigade
Date of Birth: 16 January 1947 (Lillie LA)
Home City of Record: Bernice LA
Date of Loss: 11 March 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 153740N 1081647E (BT085295)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Other Personnel In Incident: Thomas J. Davis; Isiah R. McMillan (released POWs)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 30 June 1990 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, including data from "The Survivors" by
Zalen Grant, pp. 94-98, interviews.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: SGT Porter E. Calloway was on his next to last month in Vietnam.
Corporal Isiah R. "Ike" McMillan had just returned from R & R. SGT Thomas J.
"Tom" Davis was one of the new guys in Bravo Company, 3rd Battalion, 21st
Infantry.

In March 1968, members of 196th Bravo were sent deep into the bush around Happy
Valley in South Vietnam. Setting up on Hill 407, Que Son Valley, Quang Tri
Province, two platoons went on Search and Destroy; another line platoon and the
six-man weapons platoon stayed on the hill with the company commander. Before
lunch, a platoon radioed that it had walked into a thirty-man ambush, and that
the platoon leader had been shot in the stomach. (A binocular search of the
platoon location revealed that it was much more than 30 men.)

Leaving the weapons platoon (with McMillan and Davis and Calloway) on the hill,
the company commander mobilized the line platoon to go to the assistance of the
ambushed platoon, and ordered the two S & D platoons to merge. The weapons
platoon was left without a radio. When a mortar attack commenced on the hill,
the weapons platoon abandoned its position on the hill to seek cover on lower
ground. Three men left by the east side and three went down the west side of the
hill. As they had no radio, they were in peril both from the enemy, the troops
below, and overhead spotter planes and support strike aircraft.

Davis, McMillan and Calloway, having gone down the east side of the hill, ran
into a machine gun ambush. Davis, McMillan and Calloway were together, and began
to retreat. Calloway was a short-timer and in a panic. He jumped up and started
to run and was hit in the thigh. The others bandaged his leg and continued to
move toward a small house at the edge of the rice paddy they were in. By the
time they reached the hooch, Calloway was in shock from loss of blood. They
evaded for several hours here until the Vietnamese smoked them out with gas
grenades. The three were captured and taken away as prisoners of the Viet Cong.

By late night, Calloway was still bleeding. By morning, he was panicked because
he couldn't breathe. Davis tried to help him, but his captors stopped him. When
the guard understood Calloway was in crisis, he got help and took Calloway to a
table where he died. McMillan reported during his debrief that they were about 1
1/2 kilometers northeast of the Fire Support base hill, and that the Vietnamese
buried Calloway 50-75 meters east of this position near three buildings.

The U.S. maintained Porter E. Calloway in Missing in Action status. His
classification was never changed to that of Prisoner of War. During the period
he was maintained missing, he was advanced in rank to Staff Sergeant.

McMillan and Davis were held captives in Happy Valley and other camps in the
South until they were moved north in 1971. For Americans captured in South
Vietnam, life was brutally difficult. Primarily, these men suffered from disease
induced by an unfamiliar and inadequate diet - dysentery, edema, skin fungus and
eczema. The inadequate diet coupled with inadequate medical care led to the
deaths of many.

Besides dietary problems, these POWs had other problems. They were moved
regularly to avoid being in areas that would be detected by U.S. troops, and
occasionally found themselves in the midst of U.S. bombing strikes. Supply lines
to the camps were frequently cut off, and when they were, POWs and guards alike
suffered. Unless they were able to remain in one location long enough to grow
vegetable crops and tend small animals, their diet was limited to rice and what
they could gather from the jungle.

In addition to the primitive lifestyle imposed on these men, their Viet Cong
guards could be particularly brutal in their treatment. For any minor
infraction, including conversation with other POWs, the Americans were
psychologically and physically tortured. American POWs brought back stories of
having been buried to the neck; held for days in a cage with no protection from
insects and the environment; having had water and food withheld; being shackled
and beaten. The effects of starvation and torture frequently resulted in
hallucinations and extreme disorientation.

This was the life Davis and McMillan endured for the next three years.
Ultimately, they were moved to Hanoi and released in 1973 in Operation
Homecoming. Calloway's body has never been returned to his family for burial.
The Vietnamese deny any knowledge of him.

Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing in
Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. Many officials, having reviewed
this largely classified information have reluctantly concluded that hundreds of
them are still alive in captivity today.

The U.S. continues to raise the question of the fate of Porter E. Calloway with
the communist government of Vietnam. The Vietnamese continue to deny any
knowledge of him.
CASE SYNOPSIS: CAMACHO, ISSAC "IKE"

Name: Issac "Ike" Camacho
Rank/Branch: E7/US Army Special Forces
Unit: Detachment A-21, Company B, 5th Special Forces Group
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record:
Date of Loss: 24 November 1963
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 105444N 1061914E (XT441071)
Status (in 1973): Escaped POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel in Incident: Claude D. McClure; George E. Smith (both released
1965); Kenneth Roraback (missing); At Tan Phu: James N. Rowe (escaped 1968);
Humberto R. Versace (missing); Daniel L. Pitzer (released 1967).

REMARKS: 650713 - ESCAPED

SYNOPSIS: The U.S. Army Special Forces, Vietnam (Provisional) was formed at
Saigon in 1962 to advise and assist the South Vietnamese government in the
organization, training, equipping and employment of the Civilian Irregular
Defense Group (CIDG) forces. Total personnel strength in 1963 was 674, all but
98 of whom were TDY from 1st Special Forces Group on Okinawa and 5th and 7th
Special Forces Groups at Ft. Bragg. USSF Provisonal was given complete charge
of the CIDG program, formerly handled by the CIA, on July 1, 1963.

The USSF Provisional/CIDG network consisted of fortified, strategically located
camps, each one with an airstrip. The area development programs soon evolved
into combat operations, and by the end of October 1963, the network also had
responsibility for border surveillance. Two of the Provisional/CIDG camps were
at Hiep Hoa (Detachment A-21) and Tan Phu (Detachment A-23), Republic of
Vietnam. Their isolated locations, in the midst of known heavy enemy presence,
made the camps vulnerable to attack.

On October 29, 1963, Capt. "Rocky" Versace, 1Lt. "Nick" Rowe, and Sgt. Daniel
Pitzer were accompanying a CIDG company on an operation along a canal. The team
left the camp at Tan Phu for the village of Le Coeur to roust a small enemy
unit that was establishing a command post there. When they reached the village,
they found the enemy gone, and pursued them, falling into an ambush at about
1000 hours. The fighting continued until 1800 hours, when reinforcements were
sent in to relieve the company. During the fight, Versace, Pitzer and Rowe were
all captured. The three captives were photographed together in a staged setting
in the U Minh forest in their early days of captivity.

The camp at Hiep Hoa was located in the Plain of Reeds between Saigon and the
Cambodian border. In late October 1963, several Viet Cong surrendered at the
camp, claiming they wished to defect. Nearly a month later, on November 24,
Hiep Hoa was overrun by an estimated 400-500 Viet Cong just after midnight.
Viet Cong sympathizers in the camp had killed the guards and manned a machine
gun position at the beginning of the attack. The Viet Cong climbed the camp
walls and shouted in Vietnamese, "Don't shoot! All we want is the Americans and
the weapons!" Lt. John Colbe, the executive officer, evaded capture. Capt. Doug
Horne, the Detachment commander, had left earlier with a 36 man Special
Forces/CIDG force. The Viet Cong captured four of the Americans there. It was
the first Special Forces camp to be overrun in the Vietnam War.

Those captured at Hiep Hoa were SFC Issac "Ike" Camacho, SFC Kenneth M.
Roraback (the radio operator), Sgt. George E. "Smitty" Smith and SP5 Claude D.
McClure. Their early days of captivity were spent in the Plain of Reeds,
southwest of Hiep Hoa, and they were later held in the U Minh forest.

"Ike" Camacho continually looked for a way to escape. In July 1965, he was
successful. His and Smith's chains had been removed for use on two new American
prisoners, and in the cover of a violent night storm, Camacho escaped and made
his way to the village of Minh Thanh. He was the first American serviceman to
escape from the Viet Cong in the Second Indochina War. McClure and Smith were
released from Cambodia in November 1965.

Rocky Versace had been torn between the Army and the priesthood. When he won an
appointment to West Point, he decided God wanted him to be a soldier. He was to
enter Maryknoll (an order of Missionaries), as a candidate for the priesthood,
when he left Vietnam. It was evident from the beginning that Versace, who spoke
fluent French and Vietnamese, was going to be a problem for the Viet Cong.
Although Versace was known to love the Vietnamese people, he could not accept
the Viet Cong philosophy of revolution, and spent long hours assailing their
viewpoints. His captors eventually isolated him to attempt to break him.

Rowe and Pitzer saw Rocky at interludes during their first months of captivity,
and saw that he had not broken. Indeed, although he became very thin, he still
attempted to escape. By January 1965, Versace's steel-grey hair had turned
completely white. He was an inspiration to them both. Rowe wrote:

                  ..The Alien force, applied with hate,
                  could not break him, failed to bend him;
                  Though solitary imprisonment gave him no friends,
                  he drew upon his inner self to create a force so strong
                  that those who sought to destroy his will, met an army
                  his to command..

On Sunday, September 26, 1965, "Liberation Radio" announced the execution of
Rocky Versace and Kenneth Roraback in retaliation for the deaths of 3
terrorists in Da Nang. A later news article stated that the executions were
faked, but the Army did not reopen an investigaton. In the late 1970's
information regarding this "execution" became classified, and is no longer part
of public record.

Sgt. Pitzer was released from Cambodia November 11, 1967.

1Lt. Nick Rowe was scheduled to be executed in late December 1968. His captors
had had enough of him - his refusal to accept the communist ideology and his
continued escape attempts. While away from the camp in the U Minh forest, Rowe
took advantage of a sudden flight of American helicopters, struck down his
guards, and ran into a clearing where the helicopters noticed him and rescued
him, still clad in black prisoner pajamas. He had been promoted to Major during
his five years of captivity.

Rowe remained in the Army, and shared his survival techniques in Special Forces
classes. In 1987, Lt.Col. Rowe was assigned to the Philippines, where he
assisted in training anti-communists. On April 21, 1989, a machine gun sniper
attacked Rowe in his car, killing him instantly.

Of the seven U.S. Army Special Forces personnel captured at Hiep Hoa and Tan
Phu, the fates of only Versace and Roraback remain unknown. The execution was
never fully documented; it is not known with certainty that these two men died.
Although the Vietnamese claim credit for their deaths, they did not return
their remains. From the accounts of those who knew them, if these men were not
executed, they are still fighting for their country.

CAMERON, KENNETH ROBBINS
Remains Returned 06 March 1974

Name: Kenneth Robbins Cameron
Rank/Branch: O5/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 76, USS BON HOMME RICHARD
Date of Birth: 09 August 1928
Home City of Record: Berkeley CA
Date of Loss: 18 May 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 184800N 1053900E (WF684786)
Status (in 1973): Prisoner of War
Category: 1
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A4C

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: DIC 701004; DRV RET REMS 750306

SYNOPSIS: The USS BON HOMME RICHARD (CVA 31) saw early Vietnam war action. A
World War II Essex-class carrier, she was on station participating in combat
action against the Communists as early as August 1964. Her aircraft carried the
first Walleye missiles when they were introduced in 1967. In November 1970, the
"Bonnie Dick" completed its sixth combat deployment and was scheduled for
decommissioning by mid-1971.

One of the aircraft that launched from the decks of the BON HOMME RICHARD was
the Douglas Aircraft A4 Skyhawk. The Skyhawk was intended to provide the Navy
and Marine Corps with an inexpensive, lightweight attack and ground support
aircraft. The design emphasized low-speed control and stability during take-off
and landing as well as strength enough for catapult launch and carrier landings.
The plane was so compact that it did not need folding wings for aboardship
storage and handling. In spite of its diminutive size, the A4 packed a
devastating punch and performed well where speed and maneuverability were
essential.

The Spirits of VA76, assigned to Air Wing 21, reached the coastal waters of
Vietnam in January 1967. As the monsoon season faded, the air war's intensity
rapidly ballooned and sites in North Vietnam that previously had been off-limits
were opened up for U.S. air strikes.

CDR Kenneth R. Cameron was a Skyhawk pilot and the executive officer of Attack
Squadron 76 onboard the BON HOMME RICHARD. On May 18, 1967, he launched in his
A4C on a mission near the city of Vinh in Nghe An Province, North Vietnam.
During the mission, as he was about 5 miles north of the city, Cameron's
aircraft was shot down. Cameron ejected from the aircraft and was captured.

Cameron spent the next three years and five months in captivity, at which time,
according to the Vietnamese, he died in captivity. It was another four years
before the Vietnamese returned his remains to U.S. control.

For Kenneth R. Cameron, death is a certainty. For hundreds of others, however,
simple answers are not possible. Adding to the torment of nearly 10,000 reports
relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asia is the certain knowledge that
some Americans who were known to be prisoners of war were not released at the
end of the war. Others were suspected to be prisoners, and still others were in
radio contact with would-be rescuers when last seen alive. Many were known to
have survived their loss incidents, only to disappear without a trace.

The problem of Americans still missing torments not only the families of those
who are missing, but the men who fought by their sides, and those in the
general public who realize the full implication of leaving men unaccounted for
at the end of a war.

Tragically, many authorities believe there are hundreds of Americans still
alive in captivity in Southeast Asia today.  What must they be thinking of us?
What will our next generation say if called to fight if we are unable to bring
these men home from Southeast Asia?
CAMEROTA, PETER PAUL

Name: Peter Paul Camerota
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 22nd Bomber Wing, Utapao Airfield, Thailand
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Gibbstown NJ
Loss Date: 22 December 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 212500N 1062500E (WJ866264)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: B52D

Other Personnel In Incident: Thomas W. Bennett; (missing); Peter Giroux; Louis
E. LeBlanc (both returned POWs in 1973); Gerald W. Alley; Joseph B. Copack
(remains returned)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 31 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: 730329 RELSD BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: Frustrated by problems in negotiating a peace settlement, and
pressured by a Congress and public wanting an immediate end to American
involvement in Vietnam, President Nixon ordered the most concentrated air
offensive of the war - known as Linebacker II - in December 1972. During the
offensive, sometimes called the "Christmas bombings," 40,000 tons of bombs were
dropped, primarily over the area between Hanoi and Haiphong. White House Press
Secretary Ronald Ziegler said that the bombing would end only when all U.S. POWs
were released and an internationally recognized cease-fire was in force.

In early December 1972, several men stationed at Utapao, Thailand sent Christmas
presents home and readied themselves for a few final runs they would have to
make before Christmas. They were looking forward to returning to Thailand in
time to see Bob Hope on December 22. They never saw Bob Hope, and none of them
returned for Christmas.

On December 22, a B52D crew consisting of Capt. Thomas W. Bennett, co-pilot;
LtCol. Gerald W. Alley; Capt. Peter P. Camerota, bombardier; 1Lt. Joseph B.
Copack, Jr., navigator; Capt. Peter J. Giroux, pilot; and MSgt. Louis E.
LeBlanc, tailgunner; departed Utapao on a bombing mission over Hanoi.

When the B52D was about 50 miles northwest of Hanoi, it was hit by Surface to
Air Missiles (SAM). Bennett called the mayday and manually ejected the pilot,
who had blacked out and then bailed out himself. The tailgunner later reported
that he observed in the bright moonlight that the entire crew of six had
deployed parachutes. Three of them, Camerota, Giroux and LeBlanc were released
from prisoner of war camps in Hanoi a few months later in the general prisoner
release of 1973. The U.S. was not expecting them. They had not known that the
three were being held prisoner. Alley, Copack and Bennett were not released and
remained Missing in Action.

During the month of December, 62 crewmembers of B52 aircraft were shot down and
captured or went missing. Of these 62, 33 men were released in 1973. The remains
of about a dozen more have been returned over the years, and the rest are still
missing. At least 10 of those missing survived to eject safely. Where are they?

As reports mounted following the war convinced many authorities that hundreds of
Americans were still held captive in Southeast Asia, many families wonder if
their men were among those said to be still alive in captivity, and are
frustrated at inadequate efforts by the U.S. Government to get information on
their men.

On June 23, 1989, the U.S. announced that the Vietnamese had "discovered" the
remains of Gerald W. Alley and Josepg B. Copack and had sent them home at last.
For 17 years, Alley and Copack - alive or dead - were prisoners in enemy hands.
Their families at last know for certain that their sons are dead. What they may
never know, however, is how - and when - they died, and if they knew that their
country had abandoned them.


Gerald W. Alley was promoted to the rank of Colonel, Thomas W. Bennett was
promoted to the rank of Major and Joseph B. Copack was promoted to the rank of
Captain during the period they were maintained missing.


CAMPBELL, CLYDE WILLIAM

Name: Clyde William Campbell
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 26 July 1944
Home City of Record: Longview TX
Date of Loss: 01 March 1969
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 195841N 1932838E (UH404095)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A1J
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1990 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.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: The Douglas A1 Skyraider ("Spad") is a highly maneuverable,
propeller-driven aircraft designed as a multipurpose attack bomber or utility
aircraft. The H and J models were single seat aircraft, whereas the E model
generally carried two crewmen. The A1 was first used by the Air Force in its
Tactical Air Command to equip the first Air Commando Group engaged in
counterinsurgency operations in South Vietnam, and later used the aircraft as
escort for rescue units.

The general procedure for a rescue escort entailed two A1 aircraft flying
directly to the search area to look for sign of the downed cewmen while two
other A1s escorted the rescue helicopter to the area. If it was necessary, the
A1s would attack enemy in the area with bombs, rockets and cannon fire so that
the helicopter could land.

1Lt. Clyde W. Campbell was the pilot of a J-model Spad on an operational mission
over Laos on March 1, 1969. His precise role on that day is unclear. The mission
took him in northern Xiangkhoang Province near the city of Na Khang. This area
was in Military Region II and on the northern edge of the Plain of Jars region.

FAC (Forward Air Control) in Laos was conducted by RAVENS, who were volunteers
clandestinely stationed in Laos to support anti-communist efforts in that
country. These unconventional pilots were among the best the Air Force had to
offer, and saw more combat flying during a tour than any other single group.
FACs had to be intimately familiar with the terrain and populous of their
regions, and have an excellent handle on enemy activity as well.

Na Khang was the location of Lima Site 36. North Vietnamese forces had been
building towards an attack on Lima Site 85 (some 150 miles to the north) for
several weeks. Lima 85 was the northernmost site and was the base for radar and
radio equipment used to direct air traffic over North Vietnam. Lima 36, the next
base south, was used at this time for a staging area. Indigenous troops were
flown out of this site and aircraft could refuel here.

Lima 85 was overrun and taken later on March 18, 1969. Following the fall of
"the Rock", Lima Site 36 was taken. Enemy activity in Military Region II was
greatly increased during this time period, and U.S. aircraft were brought in
from neighboring Thailand in great numbers.

At a point about 10 miles west of Na Khang, Campbell's aircraft was shot down.
Others in the area reported that Campbell was dead, and the Air Force listed him
Killed in Action, Body Not Recovered.

Campbell is one of nearly 600 Americans who were lost in Laos. Campbell's case
seems clear--he was killed, and his body may never be recovered for burial in
his homeland. Others, however, have more complex cases. Because the war in Laos
was secret, the fates of Americans lost there are difficult to determine. Many
who were known to have been alive when last seen simply disappeared. A handful
who were confirmed prisoners were never returned, although reports continue to
be received on some of them to this day.

The Pathet Lao stated publicly during the war that they held "tens of tens" of
American prisoners, yet the U.S. did not negotiate for their freedom in the
peace agreements that ended U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia. There has been
no treaty to date that would bring these men to freedom.

Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing in
Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. Government. Many authorities have
reluctantly concluded that there are hundreds of them who remain alive today,
held captive by a long-ago enemy.

While Clyde W. Campbell may not be among those thought to be still alive, it is
clear that we owe these men our very best efforts to bring them home. What must
they be thinking of the country they proudly served?
CAMPBELL, WILLIAM EDWARD

Name: William Edward Campbell
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 10 May 1931
Home City of Record: McAllen TX
Date of Loss: 29 January 1969
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 173230N 1054500E (WE807399)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D

Other Personnel In Incident: Robert E. Holton (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 30 June 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 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.

Major William E. Campbell was a Phantom pilot assigned a combat mission over
Laos on January 29, 1969. His bombardier/navigator on the mission was Capt.
Robert E. Holton. Their mission would take them to the Mu Gia Pass area of Laos.

The Mu Gia Pass was one of several passageways through the mountainous border of
Vietnam and Laos. American aircraft flying from Thailand to missions over North
Vietnam flew through them regularly, and many aircraft were lost. On the Laos
side of the border coursed the "Ho Chi Minh Trail," a road system heavily
traveled by North Vietnamese troops moving materiel and personnel to their
destinations through the relative safety of neutral Laos, coursing into Laos
through the Mu Gia Pass and traveling south. The return ratio of men lost in and
around the passes is far lower than that of those men lost in more populous
areas, even though both were shot down by the same enemy and the same weapons.
This is partly due to the extremely rugged terrain and resulting difficulty in
recovery.

During the mission, Campbell's aircraft was hit by enemy fire and crashed. Both
Campbell and Holton were listed Missing in Action since the distinct possibility
existed that they both survived to be captured.

Campbell and Holton are among nearly 600 Americans who are missing in Laos. The
prisoners held by the Lao were not dealt for in the peace agreements that ended
American involvement in Southeast Asia. When 591 American prisoners were
released from Vietnam in 1973, no Lao-held American prisoners were among them.
Even though the Lao publicly referred to the prisoners they held, no agreement
has ever been made for their release.

Since the end of the war, over 10,000 reports of Americans alive and held in
captivity have been received by our government. The evidence suggests that
hundreds are still waiting to come home. Detractors say that the U.S. is
ignoring good information on POWs for political expediency; the U.S. Government
says that actionable evidence is not available.

There are nearly 2500 Americans missing in Southeast Asia. Unlike "MIAs" from
other wars, most of these men and women can be accounted for. The overwhelming
priority, however, must be for those who are alive. Every effort must be made to
free them and bring them home.


William E. Campbell, who graduated from Texas A & M in 1952, was promoted to the
rank of Colonel during the period he was maintained missing.
CANIFORD, JAMES KENNETH

Name: James Kenneth Caniford
Rank/Branch: E5/US Air Force
Unit: 16th Special Operations Squadron, Ubon Airfield, Thailand
Date of Birth: 26 August 1948
Home City of Record: Frederick MD
Date of Loss: 29 March 1972
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 163900N 1060600E (XD165414)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: AC130A
Other Personnel In Incident: Barclay Young; Howard Stephenson; Henry Brauner;
Curtis D. Miller; Robert Simmons; Edwin Pearce (all missing); Edward Smith;
Richard Halpin; Irving Ramsower; Richard Castillo; Charles Wanzel; Merlyn
Paulson; William Todd; (remains returned)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II
Project.

REMARKS: NO PARA - NO RAD CNTCT - SAR NEGA

SYNOPSIS: On the night of March 29, 1972, an AC130A Hercules "Spectre" gunship
departed Ubon Airfield, Thailand on a night reconnaissance mission over supply
routes used by North Vietnamese forces in Laos. The crew of the aircraft
consisted of pilots Maj. Irving B. Ramsower II and 1Lt. Charles J. Wanzel III,
the navigator, Maj. Henry P. Brauner, and crew members Maj. Howard D.
Stephenson, Capt. Curtis D. Miller, Capt. Barclay B. Young, Capt. Richard
Castillo, Capt. Richard C. Halpin, SSgt. Merlyn L. Paulson, SSgt. Edwin J.
Pearce, SSgt. Edward D. Smith Jr., SSgt. James K. Caniford; and Airmen First
Class William A. Todd and Robert E. Simmons.

As the aircraft was in the jungle foothills 56 miles east of Savannakhet in
southern Laos, it was shot down by a Russian Surface to Air Missile (SAM). U.S.
government sources stated in February 1986 that a fighter escort plane reported
that the aircraft crashed in a fireball, no parachutes were seen, nor was radio
contact made with the AC130 or any of its crew. In 1972, however, the Pearce
family was told that an F4 support plane traveling with the AC130 heard "so many
beepers they couldn't count them" and that the emergency beeper type carried by
the crew could only be activated manually. The Pearce family took this as strong
proof that a number of the crew survived. The support aircraft plane left the
area to refuel. When it returned, there were no signs of life.

The inscribed wedding band of Curtis Miller was recovered by a reporter and
returned to Miller's family. The existence of the ring suggests to Miller's
mother that the plane did not burn, and gives her hope that he survived.

A May 1985 article appearing in a Thai newspaper stated that the bodies of
Simmons and Wanzel were among 5 bodies brought to the base camp of Lao
Liberation forces. The same article reported a group of 21 Americans still
alive, held prisoner at a camp in Khammouane Province, Laos. At about this same
time, Simmons' dog tag was mailed anonymously to the U.S. Embassy in Laos. FBI
tests failed to show fire residue on the tag, proving to the Simmons family that
Skeeter did not die in the explosion and go down in the fiery crash.

The U.S. and Laos excavated this aircraft's crash site in February 1986. The
teams recovered a limited number of human bone fragments, personal effects and
large pieces of plane wreckage. It was later announced by the U.S. Government
that the remains of Castillo, Halpin, Ramsower, Simmons, Todd, Paulson, Pearce,
Wanzel and Smith had been positively identified from these bone fragments.

In a previous excavation at Pakse, Laos in 1985, remains recovered were
positively identified as the 13 crew members, although independent examiners
later proved that only 2 of those identifications were scientifically possible.
The U.S. Government has acknowledged the errors made in identification on two of
the men, but these two individuals are still considered "accounted for".

Because of the identification problems of the first excavation, the families of
the Savannakhet AC130 have carefully considered the information given them about
their loved ones. The families of Robert Simmons and Edwin Pearce have actively
resisted the U.S. Government's identification, which is in both cases based on a
single tooth. These families do not know if their men are alive or dead, but
will insist that the books are kept open until proof dictates that there is no
longer any hope for their survival.

In January 1991, a federal judge ruled that when the Simmons family collected
death benefits for Skeeter, they lost the right to question whether he was dead.
They have continued to fight a positive identification based on a single tooth.
The Assistant U.S. Attorney, William H. Pease, added that the court has no
jurisdiction over military identification of remains.

Nearly 600 Americans were lost in Laos during the Vietnam war, and many were
known to have survived their loss incident. However, the U.S. did not negotiate
with Laos for these men, and consequently, not one American held in Laos has
ever been released.




CASE SYNOPSIS: CANNON, FRANCES EUGENE

Name: Francis Eugene Cannon
Rank/Branch: E2/US Army
Unit: Company D, 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry 196th Light Infantry Brigade
(Americal) Chu Lai, South Vietnam
Date of Birth: 11 December 1944 (Alton IL)
Home City of Record: Phoenix AZ
Loss Date: 09 January 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 153551N 1081006E (AT964263)
Status (in 1973): Prisoner of War
Category: 1
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel in Incident: Company A: James A.Daly (released POW - 1973);
Willie A. Watkins (released POW 1969); Richard R. Rehe and Derri Sykes
(missing); Company D: Richard F. Williams (POW - remains returned 1985); David
N. Harker (released POW - 1973); James H. Strickland (released POW - 1969);
Thomas A. Booker (killed); "Coglin" (an unknown person whom Cannon said died)

REMARKS: 680901 ON PRG DIC LIST

SYNOPSIS: On January 8, 1968, PFC Richard Rehe, PFC Derri Sykes, PFC James A.
Daly and Cpl. Willie A. Watkins, members of A Company, 3rd Battalion, 21st
Infantry, 196th Light Infantry Brigade (Americal) were ordered to move down to
Happy Valley in Quang Tin Province, South Vietnam. "Charlie" and "Delta"
Companies had been sustaining heavy losses in previous days.

PFC David N. Harker, James H. Strickland, 1Sgt. Richard F. Williams, Sgt.
Thomas A. Booker, PFC Francis E. Cannon and "Coglin" were part of Delta
Company. During the fight, a mortar shell exploded near Cannon, the radioman,
killing Sgt. Booker and "Coglin". Harker, a rifleman, was stabbed in the side
with a bayonette. Strickland, a rifleman, was not seriously wounded. Cannon had
a large hole in his upper back and a smaller hole near his neck. The Company's
first sergeant, "Top" Williams, was shot through the right hand and injured an
arm. Harker, Strickland, Williams and Cannon were captured that day.

The next day, under heavy attack, Daly, Rhe, Watkins and Sykes were injured and
captured. Sykes, a rifleman, was hit 3 times as he and Watkins had jumped for
cover just when a grenade hit. Watkins was captured immediately, but thought
that Sykes was left behind, as the enemy rushed him (Watkins) from the area.
During his departure from the area, Watkins saw Daly, whom he thought dead,
lying in a rice paddy. Daly then moved and drew attention to himself and was
captured. Watkins later saw Sykes, bandaged and calling for water. Watkins and
Daly carried him along the trail after their capture, but were ordered to leave
him under a shed at a house on the trail on the first day. They never saw Derri
Sykes again.

Watkins said that Richard Rehe, a grenadier, had also been taken prisoner that
day, but died in captivity from wounds sustained in the battle. Daly stated
that both Rehe and Sykes had been captured but had died the same day.

Cannon, Williams, Harker, Strickland, Watkins and Daly eventually were held
together in prison camps in Quang Nam Province, South Vietnam. For Americans as
well as Viet Cong, life in these camps was extremely difficult. The living
conditions were primitive, food scarce at times, and disease and dysentary
common, adequate medical treatment uncommon. It was not uncommon for POWs held
in the south to die of starvation or disease. It is also resonable to expect
that in such circumstances, one cannot predict behavior or its abberation.
While superhuman efforts were made to maintain the esprit de corps and military
order and honor, it was sometimes impossible not to revert to a basic, more
primitive nature for self preservation.

Top Williams, a veteran of World War II, and a big grey haired man, was
described as being a real professional. His injured hand became gangrenous, but
he survived this injury. He was receiving treatment and still probing for bone
splinters in his injured arm when he contracted dysentery and ultimately died,
September 27, 1968. Death from malnutrition and dysentery is extremely
unpleasant, and the victim suffers not only from the discomfort of dysentery,
but also from severe edema, and many times from halucinations. Williams'
remains were returned in 1985, after 17 years.

Frank Cannon, a handsome 6" tall man of 24 with deep set eyes, suffered from
the wounds he received by the exploding mortar shell. These wounds became
gangrenous, and although the wounds gradually improved by summer 1968, Cannon
grew continually weaker. By August, Cannon weighed only 90 pounds and slipped
into a coma. In early September 1968, Frank Cannon died. 17 years later, the
Vietnamese returned his remains to his country.

Willie Watkins, described as just over 6" tall, good-looking, lanky, very dark
skin, penetrating eyes, wiry and hard as a rock remained one of the strongest
prisoners and at times was a leader among his fellow POWs. According to some of
them, he "always had a Bible and a machete". He was never sick.

James H. Strickland, a rather short, blue-eyed, boyish looking man was known to
be a hard worker and to be as strong as a bull. He was also pointed out by the
Vietnamese as an example of a "progressive" prisoner, as was Willie Watkins.
The two were released from Cambodia on November 5, 1969.

James A. Daly, a conscientious objector, never felt he should have been in
combat. He had been waiting for notice to leave Vietnam, following a lengthy
process of appeal on the basis of his beliefs. Daly, a big man, "coffee and
cream color" was only slightly wounded when he was captured. His sense of self
preservation ensured that he lost a minimum of weight. He joined the "Peace
Committee" comprised of a number of other military men who opposed the war, and
official charges were brought against him upon his 1973 release by fellow POW
Col. Theodore Guy. In the wake of the POW release, charges were officially
dismissed.

David Harker also felt some anti-war sentiments, but it was said that he slowly
turned "reactionary" against the Vietnamese after he was moved to North Vietnam
after three years in the jungle.

Perhaps it is important to note that no returned POW would deny "collaborating"
with the enemy at some point in time. Technically, if a POW was ordered to work
or to perform any function whatever, the execution of this function would be
considered collaboration. Sometimes the abberation in conduct was a group
decision, made for the welfare of the unit. At other times, the desision to
cooperate was made for purely self-serving reasons - such as starvation,
reluctance to be tortured, loss of will to resist. It cannot be possible for
any person to judge this behavior not having experienced the horror that caused
it.

Richard Rehe and Derri Sykes alone remain unaccounted for from the battle in
Quang Tin Province. Although it seems certain that they are both dead, the
Vietnamese deny any knowledge of them.

For many others who are missing, simple and certain death did not occur. Some
just vanished, others were known captives and never were returned. Still others
were alive and well and in radio contact with would-be rescuers describing the
approach of the enemy.

Tragically, thousands of reports have been received indicating that some
hundreds of Americans are still alive and in captivity in Southeast Asia. We
cannot forget them, we cannot write them off. They must be brought home.





CANUP, FRANKLIN HARLEE JR.

Name: Franklin Harlee Canup, Jr.
Rank/Branch: E5/US Navy
Unit: Mine Squadron 11 Detachment ALFA, MSB-14
Date of Birth: 02 June 1928
Home City of Record: Concord NC
Date of Loss: 14 January 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 102633N 1065735E (YS145549)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: MSB 14
Other Personnel in Incident: (crew - see text)

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: 01 January 1990

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Petty Officer Franklin H. Canup Jr. was one of four crew members
assigned to Mine Squadron 11, Detachment ALFA. On January 14, 1967, Canup and
his crew departed onboard their vessel, MSB-14 to tour areas in southern Gia
Dinh Province in the Delta region of South Vietnam.

That same day, during the early morning hours, MSB-14 was rammed and
immediately sunk by a merchant ship, the MUI FINN, at the mouth of the Long Tau
River. A search commenced within minutes after the collision for survivors,
however, Canup and the crew were not found. The minesweeper was lifted for
salvage on January 19 and it was learned that no personnel were trapped inside.
Canup and the crew were initially placed in a casualty status of Missing in
Action, and later changed to Reported Dead on January 25, 1967.

U.S. Navy narratives of the loss of Franklin H. Canup do not list the names of
the crew of MSB-14, but it is assumed that their bodies were later located, as
none of them are currently missing. From the collision of MSB-14 and the MUI
FINN, only Canup remains unaccounted for.

Canup was listed as killed, body not recovered. He is among nearly 2500
Americans who remain unaccounted for from the Vietnam war. The cases of some,
like Canup, seem clear - that they perished and will never be recovered.
Unfortunately, mounting evidence indicates that hundreds of Americans are still
captive, waiting for the country they proudly served to secure their freedom.

In our haste to leave an unpopular war, it now appears we abandoned some of our
best men. In our haste to heal the wounds of this same war, will we sign their
death warrants? Or will we do what we can to bring them home?
CAPLING, ELWYN REX
Remains Returned 18 March 1977

Name: Elwyn Rex Capling
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 15 July 1930
Home City of Record: Detroit MI
Date of Loss: 19 September 1968
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 170300NN 1065500E (YD120920)
Status (in 1973): Prisoner of War
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F105F

Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS: SRV RET REMS TO PCOM 770318

SYNOPSIS: The F105 Thunderchief (or "Thud") performed yoeman service on many
diversified missions in Southeast Asia. F105s flew more combat missions over
North Vietnam than any other USAF aircraft and consequently suffered the
heaviest losses in action.

Maj. Elwyn R. Capling was the pilot of an F105F aircraft sent on a mission in
North Vietnam on September 19, 1968. During the mission, Capling's aircraft was
shot down over Quang Binh Province. Other pilots in the flight observed Maj.
Capling's successful ejection and landing on the ground. By radio, Capling
reported his leg was broken and requested help. Because of the heavy
concentration of North Vietnamese forces in the immediate area, rescue attempts
were impossible.

Records on American military personnel were maintained in various government
agencies. Raw intelligence data from Southeast Asia frequently first found its
way into the files of the organization which came to be known as Joint Casualty
Resolution Center (JCRC). Many analysts believed JCRC records were the most
complete and authoritative, since they contained largely raw data without
benefit of much analytical "muddling".

In November 1973, JCRC received a cable from Defense Intelligence Agency which
was copied to various high stations, including CIA, the Secretary of State and
the White House. The cable stated JCRC should "take necessary action to delete
any references pertaining to PW [Prisoner of War] status and place members in a
new MIA code" the files of Capling and several others. Whether JCRC had positive
intelligence that indicated Capling had been captured is unknown.

Since American involvement in Vietnam ended in 1975, nearly 10,000 reports
relating to Americans missing, prisoner, or otherwise unaccounted for in
Indochina have been received by the U.S. Government. Many officials, having
examined this largely classified information, have reluctantly concluded that
many Americans are still alive today, held captive by our long-ago enemy.

Whether Capling was actually captured by the enemy is not known. However, it is
clear that someone knows what happened to him between September 19, 1968 and the
time his remains were returned nearly 11 years later. It is also certain that as
long as even one American remains alive, held against his will, we owe him our
very best efforts to bring him to freedom.



CAPPELLI, CHARLES EDWARD
Remains Returned December 15, 1988, Identified May 5, 1989

Name: Charles Edward Cappelli
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 14 March 1930
Home City of Record: Providence RI
Date of Loss: 17 November 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 204400N 1051300E (WH230940)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F105D
Other Personnel In Incident: (none missing)

REMARKS: GOOD CHUTE

SYNOPSIS: Charles Cappelli was the pilot of an F105D. This aircraft flew more
missions over North Vietnam than any other U.S. plane, but it also took more
losses. On November 17, 1969, Cappelli and his Thunderchief fighter/bomber were
also lost.

Cappelli was flying southwest of Hanoi in Hoi Bihn Province as part of an
expanded Rolling Thunder program when his plane was hit and went down. Cappelli
was observed ejecting and his parachute looked normal. That was the last anyone
knew of Charles Cappelli for the next 21 years.

When the war ended in 1973, 591 Americans were released from North Vietnamese
prisons, but Cappelli was not one of them. In fact, there are nearly 2500 who
remain missing.

There are several reasons why MIAs from the Vietnam war cannot be lumped, as in
prior wars, as unrecoverable. Although evidence suggests we left hundreds of
Americans alive in enemy hands from World War II, we lost many hundreds of men
over vast ocean. Aircraft ejection was vastly improved by the time we fought in
Vietnam. We did not have the rescue expertise in World War II that we had in
Southeast Asia. The Vietnam War, unlike World War II, was fought over a
relatively small area, making rescue and/or recovery much more possible.
Besides, the Vietnamese are so thrifty, that it was not uncommon for entire
villages to troop out to a downed plane and have it taken apart by sundown and
carried to their village. They were under orders to report to Hanoi any
information they obtained, and did. The Vietnamese held very detailed records
of our pilots. Anyone they captured was sent north to the central government.

Cappelli's family understands that he did not simply disappear. They do not
know if he survived or not, but they know that someone has the answers. They
want to know what happened to him. If he is alive, they want him home.

NOTE: In December 1988, the Vietnamese returned the remains of Charles Cappelli
to U.S. control. These remains were positively identified by May 1989, at which
the return was publicly announced. The Vietnamese held these remains, or held
Cappelli for just over 21 years.
CAREY, DAVID JAY

Name: David Jay Carey
Rank/Branch: O2/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 163, USS ORISKANY
ate of Birth: 31 August 1967 (Greesburg PA)
Home City of Record: Jeannette PA
Date of Loss: 31 August 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 204100N 1063200E (XH596876)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A4E

Other Personnel in Incident: Hugh A. Stafford (released POW); Richard C. Perry
(remains returned)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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: 730314 RLSD BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: The USS ORISKANY was a World War II-era carrier on duty in Vietnam as
early as 1964. The ORISKANY at one time carried the RF8A (number 144608) that
Maj. John H. Glenn, the famous Marine astronaut (and later Senator), flew in his
1957 transcontinental flight. In October, 1966 the ORISKANY endured a tragic
fire which killed 44 men onboard, but was soon back on station. In 1972, the
ORISKANY had an at-sea accident which resulted in the loss of one of its
aircraft elevators, and later lost a screw that put the carrier into drydock in
Yokosuka, Japan for major repairs, thus delaying its involvement until the late
months of the war.

The ORISKANY's 1966 tour was undoubtedly one of the most tragic deployments of
the Vietnam conflict. This cruise saw eight VA 164 "Ghostriders" lost; four in
the onboard fire, one in an aerial refueling mishap, and another three in the
operational arena. However, the 1967 deployment, which began in June and ended
on a chilly January morning as the ORISKANY anchored in San Francisco Bay,
earned near legendary status by virtue of extensive losses suffered in the
ship's squadrons, including among the Ghostriders of VA 164, and Saints of VA
163. One reason may have been that Navy aviators were, at this time, still
forbidden to strike surface-to-air missile (SAM) sites which were increasing in
number in North Vietnam.

On July 18, 1967, LCDR Richard D. Hartman's aircraft fell victim to
anti-aircraft fire near Phu Ly in Nam Ha Province, North Vietnam. Hartman, from
VA 164, ejected safely, but could not be rescued due to the hostile threat in
the area. Others in the flight were in radio contact with him and resupplied him
for about three days. He was on a karst hill in a difficult recovery area.
Eventually the North Vietnamese moved in a lot of troops and AAA guns, making
rescue almost impossible.

One of the rescue helicopters attempting to recover LCDR Hartman on the 19th was
a Sikorsky SH3A helicopter flown by Navy LT Dennis W. Peterson. The crew onboard
the aircraft included ENS Donald P. Frye and AX2 William B. Jackson and AX2
Donald P. McGrane. While attempting to rescue LCDR Hartman, this aircraft was
hit by enemy fire and crashed killing all onboard. The remains of all but the
pilot, Peterson, were returned by the Vietnamese on October 14, 1982. Peterson
remains missing.

The decision was made to leave Hartman before more men were killed trying to
rescue him. It was not an easy decision, and one squadron mate said, "To this
day, I can remember his voice pleading, 'Please don't leave me.' We had to, and
it was a heartbreaker." Hartman was captured and news returned home that he was
in a POW camp. However, he was not released in 1973. The Vietnamese finally
returned his remains on March 5, 1974. Hartman had died in captivity from
unknown causes.

In July 1967, LCDR Donald V. Davis was one of the Saints of VA 163 onboard the
ORISKANY. Davis was an aggressive pilot. On the night of July 25, 1967, Davis
was assigned a mission over North Vietnam. The procedure for these night attacks
was to drop flares over a suspected target and then fly beneath them to attack
the target in the light of the flares. Davis and another pilot were conducting
the mission about 10 miles south of Ha Tinh when Davis radioed that he had
spotted a couple of trucks. He dropped the flares and went in. On his strafing
run, he drove his Skyhawk straight into the ground and was killed immediately.
Davis is listed among the missing because his remains were never recovered.

LTJG Ralph C. Bisz was also assigned to Attack Squadron 163. On August 4, 1967,
Bisz launched on a strike mission against a petroleum storage area near
Haiphong. Approximately a minute and a half from the target area, four
surface-to-air missiles (SAM) were observed lifting from the area northeast of
Haiphong. The flight maneuvered to avoid the SAMs, however, Bisz' aircraft was
observed as it was hit by a SAM by a wingman. Bisz' aircraft exploded, burst
into flames, and spun downward in a large ball of fire. Remnants of the aircraft
were observed falling down in the large ball of fire until reaching an altitude
estimated to be 5,000 feet and then appeared to almost completely burn out prior
to reaching the ground. No parachute or ejection was observed. No emergency
beeper or voice communications were received.

Bisz' aircraft went down in a heavily populated area in Hai Duong Province,
Vietnam. Information from an indigenous source which closely parallels his
incident indicated that his remains were recovered from the wreckage and taken
to Hanoi for burial. The U.S. Government listed Ralph Bisz as a Prisoner of War
with certain knowledge that the Vietnamese know his fate. Bisz was placed in a
casualty status of Captured on August 4, 1967.

The Navy now says that the possibility of Bisz ejecting was slim. If he had
ejected, his capture would have taken place in a matter of seconds due to the
heavy population concentration in the area and that due to the lack of
additional information it is believed that Bisz did not eject from his aircraft
and that he was killed on impact of the SAM.

Classified information on Bisz' case was presented to the Vietnamese by General
Vessey in the fall of 1987 in hopes that the Vietnamese would be able to resolve
the mystery of Bisz' fate. His case is one of what are called "discrepancy"
cases, which should be readily resolved. The Vietnamese have not been
forthcoming with information on Ralph Bisz.

On August 31, three pilots from the ORISKANY were shot down on a particularly
wild raid over Haiphong. The Air Wing had been conducting strikes on Haiphong
for two consecutive days. On this, the third day, ten aircraft launched in three
flights; four from VA 164 (call sign Ghostrider), four from VA 163 (call sign
Old Salt) and two from VA 163. As the flight turned to go into Haiphong, one of
the section leaders spotted two SAMs lifting off from north of Haiphong. They
were headed towards the Saints section leader and the Ghostrider section leader,
LCDR Richard C. Perry.

The Saints section leader and his wingman pitched up and to the right, while Old
Salt 3 (LCDR Hugh A. Stafford) turned down, his wingman, LTJG David J. Carey
close behind him. Carey, an Air Force Academy graduate, was on his first
operational mission. The missile detonated right in front of them and aircraft
pieces went everywhere.

The other SAM headed towards Perry's section, and he had frozen in the cockpit.
All three planes in the division pulled away, and he continued straight and
level. His helpless flightmates watched as the missile came right up and hit the
aircraft. The aircraft was generally whole and heading for open water.

Old Salt Three and Old Salt Four, Stafford and Carey, had by that time ejected
from their ruined planes and were heading towards the ground from an altitude of
3,000 to 4,000 feet. Both were okay, but Stafford had landed in a tree near a
village, making rescue impossible. Carey had landed about a mile away near a
small village. Stafford and Carey were captured and held in various prisoner of
war camps until their release in Operation Homecoming on March 14, 1973.

Richard Perry had also ejected and was over open water. But as Perry entered the
water, his parachute went flat and he did not come up. A helicopter was on scene
within minutes, and a crewman went into the water after Perry. He had suffered
massive chest wounds, either in the aircraft or during descent in his parachute
and was dead. To recover his body was too dangerous because the North Vietnamese
were mortaring the helicopter. The helicopter left the area. Richard Perry's
remains were recovered by the Vietnamese and held until February 1987, at which
time they were returned to U.S. control.

Flight members were outraged that they had lost three pilots to SAMs that they
were forbidden to attack. Policy was soon changed to allow the pilots to strike
the sites, although never to the extent that they were disabled completely.

On October 7, 1967, VA 164 pilot LT David L. Hodges was killed when his Skyhawk
was hit by a SAM about twelve miles southwest of Hanoi. His remains were never
recovered and he is listed among those missing in Vietnam.

On October 18, 1967, VA 164 pilot LCDR John F. Barr was killed when his Skyhawk
was hit by enemy fire and slammed into the ground while on a strike mission at
Haiphong. Barr's remains were not recovered.

On November 2, 1967, VA 164 pilot LTJG Frederic Knapp launched as the lead of a
flight of two aircraft on an armed reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam.
The wingman reported that during an attack run, the aircraft appeared to have
been hit by anti-aircraft fire. The wingman saw Knapp's aircraft impact the
ground and did not see the canopy separate from the aircraft. There was no
parachute sighted or emergency radio beeper heard. The aircraft crashed about 9
kilometers west-southwest of Cho Giat, near route 116, in Nghe An Province.

A source later reported that people from his village had removed the remains of
a dead pilot from his aircraft and buried the remains nearby. These remains are
believed to be those of Knapp. On October 14, 1982, Vietnamese officials turned
over to U.S. authorities a Geneva Convention card belonging to Ltjg. Knapp. To
date, no remains have been repatriated.

Six of the thirteen pilots and crewmen lost in 1967 off the decks of the
ORISKANY remain prisoner, missing, or otherwise unaccounted for in Vietnam.
Disturbing testimony was given to Congress in 1980 that the Vietnamese
"stockpiled" the remains of Americans to return at politically advantageous
times. Could any of these six be in a casket, awaiting 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. Could any of these six be
among them?

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.
CARLOCK, RALPH L.

Name: Ralph L. Carlock
Rank/Branch: USAF, O4
Unit:
Date of Birth: 01 September 32
Home City of Record: Des Plaines, IL
Date of Loss: 04 March 67
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 192859N 1035958E
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F-105D

Other Personnel In Incident:

Source: Compiled by THE P.O.W. NETWORK 02 February 93 from the
following published sources - POW/MIA's -- Report of the Select Committee
on POW/MIA Affairs United States Senate -- January 13, 1993. "The Senate
Select Committee staff has prepared case summaries for the priority cases
that the Administration is now investigating. These provide the facts about
each case, describe the circumstances under which the individual was lost,
and detail the information learned since the date of loss.  Information in
the case summaries is limited to information from casualty files, does not
include any judgments by Committee staff, and attempts to relate essential
facts. The Committee acknowledges that POW/MIAs' primary next-of- kin know
their family members' cases in more comprehensive detail than summarized
here and recognizes the limitations that the report format imposes on these
summaries."

On March 4, 1967, Major Carlock departed Takhli Royal Thai Air
Force Base in an F-105D on an armed reconnaissance mission over
Laos.  While attacking a truck, the flight leader saw Major
Carlock's aircraft hit by enemy fire in the lower center of the
fuselage and began to burn.  The flight leader radioed Major
Carlock to bail out but did not receive a response.  The aircraft
crashed in the area of Nong Het, Xieng Khouang Province, just
inside Laos from Nghe An Province, North Vietnam, and with no
evidence Major Carlock had parachuted from the aircraft prior to
the crash.  Forty minutes later there was a weak beeper from the
vicinity of the crash site but it was believed to be a result of
fire at the crash site and was not pilot activated.  Major Carlock
was declared missing in action.

On March 5, 1967, the pro-communist Patriotic Neutralist radio
station news service reported its forces in Long Met District,
Vientiane Province, had shot down a U.S. F-105 aircraft and
captured the pilot.  U.S. intelligence concluded at the time that
this report may have been partially derived from the loss of Major
Carlock's aircraft which crashed in Xieng Khouang Province and not
in Vientiane Province and the report was not believed to represent
a truthful statement that the pilot had been captured.

Returning U.S. POWs had no information on the precise fate of Major
Carlock.  After Operation Homecoming Major Carlock was declared
dead/body not recovered, based on a presumptive finding of death.

In June 1986, the Joint Casualty Resolution Center received
information from a source who described the crash of an aircraft
similar to an F-105 in Xieng Khouang Province which had occurred in
either 1971 of 1972.  Two airmen reportedly died in the crash.  In
September 1988, JCRC received another report from another source
describing a wartime F-105 crash near Nong Het.  The pilot
reportedly bailed out at low altitude and died when he hit the
ground.  The body was buried by local villagers accompanied by
Vietnamese advisory personnel.  These reports were placed in Major
Carlock's file due to the correlation to his loss location and the
possibility they may have correlated to his loss incident.

In October 1990, JCRC received another report from another source
describing the October 1967 shoot down of a U.S. aircraft near Nong
Het.  The pilot bailed out and the source was told the pilot was
captured by North Vietnamese Army forces.  Due to a number of U.S.
aircraft losses in the area of this reported shoot down, some of
which involved unaccounted for airmen, no specific correlation
could be made to a particular missing airman and the report was
placed in the files of airmen unaccounted for in the None Het area.
CARLSON, ALBERT EDWIN

Name: Albert Edwin Carlson
Rank/Branch: O4/US Army
Unit: Advisor, Advisory Team 70, MACV
Date of Birth: 16 May 1930
Home City of Record: San Lorenzo CA
Date of Loss: 07 April 1972
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 114338N 1063502E (XU731081)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel In Incident: Howard B. Lull, Richard S. Schott (both missing);
Mark A. Smith; Kenneth Wallingford; (POWs held in Cambodia and released in 1973)

REMARKS: RELEASED BY PRG 730212

SYNOPSIS: On April 5, 1972, the 5th North Vietnamese Division suddenly smashed
against the Loc Ninh district capitol before dawn, attacking as no enemy had
yet attacked in that war. The Communist troops had Russian T-54 and PT-76
tanks, artillery and a conventional battle plan.

American forces in the area battled for two days before being overrun. On April
7, 1972, Maj. Albert E. Carlson; MSgt. Howard B. Lull; LtCol. Richard Schott;
Capt. Mark A. Smith; and SFC Kenneth Wallingford were five advisors on Advisory
Team 70, MACV, at Loc Ninh when the city was completely overrun. Radio contact
was maintained until approximately 0800 hours, when the tactical operations
center began burning. Later in the day, one of the advisors radioed that they
were going into hiding, taking their radios with them.

After the incident, South Vietnamese Army personnel reported intercepting an
enemy radio broadcast which stated that three United States advisors had been
captured. Subsequent information received through intelligence sources reported
that five Americans were taken prisoner. This report indicated that four of the
prisoners had been taken to a temporary PW camp and one to an enemy hospital.

The Vietnamese captured Smith, Wallingford and Carlson whom they held in
Cambodia for the remaining 10 months. On June 28, 1972, the U.S. Casualty
division changed their status from missing to captured. The three were released
at Loc Ninh in the general POW release in 1973.

Although most details of this incident are still classified, Capt. Smith
indicated in his debriefing that he, Lull and Schott had been together in a
bunker shortly before he was captured. Lull left the bunker to evade capture,
while the severely wounded Schott knew he would not survive, and lifted his own
weapon to his head and shot himself to give the others a chance to escape.

Lull, if captured, was not taken to the same prison camps as were Smith,
Carlson and Wallingford. Some reports say that he was killed by the North
Vietnamese, but the U.S. continued his status as Missing In Action pending
verification of death. Schott was carried as Missing until Capt. Smith's
debrief, at which time his status was changed to Killed in Action.

Since his return, Mark Smith has had a growing concern about Americans left
behind in Southeast Asia. Smith remained in the Army Special Forces, and
ultimately was promoted to the rank of major. In 1985, Smith and SFC Melvin
McIntyre brought suit against the U.S. Government for failing to comply with
U.S. law in securing the freedom of American POWs in Southeast Asia. The two
had been on a special assignment in Thailand, and had gathered substantial
evidence that American POWs were still being held. Further, Smith and McIntyre
claimed that this information, passed on to higher authority, had been
"deep-sixed" and there had been no attempt or intent to act upon it.

Mark Smith, like many close to the POW/MIA issue, feels that his government has
let the men down who proudly served their country. A patriot still, Smith has
spent the years since filing the lawsuit in Thailand, in further attempts to
secure the freedom of men who were left behind.



CARLSON, PAUL VICTOR

Name: Paul Victor Carlson
Rank/Branch: O2/US Navy
Unit: Fighter Squadron 96, USS ENTERPRISE (CVN-65)
Date of Birth: 15 March 1939
Home City of Record: Minneapolis MN
Date of Loss: 12 February 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates:
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4B

Other Personnel In Incident: Martin J. Sullivan (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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: LTCDR Martin J. Sullivan was a pilot assigned to assigned to Fighter
Squadron 96 aboard the aircraft carrier USS ENTERPRISE. On February 12, 1967, he
launched in his F4B Phantom fighter aircraft with his Radar Intercept Officer
(RIO), LTJG Paul V. Carlson. The aircraft was on a local intercept training
mission in the Gulf of Tonkin in the vicinity of the USS ENTERPRISE. Sullivan
and Carlson were to conduct a pre-briefed simulated aerial combat maneuver with
their flight leader.

During the third intercept and after two turns, the aircraft commenced a
descending reversal at too low an altitude to complete prior to entry into
clouds. The aircraft was seen to enter a cloud overcast at 6500 feet in a wings
level, extremely nose-low attitude.

Lt. Sullivan appeared to have the aircraft under full control with the nose
coming up. It is suspected that he became disoriented upon entry into the clouds
and crashed into the sea. There was no indication of ejection attempted by
either crew member. No radio transmissions were heard, and Search and Rescue
efforts were immediately begun using aircraft assets from the USS ENTERPRISE,
USS BENNINGTON and USS BAUER. USS BENNINGTON continued surface and air search
throughout the night. An oil slick and debris were seen, but no survivors or
remains were ever found.

Carlson and Sullivan apparently did not survive the crash of their aircraft.
They are among nearly 2500 Americans who remain unaccounted for from the Vietnam
War. Their cases seem simple enough, although their families grieve that their
remains have never been returned to them for a hero's burial.

Tragically, thousands of reports indicate that Americans are still alive in
Southeast Asia, held prisoner and waiting for their country to bring them home.
Although it seems quite clear that Carlson and Sullivan are not among them, one
can imagine them proudly taking one more flight for their comrades in distress.
They could do no less. Can we?
CARLTON, JAMES EDMUND JR.

Name: James Edmund Carlton, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O3/US Marine Corps
Unit: VMA 242, MAG 11
Date of Birth: 10 July 1939
Home City of Record: Birmingham AL
Date of Loss: 17 April 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 183100N 1055300E (WF923471)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A6A
Other Personnel in Incident: James M. McGarvey (missing)

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: 01 January 1990

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: The Grumman A6 Intruder is a two-man all weather, low-altitude,
carrier-based attack plane, with versions adapted as aerial tanker and
electronic warfare platform. The A6A primarily flew close-air-support,
all-weather and night attacks on enemy troop concentrations, and night
interdiction missions. Its advanced navigation and attack system, known as
DIANE (Digital Integrated Attack navigation Equipment) allowed small precision
targets, such as bridges, barracks and fuel depots to be located and attacked
in all weather conditions, day or night. The planes were credited with some of
the most difficult single-plane strikes in the war, including the destruction
of the Hai Duong bridge between Hanoi and Haiphong by a single A6. Their
missions were tough, but their crews among the most talented and most
courageous to serve the United States.

On April 17, 1967, Major James M. McGarvey, pilot, and Capt. James E. Carlton,
Jr., systems operator, were assigned a mission against a well defended target
located approximately twenty miles southeast of Vinh, Nghe An Province, North
Vietnam. At 11:12 p.m., during McGarvey's attack run, the aircraft trailing
McGarvey's by approximately eight miles reported seeing a brilliant orange
flash mushrooming from the area of the lead aircraft, after which no radio
contact could be established with the aircraft. Search and rescue operations
were initiated and lasted until April 26, 1967, with negative results. Both
McGarvey and Carlton were declared Missing in Action.

Throughout the war, the McGarvey and Carlton families waited, knowing it was
possible that their men had been captured, even though they heard no word of
either of them. At the end of the war, however, when 591 Americans were
released from POW camps, McGarvey and Carlton were not among them. The
Vietnamese denied any knowledge of them.

It is unlikely that the aircraft carrying McGarvey and Carlton was sighted,
shot down, exploded into a brilliant orange flash and crashed in a heavily
defended area without being detected by the Vietnamese. It is unlikely that no
information is available on their fates, although the Vietnamese continue to
deny knowledge of them.

Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports have been received by the U.S.
Government related to Americans missing in Southeast Asia. The Vietnamese
protests that they know nothing are mocked by the reports of their own fleeing
countrymen.

Many authorities now believe that there are still a large number of Americans
alive in Southeast Asia, still held prisoner. McGarvey and Carlton were not
known to die in the crash of their aircraft, and could be among them. It's time
we brought our men home
CARON, GILLES

Name: Gilles Caron
Rank/Branch: Civilian
Unit: Gamma Agency of Paris
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: France
Date of Loss: 05 April 1970
Country of Loss: Cambodia
Loss Coordinates: XT171290
Status (in 1973): Prisoner of War
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Other Personnel in Incident: Guy Hannoteaux; Michel Visot (both captured)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: French photo/journalist Gilles Caron, L'Express correspondent Guy
Hannoteaux, and French journalist Michel Visot left Phnom Penh on April 5, 1970.
The newsmen were heading for the front lines of fighting in Cambodia, looking
for a story as military action in Cambodia had stepped up considerably at this
time. Caron was on assignment for the Gamma Agency of Paris at the time.

Traveling southeast on Route One in eastern Cambodia, the three men were
captured 6 kilometers west of Chi Phu on Route 2 at grid coordinates XT171290.
UPI reported their capture.

Author Zalin Grant interviewed returned ARVN POWs in early 1973 and released the
following data supporting other stories indicating journalists could still be
alive. "Returned ARVN POWs sighted the (unnamed) journalists on Route #7, 17
miles south of Snoul in Eastern Cambodia 7-72 in ox-carts pulled by Hondas;
another said a VC captain near Minot, eastern Cambodia (where military American
POWs were released from in 1973) reported the (unnamed) journalists held in 7-72
had cameras; Cambodian national saw (unnamed) journalists in 6-72 at Prince
Sihanouk's FUNK camp south of Route #13 in Kratie Province; returned ARVN POWs
said a guard told them in 3073 that the journalists were still alive and held in
their area." Walter Cronkite reported a sighting of (unnamed) journalists in
January, 1974.

Whether Grant's and Cronkite's information relates to Caron, Hannoteaux and
Visot is not known. The three are among 22 international journalists still
missing in Southeast Asia, most known to have been captured. For several years
during the war, the correspondents community rallied and publicized the fates of
fellow journalists. After a while, they tired of the effort, and today these men
are forgotten by all but families and friends.

Tragically, nearly the whole world turns its head while thousands of reports
continue to flow in that prisoners are still held in Southeast Asia. Cambodia
offered to return a substantial number of remains of men it says are Americans
missing in Cambodia (in fact the number offered exceeded the number of those
officially missing). But the U.S. has no formal diplomatic relations with the
communist government of Cambodia, and refused to directly respond to this offer.
Although several U.S. Congressmen offered to travel to Cambodia to receive the
remains, they have not been permitted to do so by the U.S.




CARPENTER, ALLAN RUSSELL

Name: Allan Russell Carpenter
Rank/Branch: O3/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 72, USS FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT (CVA 42)
Date of Birth: 14 March 1938 (Portland ME)
Home City of Record: Springvale ME
Date of Loss: 01 November 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 204800N 106500E (XJ907009)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A4E

Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 30 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: 730304 RELSD BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT (CVA 42) was
on Yankee Station in 1966 when the decision was made to unleash American air
power on such targets in North Vietnam as the Haiphong Harbor and supply
installations in the Hanoi region. The FDR launched many aircraft from its
fighter and attack squadrons on these missions.

Lt. Allan R. Carpenter was a pilot assigned to Attack Squadron 72 onboard the
USS FRANKLIN D.ROOSEVELT. On November 1, 1966, Carpenter launched on a combat
mission over the Haiphong region of North Vietnam.

Carpenter was leading a flight of three on a missile suppression in support of
a vital photo reconnaissance flight in the Haiphong area. While successfully
countering a missile attack by aggressively attacking the missile site itself,
Lt. Carpenter's aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft artillery fire. He immediately
headed for open water, the established emergency procedure, but his aircraft was
on fire, and eventually went out of control.

Carpenter had no choice but to eject from the crippled aircraft. The area in
which he ejected was an area where many fishing boats were located. One of his
wingmen was with him until he ejected, while the other went high to contact
rescue forces. A valiant effort was made by his wingmen and several other
aircraft from the FDR as well as from the USS CONSTELLATION, in an attempt to
keep the boats away from Lt. Carpenter until rescue helicopters could arrive.
Even though he had already been pulled onto one of the fishing junks, the rescue
helicopter continued in toward the boat until it was severely damaged by AAA
fire and forced to retire. Two other A4 aircraft were hit by the intense small
arms fire from the fishing fleet and the AAA fire located around the harbor. The
junk which had Carpenter aboard headed for shore and was seen to beach itself in
spite of the strafing and rocking fire from U.S. aircraft.

Radio Hanoi subsequently announced the capture of an American pilot. For the
next seven years, Carpenter was detained in POW camps in and around Hanoi. On
March 4, 1973, during Operation Homecoming, Lt. Carpenter was released.

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. These reports are the source of serious distress to many returned
American prisoners. They had a code that no one could honorably return unless
all of the prisoners returned. Not only that code of honor, but the honor of our
country is at stake as long as even one man remains unjustly held. It's time we
brought our men home.


Allan R. Carpenter was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Commander during the
period he was a prisoner of war.
CARPENTER, HOWARD B.

Name: Howard B. Carpenter
Rank/Branch: E5/US Army 5th Special Forces
Unit: HHC, C & C Detachment
Date of Birth: 23 February 1944 (New Castle PA)
Home City of Record: Youngstown OH
Date of Loss: 06 March 1967
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 161817N 1070226E (YD180036)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Other Personnel In Incident: (None missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 30 June 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: U.S. Army Special Forces SGT Howard B. Carpenter was a member of a
company-sized exploitation force infiltrated into enemy territory. On March 6,
1967, the company was in southern Savannakhet Province, Laos near the border of
South Vietnam when it made contact with an enemy force of unknown size. In the
ensuing battle, Carpenter was fatally wounded as he attempted to assist other
personnel who had been wounded.

Carpenter's remains were recovered by another teammember and it was determined
that he had died from the wounds he had received during the firefight. Because
of enemy pressure in the area, the company was forced to leave Carpenter's
remains behind as they sought a more secure position.

It was not possible to ever retrieve Carpenter's remains. He is listed with
honor among nearly 2500 Americans who remain unaccounted for from the war in
Vietnam. Carpenter's case seems clear enough, and although it is tragic that
this American hero cannot be buried in the soil for which he proudly fought, his
family at least knows with some certainty what happened to him.

Tragically, experts now believe, based on thousands of reports, that hundreds of
Americans did not die, but are still held prisoner in Southeast Asia. Carpenter
would not have left them behind. How can we?

CASE SYNOPSIS: CARR, DONALD GENE

Name: Donald Gene Carr
Rank/Branch: O3/US Army Special Forces
Unit: Mobile Launch Team 3, Task Force 1 Advisory Group, assigned to USARV
TAG TF1AEN TSH
Date of Birth: 10 December 1938 (East Chicago IN)
Home City of Record: San Antonio TX
Date of Loss: 06 July 1971
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 144700N 1071700E (YB460352)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: OV10A
Other Personnel In Incident: Daniel W. Thomas (missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: In 1971, MACV-SOG's Command and Control North, Central and South were
redesignated as Task Force Advisory Elements 1, 2 and 3, respectively. These
titular changes had little initial impact on actual activities. Their missions
were still quite sensitive and highly classified. Each task force was composed
of 244 Special Forces and 780 indigenous commandos, and their reconnaissance
teams remained actively engaged in cross-border intelligence collection and
interdiction operations. The USARV TAG (Training Advisory Group) supported the
USARV Special Missions Advisory Group and was composed of U.S. Army Special
Forces and MACV advisors. SMAG formed at Nha Trang from former personnel from
B-53, the MACV Rcondo School cadre, CCN and CCS to train the South Vietnamese
Special Missions Force teams drawn from LLDB and Ranger units.

On July 6, 1971, U.S. Army Capt. Donald G. "Butch" Carr was aboard an Air Force
OV10A Bronco aircraft flown by U.S. Air Force Lt. Daniel W. Thomas when the
aircraft disappeared 15 miles inside Laos west of Ben Het.

The aircraft had been on a visual reconnaissance mission over central Laos when
it was lost. Thomas' plane was detailed out of the 23rd Tactical Aerial
Surveillance Squadron and bore the tail number of 67-14634.

The Bronco was among the aircraft most feared by the Viet Cong and NVA forces,
because whenever the Bronco appeared overhead, an air strike seemed certain to
follow. Although the glassed-in cabin could become uncomfortably warm, it
provided splendid visibility. The two-man crew had armor protection and could
use machine guns and bombs to attack, as well as rockets to mark targets for
fighter bombers. This versatility enabled the plane to fly armed reconnaissance
missions, in addition to serving as vehicle for forward air controllers.

At 1530 hours, Thomas radioed to the Army support facility that he was in his
target area, but that he was unable to observe because of weather conditions.
This was his last known radio contact. Thomas and Carr were due to depart the
area at 1700 hours, and should have radioed then. Search efforts were conducted
through July 10, with no results.

A ground reconnaissance team later reported hearing an impact or explosion at
1600 hours on July 6 in their vicinity, but they did not report seeing the
aircraft.

A source reported that in early July 1971, he had seen an American POW in that
area. The source learned from a guard that the POW was a pilot of an OV10 that
had been downed a week prior. This information was thought to possibly
correlate to either Carr or Thomas.

Carr and Thomas became two of nearly 600 Americans who disappeared in Laos
during the Vietnam War. Although Pathet Lao leaders stressed that they held
"tens of tens" of American prisoners, no American held in Laos was ever
released. In America's haste to leave Southeast Asia, it abandoned some of its
finest men. Since the end of the war, thousands of reports have been received
indicating that hundreds of Americans are still held captive.

In seeming disregard for the Americans either held or having been murdered by
the Pathet Lao, by 1989, the U.S. and the Lao have devised a working plan for
the U.S. to provide Laos with humanitarian and economic aid leading toward
ultimate full diplomatic and trade relations while Laos allows the excavation
of military crash sites at sporadic intervals. In America's haste to return to
Southeast Asia, we are again abandoning our men. What must Carr and Thomas,
should they be among those said to be still alive, be thinking of us?
CARRIER, DANIEL LEWIS
Remains Returned 20 November 1989

Name: Daniel Lewis Carrier
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 09 November 1942
Home City of Record: San Diego CA
Date of Loss: 02 June 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 175000N 1062700E (XE532722)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4C
Other Personnel in Incident: Alton C. Rockett, Jr. (missing)
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1990 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.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: 1Lt. Daniel L. Carrier and Capt. Alton C. Rockett Jr. were pilots of
an F4C Phantom fighter/bomber assigned a mission over North Vietnam on June 2,
1967. 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.

At a point on the coast of North Vietnam's Quang Binh Province, about 5 miles
north of the city of Ron, Rockett and Carrier's aircraft was shot down and they
were declared Missing in Action.

The Defense Intelligence Agency further expanded the Missing in Action
classification to include an enemy knowledge ranking of 3. Category 3 indicates
"doubtful knowledge" and includes personnel whose loss incident is such that it
is doubtful that the enemy wound have knowledge of the specific individuals
(e.g. aircrews lost over water or remote areas).

On November 20, 1989, the Vietnamese returned remains to the U.S. which were
subsequently identified as being those of Daniel L. Carrier. For his family,
there can finally be a homecoming, a funeral, and long-delayed healing.

For Rockett's family, and for thousands of others, however, conclusions remain
elusive. Over 2300 men and women are still maintained on "unaccounted for"
lists. Further, since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports have been received by
the U.S. Government relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asia. Many
authorities who have reviewed this classified material have reluctantly
concluded that hundreds of Americans are still alive, held prisoner in Southeast
Asia.

Whether Daniel L. Carrier was ever held prisoner of war is unclear. What is
certain, however, is that as long as there is even one American held against his
will in Southeast Asia, we owe him our very best efforts to bring him home.

CARRIGAN, LARRY EDWARD

Name: Larry Edward Carrigan
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 555th Tactical Fighter Squadron
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Phoenix AZ
Date of Loss: 23 August 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 215000N 1052000E (WK550020)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D
Other Personnel in Incident: Charles Lane Jr.(missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II
Project.

REMARKS: 730314 RELSD BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: The Phantom, used by Air Force, Marine and Navy air wings, served a
multitude of functions including fighter-bomber. The 2-man aircraft was very
fast (Mach 2), and had a long range (900 - 2300 miles). The F4 was also
extremely maneuverable and handled well at low and high altitudes. Most pilots
considered it one of the "hottest" planes around.

Capt. Charles Lane, Jr. was the pilot and Capt. Larry E. Carrigan the
bombardier/navigator on an F4 sent from Ubon Airfield, Thailand, on a strike
mission over North Vietnam on 23 August 1967. The aircraft was number four in a
flight of four aircraft.

About 25 miles southwest of Hanoi, the aircraft was struck by hostile fire and
disintegrated. Other members of the flight observed the crew to eject and saw
two parachutes. One emergency beeper signal was heard.

The Department of Defense later learned that Larry E. Carrigan was a Prisoner of
War. He was released during Operation Homecoming in 1973, but there was no
further word of Charles Lane, Jr.

Since the war ended, over 10,000 reports have been received by the U.S. relating
to Americans still unaccounted for from the Vietnam war. Many authorities now
believe hundreds are still alive in captivity today. The U.S. Government,
although involved in talks with the Vietnamese since the end of the war, has
been unable to bring home a single live prisoner. The Vietnamese, on the other
hand, refuse to let the issue die, with the ultimate hope of normalizing
relations with the west.

The Americans who are still captive have been reduced to bargaining pawns
between two nations. For their sakes, everything possible must be done to bring
them home. The sacrifice of tens of thousands of America's young men is mocked
by the abandonment of their comrades. For the sake of our future fighting men
and those who have given their lives in the defense of their country, we must
see to it that we never again abandon our soldiers to enemy hands.

Although six years passed before Lane was adminstratively declared dead, based
on no new information he was alive, Lane was not advanced in rank. Carrigan's
rank remained the same during the period he was a prisoner of war.

CARROLL, JOHN LEONARD

Name: John Leonard Carroll
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit: 56th Special Operations Wing, Udorn AB TH, (RAVENS)
Date of Birth: 06 May 1940
Home City of Record: Decatur GA
Date of Loss: 07 November 1972
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 191933N 1030630E (UG13378)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 1
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: O1
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1990 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.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: The Steve Canyon program was a highly classified FAC (forward air
control) operation covering the military regions of Laos. U.S. military
operations in Laos were severely restricted during the Vietnam War era because
Laos had been declared neutral by the Geneva Accords.

The non-communist forces in Laos, however, had a critical need for military
support in order to defend territory used by Lao and North Vietnamese communist
forces. The U.S., in conjunction with non-communist forces in Laos, devised a
system whereby U.S. military personnel could be "in the black" or "sheep-dipped"
(clandestine; mustered out of the military to perform military duties as a
civilian) to operate in Laos under supervision of the U.S. Ambassador to Laos.

RAVEN was the radio call sign which identified the flyers of the Steve Canyon
Program. Men recruited for the program were rated Air Force officers with at
least six months experience in Vietnam. They tended to be the very best of
pilots, but by definition, this meant that they were also mavericks, and
considered a bit wild by the mainstream military establishment.

The Ravens came under the formal command of CINCPAC and the 7/13th Air Force
56th Special Operations Wing at Nakhon Phanom, but their pay records were
maintained at Udorn with Detachment 1. Officially, they were on loan to the U.S.
Air Attache at Vientiane. Unofficially, they were sent to outposts like Long
Tieng, where their field commanders were the CIA, the Meo Generals, and the U.S.
Ambassador. Once on duty, they flew FAC missions which controlled all U.S. air
strikes over Laos.

All tactical strike aircraft had to be under the control of a FAC, who was
intimately familiar with the locale, the populous, and the tactical situation.
The FAC would find the target, order up U.S. fighter/bombers from an airborne
command and control center, mark the target accurately with white phosphorus
(Willy Pete) rockets, and control the operation throughout the time the planes
remained on station. After the fighters had departed, the FAC stayed over the
target to make a bomb damage assessment (BDA).

The FAC also had to ensure that there were no attacks on civilians, a complex
problem in a war where there were no front lines and any hamlet could suddenly
become part of the combat zone. A FAC needed a fighter pilot's mentality, but
but was obliged to fly slow and low in such unarmed and vulnerable aircraft as
the Cessna O1 Bird Dog, and the Cessna O2. Consequently, aircraft used by the
Ravens were continually peppered with ground fire. A strong fabric tape was
simply slapped over the bullet holes until the aircraft could no longer fly.

Ravens were hopelessly overworked by the war. The need for secrecy kept their
numbers low (never more than 22 at one time), and the critical need of the Meo
sometimes demanded each pilot fly 10 and 12 hour days. Some Ravens completed
their tour of approximately 6 months with a total of over 500 combat missions.

The Ravens in at Long Tieng in Military Region II, had, for several years, the
most difficult area in Laos. The base, just on the southern edge of the Plain of
Jars, was also the headquarters for the CIA-funded Meo army commanded by General
Vang Pao. An interesting account of this group can be read in Christopher
Robbins' book, "The Ravens".

Major John L. Carroll was a Raven on station over the Plain of Jars region of
Xiangkhoang Province on November 7, 1972. At a point about 5 miles southwest of
the city of Ban Na Mai, Carroll's aircraft was struck by hostile fire and
crashed. Witnesses advised that Maj. Carroll died of a massive head wound, and
according to the Air Force, evidence of this death was received the following
day, although it is not stated what the evidence consisted of.

The Defense Intelligence Agency further expanded Carroll's classification to
include an enemy knowledge ranking of 1. Category 1 indicates "confirmed
knowledge" and includes all personnel who were identified by the enemy by name,
identified by reliable information received from escapees or releasees, reported
by highly reliable intelligence sources, or identified through analysis of
all-source intelligence. If, indeed, Carroll died in the crash of his aircraft
or shortly thereafter, the enemy was on hand to witness it.

Carroll is one of nearly 600 Americans lost in Laos. Even though the Pathet Lao
stated publicly that they held "tens of tens" of American prisoners, not one
American held in Laos was ever released -- or negotiated for. Someone knows what
happened to John L. Carroll.

Since U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War ended, nearly 10,000 reports have been
received by the U.S. Government relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asia.
Many authorities have reluctantly concluded that hundreds are still alive in
captivity today. While John Carroll may not be among them, he would be one of
the first to volunteer, in the Raven spirit, to assist them to freedom. It's
time we brought our men home.


John L. Carroll graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1962.
CARROLL, PATRICK HENRY

Name: Patrick Henry Carroll
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit: Commando Sabre Operations, 31st Tactical Fighter Wing, Tuy Hoa Airbase, South Vietnam
Date of Birth: 12 December 1942
Home City of Record: Allen Park MI
Date of Loss: 02 November 1969
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 144500N 1071700E (YB218846)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F100F
Other Personnel In Incident: Lawrence W. Whitford (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II
Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: When North Vietnam began to increase their military strength in South
Vietnam, NVA and Viet Cong troops again intruded on neutral Laos for sanctuary,
as the Viet Minh had done during the war with the French some years before. The
border road, termed the "Ho Chi Minh Trail" was used for transporting weapons,
supplies and troops. Hundreds of American pilots were shot down trying to stop
this communist traffic to South Vietnam. Fortunately, search and rescue teams
in Vietnam were extremely successful and the recovery rate was high.

Still there were nearly 600 who were not rescued. Many of them went down along
the Ho Chi Minh Trail and the passes through the border mountains between Laos
and Vietnam. Many were alive on the ground and in radio contact with search and
rescue and other planes; some were known to have been captured. Hanoi's
communist allies in Laos, the Pathet Lao, publicly spoke of American prisoners
they held, but when peace agreements were negotiated, Laos was not included,
and not a single American was released that had been held in Laos.

On November 2, 1969, LtCol. Lawrence W. Whitford, Jr., pilot, and 1Lt. Patrick
H. Carroll, navigator, departed Tuy Hoa Airbase in South Vietnam in a F100F
Super Sabre fighter bomber on a visual reconnaissance mission over the Ho Chi
Minh Trail in Laos.

Whitford radioed that he was running out of fuel in Attapeu Province, about 20
miles east of the city of Muong May. He had a scheduled refueling, but never
appeared. Searches did not reveal any sign of the aircraft crash or the crew.

Several months later, a damaged plane thought to be the plane flown by Carroll
and Whitford was found in the area with no bodies inside and nothing to
indicate that the crew had perished in the crash. Both Whitford and Carroll
were declared Missing in Action.

Carroll and Whitford went down in an area heavily infiltrated by enemy forces.
In Whitford's case, there is certain indication that the enemy knows what
happened to him. As pilot, he would have ejected second. In Carroll's case, it
is highly suspected that the Lao or the Vietnamese know his fate.

Whitford and Carroll are two of the nearly 600 Americans who disappeared in
Laos, never to return. Although Pathet Lao leaders stressed that they held
"tens of tens" of American prisoners in Laos, not one man held in Laos was ever
released - or negotiated for.

Patrick Carroll attended the Air Force Academy, graduated from the University
of Colorado and had just begun a promising career in the military. Larry
Whitford was a senior officer with a distinguished record. The country they
proudly served abandoned them in their haste to leave an unpopular war.

Were it not for the thousands of reports concerning Americans still held
captive in Southeast Asia, the Whitford and Carroll families might be able to
close this tragic chapter of their lives. But as long as Americans are alive,
being held captive, one of them could be Carroll or Whitford. It's time we
brought these men home.




CARROLL, ROGER WILLIAM JR.

Name: Roger William Carroll, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 20 July 1939 (Dallas TX)
Home City of Record: Kansas City MO
Loss Date: 21 September 1972
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 191900N 1030900E (UG056368)
Status (in 1973): Killed In Captivity
Category: 1
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D

Other Personnel In Incident: Dwight W. Cook (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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: Roger Carroll Jr. was born in Dallas, Texas and moved to Kansas City,
Missouri when he was six years old. The oldest child, Roger was very fond of his
younger sister and brother. He was raised in a Christian home, was an honor
student, and active in sports. Roger knew from an early age that he wanted to be
a pilot.

Roger entered the University of Kansas to study aviation engineering. While at
KU, Roger joined the Air Force and became a navigator on B-47 and B-52 aircraft.
Wanting to be a pilot still, Roger took pilot training and earned his wings
flying T-38 and F-100 aircraft.

After one tour in Vietnam, Roger returned to the States to train other young
pilots until he again took training himself, this time on the F-4 Phantom
fighter/bomber jet. His second tour of Vietnam began in early 1972. He told his
parents, "If anything ever happens to me, don't come looking for me. You won't
find me. The aircraft is such a bomb that if one hits the ground or something
hits it, it just explodes."

Maj. Carroll was assistant to the commander, and did not ordinarily fly combat
missions, but begged for the chance to fly, and was allowed to fly twice-weekly
missions. On September 21, 1972, Roger and his backseater, Dwight Cook, were
sent on a mission over the strategic Plain of Jars region in Laos.

The Plain of Jars region of Laos had for years been an intense area of struggle
between the communist Pathet Lao and the Royal Lao armed forces. Millions of
U.S. dollars had been secretly committed to the strengthening of anti-communist
strongholds in the Plain of Jars for some years. About one year before Carroll
and Cook were shot down in this area, Nixon's secret campaign in Laos had become
public. The area had been defended with the help of U.S. aircraft; the
anti-communist troops, primarily a secret CIA-directed force comprised of some
30,000 indigenous tribesmen, were, in part, kept resupplied by CIA.

Because Laos was "neutral" under the terms of the Geneva convention, and because
the U.S. continually stated they were not at war with Laos (although we were
regularly bombing North Vietnamese traffic along the border and conducted
assaults against communist strongholds thoughout the country at the behest of
the anti-communist government of Laos), and did not recognize the Pathet Lao as
a government entity, the nearly 600 Americans lost in Laos were never recovered.

During the mission, Carroll's aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire and
crashed. Roger's prediction was correct. The largest piece of aircraft remaining
was no larger than three feet across.

A week after the aircraft crashed, a search party found several pieces of flight
clothing and a human hip socket at the site. They found identification that
belonged to Cook, but it was evident that the enemy had reached the plane first.
Carroll and Cook were classified as having "died in captivity." It is unclear
whether the two were captured and later died, were executed on the spot, or
perhaps tortured and mutilated as was sometimes deemed the punishment for
captured pilots. Neither Carroll nor Cook were promoted after their loss
incident, which seems to indicate the U.S. has positive information that they
were killed quickly.

The Defense Intelligence Agency further expanded Carroll's and Cook's
classification to include an enemy knowledge ranking of 1. Category 1 indicates
"confirmed knowledge" and includes all personnel who were identified by the
enemy by name, identified by reliable information received from escapees or
releasees, reported by highly reliable intelligence sources, or identified
through analysis of all-source intelligence.

By 1980, Carroll and Cook had been classified killed in action because there was
no verified information that they were alive. But the Department of Defense
still believes the Lao hold the answers to their fate.

The Pathet Lao stated that they would release the "tens of tens" of American
prisoners they held only from Laos - when agreements were reached with the U.S.
to halt their bombing there. Agreements were never made, and no American held in
Laos was released, even though nearly 600 Americans were lost in Laos.
Tragically, over 10,000 reports have been received by the U.S. relating to the
men missing in Southeast Asia, and many authorities believe hundreds of them are
alive today.

Whether Carroll and Cook are among those said to be still alive is unknown. What
seems certain, however, is that our country has a moral and legal obligation to
the men who fought in our name. We must do everything we can to bring them home.


Roger Carroll's mother died in 1986, still believing her son was alive. The Air
Force has never fully informed Roger's family of the events of September 21,
1972.
CARTER, DENNIS RAY

Name: Dennis Ray Carter
Rank/Branch: E2/US Marines
Unit: 1st Platoon, Company K, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Division
Date of Birth: 02 May 1947
Home City of Record: Lomita CO
Date of Loss: 28 August 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 155800N 1081500E (BT061673)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: ground

Other Personnel in Incident: John E. Bodenschatz Jr.; Robert C. Borton Jr.;
Robert L. Babula (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II
Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: PFC Robert L. Babula, PFC Robert C. Borton Jr., PFC John E.
Bodenschatz Jr., and PFC Dennis R. Carter were members of 1st Platoon, Company
K, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines. On 28 August 1966, the four were assigned as a
fire team ambush with instructions to establish an ambush site approximately 500
meters to the south of their platoon patrol base. This specific location is in
Hoa Hai village within grid square BT 0667.

The fire team departed at 3:00 a.m. on August 28, and were given instructions
for use of the pyrotechnics they were carrying as signaling devices. They were
further instructed to relocate in the same general area or return to their
platoon patrol base in the event their ambush site was compromised, and finally
to return no later than 9:00 a.m. that morning.

When the fire team failed to return as scheduled, an immediate search of the
area was conducted by Company K with negative results. During the period of
August 29-31, the Battalion made a dovetailed search of the entire area covering
all possible routes of egress in the event the team members had been captured.

Indigenous personnel in the area were questioned, but no evidence was uncovered
which gave any clues. Villagers were questioned and a search of the area
continued. On September 4, Company K discovered part of an American wrist watch
and PFC Bodenschatz' two identification tags in the vicinity of BT 061673. The
search was intensified in that area, including the use of heavy engineer
equipment in an effort to locate graves, but no further trace was found.

On September 13, the Battalion cordoned off grid squares BT 0567, 0667, 0566,
0666 and all inhabitants were assembled, screened, and interrogated by an ARVN
interrogation team from Hoa Vang District Headquarters. Three Viet Cong suspects
were retained for further questioning, however, no additional information was
obtained concerning the four Marines.

The Battalion commander's final determination was that the four Marines were
probably captured.

In 1975, information was declassified that indicated that since the fire team's
disappearance, Marine headquarters had received two reports sighting three to
four Americans being displayed in villages south of the area in which the fire
team disappeared.

A Christmas card received by Company K/3/1 1st Marine Division, sent by Babula's
mother and sister, stated that they had recently received news that Babula was a
prisoner of war. None of the four, however, returned in the general prisoner
release in 1973.

Since the war ended, the Defense Department has received over 10,000 reports
relating to the men still unaccounted for in Southeast Asia, yet concludes that
no actionable evidence has been received that would indicate Americans are still
alive in Southeast Asia. A recent Senate investigation indicates that most of
these reports were dismissed without just cause, and that there is every
indication that Americans remained in captivity far after the war ended, and may
be alive today.

The fate of the four Marines on the fire team on 28 August 1966 remains
uncertain. What is clear, however, is that it's time we learned the truth about
our missing and brought them home.


CARTER, GEORGE WILLIAMS

Name: George Williams Carter
Rank/Branch: O4/US Army
Unit: Advisory Team 22 - MACV
Date of Birth: 04 December 1933 (Nicholls GA)
Home City of Record: Apopka FL
Date of Loss: 24 April 1972
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 143918N 1074711E (ZB001219)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel in Incident: Robert W. Brownlee; Wade L. Ellen; James E.
Hunsicker; Johnny M. Jones; Kenneth J. Yonan; Franklin Zollicoffer (all
missing); Charles M. Lea; Ricky B. Bogle (helicopter crew, rescued); Julius
G. Warmath; John P. Keller; Walter H. Ward (helicopter passengers, rescued);
Charles W. Gordon, Cao Ky Chi (evaded capture near Dak To)

REMARKS: KIA ON ISLE - 5 RCV - NT SUBJ - J

SYNOPSIS: On the evening of April 23, 1972, Capt. Kenneth J. Yonan accompanied
his ARVN counterpart to a water tower located on the northwestern edge of the
Tanh Canh base camp compound near Dak To, Kontum Province, South Vietnam. Yonan
was an advisor assigned to Advisory Team 22, MACV, and was assisting the ARVN
42nd Regiment based there.

At about 0530 hours on April 24, Capt. Yonan was still in the water tower when
Viet Cong attacked the camp perimeter. Although tanks fired at and hit the
water tower, two other advisors spoke to Capt. Yonan after the firing and Yonan
reported that he was not hit and planned to join the other advisors when it was
safe to do so. Radio contact was maintained with Yonan until 0730 hours. The
other U.S. advisors began escape and evasion operations from the beleaguered
compound.

Team 22 Advisors Maj. George W. Carter, Maj. Julius G. Warmath, and Capt. John
P. Keller, were extracted by helicopter. The aircraft was a UH1H from the 52nd
Aviation Battalion, 17th Aviation Group, (serial #69-15715) and was flown by
Lt. James E. Hunsicker. WO Wade L. Ellen was the co-pilot of the chopper, and
SP4 Charles M. Lea, and SP5 Ricky B. Bogle were crewmen. Other persons
extracted included 1Lt. Johnny M. Jones, from the 52nd Aviation Battalion; SP4
Franklin Zollicoffer, from the U.S. Army Installation at Pleiku, and Sgt.
Walter H. Ward, unit not specified.

The helicopter departed to the northwest from Dak To, but was apparently hit by
enemy fire, as it crashed and burned on a small island in the Dak Poko River
about 500 meters from the end of the dock to the runway. Because of the rolling
terrain, personnel at the airfield did not see the aircraft impact. A pilot
flying over the wreckage reported that the helicopter was burning, but they
could see no survivors. It was later discovered that five people did survive
the crash - Warmath, Keller, Bogle, Ward and Lea. According to their
statements, Hunsicker, Ellen, Zollicoffer, Jones and Carter were all dead.

Two other Team 22, MACV Advisors, LtCol. Robert W. Brownlee and Capt. Charles
W. Gordon, and their ARVN interpreter, Sgt. Cao Ky Chi, were in a bunker near
the airstrip approximately 4 kilometers to the west of the base camp when they
were forced to withdraw under heavy enemy attack. They proceeded south of the
compound across the Dak Poko River, but LtCol. Brownlee became separated from
the others as they were advancing up a hill. Sgt. Chi and Capt. Gordon called
out to him, but received no response. From the top of the hill, Sgt. Chi heard
the enemy call out to someone in Vietnamese to halt and raise their hands. Sgt.
Chi believed the Viet Cong were speaking to LtCol. Brownlee. Gordon and Chi
evaded capture and eventually made their way to safety.

A Vietnamese who was captured and subsequently released reported that he had
talked to another prisoner who had witnessed LtCol.Brownlee's death. He was
told that LtCol. Brownlee had killed himself with his own pistol when communist
soldiers told him to raise his hands in an attempt to capture him. Additional
hearsay reports of his suicide were reported by another ARVN source.

Yonan never caught up with the others. For three days, helicopter searches were
made of the area with no success. Ground search, because of the hostile threat
in the area, was not practical.

In April 1988, the Vietnamese "discovered" the remains of Capt. Kenneth J.
Yonan and returned them to the U.S. in a spirit of stepped-up cooperation on
the POW/MIA issue. For nearly 20 years, this 1969 West Point graduate was a
prisoner of war - alive or dead. His family now knows with certainty that he is
dead, but may never learn how - or when - he died.

In addition to the reports regarding Brownlee's death, a South Vietnamese
soldier reported that he observed the capture of one "big" American from the
camp. Another report described the capture of a U.S. Captain stationed at the
camp.

Since the war ended, reports and refugee testimony have convinced many
authorities that not only do the Vietnamese possess several hundred sets of
Americans' remains, more startlingly, they also control hundreds of living
American prisoners.

As long as they are allowed to do so, the Vietnamese will return remains at
politically expedient intervals. As long as they are allowed to do so, they
will hold our men prisoner.


CARTER, JAMES DEVRIN

Name: James Devrin Carter
Rank/Branch: W1/US Army
Unit: 174th Aviation Company, 14th Aviation Battalion
Date of Birth: 13 March 1947 (Kingsport TN)
Home City of Record: Clarkston MI
Date of Loss: 13 June 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 151120N 1085232E (BS718802)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1D

Other Personnel In Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 30 June 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: James Carter was aboard a UH1D helicopter on a Command and Control
mission on June 13, 1968 in South Vietnam. The aircraft landed, picked up
passengers and departed to fly a visual reconnaissance mission near the
Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). The Operation Center at Duc Pho near Da Nang, South
Vietnam, that was controlling the flight received a report that Carter's
aircraft was involved in a mid-air collision with a U.S. Air Force O2 aircraft.
The helicopter and the O2 crashed.

Another helicopter crew in the area observed Carter's helicopter impact with the
ground and stated that they did not see anyone escape from the site. The
aircraft was burning.

Another element from an infantry unit was airlifted to the crash site and could
find no survivors at either site. A maintenance aircraft arrived and assisted in
he search. No remains were recovered that could be associated with Carter. On
subsequent searches, the remains of the pilot of the O2, Major Brenner, and the
crew of the UH1D were recovered, but Carter's remains were never located.

Carter is one of nearly 2500 Americans who remain unaccounted for from American
involvement in the Vietnam War. Since the end of the war, thousands of reports
have been received that have convinced many experts that hundreds of Americans
are still alive, held captive in Southeast Asia. Whether Carter survived the
crash of his helicopter is not certain. Apparently he did not. But one can
imagine he would proudly fly one more mission to recover those Americans that
the country he served has abandoned.
CARTER, JAMES LOUIS

Name: James Louis Carter
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 26 October 1928
Home City of Record: Pasadena CA
Date of Loss: 03 February 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 163000N 1064000E (YD008434)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: C123C

Other Personnel In Incident: Wilbur R. Brown; Edward M. Parsley; Therman M.
Waller (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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: NO RAD CNTCT-REK SITE UNCONF-J

SYNOPSIS: The Fairchild C123 "Provider" was a night attack system/transport
aircraft based on an all-metal glider designed by Chase Aircraft. The airplane's
C123B prototype first flew on September 1, 1954. The C123B, in the hands of a
group of airmen who called themselves "The Mule Train" became the first
transport to see Vietnam service. The C123B transports were soon joined by
UC123Bs of the now-controversial Project Ranch Hand which sprayed pesticides and
herbicides over Vietnam, including Agent Orange.

The Provider, particularly in camoflage paint with mottled topside and light
bottomside, resembled an arched-back whale suspended from the bottom midpoint of
huge dorsal wings. Like other transports, the Provider proved its versatility
during the Vietnam war. The C123 also dispensed flares to illuminate targets for
fighters or tactical bombers, and were dubbed "Candlestick" when they served in
this capacity.

On February 3, 1966, a C123C Provider aircraft with a crew of four, including
its pilot, Capt. Wilbur R. Brown, and crewmembers James L. Carter, SGT Edward M.
Parsley and SGT Therman M. Waller, was assigned a mission on the border of Laos
and South Vietnam about 10 miles southwest of Khe Sanh.

During the mission, radio contact was lost with the Provider and its whereabouts
or those of the crew were never determined.

In April 1969, a rallier identified a number of photographs of missing Americans
as men he believed to have been captured. Wilbur Brown was among those the
rallier selected. CIA questioned the identification as no returned POWs reported
having seen any of the Provider crew in POW camps. It should be noted, however,
that it is now widely believed that more than one prison system existed in
Vietnam, and that prisoners in one were not mingled with prisoners from another.
(Also, given the location of the crash, the possibility exists that the crew, if
captured, may have been taken by Pathet Lao forces. No Americans were ever
released that were held in Laos.)

The mission flown by the C123 lost on February 3, 1966 is not indicated in
public records. It is known that "Candlestick" missions, dispensing flares to
illuminate targets for fighters or tactical bombers, was very effective against
truck traffic in Laos, except in those areas where anti-aircraft defenses became
too formidable. It it possible that the C123C might been on a "Candlestick"
mission.

Brown, Carter, Parsley and Waller were declared Missing In Action by the U.S.
Air Force. They are among nearly 2400 Americans who are unaccounted for from the
Vietnam war. Experts believe there are hundreds of these men still alive today,
waiting for their country to come for them.

Whether the missing men from the Provider lost on February 3, 1966 are among
those still alive is not know. What is certain, however, is that the U.S. has a
moral and legal obligation to do everything possible to bring home those who are
alive.

CARTER, WILLIAM THOMAS

Name: William Thomas Carter
Rank/Branch: O2/US Navy
Unit: Air Antisubmarine Squadron 21, USS KEARSARGE (CVS 33)
Date of Birth: 04 December 1941
Home City of Record: Longs SC
Date of Loss: 10 November 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 173000N 1083000E (BK346365)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: S2E

Other Personnel in Incident: Eric J. Schoderer; Thomas J. McAteer; John M.
Riordan (all 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: FAIL RTN FM MSN - SRCH BK 3436 - J

SYNOPSIS: In 1966, there were several search and rescue (SAR) destroyers parked
off the coast of North Vietnam in the Gulf of Tonkin. When the attack and
fighter people would egress, they would be there to assist a cripple or pick up
a guy who had to punch out or ditch. During the night when the strike activity
would ebb, the SAR DDs would steam around their small areas waiting for the next
day's activities. It was during these night and early morning hours that high
speed surface contacts would probe their positions. The "Stoof" (S2) helped
provide air cover for these surface ships, as well as utilize electronic
technical gear to pinpoint locations of enemy activity.

As antisubmarine warfare was all but unknown in Vietnam, there were a variety of
duties handled by those trained in antisubmarine warfare. As marking submarines,
and/or destroying them involved the use of marking buoys, electronic "ears" and
other technical equipment suited for target marking, antisubmarine teams were
frequently used for search missions. They also sometimes assisted in attacks on
small enemy water craft. The Stoof (also called "Tracker") was technically an
anti-submarine aircraft, but had other missions in Vietnam. There were only a
few of such planes assigned to Vietnam at all.

For example, if a ship thought its position was being probed by enemy boats, it
might vector the Stoof out over the target. The Stoof tactic was to drop a
parachute retarded flare from about 10,000 feet over the target, circle back
around at a low altitude (about 300 feet) and investigate. If the target was
unfriendly, then the S2 would engage and destroy it. There was a certain amount
of risk involved in these operations, as the Vietnamese PT boats had radar that
enabled them to strike with no visual contact.

In the dead of night, at 10:30 p.m. on November 10, 1966, an S2E launched from
the USS Kearsarge with pilot LT Thomas J. McAteer, and crewmembers LTJG William
T. Carter, AX3 John M. Riordan, and AX3 Eric J. Schoderer. (AX designates
Antisubmarine warfare technicians and related duties). Their mission was a
surveillance flight in the Gulf of Tonkin.

McAteer's Tracker was last in radar contact with the control ship at 1:45 a.m.
It was not uncommon to lose periodic radar contact with a Tracker when it dived
below radar to investigate a surface target. But when the Tracker did not return
to the ship at their expected time, a search and rescue effort was begun. The
search produced aircraft wreckage and personal survival and flight gear, but no
survivors.

The cause of the crash of McAteer's aircraft was not determined. It was
suspected that the aircraft made an uncontrolled contact with the water. The
aircraft was determined lost about 55 miles east-northeast of the city of Hue in
the Gulf of Tonkin. The crew status was initially Missing in Action, but was
changed the following day to Killed/Body Not Recovered.

When considering a personnel loss at sea, the criteria for survival involves
both the location and the cause of the loss. In the case of the S2E, no reason
for loss was ever determined. Therefore, it was either shot down or went down
due to mechanical difficulties or "pilot error."

If mechanical difficulties resulted in the downing of the S2E, in an entirely
non-hostile environment, then there can be little chance of survival for the
crew of the S2E unless they managed to cross 50 miles of ocean. If enemy
activity was present, however, there can be ample room for speculation that the
crew might have been captured.

The crew of the S2E is among nearly 3000 Americans who remained prisoner,
missing, or otherwise unaccounted for at the end of the Vietnam war. Since that
time, cases have been resolved by the return of remains and by other means.
Since the end of the war, nearly 10,000 reports relating to these Americans have
been received by the U.S. Government, convincing many authorities that hundreds
of Americans remain alive in enemy hands today.

Whether the crew of the S2E survived to be captured can only be speculated. It
would be kinder to them and to their families if they died on November 10, 1966.
It is impossible to imagine the agony they must feel to have been abandoned by
their country. It is heartbreaking to consider that Americans still await rescue
by the country they proudly served.

CARTWRIGHT, BILLIE JACK

Name: Billie Jack Cartwright
Rank/Branch: O5/US Navy
Unit:
Date of Birth: 21 June 1927
Home City of Record: San Antonio TX
Date of Loss: 22 December 1965
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 211300N 1065700E (XJ023471)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A6A

Other Personnel in Incident: Edward F. Gold (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: When nuclear powered USS ENTERPRISE arrived on Yankee Station on
December 2, 1965, she was the largest warship ever built. She brought with her
not only an imposing physical presence, but also an impressive component of
warplanes and the newest technology. Her air wing (CAG 9) consisted of more than
ninety aircraft. Among her attack squadrons were VA 36, VA 93, VA 76 and VA 94.
She launched her opening combat strike against targets in North Vietnam on
December 17, and by the end of her first week of combat operations, the
ENTERPRISE had set a record of 165 combat sorties in a single day, surpassing
the KITTY HAWK's 131. By the end of her first combat cruise, her air wing had
flown over 13,000 combat sorties. The record had not been achieved without cost.

On December 22, the ENTERPRISE teamed with the carriers KITTY HAWK and
TICONDEROGA in one of the war's biggest strikes to date, with one hundred
aircraft hitting the thermal power plant at Uong Bi located fifteen miles
north-northeast of the city of Haiphong. This was the first industrial target
authorized by the Johnson administration. The ENTERPRISE's aircraft approached
from the north and the KITTY HAWK/TICONDEROGA force from the south, leaving the
plant in shambles. The day's casualties were two A4Cs from the ENTERPRISE, an
RA5C Vigilante, and an A6A Intruder -- six Americans shot down.

One of the A4s was flown by LTJG Wendell R. Alcorn, a pilot from Attack Squadron
94 onboard the ENTERPRISE. Alcorn's aircraft was shot down about 15 miles
north-northeast of Haiphong and he was captured by the North Vietnamese. For the
next 7 years, Alcorn was a "guest" in the Hanoi prison system. He was ultimately
released in Operation Homecoming on Valentine's Day, 1973.

The second A4C shot down on December 22, 1965 was flown from the ENTERPRISE by
LT John D. Prudhomme. Prudhomme's aircraft was hit by enemy fire and crashed
near Alcorn's position. Prudhomme was not as lucky as Alcorn; he was deemed to
have been killed in the crash of his aircraft. He is listed among the missing
because his remains were not recovered.

The RA5C reconnaissance aircraft was shot down about 5 miles east of Hai Duong
in Hai Hung Province, about 30 miles from Alcorn and Prudhomme. Its crew
consisted of the pilot, LCDR Max D. Lukenbach and his rear-seater, LTJG Glenn H.
Daigle. LTJG Daigle was captured by the Vietnamese and held in Hanoi until his
release on February 12, 1973. Lukenbach, according to intelligence received,
died in the crash of the plane and was buried near the crash site.

The fates of the crew of the fourth aircraft to be shot down is uncertain. Pilot
CDR Billie J. Cartwright and his rear-seater LT Edward F. Gold were declared
missing in action after their A6A Intruder went down about 30 miles northeast of
Haiphong.

On December 23, twenty-four hours before President Johnson's thirty-seven-day
bombing halt would take effect, another large flight launched from the
ENTERPRISE for strikes in North Vietnam.

LTJG William L. Shankel describes the flight:

"About twenty planes were going after a bridge over the Red River, halfway
between Hanoi and Haiphong and I was in the second section. My A4 was a real
dog, and I had to cut corners to keep everybody else from running off and
leaving me. I reached the target by myself, pulled up, and rolled in to
dive-bomb the bridge. The plane was hit as soon as the bombs left, at the bottom
of the dive... When I went out, the plane was inverted and almost supersonic,
and the ejection really thrashed my right knee."

Shankel, Alcorn and Daigle were all held in what has come to be known as the
Hanoi prison system -- The Hoa Lo (Hanoi Hilton), Heartbreak Hotel, the Zoo,
Alcatraz, Briarpatch and others. Although their captivity was distinctly
unpleasant, both from the standpoint of torture and deprivation and from the
mental torture of wondering year after year, if they would ever come home, these
three are among the more lucky ones. They came home alive.

At the end of the war, 591 Americans were released from the Hanoi prison system.
Military authorities at the time were shocked that hundreds more known or
suspected to be prisoners were not released. Since that time, nearly 10,000
intelligence reports have been received relating to Americans who were prisoner,
missing or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia. Some officials, having reviewed
this largely-classified information, have reluctantly concluded that large
numbers of Americans are still alive in captivity today.

These reports are the source of serious distress to many returned American
prisoners. They had a code that no one could honorably return unless all of the
prisoners returned. Not only that code of honor, but the honor of our country is
in jeopardy as long as even one man remains unjustly held.


William L. Shankel, Glenn H. Daigle and Wendell R. Alcorn were promoted to the
rank of Lieutenant Commander during the period they were Prisoners of War.
Billie J. Cartwright was promoted to the rank of Captain and Edward F. Gold to
the rank of Commander during the period they were maintained missing.

William L. Shankel, MD is a surgeon and resides in Laughlin, Nevada.


CARTWRIGHT, PATRICK GREGORY

Name: Patrick Gregory Cartwright
Rank/Branch: E4/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 195, USS KITTY HAWK (CVA 63)
Date of Birth: 08 May 1950 (Greeley CO)
Home City of Record: Reno NV
Date of Loss: 31 January 1971
Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 175252N 1071821E (YE443784)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Carrier

Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 30 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 USS KITTY HAWK was on duty in Vietnam as early as 1964 and had 131
combat sorties to its credit by the end of 1965, and many more through the
remaining years of the Vietnam war. The KITTY HAWK was one of the
Forrestal-class "super" carriers, and could operate up to ninety aircraft from
her angled deck.

An aircraft carrier such as the KITTY HAWK required hundreds of maintenence and
support crewmen. One of these was Aviation Structural Mechanic (hydraulics)
Petty Officer Third Class Patrick G. Cartwright, assigned to Attack Squadron
195.

On January 31, 1971 Petty Officer Cartwright was performing intermediate level
maintenance on aircraft hydraulics systems aboard the USS KITTY HAWK which was
conducting night operations in the South China Sea. Petty Officer Cartwright was
last seen at 0615 hours near Sponson 11, located on the hangar deck level in the
vicinity of the fantail. He was known to be absent from 0615 hours until the end
of his shift at 0700 hours. The watch on Sponson 11 reported nothing unusual
during this period. A shipmate later reported that Petty Officer Cartwright
could not be located and an immediate effort was undertaken to find him. A
thorough search of the ship and calls on the loud speaker failed to locate Petty
Officer Cartwright. An extensive air and sea search was conducted by helicopter
and destroyer along the course traveled by the ship since the last time he was
seen. All search efforts met with negative results.

Petty Officer Cartwright was lost approximately 45 nautical miles from the coast
of North Vietnam, east of the city of Ron. He was initially placed in a Missing
casualty status, but on February 4, 1971, he was declared Reported Dead.

The Vietnam War touched many lives. Tens of thousands of families lost loved
ones in battle deaths. Tens of thousands saw their sons and brothers come home
maimed physically and mentally from the wounds and torments of the savagery of
war. Some received telegrams that their loved ones drowned in recreation; a few
learned their sons died from drug overdose; and some learned their sons, for
unknown reasons chose to end their lives in Vietnam. Others, like Cartwright,
just disappeared.

As long as man has been, war has been. As a society, we tend to bury the
unpleasant aspects of war and concentrate on the victory. In Vietnam, we have
only a hollow "Peace with Honor" and must instead, focus on the warriors - men
who willingly served their country when called. Men whose lives we used as the
price for our freedom.

The most tragic of all the warriors are those who still wait, captive and
abandoned by their country in prisons and camps in Southeast Asia. In abandoning
them, we have made the deaths and suffering of tens of thousands a frivolous
waste. We must never neglect the duty we have to the men who answer their
country's call.


CARVER, HARRY FRANKLIN

Name:  Harry Franklin Carver
Rank/Branch: E5/US Army
Unit: Company E, 15th Engineer Battalion, 9th Infantry Division
Date of Birth: 24 May 1942
Home City of Record: New Albany IN
Date of Loss: 10 April 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 103815N 1065849E (YS166765)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Airboat

Other Personnel In Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 30 June 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: SSGT Harry F. Carver was assigned to Company E, 15th Engineer
Battalion, 9th Infantry Division in Vietnam. On April 10, 1968, Carver was a
member of an airboat patrol operating about 35 kilometers southeast of Saigon in
Bien Hoa Province, Republic of Vietnam.

At about 1330 hours that day, an enemy force ambushed the airboat with rocket
propelled grenades and small arms fire, wounding several men, including Carver.
Several other members of the patrol reported that Carter was wounded, was
bleeding profusely, and was slumped over in the driver's seat of the airboat
when the craft capsized and Carter disappeared.

Ground, air and water searches were conducted in an attempt to recover Carter,
but to no avail. Area villagers and officials were later questioned, but no
additional information was learned about Carver's fate.

SSGT Carver was classified Killed in action, body not recovered. He is listed
with honor among nearly 2500 Americans who remain unaccounted for in Southeast
Asia because his remains were never found.

Carver's case seem clear. In what experts now believe are hundreds of other
cases, however, things are not so easily explained. Thousands of reports
received now indicate that hundreds of Americans are still held captive in
Southeast Asia. While Carter may never return to the country he proudly served,
we must do all we can to see to it that his death is honored by returning all
our men home.

CARVER, ROBERT CHARLES

Name: Robert Charles Carver
Rank/Branch: O3/RAAF
Unit: 2nd Squadron, Australin Royal Air Force, Phan Rang
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Australia
Date of Loss: 03 November 1970
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: YC857430
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: B57

Other Personnel in Incident: Michael P. Herbert (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. Two of the five are Capt. Robert C. Carver and Capt. Michael P. Herbert,
lost on November 3, 1970.

Carver and Herbert were stationed at Phan Rang, South Vietnam. On November 3,
1970, they were sent on a bombing mission over Da Nang. About 8:22 p.m. Carver
radioed "Magpie" base that he had dropped the bomb load from their B57 Canberra
bomber from 7,000 meters altitude.

At 10:15, radio contact was lost with the aircraft, and it failed to return to
base. There is varied opinion as to their fate. One popular theory is that a
Viet Cong heat-seeking missile tracked them down and sent the No. 2 Squadron
bomber down in dense jungle.

Search teams tried to locate Carver and Herbert, but were unsuccessful. It was
never learned for sure if they survived the crash of the aircraft. Both men were
classified Missing in Action.

Carver and Herbert do not appear on most U.S. lists since they were not U.S.
citizens. 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.

CASE, THOMAS FRANKLIN
Remains returned February 1987

Name: Thomas Franklin Case
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit: 61st Troop Carrier Squadron, DaNang Airbase
Date of Birth: 31 October 1922
Home City of Record: Thomson GA
Date of Loss: 31 May 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 194857N 1052924E (WG510910)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: C130E
Personnel In Incident: April 3 1965: Herschel S. Morgan; Raymond A. Vohden
(released POWs); George C. Smith (missing). April 4, 1965: Walter F. Draeger;
James A. Magnusson (missing); Carlyle S. Harris (released POW); September 16,
1965: J. Robinson Risner (released POW); May 31, 1966: Bobbie J. Alberton;
William R. Edmondson; Emmett McDonald; Armon Shingledecker; Philip J. Stickney;
(missing from the C-130E); Thomas Case; Harold J. Zook; Elroy Harworth (remains
returned from the C130E). Dayton Ragland; Ned Herrold (missing on an F-4C)

REMARKS: ALL CREW DEAD/FBIS

SYNOPSIS: The Thanh Hoa Railroad and Highway Bridge, spanning the Song Ma
River, is located three miles north of Thanh Hoa, the capital of Annam
Province, North Vietnam. It is a replacement for the original French-built
bridge destroyed by the Viet Minh in 1945 - they simply loaded two locomotives
with explosives and ran them together in the middle of the bridge.

In 1957, the North Vietnamese rebuilt the bridge. The new bridge, completed in
1964, was 540 feet long, 56 feet wide, and about 50 feet above the river. The
Vietnamese called it Ham Rong (the Dragon's Jaw), and Ho Chi Minh himself
attended its dedication. The bridge had two steel thru-truss spans which rested
in the center on a massive reinforced concrete pier 16 feet in diameter, and on
concrete abutments at the other ends. Hills on both sides of the river provided
solid bracing for the structure. Between 1965 and 1972, eight concrete piers
were added near the approaches to give additional resistance to bomb damage. A
one-meter guage single railway track ran down the 12 foot wide center and 22
foot wide concrete highways were cantilevered on each side. This giant would
prove to be one of the single most challenging targets for American air power
in Veitnam. 104 American pilots were shot down over a 75 square mile area
around the Dragon during the war. (Only the accounts of those specifically
known to be involved in major strikes against the bridge are given here. Some
losses were aircraft involved in operations against other targets. Note also,
that because aircraft came in on this target from a wide geographic area, some
personnel lost outside the 75 mile range may have been inadvertently overlooked
in this study.)

In March 1965 the decision to interdict the North Vietnamese rail system south
of the 20th parallel led immediately to the April 3, 1965 strike against the
Thanh Hoa Bridge. Lt.Col. Robinson Risner was designated overall mission
coordinator for the attack. He assembled a force consisting of 79 aircraft - 46
F105's, 21 F100's, 2 RF101's and 10 KC135 tankers. The F100's came from bases
in South Vietnam, while the rest of the aircraft were from squadrons TDY at
various Thailand bases.

Sixteen of the 46 "Thuds" (F105) were loaded with pairs of Bullpup missiles,
and each of the remaining 30 carried eight 750 lb. general purpose bombs. The
aircraft that carried the missiles and half of the bombers were scheduled to
strike the bridge; the remaining 15 would provide flak suppression. The plan
called for individual flights of four F105's from Koran and Takhli which would
be air refueled over the Mekong River before tracking across Laos to an initial
point (IP) three minutes south of the bridge. After weapon release, the plan
called for all aircraft to continue east until over the Gulf of Tonkin where
rejoin would take place and a Navy destroyer would be available to recover
anyone who had to eject due to battle damage or other causes. After rejoin, all
aircraft would return to their bases, hopefully to the tune of "The Ham Rong
Bridge if falling down."

Shortly after noon on April 3, aircraft of Rolling Thunder Mission 9-Alpha
climbed into Southeast Asia skies on their journey to the Thanh Hoa Bridge. The
sun glinting through the haze was making the target somewhat difficult to
acquire, but Risner led the way "down the chute" and 250 pound missiles were
soon exploding on the target. Since only one Bullpup missile could be fired at
a time, each pilot had to make two firing passes.

On his second pass, LtCol. Risner's aircraft took a hit just as the Bullpup hit
the bridge. Fighting a serious fuel leak and a smoke-filled cockpit in addition
to anti-aircraft fire from the enemy, he nursed his crippled aircraft to Da
Nang and to safety. The Dragon would not be so kind on another day.

The first two flights had already left the target when Capt. Bill Meyerholt,
number three man in the third flight, rolled his Thunderchief into a dive and
sqeezed off a Bullpup. The missile streaked toward the bridge, and as smoke
cleared from the previous attacks, Capt. Meyerholt was shocked to see no
visible damage to the bridge. The Bullpups were merely charring the heavy steel
and concrete structure. The remaining missile attacks confirmed that firing
Bullpups at the Dragon was about as effective as shooting BB pellets at a
Sherman tank.

The bombers, undaunted, came in for their attack, only to see their payload
drift to the far bank because of a very strong southwest wind. 1Lt. George C.
Smith's F100D was shot down near the target point as he suppressed flak. The
anti-aircraft resistance was much stronger than anticipated. No radio contact
could be made with Smith, nor could other aircraft locate him. 1Lt. Smith was
listed Missing In Action, and no further word has been heard of him.

The last flight of the day, led by Capt. Carlyle S. "Smitty" Harris, adjusted
their aiming points and scored several good hits on the roadway and super
structure. Smitty tried to assess bomb damage, but could not because of the
smoke coming from the Dragon's Jaw. The smoke would prove to be an ominous
warning of things to come.

LtCdr. Raymond A. Vohden was north of the Dragon when his A4C bomber was shot
down. Ray was captured by the North Vietnamese and held in various POW camps in
and near Hanoi until his release in February 1973. (It is not entirely clear
that this U.S. Navy Lt.Cdr. had a direct role in the attack on the bridge, but
was probably "knocked out" by the same anti-aircraft fire.)

Capt. Herschel S. Morgan's RF101 was hit and went down some 75 miles southwest
of the target area, seriously injuring the pilot. Capt. Morgan was captured and
held in and around Hanoi until his release in February 1973.

When the smoke cleared, observer aircraft found that the bridge still spanned
the river. Thirty-two Bullpups and ten dozen 750 pound bombs had been aimed at
the bridge and numerous hits had charred every part of the structure, yet it
showed no sign of going down. A restrike was ordered for the next day.

The following day, flights with call signs "Steel", "Iron", "Copper", "Moon",
"Carbon", "Zinc", "Argon", "Graphite", "Esso", "Mobil", "Shell", "Petrol", and
the "Cadillac" BDA (bomb damage assessment) flight, assembled at IP to try once
again to knock out the Dragon. On this day, Capt. Carlyle "Smitty" Harris was
flying as call sign "Steel 3". Steel 3 took the lead and oriented himself for
his run on a 300 degree heading. He reported that his bombs had impacted on the
target on the eastern end of the bridge. Steel 3 was on fire as soon as he left
the target. Radio contact was garbled, and Steel Lead, Steel 2 and Steel 4
watched helplessly as Smitty's aircraft, emitting flame for 20 feet behind,
headed due west of the target. All flight members had him in sight until the
fire died out, but observed no parachute, nor did they see the aircraft impact
the ground. Smitty's aircraft had been hit by a MiG whose pilot later recounted
the incident in "Vietnam Courier" on April 15, 1965. It was not until much
later that it would be learned that Smitty had been captured by the North
Vietnamese. Smitty was held prisoner for 8 years and released in 1973. Fellow
POWs credit Smitty with introducing the "tap code" which enabled them to
communicate with each other.

MiG's had been seen on previous missions, but for the first time in the war,
the Russian-made MiGs attacked American aircraft. Zinc 2, an F105D flown by
Capt. James A. Magnusson, had its flight bounced by MiG 17's. As Zinc Lead was
breaking to shake a MiG on his tail, Zinc 2 was hit and radioed that he was
heading for the Gulf if he could maintain control of his aircraft. The other
aircraft were busy evading the MiGs, and Magnusson radioed several times before
Steel Lead responded and instructed him to tune his radio to rescue frequency.
Magnusson's aircraft finally ditched over the Gulf of Tonkin near the island of
Hon Me, and he was not seen or heard from again. He was listed Missing In
Action.

Capt. Walter F. Draeger's A1H (probably an escort for rescue teams) was shot
down over the Gulf of Tonkin just northeast of the Dragon that day. Draeger's
aircraft was seen to crash in flames, but no parachute was observed. Draeger
was listed Missing In Action.

The remaining aircraft returned to their bases, discouraged. Although over 300
bombs scored hits on this second strike, the bridge still stood.

From April to September 1965, 19 more pilots were shot down in the general
vicinity of the Dragon, including many who were captured and released,
including Howie Rutledge, Gerald Coffee, Paul Galanti, Jeremiah Denton, Bill
Tschudy and James Stockdale. Then on September 16, 1965, Col. Robbie Risner's
F105D was shot down a few miles north of the bridge he had tried to destroy the
previous April. As he landed, Risner tore his knee painfully, a condition which
contributed to his ultimate capture by the North Vietnamese. Risner was held in
and around Hanoi until his release in 1973, but while a POW, he was held in
solitary confinement for 4 1/2 years. Besides the normal malaise and illnesses
common to POWs, Risner also suffered from kidney stones, which severely
debilitated him in the spring and summer of 1967.

By September 1965, an innovative concept had taken shape - mass-focusing the
energy of certain high explosive weapons. The Air Force quickly saw its
application against the old Dragon and devised a plan to destroy the bridge
using the new weapon. They would call the operation "Carolina Moon".

The plan necessitated two C130 aircraft dropping the weapon, a rather large
pancake-shaped affair 8 feet in diameter and 2 1/2 feet thick and weighing
5,000 pounds. The C130's would fly below 500 feet to evade radar along a 43
mile route (which meant the C130 would be vulnerable to enemy attack for about
17 minutes), and drop the bombs, which would float down the Song Ma River where
it would pass under the Dragon's Jaw, and detonate when sensors in the bomb
detected the metal of the bridge structure.

Because the slow-moving C130's would need protection, F4 Phantoms would fly
diversionary attack to the south, using flares and bombs on the highway just
before the C130 was to drop its ordnance. The F4s were to enter their target
area at 300', attack at 50' and pull off the target back to 300' for subsequent
attacks. Additionally, an EB66 was tasked to jam the radar in the area during
the attack period. Since Risner had been shot down in September, 15 more pilots
had been downed in the bridge region. Everyone knew it was hot.

The first C130 was to be flown by Maj. Richard T. Remers and the second by Maj.
Thomas F. Case, both of whom had been through extensive training for this
mission at Elgin AFB, Florida and had been deployed to Vietnam only 2 weeks
before. Ten mass-focus weapons were provided, allowing for a second mission
should the first fail to accomplish the desired results.

Last minute changes to coincide with up-to-date intelligence included one that
would be very significant in the next days. Maj. Remers felt that the aircraft
was tough enough to survive moderate anti-aircraft artillery hits and gain
enough altitude should bail-out be necessary. Maj. Case agreed that the
aircraft could take the hits, but the low-level flight would preclude a
controlled bail-out situation. With these conflicting philosophies, and the
fact that either parachutes or flak vests could be worn - but not both - Maj.
Remers decided that his crew would wear parachutes and stack their flak vests
on the floor of the aircraft. Maj. Case decided that his crew would wear only
flak vests and store the parachutes.

On the night of May 30, Maj. Remers and his crew, including navigators Capt.
Norman G. Clanton and 1Lt. William "Rocky" Edmondson, departed Da Nang at 25
minutes past midnight and headed north under radio silence. Although the
"Herky-bird" encountered no resistance at the beginning of its approach, heavy,
(although luckily, inaccurate) ground fire was encountered after it was too
late to turn back. The 5 weapons were dropped successfully in the river and
Maj. Remers made for the safety of the Gulf of Tonkin. The operation had gone
flawlessly, and the C130 was safe. Although the diversionary attack had drawn
fire, both F-4's returned to Thailand unscathed.

Unfortunately, the excitement of the crew was shortlived, because recon photos
taken at dawn showed that there was no noticeable damage to the bridge, nor was
any trace of the bombs found. A second mission was planned for the night of May
31. The plan for Maj. Case's crew was basically the same with the exception of
a minor time change and slight modification to the flight route. A crew change
was made when Maj. Case asked 1Lt. Edmondson, the navigator from the previous
night's mission, to go along on this one because of his experience from the
night before. The rest of the crew included Capt. Emmett R. McDonald, 1Lt.
Armon D. Shingledecker, 1Lt. Harold J. Zook, SSgt. Bobby J. Alberton, AM1 Elroy
E. Harworth and AM1 Philip J. Stickney. The C130 departed DaNang at 1:10 a.m.

The crew aboard one of the F4's to fly diversionary included Col. Dayton
Ragland. Ragland was no stranger to conflict when he went to Vietnam. He had
been shot down over Korea in November 1951 and had served two years as a
prisoner of war. Having flown 97 combat missions on his tour in Vietnam,
Ragland was packed and ready to go home. He would fly as "backseater" to 1Lt.
Ned R. Herrold on the mission to give the younger man more combat flight time
while he operated the sophisticated technical navigational and bombing
equipment. The F4's left Thailand and headed for the area south of the Dragon.

At about two minutes prior to the scheduled C130 drop time, the F4's were
making their diversionary attack when crew members saw anti-aircraft fire and a
large ground flash in the bridge vicinity. Maj. Case and his crew were never
seen or heard from again. During the F4 attack, Herrold and Ragland's aircraft
was hit. On its final pass, the aircraft did not pull up, but went out to sea,
and reported that the aircraft had taken heavy weapons fire. A ball of fire was
seen as the plane went into the sea.

Reconnaissance crews and search and rescue scoured the target area and the Gulf
of Tonkin the next morning, finding no sign at all of the C130 or its crew.
Rescue planes spotted a dinghy in the area in which Herrold and Ragland's
aircraft had gone down, but saw no signs of life. The dinghy was sunk to
prevent it falling into enemy hands. The bridge still stood.

In March 1967, the U.S. Navy attacked the Thanh Hoa Bridge using the new
"Walleye" missiles, but failed to knock out the bridge. Before the war ended,
54 more Americans fell in the Dragon's Jaw area.

In late 1986 the remains of Harworth, Zook and Case were returned and buried
with the honor befitting an American fighting man who has died for his country.
Ragland, Herrold, Alberton, McDonald, Edmondson, Shingledecker, Stickney,
Smith, Draeger and Magnussen are still Missing in Action.







CASEY, DONALD FRANCIS

Name: Donald Francis Casey
Rank/Branch: O5/US Air Force
Unit: 497th Tactical Fighter Squadron
Date of Birth: 25 January 1926
Home City of Record: Chattanooga TN
Date of Loss: 23 June 1968
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 175200N 1055500E (WE971755)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D

Other Personnel In Incident: James E. Booth (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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:  DEAD/VIETNAM COURIER

SYNOPSIS: Jim Booth was the second of nine children born on a farm near Bethany,
Missouri. All his life, he knew that what he wanted to do was fly. When he grew
up, Booth worked for a while as an economic analyst for the state of California;
then he joined the Air Force and received weapons/systems training onboard the
F4 phantom fighter jet.

By mid-1968, the war in Vietnam was escalating, and Booth and other pilots were
called on to fly long hours over enemy targets. Having flown nightly for two
weeks, Booth should have been due some R & R, but instead, volunteered to fly
backseater for Col. Donald Casey on a night bombing mission over North Vietnam.
Casey was a veteran pilot and a career Air Force man.

Casey and Booth were to bomb a target in the mountains near the border of North
Vietnam and Laos in Quang Binh Province. Just as Casey's aircraft rolled in to
make a bombing run, the pilot of a nearby plane saw a large fireball on the side
of a mountain. No parachutes were observed, and no emergency radio beeper
signals were heard. Attempts to raise Booth and Casey by radio were
unsuccessful.

Information was later received that both Casey and Booth were dead. However,
since this information was not confirmed by separate sources, Casey and Booth
were maintained as Missing in Action. Other men lost in similar circumstances
had survived to be captured -- there was no proof that Casey and Booth were
dead.

Since the war ended in Vietnam, refugees have flooded the world, bringing with
them stories of Americans still held in Indochina. Many authorities, having
reviewed this largely classified information, now believe that hundreds of
American POWs are still alive, waiting for their country to come for them.

Whether Casey and Booth actually survived the downing of their aircraft on June
23, 1968 is unknown. Their families cannot be sure. Until the U.S. insists on a
full accounting of those missing, and more critically, the return of those said
to be still alive, Casey's and Booth's fates will remain a mystery.




CASSELL, ROBIN BERN

Name: Robin Bern Cassell
Rank/Branch: O2/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 152, USS ORISKANY (CVA 34)
Date of Birth: 06 December 1941 (Little Rock AR)
Home City of Record: Ft. Huachuca AZ
Date of Loss: 15 July 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 195300N 1060857E (XG203988)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A1H

Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 30 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 USS ORISKANY was a World War II-era carrier on duty in Vietnam as
early as 1964. The ORISKANY at one time carried the RF8A (number 144608) flown
by Maj. John H. Glenn, the famous Marine astronaut (and later Senator) flew in
his 1957 transcontinental flight. In October, 1966 the ORISKANY endured a tragic
fire which killed 44 men onboard, but was soon back on station. In 1972, the
ORISKANY had an at-sea accident which resulted in the loss of one of its
aircraft elevators, and later lost a screw that put the carrier into drydock in
Yokosuka, Japan for major repairs, thus delaying its involvement until the late
months of the war.

Lieutenant Junior Grade Robin B. Cassell was a Navy pilot assigned to Attack
Squadron 152 onboard the aircraft carrier USS ORISKANY. On July 15, 1967 he
launched in his A1H Skyraider aircraft as the fight leader of a section of A1H's
on a daytime armed coastal reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam.

During the mission, Cassell's aircraft was seen to be hit by automatic weapons
fire during an attack on water craft near Cua Dai, North Vietnam. (This is in
the approximate region of the city of Thanh Hoa.) Cassell radioed, "I'm hit" and
shortly thereafter crashed into the sea and exploded on impact. No parachute was
seen, and search and rescue efforts turned up negative results.

LTJG Robin B. Cassell was listed Killed in Action, Body Not Recovered. He is
listed with honor among the missing because his remains were never found to be
returned home.

Over 3000 Americans remained prisoner, missing, or otherwise unaccounted for
at the end of the Vietnam war. The numbers have been reduced since that time
with the release of prisoners, and the return of remain until it has reached
just over 2300 in early 1990.

Since the war ended nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing,
prisoner, or otherwise unaccounted for in Indochina have been received by the
U.S. Government. Many officials, having examined this largely classified
information, have reluctantly concluded that many Americans are still alive
today, held captive by our long-ago enemy.

Mounting evidence indicates that some Americans are still alive being held
prisoner of war in Southeast Asia. In the peace accords signed in 1973, the
Vietnamese pledged to return all prisoners of war and provide the fullest
possible accounting of the missing. They have not done either.

The United States government pledged that the POW/MIA issue is of "highest
national priority" but has not achieved results indicative of a priority.
The Americans who remain unaccounted for in Southeast Asia deserve our best
efforts to bring them home, not our empty words.


Robin B. Cassell graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1964.
CASTILLO, RICHARD
Remains Returned 01 March 1986

Name: Richard Castillo
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 16th Special Operations Squadron, Ubon Airfield, Thailand
Date of Birth: 21 November 1938
Home City of Record: Corpus Christi TX
Date of Loss: 29 March 1972
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 163900N 1060600E (XD165414)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: AC130A

Other Personnel In Incident: Barclay Young; Howard Stephenson; James Caniford;
Curtis Miller; Robert Simmons; Henry Brauner; Edwin Pearce (all missing);
Edward Smith; Richard Halpin; Irving Ramsower; Charles Wanzel; Merlyn Paulson;
William Todd; (remains returned)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II
Project.

REMARKS: NO PARA - NO RAD CNTCT - SAR NEGA

SYNOPSIS: On the night of March 29, 1972, an AC130A Hercules "Spectre" gunship
departed Ubon Airfield, Thailand on a night reconnaissance mission over supply
routes used by North Vietnamese forces in Laos. The crew of the aircraft
consisted of pilots Maj. Irving B. Ramsower II and 1Lt. Charles J. Wanzel III,
the navigator, Maj. Henry P. Brauner, and crew members Maj. Howard D.
Stephenson, Capt. Curtis D. Miller, Capt. Barclay B. Young, Capt. Richard
Castillo, Capt. Richard C. Halpin, SSgt. Merlyn L. Paulson, SSgt. Edwin J.
Pearce, SSgt. Edward D. Smith Jr., SSgt. James K. Caniford; and Airmen First
Class William A. Todd and Robert E. Simmons.

As the aircraft was in the jungle foothills 56 miles east of Savannakhet in
southern Laos, it was shot down by a Russian Surface to Air Missile (SAM). U.S.
government sources stated in February 1986 that a fighter escort plane reported
that the aircraft crashed in a fireball, no parachutes were seen, nor was radio
contact made with the AC130 or any of its crew. In 1972, however, the Pearce
family was told that an F4 support plane traveling with the AC130 heard "so many
beepers they couldn't count them" and that the emergency beeper type carried by
the crew could only be activated manually. The Pearce family took this as
strong proof that a number of the crew survived. The support aircraft plane left
the area to refuel. When it returned, there were no signs of life.

The inscribed wedding band of Curtis Miller was recovered by a reporter and
returned to Miller's family. The existence of the ring suggests to Miller's
mother that the plane did not burn, and gives her hope that he survived.

A May 1985 article appearing in a Thai newspaper stated that the bodies of
Simmons and Wanzel were among 5 bodies brought to the base camp of Lao
Liberation forces. The same article reported a group of 21 Americans still
alive, held prisoner at a camp in Khammouane Province, Laos. At about this same
time, Simmons' dog tag was mailed anonymously to the U.S. Embassy in Laos. FBI
tests failed to show fire residue on the tag, proving to the Simmons family that
Skeeter did not die in the explosion and go down in the fiery crash.

The U.S. and Laos excavated this aircraft's crash site in February 1986. The
teams recovered a limited number of human bone fragments, personal effects and
large pieces of plane wreckage. It was later announced by the U.S. Government
that the remains of Castillo, Halpin, Ramsower, Simmons, Todd, Paulson, Pearce,
Wanzel and Smith had been positively identified from these bone fragments.

In a previous excavation at Pakse, Laos in 1985, remains recovered were
positively identified as the 13 crew members, although independent examiners
later proved that only 2 of those identifications were scientifically possible.
The U.S. Government has acknowledged the errors made in identification on two of
the men, but these two individuals are still considered "accounted for".

Because of the identification problems of the first excavation, the families of
the Savannakhet AC130 have carefully considered the information given them about
their loved ones. The families of Robert Simmons and Edwin Pearce have actively
resisted the U.S. Government's identification, which is in both cases based on a
single tooth. These families do not know if their men are alive or dead, but
will insist that the books are kept open until proof dictates that there is no
longer any hope for their survival.

In January 1991, a federal judge ruled that when the Simmons family collected
death benefits for Skeeter, they lost the right to question whether he was dead.
They have continued to fight a positive identification based on a single tooth.
The Assistant U.S. Attorney, William H. Pease, added that the court has no
jurisdiction over military identification of remains.

Nearly 600 Americans were lost in Laos during the Vietnam war, and many were
known to have survived their loss incident. However, the U.S. did not negotiate
with Laos for these men, and consequently, not one American held in Laos has
ever been released.




CATES, PATRICK B.

Name: Patrick B. Cates
Rank/Branch: Civilian
Unit: Glomar Java Sea
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record:
Date of Loss: 25 October 1983
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates:
Status (in 1973):
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground:

Personnel in Incident: Herman Arms; Jerald T. Battiste; Sebe M. Bracey; Patrick
B. Cates; Wei Chen; Xiong Chen; Shu Guo Cheng; Jacob K. J. Chong; David P.
Clifton; James F. Cusick; Thomas J. Dixon; Shao Jien Feng; Jerald J. Flanagan;
Nigel Furness; Leonard E. Ganzinotti; La Juan A. Gilmore; Henry M. Gittings;
James K. Gittings; Terance C. Green; Jun Tian Guan; David Higgins, Jr.; Tyronne
Higgins; Hong Xi Huang; Rui Wen Huang; Yong Liang Huang; Timothy Jarvis; John W.
Jennings Jr.; Thomas J. Kofahl; Fan Xiang Kong; Guo Zhen Lai; John W. Lawrence;
Tong L. T. Lee; Chong Chang Li; Xuan Qiu Li; Zhan Jun Liang; Jie Feng Lin; Bing
Guang Liu; Edgar S. Lim; Gary Looke; Robert M. McCurry; Jerry L. Manfrida;
Raymond D. Miller; Xie Yi Mo; Tian Xue Mo; Kenneth W. Myers; Larry K. Myers;
Donald J. Ouellet; John D. Pierce; Peter Popiel; Clarence Reed; Jewell J.
Reynolds; E.J. Russell Reynolds; Walter T. Robinson; Kenneth B. Rogers; Lawrence
M. Salzwedel; William R. Schug; Richard E. Shoff; Christopher J. Sleeman; Delmar
A. Spencer; George G. Sullivan; Chong Jian Sun; Gustaf F. Swanson; Kevin C.
Swanson; Guo Dong Tang; Michael W. Thomas; Jiang Wang; Yu Fang Wang; Dong Cai
Wang; Guo Rong Wu; jing Sheng Xia; Xing Xing; Hui Xu; Ming Rui Xu; Mua Guang
Yuan; Xing Zhen Zhang; Yi Hua Zhang; Ji Chang Zhen; Shu Rong Zhou; Yao Wu Zhou;
Jie Fang Zhou; Da Huai Zhu.

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 10 December 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 5,930-ton American drilling ship, "Glomar Java Sea" was owned by
Global Marine of Houston, Texas, and leased to Atlantic Richfield Company
(ARCO). In the fall of 1983, the vessel was on duty about 200 miles east of the
Vietnamese coast. The ship was drilling for oil in the South China Sea in a
joint venture of ARCO and China Naitonal Offshore Oil Corporation, a state-owned
concern.

The "Glomar Java Sea" is a sister ship of the "Glomar Explorer," which, under
the guise of being utilized by the late Howard Hughes in a deep sea mining
operation in the Paficic, was really being used by the CIA and Navy in a $350
million project to retrieve a sunken Soviet Golf-class submarine. A large part
of the submarine was in fact recovered in 1974 before details of the project
were publicly revealed.

The Glomar Java Sea, with its crew of 81, began drilling operations on January
9, 1983 and was the first American wildcat operaton off the Chinese coast. On
October 25, 1983, the vessel was sunk during Typhoon Lex.

Documents removed from the ship by a crewman before the disaster indicate that
the vessel was being shadowed by armed Vietnamese naval craft and that there
were submarine mines beneath the "Glomar Java Sea," placed there and retrievable
by its crew. Another document indicates that the ship was damaged prior ot the
typhoon when a Chinese supply boat rammed into its side, causing some $320,000
damage to the vessel. The Glomar Java Sea did not leave its post for repairs.

Communications between ARCO and Global Marine, as well as telegraphic and radio
communications of the U.S. Western Pacific Rescue Coordination Center (WESTPAC)
reveal information about the search for the crew of the Glomar Java Sea.

The documents indicate that a number of survivors from the stricken vessel were
floundering in the water off the coast of Vietnam for hours after the disaster.
There is also indication that the men were picked up by Vietnamese coastal
patrols and are held captive of the Hanoi regime.

The crew of the Glomar Java Sea included 37 Americans, 35 Chinese, four British,
two Singaporeans, one Filipino, one Australian, and one Canadian.

From a transcript of a radio communicaton between WESTPAC and Global Marine on
October 28, three days after the sinking, WESTPAC was told:  "We are informed
that the SOS transmission could not have been transmitted except by human
operators..." There were two 64-man lifeboats aboard the drilling ship, plus
smaller lifeboats.

In an October 29 communicaton from WESTPAC to Global Marine, it is clearly
stated that five strobe lights were sighted by rescue aircraft in the vicinity
of 17-30 North 107-45 East. The aircraft were dispatched to the area because
strobe lights had been previously sighted. Lifejackets from the Glomar Java Sea
were equipped with strobe lights to signal rescuers.

Another October 29 communication between ARCO and Global Marine states that
ARCO's search aircraft had spotted survivors in the water at 17.27 North 107.54
East, and had attempted to divert surface vessels to this location. The
communication expressed the urgency to rescue the men before dark.

At 8:01 a.m. on October 29, ARCO had dropped a rescue raft to survivors.  Pickup
would be delayed for several hours, but the "Salvanquish," a Singapore-based
salvage ship, was within one half-mile of the site.

At 8:38 a.m search aircraft reported pinpointing the survivors' positions by dye
markers released by the survivors into the water. Two survivors were confirmed
with a possible third some distance away. Plans were also made to return to the
downed vessell to offlift survivors.

Another document shows that on nine different occasions radio transmissions were
picked up from a lifeboat. They ranged from "very strong" to "weak" with most
being described as "strong."

Inexplicably, despite the successful search, no rescue was made of the
survivors. Later that day, the Chinese Navy picked up a Vietnamese broadcast
reporting that the Vietnamese had sighted a lifeboat near their coast. The
location of the lifeboat was not confirmed by friendly search parties.

ARCO-Global Marine determined that this sighting was in the vicinity of Hon Gio
Island, located about 80 miles up the Vietnamese coast from the old U.S. base at
Da Nang and about 14 miles offshore, which placed it in Vietnamese territorial
waters. It appears that rescue craft were hampered in fully investigating the
report due to its location and the hint of possible interference by the
Vietnamese military.

It is likely that survivors would have been picked up by the Vietnamese if they
had in fact drifted within Vietnam's territory.

In the years following the loss of the Glomar Java Sea, a number of reports, all
unconfirmed by the U.S., indicate that survivors were seen in captivity in
Vietnam. It is known that the Vietnamese had shown a hostile interest in the
vessel, and the Glomar Java Sea had standing orders to be alert for Vietnamese
vessels in the area. The Chinese Navy served as protection for the vessel and
stood ready to take action should Vietnamese craft wander too close. The waters
below the vessel were mined.

A month after the Glomar Java Sea went down, Chinese divers went down to the
wreckage and went through the ship with a video cameras.

In March 1984, American divers were able to retrieve 31 bodies from the sunken
vessel. Fifteen of the bodies were identified as Americans. In addition, three
British and one Singaporean were identified. The bodies of another American and
two Chinese were tentatively identified. Divers photographed two bodies they
were unable to retrieve. They also found one of the Chinese divers that had
explored the wreckage in November 1983, lashed to the deck of the ship.

The American divers determined that one of the ship's large lifeboats was
launched and that an attempt had been made to launch another. Their film was
seen by the mother of one of the lost crewmen. She reported that the crack in
the hull of the ship at one point was a hole 48 inches across, which was
punctured inward, "as though the rig had been hit by something that exploded."
This fueled additional speculation that the vessel had, in fact, been attacked
rather that simply mortally damaged by the typhoon.

The National Transportaton Safety Board officially determined in November 1984
that an "unexplained crack" in the hull of the Glomar Java Sea was responsible
for its sinking during the typhoon. Apparently, the crack in the hull allowed
two storage tanks to fill with water, causing the vessel to become off-balanced,
making it vulnerable to the forces of the typhoon. Officials believed it was
possible that survivors may have been able to abandon the ship before it sank.
It was determined that the ship had been improperly prepared for the storm.

During 1984, there were reports from Southeast Asia that between six and twelve
survivors of the Glomar Java Sea were being held in prisoner of war camps in
Vietnam. One of the survivors was identified by a Vietnamese refugee as American
crewman John Pierce.

Douglas F. Pierce, father of John Pierce, reported that the refugee had seen his
son, five other Americans and eight Chinese when they were brought into a prison
in Da Nang, where the refugee was being held. John Pierce gave the refugee his
father's business card and two sticks of gum.

Mr. Pierce gave the information to Defense Intelligence Agency who determined
that the refugee had not been in the camp at all, but had received the business
card by mail from a friend, not directly from Pierce. DIA further determined
that the incident had occurred in late October 1983 (shortly after the Glomar
Java Sea went down). The refugee gave Mr. Pierce the original letter, which
contained the names and addresses of two mutual Vietnamese friends.

No followup was conducted on the two names in the letter by DIA, and DIA
discounted the information provided by the refugee. It was not until 1990 that
it became apparent that the Defense Department felt no responsibility for the
Americans lost on the Glomar Java Sea. At that time, DIA reported that the
responsibility for these civilians belonged to the U.S. State Department.

Mr. Pierce did not stop there. He uncovered a U.S. State Department document
that revealed that Cheng Quihong, the secretary and wife of the Director of
China's Visa Office, was overheard telling her companion at a Hong Kong dinner
that survivors from the Glomar had been picked up and were held by the
Vietnamese.

Pierce also learned that a JCRC report sent to DIA dated November 6, 1984,
reported that a former prisoner from Pleiku prison had been held with a Chinese
man who claimed to have been off the Glomar. The man said he was one of three
men who were captured, and that the other two were Americans.

Pierce adds that to his knowledge, neither of these reports were followed up by
U.S. officials, and Pierce has received no reply to his queries regarding them.

In 1989 a Japanese monk named Yoshida was released from prison after being held
for years by the Vietnamese. Yoshida was shown a photograph of John Pierce and
stated that Pierce looked very familiar, and that he had either seen him or
someone who looked very much like him.

In November, 1990, Vietamese Foreign Minister Nguyen Co Thach traveled to the
U.S. and spoke with U.S. officials on a variety of matters. At this time, he
announced that there was a black American named Walter T. Robinson living
illegally in Vietnam, and invited U.S. representatives to come and help find
him. Thach provided a social security number and two photographs.

The Pentagon told "The Washington Times" that the two photographs of Robinson
provided by Thach are of a black man. However, the Pentagon has since admitted
that the photos "are not very well developed" and appear to be of either a black
man or a dark Asian. Photocopies of old newspaper articles concerning Robinson,
obtained by Homecoming II, show a dark-haired man of relatively dark complexion.

The Pentagon has not released the photographs to the press.

The Defense Department determined that Walter T. Robinson had never been listed
as missing in Vietnam. Thach had provided a social security number, and
according to DOD, this information correlated to a white American living in the
Midwest. They concluded that the Thach information, therefore, was in error.

Later information indicated that a Walter T. Robinson was listed on the crew
roster of the Glomar Java Sea. When queried, the Defense Department reported
that they were aware of this Robinson, but that civilians were the
responsibility of the State Department.

It seems apparent that the U.S. is not vigorously looking for the men missing
from the Glomar Java Sea, and that like the missing and prisoners who served in
military and civilian capacities during the Vietnam war, they have been
abandoned.


CASE SYNOPSIS: CAVAIANI, JON R.

Name: Jon R. Cavaiani
Rank/Branch: E5/US Army Special Forces
Unit: Task Force 1, Advisory Element, USARV TAG SUP; Headquarters USARV
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Merced CA
Date of Loss: 05 June 1971
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 164111N 1064346E (XD844455)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel In Incident: John R. Jones (missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: In 1971, MACV-SOG's Command and Control North, Central and South were
redesignated as Task Force Advisory Elements 1, 2 and 3, respectively. These
titular changes had little initial impact on actual activities. Their missions
were still quite sensitive and highly classified. Each task force was composed
of 244 Special Forces and 780 indigenous commandos, and their reconnaissance
teams remained actively engaged in cross-border intelligence collection and
interdiction operations. The USARV TAG (Training Advisory Group) supported the
USARV Special Missions Advisory Group and was composed of U.S. Army Special
Forces and MACV advisors. SMAG formed at Nha Trang from former personnel from
B-53, the MACV Rcondo School cadre, CCN and CCS to train the South Vietnamese
Special Missions Force teams drawn from LLDB and Ranger units.

Task Force 1 Advisory Element was forced from its Hickory Hill radio relay site
at Dong Tri in early June 1971. The Hickory Hill post had existed on strategic
Hill 953, in northwest Quang Tri Province at the edge of the DMZ since June
1968. On June 3, heavy North Vietnamese artillery began battering the bunkered
Hickory Hill defenses.

On June 4, five wounded Special Forces and ten indigenous commandos were
medically evacuated, leaving SSgt. Jon R. Cavaiani and Sgt. John R. Jones with
23 commandos defending the mountaintop. At about 0400 hours on June 5, Jones
and Caviani were in a bunker when a hand grenade was dropped through the air
vent, wounding Sgt. Jones in the leg. Jones left the bunker, and was seen shot
in the chest by an NVA soldier.

An NVA battalion stormed the summit and captured Hickory Hill on June 5 in
adverse weather which prevented air support. In the bunker, Caviani played dead
as NVA soldiers came in looking for survivors. As his bunker was set on fire,
Caviani ran, burned, to another bunker. He spotted a helicopter and attempted
to signal it, serving only to alert the enemy to his position. Cavaiani was
captured as the last positions fell.

Later searches failed to turn up any sign of John R. Jones, dead or alive. He
is among nearly 2500 Americans still missing in Southeast Asia. There can be
little question that the enemy knows his fate, yet the Vietnamese deny
knowledge of him. Evidence mounts that hundreds of these men are still alive,
captive, waiting for their country to bring them home. One of them could be
John R. Jones.

Sgt. Jon R. Cavaiani was released by the Provisional Government of Vietnam on
March 27, 1973. He was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his attempt
to defend Hickory Hill.
CAVIL, JACK WALTER
Remains Returned 1 April 1973

Name: Jack Walter Cavil
Rank/Branch: Civilian
Unit: Air America
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record:
Date of Loss: 09 February 1973
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 171600N 1045500E (VE909094)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: C123
Other Personnel in Incident: Howard H. Boyles, Jr. (remains returned)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 15 March 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: During the 1950's a deteriorating political situation in Laos had
allowed NVA troops and Pathet Lao guerrillas to seize the Laotian panhandle from
the Royal Lao Army. Prevented by Geneva Accords from having a large military
presence in Laos, the U.S. established a "Program Evaluation Office" (PEO) in
1958 as a CIA cover for anti-communist covert actions. One activity, begun in
1958, used Meo tribesmen for a small pilot guerrilla program, which soon became
the largest clandestine army in CIA history. In the first year, using U.S.
Special Forces White Star teams as PEO "civilians", a few CIA officers and 90
elite Thai Border guards, an army of 9000 Meo (A term for Hmong tribesmen which
most consider derogatory) was trained for behind-lines guerrilla activity.
Within 10 years, the Hmong army grew to over 40,000 guerrillas, becoming the
most effective fighting force in Laos.

The CIA's covert airline, known as "Air America" (AA) supported the Hmong as
well as numerous other CIA-backed clandestine guerrilla armies. With the
escalating war, a large US military presence guaranteed that Air America could
operate in relative obscurity. With little fanfare throughout the war, AA fought
in the front lines of unconventional war. AA pilots flew "black missions" over
China, North Vietnam and the Laotian panhandle. AA flew in every type of
aircraft from 727 jets to small Cessnas and junk aircraft, transporting
everything from combat troops (alive, wounded or dead) to baby chicks, dropping
rice to refugees and specially trained Nung trailwatchers into denied areas. AA
contracted both with the Drug Enforcement Agency (to track international drug
smugglers) and with the Hmong (to haul its annual and valuable opium crop).

As U.S. forces pulled out, AA picked up the slack, straining to maintain the
status quo. The communists drove the Hmong from their homelands in the early
1970's, and as the Hmong retreated, AA was in the position of hauling (and
feeding) tens of thousands of refugees. There were problems as the CIA fell
under Congressional scrutiny of its world-wide paramilitary activities and
public pressure to divest itself of Air America. South Vietnam's rapid collapse
in 1975 signified the end of the clandestine war that began in Vietnam thirty
years earlier.

Jack W. Cavil and Howard H. Boyles, Jr., were the crew of an Air America C123
transport operating in Laos near the Mekong river town of Thakkek, Laos. Just
outside of town, the aircraft took heavy anti-aircraft fire and crashed. Rescue
teams could see two bodies but were driven from the scene by heavy enemy fire.

Over a period of six weeks, reconnaissance was conducted on the site revealing a
deeply-seated aircraft with an empty cockpit. Both seat belts were open. There
is no mention of a catastrophic fire in these reports.

Two months later, on April 1, ashes were recovered from the scene which were
later (November 12) positively identified as being those of Cavil and Boyles.
Mrs. Mary Boyles did not accept what she described as 6 ounces of ashes as being
her husband and refuted the positive identification. She quite naturally felt
that there had been an opportunity for her husband to escape the aircraft, since
the cockpit had been found empty and apparently intact, with two open seat
belts.

Cavil and Boyles are among nearly 600 Americans who disappeared in Laos. Many
are known to have been alive on the ground following their shoot downs. Although
the Pathet Lao publicly stated on several occasions that they held "tens of
tens" of American prisoners, not one American held in Laos has ever been
released. Laos did not participate in the Paris Peace accords ending American
involvement in the war in 1973, and no treaty has ever been signed that would
free the Americans held in Laos.

Americans prisoner, missing, or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia have been
received by the U.S. since the end of the war, convincing many authorities that
hundreds are still alive.

Whether Cavil and Boyles were alive when the aircraft went down and survived to
be captured will perhaps never be known. As far as the U.S. Government is
concerned, the two are accounted for.


CAYCE, JOHN DAVID

Name: John David Cayce
Rank/Branch: E3/US Navy Reserves
Unit: USS WILLIAM V. PRATT (DLG 13)
Date of Birth: 20 August 1946
Home City of Record: San Antonio TX
Date of Loss: 12 November 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 185550N 1061804E (XF370935)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Cruiser

Other Personnel in Incident: James D. Roark (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 30 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: Ship Fitter Petty Officer James D. Roark and Seaman Petty Officer John
D. Cayce were assigned to the USS WILLIAM V. PRATT (DLG 13). On November 12,
1967, they were performing their duties as part of a helicopter detail onboard
the ship in the Gulf of Tonkin. The ship was rolling in heavy seas when a
20-foot wave swept over the main deck and carried three men overboard.

The USS PRATT immediately turned to recover the men at the same time requested
a helicopter from another ship to assist. One man was quickly spotted and
rescued. Five additional ships and two helicopters joined the search for the
remaining men. An extensive search failed to locate either Cayce or Roark.

During the period of July through September 1973, an over water/at sea Casualty
Resolution Operation was conducted to determine the feasibility of expanding
search operations to be used in cases such as the loss of Roark and Cayce. Based
on the lack of any positive results whatsoever, the at-sea operations were
terminated. It was decided that personnel lost at sea could not be recovered.

Roark and Cayce died an unfortunate accidental death. The fact that they died an
accidental death in the midst of war is tragically ironic. They are listed among
the missing with honor, because no body was never found to be returned to the
country they served.

Others who are missing do not have such clear cut cases. Some were known
captives; some were photographed as they were led by their guards. Some were in
radio contact with search teams, while others simply disappeared.

Since the war ended, over 250,000 interviews have been conducted with those who
claim to know about Americans still alive in Southeast Asia, and several million
documents have been studied. U.S. Government experts cannot seem to agree
whether Americans are there alive or not. Distractors say it would be far too
politically difficult to bring the men they believe to be alive home, and the
U.S. is content to negotiate for remains.

Over 1000 eye-witness reports of living American prisoners were received by
1989. Most of them are still classified. If, as the U.S. seems to believe, the
men are all dead, why the secrecy after so many years? If the men are alive, why
are they not home?




CECIL, ALAN BRUCE

Name: Alan Bruce Cecil
Rank/Branch: E5/US Army Special Forces
Unit: CCN - MACV-SOG, 5th Special Forces Group
Date of Birth: 05 September 1946
Home City of Record: Holdenville OK
Date of Loss: 21 September 1969
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 165104N 1061939E (XD414634)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: SP5 Alan B. Cecil was a rifleman assigned from 5th Special Forces to
Command and Control North (CCN), MACV-SOG (Military Assistance Command, Vietnam
Studies and Observation Group). MACV-SOG was a joint service high command
unconventional warfare task force engaged in highly classified operations
throughout Southeast Asia. The 5th Special Forces channeled personnel into
MACV-SOG (although it was not a Special Forces group) through Special
Operations Augmentation (SOA), which provided their "cover" while under secret
orders to MACV-SOG. The teams performed deep penetration missions of strategic
reconnaissance and interdiction which were called, depending on the time frame,
"Shining Brass" or "Prairie Fire" missions.

On September 21, 1969, Cecil's team had been inserted into Laos about 20 miles
west of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) on a reconnaissance mission. The region
was heavily travelled by the enemy, moving troops and equipment along the famed
"Ho Chi Minh Trail".

Cecil's team engaged a numerically superior force, and in the initial burst of
fire, the team leader was wounded and SP5 Cecil and one indigenous team member
were killed. Cecil was hit in the head, and the remaining team later reported
that SP5 Cecil was no longer breathing. The team leader and one remaining
indigenous team member were able to escape and evade and were eventually
extracted safely that night, leaving Cecil's body behind.

Because of the enemy concentration in the area, no search or later extraction
was possible.

For every insertion like Cecil's that was detected and stopped, dozens of other
commando teams safely slipped past NVA lines to strike a wide range of targets
and collect vital information. The number of MACV-SOG missions conducted with
Special Forces reconnaissance teams into Laos and Cambodia was 452 in 1969. It
was the most sustained American campaign of raiding, sabotage and
intelligence-gathering waged on foreign soil in U.S. military history.

MACV-SOG's teams earned a global reputation as one of the most combat effective
deep-penetration forces ever raised.

The missions Cecil and others were assigned were exceedingly dangerous and of
strategic importance. The men who were put into such situations knew the
chances of their recovery if captured was slim to none. They quite naturally
assumed that their freedom would come by the end of the war. For 591 Americans,
freedom did come at the end of the war. For another 2500, however, freedom has
never come.

Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports relating to missing Americans in
Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S., convincing many authorities that
hundreds remain alive in captivity. While Cecil may not be among them, one can
imagine he would gladly serve in an effort to bring them home.

CERTAIN, ROBERT GLENN

Name: Robert Glenn Certain
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 340th Bombardment Squadron, Anderson AFB Guam
Date of Birth: (ca 1948)
Home City of Record: Silver Spring MD
Date of Loss: December 18 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 210000N 1055500E (WJ740473)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: B52G
Other Personnel in Incident: Robert J. Thomas; Walter L. Ferguson; Donald L.
Rissi (both remains returned); Richard T. Simpson; Richard E. Johnson (released
POWs)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources including "Linebacker" by Karl J. Eschmann.
Copyright 1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS: RELSD 730329 BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: Frustrated by problems in negotiating a peace settlement, and
pressured by a Congress and public wanting an immediate end to American
involvement in Vietnam, President Nixon ordered the most concentrated air
offensive of the war - known as Linebacker II - in December 1972. During the
offensive, sometimes called the "Christmas bombings," 40,000 tons of bombs were
dropped, primarily over the area between Hanoi and Haiphong. White House Press
Secretary Ronald Ziegler said that the bombing would end only when all U.S. POWs
were released and an internationally recognized cease-fire was in force.

On the first day of Linebacker II, December 18, 129 B52s arrived over Hanoi in
three waves, four to five hours apart. They attacked the airfields at Hoa Lac,
Kep and Phuc Yen, the Kinh No complex and the Yen Vien railyards. The aircraft
flew in tight cells of three to maximize the mutual support benefits of their
ECM equipment and flew straight and level to stabilize the bombing computers and
ensure that all bombs fell on the military targets and not in civilian areas.

The pilots of the early missions reported that "wall-to-wall SAMS" surrounded
Hanoi as they neared its outskirts. The first night of bombing, December 18, saw
the operation's first casualties.

Charcoal 01, a B52G, flown by LtCol. Donald L. Rissi. The crew had been
scheduled to return home to Blytheville AFB, Arkansas, two weeks earlier. But
due to a snowstorm, their replacement crew from Loring AFB, Maine, was too late
in arriving to transition to a combat-ready status. So, instead of being at
home, the Charcoal 01 crew met its tragic fate over North Vietnam.

The crew of the aircraft included its pilot and commander, LTCOL Donald L. Rissi
and crewmen Maj. Richard E. Johnson, the radar navigator; Capt. Richard T.
Simpson, electronics warfare officer; Capt. Robert G. Certain, the navigator;
1Lt. Robert J. Thomas, the co-pilot; and Sgt. Walter L. Ferguson, the gunner.

Just seconds to reaching the bomb-release point over the Yen Vien rail yards,
B52G Charcoal 01 was hit simultaneously by two SAMs. Less than a minute later
the aircraft nosed down, crashed and exploded ten miles northwest of Hanoi. It
was the first casualty of the LINEBACKER II operation, and its fate would be
shared by fourteen other crews in the next eleven nights of combat.

Certain, Simpson and Johnson were captured and shown the bodies of the other
crew members. Certain, Simpson and Johnson were held prisoner in Hanoi until
March 29, 1973, when they were released in Operation Homecoming. Six years
later, the bodies of Rissi, Thomas and Ferguson were returned to U.S. control by
the Vietnamese.

The Christmas Bombings, despite press accounts to the contrary, were of the most
precise the world had seen. Pilots involved in the immense series of strikes
generally agree that the strikes against anti-aircraft and strategic targets was
so successful that the U.S. "could have taken the entire country of Vietnam by
inserting an average Boy Scout troop in Hanoi and marching it southward."

To achieve this precision bombing, the Pentagon deemed it necessary to maintain
a regular flight path. For many missions, the predictable B52 strikes were
anticipated and prepared for by the North Vietnamese. Later, however, flight
paths were altered and attrition all but eliminated any hostile threat from the
ground.

The survival rate of the B52 crews downed was surprisingly high, and many were
released in 1973. Many others were known to survive the crash of the aircraft,
only to disappear. Reports mount that have convinced many authorities that
Americans are still held captive in Southeast Asia. Although the crew of
Charcoal 01 is accounted for, many others involved in the LINEBACKER operations
are not. There is every reason to believe some of them could be among those
still alive today. It's time we found them and brought them home.


CHAMBERS, JERRY LEE

Name: Jerry Lee Chambers
Rank/Branch: O4/USAF
Unit: 23rd Tactical Air Support Squadron, Ubon RTAFB
Date of Birth: 12 October 1932
Home City of Record: Muskogee OK
Date of Loss: 22 May 1968
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 162000N 1063000E (XC843858)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: C130A

Other Personnel in Incident: John Q. Adam; Calvin C. Glover; Thomas E. Knebel;
William H. Mason; William T. McPhail; Thomas B. Mitchell; Gary Pate; Melvin D.
Rash (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 31 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: CONTACT LOST - NFI

SYNOPSIS: The Lockheed C130 Hercules aircraft was a multi-purpose propeller
driven aircraft, and was used as transport, tanker, gunship, drone controller,
airborne battlefield command and control center, weather reconnaissance craft,
electronic reconnaissance platform; search, rescue and recovery craft.

In the hands of the "trash haulers", as the crews of Tactical Air Command
transports styled themselves, the C130 proved the most valuable airlift
instrument in the Southeast Asia conflict, so valuable that Gen. William Momyer,
7th Air Force commander, refused for a time to let them land at Khe Sanh where
the airstrip was under fire from NVA troops surrounding that base.

Just following the Marine Corps operation Pegasus/Lam Son 207 in mid-April 1968,
to relieve the siege of Khe Sanh, Operation Scotland II began in the Khe Sanh
area, more or less as a continuation of this support effort. The C130 was
critical in resupplying this area, and when the C130 couldn't land, dropped its
payload by means of parachute drop.

One of the bases from which the C130 flew was Ubon, located in northeast
Thailand. C130 crews from this base crossed Laos to their objective location.
One such crew was comprised of LtCol. William H. Mason and Capt. Thomas B.
Mitchell, pilots; Capt. William T. McPhail, Maj. Jerry L. Chambers, SA Gary
Pate, SSgt. Calvin C. Glover, AM1 Melvin D. Rash, and AM1 John Q. Adam, crew
members.

On May 22, 1968, this crew departed Ubon on an operational mission in a C130A
carrying one passenger - AM1 Thomas E. Knebel. Radio contact was lost while the
aircraft was over Savannakhet Province, Laos near the city of Muong Nong,
(suggesting that its target area may have been near the DMZ - Khe Sanh). When
the aircraft did not return to friendly control, the crew was declared Missing
In Action from the time of estimated fuel exhaustion. There was no further word
of the aircraft or its crew.

The nine members of the crew are among nearly 600 Americans who disappeared in
Laos. Many are known to have been alive on the ground following their shoot
downs. Although the Pathet Lao publicly stated on several occasions that they
held "tens of tens" of American prisoners, not one American held in Laos has
ever been released. Laos did not participate in the Paris Peace accords ending
American involvment in the war in 1973, and no treaty has ever been signed that
would free the Americans held in Laos, and not one of them has returned home.

(William Mason was a 1946 graduate of West Point. Thomas Mitchell was a 1963
graduate of the Air Force Academy.)

CASE SYNOPSIS: CHAMPION, JAMES ALBERT

Name: James Albert Champion
Rank/Branch: E3/US Army
Unit: Company L (Ranger), 75th Infantry Regiment, assigned to 101st Airborne
Division
Date of Birth: 16 November 1949
Home City of Record: Houston TX
Date of Loss: April 24, 1971
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 161155N 1071930E (YC484923)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel In Incident: Issako Malo (released POW); Marvin Duren
(rescued); John Sly (killed); (one other team member, the medic, rescued); CWO
Fred Behrens (from one of the helicopters, rescued)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: James A. Champion was a member of a six-man radio relay Long Range
Reconnaissance Patrol being inserted for operation in a saddle at coordinates
YC483923, Republic of on Vietnam April 23, 1971. After receiving intense ground
fire from their primary landing zone on the west side of the A Shau Valley, the
team was inserted into their alternate LZ.

Taking the point, Team Leader Marvin Duren was severely wounded by automatic
weapons fire, grenade and rifle fire, and was evacuated. His ATL, John Sly, was
killed in action in a heroic attempt with the team medic to drag Duren out of
the line of enemy fire.

CWO Fred Behrens, the MEDEVAC "Dustoff" pilot, was a volunteer, having flown
the mission because he felt his chances of succeeding in this hot LZ would be
higher than other, newer pilots, but he was shot down during his second attempt
to extract Sly from the LZ and found himself on the ground with the team.

Several other helicopters with reinforcements were shot down by intense ground
fire and Aero Rifle Platoon reinforcements were forced to withdraw and regroup
due to heavy fire from the NVA.

During the three day battle that began at 1500 hours on April 23, Rangers
Champion and Issako Malo left the team's defensive perimeter to seek water.
Behrens heard shots, and the two Rangers never returned.

PFC Isaako F. Malo, was last seen at about 1600 hours on April 24. Champion
was last seen on the morning of 25 April when he left the site of one of the
downed helicopters to look for water. From April 25 through April 30, ground
and aerial searches were made for Champion without success.

Isaako Malo was confirmed captured, and after his release from captivity, he
stated that he was captured on the morning of April 25, and at no time did he
see PFC Champion in captivity.

A reaction force from L/75 Rangers was inserted into the area and successfully
drove the NVA elements away from the Ranger Team's position, and survivors were
evacuated. No one ever told the six-man team how large the enemy force was that
they had been up against. However, it was a large enough force to warrant an
Arclight strike by B-52 bombers.

Evidence mounts that hundreds of Americans still missing in Southeast Asia are
still alive, captive, waiting for their country to free them. James Champion
may be one of them.
CHANEY, ARTHUR FLETCHER

Name: Arthur Fletcher Chaney
Rank/Branch: W1/US Army
Unit: A Troop, 1st Squad, 9th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division
Date of Birth: 27 June 1947 (Mitchell Field, Long Island, NY)
Home City of Record: Vienna VA
Date of Loss: 03 May 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 163736N 1063605E (XD685382)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: AH1G

Other Personnel In Incident: Bobby L. McKain (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 September 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: On the afternoon of May 3, 1968, CWO Bobby McKain, pilot, and WO
Arthur Chaney, co-pilot, were flying aboard an AH1G helicopter on an armed
escort mission for a reconnaissance team operating west of Khe Sanh. At about
1405 hours, while making a pass on an enemy gun position, they were hit by 37mm
anti-aircraft fire from the gun emplacement and the helicopter exploded in
mid-air. They were about 1500 feet above the ground when the explosion occurred,
separating the tail boom and one main rotor blade from the aircraft.

The aircraft spun to the ground on fire and impacted, and seconds later, the
ammunition onboard detonated. Other pilots in the area immediately flew to the
site and observed the aircraft engulfed in flames with no visible signs of life.
Shortly thereafter, they were driven from the area by other heavy automatic
weapons fire. Air searches were made, but revealed no signs of the crew. No
radio contact was made.

Because of the close proximity to enemy positions, Chaney and McKain's fates
were almost certainly known by the enemy. The Army holds out no hope they
survived, but believes that their cases may someday be resolved.

Chaney and McCain are among nearly 2500 unresolved deaths or disappearances of
Americans in Southeast Asia. Tragically, thousands of reports indicate that many
of these cases involve Americans still alive and held captive by the communist
countries of Laos and Vietnam. Chaney and McCain would not have left their
comrades in the hands of the enemy. How can we?


CHAPA, ARMANDO JR.

Name: Armando Chapa, Jr.
Rank/Branch: E4/US Navy
Unit: Patrol Squadron 26, U Tapao Airbase, Thailand
Date of Birth: 31 March 1948
Home City of Record: San Jose CA
Date of Loss: 06 February 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 093050N 1040730E (VR040520)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: P3B
Other Personnel in Incident: Donald F. Burnett, Jr.; William F. Farris; Donald
L. Gallagher; Roy A. Huss; Thomas P. Jones; Homer E. McKay; James C. Newman,
Jr.; Melvin C. Thompson; Lynn M. Travis (all missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: At 0900 hours on February 5, 1968, a P3 "Orion" aircraft assigned to
Patrol Squadron 26 at U Tapao Airbase, Thailand, left on a "Market Time"
mission over the Gulf of Thailand (Gulf of Siam). They were scheduled to return
to their base at about 0900 hours the following morning.

The crew on board the aircraft included Lt. Thomas P. Jones; LtJg. Lynn M.
Travis; LtJg. Roy A. Huss; AXCS Donald F. Burnett; AX3 Armando
Chapa Jr.; AX3 William F. Farris (AX designates Antisubmarine warfare
technicians and related duties); AOC Donald L. Gallagher; AMH2 Homer E. McKay;
ADR1 James C. Newman Jr.; AE1 Melvin C. Thompson (A designates in many cases,
aviation personnel, i.e. AE1 is Aviation Electrician's Mate First Class).

As antisubmarine warfare was all but unknown in Vietnam, there were a variety
of duties handled by those trained in antisubmarine warfare. As marking
submarines, and/or destroying them involved the use of marking buoys,
electronic "ears" and other technical equipment suited for target marking,
antisubmarine teams were frequently used for search missions. They also
sometimes assisted in attacks on small enemy water craft.

Shortly after midnight on February 6, the Orion reported a surface contact.
Some two hours later it reported another contact somewhat further east. The
last report received from the Orion was after 0300 hours. No subsequent
communication was received.

An emergency communication alert for the aircraft was declared shortly after
daybreak and a full search and rescue (SAR) was declared. In the late
afternoon of February 6, wreckage and debris were sighted and identified.

On February 7 search and rescue operations were terminated at sundown. Salvage
operations were conducted from February 11 through March 21. The investigating
officer concluded that the Orion had impacted with the water, and that the
aircraft had been completely destroyed, and that all of the crewmembers had
died instantly.

The Orion went down about 50 miles off the shores of South Vietnam's An Xuyen
Province in the Gulf of Thailand. Presumably, all the crew aboard are "buried"
at sea - an honorable burial for a naval man. This crew is listed with honor
among the missing because no remains were ever found.

For the crew of the Orion, death seems a certainty. For hundreds of others,
however, simple answers are not possible. Adding to the torment of nearly
10,000 reports relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asia is the certain
knowledge that some Americans who were known to be prisoners of war were not
released at the end of the war. Others were suspected to be prisoners, and
still others were in radio contact with would-be rescuers when last seen alive.
Many were known to have survived their loss incidents, only to disappear
without a trace.

The problem of Americans still missing torments not only the families of those
who are missing, but the men who fought by their sides, and those in the
general public who realize the full implication of leaving men unaccounted for
at the end of a war.

Tragically, many authorities believe there are hundreds of Americans still
alive in captivity in Southeast Asia today.  What must they be thinking of us?
What will our next generation say if called to fight if we are unable to bring
these men home from Southeast Asia?


Prepared by Homecoming II Project 01 December 1989.

CHAPMAN, HARLAN PAGE

Name: Harlan Page Chapman
Rank/Branch: O3/US Marine Corps
Unit:
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Elyria OH
Date of Loss: 05 November 1965
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 205800N 1062400E (XJ455189)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
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: 730212 RELSD BY DRV

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.

Capt. Harlan P. Chapman was the pilot of an F8E sent on a combat mission over
North Vietnam on November 5, 1965. His flight route took him over Hai Hung
Province, where he was shot down about 5 miles east-northeast of the city of Hai
Duong.

For the next 7 1/2 years, Chapman was held in various prisoner of war camps,
including the infamous "Hanoi Hilton" complex in Hanoi. He was released in the
general prisoner release in 1973.

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. These reports are the source of serious distress to many returned
American prisoners. They had a code that no one could honorably return unless
all of the prisoners returned. Not only that code of honor, but the honor of our
country is at stake as long as even one man remains unjustly held. It's time we
brought our men home.



CHAPMAN, PETER HAYDEN II

Name: Peter Hayden Chapman II
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 37th Air Rescue Squadron, Da Nang, South Vietnam
Date of Birth: 26 August 1940
Home City of Record: Centerburg OH
Date of Loss: 06 April 1972
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 164658N 1070157E (YD170595)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: HH53C
Personnel in Incident: April 2: Robin F. Gatwood; Wayne L. Bolte; Anthony
Giannangeli; Charles A. Levis; Henry M. Serex; (all missing from the EB66).
LtCol. Iceal Hambleton (rescued after 12 days from EB66). Ronald P. Paschall;
Byron K. Kulland; John W. Frink (all missing from UH1H rescue helicopter), Jose
M. Astorga (captured and released in 1973 from UH1H). April 3: William J.
Henderson (captured and released in 1973 from OV10A rescue craft); Mark Clark
(rescued after 12 days from OV10A rescue craft). April 6: James H. Alley; Allen
J. Avery; Peter H. Chapman; John H. Call; William R. Pearson; Roy D. Prater
(all KIA/BNR from HH53C "Jolly 52" rescue chopper). Also in very close
proximity to "Bat 21"on April 3: Allen D. Christensen; Douglas L. O'Neil;
Edward W. Williams; Larry A. Zich (all missing from UH1H). April 7: Bruce C.
Walker (evaded 11 days); Larry F. Potts (captured & died in POW camp) (both
missing from OV10A).

REMARKS: CRASH FIRE - AIR SEARCH NEG - J

SYNOPSIS: On the afternoon of April 2, 1972, two Thailand-based EB66 aircraft
(Bat 21 and Bat 22), from the 30th Air Division, were flying pathfinder escort
for a cell of B52s bombing near the DMZ. Bat 21 took a direct SAM hit and the
plane went down. A single beeper signal was heard, that of navigator Col. Iceal
Hambleton. At this time it was assumed the rest of the crew died in the crash.
The crew included Maj. Wayne L. Bolte, pilot; 1Lt. Robin F. Gatwood, LtCol.
Anthony R. Giannangeli, LtCol. Charles A. Levis, and Maj. Henry M. Serex, all
crew members. It should be noted that the lowest ranking man aboard this plane
was Gatwood, a First Lieutenant. This was not an ordinary crew, and its
members, particularly Hambleton, would be a prize capture for the enemy because
of military knowledge they possessed.

It became critical, therefore, that the U.S. locate Hambleton, and any other
surviving crew members before the Vietnamese did - and the Vietnamese were
trying hard to find them first.

An Army search and rescue team was nearby and dispatched two UH1H "slicks" and
two UH1B "Cobras". When they approached Hambleton's position just before dark,
at about 50 feet off the ground, with one of the AH1G Cobra gunships flying at
300 feet for cover, two of the helicopters were shot down. One, the Cobra (Blue
Ghost 28) reached safety and the crew was picked up, without having seen the
other downed helicopter. The other, a UH1H from F Troop, 8th Cavalry, 196th
Brigade, had just flown over some huts into a clearing when they encountered
ground fire, and the helicopter exploded. Jose Astorga, the gunner, was injured
in the chest and knee by the gunfire. Astorga became unconscious, and when he
recovered, the helicopter was on the ground. He found the pilot, 1Lt. Byron K.
Kulland, lying outside the helicopter. WO John W. Frink, the co-pilot, was
strapped in his seat and conscious. The crew chief, SP5 Ronald P. Paschall, was
pinned by his leg in the helicopter, but alive. WO Franks urged Astorga to
leave them, and Astorga was captured. He soon observed the aircraft to be hit
by automatic weapons fire, and to explode with the rest of the crew inside. He
never saw the rest of the crew again. Astorga was relesed by the North
Vietnamese in 1973.

The following day, Nail 38, an OV10A equipped with electronic rescue gear
enabling its crew to get a rapid "fix" on its rescue target entered Hambleton's
area and was shot down. The crew, William J. Henderson and Mark Clark, both
parachuted out safely. Henderson was captured and released in 1973. Clark
evaded for 12 days and was subsequently rescued.

On April 3, the day Nail 38 was shot down, a UH1H "slick" went down in the same
area carrying a crew of four enlisted Army personnel. They had no direct
connection to the rescue of Bat 21, but were very probably shot down by the
same SAM installations that downed Bat 21. The helicopter, from H/HQ, 37th
Signal Battalion, 1st Signal Brigade, had left Marble Mountain Airfield, Da
Nang, on a standard resupply mission to signal units in and around Quang Tri
City. The crew, consisting of WO Douglas L. O'Neil, pilot; CW2 Larry A. Zich,
co-pilot; SP5 Allen D. Christensen, crew chief; and SP4 Edward W. Williams,
gunner; remain missing in action.

On April 6, an attempt was made to pick up Clark and Hambleton which resulted
in an HH53C helicopter being shot down. The chopper was badly hit. The
helicopter landed on its side and continued to burn, consuming the entire
craft, and presumably, all 6 men aboard. The crew of this aircraft consisted of
James H. Alley; Allen J. Avery, John H. Call III, Peter H. Chapman, William R.
Pearson, and Roy D. Prater. Search and rescue noted no signs of survivors, but
it is felt that the Vientamese probably know the fate of this crew because of
the close proximity of the downed aircraft to enemy locations.

On April 7 another Air Force OV10A went down in the area with Larry Potts and
Bruce Walker aboard. Walker, the Air Force pilot of the aircraft, evaded
capture 11 days, while it is reported that Potts was captured and died in Quang
Binh prison. Potts, the observer, was a Marine Corps officer. Walker's last
radio transmission to search and rescue was for SAR not to make an attempt to
rescue, the enemy was closing in. Both men remain unaccounted for.

Hambleton and Clark were rescued after 12 incredible days. Hambleton
continually changed positions and reported on enemy activity as he went, even
to the extent of calling in close air strikes near his position. He was tracked
by a code he devised relating to the length and lie direction of various golf
holes he knew well. Another 20 or so Americans were not so fortunate.

In July 1986, the daughter of Henry Serex learned that, one week after all
search and rescue had been "called off" for Bat 21, another mission was mounted
to recover "another downed crewmember" from Bat 21. She doesn't know whether or
not it is her father or another man on the EB66 aircraft. No additional
information has been released. When the movie "Bat 21" was released, she was
horrified to learn that virtually no mention of the rest of the crew, including
her father, was made.

In Vietnam, to most fighting men, the man that fought beside them, whether in
the air or on the ground, was worth dying for. Each understood that the other
would die for him if necessary. Thus, also considering the critical knowledge
possessed by Col. Hambleton and some of the others, the seemingly uncanny means
taken to recover Clark and Hambleton are not so unusual at all.

What defies logic and explaination, however, is that the government that sent
these men to battle can distort or withold information to their families, and
knowingly abandon hundreds of men known or strongly suspected to be in enemy
hands.

Thousands of reports have been received by the U.S. Government indicating that
Americans are still alive, in captivity in Southeast Asia. It has been 17 years
for those who may have survived the 1972 Easter crashes and rescue attempts.
How much longer must they wait for their country to bring "peace with honor" to
them and bring them home?

CHAPMAN, RODNEY MAX

Name: Rodney Max Chapman
Rank/Branch: O4/US Navy
Unit: Helicopter Squadron 10, USS CORAL SEA (CVA 43)
Date of Birth: 26 February 1935
Home City of Record: Alpena MI
Date of Loss: 18 February 1969
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 175647N 1071754E (YE434856)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: KA3B

Other Personnel In Incident: Stanley M. Jerome; Eddie R. Schimmels (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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: LTCDR Rodney M. Chapman was a pilot assigned to Helicopter Squadron 10
onboard the aircraft carrier USS CORAL SEA. On February 18, 1969, Chapman's
aircraft was acting as the recovery tanker aircraft, prepared to render valuable
assistance to other aircraft returning to the ship with very little fuel. This
was an extremely important job, as some types of fighter aircraft launched with
a minimum amount of fuel in order to accomodate a heavier bomb load, and
sometimes arrived back at ship low on fuel. This was Chapman's 90th flight
mission in Vietnam. Chapman's crew included Petty Officers Stanley M. Jerome and
Eddie R. Schimmels.

As the aircraft immediately ahead of Chapman's was landing, he advised that his
approach would be from overhead the ship, proceeding away from the ship a short
distance while descending, then turning toward the ship for a precision radar
control landing. Chapman's approach was being monitored on radar. There was a
two-way conversation between Chapman and the radar operator. Chapman descended
from overhead the ship and flew outbound as instructed. He was then told to turn
toward the ship. He failed to acknowledge this radio transmission. A second
attempt was made to contact him which failed. About this time, Chapman's
aircraft disappeared from the radar and further attempts to regain contact were
of no avail.

Within minutes of his disappearance the CORAL SEA airborne helicopter was sent
to the area approximately ten miles behind the ship and ordered to commence a
search. Shortly thereafter, one of the CORAL SEA's escorting destroyers was also
dispatched to assist in the search. The destroyer and the helicopter were unable
to locate either the aircraft or its crewmen. An organized search continued
throughout the night by three more ships and additional aircraft, both
helicopters and fixed wing aircraft.

The following day at first light, an even more intensive search by ships and
aircraft was conducted. These combined units searched extensively over an area
of over 1,000 miles with no results. It was concluded that the airplane crashed
and the crew of the KA3 were lost at sea.

The three-man crew were listed as killed, body not recovered. They are among
over 2300 Americans who remain unaccounted for from the Vietnam war. The cases
of some, like Chapman, Jerome and Schimmels seem clear - that they perished and
cannot be recovered. Unfortunately, mounting evidence indicates that hundreds of
Americans are still captive, waiting for the country they proudly served to
secure their freedom.

In our haste to leave an unpopular war, it now appears we abandoned some of our
best men. In our haste to heal the wounds of this same war, will we sign their
death warrants? Or will we do what we can to bring them home?
Name:                 Charles Leroy Adkins
Rank/Branch:             E4/US Army
Unit:                 B Troop, 1st Squad, 9th Cavalry,
                 1st Cavalry Division
Date of Birth:             28 May 1947 (Bethesda OH)
Home City of Record:         Barnsville OH
Date of Loss:             02 February 1968
Country of Loss:         South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates:         161209N 1081006E (AT960937)
Status (in 1973):         Missing In Action
Category:             4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground:     UH1H
Other Personnel In Incident: Kenneth J. Patton; Joe H. Pringle; Joseph Puggi;
                 Donald Burnham (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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:CRASHSITE/PRINGLE ID FOUND

SYNOPSIS: Donald Burnham was the pilot of a UH1H helicopter (#66-16442)
that departed Camp Evans, Quang Tri, Republic of Vietnam for Chu Lai,
Republic of Vietnam on February 2, 1968. Also aboard were SP4 Charles
Adkins, SFC Joe Pringle, SSgt Joseph Puggi, passengers; and SP4 Kenneth
Patton, crewchief. The personnel aboard the aircraft were all members of
B Troop, 1st Squad, 9th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division.

During a ground radar-controlled approach to Da Nang Airbase, the
controller lost radio contact with the helicopter and subsequently lost
radar contact. The last positive position of the aircraft was 12 miles
north of Da Nang.

After attempts to contact Captain Burnham by radio failed, ramp checks
were conducted by another pilot from his unit. Search of the area to the
north of Da Nang failed to locate the missing aircraft.

On May 28, 1968, a crashed and burned UH1H helicopter (tail #6442) was
located in the appropriate vicinity and a search party recovered an ID
tag belonging to SFC Pringle, several weapons, and some human bones. The
ID tag and weapons were given to an unidentified major; subsequent
attempts to trace the weapons have been unsuccessful.

All human remains were given to the U.S. Army Mortuary at Da Nang, and
were subsequently determined unidentifiable. Search attempts terminated
on November 16, 1972. Because of the density of the underbrush, no
attempt to recover further remains was made. The crash site was
photographed in July 1974, at which time it became known that parts of
the aircraft had been recovered by a Vietnamese woodcutter. No evidence
of human remains were found in the area.

Donald Burnham's photograph was identified by a Vietnamese rallier as
having been a prisoner of war. CIA analysis failed to determine why
Burnham's photo was selected, as neither he nor the other crew were seen
by returned POWs.

If it were not for over 10,000 reports of Americans still held captive
in Southeast Asia, the families of the men aboard UH1H #6442 might be
able to give up hope of seeing their sons and brothers again. But as
long as there is evidence that even one is alive, the possibility exists
that any of the crew of the UH1H lost on February 2, 1968 could be
alive.
CHAVEZ, GARY ANTHONY

Name: Gary Anthony Chavez
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 14th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, Udorn AB TH
Date of Birth: 23 September 1943
Home City of Record: New York NY
Date of Loss: 30 July 1970
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 151300N 1064900E (XB987810)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: RF4C

Other Personnel in Incident: Donald A. Brown (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 30 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 Phantom, used by Air Force, Marine and Navy air wings, served a
multitude of functions including fighter-bomber and interceptor, photo and
electronic surveillance and reconnaissance. 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.

Capt. Gary A. Chavez and Capt. Donald A. Brown were pilots assigned to the 14th
Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron at Udorn Airbase, Thailand. On July 30, 1970,
Chavez and Brown were assigned an operational mission over Laos. Chavez served
as pilot in their RF4C while Brown was the navigator.

Chavez and Brown did not return to friendly control when expected. Their last
known location was just east of the ridge which marks the Plateau des Bolovens
in Attopeu Province, Laos. Both men were declared Missing in Action.

The war continued about three more years, and the families of the men missing in
action and prisoner of war waited for the war to end. The Pathet Lao stated
publicly that they held "tens of tens" of American prisoners. Only a handful
were known by name or photographed in captivity. No letters came home from the
men in Laos.

In early 1973, Henry Kissinger, President Nixon's chief negotiator with the
Vietnamese, informed the families that agreements would soon be signed. When
queried about the men lost in Laos, Cambodia and China, Kissinger replied, "What
do you think took so long?"

In the spring of 1973, 591 Americans were released from communist prisoner of
war camps. No Americans held in Laos were released. The U.S. had failed to
negotiate with Laos, Cambodia and China. Nearly 600 Americans lost in Laos had
been abandoned--even those who were known to be alive.


Donald A. Brown was promoted to the rank of Major during the period he was
maintained missing. He was continued in MIA status until October 1973, at which
time he was declared dead based on no specific information to the contrary.






CHAVIRA, STEPHEN

Name: Stephen Chavira
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: Company B, 2nd Squadron, 17th Cavalry, 101st Airborne Division
Date of Birth: 10 March 1943 (Baker's Field CA)
Home City of Record: Wasco CA
Date of Loss: 28 May 1971
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 162100N 1070818E (YD284087)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: OH6A
Other Personnel in Incident: Paul D. Urquhart (missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Capt. Paul D. Urquhart, pilot and SP4 Stephen Chavira, observer, were
the crew of an OH6A helicopter on a visual reconnaissance mission in the
northern A Shau Valley in Thua Thin Province, South Vietnam. The OH6A and a
UH1A were chase ships for two AH1C gunships on this mission.

During an area recheck, while at an altitude of 30 feet above ground level, one
of the gunship commanders saw a rocket propelled grenade round strike Capt.
Urquhart's aircraft and explode, causing the tail boom to bend in half. The
aircraft was seen to explode into flames, crash and burn on a small knoll.

An area about 25 meters around the crash site was burned off by the ensuing
fire, thus permitting an accessible view by aerial reconnaissance over the area
after the crash. None of the witnesses reported seeing anyone thrown clear of
the helicopter during the mid-air explosion or during the crash. No remains or
survivors were seen after the crash.

No ground search was conducted due to enemy activity in the area. On June 7,
reconnaissance of the area was conducted during which the investigating officer
saw no signs of survivors or remains.

According to witnesses, Urquhart and Chavira are most probably dead.
Tragically, their families have no graves holding their bodies to visit. Their
remains are on enemy soil, and not buried in their homeland. Even more
tragically, evidence mounts that hundreds of Americans are still alive, held
captive in Southeast Asia. What must they be thinking of us? What would Paul
Urquhart and Stephen Chavira think of us?


CHEN, WEI

Name: Wei Chen
Rank/Branch: Civilian
Unit: Glomar Java Sea
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record:
Date of Loss: 25 October 1983
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates:
Status (in 1973):
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground:

Personnel in Incident: Herman Arms; Jerald T. Battiste; Sebe M. Bracey; Patrick
B. Cates; Wei Chen; Xiong Chen; Shu Guo Cheng; Jacob K. J. Chong; David P.
Clifton; James F. Cusick; Thomas J. Dixon; Shao Jien Feng; Jerald J. Flanagan;
Nigel Furness; Leonard E. Ganzinotti; La Juan A. Gilmore; Henry M. Gittings;
James K. Gittings; Terance C. Green; Jun Tian Guan; David Higgins, Jr.; Tyronne
Higgins; Hong Xi Huang; Rui Wen Huang; Yong Liang Huang; Timothy Jarvis; John W.
Jennings Jr.; Thomas J. Kofahl; Fan Xiang Kong; Guo Zhen Lai; John W. Lawrence;
Tong L. T. Lee; Chong Chang Li; Xuan Qiu Li; Zhan Jun Liang; Jie Feng Lin; Bing
Guang Liu; Edgar S. Lim; Gary Looke; Robert M. McCurry; Jerry L. Manfrida;
Raymond D. Miller; Xie Yi Mo; Tian Xue Mo; Kenneth W. Myers; Larry K. Myers;
Donald J. Ouellet; John D. Pierce; Peter Popiel; Clarence Reed; Jewell J.
Reynolds; E.J. Russell Reynolds; Walter T. Robinson; Kenneth B. Rogers; Lawrence
M. Salzwedel; William R. Schug; Richard E. Shoff; Christopher J. Sleeman; Delmar
A. Spencer; George G. Sullivan; Chong Jian Sun; Gustaf F. Swanson; Kevin C.
Swanson; Guo Dong Tang; Michael W. Thomas; Jiang Wang; Yu Fang Wang; Dong Cai
Wang; Guo Rong Wu; jing Sheng Xia; Xing Xing; Hui Xu; Ming Rui Xu; Mua Guang
Yuan; Xing Zhen Zhang; Yi Hua Zhang; Ji Chang Zhen; Shu Rong Zhou; Yao Wu Zhou;
Jie Fang Zhou; Da Huai Zhu.

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 10 December 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 5,930-ton American drilling ship, "Glomar Java Sea" was owned by
Global Marine of Houston, Texas, and leased to Atlantic Richfield Company
(ARCO). In the fall of 1983, the vessel was on duty about 200 miles east of the
Vietnamese coast. The ship was drilling for oil in the South China Sea in a
joint venture of ARCO and China Naitonal Offshore Oil Corporation, a state-owned
concern.

The "Glomar Java Sea" is a sister ship of the "Glomar Explorer," which, under
the guise of being utilized by the late Howard Hughes in a deep sea mining
operation in the Paficic, was really being used by the CIA and Navy in a $350
million project to retrieve a sunken Soviet Golf-class submarine. A large part
of the submarine was in fact recovered in 1974 before details of the project
were publicly revealed.

The Glomar Java Sea, with its crew of 81, began drilling operations on January
9, 1983 and was the first American wildcat operaton off the Chinese coast. On
October 25, 1983, the vessel was sunk during Typhoon Lex.

Documents removed from the ship by a crewman before the disaster indicate that
the vessel was being shadowed by armed Vietnamese naval craft and that there
were submarine mines beneath the "Glomar Java Sea," placed there and retrievable
by its crew. Another document indicates that the ship was damaged prior ot the
typhoon when a Chinese supply boat rammed into its side, causing some $320,000
damage to the vessel. The Glomar Java Sea did not leave its post for repairs.

Communications between ARCO and Global Marine, as well as telegraphic and radio
communications of the U.S. Western Pacific Rescue Coordination Center (WESTPAC)
reveal information about the search for the crew of the Glomar Java Sea.

The documents indicate that a number of survivors from the stricken vessel were
floundering in the water off the coast of Vietnam for hours after the disaster.
There is also indication that the men were picked up by Vietnamese coastal
patrols and are held captive of the Hanoi regime.

The crew of the Glomar Java Sea included 37 Americans, 35 Chinese, four British,
two Singaporeans, one Filipino, one Australian, and one Canadian.

From a transcript of a radio communicaton between WESTPAC and Global Marine on
October 28, three days after the sinking, WESTPAC was told:  "We are informed
that the SOS transmission could not have been transmitted except by human
operators..." There were two 64-man lifeboats aboard the drilling ship, plus
smaller lifeboats.

In an October 29 communicaton from WESTPAC to Global Marine, it is clearly
stated that five strobe lights were sighted by rescue aircraft in the vicinity
of 17-30 North 107-45 East. The aircraft were dispatched to the area because
strobe lights had been previously sighted. Lifejackets from the Glomar Java Sea
were equipped with strobe lights to signal rescuers.

Another October 29 communication between ARCO and Global Marine states that
ARCO's search aircraft had spotted survivors in the water at 17.27 North 107.54
East, and had attempted to divert surface vessels to this location. The
communication expressed the urgency to rescue the men before dark.

At 8:01 a.m. on October 29, ARCO had dropped a rescue raft to survivors.  Pickup
would be delayed for several hours, but the "Salvanquish," a Singapore-based
salvage ship, was within one half-mile of the site.

At 8:38 a.m search aircraft reported pinpointing the survivors' positions by dye
markers released by the survivors into the water. Two survivors were confirmed
with a possible third some distance away. Plans were also made to return to the
downed vessell to offlift survivors.

Another document shows that on nine different occasions radio transmissions were
picked up from a lifeboat. They ranged from "very strong" to "weak" with most
being described as "strong."

Inexplicably, despite the successful search, no rescue was made of the
survivors. Later that day, the Chinese Navy picked up a Vietnamese broadcast
reporting that the Vietnamese had sighted a lifeboat near their coast. The
location of the lifeboat was not confirmed by friendly search parties.

ARCO-Global Marine determined that this sighting was in the vicinity of Hon Gio
Island, located about 80 miles up the Vietnamese coast from the old U.S. base at
Da Nang and about 14 miles offshore, which placed it in Vietnamese territorial
waters. It appears that rescue craft were hampered in fully investigating the
report due to its location and the hint of possible interference by the
Vietnamese military.

It is likely that survivors would have been picked up by the Vietnamese if they
had in fact drifted within Vietnam's territory.

In the years following the loss of the Glomar Java Sea, a number of reports, all
unconfirmed by the U.S., indicate that survivors were seen in captivity in
Vietnam. It is known that the Vietnamese had shown a hostile interest in the
vessel, and the Glomar Java Sea had standing orders to be alert for Vietnamese
vessels in the area. The Chinese Navy served as protection for the vessel and
stood ready to take action should Vietnamese craft wander too close. The waters
below the vessel were mined.

A month after the Glomar Java Sea went down, Chinese divers went down to the
wreckage and went through the ship with a video cameras.

In March 1984, American divers were able to retrieve 31 bodies from the sunken
vessel. Fifteen of the bodies were identified as Americans. In addition, three
British and one Singaporean were identified. The bodies of another American and
two Chinese were tentatively identified. Divers photographed two bodies they
were unable to retrieve. They also found one of the Chinese divers that had
explored the wreckage in November 1983, lashed to the deck of the ship.

The American divers determined that one of the ship's large lifeboats was
launched and that an attempt had been made to launch another. Their film was
seen by the mother of one of the lost crewmen. She reported that the crack in
the hull of the ship at one point was a hole 48 inches across, which was
punctured inward, "as though the rig had been hit by something that exploded."
This fueled additional speculation that the vessel had, in fact, been attacked
rather that simply mortally damaged by the typhoon.

The National Transportaton Safety Board officially determined in November 1984
that an "unexplained crack" in the hull of the Glomar Java Sea was responsible
for its sinking during the typhoon. Apparently, the crack in the hull allowed
two storage tanks to fill with water, causing the vessel to become off-balanced,
making it vulnerable to the forces of the typhoon. Officials believed it was
possible that survivors may have been able to abandon the ship before it sank.
It was determined that the ship had been improperly prepared for the storm.

During 1984, there were reports from Southeast Asia that between six and twelve
survivors of the Glomar Java Sea were being held in prisoner of war camps in
Vietnam. One of the survivors was identified by a Vietnamese refugee as American
crewman John Pierce.

Douglas F. Pierce, father of John Pierce, reported that the refugee had seen his
son, five other Americans and eight Chinese when they were brought into a prison
in Da Nang, where the refugee was being held. John Pierce gave the refugee his
father's business card and two sticks of gum.

Mr. Pierce gave the information to Defense Intelligence Agency who determined
that the refugee had not been in the camp at all, but had received the business
card by mail from a friend, not directly from Pierce. DIA further determined
that the incident had occurred in late October 1983 (shortly after the Glomar
Java Sea went down). The refugee gave Mr. Pierce the original letter, which
contained the names and addresses of two mutual Vietnamese friends.

No followup was conducted on the two names in the letter by DIA, and DIA
discounted the information provided by the refugee. It was not until 1990 that
it became apparent that the Defense Department felt no responsibility for the
Americans lost on the Glomar Java Sea. At that time, DIA reported that the
responsibility for these civilians belonged to the U.S. State Department.

Mr. Pierce did not stop there. He uncovered a U.S. State Department document
that revealed that Cheng Quihong, the secretary and wife of the Director of
China's Visa Office, was overheard telling her companion at a Hong Kong dinner
that survivors from the Glomar had been picked up and were held by the
Vietnamese.

Pierce also learned that a JCRC report sent to DIA dated November 6, 1984,
reported that a former prisoner from Pleiku prison had been held with a Chinese
man who claimed to have been off the Glomar. The man said he was one of three
men who were captured, and that the other two were Americans.

Pierce adds that to his knowledge, neither of these reports were followed up by
U.S. officials, and Pierce has received no reply to his queries regarding them.

In 1989 a Japanese monk named Yoshida was released from prison after being held
for years by the Vietnamese. Yoshida was shown a photograph of John Pierce and
stated that Pierce looked very familiar, and that he had either seen him or
someone who looked very much like him.

In November, 1990, Vietamese Foreign Minister Nguyen Co Thach traveled to the
U.S. and spoke with U.S. officials on a variety of matters. At this time, he
announced that there was a black American named Walter T. Robinson living
illegally in Vietnam, and invited U.S. representatives to come and help find
him. Thach provided a social security number and two photographs.

The Pentagon told "The Washington Times" that the two photographs of Robinson
provided by Thach are of a black man. However, the Pentagon has since admitted
that the photos "are not very well developed" and appear to be of either a black
man or a dark Asian. Photocopies of old newspaper articles concerning Robinson,
obtained by Homecoming II, show a dark-haired man of relatively dark complexion.

The Pentagon has not released the photographs to the press.

The Defense Department determined that Walter T. Robinson had never been listed
as missing in Vietnam. Thach had provided a social security number, and
according to DOD, this information correlated to a white American living in the
Midwest. They concluded that the Thach information, therefore, was in error.

Later information indicated that a Walter T. Robinson was listed on the crew
roster of the Glomar Java Sea. When queried, the Defense Department reported
that they were aware of this Robinson, but that civilians were the
responsibility of the State Department.

It seems apparent that the U.S. is not vigorously looking for the men missing
from the Glomar Java Sea, and that like the missing and prisoners who served in
military and civilian capacities during the Vietnam war, they have been
abandoned.


CHEN, XIONG

Name: Xiong Chen
Rank/Branch: Civilian
Unit: Glomar Java Sea
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record:
Date of Loss: 25 October 1983
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates:
Status (in 1973):
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground:

Personnel in Incident: Herman Arms; Jerald T. Battiste; Sebe M. Bracey; Patrick
B. Cates; Wei Chen; Xiong Chen; Shu Guo Cheng; Jacob K. J. Chong; David P.
Clifton; James F. Cusick; Thomas J. Dixon; Shao Jien Feng; Jerald J. Flanagan;
Nigel Furness; Leonard E. Ganzinotti; La Juan A. Gilmore; Henry M. Gittings;
James K. Gittings; Terance C. Green; Jun Tian Guan; David Higgins, Jr.; Tyronne
Higgins; Hong Xi Huang; Rui Wen Huang; Yong Liang Huang; Timothy Jarvis; John W.
Jennings Jr.; Thomas J. Kofahl; Fan Xiang Kong; Guo Zhen Lai; John W. Lawrence;
Tong L. T. Lee; Chong Chang Li; Xuan Qiu Li; Zhan Jun Liang; Jie Feng Lin; Bing
Guang Liu; Edgar S. Lim; Gary Looke; Robert M. McCurry; Jerry L. Manfrida;
Raymond D. Miller; Xie Yi Mo; Tian Xue Mo; Kenneth W. Myers; Larry K. Myers;
Donald J. Ouellet; John D. Pierce; Peter Popiel; Clarence Reed; Jewell J.
Reynolds; E.J. Russell Reynolds; Walter T. Robinson; Kenneth B. Rogers; Lawrence
M. Salzwedel; William R. Schug; Richard E. Shoff; Christopher J. Sleeman; Delmar
A. Spencer; George G. Sullivan; Chong Jian Sun; Gustaf F. Swanson; Kevin C.
Swanson; Guo Dong Tang; Michael W. Thomas; Jiang Wang; Yu Fang Wang; Dong Cai
Wang; Guo Rong Wu; jing Sheng Xia; Xing Xing; Hui Xu; Ming Rui Xu; Mua Guang
Yuan; Xing Zhen Zhang; Yi Hua Zhang; Ji Chang Zhen; Shu Rong Zhou; Yao Wu Zhou;
Jie Fang Zhou; Da Huai Zhu.

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 10 December 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 5,930-ton American drilling ship, "Glomar Java Sea" was owned by
Global Marine of Houston, Texas, and leased to Atlantic Richfield Company
(ARCO). In the fall of 1983, the vessel was on duty about 200 miles east of the
Vietnamese coast. The ship was drilling for oil in the South China Sea in a
joint venture of ARCO and China Naitonal Offshore Oil Corporation, a state-owned
concern.

The "Glomar Java Sea" is a sister ship of the "Glomar Explorer," which, under
the guise of being utilized by the late Howard Hughes in a deep sea mining
operation in the Paficic, was really being used by the CIA and Navy in a $350
million project to retrieve a sunken Soviet Golf-class submarine. A large part
of the submarine was in fact recovered in 1974 before details of the project
were publicly revealed.

The Glomar Java Sea, with its crew of 81, began drilling operations on January
9, 1983 and was the first American wildcat operaton off the Chinese coast. On
October 25, 1983, the vessel was sunk during Typhoon Lex.

Documents removed from the ship by a crewman before the disaster indicate that
the vessel was being shadowed by armed Vietnamese naval craft and that there
were submarine mines beneath the "Glomar Java Sea," placed there and retrievable
by its crew. Another document indicates that the ship was damaged prior ot the
typhoon when a Chinese supply boat rammed into its side, causing some $320,000
damage to the vessel. The Glomar Java Sea did not leave its post for repairs.

Communications between ARCO and Global Marine, as well as telegraphic and radio
communications of the U.S. Western Pacific Rescue Coordination Center (WESTPAC)
reveal information about the search for the crew of the Glomar Java Sea.

The documents indicate that a number of survivors from the stricken vessel were
floundering in the water off the coast of Vietnam for hours after the disaster.
There is also indication that the men were picked up by Vietnamese coastal
patrols and are held captive of the Hanoi regime.

The crew of the Glomar Java Sea included 37 Americans, 35 Chinese, four British,
two Singaporeans, one Filipino, one Australian, and one Canadian.

From a transcript of a radio communicaton between WESTPAC and Global Marine on
October 28, three days after the sinking, WESTPAC was told:  "We are informed
that the SOS transmission could not have been transmitted except by human
operators..." There were two 64-man lifeboats aboard the drilling ship, plus
smaller lifeboats.

In an October 29 communicaton from WESTPAC to Global Marine, it is clearly
stated that five strobe lights were sighted by rescue aircraft in the vicinity
of 17-30 North 107-45 East. The aircraft were dispatched to the area because
strobe lights had been previously sighted. Lifejackets from the Glomar Java Sea
were equipped with strobe lights to signal rescuers.

Another October 29 communication between ARCO and Global Marine states that
ARCO's search aircraft had spotted survivors in the water at 17.27 North 107.54
East, and had attempted to divert surface vessels to this location. The
communication expressed the urgency to rescue the men before dark.

At 8:01 a.m. on October 29, ARCO had dropped a rescue raft to survivors.  Pickup
would be delayed for several hours, but the "Salvanquish," a Singapore-based
salvage ship, was within one half-mile of the site.

At 8:38 a.m search aircraft reported pinpointing the survivors' positions by dye
markers released by the survivors into the water. Two survivors were confirmed
with a possible third some distance away. Plans were also made to return to the
downed vessell to offlift survivors.

Another document shows that on nine different occasions radio transmissions were
picked up from a lifeboat. They ranged from "very strong" to "weak" with most
being described as "strong."

Inexplicably, despite the successful search, no rescue was made of the
survivors. Later that day, the Chinese Navy picked up a Vietnamese broadcast
reporting that the Vietnamese had sighted a lifeboat near their coast. The
location of the lifeboat was not confirmed by friendly search parties.

ARCO-Global Marine determined that this sighting was in the vicinity of Hon Gio
Island, located about 80 miles up the Vietnamese coast from the old U.S. base at
Da Nang and about 14 miles offshore, which placed it in Vietnamese territorial
waters. It appears that rescue craft were hampered in fully investigating the
report due to its location and the hint of possible interference by the
Vietnamese military.

It is likely that survivors would have been picked up by the Vietnamese if they
had in fact drifted within Vietnam's territory.

In the years following the loss of the Glomar Java Sea, a number of reports, all
unconfirmed by the U.S., indicate that survivors were seen in captivity in
Vietnam. It is known that the Vietnamese had shown a hostile interest in the
vessel, and the Glomar Java Sea had standing orders to be alert for Vietnamese
vessels in the area. The Chinese Navy served as protection for the vessel and
stood ready to take action should Vietnamese craft wander too close. The waters
below the vessel were mined.

A month after the Glomar Java Sea went down, Chinese divers went down to the
wreckage and went through the ship with a video cameras.

In March 1984, American divers were able to retrieve 31 bodies from the sunken
vessel. Fifteen of the bodies were identified as Americans. In addition, three
British and one Singaporean were identified. The bodies of another American and
two Chinese were tentatively identified. Divers photographed two bodies they
were unable to retrieve. They also found one of the Chinese divers that had
explored the wreckage in November 1983, lashed to the deck of the ship.

The American divers determined that one of the ship's large lifeboats was
launched and that an attempt had been made to launch another. Their film was
seen by the mother of one of the lost crewmen. She reported that the crack in
the hull of the ship at one point was a hole 48 inches across, which was
punctured inward, "as though the rig had been hit by something that exploded."
This fueled additional speculation that the vessel had, in fact, been attacked
rather that simply mortally damaged by the typhoon.

The National Transportaton Safety Board officially determined in November 1984
that an "unexplained crack" in the hull of the Glomar Java Sea was responsible
for its sinking during the typhoon. Apparently, the crack in the hull allowed
two storage tanks to fill with water, causing the vessel to become off-balanced,
making it vulnerable to the forces of the typhoon. Officials believed it was
possible that survivors may have been able to abandon the ship before it sank.
It was determined that the ship had been improperly prepared for the storm.

During 1984, there were reports from Southeast Asia that between six and twelve
survivors of the Glomar Java Sea were being held in prisoner of war camps in
Vietnam. One of the survivors was identified by a Vietnamese refugee as American
crewman John Pierce.

Douglas F. Pierce, father of John Pierce, reported that the refugee had seen his
son, five other Americans and eight Chinese when they were brought into a prison
in Da Nang, where the refugee was being held. John Pierce gave the refugee his
father's business card and two sticks of gum.

Mr. Pierce gave the information to Defense Intelligence Agency who determined
that the refugee had not been in the camp at all, but had received the business
card by mail from a friend, not directly from Pierce. DIA further determined
that the incident had occurred in late October 1983 (shortly after the Glomar
Java Sea went down). The refugee gave Mr. Pierce the original letter, which
contained the names and addresses of two mutual Vietnamese friends.

No followup was conducted on the two names in the letter by DIA, and DIA
discounted the information provided by the refugee. It was not until 1990 that
it became apparent that the Defense Department felt no responsibility for the
Americans lost on the Glomar Java Sea. At that time, DIA reported that the
responsibility for these civilians belonged to the U.S. State Department.

Mr. Pierce did not stop there. He uncovered a U.S. State Department document
that revealed that Cheng Quihong, the secretary and wife of the Director of
China's Visa Office, was overheard telling her companion at a Hong Kong dinner
that survivors from the Glomar had been picked up and were held by the
Vietnamese.

Pierce also learned that a JCRC report sent to DIA dated November 6, 1984,
reported that a former prisoner from Pleiku prison had been held with a Chinese
man who claimed to have been off the Glomar. The man said he was one of three
men who were captured, and that the other two were Americans.

Pierce adds that to his knowledge, neither of these reports were followed up by
U.S. officials, and Pierce has received no reply to his queries regarding them.

In 1989 a Japanese monk named Yoshida was released from prison after being held
for years by the Vietnamese. Yoshida was shown a photograph of John Pierce and
stated that Pierce looked very familiar, and that he had either seen him or
someone who looked very much like him.

In November, 1990, Vietamese Foreign Minister Nguyen Co Thach traveled to the
U.S. and spoke with U.S. officials on a variety of matters. At this time, he
announced that there was a black American named Walter T. Robinson living
illegally in Vietnam, and invited U.S. representatives to come and help find
him. Thach provided a social security number and two photographs.

The Pentagon told "The Washington Times" that the two photographs of Robinson
provided by Thach are of a black man. However, the Pentagon has since admitted
that the photos "are not very well developed" and appear to be of either a black
man or a dark Asian. Photocopies of old newspaper articles concerning Robinson,
obtained by Homecoming II, show a dark-haired man of relatively dark complexion.

The Pentagon has not released the photographs to the press.

The Defense Department determined that Walter T. Robinson had never been listed
as missing in Vietnam. Thach had provided a social security number, and
according to DOD, this information correlated to a white American living in the
Midwest. They concluded that the Thach information, therefore, was in error.

Later information indicated that a Walter T. Robinson was listed on the crew
roster of the Glomar Java Sea. When queried, the Defense Department reported
that they were aware of this Robinson, but that civilians were the
responsibility of the State Department.

It seems apparent that the U.S. is not vigorously looking for the men missing
from the Glomar Java Sea, and that like the missing and prisoners who served in
military and civilian capacities during the Vietnam war, they have been
abandoned.



CHENEY, JOSEPH C.

Name: Joseph C. Cheney
Rank/Branch: U.S. Civilian
Unit: Air America
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record:
Date of Loss: 05 September 1963
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 164245N 1061021E (XD250480)
Status (In 1973):
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: C46
Other Personnel in Incident: Charles Herrick (killed in crash); Eugene Debruin,
Chui To Tik and 3 other Thai nationals (names unknown) (all captured)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 July 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: During the 1950's a deteriorating political situation in Laos had
allowed NVA troops and Pathet Lao guerrillas to seize the Laotian panhandle from
the Royal Lao Army. Prevented by Geneva Accords from having a large military
presence in Laos, the U.S. established a "Program Evaluation Office" (PEO) in
1958 as a CIA cover for anti-communist covert actions. One activity, begun in
1958, used Meo tribesmen for a small pilot guerrilla program, which soon became
the largest clandestine army in CIA history. In the first year, using U.S.
Special Forces White Star teams as PEO "civilians", a few CIA officers and 90
elite Thai Border guards, an army of 9000 Meo was trained for behind-lines
guerrilla activity. Within 10 years, the Meo army grew to over 40,000
guerrillas, becoming the most effective fighting force in Laos.

The CIA's covert airline, known as "Air America" (AA) supported the Meo as well
as numerous other CIA-backed clandestine guerrilla armies. With the escalating
war, a large US military presence guaranteed that Air America could operate in
relative obscurity. With little fanfare throughout the war, AA fought in the
frontlines of unconventional war. AA pilots flew "black missions" over China,
North Vietnam and the Laotian panhandle. AA flew in every type of aircraft from
727 jets to small Cessnas and junk aircraft, transporting everything from combat
troops (alive, wounded or dead) to baby chicks, dropping rice to refugees and
specially trained Nung trailwatchers into denied areas. AA contracted both with
the Drug Enforcement Agency (to track international drug smugglers) and with the
Meo (to haul its annual and valuable opium crop).

As U.S. forces pulled out, AA picked up the slack, straining to maintain the
status quo. The communists drove the Meo from their homelands in the early
1970's, and as the Meo retreated, AA was in the position of hauling (and
feeding) tens of thousands of refugees. There were problems as the CIA fell
under Congressional scrutiny of its world-wide paramilitary activities and
public pressure to divest itself of Air America. South Vietnam's rapid collapse
in 1975 signified the end of the clandestine war that began in Vietnam thirty
years earlier.

On September 5, 1963, an Air America C46 aircraft was hit by ground fire and
crashed about 2 kilometers from Tchepone, Savannakhet Province, Laos. Eugene
DeBruin, Chui To Tik and two Thai nationals parachuted to safety, but were
immediately captured by the Pathet Lao. Two crew members, Joseph C. Cheney and
Charles Herrick, were reportedly killed in the crash.

Later, the the Pathet Lao photographed DeBruin and four others prisoners and
published a leaflet naming the five as their prisoners. Several times during
their captivity the entire crew was moved to different locations within
Savannakhet and Khammouane Provinces.

In early July 1966, Eugene and six other prisoners made an escape. However, only
two of the seven, Dieter Dingler and one of the Thai nationals who was part of
Eugene's crew, reached safety. One report stated that DeBruin was killed in the
escape attempt, but the Thai national reported that DeBruin was last seen
attempting to reach high ground in a classified location.

Eugene's family has not stopped looking for answers. They were able to find a
report that Eugene may have been alive as late as January 1968. His brother,
Jerome traveled to Laos in 1972 in search of information.

In 1983, Joseph C. Cheney's name reappeared on the U.S. Government lists of
missing Americans in Southeast Asia. There was no information available to
determine why his name had been omitted from the lists to be added 20 years
later.

Although the Pathet Lao openly admitted holding American prisoners of war, they
insisted that the U.S. negotiate directly with them to ensure their release. The
U.S. never negotiated or recognized the Pathet Lao, and as a consequence, not
one of the nearly 600 Americans lost in Laos (many of whom were known to have
survived their loss incidents) was ever released.

As reports mount that Americans are still alive in Southeast Asia, the Debruin
family wonders if one of them could be Eugene or one of his crewmen.


CHENG, SHU GUO

Name: Shu Guo Cheng
Rank/Branch: Civilian
Unit: Glomar Java Sea
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record:
Date of Loss: 25 October 1983
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates:
Status (in 1973):
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground:

Personnel in Incident: Herman Arms; Jerald T. Battiste; Sebe M. Bracey; Patrick
B. Cates; Wei Chen; Xiong Chen; Shu Guo Cheng; Jacob K. J. Chong; David P.
Clifton; James F. Cusick; Thomas J. Dixon; Shao Jien Feng; Jerald J. Flanagan;
Nigel Furness; Leonard E. Ganzinotti; La Juan A. Gilmore; Henry M. Gittings;
James K. Gittings; Terance C. Green; Jun Tian Guan; David Higgins, Jr.; Tyronne
Higgins; Hong Xi Huang; Rui Wen Huang; Yong Liang Huang; Timothy Jarvis; John W.
Jennings Jr.; Thomas J. Kofahl; Fan Xiang Kong; Guo Zhen Lai; John W. Lawrence;
Tong L. T. Lee; Chong Chang Li; Xuan Qiu Li; Zhan Jun Liang; Jie Feng Lin; Bing
Guang Liu; Edgar S. Lim; Gary Looke; Robert M. McCurry; Jerry L. Manfrida;
Raymond D. Miller; Xie Yi Mo; Tian Xue Mo; Kenneth W. Myers; Larry K. Myers;
Donald J. Ouellet; John D. Pierce; Peter Popiel; Clarence Reed; Jewell J.
Reynolds; E.J. Russell Reynolds; Walter T. Robinson; Kenneth B. Rogers; Lawrence
M. Salzwedel; William R. Schug; Richard E. Shoff; Christopher J. Sleeman; Delmar
A. Spencer; George G. Sullivan; Chong Jian Sun; Gustaf F. Swanson; Kevin C.
Swanson; Guo Dong Tang; Michael W. Thomas; Jiang Wang; Yu Fang Wang; Dong Cai
Wang; Guo Rong Wu; jing Sheng Xia; Xing Xing; Hui Xu; Ming Rui Xu; Mua Guang
Yuan; Xing Zhen Zhang; Yi Hua Zhang; Ji Chang Zhen; Shu Rong Zhou; Yao Wu Zhou;
Jie Fang Zhou; Da Huai Zhu.

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 10 December 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 5,930-ton American drilling ship, "Glomar Java Sea" was owned by
Global Marine of Houston, Texas, and leased to Atlantic Richfield Company
(ARCO). In the fall of 1983, the vessel was on duty about 200 miles east of the
Vietnamese coast. The ship was drilling for oil in the South China Sea in a
joint venture of ARCO and China Naitonal Offshore Oil Corporation, a state-owned
concern.

The "Glomar Java Sea" is a sister ship of the "Glomar Explorer," which, under
the guise of being utilized by the late Howard Hughes in a deep sea mining
operation in the Paficic, was really being used by the CIA and Navy in a $350
million project to retrieve a sunken Soviet Golf-class submarine. A large part
of the submarine was in fact recovered in 1974 before details of the project
were publicly revealed.

The Glomar Java Sea, with its crew of 81, began drilling operations on January
9, 1983 and was the first American wildcat operaton off the Chinese coast. On
October 25, 1983, the vessel was sunk during Typhoon Lex.

Documents removed from the ship by a crewman before the disaster indicate that
the vessel was being shadowed by armed Vietnamese naval craft and that there
were submarine mines beneath the "Glomar Java Sea," placed there and retrievable
by its crew. Another document indicates that the ship was damaged prior ot the
typhoon when a Chinese supply boat rammed into its side, causing some $320,000
damage to the vessel. The Glomar Java Sea did not leave its post for repairs.

Communications between ARCO and Global Marine, as well as telegraphic and radio
communications of the U.S. Western Pacific Rescue Coordination Center (WESTPAC)
reveal information about the search for the crew of the Glomar Java Sea.

The documents indicate that a number of survivors from the stricken vessel were
floundering in the water off the coast of Vietnam for hours after the disaster.
There is also indication that the men were picked up by Vietnamese coastal
patrols and are held captive of the Hanoi regime.

The crew of the Glomar Java Sea included 37 Americans, 35 Chinese, four British,
two Singaporeans, one Filipino, one Australian, and one Canadian.

From a transcript of a radio communicaton between WESTPAC and Global Marine on
October 28, three days after the sinking, WESTPAC was told:  "We are informed
that the SOS transmission could not have been transmitted except by human
operators..." There were two 64-man lifeboats aboard the drilling ship, plus
smaller lifeboats.

In an October 29 communicaton from WESTPAC to Global Marine, it is clearly
stated that five strobe lights were sighted by rescue aircraft in the vicinity
of 17-30 North 107-45 East. The aircraft were dispatched to the area because
strobe lights had been previously sighted. Lifejackets from the Glomar Java Sea
were equipped with strobe lights to signal rescuers.

Another October 29 communication between ARCO and Global Marine states that
ARCO's search aircraft had spotted survivors in the water at 17.27 North 107.54
East, and had attempted to divert surface vessels to this location. The
communication expressed the urgency to rescue the men before dark.

At 8:01 a.m. on October 29, ARCO had dropped a rescue raft to survivors.  Pickup
would be delayed for several hours, but the "Salvanquish," a Singapore-based
salvage ship, was within one half-mile of the site.

At 8:38 a.m search aircraft reported pinpointing the survivors' positions by dye
markers released by the survivors into the water. Two survivors were confirmed
with a possible third some distance away. Plans were also made to return to the
downed vessell to offlift survivors.

Another document shows that on nine different occasions radio transmissions were
picked up from a lifeboat. They ranged from "very strong" to "weak" with most
being described as "strong."

Inexplicably, despite the successful search, no rescue was made of the
survivors. Later that day, the Chinese Navy picked up a Vietnamese broadcast
reporting that the Vietnamese had sighted a lifeboat near their coast. The
location of the lifeboat was not confirmed by friendly search parties.

ARCO-Global Marine determined that this sighting was in the vicinity of Hon Gio
Island, located about 80 miles up the Vietnamese coast from the old U.S. base at
Da Nang and about 14 miles offshore, which placed it in Vietnamese territorial
waters. It appears that rescue craft were hampered in fully investigating the
report due to its location and the hint of possible interference by the
Vietnamese military.

It is likely that survivors would have been picked up by the Vietnamese if they
had in fact drifted within Vietnam's territory.

In the years following the loss of the Glomar Java Sea, a number of reports, all
unconfirmed by the U.S., indicate that survivors were seen in captivity in
Vietnam. It is known that the Vietnamese had shown a hostile interest in the
vessel, and the Glomar Java Sea had standing orders to be alert for Vietnamese
vessels in the area. The Chinese Navy served as protection for the vessel and
stood ready to take action should Vietnamese craft wander too close. The waters
below the vessel were mined.

A month after the Glomar Java Sea went down, Chinese divers went down to the
wreckage and went through the ship with a video cameras.

In March 1984, American divers were able to retrieve 31 bodies from the sunken
vessel. Fifteen of the bodies were identified as Americans. In addition, three
British and one Singaporean were identified. The bodies of another American and
two Chinese were tentatively identified. Divers photographed two bodies they
were unable to retrieve. They also found one of the Chinese divers that had
explored the wreckage in November 1983, lashed to the deck of the ship.

The American divers determined that one of the ship's large lifeboats was
launched and that an attempt had been made to launch another. Their film was
seen by the mother of one of the lost crewmen. She reported that the crack in
the hull of the ship at one point was a hole 48 inches across, which was
punctured inward, "as though the rig had been hit by something that exploded."
This fueled additional speculation that the vessel had, in fact, been attacked
rather that simply mortally damaged by the typhoon.

The National Transportaton Safety Board officially determined in November 1984
that an "unexplained crack" in the hull of the Glomar Java Sea was responsible
for its sinking during the typhoon. Apparently, the crack in the hull allowed
two storage tanks to fill with water, causing the vessel to become off-balanced,
making it vulnerable to the forces of the typhoon. Officials believed it was
possible that survivors may have been able to abandon the ship before it sank.
It was determined that the ship had been improperly prepared for the storm.

During 1984, there were reports from Southeast Asia that between six and twelve
survivors of the Glomar Java Sea were being held in prisoner of war camps in
Vietnam. One of the survivors was identified by a Vietnamese refugee as American
crewman John Pierce.

Douglas F. Pierce, father of John Pierce, reported that the refugee had seen his
son, five other Americans and eight Chinese when they were brought into a prison
in Da Nang, where the refugee was being held. John Pierce gave the refugee his
father's business card and two sticks of gum.

Mr. Pierce gave the information to Defense Intelligence Agency who determined
that the refugee had not been in the camp at all, but had received the business
card by mail from a friend, not directly from Pierce. DIA further determined
that the incident had occurred in late October 1983 (shortly after the Glomar
Java Sea went down). The refugee gave Mr. Pierce the original letter, which
contained the names and addresses of two mutual Vietnamese friends.

No followup was conducted on the two names in the letter by DIA, and DIA
discounted the information provided by the refugee. It was not until 1990 that
it became apparent that the Defense Department felt no responsibility for the
Americans lost on the Glomar Java Sea. At that time, DIA reported that the
responsibility for these civilians belonged to the U.S. State Department.

Mr. Pierce did not stop there. He uncovered a U.S. State Department document
that revealed that Cheng Quihong, the secretary and wife of the Director of
China's Visa Office, was overheard telling her companion at a Hong Kong dinner
that survivors from the Glomar had been picked up and were held by the
Vietnamese.

Pierce also learned that a JCRC report sent to DIA dated November 6, 1984,
reported that a former prisoner from Pleiku prison had been held with a Chinese
man who claimed to have been off the Glomar. The man said he was one of three
men who were captured, and that the other two were Americans.

Pierce adds that to his knowledge, neither of these reports were followed up by
U.S. officials, and Pierce has received no reply to his queries regarding them.

In 1989 a Japanese monk named Yoshida was released from prison after being held
for years by the Vietnamese. Yoshida was shown a photograph of John Pierce and
stated that Pierce looked very familiar, and that he had either seen him or
someone who looked very much like him.

In November, 1990, Vietamese Foreign Minister Nguyen Co Thach traveled to the
U.S. and spoke with U.S. officials on a variety of matters. At this time, he
announced that there was a black American named Walter T. Robinson living
illegally in Vietnam, and invited U.S. representatives to come and help find
him. Thach provided a social security number and two photographs.

The Pentagon told "The Washington Times" that the two photographs of Robinson
provided by Thach are of a black man. However, the Pentagon has since admitted
that the photos "are not very well developed" and appear to be of either a black
man or a dark Asian. Photocopies of old newspaper articles concerning Robinson,
obtained by Homecoming II, show a dark-haired man of relatively dark complexion.

The Pentagon has not released the photographs to the press.

The Defense Department determined that Walter T. Robinson had never been listed
as missing in Vietnam. Thach had provided a social security number, and
according to DOD, this information correlated to a white American living in the
Midwest. They concluded that the Thach information, therefore, was in error.

Later information indicated that a Walter T. Robinson was listed on the crew
roster of the Glomar Java Sea. When queried, the Defense Department reported
that they were aware of this Robinson, but that civilians were the
responsibility of the State Department.

It seems apparent that the U.S. is not vigorously looking for the men missing
from the Glomar Java Sea, and that like the missing and prisoners who served in
military and civilian capacities during the Vietnam war, they have been
abandoned.


CHESTNUT, JOSEPH LYONS

Name: Joseph Lyons Chestnut
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit: 56th Special Operations Wing, Udorn AF TH (RAVENS)
Date of Birth: 15 July 1934
Home City of Record: Murfeesboro TN
Date of Loss: 13 October 1970
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 195659N 1022546E (TH310078)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 1
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: T28
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1990 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.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: The Steve Canyon program was a highly classified FAC (forward air
control) operation covering the military regions of Laos. U.S. military
operations in Laos were severely restricted during the Vietnam War era because
Laos had been declared neutral by the Geneva Accords.

The non-communist forces in Laos, however, had a critical need for military
support in order to defend territory used by Lao and North Vietnamese communist
forces. The U.S., in conjunction with non-communist forces in Laos, devised a
system whereby U.S. military personnel could be "in the black" or "sheep-dipped"
(clandestine; mustered out of the military to perform military duties as a
civilian) to operate in Laos under supervision of the U.S. Ambassador to Laos.

RAVEN was the radio call sign which identified the flyers of the Steve Canyon
Program. Men recruited for the program were rated Air Force officers with at
least six months experience in Vietnam. They tended to be the very best of
pilots, but by definition, this meant that they were also mavericks, and
considered a bit wild by the mainstream military establishment.

The Ravens came under the formal command of CINCPAC and the 7/13th Air Force
56th Special Operations Wing at Nakhon Phanom, but their pay records were
maintained at Udorn with Detachment 1. Officially, they were on loan to the U.S.
Air Attache at Vientiane. Unofficially, they were sent to outposts like Long
Tieng, where their field commanders were the CIA, the Meo Generals, and the U.S.
Ambassador. Once on duty, they flew FAC missions which controlled all U.S. air
strikes over Laos.

All tactical strike aircraft had to be under the control of a FAC, who was
intimately familiar with the locale, the populous, and the tactical situation.
The FAC would find the target, order up U.S. fighter/bombers from an airborne
command and control center, mark the target accurately with white phosphorus
(Willy Pete) rockets, and control the operation throughout the time the planes
remained on station. After the fighters had departed, the FAC stayed over the
target to make a bomb damage assessment (BDA).

The FAC also had to ensure that there were no attacks on civilians, a complex
problem in a war where there were no front lines and any hamlet could suddenly
become part of the combat zone. A FAC needed a fighter pilot's mentality, but
but was obliged to fly slow and low in such unarmed and vulnerable aircraft as
the Cessna O1 Bird Dog, and the Cessna O2. Consequently, aircraft used by the
Ravens were continually peppered with ground fire. A strong fabric tape was
simply slapped over the bullet holes until the aircraft could no longer fly.

Ravens were hopelessly overworked by the war. The need for secrecy kept their
numbers low (never more than 22 at one time), and the critical need of the Meo
sometimes demanded each pilot fly 10 and 12 hour days. Some Ravens completed
their tour of approximately 6 months with a total of over 500 combat missions.

The Ravens in at Long Tieng in Military Region II, had, for several years, the
most difficult area in Laos. The base, just on the southern edge of the Plain of
Jars, was also the headquarters for the CIA-funded Meo army commanded by General
Vang Pao. An interesting account of this group can be read in Christopher
Robbins' book, "The Ravens".

Major Joseph L. Chestnut was a Raven pilot operating in Military Region I, Laos
on October 13, 1970. On that day, he was flying a T28 Nomad counter-insurgency
aircraft, which Ravens were strictly forbidden to fly in combat. The precise
nature of Maj. Chestnut's mission is unknown, and it could have been non-combat,
or he may have been conducting a strike against regulations. In dealings with
the Royal Lao Air Force, Ravens found that they occasionally located a target
only to have the Lao refuse to hit it. Ravens had been known to have taken Lao
bombers and flown out themselves to bomb their targets.

Maj. Chestnut was last known to be about 12 miles northwest of the city of
Louangphrabang in the province of the same name. He was listed Missing in
Action, and the U.S. Government has confirmed information that the enemy knows
his fate -- alive or dead.

Chestnut is one of nearly 600 Americans lost in Laos. Even though the Pathet Lao
stated publicly that they held "tens of tens" of American prisoners, not one
American held in Laos was ever released -- or negotiated for.

Since U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War ended, nearly 10,000 reports have been
received by the U.S. Government relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asia.
Many authorities have reluctantly concluded that hundreds are still alive in
captivity today.

Whether Chestnut survived the crash of his aircraft to be captured alive is not
known. He may have been executed on the ground. But he may also be among those
thought to be alive today. What would he think of the country he proudly served?
It's time we brought our men home.
CHIARELLO, VINCENT AUGUSTUS
Remains Returned March 1988

Name: Vincent Augustus Chiarello
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit: 388th Combat Support Group, Udorn Airbase, Thailand
Date of Birth: 30 August 1939
Home City of Record: New York NY
Date of Loss: 29 July 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 204300N 10454953E (VH998943)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: RC47D
Other Personnel in Incident: Robert Hoskinson; Robert DiTommaso; (still
missing) Bernard Conklin; James S. Hall; John Mamiya; Herbert E. Smith;
(remains returned)

REMARKS: POSS DIA IN CRASH - J

SYNOPSIS: On July 19, 1966, an RC47D aircraft departed Udorn Airfield in
Thailand en route to Sam Neua, Laos. The crew abord the aircraft included Capt.
Robert E. Hoskinson, pilot; Maj. Galileo F. Bossio, 1Lt. Vincent A. Chiarello,
Capt. Bernard Conklin, 1Lt. Robert J. Di Tommaso, SSgt. James S. Hall, TSgt.
John M. Mamiya and TSgt. Herbert E. Smith, crewmen. The aircraft was an unarmed
RC47D Command and Control airship (Dogpatch 2).

When the aircraft was 10-20 miles south of Sam Neua, it was attacked by enemy
fighters. Radio contact was lost and the families were initially told there was
no further word of the plane or crew - that they had all been lost on an
operational mission in North Vietnam.

It was later learned, however, that at least one, possibly two parachutes were
observed in the air from persons on the ground, and the loss had occurred not
in North Vietnam, but at 201200N 1041700E, which is in Laos.

Primary objective of the C-47 in Laos at that point in the war was visual
reconnaissance. American forces worked closely with CAS (CIA) primarily to
weaken the communist supply link to South Vietnam via the "Ho Chi Minh Trail".
This particular plane, however, was working in support of the CIA's secret
indigenous army which was attempting to prevent a communist takeover in Laos.

The crewmembers on these missions were normally highly trained in electronic
surveillance techniques as well as versed in codes and languages. Accordingly,
and as "there was no war in Laos", certain details of the mission, such as the
precise location of loss, were originally distorted. Later reports indicate
that some of the crew survived the attack on July 29, 1966. According to a
March, 1974 list published by the National League of Families of POW/MIAs,
Bossio survived the incident and was missing in Laos. One 1971 report states
that as many as 5 of the crew were captured. Chiarello and Di Tommaso were
identified as survivors by Capt. Adair of Project Dogpatch. U.S. Air Force
records still reflect the loss as having occurred in North Vietnam.

In 1988, the remains of Conklin, Chiarello, Hall, Mamiya and Smith were
returned to U.S. control. They were positively identified and returned to their
families for burial. The Di Tommaso family was also notified, and Mafalda Di
Tommaso rushed to Hawaii to sadly welcome her son home. She was shocked to
learn that no body had returned - only information which added nothing to the
mystery surrounding her son's loss.

The families of Bossio, Hoskinson and Di Tommaso have the right to know what
happened on July 29, 1966. The communist governments of Southeast Asia can
account for the large majority of the nearly 2500 Americans still missing
there. The weight of the evidence shows that some of them are still being held
captive. It's time the veil of secrecy was lifted on these men and the others.
It's time they came home.











CHIPMAN, RALPH JIM

Name: Ralph Jim Chipman
Rank/Branch: O3/US Marine Corps
Unit: VMA 533, MAG 15, 1st Marine Air Wing
Date of Birth: 15 August 1943
Home City of Record: Orem UT
Date of Loss: 27 December 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 171500N 1064500E (XD985800)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: A6A

Other Personnel in Incident: Ronald W. Forrester (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: DEAD/QUAN DOI NHAN DAN

SYNOPSIS: The Grumman A6 Intruder is an all weather, low-altitude, carrier-based
attack plane. The A6A primarily flew close air support, all-weather and night
attacks on enemy troop concentrations, and night interdiction missions. Its
advanced navigation and attack system, known as DIANE (Digital Integrated Attack
navigation Equipment) allowed small precision targets, such as bridges, barracks
and fuel depots to be located and attacked in all weather conditions, day or
night. The planes were credited with some of the most difficult single-plane
strikes in the war, including the destruction of the Hai Duong bridge between
Hanoi and Haiphong by a single A6. Their missions were tough, but their crews
among the most talented and most courageous to serve the United States.

Capt. Ralph J. Chipman was the pilot of an Intruder assigned a mission over
North Vietnam on December 27, 1972. His co-pilot on the flight was 1Lt. Ronald
W. Forrester. The aircraft did not return from the mission, and last contact was
made with the crew over the target area.

A subsequent article in Quan Doi Nhan Dan, a daily Vietnamese newspaper
described an aircraft downed by the Vietnamese. Apparently the pilot was
reported to be dead, and possibly the co-pilot as well. Although this article
was thought to possibly relate to Chipman and Forrester, it was not definite
enough for proof of death. Both men were classified Missing in Action. It is
believed that the Vietnamese could account for them.

Forrester and Chipman are among nearly 2500 Americans who remained missing from
the Vietnam war. Many experts, having seen the "several million" documents
relating to Americans prisoner, missing or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia,
believe that hundreds of these men are still alive in captivity today.

In our haste to leave Southeast Asia, we abandoned some of our best men.
Surprisingly, in 1990, overtures by many U.S. government officials hint at
normalization of relations with Vietnam, yet no agreements have been reached
which would free those Americans still held in Southeast Asia. In our haste to
return to Indochina will we again abandon our men?

Ronald W. Forrester graduated from Texas A & M in 1969. He was promoted to the
rank of Captain during the period he was maintained missing.

CHOMEL, CHARLES DENNIS

Name: Charles Dennis Chomel
Rank/Branch: E2/US Marine Corps
Unit: 3rd Recon Company, 3rd Recon Battalion, 3rd Marine Division
Date of Birth: 23 August 1947
Home City of Record: Columbus IN
Date of Loss: 11 June 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 165454N 1065530E (YD048689)
Status (in 1973): Killed In Action/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: CH46A

Other Personnel In Incident: Dennis R. Christie, Curtis R. Bohlscheid; John J.
Foley; Jose J. Gonzales; Thomas M. Hanratty; Michael W. Havranek; James W. Kooi,
Jim E. Moshier; John S. Oldham; James E. Widener (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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: A/C CRASH-EXPLODED-NO SURVS OBS-J

SYNOPSIS: On 11 June 1967, 1LT Curtis Bohlscheid was the pilot of a CH46A
helicopter inserting a seven-man Marine Force Recon team into a predesignated
area 11 1/2 nautical miles northwest of Dong Ha, South Vietnam -- right on the
Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). A total of four aircraft were involved in the mission,
two CH46's and two UH1E helicopter gunships. Bohlscheid flew the lead aircraft.
His crew included MAJ John S. Oldham, LCPL Jose J. Gonzales (crew chief), and
PFC Thomas M. Hanratty (crew chief).

Members of the 3rd Recon Company, 3rd Recon Battalion, 3rd Marine Division who
were being inserted were CPL Jim E. Moshier, LCPL Dennis R. Christie, LCPL John
J. Foley III, LCPL Michael W. Havranek, LCPL James W. Kooi, PFC Charles D.
Chomel, and PFC James E. Widener.

The flight departed Dong Ha at about 11:15 a.m. and proceeded to the insertion
location. The gunships made low strafing runs over the landing zone to clear
booby traps and to locate any enemy troops in the area. No enemy fire was
received and no activity was observed. The lead aircraft then began its approach
to the landing zone. At an estimated altitude of 400-600 feet, the helicopter
was observed to climb erratically, similar to an aircraft commencing a loop.
Machinegunmen had been waiting for the opportune time to fire on the aircraft.
Portions of the rear blades were seen to separate from the aircraft and a radio
transmission was received from the aircraft indicating that it had been hit. The
helicopter became inverted and continued out of control until it was seen to
crash by a stream in a steep ravine.

Subsequent efforts by ground units to reach the crash area failed due to a heavy
bunker complex surrounding the site. The ground units inspected the site from
within 500 meters through binoculars and observed no survivors. All eleven
personnel aboard the helicopter were therefore classified Killed In Action, Body
Not Recovered. Other USMC records indicate that the helicopter also burst into
flames just prior to impacting the ground.

For the crew of the CH46A lost on June 11, 1967, death seems a certainty. For
hundreds of others, however, simple answers are not possible. Adding to the
torment of nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asia
is the certain knowledge that some Americans who were known to be prisoners of
war were not released at the end of the war. Others were suspected to be
prisoners, and still others were in radio contact with would-be rescuers when
last seen alive. Many were known to have survived their loss incidents, only to
disappear without a trace.

The problem of Americans still missing torments not only the families of those
who are missing, but the men who fought by their sides, and those in the general
public who realize the full implication of leaving men unaccounted for at the
end of a war.

Tragically, many authorities believe there are hundreds of Americans still alive
in captivity in Southeast Asia today.  What must they be thinking of us? What
will our next generation say if called to fight if we are unable to bring these
men home from Southeast Asia?

CHOMYK, WILLIAM

Name: William Chomyk
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 389th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Da Nang Airbase, South Vietnam
Date of Birth: 03 April 1943
Home City of Record: Hicksville NY
Date of Loss: 22 April 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 161912N 1072447E (YD585055)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D
Other Personnel in Incident: Robert P. Riggins (missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On April 22, 1968, Capt. William Chomyk, pilot, and Maj. Robert P.
Riggins, bombadier/navigator, departed Da Nang Airbase in South Vietnam aboard
an F4D Phantom fighter/bomber jet as the lead aircraft in a flight of two on a
scramble mission over Thua Thien Province near the city of Hue.

As Chomyk's aircraft made a pass over the target, it pulled off, and suddenly
crashed. At that time, the fates of Chomyk and Riggins were unknown. Then, on
May 7, unspecified evidence was received by the U.S. Air Force which led to
their declaring the crew of the Phantom Killed in Action/Body Not Recovered.

As far as the Air Force is concerned, Chomyk and Riggins are dead. It is not so
easy to dismiss the cases of others who are missing. Some were known captives;
some were photographed as they were led by their guards. Some were in radio
contact with search teams, while others simply disappeared.

Since the war ended, over 250,000 interviews have been conducted with those who
claim to know about Americans still alive in Southeast Asia, and several
million documents have been studied. U.S. Government experts cannot seem to
agree whether Americans are there alive or not. Distractors say it would be far
too politically difficult to bring the men they believe to be alive home, and
the U.S. is content to negotiate for remains.

Over 1000 eye-witness reports of living American prisoners were received by
1989. Most of them are still classified. If, as the U.S. seems to believe, the
men are all dead, why the secrecy after so many years? If the men are alive,
why are they not home?



CHONG, JACOB KIM JOO

Name: Jacob Kim Joo Chong
Rank/Branch: Civilian
Unit: Glomar Java Sea
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record:
Date of Loss: 25 October 1983
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates:
Status (in 1973):
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground:

Personnel in Incident: Herman Arms; Jerald T. Battiste; Sebe M. Bracey; Patrick
B. Cates; Wei Chen; Xiong Chen; Shu Guo Cheng; Jacob K. J. Chong; David P.
Clifton; James F. Cusick; Thomas J. Dixon; Shao Jien Feng; Jerald J. Flanagan;
Nigel Furness; Leonard E. Ganzinotti; La Juan A. Gilmore; Henry M. Gittings;
James K. Gittings; Terance C. Green; Jun Tian Guan; David Higgins, Jr.; Tyronne
Higgins; Hong Xi Huang; Rui Wen Huang; Yong Liang Huang; Timothy Jarvis; John W.
Jennings Jr.; Thomas J. Kofahl; Fan Xiang Kong; Guo Zhen Lai; John W. Lawrence;
Tong L. T. Lee; Chong Chang Li; Xuan Qiu Li; Zhan Jun Liang; Jie Feng Lin; Bing
Guang Liu; Edgar S. Lim; Gary Looke; Robert M. McCurry; Jerry L. Manfrida;
Raymond D. Miller; Xie Yi Mo; Tian Xue Mo; Kenneth W. Myers; Larry K. Myers;
Donald J. Ouellet; John D. Pierce; Peter Popiel; Clarence Reed; Jewell J.
Reynolds; E.J. Russell Reynolds; Walter T. Robinson; Kenneth B. Rogers; Lawrence
M. Salzwedel; William R. Schug; Richard E. Shoff; Christopher J. Sleeman; Delmar
A. Spencer; George G. Sullivan; Chong Jian Sun; Gustaf F. Swanson; Kevin C.
Swanson; Guo Dong Tang; Michael W. Thomas; Jiang Wang; Yu Fang Wang; Dong Cai
Wang; Guo Rong Wu; jing Sheng Xia; Xing Xing; Hui Xu; Ming Rui Xu; Mua Guang
Yuan; Xing Zhen Zhang; Yi Hua Zhang; Ji Chang Zhen; Shu Rong Zhou; Yao Wu Zhou;
Jie Fang Zhou; Da Huai Zhu.

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 10 December 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 5,930-ton American drilling ship, "Glomar Java Sea" was owned by
Global Marine of Houston, Texas, and leased to Atlantic Richfield Company
(ARCO). In the fall of 1983, the vessel was on duty about 200 miles east of the
Vietnamese coast. The ship was drilling for oil in the South China Sea in a
joint venture of ARCO and China Naitonal Offshore Oil Corporation, a state-owned
concern.

The "Glomar Java Sea" is a sister ship of the "Glomar Explorer," which, under
the guise of being utilized by the late Howard Hughes in a deep sea mining
operation in the Paficic, was really being used by the CIA and Navy in a $350
million project to retrieve a sunken Soviet Golf-class submarine. A large part
of the submarine was in fact recovered in 1974 before details of the project
were publicly revealed.

The Glomar Java Sea, with its crew of 81, began drilling operations on January
9, 1983 and was the first American wildcat operaton off the Chinese coast. On
October 25, 1983, the vessel was sunk during Typhoon Lex.

Documents removed from the ship by a crewman before the disaster indicate that
the vessel was being shadowed by armed Vietnamese naval craft and that there
were submarine mines beneath the "Glomar Java Sea," placed there and retrievable
by its crew. Another document indicates that the ship was damaged prior ot the
typhoon when a Chinese supply boat rammed into its side, causing some $320,000
damage to the vessel. The Glomar Java Sea did not leave its post for repairs.

Communications between ARCO and Global Marine, as well as telegraphic and radio
communications of the U.S. Western Pacific Rescue Coordination Center (WESTPAC)
reveal information about the search for the crew of the Glomar Java Sea.

The documents indicate that a number of survivors from the stricken vessel were
floundering in the water off the coast of Vietnam for hours after the disaster.
There is also indication that the men were picked up by Vietnamese coastal
patrols and are held captive of the Hanoi regime.

The crew of the Glomar Java Sea included 37 Americans, 35 Chinese, four British,
two Singaporeans, one Filipino, one Australian, and one Canadian.

From a transcript of a radio communicaton between WESTPAC and Global Marine on
October 28, three days after the sinking, WESTPAC was told:  "We are informed
that the SOS transmission could not have been transmitted except by human
operators..." There were two 64-man lifeboats aboard the drilling ship, plus
smaller lifeboats.

In an October 29 communicaton from WESTPAC to Global Marine, it is clearly
stated that five strobe lights were sighted by rescue aircraft in the vicinity
of 17-30 North 107-45 East. The aircraft were dispatched to the area because
strobe lights had been previously sighted. Lifejackets from the Glomar Java Sea
were equipped with strobe lights to signal rescuers.

Another October 29 communication between ARCO and Global Marine states that
ARCO's search aircraft had spotted survivors in the water at 17.27 North 107.54
East, and had attempted to divert surface vessels to this location. The
communication expressed the urgency to rescue the men before dark.

At 8:01 a.m. on October 29, ARCO had dropped a rescue raft to survivors.  Pickup
would be delayed for several hours, but the "Salvanquish," a Singapore-based
salvage ship, was within one half-mile of the site.

At 8:38 a.m search aircraft reported pinpointing the survivors' positions by dye
markers released by the survivors into the water. Two survivors were confirmed
with a possible third some distance away. Plans were also made to return to the
downed vessell to offlift survivors.

Another document shows that on nine different occasions radio transmissions were
picked up from a lifeboat. They ranged from "very strong" to "weak" with most
being described as "strong."

Inexplicably, despite the successful search, no rescue was made of the
survivors. Later that day, the Chinese Navy picked up a Vietnamese broadcast
reporting that the Vietnamese had sighted a lifeboat near their coast. The
location of the lifeboat was not confirmed by friendly search parties.

ARCO-Global Marine determined that this sighting was in the vicinity of Hon Gio
Island, located about 80 miles up the Vietnamese coast from the old U.S. base at
Da Nang and about 14 miles offshore, which placed it in Vietnamese territorial
waters. It appears that rescue craft were hampered in fully investigating the
report due to its location and the hint of possible interference by the
Vietnamese military.

It is likely that survivors would have been picked up by the Vietnamese if they
had in fact drifted within Vietnam's territory.

In the years following the loss of the Glomar Java Sea, a number of reports, all
unconfirmed by the U.S., indicate that survivors were seen in captivity in
Vietnam. It is known that the Vietnamese had shown a hostile interest in the
vessel, and the Glomar Java Sea had standing orders to be alert for Vietnamese
vessels in the area. The Chinese Navy served as protection for the vessel and
stood ready to take action should Vietnamese craft wander too close. The waters
below the vessel were mined.

A month after the Glomar Java Sea went down, Chinese divers went down to the
wreckage and went through the ship with a video cameras.

In March 1984, American divers were able to retrieve 31 bodies from the sunken
vessel. Fifteen of the bodies were identified as Americans. In addition, three
British and one Singaporean were identified. The bodies of another American and
two Chinese were tentatively identified. Divers photographed two bodies they
were unable to retrieve. They also found one of the Chinese divers that had
explored the wreckage in November 1983, lashed to the deck of the ship.

The American divers determined that one of the ship's large lifeboats was
launched and that an attempt had been made to launch another. Their film was
seen by the mother of one of the lost crewmen. She reported that the crack in
the hull of the ship at one point was a hole 48 inches across, which was
punctured inward, "as though the rig had been hit by something that exploded."
This fueled additional speculation that the vessel had, in fact, been attacked
rather that simply mortally damaged by the typhoon.

The National Transportaton Safety Board officially determined in November 1984
that an "unexplained crack" in the hull of the Glomar Java Sea was responsible
for its sinking during the typhoon. Apparently, the crack in the hull allowed
two storage tanks to fill with water, causing the vessel to become off-balanced,
making it vulnerable to the forces of the typhoon. Officials believed it was
possible that survivors may have been able to abandon the ship before it sank.
It was determined that the ship had been improperly prepared for the storm.

During 1984, there were reports from Southeast Asia that between six and twelve
survivors of the Glomar Java Sea were being held in prisoner of war camps in
Vietnam. One of the survivors was identified by a Vietnamese refugee as American
crewman John Pierce.

Douglas F. Pierce, father of John Pierce, reported that the refugee had seen his
son, five other Americans and eight Chinese when they were brought into a prison
in Da Nang, where the refugee was being held. John Pierce gave the refugee his
father's business card and two sticks of gum.

Mr. Pierce gave the information to Defense Intelligence Agency who determined
that the refugee had not been in the camp at all, but had received the business
card by mail from a friend, not directly from Pierce. DIA further determined
that the incident had occurred in late October 1983 (shortly after the Glomar
Java Sea went down). The refugee gave Mr. Pierce the original letter, which
contained the names and addresses of two mutual Vietnamese friends.

No followup was conducted on the two names in the letter by DIA, and DIA
discounted the information provided by the refugee. It was not until 1990 that
it became apparent that the Defense Department felt no responsibility for the
Americans lost on the Glomar Java Sea. At that time, DIA reported that the
responsibility for these civilians belonged to the U.S. State Department.

Mr. Pierce did not stop there. He uncovered a U.S. State Department document
that revealed that Cheng Quihong, the secretary and wife of the Director of
China's Visa Office, was overheard telling her companion at a Hong Kong dinner
that survivors from the Glomar had been picked up and were held by the
Vietnamese.

Pierce also learned that a JCRC report sent to DIA dated November 6, 1984,
reported that a former prisoner from Pleiku prison had been held with a Chinese
man who claimed to have been off the Glomar. The man said he was one of three
men who were captured, and that the other two were Americans.

Pierce adds that to his knowledge, neither of these reports were followed up by
U.S. officials, and Pierce has received no reply to his queries regarding them.

In 1989 a Japanese monk named Yoshida was released from prison after being held
for years by the Vietnamese. Yoshida was shown a photograph of John Pierce and
stated that Pierce looked very familiar, and that he had either seen him or
someone who looked very much like him.

In November, 1990, Vietamese Foreign Minister Nguyen Co Thach traveled to the
U.S. and spoke with U.S. officials on a variety of matters. At this time, he
announced that there was a black American named Walter T. Robinson living
illegally in Vietnam, and invited U.S. representatives to come and help find
him. Thach provided a social security number and two photographs.

The Pentagon told "The Washington Times" that the two photographs of Robinson
provided by Thach are of a black man. However, the Pentagon has since admitted
that the photos "are not very well developed" and appear to be of either a black
man or a dark Asian. Photocopies of old newspaper articles concerning Robinson,
obtained by Homecoming II, show a dark-haired man of relatively dark complexion.

The Pentagon has not released the photographs to the press.

The Defense Department determined that Walter T. Robinson had never been listed
as missing in Vietnam. Thach had provided a social security number, and
according to DOD, this information correlated to a white American living in the
Midwest. They concluded that the Thach information, therefore, was in error.

Later information indicated that a Walter T. Robinson was listed on the crew
roster of the Glomar Java Sea. When queried, the Defense Department reported
that they were aware of this Robinson, but that civilians were the
responsibility of the State Department.

It seems apparent that the U.S. is not vigorously looking for the men missing
from the Glomar Java Sea, and that like the missing and prisoners who served in
military and civilian capacities during the Vietnam war, they have been
abandoned.


CASE SYNOPSIS: CHRISTENSEN, ALLEN DUANE

Name: Allen Duane Christensen
Rank/Branch: E5/US Army
Unit: H/Hq Detachment, 37th Signal Battalion, 1st Signal Brigade
Date of Birth: 27  August 1947
Home City of Record: Fandreau SD
Loss Date: 03 April 1972
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 164458N 1071109E (YD330530)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H
Personnel in Incident: April 2: Robin F. Gatwood; Wayne L. Bolte; Anthony
Giannangeli; Charles A. Levis; Henry M. Serex; (all missing from the EB66).
LtCol. Iceal Hambleton (rescued after 12 days from EB66). Ronald P. Paschall;
Byron K. Kulland; John W. Frink (all missing from UH1H rescue helicopter), Jose
M. Astorga (captured and released in 1973 from UH1H). April 3: William J.
Henderson (captured and released in 1973 from OV10A rescue craft); Mark Clark
(rescued after 12 days from OV10A rescue craft).  April 6: James H. Alley;
Allen J. Avery; Peter H. Chapman; John H. Call; William R. Pearson; Roy D.
Prater (all KIA/BNR from HH53C "Jolly 52" rescue chopper). Also in very close
proximity to "Bat 21"on April 3: Allen D. Christensen; Douglas L. O'Neil;
Edward W. Williams; Larry A. Zich (all missing from UH1H).  April 7: Bruce
Charles Walker (evaded 11 days); Larry F. Potts (captured & died in POW camp)
(both missing from OV10A).

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On the afternoon of April 2, 1972, two Thailand-based EB66 aircraft
(Bat 21 and Bat 22), from the 30th Air Division, were flying pathfinder escort
for a cell of B52s bombing near the DMZ. Bat 21 took a direct SAM hit and the
plane went down. A single beeper signal was heard, that of navigator Col. Iceal
Hambleton. At this time it was assumed the rest of the crew died in the crash.
The crew included Maj. Wayne L. Bolte, pilot; 1Lt. Robin F. Gatwood, LtCol.
Anthony R. Giannangeli, LtCol. Charles A. Levis, and Maj. Henry M. Serex, all
crew members. It should be noted that the lowest ranking man aboard this plane
was Gatwood, a First Lieutenant. This was not an ordinary crew, and its
members, particularly Hambleton, would be a prize capture for the enemy because
of military knowledge they possessed.

It became critical, therefore, that the U.S. locate Hambleton, and any other
surviving crew members before the Vietnamese did - and the Vietnamese were
trying hard to find them first.

An Army search and rescue team was nearby and dispatched two UH1H "slicks" and
two UH1B "Cobras". When they approached Hambleton's position just before dark,
at about 50 feet off the ground, with one of the AH1G Cobra gunships flying at
300 feet for cover, two of the helicopters were shot down. One, the Cobra (Blue
Ghost 28) reached safety and the crew was picked up, without having seen the
other downed helicopter. The other, a UH1H from F Troop, 8th Cavalry, 196th
Brigade, had just flown over some huts into a clearing when they encountered
ground fire, and the helicopter exploded. Jose Astorga, the gunner, was injured
in the chest and knee by the gunfire. Astorga became unconscious, and when he
recovered, the helicopter was on the ground. He found the pilot, 1Lt. Byron K.
Kulland, lying outside the helicopter. WO John W. Frink, the co-pilot, was
strapped in his seat and conscious. The crew chief, SP5 Ronald P. Paschall, was
pinned by his leg in the helicopter, but alive. WO Franks urged Astorga to
leave them, and Astorga was captured. He soon observed the aircraft to be hit
by automatic weapons fire, and to explode with the rest of the crew inside. He
never saw the rest of the crew again. Astorga was relesed by the North
Vietnamese in 1973.

The following day, Nail 38, an OV10A equipped with electronic rescue gear
enabling its crew to get a rapid "fix" on its rescue target entered Hambleton's
area and was shot down. The crew, William J. Henderson and Mark Clark, both
parachuted out safely. Henderson was captured and released in 1973. Clark
evaded for 12 days and was subsequently rescued.

On April 3, the day Nail 38 was shot down, a UH1H "slick" went down in the same
area carrying a crew of four enlisted Army personnel. They had no direct
connection to the rescue of Bat 21, but were very probably shot down by the
same SAM installations that downed Bat 21. The helicopter, from H/HQ, 37th
Signal Battalion, 1st Signal Brigade, had left Marble Mountain Airfield, Da
Nang, on a standard resupply mission to signal units in and around Quang Tri
City. The crew, consisting of WO Douglas L. O'Neil, pilot; CW2 Larry A. Zich,
co-pilot; SP5 Allen D. Christensen, crew chief; and SP4 Edward W. Williams,
gunner; remain missing in action.

On April 6, an attempt was made to pick up Clark and Hambleton which resulted
in an HH53C helicopter being shot down. The chopper was badly hit. The
helicopter landed on its side and continued to burn, consuming the entire craft,
and presumably, all 6 men aboard. The crew of this aircraft consisted of James
H. Alley; Allen J. Avery, John H. Call III, Peter H. Chapman, William R.
Pearson, and Roy D. Prater. Search and rescue noted no signs of survivors, but
it is felt that the Vientamese probably know the fate of this crew because of
the close proximity of the downed aircraft to enemy locations.

On April 7 another Air Force OV10A went down in the area with Larry Potts and
Bruce Walker aboard. Walker, the Air Force pilot of the aircraft, evaded
capture 11 days, while it is reported that Potts was captured and died in Quang
Binh prison. Potts, the observer, was a Marine Corps officer. Walker's last
radio transmission to search and rescue was for SAR not to make an attempt to
rescue, the enemy was closing in. Both men remain unaccounted for.

Hambleton and Clark were rescued after 12 incredible days. Hambleton
continually changed positions and reported on enemy activity as he went, even
to the extent of calling in close air strikes near his position. He was tracked
by a code he devised relating to the length and lie direction of various golf
holes he knew well. Another 20 or so Americans were not so fortunate.

In July 1986, the daughter of Henry Serex learned that, one week after all
search and rescue had been "called off" for Bat 21, another mission was mounted
to recover "another downed crewmember" from Bat 21. She doesn't know whether or
not it is her father or another man on the EB66 aircraft. No additional
information has been released. When the movie "Bat 21" was released, she was
horrified to learn that virtually no mention of the rest of the crew, including
her father, was made.

In Vietnam, to most fighting men, the man that fought beside them, whether in
the air or on the ground, was worth dying for. Each understood that the other
would die for him if necessary. Thus, also considering the critical knowledge
possessed by Col. Hambleton and some of the others, the seemingly uncanny means
taken to recover Clark and Hambleton are not so unusual at all.

What defies logic and explaination, however, is that the government that sent
these men to battle can distort or withold information to their families, and
knowingly abandon hundreds of men known or strongly suspected to be in enemy
hands.

Thousands of reports have been received by the U.S. Government indicating that
Americans are still alive, in captivity in Southeast Asia. It has been 17 years
for those who may have survived the 1972 Easter crashes and rescue attempts.
How much longer must they wait for their country to bring "peace with honor" to
them and bring them home?

CHRISTENSEN, WILLIAM MURREY

Name: William Murrey Christensen
Rank/Branch: O2/US Navy
Unit: Fighter Squadron 143, USS RANGER (CVA-61)
Date of Birth: 19 August 1940
Home City of Record: Great Falls MT
Loss Date: 01 March 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 200700N 1062500E (XH480248)
Status (in 1973): Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4B

Other Personnel In Incident: William D. Frawley (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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 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.

LT. William D. Frawley was a pilot assigned to Fighter Squadron 143 onboard the
aircraft carrier USS RANGER. On March 1, 1966, he launched in his F4B Phantom
with his Radar Intercept Officer (RIO), LTJG William M. Christensen. Along with
two other F4 aircraft, they were assigned an armed coastal reconnaissance
mission.

After routine aerial refueling, they began their mission into what was
deteriorating weather conditions. While just off the coast of North Vietnam and
at extremely low level, all three aircraft began a coordinated low-level turn
through inclement weather. Midway through the turn, the lead aircraft lost
contact with Frawley's plane.

The flight leader radioed Frawley to see if he held the flight leader visually.
Frawley responded that he did not. The flight leader then joined up on the
third F4, but neither were able to contact or get a visual on Frawley's
aircraft. The flight leader contacted a rescue destroyer and gave the shop the
last known position of frawley's aircraft.

Limited search efforts were begun by the USS BERKELEY, USS ISBELL and HU-16 and
A-1H aircraft, covering an area from the shoreline out to 10 miles. No visual or
electronic signals were made of the two crewmembers. The other two F4s returned
safely to the RANGER without further incident.

It was learned later that during the course of events, the crew of the second
aircraft did near a surface-to-air missile (SAM) alert warning on UHF radio, but
no missiles were seen or reported fire. Circumstances strongly suggest collision
with the water, however enemy action was not ruled out. Their last known
location was approximately 50 miles southwest of Haiphong, and about 10 miles
south of the city of Hoanh Dong, North Vietnam. Both men were declared Missing
in Action, but because it was suspected they crashed in the Gulf of Tonkin, it
is not believed their remains, if killed, are recoverable.

The following day, evidence of an aircraft crash was located just off the
shoreline which was believed to increase the chance that the plane was shot down
by enemy fire. No trace was ever found of Frawley of Christensen, and the
decision to keep them in Missing in Action status rather than Killed status was
made. This status was maintained for the next 7 years.

In 1973, 591 Americans were released from prisons in Vietnam. A list of those
who died in captivity was provided, and some of their remains were repatriated.
Some remains have been repatriated since. There were many men who were known to
have survived their loss incident who did not return. The Vietnamese deny any
knowledge of these men, even though some were photographed as their captives.

Unlike "MIAs" from other wars, most of the over 2300 remaining missing in
Southeast could be accounted for. Because of this, and because the U.S. has
received thousands of reports indicating hundreds of Americans are still held
captive in Southeast Asia, we cannot close this chapter of the Vietnam war.

Perhaps Frawley and Christenson perished. Perhaps in their story, they have
another mission to fly -- that of telling us never to quit, never to give up
until ALL Americans are home, especially those who are still alive, captive and
fighting the war that claimed America's best sons -- like Bill Christensen and
Bill Frawley.
CHRISTIAN, DAVID MARION
Remains Returned 1986 (See Text)

Name: David Marion Christian
Rank/Branch: O2/US Navy
Unit: USS MIDWAY
Date of Birth: 15 January 1941
Home City: Lane KS (family in CA)
Date of Loss: 02 June 1965
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 194258N 1054959E (WG919815)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: A4E

Other Personnel In Incident: Thomas L. Plants (missing); William H. Amspacher;
M.D. McMican; Gerald M. Romano (remains returned); John B. McKamey (on a second
A4E, released POW).

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 30 June 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: WRECK FOUND - NO SIGN SUBJ - J

SYNOPSIS: On June 2, 1965, an EA1F "Spad" electronics aircraft launched from the
USS MIDWAY for assistance in a search and rescue mission over North Vietnam. The
crew of the Spad was LTJG M.D. McMican, pilot; LTJG Gerald M. Romano, navigation
officer; Petty Officer Third Class William H. Amspacher, Electronic
Countermeasures Operator, and ATN 3 Thomas L. Plants.

While circling the scene of an [unnamed] A4E pilot's ejection over the South
China Sea, the Spad was hit by enemy fire and was observed to crash land and
burn on the nearby coast. While still over the water, a crewmember was seen to
bail out, but his parachute did not open, and he fell into the sea. A week
later, the body drifted ashore, according to an intelligence report. This body
was not recovered by U.S. forces at that time.

[NOTE: The loss location given by Defense Department is not over the South China
Sea, but some five miles inland, in Nghe An Province, near the city of Sam Son.
At best, if the loss occurred over water, it occurred in the Gulf of Tonkin.]

The crew of the Spad was placed into the category Killed In Action/Body Not
Recovered. It was assumed the three perished in the crash of the plane and the
fourth (unspecified in the report) perished just prior to the crash in his
unsuccessful ejection attempt.

On June 2, 1965, two Navy A4E aircraft were shot down in the general area that
the EA1F rescue aircraft was circling. One of them was flown off the USS MIDWAY
by LTJG David M. Christian, and is most likely to be the subject of the search
by the Spad because the accounts seem to match. Navy accounts do not specify the
identity of the downed pilot, nor do they indicate if he was ever rescued.

David Christian was born in California, and in the early 1960's his family moved
to Kansas. Three years later, they moved back to California, but David stayed to
attend Kansas State University, then Emporia State University, where he
graduated after majoring in sociology and psychology. David learned to fly jets
in the Navy after college. In Vietnam, he was stationed aboard the USS MIDWAY
and was an A4E attack jet pilot. On June 2, 1965, Christian left the carrier on
a mission over the Tonkin Gulf on the shoreline of North Vietnam. His commander
witnessed his plane going down at sea, with David possibly ejecting. No
emergency radio beeper signals were heard, and the pilot was not seen after he
left the aircraft.

On October 11, 1965, a Pravda article referred to Christian and James Stockdale,
who was shot down and captured in the same area as Christian three months later.
The report gave the Christian family hope that David survived and would be
released.

When Christian did not return in the prisoner release in 1973, the Christians
were shocked and hurt. James Stockdale was released and was awarded the
Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions as a POW. Over the years, the
Christian family has written and called CDR Stockdale to ask about the report,
but he has never replied.

The second A4E lost on June 1, 1965 was flown by LT John B. McKamey. His
aircraft was shot down some fifty miles south of the crash location of the EA1F.
McKamey was captured by the North Vietnamese and held prisoner for the next
eight years. He was released in Operation Homecoming on February 12, 1973.

In 1986, the Vietnamese returned the remains of 21 American servicemen lost in
Vietnam, including those said to be those of David Christian. They could not
forget the Pravda article and its details about David. They had the remains
independently examined. The conclusion was that the probability is greater that
it IS David Christian than it is not. But still, there is no proof that David
died and doubts remain. Until there is proof that he died, David's friends and
family "would not be at all surprised" to see him come home -- alive.

In July 1988, the Vietnamese returned remains they stated were those of 25
American servicemen. Three of the remains were positively identified as being
those of Amspacher, McMican and Romano. Plants' remains were not recovered. It
is not known if the body which was reported washed ashore could have been
Plants' or that of David Christian.

A Vietnamese defector stated in Congressional testimony that Vietnam stockpiles
hundreds of sets of remains. Congress believed him. He also testified that
Vietnam holds live American prisoners. Congress says he is lying, although over
10,000 reports help substantiate that Americans are being held alive. The U.S.
and Vietnamese "progress" at a snail's pace, while totally ignoring the
tremendous weight of evidence that their priority should be those Amercans still
alive as captives. Meanwhile, thousands of lives are spent in the most tortured
state imaginable - unable to grieve, unable to rejoice. They wait.


CHRISTIAN, MICHAEL DURHEN
Died in fire at home September 1983

Name: Michael Durhan Christian
Rank/Branch: O2/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 85, USS KITTY HAWK
Date of Birth: 07 October 1940
Home City of Record: Huntsville AL
Date of Loss: 24 April 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 212400N 1061900E (XJ364667)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A6A

Other Personnel in Incident: Lewis I. Williams, Jr. (released POW)

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: 730305 RELSD BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: The Grumman A6 Intruder is a two-man all weather, low-altitude,
carrier-based attack plane, with versions adapted as aerial tanker and
electronic warfare platform. The A6A primarily flew close-air-support,
all-weather and night attacks on enemy troop concentrations, and night
interdiction missions. Its advanced navigation and attack system, known as DIANE
(Digital Integrated Attack navigation Equipment) allowed small precision
targets, such as bridges, barracks and fuel depots to be located and attacked in
all weather conditions, day or night. The planes were credited with some of the
most difficult single-plane strikes in the war, including the destruction of the
Hai Duong bridge between Hanoi and Haiphong by a single A6. Their missions were
tough, but their crews among the most talented and most courageous to serve the
United States.

Lt. Lewis I. Williams was a pilot assigned to Attack Squadron 85 onboard the USS
KITTY HAWK (CVA 63). On April 24, 1967, he launched in his A6A Intruder attack
bomber with his bombardier/navigator, Lt. Michael D. Christian, on a daylight
strike mission into North Veitnam.

Approximately 3 miles from the target, their port (left) wing was hit by 85mm
anti-aircraft fire and was subsequently engulfed in flames. Lt. Williams
reversed course and jettisoned his ordnance before both crewmen ejected. Both
men were seen to land in an open field about 100 yards apart and established
radio contact with airborne aircraft. The crewmen appeared uninjured and
reported their condition as good. The ejection occurred in a well-defended,
populated area near the city of Kep in Ha Bac Province, and capture was almost
immediate.

Williams and Christian were held in various locations in Hanoi, North Vietnam
before they were released in March 1973. Christian received an award for a
birthday during his captivity for being "The Best Bull Shooter in the Whole
World."  Williams' and Christian's lives followed very diverse courses after
their release.

Lt. Williams remained in the Navy and attained the rank of Captain. In 1989, his
duty assignment was with the office of the Chief of Naval Operations at the
Pentagon in Washington, D.C.

Lt. Christian was promoted during his captivity to the rank of Lt. Commander. He
voluntarily retired on February 1, 1978 while at the Armed Forces Staff College.
His resignation was as a protest to president-elect Jimmy Carter's amnesty plan
for draft dodgers. In protest, Christian threw his medals on the grave of a
veteran. He had been awarded two Silver Stars, three Bronze Stars, four Air
Medals, the Legion of Merit, and the Navy Commendation Medal.

In September 1983, Michael D. Christian died in a fire in his home in Virginia
Beach, Virginia.

Williams and Christian were among 591 lucky Americans who were released in 1973
from Vietnam prisoner of war camps. Unfortunately, nearly 2300 are still
prisoner, missing and otherwise unaccounted for from the Vietnam war. As
Williams must surely be aware, thousands of reports relating to these men have
been received by the U.S. Government. The thought that some of their comrades
are still alive is very disturbing to most returnees. They had a code among them
that none of them could honorably return home unless they all came home.

Today, many authorities who have reviewed the largely classified information
relating to missing Americans in Southeast Asia have reluctantly concluded that
hundreds of Americans remain alive today in captivity. It's long past time our
men were home.
CHRISTIANO, JOSEPH

Name: Joseph Christiano
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 11 April 1922
Home City of Record: Rochester NY (family in Arizona)
Date of Loss: 24 December 1965
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 154800N 1064400E (XC856474)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: AC47D
Other Personnel In Incident: Arden K. Hassenger; W. Kevin Colwell; Dennis L.
Eilers; Larry C. Thornton; Derrell B. Jeffords (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 15 March 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS: MAYDAY HEARD - SEARCH NEG - J

SYNOPSIS: On December 24, 1965, President Lyndon Johnson announced a week-long
bombing halt on North Vietnam. That same day, an AC47D "Spooky" gunship was
shot down during an armed reconnaissance flight just south of the city of Ban
Bac in Saravane Province, Laos. Planes in the area of the loss of the plane
heard mayday signals, but were unable to establish contact with the crew.

The Spooky had evolved from the famed "Puff the Magic Dragon" versions of the
Douglas C47. Puff introduced a new principle to air attack in Vietnam. Troubled
by difficulties in conducting nighttime defense, Capt. Ronald Terry of the U.S.
Air Force Aeronautical Systems Division remembered reading about flying
missionaries in Latin America who lowered baskets of supplies on a rope from a
tightly circling airplane. Throughout the series of pylon turns, the basket
remained suspended over a selected point on the ground. Could this principle be
applied to fire from automatic weapons? Tests proved it could, and could be
extremely successful.

Puff's "flare kicker" illuminated the target, then the pilot used a mark on the
window to his left as a gun sight and circled slowly as three multibarrel 7-62mm
machine guns fired 18,000 rounds per minute from the door and two windows in the
port side of the passenger compartment. The aircraft was called "Puff" after a
popular song of the day, and because it resembled a dragon overhead with flames
billowing from its guns. Men on the ground welcomed the presence of Puff and the
later Spooky version, which was essentially the same as the Puff, because of its
ability to concentrate a heavy dose of defensive fire in a surgically determined
area. These aircraft were very successful defending positions in South Vietnam,
but proved unable to survive against the anti-aircraft defenses in Laos.

The Spooky lost in Laos on December 24, 1965 was flown by Col. Derrel B.
Jeffords and Capt. Dennis L. Eilers. The crew aboard the aircraft was Maj.
Joseph Christiano, MSgt. Larry C. Thornton, TSgt. W. Kevin Colwell, and SSgt.
Arden K. Hassenger.

When 591 Americans were released from Vietnam in 1973, the Spooky crew was not
among them. As a matter of fact, no American held in Laos was (or has been)
released. The Lao were not included in negotiations ending American involvement
in the war in Southeast Asia.

In June 1989, Arden Hassenger's wife was informed that a report had been
received saying her husband had been sighted alive in Laos. This report is one
of nearly 10,000 relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asia received by the
U.S. Government since the war ended. Mrs. Hassenger was unable to sleep to sleep
at night wondering and worrying, yet Arden Hassenger is still missing.

According to a National League of POW/MIA families list, Christiano also
survived the incident.

A September 13, 1968 statement by Soth Pethrasi was monitored from Puerto Rico
in which Christiano and Jeffords were mentioned. The report stated that "Smith,
Christiano, Jeffords, and Mauterer" were part of "several dozen captured Airmen"
whom the Pathet Lao were "treating correctly and who were still in Laos. Another
name, Norman Morgan, captured January 9, 1968, was mentioned but is not on lists
of missing. This is believed to correlate to Norman Green, lost on January 9,
1968 in Laos.

Christiano and Jeffords were never classified Prisoner of War. Few lost in Laos
ever were. Like Christiano and Jeffords, many were suspected to be alive on the
ground and in radio contact with search and rescue and other planes; some were
known to have been captured. Hanoi's communist allies in Laos, the Pathet Lao,
publicly spoke of American prisoners they held, but when peace agreements were
negotiated, Laos was not included, and not a single American was released that
had been held in Laos.

Were it not for the thousands of reports concerning Americans still held captive
in Southeast Asia, the Christiano and Jeffords families might be able to close
this tragic chapter of their lives. But as long as Americans are alive, being
held captive, Joseph Christiano and Derrell Jeffords could be among them. It's
time we brought these men home.

During the period he was maintained missing, Joseph Christiano was promoted to
the rank of Colonel.



CHRISTIANSEN, EUGENE FRANCIS

Name: Eugene Francis Christiansen
Rank/Branch: E3/US Army
Unit: 282nd Aviation Company, 212th Aviation Battalion, 16th Aviation Group,
1st Aviation Brigade
Date of Birth: 16 February 1949 (Cedar Springs CA)
Home City of Record: Barstow CA
Date of Loss: 06 February 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 162750N 1070238E (YD182212)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H

Other Personnel In Incident: Robert C. O'Hara; Charles I. Stanley; Ronald D.
Briggs; David E. Padgett; Donald E. Parsons (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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: On February 6, 1969, CW2 Charles I. Stanley, pilot; 1Lt. David E.
Padgett, aircraft commander; SP5 Robert C. O'Hara, crew chief; PFC Eugene F.
Christiansen, door gunner; LtCol. Donald E. Parsons, 1Lt. Ronald D. Briggs, and
Maj. Vu Vanh Phao, ARVN, all passengers, were aboard a UH1H (serial #67-17499)
on a resupply mission in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam.

While in route from Landing Zone Vandergrift to LZ Tornado, 1Lt. Padget
contacted the LZ Tornado radio operator at about 1100 hours and stated that due
to poor weather conditions and poor visibility, the flight was returning to LZ
Vandergrift.

At that time, the radio operator at LZ Tornado could hear the helicopter
northeast of his location, which sounded as if it were heading in a northerly
direction. When the aircraft failed to return to LZ Vandergrift, a coordinated
search and rescue operation was initiated and continued for seven consecutive
days, finding nothing.

However, on the morning of February 7, Crown, an airborne control aircraft,
reported receiving radio beeper signals several times from the general vicinity
of where Lt. Padgett's aircraft was last reported. The beeper signals were
estimated to emanate from that general direction. The source of the signals was
never determined.

The area in which the aircraft was estimated to go down has been dubbed "Antenna
Valley" and is located west of Cam Lo and on the backside of Camp Carrol. The
area was occupied by NVA regulars, and was never cleared. On-site search was not
possible at that time.

On September 4, 1969, an ARVN source reported that in August he had seen LTC
Parsons, Maj. Phao, LT Briggs, and four other unidentified American POWs in a
hospital in Laos. The U.S. Army determined that the four unidentified Americans
could possibly be Christiansen, Stanley, Padgett and O'Hara.

On July 5, 1972, an NVA rallier reported seeing two caucasian POWs in the
vicinity of a T-35 commo-liaison station on the 499th infiltration corridor in
Laos. The two POWs were being taken to North Vietnam. This information was
tentatively correlated to LT Padgett and PCF Christiansen.

In September 1970, LTC Parson's wife and friends identified him in a North
Vietnamese film of a protestant service in a POW environment. CW2 Stanley's
mother made a tentative identification of her son in the same film.

In December 1979, an alleged "gun-runner", Sean O'Toolis reported that he had
the fingerprints of Robert O'Hara, and that O'Hara was at that time being held
south of Hanoi near Bong Song. O'Toolis' information was summarily dismissed by
the U.S. Government and he was thoroughly discredited, thus it is not clear how
much credence can be given to his information.

The reports relating to the crew of the UH1H that went down on February 6, 1969
are typical of the over 10,000 reports received by the U.S. Government relating
to Americans prisoner, missing or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia. After
reviewing "several million documents" and conducting "over 250,000 interviews"
the USG has been unable to state categorically that Americans are still alive.

Many authorities, however, including a former Director of Defense Intelligence
Agency, have reluctantly concluded that there are many Americans still held
against their will in Southeast Asia.

Families who receive these reports are especially tortured. With no means to
prove or disprove them, the tormen is indescribable. When they turn to their
government, they are usually met with the "mindset to debunk" described by one
high official in Congressional hearings. When they approach Vietnam, they are
told the person they seek is unknown to them. Yet the reports continue to flow
in, month after month, year after year. And year after year, families wait.

And year after year, American servicemen wait -- wondering if their country will
ever bring them home.

CHRISTIE, DENNIS RAY

Name: Dennis Ray Christie
Rank/Branch: E3/US Marine Corps
Unit: 3rd Recon Company, 3rd Recon Battalion, 3rd Marine Division
Date of Birth: 11 August 1946
Home City of Record: Imperial Beach CA
Date of Loss: 11 June 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 165454N 1065530E (YD048689)
Status (in 1973): Killed In Action/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: CH46A

Other Personnel In Incident: Charles D. Chomel, Curtis R. Bohlscheid; John J.
Foley; Jose J. Gonzales; Thomas M. Hanratty; Michael W. Havranek; James W. Kooi,
Jim E. Moshier; John S. Oldham; James E. Widener (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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: A/C CRASH-EXPLODED-NO SURVS OBS-J

SYNOPSIS: On 11 June 1967, 1LT Curtis Bohlscheid was the pilot of a CH46A
helicopter inserting a seven-man Marine Force Recon team into a predesignated
area 11 1/2 nautical miles northwest of Dong Ha, South Vietnam -- right on the
Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). A total of four aircraft were involved in the mission,
two CH46's and two UH1E helicopter gunships. Bohlscheid flew the lead aircraft.
His crew included MAJ John S. Oldham, LCPL Jose J. Gonzales (crew chief), and
PFC Thomas M. Hanratty (crew chief).

Members of the 3rd Recon Company, 3rd Recon Battalion, 3rd Marine Division who
were being inserted were CPL Jim E. Moshier, LCPL Dennis R. Christie, LCPL John
J. Foley III, LCPL Michael W. Havranek, LCPL James W. Kooi, PFC Charles D.
Chomel, and PFC James E. Widener.

The flight departed Dong Ha at about 11:15 a.m. and proceeded to the insertion
location. The gunships made low strafing runs over the landing zone to clear
booby traps and to locate any enemy troops in the area. No enemy fire was
received and no activity was observed. The lead aircraft then began its approach
to the landing zone. At an estimated altitude of 400-600 feet, the helicopter
was observed to climb erratically, similar to an aircraft commencing a loop.
Machinegunmen had been waiting for the opportune time to fire on the aircraft.
Portions of the rear blades were seen to separate from the aircraft and a radio
transmission was received from the aircraft indicating that it had been hit. The
helicopter became inverted and continued out of control until it was seen to
crash by a stream in a steep ravine.

Subsequent efforts by ground units to reach the crash area failed due to a heavy
bunker complex surrounding the site. The ground units inspected the site from
within 500 meters through binoculars and observed no survivors. All eleven
personnel aboard the helicopter were therefore classified Killed In Action, Body
Not Recovered. Other USMC records indicate that the helicopter also burst into
flames just prior to impacting the ground.

For the crew of the CH46A lost on June 11, 1967, death seems a certainty. For
hundreds of others, however, simple answers are not possible. Adding to the
torment of nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asia
is the certain knowledge that some Americans who were known to be prisoners of
war were not released at the end of the war. Others were suspected to be
prisoners, and still others were in radio contact with would-be rescuers when
last seen alive. Many were known to have survived their loss incidents, only to
disappear without a trace.

The problem of Americans still missing torments not only the families of those
who are missing, but the men who fought by their sides, and those in the general
public who realize the full implication of leaving men unaccounted for at the
end of a war.

Tragically, many authorities believe there are hundreds of Americans still alive
in captivity in Southeast Asia today.  What must they be thinking of us? What
will our next generation say if called to fight if we are unable to bring these
men home from Southeast Asia?


CHRISTOPHERSEN, KEITH ALLEN

Name: Keith Allen Christophersen
Rank/Branch: O2/US Navy
Unit: Tactical Electronics Squadron 130, Detachment 4, USS RANGER (CVA 61)
Date of Birth: 22 October 1946
Home City of Record: South St. Paul MN
Loss Date: 21 January 1973
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 183906N 1070959E
Status (in 1973): Died/Body Not Recovered
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: EKA3B

Other Personnel In Incident: Charles L. Parker; Richard D. Wiehr (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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: OVERBOARD CVA61 SEARCH NEG -J

SYNOPSIS: The USS RANGER was a seasoned combat veteran, having been deployed to
Vietnam for Flaming Dart I operations. The carrier played a steady role for the
remainder of American involvement in the war. The first fighter jets to bomb
Haiphong in Operation Rolling Thunder came from her decks.

On January 21, 1973, the USS RANGER was conducting flight operations in the Gulf
of Tonkin about 100 miles off the shore of North Vietnam (approximately east of
the city of Vinh). As it happened, this was the final week of the war.

One of the generally unheralded aircraft carried onboard the RANGER was the
tanker ship. The tanker was adapted from various aircraft with room to carry jet
fuel. This plane was the oasis for the fighter jets - the tanker which circled
in safe areas outside their combat areas to be available for refueling. The
presence of the tanker meant extra flight time for the jets and sometimes meant
their survival.

Flying from an aircraft carrier is a special science. The limited takeoff and
landing area leaves little room for error. Occasionally, tragic accidents occur,
claiming lives.

LtCDR Charles L. Parker was a pilot assigned to Tactical Electronic Squadron
130, Detachment 4, onboard the carrier USS RANGER. He was the pilot of an EKA3B
tanker.

At 11:46 p.m. on January 21, 1973, the EKA3B carrying Parker, the pilot; LTJG
Keith A. Christophersen, the copilot/navigator; and Petty Officer Second Class
Richard D. Wiehr, the electronic technician; was preparing to launch on a night
catapult launch. After having made a normal catapult attachment and pre-launch
inspection, the catapult stroke appeared to start off normally. After about 1/3
of the launch stroke, a loud explosion was heard and the aircraft was seen to
pitch nose down and sparks started to come from the right engine. The aircraft
began to decelerate and run off the end of the angle deck at a very low speed
and fell over the side of the ship into the Gulf of Tonkin.

An immediate search and rescue effort was begun, but the aircraft sank very
quickly and none of the crew could be recovered. The three Americans were
classified Killed/Body Not Recovered.

The crew of the EKA3B lost on January 21, 1973 are listed with honor among the
nearly 2300 still prisoner, missing or otherwise unaccounted for from the
Vietnam war because their bodied were never found. Some of the missing, like the
crew of the EKA3B, may never be recovered. It may not be possible to find their
bodies. A high percentage of those missing, however, could be found.

Tragically, thousands of reports have been received that indicate Americans are
still being held captive in Southeast Asia. While the EKA3 crew may not be among
them, the evidence suggests that hundreds of their comrades are alive, waiting
for their country to free them. One can imagine that Parker, Christophersen and
Wiehr would be there if they could, circling and waiting to help them to
freedom.

CHUBB, JOHN JACOBSEN

Name: John Jacobsen Chubb
Rank/Branch: E3/US Army
Unit: Company B, 101st Aviation Battalion,
101st Airborne Division
Date of Birth: 09 December 1950 (Englewood CA)
Home City of Record: Gardena CA
Date of Loss: 20 March 1971
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 163544N 1962513E (XD515352)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H

Other Personnel in Incident: Jack L. Barker; William E. Dillender; John F. Dugan
(all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 September 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: EXPLODED FIRE NO SEARCH - J

SYNOPSIS: LAM SON 719 was a large offensive operation against NVA communications
lines in Laos. The operation called for ARVN troops to drive west from Khe Sanh,
cut the Ho Chi Minh Trail, seize Tchpone and return to Vietnam. The ARVN would
provide and command the ground forces, while U.S. Army and Air Force would
furnish aviation airlift and supporting firepower. The 101st Airborne Division
commanded all U.S. Army aviation units in direct support of the operation. Most
of the first part of the operation, begun January 30, 1971, was called Operation
DEWEY CANYON II, and was conducted by U.S. ground forces in Vietnam.

The ARVN were halfway on February 11 and positioned for the attack across the
Laotian border. On 8 February, ARVN began to push into Laos. The NVA reacted
fiercely, but the ARVN held its positions supported by U.S. airstrikes and
resupply runs by Army helicopters.

President Nguyen Van Thieu ordered a helicopter assault on Tchepone, and the
abandoned village was seized March 6. Two weeks of hard combat were necessary
for the ARVN task force to fight its way back to Vietnam. Towards the end of the
removal, a helicopter from Company B, 101st Aviation Battalion was lost.

Flown by Maj. Jack L. Barker, the UH1H (serial #66-16185) was attempting to land
to extract ARVN troops about 20 miles west of Khe Sanh. During the attempt, the
aircraft came under enemy fire and was seen to spin, explode, and catch fire,
then to break up in the air. No signs of survivors were seen. The crew aboard
the aircraft were PCF John J. Chubb, Sgt. William E. Dillender, and Capt. John
F. Dugan. Because of the presence of enemy forces in the area, no subsequent
search could be made for survivors.

Losses were heavy in Lam Son 719. The ARVN lost almost 50% of their force. U.S.
aviation units lost 168 helicopters; another 618 were damaged. Fifty-five
aircrewmen were killed, 178 wounded, and 34 missing in action in the entire
operation, lasting until April 6, 1971.

In all, nearly 600 Americans were lost in Laos, but because we did not negotiate
with the Pathet Lao, no Americans held in Laos were released. Since that time,
over 10,000 reports have been received relating to Americans prisoner, missing
or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia. Although many authorities are convinced
that hundreds remain alive, the U.S. has not secured the release of a single
man.

CHURCHILL, CARL RUSSELL

Name: Carl Russell Churchill
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 497th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Ubon Airbase, Thailand
Date of Birth: 08 July 1945
Home City of Record: Bethel ME
Date of Loss: 03 May 1970
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 193358N 1034859E (UG759674)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D
Other Personnel in Incident: Lawrence Y. Conaway (missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: In violation of, yet somewhat protected by the neutrality of Laos
accorded at Geneva in a 14-nation protocol conference July 23, 1962, the North
Vietnamese and supporting communist insurgent group, the Pathet Lao, lost no
time in building strategic strongholds of defense in Northern Laos and
establishing a steady flow of manpower and material to their revolutionary
forces in South Vietnam via the Ho Chi Minh Trail on the eastern border of the
Laotian panhandle.

As a result, the Royal Lao sought help from the U.S. in stopping both
initiatives. It was strategically important to do so, although every initiative
had to be cleared through the U.S. Ambassador at Vientiane, so that the
delicate balance of "look-the-other-way-neutrality" engaged in by the nations
involved (including China) could be preserved.

Defense of non-communist activity in Laos generally fell into three categories:
1) U.S. Army and CIA's bolstering of the Meo (Hmong) army led by General Vang
Pao; 2) Strategic U.S. Air Force bombing initiatives on the Ho Chi Minh Trail
(Operations Commando Hunt, Steel Tiger, etc.); 3) U.S. Air Force bombing
initiatives in northern Laos (Operation Barrell Roll, etc.) both against
communist strongholds there, and in support of the Royal Lao and Gen. Vang
Pao's army.

On May 3, 1970, LtCol. Lawrence Y. Conaway, pilot, and Capt. Carl R. Churchill,
systems operator, departed Ubon Airbase in southeast Thailand on an operational
mission over Laos. When they were about half way between the cities of Ban Ban
and Nong Het in Xiangkhoang Province, Laos, their aircraft was hit by enemy fire
and crashed in a river.

Conaway and Churchill were northeast of the heavily contested Plaine des Jarres
region of Laos. Just short of a year following the aircraft crash, a
determination of death was made that both crew members died in the crash of
their aircraft. However, the fact remained that there was every reason to
believe the Pathet Lao or Vietnamese know the precise fates of Conaway and
Churchill.

During the course of the war, the Pathet Lao stated publicly that they held
"tens of tens" of American prisoners, but that they would be released only from
Laos. They wished to negotiate the end of the massive bombing of their country
before releasing American POWs. The U.S. did not officially recognize the
communist government of Laos, and therefore, never negotiated with the Pathet
Lao. As a result, not one of the nearly 600 Americans lost in Laos was ever
released.

Since the end of the war, nearly 10,000 reports have been received concerning
Americans missing in Southeast Asia, convincing many authorities that hundreds
remain alive. Whether Churchill and Conaway are among those said to be still
alive is not known. What is certain, however, is that as long as even one
American is held against his will, we must do everything possible to bring him
home.








CICHON, WALTER ALAN

Name: Walter Alan Cichon
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: A Company, 3rd Battalion, 8th Infantry, 4th Infantry Division
Date of Birth: 28 August 1946 (New York NY)
Home City of Record: Farmingdale NJ
Date of Loss: 30 March 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 142321N 1074322E (YA936924)
Status (in 1973): Prisoner of War
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Other Personnel In Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 30 June 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: 731102 PM>MM; POSSIBLY CAPT'D

SYNOPSIS: SP4 Walter A. Cichon was assigned to Company A, 3rd Battalion, 8th
Infantry, 4th Infantry Division in Vietnam. On March 30, 1968, SP4 Cichon was
serving as a rifleman in a rifle company in Kontum Province, South Vietnam. His
company came under enemy fire while attempting to seize a hill about 15 miles
southwest of the city of Dak To. SP4 Cichon received a head wound, was examined
and left for dead as his unit was forced to withdraw under enemy pressure.

A later body-recovery team located and extracted the bodies of the dead, but was
unable to locate the body of Walter Cichon.

On April 20, 1968, two NVA ralliers stated that they had heard from friends that
their battalion had captured an American with a head wound on or about March 26.
The ralliers gave a detailed description of the POW which closely matched SP4
Cichon. The ralliers stated that the prisoner was taken to a hospital in the
vicinity of the South Vietnam/Laos/Cambodia border area.

When 591 American POWs were released at the end of the war, Walter Cichon was
not among them. The U.S. assumed at that time that he had not been captured at
all. Military officials at the time, were dismayed that hundreds of men known or
suspected to have been captured were not released.

Intelligence reports surfacing over the years during the war and following build
a strong case for a well-organized second prison system, and a well-orchestrated
plan to keep prisoners within systems from intermingling. As it is widely
believed that the Vietnamese withheld the release of many prisoners until peace
agreement terms were met (specifically reconstruction aid), it is logical to
assume that one prison system's inmates were released while another were held
back for possible release at a later date. It is also logical to assume that the
scenario might be played to its fullest, including convincing each man in a two
man crew that had been separated, that the other was dead.

The U.S. has never given Vietnam the reconstruction aid pledged by President
Nixon. The governments of Southeast Asia continue deny any knowledge of Walter
Cichon and many hundreds more Americans still missing in Southeast Asia.

Walter Cichon is among nearly 2500 Americans who remain missing in Indochina.
Unlike "MIAs" from other wars, most of these men can be accounted for.
Tragically, over 10,000 reports concerning Americans prisoner, missing or
unaccounted for in Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. since the end
of the war. Experts say that the evidence is overwhelming that Americans were
left behind in enemy hands. One of them could be Walter Cichon.

During the period he was maintained prisoner of war, Walter Cichon was promoted
to the rank of Staff Sergeant.
CASE SYNOPSIS: CIUS, FRANK EDWARD JR.

Name: Frank Edward Cius, Jr.
Rank/Branch: E3/US Marine Corps
Unit: HHM 165, Marine Air Group 36
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record:
Loss Date: 03 June 1967
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 161914N 1064049E (XD795050)
Status (in 1973): Returned POW
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: CH46A
Other Personnel In Incident: Timothy R. Bodden; Ronald J. Dexter; John G.
Gardner; Stephen P. Hanson; Billy Laney; (all missing); Mr. KY (Nung Cdr. -
wounded and rescued); Charles F. Wilklow (rescueD)

REMARKS: RELSD 730305 BY PRG

SYNOPSIS: On June 3, 1967, Capt. Steven P. Hanson, pilot; 1Lt. John G. Gardner,
co-pilot; Sgt. Timothy R. Bodden, crew chief/door gunner; LCpl. Frank E. Cius,
doorgunner; SFC Billy R. Laney, SFC Ronald J. Dexter, SFC Charles F. Wilklow
and an unknown number of ARVN personnel, all passengers, were aboard a CH46A
helicopter (serial #150955) on an extraction mission in Laos.

The USMC aircraft picked up a U.S. Army Special Forces team attached to
MACV-SOG, Command and Control, and the ARVN troops they were working with.
Military Assistance Command Vietnam Studies and Observation Group (MACV-SOG)
was a joint service high command unconventional warfare task force engaged in
highly classified operations throughout Southeast Asia. The 5th Special Forces
channeled personnel into MACV-SOG (not a Special Forces group) through Special
Operations Augmentation (SOA) which provided their "cover" while under secret
orders to MACV-SOG. These teams performed deep penetration missions of
strategic reconnaissance and interdiction which were called, depending on the
time frame, "Shining Brass" or "Prairie Fire" missions.

The aircraft received extensive automatic small arms fire upon takeoff from the
Landing Zone, took numerous hits and crashed 350 meters from the LZ, located
about 15 miles inside Laos west of the A Shau Valley. The helicopter did not
burn on impact, and continued to receive fire. Three ARVN troops were able to
return to the LZ where the troops remaining at the LZ were extracted the
following day.

The troops waiting at the LZ could not search because of the hostile threat in
the area. Air searches located the survivors of the crash, but they could not
be evacuated. The only America found to be in a position to be safely evacuated
was SFC Wilklow. He gave the following account of what happened to the crew and
passengers aboard the CH46:

SFC Dexter appeared uninjured and left the wreckage with a large number of ARVN
troops. Capt. Hanson was wounded and outside the helicopter, but stated that he
had to return to get his carbine. The Marine Corps believes he died of the
wounds he received when the aircraft was overrun, although Hanson's wife later
identified her husband in a widely distributed Vietnamese propaganda photograph
of a pilot being captured. When last seen, all the other Americans were still
in the wreckage, and enemy troops (the U.S. Army says they were Viet Cong; the
U.S. Marines say they were North Vietnamese Army - possibly a joint force of
both) were tossing grenades toward the aircraft with no attempt to capture the
personnel inside. Wilklow left the crash site, and noted that gunfire suddenly
stopped. He continued to evade the enemy and was picked up 3 days later.

When Mr. Ky, the Nung Commander was being evacuated by the last helicopter out,
he noted several men (undoubtedly Dexter and the ARVN) in a large bomb crater
firing red star clusters from a flare gun. Frank Cius was taken prisoner and
released from Hanoi in 1973. He was one of the dozen or so captured by the
Vietnamese and taken immediately to Hanoi claimed to be the "Laos" prisoners.
In reality, none of the dozen had been held in Laos. Ronald Dexter, according
to Frank Cius, was captured, and died in captivity on July 29, 1967. John
Gardner, according to the USMC, died on the ground after the crash of the
aircraft due to intense enemy fire. Billy Laney was last seen lying wounded on
the floor of the aircraft between a crewmember with a broken back and the door
gunner with a head wound.

NOTE: the USMC states that Bodden, crewchief/door gunner was shot in the back
and never left the aircraft, but reports received by the National League of
Families indicate that he was definitely alive after the aircraft crashed. The
U.S. did not know Cius was captured until he was released, evidently believing
he never exited the aircraft, and Wilklow had indicated that the Vietnamese
were not trying to capture the occupants of the aircraft. Therefore, as door
gunner, he must have been the "door gunner with the head wound", and Bodden the
"crewmember with a broken back".)

Since 1975, the U.S. Government has received thousands of reports relating to
Americans still alive in Southeast Asia. Many of them cannot be dismissed as
untrue. Officially, the U.S. says it is operating under the assumption that men
are being held, and that the matter is of "highest national priority". Yet, we
seem unable to resolve the mystery. Nor have they ever negotiated for the "tens
of tens" of American prisoners the Lao stated they held.

There can be no question that the communists know the fate of those who were
last seen on the ill-fated CH 46A that day. The men aboard this craft were
inserted into Laos for exceedingly dangerous and important missions. They
deserve no less than America's very best efforts to determine their fates. If
any of them are alive, they must be brought home.

CLACK, CECIL J.

Name: Cecil J. Clack
Rank/Branch: E3/US Army
Unit: 1st Battalion, 35th Infantry, 4th Infantry Division
Date of Birth: 12 August 1947
Home City of Record: Chester SC
Date of Loss: 01 January 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 140031N 1073133E (YA728500)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Other Personnel In Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On January 1, 1969, PFC Cecil Clack was taking part in a river
crossing operation with his unit when he let go of the safety line and
disappeared under the water about 200 meters downstream. Search efforts were
conducted, but Clack was never located. He was listed as presumed dead, body not
recovered.

Clack is one of nearly 60,000 men and women who lost their lives in Vietnam.
Because his body was not recovered, he is listed along with the dead, and also
along with the missing. Although Clack, it seems clear, perished in the river
crossing, many of the missing were alive and in good health when they
disappeared. Many were in radio contact with would-be rescuers and informed them
that they were about to be captured. Others were photographed in captivity, only
to vanish from the prison system.

Since the war ended in Vietnam, refugees have flooded the world, bringing with
them stories of American soldiers still held prisoner in their homeland. Many
authorities now believe that hundreds were left behind as living hostages.

Clack apparently did not survive the events of January 1, 1969. His family has
accepted that he is dead. They no longer expect him to come home someday. But
hundreds of families wait expectantly and in the special agony only uncertainty
can bring. Hundreds of men wait in caves, cages and prisons. How much longer
will we allow the abandonment of our best men? It's time we brought them home.


CLAPPER, GEAN PRESTON

Name: Gean Preston Clapper
Rank/Branch: E5/US Air Force
Unit: 314th Tactical Airlift Wing, Nha Trang Airbase, South Vietnam
Date of Birth: 24 July 1932
Home City of Record: Altoona PA
Date of Loss: 29 December 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 220900N 1032200E (UK315501)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: C130E
Other Personnel In Incident: James R. Williams; Edward J. Darcy; Charles P.
Claxton; Wayne A. Eckley; Donald E. Fisher; Edwin N. Osborne; Frank C. Parker;
Gerald G. VanBuren; Gordon J. Wenaas; Jack McCrary; (all missing)

REMARKS: RADIO CONTACT LOST

SYNOPSIS: On December 29, 1967, a C130E aircraft departed Nha Trang Airbase
shortly after midnight on an operational mission over North Vietnam. The eleven
man crew aboard the aircraft included Maj. Charles P. Claxton; Capt. Edwin N.
Osborne Jr., and Capt. Gerald G. Van Buren (all listed as pilots); and crewmen
SSgt. Edward J. Darcy; SSgt. Gean P. Clapper; SSgt. Wayne A. Eckley; LtCol.
Donald E. Fisher; TSgt. Jack McCrary; Capt. Frank C. Parker III; Capt. Gordon
J. Wenaas; and Sgt. James R. Williams.

At 4:30 a.m., the pilot made radio contact with Nha Trang and said the mission
was progressing as scheduled. No further contact was made. The aircraft's last
known position was in extreme northwest North Vietnam, in mountainous Lai Chau
Province. The eleven Americans aboard the aircraft were declared Missing in
Action.

When the war ended, and 591 Americans were released from Vietnamese prison
camps, the crew of the C130 was not among them. Although the Vietnamese
pledged, as part of the Paris Peace Accords, to release all prisoners and make
the fullest possible accounting of the missing, they have done neither. The
Vietnamese deny any knowledge of the crew of the C130.

Alarmingly, evidence continues to mount that Americans were left as prisoners
in Southeast Asia and continue to be held today. Unlike "MIAs" from other wars,
most of the nearly 2500 men and women who remain missing in Southeast Asia can
be accounted for. If even one was left alive (and many authorities estimate the
numbers to be in the hundreds), we have failed as a nation until and unless we
do everything possible to secure his freedom and bring him home.


CASE SYNOPSIS: CLARK, JERRY PROSPER

Name: Jerry Prosper Clark
Rank/Branch: W1/US Army
Unit: 568th Signal Company, 41st Signal Battalion
Date of Birth: 08 August 1940 (Pine Bluff AR)
Home City of Record: Davenport IA
Loss Date: 15 December 1965
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 133834N 1091351E (CR087088)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: O1D
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: WO Jerry Prosper Clark was an pilot flying a reconnaissance mission
when his O1D aircraft (serial #55-4686) went down just south of Qui Nhon, South
Vietnam. Prosper had experienced an in-flight emergency; he radioed that his
battery had exploded, and that he was running low on fuel.

1Lt. Robert L. Taylor, who was flying a nearby UH1B, tried to intercept Clark
and guide him to Qui Nhon airfield. Clark's aircraft, according to his radio
message, "quit" and he headed for the beach.

When Taylor flew over the beach trying to locate Clark, he found wreckage of
his aircraft in shallow water near the hamlet of Tuy Phong, about 8 miles south
of Qui Nhon. Several aircraft and vessels were dispatched to locate Clark, but
no sign of him was found.

When search teams surveilled the crash site, Jerry's survival gear was not
found and it was thought that he had been taken prisoner by the North
Vietnamese. Stories from villagers differ. In one version Clark left the
aircraft, swam to shore, swam back to the aircraft to get a weapon, returned to
shore and fled into the hills. Another version says that Clark swam ashore,
returned to the aircraft, but was shot by a sniper and fell into the water as
though mortally wounded. No proof of either version has been found, nor has
Jerry P. Clark.

The O1 Bird Dog was used widely by Army, Air Force and Marine Corps forward air
controllers in Southeast Asia. The slower, low-flying craft could locate and
mark targets with accuracy not possible by higher flying jets. Although it
performed a valuable service, the O1 also lacked adequate armor or self-sealing
fuel tanks, its range was short and it carried too few rockets. It was used
widely as late as 1968, whereupon the planes passed into the hands of Lao and
South Vietnamese airmen.

In the years following the fall of Saigon in 1975, refugees have fled Southeast
Asia, bringing with them reports of Americans still alive and in captivity in
their homelands. By 1989, the number of these reports topped the 8000 mark.  A
committee charged with investigating Defense Intelligence Agency, the entity
charged with analysis of these reports, concluded that there was a strong
possiblity that Americans were being held against their will.

The Reagan administration declared for eight years that the resolution of the
POW/MIA issue was one of "highest national priority". President Nixon said the
same thing. These words have no meaning to men like Jerry Clark, should he be
one of the hundreds still thought to be alive.
CLARK, JOHN CALVIN II

Name: John Calvin Clark II
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 30 January 1943
Home City of Record: Brownsville TX
Date of Loss: 05 February 1969
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 193600N 1034800E (UG745675)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4E
Other Personnel in Incident: Patrick K. Harrold (missing)
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1990 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.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: In violation of the neutrality of Laos accorded at Geneva in a
14-nation protocol conference July 23, 1962, the North Vietnamese and supporting
communist insurgent group, the Pathet Lao, lost no time in building strategic
strongholds of defense in Northern Laos and establishing a steady flow of
manpower and material to their revolutionary forces in South Vietnam via the Ho
Chi Minh Trail on the eastern border of the Laotian panhandle.

As a result, the Royal Lao sought help from the U.S. In turn, U.S. involvement
in Laos was justified by an expected quick victory in Vietnam. Every initiative
had to be cleared through the U.S. Ambassador at Vientiane, so that the delicate
balance of "look-the-other-way-neutrality" engaged in by the nations involved
(including China) could be preserved. Before many years passed, however, it
became clear that the U.S. would have no "quick victory" in Vietnam, and the
secret war in Laos grew more difficult to contain.

Defense of non-communist activity in Laos generally fell into three categories:
1) U.S. Army and CIA's bolstering of the Meo (Hmong) army led by General Vang
Pao;  2) Strategic U.S. Air Force bombing initiatives on the Ho Chi Minh Trail
(Operations Commando Hunt, Steel Tiger, etc.);  3) U.S. Air Force bombing
initiatives in northern Laos (Operation Barrell Roll, etc.) both against
communist strongholds there, and in support of the Royal Lao and Gen. Vang Pao's
army.

1Lt. Patrick K. Harrold and Capt. John C. Clark II were pilots assigned to an
F4E Phantom fighter jet dispatched on an operational mission over Laos on
February 5, 1969. Their mission would take them to the northeast edge of the
Plain of Jars in Xiangkhoang Province in Military Region II.

At a point about 10 miles northwest of the city of Nong Het, the Phantom was
shot down and both crew members declared Missing in Action. The Air Force told
the Harrold and Clark families that there was every reason to believe the enemy
knew the fate of both men; that perhaps they had been captured. It was too soon
to tell.

When the war finally ended for the U.S. in Southeast Asia, families of the
nearly 600 men lost in Laos were horrified to learn that no negotiations had
been struck that would free Americans held in Laos. The Pathet Lao had stated
publicly that they held "tens of tens" of American prisoners, but they wished to
be negotiated with. The U.S. was not willing to negotiate with the communist
faction, even at the cost of abandoning some of their best men.

Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing in
Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. Government. Many authorities have
reluctantly concluded that there are hundreds of them who remain alive today,
held captive by a long-ago enemy.

Whether Clark and Harrold are among those thought to be still alive is not
known. What is clear, however, is that we owe these men our very best efforts to
bring them home. What must they be thinking of the country they proudly served?


CLARK, LAWRENCE

Name: Lawrence Clark
Rank/Branch: E5/USAF
Unit: 33rd Air Rescue/Recovery Squadron
Date of Birth: 15 August 1928
Home City of Record: Logansport IN
Date of Loss: 18 October 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam (Tonkin Gulf)
Loss Coordinates: 175500N 1070900E (YE278821)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: HU16

Other Personnel In Incident: Inzar W. Rackley; John H.S. Long; Robert L.Hill;
John R.Shoneck; Steven H. Adams; Ralph H. Angstadt (all 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: RADIO CONTACT LOST

SYNOPSIS: At 11:01 a.m. on October 18, 1966, a HU16 Albatross (serial #51-7145)
departed Da Nang Airbase, Republic of Vietnam, to rescue a downed pilot in the
Gulf of Tonkin off the coast of North Vietnam.

The crew of the aircraft consisted of Maj. Ralph H. Angstadt, rescue commander
and pilot; 1Lt. John H.S. Long, co-pilot; SSgt. John R. Shoneck and TSgt. Robert
L. Hill, flight mechanics; SSgt. Lawrence Clark, radio operator; and Capt. Inzar
W. Rackley, Jr., navigator. Also onboard the aircraft was A2C Steven H. Adams, a
parajumper/frogman and a member of an elite pararescue team ("PJs").

The aircraft headed to the pilot's location, which was approximately 80 miles
off the China coast in the northern sector of the Gulf of Tonkin. Two A1E
Skyhawks escorting the rescue aircraft remained on station until the mission was
completed, then the Skyhawks returned to the base. The last contact with the
HU16 was at 5:45 p.m., and at that time, there was no indication of any trouble.
The Albatross was returning to base, and last contact was in the vicinity of
coordinates YE278821, approximately 35 miles off the coast of North Vietnam.

All contact was lost with the amphibious aircraft in marginal weather
conditions, and although an extensive search for the aircraft was conducted,
there were no sightings of the crew or the aircraft. Even though the HU16 was
believed lost over water, the men on board were not declared killed, but Missing
In Action. The possibility exists that they were captured by one of the numerous
enemy vessels that were present offshore from North Vietnam.

Curiously, the DIA enemy knowledge categories assigned to the men onboard the
Albatross are not the same. Five of them were assigned Category 4 which
indicates "unknown knowledge" and includes individuals whose time and place of
loss incident are unknown. Angstadt was assigned Category 3 which indicates
"doubtful knowledge" and includes personnel whose loss incident is such that it
is doubtful that the enemy would have knowledge. Clark was assigned Category 2
which indicates "suspect knowledge" and includes personnel who were lost in
areas or under conditions that they may reasonably be expected to be known by
the enemy. No reason for the different categories can be determined.

About one year after the incident, Adams' family received a call from an
International Red Cross representative who had just come from a "closed door"
meeting during which Steven Adams was discussed. She stated that Steve was
"alive, well and presumed to be in a hospital in Southeast Asia," and that "upon
exiting the aircraft, his left side had been severely injured." A family friend
and member of the intelligence community located the Red Cross worker and
confirmed the information.

Shortly after the call, two Air Force casualty officers cautioned the family
strongly "not to listen to outsiders" and that only "government sources" could
be trusted.

In August 1987, a Department of Defense official was contacted by a U.S. citizen
who said he was relaying information from a man in London. According to the
American, 17 U.S. prisoners of war could be released through the office of a
Western European embassy in Bangkok, Thailand. The POWs would be released C.O.D.
upon the delivery of seven U.S. passports and a million dollars. If the money
were placed at the Embassy, an unidentified Vietnamese general would take the 17
Americans to the Philippines for release, and provide information on how to
secure the release of over 1,400 other Americans upon payment of another million
dollars. Steve Adams was mentioned as one of the 17 POWs.

U.S. government officials refused to place the money at the Embassy. They said
they had investigated the offer and that it was "a clumsy, amateur attempt to
extort money and arms from the U.S. Government."

Although the U.S. Government called the offer a "scam," they refused to give the
Adams family the names of those involved, citing "national security" as the
reason.

Steve's brother, Bruce, was outraged. A non-government offered POW reward fund
had been established for just such a offer and the government was aware of it,
yet did not inform Bruce of the COD offer for several months. By that time, it
was too late to do anything about it from the private sector.

"This was a pay on delivery offer, not extortion," said Adams. "It would have
cost the Government nothing to comply. If the general did not appear with 17
American POWs the money would still be intact, in neutral hands. But to deny me
the opportunity to enact the privately offered reward is inexcusable."

Bruce Adams says the evidence is clear that there ARE Americans still held
captive in Southeast Asia. "I really don't know if Steve is one of them, but
SOMEONE'S brother is. We as a nation owe those men our best efforts to secure
their release and return. I could not face myself if I did not do everything in
my power to help bring them home."

The crew of the UH16 received promotions during the period they were maintained
Missing in Action:  Angstadt and Rackley were promoted to the rank of Lieutenant
Colonel; Long to the rank of Captain; Clark and Hill to the rank of Chief Master
Sergeant; Shoneck to the rank of Senior Master Sergeant; and Adams to the rank
of Master Sergeant.

There is no available information on the downed crewman the Albatross was sent
to rescue.

CLARK, PHILLIP SPRATT JR.
Remains Returned 3 November 1988

Name: Phillip Spratt Clark, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O3/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 113, USS RANGER
Date of Birth: 06 January 1946 (Phoenix AZ)
Home City of Record: Fairchild AFB WA
Date of Loss: 24 December 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 105000N 1070900E (YJ360170)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A7E
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

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: GOOD CHUTE & VOICE

SYNOPSIS: Lt.Cdr. Phillip S. Clark, Jr. was a pilot assigned to Attack Squadron
113 onboard the aircraft carrier USS RANGER (CVA-61). On December 24, 1972, he
launched in his A7E "Corsair" as the number two aircraft in a flight of three.
Their mission was to mine the Chateau Renaud Channel, Quang Ninh Province,
North Vietnam at a point approximately 1/4 nautical mile off the northwestern
tip of Ile Rousse.

Low ceilings and reduced visibility necessitated individual attacks into the
heavily defended target area. On making individual runs into the target area
the number three aircraft saw a parachute floating down through the clouds and
heard an emergency radio beeper just prior to bomb release. A momentary
emergency radio transmission was heard saying, "I'm in the water with two A-6s
passing overhead". This was followed by 2-3 unintelligible transmissions and
then then one-way radio contact was lost.

Search and Rescue (SAR) efforts were initiated immediately but were severely
hampered by bad weather conditions and approaching darkness. Numerous fishing
boats were seen in the general loss location. SAR efforts were terminated on
the third day with negative results.

By the end of the next month, agreements were signed in Paris by Vietnam and
the U.S. which would end American involvement in the war in Southeast Asia. By
April 1973, 591 Americans had been released from POW camps, but Phillip S.
Clark was not one of them. He remained in Missing in Action status until
September 21, 1978 at which time his case was reviewed and he was reclassified
Presumed Killed in Action/Body Not Recovered, based on no information to
indicate that he was alive.

The Vietnamese have continually denied knowledge of Lt.Cdr. Clark even though
the area in which he was lost was populous and a number of water craft were in
the area that could have picked him up and turned him over to Vietnamese
authority.

Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports have been received by the U.S.
Government relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asia. Many authorities
believe there are hundreds of Americans still alive in captivity today. It is
not known what happened to Clark after he successfully ejected from his
crippled aircraft. He might have been killed by nearby fishermen. He may have
been "rescued" and turned over to Vietnamese authorities. He may yet be alive,
wondering why his country has abandoned him.

Alive or dead, Phillip Spratt Clark, Jr. is a prisoner of war. It's time he was
home.

On November 3, 1989, the Vietnamese returned the remains of Phillip S. Clark,
Jr. His family wished no publicity at that time, so the return was not
publicized.


Phillip S. Clark, Jr. graduated the U.S. Naval Academy on June 30, 1968.

CLARK, RICHARD CHAMP

Name: Richard Champ Clark
Rank/Branch: O2/US Navy
Unit: USS Coral Sea
Date of Birth: 16 August 1941
Home City of Record: Tacoma WA
Date of Loss: 24 October 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 212800N 1052600E (WJ448736)
Status (in 1973): Prisoner of War
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4B
Other Personnel In Incident: Charles R. Gillespie (released POW); Robert
Frishmann, Earl G. Lewis (at same coordinates, same day, another F4)

REMARKS: GOOD CHUTE

SYNOPSIS: On October 24, 1967, Ltjg. Richard Clark was flying as backseater
aboard the F4B Phantom fighter jet flown by Commander Charles R. Gillespie on a
bombing mission over the Hanoi, Haiphong and Vinh Phuc region of North Vietnam.
The aircraft was one in a flight of two.

Clark and Gillespie's aircraft was hit by a surface-to-air missile and crashed
in Vinh Phu Province. Other members of the flight observed two good parachutes,
heard one electronic beacon signal, and observed one unidentified crew member
on the ground.

On the same day, the F4 flown by Earl Lewis and Robert Frishmann was shot down
at the same coordinates. Frishmann relates that he "wasn't even diving when
they hit me. I was flying. Bad luck!" Frishmann sustained a serious injury to
his arm by missile fragments. Frishmann believed Lewis was dead, but after 4
hours, located him. Both were captured by the Vietnamese.

The Vietnamese were able to save Frishmann's arm, but he lost his elbow,
leaving the arm nearly 8 inches shorter than the other. A reporter, Oriana
Fallaci, interviewed Frishmann for Look Magazine in July 1969. At that time, he
had been held in solitary confinement for 18 months.

Lewis, Frishmann and Gillespie were held in various locations in and around
Hanoi as prisoners. At no time did any of them see Richard Clark, who had
successfully ejected from the aircraft.

Lt. Frishmann was released in August 1969 with the blessings of the POW
community. His message to the world would reveal the torture endured by
Americans held in Vietnam and cause a public outcry which would eventually help
stop the torture and result in better treatment for the prisoners.

Gillespie and Lewis were both released from Hanoi March 14, 1973 in the general
prisoner release nearing the end of American involvement in the war in Vietnam.

Cdr. Gillespie, in his debrief, stated that after the missile hit, smoke filled
the cockpit, and as the intercom system failed, he gave an emergency hand
signal to eject and he did not see Lt. Clark again. On October 24, Radio Hanoi
announced that in the afternoon of October 24, eight U.S. war planes had been
shot down and that a number of U.S. pilots had been captured. The U.S.
correlates this information to Lt. Clark and placed him in prisoner of war
classification. (Inexplicably, however, the Defense Intelligence Agency codes
Clark as "category 2" which means only "suspected" enemy knowledge of his fate.)

If Lt. Clark was captured, why did he not return home? If he died, where are
his remains? If he is one of the hundreds of Americans experts now believe are
still alive in captivity in Southeast Asia, what are we doing to bring him
home? What must he be thinking of us?

CLARK, ROBERT ALAN

Name: Robert Alan Clark
Rank/Branch: O2/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 115, USS MIDWAY
Date of Birth: 21 September 1946
Home City of Record: North Hollywood CA
Date of Loss: 10 January 1973
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 185948N 1051836E (WG327003)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A6A
Other Personnel in Incident: Michael T. McCormick (missing)

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: 01 January 1990

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Lt. Michael T. McCormick was a pilot and Lt.JG Robert A. Clark a
bombardier/navigator assigned to Attack Squadron 115 onboard the aircraft
carrier USS MIDWAY (CVA-41). On January 10, 1973, 17 days before an agreement
was signed in Paris ending American involvement in the war in Southeast Asia,
McCormick and Clark launched in their A6A "Intruder" attack aircraft. Together
with another A6 aircraft, they were to provide support for B52 air strikes, and
had three targets assigned to them over North Vietnam.

The weather that day was overcast with a 1500 foot cloud cover. There was
intense surface-to-air (SAM) missile activity in their target area, and an
estimated total of 15 missiles were fired - three at the USS Midway aircraft
and 12 at the B52s. The crew of another aircraft reported that he did not think
the missiles were aimed at him. The boosters of the missiles were diffused by
the overcast, which proved to be very distracting. On egress the crewman noted
additional SAM boosters along with the glow from the B52 bomb strikes. He
coasted out over the coast and planned to orbit there until McCormick and Clark
crossed the coastline to join him.

When McCormick and Clark did not arrive, and there was no radio contact, the
wingman retraced his route at an altitude of 15,000 feet while making numerous
radio calls. No fires were seen and no enemy reaction was noted. Other aircraft
crewmembers thought they heard a 3-4 second transmission that sounded like an
ECM (emergency transmission), but Search and Rescue (SAR) missions were flown
in the area with no contact and no crash location or wreckage found.

McCormick and Clark were last known to be over Nghe An Province, about 20 miles
west of the city of Phu Dien Chau. Both men were placed in Missing in Action
status. Other than the brief radio signal, no sign of either man was ever found.

Because of the circumstances surrounding the downing of this aircraft, and the
fact that the area was heavily defended, the U.S. believes there is good reason
to suspect that the Vietnamese know the fates of McCormick and Clark. The
Vietnamese, however, deny any knowledge of them.

Mounting evidence indicates that Americans are being held prisoner in Southeast
Asia today. As long as even one American remains alive, held unjustly and
against his will, we owe him our best effort to bring him home. McCormick and
Clark could be among those thought to be alive. What must they be thinking of
their country?
CLARK, STANLEY SCOTT

Name: Stanley Scott Clark
Rank/Branch: O5/U.S. Air Force
Unit: Ubon Airfield, Thailand
Date of Birth: 22 May 1928
Home City of Record: Modesto CA
Date of Loss: 14 February 1969
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 155057N 1065130E (XC990530)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 3
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D
Other Personnel in Incident: Richard A. Walsh (lost at XD949515 on 15 February;
still missing)

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: 01 January 1990

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: When North Vietnam began to increase their military strength in South
Vietnam, NVA and Viet Cong troops again intruded on neutral Laos for sanctuary,
as the Viet Minh had done during the war with the French some years before. The
border road, termed the "Ho Chi Minh Trail" was used for transporting weapons,
supplies and troops. Hundreds of American pilots were shot down trying to stop
this communist traffic to South Vietnam. Fortunately, search and rescue teams
in Vietnam were extremely successful and the recovery rate was high.

Still there were nearly 600 who were not rescued. Many of them went down along
the Ho Chi Minh Trail and the passes through the border mountains between Laos
and Vietnam. Many were alive on the ground and in radio contact with search and
rescue and other planes; some were known to have been captured. Hanoi's
communist allies in Laos, the Pathet Lao, publicly spoke of "tens of tens" of
American prisoners they held, but when peace agreements were negotiated, Laos
was not included, and not a single American was released that had been held in
Laos.

On February 14, 1969, LtCol. Stanley S. Clark was the commander of the lead
aircraft in a flight of two F4D's which departed Ubon Airfield, Thailand on a
night mission over southern Laos near the border of Vietnam - along the "Ho Chi
Minh Trail".

On his second pass of the target, Clark's plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire
and burst into flames. Clark climbed to about 12,000 feet and ordered his
backseater to eject. The backseater ejected as the plane began a rapid descent.
The aircraft entered a cloud layer at about 10,000 feet and was obscured from
view, but was later seen as it crashed in a river. Contact was established with
the co-pilot as he descended in his parachute, but no other parachute was seen,
and no emergency signals were heard. All attempts to contact Clark failed.

At 0500 hours on February 15, 1969, LtCol. Richard A. Walsh III departed as the
pilot of the lead aircraft in a flight of two A1J "Spad" aircraft from Nakhon
Phenom, Thailand on a Search and Rescue mission over southeastern Laos. The A1J
was commonly used for flying rescue, close air support and forward air control
(FAC) missions. Walsh's job that day was to rescue the pilot of an F4 that had
been shot down the day before in Saravane Province near the city of Ban Bac. It
is believed that this pilot is Stanley Clark's backseater.

The common procedure in A1 escorted rescues was for two A1s to fly directly to
the general search area and look for some sign of the downed crewmen while two
other A1s escorted the rescue helicopter to the area. If it was determined that
the pilot was in a hostile area, the A1s would commence a bombing attack using
rockets, bombs and 20 mm cannon fire to suppress enemy defenses so that the
helicopter could land.

Upon arrival in the assigned area, LtCol. Walsh and the second A1J were joined
by two other A1 aircraft and two helicopters. Walsh became on-scene commander
of the rescue operation. Walsh made several low passes over the target area
attempting to make visual contact with the downed pilot. He established radio
contact with the downed pilot and ordered helicopters to pick him up.

While flying at about 1000 feet Walsh radioed that he was receiving ground
fire. This was the last transmission received from him. At the same time,
members in the flight observed flashes and air bursts of 37mm anti-aircraft
fire behind Walsh's aircraft and along his flight path. Although the weather
was clear, no parachute was seen and no emergency radio beeper signals were
heard. While all the flight members did not have the aircraft under continuous
observation, these events appear to have been closely witnessed by the wingman,
except when he momentarily looked into his cockpit to change radio frequencies
to alert the search and rescue coordinator of the situation. Flight tapes
recorded during this period were still classified as of 1985.

The downed pilot was recovered, and later stated that he heard an anti-aircraft
site open fire as Walsh's aircraft approached, and shortly thereafter heard the
explosion of impact. He further stated that it was less that 15 seconds from
the time he heard the engine begin to race until he heard the aircraft impact
the ground. He could not observe the incident due to dense jungle and foliage.
The incident occurred approximately 38 miles northeast of Chavane, Laos, in a
sparsely populated, mountainous, and heavily wooded area.

The search for LtCol. Walsh and LtCol. Clark was terminated and both men were
classified Missing In Action. LtCol. Clark's family later learned that although
no second parachute was seen, no body was found with his plane. NEITHER WAS HIS
EJECTION SEAT, which indicated that Clark escaped the aircraft.

The area in which Clark and Walsh were lost was recaptured by friendly forces
about three months later. Walsh's wife was told that the wreckage of her
husband's aircraft was located, but there were no remains at the crash site.

During the years following the loss of Clark and Walsh both men were promoted
to the rank of Colonel. The families of both men have been very active in the
effort to obtain information related to the nearly 2500 Americans listed
missing in Southeast Asia, with particular emphasis on the nearly 600 lost in
Laos.

Mrs. Walsh received an early report that someone was killed at the same time
that Col. Walsh went down. The US Air Force was never able to confirm this
report, and was not certain of its origin.

In 1985, an intelligence source reported that Col. Walsh had been seen in Laos.
He was also reported to be seen in one other location in Laos, in captivity,
and was the leader of 17 other American POWs. This report was never confirmed.

Col. Richard Walsh's family still lives in the Twin Cities in Minnesota. They
neither believe nor disbelieve that he is alive, but follow up every lead and
every report to the best of their ability.

Col. Stanley Clark's family still lives in California. His son, Michael greatly
resembles his father. Michael doesn't know if his father is alive, but is
convinced that many Americans are still alive. "If not my father, then
SOMEONE's father is alive," says Michael. "We owe them our every effort to
bring them home."

Were it not for the thousands of reports concerning Americans still held
captive in Southeast Asia, the Clark and Walsh families might be able to close
this tragic chapter of their lives. But as long as Americans are alive, being
held captive, Richard A. Walsh and Stanley S. Clark could be among them. It's
time we brought these men home.
CLARK, STEPHEN WILLIAM

Name: Stephen William Clark
Rank/Branch: O3/US Marine Corps
Unit: VMFA 234, MAG 11
Date of Birth: 24 September 1943
Home City of Record: Plymouth CA
Date of Loss: 03 May 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 165504N 1070612E (YD240715)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
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.

Capt. Stephen W. Clark was the pilot of an F8E conducting a combat mission near
the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) in South Vietnam on May 3, 1968. Clark's aircraft
was hit by hostile ground fire, crashed and burned. Little or no hope of
survival existed for Capt. Clark, and he was listed Killed/Body Not Recovered.
Clark is one of nearly 2300 still missing, prisoner, or otherwise unaccounted
for from the Vietnam War.

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.


CLARK, THOMAS EDWARD

Name: Thomas Edward Clark
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 15 April 1939
Home City of Record: Emporium PA
Date of Loss: 08 February 1969
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 171300N 1060500E
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F100D

Other Personnel In Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Tom Clark graduated from the Air Force Academy in 1963, after having
already spent two years at Penn State University. He was sometimes referred to
as an "old man" at the Academy. He was interested in politics and flying and
looked forward to a military career.

Nearly 6 years after his graduation, Tom Clark was flying a mission in Laos over
the Ho Chi Minh Trail just northwest of the DMZ when his aircraft was shot down.
Circumstances surrounding his crash indicate that the enemy probably knows his
fate, but in 1973, Tom was not released with other POWs.

Tom Clark is one of nearly 600 Americans who were lost in Laos and did not
return. The Pathet Lao stated on several occasions that they held "tens of tens"
of American prisoners, but that those who had been captured in Laos would also
be released from Laos. The Lao wanted acknowledgement that the U.S. and
Vietnamese had been waging war in their country.

Laos was not included in the peace agreements ending American involvement in
Southeast Asia, and not one American held in Laos was released - or negotiated
for. By 1989, the U.S. had so thoroughly forgotten the men they abandoned that
they began building medical clinics for the communist Lao government. At the
same time, reports and evidence mount that Americans are still held alive as
captives in Vietnam and Laos.

Tom Clark served his country proudly. He does not deserve abandonment.

Thomas E. Clark was promoted to the rank of Major during the period he was
maintained Missing in Action.
CLARKE, FRED LEE

Name: Fred Lee Clarke
Rank/Branch: E6/US Air Force
Unit: 606th Special Operations Squadron, Nakhon Phanom, Thailand
Date of Birth: 28 January 1932
Home City of Record: Troutman NC
Date of Loss: 13 December 1968
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 170100N 1055900E (XD055824)
Status (In 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: C123K
Other Personnel in Incident: On C123K: Douglas Dailey; Morgan Donahue; Joseph
Fanning; Samuel Walker; John Albright (all missing); On B57B: Thomas W. Dugan;
Francis J. McGouldrick (all missing)

REMARKS: MID AIR COL-1 PARA OBS

SYNOPSIS: On December 13, 1968, the crew of a C123K was dispatched from Nakhon
Phanom Airfield located in northern Thailand near the border of Laos on an
operational mission over Laos. The C123, a converted WWII glider equipped with
two engines, was assigned night patrol missions along the Ho Chi Minh trail.
Flying low at 2000-3000 feet, the job of the seven man crew was to spot enemy
truck convoys on the trail and to light up the trails for accompanying B57
bombers which were flying overhead.

The crew on this particular mission included the pilot (name unknown); 1Lt.
Joseph P. Fanning, co-pilot; 1Lt. John S. Albright, navigator; 1Lt. Morgan J.
Donahue, navigator; SSgt. Samuel F. Walker, SSgt. Douglas V. Dailey, TSgt. Fred
L. Clarke, crewmembers. At 0330 hours, as the aircraft was flying about 30 miles
southwest of the Ban Karai Pass in Laos, the crew of the C123 were jolted by a
blow on the top of their plane in the after section. An overhead B57 that had
been called in for an air strike had collided with the control plane. The C123
lost power and went out of control. The pilot, stunned by a blow to the head,
lost consciousness.

Because of its glider configuration, the plane did not fall straight to the
ground, but drifted lazily to the ground in a flat spin which lasted several
minutes. When the pilot regained consciousness, he noted that the co-pilot
(Fanning) and navigator (Donahue) were gone. Donahue's station was in the
underbelly of the plane where, lying on his stomach, he directed an infared
detection device through an open hatch. The pilot parachuted out, landed in a
treetop where he remained until rescued at dawn. On the way down, he saw
another chute below him, but, because of the dark, was unable to determine who
the crew member was.

Intelligence reports after the incident indicate that Donahue, at least, safely
reached the ground near Tchepone, but suffered a broken leg. A refugee who
escaped captivity in Laos in 1974 reported having observed an American prisoner
broughy to the caves near Tchepone, where he was held, in the period between
1968 and 1970. This American was later moved to another locatation unknown to
the refugee.

Several reports referring to "Moe-gan" and others describing Donahue as the
American called the "animal doctor" were received over the years since war's
end. In June and August, 1987, the Donahue family was given intelligence
reports tracking Morgan's movements from a POW camp in Kham Kuet, Khammouane
Province, Laos in the spring of 1987 to another camp in the Boualapha District
of the same province in August 1987. These reports were mere WEEKS old, yet the
U.S. marked them "routine". One of them gave Morgan's aircraft type and serial
number, which turned out to be, instead of the serial number of the aircraft,
Morgan's father's ZIP CODE. Morgan's family believes this is clearly a signal
to them from Morgan.

The crew of the C123K are among nearly 600 Americans who disappeared in Laos.
Many of these men were alive on the ground. The Lao admitted holding American
prisoners but these men were never negotiated for. Where are they? Are they
alive? Imagine the torture the Donahue family endures knowing Morgan is alive,
yet helpless to do anything to help him. What are we doing to help bring them
home?

(John S. Albright II and Morgan J. Donahue graduated in 1967 from the United
States Air Force Academy)



CLARKE, GEORGE WILLIAM JR.

Name: George William Clarke, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 28 January 1941
Home City of Record: Hampton VA
Date of Loss: 16 October 1967
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 160600N 1072300E (XC961808)
Status (In 1973): Prisoner of War
Category: 1
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: RF4C

Other Personnel In Incident: Richard D. Appelhans (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS: NEGATIVE SAR CONTACT

SYNOPSIS: When North Vietnam began to increase their military strength in South
Vietnam, NVA and Viet Cong troops again intruded on neutral Laos for sanctuary,
as the Viet Minh had done during the war with the French some years before. The
border road, termed the "Ho Chi Minh Trail" was used for transporting weapons,
supplies and troops. Hundreds of American pilots were shot down trying to stop
this communist traffic to South Vietnam. Fortunately, search and rescue teams
in Vietnam were extremely successful and the recovery rate was high.

Still there were nearly 600 who were not rescued. Many of them went down along
the Ho Chi Minh Trail and the passes through the border mountains between Laos
and Vietnam. Many were alive on the ground and in radio contact with search and
rescue and other planes; some were known to have been captured. Hanoi's
communist allies in Laos, the Pathet Lao, publicly spoke of American prisoners
they held, but when peace agreements were negotiated, Laos was not included,
and not a single American was released that had been held in Laos.

On October 16, 1967, the RF4C Phantom reconnaissance jet flown by Capt. Richard
D. Appelhans disappeared while flying over Saravane Province, Laos. Flying as
backseater on this flight was Capt. George W. Clarke.

Radio and radar contact with the aircraft was lost at grid coordinates
XC961808, which is located in the northeast portion of Saravane Province, Laos.
Aerial searches were conducted, but no trace of the missing aircraft or its
crew were found.

American POWs who were released early (1968) reported that they had seen George
Clarke as a prisoner, and all stated that they last saw him alive. A number of
reports relating to Clarke were received by his parents, and his status was
changed from Missing in Action to Prisoner of War. No further information was
received on Richard Appelhans.

Just before December 1971, Clarke's wife was informed by the Air Force that "it
had come to their attention" that her husband needed eyeglasses. Mrs. Clarke
has a photograph of an individual in captivity she believes is her husband.

The U.S. maintains Clarke's case among those called "discrepancy" cases which
are regularly presented to the Vietnamese as those that could be resolved.

Were it not for the thousands of reports concerning Americans still held captive
in Southeast Asia, the Clarke and Appelhans families might be able to close this
tragic chapter of their lives. But as long as Americans are alive, being held
captive, Clarke and Appelhans could be among them. It's time we brought these
men home.

Both Clarke and Appelhans were promoted to the rank of Major during the period
they were maintained Prisoner of War and Missing in Action.


Name:                 Claude Arpin
Rank/Branch:             Civilian
Unit:                 Newsweek
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record:         France
Date of Loss:             06 April 1970
Country of Loss:         Cambodia
Loss Coordinates:         110236N 1060419E (XT171209)
Status (in 1973):         Prisoner of War
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground:         auto
Other Personnel in Incident: Akira Kusaka; Yujiro Takagi; same day at same grid
                 coordinates: Sean Flynn, Dana Stone (all captured)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 15 March 1991
from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency
sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources,
interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Photo journalists Sean Flynn and Dana Stone left Phnom Penh on
rented Honda motorbikes to find the front lines of fighting in Cambodia.
Traveling southeast on Route One near a eucalyptus plantation in eastern
Cambodia, the two men were stopped at a check point at grid coordinates
XT171209 in Svay Rieng Province, Cambodia, and led away by elements of
the Viet Cong Tay Ninh Armed Forces and elements of the combined North
Vietnamese-Viet Cong Ningh Division based in Cambodia.

On the same day, French freelance journalist-photographer Claude Arpin,
on an assignment for Newsday, and Japanese correspondents Akira Kusaka,
a correspondent for Fuji Television, and Yujiro Takagi, a cameraman with
Fuji Television, arrived by auto at the same location on Route 1. A UPI
report at the time stated that the group had been captured 10 kilometers
east of chi Phu on Cambodian Route 1.

Sean Flynn is the son of actor Erroll Flynn. Although Flynn had spent
much of his life in California and New York, his mother, Lili Loomis,
maintained homes both in Palm Beach and Ft. Dodge, Iowa. Flynn was on a
photo contract to Time Magazine, and his friend Dana Stone was on
contract to CBS to cover American fighting in Cambodia. Both men were
"veterans" of combat news.

Stone attended school in New Hampshire, but his home was in Vermont,
where his parents resided. He had been in the U.S. Navy at the time of
the Bay of Pigs incident. Both men frequently travelled with military
units on patrol and operations. The Marines who knew Dana Stone called
him, "Mini-Grunt".

Information obtained from indigenous sources indicated that Stone and
Flynn were executed in mid-1971 in Kampong Cham Province, Cambodia.

Various sources, including an intercepted radio message from COSUN, the
Viet Cong high command, indicate that Flynn and Stone survived. One
source reported that he had seen "a group of very long haired, bearded,
tall prisoners near Minot, Cambodia" who were identified as "imperialist
journalists". Over the years, meanwhile, there has been occasional word
from isolated Cambodian villages that someone saw the "movie star" who
is being held prisoner by the Khmer Rouge.

Flynn's colleagues have said, "If anyone is equipped to survive...years
of hardship in the jungle, it's Sean Flynn...he's very much an expert at
jungle survival."

Author Zalin Grant interviewed returned ARVN POWs in early 1973 and
released the following data supporting other stories indicating
journalists could still be alive. "Returned ARVN POWs sighted the
(unnamed) journalists on Route #7, 17 miles south of Snoul in Eastern
Cambodia 7-72 in ox-carts pulled by Hondas; another said a VC captain
near Minot, eastern Cambodia (where military American POWs were released
from in 1973) reported the (unnamed) journalists held in 7-72 had
cameras; Cambodian national saw (unnamed) journalists in 6-72 at Prince
Sihanouk's FUNK camp south of Route #13 in Kratie Province; returned
ARVN POWs said a guard told them in 3073 that the journalists were still
alive and held in their area." Walter Cronkite reported a sighting of
(unnamed) journalists in January, 1974.

Whether Grant's and Cronkite's information relates to Arpin, Flynn,
Stone,, Kusaka, and Takagi is not known. The five are among 22
international journalists still missing in Southeast Asia, most known to
have been captured. For several years during the war, the correspondents
community rallied and publicized the fates of fellow journalists. After
a while, they tired of the effort, and today these men are forgotten by
all but families and friends.

Tragically, nearly the whole world turns its head while thousands of
reports continue to flow in that prisoners are still held in Southeast
Asia. Cambodia offered to return a substantial number of remains of men
it says are Americans missing in Cambodia (in fact the number offered
exceeded the number of those officially missing). But the U.S. has no
formal diplomatic relations with the communist government of Cambodia,
and refused to directly respond to this offer. Although several U.S.
Congressmen offered to travel to Cambodia to receive the remains, they
have not been permitted to do so by the U.S.
CLAXTON, CHARLES PETER

Name: Charles Peter Claxton
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit: 314th Tactical Airlift Wing, Nha Trang Airbase, South Vietnam
Date of Birth: 22 December 1932
Home City of Record: Chicago IL
Date of Loss: 29 December 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 220900N 1032200E (UK315501)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: C130E
Other Personnel In Incident: James R. Williams; Gean P. Clapper; Edward J.
Darcy; Wayne A. Eckley; Donald E. Fisher; Edwin N. Osborne; Frank C. Parker;
Gerald G. VanBuren; Gordon J. Wenaas; Jack McCrary; (all missing)

REMARKS: RADIO CONTACT LOST

SYNOPSIS: On December 29, 1967, a C130E aircraft departed Nha Trang Airbase
shortly after midnight on an operational mission over North Vietnam. The eleven
man crew aboard the aircraft included Maj. Charles P. Claxton; Capt. Edwin N.
Osborne Jr., and Capt. Gerald G. Van Buren (all listed as pilots); and crewmen
SSgt. Edward J. Darcy; SSgt. Gean P. Clapper; SSgt. Wayne A. Eckley; LtCol.
Donald E. Fisher; TSgt. Jack McCrary; Capt. Frank C. Parker III; Capt. Gordon
J. Wenaas; and Sgt. James R. Williams.

At 4:30 a.m., the pilot made radio contact with Nha Trang and said the mission
was progressing as scheduled. No further contact was made. The aircraft's last
known position was in extreme northwest North Vietnam, in mountainous Lai Chau
Province. The eleven Americans aboard the aircraft were declared Missing in
Action.

When the war ended, and 591 Americans were released from Vietnamese prison
camps, the crew of the C130 was not among them. Although the Vietnamese
pledged, as part of the Paris Peace Accords, to release all prisoners and make
the fullest possible accounting of the missing, they have done neither. The
Vietnamese deny any knowledge of the crew of the C130.

Alarmingly, evidence continues to mount that Americans were left as prisoners
in Southeast Asia and continue to be held today. Unlike "MIAs" from other wars,
most of the nearly 2500 men and women who remain missing in Southeast Asia can
be accounted for. If even one was left alive (and many authorities estimate the
numbers to be in the hundreds), we have failed as a nation until and unless we
do everything possible to secure his freedom and bring him home.


CLAY, EUGENE LUNSFORD

Name: Eugene Lunsford Clay
Rank/Branch: E5/US Air Force
Unit: 37th Aerospace Rescue & Recovery Squadron, Da Nang
Date of Birth: 20 February 1939
Home City of Record: Arlington TX
Date of Loss: 08 November 1967
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 161458N 1065258E (YC012973)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: HH3E

Others In Incident: Joseph G. Kusick; Bruce R. Baxter; Ralph W. Brower; Larry W.
Maysey (all missing); Gerald Young (rescued - awarded Congressional Medal Of
Honor for action); 3 indigenous personnel with Special Forces team (rescued)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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: CRASH-5 DED; PILOT RECV-J

SYNOPSIS: On November 8, 1967, two Air Force "Jolly Greens" (#26 and #29) from
the 37th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron were scrambled from Da Nang Air
Base at 1505 hours for an emergency extraction of five surviving members of a
Special Forces reconnaissance team which had suffered heavy casualties while
operating deep in a denied area in Laos. The recovery effort was to be recorded
by the Squadron as one of the largest and most hazardous on record.

The two Air Force helicopters were advised by forward air control to hold while
three Army UH1B gunships softened the area with rockets and machine gun fire. An
Air Force C130 gunship, meanwhile, provided flare support for the mission. At
1630Z, Jolly Green 29 picked up the three indigenous personnel before being
driven off by hostile fire. Damaged, Jolly Green 29 left and made an emergency
landing at Khe Sanh. 20 minutes later, Jolly Green 26, flown by CAPT Gerald
Young, with flight crew consisting of CAPT Ralph Brower, co-pilot; SSGT Eugene
Clay, flight engineer; and SGT Larry Maysey, rescue specialist; braved the
ground fire to pick up Special Forces SP4 Joseph G. Kusick and MSGT Bruce R.
Baxter, both wounded. The helicopter was hit by automatic weapons fire, crashed
and burst into flames.

By the afternoon of November 9, a recovery team was inserted into the area and
reached the crash site of the burned HH3. Because of fading light, it was
impossible to inspect the wreckage at that time.

On 10 November, the wreckage was searched and 3 charred remains were found. Two
of the remains had identification tags which identified them as members of the
crew. The third remains had no tags, but were identified as SP4 Kusick, radio
operator of the reconnaissance team, as the long antenna from his PRC-25 radio
were found on his body. CAPT Young had survived and was rescued 17 hours after
the crash of the aircraft.

About 34 meters downhill from the wreckage, another set of remains were found
which were readily identified as MSGT Baxter from the facial features. No trace
was found of the third crew member. The remains of the two crewmen and Kusick
were removed from the aircraft and placed with MSGT Baxter's remains so they
could be hoisted as one lift into a hovering helicopter. The identificaton tags
of the crewmembers were placed with the remains. Weather conditions and enemy
action would not permit helicopters to make the extraction either that day or
the day following.

The remains of the crew and passengers aboard Jolly Green 26 were never
recovered. Although the location of the crash is known, the bodies of the crew
and recon team who died still lie on foreign soil. The five are among nearly 600
Americans lost in Laos. Not one prisoner was released from Laos, and few remains
have been recovered.

While it is a great sadness to know a loved one is dead and his body is lying
far from home, the greater tragedy is those known to have been prisoners of war
who did not return, and those who are missing in action.

Since the war ended, "several million documents" and "over 250,000 interviews"
have been reviewed relating to Americans prisoner, missing or unaccounted for in
Southeast Asia. Many officials who have reviewed this largely-classified
information are convinced that hundreds of Americans are still alive in
captivity today.

These reports increase the agony for families who want to know what happened to
their sons, fathers and brothers. If, as the U.S. Government seems to believe,
all the men are dead, it's time the information was declassified so that all can
understand the fates of these heroes. If, as many believe, men are still alive,
it's time they were brought home to bring the war in Vietnam to an honorable
end.


CLEARY, PETER McARTHUR

Name: Peter McArthur Cleary
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 523rd Tactical Fighter Squadron, Udorn AF TH
Date of Birth: 27 August 1944
Home City of Record: Colchester CT
Date of Loss: 10 October 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 174800N 1064000E (XE541685)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4E

Other Personnel in Incident: Leonardo C. Leonor (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 30 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 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.

Capt. Peter A. Cleary and Capt. Leonardo C. Leonor were pilots attached to the
523rd Tactical Fighter Squadron at Udorn Airfield, Thailand. The aircraft they
flew on the combat missions they were assigned was the F4E, an electronic
version of the Phantom.

On October 10, 1972, Cleary was the pilot and Leonor the navigator onboard their
F4E when it was assigned a mission over North Vietnam. The aircraft did not
return to friendly control, and the crew was declared missing at the time of
estimated fuel exhaustion. Their last known location was on the coastline of
North Vietnam at Quang Binh Province, about 5 miles south of the city of Ron.

Cleary and Leonor were maintained missing in action for the next seven years. At
that time, their status was administratively changed by the Department of the
Air Force to killed in action, based on no specific evidence that they were
alive.

When the last American troops left Southeast Asia in 1975, some 2500 Americans
were unaccounted for. Reports received by the U.S. Government since that time
build a strong case for belief that hundreds of these "unaccounted for"
Americans are still alive and in captivity.

"Unaccounted for" is a term that should apply to numbers, not men. Nearly 600
men were left behind in Laos, and our government did not negotiate their
release. We, as a nation, owe these men our best effort to find them and bring
them home. Until the fates of men like Cleary and Leonor are known, their
families will wonder if they are dead or alive - and why they were deserted.



CLEM, THOMAS D.

Name:  Thomas D. Clem
Rank/Branch:  02/USMC Reserve
Unit:  Marine Aircraft Group 12, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing.
Date of Birth: 31 May 1942
Home City of Record: New Paris, IN (born Goshen, IN)
Date of Loss: 3 May 1968
Country of Loss:  North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: N164658 E1070157
Status (in 1973): Killed in Action/Body not Recovered
Category:  3
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: A6A

Other Personnel in Incident:  Avery, Robert D., missing

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project and the P.O.W. NETWORK 2 April
1992 from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government
agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources,
interviews. Copyright 1992 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Captain Clem was the pilot of the A6A aircraft that failed to
return from a mission over North Vietnam.

Since the war ended, the Defense Department has received over 10,000
reports relating to the men still unaccounted for in Southeast Asia, yet
concludes that no actionable evidence has been received that would
indicate Americans are still alive in Southeast Asia. A recent Senate
investigation indicates that most of these reports were dismissed
without just cause, and that there is every indication that Americans
remained in captivity far after the war ended, and may be alive today.


CASE SYNOPSIS: CLEVE, REGINALD DAVID

Name: Reginald David Cleve
Rank/Branch: W1/US Army
Unit: 176th Aviation Company, 14th Aviation Battalion, 16th Aviation Group,
23rd Infantry Division (Americal)
Date of Birth: 02 August 1947 (Bonne Terre MO)
Home City of Record: Farmington MO
Date of Loss: 22 March 1971
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 163623N 1063343E (XD666365)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H
Other Personnel In Incident: Walter R. Hall; Donald P. Knutsen; John G. Traver
(all missing)

REMARKS: CRASH - N EXITS OBS - NO SEARCH -J

SYNOPSIS: The families of the men aboard the UH1H aircraft lost on March 22,
1971 were given the following account: On March 22, 1971, W1 Reginald Cleve,
aircraft commander; W1 John G. Traver, pilot; SP4 Donald P. Knutsen, crew
chief; and Walter R. Hall, door gunner, comprised the crew of a UH1H helicopter
in a flight of five helicopters conducting an emergency resupply mission when
the helicopter burst into flames and crashed.

The aircraft was flying at an altitude of about 5000 feet above sea level in
Savannakhet Province, Laos, when it was fired upon by a hostile ground force
and an explosion occurred in the cargo compartment. The helicopter impacted
essentially in one piece and again exploded and continued to burn. No one was
observed to exit the aircraft, and it was the opinion of the investigating
committee that no one could have survived. No rescue attempts were made due to
the heavy concentration of enemy troops and the aircraft fire in the area.

A family member of one of the crew states, "one reason for our feeling that he
may still be alive is that his craft was hit, and he radioed to the leader of
the mission that he would be forced to land. The remainder of the aircraft went
on to deliver their cargoes, and as they returned to their base, they
reportedly passed over this site. They saw (the downed helicopter) on the
ground, but there was NOT any fire, nor did they see any of the men around it."

Because thousands of reports have been received that Americans are still alive
in Indochina, and because distorted stories were given many family members,
particularly relatives of those men missing in Laos (where we were "not at
war"), it is understandable that many family members have lost faith in what
they are told about the fates of their men.

Experts believe that hundreds of Americans may be alive today in Southeast Asia
as captives. The crew aboard the UH1H lost that day in May 1971 could be among
them. Surely they expected that they might be injured or killed. The thought
that they might be abandoned probably never crossed their minds.

What are we doing to bring these men home?
CLEVER, LOUIS JOHN
Remains Returned (see text)

Name: Louis John Clever
Rank/Branch: E6/US Air Force
Unit: 6994th Security Squadron
Date of Birth: 24 July 1936
Home City of Record: Westmoreland City PA
Date of Loss: 05 February 1969
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 152600N 1064700E (approx)
Status (in 1973): Killed In Action
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: EC47

Other Personnel in Incident: Hugh L. Sherburn; Robert E. Olson; Harry T. Niggle;
Clarence L. McNeill; Homer M. Lynn Jr.; Walter F. Burke; James V. Dorsey Jr.;
Rodney H. Gott; Wilton N. Hatton (all reported KIA)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 September 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: ** NOT ON MISSING LISTS **

SYNOPSIS: The Douglas C47 was designed as a transport, gunship, and electronic
or regular reconnaissance aircraft, depending on the configuration. The aircraft
served in World War II and served French forces in Indochina in the 1950's, and
returned to Vietnam at the outset of American involvement there.

On February 5, 1969, an EC47 (electronic surveillance) departed Pleiku Airbase,
Republic of Vietnam on a tactical reconnaissance mission over Laos. The aircraft
crew included LtCol. Harry T. Niggle, Capt. Walter F. Burke, Major Robert E.
Olson, Major Homer M. Lynn Jr., MSgt. Wilton N. Hatton, SSgt. Rodney H. Gott,
TSgt. Louis J. Clever, SSgt. James V. Dorsey Jr., SSgt. Hugh L. Sherburn (radio
operator on the aircraft), and Sgt. Clarence L. McNeill. The last radio contact
with the aircraft was at 8:10 a.m. at which time it was located about 21 miles
west-northwest of the city of Chavane in Saravane Province, Laos.

When the aircraft failed to make a scheduled stop at Phu Bai Airport near Hue
shortly before noon, search efforts were initiated to locate the aircraft.
During the remainder of the day and for six succeeding days, extensive
communication and ramp checks were made, as well as a visual search of the area
from the last known position of the aircraft through its intended flight path.
Because no information was forthcoming which would reveal the whereabouts of the
missing aircraft and crew, the search was then terminated.

In the fall of 1969, the wreckage of an EC47 was located in a jungle-covered
mountainous area in the approximate last known location of Sherburn's aircraft.
The wreckage site was searched, and remains and a number of items were
recovered. These items were later correlated to Sherburn's aircraft.

The Department of the Air Force believes that the aircraft was faced with a
sudden airborne emergency since the right wing of the aircraft was found some
500 meters from the main wreckage site. It was believed that the engine caught
fire causing the wing to separate from the fuselage while the aircraft was still
in the air. Further, the Air Force states that although the crew members had
parachutes, it is unlikely that the apparent suddenness of the emergency would
have permitted anyone to abandon the aircraft. The absence of emergency radio
signals further diminished the hope that any of the crew members could have
survived.

At this time, the Air Force declared the ten men onboard the aircraft to be
dead, and so notified the families. The remains found at the crash site were
interred in a single grave at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St. Louis.
Military officials told eight of the families that the remains of only two
individuals had been identified, but would not reveal those identities to them.
(It is assumed that the families of the two individuals identified were
informed.)

In February 1970, the Sherburn family was informed that the remains found at the
crash site were skeletal and commingled, and that Air Force identification
specialists were unable to determine that they had a composite of ten
individuals -- and were unable to establish the identity of any of the remains.

About the same time the crew of the EC47 was being interred in St. Louis,
another mass burial was conducted, containing 18 USMC and Navy personnel. On
January 28, 1973, PFC Ronald Ridgeway, one of those 18 "dead and buried"
servicemen, was released alive from a POW camp in Hanoi. The U.S. had not known
that he was a prisoner of war.

Although the relatives found little hope in Ridgeway's return, some thought
it entirely possible that others might have escaped with Ridgeway. How many
others, some family members wondered, had been captured without the U.S. finding
out?

If such a thing could happen to the Marine and Navy group, what about the EC47
lost in Laos? Unfortunately, when the war ended, no American held in Laos was
released. The U.S. has not negotiated the freedom of a single man the Pathet Lao
asserted they held prisoner in Laos.

The U.S. Government has never changed its position on the Marines, Navy and Air
Force personnel interred in mass graves in St. Louis, and has continued to state
unequivocally that they were killed in action because the families could not
produce proof otherwise. Although the government lacked positive evidence that
most of these men were dead, its assumption that they were dead overruled any
assumption that they might be alive. The Marine Corps has admitted that some of
those "buried" men could have been captured, but that it is doubtful. Even
though considerable doubt surrounds the identification of the men buried in St.
Louis, and, indeed, some of them might have survived, official status change has
been denied.

Since the war ended, over 10,000 reports of Americans prisoner, missing or
unaccounted for in Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. Government. It
would not be erroneous to speculate that if the U.S. received a first-hand, live
sighting report on the men "buried" in St. Louis, that report would be debunked
because they are all "dead."

Although many experts who have reviewed the largely-classified information
relating to Americans still missing in Southeast Asia have concluded that
hundreds of them are still alive in captivity, the USG cannot seem to make up
its mind. Meanwhile, how many wait for their country to come for them? Who will
look for these men?




CLIFTON, DAVID P.

Name: David P. Clifton
Rank/Branch: Civilian
Unit: Glomar Java Sea
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record:
Date of Loss: 25 October 1983
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates:
Status (in 1973):
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground:

Personnel in Incident: Herman Arms; Jerald T. Battiste; Sebe M. Bracey; Patrick
B. Cates; Wei Chen; Xiong Chen; Shu Guo Cheng; Jacob K. J. Chong; David P.
Clifton; James F. Cusick; Thomas J. Dixon; Shao Jien Feng; Jerald J. Flanagan;
Nigel Furness; Leonard E. Ganzinotti; La Juan A. Gilmore; Henry M. Gittings;
James K. Gittings; Terance C. Green; Jun Tian Guan; David Higgins, Jr.; Tyronne
Higgins; Hong Xi Huang; Rui Wen Huang; Yong Liang Huang; Timothy Jarvis; John W.
Jennings Jr.; Thomas J. Kofahl; Fan Xiang Kong; Guo Zhen Lai; John W. Lawrence;
Tong L. T. Lee; Chong Chang Li; Xuan Qiu Li; Zhan Jun Liang; Jie Feng Lin; Bing
Guang Liu; Edgar S. Lim; Gary Looke; Robert M. McCurry; Jerry L. Manfrida;
Raymond D. Miller; Xie Yi Mo; Tian Xue Mo; Kenneth W. Myers; Larry K. Myers;
Donald J. Ouellet; John D. Pierce; Peter Popiel; Clarence Reed; Jewell J.
Reynolds; E.J. Russell Reynolds; Walter T. Robinson; Kenneth B. Rogers; Lawrence
M. Salzwedel; William R. Schug; Richard E. Shoff; Christopher J. Sleeman; Delmar
A. Spencer; George G. Sullivan; Chong Jian Sun; Gustaf F. Swanson; Kevin C.
Swanson; Guo Dong Tang; Michael W. Thomas; Jiang Wang; Yu Fang Wang; Dong Cai
Wang; Guo Rong Wu; jing Sheng Xia; Xing Xing; Hui Xu; Ming Rui Xu; Mua Guang
Yuan; Xing Zhen Zhang; Yi Hua Zhang; Ji Chang Zhen; Shu Rong Zhou; Yao Wu Zhou;
Jie Fang Zhou; Da Huai Zhu.

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 10 December 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 5,930-ton American drilling ship, "Glomar Java Sea" was owned by
Global Marine of Houston, Texas, and leased to Atlantic Richfield Company
(ARCO). In the fall of 1983, the vessel was on duty about 200 miles east of the
Vietnamese coast. The ship was drilling for oil in the South China Sea in a
joint venture of ARCO and China Naitonal Offshore Oil Corporation, a state-owned
concern.

The "Glomar Java Sea" is a sister ship of the "Glomar Explorer," which, under
the guise of being utilized by the late Howard Hughes in a deep sea mining
operation in the Paficic, was really being used by the CIA and Navy in a $350
million project to retrieve a sunken Soviet Golf-class submarine. A large part
of the submarine was in fact recovered in 1974 before details of the project
were publicly revealed.

The Glomar Java Sea, with its crew of 81, began drilling operations on January
9, 1983 and was the first American wildcat operaton off the Chinese coast. On
October 25, 1983, the vessel was sunk during Typhoon Lex.

Documents removed from the ship by a crewman before the disaster indicate that
the vessel was being shadowed by armed Vietnamese naval craft and that there
were submarine mines beneath the "Glomar Java Sea," placed there and retrievable
by its crew. Another document indicates that the ship was damaged prior ot the
typhoon when a Chinese supply boat rammed into its side, causing some $320,000
damage to the vessel. The Glomar Java Sea did not leave its post for repairs.

Communications between ARCO and Global Marine, as well as telegraphic and radio
communications of the U.S. Western Pacific Rescue Coordination Center (WESTPAC)
reveal information about the search for the crew of the Glomar Java Sea.

The documents indicate that a number of survivors from the stricken vessel were
floundering in the water off the coast of Vietnam for hours after the disaster.
There is also indication that the men were picked up by Vietnamese coastal
patrols and are held captive of the Hanoi regime.

The crew of the Glomar Java Sea included 37 Americans, 35 Chinese, four British,
two Singaporeans, one Filipino, one Australian, and one Canadian.

From a transcript of a radio communicaton between WESTPAC and Global Marine on
October 28, three days after the sinking, WESTPAC was told:  "We are informed
that the SOS transmission could not have been transmitted except by human
operators..." There were two 64-man lifeboats aboard the drilling ship, plus
smaller lifeboats.

In an October 29 communicaton from WESTPAC to Global Marine, it is clearly
stated that five strobe lights were sighted by rescue aircraft in the vicinity
of 17-30 North 107-45 East. The aircraft were dispatched to the area because
strobe lights had been previously sighted. Lifejackets from the Glomar Java Sea
were equipped with strobe lights to signal rescuers.

Another October 29 communication between ARCO and Global Marine states that
ARCO's search aircraft had spotted survivors in the water at 17.27 North 107.54
East, and had attempted to divert surface vessels to this location. The
communication expressed the urgency to rescue the men before dark.

At 8:01 a.m. on October 29, ARCO had dropped a rescue raft to survivors.  Pickup
would be delayed for several hours, but the "Salvanquish," a Singapore-based
salvage ship, was within one half-mile of the site.

At 8:38 a.m search aircraft reported pinpointing the survivors' positions by dye
markers released by the survivors into the water. Two survivors were confirmed
with a possible third some distance away. Plans were also made to return to the
downed vessell to offlift survivors.

Another document shows that on nine different occasions radio transmissions were
picked up from a lifeboat. They ranged from "very strong" to "weak" with most
being described as "strong."

Inexplicably, despite the successful search, no rescue was made of the
survivors. Later that day, the Chinese Navy picked up a Vietnamese broadcast
reporting that the Vietnamese had sighted a lifeboat near their coast. The
location of the lifeboat was not confirmed by friendly search parties.

ARCO-Global Marine determined that this sighting was in the vicinity of Hon Gio
Island, located about 80 miles up the Vietnamese coast from the old U.S. base at
Da Nang and about 14 miles offshore, which placed it in Vietnamese territorial
waters. It appears that rescue craft were hampered in fully investigating the
report due to its location and the hint of possible interference by the
Vietnamese military.

It is likely that survivors would have been picked up by the Vietnamese if they
had in fact drifted within Vietnam's territory.

In the years following the loss of the Glomar Java Sea, a number of reports, all
unconfirmed by the U.S., indicate that survivors were seen in captivity in
Vietnam. It is known that the Vietnamese had shown a hostile interest in the
vessel, and the Glomar Java Sea had standing orders to be alert for Vietnamese
vessels in the area. The Chinese Navy served as protection for the vessel and
stood ready to take action should Vietnamese craft wander too close. The waters
below the vessel were mined.

A month after the Glomar Java Sea went down, Chinese divers went down to the
wreckage and went through the ship with a video cameras.

In March 1984, American divers were able to retrieve 31 bodies from the sunken
vessel. Fifteen of the bodies were identified as Americans. In addition, three
British and one Singaporean were identified. The bodies of another American and
two Chinese were tentatively identified. Divers photographed two bodies they
were unable to retrieve. They also found one of the Chinese divers that had
explored the wreckage in November 1983, lashed to the deck of the ship.

The American divers determined that one of the ship's large lifeboats was
launched and that an attempt had been made to launch another. Their film was
seen by the mother of one of the lost crewmen. She reported that the crack in
the hull of the ship at one point was a hole 48 inches across, which was
punctured inward, "as though the rig had been hit by something that exploded."
This fueled additional speculation that the vessel had, in fact, been attacked
rather that simply mortally damaged by the typhoon.

The National Transportaton Safety Board officially determined in November 1984
that an "unexplained crack" in the hull of the Glomar Java Sea was responsible
for its sinking during the typhoon. Apparently, the crack in the hull allowed
two storage tanks to fill with water, causing the vessel to become off-balanced,
making it vulnerable to the forces of the typhoon. Officials believed it was
possible that survivors may have been able to abandon the ship before it sank.
It was determined that the ship had been improperly prepared for the storm.

During 1984, there were reports from Southeast Asia that between six and twelve
survivors of the Glomar Java Sea were being held in prisoner of war camps in
Vietnam. One of the survivors was identified by a Vietnamese refugee as American
crewman John Pierce.

Douglas F. Pierce, father of John Pierce, reported that the refugee had seen his
son, five other Americans and eight Chinese when they were brought into a prison
in Da Nang, where the refugee was being held. John Pierce gave the refugee his
father's business card and two sticks of gum.

Mr. Pierce gave the information to Defense Intelligence Agency who determined
that the refugee had not been in the camp at all, but had received the business
card by mail from a friend, not directly from Pierce. DIA further determined
that the incident had occurred in late October 1983 (shortly after the Glomar
Java Sea went down). The refugee gave Mr. Pierce the original letter, which
contained the names and addresses of two mutual Vietnamese friends.

No followup was conducted on the two names in the letter by DIA, and DIA
discounted the information provided by the refugee. It was not until 1990 that
it became apparent that the Defense Department felt no responsibility for the
Americans lost on the Glomar Java Sea. At that time, DIA reported that the
responsibility for these civilians belonged to the U.S. State Department.

Mr. Pierce did not stop there. He uncovered a U.S. State Department document
that revealed that Cheng Quihong, the secretary and wife of the Director of
China's Visa Office, was overheard telling her companion at a Hong Kong dinner
that survivors from the Glomar had been picked up and were held by the
Vietnamese.

Pierce also learned that a JCRC report sent to DIA dated November 6, 1984,
reported that a former prisoner from Pleiku prison had been held with a Chinese
man who claimed to have been off the Glomar. The man said he was one of three
men who were captured, and that the other two were Americans.

Pierce adds that to his knowledge, neither of these reports were followed up by
U.S. officials, and Pierce has received no reply to his queries regarding them.

In 1989 a Japanese monk named Yoshida was released from prison after being held
for years by the Vietnamese. Yoshida was shown a photograph of John Pierce and
stated that Pierce looked very familiar, and that he had either seen him or
someone who looked very much like him.

In November, 1990, Vietamese Foreign Minister Nguyen Co Thach traveled to the
U.S. and spoke with U.S. officials on a variety of matters. At this time, he
announced that there was a black American named Walter T. Robinson living
illegally in Vietnam, and invited U.S. representatives to come and help find
him. Thach provided a social security number and two photographs.

The Pentagon told "The Washington Times" that the two photographs of Robinson
provided by Thach are of a black man. However, the Pentagon has since admitted
that the photos "are not very well developed" and appear to be of either a black
man or a dark Asian. Photocopies of old newspaper articles concerning Robinson,
obtained by Homecoming II, show a dark-haired man of relatively dark complexion.

The Pentagon has not released the photographs to the press.

The Defense Department determined that Walter T. Robinson had never been listed
as missing in Vietnam. Thach had provided a social security number, and
according to DOD, this information correlated to a white American living in the
Midwest. They concluded that the Thach information, therefore, was in error.

Later information indicated that a Walter T. Robinson was listed on the crew
roster of the Glomar Java Sea. When queried, the Defense Department reported
that they were aware of this Robinson, but that civilians were the
responsibility of the State Department.

It seems apparent that the U.S. is not vigorously looking for the men missing
from the Glomar Java Sea, and that like the missing and prisoners who served in
military and civilian capacities during the Vietnam war, they have been
abandoned.


CASE SYNOPSIS: CLINTON, DEAN EDDIE

Name: Dean Eddie Clinton
Rank/Branch: W1/US Army
Unit: Company C, 227th Aviation Battalion, 11th Aviation Group, 1st Cavalry
Division (Airmobile)
Date of Birth: 26 November 1946 (Whittington IL)
Home City of Record: Dix IL
Loss Date: 11 June 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam - Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 131800N 1094000E (CQ555705)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 5
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1D
Other Personnel In Incident: Ralph E. Uhlmansiek; Quentin Beecher; Thomas F.
Riggs; James R. Nelson (all missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: The 227th Aviation Battalion (Assault Helicopter), 11th Aviation
Group was organic to the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile). From the end of
October 1966 into February 1967, the 1st Cavalry Division battled clearing Binh
Dinh Province in Operations THAYER II and PERSHING, the latter concentrated in
the rich northern coastal plain as well as the Kim Son and Luoi Ci Valleys to
the west. Throughout the rest of 1967 the division combated the North
Vietnamese Army's 610th Division and Viet Cong Units in the II Corps Tactical
Zone. There were over 7100 known enemy casualties in the two operations.

On June 11, 1967, WO1 Thomas F. Riggs, pilot; WO Dean E. Clinton, co-pilot; SP5
James R. Nelson, crew chief; and passengers WO1 Quentin R. Beecher and SP4
Ralph E. Uhlmansiek; departed Landing Zone Uplift, Qui Nhon airfield in the
southern coastal region of Binh Dinh Province, South Vietnam.

The crew and passengers were aboard a UH1D helicopter (serial #63-12958), call
sign "Bamboo Viper 47", on an operations mission in the province. At 1900
hours, Bamboo Viper 47 left the LZ at Qui Nhon. While en route, bad weather was
encountered, and the pilot requested assistance in determining his position.

Efforts by Tuy Hoa and Qui Nhon airfields, and airborne search and rescue
control aircraft failed to locate the aircraft to guide it to the airfield. At
2057 hours, the pilot reported that he was out of fuel, and was willing to make
a water landing. Search and rescue efforts started immediately, and continued
until 13 June, but was unsuccessful in locating either the helicopter or its
crew and passengers. All were declared Missing in Action, Category 5 (which
indicates that it is not felt that remains can be recovered).

There are nearly 2500 Americans who remain missing in Southeast Asia. Reports
from refugee and intelligence sources continue to mount that indicate some of
these men are alive, still held in captivity. Experts now believe that hundreds
of Americans are still held.

The case of the downed UH1D seems clear - the crew will probably never be
found. But for many of the others who are missing, endings are not so easy to
write. Many are alive and waiting for the country they proudly served to bring
them home. As long as one American is alive in captivity in the jungles of
Southeast Asia, the war is not over - our flag is still there.
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.




COADY, ROBERT F.

Name: Robert F. Coady
Rank/Branch: USAF, O3
Unit:
Date of Birth: 11 September 39
Home City of Record: New Orleans, LA
Date of Loss: 18 January 69
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 163600N 1061500E
Status (in 1973):  Missing
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: A1H

Other Personnel In Incident:

Source: Compiled by THE P.O.W. NETWORK 02 February 93 from the
following published sources - POW/MIA's -- Report of the Select Committee
on POW/MIA Affairs United States Senate -- January 13, 1993. "The Senate
Select Committee staff has prepared case summaries for the priority cases
that the Administration is now investigating. These provide the facts about
each case, describe the circumstances under which the individual was lost,
and detail the information learned since the date of loss.  Information in
the case summaries is limited to information from casualty files, does not
include any judgments by Committee staff, and attempts to relate essential
facts. The Committee acknowledges that POW/MIAs' primary next-of- kin know
their family members' cases in more comprehensive detail than summarized
here and recognizes the limitations that the report format imposes on these
summaries."

Mid-morning on January 18, 1967, Captain Coady was the pilot of an
A-1H, the number two aircraft in a flight of four on a combat
support mission approximately five miles south-southeast of
Tchepone, Savannakhet Province.  His aircraft made a shallow dive
on a target, was hit by hostile fire during the dive, and crashed
with wings level into a wooded hillside within ten meters of the
source of the ground fire, exploding on impact.  He was not
observed to parachute from the aircraft and no beeper was heard.
A SAR effort located no evidence of him.

In 1971, Captain Coady's sister viewed a film depicting U.S. POWs
in North Vietnam during Christmas 1969.  She also believed she'd
seen his picture in a photo album the U.S. Navy had provided her.
DIA has determined that all those in the 1969 film have been
positively identified and Captain Coady is not in either the film
or photos prepared of individuals depicted in the movie.

Upon his early release from prison in 1969, one U.S. POW reported
having heard of a POW named either Bill Cody or Cote but never saw
an individual with that name and could provide no other information
about the individual.  In 1978 the U.S. Air Force correlated this
to Robert T. Coady but there is no basis for such a correlation and
no other returnee from North Vietnam ever provided such a name.  In
July 1974 he was declared dead/body not recovered, based on a
presumptive finding of death.

In July 1992 Captain Coady's crash site was investigated by a joint
U.S./Vietnamese team and the team interviewed witnesses concerning
the circumstances of the crash.  One source described having
recovered Coady's dog tag and other personal artifacts in 1990
while scavenging for metal at the crash site.  During July 1992
personal artifacts and surface wreckage recovered permitted a
tentative correlation of the site to Captain Coady's aircraft crash
site.  The recovered material also suggested Captain Coady did not
exit his aircraft before it crashed.
COAKLEY, WILLIAM FRANCIS
Remains Returned 1989

Name: William Francis Coakley
Rank/Branch: O4/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 153, USS Constellation (CVA-64)
Date of Birth: 12 August 1933
Home City of Record: Lennox MA
Date of Loss: 13 September 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 193657N 1054757E (WG838690)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A4C
Other Personnel In Incident: (none missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: LtCdr. William F. Coakley was a pilot assigned to Attack Squadron 153
onboard the aircraft carrier USS Constellation (CVA-64). On the night of
September 13, 1966, he launched in his A4C "Skyhawk" attack aircraft on an
armed reconnaissance mission into North Vietnam.

Coakley's aircraft commenced an identification pass under a single flare
dropped by his flight leader. He reported by radio that he was in his run and
immediately thereafter, the flight leader observed Coakley's aircraft impact
the ground spreading flames over a large area. No transmissions were received
in response to calls, no signalling devices were seen or heard. It is suspected
that enemy ground fire or Coakley's excessive concentration on the target area
caused his collision with the ground. No ejection or parachute was seen.

Coakley's status was initially Missing In Action, but was changed the following
day, September 14, 1966, by the onscene commander to Killed In Action, Body Not
Recovered. He was among nearly 2500 Americans still unaccounted for from the
Vietnam War.

In early 1989, the U.S. announced that remains returned by Vietnam had been
positively identified as those of Commander William F. Coakley. For 22 years,
the Vietnamese denied any knowledge of him or his fate, but "discovered" his
remains and returned them to U.S. control. According to the Vietnamese, Coakley
died instantly when a Surface to Air Missile (SAM) hit his aircraft.

Coakley was a career Navy officer, having been in the service since the
1950's. The agonizing wait is over for his mother, Jeannette, age 85 who
wondered for 23 years whether he was a prisoner of war. "All those years I
worried about his being in prison. It's a terrible thing when you know how he
might have been tortured. I'm very sad and happy all at once," Coakley's mother
told Boston Globe reporter Ray Richard.

Since war's end, thousands of reports have been received indicating that many
Americans did not perish in their crashes as Coakley evidently did, but
survived, and are still alive today waiting for the country they served to
bring them home. What are we doing to secure their freedom?

COALSTON, ECHOL WAYNE JR.

Name: Echol Wayne Coalston, Jr.
Rank/Branch: E5/US Army
Unit: HHC, 1st Transportation Battalion (Seaborne), USNS Corpus Christie Bay
Date of Birth: 25 February 1940 (Tupelo MS)
Home City of Record: Memphis TN
Date of Loss: 21 January 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 102300N 1070200E
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: USNS

Other Personnel In Incident: (none)

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: SP5 Echol Coalston was lost overboard from the fantail of USNS Corpus
Christie Bay at Vung Pao Harbor, South Vietnam on January 21, 1968. An extensive
search was launched, but Coalston could not be found.

In the ensuing days, leaflets were distributed in nearby districts along the
coast line, and trips of inquiry were made to the city of Vung Pao, but no
additional information was learned.

It was presumed that SP5 Coalston was dead from a suicide jump off the fantail
of his ship and that his remains were not recoverable.

The Vietnam War touched many lives. Tens of thousands of families lost loved
ones in battle deaths. Tens of thousands saw their sons and brothers come home
maimed physically and mentally from the wounds and torments of the savagery of
war. Some received telegrams that their loved ones drowned in recreation; a few
learned their sons died from drug overdose; and some learned their sons, for
unknown reasons chose to end their lives in Vietnam.

As long as man has been, war has been. As a society, we tend to bury the
unpleasant aspects of war and concentrate on the victory. In Vietnam, we have
only a hollow "Peace with Honor" and must instead, focus on the warriors - men
who willingly served their country when called. Men whose lives we used as the
price for our freedom.

The most tragic of all the warriors are those who still wait, captive and
abandoned by their country in prisons and camps in Southeast Asia. In abandoning
them, we have made the deaths and suffering of thousands a frivolous waste. We
must never neglect the duty we have to the men who must someday answer their
country's call.

COATES, DONALD LEROY

Name: Donald Leroy Coates
Rank/Branch: E6/US Marine Corps
Unit: VMGR 152, 1st Marine Air Wing
Date of Birth: 19 January 1937
Home City of Record: Tigard OR
Date of Loss: 01 February 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 172038N 1072217E (YE520190)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: KC130F

Other Personnel In Incident: Peter Vlahakos; Albert M. Prevost; Russell B.
Luker; Galen F. Humphrey; Richard A. Alm (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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 Lockheed C130 Hercules was one of the most important aircraft used
in Vietnam. It served many purposes, among them transport, tanker, gunship,
drone controller, airborne battlefield command and control center, weather
reconnaissance craft, electronic reconnaissance platform, search, rescue and
recovery.

The U.S. Marines employed the KC130F version which served primarily as a
probe-and-drogue refueling plane, although when the rubber fuel bladders were
removed from the cargo compartment, the plane also served as a transport. The
KC130F was capable of refueling two aircraft simultaneously.

On February 1, 1966, a U.S. Marine Hercules tanker was operating in the Gulf of
Tonkin near the coast of North Vietnam, about 10 miles north of the island of
Hon Co. During a refueling operation, the tanker was hit by ground fire and
crashed into the ocean. All crew onboard the aircraft were considered to have
died in the crash of the plane.

The pilot of the aircraft was 1LT Albert M. Prevost; crew chief SSGT Peter G.
Vlahakos; other crew members included Maj. Richard A. Alm; SSGT Donald L.
Coates; GYSGT Galen F. Humphrey, navigator; and SSGT Russell B. Luker. All were
declared Killed in Action, Bodies Not Recovered.

According to family members of the crew, however, it was reported that there was
not a single piece of wreckage to be found. This seems improbable for an
aircraft weighing in excess of 60,000 pounds involved in a crash - especially
one carrying a jet fuel cargo. Some family members are suspicious of the
reported circumstances of the crash and believe it may have occurred elsewhere,
thus explaining the lack of wreckage found.

Regardless, if the Marine Corps crash site location is accurate, there can be no
question someone was aiming the gun that shot the aircraft down. Someone knows
the fate of the aircraft and crew. Beyond those on the ground, the shoreline of
Vietnam was heavily trafficked by fishermen and patrol boats. There is no doubt
that the Vietnamese could account for the men onboard the KC130 lost near Ho Co
Island on February 1, 1966.

Since American involvement in the war in Southeast Asia ended, over 10,000
reports relating to Americans prisoner, missing, or unaccounted for in Southeast
Asia have been received by the U.S. Government. Many authorities, having
reviewed this largely-classified information have concluded that hundreds of
Americans are still alive in captivity today.

Perhaps the entire crew of seven perished on February 1, 1966. But, perhaps they
are among those experts believe are still alive, still held prisoner. We cannot
forget a single man, lest he be left behind. They must all be brought home.

COBBS, RALPH BURTON

Name: Ralph Burton Cobbs
Rank/Branch: O4/US Navy
Unit: Air Transport Squadron 7, Cam Ranh Bay, South Vietnam
Date of Birth: 05 August 1917
Home City of Record: St. Louis IL
Date of Loss: 17 June 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 130112N 1092333E (CQ398257)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: C130E
Other Personnel in Incident: Curtis D. Collette; Jack I. Dempsey; Stanley J.
Freng; Edward L. Romig; M.J. Savoy; Donald E. Siegwarth; Robert A. Cairns; Gene
K. Hess; Connie M. Gravitte; Oley N. Adams; Larry E. Washburn (all missing)

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: EXPLODE AIR & IMPACT SEA - J

SYNOPSIS: On June 17, 1966, a C130E "Hercules" aircraft departed Cam Ranh Bay,
South Vietnam en route to Kadena Air Base, Okinawa on an operational airlift
support mission. Aboard the flight were the crew, consisting of LtCdr. Ralph B.
Cobbs; ADJ2 Curtis D. Collette; YN2 Jack I. Dempsey; ADR2 Stanley J. Freng;
Ltjg. Edward L. Romig; AN M.J. Savoy; and Ltjg. Donald E. Siegwarth. All were
assigned to the 7th Air Transport Squadron. Also aboard the aircraft were U.S.
Air Force personnel SSgt. Robert A. Cairns; SSgt. Gene K. Hess; Capt. Connie M.
Gravitte; SSgt. Oley N. Adams; and A1 Larry E. Washburn, and one other
individual.

About 30 minutes into the flight, when the aircraft was 43 miles northeast of
Nha Trang, the crew of a naval gunboat cruising off the South Vietnam coast
observed the C130 explode and crash into the South China Sea. No hostile fire
was observed, and the exact cause of the crash could not be determined. The
vessell arrived at the crash scene only minutes after the impact and began an
immediate search. The accident took place so swiftly that it must be assumed
all aboard perished instantly. Some debris and wreckage have been recovered
including parts of the aircraft and personal belongings. Only one body was
recovered from the crash site. The others are listed as "Dead/Body Not
Recovered."

Cobbs and Siegworth were pilots, and probably the co-pilots of the aircraft,
although this information is not included in public data relating to the loss.
Crew positions of the remaining crew members are not available.

Inexplicably, Cobbs' loss coordinates place him on the coast of South Vietnam a
few miles northeast of Tuy Hoa, while the others aboard are listed as lost
northeast of Na Trang. (This is a difference of about 55 miles.) Also, the
entire crew of the aircraft has been assigned "Knowledge Category 4", while the
passengers are in "Knowledge Category 5". Category 5 includes those individuals
whose remains have been determined to be non-recoverable. Category 4 includes
individuals whose loss details, such as location and time, are unknown and who
do not fit into any of the varying degrees of knowledge other than category 5.
No reason for this discrepancy can be determined.

The Americans aboard the C130E are listed among the missing because their
remains were never found to be returned to their homeland. They are among
nearly 2500 Americans who remain unaccounted for from the Vietnam war. The
cases of some, like the C130E crew, seem clear - that they perished and cannot
be recovered, Unfortunately, many others who are missing do not have such clear
cut cases. Some were known captives; some were photographed as they were led by
their guards. Some were in radio contact with search teams, while others simply
disappeared.

Since the war ended, over 250,000 interviews have been conducted with those who
claim to know about Americans still alive in Southeast Asia, and several
million documents have been studied. U.S. Government experts cannot seem to
agree whether Americans are there alive or not. Distractors say it would be far
too politically difficult to bring the men they believe to be alive home, and
the U.S. is content to negotiate for remains.

Over 1000 eye-witness reports of living American prisoners were received by
1989. Most of them are still classified. If, as the U.S. seems to believe, the
men are all dead, why the secrecy after so many years? If the men are alive,
why are they not home?

In our haste to leave an unpopular war, it now appears we abandoned some of our
best men. In our haste to heal the wounds of this same war, will we sign their
death warrants? Or will we do what we can to bring them home?


Ralph B. Cobbs had over 22 years of active military service. His record shows
that he was enlisted in the Navy from January 1942 to November 1944 and later
received an appointment into the Air Force Reserve form February 1950 to June
1951. He served during World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.

COCHEO, RICHARD NEWELL

Name: Richard Newell Cocheo
Rank/Branch: U.S. Civilian
Unit: Pacific Architects and Engineers
Date of Birth: 23 May 1938
Home City of Record:
Date of Loss: 31 January 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 101500N 1055800E (XS5060330)
Status (in 1973): Prisoner of War
Category: 1
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Other Personnel in Incident: Cocheo's wife (killed)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS: TAKEN FROM HIS HOUSE - VINH LONG

SYNOPSIS: Richard Cocheo was a base development engineer for Pacific Architects
and Engineers and lived about 60 miles southwest of Saigon in the city of Vinh
Long. On January 31, 1968, during the Tet Offensive, the Viet Cong attacked the
provincial capitol of Vinh Long Province. Cocheo's house was surrounded, and
during the ensuing firefight, Mrs. Cocheo was killed and Richard Cocheo was
captured and taken from his home.

In May 1968, Richard and several South Vietnamese civilians were seen as
captives being held in the village of Tan Giai, Vinh Long Province, where they
had been held since their capture. No further word has been publicly released
about about Richard Cocheo, although other "restricted data" is held by the U.S.
State Department.

The Vietnamese deny any knowledge of Richard Cocheo, and they have not revealed
any details of his captivity. Although they have "discovered" the remains of
over 200 Americans missing in Vietnam, they have yet to "discover" any
information on Richard Cocheo.

Cocheo is one of nearly 2500 Americans who remained missing, prisoner or
unaccounted for from the war in Vietnam. He spent several months in captivity
with the nightmare of his wife's murder.

Since the war ended, over 10,000 reports relating to missing Americans has been
received by the U.S. Government. Many authorities believe that hundreds are
still alive in communist hands. If Cocheo is among them, he has spent over 20
years reliving the murder of his wife and enduring the growing realization that
he has been abandoned by his own country.

             CASE SYNOPSIS:  COCHRAN, ISOM CARTER JR.

  ============================================================================

Name:                Isom Carter Cochran, Jr.
Rank/Branch:            E3/US Army
Unit:                B Battery, 3rd Btn, 6th Artillery
                52nd Artillery Group, 1st Field Force
Date of Birth:            03 April 1947
Home City of Record:        Houston TX
Date of Loss:            23 May 1968
Country of Loss:        South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates:        141246N 1074618E
Status (in 1973):        Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category:            4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground:    Ground
Other Personnel
In Incident:            none missing

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS:  Rifleman Cochran was making a river crossing in the Pleiku area of
South Vietnam with two individuals.  He slipped and went under twice and was
last seen 125 meters downriver from the crossing point.  The other individuals
tried to rescue him, but could not due to the bad river conditions.

Air and ground searches were made for an extended distance down the river
without results.  The following day a ground search was made still further down
the river, but still no trace of Cochran could be found.

Cochran is one of nearly 2500 Americans who remain unaccounted for from the
Vietnam War.  Cochran's case seems clear.  For hundreds of others, however, it
is not possible to draw a clear conclusion.  Scores were alive and well when
last seen.  Some reported their imminent capture by radio to search teams.
Some were photographed as captives and never were released.

Mounting evidence received has convinced many experts that hundreds of
Americans are still alive in jungle camps and prisons of Southeast Asia, yet
the U.S. seems unable or unwilling to do what it takes to bring them home.

PFC Cochran died from misadventure, a cruelly ironic accident.    Those still
alive, as they die, will succumb to calculated abandonment by the country they
proudly served.
COCHRANE, DEVERTON CARPENTER

Name: Deverton Carpenter Cochrane
Rank/Branch: E6/US Army
Unit: 75th Infantry, 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division
Date of Birth: 15 December 1948 (Boston MA)
Home City of Record: Brookline MA
Date of Loss: 17 June 1970
Country of Loss: Cambodia
Loss Coordinates: 121833N 1071134E (YU386618)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel in Incident: Carl J. Laker (missing)

REMARKS: GND COMB - 3 RECOV - SERCH NEG - J

SYNOPSIS: On June 16, 1970, SSgt. Deverton C. Cochran was team leader and SP4
Carl J. Laker the assistant team leader of a reconnaissance team from Company
H, 75th Infantry, 1st Cavalry Division on an area search mission in Cambodia.

1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry was an aerial reconnaissance cavalry squadron
operating with an aero-scout ("white") platoon; aero-weapons ("red") platoon,
and an aero-rifle ("blue") platoon. The squadron also had a ground cavalry
element. Cochrane is listed as attached to "75th Infantry, 1st Squadron, 9th
Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division."  Laker, however, is listed as assigned to
Company H of the 75th Infantry, 1st Cavalry Division, which is a Ranger unit.
If these unit designations are accurate, then Laker was a Ranger while Cochrane
was probably a "blue" assigned to the Company H mission. In 1970, the Company H
strength was 198 men. The 75th Infantry ("Merrill's Marauders") had only been
organized the beginning of 1969 to provide a parent unit for the separate
long-range reconnaissance patrol companies (LRRP). Ranger companies in Vietnam
were particularly elite.

The team was operating just inside Cambodia in Mondol Kiri Province due east of
the South Vietnam city of Dak Song. After a successful infiltration, the team
set up in the vicinity to conduct a trail watch and to establish a night
defensive position.

The next morning, the team moved out to conduct reconnaissance until 1535 hours
when, upon entering a wood line, the team leader was fired upon by enemy
troops. Members of the team saw the team leader fall holding his neck and loin.
SP4 Laker tried to crawl forward to assist, and fell on top of another member
of the team who later reported that Laker had been hit above the left eye,
gravely wounded.

The team finally managed to break contact and one member was able to evade the
enemy and return to friendly lines. An extensive search was made of the battle
area for several days, but only 2 wounded members of the team were rescued.
There was no trace of Cochrane or Laker.

Although the Ranger missions were hazardous, few remain missing from them.
Laker was classified as Killed in Action, Body Not Recovered because the extent
of his injuries were known, and they were serious. Cochrane's injuries, on the
other hand, could not be assessed, and it was felt there was the possibility of
survival and ultimate capture. Cochrane was classified Missing in Action.

Laker and Cochrane are among nearly 2500 Americans still prisoner, missing or
unaccount for from the Vietnam war. Some, like Carl Laker, are undoubtedly
dead. Others were certainly not dead, but in good health the last they were
seen. Still others were seen as prisoners or even photographed, only to
disappear from the prison system.

Unlike "MIAs" from other wars, most of the missing from Vietnam can be
accounted for, if Vietnam chooses to do so. Based on thousands of refugee
reports, most authorities now believe that hundreds of Americans are still
alive today, held against their will. For the honor of those who died, and for
the honor of our country, these men must be brought home.



COEN, HARRY BOB

Name: Harry Bob Coen
Rank/Branch: E3/US Army
Unit: Company E, 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry, 196th Infantry Brigade, 23rd
Infantry Division (Americal)
Date of Birth: 22 September 1948 (Lander WY)
Home City of Record: Riverton WY
Date of Loss: 12 May 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 152630N 1074806E (ZC005090)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Personnel in Incident: Ngok Tavak: Horace H. Fleming; Thomas J. Blackman;
Joseph F. Cook; Paul S. Czerwonka; Thomas W. Fritsch; Barry L. Hempel; Raymond
T. Heyne; Gerald E. King; Robert C. Lopez; William D. McGonigle; Donald W.
Mitchell; James R. Sargent (members of USMC search team - all missing); Glenn
E. Miller; Thomas H. Perry (USSF teammembers - missing); Kham Duc: Richard E.
Sands (missing from CH47); Bernard L. Bucher; Frank M. Hepler; George W. Long;
John L. McElroy; Stephan C. Moreland (USAF crew of C130 - all missing); Warren
R. Orr (USSF on C130 - missing); Harry B. Coen; Andrew J. Craven; Juan M.
Jimenez; Frederick J. Ransbottom; Maurice H. Moore; Joseph L. Simpson; William
E. Skivington; John C. Stuller; Imlay S. Widdison; Danny L. Widner; Roy C.
Williams (all missing); Julius W. Long (released POW).

REMARKS: RELEASED 730316 BY PRG

SYNOPSIS: Kham Duc Special Forces camp (A-105), was located on the western
fringes of Quang Tin ("Great Faith") Province, South Vietnam. In the spring of
1968, it was the only remaining border camp in Military Region I. Backup
responsibility for the camp fell on the 23rd Infantry Division (Americal),
based at Chu Lai on the far side of the province.

The camp had originally been built for President Diem, who enjoyed hunting in
the area. The 1st Special Forces detachment (A-727B) arrived in September 1963
and found the outpost to be an ideal border surveillance site with an existing
airfield. The camp was located on a narrow grassy plain surrounded by rugged,
virtually uninhabited jungle. The only village in the area, located across the
airstrip, was occupied by post dependents, camp followers and merchants. The
camp and airstrip were bordered by the Ngok Peng Bum ridge to the west and Ngok
Pe Xar mountain, looming over Kham Duc to the east. Steep banked streams full
of rapids and waterfalls cut through the tropical wilderness. The Dak Mi River
flowed past the camp over a mile distant, under the shadow of the Ngok Pe Xar.

Five miles downriver was the small forward operating base of Ngok Tavak,
defended by the 113-man 11th Mobile Strike Force Company with its 8 Special
Forces and 3 Australian advisors. Since Ngok Tavak was outside friendly
artillery range, 33 Marine artillerymen of Battery D, 2nd Battalion, 13th
Marines, with two 105mm howitzers were located at the outpost.

Capt. Christopher J. Silva, commander of Detachment A-105 helicoptered into
Ngok Tavak on May 9, 1968 in response to growing signs of NVA presence in the
area. Foul weather prevented his scheduled evening departure. A Kham Duc CIDG
platoon fleeing a local ambush also arrived and was posted to the outer
perimeter. It was later learned that the CIDG force contained VC infiltrators.

Ngok Tavak was attacked by an NVA infantry battalion at 0315 hours on May 10.
The base was pounded by mortars and direct rocket fire. As the frontal assault
began, the Kham Duc CIDG soldiers moved toward the Marines in the fort yelling,
"Don't shoot, don't shoot! Friendly, friendly!" Suddenly they lobbed grenades
into the Marine howitzer positions and ran into the fort, where they shot
several Marines with carbines and sliced claymore mine and communication wires.

The defenders suffered heavy casualties but stopped the main assault and killed
the infiltrators. The NVA dug in along the hill slopes and grenaded the trenches
where the mobile strike force soldiers were pinned by machine gun and rocket
fire. An NVA flamethrower set the ammunition ablaze, banishing the murky flare-
lighted darkness for the rest of the night. SFC Harold M. Swicegood and the
USMC platoon leader, Lt. Adams, were badly wounded and moved to the command
bunker. Medical Spec4 Blomgren reported that the CIDG mortar crews had abandoned
their weapons. Silva tried to operate the main 4.2 inch mortar but was wounded.
At about 0500 hours, Sgt. Glenn Miller, an A-105 communications specialist, was
shot through the head as he ran over to join the Marine howitzer crews.

The NVA advanced across the eastern side of Ngok Tavak and brought forward more
automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenade launchers. In desperation, the
defenders called on USAF AC-47 "Spooky" gunships to strafe the perimeter and
the howitzers, despite the possible presence of friendly wounded in the gun
pits. The NVA countered with tear gas, but the wind kept drifting the gas over
their own lines. After three attempts, they stopped. A grenade fight between
the two forces lasted until dawn.

At daybreak Australian Warrant Officers Cameron and Lucas, joined by Blomgren,
led a CIDG counterattack. The North Vietnamese pulled back under covering fire,
and the howitzers were retaken. The Marines fired the last nine shells and
spiked the tubes. Later that morning medical evacuation helicopters supported
by covering airstrikes took out the seriously wounded, including Silva and
Swicegood. Two CH46's were able to land 45 replacements from the 12th Mobile
Strike Force Company, accompanied by Capt. Euge E. Makowski (who related much
of this account to Shelby Stanton, author of "Green Berets at War"), but one
helicopter was hit in the fuel line and forced down. Another helicopter was hit
by a rocket and burst into flames, wrecking the small helipad. The remaining
wounded were placed aboard a hovering helicopter. As it lifted off, two Mike
Force soldiers and 1Lt. Horace Fleming, one of the stranded aviation crewmen,
grabbed the helicopter skids. All three fell to their deaths after the
helicopter had reached an altitude of over one hundred feet.

The mobile strike force soldiers were exhausted and nervous. Ammunition and
water were nearly exhausted, and Ngok Tavak was still being pounded by sporadic
mortar fire. They asked permission to evacuate their positions, but were told
to "hold on" as "reinforcements were on the way". By noon the defenders decided
that aerial reinforcement or evacuation was increasingly unlikely, and night
would bring certain destruction. An hour later, they abandoned Ngok Tavak.

Thomas Perry, a medic from C Company, arrived at the camp at 0530 hours the
morning of the 10th. He cared for the wounded and was assisting in an attempt
to establish a defensive perimeter when the decision was made to evacuate the
camp. As survivors were leaving, Perry was seen by Sgt. Cordell J. Matheney,
Jr., standing 20 feet away, as Australian Army Capt. John White formed the
withdrawal column at the outer perimeter wire on the eastern Ngok Tavak
hillside. It was believed that Perry was going to join the end of the column.

All the weapons, equipment and munitions that could not be carried were hastily
piled into the command bunker and set afire. The helicopter that had been
grounded by a ruptured fuel line was destroyed with a LAW. Sgt. Miller's body
was abandoned.

After survivors had gone about 1 kilometer, it was discovered that Perry was
missing. Efforts were conducted to locate both Perry and Miller, including a
search by a group from Battery D. They were searching along the perimeter when
they were hit by enemy grenades and arms fire. Neither the men on the team nor
Perry was ever found. Included in this team were PFC Thomas Blackman; LCpl.
Joseph Cook; PFC Paul Czerwonka; LCpl. Thomas Fritsch; PFC Barry Hempel; LCpl.
Raymond Heyne; Cpl. Gerald King; PFC Robert Lopez; PFC William McGonigle; LCpl.
Donald Mitchell; and LCpl. James Sargent. The remaining survivors evaded
through dense jungle to a helicopter pickup point midway to Kham Duc. Their
extraction was completed shortly before 1900 hours on the evening of May 10.

In concert with the Ngok Tavak assault, the Kham Duc was blasted by a heavy
mortar and recoilless rifle attack at 0245 hours that same morning. Periodic
mortar barrages ripped into Kham Duc throughout the rest of the day, while the
Americal Division airmobiled a reinforced battalion of the 196th Infantry
Brigade into the compound. A Special Forces command party also landed, but the
situation deteriorated too rapidly for their presence to have positive effect.

The mortar attack on fog-shrouded Kham Duc resumed on the morning of May 11.
The bombardment caused heavy losses among the frightened CIDG soldiers, who
fled from their trenches across open ground, seeking shelter in the bunkers.
The LLDB commander remained hidden. CIDG soldiers refused orders to check the
rear of the camp for possible North Vietnamese intruders. That evening the 11th
and 12th Mobile Strike Force companies were airlifted to Da Nang, and half of
the 137th CIDG Company from Camp Ha Thanh was airlanded in exchange.

The 1st VC Regiment, 2nd NVA Division, began closing the ring around Kham Duc
during the early morning darkness of 12 May. At about 0415 to 0430 hours, the
camp and outlying positions came under heavy enemy attack. Outpost #7 was
assaulted and fell within a few minutes. Outposts #5, #1 and #3 had been
reinforced by Americal troops but were in North Vietnamese hands by 0930 hours.

OP1 was manned by PFC Harry Coen, PFC Andrew Craven, Sgt. Joseph Simpson, and
SP4 Julius Long from Company E, 2nd of the 1st Infantry. At about 0415 hours,
when OP1 came under heavy enemy attack, PFC Coen and SP4 Long were seen trying
to man a 106 millimeter recoilless rifle. Survivors reported that in the
initial enemy fire, they were knocked off their bunker. Both men again tried to
man the gun, but were knocked down again by RPG fire.

PFC Craven, along with two other men, departed the OP at 0830 hours on May 12.
They moved out 50 yards and could hear the enemy in their last position. At
about 1100 hours, as they were withdrawing to the battalion perimeter, they
encountered an enemy position. PFC Craven was the pointman and opened fire. The
enemy returned fire, and PFC Craven was seen to fall, with multiple chest
wounds. The other two men were unable to recover him, and hastily departed the
area. PFC Craven was last seen lying on his back, wounded, near the camp.

OP2 was being manned by 1Lt. Frederick Ransbottom, SP4 Maurice Moore, PFC Roy
Williams, PFC Danny Widner, PFC William Skivington, PFC Imlay Widdison, and SP5
John Stuller, from the 2nd of the 3rd Infantry when it came under attack.
Informal questioning of survivors of this position indicated that PFC Widdison
and SP5 Stuller may have been killed in action. However, the questioning was
not sufficiently thorough to produce enough evidence to confirm their deaths.

The only information available concerning 1Lt. Ransbottom, SP4 Moore, PFC Lloyd
and PFC Skivington that Lt. Ransbottom allegedly radioed PFC Widner and PFC
Williams, who were in the third bunker, and told them that he was shooting at
the enemy as they entered his bunker.

SP4 Juan Jimenez, a rifleman assigned to Company A, 2nd of the 1st Infantry,
was occupying a defensive position when he was severely wounded in the back by
enemy mortar fire. SP4 Jimenez was declared dead by the Battalion Surgeon in
the early morning hours of May 12. He was then carried to the helipad for
evacuation. However, due to the situation, space was available in the
helicopter for only the wounded, and SP4 Jimenez'remains were left behind.

At noon a massive NVA attack was launched against the main compound. The charge
was stopped by planes hurling napalm, cluster bomb units and 750 pound bombs
into the final wire barriers. The decision was made by the Americal Division
officers to call for immediate extraction.

The evacuation was disorderly, and at times, on the verge of complete panic.
One of the first extraction helicopters to land was exploded by enemy fire,
blocking the airstrip. Engineers of Company A, 70th Engineer Battalion,
frantically reassembled one of their dozers (previously torn apart to prevent
capture) to clear the runway. Eight more aircraft were blown out of the sky.

PFC Richard E. Sands was a member of Company A, 1st Battalion, 46th Infantry,
198th Light Infantry Brigade being extracted on a CH47 helicopter (serial
#67-18475). The helicopter was hit by 50 calliber machine gun fire at an
altitude of 1500-1600 feet shortly after takeoff.

Sands, who was sitting near the door gunner, was hit in the head by an incoming
rounds. The helicopter made a controlled landing and caught fire. During the
evacuation from the burning helicopter, four personnel and a medic checked PFC
Sands and indicated that he had been killed instantly. Because of the danger of
incoming mortar rounds and the fire, personnel attempting to remove PFC Sands
from the helicopter were ordered to abandon their attempt. The remaining
personnel were evacuated from the area later by another helicopter.

Intense antiaircraft fire from the captured outposts caused grave problems.
Control over the indigenous forces was difficult. One group of CIDG soldiers
had to be held in trenches at gunpoint to prevent them from mobbing the runway.

As evacuation was in progress, members of Company A, 1/46, who insisted on
boarding the aircraft first, shoved Vietnamese dependents out of the way. As
more Americal infantry tried to clamber into the outbound planes, the outraged
Special Forces staff convinced the Air Force to start loading civilians onboard
a C130, then watched as the civilians pushed children and weaker adults aside.

The crew of the U.S. Air Force C130 aircraft (serial #60-0297) consisted of
Maj. Bernard Bucher, pilot; SSgt. Frank Hepler, flight engineer; Maj. John
McElroy, navigator; 1Lt. Steven Moreland, co-pilot; George Long, load master;
Capt. Warren Orr, passenger, and an undetermined number of Vietnamese civilians.

The aircraft reported receiving ground fire on takeoff. The Forward Air Control
(FAC) in the area reported that the aircraft exploded in mid-air and crashed in
a fire ball about one mile from camp. All crew and passengers were believed
dead, as the plane burned quickly and was completely destroyed except for the
tail boom. No remains were recovered from the aircraft.

Capt. Orr was not positively identified by U.S. personnel as being aboard the
aircraft. He was last seen near the aircraft helping the civilians to board.
However, a Vietnamese stated that he had seen Capt. Orr board the aircraft and
later positively identified him from a photograph. Rescue efforts were
impossible because of the hostile threat in the area.

At the time the order was given to escape and evade, SP4 Julius Long was was
with Coen and Simpson. All three had been wounded, and were trying to make
their way back to the airfield about 350 yards away. As they reached the
airfield, they saw the last C130 departing. PFC Coen, who was shot in the
stomach, panicked and started running and shooting his weapon at random. SP4
Long tried to catch him, but could not, and did not see PFC Coen again. Long
then carried Sgt. Simpson to a nearby hill, where they spent the night.

During the night, the airfield was strafed and bombed by U.S. aircraft. SP4
Long was hit twice in the back by fragments, and Sgt. Simpson died during the
night. SP4 Long left him lying on the hill near the Cam Duc airfield and
started his escape and evasion toward Chu Lai, South Vietnam. SP4 Long was
captured and was released in 1973 from North Vietnam.

The Special Forces command group was the last organized group out of the camp.
As their helicopter soared into the clouds, Kham Duc was abandoned to advancing
NVA infantry at 4:33 p.m. on May 12, 1968. The last Special Forces camp on the
northwestern frontier of South Vietnam had been destroyed.

Two search and recovery operations were conducted in the vicinity of OP1 and
OP2 and the Cam Duc airfield on July 18, 1970 and August 17, 1970. In these
operations, remains of personnel previously reported missing from this incident
were recovered and subsequently identified. (SP4 Bowers, PFC Lloyd, Sgt. Sisk,
PFC Guzman-Rios and SSgt. Carter). However, extensive search and excavation
could not be completed at OP1 and OP2 because of the tactical situation.

It was assumed that all the missing at Kham Duc were killed in action until
about 1983, when the father of one of the men missing discovered a Marine Corps
document which indicated that four of the men had been taken prisoner. The
document listed the four by name. Until then, the families had not been advised
of the possibility there were any American prisoners taken other than Julius
Long. A Vietnamese rallier identified the photograph of Roy C. Williams as
positively having been a POW.

Until proof is obtained that the rest of the men lost at Ngok Tavak and Kham
Duc are dead, their families will always wonder if they are among those said to
still be alive in Southeast Asia.







COFFEE, GERALD LEONARD "JERRY"

Name: Gerald Leonard "Jerry" Coffee
Rank/Branch: O3/US Navy
Unit: Reconnaissance Squadron 13, USS KITTY HAWK
Date of Birth: 02 June 1934 (Modesto CA)
Home City of Record: Los Angeles CA
Date of Loss: 03 February 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 191158N 1054458E (WG788229)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: RA5C
Other Personnel In Incident: Robert T. Hanson (missing/remains returned 1988)
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1990 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.


REMARKS: 730212 RELSD BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: Lt. Gerald L. Coffee was the pilot of an RA5C Vigilante reconnaissance
aircraft assigned to Reconnaissance Squadron 13 on board the USS KITTY HAWK (CVA
63). On February 3, 1966, he and navigator Lt. Robert T. Hanson were on an
intelligence gathering mission against a heavily defended portion of North
Vietnam. Their aircraft was hit by enemy fire and was observed to explode and
hit the water near the coast of North Vietnam east of Nghe An Province. No
parachutes were seen, however an emergency survival radio beeper was heard.

Both Coffee and Hanson successfully ejected and parachuted into the gulf.
Several vessels were put out from the shore to capture the crewmen. Coffee was
recovered by militiamen in one of the boats, and was held prisoner until his
release in 1973.  He stated that he had seen his navigator (Hanson) alive in
the water about 12 meters away and thought that he had been picked up in one of
the other boats. Lt. Coffee also reported that, shortly after his capture, a
guard indicated by gestures that Lt. Hanson was dead and had been buried on the
beach. Coffee was shown his identification card.

An article in the February 1, 1973 Quan Doi Nhan Dan (a daily Vietnamese
paper), in describing the February 3, 1966 shootdown, stated that, "The militia
...managed to bring the two enemy pilots to shore." Hanson and Coffee's plane
was the only aircraft lost within 45 miles of the Gulf of Tonkin that day.

Intelligence reports surfacing over the years during the war and following
build a strong case for a well-organized second prison system, and a well
orchestrated plan to keep prisoners within systems from intermingling. As it is
widely believed that the Vietnamese withheld the release of many prisoners
until peace agreement terms were met (specifically reconstruction aid), it is
logical to assume that one prison system's inmates were released while another
were held back for possible release at a later date. It is also logical to
assume that the scenario might be played to its fullest, including convincing
each man in a two man crew that had been separated, that the other was dead.

Whether Robert Hanson survived to be captured is not known. Experts now
believe, based on thousands of reports received, that hundreds of Americans are
still held prisoner in Southeast Asia. Robert Hanson could be one of them. He
deserves much better than the abandonment he has received by the country he
proudly served.

On November 3, 1988, the Vietnamese, who had previously denied knowledge of Lt.
Hanson, "discovered" and returned his remains to U.S. control. When and how he
died only the Vietnamese can say.


Commander Coffee's last duty station was Commander, Pacific Fleet, Pearl Harbor
Hawaii before he retired.


COGDELL, WILLIAM K.

Name:  William K. Cogdell
Rank/Branch:  O2/USAF
Unit:
Date of Birth: 15 March 1938
Home City of Record: Greentown, IN
Date of Loss: 17 January 1967
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates:
Status (in 1973): Killed in Action/Body not Recovered
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: T28D

Other Personnel in Incident: None

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project and the P.O.W. NETWORK 2 April
1992 from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government
agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources,
interviews. Copyright 1992 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Captain Cogdell was the pilot of a T-28 aircraft on a search
and rescue mission when he was reported missing in action. The T-28 was
observed to receive heavy ground fire in the right wing, roll to the
right, crash and burn.

Evidence of death was received in the Department of the Air Force on
Captain Cogdell on January 19, 1967. Since his remains have not been
recovered and returned, he is listed by the Department of Defense as
unaccounted for in Southeast Asia.

In recent years, the numbers of remains returned from Vietnam and
excavated in Laos has increased dramatically. Government strategists
happily point to this as "progress" on the POW/MIA issue, although most
of these remains are still unidentified. Indeed, many families, having
had independent studies of the remains to assure accurate
identification, now have answers to long-awaited concerns about their
loved ones. However, when remains are positively identified, the U.S.
Government closes the books and the search for that missing man ends.
Can we afford to close the books on an American who may be alive waiting
for his country to bring him home?

How many will serve in the next war knowing they may be abandoned?

COHRON, JAMES DERWIN

Name: James Derwin Cohron
Rank/Branch: E6/US Army 5th Special Forces
Unit: C & C Detachment, MACV-SOG
Date of Birth: 11 November 1938 (Leon IA)
Home City of Record: Centerville IA
Date of Loss: 12 January 1968
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 162745N 1064800E (XD929208)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Other Personnel In Incident: 2 indigenous personnel

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: James D. Cohron was born in Leon, Iowa and joined the service when he
was 25. When he went to Vietnam, he was attached to MACV-SOG (Military
Assistance Command, Vietnam Studies and Observation Group), Command & Control
North. MACV-SOG was a joint-service high command unconventional warfare task
force engaged in highly classified operations throughout Southeast Asia. The 5th
Special Forces channeled personnel into MACV-SOG (although it was not a Special
Forces group) through Special Operations Augmentation (SOA), which provided
their "cover" while under secret orders to MACV-SOG. The teams performed deep
penetration missions of strategic reconnaissance and interdiction which were
called, depending on the time frame, "Shining Brass" or "Prairie Fire" missions.

On January 12, 1968, SSgt. Cohron, was a member of Spike Team "Indiana," the
second man from the rear of the team formation, when the team was ambushed by an
enemy force of unknown size 1 mile inside Laos south of Khe Sanh. The team broke
contact by evading through a gully and set up a defensive position on a small
hill where they called for helicopter extraction.

A head count was taken, and it was determined that Cohron and two indigenous
personnel were missing. The team's view of their path of evasion was obstructed
by tall elephant grass, and they were unable to visually locate Cohron and the
others. Attempts to raise them by radio failed. After contact with the enemy
force was broken, the remainder of the team was extracted.

In the ensuing days, searches were made which yielded a small spot of blood
where the initial contact was made, and Cohran's food ration, which was
identified by the empty cigarette package. Search efforts were terminated
without success.

Cohron is one of nearly 600 Americans who disappeared in Laos. Although the Lao
stated they held "tens of tens" of American prisoners, not one man held in Laos
was ever released - or negotiated for. With evidence mounting that hundreds of
these men could still be alive, the question rises, "Where is James Cohron?"

COKER, GEORGE THOMAS

Name: George Thomas Coker
Rank/Branch: O2/US Navy Reserves
Unit: Attack Squadron 65, USS CONSTELLATION (CVA 64)
Date of Birth: 14 July 1943 (Amarillo TX)
Home City of Record: Linden NJ
Date of Loss: 27 August 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 184700N 1052700E (WF474767)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A6A

Other Personnel in Incident: J.H. Fellowes (released POW)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 30 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: 730304 RELSD BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: The USS CONSTELLATION provided air power to the U.S. effort in Vietnam
early in the war, having participated in strikes against Loc Chao and Hon Gai in
North Vietnam during August 1964. One of the first American POWs of the war, and
certainly one of the most well-known, LTJG Everett Alverez, launched from her
decks and was captured during this series of strikes in 1964. The CONSTELLATION
was large and carried a full range of aircraft. Fighters from her air wing,
CVW-14, earned the carrier the Meritorious Unit Commendation in 1968 during a
particularly intense period of air attacks. VF-96, a premier fighter squadron
awarded the Clifton Trophy two straight years, flew from the CONSTELLATION in
October 1971. During this period, two of her pilots, LT Randall H. Cunningham
and LTJG William "Willie" Driscoll became the first American aces of the Vietnam
War, having shot down five Russian-made MiG enemy aircraft. The CONSTELLATION
remained on station throughout most of the war.

LCDR John H. "Jack" Fellowes was a pilot assigned to Attack Squadron 65 onboard
the USS CONSTELLATION. On August 27, 1966, he and his Bombardier/Navigator (BN),
LTJG George T. Coker, launched in their A6A Intruder all-weather attack aircraft
on a strike/bombing mission into North Vietnam.

When the flight was about 20 miles northwest of the city of Vinh in Nghe An
Province, Fellowes' aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire or debris from a
surface-to-air missile (SAM) in the right wing which caused the aircraft to
enter a flat spin forcing both crewmen to eject. Their wingman sighted two
parachutes at approximately 2,000 feet, and manually operated emergency radio
beeper signals commenced and persisted as the wingman maneuvered to keep the
chutes in sight. The area was about 18 miles inland in a well-populated area.
The terrain was primarily flat with rice paddies and numerous houses and
villages. There was little to offer concealment.

Moderate flak was encountered as the two parachutes passed 1,000 feet. Due to
poor weather visibility and enemy flak, the wingman lost sight of the two chutes
as they passed below 50 feet. An intensive search effort was conducted despite
moderate to heavy flak for nearly 3 hours, but the parachutes were not spotted
on the ground, nor were emergency beepers heard any longer. Both Fellowes and
Coker were classified Missing in Action.

Later that day, Radio Hanoi announced, "The Armed Forces and people in Nghe An
Province this morning shot down two U.S. aircraft during two counterattacks
within ten minutes. At 1030 hours, one of the two U.S. planes was shot down on
the spot at the first round while intruding into the airspace over the western
part of the province. The aggressor pilot was captured. Ten minutes later,
flights of U.S. aircraft send to the rescue of the U.S. air pirate had to flee
in disorder in the face of accurate ground fire. One of them was knocked down."
(NOTE: No other Americans were captured or listed as missing on that date.)
When this information was received, both men were reclassified Prisoner of War.

During their captivity, Coker and Fellowes suffered along with their fellow
POWs. Torture and deprivation was commonplace. Fellowes arms were both
permanently damaged by manipulation in the "ropes", a common torture-technique.
Coker actually escaped in December 1970 with another American. The two swam down
the Red River, but were recaptured. Coker was found buried in a mud bank
attempting to conceal his location from his captors.

Fellowes and Coker were held in various prisoner of war camps -- Cu Loc, Hoa Lo
(Hanoi Hilton), Alcatraz -- in and around Hanoi throughout the duration of the
war. On March 4, 1973, they were both released as part of Operation Homecoming.

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. These reports are the source of serious distress to many returned
American prisoners. They had a code that no one could honorably return unless
all of the prisoners returned. Not only that code of honor, but the honor of our
country is at stake as long as even one man remains unjustly held. It's time we
brought our men home.


George T. Coker was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant during the period he was
prisoner of war. He remained in the Navy and attained the rank of Commander. In
1986, Coker resided in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

John H. Fellowes was promoted to the rank of Commander during the period he was
prisoner of war. He remained in the Navy and attained the rank of Captain. He
retired from the Navy and as of 1989, resided in Annapolis, Maryland.
COLE, LEGRANDE OGDEN JR.
Remains Returned November 3, 1988

Name: LeGrande Ogden Cole, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O3/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 15, USS Intrepid (CVS-11)
Date of Birth: 21 January 1942 (Danbury CT)
Home City of Record: Danbury CT (resided Jacksonville FL)
Date of Loss: 30 June 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 183800N 1054300E (WF755602)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A4C
Other Personnel In Incident: (none missing)

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: POSS DEAD IR 6918 5067 75

SYNOPSIS: LeGrande Ogden Cole, Jr. entered the Naval Air Cadet Division Program
at Pensacola in August, 1961, and received his wings at Corpus Christi in
March, 1963. He completed 100 combat missions during his first tour of duty in
Vietnam from the USS INTREPID and returned to the INTREPID for a second tour of
duty as a member of Attack Squadron 15.

On June 30, 1967, Commander Cole launched in his A4C Skyhawk attack aircraft as
a member of a flight which was to execute an air strike on the thermal power
plant at Vinh, North Vietnam. He was section leader of a four plane division of
bomber aircraft. Cole initiated the attack with his wingman and encountered
heavy opposition from anti-aircraft artillery. As they approached the target,
Commander Cole called, "rolling in", which was the last communication from him.

Cole's wingman lost sight of him after their initial bombing run among the flak
bursts which were all around the area. The wingman did report seeing an
explosion far to the south of the target. He assumed that it was a stray bomb
but later decided it must have been Cole's aircraft hitting the ground. Other
witnesses observed a large fireball to the south of the target. It appeared
larger than a bomb blast. Bomb assessment photographs of the target and
vicinity were taken by an RF8A aircraft shortly after the attack. Examination
of the photographs revealed no identifiable aircraft wreckage or indications of
a survivor. Electronic reconnaissance of the area was maintained by A1 and A4
aircraft until late afternoon on June 30. No emergency beacon or voice
transmissions were detected.

On July 1, 1967, a Radio Hanoi broadcast claimed that two U.S. aircraft had
been shot down and the pilots captured. One was shot down over Thanh Hoa and
the other over Vinh. Since none of the pilots were identified as Cole, his
status was not changed from Missing In Action.

In 1975, information was received which possibly correlated to the loss of Cdr.
Cole. This information concerned the sighting of a dead American pilot at
approximately the same time and place that Cole was lost. The source's
description of the body roughly fits that of Commander Cole.

Because Cole's plane went down in the vicinity of a heavy enemy force, there
was every reason to believe the Vietnamese can account for him - alive or dead.
In November 1988, remains were returned by the Vietnamese said to be those of
Cdr. Cole. Positive identification was made by the Central Identification
Laboratory and confirmed independently by Dr. Michael Charney. Commander Cole
was buried at Arlington National Cemetery on May 5, 1989.

LeGrande Cole's family finally knows his fate, and no longer hang in the
tortuous balance of uncertainty. Nearly 2500 other families cannot rest,
however until they get answers. Tragically, thousands of reports have been
received convincing many experts that there are still hundreds of Americans
still alive in captivity in Southeast Asia. Cole was a prisoner every single
day the Vietnamese refused to ship his body home. How many will die before we
bring them home?

COLE, RICHARD MILTON JR.

Name: Richard Milton Cole Jr.
Rank/Branch: E6/USAF
Unit: 16th SOS (PAF), Ubon, Thailand
Date of Birth: 20 July 1940
Home City of Record: Uniondale NY
Date of Loss: 18 June 1972
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 161500N 1071200E (YC343978)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: AC130A

Other Personnel in Incident: Jacob Mercer; Richard Nyhof; Robert Wilson; Leon A.
Hunt; Larry J. Newman; Paul F. Gilbert; Stanley Lehrke; Robert Harrison; Donald
H. Klinke; Gerald F. Ayres; Mark G. Danielson (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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: Lockheed's versatile C130 aircraft filled many roles in Vietnam,
including transport, tanker, gunship, drone controller, airborne battlefield
command and control center, weather reconnaissance, electronic reconnaissance,
and search, rescue and recovery.

The AC130, outfitted as a gunship, was the most spectacular of the modified
C130's. These ships pierced the darkness using searchlights, flares, night
observation devices that intensified natural light, and a variety of electronic
sensors such as radar, infared equipment and even low-level television. On some
models, a computer automatically translated sensor data into instructions for
the pilot, who kept his fixed, side-firing guns trained on target by adjusting
the angle of bank as he circled. The crew of these planes were, therefore,
highly trained and capable. They were highly desirable "captures" for the enemy
because of their technical knowledge.

1LT Paul F. Gilbert was the pilot of an AC130A gunship assigned a mission near
the A Shau Valley in the Republic of Vietnam on June 18, 1972. The crew,
totaling 15 men included MAJ Gerald F. Ayres, MAJ Robert H. Harrison, CAPT
Robert A. Wilson, CAPT Mark G. Danielson, TSGT Richard M. Cole Jr., SSGT Donald
H. Klinke, SSGT Richard E. Nyhof, SSGT Larry J. Newman, SGT Leon A. Hunt, and
SGT Stanley L. "Larry" Lehrke.

During the mission, the aircraft was hit by a surface-to-air missile (SAM) and
went down near the border of Laos and Vietnam. In fact, the first location
coordinates given to the families were indeed Laos, but were quickly changed to
reflect a loss just inside South Vietnam.

Three survivors of the crash were rescued the next day. After several years of
effort, some of the family members of the other crewmembers were able to review
part of their debriefings, which revealed that a bail-out order was given, and
that at least one unexplained parachute was observed, indicating that at least
one other airman may have safely escaped the crippled aircraft.

In early 1985, resistance forces surfaced information which indicated that SGT
Mercer had survived the crash and was currently held prisoner. Parents of
another crew member, Mark G. Danielson, discovered a photograph of an
unidentified POW printed about 6 months after the crash, in their local
newspaper whom they were CONVINCED was Mark. It was several years, however,
before the U.S. Government allowed the Danielsons to view the film from which
the photo was taken. When they viewed the film, their certainty diminished.

The hope that some of the twelve missing from the AC130A gunship has not
diminished, however. Since the war ended, over 10,000 reports relating to
Americans missing, prisoner or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia have been
received by the U.S. Government, including over 1,000 first-hand live sighting
reports.

Families who might be able to lay their anguish and uncertainty to rest are
taunted by these reports, wondering if their loved one is still alive, abandoned
and alone. Since a large portion of the information is classified, it is
impossible for the families to come to their own conclusions as to the accuracy
of the reports.

The fate of the twelve missing men from the gunship lost on June 18, 1972 is
unknown. What is certain is that the governments of Southeast Asia possess far
more knowledge than they have admitted to date. A large percentage of the nearly
2500 missing Americans CAN be accounted for. There can be no question that if
even one American remains alive in captivity today, we have a moral and legal
obligation to do everything possible to bring him home.

COLEMAN, JIMMY LEE

Name: Jimmy Lee Coleman
Rank/Branch: E3/US Army
Unit: Company C, 4th Battalion, 47th Infantry, 9th Infantry Division
Date of Birth: 20 November 1949 (Sylacauga AL)
Home City of Record: Goodwater AL
Date of Loss: 06 March 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 101730N 1052251E (XS512379)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

REMARKS: SHOT ON BRIDGE - FELL OFF

SYNOPSIS: PFC Jimmy L. Coleman was a rifleman in Company C, 4th Battalion, 47th
Infantry, 9th Infantry Division. On March 6, 1959, Coleman was serving as point
man for his company on a reconnaissance mission in Kien Hoa Province, a few
miles southeast of the city of My Tho.

Coleman's company prepared to cross a small bamboo bridge by firing on the
opposing bank with M-79 grenade launchers to try to draw fire from enemy
forces, if they were present. The company received no return fire, so Coleman
proceeded across the bridge to provide security on the other side. As he
started across, enemy fire erupted from the other side. When the firing barrage
ceased, Coleman had disappeared.

An examination of the bridge showed blood stains where Coleman had last been
seen standing on the bridge. Divers from Company C searched the area around the
bridge and downstream, but found no trace of PFC Coleman. He was declared
Missing in Action.

In 1974 a Viet Cong rallier reported that Coleman had been shot as he crossed
the bridge, and the rallier had seen him fall into the river.

Whether Jimmy Coleman died as a result of his gunshot wound or drowned when he
fell into the river has never been learned. As far as the U.S. Army is
concerned, he is dead. For family and friends, however, doubts remain.

Since 1975, "millions of documents" and over 250,000 interviews have been
conducted concerning Americans missing in Southeast Asia. Many authorities are
certain that many Americans remain alive today. Whether Jimmy Coleman is one of
them is not certain. But as long as one American is being held against his
will, we must do everything in our power to bring him home.


COLLAMORE, ALLAN PHILIP JR.

Name: Allan Philip Collamore, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O3/US Navy
Unit: Fighter Squadron 213, USS KITTY HAWK
Date of Birth: 22 December 1938
Home City of Record: Worcester MA
Date of Loss: 04 February 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 200500N 1061500E
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4B

Other Personnel In Incident: Donald E. Thompson (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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: DEAD/CS 317 09012 73

SYNOPSIS: Lt. Donald E. Thompson was a pilot and Lt. Allan P. Collamore a Radar
Intercept Officer, assigned to Fighter Squadron 213 onboard the aircraft carrier
USS KITTY HAWK (CVA-63).

On the night of February 4, 1967, Thompson and Collamore launched in their F4B
Phantom fighter aircraft on an armed reconnaissance mission along the coast of
North Vietnam. They were wingman for a two plane section. The flight leader
crossed the beach and executed a level flare dropping run. Thompson's aircraft
was briefed to fly in a six to seven mile radar trail behind the other aircraft.

Approximately one minute after the flare drop, the flight leader observed a
large explosion behind him. He immediately initiated a turn back and attempted
to contact his wingman with no results. He then arrived at the scene of the
explosion and observed a large fire in the area. He radioed for search and
rescue efforts to be initiated. No electronic or visual signals were identified
from the area. Headlights of trucks were seen along with small arms fire and a
red flare. The search was discontinued due to darkness and enemy ground fire.
Searches the next day yielded no new information.

In September 1974 intelligence information possibly relating to the aircrash
told of the downing of a jet where the two pilots were killed and their bodies
buried near the crash site. This information was not positively confirmed.

Thompson and Collamore were classified Missing in Action, and were carried in
this status for the next eight years. At this time, based on no information that
they were alive, the two were declared administratively dead.

Thompson and Collamore are among nearly 2300 Americans still prisoner, missing,
or unaccounted for from the Vietnam war. Unlike "MIA's" from other wars, the
large majority of these missing men can be accounted for -- alive or dead.

Since American involvement in Vietnam ended in 1975, nearly 10,000 reports
relating to Americans missing, prisoner, or otherwise unaccounted for in
Indochina have been received by the U.S. Government. Many officials, having
examined this largely classified information, have reluctantly concluded that
many Americans are still alive today, held captive by our long-ago enemy.

It is not known if Thompson and Collamore could be among those thought to be
still alive today. What is certain, however, is that as long as even one
American remains alive, held against his will, we owe him our very best efforts
to bring him to freedom.

CASE SYNOPSIS: COLLAZO, RAPHAEL LORENZO

Name: Raphael Lorenzo Collazo
Rank/Branch: E3/US Army
Unit: Aero Rifle Platoon, Troop C, 3rd Squadron, 17th Cavalry (Air Cav), 12th
Aviation Group
Date of Birth: 24 August 1947 (New York NY)
Home City of Record: Gardena CA
Loss Date: 17 March 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 102643N 1060954E (XS275548)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel In Incident: Jlynn Ross Jr. (missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Riflemen PFC Raphael Collazo and PFC Jlynn Ross were serving as
pointmen for their respective units on a search mission in South Vietnam. PFC
Collazo's unit, Aero Rifle Platoon of Troop C, 3rd Squadron, 17th Cavalry, was
inserted to investigate enemy activity seen in the vicinity. Collazo's unit
began a sweep of the area and encountered light resistance. At approximately
1500 hours, PFC Ross's unit, an element of Company C, 3rd Battalion, 47th
Infantry, was brought into the area to reinforce the sweep operation.

After helicopters had made several attack runs on a treeline, both units
started to cross a 75 meter wide rice paddy to search that treeline.  PFC Ross
was 2-4 meters from a camoflaged bunker when personnel inside opened fire. He
was reportedly hit in the chest by 50 calibre rounds and tumbled backwards into
a ditch. Due to the location of enemy fire, no one was able to reach PFC Ross.

PFC Collazo had been pointman on the left flank when the enemy opened fire. He
had destroyed one enemy bunker and was moving down a canal to attack the next
bunker position when he was hit by a burst of automatic weapons fire. PFC
Collazo was last seen falling into the canal. An attempt to reach him was
repulsed by heavy enemy fire.

Both U.S. units were then withdrawn from the area. This position was suspected
as holding a major VC headquarters or supply dump, and was taken under fire by
artillery and air strikes that night and the next day. Troop Charlie went back
into the area on March 19 and conducted a sweep search for both men. The only
information gathered on subsequent inquiries was a report that the VC had
intercepted 2 farmers who were bringing American remains to the District
Headquarters at Dai Lay in August 1974. The report could not be identified and
the 2 farmers have not been heard of since their reported arrest. Several
refugees reported the burial of American remains in Dinh Joung Province. These
reports potentially correlate to Ross and Collazo.

Another source reported ferrying 15 VC and a black American POW across a river,
taking only the VC back across the river and returning to the scene later to
find fresh blood on the ground and a freshly dug grave. This report potentially
relates to Ross.

Nearly 2500 Americans did not return from the war in Vietnam. Thousands of
reports have been received indicating that some hundreds remain alive in
captivity. At the time of the signing of the Paris Peace Agreements, U.S.
Government intelligence knew that hundreds had been left behind. Young men like
Ross and Collazo went to Vietnam not because they wanted to go, but because
they believed it was right to go when their country asked it of them. We cannot
afford the willing abandonment of these, our best men.
COLLETTE, CURTIS DAVID

Name: Curtis David Collette
Rank/Branch: E5/US Navy
Unit: Air Transport Squadron 7
Date of Birth: 13 October 1941
Home City of Record: Windsor CT
Date of Loss: 17 June 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 125336N 1093123E (CQ398257)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: C130E
Other Personnel in Incident: Ralph B. Cobbs; Jack I. Dempsey; Stanley J. Freng;
Edward L. Romig; M.J. Savoy; Donald E. Siegwarth; Robert A. Cairns; Gene K.
Hess; Connie M. Gravitte; Oley N. Adams; Larry E. Washburn (all missing)

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: EXPLODE AIR & IMPACT SEA - J

SYNOPSIS: On June 17, 1966, a C130E "Hercules" aircraft departed Cam Ranh Bay,
South Vietnam en route to Kadena Air Base, Okinawa on an operational airlift
support mission. Aboard the flight were the crew, consisting of LtCdr. Ralph B.
Cobbs; ADJ2 Curtis D. Collette; YN2 Jack I. Dempsey; ADR2 Stanley J. Freng;
Ltjg. Edward L. Romig; AN M.J. Savoy; and Ltjg. Donald E. Siegwarth. All were
assigned to the 7th Air Transport Squadron. Also aboard the aircraft were U.S.
Air Force personnel SSgt. Robert A. Cairns; SSgt. Gene K. Hess; Capt. Connie M.
Gravitte; SSgt. Oley N. Adams; and A1 Larry E. Washburn, and one other
individual.

About 30 minutes into the flight, when the aircraft was 43 miles northeast of
Nha Trang, the crew of a naval gunboat cruising off the South Vietnam coast
observed the C130 explode and crash into the South China Sea. No hostile fire
was observed, and the exact cause of the crash could not be determined. The
vessell arrived at the crash scene only minutes after the impact and began an
immediate search. The accident took place so swiftly that it must be assumed
all aboard perished instantly. Some debris and wreckage have been recovered
including parts of the aircraft and personal belongings. Only one body was
recovered from the crash site. The others are listed as "Dead/Body Not
Recovered."

Cobbs and Siegworth were pilots, and probably the co-pilots of the aircraft,
although this information is not included in public data relating to the loss.
Crew positions of the remaining crew members are not available.

Inexplicably, Cobbs' loss coordinates place him on the coast of South Vietnam a
few miles northeast of Tuy Hoa, while the others aboard are listed as lost
northeast of Na Trang. (This is a difference of about 55 miles.) Also, the
entire crew of the aircraft has been assigned "Knowledge Category 4", while the
passengers are in "Knowledge Category 5". Category 5 includes those individuals
whose remains have been determined to be non-recoverable. Category 4 includes
individuals whose loss details, such as location and time, are unknown and who
do not fit into any of the varying degrees of knowledge other than category 5.
No reason for this discrepancy can be determined.

The Americans aboard the C130E are listed among the missing because their
remains were never found to be returned to their homeland. They are among
nearly 2500 Americans who remain unaccounted for from the Vietnam war. The
cases of some, like the C130E crew, seem clear - that they perished and cannot
be recovered, Unfortunately, many others who are missing do not have such clear
cut cases. Some were known captives; some were photographed as they were led by
their guards. Some were in radio contact with search teams, while others simply
disappeared.

Since the war ended, over 250,000 interviews have been conducted with those who
claim to know about Americans still alive in Southeast Asia, and several
million documents have been studied. U.S. Government experts cannot seem to
agree whether Americans are there alive or not. Distractors say it would be far
too politically difficult to bring the men they believe to be alive home, and
the U.S. is content to negotiate for remains.

Over 1000 eye-witness reports of living American prisoners were received by
1989. Most of them are still classified. If, as the U.S. seems to believe, the
men are all dead, why the secrecy after so many years? If the men are alive,
why are they not home?

In our haste to leave an unpopular war, it now appears we abandoned some of our
best men. In our haste to heal the wounds of this same war, will we sign their
death warrants? Or will we do what we can to bring them home?

COLLINS, RICHARD FRANK

Name: Richard Frank Collins
Rank/Branch: O4/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 196, USS RANGER (CVA 61)
Date of Birth: 25 October 1936
Home City of Record: Huntington Park CA
Date of Loss: 22 November 1969
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 163000N 1062500E
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: A6A

Others In Incident: Michael Quinn (missing); (25 miles away-Richard
Deuter-missing);

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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: When North Vietnam began to increase their military strength in South
Vietnam, NVA and Viet Cong troops intruded on neutral Laos for sanctuary, as
well as to transport weapons, supplies and troops. The road system used most was
dubbed the "Ho Chi Minh Trail". Hundreds of American pilots were shot down
trying to stop this communist traffic to South Vietnam. Fortunately, U.S. search
and rescue teams in Vietnam was extremely successful and recovery rate was very
high.

Still, there were nearly 600 who were not rescued. Many of them went down along
the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Many were alive on the ground and in radio contact with
search and rescue and other planes; some were known to have been captured.
Hanoi's communist allies in Laos, the Pathet Lao, publicly spoke of American
prisoners they held, but when peace agreements were negotiated, Laos was not
included, and not a single American was released that had been held in Laos.

LTJG Richard C. Deuter was a Bombardier/Navigator (BN) assigned to Attack
Squadron 196 onboard the aircraft carrier USS RANGER. On November 22, 1969, he
launched with his pilot, Commander Richards, in their A6A Intruder aircraft on a
bombing mission into Laos. The assigned mission was visual dive-bombing under
the control of an airborne Forward Air Controller (FAC). Once in the target
area, the FAC assigned a target and the aircraft was rolled into a normal
dive-bombing attack. At some point in thedive, probably just before bomb
release, the aircraft became completely uncontrollable and began to
disintegrate. Commander Richards ordered LTJG Deuter to eject, then ejected
himself. The aircraft continued to disintegrate and crashed into the ground.
Only the pilot's parachute was seen by search and rescue aircraft. Commander
Richard's emergency radio helped in pinpointing his location and he was rescued
by helicopter approximately 30 minutes after landing. Search efforts failed to
turn up anything on Deuter.

It is believed that the aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire in its dive and
suffered a structural failure which led to its loss. With all facts considered,
it is impossible to state conclusively whether or not Deuter successfully
ejected from the aircraft. He was classified Missing in Action.

That night, another Intruder launched from Attack Squadron 196 onboard the
RANGER. LTCDR Richard F. Collins was a pilot assigned to Attack Squadron 196
onboard the aircraft carrier USS RANGER. LTCDR Collins and Lt. Michael E. Quinn,
his bombardier/navigaor, launched in their A6A Intruder aircraft as the leader
of a two-plane mission briefed for night road reconnaissance against targets of
opportunity, inland from the coast of South Vietnam.

(NOTE: At various times, because of the secret nature of U.S. activity in Laos,
the service branches felt it was necessary to conceal loss locations in Laos.
Whether the location was ever concealed in this case is unknown, but the use of
the phrase "inland from the coast of South Vietnam" is certainly misleading, at
best, since the aircraft were seeking "targets of opportunity" on the Ho Chi
Minh Trail in Savannakhet Province, Laos.)

Everything proceeded as briefed excapt another aircraft in the flight was not
launched due to mechanical problems. The aircraft launched and flew to the
target area, arriving northeast of the road segment where Quinn and Collins had
commenced their reconnaissance. Subsequently, the wingman experienced a
temporary navigation malfunction, causing several minutes delay.

Approximately five minutes passed and the wingman began his reconnaissance. Five
to six minutes later, the wingman saw a billowing explosion and called to Quinn
and Collins but received no response. The wingman did not feel a lack of
communications was significant at this time due to the estimated distance
between the aircraft. After the wingman completed his attacks he headed back to
the ship. The lead aircraft did not return, nor had it been heard from.

Search and rescue efforts were initiated immediately. However, these efforts
were hampered by a lack of definite loss location. There were no voice or beacon
signals received by the search and rescue forces. Collins and Quinn were
classified Missing in Action.

Were it not for the thousands of reports concerning Americans still held captive
in Southeast Asia, the families of these three men from Attack Squadron 196
might be able to close this tragic chapter of their lives. But as long as
Americans are alive, being held captive, Collins, Quinn and Deuter could be
among them. It's time our men were brought home.
COLLINS, WILLARD MARION

Name: Willard Marion Collins
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 21 January 1929
Home City of Record: Quicy IL
Date of Loss: 09 March 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 160758N 1071956E (YC494849)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: AC47

Other Personnel in Incident: Robert E. Foster; Delbert R. Peterson (both
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: KIA AT CRASH S SED 3 RECOV-J

SYNOPSIS: The AC47 introduced a new principle to air attack in Vietnam. Troubled
by difficulties in conducting nighttime defense, Capt. Ronald Terry of the U.S.
Air Force Aeronautical Systems Division recalled reading about missionaries in
Latin America who lowered baskets of supplies on a rope from a tightly circling
airplane. During the series of pylon turns, the basket remained suspended over a
selected point on the ground. Could this principle be applied to fire from
automatic weapons? Tests proved it could, and could be extremely successful.

The aircraft chosen for this new principle was a version of the Douglas C47. It
was dubbed, "Puff the Magic Dragon," after a popular song of the day, because it
resembled a dragon overhead with flames billowing from its guns. In operation,
Puff's "flare kicker" illuminated the target, then the pilot used a mark on his
left window as a gun sight, and circled slowly as three multibarrel machine guns
fired 18,000 rounds per minute from the door and two windows in the port side of
the rear compartment. Ground troops welcomed the sight of Puff because of its
ability to put a heavy dose of defensive fire in a surgically determined area.

On March 9, 1966, Capt. Willard M. Collins, 1Lt. Delbert R. Peterson, and Ssgt.
Robert E. Foster were part of the crew of an AC47 sent on a combat mission over
the A Shau Valley in Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam. They were engaged in an
effort to save a Special Forces firebase from being overrun by enemy troops.

During the mission, the Puff was hit by enemy fire and crashed. After impact,
three of the crew were rescued. According to these men, Foster was holding off
enemy troops when the last attempt to rescue him failed. Of the three who were
not rescued, Foster and Collins were declared Killed in Action and Peterson was
declared Missing in Action. This suggests that at least Foster and Peterson, and
perhaps all three, were alive at the time of the last futile rescue attempt.

Since American involvement in Southeast Asia ended, over 10,000 reports have
been received by the U.S. Government relating to Americans missing there. Many
authorities have concluded that there are hundreds left alive in captivity
today. When the United States left Southeast Asia, what was termed "peace with
honor" was in reality an abandonment -- of the freedom-loving peoples of Vietnam
and Laos, and of America's best men. It's time we brought our men home.

Delbert R. Peterson was promoted to the rank of Major during the period he was
maintained Missing in Action.


COLNE, ROGER

Name: Roger Colne
Rank/Branch: Civilian
Unit:
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: France
Date of Loss: 31 May 1970
Country of Loss: Cambodia
Loss Coordinates: 110519N 1044119E (VT660257)
Status (in 1973): Prisoner of War
Category: 1
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Auto

Other Personnel In Incident: Welles Hangen (American); Kojiro Sakai; Yoshihiko
Waku; Tomohara Ishii (all Japanese correspondents); 2 other foreign
correspondents (remains recovered)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Welles Hangen, an NBC News correspondent, Roger Colne, a sound
technician for NBC, Kojiro Sakai, a sound technician for CBS, Yoshihiko Waku, a
cameraman for NBC, and Tomohara Ishii, a cameraman for CBS, and three other
foreign correspondents comprised a group of NBC, CBS and foreign newsmen when
the group was ambushed about 32 miles south of Phnom Penh near Angtassom, in
Kampot Province, Cambodia, on May 31, 1970. The newsmen were heading for the
front lines of fighting in Cambodia, looking for a story as military action in
Cambodia had stepped up considerably at this time.

One of the automobiles was hit by a B-40 rocket, killing all three occupants.
This group was reported to contain a CBS crew, including one individual named
Syvertsen.

The group's Cambodian driver, who escaped capture, said that Hangen and two
foreign journalists riding in the same car were taken alive to a house about
three miles from the site of the attack. Other reports describe the three and
"Hangen and his crew," which presumably include Hangen, Colne, and Waku, all NBC
employees.

CIA located a Cambodian peasant in early 1971 who had been held overnight with
and could identify photos of Colne, Hangen, Sakai, Ishii and Waku. The peasant
stated that they had been held 3 miles from capture then moved the next morning
to a pagoda called Wat Po. The Cambodian knew personal details about each of the
five journalists.

Information obtained by a Khmer Rouge rallier, and substantiated by reports from
villagers, indicated that Hangen and three others were held in the house for
three days before being taken out and executed. The bodies of two newsmen were
recovered from a gravesite near the ambush location, but Hangen, Colne, Ishii,
Sakai and Waku are still missing and were listed as Prisoners of War.

Author Zalin Grant interviewed returned ARVN POWs in early 1973 and released the
following data supporting other stories indicating journalists could still be
alive. "Returned ARVN POWs sighted the (unnamed) journalists on Route #7, 17
miles south of Snoul in Eastern Cambodia 7-72 in ox-carts pulled by Hondas;
another said a VC captain near Minot, eastern Cambodia (where military American
POWs were released from in 1973) reported the (unnamed) journalists held in 7-72
had cameras; Cambodian national saw (unnamed) journalists in 6-72 at Prince
Sihanouk's FUNK camp south of Route #13 in Kratie Province; returned ARVN POWs
said a guard told them in 3073 that the journalists were still alive and held in
their area." Walter Cronkite reported a sighting of (unnamed) journalists in
January, 1974.

Whether Grant's and Cronkite's information relates to the journalists missing
from May 31, 1970, is not known. The five are among 22 international journalists
still missing in Southeast Asia, most known to have been captured. For several
years during the war, the correspondents community rallied and publicized the
fates of fellow journalists. After a while, they tired of the effort, and today
these men are forgotten by all but families and friends.

Tragically, nearly the whole world turns its head while thousands of reports
continue to flow in that prisoners are still held in Southeast Asia. Cambodia
offered to return a substantial number of remains of men it says are Americans
missing in Cambodia (in fact the number offered exceeded the number of those
officially missing). But the U.S. has no formal diplomatic relations with the
communist government of Cambodia, and refused to directly respond to this offer.
Although several U.S. Congressmen offered to travel to Cambodia to receive the
remains, they have not been permitted to do so by the U.S.

By 1991, well over 10,000 reports regarding missing Americans have been received
which convince many experts that hundreds of Americans are still alive in
Southeast Asia. Whether the newsmen ambushed in Cambodia on May 31, 1970 are
among them is unknown. Whatever their identities or nationality, they deserve
the basic human right of freedom.


COLTMAN, WILLIAM CLARE

Name: William Clare Coltman
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit: 430th Tactical Fighter Squadron
Date of Birth: 24 February 1932
Home City of Record: Pittsburgh PA
Date of Loss: 29 September 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 213551N 1045921E (VJ989881)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F111A

Other Personnel In Incident: Robert A. Brett (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 April 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II
Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: The F111 was first used in Southeast Asia in March 1968 during
Operation Combat Lancer and flew nearly 3,000 missions during the war despite
frequent periods of grounding. From 1968 to 1973, the F111 was grounded several
months because of excess losses of aircraft. By 1969, there had been 15 F111's
downed by malfunction or enemy fire. The major malfunctions involved engine
problems and problems with the terrain following radar (TFR) which reads the
terrain ahead and flies over any obstructions. Eight of the F111's downed during
the war were flown by crews that were captured or declared missing.

In September 1972 F111A's were returned to Southeast Asia after a long grounding
period. On September 29, 1972, the F111A flown by Maj. William C. Coltman and
commanded by 1Lt. Robert A. Brett, Jr. went out of radio contact in North
Vietnam on the Red River about 10 miles southwest of the city of Yen Bai. When
the aircraft failed to return from their mission, the two were declared missing
at the time of estimated fuel exhaustion.

A news release issued by North Vietnam claimed the downing of an F111 in the
same area near Yen Bai, but made no mention of the fate of the crew. A second
North Vietnamese news release, monitored by the BBC in Hong Kong, claimed to
have downed an F111 on September 28 and captured the crew. Brett and Coltman
were the only F111 aircrew operating in that area.

The National League of Families published a list in 1974 that indicated that
Robert A. Brett had survived the downing of his aircraft, and that the loss
location was in Laos, not North Vietnam.

The last missing F111A team to be shot down was Capt. Robert D. Sponeyberger and
1Lt. William W. Wilson. Sponeyberger and Wilson were flying a typical F111
tactical mission when they were hit - flying at supersonic speed only a few
hundred feet altitude. They were declared Missing in Action.

In 1973, however, Sponeyberger and Wilson were released by the North Vietnamese,
who had held them prisoner since the day their aircraft was shot down. Their
story revealed another possibility as to why so many F111's had been lost. Air
Force officials had suspected mechanical problems, but really had no idea why
the planes were lost because they fly singly and out of radio contact. Capt.
Sponeyberger and 1Lt. Wilson had ruled out mechanical problems. "It seems
logical that we were hit by small arms," Wilson said, "By what you would
classify as a 'Golden BB' - just a lucky shot." Sponeyberger added that small
arms at low level were the most feared weapons by F111 pilots. The SAM-25 used
in North Vietnam was ineffective at the low altitudes flown by the F111, and
anti-aircraft cannot sweep the sky fast enough to keep up with the aircraft.

That a 91,000 pound aircraft flying at supersonic speeds could be knocked out of
the air by an ordinary bullet from a hand-held rifle or machine gun is a David
and Goliath-type story the Vietnamese must love to tell and retell.

As reports continue to be received by the U.S.Government build a strong case for
belief that hundreds of these missing Americans are still alive and in
captivity, one must wonder if their retention provides yet another David and
Goliath story for Vietnamese propaganda. The F111 missions were hazardous and
the pilots who flew them brave and skilled. Fourteen Americans remain missing
from F111 aircrafts downed in Southeast Asia. If any of them are among those
said to be still missing, what must they be thinking of us?



COLWELL, WILLIAM KEVIN

Name: William Kevin Colwell
Rank/Branch: E6/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 01 August 1921
Home City of Record: Glencove NY
Date of Loss: 24 December 1965
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 154800N 1064400E (XC856474)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: AC47D
Other Personnel In Incident: Arden K. Hassenger; Joseph Christiano; Dennis L.
Eilers; Larry C. Thornton; Derrell B. Jeffords (all missing)

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: 01 January 1990

REMARKS: MAYDAY HEARD - SEARCH NEG - J

SYNOPSIS: On December 24, 1965, President Lyndon Johnson announced a week-long
bombing halt on North Vietnam. That same day, an AC47D "Spooky" gunship was
shot down during an armed reconnaissance flight just south of the city of Ban
Bac in Saravane Province, Laos. Planes in the area of the loss of the plane
heard mayday signals, but were unable to establish contact with the crew.

The Spooky had evolved from the famed "Puff the Magic Dragon" versions of the
Douglas C47. Puff introduced a new principle to air attack in Vietnam. Troubled
by difficulties in conducting nighttime defense, Capt. Ronald Terry of the U.S.
Air Force Aeronautical Systems Division remembered reading about flying
missionaries in Latin America who lowered baskets of supplies on a rope from a
tightly circling airplane. Throughout the series of pylon turns, the basket
remained suspended over a selected point on the ground. Could this principle be
applied to fire from automatic weapons? Tests proved it could, and could be
extremely successful.

Puff's "flare kicker" illuminated the target, then the pilot used a mark on the
window to his left as a gun sight and circled slowly as three multibarrel
7-62mm machine guns fired 18,000 rounds per minute from the door and two
windows in the port side of the passenger compartment. The aircraft was called
"Puff" after a popular song of the day, and because it resembled a dragon
overhead with flames billowing from its guns. Men on the ground welcomed the
presence of Puff and the later Spooky version, which was essentially the same
as the Puff, because of its ability to concentrate a heavy dose of defensive
fire in a surgically determined area. These aircraft were extremely successful
defending positions in South Vietnam, but proved unable to survive against the
anti-aircraft defenses in Laos.

The Spooky lost in Laos on December 24, 1965 was flown by Col. Derrel B.
Jeffords and Capt. Dennis L. Eilers. The crew aboard the aircraft was Maj.
Joseph Christiano, MSgt. Larry C. Thornton, TSgt. W. Kevin Colwell, and SSgt.
Arden K. Hassenger.

When 591 Americans were released from Vietnam in 1973, the Spooky crew was not
among them. As a matter of fact, no American held in Laos was (or has been)
released. The Lao were not included in negotiations ending American involvement
in the war in Southeast Asia.

In June 1989, Arden Hassenger's wife was informed that a report had been
received saying her husband had been sighted alive in Laos. This report is one
of nearly 10,000 relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asia received by
the U.S. Government since the war ended. Mrs. Hassenger was unable to sleep to
sleep at night wondering and worrying, yet Arden Hassenger is still missing.

Henry Kissinger predicted in the 50's that future "limited political
engagements" would result, unfortunately, in nonrecoverable prisoners of war.
We have seen this prediction fulfilled in Korea and Vietnam, where thousands of
men and women remain missing, and where ample evidence exists that many of them
(from BOTH wars) are still alive today. The U.S. Government seems unable (or
unwilling) to negotiate their freedom. For Americans, the "unfortunate"
abandonment of military personnel is not acceptable, and the policy that allows
it must be changed before another generation is left behind in some faraway war.
COMER, HOWARD BRISBANE JR.

Name: Howard Brisbane Comer, Jr.
Rank/Branch: W2/US Army
Unit: 187th Aviation Company, 269th Aviation Battalion, 12th Aviation Group,
1st Aviation Brigade
Date of Birth: 04 August 1945
Home City of Record: Jacksonville FL
Date of Loss: 24 November 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 111445N 1060714E (XT223433)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On November 24, 1969, WO Howard B. Comer was the pilot of a UH1H
helicopter (serial #68-15564) on a general support mission when the helicopter
crashed in the Van Co Dung River in South Vietnam. The helicopter and its
passengers were recovered, but in spite of an extensive search, no trace was
found of the pilot.

Further search efforts were thwarted by the chief of the ARVN delegation to the
2-party military commission. The Tay Ninh Province chief was concerned about
pressure on his province by hostile forces should he agree to assist in further
searches for missing Americans.

Several source reports were received regarding Comer's loss. One source
reported that his father had possession of the remains of one U.S. GI and the
father had the source memorize the information on the ID tag on Comer. The
source provided information on the discovery of alleged remains and Comer's ID
tag, which were alleged to be found near Cam Giang.

Source provided information on the alleged discovery of the remains of Comer. A
photocopy of the ID tag was provided. All information matched information given
earlier by the source.

In March 1985, a source relayed hearsay information regarding the recovery7 of
U.S. remains from a helicopter crash in Vam Co Dung river near Tay Ninh city.
This report was thought to possibly correlate to Comer. The same hearsay
information was provided again in February 1986.

Comer apparently did not survive the crash of his aircraft on November 24,
1969. Because his remains have never been located, he is listed with honor
among the missing.

For others missing, clear-cut answers are not as possible as in the case of
Howard B. Comer, Jr. Many were alive and well the last time they were seen.
Some were in radio contact with would-be rescuers before their voices vanished
from the airways. Others were photographed in captivity or known captives who
simply disappeared from the prison systems and were not released.

There are nearly 2400 Americans still missing, prisoner or unaccounted for from
the Vietnam War. Unlike "MIA's" from other wars, most of these men can be
accounted for. Since 1975, nearly 10,000 reports relating to these men have
been received by the U.S. Government. A shocking 80% of them are accurate, and
some of them have been correlated to individuals who have returned. Over 100 of
these reports (which may include more than one individual) are as yet
unresolved, being put through a process one U.S. Government official terms "the
closest scrutiny possible".

Most authorities believe there are Americans still alive in captivity in
Southeast Asia. Their opinions differ only in the numbers held. Unfortunately,
none of them have formulated the solution for bringing them home.

COMPA, JOSEPH JAMES JR.

Name: Joseph James Compa, Jr.
Rank/Branch: E6/US Army
Unit: 118th Aviation Company, 145th Aviation Battalion, 1st Aviation Brigade
Date of Birth: 13 January 1931 (Beaver Falls PA)
Home City of Record: East Liverpool OH
Date of Loss: 10 June 1965
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 113521N 1065309E (YT056817)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 1
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1B

Other Personnel In Incident: Robert L. Curlee; Craig L. Hagen; Walter L. Hall;
Bruce G. Johnson; Fred M. Owens; Donald R. Saegaert (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS: J010 ON GND SED ALL DED - J

SYNOPSIS: On May 25, 1965, Special Forces Detachment A-342 was airlanded at
Dong Xoai, a district capital of Phuoc Long Province, through which the Viet
Cong supply lifeline from Cambodia into War Zone D tracked. The Special Forces
Detachment, together with Navy Seabees, built a camp and among other duties,
assumed the MACV subsector role for Don Luan district.

Intermittent Viet Cong mortar rounds lobbed into the new camp, and were
considered only the usual harassment, but sightings of large VC formations
nearing the town increased.

At 2310 hours on the night of June 9, CIDG teams around the camp's perimeter
were silenced by the 762nd and 763rd VC Regiments. There was no opportunity to
warn the camp, and only a few survived. At 2330, the camp was heavily mortared,
and came under a heavy ground assault. The camp was overrun, and most of the
CIDG and LLDB withdrew.

At the camp, 2Lt. Charles Q. Williams, seriously wounded, was directing the
defense of the compound with singular valor and would later be awarded the
Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions at Dong Xoai.

Before South Vietnamese relief forces could arrive, a team of advisors was sent
in from Than Son Nhut, where MACV was headquartered. The team was aboard a
UH1B helicopter from the 188th Aviation Company flown by Lt. Walter L. Hall.
The crew consisted of Sgt. Craig L. Hagen, gunner; SSgt. Joseph J. Compa, crew
chief; and WO Donald Saegaert, co-pilot. The advisors from MACV Special
Detachment 5891 were SSgt. Robert L. Curlee, the medic; and Capt. Bruce G.
Johnson and SFC Fred M. Owens, advisors.

When the helicopter was disembarking troops on a plantation landing zone, it
came under heavy mortar and small arms fire. The helicopter took off and
started a climbing turn. Upon clearing some buildings left of the landing zone,
the helicopter went into uncontrolled flight and in crashing, skidded into some
parked vehicles and burst into flames.

A circling pilot immediately established radio contact with Johnson, who stated
that he was standing by the downed helicopter, and that the crew and other two
advisors with him were dead. He reported that the situation was very bad - not
to send anyone else in. Johnson stated that he was under heavy fire, and two
mortar shells were subsequently seen to land in his vicinity.

A subsequent search of the crash site was conducted when the area was resecured
(on June 15), but no American remains were found, nor was Johnson seen.
Villagers in the area reported that an American had been captured on that day,
but no verifiable information has surfaced since that time. Villagers also
stated that the Viet Cong had carried away the bodies of 7 Americans and had
buried them.

A captured Viet Cong film entitled "Dong Xoai in Flames" pictured the bodies of
five or six Americans as well as several crashed helicopters. One of these
helicopters bore the serial number 38557. The name tag "Owens" and the last two
letters of another name tag, "ll" (possibly Hall's) are shown in the film,
lending some more credence to the report that the Viet Cong took possession of
the aircraft and that all aboard were killed.

There is no real reason to suspect that any of the seven men aboard the UH1B
shot down at Dong Xoai are, indeed, alive. But there is no question that the
communists know the fate of these men. All of these men can be easily accounted
for. It appears that Johnson, at least, may have been captured. Mounting
evidence indicates that Americans are still being held prisoner in Southeast
Asia today. As long as even one American remains alive, held unjustly, we owe
him our best effort to bring him home.


COMPTON, FRANK RAY

Name: Frank Ray Compton
Rank/Branch: O3/US Navy
Unit: USS Enterprise
Date of Birth: 11 January 1936
Home City of Record: Chatham VA
Date of Loss: 21 March 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 175859N 1064258E
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: A4C

Other Personnel In Incident: John M. Tiderman (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: When nuclear powered USS ENTERPRISE arrived on Yankee Station on
December 2, 1965, she was the largest warship ever built. She brought with her
not only an imposing physical presence, but also an impressive component of
warplanes and the newest technology. By the end of her first week of combat
operations, the ENTERPRISE had set a record of 165 combat sorties in a single
day. By the end of her first combat cruise, her air wing had flown over 13,000
combat sorties. The record had not been achieved without cost.

One of the aircraft onboard the ENTERPRISE was the Douglas Aircraft A4 Skyhawk.
This aircraft was created to provide the Navy and Marine Corps with an
inexpensive, lightweight attack and ground support aircraft. The design
emphasized low-speed control and stability during take-off and landing as well
as strength enough for catapult launch and carrier landings. The aircraft was
small, but in spite of its diminutive size, the A4 packed a devastating punch
and performed well where speed and maneuverability were essential.

Lt. Frank R. Compton and LCdr. John M. Tiderman comprised the crew of an A4
which launched from the USS ENTERPRISE on March 21, 1966 on a mission over North
Vietnam as part of the intensive bombing campaign, Rolling Thunder.

At about 75 miles east of the city of Ron in North Vietnam, Compton and Tiderman
went down over the ocean. Searches did not yield their remains, and both were
classified as killed/body not recovered.

Compton and Tiderman are among nearly 2500 Americans who remain unaccounted for
in Vietnam. Some cases, like theirs, seem clear. It is improbable that Compton
and Tiderman survived the crash of their aircraft. Others, however, were alive
and well and in radio contact with search teams as they described imminent
capture. Some were seen in propaganda photographs or heard on radio broadcasts.

Mounting evidence indicates that hundreds of these Americans are still alive,
held captive by a long-ago enemy. While Compton and Tiderman may not be among
them, one can imagine them proudly launching in their "Scooter" for one more
mission to help bring them home. How can we abandon our best men?


CONAWAY, LAWRENCE YERGES

Name: Lawrence Yerges Conaway
Rank/Branch: O5/US Air Force
Unit: 497th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Ubon Airbase, Thailand
Date of Birth: 16 October 1930
Home City of Record: Columbus OH
Date of Loss: 03 May 1970
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 193358N 1034859E (UG759674)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D
Other Personnel in Incident: Carl R. Churchill (missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: In violation of, yet somewhat protected by the neutrality of Laos
accorded at Geneva in a 14-nation protocol conference July 23, 1962, the North
Vietnamese and supporting communist insurgent group, the Pathet Lao, lost no
time in building strategic strongholds of defense in Northern Laos and
establishing a steady flow of manpower and material to their revolutionary
forces in South Vietnam via the Ho Chi Minh Trail on the eastern border of the
Laotian panhandle.

As a result, the Royal Lao sought help from the U.S. in stopping both
initiatives. It was strategically important to do so, although every initiative
had to be cleared through the U.S. Ambassador at Vientiane, so that the
delicate balance of "look-the-other-way-neutrality" engaged in by the nations
involved (including China) could be preserved.

Defense of non-communist activity in Laos generally fell into three categories:
1) U.S. Army and CIA's bolstering of the Meo (Hmong) army led by General Vang
Pao; 2) Strategic U.S. Air Force bombing initiatives on the Ho Chi Minh Trail
(Operations Commando Hunt, Steel Tiger, etc.); 3) U.S. Air Force bombing
initiatives in northern Laos (Operation Barrell Roll, etc.) both against
communist strongholds there, and in support of the Royal Lao and Gen. Vang
Pao's army.

On May 3, 1970, LtCol. Lawrence Y. Conaway, pilot, and Capt. Carl R. Churchill,
systems operator, departed Ubon Airbase in southeast Thailand on an operational
mission over Laos. When they were about half way between the cities of Ban Ban
and Nong Het in Xiangkhoang Province, Laos, their aircraft was hit by enemy fire
and crashed in a river.

Conaway and Churchill were northeast of the heavily contested Plaine des Jarres
region of Laos. Just short of a year following the aircraft crash, a
determination of death was made that both crew members died in the crash of
their aircraft. However, the fact remained that there was every reason to
believe the Pathet Lao or Vietnamese know the precise fates of Conaway and
Churchill.

During the course of the war, the Pathet Lao stated publicly that they held
"tens of tens" of American prisoners, but that they would be released only from
Laos. They wished to negotiate the end of the massive bombing of their country
before releasing American POWs. The U.S. did not officially recognize the
communist government of Laos, and therefore, never negotiated with the Pathet
Lao. As a result, not one of the nearly 600 Americans lost in Laos was ever
released.

Since the end of the war, nearly 10,000 reports have been received concerning
Americans missing in Southeast Asia, convincing many authorities that hundreds
remain alive. Whether Churchill and Conaway are among those said to be still
alive is not known. What is certain, however, is that as long as even one
American is held against his will, we must do everything possible to bring him
home.







CONDIT, DOUGLAS CRAIG

Name: Douglas Craig Condit
Rank/Branch: 02/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 05 February 1942
Home City of Record: Forest Grove OR
Date of Loss: 26 November 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 172200N 1062000E (XE293215)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4C
Other Personnel in Incident: Herbert O. Brennan (missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: 1Lt. Douglas C. Condit and Col. Herbert O. Brennan probably thought
they were fortunate to have been selected to fly the F4 Phantom fighter jet.
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.

Brennan, a full colonel had not been required to serve in Vietnam. The 1947
West Point graduate had a distinguished Air Force career, and served as an
instructor at the United States Air Force Academy before volunteering for
Vietnam Service.

On November 26, 1967, Condit was serving as pilot and Brennan as
bombardier/navigator on board an F4C assigned a mission over North Vietnam. As
the aircraft was over Quang Binh Province, about 12 miles from the Ban Karai
pass, the aircraft was shot down.

The Ban Karai Pass was one of several passageways through the mountainous
border of Vietnam and Laos. American aircraft flying from Thailand to missions
over North Vietnam flew through them regularly, and many aircraft were lost. On
the Laos side of the border coursed the "Ho Chi Minh Trail", a road heavily
travelled by North Vietnamese troops moving materiel and personnel to their
destinations through the relative safety of neutral Laos. The return ratio of
men lost in and around the passes is far lower than that of those men lost in
more populous areas, even though both were shot down by the same enemy and the
same weapons. This is partly due to the extremely rugged terrain and resulting
difficulty in recovery.

It seems improbable that in one of the most heavily traveled sections of the Ho Chi
Minh Trail, the many Americans lost went unnoticed by the other side. The
governments of Laos and Vietnam claim no knowledge of the fates of Condit or
Brennan.

The U.S. Air Force placed both men in the category of Missing in Action. The
Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) further refined that category according to
enemy knowledge, concluding that there is ample reason to believe that the
enemy knows the fates of Brennan and Condit.

Since 1975, nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans still missing in
Southeast Asia, convincing many authorities that hundreds of Americans are
still held in captivity. Condit and Brennan could be among them. It's time we
brought our men home.




CONDON, JAMES CARROLL

Name: James Carroll Condon
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit: 72nd Strat Wing, Guam
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Versailles OH
Date of Loss: 28 December 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 210700N 1055600E (WJ980330)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: B52D

Other Personnel in Incident: Bennie L. Fryer; Allen L. Johnson (remains
returned); James W. Gough; Samuel B. Cusimano; Frank D. Lewis (all released
POWs)

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: RELSD 730329 BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: Frustrated by problems in negotiating a peace settlement, and
pressured by a Congress and public wanting an immediate end to American
involvement in Vietnam, President Nixon ordered the most concentrated air
offensive of the war - known as Linebacker II - in December 1972. During the
offensive, sometimes called the "Christmas bombings," 40,000 tons of bombs were
dropped, primarily over the area between Hanoi and Haiphong. White House Press
Secretary Ronald Ziegler said that the bombing would end only when all U.S. POWs
were released and an internationally recognized cease-fire was in force.

Linebacker II flights generally arrived over Hanoi in tight cells of three
aircraft to maximize the mutual support benefits of their ECM equipment and flew
straight and level to stabilize the bombing computers and ensure that all bombs
fell on the military targets and not in civilian areas.

The pilots of the early missions reported that "wall-to-wall SAMS" surrounded
Hanoi as they neared its outskirts. The Christmas Bombings, despite press
accounts to the contrary, were of the most precise the world had seen.

On December 28, 1972, twelve aircraft were assigned to strike the Trung Quang
rail yards near Hanoi. One three-ship cell was code-named Cobalt. The second
B52D in the flight, Cobalt 01, assumed lead in the cell because the other two
were experiencing problems with their electronic warfare equipment. At about
2330 hours, the cell turned inbound on Hanoi and went to independent bombing
mode, meaning each aircraft used its own radar to locate and attack the target.

The cell saw medium to heavy antiaircraft fire ahead and soon began receiving
SAM signals and saw SAM launches beginning. A total of 45 SAMs were fired at the
cells. When Cobalt 01 was within sixty seconds of bomb release, two SAMS locked
on and began tracking the aircraft. Lewis was able to evade these two, but
received a near-direct hit by another while still in a violent evasive turn.

Every crew member onboard received injuries from the impacting SAM fragments.
The crew consisted of Capt. Frank D. Lewis, pilot and aircraft commander; Capt.
Sam Cusimano, co-pilot; Maj. Allen Johnson, Electronic Warfare Officer (EWO);
Lt.Col. Jim Condon, radar navigator; 1Lt. Bennie Fryer, navigator; and SMSgt.
Jim Gough, gunner.

Capt. Frank D. Lewis, the pilot, attempted to maintain control of the aircraft
as it headed west, but he knew the aircraft had taken a fatal hit and was going
down. The wings were on fire and the ruptured fuel tanks fed the rapidly
spreading fire. All electrical systems were out, as well as the crew interphone
system. The pilot verbally gave the order to bail out only forty seconds after
the SAM impact. Lewis ejected, and the crew followed.

The gunner, MSgt. James A. Gough, could not hear the ejection order, but knew
that he would soon have to bail out. The flames from the burning aircraft
extended back on both sides of the B52 to the gunner's turret, and he decided to
wait for a better chance as long as the aircraft was still in level flight.

By then, the other crew members who were able to eject had departed the plane.
When the gunner saw that the aircraft was descending into the low undercast, he
knew he had to leave then or lose his chance. When he jumped, he went through
burning debris of the disintegrating engines and wings and had numerous pieces
of wiring and metal fragments embedded in his body. Luckily, Gough was able to
deploy his parachute. He was captured soon after he landed on the ground.

The pilot, Capt. Lewis, was lucky to be captured alive after he landed in a rice
paddy. A North Vietnamese peasant took Lewis' revolver and would have killed him
on the spot if the gun had been loaded. As the click, click of the empty pistol
sounded, NVA troops approached and captured Lewis alive, taking him from the
custody of the peasant.

Meanwhile, the other crew members had also landed and were being captured by NVN
troops. All had ejected except for the navigator, 1Lt. Ben L. Fryer, who was
apparently killed by the SAM explosion. Lewis and Condon were reunited soon
after they were captured. After having been taken to Hanoi, Lewis believes he
heard his EWO, Major Johnson scream not too far away. The thought that Johnson
was also encouraged him -- he worried about his crew.

Lewis was subjected to the same harassment and torture by his captors that many
returned POWs have described. After a month in solitary, he was moved to the
"Zoo" where he was reunited with Gough, Condon, Cusimano and Fryer. Together,
they reconstructed the shootdown. Notably, LtCol. Condon, the radar navigator,
remembers hearing three ejection seats going above him before he ejected. These
three would have been the EWO (Johnson), pilot (Lewis) and co-pilot (Cusimano).

Lt.Col. Condon said that Lt. Bennie Fryer was apparently killed in the SAM
explosion, as he collapsed forward on the nav table and was bleeding profusely.
His seat was the closest of any crew member to the point of impact of the SAM.
Condon himself was wounded in the leg by shrapnel, and tried shaking Fryer and
yelling at him to arouse him, but got no response.

The fate of Maj. Allen Johnson is still a mystery. The surviving crew members
believe that he ejected from the aircraft, and Lewis believes he was alive and
in the hands of the North Vietnamese, because he heard what he believed to be
Johnson screaming. Further, Lewis' interrogator told him that Johnson was a
black man, a fact not revealed by any of the crew in interrogation.

Then on September 30, 1977, the Vietnamese "discovered" and returned the remains
of Bennie L. Fryer. It was not until December 4, 1985 that the Vietnamese
returned the remains of Allen L. Johnson. The positive identification of these
remains was announced publicly in June 1986. The Vietnamese denied knowledge of
either man until their remains were returned.

Reports mount that have convinced many authorities that Americans are still held
captive in Southeast Asia. Were Johnson and Fryer among them? Did they survive
to know the country they love has abandoned them? Isn't it time we brought our
men home?


             CASE SYNOPSIS:  CONDREY, GEORGE THOMAS III

  ============================================================================

Name:                George Thomas Condrey III
Rank/Branch:            W1/US Army
Unit:                281st Aviation Co., 10th Aviation Btn
                17th Aviation Group, 1st Aviation Brigade
Date of Birth:            12 February 1944
Home City of Record:        Atlanta GA
Date of Loss:            08 May 1968
Country of Loss:        South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates:        155517N 1073857E
Status (in 1973):        Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category:            2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground:    UH1C
Other Personnel
In Incident:            James L. Dayton; Robert E. Jenne; Daniel E.
                Jureck (all missing)

REMARKS:  EXPLODE - N SIGN SUBJ OR CRASH - J

SYNOPSIS:  George Condrey, pilot, James Dayton, aircraft commander, Daniel
Jurecko, crewchief and Robert Jenne, crewman were on a combat support mission
35 nautical miles southwest of Da Nang on May 8, 1968.

During the mission, the helicopter was completing a turn from the east to the
west when it exploded in midair and plunged into the Buong River bank.    The
violent midair explosion of the aircraft indicated that it had been hit by an
explosive projectile.

Shortly after the incident, recovery personnel landed in the vicinity of the
crash, but were unable to find any signs of life.  On 12 May a ground patrol
located the remains of 4 bodies.  Two bodies were found in the wreckage, one
along side, and one was 2 meters forward of the aircraft.  All bodies were
burned beyond recognition.  Due to enemy activity and the badly deteriorated
state of the remains, the remains were not recovered.

All personnel aboard were classified as killed, body not recovered.  They are
among nearly 2500 Americans who remain unaccounted for from the Vietnam war.
They are among the dead because evidence exists that they did not survive.
They are listed among the missing because no formal identification of remains
was made.

Although it would appear unlikely that the crew of that UH1C helicopter
survived, other cases are not so clear.  Many of the missing were known to be
alive at the time they disappeared.  Some were photographed in captivity. Yet
the Vietnamese deny knowledge of them, and the U.S. seems unable or unwilling
to do what it takes to account for them.

With reports mounting that hundreds of Americans are still alive in prison
camps in Southeast Asia waiting for the country they proudly served to bring
them home, the phrase "Peace With Honor" has little meaning.
CONGER, JOHN EDWARD JR.

Name: John Edward Conger, Jr.
Rank/Branch: E3/US Army
Unit: Company A, 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Brigade
Date of Birth: 07 January 1950 (Columbus OH)
Home City of Record: Lebanon OH
Date of Loss: 27 January 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 103954N 1062519E (XS555802)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: PFC John E. Conger, Jr. was a rifleman for Company A, 3rd Battalion,
7th Infantry Brigade, and was serving in that capacity on January 27, 1969 on a
search and destroy mission in Long An Province, South Vietnam near the city of
Tan An.

The unit was inserted by helicopter and began a sweep. While crossing a field,
Congar's company was taken under fire by enemy machine guns. During the initial
fire four men were wounded. PFC Conger moved up to attempt to knock out the
machine gun nest and was reportedly wounded in the right shoulder and neck.
Attempts to recover Conger and five other wounded individuals at that time were
unsuccessful because of continuing fire.

On January 28, U.S. artillery and aircraft shelled and bombed the area while
U.S. ground forces cordoned off the area. By January 29, the area had been
secured, but Conger and the other individuals could not be located.

On October 13, 1969, the remains of the individuals who had been missing with
Conger were found, but no trace of Conger was located. No further searches were
conducted.

PFC John Conger was declared Missing in Action. It was never learned whether he
was killed that day in January or not. He might have survived to be taken
prisoner.

As reports continue to flow in indicating that Americans are still alive and
captives in Southeast Asia, it becomes increasingly apparent that PFC Conger
could be among them. If so, what must he be thinking of his country?


CONKLIN, BERNARD
Remains returned March, 1988

Name: Bernard Conklin
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 388th Combat Support Group, Udorn Airbase, Thailand
Date of Birth: 27 February 1932
Home City of Record: Stoney Point NY
Date of Loss: 29 July 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 204300N 10454953E (VH998943)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: RC47D
Other Personnel in Incident: Galileo F. Bossio; Robert E. Hoskinson; Robert
DiTommaso; (still missing) James S. Hall; John Mamiya; Herbert E. Smith;
Vincent Chiarello (remains returned)

REMARKS: DEAD/FIR 317-09130 74

SYNOPSIS: On July 19, 1966, an RC47D aircraft departed Udorn Airfield in
Thailand en route to Sam Neua, Laos. The crew abord the aircraft included Capt.
Robert E. Hoskinson, pilot; Maj. Galileo F. Bossio, 1Lt. Vincent A. Chiarello,
Capt. Bernard Conklin, 1Lt. Robert J. Di Tommaso, SSgt. James S. Hall, TSgt.
John M. Mamiya and TSgt. Herbert E. Smith, crewmen. The aircraft was an unarmed
RC47D Command and Control airship (Dogpatch 2).

When the aircraft was 10-20 miles south of Sam Neua, it was attacked by enemy
fighters. Radio contact was lost and the families were initially told there was
no further word of the plane or crew - that they had all been lost on an
operational mission in North Vietnam.

It was later learned, however, that at least one, possibly two parachutes were
observed in the air from persons on the ground, and the loss had occurred not
in North Vietnam, but at 201200N 1041700E, which is in Laos.

Primary objective of the C-47 in Laos at that point in the war was visual
reconnaissance. American forces worked closely with CAS (CIA) primarily to
weaken the communist supply link to South Vietnam via the "Ho Chi Minh Trail".
This particular plane, however, was working in support of the CIA's secret
indigenous army which was attempting to prevent a communist takeover in Laos.

The crewmembers on these missions were normally highly trained in electronic
surveillance techniques as well as versed in codes and languages. Accordingly,
and as "there was no war in Laos", certain details of the mission, such as the
precise location of loss, were originally distorted. Later reports indicate
that some of the crew survived the attack on July 29, 1966. According to a
March, 1974 list published by the National League of Families of POW/MIAs,
Bossio survived the incident and was missing in Laos. One 1971 report states
that as many as 5 of the crew were captured. Chiarello and Di Tommaso were
identified as survivors by Capt. Adair of Project Dogpatch. U.S. Air Force
records still reflect the loss as having occurred in North Vietnam.

In 1988, the remains of Conklin, Chiarello, Hall, Mamiya and Smith were
returned to U.S. control. They were positively identified and returned to their
families for burial. The Di Tommaso family was also notified, and Mafalda Di
Tommaso rushed to Hawaii to sadly welcome her son home. She was shocked to
learn that no body had returned - only information which added nothing to the
mystery surrounding her son's loss.

The families of Bossio, Hoskinson and Di Tommaso have the right to know what
happened on July 29, 1966. The communist governments of Southeast Asia can
account for the large majority of the nearly 2500 Americans still missing
there. The weight of the evidence shows that some of them are still being held
captive. It's time the veil of secrecy was lifted on these men and the others.
It's time they came home.






CONLEE, WILLIAM WALTER

Name: William Walter Conlee
Rank/Branch: O5/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Lemon Grove CA
Date of Loss: 22 December 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 210125N 1055100E (WJ880210)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: B52

Other Personnel in Incident: Gary L. Morgan; William T. Mayall; David I.
Drummond; John H. Yuill; Louis H. Bernasconi (all released POWs)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 July 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: RELSD 730329 BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: Frustrated by problems in negotiating a peace settlement, and
pressured by a Congress and public wanting an immediate end to American
involvement in Vietnam, President Nixon ordered the most concentrated air
offensive of the war - known as Linebacker II - in December 1972. During the
offensive, sometimes called the "Christmas bombings," 40,000 tons of bombs were
dropped, primarily over the area between Hanoi and Haiphong. White House Press
Secretary Ronald Ziegler said that the bombing would end only when all U.S. POWs
were released and an internationally recognized cease-fire was in force.

Linebacker II flights generally arrived over Hanoi in tight cells of three
aircraft to maximize the mutual support benefits of their ECM equipment and flew
straight and level to stabilize the bombing computers and ensure that all bombs
fell on the military targets and not in civilian areas.

The pilots of the early missions reported that "wall-to-wall SAMS" surrounded
Hanoi as they neared its outskirts. The Christmas Bombings, despite press
accounts to the contrary, were of the most precise the world had seen. Pilots
involved in the immense series of strikes generally agree that the strikes
against anti-aircraft and strategic targets was so successful that the U.S., had
it desired, "could have taken the entire country of Vietnam by inserting an
average Boy Scout troop in Hanoi and marching them southward."

To achieve this precision bombing, the Pentagon deemed it necessary to stick to
a regular flight path. For many missions, the predictable B52 strikes were
anticipated and prepared for by the North Vietnamese. Later, however, flight
paths were altered and attrition all but eliminated any hostile threat from the
ground.

Still, aircraft were shot down near the end of the campaign. On December 22,
1972, a B52 was shot down near Hanoi. Its crew included LTCOL John H. Yuill,
LTCOL Louis H. Bernasconi, LTCOL William W. Conlee, CAPT David I. Drummond, 1LT
William T. Mayall, and TSGT Gary L. Morgan. This crew was exceptionally
fortunate--they were all were captured by the North Vietnamese. The captured
crew was held in Hanoi until March 29, 1973, at which time they were released in
Operation Homecoming. The U.S. did not know all of them had been captured.

Linebacker II involved 155 Boeing B52 Stratofortress bombers stationed at
Anderson AFB, Guam (72nd Strat Wing) and another 50 B52s stationed at Utapoa
Airbase, Thailand (307th Strat Wing), an enormous number of bombers with over
one thousand men flying the missions. However, the bombings were not conducted
without high loss of aircraft and personnel. During the month of December 1972,
61 crewmembers onboard ten B52 aircraft were shot down and were captured or
declared missing. (The B52 carried a crew of six men; however, one B52 lost
carried an extra crewman.) Of these 61, 33 men were released in 1973. The others
remained missing at the end of the war. Over half of these survived to eject
safely.

Since the war ended, over 10,000 reports have been received relating to
Americans missing, prisoner or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia. The crew of
the B52 shot down on December 22 was lucky to have survived and only have a few
weeks imprisonment. Many authorities are now convinced that many Americans are
still held captive in Southeast Asia. It's time we found them and brought them
home.


CONLEY, EUGENE OGDEN

Name: Eugene Ogden Conley
Rank/Branch: O5/US Air Force
Unit: 354th Tactical Fighter Squadron
Date of Birth: 24 October 1927
Home City of Record: Akron OH
Date of Loss: 21 January 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 213059N 1054659E (WJ794812)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F105D

Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II
Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: The F105 Thunderchief (or "Thud") performed yoeman service on many
diversified missions in Southeast Asia. F105s flew more combat missions over
North Vietnam than any other USAF aircraft and consequently suffered the
heaviest losses in action. They dropped bombs by day and occasionally by night
from high or low altitude and some later versions (F105D in Wild Weasel guise)
attacked SAM sites with their radar tracking air-to-ground missiles. This
versatile aircraft was also credited with downing 25 Russian MiGs.

LtCol. Eugene O. Conley was the pilot of an F105D which was on a combat mission
over North Vietnam on January 21, 1967. About 5 miles from Thai Nguyen in Bac
Thai Province, Conley's aircraft encountered hostile ground fire and was
observed to exit a large fireball, go into a dive and impact the ground in a
near-vertical attitude. Observers saw to parachute and no beeper was heard.

For Conley, death seems a certainty. For hundreds of others, however, simple
answers are not possible. Adding to the torment of over 10,000 reports relating
to Americans missing in Southeast Asia is the certain knowledge that some
Americans who were known to be prisoners of war were not released at the end of
the war. Others were suspected to be prisoners, and still others were in radio
contact with would-be rescuers when last seen alive. Many were known to have
survived their loss incidents, only to disappear without a trace.

The problem of Americans still missing torments not only the families of those
who are missing, but the men who fought by their sides, and those in the general
public who realize the full implication of leaving men unaccounted for at the
end of a war.

Tragically, many authorities believe there are hundreds of Americans still alive
in captivity in Southeast Asia today. What must they be thinking of us? What
will our next generation say if called to fight if we are unable to bring these
men home from Southeast Asia?



CONLON, JOHN FRANCIS III

Name: John Francis Conlon III
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit: 21st Tactical Air Support Squadron, Pleiku AB SV
Date of Birth: 18 February 1941
Home City of Record: Wilkes Barre PA
Date of Loss: 04 March 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 133700N 1090000E (BR836079)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 3
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: O1E

Other Personnel In Incident: Stuart Andrews (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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: Major Stuart M. Andrews was the pilot of an O1E aircraft on which his
observer-in-training was 1Lt. John F. Conlon III in March 1966. Andrews and his
observer were sent on a cross-country visual reconnaissance mission in South
Vietnam.

The O1E "Bird Dog" was used extensively in the early years of the war in Vietnam
by forward air controllers and provided low, close visual reconnaissance and
target marking which enabled armed aircraft or ground troops to close in on a
target. The O1E was feared by the enemy, because he knew that opening fire would
expose his location and invite attack by fighters controlled by the slowly
circling Bird Dog. The Vietnamese became bold, however when they felt their
position was compromised and attacked the little Bird Dog with a vengeance in
order to lessen the accuracy of an impending strike by other craft.

Andrews and Conlon departed Qui Nhon Airfield on March 4, 1966 at 3:20 p.m. At
3:40 p.m. they made radio contact with a Special Forces Camp in the area and
were asked to check campfires that had been spotted. That radio contact with the
Special Forces camp was the last word anyone heard of Andrews and Conlon. There
was at that time no indication that anything was wrong, but when the plane
failed to arrive at its destination, both men were declared missing.

When 591 Americans were released from prisoner of war camps in 1973, Andrews and
Conlon were not among them. Nearly five years later, in December 1977, they were
presumptively declared dead, based on no information that they were alive.

Alarmingly, evidence continues to mount that Americans were left as prisoners in
Southeast Asia and continue to be held today. Unlike "MIAs" from other wars,
most of the nearly 2500 Americans who remain missing in Southeast Asia can be
accounted for. Many U.S. Government officials have said it is their belief that
Americans are being held, but have not yet found the formula that would bring
them home. Detractors claim that not enough is being done to bring these men
home.


Stuart M. Andrews was promoted to the rank of Colonel and John F. Conlon III was
promoted to the rank of Major during the period they were maintained missing.

CONNOR, CHARLES RICHARD

Name: Charles Richard Connor
Rank/Branch: O3/US Marine Corps
Unit: HAMS 132, 1st Marine Air Wing, Chu Lai AB SV
Date of Birth: 15 January 1938
Home City of Record: Salt Lake City UT
Date of Loss: 28 October 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 161455N 1073315E (YC730980)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: TA4F

Other Personnel in Incident: William E. Ricker (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: Capt. Charles R. Connor was a Marine pilot based at Chu Lai Air Base
in Quang Tin Province, South Vietnam. On October 28, 1968, he was assigned a
combat mission near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). His co-pilot ("special crew")
on the flight was Navy pilot LT William E. Ricker.

Connor and Ricker were flying a Douglas Aircraft TA4F Skyhawk.  The Skyhawk had
been designed to be an inexpensive, lightweight attack and ground support
aircraft. The design emphasized low-speed control and stability during take-off
and landing as well as strength enough for catapult launch and carrier landings.
The plane was so compact that it did not need folding wings for aboardship
storage and handling. In spite of its diminutive size, the A4 packed a
devastating punch and performed well where speed and maneuverability were
essential. The Skyhawk was normally a one-man aircraft, but the T models had
been created with dual controls originally for training purposes, but later the
T models saved the Marines' forward air controllers over heavily defended areas
where speed and maneuverability were essential for survival.

Connor and Ricker launched from the Chu Lai Air Base at about 11:20 a.m. on a
Tactical Airborne Controller mission. Enroute to their operations area, they
made radio contact with several controlling agencies. At 12:15 p.m. local time
they radioed their mission complete and requested and received clearance back to
Chu Lai. Their radio call indicated they were over water heading down the coast
towards their home field. No further radio contact was made.

The aircraft never landed at Chu Lai as expected. According to the Navy, this
was the last contact anyone ever had with Connor and Ricker. According to the
Marines, however, an emergency radio beeper signal was detected, indicating that
one or more of the crew probably successfully ejected from the aircraft. Connor
and Ricker were not located, however, and they were placed in a Missing in
Action Status.

When 591 Americans were released from prisoner of war camps in 1973, Ricker and
Connor were not among them. Military authorities were shocked at the time that
hundreds known or suspected to be prisoners of war were not released.

Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans prisoner,
missing or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. Many
authorities who have reviewed this largely classified information have
reluctantly concluded that hundreds of Americans are still alive, waiting for
the country they proudly served to bring them home.

Whether Connor and Ricker are among those still alive is unknown. But as long as
even one American remains held against his will, we must do everything possible
to secure his freedom.


William E. Ricker was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Commander and Charles
R. Connor was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel during the period they
were maintained missing.
CONSOLVO, JOHN WADSWORTH JR.

Name: John Wadsworth Consolvo, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O3/US Marine Corps
Unit: Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 212, 1st Brigade, MAG 24
Date of Birth: 08 January 1944
Home City of Record: Ft. Belvoir VA
Date of Loss: 08 January 1944
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 164800N 1065700E (YD010555)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4J

Other Personnel In Incident: (backseater rescued)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Capt. John W. Consolvo was on a combat mission out of Da Nang, South
Vietnam when his aircraft was hit by ground fire as he pulled off target. He
flew the aircraft about 18 miles to a safer bail-out area before the craft
became uncontrollable. Although Consolvo's mission was in South Vietnam near the
DMZ, the ground fire that struck his aircraft came from Laos.

Consolvo radioed that the aircraft was incapacitated and ordered his radar
intercept officer to eject. The officer successfully reached the ground, was
rescued and returned to Da Nang.

The F4 crashed 3-4 miles from the location the RIO landed, in enemy territory
(probably just inside Laos). Although the RIO did not see his pilot eject, he
believed he could have easily ejected and probably did. The wingman and forward
air controller on the mission did not see him eject, but they had been unable to
keep the plane constantly in sight.

John Consolvo flew over 150 combat missions on his first tour of Vietnam. He was
into his second tour when he was shot down on May 7, 1972. He had been in the
Marine Corps since 1966.

If John Consolvo was unfortunate enough to be apprehended by the Pathet Lao, he
is among nearly 600 Americans who disappeared without trace. The Pathet Lao
stated on several occasions that they held "tens of tens" of American prisoners,
yet not one man held in Laos was ever released - or negotiated for.
Circumstances surrounding his crash indicate that the Vietnamese or Lao could
account for his fate - alive or dead. John Consolvo does not deserve the
abandonment he has received by the country he proudly served.

John W. Consolvo, Jr. graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1966.
CONWAY, JAMES BENNETT

Name: James Bennett Conway
Rank/Branch: O3/US Army 5th Special Forces
Unit: Detachment A-253, Company B
Date of Birth: 23 November 1930
Home City of Record: Franklin TN
Date of Loss: 12 April 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 141200N 1073627E (YA814713)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
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: Capt. James B. Conway was a member of a combat reconnaissance patrol
operating from the Special Forces Camp at Kontum when his patrol encountered
enemy forces and engaged in a firefight. The patrol was at that time in the
extreme southern portion of Kontum Province, near the Se San River.

Following the battle, Capt. Conway could not be located. A search was initiated,
but no sign of him was found. Conway was declared Missing in Action, but by 1973
was declared Killed/Body Not Recovered.

James Conway is among nearly 2500 Americans who remain unaccounted for in
Southeast Asia. Many were known to have been captured, or were alive and well
and in radio contact with would-be rescuers.

When the peace documents were signed ending American involvement in the Vietnam
War, and the general prisoner release occurred, Conway was not among those who
came home. Military leaders later expressed their dismay that "some hundreds"
expected to be released were not. Yet, only perfunctory efforts ensued to obtain
the prisoners expected to still be held.

As reports mount that have convinced many experts that hundreds of Americans are
still alive in the hands of a long-ago enemy, the question arises, "Where is
James Conway?" If he is one of those who are still alive, what must he be
thinking of us?

During the period he was maintained Missing in Action, James B. Conway was
promoted to the rank of Major.
COOK, DENNIS PHILIP

Name: Dennis Philip Cook
Rank/Branch: O3/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 212, USS HANCOCK (CVA 19)
Date of Birth: 01 November 1936
Home City of Record: Santa Barbara CA
Date of Loss: 06 April 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water (See Text)
Loss Coordinates: 175831N 1080133E (AK850900)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A4E

Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 30 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 USS HANCOCK first saw action in Vietnam when aircraft from her
decks flew strikes against enemy vessels in Saigon Harbor in late 1944. The
Essex class carrier, extensively modernized, returned to Vietnam during the
early years of the Vietnam war. 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 HANCOCK was the smallest type of
flattop to operate in the Vietnam theater, but pilots from her fighter and
attack squadrons distinguished themselves throughout the duration of the war. On
June 12, 1966, Commander Hal Marr, the CO of VF-211 gained the first F8 Russian
MiG kill.

LT Dennis P. Cook was a pilot assigned to Attack Squadron 212 onboard the
aircraft carrier USS HANCOCK, then stationed off Dixie Station in the South
China Sea. On April 6, 1966, he was preparing to launch in his A4E Skyhawk light
attack aircraft. due to a catapult malfunction his aircraft did not have
sufficient acceleration on launch and the aircraft settled into the water with
no apparent ejection attempted. An extensive search was conducted throughout the
crash site area, but no remains of LT Cook were located.

(NOTE: Although all government data states that the country of loss for LT Cook
was South Vietnam/Over Water, the loss coordinates given above, obtained from
government data, are located in the Gulf of Tonkin, offshore from North Vietnam
approximately 100 miles east of the city of Ron. The grid coordinates [AK850
900] indicate a loss in the South China Sea. No explanation can be found for
this apparent discrepancy, but the weight of data indicates that the loss did
occur offshore from South Vietnam in spite of the discrepancy.)

LT Cook was placed in a Dead/Non-battle casualty status. Because his remains
were never recovered he is listed among the unaccounted for U.S. servicemen from
the Vietnam War.

During the period of July-September 1973 an overwater/at sea casualty resolution
operation was conducted to determine the feasibility of pursuing recovery on
incidents such as that of LT Dennis Cook. Because of the lack of any positive
results whatsoever, the at-sea operations were terminated. It was decided that
LT Cook and others lost at sea would never be recovered.



COOK, DONALD GILBERT

Name: Donald Gilbert Cook
Rank/Branch: O3/US Marine Corps
Unit: COMMCO, 3rd Marine Division
Date of Birth: 09 August 1934 (Brooklyn NY)
Home City of Record: Essex Junction VT (also listed in some places as Laurette
NY, New York NY and Burlington VT)
Date of Loss: 31 December 1964
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 104517N 1073622E (YS850900)
Status (in 1973): Prisoner of War
Category: 1
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel In Incident: (none missing)

REMARKS: ON PRG DIC LIST 671208

SYNOPSIS: Donald Cook was an advisor to the 4th Battalion, Vietnamese Marine
Corps operating in the Delta when they engaged the enemy on New Year's Eve,
1964. Cook was wounded in the leg during the battle and subsequently captured
by the Viet Cong. Cook was then 30 years old.

During his years of captivity in camps north of Saigon, Cook set an example
difficult to emulate by his fellow POWs. He jeopardized his own health and
well-being by sharing his already meager supply of food and scarce medicines
with other prisoners who were more ill than he. According to one released POW,
Cook was so hard-nosed that he "would have stopped shitting if he had thought
Charlie was using it for fertilizer." Cook became nearly legendary in his
refusal to betray the Military Code of Conduct.

Air Force Colonel Norman Gaddis, upon his return from captivity, described the
impossible task of adhering to the Code of Conduct. Gaddis said that he did not
know anyone who had refused to cooperate with their captives after having been
tortured to do so, and those who had refused were "not with us today."

Cook refused to cooperate with his captors in any way. On one occasion, a
pistol was put to his head as a threat to cooperate. Cook calmly recited the
nomenclature of the parts of the pistol. He would give them nothing.

According to the Provisional Revolutionary Government (PRG) list provided to
the U.S. in Paris in 1973, Donald Cook died of malaria in South Vietnam on
December 8, 1967 while being moved from one camp to another. The Vietnamese
provided this information to the U.S. in 1973, but have not yet "discovered"
the location of his remains. For his extraordinary actions during his
captivity, Donald Cook was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, and has
been promoted to the rank of Colonel. Alive or dead, Donald Cook is still a
prisoner of war.
COOK, DWIGHT WILLIAM

Name: Dwight William Cook
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 08 July 1948
Home City of Record: Center Point IA
Loss Date: 21 September 1972
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 191900N 1030900E (UG056368)
Status (in 1973): Killed In Captivity
Category: 1
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D
Other Personnel In Incident: Rogert W. Carroll Jr. (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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: Roger Carroll Jr. was born in Dallas, Texas and moved to Kansas City,
Missouri when he was six years old. The oldest child, Roger was very fond of his
younger sister and brother. He was raised in a Christian home, was an honor
student, and active in sports. Roger knew from an early age that he wanted to be
a pilot.

Roger entered the University of Kansas to study aviation engineering. While at
KU, Roger joined the Air Force and became a navigator on B-47 and B-52 aircraft.
Wanting to be a pilot still, Roger took pilot training and earned his wings
flying T-38 and F-100 aircraft.

After one tour in Vietnam, Roger returned to the States to train other young
pilots until he again took training himself, this time on the F-4 Phantom
fighter/bomber jet. His second tour of Vietnam began in early 1972. He told his
parents, "If anything ever happens to me, don't come looking for me. You won't
find me. The aircraft is such a bomb that if one hits the ground or something
hits it, it just explodes."

Maj. Carroll was assistant to the commander, and did not ordinarily fly combat
missions, but begged for the chance to fly, and was allowed to fly twice-weekly
missions. On September 21, 1972, Carroll was sent on a mission over the
strategic Plain of Jars region in Laos. His weapons/systems officer was 1LT
Dwight W. Cook, a young Air Force officer.

The Plain of Jars region of Laos had for years been an intense area of struggle
between the communist Pathet Lao and the Royal Lao armed forces. Millions of
U.S. dollars had been secretly committed to the strengthening of anti-communist
strongholds in the Plain of Jars for some years. About one year before Carroll
and Cook were shot down in this area, Nixon's secret campaign in Laos had become
public. The area had been defended with the help of U.S. aircraft; the
anti-communist troops, primarily a secret CIA-directed force comprised of some
30,000 indigenous tribesmen, were, in part, kept resupplied by CIA.

Because Laos was "neutral" under the terms of the Geneva convention, and because
the U.S. continually stated they were not at war with Laos (although we were
regularly bombing North Vietnamese traffic along the border and conducted
assaults against communist strongholds thoughout the country at the behest of
the anti-communist government of Laos), and did not recognize the Pathet Lao as
a government entity, the nearly 600 Americans lost in Laos were never recovered.

During the mission, Carroll's aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire and
crashed. Roger's prediction was correct. The largest piece of aircraft remaining
was no larger than three feet across.

A week after the aircraft crashed, a search party found several pieces of flight
clothing and a human hip socket at the site. They found identification that
belonged to Cook, but it was evident that the enemy had reached the plane first.
Carroll and Cook were classified as having "died in captivity." It is unclear
whether the two were captured and later died, were executed on the spot, or
perhaps tortured and mutilated as was sometimes deemed the punishment for
captured pilots. Neither Carroll nor Cook were promoted after their loss
incident, which seems to indicate the U.S. has positive information that they
were killed quickly.

The Defense Intelligence Agency further expanded Carroll's and Cook's
classification to include an enemy knowledge ranking of 1. Category 1 indicates
"confirmed knowledge" and includes all personnel who were identified by the
enemy by name, identified by reliable information received from escapees or
releasees, reported by highly reliable intelligence sources, or identified
through analysis of all-source intelligence.

By 1980, Carroll and Cook had been classified killed in action because there was
no verified information that they were alive. But the Department of Defense
still believes the Lao hold the answers to their fate.

The Pathet Lao stated that they would release the "tens of tens" of American
prisoners they held only from Laos - when agreements were reached with the U.S.
to halt their bombing there. Agreements were never made, and no American held in
Laos was released, even though nearly 600 Americans were lost in Laos.
Tragically, over 10,000 reports have been received by the U.S. relating to the
men missing in Southeast Asia, and many authorities believe hundreds of them are
alive today.

Whether Carroll and Cook are among those said to be still alive is unknown. What
seems certain, however, is that our country has a moral and legal obligation to
the men who fought in our name. We must do everything we can to bring them home.


Roger Carroll's mother died in 1986, still believing her son was alive. The Air
Force has never fully informed Roger's family of the events of September 21,
1972.

COOK, JAMES RAYMOND

Name: James Raymond Cook
Rank/Branch: E6/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Wilmington NC
Date of Loss: 26 December 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 210200N 1055000E (WJ918166)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: B52D

Other Personnel in Incident: Robert M. Hudson; Michael H. LaBeau; Duane P.
Vavroch (all released POWs); Robert J. Morris Jr.;  Nutter J. Wimbrow III (both
remains returned)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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: 730212 RELSD BY DRV - INJURED

SYNOPSIS: Frustrated by problems in negotiating a peace settlement, and
pressured by a Congress and public wanting an immediate end to American
involvement in Vietnam, President Nixon ordered the most concentrated air
offensive of the war - known as Linebacker II - in December 1972. During the
offensive, sometimes called the "Christmas bombings", 40,000 tons of bombs were
dropped, primarily over the area between Hanoi and Haiphong. White House Press
Secretary Ronald Ziegler said that the bombing would end only when all U.S. POWs
were released and an internationally recognized cease-fire was in force.

The Christmas Bombings, despite press accounts to the contrary, were of the most
precise the world had seen. Pilots involved in the immense series of strikes
generally agree that the strikes against anti-aircraft and strategic targets was
so successful that the U.S., had it desired, "could have taken the entire
country of Vietnam by inserting an average Boy Scout troop in Hanoi and marching
them southward."

To achieve this precision bombing, the Pentagon deemed it necessary to stick to
a regular flight path. For many missions, the predictible B52 strikes were
anticipated and prepared for by the North Vietnamese. Later, however, flight
paths were altered and attrition all but eliminated any hostile threat from the
ground.

However, the bombings were not conducted without exceedingly high loss of
aircraft and personnel. During the month of December 1972, 62 crewmembers of B52
aircraft were shot down and captured or went missing. Of these 62, 33 men were
released in 1973. The others remained missing at the end of the war. Over half
of these survived to eject safely. What happened to them?

One B52D aircraft flown by Capt. Robert J. Morris, Jr. was shot down near Hanoi
on December 26, 1972. The crew onboard included Capt. Michael H. LaBeau; Capt.
Nutter J. Wimbrow III; 1LT Robert M. Hudson; 1LT Duane P. Vavroch; and SGT James
R. Cook. The pilot gave the bail-out order and the crew of the aircraft
parachuted to safety.

LaBeau, Vavroch, Hudson and Cook were captured by the North Vietnamese almost
immediately. Cook had been badly injured. These four spent the next six weeks as
"guests" in the Hanoi prison system. Ultimately, they were released in Operation
Homecoming on February 12, 1973 -- four very lucky airmen.

Hanoi denied any knowledge of the pilot, Robert J. Morris or his crew member,
Nutter J. Wimbrow III. Then, in late September 1977, the Vietnamese "discovered"
the remains of Morris and Wimbrow and returned them to U.S. control. For four
years, the Vietnamese denied knowledge of the fate of Morris and Wimbrow, even
though the U.S. believed there was a good possibility the two were captured.

Disturbing testimony was given to Congress in 1980 that the Vietnamese
"stockpiled" the remains of Americans to return at politically advantageous
times. Were Morris and Wimbrow waiting 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 Morris and Wimbrow among
these?

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.

COOK, JOSEPH FRANCIS

Name: Joseph Francis Cook
Rank/Branch: E3/US Marine Corps
Unit: Battery D, 2nd Battalion, 13th Marines, 1st Marine Division
Date of Birth: 15 January 1949
Home City of Record: Foxboro MA
Date of Loss: 10 May 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 152208N 1074540E (YC965009)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Personnel in Incident: Ngok Tavak: Horace H. Fleming; Thomas J. Blackman;
Joseph F. Cook; Paul S. Czerwonka; Thomas W. Fritsch; Barry L. Hempel; Raymond
T. Heyne; Gerald E. King; Robert C. Lopez; William D. McGonigle; Donald W.
Mitchell; James R. Sargent (members of USMC search team - all missing); Glenn
E. Miller; Thomas H. Perry (USSF teammembers - missing); Kham Duc: Richard E.
Sands (missing from CH47); Bernard L. Bucher; Frank M. Hepler; George W. Long;
John L. McElroy; Stephan C. Moreland (USAF crew of C130 - all missing); Warren
R. Orr (USSF on C130 - missing); Harry B. Coen; Andrew J. Craven; Juan M.
Jimenez; Frederick J. Ransbottom; Maurice H. Moore; Joseph L. Simpson; William
E. Skivington; John C. Stuller; Imlay S. Widdison; Danny L. Widner; Roy C.
Williams (all missing); Julius W. Long (released POW).

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Kham Duc Special Forces camp (A-105), was located on the western
fringes of Quang Tin ("Great Faith") Province, South Vietnam. In the spring of
1968, it was the only remaining border camp in Military Region I. Backup
responsibility for the camp fell on the 23rd Infantry Division (Americal),
based at Chu Lai on the far side of the province.

The camp had originally been built for President Diem, who enjoyed hunting in
the area. The 1st Special Forces detachment (A-727B) arrived in September 1963
and found the outpost to be an ideal border surveillance site with an existing
airfield. The camp was located on a narrow grassy plain surrounded by rugged,
virtually uninhabited jungle. The only village in the area, located across the
airstrip, was occupied by post dependents, camp followers and merchants. The
camp and airstrip were bordered by the Ngok Peng Bum ridge to the west and Ngok
Pe Xar mountain, looming over Kham Duc to the east. Steep banked streams full
of rapids and waterfalls cut through the tropical wilderness. The Dak Mi River
flowed past the camp over a mile distant, under the shadow of the Ngok Pe Xar.

Five miles downriver was the small forward operating base of Ngok Tavak,
defended by the 113-man 11th Mobile Strike Force Company with its 8 Special
Forces and 3 Australian advisors. Since Ngok Tavak was outside friendly
artillery range, 33 Marine artillerymen of Battery D, 2nd Battalion, 13th
Marines, with two 105mm howitzers were located at the outpost.

Capt. Christopher J. Silva, commander of Detachment A-105 helicoptered into
Ngok Tavak on May 9, 1968 in response to growing signs of NVA presence in the
area. Foul weather prevented his scheduled evening departure. A Kham Duc CIDG
platoon fleeing a local ambush also arrived and was posted to the outer
perimeter. It was later learned that the CIDG force contained VC infiltrators.

Ngok Tavak was attacked by an NVA infantry battalion at 0315 hours on May 10.
The base was pounded by mortars and direct rocket fire. As the frontal assault
began, the Kham Duc CIDG soldiers moved toward the Marines in the fort yelling,
"Don't shoot, don't shoot! Friendly, friendly!" Suddenly they lobbed grenades
into the Marine howitzer positions and ran into the fort, where they shot
several Marines with carbines and sliced claymore mine and communication wires.

The defenders suffered heavy casualties but stopped the main assault and killed
the infiltrators. The NVA dug in along the hill slopes and grenaded the trenches
where the mobile strike force soldiers were pinned by machine gun and rocket
fire. An NVA flamethrower set the ammunition ablaze, banishing the murky flare-
lighted darkness for the rest of the night. SFC Harold M. Swicegood and the
USMC platoon leader, Lt. Adams, were badly wounded and moved to the command
bunker. Medical Spec4 Blomgren reported that the CIDG mortar crews had abandoned
their weapons. Silva tried to operate the main 4.2 inch mortar but was wounded.
At about 0500 hours, Sgt. Glenn Miller, an A-105 communications specialist, was
shot through the head as he ran over to join the Marine howitzer crews.

The NVA advanced across the eastern side of Ngok Tavak and brought forward more
automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenade launchers. In desperation, the
defenders called on USAF AC-47 "Spooky" gunships to strafe the perimeter and
the howitzers, despite the possible presence of friendly wounded in the gun
pits. The NVA countered with tear gas, but the wind kept drifting the gas over
their own lines. After three attempts, they stopped. A grenade fight between
the two forces lasted until dawn.

At daybreak Australian Warrant Officers Cameron and Lucas, joined by Blomgren,
led a CIDG counterattack. The North Vietnamese pulled back under covering fire,
and the howitzers were retaken. The Marines fired the last nine shells and
spiked the tubes. Later that morning medical evacuation helicopters supported
by covering airstrikes took out the seriously wounded, including Silva and
Swicegood. Two CH46's were able to land 45 replacements from the 12th Mobile
Strike Force Company, accompanied by Capt. Euge E. Makowski (who related much
of this account to Shelby Stanton, author of "Green Berets at War"), but one
helicopter was hit in the fuel line and forced down. Another helicopter was hit
by a rocket and burst into flames, wrecking the small helipad. The remaining
wounded were placed aboard a hovering helicopter. As it lifted off, two Mike
Force soldiers and 1Lt. Horace Fleming, one of the stranded aviation crewmen,
grabbed the helicopter skids. All three fell to their deaths after the
helicopter had reached an altitude of over one hundred feet.

The mobile strike force soldiers were exhausted and nervous. Ammunition and
water were nearly exhausted, and Ngok Tavak was still being pounded by sporadic
mortar fire. They asked permission to evacuate their positions, but were told
to "hold on" as "reinforcements were on the way". By noon the defenders decided
that aerial reinforcement or evacuation was increasingly unlikely, and night
would bring certain destruction. An hour later, they abandoned Ngok Tavak.

Thomas Perry, a medic from C Company, arrived at the camp at 0530 hours the
morning of the 10th. He cared for the wounded and was assisting in an attempt
to establish a defensive perimeter when the decision was made to evacuate the
camp. As survivors were leaving, Perry was seen by Sgt. Cordell J. Matheney,
Jr., standing 20 feet away, as Australian Army Capt. John White formed the
withdrawal column at the outer perimeter wire on the eastern Ngok Tavak
hillside. It was believed that Perry was going to join the end of the column.

All the weapons, equipment and munitions that could not be carried were hastily
piled into the command bunker and set afire. The helicopter that had been
grounded by a ruptured fuel line was destroyed with a LAW. Sgt. Miller's body
was abandoned.

After survivors had gone about 1 kilometer, it was discovered that Perry was
missing. Efforts were conducted to locate both Perry and Miller, including a
search by a group from Battery D. They were searching along the perimeter when
they were hit by enemy grenades and arms fire. Neither the men on the team nor
Perry was ever found. Included in this team were PFC Thomas Blackman; LCpl.
Joseph Cook; PFC Paul Czerwonka; LCpl. Thomas Fritsch; PFC Barry Hempel; LCpl.
Raymond Heyne; Cpl. Gerald King; PFC Robert Lopez; PFC William McGonigle; LCpl.
Donald Mitchell; and LCpl. James Sargent. The remaining survivors evaded
through dense jungle to a helicopter pickup point midway to Kham Duc. Their
extraction was completed shortly before 1900 hours on the evening of May 10.

In concert with the Ngok Tavak assault, the Kham Duc was blasted by a heavy
mortar and recoilless rifle attack at 0245 hours that same morning. Periodic
mortar barrages ripped into Kham Duc throughout the rest of the day, while the
Americal Division airmobiled a reinforced battalion of the 196th Infantry
Brigade into the compound. A Special Forces command party also landed, but the
situation deteriorated too rapidly for their presence to have positive effect.

The mortar attack on fog-shrouded Kham Duc resumed on the morning of May 11.
The bombardment caused heavy losses among the frightened CIDG soldiers, who
fled from their trenches across open ground, seeking shelter in the bunkers.
The LLDB commander remained hidden. CIDG soldiers refused orders to check the
rear of the camp for possible North Vietnamese intruders. That evening the 11th
and 12th Mobile Strike Force companies were airlifted to Da Nang, and half of
the 137th CIDG Company from Camp Ha Thanh was airlanded in exchange.

The 1st VC Regiment, 2nd NVA Division, began closing the ring around Kham Duc
during the early morning darkness of 12 May. At about 0415 to 0430 hours, the
camp and outlying positions came under heavy enemy attack. Outpost #7 was
assaulted and fell within a few minutes. Outposts #5, #1 and #3 had been
reinforced by Americal troops but were in North Vietnamese hands by 0930 hours.

OP1 was manned by PFC Harry Coen, PFC Andrew Craven, Sgt. Joseph Simpson, and
SP4 Julius Long from Company E, 2nd of the 1st Infantry. At about 0415 hours,
when OP1 came under heavy enemy attack, PFC Coen and SP4 Long were seen trying
to man a 106 millimeter recoilless rifle. Survivors reported that in the
initial enemy fire, they were knocked off their bunker. Both men again tried to
man the gun, but were knocked down again by RPG fire.

PFC Craven, along with two other men, departed the OP at 0830 hours on May 12.
They moved out 50 yards and could hear the enemy in their last position. At
about 1100 hours, as they were withdrawing to the battalion perimeter, they
encountered an enemy position. PFC Craven was the pointman and opened fire. The
enemy returned fire, and PFC Craven was seen to fall, with multiple chest
wounds. The other two men were unable to recover him, and hastily departed the
area. PFC Craven was last seen lying on his back, wounded, near the camp.

OP2 was being manned by 1Lt. Frederick Ransbottom, SP4 Maurice Moore, PFC Roy
Williams, PFC Danny Widner, PFC William Skivington, PFC Imlay Widdison, and SP5
John Stuller, from the 2nd of the 3rd Infantry when it came under attack.
Informal questioning of survivors of this position indicated that PFC Widdison
and SP5 Stuller may have been killed in action. However, the questioning was
not sufficiently thorough to produce enough evidence to confirm their deaths.

The only information available concerning 1Lt. Ransbottom, SP4 Moore, PFC Lloyd
and PFC Skivington that Lt. Ransbottom allegedly radioed PFC Widner and PFC
Williams, who were in the third bunker, and told them that he was shooting at
the enemy as they entered his bunker.

SP4 Juan Jimenez, a rifleman assigned to Company A, 2nd of the 1st Infantry,
was occupying a defensive position when he was severely wounded in the back by
enemy mortar fire. SP4 Jimenez was declared dead by the Battalion Surgeon in
the early morning hours of May 12. He was then carried to the helipad for
evacuation. However, due to the situation, space was available in the
helicopter for only the wounded, and SP4 Jimenez'remains were left behind.

At noon a massive NVA attack was launched against the main compound. The charge
was stopped by planes hurling napalm, cluster bomb units and 750 pound bombs
into the final wire barriers. The decision was made by the Americal Division
officers to call for immediate extraction.

The evacuation was disorderly, and at times, on the verge of complete panic.
One of the first extraction helicopters to land was exploded by enemy fire,
blocking the airstrip. Engineers of Company A, 70th Engineer Battalion,
frantically reassembled one of their dozers (previously torn apart to prevent
capture) to clear the runway. Eight more aircraft were blown out of the sky.

PFC Richard E. Sands was a member of Company A, 1st Battalion, 46th Infantry,
198th Light Infantry Brigade being extracted on a CH47 helicopter (serial
#67-18475). The helicopter was hit by 50 calliber machine gun fire at an
altitude of 1500-1600 feet shortly after takeoff.

Sands, who was sitting near the door gunner, was hit in the head by an incoming
rounds. The helicopter made a controlled landing and caught fire. During the
evacuation from the burning helicopter, four personnel and a medic checked PFC
Sands and indicated that he had been killed instantly. Because of the danger of
incoming mortar rounds and the fire, personnel attempting to remove PFC Sands
from the helicopter were ordered to abandon their attempt. The remaining
personnel were evacuated from the area later by another helicopter.

Intense antiaircraft fire from the captured outposts caused grave problems.
Control over the indigenous forces was difficult. One group of CIDG soldiers
had to be held in trenches at gunpoint to prevent them from mobbing the runway.

As evacuation was in progress, members of Company A, 1/46, who insisted on
boarding the aircraft first, shoved Vietnamese dependents out of the way. As
more Americal infantry tried to clamber into the outbound planes, the outraged
Special Forces staff convinced the Air Force to start loading civilians onboard
a C130, then watched as the civilians pushed children and weaker adults aside.

The crew of the U.S. Air Force C130 aircraft (serial #60-0297) consisted of
Maj. Bernard Bucher, pilot; SSgt. Frank Hepler, flight engineer; Maj. John
McElroy, navigator; 1Lt. Steven Moreland, co-pilot; George Long, load master;
Capt. Warren Orr, passenger, and an undetermined number of Vietnamese civilians.

The aircraft reported receiving ground fire on takeoff. The Forward Air Control
(FAC) in the area reported that the aircraft exploded in mid-air and crashed in
a fire ball about one mile from camp. All crew and passengers were believed
dead, as the plane burned quickly and was completely destroyed except for the
tail boom. No remains were recovered from the aircraft.

Capt. Orr was not positively identified by U.S. personnel as being aboard the
aircraft. He was last seen near the aircraft helping the civilians to board.
However, a Vietnamese stated that he had seen Capt. Orr board the aircraft and
later positively identified him from a photograph. Rescue efforts were
impossible because of the hostile threat in the area.

At the time the order was given to escape and evade, SP4 Julius Long was was
with Coen and Simpson. All three had been wounded, and were trying to make
their way back to the airfield about 350 yards away. As they reached the
airfield, they saw the last C130 departing. PFC Coen, who was shot in the
stomach, panicked and started running and shooting his weapon at random. SP4
Long tried to catch him, but could not, and did not see PFC Coen again. Long
then carried Sgt. Simpson to a nearby hill, where they spent the night.

During the night, the airfield was strafed and bombed by U.S. aircraft. SP4
Long was hit twice in the back by fragments, and Sgt. Simpson died during the
night. SP4 Long left him lying on the hill near the Cam Duc airfield and
started his escape and evasion toward Chu Lai, South Vietnam. SP4 Long was
captured and was released in 1973 from North Vietnam.

The Special Forces command group was the last organized group out of the camp.
As their helicopter soared into the clouds, Kham Duc was abandoned to advancing
NVA infantry at 4:33 p.m. on May 12, 1968. The last Special Forces camp on the
northwestern frontier of South Vietnam had been destroyed.

Two search and recovery operations were conducted in the vicinity of OP1 and
OP2 and the Cam Duc airfield on July 18, 1970 and August 17, 1970. In these
operations, remains of personnel previously reported missing from this incident
were recovered and subsequently identified. (SP4 Bowers, PFC Lloyd, Sgt. Sisk,
PFC Guzman-Rios and SSgt. Carter). However, extensive search and excavation
could not be completed at OP1 and OP2 because of the tactical situation.

It was assumed that all the missing at Kham Duc were killed in action until
about 1983, when the father of one of the men missing discovered a Marine Corps
document which indicated that four of the men had been taken prisoner. The
document listed the four by name. Until then, the families had not been advised
of the possibility there were any American prisoners taken other than Julius
Long. A Vietnamese rallier identified the photograph of Roy C. Williams as
positively having been a POW.

Until proof is obtained that the rest of the men lost at Ngok Tavak and Kham
Duc are dead, their families will always wonder if they are among those said to
still be alive in Southeast Asia.





COOK, KELLY FRANCIS

Name: Kelly Francis Cook
Rank/Branch: O5/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 02 May 1922
Home City of Record: Sioux City IA
Date of Loss: 10 November 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 171909N 1064629E (XE886156)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4C

Other Personnel in Incident: James A. Crew (missing); from other F4C: James S.
Morgan (missing); Charles J. Huneycutt (remains returned)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS: NO CONTACT

SYNOPSIS: On November 10, 1967, Lt.Col. Kelly F. Cook, pilot, and 1Lt. James A.
Crew, bombadier/navigator were the crew of one F4C in a flight of two which
departed Da Nang Airbase, South Vietnam on an operational mission. The crew of
the second aircraft was the pilot, Maj. James S. Morgan, and the rear-seater,
1Lt. Charles J. Huneycutt.

Both F4's were tracked to their target area of Dong Hoa in North Vietnam, but
because of incliment weather, were directed to an alternate target nearby.
Positive radar and radio contact was maintained with the aircrafts until the
point when their bombing dives were to begin. All contact was then lost.

Electronic searches were negative. Ground search was not conducted since the
incident occurred over heavily defended territory about 14 miles southeast of
Dong Hoi on the coast of North Vietnam. All four men aboard were classified
Missing in Action.

A North Vietnamese general was quoted in an article saying a women's militia
shot down two F4C recon planes that same day and captured "both bandits" alive.
As four, not two, individuals are concerned in this incident, it is unclear
which of the four the article could relate to. However, according to a 1974
publication from a POW organization named FACK, the Defense Department
acknowledged at one time that James A. Crew was, indeed, a prisoner of war. His
status was hot, however, changed from Missing in Action. According to a list
published by the National League of Families in 1974, Charles J. Huneycutt
survived his incident.

In the Peace agreements signed in Paris in 1973, the Vietnamese pledged to
release all American prisoners of war and account for the missing. They have
done neither. The U.S. Government has named the return and full accounting of
Americans "highest national priority", yet has dealt with the issue with less
than high priority.

In 1988, the Vietnamese "discovered" and returned to U.S. control the remains of
1Lt. Charles J. Huneycutt, Jr.  The other three pilots lost on November 10, 1967
remain missing, and the Vietnamese deny knowledge of their fates. For 21 years,
Huneycutt was a Prisoner of War - whether he was alive or dead.

Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing in
Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. Many authorities are convinced
that there are still hundreds of Americans alive, held captive. Cook, Crew, and
Morgan could be among them. They and the others who remain missing deserve the
full effort of their country to bring them home.

Kelly F. Cook was an instructor at the U.S. Air Force Academy prior to
volunteering for Vietnam service.

James A. Crew graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1965.

James S. Morgan's wife, Eleanor died of cancer in 1985, not knowing the fate
of her husband.









COOK, WILLIAM RICHARD

Name: William Richard Cook
Rank/Branch: O5/US Air Force
Unit: 16th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, Tan San Nhut Airbase, South Vietnam
Date of Birth: 25 May 1924
Home City of Record: Redwood Falls MN
Date of Loss: 28 April 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 152300N 1083200E
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: RF4C
Other Personnel In Incident: Joseph C. Bors (missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Capt. Joseph C. Bors was flying backseater aboard LtCol. William R.
Cook's RF4C Phantom jet when the two departed Tan San Nhut Airbase in South
Vietnam on 28 April 1968 on a day photo reconnaissance mission.

The RF4 version of the Phantom is a reconnaissance aircraft outfitted for
photographic and electronic reconnaissance missions. Its principal drawback was
in its use for night photography. Photo flash cartridges, ejected from the
plane's fuselage gave the necessary light, but also alerted enemy gunners of
the aircraft's location, making it somewhat vulnerable, particularly on low
level flights.

Cook and Bors' mission took them into Military Region 1, and into Quang Tin
Province, South Vietnam. When they were about 20 miles west southwest of the
city of Chu Lai, all contact with the aircraft was lost. Both men were
classified Missing In Action.

Bill Cook's photograph was identified by a rallier as an American prisoner of
war, but as none of the returning prisoners saw Cook, CIA analysts questioned
the identification. Perhaps the identification was in error, but it is now
widely known that a second and perhaps third prison system existed in Vietnam,
and it is possible that returned prisoners did not see the Americans held in
other prison systems. No further word of Bors has surfaced.

Cook and Bors are among nearly 2400 Americans who are still missing in
Southeast Asia. Thousands of sighting reports have accumulated over the years,
convincing many that hundreds of Americans are still alive, held prisoner.
Whether Cook or Bors is among them is unknown, but what is certain is that it
is long past time to bring these men home.


COOK, WILMER PAUL
Remains Returned 21 June 1988, ID Announced 28 September 1989

Name: Wilmer Paul Cook
Rank/Branch: O4/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 155, USS CORAL SEA (CVA-43)
Date of Birth: 01 October 1932
Home City of Record: Annapolis MD
Date of Loss: 22 December 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 182801N 1055129E (WF906419)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A4E
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

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:

The McDonnell Douglas A4 Skyhawk was intended to provide the Navy and Marine
Corps with an inexpensive, lightweight attack and ground support aircraft. The
design emphasized low-speed control and stability during take-off and landing,
as well as strength enough for catapult launch and carrier landings. The plane
was so compact that it did not need folding wings for aboardship storage and
handling.

LCdr. Wilmer P. Cook was the pilot of an A4E from Attack Squadron 155 on board
the USS CORAL SEA. On December 22, 1967, LCdr. Cook launched from the carrier on
a combat mission over North Vietnam. His was the only aircraft assigned to the
mission.

According to the U.S. Navy, because  no other aircraft accompanied LCdr. Cook
that day, it is not known exactly what happened to him on that day. LCdr. Cook
was lost, but no details are available. He was classified Killed In Action/Body
Not Recovered, even though no information explaining this determination is
included in public records available from the U.S. Navy. The last known position
of Cook and his aircraft was over Ha Tinh Province, approximately 20 miles
southeast of the city of Vinh.

(NOTE: In a second U.S. Navy summary of this incident, Cook's aircraft was hit
by ground fire and crashed north, northwest of Ha Tinh, Nghe Tinh, Province
Vietnam, and "the other crewmember of another aircraft observed the aircraft
crash.Search and rescue helicopter was driven away by small arms fire.")

The Defense Intelligence Agency further expanded the classification of Killed in
Action by adding an enemy knowledge factor indicator of 2. Category 2 was
generally applied to cases in which personnel were "lost in areas or under such
conditions that they may reasonably be expected to be known by the enemy", of
"identified through analysis of all-source intelligence."

Cook's family waited for the war to end. They understood that the possibility
existed that their men might have been captured. Even though they did not hear
from them, they knew that many were known to be prisoner who had never been
allowed to write home.

In 1973, 591 American prisoners were released from communist prison camps in
Southeast Asia, but Cook was not among them. The Vietnamese denied any knowledge
of his fate.

On June 21, 1988, the Vietnamese returned the remains of LCdr. Wilmer P. Cook to
U.S. control. For over 22 years - dead or alive - LCdr. Cook had been a captive
in enemy hands.

Since American involvement in Indochina ended in 1975, over 10,000 reports have
been received related to Americans missing in Southeast Asia. Many authorities
are convinced beyond doubt that hundreds remain alive in captivity. Cook did not
return home alive. One can imagine how he would feel about those who are still
alive and the lengths he would go to help them to freedom. What are we doing to
bring our men home?


Lieutenant Commander Cook graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy on June 7, 1956.

Lieutenant Commander Cook was awarded the following decorations:
Distinguished Flying Cross
Gold Star in lieu of the second Distinguished Flying Cross
Gold Star in lieu of the third Distinguished Flying Cross
Air Medal (Bronze Star in lieu of the First Award)
Air Medal (Gold in lieu of the Second Award)
Air Medal (Gold Star in lieu of the Third Award)
Air Medal (Gold Star in lieu of the Fourth Award)
Air Medal (Gold Star in lieu of the Fifth Award)
Air Medal (First through Fourteenth Strike/Flight Awards)
Air Medal (Fifteenth Strike/ Flight Award)
Navy Commendation Medal with Combat Distinguishing Device
Gold Star in lieu of the second Navy Commendation Medal with combat
Distinguishing Device
Gold Star in lieu of the third Navy Commendation Medal
with Combat Distinguishing Device
Gold Star in lieu of the fourth Navy Commendation Medal with Combat
Distinguishing Device
Purple Heart

In addition he earned the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Service
Medal and the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Ribbon Bar during his naval service.
COOKE, CALVIN COOLIDGE, JR.

Name: Calvin Coolidge Cooke, Jr.
Rank/Branch: E5/US Air Force
Unit: CCK Air Force Base, Taiwan - TDY to 345th Tactical Airlift Squadron, Tan
Son Nhut ABSV
Date of Birth: 18 April 1946
Home City of Record: Washington DC
Loss Date: 26 April 1972
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 113803N 1063547E (XT745866)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: C130E

Other Personnel In Incident: Harry Amesbury; Richard E. Dunn; Donald R. Hoskins;
Richard L. Russell (all missing); Kurt F. Weisman (remains returned)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 31 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: CRASH - 1 REM RCV - N SIGN SUBJ - J

SYNOPSIS: From the CCK Air Force Base base in Taiwan, C-130 crews flew to
different locations, including Korea, Borneo, Indonesia, Japan, Africa, etc. But
most trips were to various bases in Vietnam for 3 week stays. Then the men would
return to the base in Taiwan for 3 days. On one such Vietnam tour, one C130E had
a crew consisting of Harry A. Amesbury, pilot; Richard L. Russell, navigator,
Richard E. Dunn, loadmaster, Calvin C. Cooke, Donald R. Hoskins, and Kurt F.
Weisman, crew members. This crew was TDY to 345th Tactical Airlift Squadron at
Tan Son Nhut Airbase, South Vietnam.

On April 26, 1972, Amesbury's aircraft and crew were making a night drop of
supplies to South Vietnamese forces trapped in An Loc, South Vietnam (about 65
miles from Saigon). The provincial capitol had been under seige by North
Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces off and on since early April. Supply drops and
air support were critically needed and often hampered by hostile forces outside
the city. Upon approach to the drop site at a very low level, the aircraft was
hit by enemy fire and was reported to be down. The men onboard the aircraft were
declared Missing in Action.

Supply drops were generally accomplished in one of two ways, both requiring that
the plane be airborne, and flying at very low altitudes. Using one method,
parachutes attached to the supply pallets were deployed. As the plane flew over,
the parachutes pulled the cargo from the plane. Using another method, a hook
attached to the cargo was dropped from the plane, affixed to some firm fixture
on the ground. As the plane departed the area, the cargo was pulled out of the
plane. Both required considerable skill under the best of circumstances.

According to the Department of the Air Force, it received unspecified
information that contained evidence of death for the crew members on May 5,
1972. The status of the missing men was changed to Killed in Action/Body Not
Recovered.

In February, 1975, non-American friendly forces recovered and returned the
remains of Kurt Weisman. No information surfaced on the rest of the crew. All
onboard had been assumed killed in the downing of the plane. If this is the
case, why weren't the other remains recovered as well?

Of the nearly 2500 Americans still missing in Southeast Asia, most can be
accounted for one way or another. The U.S. Government has received nearly 10,000
reports of Americans still held prisoner in Southeast Asia, yet has not been
able to find a way to free them, or to obtain information on a significant
number of other Americans who may have perished.

COOLEY, DAVID LEO

Name: David Leo Cooley
Rank/Branch: O4/US Navy
Unit: Detachment 1, 428th Tactical Fighter Squadron, (On exchange duty from
USN; Squadron Safety Officer), Takhli Royal Thai Air Base, Thailand
Date of Birth: 03 August 1934
Home City of Record: Warwick VA (family in Arizona)
Date of Loss: 22 April 1968
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 163000N 1062000E (XD423246)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F111A
Other Personnel In Incident: Edwin D. Palmgren (missing)

REMARKS: RADIO CONTACT LOST

SYNOPSIS: The F111 was first used in Southeast Asia in March 1968 during
Operation Combat Lancer and flew nearly 3,000 missions during the war despite
frequent periods of grounding. From 1968 to 1973, the F111 was grounded several
months because of excess losses of aircraft. By 1969, there had been 15 F111's
downed by malfunction or enemy fire. The major malfunctions involved engine
problems and problems with the terrain following radar (TFR) which reads the
terrain ahead and flies over any obstructions.

Eight of the F111's downed during the war were flown by crews that were
captured or declared missing. The first was one of two F111's downed during
Operation Combat Lancer, during which the F111 crews conducted night and
all-weather attacks against targets in North Vietnam. On March 28, the F111A
flown by Maj. Henry E. MacCann and Capt. Dennis L. Graham was downed near the
airfield at Phu Xa, about 5 miles northwest of the city of Dong Hoi in Quang
Binh Province, North Vietnam. Both MacCann and Graham were declared Missing in
Action. Graham had been a graduate of Texas A & M in 1963. The crew of the
second F111 downed during March 1968 was recovered.

On April 22, 1968 at about 7:30 p.m., Navy LCdr. David L. Cooley and Air Force
LtCol. Edwin D. Palmgren departed the 428th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Ubon
Air Base, Thailand to fly an attack mission against the Mi Le Highway Ferry
over Dai Giang along Route 101. They were to pass over very heavily defended
areas of Laos at rather low altitude. Although searches continued for four
days, no wreckage was ever found. The loss coordinates are located near Quang
Bien, in Laos, although the two men are listed as Missing in Action in North
Vietnam.

As a result of the loss of the Cooley/Palmgren F111A, the Air Force suspended
use of the aircraft for a limited period to investigate the cause of the losses
and make any necessary modifications. After the aircraft returned to the air,
the crashes resumed. When the 15th F111 went down in late 1969 because of
mechanical failure, all F111's were grounded and the plane did not return to
Vietnam service for several months.

In September 1972 F111A's were returned to Southeast Asia. On September 29,
1972, the F111A flown by Maj. William C. Coltman and commanded by 1Lt. Robert
A. Brett, Jr. went down in North Vietnam on the Red River about 10 miles
southwest of the city of Yen Bai. Inexplicably, the National League of Families
published a list in 1974 that indicated that Robert A. Brett had survived the
downing of his aircraft, and that the loss location was in Laos, not North
Vietnam. Both men remain Missing in Action.

On October 17, 1972, Capt. James A. Hockridge and 1Lt. Allen U. Graham were
flying an F111A near the city of Cho Moi in Bac Thai Province, North Vietnam,
when their aircraft went down. Both men were listed as Missing in Action, until
their remains were returned September 30, 1977.

On November 7, 1972, Maj. Robert M. Brown and Maj. Robert D. Morrissey flew an
F111A on a mission over North Vietnam. Morrissey, on his second tour of
Vietnam, was a 20 year veteran of the Air Force. The aircraft was first
reported lost over North Vietnam, but loss coordinates released later indicated
that the aircraft was lost in Khammouane Province, Laos near the city of Ban
Phaphilang. Both Brown and Morrissey remain missing.

On November 21, 1972, the F111A flown by Capt. Ronald D. Stafford and Capt.
Charles J. Caffarelli went down about halfway between Hue and Da Nang in South
Vietnam. Both the pilot and backseater were thought to have died in the crash
into the South China Sea, but no remains were ever found.

On December 18, 1972, LtCol. Ronald J. Ward and Maj. James R. McElvain were
flying an F111 on a combat mission over North Vietnam when their aircraft was
forced to ditch in the Gulf of Tonkin near the coastline at Hoanh Dong. It was
suspected that these two airmen may have ejected. They remain Missing in Action.

The last missing F111A team to be shot down was Capt. Robert D. Sponeyberger
and 1Lt. William W. Wilson. Sponeyberger and Wilson were flying a typical F111
tactical mission when they were hit - flying at supersonic speed only a few
hundred feet altitude. They were declared Missing in Action.

In 1973, however, Sponeyberger and Wilson were released by the North
Vietnamese, who had held them prisoner since the day their aircraft was shot
down. Their story revealed another possibility as to why so many F111's had
been lost.

Air Force officials had suspected mechanical problems, but really had no idea
why the planes were lost because they fly singly and out of radio contact.
Capt. Sponeyberger and 1Lt. Wilson had ruled out mechanical problems. "It seems
logical that we were hit by small arms," Wilson said, "By what you would
classify as a 'Golden BB' - just a lucky shot." Sponeyberger added that small
arms at low level were the most feared weapons by F111 pilots. The SAM-25 used
in North Vietnam was ineffective at the low altitudes flown by the F111, and
anti-aircraft cannot sweep the sky fast enough to keep up with the aircraft.

That a 91,000 pound aircraft flying at supersonic speeds could be knocked out
of the air by an ordinary bullet from a hand-held rifle or machine gun is a
David and Goliath-type story the Vietnamese must love to tell and retell.

As reports continue to be received by the U.S.Government build a strong case
for belief that hundreds of these missing Americans are still alive and in
captivity, one must wonder if their retention provides yet another David and
Goliath story for Vietnamese propaganda. The F111 missions were hazardous and
the pilots who flew them brave and skilled. Fourteen Americans remain missing
from F111 aircrafts downed in Southeast Asia. If any of them are among those
said to be still missing, what must they be thinking of us?


Robert Mack Brown was appointed to the United States Air Force Academy in 1963.



COONS, CHESTER LEROY

Name: Chester Leroy Coons
Rank/Branch: E4/US Navy
Unit: Observation Squadron 67
Date of Birth: 29 March 1936
Home City of Record: Bismarck ND
Date of Loss: 17 February 1968
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 164959N 1055858E (XD030612)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: OP2E
Other Personnel In Incident: Clayborn Ashby, Frank Dawson; Paul Donato; Glen
Hayden; James Kravitz; James Martin; Curtis Thurman; James Wonn (all missing)

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: 1 March 1990

REMARKS: CRASH FND - NO PARBEEP - NO PERS - J

SYNOPSIS: The Lockheed P2 "Neptune" was originally designed for submarine
searching, using magnetic detection gear or acoustic buoys. Besides flying
maritime reconnaissance, the aircraft served as an experimental night attack
craft in the attempt to interdict the movement of enemy truck convoys. Another
model, the OP2E, dropped electronic sensors to detect truck movements along the
supply route through Laos known as the "Ho Chi Minh Trail".

The Ho Chi Minh Trail was used by the North Vietnamese for transporting weapons,
supplies and troops. Hundreds of American pilots were shot down trying to stop
this communist traffic to South Vietnam. Fortunately, search and rescue teams in
Vietnam were extremely successful and the recovery rate was high.

Still there were nearly 600 who were not rescued. Many of them went down along
the Ho Chi Minh Trail and the passes through the border mountains between Laos
and Vietnam. Many were alive on the ground and in radio contact with search
and rescue and other planes; some were known to have been captured. Hanoi's
communist allies in Laos, the Pathet Lao, publicly spoke of American prisoners
they held, but when peace agreements were negotiated, Laos was not included,
and not a single American was released that had been held in Laos.

The Neptune had precise navigational equipment and accurate optical bombsight.
Radar was housed in a well on the nose underside of the aircraft, and radar
technicians felt especially vulnerable working in this "glass bubble" nosed
aircraft. It was believed that the aircraft could place the seismic or acoustic
device within a few yards of the desired point. To do so, however, the OP2E had
to fly low and level, making it an easy target for the enemy's anti-aircraft
guns that were increasing in number along the Trail.

On February 17, 1968, an OP2E from Observation Squadron 67 departed Thailand in
a flight of four aircraft on an operational mission over Laos. The crew of the
aircraft included Commander Glenn M. Hayden; Lt.Jg. James S. Kravitz; Lt. Curtis
F. Thurman; Ensign James C. Wonn; AO2 Clayborn W. Ashby, Jr.; ADJ2 Chester L.
Coons; AN Frank A. Dawson; ATN1 Paul N. Donato; and AN James E. Martin.

After completion of the first target run, the aircraft reported to its fighter
escort and forward air control aircraft that it had been hit by small arms fire
but would continue with the second target run.

During the second run, the fighter escort reported the starboard engine of the
OP2 on fire. The OP acknowledged the report and aborted the rest of their
mission to return to home base. The last radio transmission from the aircraft
was, "we're beat up pretty bad."

The fighter escort climbed to the top of the overcast to await the OP2
rendezvous, but the aircraft never emerged from the cloud base. The fighter
dropped below the clouds to search for the OP2 and found burning wreckage. No
parachutes were seen, nor were any emergency radio beepers heard. Search and
rescue efforts were negative. Investigation of the crash site was not feasible
because of enemy presence in the area. The aircraft crashed about 34 kilometers
northwest of Xepone in Savannakhet Province, Laos. The crash site was situated
2,800 meters south of route 91 in rugged terrain on the side of a 550 meter
ridge, approximately 4 kilometers northwest of Muang Phin. The aircraft was on
a reconnaissance mission and carried no ordnance.

Because there was no direct witness to the crash of the OP2, it is not known
whether any of the crew of nine survived, but assumed that they did not. All
nine aboard were classified Killed, Body Not Recovered. Although this aircraft
went down in a relatively populous area, it is not known whether the enemy
knows the fates of the crewmembers.

Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing in
Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. Government. Many authorities have
reluctantly concluded that hundreds of them are still alive in captivity.
Whether the crew of the Neptune that went down on February 17, 1968 is among
them is not known. What seems certain, however, is that we must do everything
possible to bring our men home.

COOPER, RICHARD WALLER, JR.

Name: Richard Waller Cooper, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 307th Strat Wing, Utapao AB TH
Date of Birth: 18 November 1942
Home City of Record: Salisbury MD
Date of Loss: 19 December 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 205900N 1054359E (WJ762203)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: B52D

Others In Incident: Charlie S. Poole (missing); Henry C. Barrows; Hal K. Wilson;
Fernando Alexander; Charles A. Brown, Jr. (all POWs released in 1973).

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS: POSS DEAD/LAO DONG

SYNOPSIS: Frustrated by problems in negotiating a peace settlement, and
pressured by a Congress and public wanting an immediate end to American
involvement in Vietnam, President Nixon ordered the most concentrated air
offensive of the war - known as Linebacker II - in December 1972. During the
offensive, sometimes called the "Christmas bombings," 40,000 tons of bombs were
dropped, primarily over the area between Hanoi and Haiphong. White House Press
Secretary Ronald Ziegler said that the bombing would end only when all U.S. POWs
were released and an internationally recognized cease-fire was in force.

On the first day of Linebacker II, December 18, 129 B52s arrived over Hanoi in
three waves, four to five hours apart. They attacked the airfields at Hoa Lac,
Kep and Phuc Yen, the Kinh No complex and the Yen Vien railyards. The aircraft
flew in tight cells of three aircraft to maximize the mutual support benefits of
their ECM equipment and flew straight and level to stabilize the bombing
computers and ensure that all bombs fell on the military targets and not in
civilian areas.

The pilots of the early missions reported that "wall-to-wall SAMS" surrounded
Hanoi as they neared its outskirts. The first night of bombing, December 18 and
19, two B52s were shot down by SAMs.

Onboard the first aircraft shot down on December 18 was its pilot, LTCOL Donald
L. Rissi and crewmen MAJ Richard E. Johnson, CAPT Richard T. Simpson, CAPT
Robert G. Certain, 1LT Robert J. Thomas and SGT Walter L. Ferguson. Of this
crew, Certain, Simpson and Johnson were captured and shown the bodies of the
other crew members. Six years later, the bodies of Rissi, Thomas and Ferguson
were returned to U.S. control by the Vietnamese. Certain, Simpson and Johnson
were held prisoner in Hanoi until March 29, 1973, when they were released in
Operation Homecoming.

Capt. Hal K. Wilson was in the lead aircraft of a B52 cell from Utapao. Also on
board his aircraft were crew men MAJ Fernando Alexander, CAPT Charles A. Brown,
Jr., CAPT Henry C. Barrows, CAPT Richard W. Cooper Jr. (the navigator), and SGT
Charlie S. Poole (the tailgunner). Wilson's aircraft was hit by a SAM near his
target area and crashed in the early morning hours of December 19, sustaining
damage to the fuselage. In the ensuing fire, there was no time for orderly
bailout, but as later examination of radio tapes indicated, all six crewmen
deployed their parachutes and evidently safely ejected. The aircraft damage
report indicated that all six men were prisoner.

Radio Hanoi announced in news broadcasts between 19 and 22 December that the six
crewmen had been captured. When the war ended, however, only four of the crew
returned from Hanoi prisons. Hanoi has remained silent about the fate of Charlie
Poole and Richard Cooper.

The Christmas Bombings, despite press accounts to the contrary, were of the most
precise the world had seen. Pilots involved in the immense series of strikes
generally agree that the strikes against anti-aircraft and strategic targets was
so successful that the U.S., had it desired, "could have taken the entire
country of Vietnam by inserting an average Boy Scout troop in Hanoi and marching
them southward."

To achieve this precision bombing, the Pentagon deemed it necessary to stick to
a regular flight path. For many missions, the predictable B52 strikes were
anticipated and prepared for by the North Vietnamese. Later, however, flight
paths were altered and attrition all but eliminated any hostile threat from the
ground.

Linebacker II involved 155 Boeing B52 Stratofortress bombers stationed at
Anderson AFB, Guam (72nd Strat Wing) and another 50 B52s stationed at Utapao
Airbase, Thailand (307th Strat Wing), an enormous number of bombers with over
one thousand men flying the missions. However, the bombings were not conducted
without high loss of aircraft and personnel. During the month of December 1972,
61 crewmembers onboard ten B52 aircraft were shot down and were captured or
declared missing. (The B52 carried a crew of six men; however, one B52 lost
carried an extra crewman.) Of these 61, 33 men were released in 1973. The others
remained missing at the end of the war. Over half of these survived to eject
safely. What happened to them?

Reports mount that have convinced many authorities that Americans are still held
captive in Southeast Asia. Are Poole and Cooper among them? Do they know the
country they love has abandoned them? Isn't it time we found them and brought
them home?


COOPER, WILLIAM EARL

Name: William Earl Cooper
Rank/Branch: O5/US Air Force
Unit: Squadron Commander; 469th Tactical Fighter Squadron
Date of Birth: 16 September 1920
Home City of Record: Albany GA (family in FL)
Date of Loss: 24 April 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 213000N 1060400E (WJ866264)
Status (in 1973: Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F105D

Other Personnel In Incident: Jerry D. Driscoll (released POW) in same flight

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: On April 24, 1966, a multi-plane strike force departed Korat Airbase,
Thailand on a strike mission on a highway-railroad bridge north of Hanoi. The
target was a vital link, bearing traffic coming down from China.

The Squadron Commander (and commander of the mission), LtCol. William E. Cooper
was in one flight of four F105s. In another of the flights was 1Lt. Jerry D.
Driscoll.

As the first flight approached the target, Cooper's F105D was hit by a
surface-to-air missile (SAM). The plane subsequently broke in half, and the
front section, with canopy intact, was observed as it fell into a flat spin.
Witnessed did not see Cooper eject and and believed the he went down with the
aircraft, but there was doubt enough that the Air Force determined him Missing
in Action rather than killed.

Just afterwards, 1Lt. Jerry D. Driscoll (code-name Pecan 4) was inbound to the
target, about ten miles north, going approximately 550 knots (about 600 miles
per hour) when his aircraft was struck in the tail by anti-aircraft fire,
causing it to catch fire. Flames were blowing out the back twice as long as the
aircraft. Others in the flight radioed to Driscoll that he was on fire, and he
immediately prepared to eject as the aircraft commenced a roll. Driscoll punched
out at about 1000 feet, with the aircraft nearly inverted, and as a result, his
parachute barely opened before he was on the ground. He had removed his
parachute and was starting to take off his heavy flight suit when he was
surrounded by about twenty North Vietnamese and captured.

Driscoll was moved immediately to the "Heartbreak Hotel" in Hanoi where his
interrogation (and torture) began. Driscoll was a POW for the next seven years,
and was released in Operation Homecoming on February 12, 1973.

Just before his release, one returning POW was told by his interrogators that
LtCol. Cooper had died in the crash of the aircraft. At least one intelligence
report, however, indicates that Cooper was captured alive. The U.S. believes the
Vietnamese could account for Cooper and his name has been included on lists
brought before the Vietnamese in recent years as one of scores of "discrepancy
cases" it is felt can be resolved.

When the Peace Accords were signed ending American involvement in Vietnam, 591
American prisoners were released. Experts at the time expressed dismay that
"some hundreds" expected to be released were not, yet only perfunctory efforts
to secure the release of the others were made. In our haste to leave Indochina,
we abandoned some of our best men.

Shockingly, many authorities now believe, based on over 10,000 reports relating
to these missing Americans, that there are still hundreds alive in captivity.
Whether Cooper could be among them is unknown, but what seems certain is that if
even one is still alive, we have a moral obligation to bring him home.

William E. Cooper was awarded the Air Force Cross, Distinguished Flying Cross
with oak leaf cluster, Air Medal with 7 oak leaf clusters and the Purple Heart.
He was promoted to the rank of Colonel during the period he was maintained
Missing in Action. He is married and has five children.

Jerry D. Driscoll graduated from the Air Force Academy in 1963, and was promoted
to the rank of Captain during his captivity.

COPACK, JOSEPH BERNARD JR.
Remains Returned 15 December 1988 - ID Announced 23 June 1989

Name: Joseph Bernard Copack, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit: 307th Strategic Wing, Utapao Airfield, Thailand
Date of Birth: 04 August 1947
Home City of Record: Chicago IL
Loss Date: 22 December 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 212500N 1062500E (WJ866264)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: B52D

Other Personnel In Incident: Thomas W. Bennett; (missing); Peter Camerota, Peter
Giroux; Louis E. LeBlanc (all three returned POWs in 1973); Gerald W. Alley
(remains returned)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 31 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: Frustrated by problems in negotiating a peace settlement, and
pressured by a Congress and public wanting an immediate end to American
involvement in Vietnam, President Nixon ordered the most concentrated air
offensive of the war - known as Linebacker II - in December 1972. During the
offensive, sometimes called the "Christmas bombings," 40,000 tons of bombs were
dropped, primarily over the area between Hanoi and Haiphong. White House Press
Secretary Ronald Ziegler said that the bombing would end only when all U.S. POWs
were released and an internationally recognized cease-fire was in force.

In early December 1972, several men stationed at Utapao, Thailand sent Christmas
presents home and readied themselves for a few final runs they would have to
make before Christmas. They were looking forward to returning to Thailand in
time to see Bob Hope on December 22. They never saw Bob Hope, and none of them
returned for Christmas.

On December 22, a B52D crew consisting of Capt. Thomas W. Bennett, co-pilot;
LtCol. Gerald W. Alley; Capt. Peter P. Camerota, bombardier; 1Lt. Joseph B.
Copack, Jr., navigator; Capt. Peter J. Giroux, pilot; and MSgt. Louis E.
LeBlanc, tailgunner; departed Utapao on a bombing mission over Hanoi.

When the B52D was about 50 miles northwest of Hanoi, it was hit by Surface to
Air Missiles (SAM). Bennett called the mayday and manually ejected the pilot,
who had blacked out and then bailed out himself. The tailgunner later reported
that he observed in the bright moonlight that the entire crew of six had
deployed parachutes. Three of them, Camerota, Giroux and LeBlanc were released
from prisoner of war camps in Hanoi a few months later in the general prisoner
release of 1973. The U.S. was not expecting them. They had not known that the
three were being held prisoner. Alley, Copack and Bennett were not released and
remained Missing in Action.

During the month of December, 62 crewmembers of B52 aircraft were shot down and
captured or went missing. Of these 62, 33 men were released in 1973. The remains
of about a dozen more have been returned over the years, and the rest are still
missing. At least 10 of those missing survived to eject safely. Where are they?

As reports mounted following the war convinced many authorities that hundreds of
Americans were still held captive in Southeast Asia, many families wonder if
their men were among those said to be still alive in captivity, and are
frustrated at inadequate efforts by the U.S. Government to get information on
their men.

On June 23, 1989, the U.S. announced that the Vietnamese had "discovered" the
remains of Gerald W. Alley and Josepg B. Copack and had sent them home at last.
For 17 years, Alley and Copack - alive or dead - were prisoners in enemy hands.
Their families at last know for certain that their sons are dead. What they may
never know, however, is how - and when - they died, and if they knew that their
country had abandoned them.


Gerald W. Alley was promoted to the rank of Colonel, Thomas W. Bennett was
promoted to the rank of Major and Joseph B. Copack was promoted to the rank of
Captain during the period they were maintained missing.
COPENHAVER, GREGORY SCOTT

Name: Gregory Scott Copenhaver
Rank/Branch: E3/US Marine Corps
Unit: G/2nd Battalion, 9th Marines, 3rd Marine Division
Date of Birth: 14 November 1946
Home City of Record: Port Deposit MD
Date of Loss: 15 May 1975
Country of Loss: Cambodia/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 101800N 1030830E (TS965400)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: CH53A
Other Personnel in Incident: Lynn Blessing; Walter Boyd; Daniel A. Benedett;
Andres Garcia; Bernard Gause Jr., James J. Jacques; Ronald J. Manning; James R.
Maxwell; Richard W. Rivenburgh; Antonio R. Sandoval; Kelton R. Turner; Richard
Van de Geer (all missing on CH53A); Gary L. Hall; Joseph N. Hargrove; Danny G.
Marshall (missing on Koah Tang Island); Ashton N. Loney (missing from Koah Tang
Island); Elwood E. Rumbaugh (missing from a CH53A)

REMARKS: 750515 MAYAGUEZ INCIDENT LOSS

SYNOPSIS: When U.S. troops were pulled out of Southeast Asia in early 1975,
Vietnamese communist troops began capturing one city after another, with Hue,
Da Nang and Ban Me Thuot in March, Xuan Loc in April, and finally on April 30,
Saigon. In Cambodia, communist Khmer Rouge had captured the capital city of
Phnom Penh on April 17. The last Americans were evacuated from Saigon during
"Option IV", with U.S. Ambassador Martin departing on April 29. The war,
according to President Ford, "was finished."

2Lt. Richard Van de Geer, assigned to the 21st Special Ops Squadron at NKP, had
participated in the evacuation of Saigon, where helicopter pilots were required
to fly from the decks of the 7th Fleet carriers stationed some 500 miles
offshore, fly over armed enemy-held territory, collect American and allied
personnel and return to the carriers via the same hazardous route, heavily
loaded with passengers. Van de Geer wrote to a friend, "We pulled out close to
2,000 people. We couldn't pull out any more because it was beyond human
endurance to go any more..."

At 11:21 a.m. on May 12, the U.S. merchant ship MAYAGUEZ was seized by the
Khmer Rouge in the Gulf of Siam about 60 miles from the Cambodian coastline and
eight miles from Poulo Wai island. The ship, owned by Sea-Land Corporation, was
en route to Sattahip, Thailand from Hong Kong, carrying a non-arms cargo for
military bases in Thailand.

Capt. Charles T. Miller, a veteran of more than 40 years at sea, was on the
bridge. He had steered the ship within the boundaries of international waters,
but the Cambodians had recently claimed territorial waters 90 miles from the
coast of Cambodia. The thirty-nine seamen aboard were taken prisoner.

President Ford ordered the aircraft carrier USS CORAL SEA, the guided missile
destroyer USS HENRY B. WILSON and the USS HOLT to the area of seizure. By
night, a U.S. reconnaissance aircraft located the MAYAGUEZ at anchor off Poulo
WaI island. Plans were made to rescue the crew.  A battalion landing team of
1,100 Marines was ordered flown from bases in Okinawa and the Philippines to
assemblE at Utapao, Thailand in preparation for the assault.

The first casualties of the effort to free the MAYAGUEZ are recorded on May 13
when a helicopter carrying Air Force security team personnel crashed en route
to Utapao, killing all 23 aboard.

Early in the morning of May 13, the Mayaguez was ordered to head for Koh Tang
island. Its crew was loaded aboard a Thai fishing boat and taken first to Koh
Tang, then to the mainland city of Kompong Song, then to Rong San Lem island.
U.S. intelligence had observed a cove with considerable activity on the island
of Koh Tang, a small five-mile long island about 35 miles off the coast of
Cambodia southwest of the city of Sihanoukville (Kampong Saom), and believed
that some of the crew might be held there. They also knew of the Thai fishing
boat, and had observed what appeared to be caucasians aboard it, but it could
not be determined if some or all of the crew was aboard.

The USS HOLT was ordered to seize and secure the MAYAGUEZ, still anchored off
Koh Tang. Marines were to land on the island and rescue any of the crew. Navy
jets from the USS CORAL SEA were to make four strikes on military installments
on the Cambodian mainland.

On May 15, the first wave of 179 Marines headed for the island aboard eight Air
Force "Jolly Green Giant" helicopters. Three Air Force helicopters unloaded
Marines from the 1st Battalion, 4th Marines onto the landing pad of the USS
HOLT and then headed back to Utapao to pick up the second wave of Marines.
Planes dropped tear gas on the MAYAGUEZ, and the USS HOLT pulled up along side
the vessel and the Marines stormed aboard. The MAYAGUEZ was deserted.

Simultaneously, the Marines of the 2/9 were making their landings on two other
areas of the island. The eastern landing zone was on the cove side where the
Cambodian compound was located. The western landing zone was a narrow spit of
beach about 500 feet behind the compound on the other side of the island. The
Marines hoped to surround the compound.

As the first troops began to unload on both beaches, the Cambodians opened
fire. On the western beach, one helicopter was hit and flew off crippled, to
ditch in the ocean about 1 mile away. The pilot had just disembarked his
passengers, and he was rescued at sea.

Meanwhile, the eastern landing zone had become a disaster. The first two
helicopters landing were met by enemy fire. Ground commander, (now) Col.
Randall W. Austin had been told to expect between 20 and 40 Khmer Rouge
soldiers on the island. Instead, between 150 and 200 were encountered. First,
Lt. John Shramm's helicopter tore apart and crashed into the surf after the
rotor system was hit. All aboard made a dash for the tree line on the beach.

One CH53A helicopter was flown by U.S. Air Force Major Howard Corson and 2Lt.
Richard Van de Geer and carrying 23 U.S. Marines and 2 U.S. Navy corpsmen, all
from the 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines. As the helicopter approached the island,
it was caught in a cross fire and hit by a rocket. The severely damaged
helicopter crashed into the sea just off the coast of the island and exploded.
To avoid enemy fire, survivors were forced to swim out to sea for rescue.
Twelve aboard, including Maj. Corson, were rescued. Those missing from the
helicopter were 2Lt. Richard Van de Geer, PFC Daniel A. Benedett, PFC Lynn
Blessing, PFC Walter Boyd, Lcpl. Gregory S. Copenhaver, Lcpl. Andres Garcia,
PFC James J. Jacques, PFC James R. Maxwell, PFC Richard W. Rivenburgh, PFC
Antonio R. Sandoval, PFC Kelton R. Turner, all U.S. Marines. Also missing were
HM1 Bernard Gause, Jr. and HM Ronald J. Manning, the two corpsmen.

Other helicopters were more successful in landing their passengers. One CH53A,
however was not. SSgt. Elwood E. Rumbaugh's aircraft was near the coastline
when it was shot down. Rumbaugh is the only missing man from the aircraft. The
passengers were safely extracted. (It is not known whether the passengers went
down with the aircraft or whether they were rescued from the island.)

By midmorning, when the Cambodians on the mainland began receiving reports of
the assault, they ordered the crew of the MAYAGUEZ on a Thai boat, and then
left. The MAYAGUEZ crew was recovered by the USS WILSON before the second wave
of Marines was deployed, but the second wave was ordered to attack anyway.

Late in the afternoon, the assault force had consolidated its position on the
western landing zone and the eastern landing zone was evacuated at 6:00 p.m. By
the end of the 14-hour operation, most of the Marines were extracted from the
island safely, with 50 wounded. Lcpl. Ashton Loney had been killed by enemy
fire, but his body could not be recovered.

Protecting the perimeter during the final evacuation was the machine gun squad
of PFC Gary L. Hall, Lcpl. Joseph N. Hargrove and Pvt. Danny G. Marshall. They
had run out of ammunition and were ordered to evacuate on the last helicopter.
It was their last contact. Maj. McNemar and Maj. James H. Davis made a final
sweep of the beach before boarding the helicopter and were unable to locate
them. They were declared Missing in Action.

The eighteen men missing from the MAYAGUEZ incident are listed among the
missing from the Vietnam war. Although authorities believe that there are
perhaps hundreds of American prisoners still alive in Southeast Asia from the
war, most are pessimistic about the fates of those captured by the Khmer Rouge.

In 1988, the communist government of Kampuchea (Cambodia) announced that it
wished to return the remains of several dozen Americans to the United States.
(In fact, the number was higher than the official number of Americans missing
in Cambodia.) Because the U.S. does not officially recognize the Cambodian
government, it has refused to respond directly to the Cambodians regarding the
remains. Cambodia, wishing a direct acknowledgment from the U.S. Government,
still holds the remains.



            CASE SYNOPSIS:    COPLEY, WILLIAM MICHAEL

  ============================================================================

Name:                William Michael Copley
Rank/Branch:            E4/US Army 5th Special Forces Group
Unit:                Command & Control North, MACV-SOG

Date of Birth:            22 May 1949
Home City of Record:        Northridge CA
                (born Columbus OH)
Date of Loss:            16 November 1968
Country of Loss:        Laos
Loss Coordinates:        144000N 1071754E
Status (in 1973):        Missing In Action
Category:            2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground:    Ground
Other Personnel
In Incident:            (none missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS:  William Copley was born in Columbus, Ohio and joined the Army at age
18 in Los Angeles California.  When he went to Vietnam, after Special Forces
training, he was attached to MACV-SOG (Military Assistance Command, Vietnam
Studies and Observation Group), Command & Control North.  MACV-SOG was a joint
service high command unconventional warfare task force engaged in highly
classified operations throughout Southeast Asia.  The 5th Special Forces
channelled personnel into MACV-SOG (although it was not a Special Forces group)
through Special Operations Augmentation (SOA), which provided their "cover
while under secret orders to MACV-SOG.    The teams performed deep penetration
missions of strategic reconnaissance and interdiction which were called,
depending on the time frame, "Shining Brass" or "Prairie Fire" missions.

On November 13, 1968, SP4 Copley was serving as the assistant to the team
leader on a reconnaissance patrol in Laos.  The patrol, together with an
unspecified number of indigenous personnel, was ambushed 16 miles inside Laos
west of Ben Het prior to establishing overnight positions.  SP4 Copley was
wounded in the initial burst of fire.  The bullet entered his upper left
shoulder and exited through the middle of his back.

A teammate, SSgt. Roger T. Loe, carried Copley on his back until he tripped
after traveling a short distance, tried to administer first aid until Copley's
face showed signs of death, and was forced to leave because of pursuit by
hostile forces.

From November 13-15, a search team was in the area and attempted to locate
Copley, but they were forced to withdraw on November 15th when they were
ambushed.  (NOTE: Sources do not agree on the date of incident.  The U.S. Army
shows date of incident as November 13.    The Army did not presume Copley to be
dead/body not recovered, indicating that there is a chance that he was not dead
when left behind.)

Mounting evidence indicates that hundreds of the nearly 2500 Americans still
missing in Southeast Asia are alive today, still captives of a long-ago enemy.
If William Copley is one of them, what must he be thinking of the country he
proudly served?
CORDOVA, SAM GARY
Remains Returned December 1988

Name: Sam Gary Cordova
Rank/Branch: O2/US Marine Corps
Unit: VMFA 232, 1st Marine Air Wing
Date of Birth: 27 August 1943
Home City of Record: Huntington Beach CA
Date of Loss: 16 August 1972
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 203058N 1043300E (VH531685)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 1
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4J

Other Personnel In Incident: (Backseater-name unknown)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Sam Cordova was the pilot of an F4J fighter jet shot down over Laos
on August 26, 1972. His plane was downed on the border of Laos and Vietnam in
Houa Phan Province near the city of Sop Hoa. Lt. Cordova spoke to U.S. aircraft
in the area over his survival radio while safely parachuting from his aircraft.
He later radioed that he had fallen into a ravine and heard his pursuers
approaching. According to a member of Cordova's squadron, Sam Cordova's last
transmission stated that he was going to be captured if he wasn't picked up
immediately.

Cordova's backseater was rescued, but rescue attempts for Cordova were hampered
because of heavy ground fire. Sam's emergency radio beeper was traced to Ban Na
Ca Tay, a Viet Cong village. This seemed clear indication that Cordova was
captured, but he was classified Missing in Action.

It was never determined whether or not Sam was captured. Although the Lao stated
publicly that they held "tens of tens" of American prisoners, less than a dozen
names were ever discovered of Americans held by the Lao.

When the Peace Agreements were signed in Paris in 1973, ending American
involvement in the Vietnam war, Laos was not included. The U.S. did not
negotiate the release of Americans held in Laos because it did not recognize its
communist government. As a result, not one American was released from Laos.

The families of men like Sam who were known to have survived their loss incident
have fought for years for information on their men, and have prodded incessantly
for more action to free them. They have been tantalized by thousands of reports
from refugees relating to missing men in Southeast Asia, and believe there is
every likelihood that there are still men alive there in captivity.

In return for the U.S. Government's humanitarian assistance to Laos, and more
recently, in the private building of medical clinics in Laos, the government of
Laos agreed to assist in excavating a limited number of American crash sites.
Several remains have been recovered through the crash site excavations, although
several of the identifications have proven to be erroneous.

In a seemingly humanitarian gesture to Presidential Envoy General John Vessey,
the Vietnamese have turned several dozen remains over to U.S. control. Although
several of these remains have turned out to be non-human, many have been
identified as U.S. servicemen.

In December 1988, Sam Cordova came home to be buried in American soil. When the
last American troops left Southeast Asia in 1975, some 2500 Americans were
unaccounted for. Reports received by the U.S.Government since that time build a
strong case for belief that hundreds of these "unaccounted for" Americans are
still alive and in captivity.

"Unaccounted for" is a term that should apply to numbers, not men. Nearly 600
men were left behind in Laos, and our government did not negotiate their
release. We, as a nation, owe these men our best effort to find them and bring
them home. Until the fates of the men like Cordova are known, their families
will wonder if they are dead or alive .. and why they were deserted.

Sam G. Cordova was promoted to the rank of Major during the period he was
maintained missing.
CORNELIUS, SAMUEL BLACKMAR

Name: Samuel Blackmar Cornelius
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 336th Tactical Fighter Squadron
Date of Birth: 02 April 1943
Home City of Record: Lubbock TX
Loss Date: 16 June 1973
Country of Loss: Cambodia
Loss Coordinates: 133500N 1063700E (XA736029)
Status (in 1973): None
Category: 3
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4E

Other Personnel In Incident: John J. Smallwood (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 September 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: SURVIVAL UNLIKELY PER AAR

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 very 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.

CAPT Samuel B. Cornelius was the pilot of an F4E Phantom assigned a strike
mission in Cambodia on June 16, 1973. His electronic weapons officer on the
flight was CAPT John J. Smallwood. Over the target area, the F4 was hit by
hostile fire and crashed. No parachutes were seen, and no emergency beeper
signals were heard indicating that the crew ejected safely. The official word
was that their survival was unlikely.

Few American planes were shot down in Cambodia during this time period. Peace
documents had been signed in Paris ending hostilities in Vietnam in January of
that year, but strikes in Cambodia continued. Another F-4 piloted by Douglas
Martin and with backseater Samuel L. James had been shot down April 18. One of
the crew of an HH53C helicopter, MSGT David V. McLeod, Jr., went missing on June
14, 1973. These were the only Americans missing during the spring and summer of
1973 in Cambodia.

In July 1973, a South Vietnamese agent reported talking to a refugee who had
seen three Americans dressed in flight uniforms in captivity near Kompong Barey
Hamlet in Prey Veng Province. (Note that all events described are occurring
AFTER the war with Vietnam "ended" and 591 American POWs were released from
Vietnam.) The agent was able to make contact with a Communist cadre who said the
three were airmen who had been downed in July 1973. The cadre went on to say
that they were being taken to Loc Ninh (South Vietnam) to be held for exchange
at a later date. No exchange ever occurred. It is assumed, since these three
aircraft are the only ones missing in Cambodia, that this report pertains to
three of the five Americans involved. Nothing has been heard of the five since.

The United States did not bargain or negotiate with Cambodia for any prisoners
held there. U.S. bombing of Cambodia continued until August 1973. Any who were
lucky enough to return had earlier been moved from the border areas of Cambodia
into Vietnam and released from Vietnam. Evidence points to many Americans being
moved to Vietnam from Laos and Cambodia and held beyond the end of the war.

Because of the genocide perpetrated upon Cambodia by Pol Pot in the mid-70's,
the chances of survival are decreased significantly for anyone still held
prisoner of war in Cambodia. However, we owe our best efforts to those men lost
in Cambodia, and in all of Southeast Asia to seek their release if alive, and
determine their fates if deceased.

CORNTHWAITE, THOMAS GUY

Name: Thomas Guy Cornthwaite
Rank/Branch: Civilian
Unit: Decca Navigation Systems, Inc.
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Britain
Date of Loss: 05 November 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 112151N 1085258E (BN690570)
Status (in 1973): Prisoner of War
Category: 1
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Jeep

Other Personnel in Incident: James E. Simpson (captured)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 September 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: Thomas G. Cornthwaite, a British civilian, and James E. Simpson, a
U.S. civilian, were both employees of Decca Navigation Systems, Inc. On November
5, 1968, as they were riding in a jeep on Highway 1 about 20 miles
south-southwest of Phan Rang on the border of Binh Thuan and Ninh Thuan
Provinces in South Vietnam, the two men were captured.

According to a rallier who participated in the capture, Simpson and Cornthwaite
were captured by elements of the tax collection unit. Both men reportedly made
an escape attempt a few days later and were killed by personnel of an
unidentified commo-liaison unit in Binh Thuan Province.

Even though the two civilians were captives and killed by the Vietnamese, the
Vietnamese have made no attempt to return their bodies to U.S. control. For over
20 years, dead or alive, these men have been prisoners of war.

For Simpson and Cornthwaite, death seems a certainty. For hundreds of others,
however, simple answers are not possible. Adding to the torment of nearly 10,000
reports relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asia is the certain knowledge
that some Americans who were known to be prisoners of war were not released at
the end of the war. Others were suspected to be prisoners, and still others were
in radio contact with would-be rescuers when last seen alive. Many were known to
have survived their loss incidents, only to disappear without a trace.

The problem of Americans still missing torments not only the families of those
who are missing, but the men who fought by their sides, and those in the general
public who realize the full implication of leaving men unaccounted for at the
end of a war.

Tragically, many authorities believe there are hundreds of Americans still alive
in captivity in Southeast Asia today. What must they be thinking of us? What
will our next generation say when called to serve if we are unable to bring
these men home from Southeast Asia?


CORNWELL, LEROY JASON III

Name: Leroy Jason Cornwell III
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 555th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Udorn Airbase Thailand
Date of Birth: 05 August 1944
Home City of Record: Tucson AZ
Date of Loss: 10 September 1971
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 192900N 1032800E (UG391653)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D
Other Personnel In Incident: Andrew Ivan, Jr. (missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Capt. Leroy J. Cornwell was the radar intercept officer aboard an F4D
Phantom fighter bomber flown by Capt. Andrew Ivan, Jr. when it was sent on a
forward air control mission which took them over the Plaine des Jarres in Laos
on September 19, 1971.

When the Phantom and its crew failed to return to Udorn, an intensive air
search was initiated. A crash site was located near the village of Ban Ban in
Xiangkhoang Province, Laos, and air photos showed what appeared to be the main
carriage of an F4 aircraft. No sign was found of either crewmember.

The Plain of Jars region of Laos had only two months prior been taken over by
Lao tribesmen from the communists. The area had long been controlled by the
communist Pathet Lao and a continual effort had been made by the secret
CIA-directed force of some 30,000 indigenous tribesmen to strengthen
anti-communist strongholds there. The U.S. had to date committed over $284
million to the war effort in Laos. Details of this secret operation had been
released only the previous month.

Because Laos was "neutral", and because the U.S. continued to state they were
not at war with Laos (although we were regularly bombing North Vietnamese
traffic along the border and conducted assaults against communist strongholds
thoughout the country at the behest of the anti-communist government of Laos),
and did not recognize the Pathet Lao as a government entity, the nearly 600
Americans lost in Laos were never recovered.

The Pathet Lao stated that they would release the "tens of tens" of American
prisoners they held only from Laos. At war's end, no American held in Laos was
released - or negotiated for.

Mounting evidence indicates that hundreds of Americans are still alive in
captivity in Southeast Asia. Among them could be Leroy Cornwell and Andrew
Ivan. They proudly served their country. They deserve better than abandonment.

CORONA, JOEL

Name: Joel Corona
Rank/Branch: E3/US Army
Unit: Company C, Group Command, USA SUP COM CRB, 1st Logistical Command
Date of Birth: 21 August 1949
Home City of Record: Pharr TX
Date of Loss: 08 November 1970
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 115309N 1091635E (CP123144)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Boat (some lists say ground)
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: PFC Joel Corona was assigned to Company C, Group Command, U.S. Army
Support Command at Cam Ranh Bay. On November 8, 1970, PFC Joel Corona was off
duty and decided to go swimming with friends at a hidden cove south of Howell
Beach in Cam Ranh Bay, South Vietnam.

When a piece of styrofoam the group was using went into the water near a reef,
PFC Corona started to retrieve it. He was not a good swimmer, and one of his
friends warned him not to go after it. However, PFC Corona entered the water
and was hit by a wave which pushed him out into the cove. He called for help,
and several individuals attempted to rescue him without success. He went under
water and was floating face down in the water.

A medical team arrived and attempted to recover his body, but were unsuccessful
because of the turbulent condition of the water. PFC Corona's body was last
seen about 125 yards from the mouth of the cove being washed out to sea. An
extensive air, land and sea search was conducted without success.

Corona's is one of the unfortunate accidental deaths that occur wherever people
are. The fact that he died an accidental death in the midst of war is
tragically ironic. He is listed among the missing with honor, because his body
was never found to be returned to the country he served.

Others who are missing do not have such clear cut cases. Some were known
captives; some were photographed as they were led by their guards. Some were in
radio contact with search teams, while others simply disappeared.

Since the war ended, over 250,000 interviews have been conducted with those who
claim to know about Americans still alive in Southeast Asia, and several
million documents have been studied. U.S. Government experts cannot seem to
agree whether Americans are there alive or not. Distractors say it would be far
too politically difficult to bring the men they believe to be alive home, and
the U.S. is content to negotiate for remains.

Over 1000 eye-witness reports of living American prisoners were received by
1989.  Most of them are still classified. If, as the U.S. seems to believe, the
men are all dead, why the secrecy after so many years? If the men are alive,
why are they not home?



COSKEY, KENNETH LEON

Name: Kenneth Leon Coskey
Rank/Branch: O5/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 25, USS AMERICA (CVA 66)
Date of Birth: 26 December 1929
Home City of Record: Detroit MI
Date of Loss: 06 September 1968
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 183900N 1054300E (WF755620)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A6A

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: 730314 RELSD BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: Commander Kenneth L. Coskey was a pilot assigned to Attack Squadron 85
onboard the aircraft carrier, USS AMERICA. On September 6, 1968, Cdr. Coskey
launched in his A6A Intruder on a night armed reconnaissance mission over North
Veitnam. On approach to the target area, anti-aircraft artillery resistance was
encountered. His aircraft sustained a direct hit. Neither Captain Coskey or his
backseater sustained any injuries from the hit. Coskey then lost control of the
aircraft and ordered and ejection. The aircraft crashed on an island in the Song
Ca River, southeast of the city of Vinh.

Search and rescue efforts were immediately initiated upon receipt of the
emergency signal from Cdr. Coskey's aircraft. The crewmember of the first two
aircraft to arrive at the scene of the crash heard the distress signals
(beepers) which were presumed to be radiating from the portable radio sets
carried by both crewmembers. Both of these aircraft established voice radio
contact with Cdr. Coskey at which time he reported that he was in dense
underbrush and had twisted either his leg or his ankle. He further reported that
he would work his way toward the eastern end of the island toward the site of
the downed aircraft.

As the rescue helicopter approached the area where Cdr. Coskey was believed to
be located, the search lights were turned on. Cdr. Coskey had previously
beentold that the rescue helicopter was on the way and that he should try to
turn on his strobe light to assist in pinpointing his location. Three figures
were observed standing near the crash site but due to distance and darkness,
these figures could not be identified. The helicopter encountered ground fire
from small arms weapons and was forced to depart without having found Cdr.
Coskey.

U.S. Navy public records on the incident of Cdr. Coskey do not indicate the name
or the fate of the crewman, but Cdr. Coskey is the only man ever listed missing
on September 1968 from an Intruder aircraft. It is assumed, therefore, that the
backseater was rescued.

The U.S. was not sure what happened to Cdr. Coskey. He was known to be alive and
slightly injured when last seen. He was declared Missing in Action.

On October 31, 1968, Coskey's status was changed to Prisoner of War. He had been
captured by the North Vietnamese and for the next five years, was held in
various prisoner of war camps in North Vietnam. He was released in Operation
Homecoming on March 14, 1973.

Coskey was one of the lucky ones. Scores of individuals who remain missing were
last seen in situations similar to his -- alive and well on the ground, enemy
approaching. Others were actually photographed in captivity but never returned.

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. These reports are the source of serious distress to many returned
American prisoners. They had a code that no one could honorably return unless
all of the prisoners returned. Not only that code of honor, but the honor of our
country is at stake as long as even one man remains unjustly held. It's time we
brought our men home.

COTA, ERNEST KENO

Name: Ernest Keno Cota
Rank/Branch: E5/US Navy
Unit: USS HARNETT COUNTY (LST-821)
Date of Birth: 22 December 1944 (La Mesa CA)
Home City of Record: San Diego CA
Date of Loss: 14 May 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 100515N 1054415E (WS808151)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: LST821
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

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: 01 January 1990

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Petty Officer Ernest K. Cota was assigned to the USS HARNETT COUNTY
(LST 821) on station in South Vietnam. The HARNETT COUNTY was anchored on the
Bassac River some 2000 yards upriver from the Naval Supply Activity Detachment
Base at Binh Thuy, Repulic of Vietnam, and had been on station on the Bassac
River since April 12, 1968.

At about 1800 hours on May 14, EN2 Cota and other members of the crew left the
ship on liberty at the NAVSUPPACT Det Binh Thuy Enlisted Club. Fellow
crewmembers were later to make statements that EN2 Cota had consumed a quantity
of beer and was in good spirits.

At 22:30 hours there was a disturbance at the Binh Thuy boat landing with men
returning to the HARNETT COUNTY later said to have been caused by the
intoxicated EN2 Cota. Ten minutes later, an LCM departed the landing for the
HARNETT COUNTY. About 600 yards upriver from the landing, EN2 Cota fell over
the port side of the LCM at a point about 300 yards from the south bank of the
Bassac River.

Several crewmembers from the LCM immediately entered the water in an attempt to
find and rescue EN2 Cota, but with the darkness and strong ebb current, the
personnel in the water only confused and complicated rescue efforts as it was
impossible to determine the identity of the swimmers. Shortly afterwards, a
helicopter from the HARNETT COUNTY joined the search, dropping flares in the
area. The search was continued until about 3:00 a.m. May 15, 1968, then
concluded, but EN2 Cota was never recovered.

The considered opinion of the Commanding Officer of the USS HARNETT COUNTY was
that the possibility of Cota's survival was remote, and with the darkness and
strong ebb current in the river, it was suspected that Cota drowned and his
body was not recoverable. On May 28, Cota's status was changed from Missing in
Action to Determined Dead.

EN2 Cota is listed among the missing because his remains were never found to
send home to the country he served. He died a tragically ironic death in the
midst of war. But, for his family, the case seems clear that he died on that
day. The fact that they have no body to bury with honor is not of great
significance.

For others who are missing, however, the evidence leads not to death, but to
survival. Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports received relating to
Americans still held captive in Indochina have convinced experts that hundreds
of men are still alive, waiting for their country to rescue them. The notion
that Americans are dying without hope in the hands of a long-ago enemy belies
the idea that we left Vietnam with honor. It also signals that tens of
thousands of lost lives were a frivolous waste of our best men.

COTTEN, LARRY WILLIAM

Name: Larry William Cotten
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit: 4th Tactical Fighter Squadron
Date of Birth: 19 March 1945
Home City of Record: Nashville TN
Date of Loss: 09 March 1970
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 152029N 1071429E (YB406972)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4E

Other Personnel in Incident: Lothar G.T. Terla (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 September 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.

Capt. Lothar Terla was an F4 pilot assigned to the 4th Tactical Fighter Squadron
at Udorn Airbase, Thailand. On March 9, 1970, he was assigned an operational
mission which took him over Attopeu Province, Laos. His bombardier/navigator on
the flight was 1Lt. Larry W. Cotten.

When the aircraft was about 10 miles southeast of Chavane, it was hit by enemy
fire and crashed. An electronic search was made of the area to locate the crash
site and any survivors, but none were found. The crashed aircraft was later
found, and it was determined that Cotten and Terla could not have survived the
incident. This determination was made on unspecified information which was
received by the Department of the Air Force.

The Air Force believes that Cotten and Turla did not survive. They are listed
among the missing because their remains were never found. They are among nearly
600 Americans who were lost in Laos. Since the U.S. did not recognize the
communist government faction which captured and held Americans in Laos, no
negotiations were conducted to secure their freedom. Consequently, not a single
American held by the Lao was ever released.

Tragically, many authorities believe there are hundreds of Americans still alive
in captivity in Southeast Asia today. What must they be thinking of us? What
will our next generation say if called to fight if we are unable to bring these
men home from Southeast Asia?


COZART, ROBERT GORDON JR.
Remains Returned - ID Announced 01 August 1989

Name: Robert Gordon "Buster" Cozart, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O3/US Army
Unit: Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 214th Aviation Battalion, 164th
Aviation Group, 1st Aviation Brigade
Date of Birth: 27 March 1947 (Tuscaloosa AL)
Home City of Record: Hammond LA
Date of Loss: 20 March 1970
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 095900N 1062045E (XS547038)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 1
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: O1G "Birddog"

Other Personnel In Incident: James E. Butler (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS: IR SAYS BOTH CREWMEMBERS KILLED

SYNOPSIS: "Buster" Cozart believed a person should take full advantage of every
opportunity given to him and to do his very best at it. He loved to fly and
wanted to be the best. His wife described him as a happy, optimistic person of
great strength of character and deep faith in God.

On March 20, 1970, Capt. Robert G. Cozart, pilot, and WO James E. Butler
departed Vinh Long, South Vietnam aboard an O1G (serial #51-12899) at 1016 hours
on a visual reconnaissance mission over Vinh Binh Province with a stop at the
Province capitol of Phu Vinh. At 1028 hours, a radio transmission was received
from WO Butler advising the Team 72 Tactical Operations Center that they were
airborne and en route to Tra Vinh. This was the last communication with the
crew. The aircraft never landed at Tra Vinh.

Upon receiving notification that the aircraft was missing, a province-wide
search was initiated. All immediate search efforts were unsuccessful. Vietnamese
civilians, however, reported that an aircraft had been downed in the vicinity of
Tra Vinh. Local forces with U.S. advisors, U.S. troops, coastal patrol boats and
light aircraft conducted extensive search efforts from March 20 through March
27. During the search efforts, one control communications set and one control
radio set were located, but were never identified as positively being from Capt.
Cozart's aircraft. However, they were of the sort used on the O1G.

According to Butler's wife, a Vietnamese civilian had reported the crash,
prompting the search in the area. Another Vietnamese civilian report indicated
that the pilot of the plane (Cozart) had been killed in the crash and the Viet
Cong killed or wounded the other crewman (Butler) and either took the bodies to
cang Long Base area for display or threw them into the river and dismantled the
aircraft. Another Vietnamese civilian report indicated that part of the plane
was located but a September 21, 1970, search was aborted due to booby traps. The
tail section of the aircraft was finally recovered and identified October 23,
1970.

The United States Government has classified both Cozart and Butler as "Category
1," which means that there is certain evidence to indicate that the enemy forces
know the fate of the Americans. In the Peace agreement signed in Paris in 1973,
the Vietnamese agreed to release all American prisoners of war and account for
the missing. They have not done so. The U.S. Government has named the return and
accounting of Americans "highest national priority", yet has dealt with the
issue with less than "high priority."

On August 1, 1989, the U.S. announced that remains returned by the Vietnamese
had been positively identified as those of Buster Cozart. It is has been widely
known for several years that the Vietnamese maintain a large store of remains
from which to select shipments to the U.S. when it is politically favorable to
do so. Buster Cozart - living or dead - was a prisoner of war for nearly 20
years. Although the uncertainty his family has had to endure is now at an end,
they may never know how - or when - Buster died. The fate of James E. Butler
remains unknown.

Evidence continues to mount that some of the nearly 2500 Americans left behind
in Southeast Asia are alive, in captivity, awaiting their country to come to
their rescue. If Cozart's body could be "discovered", why not that of Butler?
Could he be one of the hundreds said to be still alive?



CRADDOCK, RANDALL JAMES
Remains Returned 15 December 1988

Name: Randall James Craddock
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: TDY to 72nd Strat Wing, Anderson AFB, Guam
Date of Birth: 19 September 1945
Home City of Record: Norman OK
Date of Loss: 21 December 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 211500 1054600 (WJ795497)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: B52

Other Personnel In Incident: Charles E. Darr; (missing); James L. Lollar
(returned POW); Bobby A. Kirby; George B. Lockhart; Ronald D. Perry (remains
returned)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On December 21, 1972, a B52 bomber from the 72nd Strat Wing, Anderson
AFB Guam, was sent on a bombing mission during the famed Christmas Bombings
during that month. By the 21st, when the B52 departed for the Hanoi region, 8
B52's and several fighter bombers had been lost since December 18, and 43 flyers
had been captured or killed during the same period.

The Christmas Bombings, despite press accounts to the contrary, were of the most
precise the world had seen. Pilots involved in the immense series of strikes
generally agree that the strikes against anti-aircraft and strategic targets was
so successful that the U.S., had it desired, "could have taken the entire
country of Vietnam by inserting an average Boy Scout troop in Hanoi and marching
them southward."

A very high percentage of B52 aircrew were captured immediately and returned in
1973, a much higher percentage than strategists imagined. Beyond that number,
several were known to have made it safely to the ground, yet did not return for
unknown reasons.

When the B52 from 72 Strat Wing, Guam was hit by a surface-to-air missile in the
early hours of December 21, 1972, the fate of the crewmembers was varied.
Multiple emergency beepers were heard by aircraft in the area, indicating that
several of the crew members had safely bailed out of the crippled aircraft.

James Lollar was captured and subsequently released in March the following year.
The U.S. did not know he had been captured.

Ronald Perry's remains were returned exactly 3 years to the day from the day he
was shot down. The remains of Randall J. Craddock, Bobby A. Kirby, George B.
Lockhart and Charles E. Darr were returned six days short of the sixteenth
anniversary of their shoot-down. The positive identifications of the second
group to be returned was announced in August 1989.

Another returned POW, Ernest Moore, mentioned that he believed Darr had been
held at the "Zoo" in Hanoi, but the U.S. never changed Darr's status from
Missing to Prisoner. There is every reason to suspect the Vietnamese knew what
happened to all the crewmembers, but especially Charles E. Darr.

Whose radios beeped in distress from the ground that day in December 1972? When
and how did Bobby Kirby, Randall Craddock, Charles Darr, Ronald Perry and George
Lockhart die? If any of them were prisoners of war, why did we allow the
Vietnamese wait 16 years to return their remains?

George Barry Lockhart is a 1969 graduate of the United States Air Force Academy.



CRAFTS, CHARLES E.

Name: Charles E. Crafts
Rank/Branch: E2/US Army
Unit:
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: North Jay ME
Date of Loss: 29 December 1964
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 103740N 1071950E (YS549755)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel In Incident: Harold G. Bennett (captured/executed)

REMARKS: 670207 RELEASED

SYNOPSIS: Harold Bennett and Charles Crafts were MACV advisors to an ARVN unit
operating in Phuoc Tuy Province, South Vietnam. A native of Maine, Crafts had
been in country about 1 month.

On the afternoon of December 29, 1964, Bennett, Crafts and their ARVN unit made
contact with Viet Cong guerrillas and the unit engaged in a firefight. During
the firefight, both were taken prisoner.

By early 1965, Crafts and Bennett joined other prisoners held by the Viet Cong.
Those who returned supplied information on the fates of those who did not. In
late spring, 1965, Bennett began to refuse food. This was not an uncommon
occurrence among prisoners suffering dysentery, malnutrition, malaise, injury
and other ills that were common among prisoners of war in the South. Normally,
the other prisoners worked hard to prevent further illness by forcing food on
the POW who refused food, provided the sick man was not isolated. Returned
POWs report the death of several men from the cycle of illness-refusal to eat-
depression-starvation.

Bennett apparently did not die of starvaton, however. The Vietnamese National
Liberation Front (NLF) announced on Radio Hanoi on June 24, 1965 that Bennett
had been shot in retaliation for Viet Cong terrorist Tran Van Dong's execution
by South Vietnam. He was the first POW to be executed in retaliation.

When the war ended in 1973, the Vietnamese listed Bennett as having died in
captivity. They did not return his remains. He is one of nearly 2400
Americans still missing in Southeast Asia. Many, like Bennett did not survive.
But experts now say, based on thousands of reports received, that hundreds are
still alive.

We, as Americans had no say in the death of Harold Bennett. We do, however,
have the power to prevent the deaths of the hundreds still alive. If we do
nothing, we will be guilty of their deaths. We must bring them home, while
there is still time.


CRAIN, CARROLL OWEN JR.

Name: Carrol Owen Crain, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O4/US Navy
Unit: Heavy Attack Squadron 4, USS Kitty Hawk (CVA-63)
Date of Birth: 13 May 1933
Home City of Record: Memphis TN
Date of Loss: 08 March 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 175500N 1064000E (XE818816)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A3B
Other Personnel in Incident: Ronald E. Galvin, George F. Pawlish (missing)

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: RADIO CONTACT LOST

SYNOPSIS: LCdr. Carrol O. Crain, pilot; LtJG George F. Pawlish, co-pilot; and
AT Ronald E. Galvin, aviation electronics technician; comprised the crew of an
A3B "Skywarrior" aircraft on board the USS Kitty Hawk (CVA-63) off the coast of
Vietnam in 1967. The three were assigned to Heavy Attack Squadron 4.

On March 8, 1967 Crain's aircraft launched from the Kitty Hawk on a strike
mission into North Vietnam. Shortly after launch, they were notified to delay
their time over the target by ten minutes due to a delay in the launching of the
support aircraft. This was the last contact with them. No distress signals were
received and all efforts to locate or make contact with them were unsuccessful.
Their last known location was about 15 miles off the coast of North Vietnam, due
east of the city of Ron.

All three men were listed Missing In Action, and were not declared dead until
seven years later, at which time their deaths were accounted as hostile deaths
occurring while the men were missing, indicating that enemy action was involved,
not merely in a watery grave. Despite these determinations, the Navy judged that
the aircraft flew or fell into the water prior to departing their over-water
holding point. A naval casualty board determined that their bodies could not be
recovered.

Although returned U.S. prisoners in 1973 were unable to show that either he or
his crewmen were ever in the prison system, in the absence of proof otherwise,
it is possible to entertain the notion that the three, if they managed to escape
the sinking aircraft, could have been picked up by Vietnamese boats who happened
to be in the coastal area.

Certainly, the possibility also exists that Crain, Pawlish and Galvin died the
day their aircraft went down. They are among nearly 2500 Americans still
missing, prisoner or unaccounted for from the Vietnam War.

Unfortunately, nearly 10,000 reports have convinced many authorities that there
are hundreds of Americans still alive and in captivity in Southeast Asia.
Whether the crew of the A3 is among them is uncertain, but one cannot question
that it is long past time to bring our men home.

CRAMER, DONALD MARTIN

Name: Donald Martin Cramer
Rank/Branch: W2/US Army
Unit: C Troop, 2nd Squadron, 17th Cavalry, 101st Airborne Division
Date of Birth: 12 January 1946 (Columbus OH)
Home City of Record: St. Louis MO
Date of Loss: 05 January 1971
Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 161657N 1073102E (ZD060160)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: AH1G
Other Personnel in Incident: SP4 Ronnie Vago Rogers (killed, body recovered)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: At 0210 hours on January 5, 1971, CW2 Donald M. Cramer, pilot of an
AH1G (tail #67-16083), departed the Hue/Phu Bai Airfield on a training flight
mission with SP4 Ronnie V. Rogers aboard. No contact was established after
takeoff. When the aircraft failed to return within a reasonable time, efforts
were made to establish radio contact. After checking all airfields and contact
bases in the area, an aerial search was initiated at 1640 hours, and lasted
until dark.

On January 8, SP4 Roger's body was found on the beach. The search shifted
primarily into the coastline areas until about January 20, with no sightings of
the aircraft or of CW2 Cramer.

Because it was determined that Rogers had drowned, it was assumed that the
aircraft departed its destination (a fire base), and crashed into the South
China Sea. CW2 Cramer was never found. He was listed Missing in Action.

Whether Cramer drowned as Rogers did on January 5, 1971, may never be learned.
The U.S. Army, believing there was a chance he survived, did not declare him
officially dead for over four years, and then only in general administrative
"presumptive findings of death" which were sought for all missing personnel.

As the years pass, and more and more reports are received indicating that many
Americans are still alive in Southeast Asia, one must wonder if CW2 Cramer is
one of those said to be alive. If he is, what must he be thinking of us?


CRANDALL, GREGORY STEPHEN

Name: Gregory Stephen Crandall
Rank/Branch: W1/US Army
Unit: Troop C, 2nd Squadron, 17th Cavalry, 101st Airborne Division
Date of Birth: 18 July 1949 (Oakland CA)
Home City of Record: Tacoma WA
Date of Loss: 18 February 1971
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 163910N 1062226E (XD465415)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: OH6A

Other Personnel in Incident: Robert J. Engen; Walter E. Lewellen (both missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 September 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: CRASH BURN - NO SURVIV OBS - J

SYNOPSIS: LAM SON 719 was a large offensive operation against NVA communications
lines in Laos. The operation called for ARVN troops to drive west from Khe Sanh,
cut the Ho Chi Minh Trail, seize Tchpone and return to Vietnam. The ARVN would
provide and command the ground forces, while U.S. Army and Air Force would
furnish aviation airlift and supporting firepower. The 101st Airborne Division
commanded all U.S. Army aviation units in direct support of the operation. Most
of the first part of the operation, which began January 30, 1971, was called
Operation DEWEY CANYON II, and was conducted by U.S. ground forces in Vietnam.

On February 8, 1971, early into the operation, a U.S. Army OH6A helicopter was
shot down about 8 miles east of Tchpone. This aircraft, flown by W1 Gregory
Crandall, pilot, SP4 Robert J. Engen, scout/observer, and Sgt. Walter E.
Lewellen, crew chief, was conducting an aerial reconnaissance mission when
Crandall radioed that he was under heavy enemy fire. As he maneuvered to evade
the fire, the aircraft was seen to crash and catch on fire. There was one major
and six secondary explosions. About March 7, an ARVN unit spotted the wreckage,
but was unable to reach it to thoroughly investigate. It was never learned for
certain that the crew perished.

Losses were heavy in Lam Son 719. The ARVN lost almost 50% of their force. U.S.
aviation units lost 168 helicopters; another 618 were damaged. Fifty-five
aircrewmen were killed, 178 wounded, and 34 missing in action in the entire
operation, lasting until April 6, 1971.

In all, nearly 600 Americans were lost in Laos, but because we did not negotiate
with the Pathet Lao, no Americans held in Laos were released. Since that time,
over 10,000 reports have been received relating to Americans prisoner, missing
or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia. Although many authorities are convinced
that hundreds remain alive, the U.S. has not secured the release of a single
man.




CRAVEN, ANDREW JOHNSON

Name: Andrew Johnson Craven
Rank/Branch: E3/US Army
Unit: Company E, 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry, 196th Infantry Brigade, 23rd
Infantry Division (Americal)
Date of Birth: 13 April 1947
Home City of Record: Wilmington NC
Date of Loss: 12 May 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 152630N 1074806E (ZC005090)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Personnel in Incident: Ngok Tavak: Horace H. Fleming; Thomas J. Blackman;
Joseph F. Cook; Paul S. Czerwonka; Thomas W. Fritsch; Barry L. Hempel; Raymond
T. Heyne; Gerald E. King; Robert C. Lopez; William D. McGonigle; Donald W.
Mitchell; James R. Sargent (members of USMC search team - all missing); Glenn
E. Miller; Thomas H. Perry (USSF teammembers - missing); Kham Duc: Richard E.
Sands (missing from CH47); Bernard L. Bucher; Frank M. Hepler; George W. Long;
John L. McElroy; Stephan C. Moreland (USAF crew of C130 - all missing); Warren
R. Orr (USSF on C130 - missing); Harry B. Coen; Andrew J. Craven; Juan M.
Jimenez; Frederick J. Ransbottom; Maurice H. Moore; Joseph L. Simpson; William
E. Skivington; John C. Stuller; Imlay S. Widdison; Danny L. Widner; Roy C.
Williams (all missing); Julius W. Long (released POW).

REMARKS: RELEASED 730316 BY PRG

SYNOPSIS: Kham Duc Special Forces camp (A-105), was located on the western
fringes of Quang Tin ("Great Faith") Province, South Vietnam. In the spring of
1968, it was the only remaining border camp in Military Region I. Backup
responsibility for the camp fell on the 23rd Infantry Division (Americal),
based at Chu Lai on the far side of the province.

The camp had originally been built for President Diem, who enjoyed hunting in
the area. The 1st Special Forces detachment (A-727B) arrived in September 1963
and found the outpost to be an ideal border surveillance site with an existing
airfield. The camp was located on a narrow grassy plain surrounded by rugged,
virtually uninhabited jungle. The only village in the area, located across the
airstrip, was occupied by post dependents, camp followers and merchants. The
camp and airstrip were bordered by the Ngok Peng Bum ridge to the west and Ngok
Pe Xar mountain, looming over Kham Duc to the east. Steep banked streams full
of rapids and waterfalls cut through the tropical wilderness. The Dak Mi River
flowed past the camp over a mile distant, under the shadow of the Ngok Pe Xar.

Five miles downriver was the small forward operating base of Ngok Tavak,
defended by the 113-man 11th Mobile Strike Force Company with its 8 Special
Forces and 3 Australian advisors. Since Ngok Tavak was outside friendly
artillery range, 33 Marine artillerymen of Battery D, 2nd Battalion, 13th
Marines, with two 105mm howitzers were located at the outpost.

Capt. Christopher J. Silva, commander of Detachment A-105 helicoptered into
Ngok Tavak on May 9, 1968 in response to growing signs of NVA presence in the
area. Foul weather prevented his scheduled evening departure. A Kham Duc CIDG
platoon fleeing a local ambush also arrived and was posted to the outer
perimeter. It was later learned that the CIDG force contained VC infiltrators.

Ngok Tavak was attacked by an NVA infantry battalion at 0315 hours on May 10.
The base was pounded by mortars and direct rocket fire. As the frontal assault
began, the Kham Duc CIDG soldiers moved toward the Marines in the fort yelling,
"Don't shoot, don't shoot! Friendly, friendly!" Suddenly they lobbed grenades
into the Marine howitzer positions and ran into the fort, where they shot
several Marines with carbines and sliced claymore mine and communication wires.

The defenders suffered heavy casualties but stopped the main assault and killed
the infiltrators. The NVA dug in along the hill slopes and grenaded the trenches
where the mobile strike force soldiers were pinned by machine gun and rocket
fire. An NVA flamethrower set the ammunition ablaze, banishing the murky flare-
lighted darkness for the rest of the night. SFC Harold M. Swicegood and the
USMC platoon leader, Lt. Adams, were badly wounded and moved to the command
bunker. Medical Spec4 Blomgren reported that the CIDG mortar crews had abandoned
their weapons. Silva tried to operate the main 4.2 inch mortar but was wounded.
At about 0500 hours, Sgt. Glenn Miller, an A-105 communications specialist, was
shot through the head as he ran over to join the Marine howitzer crews.

The NVA advanced across the eastern side of Ngok Tavak and brought forward more
automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenade launchers. In desperation, the
defenders called on USAF AC-47 "Spooky" gunships to strafe the perimeter and
the howitzers, despite the possible presence of friendly wounded in the gun
pits. The NVA countered with tear gas, but the wind kept drifting the gas over
their own lines. After three attempts, they stopped. A grenade fight between
the two forces lasted until dawn.

At daybreak Australian Warrant Officers Cameron and Lucas, joined by Blomgren,
led a CIDG counterattack. The North Vietnamese pulled back under covering fire,
and the howitzers were retaken. The Marines fired the last nine shells and
spiked the tubes. Later that morning medical evacuation helicopters supported
by covering airstrikes took out the seriously wounded, including Silva and
Swicegood. Two CH46's were able to land 45 replacements from the 12th Mobile
Strike Force Company, accompanied by Capt. Euge E. Makowski (who related much
of this account to Shelby Stanton, author of "Green Berets at War"), but one
helicopter was hit in the fuel line and forced down. Another helicopter was hit
by a rocket and burst into flames, wrecking the small helipad. The remaining
wounded were placed aboard a hovering helicopter. As it lifted off, two Mike
Force soldiers and 1Lt. Horace Fleming, one of the stranded aviation crewmen,
grabbed the helicopter skids. All three fell to their deaths after the
helicopter had reached an altitude of over one hundred feet.

The mobile strike force soldiers were exhausted and nervous. Ammunition and
water were nearly exhausted, and Ngok Tavak was still being pounded by sporadic
mortar fire. They asked permission to evacuate their positions, but were told
to "hold on" as "reinforcements were on the way". By noon the defenders decided
that aerial reinforcement or evacuation was increasingly unlikely, and night
would bring certain destruction. An hour later, they abandoned Ngok Tavak.

Thomas Perry, a medic from C Company, arrived at the camp at 0530 hours the
morning of the 10th. He cared for the wounded and was assisting in an attempt
to establish a defensive perimeter when the decision was made to evacuate the
camp. As survivors were leaving, Perry was seen by Sgt. Cordell J. Matheney,
Jr., standing 20 feet away, as Australian Army Capt. John White formed the
withdrawal column at the outer perimeter wire on the eastern Ngok Tavak
hillside. It was believed that Perry was going to join the end of the column.

All the weapons, equipment and munitions that could not be carried were hastily
piled into the command bunker and set afire. The helicopter that had been
grounded by a ruptured fuel line was destroyed with a LAW. Sgt. Miller's body
was abandoned.

After survivors had gone about 1 kilometer, it was discovered that Perry was
missing. Efforts were conducted to locate both Perry and Miller, including a
search by a group from Battery D. They were searching along the perimeter when
they were hit by enemy grenades and arms fire. Neither the men on the team nor
Perry was ever found. Included in this team were PFC Thomas Blackman; LCpl.
Joseph Cook; PFC Paul Czerwonka; LCpl. Thomas Fritsch; PFC Barry Hempel; LCpl.
Raymond Heyne; Cpl. Gerald King; PFC Robert Lopez; PFC William McGonigle; LCpl.
Donald Mitchell; and LCpl. James Sargent. The remaining survivors evaded
through dense jungle to a helicopter pickup point midway to Kham Duc. Their
extraction was completed shortly before 1900 hours on the evening of May 10.

In concert with the Ngok Tavak assault, the Kham Duc was blasted by a heavy
mortar and recoilless rifle attack at 0245 hours that same morning. Periodic
mortar barrages ripped into Kham Duc throughout the rest of the day, while the
Americal Division airmobiled a reinforced battalion of the 196th Infantry
Brigade into the compound. A Special Forces command party also landed, but the
situation deteriorated too rapidly for their presence to have positive effect.

The mortar attack on fog-shrouded Kham Duc resumed on the morning of May 11.
The bombardment caused heavy losses among the frightened CIDG soldiers, who
fled from their trenches across open ground, seeking shelter in the bunkers.
The LLDB commander remained hidden. CIDG soldiers refused orders to check the
rear of the camp for possible North Vietnamese intruders. That evening the 11th
and 12th Mobile Strike Force companies were airlifted to Da Nang, and half of
the 137th CIDG Company from Camp Ha Thanh was airlanded in exchange.

The 1st VC Regiment, 2nd NVA Division, began closing the ring around Kham Duc
during the early morning darkness of 12 May. At about 0415 to 0430 hours, the
camp and outlying positions came under heavy enemy attack. Outpost #7 was
assaulted and fell within a few minutes. Outposts #5, #1 and #3 had been
reinforced by Americal troops but were in North Vietnamese hands by 0930 hours.

OP1 was manned by PFC Harry Coen, PFC Andrew Craven, Sgt. Joseph Simpson, and
SP4 Julius Long from Company E, 2nd of the 1st Infantry. At about 0415 hours,
when OP1 came under heavy enemy attack, PFC Coen and SP4 Long were seen trying
to man a 106 millimeter recoilless rifle. Survivors reported that in the
initial enemy fire, they were knocked off their bunker. Both men again tried to
man the gun, but were knocked down again by RPG fire.

PFC Craven, along with two other men, departed the OP at 0830 hours on May 12.
They moved out 50 yards and could hear the enemy in their last position. At
about 1100 hours, as they were withdrawing to the battalion perimeter, they
encountered an enemy position. PFC Craven was the pointman and opened fire. The
enemy returned fire, and PFC Craven was seen to fall, with multiple chest
wounds. The other two men were unable to recover him, and hastily departed the
area. PFC Craven was last seen lying on his back, wounded, near the camp.

OP2 was being manned by 1Lt. Frederick Ransbottom, SP4 Maurice Moore, PFC Roy
Williams, PFC Danny Widner, PFC William Skivington, PFC Imlay Widdison, and SP5
John Stuller, from the 2nd of the 3rd Infantry when it came under attack.
Informal questioning of survivors of this position indicated that PFC Widdison
and SP5 Stuller may have been killed in action. However, the questioning was
not sufficiently thorough to produce enough evidence to confirm their deaths.

The only information available concerning 1Lt. Ransbottom, SP4 Moore, PFC Lloyd
and PFC Skivington that Lt. Ransbottom allegedly radioed PFC Widner and PFC
Williams, who were in the third bunker, and told them that he was shooting at
the enemy as they entered his bunker.

SP4 Juan Jimenez, a rifleman assigned to Company A, 2nd of the 1st Infantry,
was occupying a defensive position when he was severely wounded in the back by
enemy mortar fire. SP4 Jimenez was declared dead by the Battalion Surgeon in
the early morning hours of May 12. He was then carried to the helipad for
evacuation. However, due to the situation, space was available in the
helicopter for only the wounded, and SP4 Jimenez'remains were left behind.

At noon a massive NVA attack was launched against the main compound. The charge
was stopped by planes hurling napalm, cluster bomb units and 750 pound bombs
into the final wire barriers. The decision was made by the Americal Division
officers to call for immediate extraction.

The evacuation was disorderly, and at times, on the verge of complete panic.
One of the first extraction helicopters to land was exploded by enemy fire,
blocking the airstrip. Engineers of Company A, 70th Engineer Battalion,
frantically reassembled one of their dozers (previously torn apart to prevent
capture) to clear the runway. Eight more aircraft were blown out of the sky.

PFC Richard E. Sands was a member of Company A, 1st Battalion, 46th Infantry,
198th Light Infantry Brigade being extracted on a CH47 helicopter (serial
#67-18475). The helicopter was hit by 50 calliber machine gun fire at an
altitude of 1500-1600 feet shortly after takeoff.

Sands, who was sitting near the door gunner, was hit in the head by an incoming
rounds. The helicopter made a controlled landing and caught fire. During the
evacuation from the burning helicopter, four personnel and a medic checked PFC
Sands and indicated that he had been killed instantly. Because of the danger of
incoming mortar rounds and the fire, personnel attempting to remove PFC Sands
from the helicopter were ordered to abandon their attempt. The remaining
personnel were evacuated from the area later by another helicopter.

Intense antiaircraft fire from the captured outposts caused grave problems.
Control over the indigenous forces was difficult. One group of CIDG soldiers
had to be held in trenches at gunpoint to prevent them from mobbing the runway.

As evacuation was in progress, members of Company A, 1/46, who insisted on
boarding the aircraft first, shoved Vietnamese dependents out of the way. As
more Americal infantry tried to clamber into the outbound planes, the outraged
Special Forces staff convinced the Air Force to start loading civilians onboard
a C130, then watched as the civilians pushed children and weaker adults aside.

The crew of the U.S. Air Force C130 aircraft (serial #60-0297) consisted of
Maj. Bernard Bucher, pilot; SSgt. Frank Hepler, flight engineer; Maj. John
McElroy, navigator; 1Lt. Steven Moreland, co-pilot; George Long, load master;
Capt. Warren Orr, passenger, and an undetermined number of Vietnamese civilians.

The aircraft reported receiving ground fire on takeoff. The Forward Air Control
(FAC) in the area reported that the aircraft exploded in mid-air and crashed in
a fire ball about one mile from camp. All crew and passengers were believed
dead, as the plane burned quickly and was completely destroyed except for the
tail boom. No remains were recovered from the aircraft.

Capt. Orr was not positively identified by U.S. personnel as being aboard the
aircraft. He was last seen near the aircraft helping the civilians to board.
However, a Vietnamese stated that he had seen Capt. Orr board the aircraft and
later positively identified him from a photograph. Rescue efforts were
impossible because of the hostile threat in the area.

At the time the order was given to escape and evade, SP4 Julius Long was was
with Coen and Simpson. All three had been wounded, and were trying to make
their way back to the airfield about 350 yards away. As they reached the
airfield, they saw the last C130 departing. PFC Coen, who was shot in the
stomach, panicked and started running and shooting his weapon at random. SP4
Long tried to catch him, but could not, and did not see PFC Coen again. Long
then carried Sgt. Simpson to a nearby hill, where they spent the night.

During the night, the airfield was strafed and bombed by U.S. aircraft. SP4
Long was hit twice in the back by fragments, and Sgt. Simpson died during the
night. SP4 Long left him lying on the hill near the Cam Duc airfield and
started his escape and evasion toward Chu Lai, South Vietnam. SP4 Long was
captured and was released in 1973 from North Vietnam.

The Special Forces command group was the last organized group out of the camp.
As their helicopter soared into the clouds, Kham Duc was abandoned to advancing
NVA infantry at 4:33 p.m. on May 12, 1968. The last Special Forces camp on the
northwestern frontier of South Vietnam had been destroyed.

Two search and recovery operations were conducted in the vicinity of OP1 and
OP2 and the Cam Duc airfield on July 18, 1970 and August 17, 1970. In these
operations, remains of personnel previously reported missing from this incident
were recovered and subsequently identified. (SP4 Bowers, PFC Lloyd, Sgt. Sisk,
PFC Guzman-Rios and SSgt. Carter). However, extensive search and excavation
could not be completed at OP1 and OP2 because of the tactical situation.

It was assumed that all the missing at Kham Duc were killed in action until
about 1983, when the father of one of the men missing discovered a Marine Corps
document which indicated that four of the men had been taken prisoner. The
document listed the four by name. Until then, the families had not been advised
of the possibility there were any American prisoners taken other than Julius
Long. A Vietnamese rallier identified the photograph of Roy C. Williams as
positively having been a POW.

Until proof is obtained that the rest of the men lost at Ngok Tavak and Kham
Duc are dead, their families will always wonder if they are among those said to
still be alive in Southeast Asia.








CRAYTON, RENDER

Name: Render Crayton
Rank/Branch: O4/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 56, USS TICONDEROGA (CVA 14)
Date of Birth: 29 January 1933 (Charlotte NC)
Home City of Record: La Grange GA
Date of Loss: 07 February 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 185900N 1053700E (WF649989)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A4E

Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 30 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: 730212 RELSD BY DRV - INJURED

SYNOPSIS: The USS TICONDEROGA had first been in Vietnam waters in late 1944 when
fighter planes from the TICONDEROGA and the USS HANCOCK flew strike missions
against enemy vessels in Saigon Harbor. The TICONDEROGA, the fourteenth U.S.
aircraft carrier to be built, was on station during the very early years of the
Vietnam war and remained throughout most of the duration of the war.

Lieutenant Commander Render Crayton was a pilot assigned to Attack Squadron 56
onboard the USS TICONDEROGA. On February 7, 1966, he launched in his A4E Skyhawk
aircraft on a combat mission over North Vietnam.

While on a bombing run on railroad boxcars in the vicinity of Phu Dien Chau in
Nghe An Province, North Vietnam, LCDR Crayton's aircraft was hit by
anti-aircraft fire. His wingman reported seeing an aircraft explosion on
starboard side and the pilot reported a fire warning light. Crayton initiated a
climb to approximately 4500 feet, and his aircraft was observed to roll right
and nose fall through. He ejected following severe damage to the aircraft.

When Crayton landed on the ground he contacted other planes in the flight by
radio and directed them to his position. He was surrounded on three sides by
river and on the fourth side by a village. Search and rescue operations were
immediately initiated and a helicopter with an armed escort was dispatched to
the area. While awaiting the arrival of the rescue helicopter, two A4's remained
overhead making strafing/bombing runs and los passes at would-be captors.
Crayton remained extremely calm in his radio transmissions.

Crayton finally radioed for the A4's to depart because he knew their fuel states
were becoming critical. Crayton was last seen being led off by a group of men.
Both the helicopter and escort received extensive ground fire damage enroute to
the scene, and upon arrival spotted the parachute, but were unable to locate
Crayton. He had been captured.

For the next seven years, Render Crayton was held prisoner by the North
Vietnamese in various prisoner of war camps in and around Hanoi. On February 12,
1973, he was released with 590 other Americans, but he had sustained injuries
(whether the injuries were sustained during his captivity or remained from his
shoot-down is not certain).

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. These reports are the source of serious distress to many returned
American prisoners. They had a code that no one could honorably return unless
all of the prisoners returned. Not only that code of honor, but the honor of our
country is at stake as long as even one man remains unjustly held. It's time we
brought our men home.

CREAMER, JAMES EDWARD JR.

Name: James Edward Creamer, Jr.
Rank/Branch: E5/US Army
Unit: 17th Aviation Company, 214th Aviation Battalion, 16th Aviation Group, 1st
Aviation Brigade
Date of Birth: 09 May 1947 (New Haven CT)
Home City of Record: North Branford CT
Date of Loss: 21 April 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 161810N 1071956E (YD481033)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H
Other Personnel In Incident: Larry Jamerson; Robert C. Link; Floyd W. Olsen,
Lyle MacKedanz, Frankie B. Johnson (all missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On April 21, 1968, Capt. Floyd W. Olsen, aircraft commander; WO1
Robert C. Link, pilot; SP5 Frankie B. Johnson, Jr., crew chief; SP4 Larry C.
Jamerson, door gunner; SSgt. Lyle E. MacKendanz and SP4 James E. Creamer,
passengers; were aboard a UH1H helicopter (serial #66-16209) which was flying a
combat mission with other aircraft in South Vietnam.

The aircraft remained with the assault aircraft during most of the operation
until it was required to depart from Phu Bai, South Vietnam with rigging
equipment for a recovery from LZ Zeghel. During the flight, Capt. Olsen
acknowledged a radio transmission which stated the aircraft's secondary
mission, the recovery operation at LZ Zeghel, had been cancelled because of the
tactical situation and inclement weather conditions. Following acknowledgement
of the cancelled mission, the aircraft was lost. Although there were several
unsuccessful attempts to contact him, and ramp checks of all airfields and
camps in the area were conducted, no further contact was made with Capt. Olsen.

On April 22, an extensive, though unsuccessful air search was conducted from
dawn until 1830 hours. On May 8, elements of the 8th ARVN Airborne Division
found the ID tags of SP5 Johnson in a 3/4-ton truck, non-U.S.  On May 25, a
UH1C gunship of the 101st Airborne Division sighted a tail boom of a crashed
helicopter. On May 26, the downed aircraft was positively identified by its
tail number by a gunship of the 17th Armored Calvary Armored Helicopter Company.

On May 27, an on-ground inspection was conducted by Company A, 1st Battalion,
327th Airborne Infantry. The Company found the main rotor blades of the missing
helicopter in a river bed 200 meters west of the tail boom. The area became
insecure, and a search team came under enemy fire, curtailing search efforts
prior to finding the main cabin section of the UH1H. Further investigation
revealed that the helicopter was downed due to anti-aircraft artillery fire.
Although the cabin section was not located, and no remains were found, the
families of the men were informed that all aboard had been killed. No
explanation was given as to why Johnson's dog tags had been found in a non-U.S.
truck.

In the fall of 1985, a CIA document was declassified which contained drawings
of a Viet Cong detention center which held U.S. servicemen in 1969 prior to
their being sent north to Hanoi. It was located just 20 miles southwest of Camp
Eagle, a major American base near Hue, South Vietnam. In the document were
greatly detailed drawings, lists of personnel and lists of U.S. servicemen
identified from photographs. Lyle MacKedanz' name was on a list of positively
identified prisoners. Along with MacKedanz were the names of several POWs who
were released in 1973. One of them has verified the authenticity of the report
as far as the camp itself is concerned.

The MacKedanz family was given the document by a private citizen who had
obtained it through the Freedom of Information Act. They had never been told
there was even the remotest possibility that Lyle had been captured. The
Defense Department maintains that the report was a fabrication, even though
much of it has been verified by returned POWs who were held there.

The families of the men lost on the UH1H that went down that day in April 1968
want the truth. If their man is dead, they would like to know. They can accept
that. If he is one of the hundreds whom experts now say are alive, they want
him home. What they cannot accept is having the truth withheld from them. And
they cannot accept the abandonment of America's finest sons.
CREAR, WILLIS CALVIN

Name: Willis Calvin Crear
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: 159th Aviation Battalion, 101st Airborne Division
Date of Birth: 08 January 1950
Home City of Record: Birmingham AL
Date of Loss: 15 February 1971
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 163836N 1062558E (XD528405)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: CH47C

Other Personnel In Incident: Donald E. Crone; Barry F. Fivelson; John L. Powers;
Marvin M. Leonard; James H. Taylor (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 September 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: EXPLODE - NO SURV OBS AIR - J

SYNOPSIS: Lam Son 719 was a large-scale offensive against enemy communications
lines which was conducted in that part of Laos adjacent to the two northern
provinces of South Vietnam. The South Vietnamese would provide and command
ground forces, while U.S. forces would furnish airlift and supporting fire.

Phase I, renamed Operation Dewey Canyon II, involved an armored attack by the
U.S. from Vandegrift base camp toward Khe Sanh, while the ARVN moved into
position for the attack across the Laotian border. Phase II began with an ARVN
helicopter assault and armored brigade thrust along Route 9 into Laos. ARVN
ground troops were transported by American helicopters, while U.S. Air Force
provided cover strikes around the landing zones.

On February 15, 1971, during one of these maneuvers, a CH47 helicopter was
assigned the task of ferrying a load of gasoline into Savannakhet Province,
Laos. The crew of the aircraft consisted of SP4 Donald E. Crone, crew chief; CWO
Marvin M. Leonard, pilot; SP4 Willis C. Crear, door gunner; SP4 John L. Powers,
flight engineer; 2Lt. James H. Taylor, aircraft commander. WO Barry F. Fivelson
was a passenger onboard the aircraft.

During the mission, the aircraft was hit by enemy fire and began to lose
altitude. During the descent, the sling load apparently exploded, causing the
helicopter to explode, break into pieces, and crash. Observers later said that
the helicopter seemed disoriented and that it had overflown the nearest friendly
location by several miles and had descended in enemy-held territory about 10
miles southeast of Sepone.

According to the U.S. Army, air searches conducted within minutes of the crash
revealed no sign of survivors. However, according to information given to family
members, the aerial search failed to find evidence of a crash. A ground search
was not possible because of hostile threat in the area. (Note also that Defense
Department data remarks indicates that a crash site was found and that no
survivors were observed from the air.)

The men aboard the CH47 were all classified Killed/Body Not Recovered. The
families maintain there is still a mystery surrounding the crash of the
aircraft, and they would like to know the whole truth.

Proof of the deaths of Powers, Fivelson, Taylor, Crear, Crone and Leonard was
never found. No remains came home; none was released from prison camp. They were
not blown up, nor did they sink to the bottom of the ocean. Someone knows what
happened to them.

The personnel aboard the CH47 are among nearly 600 Americans lost in Laos. The
communist Lao stated on several occasions that they held American prisoners, but
as the U.S. did not recognize the Pathet Lao as a legitimate government, we
never negotiated with them for their release. Consequently, not one man held in
Laos was ever released.

Were it not for thousands of reports relating to Americans still held captive in
Southeast Asia today, the families of the CH47 helicopter crew might be able to
believe their men died with their aircraft. But until proof exists that they
died, or they are brought home alive, they will wonder and wait.

How long must they wait before we bring our men home?

CREED, BARTON SHELDON

Name: Barton Sheldon Creed
Rank/Branch: O3/US Navy
Unit:
Date of Birth: 03 April 1945
Home City of Record: Peekskill NY
Date of Loss: 13 March 1971
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 161210N 1063300E
Status (In 1973): Prisoner of War
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: A7E

Other Personnel In Incident:

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II
Project.

REMARKS: MAY HAVE BEEN CAPTURED

SYNOPSIS: The Vought A7 Corsair II was a single-seat attack jet utilized by both
the Navy and Air Force in Vietnam. The aircraft was designed to meet the Navy's
need for a subsonic attack plane able to carry a greater load of non-nuclear
weapons that the A4 Skyhawk. The aircraft's unique design completely freed the
wingspace for bomb loading; the Pratt and Whitney jet engine was beneath the
fuselage of the aircraft. The Corsair was used primarily for close air support
and interdiction, although it was also used for reconnaissance.

Lt. Barton S. Creed was pilot of an A7E aircraft which launched from the USS
RANGER on March 13, 1971 for a combat mission. Creed was shot down over the Ho
Chi Minh Trail during the mission. He ejected from the aircraft and landed on
the ground, breaking an arm and a leg in the process. Forward Air Control (FAC)
immediately established his position and marked a false location with a smoke
bomb hoping to draw the enemy away from his position. FAC remained in constant
radio contact with Creed.

Search and rescue helicopters made three attempts to pick him up. On the first
pass the helicopter crew thought they saw movement in the grass about 100 feet
from Creed's position, but they decided to attempt the rescue anyway. The
helicopter hovered over Creed and a rescue man was let down on a boom within 30
feet of the ground when small arms fire became so intense that the helicopter
was hit, injuring some of the crew.

Completely surrounded by the North Vietnamese, Creed's last transmittal was
"Pick me up, pick me up now! They are here!"

The search and rescue (SAR) plane made a wide sweep while two helicopters tried
to clear the area around Creed's position. About 4 minutes later, a second
rescue attempt was made, but small arms fire was even more intense. Both
helicopters received disabling fire, and the co-pilot of one was seriously
wounded. Neither helicopter made it back to base, but the crew was recovered.

Between the second and third attempts, Creed was moved. The third attempt came
from helicopters that had been standing by to the wet of the area and they
arrived 15-20 minutes later. They also received heavy ground fire. Creed's
parachute had been moved a little, and he could no longer be seen by SAR.

The fourth attempt was made after darkness, and a man was sent down on a jungle
penetrator and stayed down for some time. There was no sign of Lt. Creed.

The next morning the original FAC was granted permission to go back and look for
Creed again. FAC found that Creed's parachute had been moved about 500 meters
and had been spread out. The pilot believed that NVA soldiers had spread the
parachute as a decoy for U.S. planes, as no American pilot trying to evade
capture would advertise his presence in this manner.

Rescue pilots say Creed was "most certainly alive" when they last saw him.
However, Creed's name did not appear on any list of prisoners provided by the
North Vietnamese.

One returned POW, who had been captured one week later in the same area,
believes he saw Creed's ID card as it was flashed in front of him at his initial
interrogation. Another released POW reported to Creed's mother that a prison
guard had drawn a picture of an aircraft like the one Creed flew and then
pantomimed putting a leg splint on a large American man.

Creed is one of nearly 600 men who were lost in Laos whose freedom was never
negotiated for in the peace agreements of 1973. Although the Pathet Lao claimed
to have held "tens of tens" of American POWs, not one was ever released.

Since the war ended, the Defense Department has received over 10,000 reports
relating to the men still unaccounted for in Southeast Asia, yet concludes that
no actionable evidence has been received that would indicate Americans are still
alive in Southeast Asia. A recent Senate investigation indicates that most of
these reports were dismissed without just cause, and that there is every
indication that Americans remained in captivity far after the war ended, and may
be alive today.

It's time we learned the truth about our missing and brought them home.

Barton S. Creed was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Commander during the
period he was maintained a prisoner of war. He is unmarried, and his parents
still await word about him.




CRESSMAN, PETER RICHARD

Name: Peter Richard Cressman
Rank/Branch: E4/US Air Force
Unit: Detachment 3, 6994th Security Squadron, Ubon, Thailand
Date of Birth: 23 April 1951
Home City of Record: Wayne NJ (Family in FL)
Date of Loss: 05 February 1973
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 153755N 1065957E (YC143291)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action/Killed In Action
Category: 1
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: EC47Q

Other Personnel in Incident: Dale Brandenburg; Todd M. Melton; George R. Spitz;
Severo J. Primm III; Arthur R. Bollinger; Joseph Matejov (all missing); Robert
E. Bernhardt (remains recovered)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II
Project.

REMARKS: KIA 3 - POSS CAPT 4

SYNOPSIS: On February 5, 1973, about a week after the signing of the Paris
Peace Agreement, an EC47Q aircraft was shot down over Saravane Province, Laos,
about 50 miles east of the city of Saravane. The crew of the aircraft consisted
of the pilot, Capt. George R. Spitz; co-pilot, 2Lt. Severo J. Primm III, Capt.
Arthur R. Bollinger, 1Lt. Robert E. Bernhardt, Sgt. Dale Brandenburg, Sgt.
Joseph A. Matejov, all listed as crew members, and Sgt. Peter R. Cressman and
SSgt. Todd M. Melton, both systems operators. The families of all aboard the
aircraft were told the men were dead, and advised to conduct memorial services.

It is known that Cressman and Matejov were members of Detachment 3, 6994th
Security Squadron from Ubon, Thailand. The aircraft, however, was flying out of
the 361st TEW Squadron (Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron) at Nakhon Phanom
Airbase, Thailand. Primm, Melton, Spitz, Brandenburg and Bernhardt were assigned
to the 361st TEW Squadron. Bollinger's unit is unknown.

The men in the 6994th were highly trained and operated in the greatest of
secrecy. They were not allowed to mingle with others from their respective
bases, nor were the pilots of the aircraft carrying them on their missions
always told what their objective was. They were cryptology experts, language
experts, and knew well how to operate some of the Air Force's most sophisticated
equipment. They were the first to hear the enemy's battle plans.

Over five years later, Joe Matejov's mother, Mary Matejov, heard columnist Jack
Anderson, on "Good Morning America", describe a Pathet Lao radio communique
which described the capture of four "air pirates" on the same day as the EC47Q
carrying her son was shot down. NO OTHER PLANE WAS MISSING THAT DAY. Anderson's
information indicated that reconnaissance personnel had 40 uninterrupted minutes
in which to survey the crash site.

The report of the reconnaissance team, which was not provided to the families
for over five years, showed that three bodies, which were thought to have been
higher ranking officers because of the seating arrangement, were found strapped
in seats. Four of the men aboard the aircraft were not in or around the
aircraft, and the partial remains of the eighth man (Bernhardt) was recovered.
No identification was brought out from the crash site, and no attempt was made
to recover the three bodies from the downed aircraft. It is assumed that the
reconnaissance team was most interested in recovering the sensitive equipment
aboard the EC47Q. The EC47Q became known as the "Flying Pueblo". Most of the
"kids" in back, as some pilots called them, were young, in good health, and
stood every chance of surviving captivity.

There were specific reports intercepted regarding the four missing men from the
aircraft missing on February 5, 1973. Radio reports indicated that the four were
transported to the North Vietnam border. None were released in the general POW
release beginning the next month.

Peter Cressman enlisted in the United States Air Force in August, 1969 and after
two years at Elmendorf AFB in Anchorage, Alaska he volunteered for service in
Vietnam and left for Da Nang in June 1972.

In Da Nang, Peter spent his free hours at Sacred Heart Orphanage. His letters to
his hometown priest in Oakland, New Jersey, resulted in the forming of
"Operation Forget-Me-Not". Community schools, churches, merchants and citizens
joined the effort to help the innocent victims of war. The group eventually
provided a boxcar of supplies to the orphans.

Peter was transferred to the airbase at Ubon, Thailand. He believed the secret
missions being flown into Laos were illegal, and had written letters to his
congressman in that regard. His family has been active in efforts to locate
information on Peter and the nearly 2500 others who remain unaccounted for. They
founded the National Forget-Me-Not Association for POW/MIAs in St.Petersburg,
Florida, the largest POW advocacy group in the country.

Joseph Matejov enlisted in the Air Force in 1970 from his home state of New York
and went to Southeast Asia in April, 1972. Joe's father and two brothers were
career military. His sister graduated from West Point in 1981. Steven Matejov
died in 1984 not knowing what happened to his son. Joe's mother, Mary says, "Joe
may be alive. If so, this government has a legal and moral responsibility to get
him home.  The next generation of servicemen should not have to wonder if they
will answer the call to defend their country only to be abandoned. We must stop
this tragedy now, and never allow it to happen again."

Thousands of reports received by the U.S. Government have convinced many experts
that hundreds of Americans remain captive in Southeast Asia. Members of a crew
flying a secret mission after a peace agreement had been signed would likely be
considered war criminals. If they are among those thought to be alive, the
survivors of the EC47Q have been held captive over 15 years. It's time we
brought our men home.


CREW, JAMES ALAN

Name: James Alan Crew
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 15 May 1941
Home City of Record: Winder PA
Date of Loss: 10 November 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 171909N 1064629E (XE886156)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4C

Other Personnel in Incident: Kelly F. Cook (missing); from other F4C: James S.
Morgan (missing); Charles J. Huneycutt (remains returned)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS: NO CONTACT

SYNOPSIS: On November 10, 1967, Lt.Col. Kelly F. Cook, pilot, and 1Lt. James A.
Crew, bombadier/navigator were the crew of one F4C in a flight of two which
departed Da Nang Airbase, South Vietnam on an operational mission. The crew of
the second aircraft was the pilot, Maj. James S. Morgan, and the rear-seater,
1Lt. Charles J. Huneycutt.

Both F4's were tracked to their target area of Dong Hoa in North Vietnam, but
because of incliment weather, were directed to an alternate target nearby.
Positive radar and radio contact was maintained with the aircrafts until the
point when their bombing dives were to begin. All contact was then lost.

Electronic searches were negative. Ground search was not conducted since the
incident occurred over heavily defended territory about 14 miles southeast of
Dong Hoi on the coast of North Vietnam. All four men aboard were classified
Missing in Action.

A North Vietnamese general was quoted in an article saying a women's militia
shot down two F4C recon planes that same day and captured "both bandits" alive.
As four, not two, individuals are concerned in this incident, it is unclear
which of the four the article could relate to. However, according to a 1974
publication from a POW organization named FACK, the Defense Department
acknowledged at one time that James A. Crew was, indeed, a prisoner of war. His
status was hot, however, changed from Missing in Action. According to a 1974
list published by the National League of Families, Charles J. Huneycutt survived
his loss incident.

In the Peace agreements signed in Paris in 1973, the Vietnamese pledged to
release all American prisoners of war and account for the missing. They have
done neither. The U.S. Government has named the return and full accounting of
Americans "highest national priority", yet has dealt with the issue with less
than high priority.

In 1988, the Vietnamese "discovered" and returned to U.S. control the remains of
1Lt. Charles J. Huneycutt, Jr.  The other three pilots lost on November 10, 1967
remain missing, and the Vietnamese deny knowledge of their fates. For 21 years,
Huneycutt was a Prisoner of War - whether he was alive or dead.

Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing in
Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. Many authorities are convinced
that there are still hundreds of Americans alive, held captive. Cook, Crew, and
Morgan could be among them. They and the others who remain missing deserve the
full effort of their country to bring them home.

Kelly F. Cook was an instructor at the U.S. Air Force Academy prior to
volunteering for Vietnam service.

James A. Crew graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1965.

James S. Morgan's wife, Eleanor died of cancer in 1985, not knowing the fate
of her husband.








CRISTMAN, FREDERICK LEWIS

Name: Frederick Lewis Cristman
Rank/Branch: W1/US Army
Unit: 48th Aviation Company, 11th Aviation Group
Date of Birth: 26 November 1949 (Waukigan IL)
Home City of Record: Salisbury NC
Date of Loss: 19 March 1971
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 163940N 1062920E (XD585428)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1C

Other Personnel In Incident: Paul Langenour (rescued); Jon M. Sparks, Ricardo M.
Garcia (both missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 September 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: Lam Son 719 was a large-scale offensive against enemy communications
lines which was conducted in that part of Laos adjacent to the two northern
provinces of South Vietnam. The South Vietnamese would provide and command
ground forces, while U.S. forces would furnish airlift and supporting fire.

Phase I, renamed Operation Dewey Canyon II, involved an armored attack by the
U.S. from Vandegrift base camp toward Khe Sanh, while the ARVN moved into
position for the attack across the Laotian border. Phase II began with an ARVN
helicopter assault and armored brigade thrust along Route 9 into Laos. ARVN
ground troops were transported by American helicopters, while U.S. Air Force
provided cover strikes around the landing zones.

During one of these maneuvers, CW2 Frederick L. Cristman was flying a UH1C
helicopter (serial #65-9489) with a crew of three - SP4 Paul A. Langenour, door
gunner, WO1 Jon M. Sparks, co-pilot, and SP5 Ricardo M. Garcia, crew chief -
covering a downed U.S. helicopter during a rescue effort. Cristman's aircraft
flew as the trail ship in a flight of two UH1s on the armed escort mission.

The landing zone (LZ) was under fire, and the pilot of the downed craft was a
buddy of Fred's. He worked the area with his minigun while another helicopter
successfully extracted the pilot.

Cristman and his crew continued to work the hot LZ while other helicopters came
in. His gunship was hit by enemy gunfire. Cristman radioed in to the flight
leader that his transmission oil pressure caution light was on, and that he was
making an emergency landing on the LZ. This was verified by the lead aircraft,
who made several passes over the downed helicopter. Cristman's aircraft crashed
into the ARVN perimeter, and was hit on the roof by a mortar round just as the
crew jumped out. Cristman, his copilot and the crew chief were thrown to the
ground, while the door gunner, SP4 Langenour, was able to exit the aircraft and
join a nearby ARVN unit which returned to a U.S. military controlled area. The
others remained with the chopper, although this was not immediately apparent
from the air. The flight leader's aircraft was also battle-damaged, and he had
to leave the area.

Another helicopter arrived, and although enemy ground fire was received, made it
into the landing zone. Intense enemy fire necessitated a hasty departure, and
only two Vietnamese troops were picked up. During the initial rescue attempt by
the rescue helicopter, no American crewmen were seen on the downed aircraft, and
no radio contact was established.

SP Langenour later stated that after landing, the aircraft received numerous
rounds of mortar fire and he departed the area. He last saw all the other crew
members alive. Due to enemy activity in the area, no ground search of the site
was conducted.

Proof of the deaths of Cristman, Sparks and Garcia was never found. No remains
came home; none was released from prison camp. They were not blown up, nor did
they sink to the bottom of the ocean. Someone knows what happened to them.

Were it not for thousands of reports relating to Americans still held captive in
Southeast Asia today, the families of the UH1C helicopter crew might be able to
believe their men died with their aircraft. But until proof exists that they
died, or they are brought home alive, they will wonder and wait.

How long must they wait before we bring our men home?


CROCKETT, WILLIAM J.

Name: William J. Crockett
Rank/Branch: USAF, O2
Unit:
Date of Birth: 23 October 46
Home City of Record: Cottage Grove, NM
Date of Loss: 22 August 72
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 164518N 1071123E
Status (in 1973): Killed in Action/Body not Recovered
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4E

Other Personnel In Incident: Lee M. Tigner

Source: Compiled by THE P.O.W. NETWORK 02 February 93 from the
following published sources - POW/MIA's -- Report of the Select Committee
on POW/MIA Affairs United States Senate -- January 13, 1993. "The Senate
Select Committee staff has prepared case summaries for the priority cases
that the Administration is now investigating. These provide the facts about
each case, describe the circumstances under which the individual was lost,
and detail the information learned since the date of loss.  Information in
the case summaries is limited to information from casualty files, does not
include any judgments by Committee staff, and attempts to relate essential
facts. The Committee acknowledges that POW/MIAs' primary next-of- kin know
their family members' cases in more comprehensive detail than summarized
here and recognizes the limitations that the report format imposes on these
summaries."

On August 22, 1972, Major Tigner and First Lieutenant Crockett were
the crew in an F-4H, one in a flight of four on a combat mission
over Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam.  Their aircraft was hit by
hostile ground fire in the right wing and the wing separated from
the aircraft.  It rolled and within two to five seconds after being
hit had crashed into the ground at a speed of 450 knots, skipped,
and came to rest in the river at Quang Tri City, Quang Tri
Province.  No one was seen to eject from the aircraft before it
crashed and there were no electronic beepers heard.  Both crewmen
were declared killed in action, body not recovered.

Returning U.S. POWs had no information on their precise fate.
After Operation Homecoming they were declared dead/body not
recovered, based on a presumptive finding of death.

In July 1974 the U.S. Army's 500th Military Intelligence Group
forwarded information from the South Vietnamese Army reporting
information that a U.S. jet aircraft had crashed during the war
approximately two kilometers west of Quang Tri City.  Remains of an
American, clothing and boots were observed in the wreckage.  This
report was believed to possibly correlate to this loss incident.
The site was searched on July 26, 1974, and human remains were
recovered.  The area was revisited on November 6, 1974, and more
artifacts, human teeth, and aircraft parts were recovered.
CRODY, KENNETH LLOYD

Name: Kenneth Lloyd Crody
Rank/Branch: E4/US Marine Corps
Unit: HMM 165, MAG 36, 1 MAW
Date of Birth: 03 August 1953
Home City of Record: Griffith Lake IN
Date of Loss: 11 July 1972
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 163433N 1072250E (YD345644)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: CH53D

Other Personnel in Incident: Jerry W. Hendrix (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II
Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Kenneth Crody attended Griffith High School and enlisted in the Marine
Corps during his sophomore year. His final training before being shipped to
Vietnam was Gunner Training. He was assigned to be a gunner onboard a CH53D
helicopter based onboard the USS TRIPOLI (LPH 10)

On the morning of July 11, 1972, the helicopter to which Crody was assigned
launched from the USS TRIPOLI to participate in combat operations in support of
operation LAM SON 72 (Phase II) in Vietnam.

LAM SON 719 had been a large offensive operation against NVA communications
lines in Laos in the region adjacent to the two northern provinces of South
Vietnam. The operation was a raid in which ARVN troops drove west from Khe Sanh
on Route 9, cut the Ho Chi Minh Trail, seized Tchepone, some 25 miles away, and
then returned to Vietnam. The ARVN provided and commanded the ground forces,
while U.S. Army and Air Force furnished aviation airlift and supporting
firepower.

Losses were heavy. The ARVN suffered some 9,000 casualties, almost 50% of their
force. U.S. forces incurred some 1,462 casualties. Aviation units lost 168
helicopters and another 618 were damaged. Fifty-five aircrewmen were killed in
action, 178 were wounded and 34 were missing in action. There were 19,360 known
enemy casualties for the entire operation lasting until April 6, 1971.

Phase II of LAM SON included inserting South Vietnamese marines behind enemy
lines near communist-occupied Quang Tri City, Republic of Vietnam. This was the
mission of Crody's helicopter.

While approaching the drop zone, the helicopter was struck by a heat-seeking
SA-7 missile in the starboard engine. The aircraft immediately burst into flames
and crashlanded moments later. Several aboard received injuries and were taken
back to the TRIPOLI for treatment. The bodies of Crody and another crewman, SSGT
Jerry W. Hendrix, could not be recovered because of the intense heat of the
burning aircraft.

Crody and Hendrix are listed with honor among the missing because their remains
were not returned home. Witnesses believed they were both dead in the aircraft.
For many others of the missing, however, clear-cut answers cannot be had. Many
were alive and in radio contact with would-be rescuers when they were last heard
from. Others were photographed in captivity, only to disappear.

Since the war ended, the Defense Department has received over 10,000 reports
relating to the men still unaccounted for in Southeast Asia, yet concludes that
no actionable evidence has been received that would indicate Americans are still
alive in Southeast Asia. A recent Senate investigation indicates that most of
these reports were dismissed without just cause, and that there is every
indication that Americans remained in captivity far after the war ended, and may
be alive today.

It's time we learned the truth about our missing and brought them home.



CRONE, DONALD EVERRET

Name: Donald Everret Crone
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: 159th Aviation Battalion, 101st Airborne Division
Date of Birth: 05 November 1949 (Dover OH)
Home City of Record: Whittier CA
Date of Loss: 15 February 1971
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 163836N 1062558E (XD528405)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: CH47C

Other Personnel In Incident: Willis C. Crear; Barry F. Fivelson; John L. Powers;
Marvin M. Leonard; James H. Taylor (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 September 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: EXPLODE - NO SURV OBS AIR - J

SYNOPSIS: Lam Son 719 was a large-scale offensive against enemy communications
lines which was conducted in that part of Laos adjacent to the two northern
provinces of South Vietnam. The South Vietnamese would provide and command
ground forces, while U.S. forces would furnish airlift and supporting fire.

Phase I, renamed Operation Dewey Canyon II, involved an armored attack by the
U.S. from Vandegrift base camp toward Khe Sanh, while the ARVN moved into
position for the attack across the Laotian border. Phase II began with an ARVN
helicopter assault and armored brigade thrust along Route 9 into Laos. ARVN
ground troops were transported by American helicopters, while U.S. Air Force
provided cover strikes around the landing zones.

On February 15, 1971, during one of these maneuvers, a CH47 helicopter was
assigned the task of ferrying a load of gasoline into Savannakhet Province,
Laos. The crew of the aircraft consisted of SP4 Donald E. Crone, crew chief; CWO
Marvin M. Leonard, pilot; SP4 Willis C. Crear, door gunner; SP4 John L. Powers,
flight engineer; 2Lt. James H. Taylor, aircraft commander. WO Barry F. Fivelson
was a passenger onboard the aircraft.

During the mission, the aircraft was hit by enemy fire and began to lose
altitude. During the descent, the sling load apparently exploded, causing the
helicopter to explode, break into pieces, and crash. Observers later said that
the helicopter seemed disoriented and that it had overflown the nearest friendly
location by several miles and had descended in enemy-held territory about 10
miles southeast of Sepone.

According to the U.S. Army, air searches conducted within minutes of the crash
revealed no sign of survivors. However, according to information given to family
members, the aerial search failed to find evidence of a crash. A ground search
was not possible because of hostile threat in the area. (Note also that Defense
Department data remarks indicates that a crash site was found and that no
survivors were observed from the air.)

The men aboard the CH47 were all classified Killed/Body Not Recovered. The
families maintain there is still a mystery surrounding the crash of the
aircraft, and they would like to know the whole truth.

Proof of the deaths of Powers, Fivelson, Taylor, Crear, Crone and Leonard was
never found. No remains came home; none was released from prison camp. They were
not blown up, nor did they sink to the bottom of the ocean. Someone knows what
happened to them.

The personnel aboard the CH47 are among nearly 600 Americans lost in Laos. The
communist Lao stated on several occasions that they held American prisoners, but
as the U.S. did not recognize the Pathet Lao as a legitimate government, we
never negotiated with them for their release. Consequently, not one man held in
Laos was ever released.

Were it not for thousands of reports relating to Americans still held captive in
Southeast Asia today, the families of the CH47 helicopter crew might be able to
believe their men died with their aircraft. But until proof exists that they
died, or they are brought home alive, they will wonder and wait.

How long must they wait before we bring our men home?


CROOK, ELLIOTT

Name: Eliott Crook
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: Company A, 101st Aviation Battalion, 101st Airborne Division
Date of Birth: 12 June 1948 (Sacaton AZ)
Home City of Record: Phoenix AZ
Date of Loss: 16 May 1971
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 161527N 1072019E (YC499987)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H
Other Personnel in Incident: Craig L. Farlow; Timothy J. Jacobsen; Joseph P.
Nolan (all missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On May 16, 1971, Lt. Joseph P. Nolan, pilot; W1 Craig L. Farlow,
aircraft commander; SP4 Elliott Crook, crew chief; SP4 Timothy J. Jacobsen,
door gunner; comprised the crew of a UH1H helicopter conducting a combat
assault insertion of ARVN Marines into a landing zone (LZ) in the vicinity of
Hue, Thua Thin Province, South Vietnam.

Lt. Nolan's helicopter was the seventh to land on the LZ. On departing the LZ,
pilots of the fifts and sixth helicopters stated that they were taking enemy
fire. Lt. Nolan radioed after touchdown that he was taking heavy ground fire,
that his crew chief was wounded. Lt. Nolan immediately took off and at 250
feet, witnesses saw his aircraft rapidly lose rotor RPM and crash into the tree
tops, bursting into flames. No survivors were seen to exit the aircraft.

On May 24, a search and recovery team made a ground search and found 2 partial
skulls and one partial right foot, all badly burned. It was also noted that
there were four more possible remains that were trapped under the heavy
wreckage. The partial skulls were later determined to be Vietnamese. The other
remains were not recovered because of hostile fire.

The crew of the UH1H was presumed to be dead, and their bodies were never
recovered. They are listed with honor among the nearly 2500 Americans still
missing in Southeast Asia until such time as their remains can be returned home
for an honorable burial.

Others missing in Southeast Asia do not have such certain fates. Many were
alive and well the last they were seen. Some described their imminent capture
over radio to would-be rescuers. Still others were known to be captives, but
disappeared from the prison system and were not released.

Unfortunately, mounting evidence indicates that hundreds of Americans are still
captive, waiting for the country they proudly served to secure their freedom.
In our haste to leave an unpopular war, it now appears that we abandoned some
of our best men. In our haste to heal the wounds of this same war, will we sign
their death warrants, or will we do what is necessary to bring them home?
CROPPER, CURTIS HENRY

Name: Curtis Henry Cropper
Rank/Branch: O3/US Navy Reserves
Unit: Fighter Squadron 151, USS CORAL SEA (CVA 43)
Date of Birth: 02 August 1043
Home City of Record: Paso Robles CA
Date of Loss: 05 April 1970
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 180857N 1075859E (ZF156091)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4B

Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 30 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 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. 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.

LT Curtis Cropper was a Radar Intercept Officer (RIO) assigned to Fighter
Squadron 151 onboard the aircraft carrier USS CORAL SEA. On april 5, 1970, he
launched with his pilot, LT. Tom Terrill, in their F4B Phantom fighter/bomber on
a combat mission into North Vietnam.

Following the mission, Terrill and Cropper were returning to ship when their
aircraft suddenly caught fire and they were forced to eject. The forces of the
ejection, combined with the high speed, stunned them both. LT Terrill was
recovered alive in the water, but LT Cropper was unconscious when he hit the
water, and was unable to inflate his life jacket and raft or to detach himself
from his parachute. The parachute disappeared from the surface of the water in
no more than a minute's time. Search efforts did not locate LT Terrill. He was
listed as Reported Dead. Because no remains were found, LT Terrill is also listed
as Body Not Recovered, and his name is maintained among the rolls of the
missing. The incident is not considered to be battle-related.

About fifty in every 1000 Americans lost in the Vietnam war were either
captured, missing, or unaccounted for. 591 of these were returned at the end of
the war, lucky releasees who came home alive. A number, like LT Cropper, will
never come home. The majority of those "MIAs" could be accounted for by the
Vietnamese by return of remains known to be held in Vietnam, transfer of
information, or access to crash or loss sites.

But well over half the men maintained on missing were lost under suspicious
circumstances. Many were alive and describing to would-be rescuers the rapid
advance of the enemy. Some were photographed or wrote home from prisoner of war
camps, only to disappear.

Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans unaccounted for
in Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. Many officials now believe that
hundreds of these men are still alive today, waiting for their country to come
for them. While LT Cropper may not be among them, someone's father, son or
brother is. It's time we brought our men home.
CROSBY, BRUCE ALLEN JR.

Name: Bruce Allen Crosby, Jr.
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: MI HHC, 8th Radio Research Field Station, 509th Radio Research Group
Date of Birth: 26 December 1951
Home City of Record: Springville NY
Date of Loss: 30 March 1972
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 164223N 1065408E (YD028479)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel In Incident: Gary P. Westcott (missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Bruce Allen Crosby was a member of the 8th Radio Research Field
Station (RRFS), 509th Radio Research (RR) Group. "Radio Research" was actually
a secret cover designation for certain units operating under the direction of
the U.S. Army Security Agency Group, Vietnam. All missions of this agency were
highly classified. Crosby and Westcott's unit operated under USASA through its
8th U.S. Army Security Agency Field Station at Phu Bai. The 8th USASA Field
Station handled classified functions related to the safeguarding of the Army
and its affiliated activities including signal security and electronic
intelligence.

In March, 1972, Crosby and Westcott were serving as advisors to the 4th
Battalion, Vietnamese Marine Corps. He was stationed at firebase "Sarge" on
Hill 550 near Don Toan Mountain and the hamlet of Cua Mai Loc Village in Cam Lo
District, Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam. Firebase Sarge was located in the
vicinity of grid coordinates YD028479.

On 30 March 1972, at approximately 12:00 noon, Fire Support Base Sarge was
subjected to an intense enemy artillery attack from the 304th NVA Division. SP4
Crosby and SP5 Westcott were ordered to maintain radio contact with Detachment
Alpha at Quang Tri and individuals at the firebase. The last radio contact from
Crosby and Westcott was received at 2:45 PM when their Radio Research bunker
took a direct hit from a rocket. The round penetrated the bunker wall and
exploded inside, caving in the roof and setting off an intense fire. Other
members of the advisor group called down into the bunker, but received no
response from either man. No rescue attempt was possible because of the fire
and continuing heavy artillery attack.

Firebase Sarge was abandoned 37 hours after the Radio Research bunker took the
direct hit, and the fire was still burning in it at that time. Reports from
other team members state "everything in the bunker was totally destroyed," and
"there was absolutely no hope that Crosby and Westcott were alive." The
firebase was abandoned at 2:00 AM on 1 April 1972.

Both Bruce Crosby and Gary Westcott were originally listed as Missing in
Action. On 27 June 1972 their status was changed to Killed in Action/Body Not
Recovered (KIA/BNR).



CROSBY, FREDERICK PETER

Name: Frederick Peter Crosby
Rank/Branch: O4/US Navy
Unit:
Date of Birth: 15 June 1933
Home City of Record: Orlando FL
Date of Loss: 01 June 1965
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 195759N 1054957E (WH871078)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Veicle/Ground: RF8A

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: GFIRE CRASH - EXPLODE - J

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-A models were equipped for photo reconnaissance. The RF-G
were also photographic versions, but with additional cameras and navigational
equipment.

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. In addition, there were 16
pilots who went down on photographic versions of the aircraft. Of these 16,
seven were captured (six were released, one died in captivity).

Lt.Cdr. Frederick P. Crosby was the pilot of an RF8A on a combat mission in
Thanh Hoa Province, North Vietnam on June 1, 1965. As he was about 5 miles
northeast of the city of Thanh Hoa, his aircraft was hit by enemy fire, crashed
and exploded. It was felt that there was little or no hope that he survived, and
Crosby was declared Killed/Body Not Recovered. Located near the city of Thanh
Hoa was the famed "Dragon Jaw" bridge which was the object of many vain bombing
attempts in 1965 and 1966.

Crosby is listed among the missing because his remains were never located to
return home. He is among over 2300 still prisoner, missing, or otherwise
unaccounted for from the Vietnam War.

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 some of them could be abandoned by the
country they proudly served.

CROSBY, HERBERT CHARLES

Name: Herbert Charles Crosby
Rank/Branch: O3/US Army
Unit: 71st Aviation Company, 15th Aviation Battalion, 16th Aviation Group,
23rd Infantry Division (Americal), Chu Lai
Date of Birth: 30 May 1947 (Ft. Wayne IN)
Home City of Record: Ft. Sill OK
Date of Loss: 10 January 1970
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 152927N 1081808E (BT239141)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1C

Other Personnel In Incident: George A. Howes; Wayne C. Allen; Francis G.
Graziosi (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On January 19, 1970, Capt. Herbert C. Crosby, pilot; WO George A.
Howes, co-pilot; SP5 Wayne C. Allen, crew chief; and SP4 Francis G. Graziosi,
door gunner; were flying a UH1C helicopter (serial #66-739) as the flight lead
in a flight of three helicopters returning from Tien Phuoc to the unit base at
Chu Lai, South Vietnam.

(Note: Records differs as to the aircraft type on this incident. Some records
show the aircraft type this crew was flying as UH1H, and some show it as a
UH1C. Herbert Crosby flew Charlie models every day from at least July 1969 to
January 1970. The serial number, #66-739 correlates to a C model, the first two
numbers indicating that the aircraft had been made in 1966, and the H model
only had come out a few months before this time. Although C models were
gunships, and usually flew more or less independently, while this aircraft was
flying in tight formation as flight lead, which would correlate with the H
model, it has been confirmed that the ship on which this crew was flying was
definitely a Charlie model.)

At 1300 hours, the three helicopters departed Tien Phuoc. Five to ten minutes
later, due to instrument flight rules, Capt. Crosby directed the flight to
change to a different flight heading. When the helicopters changed frequencies
to contact Chu Lai ground control approach, radio contact was lost with Capt.
Crosby and was not regained.

The other two aircraft reached Chu Lai heliport, and at 1400 hours, serach
efforts were begun for the missing aircraft, although the crew was not found.

According to a 1974 National League of Families report, George Howes survived
the crash of this helicopter. The report further maintains that the loss
occurred in Laos, although the coordinates place it some 40-odd miles from that
country.

A North Vietnamese prisoner released later reported that he had seen Howes in
captivity the same month the helicopter went down. A second sighting by a
villager in Phuoc Chouc (or Phouc Chau) village reported Howes and two other
POWs stopped for water at his house in February, 1970, en route to Laos.
Whether these reports also relate to Allen, Crosby and Graziosi, is unknown.

When the last American troops left Southeast Asia in 1975, some 2500 Americans
were unaccounted for. Reports received by the U.S.Government since that time
build a strong case for belief that hundreds of these "unaccounted for"
Americans are still alive and in captivity.

"Unaccounted for" is a term that should apply to numbers, not men. We, as a
nation, owe these men our best effort to find them and bring them home. Until
the fates of the men like the UH1C crew are known, their families will wonder
if they are dead or alive .. and why they were deserted.


            CASE SYNOPSIS:    CROSBY, RICHARD ALEXANDER

  ============================================================================

Name:                Richard Alexander Crosby
Rank/Branch:            E4/US Army
Unit:                48th Assault Helicopter Co.
                268th Combat Aviation Btn., 17th Group
Date of Birth:            05 September 1941
Home City of Record:        Spokane WA
Date of Loss:            02 December 1967
Country of Loss:        South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates:        125807N 1092417E
Status (in 1973):        Missing In Action
Category:            4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground:    UH1D
Other Personnel
In Incident:            Wallace W. Leeper; Manuel J. Moreida;
                Floyd W. Strange (all missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS:  On December 2, 1967, WO Wallace Leeper, aircraft commander; WO Floyd
W. Strange, co-pilot; SP4 Manuel J. Moreida, crewchief; and SP4 Richard A.
Crosby, door gunner, were crewmembers aboard a UH1D helicopter (serial
#6600811).  The helicopter departed Phu Hiep airfield, Phu Kanh (formerly Phu
Yen) Province, Vietnam, in marginal weather, to return Captain Woo Shik Pak, a
Korean, to his unit which was located about 25 miles south along the coast.

When the aircraft did not return to Phu Hiep at the scheduled time, a
communications and ramp check was initiated without success.  Further
unsuccessful search and rescue efforts were conducted along the coastal and
mountain area from December 3-9.  The aircraft was last seen as it departed Phu
Hiep airfield and headed in a southeasterly direction along the coast.
Subsequent information indicates that the aircraft crashed and burned in the
mountains north of Vung Ro Bay.

On September 3, 1973, a source reported that 3 local villagers of Hoa Xuan
village reported that they discovered a U.S. helicopter with 2 or 3 remains in
uniform at the crash site.  Other reports were received that possibly
correlated with this incident, but were resolved to other cases.

No one knows for sure what happened to the crew of the UH1D that was lost on
December 2, 1967.  All but Strange are classified in categories that would
indicate that the enemy probably does not know what happened to them.  Strange,
however, is in a category of strong suspicion that his fate is known by the
enemy.    While the Army currently carries them dead, body not recovered, their
status in 1973 was Missing In Action.  Because of these unusual discrepancies,
it can be assumed that the whole story is not known.

With mounting evidence accumulating that indicates hundreds of Americans are
still alive in Southeast Asia, one must wonder if Richard Crosby is one of
them.  And if so, what must he be thinking of us?


CROSS, JAMES EMORY

Name: James Emory Cross
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 56th Special Operations Wing, Udorn AF TH (RAVENS)
Date of Birth: 22 June 1944
Home City of Record: Warren OH
Date of Loss: 24 April 1970
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 193458N 1033059E (UG444658)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: U-17B
Other Personnel in Incident: Gomer D. Reese III (missing)
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1990 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.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: The Steve Canyon program was a highly classified FAC (forward air
control) operation covering the military regions of Laos. U.S. military
operations in Laos were severely restricted during the Vietnam War era because
Laos had been declared neutral by the Geneva Accords.

The non-communist forces in Laos, however, had a critical need for military
support in order to defend territory used by Lao and North Vietnamese communist
forces. The U.S., in conjunction with non-communist forces in Laos, devised a
system whereby U.S. military personnel could be "in the black" or "sheep-dipped"
(clandestine; mustered out of the military to perform military duties as a
civilian) to operate in Laos under supervision of the U.S. Ambassador to Laos.

RAVEN was the radio call sign which identified the flyers of the Steve Canyon
Program. Men recruited for the program were rated Air Force officers with at
least six months experience in Vietnam. They tended to be the very best of
pilots, but by definition, this meant that they were also mavericks, and
considered a bit wild by the mainstream military establishment.

The Ravens came under the formal command of CINCPAC and the 7/13th Air Force
56th Special Operations Wing at Nakhon Phanom, but their pay records were
maintained at Udorn with Detachment 1. Officially, they were on loan to the U.S.
Air Attache at Vientiane. Unofficially, they were sent to outposts like Long
Tieng, where their field commanders were the CIA, the Meo Generals, and the U.S.
Ambassador. Once on duty, they flew FAC missions which controlled all U.S. air
strikes over Laos.

All tactical strike aircraft had to be under the control of a FAC, who was
intimately familiar with the locale, the populous, and the tactical situation.
The FAC would find the target, order up U.S. fighter/bombers from an airborne
command and control center, mark the target accurately with white phosphorus
(Willy Pete) rockets, and control the operation throughout the time the planes
remained on station. After the fighters had departed, the FAC stayed over the
target to make a bomb damage assessment (BDA).

The FAC also had to ensure that there were no attacks on civilians, a complex
problem in a war where there were no front lines and any hamlet could suddenly
become part of the combat zone. A FAC needed a fighter pilot's mentality, but
but was obliged to fly slow and low in such unarmed and vulnerable aircraft as
the Cessna O1 Bird Dog, and the Cessna O2. Consequently, aircraft used by the
Ravens were continually peppered with ground fire. A strong fabric tape was
simply slapped over the bullet holes until the aircraft could no longer fly.

Ravens were hopelessly overworked by the war. The need for secrecy kept their
numbers low (never more than 22 at one time), and the critical need of the Meo
sometimes demanded each pilot fly 10 and 12 hour days. Some Ravens completed
their tour of approximately 6 months with a total of over 500 combat missions.

The Ravens in at Long Tieng in Military Region II, had, for several years, the
most difficult area in Laos. The base, just on the southern edge of the Plain of
Jars, was also the headquarters for the CIA-funded Meo army commanded by General
Vang Pao. An interesting account of this group can be read in Christopher
Robbins' book, "The Ravens". This book contains the following account of the
loss of Captains James E. Cross and Gomer D. Reese III:

"Volunteer Ravens presented a problem opposite that facing most military
commanders--they needed to be held back, not egged on. It was the Head Raven's
job to spot the signs of combat exhaustion among his men before it killed them.

"One of the Ravens [the Head Raven] felt needed to be watched was Jim Cross.
[The Head Raven] ordered Cross to stay out of the combat zone and restricted his
flying to checking out new pilots. Cross moved down to Vientiane and busied
himself buying stereo gear and bamboo furniture to ship back to the States.

"One of the newcomers Cross was supposed to check out was Dave Reese, an amiable
young man distinguished by a scar across his nose. Cross had been instructed to
check out the new Raven in the Vientiane area and then fly on up to Alternate
[Long Tieng]. On the way Cross thought he would take Reese out onto the Plain of
Jars, as they were flying in the long-range U-17, and keep on going until they
reached the Ban Ban valley.

"Mark Diebolt was out on the Plain of Jars in a T-28 when he heard Cross's
Mayday distress signal. Unknown to the pilot, the NVA had moved a mobile 37mm
antiaircraft gun into the Ban Ban valley--always a potential flak trap because
of the number of guns positioned there--and the U-17 had taken three hits. One
shell had blown a massive hole in the wing. 'I've got full trim--everything's
jettisoned,' Cross said over the radio. Moments later he made his final
transmission: 'I can't hold it--it's going down.'

"The plane had lost all power, glided into some trees, and exploded. Diebolt
flew over the wreckage and saw the great gaping hole in the right wing made by
the shell. It had been yet another of those deadly Old Head-FNG checkout rides,
where the combination of over-confidence and inexperience had proved fatal."

Cross and Reese are among nearly 600 Americans lost in Laos. Even though the
Pathet Lao stated publicly that they held "tens of tens" of these men as
prisoners, not one American held in Laos was ever released -- or negotiated for.

Since U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War ended, nearly 10,000 reports have been
received by the U.S. Government relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asia.
Many authorities have reluctantly concluded that hundreds are still alive in
captivity today.

The Ravens were extremely dedicated to the freedom-loving people of Laos and put
their very lives on the line for them. They believed in America and the job it
was trying to do in Southeast Asia. They were also quite insistant that each of
their own were accounted for, dead or alive. While Cross and Reese may not be
among those thought to be still alive, one can be certain that they would be
among the first to volunteer, in the Raven spirit, to assist them to freedom.
CROSSMAN, GREGORY JOHN

Name: Gregory John Crossman
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit: 497th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Ubon Airbase, Thailand
Date of Birth: 09 August 1941
Home City of Record: Sturgis MI
Date of Loss: 25 April 1968
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 173400N 1061800E (XE371435)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D
Other Personnel In Incident: Albert C. Mitchell (missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Gregory Crossman believed there was a purpose in going to Vietnam.
After graduating from Western Michigan University, he entered the Air Force,
and subsequently received pilot training and his wings.

Crossman began a distinguished flying career. In January 1968, he was cited for
"superior airmanship and devotion to duty" for knocking out a supply route and
destroying a truck convoy near North Vietnam's Mu Gia Pass without benefit of
flares or moonlight.

In February, 1968, Crossman was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for what
the Air Force called one of the most important air strikes in a high-risk area
of North Vietnam.

On April 25, 1968 the plane on which he was "back seater" to Col. Albert
Mitchell when the two departed Ubon Airbase in Thailand on a daring radar raid
over one of the most active surface to air missile (SAM) sites in North
Vietnam, dodging heavy anti-aircraft fire as they partially knocked out a
Soviet fighter plane base along the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

The aircraft disappeared without a trace when it broke formation to veer over a
truck convoy heading for the key North Vietnamese supply route. Although there
is strong indication that the Vietnamese know what happened to Mitchell and
Crossman, they deny knowledge of their fates. The last known location of the
aircraft was about 5 miles northwest of the city of Dong Ha in Quang Binh
Province, North Vietnam.

Mounting evidence indicates that Americans are still alive being held prisoner
of war in Southeast Asia. The Vietnamese pledged to return all prisoners of war
and provide the fullest possible accounting of the missing in the peace accords
signed in 1973. They have not done either.

The United States government pledged that the POW/MIA issue is of "highest
national priority" but has not achieved results indicative of such a priority.
Crossman, Mitchell and the nearly 2500 Americans who remain unaccounted for in
Southeast Asia deserve our best efforts to bring them home, not our empty words.
CROSSON, GERALD JOSEPH JR.

Name: Gerald Joseph Crosson, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 12 March 1944
Home City of Record: New York NY
Date of Loss: 16 May 1968
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 173300N 1061800E (XE361472)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D
Other Personnel in Incident: David J. Rickel (missing)

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: 01 January 1990

REMARKS: NO CHUTES OR BEEPERS WITNESSED

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.

Capt. David J. Rickel, pilot, and Lt. Gerald J. Crosson, Jr.,
navigator/bombardier, were assigned an F4D mission over North Vietnam on May
16, 1968. Rickel was four years out of the Air Force Academy where he had been
named to the Superintendent's List all eight semesters he attended the Academy.
He had a promising career ahead.

At a point about 20 miles southwest of the city of Quang Khe, Quang Binh
Province, North Vietnam, Rickel and Crosson were shot down. Other air crew in
the area did not see parachutes indicating that the two had ejected from their
aircraft, nor did they hear emergency beeper signals. Searches were eventually
cancelled and both men were classified Missing in Action.

The Rickel and Crosson knew that there was a good chance their men had been
captured because of circumstances surrounding the loss and the loss location,
and settled in to wait for the war to end, hoping for some word to come.

When 591 American POWs were released from Southeast Asia in the spring of 1973,
Rickel and Crosson were not among them. No returning POW reported being held
with them, and their names appeared on no lists provided by the Vietnamese. The
Vietnamese denied any knowledge of them.

It was generally believed that the Americans who remained missing were dead,
including Rickel and Crosson.

When Saigon fell to communist rule in 1975, tens of thousands of refugees began
fleeing Vietnam, bringing with them stories of Americans still held in
captivity in Vietnam. By 1990 the number of such reports had reached nearly
10,000. Many authorities now believe that there are hundreds of Americans still
in captivity, waiting for their country to free them.

Whether Rickel and Crosson survived the crash of their aircraft to be captured
is not known. What seems certain, however, is that someone knows what happened
to them. They are prisoners of war, living or dead, until they are found and
returned home.

(David J. Rickel graduated from the United States Air Force Academy in 1964.)

CROW, RAYMOND JACK JR.

Name: Raymond Jack Crow, Jr.
Rank/Branch: E3/US Air Force
Unit: 40th Air Rescue/Recovery Squadron, Nakhon Phanom, Airfield, Thailand
Date of Birth: 04 May 1951
Home City of Record: Salt Lake City UT
Date of Loss: 27 March 1972
Country of Loss: Cambodia
Loss Coordinates: 140622N 1063350E (XA682585)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: HH53C

Other Personnel in Incident: Richard E. Dreher; James Manor; David E.
Pannabecker; Raymond A. Wagner (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II
Project.

REMARKS: CRASH S SEARCH - NO SURV FND - J

SYNOPSIS: Altogether, the HH-53 "Super Jolly Green Giant" was the largest,
fastest and most powerful heavy lift helicopter in the U.S. Air Force inventory.
In 1967, the Air Force started a development program to acquire a night rescue
capability, and by March 1971, it had succeeded in installing a nighttime
recovery system aboard five HH53C Super Jolly helicopters in Southeast Asia. The
Super Jolly was involved in such famed rescue attempts as the attempt to rescue
American POWs held at the Son Tay prison compound near Hanoi in late November
1970, and the assault operation to free the Mayaguez crew in May 1975.

Capt. Richard Dreher was assigned as escort pilot as part of a day rescue
mission and departed NKP at 0830 on the morning of March 27, 1972. Dreher's
Super Jolly was the second aircraft in a flight of two. Aboard the aircraft was
the pararescue team consisting of James Manor, David E. Pannabecker and Raymond
A. Wagner.

Following aerial refueling over southeastern Thailand, they departed the tanker
to complete the mission, maintaining interplane communications on FM and UHF
radios. The lead aircraft called a "tally ho" on the aircraft they were
escorting. When the lead aircraft did not receive an answer, the pilot attempted
to find him visually without success. After completing a 180 degree turn, the
pilot of the lead aircraft reported sighting a column of black smoke coming from
the dense jungle five miles away. Their position at this time was in Stoeng
Treng Province, Cambodia, about 10 miles southeast of the city of Siempang.

A pararescue specialist was lowered to the ground at the site of the crash to
check for survivors, but due to the intense heat from the burning helicopter, he
could not approach near enough to determine if there were crew members inside
the aircraft.

Some three hours later a second rescue specialist was deployed in the immediate
area, who reported the wreckage was still burning, precluding close inspection.
It was never determined if any aboard the Super Jolly survived, but all aboard
were declared Killed/Body Not Recovered.

In an attempt to classify the cases of the Missing in Action to determine which
cases could be readily resolved, the Defense Department assigned "enemy
knowledge" categories to each missing man, according to the liklihood their
fates would be known by the enemy. In the case of the downed Super Jolly,
Wagner, Pannabecker and Dreher were assigned "Category 2", and Manor and Crow
"Category 3".

Category 3 includes personnel whose loss incident is such that it is doubtful
that the enemy would have knowledge of the specific individuals (e.g. aircrews
lost over water or remote areas).  Category 2 includes personnel who were lost
in circumstances or in areas that they may reasonably be expected to be known by
the enemy (e.g. individuals connected with an incident which was discussed but
not identified by name by enemy news media, or probably identified by analysis
of intelligence reports.) No explanation has been given as to why the
crewmembers were classified differently.

The Americans missing in Cambodia present a special problem. The U.S. has never
recognized the government of Cambodia, nor has it negotiated for the release of
any Americans captured there. It has generally been believed that any POWs held
in Cambodia after the end of U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia perished in the
genocide committed by Pol Pot in the mid-1970's.

In 1988, the Cambodian government announced that it had the remains of a number
of American servicemen it wished to return to the United States. The U.S. did
not respond officially, however, because there are no diplomatic ties between
Cambodia and the U.S. Several U.S. Congressmen have attempted to intervene and
recover the remains on behalf of American family members, but Cambodia wishes an
official overture. Meanwhile, the bodies of Americans remain in the hands of our
former enemy.

Even more tragically, evidence mounts that many Americans are still alive in
Southeast Asia, still prisoners from a war many have long forgotten. It is a
matter of pride in the armed forces that one's comrades are never left behind.
One can imagine any of the men lost in Cambodia on March 27, 1972 being willing
to go on one more mission for the freedom of those heroes we left behind.

CROWLEY, JOHN EDWARD

Name: John Edward Crowley
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: Troop D, 1st Squadron, 1st Cavalry, 23rd Infantry Division (Americal)
Date of Birth: 25 September 1949 (Sodus NY)
Home City of Record: Williamson NY
Date of Loss: 10 August 1970
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 152149N 1073055E (YC700000)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H
Other Personnel in Incident: CW2 William E. Boyle; WO Gary B. Smith; SP4 Jesus
O. Alvarez (all rescued); passengers from MACV-SOG team (unnamed - rescued)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: WO Gary B. Smith, pilot; William E. Boyle, aircraft commander; SP4
John E. Crowley, crew chief, SP4 Jesus O. Alvarez, door gunner; and an
unspecified number of passengers were in a UH1H helicopter (tail #68-16520) on
a classified "Prairie Fire" operation in the lower panhandle area of Laos.

"Prairie Fire" teams performed deep penetration missions of strategic
reconnaissance and interdiction which were also called, depending on the time
fram, "Shining Brass" missions. The missions operated under MACV-SOG (Military
Assistance Command, Vietnam Studies and Observation Group).

MACV-SOGG was a joint service high command unconventional warfare task force
engaged in highly classified operations throughout Southeast Asia. The 5th
Special Forces channeled personnel into MACV-SOG (although it was not a Special
Forces group) through Special Operations Augmentation (SOA), which provided
their "cover" while under secret orders to MACV-SOG.

When the helicopter was about 25 feet above the ground, it suddenly lost power
and crashed. No reason for the crash could be determined. Crowley and one
passenger were trapped inside the aircraft.

A medic from another helicopter entered the wreckage and managed to free the
passenger, but noticed that Crowley was firmly wedged between the aircraft and
the ground. After two or three minutes of effort, the medic gave up trying to
free him. The medic determined that Crowley was dead, as there was no pulse,
and he could get no response from him.

All personnel were extracted and another rescue team was inserted just before
dark, but was unable to get back to the wrecked aircraft because of enemy
activity. The second team was extracted the next day, and no further efforts
were made to go back to the crash site.

Crowley was flying in support of an exceedingly dangerous mission. For every
insertion like the one of August 10, 1970 that was detected and stopped, dozens
of other commando teams safely slipped past NVA lines to strike a wide range of
targets and collect vital information. The number of MACV-SOG missions
conducted with Special Forces reconnaissance teams into Laos and Cambodia was
452 in 1969. It was the most sustained American campaign of raiding, sabotage
and intelligence-gathering waged on foreign soil in U.S. military history.
MACV-SOG's teams earned a global reputation as one of the most combat effective
deep-penetration forces ever raised.

Crowley was listed Killed in Action, Body Not Recovered. He is listed with
honor among nearly 600 Americans missing in Laos. Although, unlike Crowley,
many of these men were known to be alive, and some were known prisoners, the
U.S. refused to negotiate with the Pathet Lao - a government they did not
recognize officially. The 600 Americans lost in Laos were, therefore, never
negotiated for, and no American prisoner held in Laos was ever released.

CROWSON, FREDERICK H.

Name: Frederick H. Crowson
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: Company B, 229th Aviation Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Pensacola FL
Date of Loss: 02 May 1970
Country of Loss: Cambodia
Loss Coordinates: 114512N 1060827E (XU243013)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H
Other Personnel In Incident: Michael Varnado; Robert M. Young; Bunyan D. Price;
Dale W. Richardson (all missing); Daniel F. Maslowski (returned POW); - Tommy
Karreci (evaded and escaped)

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: 01 January 1990

REMARKS: 730212 RELSD BY PRG/INJ

SYNOPSIS: On May 2, 1970 a UH1H helicopter from Company B, 229th Aviation
Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division flown by WO1 Michael B. Varnado was hit by
ground fire and forced to land just over the border of South Vietnam near the
city of Memot, Cambodia. The aircraft was transporting members of HHC, 34th
Armor, 25th Infantry Division, SP4 Rodney L. Griffin; SP4 Bunyan D. Price, Jr.;
WO1 Daniel F. Maslowski; Capt. Dale W. Richardson; and Capt. Robert M. Young.
Also aboard were Tommy Karreci, SP4 Frederick H. Crowson, and CW2 Daniel F.
Maslowski, crew members of the aircraft.

The men were part of an attempt to stop North Vietnamese forces from gaining
strongholds in Cambodia. President Nixon announced the request by Cambodia for
American assistance on April 30. Had we not assisted, the North Vietnamese, in
addition to having an effective sanctuary to which they could retreat without
retaliation, would also have South Vietnam completely outflanked.

The crew all survived the crash, and had only 30-40 seconds on the ground to
decide what to do. They all attempted to evade, each in different directions.
Only 18-year-old Karreci managed to make it back to U.S. lines in 2 or 3 days.
Crowson, Maslowski, Varnado and Young went in one direction and were all
captured by North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces. Price, according to Defense
Department records, was also captured. Griffin and Richardson took off in
another direction and were never seen again.

Crowson and Maslowski were released in 1973 and in their debriefings stated
that WO1 Varnado and Capt. Young had died in captivity, while detained in
Cambodia. The Provisional Revolutionary Government of South Vietnam (PRG)
officially acknowledged their deaths, listing Varnado's death as 21 September
1970, and Young's death as 17 November 1972.

According to Dan Maslowski, Bob Young died of illness in Dan's arms in the fall
of 1972. Maslowski saw Varnado about two months after capture. "Vito" had been
shot in the leg and in the side when he was captured, and according to Dan,
"looked like hell". His side wound had healed, but the wound in his leg, in the
kneecap, was badly infected. He could not walk, and told Maslowski that the
Viet Cong had been transporting him in a hammock. The Viet Cong had told
Varnado that he was to be taken to a hospital to have his leg taken care of.
The Vietnamese state that he died two months after Dan saw him in camp (about 4
months after capture).

On August 1, 1989, it was announced that the Vietnamese had "discovered" the
remains of Michael Varnado, returned them to the U.S. His remains were
positively identified, much to the relief of family and surviving comrades, and
Michael Varnado could finally be buried with the honor he deserved. The remains
identification did not contradict that Vietnamese' statement that Varnado died
four months after capture.

The fate of Price is uncertain. Maslowski always believed Price had been
captured, but never saw him in camps he was held in. One report from escaped
ARVN POWs stated that he was captured by the Khmer and because the ethnic
groups normally did not cooperate, the Khmer would not likely have given Price
over to the Vietnamese, who had captured the other four.

Since 1973, nearly 10,000 reports have been given to the U.S. Government
regarding Americans still missing in Southeast Asia. Some, according to U.S.
State Department sources, have withstood the "closest scrutiny" possible, and
cannot be disputed. There is very strong reason to believe that Americans are
still held captive in Southeast Asia today, yet President after President has
failed to would bring them home.
CROXDALE, JACK LEE II

Name: Jack Lee Croxdale II
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: C Company, 503rd Infantry, 173rd Infantry Brigade
Date of Birth: 20 November 1948 (San Bernardino CA)
Home City of Record: Lake Charles LA
Date of Loss: 19 November 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 143500N 1073547E (YB797137)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Other Personnel In Incident: Benjamin D. DeHerrera; Donald Iandoli (both
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: REMS TAG'D - NOT IN MORTY

SYNOPSIS: On November 19, 1967, SP4 Croxdale, radio operator, PFC Benjamin D.
DeHerrera, squad leader and Sgt. Donald Iandoli, squad leader were members of
Company C, 503rd Infantry on a Search and Destroy mission in South Vietnam.

At 1435 hours, Companies A, C and D, all part of the 503rd Infantry, were in
heavy contact with an unknown sized North Vietnamese force and were surrounded.
During the operation, Sgt. Iandoli was wounded and was seen in the Company C
command post area, along with SP4 Croxdale and PFC DeHerrera. At 1850 hours, a
U.S. Marine bomber dropped a 500 pound bomb which hit the command post area in
error, resulting in additional casualties. No remains were recovered that day
because of intense enemy activity.

The following day, a search of the area was conducted. The remains of Croxdale,
DeHerrera and Iandoli were identified and tagged. However, only the remains of
DeHerrera and Croxdale were reported to have been placed on a helicopter en
route to Dak To. Following the attack, a 3-day search of the battle area was
conducted without success in locating Iandoli. However, as of January 4, 1968,
the U.S. Army Mortuary at Than San Ut, South Vietnam, had not processed or
identified any remains of DeHerrera, Croxdale or Iandoli, and the location of
those remains is unknown.

Croxdale, DeHerrera and Iandoli died the day their command post received fire
and are listed among the dead. They are also listed among the missing because no
remains have been returned to their families for burial. The cases of many of
the other nearly 2500 missing are not so clear. Many were known to have been
alive at the time they disappeared. Some were photographed in captivity.

Experts now believe hundreds of Americans are held captive in Indochina. While
the members of Company C may not be among them, one can imagine their proudly
defending one more firebase for their comrades safe return.


CRUMM, WILLIAM JOSEPH

Name: William Joseph Crumm
Rank/Branch: O8/US Air Force
Unit: 2nd Bombardment Squadron
Date of Birth: 20 September 1919
Home City of Record: Scarsdale NY
Date of Loss: 07 July 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 094357N 1065858E
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: B52D

Other Personnel in Incident: Paul A. Avolese; David F. Bittenbender; on second
B52: Charles H. Blankenship; George E. Jones; Olen B. McLaughlin (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II
Project.

REMARKS: AIR COLLISION - 7 RESC - N SUBJ - J

SYNOPSIS: Boeing B52 Stratofortress bombers have long been the Air Force's most
important strategic bomber. Used heavily in Vietnam, the venerable aircraft
continued its role throughout the Southeast Asia conflict and played an
important role in the Persian Gulf war two decades later.

On July 7, 1967, two B52 aircraft were enroute to a combat mission when they
collided in mid-air over the South China Sea. The aircraft were approximately
20 miles offshore at the point of Vinh Binh Province when the accident occurred.
Seven crewmembers from the aircraft were rescued, but Avolese, Crumm,
Bittenbender, Blankenship, Jones, and McLaughlin were not.

All the missing crewmen onboard the two B52 downed that day were believed to be
dead. It is unfortunate, but a cold reality of war that their remains were not
recoverable. They are listed with honor among the missing because their remains
cannot be buried with honor at home.

Others who are missing do not have such clear-cut cases. Some were known
captives; some were photographed as they were led by their guards. Some were in
radio contact with search teams, while others simply disappeared.

Since the war ended, over 250,000 interviews have been conducted with those who
claim to know about Americans still alive in Southeast Asia, and several million
documents have been studied. U.S. Government experts cannot seem to agree
whether Americans are there alive or not. Detractors say it would be far too
politically difficult to bring the men they believe to be alive home, and the
U.S. is content to negotiate for remains.

Well over 1000 first-hand, eye-witness reports of American prisoners still alive
in Southeast Asia have been received by 1990. Most of them are still classified.
If, as the U.S. seems to believe, the men are all dead, why the secrecy after so
many years? If the men are alive, why are they not home?

Major General William J. Crumm is the highest-ranking man missing in action.
CRUZ, CARLOS RAFAEL

Name: Carlos Rafael Cruz
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 606th Air Commando Squadron
Date of Birth: 29 November 1941
Home City of Record: Arroyo PR
Date of Loss: 29 December 1967
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 164900N 1060300E (XD125595)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: A26A

Other Personnel In Incident: Paul L. Foster, William J. Potter (both missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 September 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 Douglas A26 Invader was a twin-engine attack bomber with World War
II service. In Vietnam, it served the French in the 1950's and also the U.S. in
the early years of American involvement in Southeast Asia. In 1966, eight A26's
were deployed to Nakhon Phanom to perform hunter-killer missions against truck
convoys in southern Laos.

Capt. Carlos R. Cruz, pilot, Capt. William J. Potter Jr., co-pilot, and SSGT
Paul L. Foster, crewmember, comprised the crew of an A26A Invader assigned a
mission in Laos December 29, 1967. The three flew from Nakhon Phanom from the
606th Air Commando Squadron to a target area along the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

During the mission the aircraft was hit by enemy fire and was seen to crash. The
last known location for Foster's plane was about 15 miles northwest of the city
of Muang Xepone (Sepone) in Savannakhet Province. This is just about due west of
the DMZ in Vietnam. No parachutes were seen, and no emergency radio beeper
signals were heard by aircraft in the area.

A day or so before the Invader was shot down, Lao Premier Souvanna Phouma
reported that North Vietnamese troops had started a general offensive against
Lao government forces in southern Laos. North Vietnam denied this report on
December 29th, the day the Invader was shot down.

The three men onboard the Invader were declared Missing in Action. The U.S.
believes the enemy may know their fates. Unfortunately, although the Pathet Lao
stated publicly that they held American prisoners, the U.S. never negotiated for
their freedom. Consequently, no American held in Laos has ever been released.

The fates of the crew of the Invader remain unknown. They are among nearly 600
Americans who disappeared in the "secret war" in Laos and never returned. There
is ample reason to believe that the Vietnamese and/or the Communist Lao know
what happened to Cruz, Potter and Foster on December 29, 1967.


William J. Potter Jr. was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, Carlos R.
Cruz to the rank of Major and Paul L. Foster to the rank of Senior Master
Sergeant during the period they were maintained missing.

CUDLIKE, CHARLES JOSEPH

Name: Charles Joseph Cudlike
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: Company B, 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry (Airmobile), 101st Airborne
Division
Date of Birth: 16 August 1948
Home City of Record: Detroit MI
Date of Loss: 18 May 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 161431N 1071039E (YC312992)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On May 18, 1969, SP4 Charles J. Cudlike and his unit were engaged in
battle in Thua Tien Province, South Vietnam. During the fighting, Cudlike was
injured, and was being medically evacuated from the battle area by helicopter.

The injured teammebers were boarding the helicopter when it had to leave
quickly because of a heavy volume of enemy fire. At this time, Cudlike had been
unable to completely board the aircraft, and was hanging on one of the skids of
the helicopter and the door gunner aboard the helicopter was trying to pull him
into the ship. Due to his own wounds, the gunner was unable to pull him in.

When the pilot of the helicopter became aware of the situation he started
looking for a place to land, but before he could do so, Cudlike fell from the
aircraft at an altitude of 500 feet into the jungle.

Comprehensive searches were conducted by air with no success. Cudlike was
declared Killed in Action, and his body was never recovered.

War is hell. Men are killed by other men whom they call their enemy. But men
are also killed by "misadventure" - by senseless drowning, falls, and by being
in the wrong place at the wrong time. At 21, Charles Cudlike had just begun to
live.

Because no trace of Cudlike's remains were found, his name is maintained among
those who are missing and captured in Southeast Asia. Experts believe that
hundreds of these Americans are still alive, captive, and want to come home.
One can imagine that Cudlike would gladly serve on one more patrol to help
bring them home.



CUNNINGHAM, CAREY ALLEN

Name: Carey Allen Cunningham
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 10th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron
Date of Birth: 18 March 1938
Home City of Record: Collinsville AL
Date of Loss: 02 August 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 183115N 1052451E (WF405462)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: RF4C

Other Personnel in Incident: Wallace G. Hynds Jr. (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 September 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: Col. Wallace G. Hynds was the pilot and Capt. Carey A. Cunningham the
radar navigator of an RF4C reconnaissance version of the Phantom fighter/bomber.
The two were assigned to the 10th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron.

On August 2, 1967, Hynds and Cunningham were flying the lead plane in a flight
of two aircraft on a reconnaissance mission near the city of Vinh in North
Vietnam. The number two aircraft observed Hynds' aircraft to crash to the ground
and explode. No parachutes were heard, and no emergency beeper signals were
heard. Based on their visual observation, the two men were declared killed.

The U.S. Government believes the Vietnamese could account for Hynds and
Cunningham, primarily because the area was relatively heavily populated and
there were enemy forces present. However, the Vietnamese have denied any
knowledge of either Hynds or Cunningham.

Hynds and Cunningham are listed among the missing because their bodies were
never recovered. Others who are missing do not have such clear-cut cases. Some
were known captives; some were photographed as they were led by their guards.
Some were in radio contact with search teams, while others simply disappeared.

Since the war ended, over 250,000 interviews have been conducted with those who
claim to know about Americans still alive in Southeast Asia, and several million
documents have been studied. U.S. Government experts cannot seem to agree
whether Americans are there alive or not. Detractors say it would be far too
politically difficult to bring the men they believe to be alive home, and the
U.S. is content to negotiate for remains.

Well over 1000 first-hand, eye-witness reports of American prisoners still alive
in Southeast Asia have been received by 1990. Most of them are still classified.
If, as the U.S. seems to believe, the men are all dead, why the secrecy after so
many years? If the men are alive, why are they not home?



CUNNINGHAM, KENNETH LEROY

Name: Kenneth Leroy Cunningham
Rank/Branch: E2/US Army
Unit: 225th Aviation Company, 223rd Aviation Battalion, 17th Aviation Group,
1st Aviation Brigade
Date of Birth: 21 January 1948 (Olney IL)
Home City of Record: Ellery IL
Date of Loss: 03 October 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 145719N 1075326E (ZB109553)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: OV1C
Other Personnel In Incident: Paul L. Graffe (missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: The OV1C Mohawk aircraft was designed as a battlefield reconnaissance
aircraft and was used primarily by the U.S. Army. The various models were
outfitted with different detection equipment. The standard aircraft was not
armed, but some carried various weapons. The C model featured infared detection
equipment and a forward-aimed camera. Because the North Vietnamese and Viet
Cong relied so heavily upon darkness to conceal their activities, the infared
sensor proved especially valuable.

On October 3, 1969, 1Lt. Paul L. Graffe, pilot; and PFC Kenneth L. Cunningham,
observer; departed Phu Hiep, South Vietnam, during the early evening on a
surveillance mission of targets located in the northwest portion of MR2
(Military Region 2) in the tri-border area of Cambodia, Laos and South Vietnam.

The aircraft (serial #61-02679) failed to return at the scheduled time. The
last radio contact with Graffe and Cunningham was at 1800 hours when another
OV1 aircraft had been informed by Grasse that they were going to continue their
mission for about 30 more minutes, and then begin the return trip to Phu Hiep.
All further attempts at electronic contact with the missing OV1 were
unsuccessful.

On the morning of October 5, search and rescue aircraft located the wreckage of
an aircraft atop a 7,000 foot peak in a mountain range north of the city of
Kontum. This wreckage was positively identified as that of Graffe and
Cunningham. Efforts were made to insert a ground team at the site on October 5
and 6, but inclement weather prevented the team from being inserted. On neither
occasion was either visual or electronic contact made with the downed crew.

On the morning of October 7, another attempt was made to insert a ground SAR
team. However, the SAR pilots noticed a change in position in the aircraft
wreckage, and the SAR aircraft was receiving continuous beeper signals from the
ground. Since this continuous beeper signal was not compatible with established
emergency radio procedures, the SAR flight leader directed that the site was
probably a trap and withdrew from the area. Both crewmembers were declared
Missing In Action.

Graffe and Cunningham are among nearly 3000 Americans who were missing,
prisoner or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia at the end of the war. Unlike the
MIAs from other wars, most of these men can be accounted for. Tragically, over
10,000 reports relating to missing Americans in Southeast Asia have been
received by the U.S., convincing many authorities that hundreds of men are
still alive in captivity, yet freedom for them seems beyond our grasp.

CURLEE, ROBERT LEE JR.

Name: Robert Lee Curlee, Jr.
Rank/Branch: E6/US Army
Unit: 118th Aviation Company, 145th Aviation Battalion, 1st Aviation Brigade
Date of Birth: 26 September 1930
Home City of Record: Monroe NC
Date of Loss: 10 June 1965
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 113521N 1065309E (YT056817)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 1
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1B

Other Personnel In Incident: Joseph J. Compa; Craig L. Hagen; Walter L. Hall;
Bruce G.Johnson; Fred M. Owens; Donald R. Saegaert (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS: J010 ON GND SED ALL DED - J

SYNOPSIS: On May 25, 1965, Special Forces Detachment A-342 was airlanded at
Dong Xoai, a district capital of Phuoc Long Province, through which the Viet
Cong supply lifeline from Cambodia into War Zone D tracked. The Special Forces
Detachment, together with Navy Seabees, built a camp and among other duties,
assumed the MACV subsector role for Don Luan district.

Intermittent Viet Cong mortar rounds lobbed into the new camp, and were
considered only the usual harassment, but sightings of large VC formations
nearing the town increased.

At 2310 hours on the night of June 9, CIDG teams around the camp's perimeter
were silenced by the 762nd and 763rd VC Regiments. There was no opportunity to
warn the camp, and only a few survived. At 2330, the camp was heavily mortared,
and came under a heavy ground assault. The camp was overrun, and most of the
CIDG and LLDB withdrew.

At the camp, 2Lt. Charles Q. Williams, seriously wounded, was directing the
defense of the compound with singular valor and would later be awarded the
Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions at Dong Xoai.

Before South Vietnamese relief forces could arrive, a team of advisors was sent
in from Than Son Nhut, where MACV was headquartered. The team was aboard a
UH1B helicopter from the 188th Aviation Company flown by Lt. Walter L. Hall.
The crew consisted of Sgt. Craig L. Hagen, gunner; SSgt. Joseph J. Compa, crew
chief; and WO Donald Saegaert, co-pilot. The advisors from MACV Special
Detachment 5891 were SSgt. Robert L. Curlee, the medic; and Capt. Bruce G.
Johnson and SFC Fred M. Owens, advisors.

When the helicopter was disembarking troops on a plantation landing zone, it
came under heavy mortar and small arms fire. The helicopter took off and
started a climbing turn. Upon clearing some buildings left of the landing zone,
the helicopter went into uncontrolled flight and in crashing, skidded into some
parked vehicles and burst into flames.

A circling pilot immediately established radio contact with Johnson, who stated
that he was standing by the downed helicopter, and that the crew and other two
advisors with him were dead. He reported that the situation was very bad - not
to send anyone else in. Johnson stated that he was under heavy fire, and two
mortar shells were subsequently seen to land in his vicinity.

A subsequent search of the crash site was conducted when the area was resecured
(on June 15), but no American remains were found, nor was Johnson seen.
Villagers in the area reported that an American had been captured on that day,
but no verifiable information has surfaced since that time. Villagers also
stated that the Viet Cong had carried away the bodies of 7 Americans and had
buried them.

A captured Viet Cong film entitled "Dong Xoai in Flames" pictured the bodies of
five or six Americans as well as several crashed helicopters. One of these
helicopters bore the serial number 38557. The name tag "Owens" and the last two
letters of another name tag, "ll" (possibly Hall's) are shown in the film,
lending some more credence to the report that the Viet Cong took possession of
the aircraft and that all aboard were killed.

There is no real reason to suspect that any of the seven men aboard the UH1B
shot down at Dong Xoai are, indeed, alive. But there is no question that the
communists know the fate of these men. All of these men can be easily accounted
for. It appears that Johnson, at least, may have been captured. Mounting
evidence indicates that Americans are still being held prisoner in Southeast
Asia today. As long as even one American remains alive, held unjustly, we owe
him our best effort to bring him home.


CURRAN, PATRICK ROBERT

Name: Patrick Robert Curran
Rank/Branch: O2/US Marine Corps
Unit: VMA 242, 1st Marine Air Wing
Date of Birth: 05 November 1943
Home City of Record: Bensenville IL
Date of Loss: 29 September 1969
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 161500N 1065700E (XD678036)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A6A
Other Personnel In Incident: Luther A. Lono (missing)
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1990 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.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On 29 September, 1969, Maj. Luther A. Lono, pilot; and 1Lt. Patrick R.
Curran, bombardier navigator were dispatched aboard an A6A to conduct an armed
reconnaissance mission in support of Seventh U.S. Air Force operations over
Laos. The mission was under the control of an Air Force Airborne Tactical Air
Control aircraft, and was to be conducted in a heavily defended enemy area.

The mission proceeded without incident until 8:50 p.m., at which time the
Airborne Tactical Air Control aircraft lost contact with the Lono/Curran
aircraft. Their last radio contact had been about 25 miles west of Khe Sanh.
Attempts to contact the aircraft were unsuccessful, and at 10:30 p.m., the
commanding officer of the 11th Aircraft Group 11 declared them "overdue."

At this declaration, electronic search efforts began for the crew members, and a
signal was received by the Tactical Air Control aircraft at 0248 hours on
September 30 which was believed to be a signal from an emergency transmitter.
Subsequent attempts to contact the crew were unsuccessful. A visual search began
at dawn on September 30, but no sign of the crew or aircraft was found.

According to Curran's mother, Curran and Lono's aircraft quietly landed in
heavily-guarded enemy territory that night, and was taken intact. Curran and
Lono were either captured at that time, or executed. They were alive. Mrs.
Curran believes her son is still alive, and has worked tirelessly to free him
and others she believes also to be alive. Both Curran and Lono were declared
Missing in Action.

Nearly 600 Americans were lost in Laos, but because the U.S. did not recognize
the communist government there, we did not negotiate for the "tens of tens" of
American prisoners the Pathet Lao stated that they held. As a result, not one
American prisoner held in Laos ever returned.

Since the end of the war, nearly 10,000 reports of Americans missing in
Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. Government, convincing many
authorities that hundreds are still languishing in communist prisons.

Luther Lono and Patrick Curran understood that undertaking the missions they
flew might mean they could be killed, wounded or captured. It probably never
crossed their minds that the country they proudly served would abandon them.
CURTIS ROY CLINE

Name: Curtis Roy Cline
Rank/Branch: E2/US Army
Unit: Company D, 12th Infantry, 4th Infantry Division
Date of Birth: 29 July 1949 (Coldwater MI)
Home City of Record: Burlington MI
Date of Loss: 18 September 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 142527N 1074950E (ZA048697)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 3
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel In Incident: (none missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Curtis Cline joined the Army in January 1969. He wanted to complete
his obligation to his country then pursue his education. After his training at
Fort Lewis, Washington, he was sent to Vietnam in May, 1969, at age 19.

Curtis Cline, according to his mother, "wanted so much to be free" that he
volunteered to take a vacancy in Company D, 12 Infantry because, he said, "I'll
get home one day sooner than the others."

On September 18, 1969, PFC Cline was serving as a rifleman in Comnpany D, when
his unit was attempting to make a river crossing in South Vietnam. (Note: State
Department records list this loss in Pleiku Province as do JCRC records;
however, Defense Department coordinates place the location on the Se San River
in Kontum province, about 15 miles north of Pleiku Province.) PFC Cline was the
second man with combat gear to cross. When he reached a point about mid-stream,
he got water in his mouth, and released the vine being used as a hand-hold. The
swift current carried him a few meters downstream, where he caught hold of a
safety line. In his attempt to release his rucksack and equipment, he began to
splash vigorously, and seemed to be in a state of panic.

Two members of the platoon immediately entered the water in an attempt to reach
him, but were unsuccessful. One of the men got caught in a whirlpool, and the
other was within 10 meters of him when PFC Cline went under water and was never
seen again.

Other members of the unit went downstream along the banks of the river, but
lost sight of PFC Kleine. An extensive search was begun, including the use of
observation helicopters and infantry troops. After one week, the search was
terminated with no success.

Cline was in Pleiku province, South Vientam, when he was reported Missing in
Action. There are nearly 2500 Americans who remain missing
in Southeast Asia.  Reports continue to mount that some are still
alive, held captive against their will.

Curtis Cline's family would like to know whether he is dead or alive.
The Vietnamese, according to the Peace agreement signed in Paris in
1973, would release all American prisoners of war and account for the
missing.  They have not done so.  The U.S. Government has named the
return and accounting of Americans "highest national priority", yet
has dealt with the issue with less than "high priority."

Cline and the others deserve the full effort of their country to bring
them home. They are running out of time.  We are running out of honor.hers deserve the full effort of their country to bring
them home.
CURTIS, THOMAS JERRY

Name: Thomas Jerry Curtis
Rank/Branch: 03/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Houston TX
Date of Loss: 20 September 1965
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 180500N 1054400E (WF775009)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: HH43B
Other Personnel in Incident: Duane W. Martin; William A. Robinson; Arthur N.
Black (all returned POWs)

REMARKS: 730212 RELSD BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: On September 20, 1965, 1Lt. Duane W. Martin, Capt. Thomas J. Curtis,
SSgt. William A. Robinson, and Airman Arthur N. Black comprised the crew and
passengers of an HH43B "Huskie" helicopter operating about 10 miles from the
border of Laos in Ha Tinh Province, North Vietnam.

The Huskie is typically a crash rescue helicopter, and although it was
considered to be inadequate for Southeast Asia duty, the Air Force had no other
options at the time. The increase in combat called for an ever increasing need
for rescue services. Some of the Huskies were shored up with heavy armor plate
to protect the crews, and outfitted with long cables to facilitate rescue in
the high rain forest. During the period Martin, Curtis, Robinson and Black were
on their mission in Ha Tinh Province, most of the rescue crews were dispatched
out of Nakhon Phanom, Thailand and Bien Hoa, South Vietnam, both being stop-gap
installations until the primary rescue agency, 3rd Aerospace Rescue and
Recovery Group was formed at Tan Son Nhut in January 1966.

Public records do not indicate the precise nature of the mission undertaken on
September 20, 1965, but the HH43B went down near the city of Tan An, and all
four personnel aboard the aircraft were captured. It is not clear if the four
were captured by North Vietnamese or Pathet Lao troops or a combination of the
two. Duane W. Martin was taken to a camp controlled by Pathet Lao. Curtis,
Robinson and Black were released in 1973 by the North Vietnamese, and were in
the Hanoi prison system as early as 1967.

Duane Martin found himself held by the Pathet Lao with other Americans. Some of
them had been held for more than two years. (Note: This would indicate that
there were Americans in this camp who had been captured in 1964. The only
American officially listed as captured in Laos in 1964 is Navy Lt. Charles F.
Klushann, who was captured in June 1964 and escaped in August 1964. Source for
the "two years" information is Mersky & Polmer's "The Naval Air War in
Vietnam", and this source does not identify any Americans by name who had been
held "for more than two years". Civilian Eugene DeBruin, an acknowledged Laos
POW, had been captured in the fall of 1963. Dengler has stated that a
red-bearded DeBruin was held in one of the camps in which he was held. All
previous Laos loss incidents occurred in 1961 and 1962.)

One American who joined the group in February 1966 was U.S. Navy pilot Lt.
Dieter Dengler. Lt. Dengler had launched on February 1, 1966 from the aircraft
carrier USS RANGER in an A1H Skyraider as part of an interdiction mission near
the border of Laos. Ground fire severely damaged his aircraft, and he was
forced to crash land in Laos. Although he had successfully evaded capture
through that night, he was finally caught by Pathet Lao troops, who tortured
him as they force-marched him through several villages.

Throughout the fall of 1965 and into spring and summer of 1966, the group of
Americans suffered regular beatings, torture, harassment, hunger and illness in
the hands of their captors. According to an "American Opinion" special report
entitled "The Code" (June 1973), Dengler witnessed his captors behead an
American Navy pilot and execute six wounded Marines. (Note: no other source
information available at time of writing reveals the names of these seven
Americans.)

On June 29, 1965, after hearing the prisoners were to be killed, Martin and
Dengler and unnamed others (Eugene DeBruin was apparently part of this group,
but was recaptured, and according to information received by his family, was
alive at least until January 1968, when he was taken away with other prisoners
by North Vietnamese regular army troops.) decided to make their escape in a
hail of gunfire in which six communist guards were killed. Dengler was
seriously ill with jaundice, and Martin was sick with malaria. Dengler and
Martin and the others made their way through the dense jungle surviving on
fruits, berries, and some rice they had managed to save during their captivity.

They floated down river on a raft they had constructed, eventually coming to an
abandoned village where the men found some corn. After a night's rest, Dengler
and Martin made their way downstream to another village. This settlement was
occupied, however, and the two Americans were suddenly attacked by a villager
with a machete. Dengler managed to escape back into the jungle, but Martin was
fatally wounded by the assailant. It had been 18 days since their escape.

Dengler made his way alone, and on the 22 day, with his strength almost gone,
he was able to form an SOS with some rocks, and waited, exausted to be rescued
or die. Luck was with him, for by late morning, an Air Force A1E spotted the
signal and directed a helicopter to pick up Dengler. He weighed 98 pounds. When
he had launched from his aircraft carrier 5 months earlier, he had weighed 157
pounds.

Curtis, Robinson and Black were released from Hanoi on February 12, 1973, over
seven years from the time of their capture. Lt. Duane Martin's fate remains
uncertain. If, as reported, he was killed during the escape attempt, no effort
has been made by the Lao to return his body.

Martin is one of nearly 600 Americans who remain prisoner, missing or otherwise
unaccounted for in Laos. Although the U.S. maintained only a handful of these
men in POW status, over 100 were known to have survived their loss incident.
The Pathet Lao stated during the war that they held "tens of tens" of American
prisoners, but they would be released only from Laos (meaning that the U.S.
must negotiate directly with the Pathet Lao).

The Pathet Lao were not part of the agreements that ended American involvement
in Southeast Asia, and no negotiations have been conducted with them since for
the prisoners they held.

Reports continue to come in related to missing Americans in Southeast Asia. It
does not seem likely that Martin is among the hundreds thought by many
authorities to be still alive, but what would he think of the abandonment of
his fellow Americans. Are we doing enough to bring these men home?

Prepared by Homecoming II Project 01 December 1989


CUSHMAN, CLIFTON EMMET

Name: Clifton Emmet Cushman
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: Date of Birth: 02 June 1938
Home City of Record: Grand Forks ND
Date of Loss: 25 September 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 213800N 1062600E (XJ501927)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F105D

Others 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: The F105 Thunderchief (or "Thud") performed yoeman service on many
diversified missions in Southeast Asia. F105s flew more combat missions over
North Vietnam than any other USAF aircraft and consequently suffered the
heaviest losses in action. They dropped bombs by day and occasionally by night
from high or low altitude and some later versions (F105D in Wild Weasel guise)
attacked SAM sites with their radar tracking air-to-ground missiles. This
versatile aircraft was also credited with downing 25 Russian MiGs.

Capt. Clifton E. Cushman was the pilot of an F105D which embarked on a bombing
mission over the Haiphong area of North Vietnam on September 25, 1966. He never
returned from the mission, but was downed about 45 miles southwest of the
harbor. Although the U.S. believes that the Vietnamese could account for
Cushman, they have denied knowledge of his fate.

When 591 American prisoners of war were released from Hanoi in the spring of
1973, Clifton Cushman was not among them. He, like nearly 2500 others, remain
missing. The majority of these men, unlike "MIA's" from other wars, can be
accounted for.

Since the end of American involvement in Indochina, over 10,000 reports have
been received concerning Americans held captive. Over 100 of the cases are still
actively researched today. Collectively, the reports make a compelling case that
Americans are still held prisoner in Southeast Asia, yet the U.S. has been
unable to secure their freedom.

Whether Clifton Cushman died the day his plane went down or survived to be held
prisoner today is not known. What seems certain, however, is that someone knows
his fate. It's time we got answers.

Clifton E. Cushman was promoted to the rank of Major during the period he was
maintained Missing in Action.

CUSICK, JAMES F.

Name: James F. Cusick
Rank/Branch: Civilian
Unit: Glomar Java Sea
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record:
Date of Loss: 25 October 1983
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates:
Status (in 1973):
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground:

Personnel in Incident: Herman Arms; Jerald T. Battiste; Sebe M. Bracey; Patrick
B. Cates; Wei Chen; Xiong Chen; Shu Guo Cheng; Jacob K. J. Chong; David P.
Clifton; James F. Cusick; Thomas J. Dixon; Shao Jien Feng; Jerald J. Flanagan;
Nigel Furness; Leonard E. Ganzinotti; La Juan A. Gilmore; Henry M. Gittings;
James K. Gittings; Terance C. Green; Jun Tian Guan; David Higgins, Jr.; Tyronne
Higgins; Hong Xi Huang; Rui Wen Huang; Yong Liang Huang; Timothy Jarvis; John W.
Jennings Jr.; Thomas J. Kofahl; Fan Xiang Kong; Guo Zhen Lai; John W. Lawrence;
Tong L. T. Lee; Chong Chang Li; Xuan Qiu Li; Zhan Jun Liang; Jie Feng Lin; Bing
Guang Liu; Edgar S. Lim; Gary Looke; Robert M. McCurry; Jerry L. Manfrida;
Raymond D. Miller; Xie Yi Mo; Tian Xue Mo; Kenneth W. Myers; Larry K. Myers;
Donald J. Ouellet; John D. Pierce; Peter Popiel; Clarence Reed; Jewell J.
Reynolds; E.J. Russell Reynolds; Walter T. Robinson; Kenneth B. Rogers; Lawrence
M. Salzwedel; William R. Schug; Richard E. Shoff; Christopher J. Sleeman; Delmar
A. Spencer; George G. Sullivan; Chong Jian Sun; Gustaf F. Swanson; Kevin C.
Swanson; Guo Dong Tang; Michael W. Thomas; Jiang Wang; Yu Fang Wang; Dong Cai
Wang; Guo Rong Wu; jing Sheng Xia; Xing Xing; Hui Xu; Ming Rui Xu; Mua Guang
Yuan; Xing Zhen Zhang; Yi Hua Zhang; Ji Chang Zhen; Shu Rong Zhou; Yao Wu Zhou;
Jie Fang Zhou; Da Huai Zhu.

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 10 December 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 5,930-ton American drilling ship, "Glomar Java Sea" was owned by
Global Marine of Houston, Texas, and leased to Atlantic Richfield Company
(ARCO). In the fall of 1983, the vessel was on duty about 200 miles east of the
Vietnamese coast. The ship was drilling for oil in the South China Sea in a
joint venture of ARCO and China Naitonal Offshore Oil Corporation, a state-owned
concern.

The "Glomar Java Sea" is a sister ship of the "Glomar Explorer," which, under
the guise of being utilized by the late Howard Hughes in a deep sea mining
operation in the Paficic, was really being used by the CIA and Navy in a $350
million project to retrieve a sunken Soviet Golf-class submarine. A large part
of the submarine was in fact recovered in 1974 before details of the project
were publicly revealed.

The Glomar Java Sea, with its crew of 81, began drilling operations on January
9, 1983 and was the first American wildcat operaton off the Chinese coast. On
October 25, 1983, the vessel was sunk during Typhoon Lex.

Documents removed from the ship by a crewman before the disaster indicate that
the vessel was being shadowed by armed Vietnamese naval craft and that there
were submarine mines beneath the "Glomar Java Sea," placed there and retrievable
by its crew. Another document indicates that the ship was damaged prior ot the
typhoon when a Chinese supply boat rammed into its side, causing some $320,000
damage to the vessel. The Glomar Java Sea did not leave its post for repairs.

Communications between ARCO and Global Marine, as well as telegraphic and radio
communications of the U.S. Western Pacific Rescue Coordination Center (WESTPAC)
reveal information about the search for the crew of the Glomar Java Sea.

The documents indicate that a number of survivors from the stricken vessel were
floundering in the water off the coast of Vietnam for hours after the disaster.
There is also indication that the men were picked up by Vietnamese coastal
patrols and are held captive of the Hanoi regime.

The crew of the Glomar Java Sea included 37 Americans, 35 Chinese, four British,
two Singaporeans, one Filipino, one Australian, and one Canadian.

From a transcript of a radio communicaton between WESTPAC and Global Marine on
October 28, three days after the sinking, WESTPAC was told:  "We are informed
that the SOS transmission could not have been transmitted except by human
operators..." There were two 64-man lifeboats aboard the drilling ship, plus
smaller lifeboats.

In an October 29 communicaton from WESTPAC to Global Marine, it is clearly
stated that five strobe lights were sighted by rescue aircraft in the vicinity
of 17-30 North 107-45 East. The aircraft were dispatched to the area because
strobe lights had been previously sighted. Lifejackets from the Glomar Java Sea
were equipped with strobe lights to signal rescuers.

Another October 29 communication between ARCO and Global Marine states that
ARCO's search aircraft had spotted survivors in the water at 17.27 North 107.54
East, and had attempted to divert surface vessels to this location. The
communication expressed the urgency to rescue the men before dark.

At 8:01 a.m. on October 29, ARCO had dropped a rescue raft to survivors.  Pickup
would be delayed for several hours, but the "Salvanquish," a Singapore-based
salvage ship, was within one half-mile of the site.

At 8:38 a.m search aircraft reported pinpointing the survivors' positions by dye
markers released by the survivors into the water. Two survivors were confirmed
with a possible third some distance away. Plans were also made to return to the
downed vessell to offlift survivors.

Another document shows that on nine different occasions radio transmissions were
picked up from a lifeboat. They ranged from "very strong" to "weak" with most
being described as "strong."

Inexplicably, despite the successful search, no rescue was made of the
survivors. Later that day, the Chinese Navy picked up a Vietnamese broadcast
reporting that the Vietnamese had sighted a lifeboat near their coast. The
location of the lifeboat was not confirmed by friendly search parties.

ARCO-Global Marine determined that this sighting was in the vicinity of Hon Gio
Island, located about 80 miles up the Vietnamese coast from the old U.S. base at
Da Nang and about 14 miles offshore, which placed it in Vietnamese territorial
waters. It appears that rescue craft were hampered in fully investigating the
report due to its location and the hint of possible interference by the
Vietnamese military.

It is likely that survivors would have been picked up by the Vietnamese if they
had in fact drifted within Vietnam's territory.

In the years following the loss of the Glomar Java Sea, a number of reports, all
unconfirmed by the U.S., indicate that survivors were seen in captivity in
Vietnam. It is known that the Vietnamese had shown a hostile interest in the
vessel, and the Glomar Java Sea had standing orders to be alert for Vietnamese
vessels in the area. The Chinese Navy served as protection for the vessel and
stood ready to take action should Vietnamese craft wander too close. The waters
below the vessel were mined.

A month after the Glomar Java Sea went down, Chinese divers went down to the
wreckage and went through the ship with a video cameras.

In March 1984, American divers were able to retrieve 31 bodies from the sunken
vessel. Fifteen of the bodies were identified as Americans. In addition, three
British and one Singaporean were identified. The bodies of another American and
two Chinese were tentatively identified. Divers photographed two bodies they
were unable to retrieve. They also found one of the Chinese divers that had
explored the wreckage in November 1983, lashed to the deck of the ship.

The American divers determined that one of the ship's large lifeboats was
launched and that an attempt had been made to launch another. Their film was
seen by the mother of one of the lost crewmen. She reported that the crack in
the hull of the ship at one point was a hole 48 inches across, which was
punctured inward, "as though the rig had been hit by something that exploded."
This fueled additional speculation that the vessel had, in fact, been attacked
rather that simply mortally damaged by the typhoon.

The National Transportaton Safety Board officially determined in November 1984
that an "unexplained crack" in the hull of the Glomar Java Sea was responsible
for its sinking during the typhoon. Apparently, the crack in the hull allowed
two storage tanks to fill with water, causing the vessel to become off-balanced,
making it vulnerable to the forces of the typhoon. Officials believed it was
possible that survivors may have been able to abandon the ship before it sank.
It was determined that the ship had been improperly prepared for the storm.

During 1984, there were reports from Southeast Asia that between six and twelve
survivors of the Glomar Java Sea were being held in prisoner of war camps in
Vietnam. One of the survivors was identified by a Vietnamese refugee as American
crewman John Pierce.

Douglas F. Pierce, father of John Pierce, reported that the refugee had seen his
son, five other Americans and eight Chinese when they were brought into a prison
in Da Nang, where the refugee was being held. John Pierce gave the refugee his
father's business card and two sticks of gum.

Mr. Pierce gave the information to Defense Intelligence Agency who determined
that the refugee had not been in the camp at all, but had received the business
card by mail from a friend, not directly from Pierce. DIA further determined
that the incident had occurred in late October 1983 (shortly after the Glomar
Java Sea went down). The refugee gave Mr. Pierce the original letter, which
contained the names and addresses of two mutual Vietnamese friends.

No followup was conducted on the two names in the letter by DIA, and DIA
discounted the information provided by the refugee. It was not until 1990 that
it became apparent that the Defense Department felt no responsibility for the
Americans lost on the Glomar Java Sea. At that time, DIA reported that the
responsibility for these civilians belonged to the U.S. State Department.

Mr. Pierce did not stop there. He uncovered a U.S. State Department document
that revealed that Cheng Quihong, the secretary and wife of the Director of
China's Visa Office, was overheard telling her companion at a Hong Kong dinner
that survivors from the Glomar had been picked up and were held by the
Vietnamese.

Pierce also learned that a JCRC report sent to DIA dated November 6, 1984,
reported that a former prisoner from Pleiku prison had been held with a Chinese
man who claimed to have been off the Glomar. The man said he was one of three
men who were captured, and that the other two were Americans.

Pierce adds that to his knowledge, neither of these reports were followed up by
U.S. officials, and Pierce has received no reply to his queries regarding them.

In 1989 a Japanese monk named Yoshida was released from prison after being held
for years by the Vietnamese. Yoshida was shown a photograph of John Pierce and
stated that Pierce looked very familiar, and that he had either seen him or
someone who looked very much like him.

In November, 1990, Vietamese Foreign Minister Nguyen Co Thach traveled to the
U.S. and spoke with U.S. officials on a variety of matters. At this time, he
announced that there was a black American named Walter T. Robinson living
illegally in Vietnam, and invited U.S. representatives to come and help find
him. Thach provided a social security number and two photographs.

The Pentagon told "The Washington Times" that the two photographs of Robinson
provided by Thach are of a black man. However, the Pentagon has since admitted
that the photos "are not very well developed" and appear to be of either a black
man or a dark Asian. Photocopies of old newspaper articles concerning Robinson,
obtained by Homecoming II, show a dark-haired man of relatively dark complexion.

The Pentagon has not released the photographs to the press.

The Defense Department determined that Walter T. Robinson had never been listed
as missing in Vietnam. Thach had provided a social security number, and
according to DOD, this information correlated to a white American living in the
Midwest. They concluded that the Thach information, therefore, was in error.

Later information indicated that a Walter T. Robinson was listed on the crew
roster of the Glomar Java Sea. When queried, the Defense Department reported
that they were aware of this Robinson, but that civilians were the
responsibility of the State Department.

It seems apparent that the U.S. is not vigorously looking for the men missing
from the Glomar Java Sea, and that like the missing and prisoners who served in
military and civilian capacities during the Vietnam war, they have been
abandoned.


CUSIMANO, SAMUEL BOLDEN

Name: Samuel Bolden Cusimano
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 72nd Strat Wing, Guam
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Birmingham AL
Date of Loss: 28 December 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 210700N 1055600E (WJ980330)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: B52D

Other Personnel in Incident: Bennie L. Fryer; Allen L. Johnson (remains
returned); James W. Gough; James C. Condon; Frank D. Lewis (all released POWs)

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: RELSD 730329 BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: Frustrated by problems in negotiating a peace settlement, and
pressured by a Congress and public wanting an immediate end to American
involvement in Vietnam, President Nixon ordered the most concentrated air
offensive of the war - known as Linebacker II - in December 1972. During the
offensive, sometimes called the "Christmas bombings," 40,000 tons of bombs were
dropped, primarily over the area between Hanoi and Haiphong. White House Press
Secretary Ronald Ziegler said that the bombing would end only when all U.S. POWs
were released and an internationally recognized cease-fire was in force.

Linebacker II flights generally arrived over Hanoi in tight cells of three
aircraft to maximize the mutual support benefits of their ECM equipment and flew
straight and level to stabilize the bombing computers and ensure that all bombs
fell on the military targets and not in civilian areas.

The pilots of the early missions reported that "wall-to-wall SAMS" surrounded
Hanoi as they neared its outskirts. The Christmas Bombings, despite press
accounts to the contrary, were of the most precise the world had seen.

On December 28, 1972, twelve aircraft were assigned to strike the Trung Quang
rail yards near Hanoi. One three-ship cell was code-named Cobalt. The second
B52D in the flight, Cobalt 01, assumed lead in the cell because the other two
were experiencing problems with their electronic warfare equipment. At about
2330 hours, the cell turned inbound on Hanoi and went to independent bombing
mode, meaning each aircraft used its own radar to locate and attack the target.

The cell saw medium to heavy antiaircraft fire ahead and soon began receiving
SAM signals and saw SAM launches beginning. A total of 45 SAMs were fired at the
cells. When Cobalt 01 was within sixty seconds of bomb release, two SAMS locked
on and began tracking the aircraft. Lewis was able to evade these two, but
received a near-direct hit by another while still in a violent evasive turn.

Every crew member onboard received injuries from the impacting SAM fragments.
The crew consisted of Capt. Frank D. Lewis, pilot and aircraft commander; Capt.
Sam Cusimano, co-pilot; Maj. Allen Johnson, Electronic Warfare Officer (EWO);
Lt.Col. Jim Condon, radar navigator; 1Lt. Bennie Fryer, navigator; and SMSgt.
Jim Gough, gunner.

Capt. Frank D. Lewis, the pilot, attempted to maintain control of the aircraft
as it headed west, but he knew the aircraft had taken a fatal hit and was going
down. The wings were on fire and the ruptured fuel tanks fed the rapidly
spreading fire. All electrical systems were out, as well as the crew interphone
system. The pilot verbally gave the order to bail out only forty seconds after
the SAM impact. Lewis ejected, and the crew followed.

The gunner, MSgt. James A. Gough, could not hear the ejection order, but knew
that he would soon have to bail out. The flames from the burning aircraft
extended back on both sides of the B52 to the gunner's turret, and he decided to
wait for a better chance as long as the aircraft was still in level flight.

By then, the other crew members who were able to eject had departed the plane.
When the gunner saw that the aircraft was descending into the low undercast, he
knew he had to leave then or lose his chance. When he jumped, he went through
burning debris of the disintegrating engines and wings and had numerous pieces
of wiring and metal fragments embedded in his body. Luckily, Gough was able to
deploy his parachute. He was captured soon after he landed on the ground.

The pilot, Capt. Lewis, was lucky to be captured alive after he landed in a rice
paddy. A North Vietnamese peasant took Lewis' revolver and would have killed him
on the spot if the gun had been loaded. As the click, click of the empty pistol
sounded, NVA troops approached and captured Lewis alive, taking him from the
custody of the peasant.

Meanwhile, the other crew members had also landed and were being captured by NVN
troops. All had ejected except for the navigator, 1Lt. Ben L. Fryer, who was
apparently killed by the SAM explosion. Lewis and Condon were reunited soon
after they were captured. After having been taken to Hanoi, Lewis believes he
heard his EWO, Major Johnson scream not too far away. The thought that Johnson
was also encouraged him -- he worried about his crew.

Lewis was subjected to the same harassment and torture by his captors that many
returned POWs have described. After a month in solitary, he was moved to the
"Zoo" where he was reunited with Gough, Condon, Cusimano and Fryer. Together,
they reconstructed the shootdown. Notably, LtCol. Condon, the radar navigator,
remembers hearing three ejection seats going above him before he ejected. These
three would have been the EWO (Johnson), pilot (Lewis) and co-pilot (Cusimano).

Lt.Col. Condon said that Lt. Bennie Fryer was apparently killed in the SAM
explosion, as he collapsed forward on the nav table and was bleeding profusely.
His seat was the closest of any crew member to the point of impact of the SAM.
Condon himself was wounded in the leg by shrapnel, and tried shaking Fryer and
yelling at him to arouse him, but got no response.

The fate of Maj. Allen Johnson is still a mystery. The surviving crew members
believe that he ejected from the aircraft, and Lewis believes he was alive and
in the hands of the North Vietnamese, because he heard what he believed to be
Johnson screaming. Further, Lewis' interrogator told him that Johnson was a
black man, a fact not revealed by any of the crew in interrogation.

Then on September 30, 1977, the Vietnamese "discovered" and returned the remains
of Bennie L. Fryer. It was not until December 4, 1985 that the Vietnamese
returned the remains of Allen L. Johnson. The positive identification of these
remains was announced publicly in June 1986. The Vietnamese denied knowledge of
either man until their remains were returned.

Reports mount that have convinced many authorities that Americans are still held
captive in Southeast Asia. Were Johnson and Fryer among them? Did they survive
to know the country they love has abandoned them? Isn't it time we brought our
men home?

CUTHBERT, BRADLEY GENE

Name: Bradley Gene Cuthbert
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 14th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, Udorn Airbase, Thailand
Date of Birth: 23 November 1940
Home City of Record: Ft. Madison IA
Date of Loss: 23 November 1940
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 172700N 1063400E (XE565270)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: RF4C

Other Personnel In Incident: Mark J. Ruhling (released POW)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On his 28th birthday, Capt. Bradley G. Cuthbert and his backseater,
Capt. Mark J. Ruhling departed Udorn Airfield, Thailand on a photo
reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam in their Phantom fighter jet. When the
aircraft was in the vicinity of Dong Hoi, it was shot down. Their aircraft, the
only one shot down that day, was the first plane shot down after a bombing halt
had been announced. Ruhling ejected safely, made radio contact with other planes
in the area and said that his capture was imminent. He was then captured by the
North Vietnamese.

Bradley Cuthbert's parachute was seen to open by both Ruhling and other aircraft
in the area, indicating that he also successfully ejected. Although a
Marshalltown News (Iowa) article reported in March 1970 that radio contact was
made and that there was a good chance of Cuthbert's having escaped capture, the
Air Force now states that no radio contact was made to verify that he landed on
the ground safely.

A Hanoi news item on November 27 described the capture of one pilot hiding
behind a bush and the aircraft's second pilot being shot while still sitting in
the plane. As the Air Force stated that Brad's plane crashed and burned, leaving
no chance a body would remain intact, this report was not attributed to the crew
of Cuthbert's plane. Besides, both crewmen aboard Cuthbert's aircraft had
successfully bailed out. A second news item described the capture of another
pilot which could have been Cuthbert.

A Christmas 1969 film contained frames of a POW Brad's family feels is him, yet
neither the Vietnamese or the U.S. Department of Defense listed Brad as a POW.

When agreements were signed ending the war, 591 American POWs were released,
including Mark Ruhling. Brad Cuthbert was not released, nor has substantial
information been found on his fate since that time. The Vietnamese deny any
knowledge of him. Experts now believe that hundreds of Americans are still
captive in Indochina. One of them could be Brad Cuthbert. It's time we brought
him home.




CUTHBERT, STEPHEN HOWARD
Remains Returned September 1990

Name: Stephen Howard Cuthbert
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 19 June 1943
Home City of Record: Oakland CA
Date of Loss: 03 July 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 180720N 1054347E (WF778023)
Status (In 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4E

Other Personnel In Incident: Marion "Tony" Marshall (Returned 1973)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

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.
Most pilots considered it one of the "hottest" planes around.

The F4J fighter plane piloted by Stephen Cuthbert and navigated by Marion "Tony"
Marshall was shot down on July 3, 1972, 70 miles northwest of Dong Hoi in North
Vietnam. A September 1972 Radio Hanoi broadcast stated that the North Vietnamese
had captured Capt. Marshall and mentioned the pilot, Cuthbert, by name.

Marshall was taken prisoner and subsequently released in the spring of 1973. He
maintains that he never revealed the correct name of his pilot, although just
one week before he was to be released, Marshall's Vietnamese captors returned
his personal belongings to him, and included Cuthbert's custom-made wedding
band.

The Vietnamese deny any knowledge of Cuthbert. They maintain that to "discover"
additional information on Americans, they must have increased "cooperation" from
the United States so that their people will perceive "good will." Cuthbert is
one of nearly 2500 Americans lost in Southeast Asia, and only one of many about
whom the Vietnamese have certain knowledge which they are withholding.

Stephen H. Cuthbert was promoted to the rank of Major during the period he was
maintained Missing in Action.

On December 20, 1990, the U.S. announced that remains returned by the Vietnamese
the previous September had been positively identified as those of Stephen H.
Cuthbert.
CUTRER, FRED CLAY JR.

Name: Fred Clay Cutrer, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 405th Fighter Wing
Date of Birth: 09 January 1935
Home City of Record: Osyka MS
Date of Loss: 06 August 1964
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 110953N 1070444E (YT270349)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: B57B

Other Personnel in Incident: Leonard L. Kaster (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 September 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: AC CRASH EXPLODE HVY VC - J

SYNOPSIS: The B57 Canberra was one of the aircraft used by the U.S. Air Force to
bomb the Ho Chi Minh Trail. The Canberra first came to the Vietnam theater at
the time of the Gulf of Tonkin incident in 1964. It proved too vulnerable and
difficult to repair for working targets over North Vietnam, but proved effective
in the armed reconnaissance Trail operations of Operation Steel Tiger. The
Canberra was sometimes used in conjunction with other, more sophisticated
aircraft, such as the C130, and was especially effective on night missions.

Capt. Fred C. Cutrer Jr. was the pilot of a Canberra sent on an operational
mission over South Vietnam on August 6, 1964. The navigator onboard the aircraft
was 1Lt. Leonard L. Kaster. Aircraft control last heard from the aircraft by
radio when it was northeast of Tan Son Nhut.

The aircraft went down near the Sang Dong Nai River in Long Khan Province, South
Vietnam. According to Defense Intelligence data, it received heavy fire from
Viet Cong forces, crashed and exploded. Neither crewman was believed to have
survived. Both were classified Killed in Action, Body Not Recovered.

Cutrer and Kaster are listed among the missing because their remains were never
recovered. Others who are missing do not have such clear-cut cases. Some were
known captives; some were photographed as they were led by their guards. Some
were in radio contact with search teams, while others simply disappeared.

Well over 1000 first-hand, eye-witness reports of American prisoners still alive
in Southeast Asia have been received by 1990. Most of them are still classified.
If, as the U.S. seems to believe, the men are all dead, why the secrecy after so
many years? If the men are alive, why are they not home?

Fred C. Cutrer, Jr. was promoted to the rank of Major before a determination of
death was made.





CZERWIEC, RAYMOND GEORGE

Name: Raymond George Czerwiec
Rank/Branch: E5/US Army
Unit: Company A, 3rd Battalion, 12th Infantry, 4th Infantry Division
Date of Birth: 21 February 1944
Home City of Record: Chicago IL
Date of Loss: 27 March 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 141913N 1073733E (YA826811)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel In Incident: Gail M. Kerns (released POW); Clarence A. Latimer
(missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On March 27, 1969, Raymond Czerwiec and Gail Mason were riflemen with
A Company, 3rd Battalion, 12th Infantry and on a reconnaissance mission in
Kontum Province, South Vietnam when their platoon came under hostile weapons
fire and were forced to withdraw with a number of people missing.

An attempt to re-enter the area that afternoon was unsuccessful. Another
attempt was made on the 28th but it was also unsuccessful. Air strikes and
artillery fire were placed into the enemy area for two days.

On March 30, Company A attacked the enemy again, and was again forced to
withdraw, leaving people behind, including SP4 Clarence A. Latimer, who was a
rifleman with the company and had been severely wounded during the attempt.

Two long range reconnaissance patrols (LRRP) were sent back into the area a
week later to recover the bodies of the missing. Sweeps were made of the area
for two days, but no remains were found. Clarence A. Latimer was declared
Missing In Action.

On March 3, 1973, Gail Kerns was released by the North Vietnamese. He had been
held in South Vietnam, and moved to Hanoi prior to his release. No word had
ever gotten out to the U.S. that Gail had been captured. Kerns was not
conscious when he was captured, and did not know the fate of Ray Czerwiec, nor
did he have information regarding Clarence Latimer.

Evidence of secondary prison systems has surfaced since the latter years of the
war. It is suspected, as reports mount that hundreds of Americans were withheld
from release and are still alive today, that prisoners within a second system
were kept completely separate from the others. This would allow a large number
of POWs to be held without knowledge of other prisoners.

Nearly 10,000 reports have been received relating to Americans in Southeast
Asia. Whether Czerwiec and Latimer are among those thought to be still alive is
not certain. What is certain, however, is none of them deserve abandonment by
the country they proudly served.


CZERWONKA, PAUL STEVEN
Name: Paul Steven Czerwonka
Rank/Branch: E2/US Marine Corps
Unit: Battery D, 2nd Battalion, 13th Marines, 1st Marine Division
Date of Birth: 02 May 1949
Home City of Record: Stoughton MA
Date of Loss: 10 May 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 152208N 1074540E (YC965009)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Personnel in Incident: Ngok Tavak: Horace H. Fleming; Thomas J. Blackman;
Joseph F. Cook; Paul S. Czerwonka; Thomas W. Fritsch; Barry L. Hempel; Raymond
T. Heyne; Gerald E. King; Robert C. Lopez; William D. McGonigle; Donald W.
Mitchell; James R. Sargent (members of USMC search team - all missing); Glenn
E. Miller; Thomas H. Perry (USSF teammembers - missing); Kham Duc: Richard E.
Sands (missing from CH47); Bernard L. Bucher; Frank M. Hepler; George W. Long;
John L. McElroy; Stephan C. Moreland (USAF crew of C130 - all missing); Warren
R. Orr (USSF on C130 - missing); Harry B. Coen; Andrew J. Craven; Juan M.
Jimenez; Frederick J. Ransbottom; Maurice H. Moore; Joseph L. Simpson; William
E. Skivington; John C. Stuller; Imlay S. Widdison; Danny L. Widner; Roy C.
Williams (all missing); Julius W. Long (released POW).

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Kham Duc Special Forces camp (A-105), was located on the western
fringes of Quang Tin ("Great Faith") Province, South Vietnam. In the spring of
1968, it was the only remaining border camp in Military Region I. Backup
responsibility for the camp fell on the 23rd Infantry Division (Americal),
based at Chu Lai on the far side of the province.

The camp had originally been built for President Diem, who enjoyed hunting in
the area. The 1st Special Forces detachment (A-727B) arrived in September 1963
and found the outpost to be an ideal border surveillance site with an existing
airfield. The camp was located on a narrow grassy plain surrounded by rugged,
virtually uninhabited jungle. The only village in the area, located across the
airstrip, was occupied by post dependents, camp followers and merchants. The
camp and airstrip were bordered by the Ngok Peng Bum ridge to the west and Ngok
Pe Xar mountain, looming over Kham Duc to the east. Steep banked streams full
of rapids and waterfalls cut through the tropical wilderness. The Dak Mi River
flowed past the camp over a mile distant, under the shadow of the Ngok Pe Xar.

Five miles downriver was the small forward operating base of Ngok Tavak,
defended by the 113-man 11th Mobile Strike Force Company with its 8 Special
Forces and 3 Australian advisors. Since Ngok Tavak was outside friendly
artillery range, 33 Marine artillerymen of Battery D, 2nd Battalion, 13th
Marines, with two 105mm howitzers were located at the outpost.

Capt. Christopher J. Silva, commander of Detachment A-105 helicoptered into
Ngok Tavak on May 9, 1968 in response to growing signs of NVA presence in the
area. Foul weather prevented his scheduled evening departure. A Kham Duc CIDG
platoon fleeing a local ambush also arrived and was posted to the outer
perimeter. It was later learned that the CIDG force contained VC infiltrators.

Ngok Tavak was attacked by an NVA infantry battalion at 0315 hours on May 10.
The base was pounded by mortars and direct rocket fire. As the frontal assault
began, the Kham Duc CIDG soldiers moved toward the Marines in the fort yelling,
"Don't shoot, don't shoot! Friendly, friendly!" Suddenly they lobbed grenades
into the Marine howitzer positions and ran into the fort, where they shot
several Marines with carbines and sliced claymore mine and communication wires.

The defenders suffered heavy casualties but stopped the main assault and killed
the infiltrators. The NVA dug in along the hill slopes and grenaded the trenches
where the mobile strike force soldiers were pinned by machine gun and rocket
fire. An NVA flamethrower set the ammunition ablaze, banishing the murky flare-
lighted darkness for the rest of the night. SFC Harold M. Swicegood and the
USMC platoon leader, Lt. Adams, were badly wounded and moved to the command
bunker. Medical Spec4 Blomgren reported that the CIDG mortar crews had abandoned
their weapons. Silva tried to operate the main 4.2 inch mortar but was wounded.
At about 0500 hours, Sgt. Glenn Miller, an A-105 communications specialist, was
shot through the head as he ran over to join the Marine howitzer crews.

The NVA advanced across the eastern side of Ngok Tavak and brought forward more
automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenade launchers. In desperation, the
defenders called on USAF AC-47 "Spooky" gunships to strafe the perimeter and
the howitzers, despite the possible presence of friendly wounded in the gun
pits. The NVA countered with tear gas, but the wind kept drifting the gas over
their own lines. After three attempts, they stopped. A grenade fight between
the two forces lasted until dawn.

At daybreak Australian Warrant Officers Cameron and Lucas, joined by Blomgren,
led a CIDG counterattack. The North Vietnamese pulled back under covering fire,
and the howitzers were retaken. The Marines fired the last nine shells and
spiked the tubes. Later that morning medical evacuation helicopters supported
by covering airstrikes took out the seriously wounded, including Silva and
Swicegood. Two CH46's were able to land 45 replacements from the 12th Mobile
Strike Force Company, accompanied by Capt. Euge E. Makowski (who related much
of this account to Shelby Stanton, author of "Green Berets at War"), but one
helicopter was hit in the fuel line and forced down. Another helicopter was hit
by a rocket and burst into flames, wrecking the small helipad. The remaining
wounded were placed aboard a hovering helicopter. As it lifted off, two Mike
Force soldiers and 1Lt. Horace Fleming, one of the stranded aviation crewmen,
grabbed the helicopter skids. All three fell to their deaths after the
helicopter had reached an altitude of over one hundred feet.

The mobile strike force soldiers were exhausted and nervous. Ammunition and
water were nearly exhausted, and Ngok Tavak was still being pounded by sporadic
mortar fire. They asked permission to evacuate their positions, but were told
to "hold on" as "reinforcements were on the way". By noon the defenders decided
that aerial reinforcement or evacuation was increasingly unlikely, and night
would bring certain destruction. An hour later, they abandoned Ngok Tavak.

Thomas Perry, a medic from C Company, arrived at the camp at 0530 hours the
morning of the 10th. He cared for the wounded and was assisting in an attempt
to establish a defensive perimeter when the decision was made to evacuate the
camp. As survivors were leaving, Perry was seen by Sgt. Cordell J. Matheney,
Jr., standing 20 feet away, as Australian Army Capt. John White formed the
withdrawal column at the outer perimeter wire on the eastern Ngok Tavak
hillside. It was believed that Perry was going to join the end of the column.

All the weapons, equipment and munitions that could not be carried were hastily
piled into the command bunker and set afire. The helicopter that had been
grounded by a ruptured fuel line was destroyed with a LAW. Sgt. Miller's body
was abandoned.

After survivors had gone about 1 kilometer, it was discovered that Perry was
missing. Efforts were conducted to locate both Perry and Miller, including a
search by a group from Battery D. They were searching along the perimeter when
they were hit by enemy grenades and arms fire. Neither the men on the team nor
Perry was ever found. Included in this team were PFC Thomas Blackman; LCpl.
Joseph Cook; PFC Paul Czerwonka; LCpl. Thomas Fritsch; PFC Barry Hempel; LCpl.
Raymond Heyne; Cpl. Gerald King; PFC Robert Lopez; PFC William McGonigle; LCpl.
Donald Mitchell; and LCpl. James Sargent. The remaining survivors evaded
through dense jungle to a helicopter pickup point midway to Kham Duc. Their
extraction was completed shortly before 1900 hours on the evening of May 10.

In concert with the Ngok Tavak assault, the Kham Duc was blasted by a heavy
mortar and recoilless rifle attack at 0245 hours that same morning. Periodic
mortar barrages ripped into Kham Duc throughout the rest of the day, while the
Americal Division airmobiled a reinforced battalion of the 196th Infantry
Brigade into the compound. A Special Forces command party also landed, but the
situation deteriorated too rapidly for their presence to have positive effect.

The mortar attack on fog-shrouded Kham Duc resumed on the morning of May 11.
The bombardment caused heavy losses among the frightened CIDG soldiers, who
fled from their trenches across open ground, seeking shelter in the bunkers.
The LLDB commander remained hidden. CIDG soldiers refused orders to check the
rear of the camp for possible North Vietnamese intruders. That evening the 11th
and 12th Mobile Strike Force companies were airlifted to Da Nang, and half of
the 137th CIDG Company from Camp Ha Thanh was airlanded in exchange.

The 1st VC Regiment, 2nd NVA Division, began closing the ring around Kham Duc
during the early morning darkness of 12 May. At about 0415 to 0430 hours, the
camp and outlying positions came under heavy enemy attack. Outpost #7 was
assaulted and fell within a few minutes. Outposts #5, #1 and #3 had been
reinforced by Americal troops but were in North Vietnamese hands by 0930 hours.

OP1 was manned by PFC Harry Coen, PFC Andrew Craven, Sgt. Joseph Simpson, and
SP4 Julius Long from Company E, 2nd of the 1st Infantry. At about 0415 hours,
when OP1 came under heavy enemy attack, PFC Coen and SP4 Long were seen trying
to man a 106 millimeter recoilless rifle. Survivors reported that in the
initial enemy fire, they were knocked off their bunker. Both men again tried to
man the gun, but were knocked down again by RPG fire.

PFC Craven, along with two other men, departed the OP at 0830 hours on May 12.
They moved out 50 yards and could hear the enemy in their last position. At
about 1100 hours, as they were withdrawing to the battalion perimeter, they
encountered an enemy position. PFC Craven was the pointman and opened fire. The
enemy returned fire, and PFC Craven was seen to fall, with multiple chest
wounds. The other two men were unable to recover him, and hastily departed the
area. PFC Craven was last seen lying on his back, wounded, near the camp.

OP2 was being manned by 1Lt. Frederick Ransbottom, SP4 Maurice Moore, PFC Roy
Williams, PFC Danny Widner, PFC William Skivington, PFC Imlay Widdison, and SP5
John Stuller, from the 2nd of the 3rd Infantry when it came under attack.
Informal questioning of survivors of this position indicated that PFC Widdison
and SP5 Stuller may have been killed in action. However, the questioning was
not sufficiently thorough to produce enough evidence to confirm their deaths.

The only information available concerning 1Lt. Ransbottom, SP4 Moore, PFC Lloyd
and PFC Skivington that Lt. Ransbottom allegedly radioed PFC Widner and PFC
Williams, who were in the third bunker, and told them that he was shooting at
the enemy as they entered his bunker.

SP4 Juan Jimenez, a rifleman assigned to Company A, 2nd of the 1st Infantry,
was occupying a defensive position when he was severely wounded in the back by
enemy mortar fire. SP4 Jimenez was declared dead by the Battalion Surgeon in
the early morning hours of May 12. He was then carried to the helipad for
evacuation. However, due to the situation, space was available in the
helicopter for only the wounded, and SP4 Jimenez'remains were left behind.

At noon a massive NVA attack was launched against the main compound. The charge
was stopped by planes hurling napalm, cluster bomb units and 750 pound bombs
into the final wire barriers. The decision was made by the Americal Division
officers to call for immediate extraction.

The evacuation was disorderly, and at times, on the verge of complete panic.
One of the first extraction helicopters to land was exploded by enemy fire,
blocking the airstrip. Engineers of Company A, 70th Engineer Battalion,
frantically reassembled one of their dozers (previously torn apart to prevent
capture) to clear the runway. Eight more aircraft were blown out of the sky.

PFC Richard E. Sands was a member of Company A, 1st Battalion, 46th Infantry,
198th Light Infantry Brigade being extracted on a CH47 helicopter (serial
#67-18475). The helicopter was hit by 50 calliber machine gun fire at an
altitude of 1500-1600 feet shortly after takeoff.

Sands, who was sitting near the door gunner, was hit in the head by an incoming
rounds. The helicopter made a controlled landing and caught fire. During the
evacuation from the burning helicopter, four personnel and a medic checked PFC
Sands and indicated that he had been killed instantly. Because of the danger of
incoming mortar rounds and the fire, personnel attempting to remove PFC Sands
from the helicopter were ordered to abandon their attempt. The remaining
personnel were evacuated from the area later by another helicopter.

Intense antiaircraft fire from the captured outposts caused grave problems.
Control over the indigenous forces was difficult. One group of CIDG soldiers
had to be held in trenches at gunpoint to prevent them from mobbing the runway.

As evacuation was in progress, members of Company A, 1/46, who insisted on
boarding the aircraft first, shoved Vietnamese dependents out of the way. As
more Americal infantry tried to clamber into the outbound planes, the outraged
Special Forces staff convinced the Air Force to start loading civilians onboard
a C130, then watched as the civilians pushed children and weaker adults aside.

The crew of the U.S. Air Force C130 aircraft (serial #60-0297) consisted of
Maj. Bernard Bucher, pilot; SSgt. Frank Hepler, flight engineer; Maj. John
McElroy, navigator; 1Lt. Steven Moreland, co-pilot; George Long, load master;
Capt. Warren Orr, passenger, and an undetermined number of Vietnamese civilians.

The aircraft reported receiving ground fire on takeoff. The Forward Air Control
(FAC) in the area reported that the aircraft exploded in mid-air and crashed in
a fire ball about one mile from camp. All crew and passengers were believed
dead, as the plane burned quickly and was completely destroyed except for the
tail boom. No remains were recovered from the aircraft.

Capt. Orr was not positively identified by U.S. personnel as being aboard the
aircraft. He was last seen near the aircraft helping the civilians to board.
However, a Vietnamese stated that he had seen Capt. Orr board the aircraft and
later positively identified him from a photograph. Rescue efforts were
impossible because of the hostile threat in the area.

At the time the order was given to escape and evade, SP4 Julius Long was was
with Coen and Simpson. All three had been wounded, and were trying to make
their way back to the airfield about 350 yards away. As they reached the
airfield, they saw the last C130 departing. PFC Coen, who was shot in the
stomach, panicked and started running and shooting his weapon at random. SP4
Long tried to catch him, but could not, and did not see PFC Coen again. Long
then carried Sgt. Simpson to a nearby hill, where they spent the night.

During the night, the airfield was strafed and bombed by U.S. aircraft. SP4
Long was hit twice in the back by fragments, and Sgt. Simpson died during the
night. SP4 Long left him lying on the hill near the Cam Duc airfield and
started his escape and evasion toward Chu Lai, South Vietnam. SP4 Long was
captured and was released in 1973 from North Vietnam.

The Special Forces command group was the last organized group out of the camp.
As their helicopter soared into the clouds, Kham Duc was abandoned to advancing
NVA infantry at 4:33 p.m. on May 12, 1968. The last Special Forces camp on the
northwestern frontier of South Vietnam had been destroyed.

Two search and recovery operations were conducted in the vicinity of OP1 and
OP2 and the Cam Duc airfield on July 18, 1970 and August 17, 1970. In these
operations, remains of personnel previously reported missing from this incident
were recovered and subsequently identified. (SP4 Bowers, PFC Lloyd, Sgt. Sisk,
PFC Guzman-Rios and SSgt. Carter). However, extensive search and excavation
could not be completed at OP1 and OP2 because of the tactical situation.

It was assumed that all the missing at Kham Duc were killed in action until
about 1983, when the father of one of the men missing discovered a Marine Corps
document which indicated that four of the men had been taken prisoner. The
document listed the four by name. Until then, the families had not been advised
of the possibility there were any American prisoners taken other than Julius
Long. A Vietnamese rallier identified the photograph of Roy C. Williams as
positively having been a POW.

Until proof is obtained that the rest of the men lost at Ngok Tavak and Kham
Duc are dead, their families will always wonder if they are among those said to
still be alive in Southeast Asia.





DAFFRON, THOMAS CARL

Name: Thomas Carl Daffron
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit: 557th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Cam Ranh Bay, SV
Date of Birth: 25 September 1943
Home City of Record: Pinckneyville IL
Date of Loss: 18 February 1970
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 170600N 1060700E (XD070912)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4C

Other Personnel In Incident: Charles F. Morley (Missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 31 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: When North Vietnam began to increase their military strength in South
Vietnam, NVA and Viet Cong troops again intruded on neutral Laos for sanctuary,
as the Viet Minh had done during the war with the French some years before. The
border road, termed the "Ho Chi Minh Trail" was used for transporting weapons,
supplies and troops. Hundreds of American pilots were shot down trying to stop
this communist traffic to South Vietnam. Fortunately, search and rescue teams in
Vietnam were extremely successful and the recovery rate was high.

Still there were nearly 600 who were not rescued. Many of them went down along
the Ho Chi Minh Trail and the passes through the border mountains between Laos
and Vietnam. Many were alive on the ground and in radio contact with search and
rescue and other planes; some were known to have been captured. Hanoi's
communist allies in Laos, the Pathet Lao, publicly spoke of American prisoners
they held, but when peace agreements were negotiated, Laos was not included, and
not a single American was released that had been held in Laos.

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.

Capt. Thomas C. Daffron and 1Lt. Charles F. Morley were pilots attached to the
557th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Cam Ranh Bah, South Vietnam. On February 18,
1970, they were assigned an operational mission over the Ho Chi Minh Trail in
Laos. Daffron served as the pilot, while Morley flew as navigator - the "guy in
back."

During the mission, a fireball was seen on the ground which was presumed to be
the downed aircraft of Daffron and Morley. Observers saw no parachutes and heard
no emergency radio beepers. There was no clear evidence that the crew had safely
ejected, but it was not known that they did not. Daffron and Morley were
declared Missing in Action.

Morley once wrote his wife of 5 years, "May you always wait for me, may I never
keep you waiting again."  Yet, over 15 years later, both wait. Morley is one of
nearly 2500 in Southeast Asia, and nearly 600 in Laos who did not return from
the war. Unlike "MIAs" from other wars, most of these men can be accounted for.
Further, and even more significant, mounting evidence indicates that there are
hundreds of them still alive in captivity.

Refugees fleeing Southeast Asia have come with reports of Americans still held
in captivity. There are many such reports that withstand the closest scrutiny
the U.S. Government can give, yet official policy admits only to the
"possibility" that Americans remain as captives in Southeast Asia.

Until serious negotiations begin on Americans held in Southeast Asia, the
families of nearly 2500 Americans will wonder, "Where are they?" And the
families of many, many more future fighting men will wonder, "Will our sons be
abandoned, too?"


Thomas C. Daffron graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1965.

During the period he was maintained missing, Charles F. Morley was promoted to
the rank of Major.
DAHILL, DOUGLAS EDWARD

Name: Douglas Edward Dahill
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army Special Forces
Unit: Recon Team 5, Detachment B-52 DELTA, 5th Special Forces
Date of Birth: 06 March 1949
Home City of Record: Lima OH
Date of Loss: 17 April 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 160126N 1073546E (YC778732)
Status (In 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel In Incident: Charles V. Newton; Charles F. Prevedel; three
South Vietnamese Special Forces personnel

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: SSgt. Charles V. Newton, Sgt. Charles F. Prevedel, SP4 Douglas E.
Dahill and 3 unidentified Vietnamese were inserted into Quang Nam Province in
South Vietnam as part of Detachment B52 Delta's Reconnaissance Team 6 on April
14, 1969.

On April 16, the team reported making contact with the enemy, but radioed that
it was continuing the patrol.

On April 17, the team made its scheduled morning radio contact and reported the
team's position. At 206 hours, the team reported to Control and Command that
they were in a stream bed and had been hit hard, and requested air strikes.
Their location was then in Thua Thien Province, 9 miles from Laos. A Forward
Air Controller (FAC) sent into the area was unable to make radio contact with
the team. At 1400 hours, thunderstorms in the area prevented the insertion of a
relief force.

The next day, a BDA (Bomb Damage Assessment) team was inserted to search for
Team 6. They encountered Viet Cong personnel wearing tiger striped fatigues and
bearing rifles and grenades of the type used by Team 6. A thorough search of
the stream bed and surrounding area yielded no trace of Team 6. Numerous air
and ground searches of Team 6 evasion route were conducted with no positive
result.

A Viet Cong reported that in mid-May, 1969, he had seen two U.S. POWs in Quang
Nam province, exact location unspecified. The report was correlated to SSgt.
Newton and Sgt. Prevedel on the basis of time, location and compatability of
the physical descriptions.

Four photos from a Christmas, 1969 film of POWs were correlated by CIA to
Charles Newton, and one to Charles Prevedel. There has been no further
information to surface about Dahill. The Vietnamese deny having any knowledge
of any of the members of Team 6.

By mid-1989, nearly 10,000 reports had been received by the U.S. Government
relating to Americans still missing in Southeast Asia. Many authorities believe
there are still several hundred Americans still alive in captivity. Charles
Prevedel's father died in 1988, never knowing if the faces in the Christmas
film were his son and his partner, or an uncanny coincidence. The Vietnamese
aren't talking, and unfortunately, neither is the U.S. Government.

It's time we brought our men home.
DAIGLE, GLENN HENRI

Name: Glenn Henri Daigle
Rank/Branch: O2/US Navy
Unit:
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Labadieville LA
Date of Loss: 22 December 1965
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 205900N 1062400E (XJ455207)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: RA5C

Other Personnel in Incident: Max D. Lukenbach (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: 730212 RELSD BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: When nuclear powered USS ENTERPRISE arrived on Yankee Station on
December 2, 1965, she was the largest warship ever built. She brought with her
not only an imposing physical presence, but also an impressive component of
warplanes and the newest technology. Her air wing (CAG 9) consisted of more than
ninety aircraft. Among her attack squadrons were VA 36, VA 93, VA 76 and VA 94.
She launched her opening combat strike against targets in North Vietnam on
December 17, and by the end of her first week of combat operations, the
ENTERPRISE had set a record of 165 combat sorties in a single day, surpassing
the KITTY HAWK's 131. By the end of her first combat cruise, her air wing had
flown over 13,000 combat sorties. The record had not been achieved without cost.

On December 22, the ENTERPRISE teamed with the carriers KITTY HAWK and
TICONDEROGA in one of the war's biggest strikes to date, with one hundred
aircraft hitting the thermal power plant at Uong Bi located fifteen miles
north-northeast of the city of Haiphong. This was the first industrial target
authorized by the Johnson administration. The ENTERPRISE's aircraft approached
from the north and the KITTY HAWK/TICONDEROGA force from the south, leaving the
plant in shambles. The day's casualties were two A4Cs from the ENTERPRISE, an
RA5C Vigilante, and an A6A Intruder -- six Americans shot down.

One of the A4s was flown by LTJG Wendell R. Alcorn, a pilot from Attack Squadron
94 onboard the ENTERPRISE. Alcorn's aircraft was shot down about 15 miles
north-northeast of Haiphong and he was captured by the North Vietnamese. For the
next 7 years, Alcorn was a "guest" in the Hanoi prison system. He was ultimately
released in Operation Homecoming on Valentine's Day, 1973.

The second A4C shot down on December 22, 1965 was flown from the ENTERPRISE by
LT John D. Prudhomme. Prudhomme's aircraft was hit by enemy fire and crashed
near Alcorn's position. Prudhomme was not as lucky as Alcorn; he was deemed to
have been killed in the crash of his aircraft. He is listed among the missing
because his remains were not recovered.

The RA5C reconnaissance aircraft was shot down about 5 miles east of Hai Duong
in Hai Hung Province, about 30 miles from Alcorn and Prudhomme. Its crew
consisted of the pilot, LCDR Max D. Lukenbach and his rear-seater, LTJG Glenn H.
Daigle. LTJG Daigle was captured by the Vietnamese and held in Hanoi until his
release on February 12, 1973. Lukenbach, according to intelligence received,
died in the crash of the plane and was buried near the crash site.

The fates of the crew of the fourth aircraft to be shot down is uncertain. Pilot
CDR Billie J. Cartwright and his rear-seater LT Edward F. Gold were declared
missing in action after their A6A Intruder went down about 30 miles northeast of
Haiphong.

On December 23, twenty-four hours before President Johnson's thirty-seven-day
bombing halt would take effect, another large flight launched from the
ENTERPRISE for strikes in North Vietnam.

LTJG William L. Shankel describes the flight:

"About twenty planes were going after a bridge over the Red River, halfway
between Hanoi and Haiphong and I was in the second section. My A4 was a real
dog, and I had to cut corners to keep everybody else from running off and
leaving me. I reached the target by myself, pulled up, and rolled in to
dive-bomb the bridge. The plane was hit as soon as the bombs left, at the bottom
of the dive... When I went out, the plane was inverted and almost supersonic,
and the ejection really thrashed my right knee."

Shankel, Alcorn and Daigle were all held in what has come to be known as the
Hanoi prison system -- The Hoa Lo (Hanoi Hilton), Heartbreak Hotel, the Zoo,
Alcatraz, Briarpatch and others. Although their captivity was distinctly
unpleasant, both from the standpoint of torture and deprivation and from the
mental torture of wondering year after year, if they would ever come home, these
three are among the more lucky ones. They came home alive.

At the end of the war, 591 Americans were released from the Hanoi prison system.
Military authorities at the time were shocked that hundreds more known or
suspected to be prisoners were not released. Since that time, nearly 10,000
intelligence reports have been received relating to Americans who were prisoner,
missing or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia. Some officials, having reviewed
this largely-classified information, have reluctantly concluded that large
numbers of Americans are still alive in captivity today.

These reports are the source of serious distress to many returned American
prisoners. They had a code that no one could honorably return unless all of the
prisoners returned. Not only that code of honor, but the honor of our country is
in jeopardy as long as even one man remains unjustly held.


William L. Shankel, Glenn H. Daigle and Wendell R. Alcorn were promoted to the
rank of Lieutenant Commander during the period they were Prisoners of War.
Billie J. Cartwright was promoted to the rank of Captain and Edward F. Gold to
the rank of Commander during the period they were maintained missing.

William L. Shankel, MD is a surgeon and resides in Laughlin, Nevada.

DAILEY, DOUGLAS VINCENT

Name: Douglas Vincent Dailey
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit: 606th Special Operations Squadron, Nakhon Phanom, Thailand
Date of Birth: 30 June 1936
Home City of Record: Waterford MI
Date of Loss: 13 December 1968
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 170100N 1055900E (XD055824)
Status (In 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: C123K
Other Personnel in Incident: On C123K: John Albright; Morgan Donahue; Joseph
Fanning; Samuel Walker; Fred L. Clarke (all missing); On B57B: Thomas W. Dugan;
Francis J. McGouldrick (all missing)

REMARKS: MID AIR COL-1 PARA OBS

SYNOPSIS: On December 13, 1968, the crew of a C123K was dispatched from Nakhon
Phanom Airfield located in northern Thailand near the border of Laos on an
operational mission over Laos. The C123, a converted WWII glider equipped with
two engines, was assigned night patrol missions along the Ho Chi Minh trail.
Flying low at 2000-3000 feet, the job of the seven man crew was to spot enemy
truck convoys on the trail and to light up the trails for accompanying B57
bombers which were flying overhead.

The crew on this particular mission included the pilot (name unknown); 1Lt.
Joseph P. Fanning, co-pilot; 1Lt. John S. Albright, navigator; 1Lt. Morgan J.
Donahue, navigator; SSgt. Samuel F. Walker, SSgt. Douglas V. Dailey, TSgt. Fred
L. Clarke, crewmembers. At 0330 hours, as the aircraft was flying about 30 miles
southwest of the Ban Karai Pass in Laos, the crew of the C123 were jolted by a
blow on the top of their plane in the after section. An overhead B57 that had
been called in for an air strike had collided with the control plane. The C123
lost power and went out of control. The pilot, stunned by a blow to the head,
lost consciousness.

Because of its glider configuration, the plane did not fall straight to the
ground, but drifted lazily to the ground in a flat spin which lasted several
minutes. When the pilot regained consciousness, he noted that the co-pilot
(Fanning) and navigator (Donahue) were gone. Donahue's station was in the
underbelly of the plane where, lying on his stomach, he directed an infared
detection device through an open hatch. The pilot parachuted out, landed in a
treetop where he remained until rescued at dawn. On the way down, he saw
another chute below him, but, because of the dark, was unable to determine who
the crew member was.

Intelligence reports after the incident indicate that Donahue, at least, safely
reached the ground near Tchepone, but suffered a broken leg. A refugee who
escaped captivity in Laos in 1974 reported having observed an American prisoner
broughy to the caves near Tchepone, where he was held, in the period between
1968 and 1970. This American was later moved to another locatation unknown to
the refugee.

Several reports referring to "Moe-gan" and others describing Donahue as the
American called the "animal doctor" were received over the years since war's
end. In June and August, 1987, the Donahue family was given intelligence
reports tracking Morgan's movements from a POW camp in Kham Kuet, Khammouane
Province, Laos in the spring of 1987 to another camp in the Boualapha District
of the same province in August 1987. These reports were mere WEEKS old, yet the
U.S. marked them "routine". One of them gave Morgan's aircraft type and serial
number, which turned out to be, instead of the serial number of the aircraft,
Morgan's father's ZIP CODE. Morgan's family believes this is clearly a signal
to them from Morgan.

The crew of the C123K are among nearly 600 Americans who disappeared in Laos.
Many of these men were alive on the ground. The Lao admitted holding American
prisoners but these men were never negotiated for. Where are they? Are they
alive? Imagine the torture the Donahue family endures knowing Morgan is alive,
yet helpless to do anything to help him. What are we doing to help bring them
home?

(John S. Albright II and Morgan J. Donahue graduated in 1967 from the United
States Air Force Academy)



DALE, CHARLES ALVA

Name: Charles Alva Dale
Rank/Branch: 02/US Army
Unit: 73rd Aviation Company, 765th Transportation Battalion
Date of Birth: 05 May 1937 (Churchill TN)
Home City of Record: Phoenix AZ
Date of Loss: 09 June 1965
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 093514N 1062201E (XR035296)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 1
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: OV1C

Other Personnel In Incident: David S. Demmon (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS: DISAPPEARED OVER VINH BIHN

SYNOPSIS: At 0317 hours on June 9, 1965, 1Lt. Charles A. Dale, pilot; and SP4
David S. Demmon, electronic sensor operator, departed Vung Tau in an OV1C
(serial #61-2687) on a mission. The nature of the mission is not included in
public record, but was undoubtedly a standard battlefield surveillance mission,
or, as the 765th Transportation Battalion was primarily aircraft maintenance and
support, it might have been a test of equipment onboard the aircraft.

The OV1C maintained surveillance using infrared detection equipment and a
forward-aimed camera (which proved especially useful since the Viet Cong relied
heavily on darkness to conceal their activities).

Standard proceedure for the OV1C was to periodically fly over a known location
to update the navigation computer. One such update, about 87 minutes after
takeoff placed Dale and Demmon over Vung Tau. At this time, he was headed to a
second mission area in Vinh Binh Province, South Vietnam.

Somewhere over the U Minh forest, the aircraft was shot down. Search and rescue
forces sighted two men wading out of the water and the Viet Cong capturing them,
but positive identification was prevented by weather. However, Demmon and Dale
were the only two Americans shot down that dayu. Dale was declared Missing in
Action, while Demmon was classified Prisoner of War. It was felt that the enemy
knew the fates of both men, alive or dead.

Reports relating to Dale and Demmon were received as late as 1970, both together
and separately. Both men were seen alive by intelligence sources in the hands of
the Viet Cong. One defector provided the phoenetic name "Phyan De Mann", which
translates to "Family name of De Manh" (possibly meaning "Demmon").

In 1971, Demmon was seen alive in captivity. A Viet Cong guard, who stated that
he had guarded American POWs from September to December 1965, stated he saw two
men he believed to be Demmon and Dale in his camp. The families of both men
believed they were captured, and eagerly awaited their release at the end of the
war.

When the war ended, however, and 591 Americans were released from communist
prisons in Souteast Aisa, Dale and Demmon were not among them. The Vietnamese
never acknowledged their existence, nor did their names appear on lists provided
by the Vietnamese of prisoners who had died in captivity.

In 1987, evidence of a large number of Americans being held in China began to
surface in the private sector. It was said that these Americans were the
"property" of a number of pro-China Vietnamese officials who had fled Vietnam in
the wake of a stronger national sympathy to the Soviet Union. Charles Alva Dale,
it was said, was serving as a houseboy to one of these officials.

The reports could not be verified. Dale and Demmon's families still wonder where
they are. They don't know whether to hope they died that day in June 1965, or to
hope they survived, and are alive still. If they survived, what must they have
gone through? And what must they think of the country they so proudly served?

Charles A. Dale was promoted to the rank of Major and Demmon to the rank of
Staff Sergeant during the period they were maintained Missing and Prisoner.


DALTON, RANDALL DAVID

Name: Randall David Dalton
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: Troop A, 3rd Squadron, 17th Cavalry (Air Cavalry), 12th Aviation Group
Date of Birth: 05 December 1950 (Alton IL)
Home City of Record: Collinsville IL
Date of Loss: 24 July 1971
Country of Loss: Cambodia
Loss Coordinates: 120327N 1063522E (XU730333)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: OH6A
Other Personnel in Incident: Gregory A. Antunano (missing); Timothy G. Wiltrout
(rescued)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: The 3rd Squadron, 17th Cavalry was part of the 12th Aviation Group
during its service in Vietnam. It was responsible for air cavalry support in
the western part of III Corps Tactical Zone. In late 1970 it was placed under
the operational control of the 1st Cavalry Division to form a highly successful
ad hoc air cavalry brigade.

On July 24, 1971, WO1 Timothy G. Wiltrout, pilot; Sgt. Gregory A. Antunano,
observer; and SP4 Randall D. Dalton, door gunner; were crew members on an OH6A
"Loach" observation helicopter (serial #17-257) which was shot down by enemy
fire while on a reconnaissance mission in Cambodia. The aircraft went down
about 5 miles inside Cambodia, in Kracheh Province, just a few miles southeast
of the city of Snuol.

When rescuers arrived at the crash site, they found the pilot outside the
downed aircraft. He suffered a broken leg in the incident, but was otherwise
unhurt. The other two crew members were still strapped in their seats inside
the wreckage. Both were taken out of the helicopter and at that time, SP4
Dalton was still alive. Sgt. Antunano was believed to be dead.

A short time later, SP4 Dalton stopped breathing. Efforts to revive him were
unsuccessful. The medic checked both Dalton and Antunano several times, and
told other rescuers that they were dead.

As enemy soldiers began moving into the area, search and rescue aircraft
evacuated the rescue team and Wiltrout, the pilot. Because of enemy presence,
no attempt was made to extract the two bodies. They were left lying near the
downed helicopter.

The following day, several SAR aircraft returned to the location in an attempt
to recover Antunano and Dalton, but noted that the aircraft had been stripped
and moved several feet. Personal effects of the crew, such as their helmets,
weapons and the aircraft radio had also been removed. Sgt. Antunano and SP4
Dalton's bodies were gone. A search of the area from the air did not reveal
fresh graves or any sign of the two men.

Antunano and Dalton's bodies were never found. They are listed with honor among
the missing because their remains are still on enemy soil. For other missing
Americans, simple resolution is not possible. Some were in radio contact with
would-be rescuers - some simply did not return from missions. Others were known
prisoners who disappeared from prison systems and were not released at the end
of the war.

"Several million documents" and 250,000 interviews have convinced many
officials that Americans were left behind in Vietnam and that some remain alive
today. Some number those alive in the hundreds. While Dalton and Antunano may
not be among them, if there is even one American left alive, we must do
everything possible to bring him home.

CASE SYNOPSIS: DALY, JAMES ALEXANDER JR.

Name: James Alexander Daly, Jr.
Rank/Branch: E3/US Army
Unit: Company A, 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry 196th Light Infantry Brigade
(Americal) Chu Lai, South Vietnam
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Brooklyn NY
Loss Date: 09 January 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 153551N 1081006E (AT964263)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel in Incident: Company A: Richard R. Rehe (missing); Willie A.
Watkins (released POW 1969); Derri Sykes (missing); Company D: Francis E.
Cannon (POW - remains returned 1985); Richard F. Williams (POW - remains
returned 1985); David N. Harker (released POW - 1973); James H. Strickland
(released POW - 1969); Thomas A. Booker (killed); "Coglin" (an unknown person
whom Cannon said died)

REMARKS: RELEASED 730316 BY PRG

SYNOPSIS: On January 8, 1968, PFC Richard Rehe, PFC Derri Sykes, PFC James A.
Daly and Cpl. Willie A. Watkins, members of A Company, 3rd Battalion, 21st
Infantry, 196th Light Infantry Brigade (Americal) were ordered to move down to
Happy Valley in Quang Tin Province, South Vietnam. "Charlie" and "Delta"
Companies had been sustaining heavy losses in previous days.

PFC David N. Harker, James H. Strickland, 1Sgt. Richard F. Williams, Sgt.
Thomas A. Booker, PFC Francis E. Cannon and "Coglin" were part of Delta
Company. During the fight, a mortar shell exploded near Cannon, the radioman,
killing Sgt. Booker and "Coglin". Harker, a rifleman, was stabbed in the side
with a bayonette. Strickland, a rifleman, was not seriously wounded. Cannon had
a large hole in his upper back and a smaller hole near his neck. The Company's
first sergeant, "Top" Williams, was shot through the right hand and injured an
arm. Harker, Strickland, Williams and Cannon were captured that day.

The next day, under heavy attack, Daly, Rhe, Watkins and Sykes were injured and
captured. Sykes, a rifleman, was hit 3 times as he and Watkins had jumped for
cover just when a grenade hit. Watkins was captured immediately, but thought
that Sykes was left behind, as the enemy rushed him (Watkins) from the area.
During his departure from the area, Watkins saw Daly, whom he thought dead,
lying in a rice paddy. Daly then moved and drew attention to himself and was
captured. Watkins later saw Sykes, bandaged and calling for water. Watkins and
Daly carried him along the trail after their capture, but were ordered to leave
him under a shed at a house on the trail on the first day. They never saw Derri
Sykes again.

Watkins said that Richard Rehe, a grenadier, had also been taken prisoner that
day, but died in captivity from wounds sustained in the battle. Daly stated
that both Rehe and Sykes had been captured but had died the same day.

Cannon, Williams, Harker, Strickland, Watkins and Daly eventually were held
together in prison camps in Quang Nam Province, South Vietnam. For Americans as
well as Viet Cong, life in these camps was extremely difficult. The living
conditions were primitive, food scarce at times, and disease and dysentary
common, adequate medical treatment uncommon. It was not uncommon for POWs held
in the south to die of starvation or disease. It is also resonable to expect
that in such circumstances, one cannot predict behavior or its abberation.
While superhuman efforts were made to maintain the esprit de corps and military
order and honor, it was sometimes impossible not to revert to a basic, more
primitive nature for self preservation.

Top Williams, a veteran of World War II, and a big grey haired man, was
described as being a real professional. His injured hand became gangrenous, but
he survived this injury. He was receiving treatment and still probing for bone
splinters in his injured arm when he contracted dysentery and ultimately died,
September 27, 1968. Death from malnutrition and dysentery is extremely
unpleasant, and the victim suffers not only from the discomfort of dysentery,
but also from severe edema, and many times from halucinations. Williams'
remains were returned in 1985, after 17 years.

Frank Cannon, a handsome 6" tall man of 24 with deep set eyes, suffered from
the wounds he received by the exploding mortar shell. These wounds became
gangrenous, and although the wounds gradually improved by summer 1968, Cannon
grew continually weaker. By August, Cannon weighed only 90 pounds and slipped
into a coma. In early September 1968, Frank Cannon died. 17 years later, the
Vietnamese returned his remains to his country.

Willie Watkins, described as just over 6" tall, good-looking, lanky, very dark
skin, penetrating eyes, wiry and hard as a rock remained one of the strongest
prisoners and at times was a leader among his fellow POWs. According to some of
them, he "always had a Bible and a machete". He was never sick.

James H. Strickland, a rather short, blue-eyed, boyish looking man was known to
be a hard worker and to be as strong as a bull. He was also pointed out by the
Vietnamese as an example of a "progressive" prisoner, as was Willie Watkins.
The two were released from Cambodia on November 5, 1969.

James A. Daly, a conscientious objector, never felt he should have been in
combat. He had been waiting for notice to leave Vietnam, following a lengthy
process of appeal on the basis of his beliefs. Daly, a big man, "coffee and
cream color" was only slightly wounded when he was captured. His sense of self
preservation ensured that he lost a minimum of weight. He joined the "Peace
Committee" comprised of a number of other military men who opposed the war, and
official charges were brought against him upon his 1973 release by fellow POW
Col. Theodore Guy. In the wake of the POW release, charges were officially
dismissed.

David Harker also felt some anti-war sentiments, but it was said that he slowly
turned "reactionary" against the Vietnamese after he was moved to North Vietnam
after three years in the jungle.

Perhaps it is important to note that no returned POW would deny "collaborating"
with the enemy at some point in time. Technically, if a POW was ordered to work
or to perform any function whatever, the execution of this function would be
considered collaboration. Sometimes the abberation in conduct was a group
decision, made for the welfare of the unit. At other times, the desision to
cooperate was made for purely self-serving reasons - such as starvation,
reluctance to be tortured, loss of will to resist. It cannot be possible for
any person to judge this behavior not having experienced the horror that caused
it.

Richard Rehe and Derri Sykes alone remain unaccounted for from the battle in
Quang Tin Province. Although it seems certain that they are both dead, the
Vietnamese deny any knowledge of them.

For many others who are missing, simple and certain death did not occur. Some
just vanished, others were known captives and never were returned. Still others
were alive and well and in radio contact with would-be rescuers describing the
approach of the enemy.

Tragically, thousands of reports have been received indicating that some
hundreds of Americans are still alive and in captivity in Southeast Asia. We
cannot forget them, we cannot write them off. They must be brought home.






DANIELSON, BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

Name: Benjamin Franklin Danielson
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 31 March 1943
Home City of Record: Kenyon MN
Date of Loss: 05 December 1969
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 173100N 1054300E (WE770370)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4C

Other Personnel In Incident: Navigator (rescued)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Captain Benjamin F. Danielson was the pilot of the number two aircraft
in a flight of two F4Cs on an operational mission over Laos. Captain Danielson
and his navigator departed Cam Ranh Bay Air Base, South Vietnam at 10:00 a.m. on
December 5, 1969. At about 11:30 a.m., while pulling up from a dive, the
aircraft was hit by hostile ground fire.

Two ejection seats and two parachutes were observed leaving the plane, and two
emergency radio beeper signals were received. The two landed 100 feet apart on
each side of a river. Voice contact was established with both men on the ground,
who reported that they were in good shape. Six separate rescue attempts were
made on that day, but each was aborted when it came under heavy ground fire.
Search and rescue attempts contniued for 12 hours. The navigator saw Danielson
twice that day and talked with him on the radio all day and night. Danielson and
the navigator had worked out a signal system that if one man beeped the other,
it meant not to call on the radio because the enemy was close enough to hear
radio chatter.

Fourty-five minutes after first light on December 6, Danielson beeped the
navigator oned. It is believed that the enemy found Danielson's position at this
time. There was no further beeper or radio contact from Ben for about an hour,
then the beeper went off and stayed active until the batteries would have run
down. Heavy ground fire prevented the navigator from being rescued until noon on
December 7. Danielson, at that time, was not found. Danielson was last seen
about 1 mile southwest of Ban Phanop, Laos.

Like nearly 600 others lost in Laos, Danielson simply vanished without a trace.
No agreement was reached regarding the prisoner held by the Lao. No prisoners
were released by the Lao. Many of the thousands of reports of Americans alive in
captivity today come from Laos. Perhaps one of those who remain is Danielson;
that is uncertain. What is certain, however, is that someone knows the fate of
Benjamin F. Danielson.


DANIELSON, MARK GILES

Name: Mark Giles Danielson
Rank/Branch: O3/USAF
Unit: 16th Special Operations Squadron (PAF), Ubon, Thailand
Date of Birth: 29 April 1943
Home City of Record: Rangely CO
Date of Loss: 18 June 1972
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 161500N 1071200E (YC343978)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: AC130A

Other Personnel in Incident: Jacob Mercer; Richard Nyhof; Robert Wilson; Leon A.
Hunt; Larry J. Newman; Gerald F. Ayres; Stanley Lehrke; Robert Harrison; Donald
H. Klinke; Richard M. Cole; Gerald F. Ayres (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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: Lockheed's versatile C130 aircraft filled many roles in Vietnam,
including transport, tanker, gunship, drone controller, airborne battlefield
command and control center, weather reconnaissance, electronic reconnaissance,
and search, rescue and recovery.

The AC130, outfitted as a gunship, was the most spectacular of the modified
C130's. These ships pierced the darkness using searchlights, flares, night
observation devices that intensified natural light, and a variety of electronic
sensors such as radar, infared equipment and even low-level television. On some
models, a computer automatically translated sensor data into instructions for
the pilot, who kept his fixed, side-firing guns trained on target by adjusting
the angle of bank as he circled. The crew of these planes were, therefore,
highly trained and capable. They were highly desirable "captures" for the enemy
because of their technical knowledge.

1LT Paul F. Gilbert was the pilot of an AC130A gunship assigned a mission near
the A Shau Valley in the Republic of Vietnam on June 18, 1972. The crew,
totaling 15 men included MAJ Gerald F. Ayres, MAJ Robert H. Harrison, CAPT
Robert A. Wilson, CAPT Mark G. Danielson, TSGT Richard M. Cole Jr., SSGT Donald
H. Klinke, SSGT Richard E. Nyhof, SSGT Larry J. Newman, SGT Leon A. Hunt, and
SGT Stanley L. "Larry" Lehrke.

During the mission, the aircraft was hit by a surface-to-air missile (SAM) and
went down near the border of Laos and Vietnam. In fact, the first location
coordinates given to the families were indeed Laos, but were quickly changed to
reflect a loss just inside South Vietnam.

Three survivors of the crash were rescued the next day. After several years of
effort, some of the family members of the other crewmembers were able to review
part of their debriefings, which revealed that a bail-out order was given, and
that at least one unexplained parachute was observed, indicating that at least
one other airman may have safely escaped the crippled aircraft.

In early 1985, resistance forces surfaced information which indicated that SGT
Mercer had survived the crash and was currently held prisoner. Parents of
another crew member, Mark G. Danielson, discovered a photograph of an
unidentified POW printed about 6 months after the crash, in their local
newspaper whom they were CONVINCED was Mark. It was several years, however,
before the U.S. Government allowed the Danielsons to view the film from which
the photo was taken. When they viewed the film, their certainty diminished.

The hope that some of the twelve missing from the AC130A gunship has not
diminished, however. Since the war ended, over 10,000 reports relating to
Americans missing, prisoner or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia have been
received by the U.S. Government, including over 1,000 first-hand live sighting
reports.

Families who might be able to lay their anguish and uncertainty to rest are
taunted by these reports, wondering if their loved one is still alive, abandoned
and alone. Since a large portion of the information is classified, it is
impossible for the families to come to their own conclusions as to the accuracy
of the reports.

The fate of the twelve missing men from the gunship lost on June 18, 1972 is
unknown. What is certain is that the governments of Southeast Asia possess far
more knowledge than they have admitted to date. A large percentage of the nearly
2500 missing Americans CAN be accounted for. There can be no question that if
even one American remains alive in captivity today, we have a moral and legal
obligation to do everything possible to bring him home.

DARCY, EDWARD JOSEPH

Name: Edward Joseph Darcy
Rank/Branch: E5/US Air Force
Unit: 314th Tactical Airlift Wing, Nha Trang Airbase, South Vietnam
Date of Birth: 19 June 1938
Home City of Record: Portland ME
Date of Loss: 29 December 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 220900N 1032200E (UK315501)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: C130E
Other Personnel In Incident: James R. Williams; Gean P. Clapper; Charles P.
Claxton; Wayne A. Eckley; Donald E. Fisher; Edwin N. Osborne; Frank C. Parker;
Gerald G. VanBuren; Gordon J. Wenaas; Jack McCrary; (all missing)

REMARKS: RADIO CONTACT LOST

SYNOPSIS: On December 29, 1967, a C130E aircraft departed Nha Trang Airbase
shortly after midnight on an operational mission over North Vietnam. The eleven
man crew aboard the aircraft included Maj. Charles P. Claxton; Capt. Edwin N.
Osborne Jr., and Capt. Gerald G. Van Buren (all listed as pilots); and crewmen
SSgt. Edward J. Darcy; SSgt. Gean P. Clapper; SSgt. Wayne A. Eckley; LtCol.
Donald E. Fisher; TSgt. Jack McCrary; Capt. Frank C. Parker III; Capt. Gordon
J. Wenaas; and Sgt. James R. Williams.

At 4:30 a.m., the pilot made radio contact with Nha Trang and said the mission
was progressing as scheduled. No further contact was made. The aircraft's last
known position was in extreme northwest North Vietnam, in mountainous Lai Chau
Province. The eleven Americans aboard the aircraft were declared Missing in
Action.

When the war ended, and 591 Americans were released from Vietnamese prison
camps, the crew of the C130 was not among them. Although the Vietnamese
pledged, as part of the Paris Peace Accords, to release all prisoners and make
the fullest possible accounting of the missing, they have done neither. The
Vietnamese deny any knowledge of the crew of the C130.

Alarmingly, evidence continues to mount that Americans were left as prisoners
in Southeast Asia and continue to be held today. Unlike "MIAs" from other wars,
most of the nearly 2500 men and women who remain missing in Southeast Asia can
be accounted for. If even one was left alive (and many authorities estimate the
numbers to be in the hundreds), we have failed as a nation until and unless we
do everything possible to secure his freedom and bring him home.

DARDEAU, OSCAR MOISE JR.
Remains Returned 25 November 1987

Name: Oscar Moise Dardeau, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 11 December 1931
Home City of Record: Ville Platte LA
Date of Loss: 18 November 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 213800N 1051200E (WJ206920)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F105D

Other Personnel in Incident: From nearby F105s: Edward W. Lehnhoff; Edward B.
Burdett; Leslie J. Hauer (all remains returned)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS: 770609 SRV SED WOULD RET REMS SEP

SYNOPSIS: The F105 Thunderchief (or "Thud") performed yoeman service on many
diversified missions in Southeast Asia. F105s flew more combat missions over
North Vietnam than any other USAF aircraft and consequently suffered the
heaviest losses in action. They dropped bombs by day and occasionally by night
from high or low altitude and some later versions (F105D in Wild Weasel guise)
attacked SAM sites with their radar tracking air-to-ground missiles. This
versatile aircraft was also credited with downing 25 Russian MiGs.

On November 18, 1967, three F105s were shot down over Vinh Phu Province. It is
likely that the three were part of a multi-plane strike on military targets
around Hanoi.

The first F105 to be shot down, a D model, was flown by Col. Edward Burke
Burdett. The aircraft was shot down about 20 miles from Hanoi. Burdett was
captured by the Vietnamese, but, according to a list provided by the Vietnamese,
died in captivity the same day he was shot down. Whether Burdett was so severely
injured in the bail-out or was tortured to death is unknown. His remains were
not returned until March 6, 1974.

The second F105 was an F model and was flown by Maj. Oscar M. Dardeau, Jr. His
co-pilot on the flight was Capt. Edward W. Lehnhoff, Jr. Their aircraft was shot
down about 10 miles north of the city of Phy Tho. The fate of these two remains
uncertain, but they were classified Missing in Action, and there were
indications that the Vietnamese knew their fates. The Vietnamese "discovered"
and returned their remains on November 25, 1987.

Maj. Leslie J. Hauer was the pilot of the third F105 to be shot down at Vinh
Yen. Maj. Hauer was declared Missing in Action. In June, 1977, the Vietnamese
told U.S. officials they would return Maj. Hauer's remains in September. In
September, thirteen years later, they did just that.

Whether all the four airmen shot down on November 18, 1967 survived to be
captured is uncertain, but the notion is not unreasonable. Although the
Vietnamese have conducted site excavations in an effort to show "good will" in
recovering U.S. remains, they are known to have stockpiled hundreds of American
bodies awaiting politically expedient moments to return them, a few at a time.

Mounting evidence indicates that some Americans are still alive being held
prisoner of war in Southeast Asia. The Vietnamese pledged to return all
prisoners of war and provide the fullest possible accounting of the missing in
the peace accords signed in 1973. They have done neither, and the U.S. has not
compelled them to do so.

The United States government pledged that the POW/MIA issue is of "highest
national priority" but has not achieved results indicative of a priority.
Mitchell and the nearly 2500 Americans who remain unaccounted for in Southeast
Asia deserve our best efforts to bring them home, not empty rhetoric.

Edward W. Lehnhoff, Jr. was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, Oscar M.
Dardeau, Jr. and Leslie J. Hauer were promoted to the rank of Colonel, during
the period they were maintained Missing in Action.



DAREL DEAN LEETUN

Name: Darel Dean Leetun
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 24 December 1932
Home City of Record: Hettinger ND
Date of Loss: 17 September 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 213900N 1063000E (XJ552946)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F105D

Other Personnel In Incident:

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: The F105 Thunderchief ("Thud"), in its various versions, flew more
missions against North Vietnam than any other U.S. aircraft. It also suffered
more losses, partially due to its vulnerability, which was constantly under
revision.

Maj. Darel D. Leetun was an F105D pilot assigned a combat mission over North
Vietnam on September 17, 1966. When Leetun was over Lang Son Province about
halfway between the cities of Kep and Loc Binh, the aircraft was shot down. The
possibility that Leetun ejected safely existed, and he was classified Missing in
Action. The U.S. believes the Vietnamese could probably account for him, but
they deny knowledge of him.

Nearly 2500 Americans did not come home from the war in Vietnam. In nearly half
those cases, there is ample reason to believe that the Vietnamese and their
communist allies know the fates of the men. Some hundred were known to be held
as prisoners, and some were photographed in captivity.

Years after our military involvement ended, reports of Americans held captive
continue to mount. Thousands of reports have been received indicating that
Americans are still being held prisoner in Southeast Asia. The U.S. Government
continues to press the Vietnamese for information, as it has for nearly 15
years. The U.S. views the problem as humanitarian, while the Vietnamese are
concerned with reconstruction aid promised by signed agreement but not
delivered. Until we are willing to negotiate for their release, these Americans
will die in communist prisons wondering why their country abandoned them.

Darel D. Leetun was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel during the period
he was maintained missing.
DARR, CHARLES EDWARD
Remains Returned 15 December 1988

Name: Charles Edward Darr
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit: TDY to 72 Strat Wing, Anderson AFB Guam
Date of Birth: 25 February 1944
Home City of Record: Little Rock AR
Date of Loss: 21 December 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 211500 1054600 (WJ795497)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: B52

Other Personnel In Incident: James L. Lollar (returned POW); Randall J.
Craddock; George B. Lockhart; Ronald D. Perry; Bobby A. Kirby (remains returned)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On December 21, 1972, a B52 bomber from the 72nd Strat Wing, Anderson
AFB Guam, was sent on a bombing mission during the famed Christmas Bombings
during that month. By the 21st, when the B52 departed for the Hanoi region, 8
B52's and several fighter bombers had been lost since December 18, and 43 flyers
had been captured or killed during the same period.

The Christmas Bombings, despite press accounts to the contrary, were of the most
precise the world had seen. Pilots involved in the immense series of strikes
generally agree that the strikes against anti-aircraft and strategic targets was
so successful that the U.S., had it desired, "could have taken the entire
country of Vietnam by inserting an average Boy Scout troop in Hanoi and marching
them southward."

A very high percentage of B52 aircrew were captured immediately and returned in
1973, a much higher percentage than strategists imagined. Beyond that number,
several were known to have made it safely to the ground, yet did not return for
unknown reasons.

When the B52 from 72 Strat Wing, Guam was hit by a surface-to-air missile in the
early hours of December 21, 1972, the fate of the crewmembers was varied.
Multiple emergency beepers were heard by aircraft in the area, indicating that
several of the crew members had safely bailed out of the crippled aircraft.

James Lollar was captured and subsequently released in March the following year.
The U.S. did not know he had been captured.

Ronald Perry's remains were returned exactly 3 years to the day from the day he
was shot down. The remains of Randall J. Craddock, Bobby A. Kirby, George B.
Lockhart and Charles E. Darr were returned six days short of the sixteenth
anniversary of their shoot-down. The positive identifications of the second
group to be returned was announced in August 1989.

Another returned POW, Ernest Moore, mentioned that he believed Darr had been
held at the "Zoo" in Hanoi, but the U.S. never changed Darr's status from
Missing to Prisoner. There is every reason to suspect the Vietnamese knew what
happened to all the crewmembers, but especially Charles E. Darr.

Whose radios beeped in distress from the ground that day in December 1972? When
and how did Bobby Kirby, Randall Craddock, Charles Darr, Ronald Perry and George
Lockhart die? If any of them were prisoners of war, why did we allow the
Vietnamese wait 16 years to return their remains?

George Barry Lockhart is a 1969 graduate of the United States Air Force Academy.


CASE SYNOPSIS: DAVIDSON, DAVID ARTHUR

Name: David Arthur Davison
Rank/Branch: US Army Special Forces
Unit: MACV-SOG CC North; 5th Special Forces Group
Date of Birth: 08 March 1947 (Washington DC)
Home City of Record: East Riverside MD
Date of Loss: 5 October 1970
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 161126N 1070527E (YC227912)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel in Incident: Fred A. Gassman (missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: In Vietnam, SSgt. David A. Davidson was assigned to Command and
Control North, MACV-SOG (Military Assistance Command, Vietnam Studies and
Observation Group).  MACV-SOG was a joint service high command unconventional
warfare task force engaged in highly classified operations throughout Southeast
Asia.  The 5th Special Forces channelled personnel into MACV-SOG (although it
was not a Special Forces group) through Special Operations Augmentation (SOA),
which provided their "cover" while under secret orders to MACV-SOG.  The teams
performed deep penetration missions of strategic reconnaissance and
interdiction which were called, depending on the time frame, "Shining Brass" or
"Prairie Fire" missions.

On October 5, 1970, Davidson and Sgt. Fred Gassman were members of a joint
American and Vietnamese reconnaissance patrol operating about 12 miles inside
Laos. The patrol had established their night position west of Ta Bat when they
were attacked by a hostile force. According to the two surviving indigenous
patrol members, Davidson was hit once in the head during a long burst of enemy
fire while the team was attempting to evacuate the area, and fell down a ridge,
after which he lay motionless with what appeared to be a fatal head wound.

At about 1300 hours, Gassman radioed the overhead aircraft that they were
being hit from three sides, and that they were low on ammunition and
requested an emergency extraction and air strikes. As he attempted to
retrieve the homing device, he stated on the radio, "I've been hit, and in
the worst way", followed by several groans before the radio went dead. The
surviving indigenous patrol members said that they last saw Gassman lying
motionless with a large hole in his back.

One unsuccessful search and recovery attempt was made shortly after the
incident, but further attempts were curtailed due to the difficult tactical
situation in the area. Davidson and Gassman remain missing. All other team
members were successfully extracted.

There is every reason to believe that the enemy forces surrounding the night
encampment know what happened to Davidson and Gassman, yet no information has
been secured regarding their fates.

Nearly 600 Americans were lost in Laos, and although the Pathet Lao stated on
several occasions that they held American prisoners, the U.S. did not negotiate
with the Pathet Lao for their release. Since that time, reports have flowed in
indicating that hundreds of Americans are still alive, waiting to be free. Did
Davidson and Gassman die on October 5, 1970? Or are they still in Laos,
wondering why the country they fought so proudly for has not come to rescue
them?
DAVIES, JOHN OWEN

Name: John Owen Davies
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Reading PA
Date of Loss: 04 February 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 221546N 1055300E (WK910620)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: EB66C
Other Personnel in Incident: Jack W. Bomar; John Fer (both released POWs);
Russell A. Poor (missing); Herb Doby; Woodrow H. Wilburn (remains returned)
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1990 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.

REMARKS: 730218 RELSD BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: The Douglas EB66C Skywarrior was outfitted as an electronic warfare
aircraft which carried roughly 5 tons of electronic gear in addition to its
flight crew of three and technical personnel. The EB66C featured a pressurized
capsule installed in the bomb bay, that accommodated four technicians whose
responsibility was to operate electronic reconnaissance gear.

On February 4, 1967, an EB66C was dispatched on an operational mission over
North Vietnam. The crew and technicians that day included Maj. Jack W. Bomar,
1Lt. John O. Davies, Capt. John Fer, Capt. Russell A. Poor, Capt. Herb Doby, and
Maj. Woodrow Hoover.

At a point about 40 miles from the China border in Bac Thai Province, North
Vietnam, the EB66C was shot down. Bomar, Fer and Davies were captured. The fates
of Doby, Poor and Wilburn were uncertain.

In the spring of 1973, 591 Americans were released from prison camps in Vietnam,
including Bomar, Davies and Fer. They had been POWs for just over six years.
Poor, Doby and Wilburn remained Missing in Action.

In 1977, the Vietnamese returned remains which were identified as being those of
Capt. Herb Doby, but denied any knowledge of the fates of Poor and Wilburn.

In 1990, it was announced that the Vietnamese had "discovered" and returned the
remains of Maj. Woodrow Wilburn.

For 23 years, the Vietnamese have denied knowledge of the fates of the missing
from the EB66C they shot down on February 4, 1967. Among the entire crew, only
Poor remains missing.

Disturbing testimony was given to Congress in 1980 that the Vietnamese
"stockpiled" the remains of Americans to return at politically advantageous
times. Could Poor be waiting, 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. Could Poor be among these?

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.

            CASE SYNOPSIS:    DAVIES, JOSEPH EDWIN

  ============================================================================

Name:                Joseph Edwin Davies
Rank/Branch:            O3/US Air Force
Unit:

Date of Birth:            08 April 1940
Home City of Record:        Alexandria VA
Date of Loss:            19 May 1968
Country of Loss:        North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates:        174200N 1062800E
Status (in 1973):        Missing In Action
Category:            2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground:    F4D
Other Personnel
In Incident:            Glen D. McCubbin

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS:  Joe Davies and Glenn McCubbin comprised the crew of an F4D Phantom
fighter jet sent on a night mission over North Vietnam.  When they failed to
rejoin their wingman, another flight in the area was called in to make an
electronic search.  Official location, according to coordinates given, places
their last known location near the city of Ron in North Vietnam.

Voice radio contact was established in a location that could not be exactly
established, but the families were told the radio transmission was originating
from across the border into Laos, some 50 miles from the city of Ron.  The
voice could not be identified, but when search and rescue was called in, a
second transmission was received from about 30 miles southwest (deeper into
Laos) of the first contact.

Davies and McCubbin were never found.  Their radio transmissions proved futile.
One can only imagine the loneliness and frustration they must have felt when
their would-be rescuers could not bring them to safety.

If, as the situation indicates, the two were lost inside Laos, it is then
possible that they were captured by the Pathet Lao, the communist element of
government of that country.  They would be among nearly 600 Americans lost
there despite the protestations of the U.S. Government that we were not at war
in Laos.  Even though the Pathet Lao stated on several occasions they held
"tens of tens" of American prisoners, their freedom was never negotiated for,
and not one man held in Laos was ever released.

Should Davies and McCubbin be among the hundreds many experts believe are still
alive as captives, what must they be thinking of us?
DAVIS, BRENT E.

Name: Brent E. Davis
Rank/Branch: USMC, O2
Unit: VMCJ 1 MAG 11
Date of Birth: 16 September 68
Home City of Record: Santa Clara, CA
Date of Loss: 18 March 66
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 191958N 1050959E
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: EF-10B

Other Personnel In Incident: Everett A. McPherson

Source: Compiled by THE P.O.W. NETWORK 02 February 93 from the
following published sources - POW/MIA's -- Report of the Select Committee
on POW/MIA Affairs United States Senate -- January 13, 1993. "The Senate
Select Committee staff has prepared case summaries for the priority cases
that the Administration is now investigating. These provide the facts about
each case, describe the circumstances under which the individual was lost,
and detail the information learned since the date of loss.  Information in
the case summaries is limited to information from casualty files, does not
include any judgments by Committee staff, and attempts to relate essential
facts. The Committee acknowledges that POW/MIAs' primary next-of- kin know
their family members' cases in more comprehensive detail than summarized
here and recognizes the limitations that the report format imposes on these
summaries."

On March 18, 1966, First Lieutenants McPherson and Davis were the
crew on board an EF-10B, one in a flight of two aircraft on an
electronic counter-measures mission in support of an air strike
approximately 10 miles west of Thanh Hoa City, Thanh Hoa Province.
Their flight received 85mm anti-aircraft fire during the mission.
There was an explosion in their aircraft while at an altitude of
26,000 feet and over neighboring Nghe An Province.  They were
believed to have been hit and downed by enemy surface to air
missile.  A SAR mission over the area produced negative results.

Both airmen were initially declared missing in action.  Returning
U.S. POWs had no information on their fate.  Both airmen were
initially declared dead/body not recovered, based on a presumptive
finding of death.

In December 1988, Vietnamese officials acknowledge having knowledge
of their loss incident.
DAVIS, CHARLIE BROWN JR.

Name: Charlie Brown Davis, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O5/US Air Force
Unit: 16th Special Operations Squadron, Ubon Airbase, Thailand
Date of Birth: 18 January 1929
Home City of Record: Daysboro KY
Date of Loss: 22 April 1970
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 154400N 1065100E (XC990410)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: AC130A
Other Personnel in Incident: Ronnie Hensley; Robert Ireland;Stephen Harris;
Donald Lint; William Brooks; Thomas Y. Adachi; Donald G. Fisher; John C. Towle;
Charles Rowley (all missing); Eugene L. Fields (rescued).

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: In the early hours of April 22, 1970, an AC130 gunship flown by
veteran pilot Major William Brooks departed Ubon Airbase with a crew of ten for
a Commando Hunt mission over the Ho Chi Minh Trail in southern Laos. The
aircraft, code named "Ad Lib", was joined near its destination by two jet
escort fighter bombers, code named "Killer 1" and "Killer 2", and immediately
began air strikes against enemy traffic below. The crew of the aircraft
included Brooks, the pilot; SSgt. Thomas Y. Adachi, the aerial gunner; LtCol.
Charlie B. Davis, a navigator; Maj. Donald G. Fisher, a navigator; SSgt.
Stephen W. Harris; SSgt. Ronnie L. Hensley; Master Sgt. Robert N. Ireland;
Airman Donald M. Lint; LtCol. Charles S. Rowley; and 1Lt. John C. Towle.

During its fourth strike, the gunship was hit by anti-aircraft fire and began
burning. Brooks radioed, "I've been hit, babe". Fisher, the navigator, reported
that his position was OK. Fields and Hensley, battling the blaze in the rear of
the aircraft, lost contact with each other in the smoke. Fields inched his way
to Adachi's position, and found Adachi gone and the left scanner window open.
Fields used an auxiliary parachute to abandon the aircraft.

Killer 1 reported seeing no parachutes, although Killer 2 reported the crew was
bailing out. Just before Killer 1 departed the area for refueling, it received
one emergency beeper signal from the ground. Killer 2 established voice contact
with a member of the crew identifying himself as Ad-Lib 12 (Fisher), who
reported that he had burns on his face and hands. Killer 2 also left for
refueling, while other aircraft monitored the downed craft and waited for
morning to attempt rescue of the survivors.

The following morning, Ad-Lib 11 (Fields) was rescued, but due to hostile
ground forces, no ground search or photographs were made at the time. The Air
Force assumed at the time that Fields had incorrectly identified himself, and
announced that 6 of the crew had been killed and four were missing.

The rest of the story is confusing. The family of one of the crew was told that
a ground crew had been inserted and that partial remains of one crew member had
been recovered. Another family was advised that photographs of the crashsite
existed. A photograph of a captive airman having burn bandages on his hands was
identified as being Fisher by his family. Rowley's family was informed of a
secret intelligence report indicating that 8 of the crew had been captured, and
that a controlled American source had witnessed them being tortured to death
for their "crimes".

A returned POW reported seeing Rowley in a propaganda film. Another returned
POW stated that Fisher had been a POW. Although the Air Force would not allow
family members to contact the only survivor, Fields, Fisher's son located him
after 18 years. Fisher denied ever being in contact with any of the Killer jet
escorts. It was not he who identified himself by radio to rescue forces.

Apparently, at least some of the crew of Ad Lib survived to be captured in
Laos, often called the "Black Hole" of the POW issue because of nearly 600 lost
there, not a SINGLE man was released that had been held in Laos. The Pathet Lao
stated on several occasions that they held prisoners, yet we never negotiated
their freedom, and reports continue to be received that some of these men are
still alive. The surviving crew members lost that day were abandoned by the
country for which they bravely fought.

DAVIS, DANIEL RICHARD

Name: Danie Richard Davis
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit: 56th Special Operations Wing, Udorn AF TH (RAVENS)
Date of Birth: 10 August 1943
Home City of Record: Atlanta GA
Date of Loss: 18 August 1969
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 193500N 1032600E (UG357659)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: O1A

Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 April 1990 with the assistance of
ne or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: The Steve Canyon program was a highly classified FAC (forward air
control) operation covering the military regions of Laos. U.S. military
operations in Laos were severely restricted during the Vietnam War era because
Laos had been declared neutral by the Geneva Accords.

The non-communist forces in Laos, however, had a critical need for military
support in order to defend territory used by Lao and North Vietnamese communist
forces. The U.S., in conjunction with non-communist forces in Laos, devised a
system whereby U.S. military personnel could be "in the black" or "sheep-dipped"
(clandestine; mustered out of the military to perform military duties as a
civilian) to operate in Laos under supervision of the U.S. Ambassador to Laos.

RAVEN was the radio call sign which identified the flyers of the Steve Canyon
Program. Men recruited for the program were rated Air Force officers with at
least six months experience in Vietnam. They tended to be the very best of
pilots, but by definition, this meant that they were also mavericks, and
considered a bit wild by the mainstream military establishment.

The Ravens came under the formal command of CINCPAC and the 7/13th Air Force
56th Special Operations Wing at Nakhon Phanom, but their pay records were
maintained at Udorn with Detachment 1. Officially, they were on loan to the U.S.
Air Attache at Vientiane. Unofficially, they were sent to outposts like Long
Tieng, where their field commanders were the CIA, the Meo (Hmong) Generals, and
the U.S. Ambassador. Once on duty, they flew FAC missions which controlled all
U.S. air strikes over Laos.

All tactical strike aircraft had to be under the control of a FAC, who was
intimately familiar with the locale, the populous, and the tactical situation.
The FAC would find the target, order up U.S. fighter/bombers from an airborne
command and control center, mark the target accurately with white phosphorus
(Willy Pete) rockets, and control the operation throughout the time the planes
remained on station. After the fighters had departed, the FAC stayed over the
target to make a bomb damage assessment (BDA).

The FAC also had to ensure that there were no attacks on civilians, a complex
problem in a war where there were no front lines and any hamlet could suddenly
become part of the combat zone. A FAC needed a fighter pilot's mentality, but
but was obliged to fly slow and low in such unarmed and vulnerable aircraft as
the Cessna O1 Bird Dog, and the Cessna O2. Consequently, aircraft used by the
Ravens were continually peppered with ground fire. A strong fabric tape was
simply slapped over the bullet holes until the aircraft could no longer fly.

Ravens were hopelessly overworked by the war. The need for secrecy kept their
numbers low (never more than 22 at one time), and the critical need of the Meo
sometimes demanded each pilot fly 10 and 12 hour days. Some Ravens completed
their tour of approximately 6 months with a total of over 500 combat missions.

The Ravens in at Long Tieng in Military Region II, had, for several years, the
most difficult area in Laos. The base, just on the southern edge of the Plain of
Jars, was also the headquarters for the CIA-funded Meo army commanded by General
Vang Pao. An interesting account of this group can be read in Christopher
Robbins' book, "The Ravens".

1Lt. Daniel R. Davis was a Raven in Laos. On August 18, 1969, while on station
in the Plain of Jars region of Xiangkhoang Province, his O1 was shot down and
Davis was declared Missing in Action. His last known location is listed as about
15 miles northeast of the city of Ban Na Mai.

Daniel Davis is one of nearly 600 Americans lost in Laos. Even though the Pathet
Lao stated publicly that they held "tens of tens" of American prisoners, not one
American held in Laos was ever released -- or negotiated for.

Since U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War ended, nearly 10,000 reports have been
received by the U.S. Government relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asia.
Many authorities have reluctantly concluded that hundreds are still alive in
captivity today.

The Ravens were extremely dedicated to the freedom-loving people of Laos and put
their very lives on the line for them. They believed in America and the job it
was trying to do in Southeast Asia. They were also quite insistant that each of
their own were accounted for, dead or alive.

What would Daniel Davis say if he knew we had abandoned him?

DAVIS, DONALD VANCE

Name: Donald Vance Davis
Rank/Branch: O4/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 163, USS ORISKANY
Date of Birth: 08 November 1934
Home City of Record: Salisbury NC
Date of Loss: 25 July 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 181259N 1055500E (WF828272)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A4E

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 USS ORISKANY was a World War II-era carrier on duty in Vietnam as
early as 1964. The ORISKANY at one time carried the RF8A (number 144608) that
Maj. John H. Glenn, the famous Marine astronaut (and later Senator), flew in his
1957 transcontinental flight. In October, 1966 the ORISKANY endured a tragic
fire which killed 44 men onboard, but was soon back on station. In 1972, the
ORISKANY had an at-sea accident which resulted in the loss of one of its
aircraft elevators, and later lost a screw that put the carrier into drydock in
Yokosuka, Japan for major repairs, thus delaying its involvement until the late
months of the war.

The ORISKANY's 1966 tour was undoubtedly one of the most tragic deployments of
the Vietnam conflict. This cruise saw eight VA 164 "Ghostriders" lost; four in
the onboard fire, one in an aerial refueling mishap, and another three in the
operational arena. However, the 1967 deployment, which began in June and ended
on a chilly January morning as the ORISKANY anchored in San Francisco Bay,
earned near legendary status by virtue of extensive losses suffered in the
ship's squadrons, including among the Ghostriders of VA 164, and Saints of VA
163. One reason may have been that Navy aviators were, at this time, still
forbidden to strike surface-to-air missile (SAM) sites which were increasing in
number in North Vietnam.

On July 18, 1967, LCDR Richard D. Hartman's aircraft fell victim to
anti-aircraft fire near Phu Ly in Nam Ha Province, North Vietnam. Hartman, from
VA 164, ejected safely, but could not be rescued due to the hostile threat in
the area. Others in the flight were in radio contact with him and resupplied him
for about three days. He was on a karst hill in a difficult recovery area.
Eventually the North Vietnamese moved in a lot of troops and AAA guns, making
rescue almost impossible.

One of the rescue helicopters attempting to recover LCDR Hartman on the 19th was
a Sikorsky SH3A helicopter flown by Navy LT Dennis W. Peterson. The crew onboard
the aircraft included ENS Donald P. Frye and AX2 William B. Jackson and AX2
Donald P. McGrane. While attempting to rescue LCDR Hartman, this aircraft was
hit by enemy fire and crashed killing all onboard. The remains of all but the
pilot, Peterson, were returned by the Vietnamese on October 14, 1982. Peterson
remains missing.

The decision was made to leave Hartman before more men were killed trying to
rescue him. It was not an easy decision, and one squadron mate said, "To this
day, I can remember his voice pleading, 'Please don't leave me.' We had to, and
it was a heartbreaker." Hartman was captured and news returned home that he was
in a POW camp. However, he was not released in 1973. The Vietnamese finally
returned his remains on March 5, 1974. Hartman had died in captivity from
unknown causes.

In July 1967, LCDR Donald V. Davis was one of the Saints of VA 163 onboard the
ORISKANY. Davis was an aggressive pilot. On the night of July 25, 1967, Davis
was assigned a mission over North Vietnam. The procedure for these night attacks
was to drop flares over a suspected target and then fly beneath them to attack
the target in the light of the flares. Davis and another pilot were conducting
the mission about 10 miles south of Ha Tinh when Davis radioed that he had
spotted a couple of trucks. He dropped the flares and went in. On his strafing
run, he drove his Skyhawk straight into the ground and was killed immediately.
Davis is listed among the missing because his remains were never recovered.

LTJG Ralph C. Bisz was also assigned to Attack Squadron 163. On August 4, 1967,
Bisz launched on a strike mission against a petroleum storage area near
Haiphong. Approximately a minute and a half from the target area, four
surface-to-air missiles (SAM) were observed lifting from the area northeast of
Haiphong. The flight maneuvered to avoid the SAMs, however, Bisz' aircraft was
observed as it was hit by a SAM by a wingman. Bisz' aircraft exploded, burst
into flames, and spun downward in a large ball of fire. Remnants of the aircraft
were observed falling down in the large ball of fire until reaching an altitude
estimated to be 5,000 feet and then appeared to almost completely burn out prior
to reaching the ground. No parachute or ejection was observed. No emergency
beeper or voice communications were received.

Bisz' aircraft went down in a heavily populated area in Hai Duong Province,
Vietnam. Information from an indigenous source which closely parallels his
incident indicated that his remains were recovered from the wreckage and taken
to Hanoi for burial. The U.S. Government listed Ralph Bisz as a Prisoner of War
with certain knowledge that the Vietnamese know his fate. Bisz was placed in a
casualty status of Captured on August 4, 1967.

The Navy now says that the possibility of Bisz ejecting was slim. If he had
ejected, his capture would have taken place in a matter of seconds due to the
heavy population concentration in the area and that due to the lack of
additional information it is believed that Bisz did not eject from his aircraft
and that he was killed on impact of the SAM.

Classified information on Bisz' case was presented to the Vietnamese by General
Vessey in the fall of 1987 in hopes that the Vietnamese would be able to resolve
the mystery of Bisz' fate. His case is one of what are called "discrepancy"
cases, which should be readily resolved. The Vietnamese have not been
forthcoming with information on Ralph Bisz.

On August 31, three pilots from the ORISKANY were shot down on a particularly
wild raid over Haiphong. The Air Wing had been conducting strikes on Haiphong
for two consecutive days. On this, the third day, ten aircraft launched in three
flights; four from VA 164 (call sign Ghostrider), four from VA 163 (call sign
Old Salt) and two from VA 163. As the flight turned to go into Haiphong, one of
the section leaders spotted two SAMs lifting off from north of Haiphong. They
were headed towards the Saints section leader and the Ghostrider section leader,
LCDR Richard C. Perry.

The Saints section leader and his wingman pitched up and to the right, while Old
Salt 3 (LCDR Hugh A. Stafford) turned down, his wingman, LTJG David J. Carey
close behind him. Carey, an Air Force Academy graduate, was on his first
operational mission. The missile detonated right in front of them and aircraft
pieces went everywhere.

The other SAM headed towards Perry's section, and he had frozen in the cockpit.
All three planes in the division pulled away, and he continued straight and
level. His helpless flightmates watched as the missile came right up and hit the
aircraft. The aircraft was generally whole and heading for open water.

Old Salt Three and Old Salt Four, Stafford and Carey, had by that time ejected
from their ruined planes and were heading towards the ground. Both were okay,
but Stafford had landed in a tree near a village, making rescue impossible.
Stafford and Carey were captured and held in various prisoner of war camps until
their release in Operation Homecoming on March 14, 1973.

Richard Perry had also ejected and was over open water. But as Perry entered the
water, his parachute went flat and he did not come up. A helicopter was on scene
within minutes, and a crewman went into the water after Perry. He had suffered
massive chest wounds, either in the aircraft or during descent in his parachute
and was dead. To recover his body was too dangerous because the North Vietnamese
were mortaring the helicopter. The helicopter left the area. Richard Perry's
remains were recovered by the Vietnamese and held until February 1987, at which
time they were returned to U.S. control.

Flight members were outraged that they had lost three pilots to SAMs that they
were forbidden to attack. Policy was soon changed to allow the pilots to strike
the sites, although never to the extent that they were disabled completely.

On October 7, 1967, VA 164 pilot LT David L. Hodges was killed when his Skyhawk
was hit by a SAM about twelve miles southwest of Hanoi. His remains were never
recovered and he is listed among those missing in Vietnam.

On October 18, 1967, VA 164 pilot LCDR John F. Barr was killed when his Skyhawk
was hit by enemy fire and slammed into the ground while on a strike mission at
Haiphong. Barr's remains were not recovered.

On November 2, 1967, VA 164 pilot LTJG Frederic Knapp launched as the lead of a
flight of two aircraft on an armed reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam.
The wingman reported that during an attack run, the aircraft appeared to have
been hit by anti-aircraft fire. The wingman saw Knapp's aircraft impact the
ground and did not see the canopy separate from the aircraft. There was no
parachute sighted or emergency radio beeper heard. The aircraft crashed about 9
kilometers west-southwest of Cho Giat, near route 116, in Nghe An Province.

A source later reported that people from his village had removed the remains of
a dead pilot from his aircraft and buried the remains nearby. These remains are
believed to be those of Knapp. On October 14, 1982, Vietnamese officials turned
over to U.S. authorities a Geneva Convention card belonging to Ltjg. Knapp. To
date, no remains have been repatriated.

Six of the thirteen pilots and crewmen lost in 1967 off the decks of the
ORISKANY remain prisoner, missing, or otherwise unaccounted for in Vietnam.
Disturbing testimony was given to Congress in 1980 that the Vietnamese
"stockpiled" the remains of Americans to return at politically advantageous
times. Could any of these six be in a casket, awaiting 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. Could any of these six be
among them?

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.




DAVIS, EDGAR FELTON

Name: Edgar Felton Davis
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 11th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, Udorn Airfield, Thailand
Date of Birth: 15 December 1935
Home City of Record: Goldsboro NC
Date of Loss: 17 September 1968
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 162900N 1061500E (XD380370)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: RF4C
Other Personnel in Incident: (pilot rescued)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: The RF4C was a modification of the McDonnell Douglas Phantom II
fighter/bomber jet used extensively in Souteast Asia. The RF4C was equipped
with photographic and electronic detection equipment and used for
reconnaissance. Inherent hazards were the twin vapor trails enabling the craft
to be seen from a distance, and ejecting photo flash cartridges, which gave
necessary light, but also signalled the position of the aircraft.

Ed Davis was the "backseater" on such an aircraft when it was shot down during
an operational mission about 15 miles south of the city of Sepone in
Savannakhet Province, Laos on September 17, 1968. The pilot of the aircraft
ejected successfully and was subsequently rescued, but Davis was not located.

Ed Davis had special electronic training that made him particularly valuable to
the Air Force. It also made him potentially valuable to the enemy. Statistical
research shows that in similar flight teams, the survival and release rate of
the pilots far exceeds that of their specially trained backseathers. It is
thought that many of these men were captured and held beyond the end of the war
for their technical ability, and that some were transferred to other countries,
such as the Soviet Union in trade for enormous war debts. Certain U.S.
Government analysts called these men "MB" or "Moscow Bound".

Whether Ed Davis survived to be captured and saved for his technical ability is
not known. He is one of nearly 600 Americans lost in Laos who never returned.
Although the Pathet Lao stated on several occasions that they held American
POWs, they insisted that the U.S. deal directly with them for their release.
The U.S. has never negotiated with the Pathet Lao for the freedom of Americans
held there.

DAVIS, GENE EDMOND

Name: Gene Edmond Davis
Rank/Branch: E5/US Air Force
Unit: 4th Air Commando Squadron, Da Nang AB, South Vietnam
Date of Birth: 05 April 1928
Home City of Record: Evansville, IN
Date of Loss: 13 March 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 154000N 1073000E (YC550450)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: AC47D
Other Personnel in Incident: Dean A. Duvall; Howard W. Henninger; Edwin E.
Morgan; Gerald E. Olson; Robert E. Pasekoff; Marshall I. Pauley (all missing)

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: 01 January 1990

REMARKS: NO RAD CNTCT - SRCH NEG - J

SYNOPSIS: Capt. Howard W. Henninger was the pilot of an AC47D "Spooky" gunship.
The Spooky had evolved from the famed "Puff the Magic Dragon" versions of the
Douglas C47.

Puff introduced a new principle to air attack in Vietnam. Troubled by
difficulties in conducting nighttime defense, Capt. Ronald Terry of the U.S.
Air Force Aeronautical Systems Division remembered reading about flying
missionaries in Latin America who lowered baskets of supplies on a rope from a
tightly circling airplane. Throughout the series of pylon turns, the basket
remained suspended over a selected point on the ground. Could this principle be
applied to fire from automatic weapons? Tests proved it could, and could be
extremely successful.

Puff's "flare kicker" illuminated the target, then the pilot used a mark on the
window to his left as a gun sight and circled slowly as three multibarrel
7-62mm machine guns fired 18,000 rounds per minute from the door and two
windows in the port side of the passenger compartment. The aircraft was called
"Puff" after a popular song of the day, and because it resembled a dragon
overhead with flames billowing from its guns. Men on the ground welcomed the
presence of Puff and the later Spooky version, which was essentially the same
as the Puff, because of its ability to concentrate a heavy dose of defensive
fire in a surgically determined area.

Capt. Henninger's Spooky was assigned a mission which took it over Quang Nam
Province, South Vietnam on March 13, 1966. His crew that day included Capt.
Gerald E. Olson, Capt. Robert E. Pasekoff, Sgt. Dean A. Duvall, SSgt. Gene E.
Davis, SSgt. Marshall I. Pauley, and TSgt. Edwin E. Morgan.  Duvall and Pauley
were aerial gunners on the aircraft.

Shortly after takeoff from Da Nang, the aircraft was contacted by radio, and
this was the last contact had with Capt. Henninger's aircraft. The area of loss
is indicated as being about 10 miles from the border of Laos in Quang Nam
Province. All crew members aboard were declared Missing in Action. There is no
way to determine whether the enemy knows the fates of these men because the
U.S. Air Force is unsure of its area of loss.

Da Nang Regional Intelligence received a rallier's report in 1969 which
described a POW camp near Hue. The report included a very detailed description
of the camp and two lists of Americans held there. The lists were compiled by
the source viewing photographs of missing Americans, and were classified
"possible" and "positive". The source selected Gerald E. Olson's photograph as
possibly being a man held at the camp near Hue. This report was obtained from
the U.S. government in the mid-1980's by an interested citizen through the
Freedom of Information Act.

Although this report was later debunked by U.S. intelligence analysts, and not
distributed to the families of the men named on the lists, at least one former
POW who was held at this camp was shown the report and he confirmed some of the
names on the list and verified the accuracy of the camp description.

Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports have been received by the U.S.
related to Americans still missing in Southeast Asia. Some are as detailed as
the one received at Da Nang in 1969, and relate to many individuals. Although
most have been proven accurate, the public attitude in the U.S. intelligence
circles is that the reports are meaningless. Yet, many of these reports remain
classified.

Was Gerald E. Olson captured? What of the rest of the crew members? While the
Vietnamese may have the answers to these questions, we may never know the
extent of the knowledge of our own government so long as information regarding
these men is allowed to remain classified.

Tragically, many who have seen this classified information believe there are
hundreds of Americans still alive in captivity. Any of the men aboard the
Spooky lost on March 13, 1966 could be among them. It's time we brought our men
home. It's time we knew the truth.
DAVIS, JAMES WOODROW

Name: James Woodrow Davis
Rank/Branch: E5/US Air Force
Unit: TDY-Civilian/Lockheed, Lima Site 85-Phou Pha Thi, Laos
Date of Birth: 06 November 1939
Home City of Record: Waynesboro MS
Date of Loss: 11 March 1968
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 202600N 1034400E (UH680600)
Status (in 1973): Killed In Action/Body Not Recovered
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Others In Incident: Clarence Blanton; James Calfee; Henry Gish; Willis Hall;
Melvin Holland; Herbert Kirk; David Price; Patrick Shannon; Donald
Springsteadah; Don Worley (all missing from Lima 85); Donald Westbrook (missing
from SAR 13 March)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II
Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: When James Davis volunteered for a sensitive assignment called Project
Heavy Green, his wife had to sign a secrecy agreement too. Davis, an Air Force
man, was to be temporarily relieved of duty to take a civilian job with Lockheed
Aircraft. He would be running Lima 85, a radar base in Laos, whose neutrality
prohibited U.S. military presence. No one was to know.

Lima 85 was on a peak in the Annam Highlands near the village of Sam Neua on a
5860 ft. mountain called Phou Pha Thi. The mountain was protected by sheer
cliffs on three sides, and guarded by 300 tribesmen working for CIA. Unarmed US
"civilians" operated the radar which swept across the Tonkin Delta to Hanoi.

For three months in early 1968, a steady stream of intelligence was received
which indicated that communist troops were about to launch a major attack on
Lima 85. Intelligence watched as enemy troops even built a road to the area to
facilitate moving heavy weapons, but the site was so important that William H.
Sullivan, U.S. Ambassador to Laos, made the decision to leave the men in place.
When the attack came March 11, some were rescued by helicopter, but eleven men
were missing. The President announced a halt in the bombing of North Vietnam.

Donald Westbrook was flying one of 4 A1E's orbiting on stand-by to search for
survivors of the attack at Phou Pha Thi when his plane was shot down March 13.
Westbrook was never found. Finding no survivors, the Air Force destroyed Lima 85
to prevent the equipment from falling into the hands of the enemy.

In mid March, Margaret Davis was notified that Lima Site 85 had been overrun by
enemy forces, and that her husband and the others who had not escaped had been
killed. Many years later, she learned that was not the whole truth.

Two separate reports indicate that all the men missing at Phou Pha Thi did not
die. One report suggests that at least one of the 11 was captured, and another
indicates that 6 were captured. Information has been hard to get. The fact that
Lima Site 85 existed was only declassified in 1983, and finally the wives could
be believed when they said their husbands were missing in Laos. Some of the
men's files were shown to their families for the first time in 1985.

Margaret Davis and the other wives have talked and compared notes. They still
feel there is a lot of information to be had. They think someone survived the
attack on Lima Site 85 that day in March 1968. They wonder if their country will
bring those men home.


DAVIS, RICARDO GONZALES

Name: Ricardo Gonzales Davis
Rank/Branch: E7/US Army Special Forces
Unit: Command & Control North, MACV-SOG, 5th Special Forces Group
Date of Birth: 17 March 1941 (Ft. Stockton TX)
Home City of Record: Carlsbad NM
Date of Loss: 20 March 1969
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 152757N 1071443E (YC409110)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel In Incident: (none missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS:  SFC Ricardo G. Davis was born in Ft. Stockton, Texas. After he
reenlisted in the Army in 1967 at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, he was sent to
Vietnam and assigned to Command & Control North, MACV-SOG (Military Assistance
Command, Vietnam Studies and Observation Group). MACV-SOG was a joint service
high command unconventional warfare task force engaged in highly classified
operations throughout Southeast Asia. The 5th Special Forces channelled
personnel into MACV-SOG (although it was not a Special Forces group) through
Special Operations Augmentation (SOA), which provided their "cover" while under
secret orders to MACV-SOG. The teams performed deep penetration missions of
strategic reconnaissance and interdiction which were called, depending on the
time frame, "Shining Brass" or "Prairie Fire" missions.

On March 20, 1969, SFC Davis was the team leader six-man reconnaissance team
was operating in Saravanne Province, 11 miles inside Laos west of Kham Duc when
the patrol was attacked. Sgt. James C. LaMotte was two feet away when Davis was
hit by rifle fire in the upper chest and face and said, "Jim, Jim!", and fell.
One of the team members approached Davis two minutes after he fell and removed
Davis' weapon and ammunition belt and reported that Davis was covered with
blood. The assistant patrol leader advanced to Davis' position seven minutes
later, and checked Davis' pulse and respiration, but could detect no signs of
life.

The patrol was forced to evacuate the area because of advancing hostile
soldiers and impending U.S. airstrikes on the area. Ricardo Davis was not seen
again. No further searches of the area where he was last seen was possible
because of the air strikes and the fact that this territory was held by the
enemy from that day forward. He was classified Missing In Action by the U.S.
Army. He is one of nearly 600 Americans who disappeared in Laos during the
Vietnam War.

Although Davis was seriously wounded, there apparently was some question as to
whether he was dead, because the Army did not place him in Killed/Body Not
Recovered status. Due to the close proximity of enemy forces, it is strongly
believed that the Lao could account for him. While evidence mounts that
Americans are still alive in Southeast Asia, one must wonder if Ricardo Davis
is among them.

DAVIS, ROBERT CHARLES

Name: Robert Charles Davis
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 609th Special Operations Squadron
Date of Birth: 23 May 1937
Home City of Record: Burlington NJ
Date of Loss: 23 March 1969
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 170900N 1055200E (WD910980)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: A26A

Other Personnel in Incident: James W. Widdis (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II
Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: The Ban Karai Pass was one of several passes through the mountainous
border of Vietnam and Laos. U.S. aircraft through them regularly, and many
aircraft were lost. On the Laos side of the border coursed the "Ho Chi Minh
Trail", a road heavily traveled by North Vietnamese troops moving materiel and
personnel to their destinations through the relative safety of neutral Laos. The
return ratio of men lost in and around the passes is far lower than that of
those men lost in more populous areas, even though both were shot down by the
same enemy and the same weapons. This is partly due to the extremely rugged
terrain and resulting difficulty in recovery.

The Douglas A26 was a twin-engine attack bomber with World War II service. In
Vietnam, it served the French in the 1950's and also the U.S. in the early years
of American involvement in Southeast Asia. In 1966, eight A26s were deployed to
Nakhon Phanom (NKP) to perform hunter-killer missions against truck convoys in
southern Laos.

Some of these A26s were assigned to the 609th Special Operations Squadron at
NKP. On March 23, 1969, an A26A departed NKP on a combat mission with a crew
consisting of Capt. James W. Widdis Jr., pilot, and Capt. Robert C. Davis,
navigator. As the two were about 15 miles west of the Ban Karai Pass, the
aircraft was struck by hostile fire.

No parachutes were seen and no beepers were heard, but the opportunity existed
for the two to safely eject, and they were listed missing in action. Davis was
determined presumed dead in 1975, and Widdis in 1978. During the period they
were listed missing, Widdis was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and
Davis to Major.

Davis and Widdis are among nearly 2500 Americans who remain missing in
Indochina. Unlike "MIAs" from other wars, most of these men can be accounted
for. Tragically, over 10,000 reports concerning Americans prisoner, missing or
unaccounted for in Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. since the end
of the war. Experts say that the evidence is overwhelming that Americans were
left behind in enemy hands. Widdis and Davis could be among them.


DAVIS, THOMAS JAMES

Name: Thomas James Davis
Rank/Branch: E5/US Army
Unit: Company B, 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry, 196th Light Infantry Brigade
Date of Birth: (ca 1948)
Home City of Record: Eufalfa AL
Date of Loss: 11 March 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 153740N 1081647E (BT085295)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Other Personnel In Incident: Isiah R. McMillan (released POW); Porter E.
Calloway (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 30 June 1990 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, including data from "The Survivors" by
Zalen Grant, pp. 94-98, interviews.

REMARKS: 730316 RELSD BY PRG

SYNOPSIS: SGT Porter E. Calloway was on his next to last month in Vietnam.
Corporal Isiah R. "Ike" McMillan had just returned from R & R. SGT Thomas J.
"Tom" Davis was one of the new guys in Bravo Company, 3rd Battalion, 21st
Infantry.

In March 1968, members of 196th Bravo were sent deep into the bush around Happy
Valley in South Vietnam. Setting up on Hill 407, Que Son Valley, Quang Tri
Province, two platoons went on Search and Destroy; another line platoon and the
six-man weapons platoon stayed on the hill with the company commander. Before
lunch, a platoon radioed that it had walked into a thirty-man ambush, and that
the platoon leader had been shot in the stomach. (A binocular search of the
platoon location revealed that it was much more than 30 men.)

Leaving the weapons platoon (with McMillan and Davis and Calloway) on the hill,
the company commander mobilized the line platoon to go to the assistance of the
ambushed platoon, and ordered the two S & D platoons to merge. The weapons
platoon was left without a radio. When a mortar attack commenced on the hill,
the weapons platoon abandoned its position on the hill to seek cover on lower
ground. Three men left by the east side and three went down the west side of the
hill. As they had no radio, they were in peril both from the enemy, the troops
below, and overhead spotter planes and support strike aircraft.

Davis, McMillan and Calloway, having gone down the east side of the hill, ran
into a machine gun ambush. Davis, McMillan and Calloway were together, and began
to retreat. Calloway was a short-timer and in a panic. He jumped up and started
to run and was hit in the thigh. The others bandaged his leg and continued to
move toward a small house at the edge of the rice paddy they were in. By the
time they reached the hooch, Calloway was in shock from loss of blood. They
evaded for several hours here until the Vietnamese smoked them out with gas
grenades. The three were captured and taken away as prisoners of the Viet Cong.

By late night, Calloway was still bleeding. By morning, he was panicked because
he couldn't breathe. Davis tried to help him, but his captors stopped him. When
the guard understood Calloway was in crisis, he got help and took Calloway to a
table where he died. McMillan reported during his debrief that they were about 1
1/2 kilometers northeast of the Fire Support base hill, and that the Vietnamese
buried Calloway 50-75 meters east of this position near three buildings.

The U.S. maintained Porter E. Calloway in Missing in Action status. His
classification was never changed to that of Prisoner of War. During the period
he was maintained missing, he was advanced in rank to Staff Sergeant.

McMillan and Davis were held captives in Happy Valley and other camps in the
South until they were moved north in 1971. For Americans captured in South
Vietnam, life was brutally difficult. Primarily, these men suffered from disease
induced by an unfamiliar and inadequate diet - dysentery, edema, skin fungus and
eczema. The inadequate diet coupled with inadequate medical care led to the
deaths of many.

Besides dietary problems, these POWs had other problems. They were moved
regularly to avoid being in areas that would be detected by U.S. troops, and
occasionally found themselves in the midst of U.S. bombing strikes. Supply lines
to the camps were frequently cut off, and when they were, POWs and guards alike
suffered. Unless they were able to remain in one location long enough to grow
vegetable crops and tend small animals, their diet was limited to rice and what
they could gather from the jungle.

In addition to the primitive lifestyle imposed on these men, their Viet Cong
guards could be particularly brutal in their treatment. For any minor
infraction, including conversation with other POWs, the Americans were
psychologically and physically tortured. American POWs brought back stories of
having been buried to the neck; held for days in a cage with no protection from
insects and the environment; having had water and food withheld; being shackled
and beaten. The effects of starvation and torture frequently resulted in
hallucinations and extreme disorientation.

This was the life Davis and McMillan endured for the next three years.
Ultimately, they were moved to Hanoi and released in 1973 in Operation
Homecoming. Calloway's body has never been returned to his family for burial.
The Vietnamese deny any knowledge of him.

Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing in
Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. Many officials, having reviewed
this largely classified information have reluctantly concluded that hundreds of
them are still alive in captivity today.

The U.S. continues to raise the question of the fate of Porter E. Calloway with
the communist government of Vietnam. The Vietnamese continue to deny any
knowledge of him.

DAWES, JOHN JAMES

Name: John James Dawes
Rank/Branch: E7/US Army
Unit: Company B, 2nd Battalion, 327th Infantry, 1st Brigade, 101st Airborne
Division
Date of Birth: 02 August 1932 (Scranton PA)
Home City of Record: Madera CA
Date of Loss: 05 May 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 123551N 1092745E
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: CH47

Other Personnel In Incident: (rest of crew rescued)

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: SFC John J. Dawes was a passenger aboard a CH47 that was returning to
Nha Trang from a medical evacuation mission. The helicopter experienced a power
failure and crashed about 400 meters offshore.

The pilot of the aircraft was able to make a successful controlled crash landing
in the water, enabling all the crew with the exception of Doss to escape the
aircraft before it capsized. It is felt that Dawes went down with the chopper.

The survivors were rescued about 45 minutes later from the water. An extensive
search of the area of rescue was conducted, believing it was the proximity of
the crash site as well. No sign was ever found of John Dawes.

John Dawes doubtless died the day his chopper went down, so he is listed among
the dead. Because his mortal remains were not located, he is also listed among
the missing. Other cases of the missing are not so clear. Many were known to
have been alive at the time they disappeared. Some were known captives. Others
reported by radio that their capture was imminent.

Since the end of the war, thousands of reports have been received that indicate
that hundreds of these Americans still languish in communist prisons in
Indochina. While John Dawes may not be one of them, someone's brother, son or
husband is. We must bring them home.

DAWSON, DANIEL GEORGE

Name: Daniel George Dawson
Rank/Branch: O2/US Army
Unit: 145th Aviation Battalion
Date of Birth: 23 July 1938 (San Luis Obispo CA)
Home City of Record: Ft. Bragg CA
Date of Loss: 06 November 1964
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 105912N 1064917E (XT921449)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: O1F

Other Personnel In Incident: ARVN observer (missing, name unknown)

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: ACFT OVERDUE - T/O 1420L -J

SYNOPSIS: The O1 "Bird Dog" was used extensively in the early years of the war
in Vietnam by forward air controllers and provided low, close visual
reconnaissance and target marking which enabled armed aircraft or ground troops
to close in on a target. The Bird Dog was feared by the enemy, because he knew
that opening fire would expose his location and invite attack by fighter planes
controlled by the slowly circling Bird Dog. The Vietnamese became bold, however,
when they felt their position was compromised and attacked the little Bird Dog
with a vengeance in order to lessen the accuracy of the impending air strike.

On November 6, 1964, 1Lt. Daniel G. Dawson was the pilot of an O1F Bird Dog
aircraft flying a visual reconnaissance mission over Bien Hoa Province, South
Vietnam. His observer on the mission was an ARVN 2nd Lieutenant, whose name is
unknown.

The aircraft was not heard from after takeoff. Although search efforts were
made, they failed to turn up either the crashed aircraft or its crew. It is not
known whether or not Dawson and his observer survived. The estimated location of
the loss is listed as near the city of Bien Hoa.

Daniel G. Dawson was maintained in a status of missing in action, but was
ultimately declared dead, based on no specific information to indicate that he
was still alive.

In 1973, when agreements were signed ending American involvement in the Vietnam
War, 591 American prisoners were released. Dawson was not among them. He is one
of nearly 2500 Americans who did not return from Vietnam.

By 1989, over 10,000 reports have been received relating Americans missing,
prisoner or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia, and many experts are convinced
that hundreds of these missing men are still alive.

Whether Daniel Dawson survived to be captured is not known. It is certain,
however, that we have a moral and legal obligation to those who are alive to
bring them home.

Daniel G. Dawson was promoted to the rank of Captain during the period he was
maintained missing.
DAWSON, FRANK ARTHUR

Name: Frank Arthur Dawson
Rank/Branch: E3/US Navy
Unit: Observation Squadron 67
Date of Birth: 29 September 1946 (Vallejo CA)
Home City of Loss: Fairfield CA
Date of Loss: 17 February 1968
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 164959N 1055858E (XD030612)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: OP2E
Other Personnel In Incident: Chester Coons, Clayborn W. Ashby; Paul Donato; Glen
Hayden; James Kravitz; James Martin; Curtis Thurman; James Wonn (all missing)

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: 1 March 1990

REMARKS: CRASH FND - NO PARBEEP - NO PERS - J

SYNOPSIS: The Lockheed P2 "Neptune" was originally designed for submarine
searching, using magnetic detection gear or acoustic buoys. Besides flying
maritime reconnaissance, the aircraft served as an experimental night attack
craft in the attempt to interdict the movement of enemy truck convoys. Another
model, the OP2E, dropped electronic sensors to detect truck movements along the
supply route through Laos known as the "Ho Chi Minh Trail".

The Ho Chi Minh Trail was used by the North Vietnamese for transporting weapons,
supplies and troops. Hundreds of American pilots were shot down trying to stop
this communist traffic to South Vietnam. Fortunately, search and rescue teams in
Vietnam were extremely successful and the recovery rate was high.

Still there were nearly 600 who were not rescued. Many of them went down along
the Ho Chi Minh Trail and the passes through the border mountains between Laos
and Vietnam. Many were alive on the ground and in radio contact with search
and rescue and other planes; some were known to have been captured. Hanoi's
communist allies in Laos, the Pathet Lao, publicly spoke of American prisoners
they held, but when peace agreements were negotiated, Laos was not included,
and not a single American was released that had been held in Laos.

The Neptune had precise navigational equipment and accurate optical bombsight.
Radar was housed in a well on the nose underside of the aircraft, and radar
technicians felt especially vulnerable working in this "glass bubble" nosed
aircraft. It was believed that the aircraft could place the seismic or acoustic
device within a few yards of the desired point. To do so, however, the OP2E had
to fly low and level, making it an easy target for the enemy's anti-aircraft
guns that were increasing in number along the Trail.

On February 17, 1968, an OP2E from Observation Squadron 67 departed Thailand in
a flight of four aircraft on an operational mission over Laos. The crew of the
aircraft included Commander Glenn M. Hayden; Lt.Jg. James S. Kravitz; Lt. Curtis
F. Thurman; Ensign James C. Wonn; AO2 Clayborn W. Ashby, Jr.; ADJ2 Chester L.
Coons; AN Frank A. Dawson; ATN1 Paul N. Donato; and AN James E. Martin.

After completion of the first target run, the aircraft reported to its fighter
escort and forward air control aircraft that it had been hit by small arms fire
but would continue with the second target run.

During the second run, the fighter escort reported the starboard engine of the
OP2 on fire. The OP acknowledged the report and aborted the rest of their
mission to return to home base. The last radio transmission from the aircraft
was, "we're beat up pretty bad."

The fighter escort climbed to the top of the overcast to await the OP2
rendezvous, but the aircraft never emerged from the cloud base. The fighter
dropped below the clouds to search for the OP2 and found burning wreckage. No
parachutes were seen, nor were any emergency radio beepers heard. Search and
rescue efforts were negative. Investigation of the crash site was not feasible
because of enemy presence in the area. The aircraft crashed about 34 kilometers
northwest of Xepone in Savannakhet Province, Laos. The crash site was situated
2,800 meters south of route 91 in rugged terrain on the side of a 550 meter
ridge, approximately 4 kilometers northwest of Muang Phin. The aircraft was on
a reconnaissance mission and carried no ordnance.

Because there was no direct witness to the crash of the OP2, it is not known
whether any of the crew of nine survived, but assumed that they did not. All
nine aboard were classified Killed, Body Not Recovered. Although this aircraft
went down in a relatively populous area, it is not known whether the enemy
knows the fates of the crewmembers.

Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing in
Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. Government. Many authorities have
reluctantly concluded that hundreds of them are still alive in captivity.
Whether the crew of the Neptune that went down on February 17, 1968 is among
them is not known. What seems certain, however, is that we must do everything
possible to bring our men home.

DAY, DENNIS IRVIN

Name: Dennis Irvin Day
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: 329th Transportation Company, 5th Transportation Command (Terminal)
Date of Birth: 03 March 1951
Home City of Record: Blackwell OK
Date of Loss: 03 November 1970
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 163226N 1074138E (YD925275)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: LCU-63
Other Personnel In Incident: Richard C. Dority; David L. Ginn; Arlie R. Mangus;
Jerry D. Martin; Calvin A. Norris; James R. Pantall; John D. Shewmake; David W.
Woods (all classified Killed/Body Not Recovered); Perry C. Kitchens; Billy H.
Peeples (remains recovered)

REMARKS: LCU SANK-NO PARABEEP-NO PERS-NO SURV OBS AIR-J

SYNOPSIS: The 5th Transportation Command (Terminal) had the duty of running the
extensive Qui Nhon port and served under the U.S. Army Support Command, Qui
Nhon. The 5th Transportation Command was later deployed to Da Nang, and had
Battalions serving Vung Tau and Cat Lai. Among its duties were support of
amphibious operation and supplying ammunition and ordnance to operational
units, primarily by heavy boat.

On the afternoon of November 2, 1970, Sgt. Dennis I. Day, Sgt. Richard C.
Dority, Sgt. David L. Ginn, Sgt. Perry C. Kitchens, Sgt. Arlie R. Mangus, Sgt.
Jerry D. Martin, SSgt. Calvin A. Norris, Sgt. James R. Pantall, SFC John D.
Shewmake, Sgt. David W. Woods, and PFC Billie Hammond Peeples were the crew of a
landing craft, LCU #63, which departed Da Nang en route to Tan My, South Vietnam
on a resupply mission. The LCU was a heavy craft able to carry large loads of
ammunition.

At 1010 hours on November 3, 1970, helicopter pilots sighted the craft capsized
about 5 nautical miles south of Tan My port. In an initial search by air/sea
rescue, however, no sign of the crew of the LCU were observed. There was no
apparent hostile action, and the reason for the incident is unknown.

On November 6, the remains of Billy H. Peoples were recovered near Cu Loi
Island, fully rigged in a life jacket. During the period of December 4-20,
attempts were made to salvage the craft and locate the crew. Divers gained
access to all compartments and voids of the craft, but no survivors or evidence
of remains were found. Pieces of clothing, small arms ammo, cans and a radio
were recovered.

On March 16, 1977, the body of Perry Kitchens was returned to U.S. control and
subsequently positively identified. There has been no word of the rest of the
crew. The missing eight men were all presumed to have drowned, and the U.S.
Army believes there is no chance to ever recover the eight men missing from
LCU-63.

There are several descrepancies in the case of LCU-63 which should be noted.
First of all, the U.S. Army, the State Department and the Vietnam Veterans
Memorial Directory lists all the crew except Peeples as Sergeant, Staff
Sergeant, or Sergeant First Class, which are ranks one grade above those listed
by Defense Department and Joint Casualty Resolution Center records. The lower
grades are listed as follows: Ginn, Martin, Pantall, Peeples - E3 or PFC; Day,
Dority, Kitchens, Mangus and Woods - E4 - which can be either Corporal or SP4;
Norris - E5 or Sergeant; Shewmake - E6 or Staff Sergeant.

Secondly, the Memorial Directory lists the entire crew with the exceptions of
Peeples and Kitchens as missing on 4 November 1971 (a year and a day later than
all other records).

Third, the military occupational specialties of all 10 men on whom information
can be gathered are classified.

It was not uncommon for promotions to be given during the period between the
time personnel went missing and the time they were declared dead. This group is
classified as having had "non-hostile, died while missing" deaths, leading one
to assume that for a brief time, at least, they were declared missing, so that
it might be possible to have attained a grade increase during that period. It
is uncommon, however for grade increases to be given to those whom are
considered dead and non-recoverable. It was also uncommon for a group of 18 and
19 year-olds, as was most of this crew, to attain the rank of sergeant.

Strange things have been known to happen regarding missing men. One pilot was
declared dead because his aircraft exploded close to the ground. Later, the
pilot, who had ejected in a cloud of smoke, and landed on the ground even
before his parachute was fully deployed, was released from POW camp. One
Marine, Ronald Ridgeway, was declared dead and actually "buried" in a mass
grave in the United States with other men from the same action, only to come
home from POW camp in 1973. Mistakes were made, and errors in judgement
occurred.

Given that the LCU sank with no witnesses, and sank in the proximity of an
island, it is imaginable that the crew could have survived to be captured. This
could be said to be supported by the fact that Peeples was found fully
outfitted in his life jacket. It is, of course, only conjecture.

Tragically, thousands of reports have been received that indicate Americans are
still being held captive in Southeast Asia. Whether the LCU crew is among them
is certainly not known, but they could be. The evidence suggests that hundreds
are alive, waiting for their country to free them. It's time we got answers.



DAYAO, ROLANDO CUEVAS

Name: Rolando Cuevas Dayao
Rank/Branch: E6/USN
Unit: USS WALKER
Date of Birth: 29 June 1935
Home City of Record: Philippines
Date of Loss: 02 October 1969
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 175402N 1073602E (YE754810)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: C2A

Personnel In Incident: Terry L. Beck; Richard W. Bell; Michael L. Bowman; Frank
Bytheway; Rolando C. Dayao; Donald C. Dean; Herbert H. Dilger; Carl J. Ellerd;
James J. Fowler; Roy G. Fowler; Leonardo M. Gan; Paul E. Gore; William D.
Gorsuch; Rayford J. Hill; Delvin L. Kohler; Howard M. Koslosky; Robert B.
Leonard; Richard A. Livingston; Ronald W. Montgomery; William R. Moore; Paul K.
Moser; Kenneth M. Prentice; Fidel G. Salazar; Keavin L. Terrell; Michael J. Tye;
Reynaldo R. Viado (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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: On October 2, 1969, a C2A "Greyhound" cargo aircraft from Reserve
Cargo Squadron 50 departed Cubi Point Naval Air Station, Republic of the
Philippines on a shuttle flight to various aircraft carriers in the Gulf of
Tonkin in Vietnam, including the USS CONSTELLATION, the USS WALKER, the USS
HAMMER, and the USS LONG BEACH.

The flight crew onboard the aircraft, assigned to Fleet Support Squadron 50
based in Atsugi Naval Air Station, Japan, included the pilot, Lt. Herbert H.
Dilger; co-pilot, Lt. Richard A. Livingston; air crewman, Petty Officer 3rd
Class Paul K. Moser; aircraft captain, Petty Officer 3rd Class Michael J. Tye;
and loadmaster-trainee, Petty Officer 3rd Class Rayford J. Hill. Most of the
twenty passengers appear to be bound for the USS CONSTELLATION, but one was
bound for the USS LONG BEACH, one of the four Philippine citizens onboard was
headed for the USS HAMMER, and two to the USS WALKER.

The aircraft was inbound to the CONSTITUTION and made communication at about
0600 hours, reporting that operations were normal. When communicatons were
established with the Carrier Air Control, control was passed to the Marshall
controller (Approach Control). The carrier's radar continued tracking the
aircraft until approximately 0655, at which time radar contact was lost at about
10 nautical miles from the CONSTELLATION.

Helicopter search and rescue efforts were immediately initiated from the ship.
The helicopter began sighting an oil slick and debris. A few pieces of aircraft
were recovered, and analysis of this debris indicated that the aircraft was in a
relatively high speed nose down, right wing down impact with the water or had a
possible right wing failure before impact. There was no sign of survivors, nor
were any bodies recovered.

The crew and passengers onboard the C2 which went down on October 2, 1969 were
all declared Killed/Body Not Recovered. There is very little hope that they will
ever be found. They are listed with honor among the missing because no remains
were ever located to repatriate to their homeland.

For many of the missing, however, solutions are not so simple. Several were
photographed in captivity, but never returned. Others were alive and well the
last they were seen awaiting rescue. Still others described their imminent
captures. For the families of these men, the years have passed heartbreakingly
slow.

Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing in
Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. Government. Many officials who
have reviewed this largely classified information are convinced that hundreds of
Americans are still alive as captives in Southeast Asia. It's time we brought
our men home.

            CASE SYNOPSIS:    DAYTON, JAMES LESLIE

  ============================================================================

Name:                James Leslie Dayton
Rank/Branch:            W1/US Army
Unit:                281st Aviation Co., 10th Aviation Btn
                17th Aviation Group, 1st Aviation Brigade
Date of Birth:            23 February 1947
Home City of Record:        Granite City IL
Date of Loss:            08 May 1968
Country of Loss:        South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates:        155517N 1073857E
Status (in 1973):        Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category:            2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground:    UH1C
Other Personnel
In Incident:            George T. Condrey; Robert E. Jenne; Daniel E.
                Jureck (all missing)

REMARKS:  EXPLODE - N SIGN SUBJ OR CRASH - J

SYNOPSIS:  George Condrey, pilot, James Dayton, aircraft commander, Daniel
Jurecko, crewchief and Robert Jenne, crewman were on a combat support mission
35 nautical miles southwest of Da Nang on May 8, 1968.

During the mission, the helicopter was completing a turn from the east to the
west when it exploded in midair and plunged into the Buong River bank.    The
violent midair explosion of the aircraft indicated that it had been hit by an
explosive projectile.

Shortly after the incident, recovery personnel landed in the vicinity of the
crash, but were unable to find any signs of life.  On 12 May a ground patrol
located the remains of 4 bodies.  Two bodies were found in the wreckage, one
along side, and one was 2 meters forward of the aircraft.  All bodies were
burned beyond recognition.  Due to enemy activity and the badly deteriorated
state of the remains, the remains were not recovered.

All personnel aboard were classified as killed, body not recovered.  They are
among nearly 2500 Americans who remain unaccounted for from the Vietnam war.
They are among the dead because evidence exists that they did not survive.
They are listed among the missing because no formal identification of remains
was made.

Although it would appear unlikely that the crew of that UH1C helicopter
survived, other cases are not so clear.  Many of the missing were known to be
alive at the time they disappeared.  Some were photographed in captivity. Yet
the Vietnamese deny knowledge of them, and the U.S. seems unable or unwilling
to do what it takes to account for them.

With reports mounting that hundreds of Americans are still alive in prison
camps in Southeast Asia waiting for the country they proudly served to bring
them home, the phrase "Peace With Honor" has little meaning.
             CASE SYNOPSIS:  DEAN, CHARLES

    =================================================================


Name:            Charles Dean
Rank/Branch:        Civilian
Unit:

Date of Birth:        05 April 1950
Home City of Record:
Loss Date:        10 September 1974
Country of Loss:    Laos
Loss Coordinates:    181251N 1073308E
Status (in 1973):    (none)
Category:        1
Acft/Vehicle/Ground:    Ground
Other Personnel in
Incident:        Neil Sharman

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS:  Charles Dean and his Australian companion, Neil Sharman
were aboard a boat enroute to Thakhek, Laos, in early September 1974
when they were captured by the Pathet Lao at Ban Pak Hin Boun.

Numerous reports indicate that they were subsequently held in the Kham
Keut area of central Laos.  Reliable information indicated they were
alive in that area as of February 1975.

Diplomatic efforts to obtain information from the Pathet Lao about the
two have been unsuccessful.  Although Dean was captured after the
cessation of hostilities in Laos, his name is included on the list of
the missing because he is an American on whom the Pathet Lao should
have information.
DEAN, DONALD CHESTER

Name: Donald Chester Dean
Rank/Branch: E5/USN
Unit: Air Early Warning Squadron 113, USS CONSTELLATION
Date of Birth: 07 January 1942 (Old Mines MO)
Home City of Record: St. Louis MO
Date of Loss: 02 October 1969
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 175402N 1073602E (YE754810)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: C2A

Personnel In Incident: Terry L. Beck; Richard W. Bell; Michael L. Bowman; Frank
Bytheway; Rolando C. Dayao; Donald C. Dean; Herbert H. Dilger; Carl J. Ellerd;
James J. Fowler; Roy G. Fowler; Leonardo M. Gan; Paul E. Gore; William D.
Gorsuch; Rayford J. Hill; Delvin L. Kohler; Howard M. Koslosky; Robert B.
Leonard; Richard A. Livingston; Ronald W. Montgomery; William R. Moore; Paul K.
Moser; Kenneth M. Prentice; Fidel G. Salazar; Keavin L. Terrell; Michael J. Tye;
Reynaldo R. Viado (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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: On October 2, 1969, a C2A "Greyhound" cargo aircraft from Reserve
Cargo Squadron 50 departed Cubi Point Naval Air Station, Republic of the
Philippines on a shuttle flight to various aircraft carriers in the Gulf of
Tonkin in Vietnam, including the USS CONSTELLATION, the USS WALKER, the USS
HAMMER, and the USS LONG BEACH.

The flight crew onboard the aircraft, assigned to Fleet Support Squadron 50
based in Atsugi Naval Air Station, Japan, included the pilot, Lt. Herbert H.
Dilger; co-pilot, Lt. Richard A. Livingston; air crewman, Petty Officer 3rd
Class Paul K. Moser; aircraft captain, Petty Officer 3rd Class Michael J. Tye;
and loadmaster-trainee, Petty Officer 3rd Class Rayford J. Hill. Most of the
twenty passengers appear to be bound for the USS CONSTELLATION, but one was
bound for the USS LONG BEACH, one of the four Philippine citizens onboard was
headed for the USS HAMMER, and two to the USS WALKER.

The aircraft was inbound to the CONSTITUTION and made communication at about
0600 hours, reporting that operations were normal. When communicatons were
established with the Carrier Air Control, control was passed to the Marshall
controller (Approach Control). The carrier's radar continued tracking the
aircraft until approximately 0655, at which time radar contact was lost at about
10 nautical miles from the CONSTELLATION.

Helicopter search and rescue efforts were immediately initiated from the ship.
The helicopter began sighting an oil slick and debris. A few pieces of aircraft
were recovered, and analysis of this debris indicated that the aircraft was in a
relatively high speed nose down, right wing down impact with the water or had a
possible right wing failure before impact. There was no sign of survivors, nor
were any bodies recovered.

The crew and passengers onboard the C2 which went down on October 2, 1969 were
all declared Killed/Body Not Recovered. There is very little hope that they will
ever be found. They are listed with honor among the missing because no remains
were ever located to repatriate to their homeland.

For many of the missing, however, solutions are not so simple. Several were
photographed in captivity, but never returned. Others were alive and well the
last they were seen awaiting rescue. Still others described their imminent
captures. For the families of these men, the years have passed heartbreakingly
slow.

Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing in
Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. Government. Many officials who
have reviewed this largely classified information are convinced that hundreds of
Americans are still alive as captives in Southeast Asia. It's time we brought
our men home.


DEAN, MICHAEL FRANK

Name: Michael Frank Dean
Rank/Branch: E5/US Air Force
Unit: 40th Aerospace Rescue/Recovery Squadron, Udorn Airfield, Thailand
Date of Birth: 13 September 1946
Home City of Record: LaPuente CA
Date of Loss: 30 June 1970
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 165004N 1063104E (XD617617)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: HH53C

Other Personnel In Incident: Marvin E. Bell; Paul L. Jenkins; John W. Goeglein;
Leroy C. Schaneberg (missing); on nearby OV10A: Williams S. Sanders (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II
Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On June 30, 1970, a crew from the 40th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery
Squadron at Udorn Airfield, Thailand was dispatched to rescue a downed flight
crew. Crew aboard the Sikorsky HH53C "Super Jolly" helicopter included the
pilot, Capt. Leroy C. Schaneberg, crewmembers Major John W. Goeglein, MSgt. Paul
L. Jenkins, SSgt. Marvin E. Bell, and SSgt. Michael F. Dean.

The members of the 40th Air R & R were trained for both air and sea recovery,
and the big "Super Jolly" was equipped to airlift both the crew and aircraft out
of sticky situations.

The downed and injured pilot was located in Savannakhet Province, Laos, about
two kilometers south of Bang Tang. The HH53C penetrated the area, known to be
hostile, in an attempt to rescue the pilot, but was forced away by hostile
ground fire. A second attempt was made, but the helicopter was hit by hostile
fire, caught on fire, went out of control and crashed. The Air Force states it
received evidence on July 4, 1970, that the crew was dead, but that evidence is
not specifically described, and no remains identifiable as Bell, Dean, Goeglein,
Schaneberg, or Jenkins have been recovered. Schaneberg received the Air Force
Cross for extraordinary heroism as the aircraft commander on this rescue
mission.

On the same day, Capt. Williams S. Sanders was flying an OV10A Bronco southeast
of Khe Sanh at a point where Laos veers north to intrude on South Vietnam. His
aircraft was shot down just inside Laos, not far from the location of the downed
helicopter. The Bronco was generally used for marking targets, armed
reconnaissance and forward air control, so the nature of Capt. Sanders' mission
and its precise relation to the mission of the Super Jolly from Udorn is
unknown. The crew of the helicopter was numerically listed missing before the
OV10, so it is does not seem likely that the helicopter was assisting the
observation aircraft, but as no other aircraft is missing on that day in that
area, either the downed pilot was Sanders or the pilot was rescued by other
means.

Unfortunately, for families of men missing in Laos, information is difficult to
obtain. Twenty and twenty-five year old records remain classified and details
obscured. Much of this information was classified to distort American
involvement in a now well known "secret" war in Laos.

Since the war's end in 1973, thousands of reports have been received by the U.S.
Government regarding Americans still in captivity in Southeast Asia. Many of the
reports involve Americans in Laos, where nearly 600 Americans went missing, and
none released despite public statements by the Pathet Lao that "tens of tens" of
Americans were being held there.

Henry Kissinger predicted, in the 50's, that future "limited political
engagements" would result, unfortunately, in nonrecoverable prisoners of war. We
have seen this prediction fulfilled in Korea and Vietnam, where thousands of men
and women remain missing, and where ample evidence exists that many of them
(from BOTH wars) are still alive today.

For Americans, the "unfortunate" abandonment of military personnel is not
acceptable, and the policy that allows it must be changed before another
generation is left behind in some faraway war.



DEANE, WILLIAM LAWRENCE

Name: William Lawrence Deane
Rank/Branch: O4/US Army
Unit: AGC Army Advisory Group Headquarters, MACV
Date of Birth: 27 September 1934
Home City of Record: Orlando FL
Date of Loss: 08 January 1973
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 16421N 1070956E (YD324528)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 1
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H

Other Personnel in Incident: Elbert W. Bush; Richard A. Knutson; Manuel A.
Lauterio; William S. Stinson; Mickey A. Wilson (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: WO1 Richard Knutson, pilot; WO1 Mickey A. Wilson, aircraft commander;
SP5 William S. Stinson, gunner; SP5 Manuel A. Lauterio, crew chief; and SSgt.
Elbert W. Bush and Maj. William L. Dean, both passengers; were aboard a UH1H
helicopter (serial #69-15619) that flew in support of the American Senior
Advisor to the Vietnamese Airborne Division in Quang Tri and Thua Thien
Provinces, working between the provincial capitals of Hue and Quang Tri.

On January 8, 1973, at about 1430 hours, the aircraft had departed a landing
zone en route to other LZs without making radio contact with the 2nd Battalion
Technical Operations Center. When no radio contact was received by 1500 hours,
the other LZs were queried. The helicopter did not go to either of the two
designated LZs, nor had any communication been established with them.

The helicopter's intended route would have taken it northwest toward Quang Tri,
with a left turn to an LZ south of the Thach Han River. Although the helicopter
failed to contact either LZ along the route, it was later seen flying northwest
toward Quang Tri City and crossing the Thach Han River into enemy held
territory. While in this area, the helicopter was seen to circle with door guns
firing. Enemy automatic weapons fire was heard, and a direct hit was made on
the tail boom by a missile, reportedly an SA7.

Aerial searches of the suspected crash site on January 8 and 9 failed to locate
either the wreckage or the crew. The aircraft was shot down less than three
weeks before American involvement in the war came to an official end.

Intelligence reports indicated that of the six men aboard, four were seen alive
on the ground. Further information indicated that the aircraft did not explode
or burn on impact. The families of the men assumed that their loved ones would
be released with the other POWs. Some were even so informed.

But the crew of the UH1H was not released, and have not been released or found
since that day. As thousands of reports of Americans alive in Southeast Asia
mount, these familes wonder if their men are among the hundreds thought to be
still alive.


DeBLASIO, RAYMOND VINCENT

Name: Raymond Vincent DeBlasio
Rank/Branch: O2/US Navy
Unit: Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 130, Detachment 3
Date of Birth: 15 August 1946
Home City of Record: West Hempstead NY
Date of Loss: 18 June 1971
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 185559N 1072457E (YF544950)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: EKA3B

Other Personnel In Incident: Barry A. Bidwell; John R. Painter (both missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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: CRASH IN WATER - N RADI - N SURV - J

SYNOPSIS: Lt. John R. Painter, Jr. was a pilot assigned to Tactical Electronic
Warfare Squadron 130, Detachment 3. On June 18, 1971, he launched in his EKA3B
Skywarrior aircraft on an operational flight. The other crew onboard the
aircraft that day consisted of LTJG Raymond V. DeBlasio and ADJ2 Barry A.
Bidwell.

The A3 Skywarrior is a three-place light bomber, reconnaisance plane, electronic
warfare craft or aerial tanker, depending upon its outfitting. The Skywarrior
flown by Painter aircraft was outfitted to serve as the tanker aircraft,
prepared to render valuable assistance to other aircraft returning to the ship
with very little fuel. This was an extremely important job, as some types of
fighter aircraft launched with a minimum amount of fuel in order to accomodate a
heavier bomb load, and sometimes arrived back at ship low on fuel.

Upon launch, Painter's aircraft had some mechanical failure and crashed into the
Gulf of Tonkin. No remains were recovered for the crew. They were listed as
Reported Dead/Body Not Recovered and as a Non-Battle casualty.

The three-man crew were listed as killed, body not recovered. They are among
over 2300 Americans who remain unaccounted for from the Vietnam war. The cases
of some, like Painter, DeBlasio and Bidwell seem clear - that they perished and
cannot be recovered. Unfortunately, mounting evidence indicates that hundreds of
Americans are still captive, waiting for the country they proudly served to
secure their freedom.

In our haste to leave an unpopular war, it now appears we abandoned some of our
best men. In our haste to heal the wounds of this same war, will we sign their
death warrants? Or will we do what we can to bring them home?


DEBRUIN, EUGENE HENRY

Name: Eugene Henry DeBruin
Rank/Branch: U.S. Civilian
Unit: Air America
Date of Birth: 01 April 1933
Home City of Record: Kaukauna WI
Date of Loss: 05 September 1963
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 164245N 1061021E (XD250480)
Status (In 1973): Prisoner Of War
Category: 1
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: C46
Other Personnel in Incident: Joseph C. Cheney, Charles Herrick (killed in
crash); Chui To Tik and 3 other Thai nationals (names unknown) (all captured)

REMARKS: ESC W/D008 NFI-CREW PIC PUBD

SYNOPSIS: During the 1950's a deteriorating political situation in Laos had
allowed NVA troops and Pathet Lao guerrillas to seize the Laotian panhandle
from the Royal Lao Army. Prevented by Geneva Accords from having a large
military presence in Laos, the U.S. established a "Program Evaluation Office"
(PEO) in 1958 as a CIA cover for anti-communist covert actions. One activity,
begun in 1958, used Meo tribesmen for a small pilot guerrilla program, which
soon became the largest clandestine army in CIA history. In the first year,
using U.S. Special Forces White Star teams as PEO "civilians", a few CIA
officers and 90 elite Thai Border guards, an army of 9000 Meo was trained for
behind-lines guerrilla activity. Within 10 years, the Meo army grew to over
40,000 guerrillas, becoming the most effective fighting force in Laos.

The CIA's covert airline, known as "Air America" (AA) supported the Meo as well
as numerous other CIA-backed clandestine guerrilla armies. With the escalating
war, a large US military presence guaranteed that Air America could operate in
relative obscurity. With little fanfare throughout the war, AA fought in the
frontlines of unconventional war. AA pilots flew "black missions" over China,
North Vietnam and the Laotian panhandle. AA flew in every type of aircraft from
727 jets to small Cessnas and junk aircraft, transporting everything from
combat troops (alive, wounded or dead) to baby chicks, dropping rice to
refugees and specially trained Nung trailwatchers into denied areas. AA
contracted both with the Drug Enforcement Agency (to track international drug
smugglers) and with the Meo (to haul its annual and valuable opium crop).

As U.S. forces pulled out, AA picked up the slack, straining to maintain the
status quo. The communists drove the Meo from their homelands in the early
1970's, and as the Meo retreated, AA was in the position of hauling (and
feeding) tens of thousands of refugees. There were problems as the CIA fell
under Congressional scrutiny of its world-wide paramilitary activities and
public pressure to divest itself of Air America. South Vietnam's rapid collapse
in 1975 signified the end of the clandestine war that began in Vietnam thirty
years earlier.

On September 5, 1963, an Air America C46 aircraft was hit by ground fire and
crashed about 2 kilometers from Tchepone, Savannakhet Province, Laos. Eugene
DeBruin, Chui To Tik and two Thai nationals parachuted to safety, but were
immediately captured by the Pathet Lao. Two crew members, Joseph C. Cheney and
Charles Herrick, were killed in the crash.

Later, the the Pathet Lao photographed DeBruin and four others prisoners and
published a leaflet naming the five as their prisoners. Several times during
their captivity the entire crew was moved to different locations within
Savannakhet and Khammouane Provinces.

In early July 1966, Eugene and six other prisoners made an escape. However,
only two of the seven, Dieter Dingler and one of the Thai nationals who was
part of Eugene's crew, reached safety. One report stated that DeBruin was
killed in the escape attempt, but the Thai national reported that DeBruin was
last seen attempting to reach high ground in a classified location.

Eugene's family has not stopped looking for answers. They were able to find a
report that Eugene may have been alive as late as January 1968. His brother,
Jerome traveled to Laos in 1972 in search of information.

Although the Pathet Lao openly admitted holding American prisoners of war, they
insisted that the U.S. negotiate directly with them to ensure their release.
The U.S. never negotiated or recognized the Pathet Lao, and as a consequence,
not one of the nearly 600 Americans lost in Laos (many of whom were known to
have survived their loss incidents) was ever released.

As reports mount that Americans are still alive in Southeast Asia, the Debruin
family wonders if one of them could be Eugene or one of his crewmen.

DeCAIRE, JACK LEONARD

Name: Jack Leonard DeCaire
Rank/Branch: E6/US Army
Unit: HHC, 1st TC Battaion, USNS Corpus Christi Bay, 34th General Support Group
Date of Birth: 24 April 1946 (Ashtabula OH)
Home City of Record: St. Petersburg FL
Date of Loss: 03 November 1971
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 102335N 1070250E (YS241495)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ship
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: The 1st Transportation Battalion (Aircraft Maintenance Depot,
Seaborne) was a unique augmentation of the U.S. Army helicopter maintenance
capability. Based on a converted Navy seaplane tender, the USNS CORPUS CHRISTI
BAY, the ship and battalion became a mobile maintenance facility equivalent to
a major rebuilding facility. Through such efforts as those of the 1st
Transportation Battalion, the U.S. Army was able to maintain helicopters in
numbers sufficient to meet the full range of combat operations.

On November 3, 1971, SP6 Jack L. DeCaire and other members of Headquarters
Company, 1st TC Battalion returned from pass to Dung Tau, South Vietnam to the
USNS CORPUS CHRISTI BAY.

A companion reported that as he and SP6 DeCaire was somewhat intoxicated, they
decided to go to the aircraft flight deck to talk. While there, SP6 DeCaire
went to the starboard of the ship to relieve himself, and fell overboard.
DeCaire's companion saw him in the water and summoned help immediately.

Although a life boat was launched, attempts to locate him in the darkness were
unsuccessful. Searches continued for the next 36 hours without ever a sign of
SP6 DeCaire.

DeCaire's is one of the unfortunate accidental deaths that occur wherever
people are. The fact that he died an accidental death in the midst of a war is
tragically ironic. He is listed among the missing with honor, because his body
was never found to be returned to the country he served.

Others who are missing do not have such clear cut cases. Some were known
captives; some were photographed as they were led by their guards. Some were in
radio contact with search teams, while others simply disappeared.

Since the war ended, over 250,000 interviews have been conducted with those who
claim to know about Americans still alive in Southeast Asia, and several
million documents have been studied. U.S. Governmetn experts cannot seem to
agree whether Americans are there alive or not. Distractors say it would be far
too politically difficult to bring the men they believe to be alive home, and
the U.S. is content to negotiate for remains.

Over 1000 eye-witness reports of living American prisoners were received by
1989. Most of them are still classified. If, as the U.S. seems to believe, the
men are all dead, why the secrecy after so many years? If the men are alive,
why are they not home?
DEERE, DONALD THORPE

Name: Donald Thorpe Deere
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army 5th Special Forces
Unit: Detachment A-331
Date of Birth: 06 September 1944 (Roscoe TX)
Home City of Record: Snyder TX
Date of Loss: 17 May 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 114716N 1062714E (XU584034)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
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: Donald T. Deere was a Special Forces Advisor with Detachment A-331 in
Vietnam. On May 17, 1966, he was part of a Mobile Strike Force that made contact
with an enemy force estimated to be battalion sized. During that contact, Deere
was wounded, and during an attempt to rescue him, it appeared that he was hit a
second time.

Because of intense enemy activity, the remainder of the Strike Force was forced
to pull back without further rescue attempts. Air strikes were directed into the
area, and the team withdrew, leaving Deere behind.

It is assumed that Donald Deere was killed, either by the enemy attack or the
subsequent necessary air strikes. He is listed among the missing because no
remains were ever recovered.

Other cases among the missing are not quite as clear. Many were known to be
alive at the time they disappeared. Some were in radio contact with would-be
rescuers and informed them of their imminent capture. Some were photographed as
prisoners of war. Others simply disappeared without a trace.

Evidence mounts that hundreds of Americans are still alive in Southeast Asia,
held captive by a long-ago enemy. Experts reason that the Vietnamese withheld
about half the prisoners they held as insurance against promised reconstruction
aid - which was never given.

To date, the U.S. has been unable to secure the freedom of any man held alive,
and only a few score of the many remains held by the Vietnamese have been
returned to U.S. control.

DeHERRERA BENJAMIN DAVID

Name: Benjamin David DeHerrera
Rank/Branch: E3/US Army
Unit: C Company, 503rd Infantry, 173rd Infantry Brigade
Date of Birth: 19 April 1943
Home City of Record: Colorado Springs CO
Date of Loss: 19 November 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 143500N 1073547E (YB797137)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Other Personnel In Incident: Jack L. Croxdale II; Donald Iandoli (both 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: REMS TAG'D - NOT IN MORTY

SYNOPSIS: On November 19, 1967, SP4 Croxdale, radio operator, PFC Benjamin D.
DeHerrera, squad leader and Sgt. Donald Iandoli, squad leader were members of
Company C, 503rd Infantry on a Search and Destroy mission in South Vietnam.

At 1435 hours, Companies A, C and D, all part of the 503rd Infantry, were in
heavy contact with an unknown sized North Vietnamese force and were surrounded.
During the operation, Sgt. Iandoli was wounded and was seen in the Company C
command post area, along with SP4 Croxdale and PFC DeHerrera. At 1850 hours, a
U.S. Marine bomber dropped a 500 pound bomb which hit the command post area in
error, resulting in additional casualties. No remains were recovered that day
because of intense enemy activity.

The following day, a search of the area was conducted. The remains of Croxdale,
DeHerrera and Iandoli were identified and tagged. However, only the remains of
DeHerrera and Croxdale were reported to have been placed on a helicopter en
route to Dak To. Following the attack, a 3-day search of the battle area was
conducted without success in locating Iandoli. However, as of January 4, 1968,
the U.S. Army Mortuary at Than San Ut, South Vietnam, had not processed or
identified any remains of DeHerrera, Croxdale or Iandoli, and the location of
those remains is unknown.

Croxdale, DeHerrera and Iandoli died the day their command post received fire
and are listed among the dead. They are also listed among the missing because no
remains have been returned to their families for burial. The cases of many of
the other nearly 2500 missing are not so clear. Many were known to have been
alive at the time they disappeared. Some were photographed in captivity.

Experts now believe hundreds of Americans are held captive in Indochina. While
the members of Company C may not be among them, one can imagine their proudly
defending one more firebase for their comrades safe return.



DEICHELMANN, SAMUEL MACKALL

Name: Samuel Mackall Deichelmann
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 56th Special Operations Wing, Udorn AF TH (RAVENS)
Date of Birth: 24 September 1938
Home City of Record: Montgomery AL
Date of Loss: 06 September 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 0105007N 1074246E (YS960990)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: O1F
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March1990 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.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: The Steve Canyon program was a highly classified FAC (forward air
control) operation covering the military regions of Laos. U.S. military
operations in Laos were severely restricted during the Vietnam War era because
Laos had been declared neutral by the Geneva Accords.

The non-communist forces in Laos, however, had a critical need for military
support in order to defend territory used by Lao and North Vietnamese communist
forces. The U.S., in conjunction with non-communist forces in Laos, devised a
system whereby U.S. military personnel could be "in the black" or "sheep-dipped"
(clandestine; mustered out of the military to perform military duties as a
civilian) to operate in Laos under supervision of the U.S. Ambassador to Laos.

RAVEN was the radio call sign which identified the flyers of the Steve Canyon
Program. Men recruited for the program were rated Air Force officers with at
least six months experience in Vietnam. They tended to be the very best of
pilots, but by definition, this meant that they were also mavericks, and
considered a bit wild by the mainstream military establishment.

The Ravens came under the formal command of CINCPAC and the 7/13th Air Force
56th Special Operations Wing at Nakhon Phanom, but their pay records were
maintained at Udorn with Detachment 1. Officially, they were on loan to the U.S.
Air Attache at Vientiane. Unofficially, they were sent to outposts like Long
Tieng, where their field commanders were the CIA, the Meo Generals, and the U.S.
Ambassador. Once on duty, they flew FAC missions which controlled all U.S. air
strikes over Laos.

All tactical strike aircraft had to be under the control of a FAC, who was
intimately familiar with the locale, the populous, and the tactical situation.
The FAC would find the target, order up U.S. fighter/bombers from an airborne
command and control center, mark the target accurately with white phosphorus
(Willy Pete) rockets, and control the operation throughout the time the planes
remained on station. After the fighters had departed, the FAC stayed over the
target to make a bomb damage assessment (BDA).

The FAC also had to ensure that there were no attacks on civilians, a complex
problem in a war where there were no front lines and any hamlet could suddenly
become part of the combat zone. A FAC needed a fighter pilot's mentality, but
but was obliged to fly slow and low in such unarmed and vulnerable aircraft as
the Cessna O1 Bird Dog, and the Cessna O2. Consequently, aircraft used by the
Ravens were continually peppered with ground fire. A strong fabric tape was
simply slapped over the bullet holes until the aircraft could no longer fly.

Ravens were hopelessly overworked by the war. The need for secrecy kept their
numbers low (never more than 22 at one time), and the critical need of the Meo
sometimes demanded each pilot fly 10 and 12 hour days. Some Ravens completed
their tour of approximately 6 months with a total of over 500 combat missions.

The Ravens in at Long Tieng in Military Region II, had, for several years, the
most difficult area in Laos. The base, just on the southern edge of the Plain of
Jars, was also the headquarters for the CIA-funded Meo army commanded by General
Vang Pao. An interesting account of this group can be read in Christopher
Robbins' book, "The Ravens". On pages 60-63, this book includes the account of
Capt. Samuel M. Deichelmann, who became Missing in Action on September 6, 1968:

"One of two things happened to Ravens, as they logged an increasing number of
combat missions and took their share of groundfire; they became either
overcautious or reckless. The first merely made them ineffective, but the second
risked their lives. The inclination to duel with a gun in a fixed position, or
settle a score after their aircraft had been peppered with ground fire, led them
to take risk after risk. Sam Deichelmann became one of the worst offenders. [His
commander] thought he was becoming too blase and had reached the point where he
believed himself immortal.

"...It was just one of those things. His plane took the Golden BB. [The Golden
BB was part of pilot's folklore -- the 'miracle' shot that would kill them after
countless times under heavy and close fire.]

"...Deichelmann had flown his C-130 out of Vietnam over the Trail at night as a
Blindbat pilot at ridiculously low altitudes and never taken a hit. Then, flying
over Route 4, southeast of the Plain of Jars...[he] took a single round. The
shell ripped through the plane, hit [his friend and backseater] Vong Chou...and
missing Deichelmann's head by a hairbreadth.

"...Deichelmann was shattered by the experience. ...He now entered a highly
dangerous phase. He had cheated death and dodged the Golden BB, but it had
wounded his friend, and he felt honor-bound to embark upon a course of reckless
revenge.

"...In the circumstances, the air attache's office thought it wise to remove him
temporarily from the picture. ...In September he left for Bien Hoa, where his
younger brother was stationed. He planned to spend a few days leave with him and
then [return, bringing with him a new O1 for the unit].

"...Deichelmann reached Vietnam without incident, and the brothers enjoyed a
pleasant reunion. He mentioned a desire to see the great Cambodian lake of Tonle
Sap, an illegal but easy detour on the journey back. He boarded the new Bird Dog
and took off from Bien Hoa and headed back toward Laos. He was never seen
again."

Sam Deichelmann's disappearance was deeply mourned at Long Tieng. His comrades
admired him as a first-rate pilot and FAC, but especially admired his humanity.
They had seen him play with village children, and knew how he suffered when his
friend Vong Chou had been wounded. He had been honest, good-hearted, open and
warm. His friends would miss him greatly. Some refused to accept that he had
died, and were convinced that he had been forced to make an emergency landing in
Cambodia, and would reappear with yet another account of escaping death. But Sam
Deichelmann never returned.

(NOTE: "The Ravens" continues, saying Sam's younger brother was later killed in
a midair collision in Vietnam. There is, however, only one Deichelmann listed on
the Vietnam Memorial, so the accuracy of this portion of the account cannot be
established.)

Sam Deichelmann is one of nearly 600 Americans lost in Laos. Even though the
Pathet Lao stated publicly that they held "tens of tens" of American prisoners,
not one American held in Laos was ever released -- or negotiated for.

Since U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War ended, nearly 10,000 reports have been
received by the U.S. Government relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asia.
Many authorities have reluctantly concluded that hundreds are still alive in
captivity today.

Deichelmann could be one of those thought to be still alive in Southeast Asia.
What must he be thinking of his country? It's time we brought our men home.

DELONG, JOE LYNN

Name: Joe Lynn DeLong
Rank/Branch: E3/US Army
Unit: Company B, 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry, 4th Infantry Division
Date of Birth: 18 June 1947
Home City of Record: McMinnville TN
Date of Loss: 18 May 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 135013N 1073039E (YA713310)
Status (in 1973): Prisoner of War
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel In Incident: none missing, but held with men from at least two
other incidents including: Incident on 17 February 1967: David W. Sooter
(released); Incident on 12 July 1967: Martin S. Frank; Nathan B. Henry; Cordine
McMurray; Stanley A. Newell; Richard R. Perricone (all released); James F.
Schiele; James L. Van Bendegom (both missing)

REMARKS: 6711 DIC - ON PRG DIC LIST

SYNOPSIS: In the spring of 1973, 591 American Prisoners of War were released
from prisons and camps in Vietnam. Among them were six of a group of nine U.S.
Army 4th Infantry Division personnel captured in and near Pleiku Province,
South Vietnam during the year of 1967 whose lives had been intertwined for the
past six years. All had belonged to that part of the "Ivy Division" which was
assigned to Task Force Oregon conducting border operations called Operation Sam
Houston (1 Jan - 5 Apr 67) and Operation Francis Marion (5 Apr - 12 Oct 67).

On February 17, 1967, W1 David W. Sooter was the only man captured from a
OH23 helicopter downed at the southeastern edge of Kontum Province near the
edge of Pleiku Province, and near the Cambodian border.

PFC Joe Lynn DeLong was the machine gunner for his company, on a company-sized
patrol in Rotanokiri Province, Cambodia on May 18, 1967. (Note: most records
list this loss as in South Vietnam, and coordinates place it in the Ia Drang
Valley, Pleiku Province, South Vietnam near the border of Cambodia, but U.S.
Army casualty reports state that the loss was in Kotanokiri Province,
Cambodia.) While on patrol, his unit was hit by a Viet Cong force of unknown
size and cut off from the rest of the company. DeLong's platoon formed a
defensive perimeter and attempted to hold their position. Later that day, at
about 1830 hours, DeLong's platoon position was overrun. The next morning,
another unit reached his position, and was able to account for all platoon
members except for DeLong. It was later learned that DeLong had been captured.

Nearly two months later, on July 12, 1967, SP4 Martin S. Frank, PFC Nathan B.
Henry, Sgt. Cordine McMurray, PFC Stanley A. Newell, PFC Richard R. Perricone,
SP4 James F. Schiele and PFC James L. Van Bendegom, all members of Company B,
1st Battalion, 12th Infantry, 4th Infantry Division, were conducting a search
and destroy mission along the Cambodian border when their position was overrun
by the Viet Cong. With the execption of Schiele, all the men were captured. The
U.S. Army notes that Schiele and Van Bendegom were captured by the North
Vietnamese, while the others, apparently, were captured by Viet Cong.

PFC Schiele was seen by his platoon leader as his unit was forced to withdraw,
leaving him behind. He had been hit a number of times by automatic weapons fire
in the legs and chest and was thought to be dead. PFC Perricone stated in his
debrief upon return to the U.S. that the enemy camp commander of Camp 102 told
him that SP4 Schiele had died of wounds received in the fire fight. However,
since there was no positive proof of death, the U.S. government placed Schiele
in a Missing in Action category. Classified information given to the Vietnamese
by Gen. John Vessey in 1987, however, states that both Schiele and Van Bendegom
were captured by the North Vietnamese.

PFC Vanbendegom was also wounded in the engagement, and was seen alive by other
Americans captured in the same battle about one week after his capture at a
communist field hospital in Cambodia, not far from his capture location. One of
the released Americans was later told by the commanding North Vietnamese
officer at his prison camp in Cambodia that SP4 Vanbendegom had died of his
wounds. Vanbendegom was categorized as a Prisoner of War.

The other seven Americans were held in prison camps on the Vietnam/Cambodia
border for several months. According to the debriefs of releasees Sooter and
Perricone, they and DeLong had attempted to escape from a border camp in
Cambodia on November 6, 1967, but were recaptured the same day. Two days later,
Sooter and Perricone were shown DeLong's bullet-ridden and blood-soaked
trousers and were told that DeLong had been killed resisting recapture. The
Vietnamese included DeLong's name on a list of prisoners who had died in
captivity (saying he died in November 1967), did not return his remains, and
did not offer any explaination.

Sooter, Frank, Henry, Perricone, McMurray and Newell were all released by the
PRG in 1973. Frank was never known to be a prisoner by the U.S. Henry was
injured, and maintains a permanent disability today. The U.S. is certain the
Vietnamese also know the fates of DeLong, Schiele and Vanbendegom, but the
Vietnamese continue to remain silent.

Since the end of the war, only a few score of the many remains the Vietnamese
could provide have been returned to U.S. control. Each return of remains
signals some political move by the Vietnamese. Strong moves towards
normalization of relations began in the mid-80's, which most Americans would
not oppose. As evidence mounts that hundreds of Americans are still held
captive by these same governments the U.S. is rushing to befriend, many
concerned Americans believe that in our rush to leave Indochina, we abandoned
our best men. And that in our rush to return, we will sign their death warrants.
DEMMON, DAVID STANLEY

Name: David Stanley Demmon
Rank/Branch: E5/US Army
Unit: 73rd Aviation Company, 765th Transportation Battalion
Date of Birth: 30 November 1940 (Santa Monica CA)
Home City of Record: Venice CA
Date of Loss: 09 June 1965
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 093514N 1062201E (XR035296)
Status (in 1973): Prisoner of War
Category: 1
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: OV1C

Other Personnel In Incident: Charles Alva Dale (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS: DISAPPEARED OVER VINH BINH

SYNOPSIS: At 0317 hours on June 9, 1965, 1Lt. Charles A. Dale, pilot; and SP4
David S. Demmon, electronic sensor operator, departed Vung Tau in an OV1C
(serial #61-2687) on a mission. The nature of the mission is not included in
public record, but was undoubtedly a standard battlefield surveillance mission,
or, as the 765th Transportation Battalion was primarily aircraft maintenance and
support, it might have been a test of equipment onboard the aircraft.

The OV1C maintained surveillance using infrared detection equipment and a
forward-aimed camera (which proved especially useful since the Viet Cong relied
heavily on darkness to conceal their activities).

Standard proceedure for the OV1C was to periodically fly over a known location
to update the navigation computer. One such update, about 87 minutes after
takeoff placed Dale and Demmon over Vung Tau. At this time, he was headed to a
second mission area in Vinh Binh Province, South Vietnam.

Somewhere over the U Minh forest, the aircraft was shot down. Search and rescue
forces sighted two men wading out of the water and the Viet Cong capturing them,
but positive identification was prevented by weather. However, Demmon and Dale
were the only two Americans shot down that dayu. Dale was declared Missing in
Action, while Demmon was classified Prisoner of War. It was felt that the enemy
knew the fates of both men, alive or dead.

Reports relating to Dale and Demmon were received as late as 1970, both together
and separately. Both men were seen alive by intelligence sources in the hands of
the Viet Cong. One defector provided the phoenetic name "Phyan De Mann", which
translates to "Family name of De Manh" (possibly meaning "Demmon").

In 1971, Demmon was seen alive in captivity. A Viet Cong guard, who stated that
he had guarded American POWs from September to December 1965, stated he saw two
men he believed to be Demmon and Dale in his camp. The families of both men
believed they were captured, and eagerly awaited their release at the end of the
war.

When the war ended, however, and 591 Americans were released from communist
prisons in Souteast Aisa, Dale and Demmon were not among them. The Vietnamese
never acknowledged their existence, nor did their names appear on lists provided
by the Vietnamese of prisoners who had died in captivity.

In 1987, evidence of a large number of Americans being held in China began to
surface in the private sector. It was said that these Americans were the
"property" of a number of pro-China Vietnamese officials who had fled Vietnam in
the wake of a stronger national sympathy to the Soviet Union. Charles Alva Dale,
it was said, was serving as a houseboy to one of these officials.

The reports could not be verified. Dale and Demmon's families still wonder where
they are. They don't know whether to hope they died that day in June 1965, or to
hope they survived, and are alive still. If they survived, what must they have
gone through? And what must they think of the country they so proudly served?

Charles A. Dale was promoted to the rank of Major and Demmon to the rank of
Staff Sergeant during the period they were maintained Missing and Prisoner.



DEMPSEY, JACK ISHUM

Name: Jack Ishum Dempsey
Rank/Branch: E5/US Navy
Unit: Air Transport Squadron 7
Date of Birth: 26 August 1944
Home City of Record: Helena MT
Date of Loss: 17 June 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 125336N 1093123E (CQ398257)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: C130E
Other Personnel in Incident: Ralph B. Cobbs; Curtis D. Collette; Stanley J.
Freng; Edward L. Romig; M.J. Savoy; Donald E. Siegwarth; Robert A. Cairns; Gene
K. Hess; Connie M. Gravitte; Oley N. Adams; Larry E. Washburn (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project with the assistance of Task Force
Omega from 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: EXPLODE AIR & IMPACT SEA - J

SYNOPSIS: On June 17, 1966, a C130E "Hercules" aircraft departed Cam Ranh Bay,
South Vietnam en route to Kadena Air Base, Okinawa on an operational airlift
support mission. Aboard the flight were the crew, consisting of LtCdr. Ralph B.
Cobbs; ADJ2 Curtis D. Collette; YN2 Jack I. Dempsey; ADR2 Stanley J. Freng;
Ltjg. Edward L. Romig; AN M.J. Savoy; and Ltjg. Donald E. Siegwarth. All were
assigned to the 7th Air Transport Squadron. Also aboard the aircraft were U.S.
Air Force personnel SSgt. Robert A. Cairns; SSgt. Gene K. Hess; Capt. Connie M.
Gravitte; SSgt. Oley N. Adams; and A1 Larry E. Washburn, and one other
individual.

About 30 minutes into the flight, when the aircraft was 43 miles northeast of
Nha Trang, the crew of a naval gunboat cruising off the South Vietnam coast
observed the C130 explode and crash into the South China Sea. No hostile fire
was observed, and the exact cause of the crash could not be determined. The
vessell arrived at the crash scene only minutes after the impact and began an
immediate search. The accident took place so swiftly that it must be assumed
all aboard perished instantly. Some debris and wreckage have been recovered
including parts of the aircraft and personal belongings. Only one body was
recovered from the crash site. The others are listed as "Dead/Body Not
Recovered."

Cobbs and Siegworth were pilots, and probably the co-pilots of the aircraft,
although this information is not included in public data relating to the loss.
Crew positions of the remaining crew members are not available.

Inexplicably, Cobbs' loss coordinates place him on the coast of South Vietnam a
few miles northeast of Tuy Hoa, while the others aboard are listed as lost
northeast of Na Trang. (This is a difference of about 55 miles.) Also, the
entire crew of the aircraft has been assigned "Knowledge Category 4", while the
passengers are in "Knowledge Category 5". Category 5 includes those individuals
whose remains have been determined to be non-recoverable. Category 4 includes
individuals whose loss details, such as location and time, are unknown and who
do not fit into any of the varying degrees of knowledge other than category 5.
No reason for this discrepancy can be determined.

The Americans aboard the C130E are listed among the missing because their
remains were never found to be returned to their homeland. They are among
nearly 2500 Americans who remain unaccounted for from the Vietnam war. The
cases of some, like the C130E crew, seem clear - that they perished and cannot
be recovered, Unfortunately, many others who are missing do not have such clear
cut cases. Some were known captives; some were photographed as they were led by
their guards. Some were in radio contact with search teams, while others simply
disappeared.

Since the war ended, over 250,000 interviews have been conducted with those who
claim to know about Americans still alive in Southeast Asia, and several
million documents have been studied. U.S. Government experts cannot seem to
agree whether Americans are there alive or not. Distractors say it would be far
too politically difficult to bring the men they believe to be alive home, and
the U.S. is content to negotiate for remains.

Over 1000 eye-witness reports of living American prisoners were received by
1989. Most of them are still classified. If, as the U.S. seems to believe, the
men are all dead, why the secrecy after so many years? If the men are alive,
why are they not home?

In our haste to leave an unpopular war, it now appears we abandoned some of our
best men. In our haste to heal the wounds of this same war, will we sign their
death warrants? Or will we do what we can to bring them home?


DEMSEY, WALTER EDWARD JR.

Name: Walter Edward Demsey Jr.
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: Company A, 101st Aviation Battalion, 101st Airborne Division
Date of Birth: 17 September 1949 (Philadelphia PA)
Home City of Record: Glendora NJ
Date of Loss: 18 February 1971
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 160431N 1071910E (YC481785)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H
Other Personnel in Incident: George P. Berg; Gary L. Johnson; Gerald E. Woods
(all missing from UH1H); Allen R. Lloyd; Ronald L. Watson (missing from Special
Forces team)

REMARKS: KIA CRASH - REMS TAGD - NO RECV - J

SYNOPSIS: WO Gerald E. Woods, pilot; WO George P. Berg, aircraft commander; SP4
Gary L. Johnson, door gunner; SP4 Walter Demsey, crew chief; were assigned to
Company A, 101st Aviation Battalion, 101st Airborne Division. On February 18,
1971, their UH1H was dispatched as part of a flight of four on an emergency
patrol extraction mission on the west side of the A Shau Valley in Thua Tin
Province, South Vietnam. The patrol to be rescued included Sgt. Allen R. Lloyd,
Capt. Ronald L. Watson and SFC Samuel Hernandez, part of Special Operations
Augmentation, Command & Control North, 5th Special Forces Group.

The team was assigned to MACV-SOG (Military Assistance Command, Vietnam Studies
and Observation Group). MACV-SOG was a joint service high command
unconventional warfare task force engaged in highly classified operations
throughout Southeast Asia. The 5th Special Forces channeled personnel into
MACV-SOG (although it was not a Special Forces group) through Special
Operations Augmentation (SOA), which provided their "cover" while under secret
orders to MACV-SOG. The teams performed deep penetration missions of strategic
reconnaissance and interdiction which were called, depending on the time frame,
"Shining Brass" or "Prairie Fire" missions.

During the attempt to recover the patrol, Woods' helicopter came under heavy
fire and had to leave the pick-up zone with Lloyd, Watson and Hernandez
attached to the three-staple rig. While in flight, the rope broke, and
Hernandez fell 30-40 feet, landing in double canopy jungle. He was rescued the
following day. The helicopter continued a short distance, and was hit by enemy
anti-aircraft fire, crashed and burned.

On February 19, a Special Forces recovery team was inserted at the crash site
to search the area. Woods and Berg were found dead in their seats. Johnson's
body was found in a tree. One leg of Demsey, the burned crew chief, was found
in the cargo compartment. All remains were prepared for extraction, and the
team left to establish a night defensive position. En route, the team found the
remains of Lloyd and Watson, still on their rope slings, in the trees on the
edge of a cliff. Because of the rugged terrain and approaching darkness, the
rescue team leader decided to wait until morning to recover these two remains.
However, the following morning, the search team came under intense fire, and
the team leader requested an emergency extraction, and in doing so, left all
remains behind.

All the crew and passengers on board the UH1H downed on the border of Laos and
Vietnam west of the A Shau Valley that day were confirmed dead. It is
unfortunate, but a reality of war that their remains were left behind out of
necessity to protect the lives of the search team who found them. They are
listed with honor among the missing because their remains cannot be buried with
honor at home.

The crew and passengers lost on February 18 are among nearly 600 Americans
listed as missing in Laos. Although the Pathet Lao stated publicly they held
American Prisoners of War, they insisted that they would only be released from
Laos. Because the U.S. did not recognize the communist government of Laos, no
negotiations were ever conducted for Americans held in Laos. Not one American
has been released from Laos.

As thousands of reports mount indicating that many American prisoners are still
held in Southeast Asia, one wonders if we will ever be able to bring the
Vietnam War to an honorable end - by bringing all our soldiers home.

DENGLER, DIETER

Name: Dieter Dengler
Rank/Branch: 02/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 145, USS Ranger
Date of Birth: (born in Germany - US Citizen)
Home City of Record: Hillsborough CA
Date of Loss: 01 February 1966
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 174200N 1051500E (WE270590)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A1H

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: 660720 ESCAPED

SYNOPSIS: The USS RANGER was a seasoned combat veteran, having been deployed to
Vietnam for Flaming Dart I operations. The carrier played a steady role for the
remainder of American involvement in the war. The first fighter jets to bomb
Haiphong in Operation Rolling Thunder came from her decks.

LT Dieter Dengler was a German-born American citizen who advanced from VT30 to
Attack Squadron 122 in late 1964 and then to Attack Squadron 145 onboard the
RANGER. Dengler was known to his shipmates as something of a renegade; the ops
officer was always after him to get a haircut and Dengler was forever in trouble
over his uniform or lack of military manner. In his German accent, he would
protest, "I don't understand." But Dengler was a good pilot, although his flying
career was brief.

On February 1, 1966, U.S. Navy Lt. Dieter Dengler launched from the aircraft
carrier USS RANGER in an A1H Skyraider as part of a four-aircraft interdiction
mission near the border of Laos. Dieter was the last man to roll in on a target
when he was observed by the pilot of one of the other aircraft to start a normal
recover. Due to limited visibility, the flight lost sight of him.

The other aircraft in the flight could not determine what had happened. They
only kne Dengler disappeared. Dengler later stated that ground fire had severely
damaged his aircraft, and he was forced to crash land in Laos. Search continued
all that day and part of the night without success.

The following morning, squadron members again went to search the area where
Dengler disappeared and located the aircraft wreckage. Helicopters were called
in. From the air, it appeared that no one was in the cockpit of the aircraft.
The helicopter crew photographed the area and noted his donut (a round seat
cushion) on the ground by the wing. They hoped he was still alive in the jungle
somewhere.

Dengler had successfully evaded capture through that night, and later said that
he even saw the rescue aircraft as they searched for him. He had tried without
success to raise them on his emergency radio. Dengler was finally captured by
Pathet Lao troops, who tortured him as they force-marched him through several
villages. Eight days later, Dengler escaped, but was recaptured within a short
time.

Ultimately, Dengler found himself in a camp in Laos held with other American
POWs. One of them, 1Lt. Duane W. Martin, had been aboard an HH43B "Huskie"
helicopter operating about 10 miles from the border of Laos in Ha Tinh Province,
North Vietnam, when the HH43B went down near the city of Tan An, and all four
personnel aboard the aircraft were captured. It is not clear if the four were
captured by North Vietnamese or Pathet Lao troops or a combination of the two.
Duane W. Martin was taken to a camp controlled by Pathet Lao. Thomas J. Curtis,
William A. Robinson and Arthur N. Black were released in 1973 by the North
Vietnamese, and were in the Hanoi prison system as early as 1967.

When Duane Martin arrived at the camp, he found himself held with other
Americans. Some of them had been held for more than two years. (Note: This would
indicate that there were Americans in this camp who had been captured in 1964.
The only American officially listed as captured in Laos in 1964 is Navy Lt.
Charles F. Klusmann, who was captured in June 1964 and escaped in August 1964.
Source for the "two years" information is Mersky & Polmer's "The Naval Air War
in Vietnam", and this source does not identify any Americans by name who had
been held "for more than two years." Civilian Eugene DeBruin, an acknowledged
Laos POW who has never been returned, had been captured in the fall of 1963.
Dengler has stated that a red-bearded DeBruin was held in one of the camps in
which he was held. All previous Laos loss incidents occurred in 1961 and 1962.)

Throughout the fall of 1965 and into spring and summer of 1966, the group of
Americans suffered regular beatings, torture, harassment, hunger and illness in
the hands of their captors. According to an "American Opinion" special report
entitled "The Code" (June 1973), Dengler witnessed his captors behead an
American Navy pilot and execute six wounded Marines. (Note: no other source
information available at time of writing reveals the names of these seven
Americans.)

On June 29, 1965, after hearing the prisoners were to be killed, Martin and
Dengler and unnamed others (Eugene DeBruin was apparently part of this group,
but was recaptured, and according to information received by his family, was
alive at least until January 1968, when he was taken away with other prisoners
by North Vietnamese regular army troops) decided to make their escape in a hail
of gunfire in which six communist guards were killed. Dengler was seriously ill
with jaundice, and Martin was sick with malaria. Dengler and Martin and the
others made their way through the dense jungle surviving on fruits, berries, and
some rice they had managed to save during their captivity.

They floated down river on a raft they had constructed, eventually coming to an
abandoned village where the men found some corn. After a night's rest, Dengler
and Martin made their way downstream to another village. This settlement was
occupied, however, and the two Americans were suddenly attacked by a villager
with a machete. Dengler managed to escape back into the jungle, but Martin was
beheaded by the assailant. It had been 18 days since their escape.

Dengler made his way alone, and on the 22nd day, with his strength almost gone,
he was able to form an SOS with some rocks, and waited, exausted to be rescued
or die. Luck was with him, for by late morning, an Air Force A1E spotted the
signal and directed a helicopter to pick up Dengler. He weighed 98 pounds. When
he had launched from his aircraft carrier 5 months earlier, he had weighed 157
pounds.

Dengler returned to California, and has written a book, "Escape From Laos" on
his experiences while a POW.

Curtis, Robinson and Black were released from Hanoi on February 12, 1973, over
seven years from the time of their capture. Lt. Duane Martin's fate remains
uncertain. If, as reported, he was killed during the escape attempt, no effort
has been made by the Lao to return his body.

Martin is one of nearly 600 Americans who remain prisoner, missing or otherwise
unaccounted for in Laos. Although the U.S. maintained only a handful of these
men in POW status, over 100 were known to have survived their loss incident. The
Pathet Lao stated during the war that they held "tens of tens" of American
prisoners, but they would be released only from Laos (meaning that the U.S. must
negotiate directly with the Pathet Lao).

The Pathet Lao were not part of the agreements that ended American involvement
in Southeast Asia, and no negotiations have been conducted with them since for
the prisoners they held.

Reports continue to come in related to missing Americans in Southeast Asia. It
does not seem likely that Martin is among the hundreds thought by many
authorities to be still alive, but what would he think of the abandonment of his
fellow Americans. Are we doing enough to bring these men home?

DENNANY, JAMES EUGENE

Name: James Eugene Denanny
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit: 13th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Udorn Airfield, Thailand
Date of Birth: 05 March 1935
Home City of Record: Mattawan MI
Date of Loss: 12 November 1969
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 172100N 1054200E (WE735183)
Status (in 1973): Missing IN Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D
Other Personnel in Incident: Robert L. Tucci (missing)

SYNOPSIS: In the latter months of 1969, there was considerable controversy in
the United States over the "secret war" in Laos. U.S. Forces had been flying
over Laos in order to break up North Vietnamese sanctuaries and supply routes.
Senator Fulbright revealed in late October that, contrary to official
statements to the contrary, we had conducted substantial ground operations as
well. The matter of fighting in Laos became very sensitive. U.S. planes dropped
an enormous number of bombs in Laos against the Vietnamese.

Capt. Robert L. Tucci was the pilot, and Maj. James E. Dennany the co-pilot of
an F4D Phantom fighter jet dispatched from Udorn Airfield in Thailand on
November 12, 1969. The two were assigned an operational mission over Laos.
Tucci had been in the Air Force since March 17, 1967. On his first tour of duty
in Vietnam, Tucci had flown 181 missions from Da Nang Airfield in South
Vietnam. Tucci and Dennany were assigned to the 13th Tactical Fighter Squadron
at Udorn.

At a point near Mahaxay village in Khammouane Province, about 30 miles east of
Nakhon Phanom, the aircraft flown by Tucci and Dennany was struck by hostile
fire and seen to crash and explode on impact. No parachutes were observed and
no emergency beeper signals were heard. Tucci and Dennany were not heard from
again.

Tucci and Dennany are among nearly 600 Americans who disappeared in Laos.
Through the war years, the Pathet Lao made public statements that they held
"tens of tens" of American prisoners, but they would only be released from
Laos. They wished to negotiate the end of American bombing in their country.

When Henry Kissinger negotiated the peace, he did not include the country of
Laos in the agreements. U.S. bombing in Laos continued. When 591 Americans were
released from communist prisons in Southeast Asia, not one man who had been
held in Laos was released.

Since the war ended, no agreement has been struck with Laos which would release
American prisoners of war. These men were abandoned by the country they proudly
served. As the years have passed, nearly 10,000 reports have been received
concerning Americans missing in Southeast Asia. Many authorities believe there
are hundreds still alive.

There is no proof that Tucci and Dennany are dead. They could be among those
said to be alive. If so, what must they be thinking of their country? It's time
we brought our men home.

(Robert Tucci graduated from the University of Texas.)

Prepared by Homecoming II Project 01 December 1989

DENNIS LEE GAUTHIER

Name: Dennis Lee Gauthier
Rank/Branch: E3/US Army
Unit: Company C, 3rd Battalion, 12th Infantry, 1st Brigade, 4th Infantry
Division (Ivy Division)
Date of Birth: 08 August 1949 (Duluth MN)
Home City of Record: Rochester MI
Date of Loss: 31 October 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 140656N 1074341E (YA944622)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel In Incident: (none missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: PFC Dennis L. Gauthier was with Army ground forces in Pleiku, South
Vietnam on October 31, 1969. He was serving as a rifleman when his company was
attempting to withdraw from an ambush, and PFC Gautier's platoon was sent up a
hill to provide covering fire for the company. The platoon began receiving fire
and engaged in a fire fight with the enemy. Gautier was hit in the leg, and
another men was hit, but they could not be immediately evacuated. PFC Gautier
hid behind a log while the others advanced.

On November 2, a reconnaissance platoon was able to search the area. This
platoon found and recovered the body of the other soldier, but found no trace
of Gautier or any of his personal effects. Dennis was barely 20 years old.

There are nearly 2500 Americans missing in Southeast Asia. Mounting evidence
indicates that some of them are still alive, held captive by the communists of
the region.

The Paris Peace agreements of 1973 dictated that the Vietnamese would return all
prisoners of war and make the fullest possible accounting of the missing. They
did not do either. Men known to have been prisoner of war were not released.
Many men who died in captivity have not been returned for burial. The U.S.
Government policy statement is that we do not have actionable evidence of
Americans held captive, yet points to "several million documents" relating to
these men. Until serious effort is made to find those men we left behind, their
famlies will wonder whether their men are alive or dead - and why they have
been abandoned by the country they proudly served.

            CASE SYNOPSIS:    DENNIS, MARK V.

    =================================================================


Name:                Mark V. Dennis
Rank/Branch:            HM3/USN
Unit:

Date of Birth:
Home City of Record:       OH
Loss Date:           15 July 1966
Country of Loss:       South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates:       (unknown) Dong Ha
Status (In 1973):       Killed In Action
Acft/Vehicle/Ground:       CH46 Helicopter
Other Personnel In
Incident:

REMARKS:  Not on official Missing lists

SYNOPSIS:  Hospitalman Mark Dennis was a Navy medic aboard a Chinook
helicopter when it was shot down on July 15, 1966.  All men on board
were declared Killed In Action.  Three and a half weeks later, a casket
arrived in Ohio and was buried.  In November, 1970, an issue of News-
week carried a photograph of an "unknown POW" which his brother felt was
MARK DENNIS.  That, combined with an earlier report from the Navy, that
"a couple of men could have gotten out of the helicopter" sparked Mark's
brother to travel to Paris, Bangkok and Vietnam in search of the truth.

The remains proported to be those of Mark Dennis were exhumed, and
exaustive tests made.  The results proved to Mark's family beyond a
shadow of a doubt that they DID NOT BURY MARK DENNIS, but someone else,
unknown to them.  Mark's family continues to actively pursue answers to
their question, "Where is Mark Dennis?"
CASE SYNOPSIS: DENNIS, WILLIAM ROY

Name: William Roy Dennis
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: Company A, 228th Aviation Battalion (Assault Support Helicopter), 11th
Aviation Group, 1st Cavalry Division
Date of Birth: 26 December 1948
Home City of Record: Pittsburgh PA
Date of Loss: 19 April 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 162248N 1070700E (YD290105)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: CH47A
Other Personnel In Incident: Douglas R. Blodgett; Jesus A. Gonzales (missing
from CH47A, coordinates YD290105 pilot and co-pilot survived); Michael J.
Wallace, Anthony F. Housh; (missing from CH47, coordinates YD291087-LZ Tiger;
pilot, co-pilot and gunner survived); Arthur J. Lord; Charles W. Millard;
Philip R. Shafer; Michael R. Werdehoff (missing on CH54, coordinates
YD255095-LZ Tiger)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On April 19, 1968 three Army helicopters were shot down in the A Shau
Valley of South Vietnam. All three were making supply runs to Landing Zone
Tiger in Quang Tri Province. Five men survived the three crashes, and nine men
remain missing.

The CH47A on which Douglas Blodgett was a crewman, William Dennis was flight
engineer, and Jesus Gonzales was crewchief was resupplying ammunition at the LZ
when it received small arms fire from the ground and crashed. The pilot and
co-pilot were able to crawl away, but the rest of the crew was never found.
They were declared Missing In Action.

The CH47 on which Anthony Housh was flight engineer and Michael Wallace was
crewchief was hit by 50 calibre and 37 mm ground fire on its approach to the
LZ. Housh and Wallace jumped from the aircraft from an altitude of 50-100 feet
above the jungle canopy. The others were rescued. No trace of Housh and Wallace
was ever found. They were declared Missing In Action.

The CH54 "Flying Crane" on which Arthur Lord was aircraft commander, Charles
Millard pilot, Arthur J. Lord co-pilot, Michael Werdehoff flight engineer, and
Philip Shafer crewchief was carrying a bulldozer into the recently resecured LZ
Tiger when the aircraft was hit and crashed. All the crew were classified
Missing In Action.

Thorough searches for the 3 helicopters were not immediately possible because
of the enemy situation. A refugee later reported that he had found the wreckage
of two U.S. helicopters, one with 3 sets of skeletal remains, in Quang Tri
Province. The U.S. Army believes this could correlate with any of the three
helicopters lost on April 19, 1968, but no firm evidence has been secured that
would reveal the fate of the nine missing servicemen.

Some 250,000 interviews and "millions of documents" have been analyzed relating
to Americans who may still be alive, captive, in Southeast Asia. Many experts
believe there are hundreds of men still alive, waiting for their country to
rescue them. Whether any of the nine missing from near LZ Tiger is among them is
unknown, but it is clearly past time for us to bring our men home.




















DENNISON, JAMES RICHARD

Name: James Richard Dennison
Rank/Branch: O4/US Navy
Unit: Heavy Photographic Squadron 61, USS ORISKANY (CVA-34)
Date of Birth: 28 February 1934
City of Record: Rochester NY
Date of Loss: 01 January 1968
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 0174000N 1071000E (YE298544)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 5
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: RA3B

Others in Incident: Henry H. Herrin; Terrence H. Hanley (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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: LOST AT SEA

SYNOPSIS: The A3 Skywarrior is a three-place light bomber, reconnaisance plane,
electronic warfare craft or aerial tanker, depending upon its outfitting. The
RA3B was a more powerful version of the original A3 and outfitted for
reconnaisance missions. Its armament usually consisted of a pair of 20mm cannons
in a remotely controlled tail turret.

Chief Petty Officer Henry H. Herrin was a photographer's mate aboard an RA3B
aircraft flown by LTCDR James R. Dennison and co-pilot LTJG Terrence H. Hanley
assigned a mission over North Vietnam. Their plan was to fly from the U.S. Naval
Air Station, Cubi Point, Philippines to their target area and then recover at Da
Nang Air Base, South Vietnam for refueling and return trip. The mission was for
surveillance of the enemy lines of communication to determine truck traffic. The
mission was flown under radio silence, but was under surveillance by an airborne
radar control aircraft.

Emergency egress is accomplished by sliding down a chute in the bottom of the
aircraft. All crewmembers were equipped with survival radios and survival kits
containing flare pencils. The aircraft flew out to sea approximately 20 miles
and turned southeast. No further contact was made with the aircraft.

An intensive search and rescue operation was called in consisting of surface
units, helicopter and fixed wing aircraft. It was terminated with negative
results. The area in which the aircraft was lost was one heavily traveled by
aircraft, fishing junks and coastal shipping.

All three men were placed in Missing In Action status, which was maintained
until after the war ended.

The crew of the RA3B downed that day in January 1968 may not have survived, but
evidence continues to mount that some of their comrades did - and are currently
being held prisoner in Southeast Asia.

The ultimate sacrifice of our nation's youth - their lives - is tainted so long
as even one American fighting man is held against his will. For the sake of the
living, and the honor of the dead, these men must be brought home.

DENNISON, TERRY ARDEN

Name: Terry Arden Dennison
Rank/Branch: O3/US Navy
Unit:
Date of Birth: 20 January 1934
Home City of Record: Cosmopolis WA
Date of Loss: 19 July 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 204500N 1055000E (WH867945)
Status (in 1973): Prisoner of War
Category: 1
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: 740306 REMS RETD

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. Terry A. Dennison was a pilot assigned a combat mission over North Vietnam
on July 19, 1966. His F8E was struck by enemy fire when he was on the Red River
about 30 miles southeast of the city of Hanoi in Hai Tay Province. Dennison, due
to circumstances and information related to his crash, was classified Prisoner
of War.

In the spring of 1973, 591 Americans were released from POW camps in Vietnam.
Terry Dennison was not among them. U.S. officials had prepared for the release
of many more than were released. The Vietnamese did not acknowledge they knew
the fate of Terry A. Dennison.

Then in March 1974, the Vietnamese "discovered" the remains of Terry A. Dennison
and returned them to U.S. control.

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.


DENTON, MANUEL REYES

Name: Manuel Reyes Denton
Rank/Branch: E4/US Navy
Unit: First Marine Air Wing, Fleet Marine Force Pacific
Date of Birth: 18 June 1941 (Sam Antonio TX)
Home City of Record: Kerrville TX
Date of Loss: 08 October 1963
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 160207N 1073440E (YC758744)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH34D

Other Personnel In Incident: Luther E. Ritchey (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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: ACFT CRASH AFT AIR COLLISION - J

SYNOPSIS: In 1963, President Kennedy was assassinated and Lyndon Johnson took
the office of the President of the United States. Few Americans had more than a
passing knowledge of Vietnam, yet in February, a U.S. Senate panel reported that
annual American aid to South Vietnam totaled $400 million. By the end of the
year 16,300 Americans were on station there "on dangerous assignment." During
this year, the war in Vietnam captured U.S. media attention when Buddhists
staged demonstrations, revolts and self-immolations during that summer.

Lance Corporal Luther E. Ritchey, Jr. was attached to HMM 361, Marine
Air Group 16. Hospital Corpsman Third Class Manuel Reyes Denton was a crewman
assigned to the First Marine Air Wing, Fleet Marine Force Pacific. On October 8,
1963, the two were crewmen aboard a Marine UH34D helicopter conducting a search
mission for a downed friendly aircraft.

Denton and Ritchey's aircraft crashed some 43 miles west of Da Nang, South
Vietnam in a mountainous jungle terrain, in what was then hostile territory. The
exact cause of the accident is unknown (according to the Navy), although Joint
Casualty Resolution Center had some evidence that an air collision occurred
prior to the aircraft crashing.

Denton and Ritchey were initially placed in a casualty status of Missing and
later changed to Reported Dead. Since their remains were never recovered, they
are listed among the unaccounted for servicemen from the Vietnam war.

Denton and Ritchey are among nearly 2500 Americans still missing from the
Vietnam war. Nearly 10,000 reports have been received regarding these men since
war's end which have convinced many authorities that hundreds are still alive.
Whether Denton and Ritchey are among them is unknown, but as long as even one
man remains alive in enemy hands, we have failed as a nation.

DERRICKSON, THOMAS GARDNER II

Name: Thomas Gardner Derrickson II
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 557th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Cam Ranh Bay ABSV
Date of Birth: 10 March 1936
Home City of Record: Los Altos CA
Date of Loss: 12 October 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 171600N 1064100E (XE795087)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4C

Other Personnel in Incident: John K. Hardy, Jr. (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 31 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 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.

Capt. Thomas G. Derrickson II and 1Lt. John K. Hardy Jr. comprised the crew of
an F4C Phantom jet assigned an armed reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam
on October 12, 1967. Derrickson and Hardy were in the lead aircraft in a flight
of two. Over Quang Binh Province, they sighted ground targets and radioed to
their wingman that they were "rolling in." Shortly thereafter, the wingman saw a
flash of yellow light followed by a fire and a cloud of black smoke. Attempts to
contact Derrickson and Hardy were unsuccessful.

Derrickson had graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1959, so was a
seasoned pilot. Hardy, who had begun training after graduation from the
University of Southern California, was a less experienced pilot, but both were
trained in the Phantom.

According to the Hardy family, many efforts were made to obtain information
concerning what happened to Hardy and Derrickson that day with no success. It is
known that their last known location was about 15 miles south of the city of
Dong Hoi, some 25 miles north of the Demilitarized Zone in North Vietnam.
Anti-aircraft resistance was heavy in this region.

Both men were declared Missing in Action, and the U.S. believed the enemy
probably knew their fates. When the war ended, and 591 Americans were released
in Operation Homecoming in 1973, military experts expressed their dismay that
"some hundreds" of POWs did not come home with them. Since that time, thousands
of reports have been received by the U.S. Government, forcing many authorities
to conclude that many Americans are still being held against their will in
Southeast Asia. Whether Derrickson and Hardy are among them is not known. What
is certain, however, is that if only one American remains alive in enemy hands,
we owe him our best effort to bring him home.


Thomas G. Derrickson II graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1959. He
was promoted to the rank of Colonel during the period he was maintained missing.
John K. Hardy, Jr. graduated from the University of Southern California.
DESOTO, ERNEST LEO

Name: Ernest Leo DeSoto
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 30 December 1931
Home City of Record: Manning AR
Date of Loss: 12 April 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 152820N 1073715E
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 3
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D

Other Personnel In Incident: Frederick M. Hall (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS: DISAP IN CLOUD BANK

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.
Most pilots considered it one of the "hottest" planes around.

Maj. Ernest L. DeSoto was the pilot and 1Lt. Frederick M. Hall the navigator and
systems operator of an F4D sent on a combat mission on April 12, 1969. DeSoto's
aircraft was one in a flight of three which departed Da Nang airbase for a
bombing mission in an unstated area.

During the mission, other pilots report that DeSoto and Hall's aircraft
disappeared into a cloud bank, and was not seen again. The last location logged
for the aircraft was in Quang Nam Province, South Vietnam, a few miles north of
the tri-border area of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

Three weeks later, an aviator who had been recommended for the Congressional
Medal of Honor was put on report. It had been decided it would be "unwise" to
award the Medal because it might remind the Vietnamese that American troops were
active near the DMZ and upset the Paris peace talks.

The Paris Peace talks, finally culminating in peace accords in 1973, signaled
the end of U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia. One of the stipulations agreed to
by Vietnam was the return all Prisoners of War and the fullest possible
accounting of the missing. However, known prisoners of war did not return, nor
did several known to have died in captivity. Precise locations of crash sites
were known in many cases, but access to them was denied.

DeSoto and Hall are among nearly 2500 Americans who were lost in Southeast Asia
and never returned. Reports continue to mount that some of them are alive, being
held prisoner. Contrary to policy statements, the return of these men does not
seem to be a high priority of the U.S. Government.

Americans like Hall and DeSoto went to Vietnam prepared to be wounded or taken
prisoner, even prepared to die. They did not go prepared to be abandoned. They
must be brought home.
DESPIEGLER, GALE A.

Name: Gale A. Despiegler
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Browns Valley MN
Date of Loss: 15 April 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 170700N 1064500N (XE664271)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4E
Other Personnel in Incident: Larry A. Trimble (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: 01 January 1990

REMARKS: RELSD 730328 BY DRV

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.

Maj. Gale Despiegler and 1Lt. Larry A. Trimble were F4 pilots assigned a
mission over North Vietnam on April 15, 1972. From Defense Department data, it
appears that 1Lt. Trimble was the pilot of the aircraft, while Maj. Despiegler
was the rear seater - the crewmember who operated the technical equipment.

At a point over Quang Binh Province about 20 miles northwest of the city of
Vinh Binh, Trimble's aircraft went down. Despiegler ejected and was
subsequently captured by the North Vietnamese. Trimble, whose last known
location is some distance away, was never heard from again.

In March 1973, Despiegler was released from Hanoi along with 590 other
Americans. Trimble, however, was not among them. The Vietnamese denied any
knowledge of the pilot of the aircraft downed on April 15, 1972.

In June 1989, the Vietnamese "discovered" the remains of 1Lt. (by then promoted
to Captain) Larry A. Trimble and returned them to U.S. control. A positive
identification of the remains was announced by the Department of Defense the
following October.

These two men were among roughly 3000 Americans who were captured, missing, or
unaccounted for in the Vietnam War. When 591 prisoners returned in 1973,
military experts expressed their "dismay" that hundreds thought to have been
captured were not among them.

Since the end of the war, nearly 10,000 reports relating to missing Americans
in Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. Government which have
convinced many authorities that hundreds of Americans remain alive in captivity
today. While Larry Trimble's family finally knows his fate, thousands of other
families wait, tortured by the thought they their man could be alive in
captivity, tortured by the thought that he could be dead.

Larry Trimble, alive or dead, was a prisoner of war for over 17 years. Others
have been there longer. It's time we brought our men home.

DEUSO, CARROLL JOSEPH

Name: Carroll Joseph Deuso
Rank/Branch: E9/US Navy
Unit: Mobile Support Unit, Detachment B
Date of Birth: 01 March 1934
Home City of Record: Richmond VT
Date of Loss: 15 December 1970
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 172109N 1084429E (BK600200)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: C2A

Other Personnel in Incident: Meril O. McCoy Jr.; Clyde C. Owen; Anthony J.
Piersanti Jr.; (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 30 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: LT Meril O. McCoy, Jr. was the pilot of a C2A "Trader" cargo plane
launched from the USS RANGER about 90 miles north-northeast of Da Nang, South
Vietnam on December 15, 1970. He carried a total of six individuals onboard,
including himself, on the flight.



Approximately 10 seconds after takeoff, te aircraft apparently stalled and
crashed into the Gulf of Tonkin. An intensive search was conducted immediately
by the RANGER and accompanying ships and aircraft. As a result, the remains of
two of the personnel on board the aircraft were recovered. Still missing were
the pilot, LT Meril O. McCoy, Jr.; the co-pilot, LTJG Anthony J. Piersanti Jr.;
crewman Petty Officer Clyde C. Owen; and Master Chief Petty Officer Carroll J.
Deuso, a passenger. Deuso was a boiler technician assigned to Mobile Support
Unit Detachment, BRAVO. The units of the missing crewmen are not known.

The C2, sometimes called "Greyhound" freqently carried passengers from multiple
units on their way to and from duty assignments. The aircraft and crew were not
necessarily assigned to any of the points of embarkment or disembarkment. Thus,
it cannot be said that this C2 had any relation to the USS RANGER other than
loading or unloading passengers onboard that carrier.

(NOTE: There is some confusion in the U.S. Navy version of this incident in that
it states that the aircraft carried "a crew of four" and that there were "six
passengers," leading one to guess that there were 10 souls on board the
aircraft. However, as only four Americans are missing on this date, and the U.S.
Navy states that two remains were recovered after the crash, it can only be
assumed that the Navy account was hastily written and that there were a total of
six personnel onboard the aircraft -- two who were recovered, and four who were
not.)

During the period of July-September 1973, an over water/at sea casualty
resolution operation was conducted to determine the feasibility of performing
recovery operations on such cases as the loss of the C2 on December 15, 1970.
Because this operation ended with no results whatsoever, it was determined that
the men lost at sea could not be recovered.

Deuso, Piersanti, McCoy and Owen were declared Deceased/Body Not Recovered. The
incident is listed as non-battle related.

The Vietnam War touched many lives. Tens of thousands of families lost loved
ones in battle deaths. Tens of thousands saw their sons and brothers come home
maimed physically and mentally from the wounds and torments of the savagery of
war. Some received telegrams that their loved ones drowned in recreation; a few
learned their sons died from drug overdose; and some learned their sons, for
unknown reasons chose to end their lives in Vietnam. Still others were lost in
tragic accidents at sea, never to be recovered.

As a society, we tend to bury the unpleasant aspects of war and concentrate on
the victory. In Vietnam, we have only a hollow "Peace with Honor" and must
instead, focus on the warriors - men who willingly served their country when
called. Men whose lives we used as the price for our freedom.

The most tragic of all the warriors are those who still wait, captive and
abandoned by their country in prisons and camps in Southeast Asia. In abandoning
them, we have made the deaths and suffering of thousands a frivolous waste. We
must never neglect the duty we have to the men who must someday answer their
country's call.
DEUTER, RICHARD CARL

Name: Richard Carl Deuter
Rank/Branch: O2/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 196, USS RANGER (CVA 61)
Date of Birth: 15 February 1944
Home City of Record: Chicago IL
Date of Loss: 22 November 1969
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 163000N 1062500E
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: A6A

Others In Incident: Pilot, rescued; 25 miles away: Michael E. Quinn; Richard
F. Collins, both missing.

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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: When North Vietnam began to increase their military strength in South
Vietnam, NVA and Viet Cong troops intruded on neutral Laos for sanctuary, as
well as to transport weapons, supplies and troops. The road system used most was
dubbed the "Ho Chi Minh Trail". Hundreds of American pilots were shot down
trying to stop this communist traffic to South Vietnam. Fortunately, U.S. search
and rescue teams in Vietnam was extremely successful and recovery rate was very
high.

Still, there were nearly 600 who were not rescued. Many of them went down along
the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Many were alive on the ground and in radio contact with
search and rescue and other planes; some were known to have been captured.
Hanoi's communist allies in Laos, the Pathet Lao, publicly spoke of American
prisoners they held, but when peace agreements were negotiated, Laos was not
included, and not a single American was released that had been held in Laos.

LTJG Richard C. Deuter was a Bombardier/Navigator (BN) assigned to Attack
Squadron 196 onboard the aircraft carrier USS RANGER. On November 22, 1969, he
launched with his pilot, Commander Richards, in their A6A Intruder aircraft on a
bombing mission into Laos. The assigned mission was visual dive-bombing under
the control of an airborne Forward Air Controller (FAC). Once in the target
area, the FAC assigned a target and the aircraft was rolled into a normal
dive-bombing attack. At some point in thedive, probably just before bomb
release, the aircraft became completely uncontrollable and began to
disintegrate. Commander Richards ordered LTJG Deuter to eject, then ejected
himself. The aircraft continued to disintegrate and crashed into the ground.
Only the pilot's parachute was seen by search and rescue aircraft. Commander
Richard's emergency radio helped in pinpointing his location and he was rescued
by helicopter approximately 30 minutes after landing. Search efforts failed to
turn up anything on Deuter.

It is believed that the aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire in its dive and
suffered a structural failure which led to its loss. With all facts considered,
it is impossible to state conclusively whether or not Deuter successfully
ejected from the aircraft. He was classified Missing in Action.

That night, another Intruder launched from Attack Squadron 196 onboard the
RANGER. LTCDR Richard F. Collins was a pilot assigned to Attack Squadron 196
onboard the aircraft carrier USS RANGER. LTCDR Collins and Lt. Michael E. Quinn,
his bombardier/navigaor, launched in their A6A Intruder aircraft as the leader
of a two-plane mission briefed for night road reconnaissance against targets of
opportunity, inland from the coast of South Vietnam.

(NOTE: At various times, because of the secret nature of U.S. activity in Laos,
the service branches felt it was necessary to conceal loss locations in Laos.
Whether the location was ever concealed in this case is unknown, but the use of
the phrase "inland from the coast of South Vietnam" is certainly misleading, at
best, since the aircraft were seeking "targets of opportunity" on the Ho Chi
Minh Trail in Savannakhet Province, Laos.)

Everything proceeded as briefed excapt another aircraft in the flight was not
launched due to mechanical problems. The aircraft launched and flew to the
target area, arriving northeast of the road segment where Quinn and Collins had
commenced their reconnaissance. Subsequently, the wingman experienced a
temporary navigation malfunction, causing several minutes delay.

Approximately five minutes passed and the wingman began his reconnaissance. Five
to six minutes later, the wingman saw a billowing explosion and called to Quinn
and Collins but received no response. The wingman did not feel a lack of
communications was significant at this time due to the estimated distance
between the aircraft. After the wingman completed his attacks he headed back to
the ship. The lead aircraft did not return, nor had it been heard from.

Search and rescue efforts were initiated immediately. However, these efforts
were hampered by a lack of definite loss location. There were no voice or beacon
signals received by the search and rescue forces. Collins and Quinn were
classified Missing in Action.

Were it not for the thousands of reports concerning Americans still held captive
in Southeast Asia, the families of these three men from Attack Squadron 196
might be able to close this tragic chapter of their lives. But as long as
Americans are alive, being held captive, Collins, Quinn and Deuter could be
among them. It's time our men were brought home.


DEWBERRY, JERRY DON

Name: Jerry Don Dewberry
Rank/Branch: E4/US Marine Corps
Unit: Company D, 1st Battalion, 1st Marines, 1st Marine Division
Date of Birth: 10 July 1948
Home City of Record: Ardmore OK
Date of Loss: 05 July 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 164505N 1071143E (XD802409)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 15 March 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Lance Corporal Jerry D. Dewberry was assigned to Company D, 1st
Battalion, 1st Marines in Vietam. On July 5, 1968, just five days short of his
twentieth birthday, Dewberry was part of a Marine unit sent on patrol in Quang
Tri Province, South Vietnam.

During the patrol, the unit came under enemy fire and Dewberry was hit. He was
apparently believed to be dead and left behind. Dewberry was officially listed
Killed in Action/Body Not Recovered.

Jerry D. Dewberry is listed among the missing because his remains were never
found to send home to the country he served. For his family, the case seems
clear that he died on that day. The fact that they have no body to bury with
honor is not of great significance.

For other who are missing, however, the evidence leads not to death, but to
survival. Since the war ended, over 10,000 reports received relating to
Americans still held captive in Indochina have convinced experts that hundreds
of men are still alive, waiting for their country to rescue them. The notion
that Americans are dying without hope in the hands of a long-ago enemy belies
the idea that we left Vietnam with honor. It also signals that tens of thousands
of lost lives were a frivolous waste of our best men.


DeWISPELAERE, REXFORD JOHN

Name: Rexford John DeWispelaere
Rank/Branch: E4/US Air Force
Unit: 41st Tactical Airlift Squadron, Ubon Airfield, Thailand
Date of Birth: 09 September 1945
Home City of Record: Penfield NY
Date of Loss: 24 November 1969
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 154900N 1064600E (YC902495)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: C130A
Other Personnel in Incident: Michael D. Balamonti; Earl C. Brown; Charles R.
Fellenz; Richard O. Ganley; Larry I. Grewell; Peter R. Matthes; Donald L.
Wright (all missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On November 24, 1969, a C130A departed Ubon Airfield, Thailand on an
operational mission over Laos. The crew aboard the aircraft included Maj.
Michael D. Balamonti (the navigator); Capt. Earl C. Brown; Capt. Richard O.
Ganley; 1Lt. Peter R. Matthes (the copilot); and Sgts. Donald L. Wright; Larry
I. Grewell; Charles R. Fellenz; and Rexford J. DeWispelaere.

While on the mission, near Ban Bac, Savannakhet Province, Laos, the C130 was
observed to be struck by several rounds of 37mm anti-aircraft fire, burst into
flames, crash to the ground, and explode on impact. All the crew was declared
Missing in Action, but due to enemy presence in the area, it was strongly felt
that the enemy could account for them. It was not determined whether the crew
died or survived the crash of the aircraft.

The crew of the C130 are among nearly 600 Americans who were lost in Laos. When
Dr. Henry Kissinger negotiated President Nixon's Peace Agreements in Paris in
1973, ending American involvement in the Vietnam War, the Americans lost in
Laos were forgotten. Kissinger did not negotiate for them, even though several
were known to be Prisoners of War, and some 125 of them were known to have
survived their loss incidents. Furthermore, the Pathet Lao stated on several
occasions that they held "tens of tens" of American prisoners.

The nearly 600 Americans lost in Laos have never been negotiated for, and not
one American held in Laos was released at the end of the war.

Since the end of the war, nearly 10,000 reports have been received by the U.S.
relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asia. Many authorities believe that
hundreds remain alive today, held captive. Whether the crew of the C130 could
be among them is not known, but it seems certain that there are compelling
questions that need answers. Among them - why did we abandon the men who served
our country? What are we doing to bring them home?


Prepared by Homecoming II Project 01 December 1989.




DEXTER, BENNIE LEE

Name: Bennie Lee Dexter
Rank/Branch: E3/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 18 July 1944
Home City of Record: Bend OR
Date of Loss: 09 May 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 123433N 1075016E (XD795050)
Status (In 1973): Prisoner of War
Category: 1
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: M151 jeep

Other Personnel In Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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: CAPTURE WITNESSED; JEEP FOUND

SYNOPSIS: On May 10, 1966, A2C Bennie Lee Dexter was captured by communist
forces while driving a jeep south on National Route 14 near the Darlac/Quang Duc
Province boder, South Vietnam. His jeep was found at this location the next day
and there was a Vietnamese witness to his capture.

Subsequent intelligence reports confirmed Dexter's capture and named the
location at which he was being held. Dexter was placed in Prisoner of War
status.

When American military involvement ended in Southeast Asia, Bennie Dexter was
not released from prison, nor did his name appear on any lists provided by the
Vietnamese. The United States government later declared him administratively
"dead" because no specific information had been received that he was still
alive.

In 1987, classified information regarding Bennie Dexter was given to the
Vietnamese by General John Vessey in hopes of resolving the mystery of his fate.
The information, which is denied to the American public, was widely distributed
by a government official who was outraged that the public and POW/MIA families
were denied information that could be given to our former enemies.

Although the numbers of Americans that the Vietnamese have accounted for with
the return of remains increased in the late 1980's, the Vietnamese have yet to
"discover" the whereabouts of Bennie Dexter, alive or dead.

Over 10,000 reports have been received by the U.S. relating to the nearly 2500
Americans missing, prisoner or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia. Many experts
believe that hundreds of them are still alive in communist hands. One of them
could be A2C Bennie Dexter. It's time the brave Americans still serving their
country in Vietnam were brought home.
DEXTER, RONALD JAMES

Name: Ronald James Dexter
Rank/Branch: E8/US Army Special Forces
Unit: MACV-SOG, Command & Control
Date of Birth: 23 July 1933 (Chicago IL)
Home City of Record: Abilene TX
Date of Loss: 03 June 1967
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 161914N 1064049E (XD795050)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: CH46A

Other Personnel In Incident: Frank E. Cius (returned POW 1973); Timothy R.
Bodden; John G. Gardner; Stephen P. Hanson; Billy Laney; (all missing); Mr. Ky
(Nung Cdr. - wounded and rescued); Charles F. Wilklow (rescued)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS: 670729 DIC PER CIUS MC RTNEE

SYNOPSIS: On June 3, 1967, Capt. Steven P. Hanson, pilot; 1Lt. John G. Gardner,
co-pilot; Sgt. Timothy R. Bodden, crew chief/door gunner; LCpl. Frank E. Cius,
doorgunner; SFC Billy R. Laney, SFC Ronald J. Dexter, SFC Charles F. Wilklow and
an unknown number of ARVN personnel, all passengers, were aboard a CH46A
helicopter (serial #150955) on an extraction mission in Laos.

The USMC aircraft picked up a U.S. Army Special Forces team attached to
MACV-SOG, Command and Control, and the ARVN troops they were working with.
Military Assistance Command Vietnam Studies and Observation Group (MACV-SOG) was
a joint service high command unconventional warfare task force engaged in highly
classified operations throughout Southeast Asia. The 5th Special Forces
channeled personnel into MACV-SOG (not a Special Forces group) through Special
Operations Augmentation (SOA) which provided their "cover" while under secret
orders to MACV-SOG. These teams performed deep penetration missions of strategic
reconnaissance and interdiction which were called, depending on the time frame,
"Shining Brass" or "Prairie Fire" missions.

The aircraft received extensive automatic small arms fire upon takeoff from the
Landing Zone, took numerous hits and crashed 350 meters from the LZ, located
about 15 miles inside Laos west of the A Shau Valley. The helicopter did not
burn on impact, and continued to receive fire. Three ARVN troops were able to
return to the LZ where the troops remaining at the LZ were extracted the
following day.

The troops waiting at the LZ could not search because of the hostile threat in
the area. Air searches located the survivors of the crash, but they could not be
evacuated. The only America found to be in a position to be safely evacuated was
SFC Wilklow. He gave the following account of what happened to the crew and
passengers aboard the CH46:

SFC Dexter appeared uninjured and left the wreckage with a large number of ARVN
troops. Capt. Hanson was wounded and outside the helicopter, but stated that he
had to return to get his carbine. The Marine Corps believes he died of the
wounds he received when the aircraft was overrun, although Hanson's wife later
identified her husband in a widely distributed Vietnamese propaganda photograph
of a pilot being captured. When last seen, all the other Americans were still in
the wreckage, and enemy troops (the U.S. Army says they were Viet Cong; the U.S.
Marines say they were North Vietnamese Army - possibly a joint force of both)
were tossing grenades toward the aircraft with no attempt to capture the
personnel inside. Wilklow left the crash site, and noted that gunfire suddenly
stopped. He continued to evade the enemy and was picked up 3 days later.

When Mr. Ky, the Nung Commander was being evacuated by the last helicopter out,
he noted several men (undoubtedly Dexter and the ARVN) in a large bomb crater
firing red star clusters from a flare gun. Frank Cius was taken prisoner and
released from Hanoi in 1973. He was one of the dozen or so captured by the
Vietnamese and taken immediately to Hanoi claimed to be the "Laos" prisoners. In
reality, none of the dozen had been held in Laos. Ronald Dexter, according to
Frank Cius, was captured, and died in captivity on July 29, 1967. John Gardner,
according to the USMC, died on the ground after the crash of the aircraft due to
intense enemy fire. Billy Laney was last seen lying wounded on the floor of the
aircraft between a crewmember with a broken back and the door gunner with a head
wound.

NOTE: the USMC states that Bodden, crewchief/door gunner was shot in the back
and never left the aircraft, but reports received by the National League of
Families indicate that he and Dexter were definitely alive after the aircraft
crashed. The U.S. did not know Cius was captured until he was released,
evidently believing he never exited the aircraft, and Wilklow had indicated that
the Vietnamese were not trying to capture the occupants of the aircraft.
Therefore, as door gunner, he must have been the "door gunner with the head
wound", and Bodden the "crewmember with a broken back".)

Since 1975, the U.S. Government has received thousands of reports relating to
Americans still alive in Southeast Asia. Many of them cannot be dismissed as
untrue. Officially, the U.S. says it is operating under the assumption that men
are being held, and that the matter is of "highest national priority". Yet, we
seem unable to resolve the mystery. Nor have they ever negotiated for the "tens
of tens" of American prisoners the Lao stated they held.

There can be no question that the communists know the fate of those who were
last seen on the ill-fated CH 46A that day. The men aboard this craft were
inserted into Laos for exceedingly dangerous and important missions. They
deserve no less than America's very best efforts to determine their fates. If
any of them are alive, they must be brought home.


DI TOMMASO, ROBERT JOSEPH

Name: Robert Joseph Di Tommaso
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit: 388th Combat Support Group, Udorn Airbase, Thailand
Date of Birth: 07 August 1941
Home City of Record: Buffalo NY
Date of Loss: 29 July 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 204300N 10454953E (VH998943)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: RC47D
Other Personnel in Incident: Robert Hoskinson; Galileo F. Bossio; (still
missing) Bernard Conklin; James S. Hall; John Mamiya; Herbert E. Smith; Vincent
Chiarello (remains returned)

REMARKS: DEAD/FIR 317-09130 74

SYNOPSIS: On July 19, 1966, an RC47D aircraft departed Udorn Airfield in
Thailand en route to Sam Neua, Laos. The crew abord the aircraft included Capt.
Robert E. Hoskinson, pilot; Maj. Galileo F. Bossio, 1Lt. Vincent A. Chiarello,
Capt. Bernard Conklin, 1Lt. Robert J. Di Tommaso, SSgt. James S. Hall, TSgt.
John M. Mamiya and TSgt. Herbert E. Smith, crewmen. The aircraft was an unarmed
RC47D Command and Control airship (Dogpatch 2).

When the aircraft was 10-20 miles south of Sam Neua, it was attacked by enemy
fighters. Radio contact was lost and the families were initially told there was
no further word of the plane or crew - that they had all been lost on an
operational mission in North Vietnam.

It was later learned, however, that at least one, possibly two parachutes were
observed in the air from persons on the ground, and the loss had occurred not
in North Vietnam, but at 201200N 1041700E, which is in Laos.

Primary objective of the C-47 in Laos at that point in the war was visual
reconnaissance. American forces worked closely with CAS (CIA) primarily to
weaken the communist supply link to South Vietnam via the "Ho Chi Minh Trail".
This particular plane, however, was working in support of the CIA's secret
indigenous army which was attempting to prevent a communist takeover in Laos.

The crewmembers on these missions were normally highly trained in electronic
surveillance techniques as well as versed in codes and languages. Accordingly,
and as "there was no war in Laos", certain details of the mission, such as the
precise location of loss, were originally distorted. Later reports indicate
that some of the crew survived the attack on July 29, 1966. According to a
March, 1974 list published by the National League of Families of POW/MIAs,
Bossio survived the incident and was missing in Laos. One 1971 report states
that as many as 5 of the crew were captured. Chiarello and Di Tommaso were
identified as survivors by Capt. Adair of Project Dogpatch. U.S. Air Force
records still reflect the loss as having occurred in North Vietnam.

In 1988, the remains of Conklin, Chiarello, Hall, Mamiya and Smith were
returned to U.S. control. They were positively identified and returned to their
families for burial. The Di Tommaso family was also notified, and Mafalda Di
Tommaso rushed to Hawaii to sadly welcome her son home. She was shocked to
learn that no body had returned - only information which added nothing to the
mystery surrounding her son's loss.

The families of Bossio, Hoskinson and Di Tommaso have the right to know what
happened on July 29, 1966. The communist governments of Southeast Asia can
account for the large majority of the nearly 2500 Americans still missing
there. The weight of the evidence shows that some of them are still being held
captive. It's time the veil of secrecy was lifted on these men and the others.
It's time they came home.











DIBBLE, MORRIS FREDERICK

Name: Morris Frederick Dibble
Rank/Branch: E3/US Army
Unit: Company B, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Infantry, 1st Infantry Division
Date of Birth: 18 August 1944
Home City of Record: Corning NY
Date of Loss: 05 December 1965
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 112552N 1063324E (XT690473)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Other Personnel In Incident: George J. Eisenberger; Edward C. Upner; (both
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: KIA GND COMB - REMS NOT LOC - J

SYNOPSIS: PFC Morris Dibble and SSgt. Edward C. Upner were squad members of a
team lead by Sgt. George J. Eisenberger on a ground combat mission in Binh Duong
Province, South Vietnam on December 5, 1965.

The unit came under hostile fire from what was believed to be a Viet Cong
encampment, and in the first burst of fire, the three men were mortally wounded.
When the unit was able to withdraw from the combat area, it was not possible to
recover Dibble, Upner and Eisenberger.

When the enemy threat abated, the squad reentered the area in an attempt to find
the bodies, but they were gone. It was generally believed that they were taken
by the Viet Cong and probably buried, which was not at all an uncommon thing to
do. (Veterans note that the Viet Cong also seemed to make it as hard as possible
for the graves to be found).

The three members of Company B are listed among the dead, but because their
bodies were not recovered, they are also listed among the missing. Witnesses
felt certain that the three died on the day their unit was hit. Other cases of
the missing are not quite as clear, however. Many missing were known to have
been alive at last point of contact. Some were photographed as POWs. Others even
wrote home from POW camps, never to be heard from again.

Since the war ended, thousands of reports have been received that have convinced
many authorities that hundreds of Americans remain alive in captivity in
Southeast Asia. Perhaps Upner, Eisenberger and Dibble are not among them. But
one can imagine them proudly defending one last firebase for their freedom.

George Joe Buck Eisenberger was an American Indian.
DICKENS, DELMA ERNEST
Remains Recovered in Crash Site Excavation - Positive ID Accepted

Name: Delma Ernest Dickens
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit: 16th Special Operations Squadron, Ubon AB, Thailand
Date of Birth: 20 April 1947
Home City of Record: Omega GA
Date of Loss: 21 December 1972
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 152712N 1060048E (XC087086)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: AC130A gunship
Other Personnel In Incident: Rollie Reaid; George D. MacDonald; John Winningham;
Francis Walsh; James R. Fuller; Robert T. Elliott; Robert L. Liles; Harry
Lagerwall; Paul Meder; Thomas T. Hart; Stanley Kroboth; Charles Fenter (all
missing/remains returned --see text); Joel R. Birch (remains returned); Richard
Williams, Carl E. Stevens (rescued).
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1990 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.

REMARKS: I.R. #22370432 73 - DEAD

SYNOPSIS: An AC130A gunship, "Spectre 17", flown by Capt. Harry R. Lagerwall,
departed Ubon Airbase, Thailand on an interdiction mission to interrupt enemy
cargo movements along the Ho Chi Minh Trail on December 21, 1972. The crew
onboard numbered 16. During the flight to the target, the aircraft was hit by
ground fire and after 10 minutes of level flight, the fuel exploded. Two of the
crew, Richard Williams and Carl E. Stevens, bailed out safely and were
subsequently rescued hours later. The partial body of Joel Birch (an arm) was
later recovered some distance away from the crash site.

Heat-sensitive equipment which would pinpoint the location of human beings in
the jungles was used to search for the rest of the crew with no success. It was
assumed that the missing crewmen were either dead or were no longer in the area.

According to intelligence reports, several piles of bloody bandages and 5
deployed parachutes were seen and photographed at the crash site. Also, later
requests through the Freedom of Information Act revealed a photo of what
appeared to be the initials "TH" stomped in the tall elephant grass near the
crash site. A number of reports have been received which indicate Tom Hart, if
not others, was still alive as late as 1988.

In the early 1980's a delegation comprised in part of several POW/MIA family
members visited the site of the aircraft crash in Laos. Mrs. Anne Hart found
material on the ground in the area which she believed to be bone fragment. She
photographed the material and turned it over to the U.S. Government.

In February, 1985, a joint excavation of the crash site was done by the U.S. and
Laos from which a large number of small bone fragments were found. Analysis by
the U.S. Army's Central Identification Laboratory (CIL) in Hawaii reported the
positive identification of all 13 missing crewmembers. Some critics dubbed this
identificatin "Voodoo Forensics."

Mrs. Hart was immediately skeptical.  She was concerned that the positive
identification of all 13 missing men onboard the aircraft had seemed too
convenient. She was further concerned that among the remains said to be those of
her husband, she found the bone fragment which she had herself found at the
crash site location several years before. She believed this was too much of a
coincidence.

Anne Hart had an independent analysis of the seven tiny fragments of bone which
the government said constituted the remains of her husband. Dr. Michael Charney
of Colorado State University, an internationally respected Board Certified
Forensic Anthropologist with nearly 50 years of experience in anthropology,
conducted the study.

"It is impossible," Charney wrote in his report, "to determine whether these
fragments are from LTC Hart or any other individual, whether they are from one
individual or several, or whether they are even from any of the crew members of
the aircraft in study."

Mrs. Hart refused to accept the remains and sued the government, challenging its
identification procedures. Her challenge produced additional criticism of CIL
and the techniques it uses in identifying remains. Some scientists, including
Charney, charged that CIL deliberately misinterpreted evidence in order to
identify remains. They said the Army consistently drew unwarranted conclusions
about height, weight, sex and age from tiny bone fragments. Eleven of the
"positive" identifications made on the AC130 crew were determined to be
scientifically impossible.

"These are conclusions just totally beyond the means of normal identification,
our normal limits and even our abnormal limits," said Dr. William Maples,
curator of physical anthropology at Florida State Museum.

Among the egregious errors cited by Charney was a piece of pelvic bone that the
laboratory mistakenly said was a part of a skull bone and was used to identify
Chief Master Sgt. James R. Fuller. The Reaid ID had been made based on bits of
upper arm and leg bones and a mangled POW bracelet said to be like one Reaid
wore. The MacDonald ID had been made based on the dental records for a single
tooth.

Mrs. Hart won her suit against the government. Her husband's identification, as
well as that of George MacDonald, was rescinded. The Government no longer
claimed that the identifications were positive. However, these two men were
listed as "accounted for."

Mrs. Hart's suit on behalf of her husband made it U.S. Government policy for a
family to be given the opportunity to seek outside confirmation of any
identification of remains said to be their loved ones. Mrs. Hart also believed
that the suit was successful in keeping her husband's file open. Reports were
still being received related to him.

In 1988, the Air Force forwarded a live sighting report of Tom Hart to Mrs.
Hart. The Air Force had concluded the report was false or irrelevant because
Tom Hart was "accounted for." Mrs. Hart again went to court to try and ensure
that her husband was not abandoned if, indeed, he is still alive. She wanted him
put back on the "unaccounted for" list.

In early March, 1990, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the lower
court decision that had ruled the U.S. Government erred in identifying bone
fragments as being the remains of Thomas Hart. The appellate court ruled that
the government is free to use "its discretion" in handling the identification of
victims of war and that courts should not second-guess government decisions on
when to stop searching for soldiers believed to be killed in action.

The court also denied Mrs. Hart's request to have her husband returned to the
"unaccounted for" list. "The government must make a practical decision at some
point regarding when to discontinue the search for personnel," the court said in
its ruling.

Most Americans would make the practical decision to serve their country in war,
if asked to do so. Even though there is evidence that some of this crew did not
die in the crash of the aircraft, the U.S. Government has made the "practical
decision," and obtained the support of the Justice system, to quit looking for
them.

How can we allow our government to close the books on men who have not been
proven dead whose biggest crime is serving their country? If one or more of them
are among the hundreds many believe are still alive in captivity, what must they
be thinking of us?

Knowing one could be so callously abandoned, how many will serve when next asked
to do so?
DICKSON, EDWARD ANDREW

Name: Edward Andrew Dickson
Rank/Branch: O3/US Navy Reserves
Unit: Attack Squadron 155, USS CORAL SEA (CVA-43)
Date of Birth: 03 September 1937
Home City of Record: Wyoming PA
Date of Loss: 07 February 1965
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 173200N 1063600E (XE707391)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A4E

Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

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

REMARKS: EJECTED - NO PARA - SEAT -J

SYNOPSIS: By early January, 1965, following two significant military defeats at
the hands of North Vietnamese guerrilla forces, the Army of the Republic of
South Vietnam was near collapse; U.S. options were either to leave the country
or increase its military activity. President Johnson chose to escalate. Plans
were authorized for a "limited war" that included a bombing campaign in North
Vietnam.

The first major air strike over North Vietnam took place in reaction to Viet
Cong mortaring of an American advisor's compound at Pleiku on February 7, 1965.
Eight Americans died in the attack, more than one hundred were wounded, and ten
aircraft were destroyed. President Johnson immediately launched FLAMING DART I,
a strike against the Vit Thu Lu staging area, fifteen miles inland and five
miles north of the demilitarized zone (DMZ).

Thirty-four aircraft launched from the USS RANGER, but were prevented from
carrying out that attack by poor weather, and the RANGER aircraft were not
allowed to join the forty-nine planes from the USS CORAL SEA and USS HANCOCK,
which struck the North Vietnamese army barracks and port facilities at Dong Hoi.

LT Edward A. Dickson was an A4E Skyhawk pilot assigned to Attack Squadron 155
onboard the CORAL SEA. Dickson was a section leader in a four-plane flight on
the strike at Dong Hoi. About 5 miles south of the target area, LT Dickson
reported that his aircraft had been hit by ground fire. His wingman was
instructed to look his aircraft over for damage as they continued to approach
the final run-in to the target.

Just prior to reaching the bomb release point, LT Dickson's left wing burst into
flames and the wingman notified of that fact. At this time the flight leader
gave the signal to drop the bombs. Dickson continued in his bomb run, turning
out to sea only after his last bomb had left the aircraft. Upon completing the
bombing run, the flight made an immediate turn to head for the sea, and for
easier rescue. As the flight continued to the coastline it was noted that the
left wing of Dickson's aircraft was completely engulfed in flames. He was
instructed to eject, and upon ejection, the canopy and ejection seat were
observed to leave the plane.

Partly because the aircraft were traveling at a high rate of speed, no one was
sure Dickson himself left the aircraft, nor was a parachute seen deployed. The
crippled A4 crashed into the Gulf of Tonkin approximately one-half mile off
shore. Search and rescue facilities were alerted and accompanying aircraft
circled in the vicinity of the crash site for roughly 15 minutes without being
able to locate their downed comrade. Weather conditions in the target area were
overcast with multiple stratus cloud layers. The search was terminated two days
later with no results.

LT Dickson, because he was lost over water, was classified Killed in Action,
Body Not Recovered. His name is listed among the missing because no remains were
ever found to return home.

The strike was judged at best an inadequate reprisal. It accounted for sixteen
destroyed buildings. The cost? The loss of one A4E Skyhawk pilot from the USS
CORAL SEA and eight damaged aircraft.

LT Dickson's loss was indeed ironic, or possibly just symbolic of the deadly
business of naval aviation. One year earlier, Dickson had narrowly evaded death
after ejecting from an A4 during a training exercise over the Sierra Nevada
range in California. His parachute failed to open, but Dickson landed in a
thirty-foot snowdrift and survived.

Edward A. Dickson is one of nearly 2500 Americans still missing from the Vietnam
war. Some certainly died. However, it is not totally clear that Lt. Dickson
actually died when his aircraft went down, or in a faulty ejection, or if he
survived to make it to shore or be picked up by boats in the area. Like many
cases of those missing, Lt. Dickson's case is unclear.

Tragically, since the end of the war, thousands of reports have been received
by the U.S. Government that have convinced many authorities that hundreds of
Americans are still alive, held captive in Southeast Asia. Most of these
reports remain classified, so no public judgement can be made as to their worth.

Speculation continues that Americans are still alive in Southeast Asia, waiting
for their country to free them. It is not beyond comprehension that Edward A.
Dickson could be one of them. If so, what must he think of us?

DIETSCH, CHARLES EDWARD

Name:  Charles Edward Dietsch
Rank/Branch: W3/US Army
Unit: 243rd Assault Helicopter Company, 10th Combat Aviation Battalion
Date of Birth: 08 May 1922 (Avalon NY)
Home City of Record: Mt. Dora FL
Date of Loss: 20 October 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 122945N 1090753E (BP890830)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: CH47

Other Personnel In Incident: Jerry G. Bridges; Henry C. Knight; Charles H.
Meldahl; Ronald V. Stanton (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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: On October 20, 1968, CW3 Deitsch, aircraft commander; WO1 Knight,
pilot; SP5 Meldahl, crewchief; SP4 Bridges, flight engineer; and SP4 Stanton,
door gunner, departed Dong Ba Thien Airfield, South Vietnam, in a CH47A
helicopter (serial #66-19053) on a resupply mission to Ban Me Thuot, South
Vietnam.

The CH47 "Chinook" helicopter was one of the workhorses of the Army's air fleet.
As a cargo lift, the Chinook could carry up to 28,000 pounds on its external
cargo hook, and is credited with the recovery of 11,500 disabled aircraft worth
more than $3 billion. As troop carrier, the aircraft could be fitted with 24
litters for medical evacuation, or carry 33-44 troops in addition to the crew.
On one occasion, a Chinook evacuated 147 refugees and their possessions on a
single flight. The Chinook could be outfitted for bombing missions, dropping
tear gas or napalm in locations fixed wing aircraft could not reach. The big
bird could carry a large cargo of supplies.

Deitsch radioed at 0700 hours on October 20 that his aircraft was over the Ninh
Hoa Valley. That was the last anyone heard of the CH47. At about 0800 hours, it
was determined that the helicopter was overdue.

An intensive search effort was made, but no wreckage was ever found of the CH47,
and search efforts were concluded on October 28. Villagers were later canvassed
throughout the Ninh Ho Valley, and literature was distributed asking about the
crash of the Chinook, but no new information was ever discovered.

The five men aboard the Chinook lost on October 20, 1968 were classified Missing
In Action. They are among nearly 2400 Americans who are unaccounted for from
American involvement in Vietnam. Experts now believe that hundreds of Americans
are still alive in Southeast Asia, waiting for their country to come for them.
The crew of the CH47 lost on October 20, 1968 could be among them. It's time we
brought them home.

DILGER, HERBERT HUGH

Name: Herbert Hugh Dilger
Rank/Branch: O3/USN
Unit: Fleet Support Squadron 50, Atsugi NAS, Japan
Date of Birth: 21 January 1943
Home City of Record: Valley Stream NY
Date of Loss: 02 October 1969
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 175402N 1073602E (YE754810)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: C2A

Personnel In Incident: Terry L. Beck; Richard W. Bell; Michael L. Bowman; Frank
Bytheway; Rolando C. Dayao; Donald C. Dean; Herbert H. Dilger; Carl J. Ellerd;
James J. Fowler; Roy G. Fowler; Leonardo M. Gan; Paul E. Gore; William D.
Gorsuch; Rayford J. Hill; Delvin L. Kohler; Howard M. Koslosky; Robert B.
Leonard; Richard A. Livingston; Ronald W. Montgomery; William R. Moore; Paul K.
Moser; Kenneth M. Prentice; Fidel G. Salazar; Keavin L. Terrell; Michael J. Tye;
Reynaldo R. Viado (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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: On October 2, 1969, a C2A "Greyhound" cargo aircraft from Reserve
Cargo Squadron 50 departed Cubi Point Naval Air Station, Republic of the
Philippines on a shuttle flight to various aircraft carriers in the Gulf of
Tonkin in Vietnam, including the USS CONSTELLATION, the USS WALKER, the USS
HAMMER, and the USS LONG BEACH.

The flight crew onboard the aircraft, assigned to Fleet Support Squadron 50
based in Atsugi Naval Air Station, Japan, included the pilot, Lt. Herbert H.
Dilger; co-pilot, Lt. Richard A. Livingston; air crewman, Petty Officer 3rd
Class Paul K. Moser; aircraft captain, Petty Officer 3rd Class Michael J. Tye;
and loadmaster-trainee, Petty Officer 3rd Class Rayford J. Hill. Most of the
twenty passengers appear to be bound for the USS CONSTELLATION, but one was
bound for the USS LONG BEACH, one of the four Philippine citizens onboard was
headed for the USS HAMMER, and two to the USS WALKER.

The aircraft was inbound to the CONSTITUTION and made communication at about
0600 hours, reporting that operations were normal. When communicatons were
established with the Carrier Air Control, control was passed to the Marshall
controller (Approach Control). The carrier's radar continued tracking the
aircraft until approximately 0655, at which time radar contact was lost at about
10 nautical miles from the CONSTELLATION.

Helicopter search and rescue efforts were immediately initiated from the ship.
The helicopter began sighting an oil slick and debris. A few pieces of aircraft
were recovered, and analysis of this debris indicated that the aircraft was in a
relatively high speed nose down, right wing down impact with the water or had a
possible right wing failure before impact. There was no sign of survivors, nor
were any bodies recovered.

The crew and passengers onboard the C2 which went down on October 2, 1969 were
all declared Killed/Body Not Recovered. There is very little hope that they will
ever be found. They are listed with honor among the missing because no remains
were ever located to repatriate to their homeland.

For many of the missing, however, solutions are not so simple. Several were
photographed in captivity, but never returned. Others were alive and well the
last they were seen awaiting rescue. Still others described their imminent
captures. For the families of these men, the years have passed heartbreakingly
slow.

Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing in
Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. Government. Many officials who
have reviewed this largely classified information are convinced that hundreds of
Americans are still alive as captives in Southeast Asia. It's time we brought
our men home.


DILLENDER, WILLIAM EDWARD

Name: William Edward Dillender
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: Company B, 101st Aviation Battalion,
101st Airborne Division
Date of Birth: 06 November 1951 (Waltham MA)
Home City of Record: Naples FL
Date of Loss: 20 March 1971
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 163544N 1962513E (XD515352)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H

Other Personnel in Incident: John J. Chubb; Jack L. Barker; John F. Dugan (all
missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 September 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: EXPLODED FIRE NO SEARCH - J

SYNOPSIS: LAM SON 719 was a large offensive operation against NVA communications
lines in Laos. The operation called for ARVN troops to drive west from Khe Sanh,
cut the Ho Chi Minh Trail, seize Tchpone and return to Vietnam. The ARVN would
provide and command the ground forces, while U.S. Army and Air Force would
furnish avaition airlift and supporting firepower. The 101st Airborne Division
commanded all U.S. Army aviation units in direct support of the operation. Most
of the first part of the operation, begun January 30, 1971, was called Operation
DEWEY CANYON II, and was conducted by U.S. ground forces in Vietnam.

The ARVN were halfway on February 11 and positioned for the attack across the
Laotian border. On 8 February, ARVN began to push into Laos. The NVA reacted
fiercely, but the ARVN held its positions supported by U.S. airstrikes and
resupply runs by Army helicopters.

President Nguyen Van Thieu ordered a helicopter assault on Tchepone, and the
abandoned village was seized March 6. Two weeks of hard combat were necessary
for the ARVN task force to fight its way back to Vietnam. Towards the end of the
removal, a helicopter from Company B, 101st Aviation Battalion was lost.

Flown by Maj. Jack L. Barker, the UH1H (serial #66-16185) was attempting to land
to extract ARVN troops about 20 miles west of Khe Sanh. During the attempt, the
aircraft came under enemy fire and was seen to spin, explode, and catch fire,
then to break up in the air. No signs of survivors were seen. The crew aboard
the aircraft were PCF John J. Chubb, Sgt. William E. Dillender, and Capt. John
F. Dugan. Because of the presence of enemy forces in the area, no subsequent
search could be made for survivors.

Losses were heavy in Lam Son 719. The ARVN lost almost 50% of their force. U.S.
aviation units lost 168 helicopters; another 618 were damaged. Fifty-five
aircrewmen were killed, 178 wounded, and 34 missing in action in the entire
operation, lasting until April 6, 1971.

In all, nearly 600 Americans were lost in Laos, but because we did not negotiate
with the Pathet Lao, no Americans held in Laos were released. Since that time,
over 10,000 reports have been received relating to Americans prisoner, missing
or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia. Although many authorities are convinced
that hundreds remain alive, the U.S. has not secured the release of a single
man.

DILLON, DAVID ANDREW

Name: David Andrew Dillon
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit:
Date of Birth: 28 May 1942
Home City of Record: Spring Valley CA
Date of Loss: 20 July 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 104403N 1063218E (XS668865)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1B

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: On July 20, 1966, SP4 David Dillon was serving as crewchief on a UH1B
helicopter operating in Long An Province, South Vietnam on an air mobile assault
mission.

During the landing approach, the helicopter was hit by enemy gunfire, exploded
and crashed. An immediate search of the area was conducted and the remains of 3
other crewmembers were recovered and identified. Dillon's wallet and ID card
were found in the vicinity of the wreckage. An investigative board report
indicated that Dillon's position on the aircraft was on the left door, which was
the primary point of contact of the explosion which involved white phosphorous.
No remains were found that could be identified as those of Dillon. A second,
unsuccessful search was made. The area of the crash was in a rice paddy.

When JCRC teams went back in December 1973 for follow-up, they was assaulted and
one of the team members was killed. This was one of the last searches made by
such teams in South Vietnam.

Since Dillon's remains were never found, he is listed among the missing. Unlike
many others who are missing, Dillon's case seems clear. Others disappeared
without notice after having been seen led away by enemy troops. Some were
photographed as captives. Still others were in radio contact with search and
rescue teams and described their imminent capture. There is no question that a
substantial number of the missing were at one time prisoners. Most of them can
be accounted for, alive or dead.

Since the war ended, thousands of reports have been received indicating that
hundreds of these missing men are still alive today. It is difficult to imagine
what they must be thinking of the country they proudly served. Surely they
deserved better than the abandonment we gave them.


DINAN, DAVID THOMAS III

Name: David Thomas Dinan III
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit: 34th Tactical Fighter Squadron
Date of Birth: 22 January 1944
Home City of Record: Nutley NJ
Date of Loss: 17 March 1969
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 192258N 1033658E (UG558448)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F105

Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II
Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: The contrast between fighter and attack squadrons in Vietnam was not
as striking as in previous wars. Fighter pilots have long held the attention of
aviation enthusiasts and the American public, a fondness dating back to the days
of the dramatic exploits of the Red Baron in World War I. But attack pilots,
except for brief moments of public glory--the Korean War film, "The Bridges at
Toko-Ri," is one notable example--have been relegated to plodding unnoticed in
the aviation trenches to conduct an unglamorized and relatively under-publicized
air-to-mud business.

Vietnam, however, was an air-to-ground war. There were a considerable number of
duels in the skies over North Vietnam and the exploits of MiG killers have been
well documented. But those aerial duels were just a thin slice of the air-war
pie. Fighter pilots, not wanting their talents to go to waste, also flew
air-to-mud.

1Lt. David T. Dinan III was a pilot from the 34th Tactical Fighter Squadron at
Korat Airbase, Thailand. On March 17, 1969, Dinan was assigned a combat mission
which took him over Laos.

During the mission, Dinan's aircraft was hit by enemy fire and he ejected. His
parachute was shredded when it hit trees, however, and he sustained what were
believed to be fatal injuries from falling through the trees and down an
embankment. Dinan was declared Killed in Action/Body Not Recovered.

Dinan is among nearly 600 Americans who disappeared in Laos. Some, like Dinan,
are believed to be dead. Many, however, are known to have been alive on the
ground following their shoot downs. Although the Pathet Lao publicly stated on
several occasions that they held "tens of tens" of American prisoners, not one
American held in Laos has ever been released. Laos did not participate in the
Paris Peace accords ending American involvement in the war in 1973, and no
treaty has ever been signed that would free the Americans held in Laos.

DINGWALL, JOHN F.

Name: John. F. Dingwall
Rank/Branch: USMC, E7
Unit: VMFA 225 MAG 12
Date of Birth: 28 February 21
Home City of Record: Troy, NY
Date of Loss: 08 July 65
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 152114N 1084630E
Status (in 1973): Missing
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Remarks: SVN/POL SAY PP/KK-SEARCH NEG-J

Other Personnel In Incident: Richard C. Bram (still missing)

Source: Compiled by THE P.O.W. NETWORK 02 February 1993 from the
following published sources - POW/MIA's -- Report of the Select Committee
on POW/MIA Affairs United States Senate -- January 13, 1993. "The Senate
Select Committee staff has prepared case summaries for the priority cases
that the Administration is now investigating. These provide the facts about
each case, describe the circumstances under which the individual was lost,
and detail the information learned since the date of loss.  Information in
the case summaries is limited to information from casualty files, does not
include any judgments by Committee staff, and attempts to relate essential
facts. The Committee acknowledges that POW/MIAs' primary next-of- kin know
their family members' cases in more comprehensive detail than summarized
here and recognizes the limitations that the report format imposes on these
summaries."

On July 8, 1966, Staff Sergeant Bram and Gunnery Sergeant Dingwall
left their unit at Chu Lai Air Base for a hike in the surrounding
countryside.  They were last seen in a local hamlet.

Local South Vietnamese police reported on July 8th that the Viet
Cong had captured and killed two Americans and then buried their
bodies.  This report led to a muster of the unit and the discovery
that Sergeants Bram and Dingwall were missing.  A search of the
area in which they were last seen produced hearsay information that
the two had been captured, but there was conflicting information on
their fate.  They were never seen alive again, and their remains
were never located.

Both individuals were initially declared missing.  In September
1978 they were declared dead/body not recovered.  Returning U.S.
POWs were unable to provide any information on their survival in
captivity, and U.S. investigation teams in Vietnam have been unable
to learn anything further concerning their precise fate.

DIX, CRAIG MITCHELL

Name: Craig Mitchell Dix
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit:
Date of Birth: 05 December 1949 (Trenton MI)
Home City of Record: Livonia MI
Date of Loss: 17 March 1971
Country of Loss: Cambodia
Loss Coordinates: 121005N 1062140E (XU480455)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 1
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H
Other Personnel in Incident: On UH1H: Richard L. Bauman; Bobby G. Harris (all
missing); James H. Hestand (released POW). From AH1G: Capt. David P. Schweitzer
(rescued); 1Lt. Lawrence E. Lilly (missing).

REMARKS: DEAD/IR 6 918 6247 74

SYNOPSIS: On March 17, 1971, Capt. David P. Schweitzer, pilot and 1Lt. Lawrence
E. Lilly, co-pilot, comprised the crew of an AH1G helicopter (serial #69-17935)
conducting a visual reconnaissance mission. As the aircraft was near a landing
zone at grid coordinates XU488458, it was hit by enemy fire of the F-21B
Infantry Regiment, 5th Viet Cong Division and forced to the ground. The LZ was
deep inside Cambodia in the Snuol District of Kracheh (Kratie) Province, near
Seang Village.

Rescue efforts were successful in extracting Capt. Schweitzer, but due to heavy
enemy fire, they were forced to leave the area before Lilly could be extracted.
Lt. Lilly was last seen by U.S. personnel lying on his back wth his shirt
partially open and blood on his chest and neck. He was observed being fired
upon by Viet Cong forces.

In mid-April 1971, a report described two U.S. personnel onboard a helicopter
shot down in this region getting out of the helicopter and climbing a tree, and
firing upon enemy forces. One of the crewmen was shot to death, and the other
was captured by Viet Cong soldiers of the 6th Company, 2nd Battalion, F21B
Infantry Regiment. The report continued that both crewmen were caucasian and
had light complexions. The source described the POW and said that he was later
told that the dead airman had been cremated by Cambodian villagers who had come
to salvage parts from the aircraft. Joint Casualty Resolution Center (JCRC)
evaluated the report and concluded that it could possibly relate either to
Lilly's incident or another the same day at the same location.

The other incident related to a UH1H helicopter flown by WO1 James H. Hestand
and carrying CW2 Richard L. Bauman; SP4 Craig M. Dix; and SP4 Bobby G. Harris.
The aircraft was shot down near Snuol. A medivac chopper lowered a jungle
penetrator to men seen on the ground through triple canopy jungle, but was
forced to leave the area due to enemy fire and low fuel.

Five ARVN were captured in the same operation and were told by Viet Cong guards
that three chopper crew members had just been captured. One was killed in the
crash, one was shot in the leg (ankle) trying to escape. The wounded crewmember
and two others were finally captured.

James Hestand was captured and was released in 1973. In his debriefing, he
reported that Craig Dix was the one who had been shot in the upper right ankle.
Hestand stated that Dix was ambulatory and evading capture at the time of his
own capture. Hestand also stated that, when last seen, CW2 Bauman was alive, in
good condition, and was hiding with Dix. Hestand said that he had seen the body
of Harris, whom he believed to be dead because of throat lacerations and a
discoloration of his body. Harris had been thrown from the aircraft. Hestand
was separated from the others when he was captured, and had no further
information on Dix, Bauman or Harris. Defense Department notes indicate that
Harris was killed in the crash. Defense Department notes indicate that some
intelligence say that Bauman, Dix and Harris are dead, yet other intelligence
reports placed Dix in a Cambodian hospital after having been captured, and
according to Hestand, the two were alive and well the last time he saw them.

An ARVN ground unit entered the battle area to try to rescue Lilly, but found
him dead. The unit came under heavy fire, and in the course of the battle, the
body was lost to the enemy. Lilly's remains were never recovered.

In 1988, the Cambodian government announced that it had the remains of a number
of American servicemen it wished to return to the United States. The U.S. did
not respond officially, however, because there are no diplomatic ties between
Cambodia and the U.S. Several U.S. Congressmen have attempted to intervene and
recover the remains on behalf of American family members, but Cambodia wishes
an official overture. Meanwhile, the bodies of Americans remain in the hands of
our former enemy.

Even more tragically, evidence mounts that many Americans are still alive in
Southeast Asia, still prisoners from a war many have long forgotten. It is a
matter of pride in the armed forces that one's comrades are never left behind.
One can imagine any of the men lost in Cambodia on March 17, 1971, being
willing to go on one more mission for the freedom of those heroes we left
behind.



DIXON, DAVID LLOYD

Name: David Lloyd Dixon
Rank/Branch: E4/US Navy
Unit: Naval Support Activity Da Nang, Support Detachment, Cua Viet, South
Vietnam
Date of Birth: 03 April 1945 (Alturas CA)
Home City of Record: Medford OR
Date of Loss: 28 September 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 165340N 1071042E (YD320690)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: LCM006

Other Personnel in Incident: David P. Halpin (killed)

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: Machinist's Mate Petty Officer Third Class David L. Dixon and Fireman
David P. Halpin were assigned to the Naval Support Activity Da Nang, Support
Detachment, Cua Viet, South Vietnam.

On September 28, 1968 at approximately 2:00 p.m., at the Naval Support Activity
Detachment, Cua Viet, South Vietnam, Dixon and Halpin were working on a boat
which was tied up to a barge from which contaminated fuel was being pumped.

Fireman Halpin was working onboard the boat. Petty Officer Dixon and two other
crewmembers were working in the engine room. A shipfitter, unaware of the fuel
being pumped, came to complete a welding job which had been started earlier that
day on another boat. Almost instantly after the shipfitter struck an arc with
his welder, the fuel fumes near where the fuel was being pumped into the water
ignited. Flames engulfed the entire waterfront.

One sailor in the engine room on LCM006 escaped, stating later that after he
left the boat, he returned to the engine room to see if anyone might still be
there. At the moment he returned, there was no fire in the engine room, however,
it was filled with heavy smoke. He attempted to search for anyone who might be
there, but was forced to leave due to the smoke and heat.

The fire on the water spread quickly and the escaping sailor received burns on
his face and shoulders while swimming ashore. Halpin attempted to get clear of
the boat and was last seen in the vicinity of the fire.

Fire on the water extended far out into the channel, rising to heights of two
hundred feet. Explosions from the boats' ammuniton and fuel tanks saturated the
entire width with burning debris. Due to the intense heat and flame, the fire
raged for over ten minutes before fire-fighting equipment could be put into
effective use. The boat itself was totally engulfed in flames.

Boats were dispatched to check for possible survivors in the ara. An extensive
search of the entire area was conducted with negative results. Due to the
circumstances, little hope for survival was held for Dixon and Halpin. Both men
were initially placed in a casualty status of Missing, but Dixon's status was
changed that same day to Killed in Action. Halpin was maintained in Missing
status until late November, when a Casualty Status Review Board changed his
status to Determined Dead/Body Not Recovered.

There is little hope that Dixon and Halpin could have survived. For some of
their comrades, however, there is ample reason for hope. Mounting evidence
indicates that hundreds of Americans were abandoned as prisoners of war at the
end of the war and remain in captivity today. For the honor of those who died in
Southeast Asia as well as the honor of our country itself, those live Americans
must be brought home.

DIXON, THOMAS J.

Name: Thomas J. Dixon
Rank/Branch: Civilian
Unit: Glomar Java Sea
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record:
Date of Loss: 25 October 1983
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates:
Status (in 1973):
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground:

Personnel in Incident: Herman Arms; Jerald T. Battiste; Sebe M. Bracey; Patrick
B. Cates; Wei Chen; Xiong Chen; Shu Guo Cheng; Jacob K. J. Chong; David P.
Clifton; James F. Cusick; Thomas J. Dixon; Shao Jien Feng; Jerald J. Flanagan;
Nigel Furness; Leonard E. Ganzinotti; La Juan A. Gilmore; Henry M. Gittings;
James K. Gittings; Terance C. Green; Jun Tian Guan; David Higgins, Jr.; Tyronne
Higgins; Hong Xi Huang; Rui Wen Huang; Yong Liang Huang; Timothy Jarvis; John W.
Jennings Jr.; Thomas J. Kofahl; Fan Xiang Kong; Guo Zhen Lai; John W. Lawrence;
Tong L. T. Lee; Chong Chang Li; Xuan Qiu Li; Zhan Jun Liang; Jie Feng Lin; Bing
Guang Liu; Edgar S. Lim; Gary Looke; Robert M. McCurry; Jerry L. Manfrida;
Raymond D. Miller; Xie Yi Mo; Tian Xue Mo; Kenneth W. Myers; Larry K. Myers;
Donald J. Ouellet; John D. Pierce; Peter Popiel; Clarence Reed; Jewell J.
Reynolds; E.J. Russell Reynolds; Walter T. Robinson; Kenneth B. Rogers; Lawrence
M. Salzwedel; William R. Schug; Richard E. Shoff; Christopher J. Sleeman; Delmar
A. Spencer; George G. Sullivan; Chong Jian Sun; Gustaf F. Swanson; Kevin C.
Swanson; Guo Dong Tang; Michael W. Thomas; Jiang Wang; Yu Fang Wang; Dong Cai
Wang; Guo Rong Wu; jing Sheng Xia; Xing Xing; Hui Xu; Ming Rui Xu; Mua Guang
Yuan; Xing Zhen Zhang; Yi Hua Zhang; Ji Chang Zhen; Shu Rong Zhou; Yao Wu Zhou;
Jie Fang Zhou; Da Huai Zhu.

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 10 December 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 5,930-ton American drilling ship, "Glomar Java Sea" was owned by
Global Marine of Houston, Texas, and leased to Atlantic Richfield Company
(ARCO). In the fall of 1983, the vessel was on duty about 200 miles east of the
Vietnamese coast. The ship was drilling for oil in the South China Sea in a
joint venture of ARCO and China Naitonal Offshore Oil Corporation, a state-owned
concern.

The "Glomar Java Sea" is a sister ship of the "Glomar Explorer," which, under
the guise of being utilized by the late Howard Hughes in a deep sea mining
operation in the Paficic, was really being used by the CIA and Navy in a $350
million project to retrieve a sunken Soviet Golf-class submarine. A large part
of the submarine was in fact recovered in 1974 before details of the project
were publicly revealed.

The Glomar Java Sea, with its crew of 81, began drilling operations on January
9, 1983 and was the first American wildcat operaton off the Chinese coast. On
October 25, 1983, the vessel was sunk during Typhoon Lex.

Documents removed from the ship by a crewman before the disaster indicate that
the vessel was being shadowed by armed Vietnamese naval craft and that there
were submarine mines beneath the "Glomar Java Sea," placed there and retrievable
by its crew. Another document indicates that the ship was damaged prior ot the
typhoon when a Chinese supply boat rammed into its side, causing some $320,000
damage to the vessel. The Glomar Java Sea did not leave its post for repairs.

Communications between ARCO and Global Marine, as well as telegraphic and radio
communications of the U.S. Western Pacific Rescue Coordination Center (WESTPAC)
reveal information about the search for the crew of the Glomar Java Sea.

The documents indicate that a number of survivors from the stricken vessel were
floundering in the water off the coast of Vietnam for hours after the disaster.
There is also indication that the men were picked up by Vietnamese coastal
patrols and are held captive of the Hanoi regime.

The crew of the Glomar Java Sea included 37 Americans, 35 Chinese, four British,
two Singaporeans, one Filipino, one Australian, and one Canadian.

From a transcript of a radio communicaton between WESTPAC and Global Marine on
October 28, three days after the sinking, WESTPAC was told:  "We are informed
that the SOS transmission could not have been transmitted except by human
operators..." There were two 64-man lifeboats aboard the drilling ship, plus
smaller lifeboats.

In an October 29 communicaton from WESTPAC to Global Marine, it is clearly
stated that five strobe lights were sighted by rescue aircraft in the vicinity
of 17-30 North 107-45 East. The aircraft were dispatched to the area because
strobe lights had been previously sighted. Lifejackets from the Glomar Java Sea
were equipped with strobe lights to signal rescuers.

Another October 29 communication between ARCO and Global Marine states that
ARCO's search aircraft had spotted survivors in the water at 17.27 North 107.54
East, and had attempted to divert surface vessels to this location. The
communication expressed the urgency to rescue the men before dark.

At 8:01 a.m. on October 29, ARCO had dropped a rescue raft to survivors.  Pickup
would be delayed for several hours, but the "Salvanquish," a Singapore-based
salvage ship, was within one half-mile of the site.

At 8:38 a.m search aircraft reported pinpointing the survivors' positions by dye
markers released by the survivors into the water. Two survivors were confirmed
with a possible third some distance away. Plans were also made to return to the
downed vessell to offlift survivors.

Another document shows that on nine different occasions radio transmissions were
picked up from a lifeboat. They ranged from "very strong" to "weak" with most
being described as "strong."

Inexplicably, despite the successful search, no rescue was made of the
survivors. Later that day, the Chinese Navy picked up a Vietnamese broadcast
reporting that the Vietnamese had sighted a lifeboat near their coast. The
location of the lifeboat was not confirmed by friendly search parties.

ARCO-Global Marine determined that this sighting was in the vicinity of Hon Gio
Island, located about 80 miles up the Vietnamese coast from the old U.S. base at
Da Nang and about 14 miles offshore, which placed it in Vietnamese territorial
waters. It appears that rescue craft were hampered in fully investigating the
report due to its location and the hint of possible interference by the
Vietnamese military.

It is likely that survivors would have been picked up by the Vietnamese if they
had in fact drifted within Vietnam's territory.

In the years following the loss of the Glomar Java Sea, a number of reports, all
unconfirmed by the U.S., indicate that survivors were seen in captivity in
Vietnam. It is known that the Vietnamese had shown a hostile interest in the
vessel, and the Glomar Java Sea had standing orders to be alert for Vietnamese
vessels in the area. The Chinese Navy served as protection for the vessel and
stood ready to take action should Vietnamese craft wander too close. The waters
below the vessel were mined.

A month after the Glomar Java Sea went down, Chinese divers went down to the
wreckage and went through the ship with a video cameras.

In March 1984, American divers were able to retrieve 31 bodies from the sunken
vessel. Fifteen of the bodies were identified as Americans. In addition, three
British and one Singaporean were identified. The bodies of another American and
two Chinese were tentatively identified. Divers photographed two bodies they
were unable to retrieve. They also found one of the Chinese divers that had
explored the wreckage in November 1983, lashed to the deck of the ship.

The American divers determined that one of the ship's large lifeboats was
launched and that an attempt had been made to launch another. Their film was
seen by the mother of one of the lost crewmen. She reported that the crack in
the hull of the ship at one point was a hole 48 inches across, which was
punctured inward, "as though the rig had been hit by something that exploded."
This fueled additional speculation that the vessel had, in fact, been attacked
rather that simply mortally damaged by the typhoon.

The National Transportaton Safety Board officially determined in November 1984
that an "unexplained crack" in the hull of the Glomar Java Sea was responsible
for its sinking during the typhoon. Apparently, the crack in the hull allowed
two storage tanks to fill with water, causing the vessel to become off-balanced,
making it vulnerable to the forces of the typhoon. Officials believed it was
possible that survivors may have been able to abandon the ship before it sank.
It was determined that the ship had been improperly prepared for the storm.

During 1984, there were reports from Southeast Asia that between six and twelve
survivors of the Glomar Java Sea were being held in prisoner of war camps in
Vietnam. One of the survivors was identified by a Vietnamese refugee as American
crewman John Pierce.

Douglas F. Pierce, father of John Pierce, reported that the refugee had seen his
son, five other Americans and eight Chinese when they were brought into a prison
in Da Nang, where the refugee was being held. John Pierce gave the refugee his
father's business card and two sticks of gum.

Mr. Pierce gave the information to Defense Intelligence Agency who determined
that the refugee had not been in the camp at all, but had received the business
card by mail from a friend, not directly from Pierce. DIA further determined
that the incident had occurred in late October 1983 (shortly after the Glomar
Java Sea went down). The refugee gave Mr. Pierce the original letter, which
contained the names and addresses of two mutual Vietnamese friends.

No followup was conducted on the two names in the letter by DIA, and DIA
discounted the information provided by the refugee. It was not until 1990 that
it became apparent that the Defense Department felt no responsibility for the
Americans lost on the Glomar Java Sea. At that time, DIA reported that the
responsibility for these civilians belonged to the U.S. State Department.

Mr. Pierce did not stop there. He uncovered a U.S. State Department document
that revealed that Cheng Quihong, the secretary and wife of the Director of
China's Visa Office, was overheard telling her companion at a Hong Kong dinner
that survivors from the Glomar had been picked up and were held by the
Vietnamese.

Pierce also learned that a JCRC report sent to DIA dated November 6, 1984,
reported that a former prisoner from Pleiku prison had been held with a Chinese
man who claimed to have been off the Glomar. The man said he was one of three
men who were captured, and that the other two were Americans.

Pierce adds that to his knowledge, neither of these reports were followed up by
U.S. officials, and Pierce has received no reply to his queries regarding them.

In 1989 a Japanese monk named Yoshida was released from prison after being held
for years by the Vietnamese. Yoshida was shown a photograph of John Pierce and
stated that Pierce looked very familiar, and that he had either seen him or
someone who looked very much like him.

In November, 1990, Vietamese Foreign Minister Nguyen Co Thach traveled to the
U.S. and spoke with U.S. officials on a variety of matters. At this time, he
announced that there was a black American named Walter T. Robinson living
illegally in Vietnam, and invited U.S. representatives to come and help find
him. Thach provided a social security number and two photographs.

The Pentagon told "The Washington Times" that the two photographs of Robinson
provided by Thach are of a black man. However, the Pentagon has since admitted
that the photos "are not very well developed" and appear to be of either a black
man or a dark Asian. Photocopies of old newspaper articles concerning Robinson,
obtained by Homecoming II, show a dark-haired man of relatively dark complexion.

The Pentagon has not released the photographs to the press.

The Defense Department determined that Walter T. Robinson had never been listed
as missing in Vietnam. Thach had provided a social security number, and
according to DOD, this information correlated to a white American living in the
Midwest. They concluded that the Thach information, therefore, was in error.

Later information indicated that a Walter T. Robinson was listed on the crew
roster of the Glomar Java Sea. When queried, the Defense Department reported
that they were aware of this Robinson, but that civilians were the
responsibility of the State Department.

It seems apparent that the U.S. is not vigorously looking for the men missing
from the Glomar Java Sea, and that like the missing and prisoners who served in
military and civilian capacities during the Vietnam war, they have been
abandoned.


DOBY, HERB
Remains Returned 30 September 1977

Name: Herb Doby
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 23 August 1931
Home City of Record: Oregon City OR
Date of Loss: 04 February 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 221546N 1055300E (WK910620)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: EB66C
Other Personnel in Incident: Jack W. Bomar; John O. Davies; John Fer (all
released POWs); Russell A. Poor (missing); Woodrow H. Wilburn (remains
returned)
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1990 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.

REMARKS: 770930 REMS RET BY SRV

SYNOPSIS: The Douglas EB66C Skywarrior was outfitted as an electronic warfare
aircraft which carried roughly 5 tons of electronic gear in addition to its
flight crew of three and technical personnel. The EB66C featured a pressurized
capsule installed in the bomb bay, that accommodated four technicians whose
responsibility was to operate electronic reconnaissance gear.

On February 4, 1967, an EB66C was dispatched on an operational mission over
North Vietnam. The crew and technicians that day included Maj. Jack W. Bomar,
1Lt. John O. Davies, Capt. John Fer, Capt. Russell A. Poor, Capt. Herb Doby, and
Maj. Woodrow Hoover.

At a point about 40 miles from the China border in Bac Thai Province, North
Vietnam, the EB66C was shot down. Bomar, Fer and Davies were captured. The fates
of Doby, Poor and Wilburn were uncertain.

In the spring of 1973, 591 Americans were released from prison camps in Vietnam,
including Bomar, Davies and Fer. They had been POWs for just over six years.
Poor, Doby and Wilburn remained Missing in Action.

In 1977, the Vietnamese returned remains which were identified as being those of
Capt. Herb Doby, but denied any knowledge of the fates of Poor and Wilburn.

In 1990, it was announced that the Vietnamese had "discovered" and returned the
remains of Maj. Woodrow Wilburn.

For 23 years, the Vietnamese have denied knowledge of the fates of the missing
from the EB66C they shot down on February 4, 1967. Among the entire crew, only
Poor remains missing.

Disturbing testimony was given to Congress in 1980 that the Vietnamese
"stockpiled" the remains of Americans to return at politically advantageous
times. Could Poor be waiting, 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. Could Poor be among these?

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.
DODGE, RONALD WAYNE
Remains Returned July 8, 1981

Name: Ronald Wayne Dodge
Rank/Branch: O3/US Navy
Unit:
Date of Birth: 17 June 1936
Home City of Record: San Diego CA
Date of Loss: 17 May 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 184759N 1052358E (WF419795)
Status (in 1973): Prisoner of War
Category: 1
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F8E

Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

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. Ronald W. Dodge was the pilot of an F8E assigned a combat mission over North
Vietnam on May 17, 1967. When Dodge was about 20 miles northwest of the city of
Vinh in Nghe An Province, North Vietnam, his aircraft was shot down. Safely on
the ground, Dodge talked with his wingman on the radio and waved him off. He
discussed moving up the hill. During this period, he made three radio
transmissions, one of them reporting being surrounded by North Vietnamese forces
and saying, "I'm breaking up my radio." One pilot, Mdcleary, saw Dodge being
captured.

For the next years, Dodge's wife, Jan, was tortured by photos which appeared on
the cover of the September 9, 1967, Paris Match, and in a propaganda film made
by East Germany called, "Pilots in Pajamas." In the Paris Match photo, Dodge's
head was bandaged, but in the German film, he was walking on his own power
between guards. Jan Dodge had little idea of the torture that Ron Dodge was
enduring in the hands of the Vietnamese. It is the general feeling among
returned POWs that Ron Dodge was tortured to the point of death.

When 591 American prisoners were released in 1973, Ron Dodge was not among them.
The Vietnamese denied any knowledge of him, in spite of the widely-published
photographs of Ron Dodge in captivity.

Then, in 1981, the Vietnamese "discovered" and returned the remains of Ron Dodge
to U.S. control.

It is comforting for each family to receive, after years and years of grief and
wonder, the remains of their loved ones. However, it is tragic to receive the
remains of persons such as Ron Dodge and others who were known to have been POWs
when the Vietnamese continually denied knowledge of them. The U.S. points to
such returns of remains as "progress" on the POW/MIA issue, when actually, we
are subjugating our honor to our long-ago enemy, and gratefully accepting the
"gift" of remains which should have been returned decades ago. We have allowed
the Vietnamese to use the remains as political leverage.

Since the war ended, over 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. In light of
this information, it is doubly questionable that the U.S. is pursuing an
honorable solution of the POW/MIA issue.



DODSON, JAMES S.

Name: James S. Dodson
Rank/Branch: E5/US Marine Corps
Unit:
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record:
Date of Loss: 06 May 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 154800N 1081208E (BT085682)
Status (in 1973): Escaped POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing, but held with Walter W. Eckes,
escaped POW)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project with the assistance of Patty Skelly of
Task Force Omega, Inc. 01 October 1990 from raw data from U.S. Government agency
sources, correspondence with Walt Eckes, published sources.

REMARKS: 660618 ESCAPED

SYNOPSIS: In May 1966, Lcpl. Walter W. Eckes was assigned to F Battery, 2nd
Battalion, 12th Marines, 3rd Marine Division. As radio operator, Eckes
volunteered for a F.O. (forward observer) team. He was attached to C Company, 1st
Battalion, 9th Marines, 3rd Marine Division (later known as the "Walking Dead").

Because of a shortage of forward observers, Eckes' four-man team had no officers
and were not replaced in the field as the line companies rotated to the rear to
resupply or rest. Every couple of weeks, one of the team would return to HQ 2nd
Battalion, 12th Marines to pick up the team members' pay and any supplies that
were needed for the team. On May 9, 1966, Eckes returned to the rear to
resupply, spent the night, and the following morning headed back to his team and
Charlie Company 1/9. The team was located about 25 miles south-southwest of Da
Nang at a hamlet called Lei Son (phonetic spelling).

Eckes made the trip back to camp by hopping a ride on a truck from HQ. The truck
was going further south, so Eckes got off at a junction that entered into Lei
Son. The road, only about a quarter to a half-mile long, was booby trapped every
night, so Eckes decided to wait for another vehicle that was going to enter all
the way into the compound.

As he was sitting on the side of the road propped against a tree, three men in
South Vietnamese uniforms came walking down the road. One had an M-14; one had a
45 automatic pistol; the third was unarmed. Eckes greeted the men who then
leveled weapons at him. Believing they were joking, Eckes pushed the weapon
aside. The three disarmed him, wrestled him to the ground, and tied him up,
putting one rope around his neck, and tying his arms elbow to elbow behind his
back.

The three Vietnamese dragged Eckes across the road by the neck rope and held him
overnight. The following day, Eckes was given over to another group who led him
to a POW camp. Along the way, he was paraded in villages the group passed
through. Eckes estimates the camp to be located about 10-15 miles west-southwest
of the hamlet of Lei Son.

When he arrived at camp, Eckes met a tall black man standing in the door of one
of the huts who smiled at him. At first Eckes thought the man was a Cambodian he
had heard about who had been infiltrating Marine camps sabotaging equipment.
Later he learned that the man was smiling because he thought he would never
again see another American. His name was Sgt. James Dodson, and he had been
captured three days before Eckes. Dodson had been working with an engineer group
clearing roads when he went behind a hut and was knocked unconscious and
captured.

While in the camp near Lei Son, Eckes and Dodson were not tortured, but
occasionally roughed up during questioning. Twice, interrogators came in from
outside the camp. After the second interrogation, Eckes was told that he and
Dodson would soon be moved to another camp where another American was being held
- Bobby Garwood. Several days passed, and the two were brought black pajamas to
wear on the trip to the next camp.

Dodson and Eckes were taken away from the camp near Lei Son and traveled about
three days when they were forced to return because of American military activity
along their route. About two weeks later, they were taken in a different
direction for the same destination. They were on the trail for 3-4 days, and the
prisoners were in bad shape. Eckes lost his toenails due to a combination the
effects of poor health and exposure, having been required to wear "Ho Chi Minh"
sandals. The left side of his face was badly infected from insect bites, and his
weight had dropped to 98 pounds.

At dinner that night, Eckes made a decision. He had endured all he felt he
could, and planned to make a break, but didn't know what to do. He and Dodson
discussed it, and both agreed they had to escape if they were to survive.

Eckes and Dodson were traveling with about 18 Viet Cong and three of them stayed
with the prisoners during their rice meal that evening. The guards also started
to eat, and for the first time during the trip, all three guards propped their
weapons on a tree about 20 feet away. Eckes and Dodson seemed compliant, and the
guards felt confident. The other fifteen guards were some distance away eating.

After the meal, Eckes and Dodson had to wash out their canteen cups in a stream
directly behind the Viet Cong. When they stood up, the guards believed they were
going to wash their cups, but instead, the POWs took the rifles, grabbed a few
supplies and took off through the jungle.

For the next four days, Eckes and Dodson were chased through the jungle, and
eventually made their way to a PF post just outside An Hoa (about 25 miles
southwest of Da Nang), where a Marine base was located. The two were brought in
by ambulance to An Hoa, then flown to Da Nang where medical needs were seen to
and they were debriefed. The only other American they had heard about was Bobby
Garwood.

Walt Eckes will never forget his captivity. He is aware of the great volume of
intelligence which has convinced many that POWs are still being held captive
today. He and Dodson were among a very few who were able to escape captivity in
Southeast Asia. Many tried and were tortured for their efforts, or killed. To
Eckes and others who were fortunate enough to come home, the idea that Americans
are still being held captive holds a special horror.

It's time we brought our men home.

            CASE SYNOPSIS:    DOLAN, EDWARD V.

  ============================================================================

Name:                Edward V. Dolan
Rank/Branch:            Civilian-Air America
Date of Birth:            --
Home City of Record:        --
Date of Loss:            12 March 1975
Country of Loss:        South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates:        134800N 1075000E
Status (in 1973):        --
Category:            2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground:    DC4
Others In Incident:        George C. Miller; Robert Seidl
                (both missing)

REMARKS: AIR VIETNAM CRASH

SYNOPSIS:  During the 1950's a deteriorating political situation in Laos had
allowed NVA troops and Pathet Lao guerrillas to seize the Laotian panhandle
from the Royal Lao Army.  Prevented by Geneva Accords from having a large
military presence in Laos, the U.S. established a "Program Evaluation Office"
(PEO) in 1958 as a CIA cover for anti-communist covert actions.  One activity,
begun in 1958, used Meo tribesmen for a small pilot guerrilla program, which
soon became the largest clandestine army in CIA history.  In the first year,
using U.S. Special Forces White Star teams as PEO "civilians", a few CIA
officers and 90 elite Thai Border guards, an army of 9000 Meo was trained for
behind-lines guerrilla activity.  Within 10 years, the Meo army grew to over
40,000 guerrillas, becoming the most effective fighting force in Laos.

The CIA's covert airline, known as "Air America" (AA) supported the Meo as well
as numerous other CIA-backed clandestine guerrilla armies.  With the escalating
war, a large US military presence guaranteed that Air America could operate in
relative obscurity.  With little fanfare throughout the war, AA fought in the
frontlines of unconventional war.  AA pilots flew "black missions" over China,
North Vietnam and the Laotian panhandle.  AA flew in every type of aircraft
from 727 jets to small Cessnas and junk aircraft, transporting everything from
combat troops (alive, wounded or dead) to baby chicks, dropping rice to
refugees and specially trained Nung trailwatchers into denied areas.  AA
contracted both with the Drug Enforcement Agency (to track international drug
smugglers) and with the Meo (to haul its annual and valuable opium crop).

As U.S. forces pulled out, AA picked up the slack, straining to maintain the
status quo.  The communists drove the Meo from their homelands in the early
1970's, and as the Meo retreated, AA was in the position of hauling (and
feeding) tens of thousands of refugees.  There were problems as the CIA fell
under Congressional scrutiny of its world-wide paramilitary activities and
public pressure to divest itself of Air America.  South Vietnam's rapid
collapse in 1975 signified the end of the clandestine war that began in Vietnam
thirty years earlier.

Edward Dolan was an Air America pilot whose DC4 crashed near Pleiku with George
Miller and Robert Seidl aboard.  A refugee stated that the pilot of the
aircraft was taken to Hanoi.  It is possible that this report relates to the
crew of Dolan's DC4.

Thousands of reports have been received regarding Americans still held captive
in Southeast Asia.  Many experts believe that hundreds of Americans are still
alive today.  One of them could be Edward Dolan.  He flew on many missions for
what he thought was the aid of his country.  What are we doing to help him?
DOLAN, THOMAS ALBERT

Name: Thomas Albert Dolan
Rank/Branch: E5/US Army
Unit: 220th Aviation Company, 212th Aviation Battalion, 11th Aviation Group,
1st Aviation Division
Date of Birth: 15 August 1948
Home City of Record: Baltimore MD
Date of Loss: 10 August 1971
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 165158N 1064301E (XD829654)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: O1G
Other Personnel in Incident: Paul J. Bates (missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On August 10, 1971, Capt. Paul J. Bates, pilot and SP5 Thomas A
Dolan, observer, were flying an O1G (serial #51-2267) conducting a visual
reconnaissance mission in Quang Tri, South Vietnam when their aircraft crashed
and burned.

At 1455 hours that day, Capt. Bates was trying to show the pilot of an
accompanying aircraft a target in the area. A few minutes later, his aircraft
appeared to fly into the trees and disappear.

The accompanying aicraft flew to the crash site and observed the wreckage
located on a slope. There were no signs of anyone moving about the area or any
bodies near the wreckage. Shortly after the crash, the aircraft began to burn.
Several aircraft conducted search operations for survivors with no success.

Those witnessing the crash and those conducting the search operations believed
that it was extremely unlikely that Capt. Bates or SP5 Dolan could have
survived the crash or escaped the fire. The cabin section, half of the wings,
and part of the tail were completely destroyed by the crash and fire.

Because of the difficult terrain and lack of visual indication of survivors, no
ground search was made. In spite of the grave outlook of the fates of Bates and
Dolan, the Army did not declare them killed, but as Missing In Action. Reasons
for this determination are not known.

Bates and Dolan are among nearly 2500 Americans who remain prisoner, missing or
unaccounted for from the Vietnam war. Unfortunately, mounting evidence
indicates that hundreds of Americans are still captive, waiting for the country
they proudly served to secure their freedom.

In our haste to leave an unpopular war, it now appears we abandoned some of our
best men. In our haste to heal the wounds of this same war, will we sign their
death warrants? Or will we do what we can to bring them home?




DONAHUE, MORGAN JEFFERSON

Name: Morgan Jefferson Donahue
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit: 606th Special Operations Squadron, Nakhon Phanom, Thailand
Date of Birth: 02 May 1944
Home City of Record: Alexandria VA (family in FL & CT)
Date of Loss: 13 December 1968
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 170100N 1055900E (XD055824)
Status (In 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: C123K
Other Personnel in Incident: On C123K: Douglas Dailey; John Albright; Joseph
Fanning; Samuel Walker; Fred L. Clarke (all missing); On B57B: Thomas W. Dugan;
Francis J. McGouldrick (all missing)

REMARKS: MID AIR COL-1 PARA OBS

SYNOPSIS: On December 13, 1968, the crew of a C123K was dispatched from Nakhon
Phanom Airfield located in northern Thailand near the border of Laos on an
operational mission over Laos. The C123, a converted WWII glider equipped with
two engines, was assigned night patrol missions along the Ho Chi Minh trail.
Flying low at 2000-3000 feet, the job of the seven man crew was to spot enemy
truck convoys on the trail and to light up the trails for accompanying B57
bombers which were flying overhead.

The crew on this particular mission included the pilot (name unknown); 1Lt.
Joseph P. Fanning, co-pilot; 1Lt. John S. Albright, navigator; 1Lt. Morgan J.
Donahue, navigator; SSgt. Samuel F. Walker, SSgt. Douglas V. Dailey, TSgt. Fred
L. Clarke, crewmembers. At 0330 hours, as the aircraft was flying about 30 miles
southwest of the Ban Karai Pass in Laos, the crew of the C123 were jolted by a
blow on the top of their plane in the after section. An overhead B57 that had
been called in for an air strike had collided with the control plane. The C123
lost power and went out of control. The pilot, stunned by a blow to the head,
lost consciousness.

Because of its glider configuration, the plane did not fall straight to the
ground, but drifted lazily to the ground in a flat spin which lasted several
minutes. When the pilot regained consciousness, he noted that the co-pilot
(Fanning) and navigator (Donahue) were gone. Donahue's station was in the
underbelly of the plane where, lying on his stomach, he directed an infared
detection device through an open hatch. The pilot parachuted out, landed in a
treetop where he remained until rescued at dawn. On the way down, he saw
another chute below him, but, because of the dark, was unable to determine who
the crew member was.

Intelligence reports after the incident indicate that Donahue, at least, safely
reached the ground near Tchepone, but suffered a broken leg. A refugee who
escaped captivity in Laos in 1974 reported having observed an American prisoner
broughy to the caves near Tchepone, where he was held, in the period between
1968 and 1970. This American was later moved to another locatation unknown to
the refugee.

Several reports referring to "Moe-gan" and others describing Donahue as the
American called the "animal doctor" were received over the years since war's
end. In June and August, 1987, the Donahue family was given intelligence
reports tracking Morgan's movements from a POW camp in Kham Kuet, Khammouane
Province, Laos in the spring of 1987 to another camp in the Boualapha District
of the same province in August 1987. These reports were mere WEEKS old, yet the
U.S. marked them "routine". One of them gave Morgan's aircraft type and serial
number, which turned out to be, instead of the serial number of the aircraft,
Morgan's father's ZIP CODE. Morgan's family believes this is clearly a signal
to them from Morgan.

The crew of the C123K are among nearly 600 Americans who disappeared in Laos.
Many of these men were alive on the ground. The Lao admitted holding American
prisoners but these men were never negotiated for. Where are they? Are they
alive? Imagine the torture the Donahue family endures knowing Morgan is alive,
yet helpless to do anything to help him. What are we doing to help bring them
home?

(John S. Albright II and Morgan J. Donahue graduated in 1967 from the United
States Air Force Academy)

DONALD LEWIS KING

Name: Donald Lewis King
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 43rd Tactical Fighter, Squadron (Satan's Angels)
Date of Birth: 28 August 1933
Home City of Record: Muskegon MI
Date of Loss: 14 May 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 172900N 1062300E (XE504390)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4C

Other Personnel In Incident: Frank D. Ralston (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: NO SUB INTEL INFO

SYNOPSIS: Donald King had been in the Air Force 13 years when he went to Vietnam
to fly with "Satan's Angels" out of Ubon, Thailand. His 43rd Tactical Fighter
Squadron was among the first fighter squadrons sent to Vietnam. His wife and
four children were accustomed to his frequent absences, but eagerly awaited his
return. King was regarded as a top pilot and had been invited to join the Air
Force aerial performance team, the Thunderbirds. He was a former test pilot, and
had learned Russian in a Naval intelligence school.

Frank Dalzell Ralston III had a promising career in the Air Force. A 1963
graduate of the Air Force Academy whom classmates called "Brank", Frank was well
liked and excelled in athletics. When he shipped out to Vietnam and a young
officer, he joined "Satan's Angels" fighter squadron.

On May 14, 1966 King was the wing commander and the pilot of an F4C aircraft
sent on a night mission over North Vietnam. He and backseater Frank Ralston were
about 10 miles behind another F4 Phantom when a flash of light streaked across
the predawn sky and the aircraft vanished.

A garbled radio message from King's aircraft prompted one jet pilot in the
formation to change course over the Gulf. Heading back, he spotted the intense
light shooting 20 degrees above the horizon. King's plane, carrying a full load
of bombs, was last tracked in the air 20 miles west of the coastal city of Dong
Hoi North Vietnam.

King and Ralston are among nearly 2500 Americans who did not return from
Southeast Asia at the end of the war. Some were known to have been taken
prisoner. Most can be accounted for by the communist governments of the region.

The Vietnamese have continually raised the issue of accountability in the
context of aid and/or diplomatic and trade relations, but the U.S. Government
has been reluctant to negotiate on this basis, preferring instead to maintain a
strict "humanitarian" level of discussion, which has resulted in the return of
a few remains, but no American prisoners of war.

Our American soldiers go to war prepared to be wounded, taken prisoner, even
prepared to die. They do not go prepared to be abandoned. If there is even ONE
American alive, we must do everything possible to bring him home.

Donald L. King was promoted to the rank of Colonel and Frank D. Ralston III to
the rank of Major during the period they were maintained Missing in Action.
DONALD, MYRON LEE

Name: Myron Lee Donald
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Moravia NY
Date of Loss: 23 February 1968
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 212400N 1071500E (XJ848654)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D

Other Personnel in Incident: Laird Guttersen (released POW)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 March 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II
Project.

REMARKS: 730314 RELSD BY DRV

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.
Most pilots considered it one of the "hottest" planes around.

Lt. Myron L. Donald served as weapons systems operator in a Phantom
fighter/bomber flown by Major Laird Guttersen on a mission they were assigned on
February 23, 1968. While close to Hanoi, the aircraft was hit by a missile from
a MiG 21. Donald and Guttersen crash landed near Haiphong and both were
captured by the North Vietnamese. Both were released in March 1973 with other
American POWs.

Donald and Guttersen received torture and deprivation in the hands of the
Vietnamese, but neither lost their will to survive. Donald says that the POWs'
sense of humor was one of the biggest things that kept them going. He remembers
times when POWs were in their cells with irons on hands and feet, but laughing
so hard that tears ran down their cheeks. This, he said, "drove them crazy."

Since the war ended, over 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. These reports
are the source of serious distress to many returned American prisoners. They had
a code that no one could honorably return unless all of the prisoners returned.
Not only that code of honor, but the honor of our country is at stake as long as
even one man remains unjustly held. It's time we brought our men home.

Myron L. Donald was promoted to the rank of Captain during his captivity.
DONATO, PAUL NICHOLAS

Name: Paul Nicholas Donato
Rank/Branch: E6/US Navy
Unit: Observation Squadron 67
Date of Birth: 14 March 1940
Home City of Record: Boston MA
Date of Loss: 17 February 1968
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 164959N 1055858E (XD030612)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: OP2E
Other Personnel In Incident: Chester Coons, Frank Dawson; Clayborn Ashby; Glen
Hayden; James Kravitz; James Martin; Curtis Thurman; James Wonn (all missing)

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: 1 March 1990

REMARKS: CRASH FND - NO PARBEEP - NO PERS - J

SYNOPSIS: The Lockheed P2 "Neptune" was originally designed for submarine
searching, using magnetic detection gear or acoustic buoys. Besides flying
maritime reconnaissance, the aircraft served as an experimental night attack
craft in the attempt to interdict the movement of enemy truck convoys. Another
model, the OP2E, dropped electronic sensors to detect truck movements along the
supply route through Laos known as the "Ho Chi Minh Trail".

The Ho Chi Minh Trail was used by the North Vietnamese for transporting weapons,
supplies and troops. Hundreds of American pilots were shot down trying to stop
this communist traffic to South Vietnam. Fortunately, search and rescue teams in
Vietnam were extremely successful and the recovery rate was high.

Still there were nearly 600 who were not rescued. Many of them went down along
the Ho Chi Minh Trail and the passes through the border mountains between Laos
and Vietnam. Many were alive on the ground and in radio contact with search
and rescue and other planes; some were known to have been captured. Hanoi's
communist allies in Laos, the Pathet Lao, publicly spoke of American prisoners
they held, but when peace agreements were negotiated, Laos was not included,
and not a single American was released that had been held in Laos.

The Neptune had precise navigational equipment and accurate optical bombsight.
Radar was housed in a well on the nose underside of the aircraft, and radar
technicians felt especially vulnerable working in this "glass bubble" nosed
aircraft. It was believed that the aircraft could place the seismic or acoustic
device within a few yards of the desired point. To do so, however, the OP2E had
to fly low and level, making it an easy target for the enemy's anti-aircraft
guns that were increasing in number along the Trail.

On February 17, 1968, an OP2E from Observation Squadron 67 departed Thailand in
a flight of four aircraft on an operational mission over Laos. The crew of the
aircraft included Commander Glenn M. Hayden; Lt.Jg. James S. Kravitz; Lt. Curtis
F. Thurman; Ensign James C. Wonn; AO2 Clayborn W. Ashby, Jr.; ADJ2 Chester L.
Coons; AN Frank A. Dawson; ATN1 Paul N. Donato; and AN James E. Martin.

After completion of the first target run, the aircraft reported to its fighter
escort and forward air control aircraft that it had been hit by small arms fire
but would continue with the second target run.

During the second run, the fighter escort reported the starboard engine of the
OP2 on fire. The OP acknowledged the report and aborted the rest of their
mission to return to home base. The last radio transmission from the aircraft
was, "we're beat up pretty bad."

The fighter escort climbed to the top of the overcast to await the OP2
rendezvous, but the aircraft never emerged from the cloud base. The fighter
dropped below the clouds to search for the OP2 and found burning wreckage. No
parachutes were seen, nor were any emergency radio beepers heard. Search and
rescue efforts were negative. Investigation of the crash site was not feasible
because of enemy presence in the area. The aircraft crashed about 34 kilometers
northwest of Xepone in Savannakhet Province, Laos. The crash site was situated
2,800 meters south of route 91 in rugged terrain on the side of a 550 meter
ridge, approximately 4 kilometers northwest of Muang Phin. The aircraft was on
a reconnaissance mission and carried no ordnance.

Because there was no direct witness to the crash of the OP2, it is not known
whether any of the crew of nine survived, but assumed that they did not. All
nine aboard were classified Killed, Body Not Recovered. Although this aircraft
went down in a relatively populous area, it is not known whether the enemy
knows the fates of the crewmembers.

Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing in
Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. Government. Many authorities have
reluctantly concluded that hundreds of them are still alive in captivity.
Whether the crew of the Neptune that went down on February 17, 1968 is among
them is not known. What seems certain, however, is that we must do everything
possible to bring our men home.

DONNELLY, VERNE GEORGE
Remains Returned - ID Announced 5 February 1991

Name: Verne George Donnelly
Rank/Branch: O4/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 35, USS AMERICA
Date of Birth: 06 June 1932
Home City of Record: Marysville CA
Date of Loss: 17 September 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 205620N 1062000E (XJ387158)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A6A

Other Personnel in Incident: Kenneth R. Buell (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 March 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II
Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: The Grumman A6 Intruder is a two-man all weather, low-altitude,
carrier-based attack plane, with versions adapted as aerial tanker and
electronic warfare platform. The A6A primarily flew close-air-support,
all-weather and night attacks on enemy troop concentrations, and night
interdiction missions. Its advanced navigation and attack system, known as
DIANE (Digital Integrated Attack navigation Equipment) allowed small precision
targets, such as bridges, barracks and fuel depots to be located and attacked
in all weather conditions, day or night. The planes were credited with some of
the most difficult single-plane strikes in the war, including the destruction
of the Hai Duong bridge between Hanoi and Haiphong by a single A6. Their
missions were tough, but their crews among the most talented and most
courageous to serve the United States.

On September 17, 1972, Cdr. Verne G. Donnelly, pilot, and LtCdr. Kenneth R.
Buell, co-pilot, launched from the USS America (CVA-66) on a combat mission
over the vicinity of Hai Duong, North Vietnam. As the aircraft was about eight
miles west of that city, it went down, and both crew men were declared Missing
in Action.

Information from U.S. Navy public records are scanty, indicating only that
Buell and Donnelly were Missing in Action on a combat mission. The Defense
Intelligence Agency further defines this classification by adding an enemy
knowledge category. Buell and Donnelly are category 4, which indicates that
their time and location may have been unknown, or that there is no intelligence
to support belief that the enemy knows their fates.

It seems improbable that Buell and Donnelly's aircraft went down unnoticed by
the Vietnamese in this relatively populous area, but the Vietnamese
consistently have denied any knowledge of the fates of either man.

When American involvement in the war ended, 591 Americans were released from
prison camps in Southeast Asia, but Buell and Donnelly were not among them.
Military experts expressed their dismay that "some hundreds" suspected to be
prisoner were not released. Since that time, U.S. Government intelligence
agencies have conducted "over 250,000 interviews" and analyzed "several million
documents" relating to Americans missing in Indochina. Many government
officials who have seen this classified data believe that hundreds of Americans
remain alive in captivity today.

Whether Buell and Donnelly survived to be captured is not known. Whether they
are among the hundreds said to be still alive is uncertain as well. What is
certain, however, is that there can be no honorable end to the Vietnam war as
long as even one American serviceman remains in enemy hands. It's time we
brought our men home.

On February 5, 1991, the U.S. announced that remains had been returned by the
Vietnamese which had been positively identified as being those of Verne G.
Donnelly. After 25 years, Donnelly was finally home.



DONOVAN, LEROY MELVIN

Name: Leroy Melvin Donovan
Rank/Branch: E7/US Army
Unit: Intelligence Analyst, Headquarters, MACV
Date of Birth: 23 February 1933 (Deer Trail CO)
Home City of Record: Cedaredge CO
Date of Loss: 19 May 1965
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 141745N 1084450E (BR570815)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: O1F

Other Personnel In Incident: Richard K. Harper (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: ACFT OVERDUE-JF815-J

SYNOPSIS: The O1 "Bird Dog" was used extensively in the early years of the war
in Vietnam by forward air controllers and provided low, close visual
reconnaissance and target marking which enabled armed aircraft or ground troops
to close in on a target. The Bird Dog was feared by the enemy, because he knew
that opening fire would expose his location and invite attack by fighter planes
controlled by the slowly circling Bird Dog. The Vietnamese became bold, however,
when they felt their position was compromised and attacked the little Bird Dog
with a vengeance in order to lessen the accuracy of the impending air strike.

On May 19, 1965, O1 pilot CWO Rickard K. Harper was assigned an aerial
reconnaissance mission over South Vietnam. His observer was SFC Leroy M.
Donovan. The aircraft, assigned to Headquarters, MACV, departed Holloway
Airfield at about 1300 hours.

At 1700 hours the aircraft was an hour overdue. A check was made with airfields
where the plane could have landed along its flight path, with negative results.
A search was initiated in and around Camp Holloway, and along the route the
aircraft was to take. Searches continued until May 25, but no sign of the
aircraft or crew was found. Loss location is estimated to be in Binh Dinh
Province, near the border of Kontum Province.

Radio Hanoi broadcast on May 28 that the Viet Cong had shot down an O1F aircraft
on May 18, which may or may not correlate to this aircraft because of the date
discrepancy. Nothing was ever found of the crew or plane, and no further
indication that the crew had been captured was ever found.

Donovan and Harper are among nearly 2500 Americans who disappeared in Southeast
Asia. Experts now believe, based on thousands of reports received, that there
may be hundreds of Americans still alive, captives of a long-ago enemy, today.
Whether the crew of the O1F lost on May 19, 1965 is among them is not certain.
What is clear, however, is that we must do everything it takes to bring these
men home. Our honor depends upon it.

DONOVAN, MICHAEL LEO

Name: Michael Leo Donovan
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit: 421st Tactical Fighter Squadron, Da Nang, South Vietnam
Date of Birth: 09 November 1944
Home City of Record: Norton KS
Date of Loss: 30 September 1971
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 160500N 1063300E (XD619099)
Status (In 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4E

Other Personnel in Incident: Ronald L. Bond (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 31 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: Michael L. Donovan was born November 9, 1944 in Huntington Park,
California. His family later moved to Norton, Kansas, where he graduated from
Norton Community High School in 1962. He was married before entering Fort Hays
State College where he graduated in 1966 with a degree in Agriculture.

In the summer of 1966, Mike entered the Air Force and was commissioned as a
Second Lieutenant. He received training in Texas and Florida and in 1968 became
a pilot of the F-4 Phantom jet. Mike was promoted to Captain while serving an
overseas tour in Japan.

In January, 1971, Mike left for his last assignment in South Vietnam, and was
stationed at Da Nang Airfield with the 421st Tactical Fighter Squadron.

Ronald L. Bond was born in Camden, New Jersey on December 14, 1947. He grew up
in Haddonfield, New Jersey. At the age of 12, Ron was on the Haddonfield Little
League team that went to the New Jersey finals. In that same year he was Middle
Atlantic AAU, 12 and under Diving Champion and a tri-county swimming and diving
champion. In his high school years at Haddonfield Memorial High School, he was
wrestling champion in his weight class. When Ron graduated from high school in
1965, he was accepted at the University of Delaware, but was also granted an
appointment to the Air Force Academy, which he accepted.

His first assignment after graduating from the Academy in 1969 was navigator
school, then training to be "Guy in Back" in the F4 fighter bomber, then an
unexpected (and unwanted) assignment to South Korea. Ron did everything he could
think of to get a Vietnam assignment, and the orders to go to Vietnam came while
he was home just prior to leaving for Korea. With his heavy clothes on their way
to Korea and his lighter clothes shipped home to Haddonfield, he left for Da
Nang, South Vietnam, arriving there February 6, 1971.

Ron was home again in July, 1971. He was on R & R, but had come home to be
fitted with contact lenses so that he could become a pilot. Shortly after his
return to Da Nang, Ron began flying Forward Air Controller reconnaissance
missions. He was attached to the 390th Tactical Fighter Squadron.

On September 30, 1971, Donovan and Bond teamed up on an operational mission over
Laos. On the mission, Donovan was the pilot and Bond the "Guy in Back"
(navigator). The pair were on the last leg of their mission having mated up
twice with a KC135 (for fuel). The aircraft failed to return on schedule to Da
Nang, and after an extensive search, the two men were declared Missing In
Action.

Bond and Donovan are two of the nearly 600 men missing in action over Laos. The
poorly-negotiated Paris Peace Agreement ending American involvement in Southeast
Asia did not address the prisoners of war and missing held in Laos, and no
subsequent negotiations ever held to secure their freedom. As a result, even
though the Pathet Lao stated publicly that they held "tens of tens" of American
prisoners, not one man held in Laos was released.

Ronald Bond's parents moved to California about a year after his disappearance
and remain active in their search for information about their son. They feel
there is a possibility their son could be alive and a prisoner. They believe
some, perhaps many, Americans are still alive and held prisoner in Southeast
Asia. They will not rest until these men are returned and they know the fate
of their son.
DOOLEY, JAMES EDWARD

Name: James Edward Dooley
Rank/Branch: Lieutenant (JG)/USN
Unit: Attack Squadron 163, USS ORISKANY (CVA 34)
Date of Birth: 14 November 1942 (Middlebury VT)
Home City of Record: Manchester Center VT
Date of Loss: 22 October 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 205100N 1064000E (XH860893)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 5
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: A4E

Other Personnel In Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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: When Douglas Aircraft created the A4 Skyhawk the intent was to provide
the Navy and Marine Corps with an inexpensive, lightweight attack and ground
support aircraft. The design emphasized low-speed control and stability during
take-off and landing as well as strength enough for catapult launch and carrier
landings. The plane was so compact that it did not need folding wings for
aboardship storage and handling. In spite of its diminutive size, the A4 packed
a devastating punch and performed well where speed and maneuverability were
essential.

LTJG James E. Dooley was a pilot assigned to Attack Squadron 163 onboard the USS
ORISKANY. On October 22, 1967, Dooley was flying an A4E aircraft in the second
division of Attack Squadron 163. The aircraft was on a strike mission over North
Vietnam. The target was the Haiphong railroad yard.

It is believed that Dooley's aircraft hit anti-aircraft fire as he pulled off
the target. Witnesses observed his aircraft straight and level and streaming
fuel while heading eastward toward open water at approximately 6,000 feet. The
aircraft then commenced a gradual descent heading toward the water and crashed.
The aircraft impacted in the water in a nose and wing down attitude about one
mile from land. A thorough search of the area was conducted by the strike group
but there was no evidence of a survivor. There was no parachute seen, nor any
radio transmissions from the target area to the site of impact. The surrounding
land area was densely populated and if he had ejected he most certainly would
have been captured immediately.

James E. Dooley was placed in a status of Missing in Action. After six years,
and following the end of the war, Dooley's status was changed to Presumed Killed
in Action because there was no evidence that he was alive.

Nearly 2500 Americans are missing in Southeast Asia. Unlike the MIAs from other
wars, most of these men can be accounted for. Tragically, thousands of reports
have been received, and continue to be received, that indicate Americans are
still captive in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

Whether James Dooley survived the crash of his plane or died that day in October
1967 is not known. What is apparent, however, is that someone knows what
happened to James Dooley. Someone knows what happened to the others who
disappeared. Even though men are alive and held captive, the U.S. has been
unable to secure their freedom. Even though American aircraft litter the
countryside of Vietnam, the U.S. has been unable to investigate these sites.

For those men and their families, the war is not over.
DORITY, RICHARD CLAIR

Name: Richard Clair Dority
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: 329th Transportation Company, 5th Transportation Command (Terminal)
Date of Birth: 27 January 1952 (Milo ME)
Home City of Record: Dover/Foxcroft ME
Date of Loss: 03 November 1970
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 163226N 1074138E (YD925275)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: LCU-63
Other Personnel In Incident: Dennis I. Day; David L. Ginn; Arlie R. Mangus;
Jerry D. Martin; Calvin A. Norris; James R. Pantall; John D. Shewmake; David W.
Woods (all classified Killed/Body Not Recovered); Perry C. Kitchens; Billy H.
Peeples (remains recovered)

REMARKS: LCU SANK-NO PARABEEP-NO PERS-NO SURV OBS AIR-J

SYNOPSIS: The 5th Transportation Command (Terminal) had the duty of running the
extensive Qui Nhon port and served under the U.S. Army Support Command, Qui
Nhon. The 5th Transportation Command was later deployed to Da Nang, and had
Battalions serving Vung Tau and Cat Lai. Among its duties were support of
amphibious operation and supplying ammunition and ordnance to operational
units, primarily by heavy boat.

On the afternoon of November 2, 1970, Sgt. Dennis I. Day, Sgt. Richard C.
Dority, Sgt. David L. Ginn, Sgt. Perry C. Kitchens, Sgt. Arlie R. Mangus, Sgt.
Jerry D. Martin, SSgt. Calvin A. Norris, Sgt. James R. Pantall, SFC John D.
Shewmake, Sgt. David W. Woods, and PFC Billie Hammond Peeples were the crew of a
landing craft, LCU #63, which departed Da Nang en route to Tan My, South Vietnam
on a resupply mission. The LCU was a heavy craft able to carry large loads of
ammunition.

At 1010 hours on November 3, 1970, helicopter pilots sighted the craft capsized
about 5 nautical miles south of Tan My port. In an initial search by air/sea
rescue, however, no sign of the crew of the LCU were observed. There was no
apparent hostile action, and the reason for the incident is unknown.

On November 6, the remains of Billy H. Peoples were recovered near Cu Loi
Island, fully rigged in a life jacket. During the period of December 4-20,
attempts were made to salvage the craft and locate the crew. Divers gained
access to all compartments and voids of the craft, but no survivors or evidence
of remains were found. Pieces of clothing, small arms ammo, cans and a radio
were recovered.

On March 16, 1977, the body of Perry Kitchens was returned to U.S. control and
subsequently positively identified. There has been no word of the rest of the
crew. The missing eight men were all presumed to have drowned, and the U.S.
Army believes there is no chance to ever recover the eight men missing from
LCU-63.

There are several descrepancies in the case of LCU-63 which should be noted.
First of all, the U.S. Army, the State Department and the Vietnam Veterans
Memorial Directory lists all the crew except Peeples as Sergeant, Staff
Sergeant, or Sergeant First Class, which are ranks one grade above those listed
by Defense Department and Joint Casualty Resolution Center records. The lower
grades are listed as follows: Ginn, Martin, Pantall, Peeples - E3 or PFC; Day,
Dority, Kitchens, Mangus and Woods - E4 - which can be either Corporal or SP4;
Norris - E5 or Sergeant; Shewmake - E6 or Staff Sergeant.

Secondly, the Memorial Directory lists the entire crew with the exceptions of
Peeples and Kitchens as missing on 4 November 1971 (a year and a day later than
all other records).

Third, the military occupational specialties of all 10 men on whom information
can be gathered are classified.

It was not uncommon for promotions to be given during the period between the
time personnel went missing and the time they were declared dead. This group is
classified as having had "non-hostile, died while missing" deaths, leading one
to assume that for a brief time, at least, they were declared missing, so that
it might be possible to have attained a grade increase during that period. It
is uncommon, however for grade increases to be given to those whom are
considered dead and non-recoverable. It was also uncommon for a group of 18 and
19 year-olds, as was most of this crew, to attain the rank of sergeant.

Strange things have been known to happen regarding missing men. One pilot was
declared dead because his aircraft exploded close to the ground. Later, the
pilot, who had ejected in a cloud of smoke, and landed on the ground even
before his parachute was fully deployed, was released from POW camp. One
Marine, Ronald Ridgeway, was declared dead and actually "buried" in a mass
grave in the United States with other men from the same action, only to come
home from POW camp in 1973. Mistakes were made, and errors in judgement
occurred.

Given that the LCU sank with no witnesses, and sank in the proximity of an
island, it is imaginable that the crew could have survived to be captured. This
could be said to be supported by the fact that Peeples was found fully
outfitted in his life jacket. It is, of course, only conjecture.

Tragically, thousands of reports have been received that indicate Americans are
still being held captive in Southeast Asia. Whether the LCU crew is among them
is certainly not known, but they could be. The evidence suggests that hundreds
are alive, waiting for their country to free them. It's time we got answers.




DORSEY, JAMES VERNON JR.
Remains Returned (see text)

Name: James Vernon Dorsey, Jr.
Rank/Branch: E5/US Air Force
Unit: 6994th Security Squadron
Date of Birth: 01 December 1945
Home City of Record: Washington DC
Date of Loss: 05 February 1969
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 152600N 1064700E (approx)
Status (in 1973): Killed In Action
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: EC47

Other Personnel in Incident: Hugh L. Sherburn; Robert E. Olson; Louis J. Clever;
Harry T. Niggle; Clarence L. McNeill; Homer M. Lynn; Walter F. Burke; Rodney H.
Gott; Wilton N. Hatton (all reported KIA)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 September 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: ** NOT ON MISSING LISTS **

SYNOPSIS: The Douglas C47 was designed as a transport, gunship, and electronic
or regular reconnaissance aircraft, depending on the configuration. The aircraft
served in World War II and served French forces in Indochina in the 1950's, and
returned to Vietnam at the outset of American involvement there.

On February 5, 1969, an EC47 (electronic surveillance) departed Pleiku Airbase,
Republic of Vietnam on a tactical reconnaissance mission over Laos. The aircraft
crew included LtCol. Harry T. Niggle, Capt. Walter F. Burke, Major Robert E.
Olson, Major Homer M. Lynn Jr., MSgt. Wilton N. Hatton, SSgt. Rodney H. Gott,
TSgt. Louis J. Clever, SSgt. James V. Dorsey Jr., SSgt. Hugh L. Sherburn (radio
operator on the aircraft), and Sgt. Clarence L. McNeill. The last radio contact
with the aircraft was at 8:10 a.m. at which time it was located about 21 miles
west-northwest of the city of Chavane in Saravane Province, Laos.

When the aircraft failed to make a scheduled stop at Phu Bai Airport near Hue
shortly before noon, search efforts were initiated to locate the aircraft.
During the remainder of the day and for six succeeding days, extensive
communication and ramp checks were made, as well as a visual search of the area
from the last known position of the aircraft through its intended flight path.
Because no information was forthcoming which would reveal the whereabouts of the
missing aircraft and crew, the search was then terminated.

In the fall of 1969, the wreckage of an EC47 was located in a jungle-covered
mountainous area in the approximate last known location of Sherburn's aircraft.
The wreckage site was searched, and remains and a number of items were
recovered. These items were later correlated to Sherburn's aircraft.

The Department of the Air Force believes that the aircraft was faced with a
sudden airborne emergency since the right wing of the aircraft was found some
500 meters from the main wreckage site. It was believed that the engine caught
fire causing the wing to separate from the fuselage while the aircraft was still
in the air. Further, the Air Force states that although the crew members had
parachutes, it is unlikely that the apparent suddenness of the emergency would
have permitted anyone to abandon the aircraft. The absence of emergency radio
signals further diminished the hope that any of the crew members could have
survived.

At this time, the Air Force declared the ten men onboard the aircraft to be
dead, and so notified the families. The remains found at the crash site were
interred in a single grave at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St. Louis.
Military officials told eight of the families that the remains of only two
individuals had been identified, but would not reveal those identities to them.
(It is assumed that the families of the two individuals identified were
informed.)

In February 1970, the Sherburn family was informed that the remains found at the
crash site were skeletal and commingled, and that Air Force identification
specialists were unable to determine that they had a composite of ten
individuals -- and were unable to establish the identity of any of the remains.

About the same time the crew of the EC47 was being interred in St. Louis,
another mass burial was conducted, containing 18 USMC and Navy personnel. On
January 28, 1973, PFC Ronald Ridgeway, one of those 18 "dead and buried"
servicemen, was released alive from a POW camp in Hanoi. The U.S. had not known
that he was a prisoner of war.

Although the relatives found little hope in Ridgeway's return, some thought
it entirely possible that others might have escaped with Ridgeway. How many
others, some family members wondered, had been captured without the U.S. finding
out?

If such a thing could happen to the Marine and Navy group, what about the EC47
lost in Laos? Unfortunately, when the war ended, no American held in Laos was
released. The U.S. has not negotiated the freedom of a single man the Pathet Lao
asserted they held prisoner in Laos.

The U.S. Government has never changed its position on the Marines, Navy and Air
Force personnel interred in mass graves in St. Louis, and has continued to state
unequivocally that they were killed in action because the families could not
produce proof otherwise. Although the government lacked positive evidence that
most of these men were dead, its assumption that they were dead overruled any
assumption that they might be alive. The Marine Corps has admitted that some of
those "buried" men could have been captured, but that it is doubtful. Even
though considerable doubt surrounds the identification of the men buried in St.
Louis, and, indeed, some of them might have survived, official status change has
been denied.

Since the war ended, over 10,000 reports of Americans prisoner, missing or
unaccounted for in Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. Government. It
would not be erroneous to speculate that if the U.S. received a first-hand, live
sighting report on the men "buried" in St. Louis, that report would be debunked
because they are all "dead."

Although many experts who have reviewed the largely-classified information
relating to Americans still missing in Southeast Asia have concluded that
hundreds of them are still alive in captivity, the USG cannot seem to make up
its mind. Meanwhile, how many wait for their country to come for them? Who will
look for these men?









DOSS, DALE WALTER

Name: Dale Walter Doss
Rank/Branch: O4/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 35, USS ENTERPRISE (CVA 65)
Date of Birth: 04 January 1936 (Birmingham AL)
Home City of Record: Virginia Beach VA
Date of Loss: 17 March 1968
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 212000N 1055000E (WJ864590)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A6A

Other Personnel in Incident: Edwin A. Shuman (released POW)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 30 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: 730314 RELSD BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: When nuclear powered USS ENTERPRISE arrived on Yankee Station on
December 2, 1965, she was the largest warship ever built. She brought with her
not only an imposing physical presence, but also an impressive component of
warplanes and the newest technology. By the end of her first week of combat
operations, the ENTERPRISE had set a record of 165 combat sorties in a single
day, surpassing the KITTY HAWK's 131. By the end of her first combat cruise, her
air wing had flown over 13,000 combat sorties. The record had not been achieved
without cost.

When the ENTERPRISE was again on station in the spring of 1968, two of its
pilots were LCDR Edwin A. Shuman III and LCDR Dale W. Doss, an A6 "Intruder"
team. The Intruder pilots were known to have, in the words of Vice Admiral
William F. Bringle, Commander Seventh Fleet, "an abundance of talent, courage
and aggressive leadership", and were sent on some of the most difficult missions
of the war.

On March 17, 1968, Shuman was the pilot and Doss his Bombardier/Navigator (BN)
when they launched in their A6A Intruder on a night, low-level strike into North
Vietnam. A radio transmission was heard indicating that they were proceeding to
execute their assigned mission. They had requested that other aircraft keep
radio transmission to a minimum. At this time they should have been over land.

Shortly, another aircraft assigned to support the mission in an anti-missile
role attempted to establish radio contact since no "bombs away" call was heard,
and receiving no answer, the aircraft supporting the mission proceeded to the
pre-briefed lost-communications rendezvous point. Contact with Doss and Shuman
was never regained.

Radio Hanoi announced the capture of LCDRs Shuman and Doss on the following day.
Both men were placed in a Prisoner of War status. The two were held in the Hanoi
prisoner of war system for the next five years. They were both released, along
with 589 other Americans, in the spring of 1973 in Operation Homecoming.

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. These reports are the source of serious distress to many returned
American prisoners. They had a code that no one could honorably return unless
all of the prisoners returned. Not only that code of honor, but the honor of our
country is at stake as long as even one man remains unjustly held. It's time we
brought our men home.
DOTSON, JEFFERSON SCOTT

Name: Jefferson Scott Dotson
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit: 416th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Tuy Hoa Airbase, South Vietnam
Date of Birth: 06 August 1944
Home City of Record: Pound VA
Date of Loss: 09 August 1969
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 161800N 1063900E (XD762026)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F100F
Other Personnel In Incident: Laurent Lee Gourley (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project from one or more of the following: raw
data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families,
published sources, interviews. Date Compiled: 01 January 1990

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: When North Vietnam began to increase their military strength in South
Vietnam, NVA and Viet Cong troops intruded on neutral Laos for sanctuary, as
the Viet Minh had done during the war with the French some years before. The
border road, termed the "Ho Chi Minh Trail" was used for transporting weapons,
supplies and troops. Scores of American pilots were shot down trying to stop
this communist traffic to South Vietnam. Fortunately, search and rescue teams
in Vietnam were extremely successful and the recovery rate was high. Still,
there were nearly 600 who were not rescued in Laos. Many of them went down
along the Ho Chi Minh Trail and the passes through the border mountains between
Laos and Vietnam.

In the early morning of August 9, 1969, 1Lt. Jefferson S. Dotson, pilot, and
Capt. Lee Gourley, his rear-seat co-pilot, departed Tuy Hoa Airbase located on
the coast of central South Vietnam on a "Misty" Forward Air Control (FAC)
mission over the Ho Chi Minh Trail in central Laos.

Lee Gourley had written home early that same day saying that all missions for
that day had been scrubbed due to bad weather. He did not expect to have to fly
that day - and he had time to write his family. Gourley had been working with
Misty for some time as a volunteer. Misty FAC volunteers were chosen from among
the best and most experienced pilots. He had delayed a trip to Hawaii for R & R
until the Misty duties were complete in another week, knowing his time in the
Vietnam arena would be short following his return. The FAC mission had come up
unexpectedly.

The aircraft Dotson and Gourley flew, the F100 Super Sabre, had been specially
modified a few years before to include a second crewman. The F model,
introduced in 1965, had the latest technology in radar signal detectors. The
initial shipment of F100F's were called "Wild Weasel I" and were an important
element in several combat operations.

Gourley and Dotson were not on a Wild Weasel mission, however, and on the FAC
mission this day, no bombs were loaded. They were to fly low and fast over
their objective area and presumably analyze targets for future air strikes,
or assess the potential need for further strikes. FAC reconnaissance missions
in the traditional sense were often flown by light observation aircraft rather
than fighter/bombers, but the necessary element for this mission was low
altitude and high speed, as well as the ability to cover a large territory.

Although there was normally no scheduled air backup or escort on a FAC mission,
and Gourley and Jefferson had none, other aircraft which happened to be in the
area provide information as to what happened to Dotson and Gourley as they flew
near Sepone in Savannakhet Province, Laos.

One passing aircraft intercepted a radio transmission from the F100F, "We've
been hit, we're going to try to get out." Observers from the passing aircraft
then saw the F100 go up in flames, and observed one fully deployed parachute.
(NOTE: The standard ejection called for the rear-seater, Gourley, to make the
first ejection, then the pilot, and a fully deployed chute indicated the
successful ejection of a crew member.)

Dotson and Gourley were classified Missing in Action. Their families understood
that they might have been captured, and like the families of others who were
missing, wrote regular letters.

Lee Gourley's sister, Elzene, became active in the POW/MIA families' effort to
"watchdog" U.S. Government actions regarding American Prisoners of War held in
Indochina. In early 1973, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger came to the
POW/MIA families and announced that peace agreements were ready to be signed
and their men would soon be home, or accounted for, if they were dead. Elzene
Gourley specifically asked Kissinger about the prisoners in other countries
besides Vietnam - Laos, Cambodia and China - and if his good news included the
men missing there. Kissinger replied, "What do you think took us so long?"

When 591 American prisoners were released from communist prison camps in
Southeast Asia in the spring of 1973, it became apparent that Kissinger had
lied to the POW/MIA families. Not a single man who had been held in Laos had
been released. Although the Pathet Lao had spoken publicly of American
prisoners they held, and many were known to have survived their loss incidents,
the U.S. had not negotiated the freedom of the American POWs held in Laos.

In 1974, the Gourleys sent a letter to Lee in care of the Prime Minister of
Laos, who responded that the letter would be conveyed later to their son. The
U.S. State Department said the Prime Minister might not know English and
probably an error was made in translation.

In 1976, the Gourleys wrote to Lee in care of Prince Souvanna Phouma in
Vientiane, Laos. He wrote back that he would give their letter to the "central
committee" to be sent to the "one for whom (it was) intended." The U.S. State
Department ordered the Gourleys to quit writing Lee in care of the Lao.

Following the war, refugees fled Southeast Asia and brought with them stories
of Americans still held prisoner and other information relating to Americans
missing in their homelands. By 1989, the number of such reports approaches
10,000, and most authorities reluctantly have concluded that many Americans
must still be alive and held captive.

It is certainly reasonable to speculate that Gourley and Dotson survived to be
captured. Only the communist goverments of Southeast Asia could say if they are
among those hundreds of Americans thought to be still alive, and they deny any
knowledge of Americans missing in their countries.

Lee Gourley and Jefferson Dotson pledged to "keep the faith" with their
country. Have we kept faith with the men who are still fighting an old war in
our names? What would Lee Gourley and Jefferson Dotson say?

(Laurent Lee Gourley graduated from the U. S. Air Force Academy in 1966.)

DOUGLAS, THOMAS EVAN

Name: Thomas Evan Douglas
Rank/Branch: E4/US Marine Corps
Unit: HMM 362, MAG 36
Date of Birth: 08 November 1938
Home City of Record: Northwest Warren OH
Date of Loss: 22 November 1965
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 151605N 1085022E (BT720060)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: UH34D

Other Personnel In Incident: Richard A. Miller; Victor J. Pirker; Francis E.
Visconti (all 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: On November 22, 1965, Capt. Francis E. Visconti was the pilot of a
UH34D helicopter flying with other aircraft on a combat mission in South
Vietnam. Bad weather forced Visconti's aircraft out to sea about halfway between
Chu Lai and Quang Ngai, and he was separated from the rest of the group.

Also onboard the aircraft were Capt. Richard A. Miller, Cpl. Thomas E. Douglas,
and Cpl. Victor J. Pirker, all from the same unit. The helicopter went down and
all four Marines were classified Missing in Action. The casualty is listed as
battle related, which means the aircraft was probably hit by enemy fire. The
U.S. believes that the Vietnamese could account for the four men.

There has been no word of any of the crew of that ill-fated chopper since that
day. The Vietnamese have denied any knowledge of them.

Evidence mounts that Americans are still alive in Southeast Asia. There have
been hundreds of eye-witnesses who have said they personally saw them. It is not
known whether any of the crew of the UH34 helicopter survived and are among
those said to be alive and still held prisoner, but someone's brother, son,
husband, or father is alive. We owe them our very best effort to bring them
home.

Richard A. Miller and Francis E. Visconti were promoted to the rank of Major,
Thomas E. Douglas and Edward C. Upner to the rak of Staff Sergeant during the
period they were maintained missing.


DOWNING, DONALD WILLIAM

Name: Donald William Downing
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 557th Tactical Fighter Squadron
Date of Birth: 17 March 1934
Home City of Record: Janesville WI
Date of Loss: 05 September 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 171100N 1065400E (YE021007)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4C

Other Personnel in Incident: Paul D. Raymond; on another F4C nearby: Thomas P.
Hanson; Carl D. Miller (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II
Project.

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.
Most pilots considered it one of the "hottest" planes around.

1Lt. Paul D. Raymond and Maj. Carl D. Miller were F4 pilots who were sent on a
combat mission over Quang Binh Province, North Vietnam on September 5, 1967.
Raymond's bombardier/navigator on the flight was Capt. Donald W. Downing, while
Miller's was 1Lt. Thomas P. Hanson.

Both aircraft crashed on their missions near the coast of Vietnam. Raymond and
Downing went down about 10 miles north of the city of Vinh Linh, while Miller
and Hanson went down about 20 miles north of Vinh Linh. All four were classified
Missing in Action, and it is believed the Vietnamese could account for them,
alive or dead.

591 American Prisoners of War were released in 1973, but nearly 2500 were not.
Thousands of reports have been received by the U.S. Government that indicate
hundreds of Americans are still alive and held captive in Southeast Asia, yet
the government seems unable or unwilling to successfully achieve their release.
Policy statements indicate that "conclusive proof" is not available, but when it
is, the government will act. Detractors state that proof is in hand, but the
will to act does not exist.

Whether the four airmen missing on September 5, 1967 survived to be captured is
not known. Whether they are among those believed to be still alive today is
uncertain. What cannot be questioned, however, is that America has a moral and
legal obligation to secure the freedom of those who may still be illegally held
by the communist governments of Southeast Asia. It's time we brought our men
home.

During the period they were maintained missing, Miller was promoted to the rank
of Colonel, Downing to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, Hanson to the rank of
Major and Raymond to the rank of Captain.

Paul D. Raymond graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1965.

DOYLE, MICHAEL WILLIAM
Remains Returned 14 August 1985

Name: Michael William Doyle
Rank/Branch: O4/US Navy
Unit: Fighter Squadron 161, USS MIDWAY
Date of Birth: 13 February 1943 (New Orleans LA)
Home City of Record: Philadelphia PA
Date of Loss: 25 August 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 204231N 1062731E (XH512875)
Status (in 1973): Prisoner of War
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4B

Other Personnel in Incident: John C. Ensch (Released POW)

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: LTCDR Michael W. Doyle was a pilot assigned to Fighter Squadron 161
onboard the aircraft carrier USS MIDWAY. On August 25, 1972 he launched with his
Radar Intercept Officer (RIO), Lt. John C. Ensch, in their F4B Phantom fighter
aircraft. Their mission was a MiG Combat Air Patrol over North Vietnam.

At approximately 24 miles southwest of Haiphong the aircraft was hit by a
surface-to-air missile (SAM). Doyle and Ensch ejected immediately and were
sighted by their wingman on descent. An emergency radio beeper was heard for
approximately 10 seconds. Search and rescue efforts were initiated without
success, and were terminated two days later.

The U.S. received information quickly that John Ensch had been captured.
Although Doyle was at first listed Missing in Action, he, too, was ultimately
listed as Prisoner of War.

John Ensch was released in Operation Homecoming in 1973. William Doyle was not.
Ensch had suffered a broken left arm and hand which had been poorly set, leaving
him disfigured and disabled. Several returning POWs had information relating to
Doyle. Doyle's flight helmet had been seen with a pile of gear at the "Hanoi
Hilton" prisoner of war complex in Hanoi. Also, Doyle's name was scratched on a
pre-interrogation cell wall in the complex.

The Vietnamese denied any knowledge of William Doyle.

In July 1985, the Vietnamese "discovered" the remains of William Doyle and
returned them to U.S. control. Doyle was missing for 13 years.

Nearly 2500 Americans did not return from the war in Vietnam. Thousands of
reports have been received indicating that some hundreds remain alive in
captivity. As in the case of William Doyle, Vietnam and her communist allies can
account for most of them. Current "negotiations" between the U.S. and Vietnam
have yielded the remains of nearly 300 Americans -- remains which should have
been returned decades ago.

In the total view of the issue of the missing, however, the return of remains
signals no progress. In the early 1980's the very credible Congressional
testimony of a Vietnamese mortician indicated that the Vietnamese are in
possession of over 400 sets of remains. In 15 years, they have returned barely
half that number. More importantly, the same credible witness, whose testimony
regarding remains is believed throughout Congress, stated that he had seen live
Americans held at the same location where the remains were stored. The testimony
regarding live Americans is not considered credible.

As long as even one American remains alive in captivity in Southeast Asia, the
only issue is that one living man. We must bring them home before there are only
remains to negotiate for.


Michael William Doyle was promoted to the rank of Commander during the period he
was prisoner of war.
DRAEGER, WALTER FRANK JR.

Name: Walter Frank Draeger, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 28 September 1933
Home City of Record: Deerfield WI
Date of Loss: 04 April 1965
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 195102N 1055134E (WG930790)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: A1H
Personnel In Incident: April 3 1965: Herschel S. Morgan; Raymond A. Vohden
(released POWs); George C. Smith (missing). April 4, 1965: Walter F. Draeger;
James A. Magnusson (missing); Carlyle S. Harris (released POW); September 16,
1965: J. Robinson Risner (released POW); May 31, 1966: Bobbie J. Alberton;
William R. Edmondson; Emmett McDonald; Armon Shingledecker; Philip J. Stickney;
(missing from the C-130E); Thomas Case; Harold J. Zook; Elroy Harworth (remains
returned from the C130E). Dayton Ragland; Ned Herrold (missing on an F-4C)

REMARKS: CRASH - FLAMES - NO PARA SEEN

SYNOPSIS: The Thanh Hoa Railroad and Highway Bridge, spanning the Song Ma
River, is located three miles north of Thanh Hoa, the capital of Annam
Province, North Vietnam. It is a replacement for the original French-built
bridge destroyed by the Viet Minh in 1945 - they simply loaded two locomotives
with explosives and ran them together in the middle of the bridge.

In 1957, the North Vietnamese rebuilt the bridge. The new bridge, completed in
1964, was 540 feet long, 56 feet wide, and about 50 feet above the river. The
Vietnamese called it Ham Rong (the Dragon's Jaw), and Ho Chi Minh himself
attended its dedication. The bridge had two steel thru-truss spans which rested
in the center on a massive reinforced concrete pier 16 feet in diameter, and on
concrete abutments at the other ends. Hills on both sides of the river provided
solid bracing for the structure. Between 1965 and 1972, eight concrete piers
were added near the approaches to give additional resistance to bomb damage. A
one-meter guage single railway track ran down the 12 foot wide center and 22
foot wide concrete highways were cantilevered on each side. This giant would
prove to be one of the single most challenging targets for American air power
in Veitnam. 104 American pilots were shot down over a 75 square mile area
around the Dragon during the war. (Only the accounts of those specifically
known to be involved in major strikes against the bridge are given here. Some
losses were aircraft involved in operations against other targets. Note also,
that because aircraft came in on this target from a wide geographic area, some
personnel lost outside the 75 mile range may have been inadvertently overlooked
in this study.)

In March 1965 the decision to interdict the North Vietnamese rail system south
of the 20th parallel led immediately to the April 3, 1965 strike against the
Thanh Hoa Bridge. Lt.Col. Robinson Risner was designated overall mission
coordinator for the attack. He assembled a force consisting of 79 aircraft - 46
F105's, 21 F100's, 2 RF101's and 10 KC135 tankers. The F100's came from bases
in South Vietnam, while the rest of the aircraft were from squadrons TDY at
various Thailand bases.

Sixteen of the 46 "Thuds" (F105) were loaded with pairs of Bullpup missiles,
and each of the remaining 30 carried eight 750 lb. general purpose bombs. The
aircraft that carried the missiles and half of the bombers were scheduled to
strike the bridge; the remaining 15 would provide flak suppression. The plan
called for individual flights of four F105's from Koran and Takhli which would
be air refueled over the Mekong River before tracking across Laos to an initial
point (IP) three minutes south of the bridge. After weapon release, the plan
called for all aircraft to continue east until over the Gulf of Tonkin where
rejoin would take place and a Navy destroyer would be available to recover
anyone who had to eject due to battle damage or other causes. After rejoin, all
aircraft would return to their bases, hopefully to the tune of "The Ham Rong
Bridge if falling down."

Shortly after noon on April 3, aircraft of Rolling Thunder Mission 9-Alpha
climbed into Southeast Asia skies on their journey to the Thanh Hoa Bridge. The
sun glinting through the haze was making the target somewhat difficult to
acquire, but Risner led the way "down the chute" and 250 pound missiles were
soon exploding on the target. Since only one Bullpup missile could be fired at
a time, each pilot had to make two firing passes.

On his second pass, LtCol. Risner's aircraft took a hit just as the Bullpup hit
the bridge. Fighting a serious fuel leak and a smoke-filled cockpit in addition
to anti-aircraft fire from the enemy, he nursed his crippled aircraft to Da
Nang and to safety. The Dragon would not be so kind on another day.

The first two flights had already left the target when Capt. Bill Meyerholt,
number three man in the third flight, rolled his Thunderchief into a dive and
sqeezed off a Bullpup. The missile streaked toward the bridge, and as smoke
cleared from the previous attacks, Capt. Meyerholt was shocked to see no
visible damage to the bridge. The Bullpups were merely charring the heavy steel
and concrete structure. The remaining missile attacks confirmed that firing
Bullpups at the Dragon was about as effective as shooting BB pellets at a
Sherman tank.

The bombers, undaunted, came in for their attack, only to see their payload
drift to the far bank because of a very strong southwest wind. 1Lt. George C.
Smith's F100D was shot down near the target point as he suppressed flak. The
anti-aircraft resistance was much stronger than anticipated. No radio contact
could be made with Smith, nor could other aircraft locate him. 1Lt. Smith was
listed Missing In Action, and no further word has been heard of him.

The last flight of the day, led by Capt. Carlyle S. "Smitty" Harris, adjusted
their aiming points and scored several good hits on the roadway and super
structure. Smitty tried to assess bomb damage, but could not because of the
smoke coming from the Dragon's Jaw. The smoke would prove to be an ominous
warning of things to come.

LtCdr. Raymond A. Vohden was north of the Dragon when his A4C bomber was shot
down. Ray was captured by the North Vietnamese and held in various POW camps in
and near Hanoi until his release in February 1973. (It is not entirely clear
that this U.S. Navy Lt.Cdr. had a direct role in the attack on the bridge, but
was probably "knocked out" by the same anti-aircraft fire.)

Capt. Herschel S. Morgan's RF101 was hit and went down some 75 miles southwest
of the target area, seriously injuring the pilot. Capt. Morgan was captured and
held in and around Hanoi until his release in February 1973.

When the smoke cleared, observer aircraft found that the bridge still spanned
the river. Thirty-two Bullpups and ten dozen 750 pound bombs had been aimed at
the bridge and numerous hits had charred every part of the structure, yet it
showed no sign of going down. A restrike was ordered for the next day.

The following day, flights with call signs "Steel", "Iron", "Copper", "Moon",
"Carbon", "Zinc", "Argon", "Graphite", "Esso", "Mobil", "Shell", "Petrol", and
the "Cadillac" BDA (bomb damage assessment) flight, assembled at IP to try once
again to knock out the Dragon. On this day, Capt. Carlyle "Smitty" Harris was
flying as call sign "Steel 3". Steel 3 took the lead and oriented himself for
his run on a 300 degree heading. He reported that his bombs had impacted on the
target on the eastern end of the bridge. Steel 3 was on fire as soon as he left
the target. Radio contact was garbled, and Steel Lead, Steel 2 and Steel 4
watched helplessly as Smitty's aircraft, emitting flame for 20 feet behind,
headed due west of the target. All flight members had him in sight until the
fire died out, but observed no parachute, nor did they see the aircraft impact
the ground. Smitty's aircraft had been hit by a MiG whose pilot later recounted
the incident in "Vietnam Courier" on April 15, 1965. It was not until much
later that it would be learned that Smitty had been captured by the North
Vietnamese. Smitty was held prisoner for 8 years and released in 1973. Fellow
POWs credit Smitty with introducing the "tap code" which enabled them to
communicate with each other.

MiG's had been seen on previous missions, but for the first time in the war,
the Russian-made MiGs attacked American aircraft. Zinc 2, an F105D flown by
Capt. James A. Magnusson, had its flight bounced by MiG 17's. As Zinc Lead was
breaking to shake a MiG on his tail, Zinc 2 was hit and radioed that he was
heading for the Gulf if he could maintain control of his aircraft. The other
aircraft were busy evading the MiGs, and Magnusson radioed several times before
Steel Lead responded and instructed him to tune his radio to rescue frequency.
Magnusson's aircraft finally ditched over the Gulf of Tonkin near the island of
Hon Me, and he was not seen or heard from again. He was listed Missing In
Action.

Capt. Walter F. Draeger's A1H (probably an escort for rescue teams) was shot
down over the Gulf of Tonkin just northeast of the Dragon that day. Draeger's
aircraft was seen to crash in flames, but no parachute was observed. Draeger
was listed Missing In Action.

The remaining aircraft returned to their bases, discouraged. Although over 300
bombs scored hits on this second strike, the bridge still stood.

From April to September 1965, 19 more pilots were shot down in the general
vicinity of the Dragon, including many who were captured and released,
including Howie Rutledge, Gerald Coffee, Paul Galanti, Jeremiah Denton, Bill
Tschudy and James Stockdale. Then on September 16, 1965, Col. Robbie Risner's
F105D was shot down a few miles north of the bridge he had tried to destroy the
previous April. As he landed, Risner tore his knee painfully, a condition which
contributed to his ultimate capture by the North Vietnamese. Risner was held in
and around Hanoi until his release in 1973, but while a POW, he was held in
solitary confinement for 4 1/2 years. Besides the normal malaise and illnesses
common to POWs, Risner also suffered from kidney stones, which severely
debilitated him in the spring and summer of 1967.

By September 1965, an innovative concept had taken shape - mass-focusing the
energy of certain high explosive weapons. The Air Force quickly saw its
application against the old Dragon and devised a plan to destroy the bridge
using the new weapon. They would call the operation "Carolina Moon".

The plan necessitated two C130 aircraft dropping the weapon, a rather large
pancake-shaped affair 8 feet in diameter and 2 1/2 feet thick and weighing
5,000 pounds. The C130's would fly below 500 feet to evade radar along a 43
mile route (which meant the C130 would be vulnerable to enemy attack for about
17 minutes), and drop the bombs, which would float down the Song Ma River where
it would pass under the Dragon's Jaw, and detonate when sensors in the bomb
detected the metal of the bridge structure.

Because the slow-moving C130's would need protection, F4 Phantoms would fly
diversionary attack to the south, using flares and bombs on the highway just
before the C130 was to drop its ordnance. The F4s were to enter their target
area at 300', attack at 50' and pull off the target back to 300' for subsequent
attacks. Additionally, an EB66 was tasked to jam the radar in the area during
the attack period. Since Risner had been shot down in September, 15 more pilots
had been downed in the bridge region. Everyone knew it was hot.

The first C130 was to be flown by Maj. Richard T. Remers and the second by Maj.
Thomas F. Case, both of whom had been through extensive training for this
mission at Elgin AFB, Florida and had been deployed to Vietnam only 2 weeks
before. Ten mass-focus weapons were provided, allowing for a second mission
should the first fail to accomplish the desired results.

Last minute changes to coincide with up-to-date intelligence included one that
would be very significant in the next days. Maj. Remers felt that the aircraft
was tough enough to survive moderate anti-aircraft artillery hits and gain
enough altitude should bail-out be necessary. Maj. Case agreed that the
aircraft could take the hits, but the low-level flight would preclude a
controlled bail-out situation. With these conflicting philosophies, and the
fact that either parachutes or flak vests could be worn - but not both - Maj.
Remers decided that his crew would wear parachutes and stack their flak vests
on the floor of the aircraft. Maj. Case decided that his crew would wear only
flak vests and store the parachutes.

On the night of May 30, Maj. Remers and his crew, including navigators Capt.
Norman G. Clanton and 1Lt. William "Rocky" Edmondson, departed Da Nang at 25
minutes past midnight and headed north under radio silence. Although the
"Herky-bird" encountered no resistance at the beginning of its approach, heavy,
(although luckily, inaccurate) ground fire was encountered after it was too
late to turn back. The 5 weapons were dropped successfully in the river and
Maj. Remers made for the safety of the Gulf of Tonkin. The operation had gone
flawlessly, and the C130 was safe. Although the diversionary attack had drawn
fire, both F-4's returned to Thailand unscathed.

Unfortunately, the excitement of the crew was shortlived, because recon photos
taken at dawn showed that there was no noticeable damage to the bridge, nor was
any trace of the bombs found. A second mission was planned for the night of May
31. The plan for Maj. Case's crew was basically the same with the exception of
a minor time change and slight modification to the flight route. A crew change
was made when Maj. Case asked 1Lt. Edmondson, the navigator from the previous
night's mission, to go along on this one because of his experience from the
night before. The rest of the crew included Capt. Emmett R. McDonald, 1Lt.
Armon D. Shingledecker, 1Lt. Harold J. Zook, SSgt. Bobby J. Alberton, AM1 Elroy
E. Harworth and AM1 Philip J. Stickney. The C130 departed DaNang at 1:10 a.m.

The crew aboard one of the F4's to fly diversionary included Col. Dayton
Ragland. Ragland was no stranger to conflict when he went to Vietnam. He had
been shot down over Korea in November 1951 and had served two years as a
prisoner of war. Having flown 97 combat missions on his tour in Vietnam,
Ragland was packed and ready to go home. He would fly as "backseater" to 1Lt.
Ned R. Herrold on the mission to give the younger man more combat flight time
while he operated the sophisticated technical navigational and bombing
equipment. The F4's left Thailand and headed for the area south of the Dragon.

At about two minutes prior to the scheduled C130 drop time, the F4's were
making their diversionary attack when crew members saw anti-aircraft fire and a
large ground flash in the bridge vicinity. Maj. Case and his crew were never
seen or heard from again. During the F4 attack, Herrold and Ragland's aircraft
was hit. On its final pass, the aircraft did not pull up, but went out to sea,
and reported that the aircraft had taken heavy weapons fire. A ball of fire was
seen as the plane went into the sea.

Reconnaissance crews and search and rescue scoured the target area and the Gulf
of Tonkin the next morning, finding no sign at all of the C130 or its crew.
Rescue planes spotted a dinghy in the area in which Herrold and Ragland's
aircraft had gone down, but saw no signs of life. The dinghy was sunk to
prevent it falling into enemy hands. The bridge still stood.

In March 1967, the U.S. Navy attacked the Thanh Hoa Bridge using the new
"Walleye" missiles, but failed to knock out the bridge. Before the war ended,
54 more Americans fell in the Dragon's Jaw area.

In late 1986 the remains of Harworth, Zook and Case were returned and buried
with the honor befitting an American fighting man who has died for his country.
Ragland, Herrold, Alberton, McDonald, Edmondson, Shingledecker, Stickney,
Smith, Draeger and Magnussen are still Missing in Action.








DRAMESI, JOHN ARTHUR

Name: John Arthur Dramesi
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Grenlock NJ
Date of Loss: 02 April 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 173800N 1062300E
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F105D

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: 730304 RELSD BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: Capt. John A. Dramesi entered the service in 1956, and when he was
shipped to Vietnam, he flew tactical fighter bombers from Korat Airbase,
Thailand.

On April 2, 1967, Dramesi was sent on a bombing mission over Quang Binh
Province, North Vietnam. When he was near the city of Ba Don, his aircraft was
shot down and Dramesi bailed out. Dramesi twisted his knee as he landed, and was
immediately surrounded by North Vietnamese. He shot at them, but was captured
when he took a bullet in the right leg.

Dramesi was taken to a small village and a week later he arrived at his first
camp. The bullet wound in his leg was still untreated, and he packed his swollen
knee with mud.

Eight days later, he dismantled the side of his cell and as his guards slept,
escaped. He made more than nine miles but was recaptured the next day. (This was
April 11th.) The commissar in charge incited a crowd to stone and beat him as
punishment. The next day, he was taken by truck to the "Hanoi Hilton" and then
to the "Zoo," both in the Hanoi prison system.

On May 10, 1969, after a year of planning, Dramesi and a fellow POW, Edwin L.
Atterberry, made an almost miraculous escape. The two slipped through the roof
and traveled three miles over 12 hours, but were recaptured.

For the escape attempt, Dramesi was put face down on a table, and while one
guard held his head, two others beat him with a four foot length of rubber taken
from an old automobile tire. They also slapped him repeatedly in the face. This
went on for days, in ninety-minute sessions, after which the left side of
Dramesi's head was swelled up like a pumpkin. They also put Dramesi on a bread
and water diet for 30 days. At other times during the next two weeks, Dramesi's
arms were bound tightly together behind him and his wrists and ankles cuffed in
heavy irons. A rope was looped around a two-inch-thick bar attached to his ankle
irons, taken around his shoulders and his head drawn between his knees.

He was held in this position for 24 hours without sleep. His circulation
impaired, the flesh on his ankles died, and he still bears the scars. After two
weeks, the Vietnamese realized he might lose his feet, so they removed the irons
and treated the wounds, but replaced them. Dramesi wore the irons continuously
for 6 months, removing them only once a week when allowed to wash.

After 38 days of this torture, Dramesi was near death. Atterberry was similarly
punished, but did not survive. His remains were returned in March 1974.

Incredibly, following the period of extreme torture, the Vietnamese asked
Dramesi to write a magazine article describing their "lenient treatment" of the
POWs, promising to remove the irons if he did. He refused.

Not only Dramesi and Atterberry were punished. The entire POW populace was
systematically worked over. After the episode was over, the senior officers
outlawed further escape attempts unless they could meet a set of stringent
conditions, including outside help. Planning escapes did not cease, but the
actual attempts were put on hold. This is an excellent example of how the Code
of Conduct was "bent" to the circumstances at hand. A necessary modification was
made to ensure the survival of the prisoners; it having been determined that it
was impossible to follow the Code literally under the circumstances.

The result of the Vietnam experience was a "new" code, the same in letter, but
different in spirit and intent than the pre-Vietnam version. Most agree it is a
more realistic form of guidance, and it stresses community organization and a
chain of command. It releases the POW from the "die-before-you-talk" syndrome
that brought so many to personal shame in Vietnam when they were finally broken.
(And all of those put to the test who survived were broken.)

Dramesi was given only one letter from home in six years. In fact, his POW
status was not known for some time because he steadfastly refused to make
propaganda tapes and statements.

Dramesi never gave up on his country. During his captivity he hand-made the
American flag he displays in the above photo. He smuggled this treasure out by
sewing it between two handkerchiefs. The handkerchief upon which all the pieces
were stitched was given by fellow POW Tom Sumpter, and the red nylon underwear
by Robert N. Daugherty. Thread was pulled from Ben Pollard's blanket to make the
gold border. Dick Stratton provided white thread and Ken Simonet gave the red
thread from a handkerchief received from home. The blue came from an old North
Vietnamese sweater. Duffy Hutton embroidered the stars onto the blue field. the
needle was hand made from a piece of copper found in the compound yard.

Dramesi's message: "As I held the flag high, I thought of this country and the
part we played in defending its greatest attribute -- FREEDOM. In defense of
freedom let us continue to do as we are expected to do...what must be endured
will be endured."

Since the war ended, over 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. These reports
are the source of serious distress to many returned American prisoners. They had
a code that no one could honorably return unless all of the prisoners returned.
Not only that code of honor, but the honor of our country is at stake as long as
even one man remains unjustly held. It's time we brought our men home.

John Dramesi wrote of his POW experiences in Code of Honor. He was promoted to
the rank of Lieutenant Colonel during the period he was a Prisoner of War. He
holds the Air Force Cross, Silver Star, Legion of Merit with one Oak Leaf
Cluster, Distinguished Flying Cross, bronze Star with "V" Device for Valor with
two Oak Leaf Clusters, Meritorious Service Medal with one Oak Leaf cluster,
numerous Air Medals, the Air Force Commendation Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster,
Purple Heart with four Oak Leaf clusters, Combat Readiness Medal, National
Defense Service Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal with one Oak Leaf
Cluster, Presidential Unit Citation, Air Force Air Force Outstanding Unit Award
with "V" device and one Oak Leaf Cluster, and the Vietnam Service Medal with two
Bronze Stars and two Silver Stars.
DREHER, RICHARD E

Name: Richard E Dreher
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 40th Air Rescue/Recovery Squadron, Nakhon Phanom, Airfield, Thailand
Date of Birth: 01 January 1942
Home City of Record: Orrville OH
Date of Loss: 27 March 1972
Country of Loss: Cambodia
Loss Coordinates: 140622N 1063350E (XA682585)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: HH53C

Other Personnel in Incident: Raymond J. Crow; James Manor; David E.
Pannabecker; Raymond A. Wagner (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II
Project.

REMARKS: CRASH S SEARCH - NO SURV FND - J

SYNOPSIS: Altogether, the HH-53 "Super Jolly Green Giant" was the largest,
fastest and most powerful heavy lift helicopter in the U.S. Air Force inventory.
In 1967, the Air Force started a development program to acquire a night rescue
capability, and by March 1971, it had succeeded in installing a nighttime
recovery system aboard five HH53C Super Jolly helicopters in Southeast Asia. The
Super Jolly was involved in such famed rescue attempts as the attempt to rescue
American POWs held at the Son Tay prison compound near Hanoi in late November
1970, and the assault operation to free the Mayaguez crew in May 1975.

Capt. Richard Dreher was assigned as escort pilot as part of a day rescue
mission and departed NKP at 0830 on the morning of March 27, 1972. Dreher's
Super Jolly was the second aircraft in a flight of two. Aboard the aircraft was
the pararescue team consisting of James Manor, David E. Pannabecker and Raymond
A. Wagner.

Following aerial refueling over southeastern Thailand, they departed the tanker
to complete the mission, maintaining interplane communications on FM and UHF
radios. The lead aircraft called a "tally ho" on the aircraft they were
escorting. When the lead aircraft did not receive an answer, the pilot attempted
to find him visually without success. After completing a 180 degree turn, the
pilot of the lead aircraft reported sighting a column of black smoke coming from
the dense jungle five miles away. Their position at this time was in Stoeng
Treng Province, Cambodia, about 10 miles southeast of the city of Siempang.

A pararescue specialist was lowered to the ground at the site of the crash to
check for survivors, but due to the intense heat from the burning helicopter, he
could not approach near enough to determine if there were crew members inside
the aircraft.

Some three hours later a second rescue specialist was deployed in the immediate
area, who reported the wreckage was still burning, precluding close inspection.
It was never determined if any aboard the Super Jolly survived, but all aboard
were declared Killed/Body Not Recovered.

In an attempt to classify the cases of the Missing in Action to determine which
cases could be readily resolved, the Defense Department assigned "enemy
knowledge" categories to each missing man, according to the liklihood their
fates would be known by the enemy. In the case of the downed Super Jolly,
Wagner, Pannabecker and Dreher were assigned "Category 2", and Manor and Crow
"Category 3".

Category 3 includes personnel whose loss incident is such that it is doubtful
that the enemy would have knowledge of the specific individuals (e.g. aircrews
lost over water or remote areas).  Category 2 includes personnel who were lost
in circumstances or in areas that they may reasonably be expected to be known by
the enemy (e.g. individuals connected with an incident which was discussed but
not identified by name by enemy news media, or probably identified by analysis
of intelligence reports.) No explanation has been given as to why the
crewmembers were classified differently.

The Americans missing in Cambodia present a special problem. The U.S. has never
recognized the government of Cambodia, nor has it negotiated for the release of
any Americans captured there. It has generally been believed that any POWs held
in Cambodia after the end of U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia perished in the
genocide committed by Pol Pot in the mid-1970's.

In 1988, the Cambodian government announced that it had the remains of a number
of American servicemen it wished to return to the United States. The U.S. did
not respond officially, however, because there are no diplomatic ties between
Cambodia and the U.S. Several U.S. Congressmen have attempted to intervene and
recover the remains on behalf of American family members, but Cambodia wishes an
official overture. Meanwhile, the bodies of Americans remain in the hands of our
former enemy.

Even more tragically, evidence mounts that many Americans are still alive in
Southeast Asia, still prisoners from a war many have long forgotten. It is a
matter of pride in the armed forces that one's comrades are never left behind.
One can imagine any of the men lost in Cambodia on March 27, 1972 being willing
to go on one more mission for the freedom of those heroes we left behind.

DRISCOLL, JERRY DONALD

Name: Jerry Donald Driscoll
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit: 469th Tactical Fighter Squadron
Date of Birth: ca 1940
Home City of Record: Chicago IL
Date of Loss: 24 April 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 212900N 1460700E (XJ156758)
Status (in 1973: Released POW
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F105D

Other Personnel In Incident: William E. Cooper (missing) in same flight

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: 730212 RELSD BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: On April 24, 1966, a multi-plane strike force departed Korat Airbase,
Thailand on a strike mission on a highway-railroad bridge north of Hanoi. The
target was a vital link, bearing traffic coming down from China.

The Squadron Commander (and commander of the mission), LtCol. William E. Cooper
was in one flight of four F105s. In another of the flights was 1Lt. Jerry D.
Driscoll.

As the first flight approached the target, Cooper's F105D was hit by a
surface-to-air missile (SAM). The plane subsequently broke in half, and the
front section, with canopy intact, was observed as it fell into a flat spin.
Witnessed did not see Cooper eject and and believed the he went down with the
aircraft, but there was doubt enough that the Air Force determined him Missing
in Action rather than killed.

Just afterwards, 1Lt. Jerry D. Driscoll (code-name Pecan 4) was inbound to the
target, about ten miles north, going approximately 550 knots (about 600 miles
per hour) when his aircraft was struck in the tail by anti-aircraft fire,
causing it to catch fire. Flames were blowing out the back twice as long as the
aircraft. Others in the flight radioed to Driscoll that he was on fire, and he
immediately prepared to eject as the aircraft commenced a roll. Driscoll punched
out at about 1000 feet, with the aircraft nearly inverted, and as a result, his
parachute barely opened before he was on the ground. He had removed his
parachute and was starting to take off his heavy flight suit when he was
surrounded by about twenty North Vietnamese and captured.

Driscoll was moved immediately to the "Heartbreak Hotel" in Hanoi where his
interrogation (and torture) began. Driscoll was a POW for the next seven years,
and was released in Operation Homecoming on February 12, 1973.

Just before his release, one returning POW was told by his interrogators that
LtCol. Cooper had died in the crash of the aircraft. At least one intelligence
report, however, indicates that Cooper was captured alive. The U.S. believes the
Vietnamese could account for Cooper and his name has been included on lists
brought before the Vietnamese in recent years as one of scores of "discrepancy
cases" it is felt can be resolved.

When the Peace Accords were signed ending American involvement in Vietnam, 591
American prisoners were released. Experts at the time expressed dismay that
"some hundreds" expected to be released were not, yet only perfunctory efforts
to secure the release of the others were made. In our haste to leave Indochina,
we abandoned some of our best men.

Shockingly, many authorities now believe, based on over 10,000 reports relating
to these missing Americans, that there are still hundreds alive in captivity.
Whether Cooper could be among them is unknown, but what seems certain is that if
even one is still alive, we have a moral obligation to bring him home.

William E. Cooper was awarded the Air Force Cross, Distinguished Flying Cross
with oak leaf cluster, Air Medal with 7 oak leaf clusters and the Purple Heart.
He was promoted to the rank of Colonel during the period he was maintained
Missing in Action. He is married and has five children.

Jerry D. Driscoll graduated from the Air Force Academy in 1963, and was promoted
to the rank of Captain during his captivity.


DRIVER, CLARENCE NESBIT

Name: Clarence Nesbit Driver
Rank/Branch: Civilian/Air America
Date of Birth: 07 March 1922 (Phoenix AZ)
Home City of Record: Riverside CA
Date of Loss: 07 March 1973
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 195145N 1010900E (QB230980)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: C123K

Other Personnel In Incident: James H. Ackley (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: During the Vietnam war, Air America contracted with CIA to fly in Laos
transporting a variety of supplies. Because the United States "was not at war"
in Laos, some AA activities were secret. CIA considered its work important
enough to deceive the U.S. Congress, and obtained a large portion of its funding
through AID dollars that Congress believed were for civilian help. Although Air
America openly spoke of its humanitarian drops of rice, blankets and medicine,
they also conducted many "hard rice" drops - ammunition, grenades, bombs and
weapons to the secret CIA directed indigenous army.

Many Air America pilots were crack pilots from World War II and Korea who just
were not ready to quit flying in the challenging arena of war. Some took the job
because they believed that in doing so, they could help fight communism. Laos
was a tough assignment. Not only were maps antiquated, forcing the pilots to
"eyeball" their way through the countryside, but the weather and terrain could
also be quite unpredictable.

Refugees created by the war depended on Air America, whose planes could alter
weeks of starvation, when the wounded suffered without medical supplies, in a
single drop. Enough food and supplies could be dropped in a single morning to
supply and feed five thousand people for a month. The secret army depended on
the AA materiel drops to such an extent that they sometimes resorted to trickery
to make sure they occurred. On one occasion, a pilot observed the wind sock at a
village strip hanging straight down, but when he landed found the wind
dangerously strong. An amiable native explained, "We know plane not land when
sock flies, so we put rocks in sock."

At the foot of any runway, an AA pilot could encounter armed communist troops
intent on preventing him from ever flying again. Many planes returned to base
peppered with bullet holes, and some were destroyed. Others were downed and
their crews captured.

On March 7, 1973, a C123K flown by Clarence Driver on which James Ackley was a
crewmember was sent on a mission over Laos. The C123K differed from other C123
models in that it had the addition of auxiliary turbojet engines mounted in
underwing pods. While this addition did little to increase the speed of the
"Provider," it added greater power for quicker climbing on takeoff and power for
maintaining altitude. Driver's aircraft crashed in Louangphrabang Province,
Laos, about 25 miles north of the Laos/Thailand border near the city of Pak
Beng. Ackley and Driver were classified Missing In Action.

As late as 1984, reports were being received that at least Driver was alive, in
good health, and being held in a group of 8 American prisoners. Four of the
original 12 prisoners had died of dysentary, and two who were still resisting
had rings in their noses and were treated like beasts of burden. A private,
unauthorized rescue plan was formulated to attempt to free him in 1984. The
attempt was unsuccessful.

Over 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asia have been
received by the U.S. Government since 1975. A Pentagon panel concluded in 1986
that there were at least 100 men still alive. Ackley and Driver are two of
nearly 600 Americans lost in Laos. Although the Pathet Lao publicly stated that
they held "tens of tens" of Americans, NOT ONE MAN returned that had been held
in Laos. The U.S. has yet to negotiate their release.

Clarence Driver's daughter Sharon describes the agony of their uncertainty,
"Imagine yourself on a telephone and ther person says 'hold on, I'll be right
back,' and they never come back...you just keep holding on."

How much longer must these men wait for their country to bring them home?

Clarence Driver retired in 1964 as a KC135 pilot at March Air Force Base in
Riverside, California.
DRIVER, DALLAS ALAN

Name: Dallas Alan Driver
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: Company A, 5th Battalion, 12th Infantry, 199th Light Infantry Brigade
Date of Birth: 07 May 1948 (Winchester VA)
Home City of Record: Stephens City VA
Date of Loss: 09 October 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 110546N 1070433E (YD267273)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1D
Other Personnel in Incident: Jimmy R. Garbett; Raymond G. Moore; James L.
Suydam; James H. Turner; (all missing).  WO Kilbourne (the pilot - survived);
unnamed crew chief, (survived immediate crash, later drowned - remains
recovered); CW4 James W. Bailey (aircraft commander - remains recovered)

REMARKS: IN RIV - 2 REMS RCV - NSUBJ - J

SYNOPSIS: On October 9, 1969, a UH1H helicopter crew and passengers were
attempting an extraction from a mined pickup zone in eastern Long Khanh
Province, South Vietnam near the shores of the Song Dong Nai River.

During the extraction attempt, the helicopter's rotor blade struck trees,
causing the loss of rotor RPM's and lift capability. The helicopter began
losing altitude, turned right and headed west and downriver in an attempt to
regain air speed. Shortly thereafter, the aircraft struck 15-20 feet of water
in an almost level attitude, and sank on its left side in less than 10 seconds.

Immediate and continuous air and water searches, loudspeaker broadcasts, and
phamplet distributions were conducted during the period of 9-15 October and
19-21 October, suspended October 16-18 only because of poor weather conditions.
No recovery was made of any of those missing from the aircraft, but the remains
of two personnel aboard were located and subsequently identified.

A LRRP swimmer trying to inspect the site had difficulty staying afloat even
with a rope. The individual reported that equipment seen on the shore after the
crash appeared to be alternately submerged and then reappear. It could not be
determined at the time how many persons escaped the aircraft. One who was known
to escape (unnamed in Army records) reported that he could not make it to shore
and went under. Another survivor reported seeing him go down within 3-4 feet of
him, but never saw him again. One of the individuals who was initially seen to
survive, later drowned or was lost in the indicent.

The only survivor of the original crash was WO Kilbourne, the pilot. The two
remains located were identified as the crew chief, who had survived the
immediate crash, but later drowned. CW4 James W. Bailey, the aircraft
commander, was lost and remains recovered.

The waters of the Song Dong Nai River were swift and treacherous. It is
particularly tragic that men who survived an aircraft would drown trying to
reach safety. Driver, Garbett, Moore and Turner were listed as Killed, Body Not
Recovered. Since their remains were never found, they are listed with honor
among the missing.

Unlike the crew of the UH1H, many of the cases of missing Americans in
Southeast Asia have no clear resolution. Some were known to have been captives,
but simply did not come home. Others were alive and well the last time they
were seen. Reports continue to be received on some, specifically by name and
location. Many authorities believe that there are hundreds still alive being
held against their wills.

Although the U.S. has named the resolution of the POW/MIA issue of "highest
national priority", little seems to have been done for those who wait for their
country to secure their freedom.



DRUMMOND, DAVID IAN

Name: David Ian Drummond
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Westwood NJ
Date of Loss: 22 December 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 210125N 1055100E (WJ880210)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: B52

Other Personnel in Incident: Gary L. Morgan; William T. Mayall; John H. Yuill;
William W. Conlee; Louis H. Bernasconi (all released POWs)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 July 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: RELSD 730329 BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: Frustrated by problems in negotiating a peace settlement, and
pressured by a Congress and public wanting an immediate end to American
involvement in Vietnam, President Nixon ordered the most concentrated air
offensive of the war - known as Linebacker II - in December 1972. During the
offensive, sometimes called the "Christmas bombings," 40,000 tons of bombs were
dropped, primarily over the area between Hanoi and Haiphong. White House Press
Secretary Ronald Ziegler said that the bombing would end only when all U.S. POWs
were released and an internationally recognized cease-fire was in force.

Linebacker II flights generally arrived over Hanoi in tight cells of three
aircraft to maximize the mutual support benefits of their ECM equipment and flew
straight and level to stabilize the bombing computers and ensure that all bombs
fell on the military targets and not in civilian areas.

The pilots of the early missions reported that "wall-to-wall SAMS" surrounded
Hanoi as they neared its outskirts. The Christmas Bombings, despite press
accounts to the contrary, were of the most precise the world had seen. Pilots
involved in the immense series of strikes generally agree that the strikes
against anti-aircraft and strategic targets was so successful that the U.S., had
it desired, "could have taken the entire country of Vietnam by inserting an
average Boy Scout troop in Hanoi and marching them southward."

To achieve this precision bombing, the Pentagon deemed it necessary to stick to
a regular flight path. For many missions, the predictable B52 strikes were
anticipated and prepared for by the North Vietnamese. Later, however, flight
paths were altered and attrition all but eliminated any hostile threat from the
ground.

Still, aircraft were shot down near the end of the campaign. On December 22,
1972, a B52 was shot down near Hanoi. Its crew included LTCOL John H. Yuill,
LTCOL Louis H. Bernasconi, LTCOL William W. Conlee, CAPT David I. Drummond, 1LT
William T. Mayall, and TSGT Gary L. Morgan. This crew was exceptionally
fortunate--they were all were captured by the North Vietnamese. The captured
crew was held in Hanoi until March 29, 1973, at which time they were released in
Operation Homecoming. The U.S. did not know all of them had been captured.

Linebacker II involved 155 Boeing B52 Stratofortress bombers stationed at
Anderson AFB, Guam (72nd Strat Wing) and another 50 B52s stationed at Utapoa
Airbase, Thailand (307th Strat Wing), an enormous number of bombers with over
one thousand men flying the missions. However, the bombings were not conducted
without high loss of aircraft and personnel. During the month of December 1972,
61 crewmembers onboard ten B52 aircraft were shot down and were captured or
declared missing. (The B52 carried a crew of six men; however, one B52 lost
carried an extra crewman.) Of these 61, 33 men were released in 1973. The others
remained missing at the end of the war. Over half of these survived to eject
safely.

Since the war ended, over 10,000 reports have been received relating to
Americans missing, prisoner or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia. The crew of
the B52 shot down on December 22 was lucky to have survived and only have a few
weeks imprisonment. Many authorities are now convinced that many Americans are
still held captive in Southeast Asia. It's time we found them and brought them
home.


DUBBELD, ORIE JOHN JR.

Name: Orie John Dubbeld, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O2/US Army
Unit: U.S. Army Infantry, Advance Team 21, MACV
Date of Birth: 29 November 1948 (St. Petersburg FL)
Home City of Record: Cocoa Beach FL
Date of Loss: 03 March 1971
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 143351N 1073619E (YB807116)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel in Incident: James E. Duncan (missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On March 3, 1971 1Lt. Orie J. Dubbeld and SFC James E. Duncan were
serving as advisors to the 22nd ARVN Ranger Battalion on a reinforcement
mission in Kon Tum Province, South Vietnam. During the mission, their unit came
under ground mortar attack. A mortar round hit directly in the foxhole where
1Lt. Dubbeld and SFC Duncan were located. An ARVN medical officer stated that
Dubbeld was killed instantly, and that SFC Duncan died a few minutes later.

An attempt was made to carry the bodies with the withdrawing ARVN unit.
However, the fighting became so intense that it was necessary to bury the
advisors. To date, no attempt has been made to exhume the bodies.

The ARVN medical officer confirmed that Dubbeld and Duncan were dead. It is
unfortunate, but a reality of war that their remains were left behind out of
the necessity to protect the lives of the team who served with them. They are
listed with honor among the missing because their remains cannot be buried with
honor at home.

The U.s. Government believes the enemy knows the final resting place of Dubbeld
and Duncan, but access to the site has been denied.

The Vietnamese also refuse to reveal information regarding the hundreds of
Americans that authorities believe are still alive, held prisoner in Southeast
Asia. Dubbeld and Duncan lost their lives trying to help an allied nation
preserve its freedom. Their deaths will only have the honor due them when we
are willing to exert the effort necessary to rescue those Americans who are
still alive.



DUCAT, BRUCE CHALMERS
Remains Returned 18 March 1977

Name: Bruce Chalmers Ducat
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 09 June 1941
Home City of Record: Bethesda MD
Date of Loss: 02 December 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 214400N 1052000E (WF344995)
Status (in 1973): Prisoner of War
Category: 1
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4C

Other Personnel in Incident: Donald R. Burns (released POW)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS: 770318 SRV RET REMS TO PCOM

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.
Most pilots considered it one of the "hottest" planes around.

1Lt. Bruce C. Ducat was the pilot and Maj. Donald R. burns the weapons/systems
operator of an F4C sent on a combat mission over North Vietnam on December 2,
1966. During the mission, the aircraft was shot down about 40 miles northwest of
Hanoi and both men were captured by the North Vietnamese.

During the years before the war ended, families waited until their loved ones
who had been captured were returned. Knowing the torture being received by U.S.
POWs in the hands of the Vietnamese, Ducat's father publicly offered an exchange
- himself for his son. The Vietnamese ignored the offer.

In 1973, 591 Americans were released by the Vietnamese in Operation Homecoming.
One of them was Donald R. Burns, but Ducat was not among them. The Vietnamese
denied any knowledge of his fate.

Then on March 18, 1977, the Vietnamese "discovered" and returned the remains of
Bruce C. Ducat. For eleven years, Ducat, alive or dead, was a prisoner of war.

It is comforting for each family to receive, after years and years of grief and
wonder, the remains of their loved ones. However, it is tragic to receive the
remains of persons such as Bruce Ducat and others who were known to have been
POWs when the Vietnamese continually denied knowledge of them. The U.S. points
to such returns of remains as "progress" on the POW/MIA issue, when actually, we
are subjugating our honor to our long-ago enemy, and gratefully accepting the
"gift" of remains which should have been returned decades ago. We have allowed
the Vietnamese to use the remains as political leverage.

Since the war ended, over 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. In light of
this information, it is doubly questionable that the U.S. is pursuing an
honorable solution of the POW/MIA issue.





DUCAT, PHILLIP ALAN

Name: Phillip Alan Ducat
Rank/Branch: O3/US Marine Corps
Unit: Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 161
Marine Air Group 16, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing
Date of Birth: 04 September 1939
Home City of Record: Ft. Wayne IN
Date of Loss: 25 September 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 164656N 1065421E
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH34D
Other Personnel In Incident: Peter R. Bossman; Dean W. Reiter (both missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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: Capt. Phillip A. Ducat was a helicopter pilot assigned to HHM 161,
Marine Air Group 16. On Sepember 26, 1966, Ducat was assigned a medical
evacuation mission in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam. His co-pilot was 1Lt.
Dean W. Reiter of the same Marine helicopter company and Hospital Corpsman Third
Class Peter Robert Bossman, a U.S. Navy Corpsman. (NOTE: According to Navy
records, Bossman was assigned to HHM 161, MAG 16.)

When the helicopter was approximately 22 miles west of Dong Ha, Quang Tri
Province, South Vietnam, the aircraft was hit by enemy ground fire, burst into
flames and exploded prior to impact with the ground. The crew aboard was killed,
and the intense fire of the crash consumed all remains.

The crew of the UH34 was was listed as killed, body not recovered. They are
among over 2300 Americans who remain prisoner, missing or otherwise unaccounted
for from the Vietnam war. The cases of some, like Bossman, Ducat and Reiter,
seem clear - that they perished and cannot be recovered. Unfortunately, many
other cases are clouded with doubt. Some were known to be in enemy hands. Others
described their imminent capture by radio. Others simply disappeared.

Since American involvement in Vietnam ended in 1975, nearly 10,000 reports
relating to Americans missing, prisoner, or otherwise unaccounted for in
Indochina have been received by the U.S. Government. Many officials, having
examined this largely classified information, have reluctantly concluded that
many Americans are still alive today, held captive by our long-ago enemy.

In our haste to leave an unpopular war, it now appears we abandoned some of our
best men. In our haste to heal the wounds of this same war, will we sign their
death warrants? Or will we do what we can to bring them home?

DUCKETT, THOMAS ALLEN

Name: Thomas Allen Duckett
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit: 23rd Tactical Air Support Squadron, Nakhon Phanom Airport, Thailand
Date of Birth: 12 November 1946
Home City of Record: La Grange GA
Date of Loss: 12 December 1970
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 163900N 1061900E (XD410417)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: O2A

Other Personnel In Incident: Owen G. Skinner (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: 1Lt. Thomas A. Duckett and Maj. Owen G. Skinner comprised the crew of
an O2A spotter aircraft which departed NKP Airport on December 12, 1970 on a
Forward Air Control (FAC) mission over Laos. (NOTE: While Defense Department
records indicate that Duckett was the observer, and Skinner the pilot, U.S. Air
Force records indicate that Duckett was the pilot. The military occupational
specialties (MOS) of both men are classified, and it cannot be determined which
was the pilot and which was the observer.)

The Cessna O2 was a stopgap replacement aircraft for the O1 until the North
American OV10 arrived in Vietnam. The Air Force operated 346 of the aircraft.
The A model flown by Duckett and Skinner served the function of marking targets
with marking rockets. It was a small, poorly armored aircraft which normally
flew unarmed.

While the aircraft was over Savannakhet Province, Laos, about 6 miles east
southeast of the city of Sepone, it was shot down. After the aircraft crashed,
radio contact was made with 1Lt. Duckett. The limited information available
publicly does not reveal whether Skinner also survived the crash of the
aircraft, nor does it indicate that any efforts were made to recover the crew.
Family members report, however, that the following day, search aircraft located
the aircraft intact on the ground in a small clearing. There was no sign of fire
damage to the aircraft, and parachutes were seen in the area of the crash. For
the following two days electronic emergency radio beepers were head, but could
never be pinpointed as they were shifting frequently. Hostile ground fire and
activity prevented a ground search. Both men were declared Missing in Action.

Perhaps because the war in Laos was "secret", little information was available
to the families of Skinner and Duckett regarding their crash and fates. Most of
the information was classified and unavailable to them. Like many POW/MIA
families, they resorted to filing numerous requests of Government agencies
through the Freedom of Information Act. One such classified report received by
the Duckett family described an American prisoner fitting Duckett's description
who was identified in Laos in February 1974.

Like Duckett and Skinner, many Americans downed in Laos were known to be alive
after the crash of their aircraft, or when they were last seen on the ground. In
all, there are nearly 600 Americans lost in Laos. Even though the Pathet Lao
stated they held "tens of tens" of American prisoners, they maintained that,
after the war, they would be released only from Laos.

The U.S. Government, in negotiating the end of American involvement in the
second Indochina War, did not negotiate with the communist Pathet Lao, a
governmental faction they did not officially recognize. As a result, not one of
the nearly 600 Americans lost in Laos was ever released.

Intelligence and refugee reports from the region continue to mount that there
are still Americans in captivity in Southeast Asia. Americans who fought for
their country. Americans who should be home. If there is only ONE remaining, we
owe him our very best efforts to bring him home.

Thomas A. Duckett was promoted to the rank of Major and Owen G. Skinner to the
rank of Colonel during the period they were maintained Missing in Action.
DUDASH, JOHN FRANCIS
Remains Returned 830600

Name: John Francis Dudash
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 25 November 1929
Home City of Record: Manville NJ
Date of Loss: 26 April 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 212958N 1052557E (WJ448773)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F105F

Other Personnel in Incident: Alton B. Meyer (released POW)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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 F105 Thunderchief ("Thud"), in its various versions, flew more
missions against North Vietnam than any other U.S. aircraft. It also suffered
more losses, partially due to its vulnerability, which was constantly under
revision. Between 1965 and 1971, the aircraft was equipped with armor plate, a
secondary flight control system, an improved pilot ejection seat, a more precise
navigation system, better blind bombing capability and ECM pods for the wings.
While the D version was a single-place aircraft, the F model carried a second
crewman which made it well suited for the role of suppressing North Vietnam's
missile defenses.

Eighty-six F-105Ds fitted with radar homing and warning gear formed the backbone
of the Wild Weasel program, initiated in 1965 to improve the Air Force's
electronic warfare capability. Upon pinpointing the radar at a missile site, the
Wild Weasel attacked with Shrike missiles that homed on radar emissions. The
versatile aircraft was also credited with downing 25 Russian MiGs. Thirteen of
these modified F's were sent to Southeast Asia in 1966.

Most of the F105s flown by the U.S. Air Force were based in Thailand, their
flights into North Vietnam guided by ultra-secret U.S.-operated radar
installations in Laos. During the mid-sixties, both Navy and Air Force jets
descended on military targets in North Vietnam as part of Operation Rolling
Thunder.

Major William M. Meyer was an F105D pilot dispatched on a mission to destroy a
supply bridge near Hanoi on April 26, 1967. During the mission, his aircraft was
struck by enemy fire. Meyer went down less than five miles northeast of Hanoi at
the city of Yen Vien. There existed the possibility that Meyer safely ejected
his crippled aircraft, and he was classified Missing in Action.

Meanwhile, at the coastal city of Haiphong, Navy bombers were running successful
bombing missions aimed at vital supply stores and storage facilities. One bomber
was flown by Michael Estocin, who was shot down on this mission and who was
awarded the Navy's only Congressional Medal of Honor for his valor on this
mission and those of days previous over Haiphong.

The same day Meyer was shot down, another F105 was lost northwest of Hanoi.
Flown by Capt. John F. Dudash, with Major Alton B. Meyer in the rear seat, this
F105F was hit by enemy fire in northwest of Hanoi in Vinh Phu Province. Meyer,
as the rear-seater, ejected first and was captured immediately. He landed about
45 miles northwest of Hanoi, and the aircraft continued in a southeasterly
direction with Dudash still at the controls. Although the Air Force later
located the precise location of the downed aircraft, the fate of Dudash is
uncertain. The aircraft continued another five miles or so before it finally
crashed. Whether Dudash successfully ejected is uncertain, but he was classified
Missing in Action, and it was felt that the Vietnamese could account for him.

[NOTE: Some records indicate that Dudash was aboard an F105E and that Meyer was
aboard an F105F. This is probably an error as Dudash and Meyer are definitely on
the same aircraft and it is the F model which is a two-seater.)

In the spring of 1973, 591 Americans were released from POW camps and Alton B.
Meyer was among them. The Vietnamese denied any knowledge of William M. Meyer
and John F. Dudash. William Meyer had landed in a heavily populated area near
Hanoi and it seemed incredible that the Vietnamese would not know what happened
to him. Dudash's loss occurred in a less populated area, but the fact that his
backseater was captured indicated that the enemy was in the area. They would not
fail to notice the aircraft crash and investigate.

Sixteen years later, the Vietnamese "discovered" and returned the remains of
John F. Dudash. The U.S. accepted this humanitarian gift without question.
Eighteen years after the two F105s were downed, the Vietnamese returned the
remains of William M. Meyer.

For nearly two decades, the Vietnamese denied knowledge of the fates of Dudash
and Meyer. Disturbing testimony was given to Congress in 1980 that the
Vietnamese "stockpiled" the remains of Americans to return at politically
advantageous times. Were Dudash and Meyer waiting, in a casket, for just such a
moment?

Even more disturbing are over 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 Dudash and Meyer among
them?

Perhaps the most compelling questions when remains are returned are, "Is it
really who they say it is?", and "How -- and when -- did they 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.

DUFFY, JOHN EVERETT

Name: John Everett Duffy
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 23 January 1946
Home City of Record: Portland ME
Date of Loss: 04 April 1970
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 144600N 1084400E (BS560336)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 3
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: O2
Other Personnel In Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 15 March 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: 1Lt. John E. Duffy was the pilot of a Cessna O2 aircraft on a mission
over South Vietnam on April 4, 1970. Duffy, who had graduated from the United
States Air Force Academy two years before, had a promising future in the Air
Force as a pilot.

The Cessna O2 had only been used by the Air Force four years. The aircraft had a
greater range that the O1, but, like the Bird Dog, lacked adequate armor for low
target marking runs. The aircraft was used primarily for observation, but some
versions flew psychological warfare mission, urging the Viet Cong to surrender
and encouraging those loyal to the Saigon government.

On Duffy's mission, his plane went down about 15 miles southwest of the city of
Quang Ngai in South Vietnam. He was listed as Missing In Action. No information
of substance has surfaced on Duffy since that day.

Nearly 2500 Americans are missing in Southeast Asia. Some of them were known to
have been prisoners of war. Some, of course, died in plane crashes and from
enemy fire and could not be recovered. Many were in radio contact with search
and rescue teams and in good shape when they reported their imminent capture.

Since the end of the war, thousands of reports have been received that indicate
Americans are still alive in Southeast Asia. One of them could be John Duffy.
Duffy served our nation with pride. He deserves our best efforts to bring him
home.

John E. Duffy was promoted to the rank of Captain during the period he was
maintained missing in action.
DUGAN, JOHN FRANCIS

Name: John Francis Dugan
Rank/Branch: O3/US Army
Unit: Company B, 101st Aviation Battalion,
101st Airborne Division
Date of Birth: 10 November 1947 (Rahway NJ)
Home City of Record: Roselle NJ
Date of Loss: 20 March 1971
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 163544N 1962513E (XD515352)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H

Other Personnel in Incident: John J. Chubb; William E. Dillender; Jack L.
Barker; (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 September 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: EXPLODED FIRE NO SEARCH - J

SYNOPSIS: LAM SON 719 was a large offensive operation against NVA communications
lines in Laos. The operation called for ARVN troops to drive west from Khe Sanh,
cut the Ho Chi Minh Trail, seize Tchpone and return to Vietnam. The ARVN would
provide and command the ground forces, while U.S. Army and Air Force would
furnish aviation airlift and supporting firepower. The 101st Airborne Division
commanded all U.S. Army aviation units in direct support of the operation. Most
of the first part of the operation, begun January 30, 1971, was called Operation
DEWEY CANYON II, and was conducted by U.S. ground forces in Vietnam.

The ARVN were halfway on February 11 and positioned for the attack across the
Laotian border. On 8 February, ARVN began to push into Laos. The NVA reacted
fiercely, but the ARVN held its positions supported by U.S. airstrikes and
resupply runs by Army helicopters.

President Nguyen Van Thieu ordered a helicopter assault on Tchepone, and the
abandoned village was seized March 6. Two weeks of hard combat were necessary
for the ARVN task force to fight its way back to Vietnam. Towards the end of the
removal, a helicopter from Company B, 101st Aviation Battalion was lost.

Flown by Maj. Jack L. Barker, the UH1H (serial #66-16185) was attempting to land
to extract ARVN troops about 20 miles west of Khe Sanh. During the attempt, the
aircraft came under enemy fire and was seen to spin, explode, and catch fire,
then to break up in the air. No signs of survivors were seen. The crew aboard
the aircraft were PCF John J. Chubb, Sgt. William E. Dillender, and Capt. John
F. Dugan. Because of the presence of enemy forces in the area, no subsequent
search could be made for survivors.

Losses were heavy in Lam Son 719. The ARVN lost almost 50% of their force. U.S.
aviation units lost 168 helicopters; another 618 were damaged. Fifty-five
aircrewmen were killed, 178 wounded, and 34 missing in action in the entire
operation, lasting until April 6, 1971.

In all, nearly 600 Americans were lost in Laos, but because we did not negotiate
with the Pathet Lao, no Americans held in Laos were released. Since that time,
over 10,000 reports have been received relating to Americans prisoner, missing
or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia. Although many authorities are convinced
that hundreds remain alive, the U.S. has not secured the release of a single
man.

DUGAN, THOMAS WAYNE

Name: Thomas Wayne Dugan
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit: 8th Tactical Bomber Squadron, Phan Rang AB
Date of Birth: 09 April 1947
Home City of Record: Reading PA
Date of Loss: 13 December 1968
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 170100N 1055900E (XD055824)
Status (In 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: B57B
Other Personnel in Incident: On C123K: Douglas Dailey; Morgan Donahue; Joseph
Fanning; Samuel Walker; Fred L. Clarke (all missing); On B57B: Francis J.
McGouldrick (missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On December 13, 1968, the crew of a C123K was dispatched from Nakhon
Phanom Airfield located in northern Thailand near the border of Laos on an
operational mission over Laos. The C123, a converted WWII glider equipped with
two engines, was assigned night patrol missions along the Ho Chi Minh trail.
Flying low at 2000-3000 feet, the job of the seven man crew was to spot enemy
truck convoys on the trail and to light up the trails for accompanying B57
bombers which were flying overhead.

The crew on this particular mission included the pilot (name unknown); 1Lt.
Joseph P. Fanning, co-pilot; 1Lt. John S. Albright, navigator; 1Lt. Morgan J.
Donahue, navigator; SSgt. Samuel F. Walker, SSgt. Douglas V. Dailey, TSgt. Fred
L. Clarke, crewmembers. At 0330 hours, as the aircraft was flying about 30 miles
southwest of the Ban Karai Pass in Laos, the crew of the C123 were jolted by a
blow on the top of their plane in the after section. An overhead B57 that had
been called in for an air strike from Phan Rang Airbase had collided with the
control plane. The B57B was flown by Maj. Thomas W. Dugan, pilot, and Major
Francis J. McGouldrick, co-pilot.

The C123 lost power and went out of control. The pilot, stunned by a blow to
the head, lost consciousness. Because of its glider configuration, the C123 did
not fall straight to the ground, but drifted lazily to the ground in a flat
spin which lasted several minutes. When the pilot regained consciousness, he
noted that the co-pilot (Fanning) and navigator (Donahue) were gone. Donahue's
station was in the underbelly of the plane where, lying on his stomach, he
directed an infared detection device through an open hatch. The pilot
parachuted out, landed in a treetop where he remained until rescued at dawn. On
the way down, he saw another chute below him, but, because of the dark, was
unable to determine who the crew member was.

Intelligence reports after the incident indicate that Donahue, at least, safely
reached the ground near Tchepone, but suffered a broken leg. A refugee who
escaped captivity in Laos in 1974 reported having observed an American prisoner
broughy to the caves near Tchepone, where he was held, in the period between
1968 and 1970. This American was later moved to another locatation unknown to
the refugee.

Several reports referring to "Moe-gan" and others describing Donahue as the
American called the "animal doctor" were received over the years since war's
end. In June and August, 1987, the Donahue family was given intelligence
reports tracking Morgan's movements from a POW camp in Kham Kuet, Khammouane
Province, Laos in the spring of 1987 to another camp in the Boualapha District
of the same province in August 1987. These reports were mere WEEKS old, yet the
U.S. marked them "routine". One of them gave Morgan's aircraft type and serial
number, which turned out to be, instead of the serial number of the aircraft,
Morgan's father's ZIP CODE. Morgan's family believes this is clearly a signal
to them from Morgan.

The crews of the C123K and B57B are among nearly 600 Americans who disappeared
in Laos. Many of these men were alive on the ground. The Lao admitted holding
American prisoners but these men were never negotiated for. Where are they? Are
they alive? Imagine the torture the Donahue family endures knowing Morgan is
alive, yet helpless to do anything to help him. Imagine the uncertainty of the
other families of the others. Imagine the thoughts of the men we left behind.
What are we doing to help bring them home?

(John S. Albright II and Morgan J. Donahue graduated in 1967 from the United
States Air Force Academy)

Prepared by Homecoming II Project 01 December 1989

DUGGAN, WILLIAM YOUNG

Name: William Young Duggan
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 07 May 1935
Home City of Record: El Paso TX
Date of Loss: 31 December 1971
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 172900N 1054200E (WE751343)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D
Other Personnel in Incident: Frederick J. Sutter (missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: When North Vietnam began to increase their military strength in South
Vietnam, NVA and Viet Cong troops again intruded on neutral Laos for sanctuary,
as the Viet Minh had done during the war with the French some years before. The
border road, termed the "Ho Chi Minh Trail" was used for transporting weapons,
supplies and troops. Hundreds of American pilots were shot down trying to stop
this communist traffic to South Vietnam. Fortunately, search and rescue teams
in Vietnam were extremely successful and the recovery rate was high.

Still there were nearly 600 who were not rescued. Many of them went down along
the Ho Chi Minh Trail and the passes through the border mountains between Laos
and Vietnam. Many were alive on the ground and in radio contact with search and
rescue and other planes; some were known to have been captured. Hanoi's
communist allies in Laos, the Pathet Lao, publicly spoke of American prisoners
they held, but when peace agreements were negotiated, Laos was not included,
and not a single American was released that had been held in Laos.

On New Year's Eve, 1971, Capt. Frederick J. Sutter, pilot, and Maj. William Y.
Duggan, bombardier/navigator departed on a mission over Laos in their F4D
Phantom fighter/bomber jet. Their target area was near Na Phao in Khammouane
Province, Laos - the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

Sutter and Duggan did not return from their mission, and were declared Missing
in Action. Like other families whose men were missing, the Sutter and Duggan
families waited for the war to end, hoping always that their sons had been
captured and would eventually come home.

For Herman and Mary Sutter, Fred's parents, history was repeating itself.
Herman Sutter had been a prisoner of war during World War II, but returned
home. His aircraft had exploded at 10,000 feet, but he survived. Both believed
Fred could survive against tremendous odds as well.

In January 1973, the U.S. and Vietnamese signed an agreement in Paris to end
American involvement in the second Indochina War. Laos was not part of the
negotiations, and as a result, the "tens of tens" of American prisoners the Lao
stated they held were never released. In fact, not one single American held in
Laos was released then or since.

Were it not for the thousands of reports concerning Americans still held
captive in Southeast Asia, the Sutter and Duggan families might be able to
close this tragic chapter of their lives. Fred's father died not knowing what
happened to his son. Duggan's son and daughter, only 10 and 9 when their dad
was lost, are now rapidly approaching 30. As long as reports continue to be
received that Americans are alive, being held captive, they fear that Sutter
and Duggan could be among them. What must they be thinking of us? It's time we
brought our men home.
DUKE, CHARLES ROSS JR.

Name: Charles Ross Duke, Jr.
Rank/Branch: Civilian
Unit: Dynalectron Corporation
Date of Birth: 03 December 1943
Home City of Record:
Date of Loss: 30 May 1970
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 135710N 1071757E (AR775365)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 3
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Cycle
Other Personnel in Incident: Kit T. Mark (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 15 March 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On Memorial Day weekend, 1970, Charles Duke and his friend, Kit T.
Mark reportedly left Pleiku, South Vietnam on their Hondas for a short trip to a
village nine miles north of Pleiku. They never returned.

A friendly helicopter in the area saw the two on Hondas, and the tire tracks of
two Hondas leading to a mountainside location where they found concealed rockets
pointing to the military base at Pleiku. Leaflets offering a reward for any
information were dropped, but no information surfaced about Mark or Duke.

Although Duke and Mark were originally listed as being missing seven days apart,
their records were changed to reflect the accurate date of May 30, 1970.

Charles Duke was born in Houston, Texas. He served four years in the Air Force
as an airplane mechanic. After his discharge, he went to work for Dynalectron
Corporation working on jets and helicopters. In August, 1968, he went to Pleiku
to work for Dynalectron's war contracts. Charles planned to return to school
after he returned from Vietnam.

Charles Duke and Kit Mark were not among the prisoners of war that were released
in 1973. High-ranking U.S. officials admit their dismay that "hundreds" of
Americans known or suspected to be prisoners of war did not return.

Alarmingly, evidence continues to mount that Americans were left as prisoners in
Southeast Asia and continue to be held today. Unlike "MIAs" from other wars,
most of the nearly 2500 men and women who remain missing in Southeast Asia can
be accounted for. Duke and Mark could be among them. Isn't it time we brought
our men home?

DUNCAN, JAMES EDWARD

Name: James Edward Duncan
Rank/Branch: E7/US Army
Unit: U.S. Army Infantry, Advance Team 21, MACV
Date of Birth: 11 July 1940 (Mason County WV)
Home City of Record: Pleasant Point WV
Date of Loss: 03 March 1971
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 143351N 1073619E (YB807116)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel in Incident: Orie J. Dubbeld (missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On March 3, 1971 1Lt. Orie J. Dubbeld and SFC James E. Duncan were
serving as advisors to the 22nd ARVN Ranger Battalion on a reinforcement
mission in Kon Tum Province, South Vietnam. During the mission, their unit came
under ground mortar attack. A mortar round hit directly in the foxhole where
1Lt. Dubbeld and SFC Duncan were located. An ARVN medical officer stated that
Dubbeld was killed instantly, and that SFC Duncan died a few minutes later.

An attempt was made to carry the bodies with the withdrawing ARVN unit.
However, the fighting became so intense that it was necessary to bury the
advisors. To date, no attempt has been made to exhume the bodies.

The ARVN medical officer confirmed that Dubbeld and Duncan were dead. It is
unfortunate, but a reality of war that their remains were left behind out of
the necessity to protect the lives of the team who served with them. They are
listed with honor among the missing because their remains cannot be buried with
honor at home.

The U.s. Government believes the enemy knows the final resting place of Dubbeld
and Duncan, but access to the site has been denied.

The Vietnamese also refuse to reveal information regarding the hundreds of
Americans that authorities believe are still alive, held prisoner in Southeast
Asia. Dubbeld and Duncan lost their lives trying to help an allied nation
preserve its freedom. Their deaths will only have the honor due them when we
are willing to exert the effort necessary to rescue those Americans who are
still alive.




DUNCAN, ROBERT RAY

Name: Robert Ray Duncan
Rank/Branch: O2/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 85, USS AMERICA (CVA 60)
Date of Birth: 16 March 1942
Home City of Record: W. Palm Beach FL
Date of Loss: 29 August 1968
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 185300N 1052300E
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: A6B

Other Personnel In Incident: Alan F. Ashall (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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: SURVIVAL UNLIKELY

SYNOPSIS: Lt.JG Robert R. Duncan was a pilot and Lt.JG Alan F. Ashall a
bombardier/navigator assigned to Attack Squadron 85 onboard the aircraft carrier
USS AMERICA (CVA 60). On August 29, 1968 he launched from the aircraft carrier
in their A6B Intruder on an armed reconnaissance mission in the Vinh Son area of
North Vietnam.

Duncan and Ashall launched at 1:00 a.m. and proceeded to their assigned station.
Three surface-to-air missiles (SAM) were observed in the area. A transmission
was received from the aircraft reporting that they were experiencing radion
trouble, and then a transmission that sounded like, "SAMs in the air" followed
by "We shot a missile" or "I got a missile". No distress signals were received
and efforts to contact them were unsuccessful.

Search and rescue efforts were initiated immediately, but the results were
negative. There was a large fireball observed on the ground in the vicinity
where the aircraft disappeared. It was suspected that the aircraft took a direct
or disabling hit by one of the three SAMs or collided with the terrain while
attempting to avoid the enemy fire.

Duncan and Ashall were classified Missing in Action. The Defense Intelligence
Agency further expanded their 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.

The Commander of the Seventh Fleet, Vice Admiral William F. Bringle,
acknowledged that the missions required of the A6 pilots over North Vietnam were
among "the most demanding missions we have ever asked our aircrews to fly."
However, he added, "there is an abundance of talent, courage and aggressive
leadership" in the A6 squadrons.

Now, nearly 20 years later, men like Duncan and Ashall are all but forgotten
except by friends, family and fellow veterans. The U.S. "priority" placed on
determining their fates pales in comparison to the results it has achieved.

Since Duncan and Ashall went down, nearly 10,000 reports have been received by
the U.S. relating to Americans who are still prisoner, missing or unaccounted
for in Southeast Asia. Many officials who have seen this largely classified
information are now convinced that hundreds of Americans are still alive in
captivity. Whether Duncan and Ashall are among them is not known. What is
certain, however, is that we, as a nation, are guilty of the abandonment of
nearly 2500 of our best and most courageous men. We cannot forget, and must do
everything in our power to bring these men home.

DUNLAP, WILLIAM CHARLES
Remains Returned - ID Announced March 1990

Name: William Charles Dunlap
Rank/Branch: W2/US Army
Unit: 129th Aviation Company, 17th Aviation Group, 1st Aviation Brigade
Date of Birth: 21 September 1946 (Westline AR)
Home City of Record: Tucson AZ
Date of Loss: 02 December 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 141944N 1085447E (BR750850)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1B

Other Personnel In Incident: William Sanderlin; Michael Shanley; Martin Vanden
Eykel (all remains returned)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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: On December 2, 1969, CW2 Martin VandenEykel, aircraft commander; CW2
William C. Dunlap, pilot; SP5 Michael H. Shanley, gunner; and SP5 William D.
Sanderlin, crew chief, were flying in the second UH1B gunship (serial #64-13959)
in a flight of two in a night ground support mission in Binh Dinh Province,
South Vietnam. (Note: some records place this incident in Kontum Province, but
according to coordinates, it is in Binh Dinh Province.)

At 2030 hours, CW2 Dunlap's aircraft and the flight leader's aircraft departed
LZ English to provide fire support for a long range reconnaissance patrol (LRRP)
that had radioed for help.

The two helicopters were led to the reported LRRP location by another helicopter
equipped to drop flares. Upon arrival at the target area, the flare ship began
dropping flares, while the two gunships tried to make radio contact with the
LRRP team. CW2 Vanden Eykel radioed that he had made a turn to avoid crashing
into a mountain, and the ground forces lost contact with him. CW2 Vanden Eykel's
acknowledgement was the last known radio transmission in the vicinity.

The Bong Son region of South Vietnam, which is where the operation was taking
place was so well-known for its treachery to aircraft that it became known as
the "grave yard of helicopters." Many had been lost in that area.

Following the loss of the helicopter and crew, a board of inquiry was held. A
Vietnamese woman stated at the hearing that she had seen the helicopter go down
and the crew was captured by the Viet Cong.

In July 1973, Vietnamese woodcutters reported finding the wreckage of a
helicopter in that vicinity. Investigation disclosed that the aircraft was not a
helicopter, but a fixed wing airplane and not related to this case.

In December 1974, another source reported finding aircraft wreckage in this
area, but upon investigation, it was found that the wreckage was that of a
Vietnamese helicopter, rather than one that was involved in this case.

There has been no further word of the crew of the UH1B helicopter. No one saw
them die; no one found the wreckage of their plane. To this date it is not known
if they died or survived to be captured by the enemy.

In March 1990, the U.S. Government announced that the Vietnamese had discovered
the remains of Dunlap, Sanderlin, Shanley and VandenEykel, and they had been
returned to U.S. control. These families finally could begin their grieving,
knowing at last their loved ones were dead.

We may never know exactly what happened to the ill fated UH1B that day in
December 1969. For over 20 years, these men were prisoners of war -- dead or
alive. And although it is clear that they are now dead, we may never know
how...or when they died.

Thousands of reports have been received by the U.S. Government that Americans
are still alive, held captive in Southeast Asia, yet official policy is that "no
conclusive proof" has been obtained. Detractors allege the Government is
debunking good information. While the possibility exists that Americans are
being held against their will, there can be no question that we must do
everything we can to secure their freedom. They deserve no less than our best
efforts.

DUNLOP, THOMAS EARL

Name: Thomas Earl Dunlop
Rank/Branch: O5/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 22, USS CORAL SEA
Date of Birth: 10 July 1930
Home City of Record: Neptune Beach FL
Date of Loss: 06 April 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 172300N 1063800E (XE735170)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A7E

Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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 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.

One of the aircraft that launched off the decks of the CORAL SEA was the Vought
A7 Corsair II, a single-seat attack jet. According to pilots, forward air
controllers (FAC) loved the A7, especially in North Vietnam. Whenever A7s were
around, they'd try to get them because of their ability to put the ordnance
right where it was supposed to be. The accuracy had little to do with pilot
technique, it was the bombing computers onboard the aircraft at the time. The
Corsair manufacturer had as many technical reps onboard the ship as there were
pilots, and they reps had the airplanes tuned to perfection. A7s were also good
on fuel, with an exceptionally long range over 700 miles.


In the early weeks of the CORAL SEA's 1972 tour, its attack squadrons started
going after targets in North Vietnam in April. There were a lot of missiles, and
a lot of bullets. The action was faster than it had been in previous tours.

The Air Wing commander of Attack Squadron 22 when it departed on its 1972 cruise
was CDR Thomas E. Dunlop, an A7 pilot. Early in May, Dunlop launched on a
mission over Quang Binh Province. When he was about 5 miles south of the city of
Dong Hoi, Dunlop's aircraft was hit by a surface-to-air missile (SAM) and he was
forced to eject.

Whether Dunlop survived the downing of his aircraft is uncertain. He was
classified Missing in Action. No one saw him in prisoner of war camps, nor have
his remains been found.

For nearly 20 years, the Vietnamese have denied knowledge of the fate of  Thomas
E. Dunlop, even though the U.S. believes he could probably be accounted for --
dead or alive. By 1980, the Department of the Air Force had declared him dead,
based on no specific information he was still alive.

Disturbing testimony was given to Congress in 1980 that the Vietnamese
"stockpiled" the remains of Americans to return at politically advantageous
times. Could Dunlop be waiting, 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. Could Dunlop be among these?

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.

DUNN, JOHN GALBREATH

Name: John Galbreath Dunn
Rank/Branch: O3/US Army
Date of Birth: (ca 1944)
Home City of Record:
Date of Loss: 18 March 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 113409N 1080234E (AN775805)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel in Incident: James M. Ray (captured - still missing)

REMARKS: 730212 RELEASED BY PRG

SYNOPSIS: On March 18, 1968, PFC James M. Ray and 1Lt. John G. Dunn were part
of a unit on a road clearing mission with Montagnard soldiers in Lam Dong
Province on Highway 20 in South Vietnam.

During the mission, both Ray and Dunn were captured by the Viet Cong and taken
to Cambodia for detention. Dunn was released in the general prisoner release
nearing the end of American involvement in Vietnam in 1973. Jimmy Ray did not
come home.

Ray, who had been wounded during his capture, was rotated within the "system"
of those POWs held in South Vietnam. He made escape attempts which infuriated
his captors and they beat him severely and confined him with chains. He was
awarded the Silver Star for gallantry for these escape attempts and resulting
torture.

In April 1969, an American POW who escaped from the camp where Ray was being
held with other POWs reported that Jimmy was alive and one of the healthiest of
the POWs both mentally and physically. Jimmy was held apart from the other
POWs, because of his attempts to escape.

In the summer of 1969, Jimmy became ill with malaria and reportedly died in
November 1969 at a detention camp in the northern Tay Ninh Province/Cambodia
area. Although there are "statements" attesting to Jimmy Ray's death, many
years would pass before Jimmy's father would be able to trace and personally
talk to POWs held with Jimmy. NOT ONE saw him dead - even those whose
"statements" were in Jimmy's files!

PFC Ray's records are a tangle of inconsistencies. His death was "reported"
when there was no witness, and this report was later retracted. A medal was
awarded for gallantry in an escape occurring after Jimmy was supposed to have
died. Stories have drifted in through unofficial sources that Jimmy became a
"good" prisoner and was held up as a role model for others - years AFTER he was
supposed to have died.

Jimmy's family feels there is a strong chance that he is alive today, but if
he is not, they know that the communist government of Vietnam certainly knows
the fate of PFC Jimmy Ray, who, in the words of one POW, "wanted more than
anything else to be free."

The Vietnamese state that Jimmy died on November 6, 1969, but have not produced
proof of his death or returned a body.


DUNN, JOSEPH PATRICK

Name: Joseph Patrick Dunn
Rank/Branch: O2/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 25, USS CORAL SEA
Date of Birth: 17 September 1942 (Boston MA)
Home City of Record: Hull MA
Date of Loss: 14 February 1968
Country of Loss: China
Loss Coordinates: 185500N 1103800E (DL614917)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 3
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: A1H

Other Personnel In Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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: LTJG Joseph P. Dunn joined the Navy in 1964. He received orders for
Vietnam in July 1967, where he was assigned to Attack Squadron 25 onboard the
USS CORAL SEA. On February 14, 1968, Dunn launched in his A1H Skyraider attack
aircraft from Cubi Point Naval Air Station, Republic of the Philippines, to
relieve another aircraft from his squadron. The flight was a ferry flight,
returning a repaired A1 aircraft to the USS CORAL SEA, accompanied by a second
unarmed radar plane.

During the flight to the aircraft carrier on station in the Gulf of Tonkin, both
Dunn and his wingman drifted north of their proposed flight route and wound up
off the east coast of Hainan Island, China. The Chinese, having tracked the
aircraft on radar, sent MiG 17 aircraft to turn the intruders away. Fire from
one of them struck Dunn's aircraft.

The pilot of the second plane, along with three other crewmen, saw Dunn descend
with a fully opened parachute and heard the manual UHF emergency beeper sound
for two to three minutes, but then they were forced evade the attacking MiG
aircraft and flew toward the security of South Vietnam. The wingman immediately
reported the shootdown and U.S. aircraft responded within minutes of the call.
Unfortunately, due to the wingman's perception that he was off the coast of
North Vietnam and not China, the U.S. aircraft searched the wrong area for
hours. Upon his landing in South Vietnam, the mistake was discovered and other
aircraft were correctly deployed, but without success.

Eight hours after the shootdown, an electronic surveillance plane picked up a
beeper signal for 20 minutes from the vicinity of Hainan Island. It is believed
that Dunn would take approximately 8 hours to reach the island in his emergency
life raft. There were a number of junks in the region which might have picked
him up. Had he drowned, his body would have reached the island and probably have
been seen by villagers.

The Chinese reported the shootdown in their radio broadcasts. Numerous
newspapers related the incident, and U.S. State Department efforts were
initiated to try to get more information. Despite the evidence that Dunn could
have been captured, the Chinese will say nothing about his fate. American envoys
to China have raised the question of Dunn's fate to no avail.

Dunn's wife and son have been very active since he disappeared in the effort to
secure information on the men still missing in Indochina. They know that Joe
Dunn would want them to press for answers. Joe himself was very concerned about
friends who had been shot down, and for the crew of the ill-fated Pueblo
illegallly siezed by North Korea in 1968. They continually work to remind the
American public and the government of the United States that the fate of those
nearly 2500 Americans remains unresolved and is of utmost importance.


Joseph P. Dunn was promoted to the rank of Commander during the period he was
maintained missing.
DUNN, MICHAEL EDWARD

Name: Michael Edward Dunn
Rank/Branch: O3/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 165, USS RANGER (CVA 61)
Date of Birth: 06 July 1941 (San Fernanco, Trinidad)
Home City of Record: Napersville IL (resident of Puerto Rico)
Date of Loss: 26 January 1968
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 184400N 1054000E
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: A6A

Others in Incident: Norman E. Eidsmoe (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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 Grumman A6 Intruder is a two-man all weather, low-altitude,
carrier based attack plane, with versions adapted as aerial tanker and
electronic warfare platform. The A6A primarily flew close-air-support,
all-weather and night attacks on enemy troop concentrations, and night
interdiction missions. Its advanced navigation and attack system, known as DIANE
(Digital Integrated Attack Navigation Equipment) allowed small precision
targets, such as bridges, barracks and fuel depots to be located and attacked in
all weather conditions, day or night. The planes were credited with some of the
most difficult single-plane strikes in the war, including the destruction of the
Hai Duong bridge between Hanoi and Haiphong. Their missions were tough, but
their crews among the most talented and most courageous to serve the United
States.

LCDR Norman E. Eidsmoe was a pilot assigned to Attack Squadron 165 onboard the
aircraft carrier USS RANGER. On January 26, 1968, Eidsmoe launched with his
Bombardier/Navigator (BN) from the carrier in their A6A Intruder attack aircraft
on a low-level, single-plane, night strike mission into North Vietnam. Two A4
Skyhawk and two A7 Corsair attack aircraft were scheduled to provide mission
support if required.

The flight proceeded normally to the initial run-in point at the coast. The
flight was tracked inbound to approximately 5 miles from the target at which
time radar contact was lost dur to low altitude and distance from tracking
stations. Support aircraft remained on station about 30 minutes, waiting for the
attack aircraft to regain radio contact at the designated time and position upon
egress from the target area.

The support aircraft neither heard no saw the strike aircraft again. No radio
contact of any kind was heard from the aircraft. The UHF radio "guard" frequency
was monitored by all the support aircraft until low fuel states required their
return to ship. No surface-to-air missile (SAM) launches were received and no
anti-aircraft fire was noted by the support aircraft, even though there were
known enemy defenses in the target area including automatic weapons, light and
medium anti-aircraft artillery and one known SAM site.

The search and rescue (SAR) expanded the following day with the sortie of two
RA5C Vigilante reconnaissance aircraft. The electronic and photographic search
produced no significant findings. It was later determined that the aircraft had
crashed approximately 7 kilometers north of the city of Vinh, Nghe An Province,
North Vietnam.

Eidsmoe and Dunn were declared Missing in Action. When 591 Americans were
returned at the end of the war, Dunn and Eidsmoe were not among them. Unlike
"MIAs" from other wars, many of the over 2300 who remain missing for can be
accounted for. And, tragically, thousands of reports have amassed indicating
that some are still held prisoner against their will.

Whether Dunn survived the downing of his plane that day in January 1968 is
unknown. What is clear, however, is that someone knows what happened to him.
It's time we learned his fate, and brought all our men home.


Michael E. Dunn graduated from Texas A & M in 1963. He was advanced to the rank
of Lieutenant Commander during the period he was maintained missing.

Norman E. Eidsmoe was promoted to the rank of Commander during the period he was
maintained missing.
DUNN, RICHARD EDWARD

Name: Richard Edward Dunn
Rank/Branch: E5/US Air Force
Unit: CCK Air Force Base, Taiwan - TDY to 345th Tactical Airlift Squadron, Tan
Son Nhut ABSV
Date of Birth: 10 January 1934
Home City of Record: Terryville CT
Loss Date: 26 April 1972
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 113803N 1063547E (XT745866)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: C130E

Other Personnel In Incident: Harry Amesbury; Calvin E. Cooke; Donald R. Hoskins;
Richard L. Russell (all missing); Kurt F. Weisman (remains returned 1975)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 31 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: CRASH - 1 REM RCV - N SIGN SUBJ - J

SYNOPSIS: From the CCK Air Force Base base in Taiwan, C-130 crews flew to
different locations, including Korea, Borneo, Indonesia, Japan, Africa, etc. But
most trips were to various bases in Vietnam for 3 week stays. Then the men would
return to the base in Taiwan for 3 days. On one such Vietnam tour, one C130E had
a crew consisting of Harry A. Amesbury, pilot; Richard L. Russell, navigator,
Richard E. Dunn, loadmaster, Calvin C. Cooke, Donald R. Hoskins, and Kurt F.
Weisman, crew members. This crew was TDY to 345th Tactical Airlift Squadron at
Tan Son Nhut Airbase, South Vietnam.

On April 26, 1972, Amesbury's aircraft and crew were making a night drop of
supplies to South Vietnamese forces trapped in An Loc, South Vietnam (about 65
miles from Saigon). The provincial capitol had been under seige by North
Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces off and on since early April. Supply drops and
air support were critically needed and often hampered by hostile forces outside
the city. Upon approach to the drop site at a very low level, the aircraft was
hit by enemy fire and was reported to be down. The men onboard the aircraft were
declared Missing in Action.

Supply drops were generally accomplished in one of two ways, both requiring that
the plane be airborne, and flying at very low altitudes. Using one method,
parachutes attached to the supply pallets were deployed. As the plane flew over,
the parachutes pulled the cargo from the plane. Using another method, a hook
attached to the cargo was dropped from the plane, affixed to some firm fixture
on the ground. As the plane departed the area, the cargo was pulled out of the
plane. Both required considerable skill under the best of circumstances.

According to the Department of the Air Force, it received unspecified
information that contained evidence of death for the crew members on May 5,
1972. The status of the missing men was changed to Killed in Action/Body Not
Recovered.

In February, 1975, non-American friendly forces recovered and returned the
remains of Kurt Weisman. No information surfaced on the rest of the crew. All
onboard had been assumed killed in the downing of the plane. If this is the
case, why weren't the other remains recovered as well?

Of the nearly 2500 Americans still missing in Southeast Asia, most can be
accounted for one way or another. The U.S. Government has received nearly 10,000
reports of Americans still held prisoner in Southeast Asia, yet has not been
able to find a way to free them, or to obtain information on a significant
number of other Americans who may have perished.
DUSING, CHARLES GALE

Name: Charles Gale Dusing
Rank/Branch: E5/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 11 April 1928
Home City of Record: Charleston SC
Date of Loss: 31 October 1965
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 10400N 1070000E (YS224805)
Status (in 1973): Prisoner of War
Category: 1
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ford Truck
Other Personnel in Incident: Thomas Moore; Samuel Adams (both POW)

REMARKS: 6512 DIC-ON PRG DIC LIST

SYNOPSIS: On October 31, 1965, four U.S. Air Force personnel were captured
while traveling by truck from Vung Tau to Saigon. This incident occurred on
Route 15 at grid coordinates YS224805, just on the border of Binh Hoa and Gia
Dinh Provinces of South Vietnam. Three of the individuals involved in this
incident are SSgt. Samuel Adams, SSgt. Charles Dusing and TSgt. Thomas Moore.

On November 2, 1965, while being taken to a detention camp, one of the four
POWs, whose identity is not part of public record, managed to escape and return
to U.S. control. It was reported that Samuel Adams had been shot during the
same escape that freed the fourth American prisoner, but a defector identified
Adams' photo as a prisoner at a later date. CIA's analysis of this
identification has been inconclusive. The names of all three appeared on the
died in captivity list furnished by the Provisional Revolutionary Government
(PRG) in 1973 at the Paris Peace Accords. The list reflected that they had died
during December 1965, but no details were given.

When 591 Americans were released at the end of the war in 1973, Adams, Dusing
and Moore were not among them; their names were on a list. No bodies were
returned to their families, even though the Vietnamese clearly know where to
find the three men. Since that time, Vietnam has doled out handfuls of remains
as the political atmosphere seemed appropriate, but Adams, Dusing and Moore
remain unaccounted for.

The three are among nearly 2500 Americans who remain missing in Indochina.
Unlike "MIA's" from other wars, most of these men can be accounted for.
Tragically, over 8000 reports concerning Americans still in Southeast Asia have
been received by the U.S. since the end of the war. Experts say that the
evidence is overwhelming that Americans were left behind in enemy hands. It's
time we brought our men home.












DUVALL, DEAN ARNOLD

Name: Dean Arnold Duvall
Rank/Branch: E4/US Air Force
Unit: 4th Air Commando Squadron, Da Nang AB, South Vietnam
Date of Birth: 04 September 1945
Home City of Record: Monon/Monticello IN
Date of Loss: 13 March 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 154000N 1073000E (YC550450)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: AC47D
Other Personnel in Incident: Gene E. Davis; Howard W. Henninger; Edwin E.
Morgan; Gerald E. Olson; Robert E. Pasekoff; Marshall I. Pauley (all missing)

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: 01 January 1990

REMARKS: NO RAD CNTCT - SRCH NEG - J

SYNOPSIS: Capt. Howard W. Henninger was the pilot of an AC47D "Spooky" gunship.
The Spooky had evolved from the famed "Puff the Magic Dragon" versions of the
Douglas C47.

Puff introduced a new principle to air attack in Vietnam. Troubled by
difficulties in conducting nighttime defense, Capt. Ronald Terry of the U.S.
Air Force Aeronautical Systems Division remembered reading about flying
missionaries in Latin America who lowered baskets of supplies on a rope from a
tightly circling airplane. Throughout the series of pylon turns, the basket
remained suspended over a selected point on the ground. Could this principle be
applied to fire from automatic weapons? Tests proved it could, and could be
extremely successful.

Puff's "flare kicker" illuminated the target, then the pilot used a mark on the
window to his left as a gun sight and circled slowly as three multibarrel
7-62mm machine guns fired 18,000 rounds per minute from the door and two
windows in the port side of the passenger compartment. The aircraft was called
"Puff" after a popular song of the day, and because it resembled a dragon
overhead with flames billowing from its guns. Men on the ground welcomed the
presence of Puff and the later Spooky version, which was essentially the same
as the Puff, because of its ability to concentrate a heavy dose of defensive
fire in a surgically determined area.

Capt. Henninger's Spooky was assigned a mission which took it over Quang Nam
Province, South Vietnam on March 13, 1966. His crew that day included Capt.
Gerald E. Olson, Capt. Robert E. Pasekoff, Sgt. Dean A. Duvall, SSgt. Gene E.
Davis, SSgt. Marshall I. Pauley, and TSgt. Edwin E. Morgan.  Duvall and Pauley
were aerial gunners on the aircraft.

Shortly after takeoff from Da Nang, the aircraft was contacted by radio, and
this was the last contact had with Capt. Henninger's aircraft. The area of loss
is indicated as being about 10 miles from the border of Laos in Quang Nam
Province. All crew members aboard were declared Missing in Action. There is no
way to determine whether the enemy knows the fates of these men because the
U.S. Air Force is unsure of its area of loss.

Da Nang Regional Intelligence received a rallier's report in 1969 which
described a POW camp near Hue. The report included a very detailed description
of the camp and two lists of Americans held there. The lists were compiled by
the source viewing photographs of missing Americans, and were classified
"possible" and "positive". The source selected Gerald E. Olson's photograph as
possibly being a man held at the camp near Hue. This report was obtained from
the U.S. government in the mid-1980's by an interested citizen through the
Freedom of Information Act.

Although this report was later debunked by U.S. intelligence analysts, and not
distributed to the families of the men named on the lists, at least one former
POW who was held at this camp was shown the report and he confirmed some of the
names on the list and verified the accuracy of the camp description.

Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports have been received by the U.S.
related to Americans still missing in Southeast Asia. Some are as detailed as
the one received at Da Nang in 1969, and relate to many individuals. Although
most have been proven accurate, the public attitude in the U.S. intelligence
circles is that the reports are meaningless. Yet, many of these reports remain
classified.

Was Gerald E. Olson captured? What of the rest of the crew members? While the
Vietnamese may have the answers to these questions, we may never know the
extent of the knowledge of our own government so long as information regarding
these men is allowed to remain classified.

Tragically, many who have seen this classified information believe there are
hundreds of Americans still alive in captivity. Any of the men aboard the
Spooky lost on March 13, 1966 could be among them. It's time we brought our men
home. It's time we knew the truth.
DYCZKOWSKI, ROBERT RAYMOND

Name: Robert Raymond Dyczkowski
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 421st Tactical Fighter Squadron, Korat Airbase, Thailand
Date of Birth: 23 June 1932
Home City of Record: Buffalo NY
Date of Loss: 23 April 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 220000N 1055000E (WK860328)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F105D

Other Personnel In Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II
Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: The F105 Thunderchief ("Thud"), in its various versions, flew more
missions against North Vietnam than any other U.S. aircraft. It also suffered
more losses, partially due to its vulnerability, which was constantly under
revision.

Robert R. Dyczkowski was born in Buffalo, New York in 1932. He attended St.
Mary's Parochial School and Burgard Vocational High School, where he became a
member of the Civil Air Patrol. While a member of the Air Force reserves, he was
accepted for pilot training and subsequently sent to Vietnam as an F105 pilot.

Pilots in Vietnam did not serve a certain period of time, as was the case with
ground troops, but rather flew 100 missions which completed their tour
in-country. It was on Dyczkowski's 99th mission in North Vietnam on April 23,
1966 that his F-105 disappeared about 75 miles north of Hanoi. Dyczkowski's
aircraft was number two in a flight of three and disappeared after pulling off
the target. He failed to rejoin the flight after acknowledging instructions to
do so. Subsequent radio contact with him was unsuccessful all search efforts
were fruitless. There has been no further information concerning his fate.

Mounting evidence indicates that hundreds of Americans are still alive in
captivity in Southeast Asia. The U.S. Government has regular talks with the
Vietnamese and has negotiated the excavation of a crash site and the return of
about 100 remains, but has failed to successfully negotiate for the return of
those Americans still held captive.

Robert R. Dyczkowski was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel during the
period he was maintained missing.


DYE, MELVIN CARNILS

Name: Melvin Carnils Dye
Rank/Branch: E5/US Army
Unit: 57th Assault Helicopter Co., 52nd Aviation Battalion
Date of Birth: 22 May 1947
Home City of Record: Carleton MI
Date of Loss: 19 February 1968
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 145430N 1072800E (YB665498)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H

Other Personnel In Incident: Douglas J. Glover; Robert S. Griffith (still
missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Melvin Dye was the engineer and Robert Griffith the door gunner aboard
a UH1H helicopter performing an emergency extraction mission in Laos. They were
extracting a reconnaissance patrol team consisting of three U.S. Army Special
Forces personnel and 3 indigenous personnel. The aircraft carried a crew of
four. Douglas Glover was one of the Special Forces personnel aboard.

As the helicopter picked up the team 4 miles inside Laos west of Dak Sut, it
received a heavy volume of small arms fire. It is not known whether the aircraft
was hit by hostile fire or hit a tree, but it nosed over, impacted the ground
and exploded, bursting into flames.

The pilot, co-pilot and one passenger managed to leave the aircraft. Because of
the fire and exploding small arms ammunition, rescue attempts for the others
were futile.

There were six U.S. and 3 indigenous personnel aboard the helicopter. When
search teams reached the site the same day, they could not account for the other
U.S. personnel. Five were accounted for, but could not be recovered because of
intense heat.

Dye, Glover and Griffith were classified as Missing In Action. They did not
return when the general prisoner release occurred in 1973. Since the war ended,
evidence mounts that Americans were left behind in enemy prison camps and that
hundreds of them could be alive today. They deserve better than the abandonment
they received from the country they proudly served.


DYER, IRBY III

Name: Irby Dyer III
Rank/Branch: E6/US Army Special Forces
Unit: Detatchment B-52 DELTA, 5th Special Forces Group
Date of Birth: 12 June 1943 (Sweetwater TX)
Home City of Record: Midland TX
Date of Loss: 02 December 1966
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 165049N 1063159E (XD633631)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1D
Other Personnel In Incident: Russell P. Bott; Willie E. Stark (both missing);
Daniel Sulander; (missing from UH1D exfiltration aircraft)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: In late November 1966, Russell Bott and Willie Stark were inserted
about 1 1/2 miles into Laos west of the DMZ along with a number of Vietnamese
Special Forces (LLDB) "strikers". The team, a long-range reconnaissance patrol
(LRRP), was soon discovered by a superior North Vietnamese force, members of
the 325B NVA Division. A two day running battle ensued.

Near the end, Bott radioed that he was down to one grenade ond one magazine of
ammunition. He also stated that several of the Vietnamese members of his team
were dead or wounded. Willie Stark was wounded in the chest and leg, but was
alive. Bott requested exfiltration at that time. He refused to leave his
wounded teammate to seek safety, and in his last radio message, Bott indicated
that he was going to destroy his radio, that he felt capture was imminent.

Two gunships working the area were hit by enemy fire. Also, the exfiltration
helicopter from 281st Assault Helicopter Company was hit, and crashed and
burned, killing the crew of four and Irby Dyer, a medic from Det. B-52 Delta
who had gone in to help treat the wounded. The wreckage of the plane and all
five remains were found in searches conducted December 10-13. The remains,
which had been horribly mutilated by the enemy, were left at the site. When a
team returned to recover the remains, U.S. bombing and strafing activities had
destroyed them further. The identifiable remains of three of the crew were
recovered, but those of Daniel Sulander and Irby Dyer were not.

Searches for Bott and Stark were unsuccessful. Vietnamese team members who
evaded capture reported that they had heard North Vietnamese soldiers say,
"Here you are! We've been looking for you! Tie his hands, we'll take him this
way."

Sgt. First Class Norman Doney, who was Operations Sergeant at that time at B-52
headquarters at Khe Sanh, overheard the Intelligence Sergeant on the "52 Desk"
reviewing intelligence about Bott. Doney states that it was reported that Bott
was seen with his arms tied behind his back going through a village, and that
he was alive 3 days after he became missing.

Bott, Dyer, Sulander and Stark are among nearly 600 Americans lost in Laos
during the Vietnam war. Although the Pathet Lao stated on several occasions
that they held "tens of tens" of American prisoners, not one man held in Laos
was ever released...or negotiated for. Dyer and Sulander died for their
country. Stark's fate is unknown. He may have died from his wounds or survived
to be captured. Bott, at least, could be one of the hundreds of Americans
experts believe to be alive today. He was loyal to his comrades and to his
country. If he is alive, what must he be thinking of us?


EADS, DENNIS KEITH

Name: Dennis Keith Eads
Rank/Branch: W1/US Army
Unit: Troop F, 8th Cavalry, 123rd Aviation Battalion, 16th Aviation Group, 23rd
Infantry Division (Americal), Chu Lai, South Vietnam
Date of Birth: 04 May 1947 (Glendale CA)
Home City of Record: Prophetstown IL
Date of Loss: 23 April 1970
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 153607N 1075801E (ZC180270)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: AH1G
Other Personnel in Incident: Larron D. Murphy (missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On April 23, 1970, Capt. Larron D. Murphy, aircraft commander; and WO
Dennis K. Eads, pilot; were flying an AH1G (serial #67-15612) in the wingman
position in a flight of four aircraft conducting an emergency night mission to
extract a long-range reconnaissance patrol (LRRP). The aircraft crashed in the
vicinity while en route to recover the patrol.

The two UH1H helicopters on the flight aborted the mission because of adverse
weather conditions. However, the two AH1G aircraft continued in order to
provide fire support for the patrol to allow them to break contact with the
enemy. The aircraft flew north until they were sighted by the patrol. The lead
ship made several radio contacts with Capt. Murphy. The last transmission
instructed him to turn to a heading of 90 degrees.

About 30 seconds later, Capt. Murphy called, "20, this is 28. I'm crashing."
This is the last contact or communication with Capt. Murphy. Members of the
patrol reported that they had observed a very bright flash to the southwest,
which was presumed to have been one of the aircraft. The remaining helicopter
returned to Chu Lai, unable to search for the downed aircraft because of the
inclement weather.

The following morning, members of the patrol were flown to inspect the crash
site where they conducted a detailed serach of the area, but there was no trace
of either the downed aircraft or the crew. The presumed site of the crash was
about 10 miles southwest of the city of An Hoa in Quang Nam Province, South
Vietnam.

When Dennis Eads' mother died in 1976, she died believing that her son survived
the crash. The rest of his family is not so sure, but there is always the
question, "Was there enough time for him to get out?"

There are several reasons why "MIA's" from the war in Vietnam cannot be thought
of, as in other wars, "ashes on the mountainside"; tragically irrecoverable
losses of humanity. The most compelling is the nearly 10,000 reports that have
been received by the U.S. Government since the end of the war relating to
Americans missing in Southeast Asia.

Some critics say the families of the missing want to believe their man is alive
because of "false hopes" that won't die. Others say it is because we "didn't
win" the war. According to many government officials who have no "false hopes",
the evidence is overwhelming that there are, indeed, Americans still held
against their will in Southeast Asia. The real question is, "When and how will
we bring these men home?
EARLE, JOHN STILES

Name: John Stiles Earle
Rank/Branch: O3/US Navy Reserves
Unit: Attack Squadron 172, USS SHANGRI-LA (CVS-38)
Date of Birth: 03 July 1941 (Northampton MA)
Home City of Record: Westfield MA
Date of Loss: 22 June 1970
Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: (none)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A4C

Other Personnel In Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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: When Douglas Aircraft created the A4 Skyhawk the intent was to provide
the Navy and Marine Corps with an inexpensive, lightweight attack and ground
support aircraft. The design emphasized low-speed control and stability during
take-off and landing as well as strength enough for catapult launch and carrier
landings. The plane was so compact that it did not need folding wings for
aboardship storage and handling. In spite of its diminutive size, the A4 packed
a devastating punch and performed well where speed and maneuverability were
essential.

Flying from an aircraft carrier is a special science. The limited takeoff and
landing area leaves little room for error. Occasionally, tragic accidents occur,
claiming lives.

Lt. John S. Earle was a pilot assigned to Attack Squadron 172 onboard the
aircraft carrier USS SHANGRI-LA. He launched in his A4C Skyhawk attack aircraft
as part of a two plane strike mission into South Vietnam. His 9:30 p.m. catapult
launch was normal as he began his initial climb. When told to climb by the "Air
Boss", Lt. Earle responded, "Roger, Boss, I'm trying. It just won't climb." His
aircraft was seen in a slow descent and seconds later impacted the water 2-3
miles ahead of the ship. The area was thoroughly searched by destroyers and
helicopters throughout the night and following day. The search was unsuccessful.
The exact reason for the accident will perhaps never be known, but whatever
happened was obviously beyond his control.

Lt. Earle was placed in a missing status on June 22, 1970, which was changed the
next day to Reported Dead/Body Not Recovered. He is listed among the dead as he
obviously did not survive the downing of his aircraft. He is listed with honor
among the missing because his remains could not be found.

Other cases of the missing are not so clear. Many were known captives, some were
photographed in captivity. Many were in radio contact and in good health as they
described their imminent capture. Evidence mounts that many of these men are
still alive waiting for the country they served to bring them home. While Lt.
Earle may not be one of them, one can imagine him proudly taking one more flight
order from the Air Boss to bring them home.

EARLL, DAVID JOHN

Name: David John Earll
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 469th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Korat AB TH
Date of Birth: 02 March 1938
Home City of Record: Dallas TX
Date of Loss: 21 October 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 174012N 1062535E (XE513541)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F105D

Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 30 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: NO PARA OBS - NO BEEPER - J

SYNOPSIS: The F105 Thunderchief ("Thud"), in its various versions, flew more
missions against North Vietnam than any other U.S. aircraft. It also suffered
more losses, partially due to its vulnerability, which was constantly under
revision. Between 1965 and 1971, the aircraft was equipped with armor plate, a
secondary flight control system, an improved pilot ejection seat, a more precise
navigation system, better blind bombing capability and ECM pods for the wings.
The D version was a single-place aircraft.

Captain David J. Earll was a pilot assigned to the 469th Tactical Fighter
Squadron at Korat Airbase, Thailand. On October 21, 1966, he was assigned a
bombing mission over North Vietnam. Earll flew as the number two aircraft in a
flight of two.

Earll was seen to release his rockets on the target and start recovery when his
aircraft exploded into a fireball. No parachutes were seen, and efforts to
contact Earll by radio were unsuccessful. Still, there was the chance that he
ejected safely unseen. Earll was classified Missing in Action. The target was
located near the city of Quang Khe in Quang Binh Province, North Vietnam.

Throughout the remainder of the war, Earll's status remained uncertain.
Government officials were fairly sure that the enemy knew his fate, but had no
solid information that he had been captured. But in 1973, when 591 Americans
were released from prisoner of war camps, Earll was not among them. Neither were
hundreds that had been known or suspected to be prisoners of war.

Following the war, refugee reports began to flow in related to Americans missing
in Southeast Asia. Earll's status remained Missing in Action. Then, thirteen
years after his aircraft crashed, he was administratively declared dead by the
Department of the Air Force based on no specific information to indicate he was
still alive.

The refugee reports and others received through intelligence channels are
largely classified. Many authorities who have examined this evidence believe
that hundreds of Americans are still alive today. U.S. Government policy
dictates that it operate under the assumption that one or more Americans are
still alive, yet no solution to bringing those living Americans has been found.
Whether Earll is among those thought to be still alive is not known. What seems
certain, however, is that we have not done enough to bring these men home.


David J. Earll was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel during the period
he was maintained missing.


EASTMAN, LEONARD CORBETT

Name: Leonard Corbett Eastman
Rank/Branch: O3/US Navy
Unit:
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Bernardston MA
Date of Loss: 21 June 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 213600N 1063500E (XJ638891)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Veicle/Ground: RF8A

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: 730212 RELSD BY DRV

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-A models were equipped for photo reconnaissance. The RF-G
were also photographic versions, but with additional cameras and navigational
equipment.

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. In addition, there were 16
pilots who went down on photographic versions of the aircraft. Of these 16,
seven were captured (six were released, one died in captivity).

Lt. Leonard Eastman was the pilot of an RF8A on a combat mission in Lang Son
Province, North Vietnam on June 21, 1966. As he was about 15 miles southwest of
the city of Lang Son of his aircraft was hit by enemy fire and crashed. Eastman
was captured by the Vietnamese, and held prisoner until his return in Operation
Homecoming in the spring of 1973.

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. These reports are the source of serious distress to many returned
American prisoners. They had a code that no one could honorably return unless
all of the prisoners returned. Not only that code of honor, but the honor of our
country is at stake as long as even one man remains unjustly held. It's time we
brought our men home.

EATON, NORMAN DALE

Name: Norman Dale Eaton
Rank/Branch: O5/US Air Force
Unit: 8th Tactical Bomber Squadron, Phan Rang Airbase
Date of Birth: 11 August 1925
Home City of Record: Weatherford OK
Date of Loss: 13 January 1969
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 161600N 1064800E (XD936005)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: B57
Other Personnel In Incident: Paul E. Getchell (missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: The B57 Canberra was a light tactical bomber that played a varied
role in the Vietnam conflict. A veteran of operations Rolling Thunder and Steel
Tiger, B57's from the 8th Tactical Bombing Squadron at Phan Rang, South Vietnam
had also been equipped with infared sensors for night strike operations in
Tropic Moon II and III in the spring of 1967.

Col. Dale Eaton was the pilot and Capt. Paul E. Getchell the co-pilot
of a B57 Canberra light bomber which was lost in Savannakhet Province, Laos on
January 13, 1969. The aircraft was apparently struck by hostile fire at about
50 miles southeast of the city of Muong Nong. (NOTE: Although the B57 model on
which Eaton and Getchell were flying is not noted in any available records,
based on the history of the aircraft and the nature of warfare in Laos, it is
likely that the two were aboard either one of the later G models - assigned to
night intruder missions - or the RB57E model - assigned to night
reconnaissance.)

Although no parachutes were observed by other aircraft in the area, a forward
air controller (FAC) reported hearing a faint beeper in the approximate area
where the last radio transmission was received.

Both men were declared Missing In Action and classified in "Category 2", which
indicates the strong possibility that the enemy knew their fate. There are
nearly 600 lost in Laos. They were not negotiated for in the Paris Peace
accords, nor have they been negotiated for since, and as a consequence, not one
man held in Laos was ever released.

There are nearly 2500 Americans who remain missing in Southeast Asia.
Intelligence and refugee reports from the region continue to mount that there
are still Americans in captivity in Southeast Asia. Dale Eaton and Paul
Getchell could be among them. It's time we brought our men home.

(Normal Dale Eaton is a 1949 graduate of West Point.)


            CASE SYNOPSIS:    EBY, ROBERT GINO

  ============================================================================

Name:                Robert Gino Eby
Rank/Branch:            Civilian
Unit:

Date of Birth:            03 November 1944
Home City of Record:
Date of Loss:            21 August 1967
Country of Loss:        South Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates:        124956N 1092527E
Status (in 1973):        Presumed Dead
Category:            3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground:    C47
Other Personnel
In Incident:            none missing

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS:  Robert G. Eby, an American citizen, was, according to Defense
Department onboard a C47 aircraft which crashed off the coast of South Vietnam.
CIA records, however, list the aircraft as being a DC3 crashing off the coast
of MR-3 region of South Vietnam.  No sign of survivors or remains were sighted.
Robert G. Eby was presumed dead.

On April 11, 1969, a rallier identified a number of photographs as being of
some of the men he saw while working at a POW camp near the city of Hue in
South Vietnam.    Robert Eby's photograph was one of the ones he was absolutely
sure of.  He had seen him in the camp in Thua Thien Province.

Along with the identifications, the rallier provided detailed maps and drawings
of the camp and region to prove that he was telling the truth.    He even listed
all the guards and workers, their names and certain information about them.  He
was as complete as he could be.

The documents outlining this rallier's report were obtained through the Freedom
of Information Act by a private citizen in 1985.  He showed the documents to
men who had been held prisoner and released.  The information was largely
verified by those sources.

The U.S. Government said that the rallier was a liar.

Whether Robert G. Eby survived the crash of his plane may never be known.  Not
because the Vietnamese and Lao are cruelly holding our prisoners for ransom,
but because no one in this U.S. Government is looking for him.


ECHANIS, JOSEPH YGNACIO

Name: Joseph Ygnacio Echanis
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 497th Tactical Fighter Squadron
Date of Birth: 06 November 1937
Home City of Record: Portland OR
Date of Loss: 05 November 1969
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 172800N 1053900E (WE725422)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 3
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D

Other Personnel In Incident: Douglas P. LeFever (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Capt. Douglas P. LeFever was the pilot and Major Joseph Y. Echanis the
navigator of an F4D aircraft from the 497th Tactical Fighter Squadron. On
November 5, 1969, their mission was to act as Forward Air Controller for an
operational mission over Laos. While directing a flight over the assigned area,
radio contact was lost with the plane. At 4:34 a.m., one of the strike aircraft
in the area saw a large ball of fire on the gound. Although no parachutes were
observed, the Air Force concluded that the possibility exists that the crew
ejected and safely reached the ground.

Throughout the day, an electronic search was conducted, with negative results.
The terrain where the plane went down was so rugged that a visual search was not
possible. No wreckage was ever found. The last known location was just southwest
of Ban Som Peng in Khammouane Province, Laos.

Since the war's end in 1973, thousands of reports have been received by the U.S.
Government regarding Americans still in captivity in Southeast Asia. Most of the
reports involve Americans in Laos, where nearly 600 Americans went missing, and
none released.

Henry Kissinger predicted, in the 50's, that future "limited political
engagements" would result, unfortunately, in nonrecoverable prisoners of war. We
have seen this prediction fulfilled in Korea and Vietnam, where thousands of men
and women remain missing, and where ample evidence exists that many of them
(from BOTH wars) are still alive today. For Americans, the "unfortunate"
abandonment of military personnel is not acceptable, and the policy that allows
it must be changed before another generation is left behind in some faraway war.

Both Echanis and Lefever were promoted to the rank of Major during the period
they were maintained Missing in Action.
CASE SYNOPSIS: ECHEVARRIA, RAYMOND LOUIS

Name: Raymond Louis Echevarria
Rank/Branch: E8/US Army Special Forces
Unit: Command & Control - MACV-SOG
Date of Birth: 16 September 1933 (Brooklyn NY)
Home City: New York NY
Loss Date: 03 October 1966
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 165100N 1063200E (XD632624)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel In Incident: James E. Jones; Eddie L. Williams (missing);
indigeneous personnel; Bui Kim Tien (sole survivor)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: SFC James R. Jones were all members of a 7 man recon team on a
classified mission into Laos. The three were assigned to Headquarters &
Headquarters Company, 5th Special Forces Group, but were under orders to
Command & Control, MACV-SOG.

MACV-SOG (Military Assistance Command, Vietnam Studies and Observation Group)
was a joint service high command unconventional warfare task force engaged in
highly classified operations throughout Southeast Asia. The 5th Special Forces
channelled personnel into MACV-SOG (although it was not a Special Forces group)
through Special Operations Augmentation (SOA), which provided their "cover"
while under secret orders to MACV-SOG. The teams performed deep penetration
missions of strategic reconnaissance and interdiction which were called,
depending on the time frame, "Shining Brass" or "Prairie Fire" missions.

On October 3, 1966, Echevarria and his team were inserted into Laos near the
border of the MR-1 region of South Vietnam (just west of the Demilitarized
Zone), and immediately came under enemy fire, apparently surrounded by enemy
troops. The team requested immediate extraction, but heavy gunfire prevented
the helicopter from landing on the LZ. Williams and Bui Kim Tien were trying to
evade capture. Tien, who was later rescued, reported that SFC Williams told him
both Jones and Echevarria were seriously wounded, perhaps near death.

On October 4, Williams and Bui spotted some caves, and Bui went forward to
investigate them, at which point Tien was spotted by hostile forces and
forced to leave the area. Tien later heard gunfire in the area, and believed
that it was between SFC Williams and the enemy troops. Tien continued to evade
for the rest of the day until he was picked up by friendly aircraft at 1500
hours.

Ray Echevarria's photo was later identified as that of a prisoner of war by a
defector. According to CIA analysts, this identification was an error, based
on the report of Bui Kim Tien that Echevarria and Jones were near death. Tien
was polygraphed, and his debrief is believed to be accurate. But still, doubts
remain. The fact is, no one saw Echevarria, Williams and Jones die. With enemy
so close, there is ample reason to believe they might have been captured.

Since American involvement in Indochina ended, over 8000 reports of Americans
still held captive have been received by the U.S. government. Of the nearly 600
American servicemen lost in Laos, not a single man has ever been released. The
U.S. did not negotiate for the prisoners held in Laos. They were abandoned by
the country they proudly served.
ECKES, WALTER WILLIAM

Name: Walter William Eckes
Rank/Branch: E3/US Marine Corps
Unit: F Battery, 2nd Battalion, 12th Marines, 3rd Marine Division
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record:
Date of Loss: 10 May 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 155735N 1081100E (AT987667)
Status (in 1973): Escaped POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing, but held with James S. Dodson,
escaped POW)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project with the assistance of Patty Skelly of
Task Force Omega, Inc. 01 October 1990 from raw data from U.S. Government agency
sources, correspondence with Walt Eckes, published sources.

REMARKS: 660618 ESCAPED

SYNOPSIS: In May 1966, Lcpl. Walter W. Eckes was assigned to F Battery, 2nd
Battalion, 12th Marines, 3rd Marine Division. As radio operator, Eckes
volunteered for a F.O. (forward observer) team. He was attached to C Company, 1st
Battalion, 9th Marines, 3rd Marine Division (later known as the "Walking Dead").

Because of a shortage of forward observers, Eckes' four-man team had no officers
and were not replaced in the field as the line companies rotated to the rear to
resupply or rest. Every couple of weeks, one of the team would return to HQ 2nd
Battalion, 12th Marines to pick up the team members' pay and any supplies that
were needed for the team. On May 9, 1966, Eckes returned to the rear to
resupply, spent the night, and the following morning headed back to his team and
Charlie Company 1/9. The team was located about 25 miles south-southwest of Da
Nang at a hamlet called Lei Son (phonetic spelling).

Eckes made the trip back to camp by hopping a ride on a truck from HQ. The truck
was going further south, so Eckes got off at a junction that entered into Lei
Son. The road, only about a quarter to a half-mile long, was booby trapped every
night, so Eckes decided to wait for another vehicle that was going to enter all
the way into the compound.

As he was sitting on the side of the road propped against a tree, three men in
South Vietnamese uniforms came walking down the road. One had an M-14; one had a
45 automatic pistol; the third was unarmed. Eckes greeted the men who then
leveled weapons at him. Believing they were joking, Eckes pushed the weapon
aside. The three disarmed him, wrestled him to the ground, and tied him up,
putting one rope around his neck, and tying his arms elbow to elbow behind his
back.

The three Vietnamese dragged Eckes across the road by the neck rope and held him
overnight. The following day, Eckes was given over to another group who led him
to a POW camp. Along the way, he was paraded in villages the group passed
through. Eckes estimates the camp to be located about 10-15 miles west-southwest
of the hamlet of Lei Son.

When he arrived at camp, Eckes met a tall black man standing in the door of one
of the huts who smiled at him. At first Eckes thought the man was a Cambodian he
had heard about who had been infiltrating Marine camps sabotaging equipment.
Later he learned that the man was smiling because he thought he would never
again see another American. His name was Sgt. James Dodson, and he had been
captured three days before Eckes. Dodson had been working with an engineer group
clearing roads when he went behind a hut and was knocked unconscious and
captured.

While in the camp near Lei Son, Eckes and Dodson were not tortured, but
occasionally roughed up during questioning. Twice, interrogators came in from
outside the camp. After the second interrogation, Eckes was told that he and
Dodson would soon be moved to another camp where another American was being held
- Bobby Garwood. Several days passed, and the two were brought black pajamas to
wear on the trip to the next camp.

Dodson and Eckes were taken away from the camp near Lei Son and traveled about
three days when they were forced to return because of American military activity
along their route. About two weeks later, they were taken in a different
direction for the same destination. They were on the trail for 3-4 days, and the
prisoners were in bad shape. Eckes lost his toenails due to a combination the
effects of poor health and exposure, having been required to wear "Ho Chi Minh"
sandals. The left side of his face was badly infected from insect bites, and his
weight had dropped to 98 pounds.

At dinner that night, Eckes made a decision. He had endured all he felt he
could, and planned to make a break, but didn't know what to do. He and Dodson
discussed it, and both agreed they had to escape if they were to survive.

Eckes and Dodson were traveling with about 18 Viet Cong and three of them stayed
with the prisoners during their rice meal that evening. The guards also started
to eat, and for the first time during the trip, all three guards propped their
weapons on a tree about 20 feet away. Eckes and Dodson seemed compliant, and the
guards felt confident. The other fifteen guards were some distance away eating.

After the meal, Eckes and Dodson had to wash out their canteen cups in a stream
directly behind the Viet Cong. When they stood up, the guards believed they were
going to wash their cups, but instead, the POWs took the rifles, grabbed a few
supplies and took off through the jungle.

For the next four days, Eckes and Dodson were chased through the jungle, and
eventually made their way to a PF post just outside An Hoa (about 25 miles
southwest of Da Nang), where a Marine base was located. The two were brought in
by ambulance to An Hoa, then flown to Da Nang where medical needs were seen to
and they were debriefed. The only other American they had heard about was Bobby
Garwood.

Walt Eckes will never forget his captivity. He is aware of the great volume of
intelligence which has convinced many that POWs are still being held captive
today. He and Dodson were among a very few who were able to escape captivity in
Southeast Asia. Many tried and were tortured for their efforts, or killed. To
Eckes and others who were fortunate enough to come home, the idea that Americans
are still being held captive holds a special horror.

It's time we brought our men home.
ECKLEY, WAYNE ALVIN

Name: Wayne Alvin Eckley
Rank/Branch: E5/US Air Force
Unit: 314th Tactical Airlift Wing, Nha Trang Airbase, South Vietnam
Date of Birth: 22 May 1936
Home City of Record: Enterprise OR
Date of Loss: 29 December 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 220900N 1032200E (UK315501)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: C130E
Other Personnel In Incident: James R. Williams; Gean P. Clapper; Charles P.
Claxton; Edward J. Darcy; Donald E. Fisher; Edwin N. Osborne; Frank C. Parker;
Gerald G. Van Buren; Gordon J. Wenaas; Jack McCrary; (all missing)

REMARKS: RADIO CONTACT LOST

SYNOPSIS: On December 29, 1967, a C130E aircraft departed Nha Trang Airbase
shortly after midnight on an operational mission over North Vietnam. The eleven
man crew aboard the aircraft included Maj. Charles P. Claxton; Capt. Edwin N.
Osborne Jr., and Capt. Gerald G. Van Buren (all listed as pilots); and crewmen
SSgt. Edward J. Darcy; SSgt. Gean P. Clapper; SSgt. Wayne A. Eckley; LtCol.
Donald E. Fisher; TSgt. Jack McCrary; Capt. Frank C. Parker III; Capt. Gordon
J. Wenaas; and Sgt. James R. Williams.

At 4:30 a.m., the pilot made radio contact with Nha Trang and said the mission
was progressing as scheduled. No further contact was made. The aircraft's last
known position was in extreme northwest North Vietnam, in mountainous Lai Chau
Province. The eleven Americans aboard the aircraft were declared Missing in
Action.

When the war ended, and 591 Americans were released from Vietnamese prison
camps, the crew of the C130 was not among them. Although the Vietnamese
pledged, as part of the Paris Peace Accords, to release all prisoners and make
the fullest possible accounting of the missing, they have done neither. The
Vietnamese deny any knowledge of the crew of the C130.

Alarmingly, evidence continues to mount that Americans were left as prisoners
in Southeast Asia and continue to be held today. Unlike "MIAs" from other wars,
most of the nearly 2500 men and women who remain missing in Southeast Asia can
be accounted for. If even one was left alive (and many authorities estimate the
numbers to be in the hundreds), we have failed as a nation until and unless we
do everything possible to secure his freedom and bring him home.


ECKLUND, ARTHUR GENE

Name: Arthur Gene Ecklund
Rank/Branch: O2/US Army
Unit: 183rd Aviation Company, 223rd Aviation Battalion, 17th Aviation Group,
1st Aviation Brigade
Date of Birth: 05 May 1943 (Galesburg IL)
Home City of Record: Phoenix AZ
Date of Loss: 03 April 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 115111N 1085848E (BP750005)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: O1G

Other Personnel in Incident: Perry H. Jefferson (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 July 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: Arthur Gene Ecklund was born in Galesburg, Illinois and lived there
until he was ten years old when his family moved to Phoenix, Arizona. He
graduated from Central High School there and attended Phoenix College and
Arizona State University.

Artie entered the Army in September 1966 and took his basic training at Ft.
Bliss, Texas. He was chosen for Officers Candidate School and was commissioned
at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma. He took helicopter training, then attended fixed wing
pilot training, and was deployed to Vietnam shortly after.

On April 3, 1969, U.S. Army 1Lt. Arthur G. Ecklund and his U.S. Air Force
observer, Capt. Perry H. Jefferson, were flying a visual reconnaissance mission
out of Phan Rang airbase. They left the base at 0700 hours in an O1G aircraft
(serial #51-12078) and reported in by radio at 0730 hours giving their location,
destination and information concerning a convoy they were going to check out. No
further communication was heard, except for a signal "beeper".

Extensive search efforts began at 0950 hours with all available aircraft, and
continued for three days without success. The aircraft is believed to have
occurred in an area occupied by enemy forces, thus preventing a ground search.

On April 15, 1969, a Vietnamese source reported that he had been in contact
with a communist Montagnard who claimed the Viet Cong had shot down an aircraft
with two Americans in it, and the Americans had been wounded, but were alive,
and being held in captivity. He said the aircraft was shot down between Phan
Rang and Cam Ranh City. A later report indicated that two men fitting the
description of Ecklund and Jefferson were seen on a trail being guarded by Viet
Cong, and that they appeared to be in good health.

The U.S. Defense Department list Jefferson's loss coordinates near the coastline
of Vietnam, about 20 miles south of Cam Ranh, while Ecklund's loss coordinates
are listed about 10 miles southwest of Cam Ranh and about 15 miles northwest of
those of Jefferson. Both men are listed as lost in Ninh Thuan Province, South
Vietnam.

The presence of the reports of captivity and the emergency radio "beeper" lends
weight to the fact that the two men were captured. There can be no question that
the Vietnamese know the fate of two men. As reports concerning Americans still
alive in Southeast Asia continue to flow in, it becomes increasingly more
important to find out what happened to the men we left behind.



EDGAR, ROBERT D.

Name: Robert D. Edgar
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 21 May 1943
Home City of Record: Venice, FL
Date of Loss: 05 February 1968
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: N172000 E1055000
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: RF-4C

Other Personnel in Incident: William T. Potter (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project and the P.O.W. NETWORK 27 March
1992 from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency
sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews.
Copyright 1992 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On February 5, 1968, 1st Lt. William T. Potter and 1st Lt. Robert
D. Edgar were crew members aboard an RF-4C reconnaissance aircraft.

Robert Edgar was the navigator of the RF-4C aircraft which departed Udorn
Airfield, Thailand, on a photo reconnaissance mission over Laos. Upon arrival
in the area, which was under control of the North Vietnamese, the pilot,
William Potter contacted a controller for a specific target assignment. After
being advised on weather and terrain, the pilot notified the controller that
they were under the clouds and had located the target. He advised that he
would position for photos and depart to the NorthWest. While orbitting in the
area, the controller saw an explosion and immediate attempts to contact the
RF-4C brought no response.

The aircraft crashed on Phakap mountain, four kilometers south of Bau Phanup,
and about 2.5 kilometers east of Napank Village, Khammouan Province, Laos.

Search and Rescue forces saw no parachutes nor heard any electronic beacon
signals. Resistance fighters in the area gave reports of  investigating the
crash site, only to find the aircraft had burned and the skeletal remains of
the pilot were still inside.

Robert Edgar's missing status was changed at a presumptive finding of death
hearing to Dead/Body Not Recovered.

On May 28, 1987, The Joint Casualty Resolution Center passed on to Mrs.
Edgar, information that was received from a former RLA Sergeant and then
Resistance Fighter refugee who had departed Laos in 1976 that seemingly
confirmed the crash and burn of the RF-4C on the mountain, and the finding of
the pilot's skeletal remains still inside.

What happened to Robert. J. Edgar remains a mystery.

EDMONDSON, WILLIAM ROTHROC "ROCKY"

Name: William Rothroc "Rocky" Edmondson
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit: 61st Troop Carrier Squadron, DaNang Airbase
Date of Birth: 15 November 1941
Home City of Record: Cassville MO
Date of Loss: 31 May 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 194857N 1052924E (WG510910)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: C130E
Personnel In Incident: April 3 1965: Herschel S. Morgan; Raymond A. Vohden
(released POWs); George C. Smith (missing). April 4, 1965: Walter F. Draeger;
James A. Magnusson (missing); Carlyle S. Harris (released POW); September 16,
1965: J. Robinson Risner (released POW); May 31, 1966: Bobbie J. Alberton;
William R. Edmondson; Emmett McDonald; Armon Shingledecker; Philip J. Stickney;
(missing from the C-130E); Thomas Case; Harold J. Zook; Elroy Harworth (remains
returned from the C130E). Dayton Ragland; Ned Herrold (missing on an F-4C)

REMARKS: ALL CREW DEAD/FBIS

SYNOPSIS: The Thanh Hoa Railroad and Highway Bridge, spanning the Song Ma
River, is located three miles north of Thanh Hoa, the capital of Annam
Province, North Vietnam. It is a replacement for the original French-built
bridge destroyed by the Viet Minh in 1945 - they simply loaded two locomotives
with explosives and ran them together in the middle of the bridge.

In 1957, the North Vietnamese rebuilt the bridge. The new bridge, completed in
1964, was 540 feet long, 56 feet wide, and about 50 feet above the river. The
Vietnamese called it Ham Rong (the Dragon's Jaw), and Ho Chi Minh himself
attended its dedication. The bridge had two steel thru-truss spans which rested
in the center on a massive reinforced concrete pier 16 feet in diameter, and on
concrete abutments at the other ends. Hills on both sides of the river provided
solid bracing for the structure. Between 1965 and 1972, eight concrete piers
were added near the approaches to give additional resistance to bomb damage. A
one-meter guage single railway track ran down the 12 foot wide center and 22
foot wide concrete highways were cantilevered on each side. This giant would
prove to be one of the single most challenging targets for American air power
in Veitnam. 104 American pilots were shot down over a 75 square mile area
around the Dragon during the war. (Only the accounts of those specifically
known to be involved in major strikes against the bridge are given here. Some
losses were aircraft involved in operations against other targets. Note also,
that because aircraft came in on this target from a wide geographic area, some
personnel lost outside the 75 mile range may have been inadvertently overlooked
in this study.)

In March 1965 the decision to interdict the North Vietnamese rail system south
of the 20th parallel led immediately to the April 3, 1965 strike against the
Thanh Hoa Bridge. Lt.Col. Robinson Risner was designated overall mission
coordinator for the attack. He assembled a force consisting of 79 aircraft - 46
F105's, 21 F100's, 2 RF101's and 10 KC135 tankers. The F100's came from bases
in South Vietnam, while the rest of the aircraft were from squadrons TDY at
various Thailand bases.

Sixteen of the 46 "Thuds" (F105) were loaded with pairs of Bullpup missiles,
and each of the remaining 30 carried eight 750 lb. general purpose bombs. The
aircraft that carried the missiles and half of the bombers were scheduled to
strike the bridge; the remaining 15 would provide flak suppression. The plan
called for individual flights of four F105's from Koran and Takhli which would
be air refueled over the Mekong River before tracking across Laos to an initial
point (IP) three minutes south of the bridge. After weapon release, the plan
called for all aircraft to continue east until over the Gulf of Tonkin where
rejoin would take place and a Navy destroyer would be available to recover
anyone who had to eject due to battle damage or other causes. After rejoin, all
aircraft would return to their bases, hopefully to the tune of "The Ham Rong
Bridge if falling down."

Shortly after noon on April 3, aircraft of Rolling Thunder Mission 9-Alpha
climbed into Southeast Asia skies on their journey to the Thanh Hoa Bridge. The
sun glinting through the haze was making the target somewhat difficult to
acquire, but Risner led the way "down the chute" and 250 pound missiles were
soon exploding on the target. Since only one Bullpup missile could be fired at
a time, each pilot had to make two firing passes.

On his second pass, LtCol. Risner's aircraft took a hit just as the Bullpup hit
the bridge. Fighting a serious fuel leak and a smoke-filled cockpit in addition
to anti-aircraft fire from the enemy, he nursed his crippled aircraft to Da
Nang and to safety. The Dragon would not be so kind on another day.

The first two flights had already left the target when Capt. Bill Meyerholt,
number three man in the third flight, rolled his Thunderchief into a dive and
sqeezed off a Bullpup. The missile streaked toward the bridge, and as smoke
cleared from the previous attacks, Capt. Meyerholt was shocked to see no
visible damage to the bridge. The Bullpups were merely charring the heavy steel
and concrete structure. The remaining missile attacks confirmed that firing
Bullpups at the Dragon was about as effective as shooting BB pellets at a
Sherman tank.

The bombers, undaunted, came in for their attack, only to see their payload
drift to the far bank because of a very strong southwest wind. 1Lt. George C.
Smith's F100D was shot down near the target point as he suppressed flak. The
anti-aircraft resistance was much stronger than anticipated. No radio contact
could be made with Smith, nor could other aircraft locate him. 1Lt. Smith was
listed Missing In Action, and no further word has been heard of him.

The last flight of the day, led by Capt. Carlyle S. "Smitty" Harris, adjusted
their aiming points and scored several good hits on the roadway and super
structure. Smitty tried to assess bomb damage, but could not because of the
smoke coming from the Dragon's Jaw. The smoke would prove to be an ominous
warning of things to come.

LtCdr. Raymond A. Vohden was north of the Dragon when his A4C bomber was shot
down. Ray was captured by the North Vietnamese and held in various POW camps in
and near Hanoi until his release in February 1973. (It is not entirely clear
that this U.S. Navy Lt.Cdr. had a direct role in the attack on the bridge, but
was probably "knocked out" by the same anti-aircraft fire.)

Capt. Herschel S. Morgan's RF101 was hit and went down some 75 miles southwest
of the target area, seriously injuring the pilot. Capt. Morgan was captured and
held in and around Hanoi until his release in February 1973.

When the smoke cleared, observer aircraft found that the bridge still spanned
the river. Thirty-two Bullpups and ten dozen 750 pound bombs had been aimed at
the bridge and numerous hits had charred every part of the structure, yet it
showed no sign of going down. A restrike was ordered for the next day.

The following day, flights with call signs "Steel", "Iron", "Copper", "Moon",
"Carbon", "Zinc", "Argon", "Graphite", "Esso", "Mobil", "Shell", "Petrol", and
the "Cadillac" BDA (bomb damage assessment) flight, assembled at IP to try once
again to knock out the Dragon. On this day, Capt. Carlyle "Smitty" Harris was
flying as call sign "Steel 3". Steel 3 took the lead and oriented himself for
his run on a 300 degree heading. He reported that his bombs had impacted on the
target on the eastern end of the bridge. Steel 3 was on fire as soon as he left
the target. Radio contact was garbled, and Steel Lead, Steel 2 and Steel 4
watched helplessly as Smitty's aircraft, emitting flame for 20 feet behind,
headed due west of the target. All flight members had him in sight until the
fire died out, but observed no parachute, nor did they see the aircraft impact
the ground. Smitty's aircraft had been hit by a MiG whose pilot later recounted
the incident in "Vietnam Courier" on April 15, 1965. It was not until much
later that it would be learned that Smitty had been captured by the North
Vietnamese. Smitty was held prisoner for 8 years and released in 1973. Fellow
POWs credit Smitty with introducing the "tap code" which enabled them to
communicate with each other.

MiG's had been seen on previous missions, but for the first time in the war,
the Russian-made MiGs attacked American aircraft. Zinc 2, an F105D flown by
Capt. James A. Magnusson, had its flight bounced by MiG 17's. As Zinc Lead was
breaking to shake a MiG on his tail, Zinc 2 was hit and radioed that he was
heading for the Gulf if he could maintain control of his aircraft. The other
aircraft were busy evading the MiGs, and Magnusson radioed several times before
Steel Lead responded and instructed him to tune his radio to rescue frequency.
Magnusson's aircraft finally ditched over the Gulf of Tonkin near the island of
Hon Me, and he was not seen or heard from again. He was listed Missing In
Action.

Capt. Walter F. Draeger's A1H (probably an escort for rescue teams) was shot
down over the Gulf of Tonkin just northeast of the Dragon that day. Draeger's
aircraft was seen to crash in flames, but no parachute was observed. Draeger
was listed Missing In Action.

The remaining aircraft returned to their bases, discouraged. Although over 300
bombs scored hits on this second strike, the bridge still stood.

From April to September 1965, 19 more pilots were shot down in the general
vicinity of the Dragon, including many who were captured and released,
including Howie Rutledge, Gerald Coffee, Paul Galanti, Jeremiah Denton, Bill
Tschudy and James Stockdale. Then on September 16, 1965, Col. Robbie Risner's
F105D was shot down a few miles north of the bridge he had tried to destroy the
previous April. As he landed, Risner tore his knee painfully, a condition which
contributed to his ultimate capture by the North Vietnamese. Risner was held in
and around Hanoi until his release in 1973, but while a POW, he was held in
solitary confinement for 4 1/2 years. Besides the normal malaise and illnesses
common to POWs, Risner also suffered from kidney stones, which severely
debilitated him in the spring and summer of 1967.

By September 1965, an innovative concept had taken shape - mass-focusing the
energy of certain high explosive weapons. The Air Force quickly saw its
application against the old Dragon and devised a plan to destroy the bridge
using the new weapon. They would call the operation "Carolina Moon".

The plan necessitated two C130 aircraft dropping the weapon, a rather large
pancake-shaped affair 8 feet in diameter and 2 1/2 feet thick and weighing
5,000 pounds. The C130's would fly below 500 feet to evade radar along a 43
mile route (which meant the C130 would be vulnerable to enemy attack for about
17 minutes), and drop the bombs, which would float down the Song Ma River where
it would pass under the Dragon's Jaw, and detonate when sensors in the bomb
detected the metal of the bridge structure.

Because the slow-moving C130's would need protection, F4 Phantoms would fly
diversionary attack to the south, using flares and bombs on the highway just
before the C130 was to drop its ordnance. The F4s were to enter their target
area at 300', attack at 50' and pull off the target back to 300' for subsequent
attacks. Additionally, an EB66 was tasked to jam the radar in the area during
the attack period. Since Risner had been shot down in September, 15 more pilots
had been downed in the bridge region. Everyone knew it was hot.

The first C130 was to be flown by Maj. Richard T. Remers and the second by Maj.
Thomas F. Case, both of whom had been through extensive training for this
mission at Elgin AFB, Florida and had been deployed to Vietnam only 2 weeks
before. Ten mass-focus weapons were provided, allowing for a second mission
should the first fail to accomplish the desired results.

Last minute changes to coincide with up-to-date intelligence included one that
would be very significant in the next days. Maj. Remers felt that the aircraft
was tough enough to survive moderate anti-aircraft artillery hits and gain
enough altitude should bail-out be necessary. Maj. Case agreed that the
aircraft could take the hits, but the low-level flight would preclude a
controlled bail-out situation. With these conflicting philosophies, and the
fact that either parachutes or flak vests could be worn - but not both - Maj.
Remers decided that his crew would wear parachutes and stack their flak vests
on the floor of the aircraft. Maj. Case decided that his crew would wear only
flak vests and store the parachutes.

On the night of May 30, Maj. Remers and his crew, including navigators Capt.
Norman G. Clanton and 1Lt. William "Rocky" Edmondson, departed Da Nang at 25
minutes past midnight and headed north under radio silence. Although the
"Herky-bird" encountered no resistance at the beginning of its approach, heavy,
(although luckily, inaccurate) ground fire was encountered after it was too
late to turn back. The 5 weapons were dropped successfully in the river and
Maj. Remers made for the safety of the Gulf of Tonkin. The operation had gone
flawlessly, and the C130 was safe. Although the diversionary attack had drawn
fire, both F-4's returned to Thailand unscathed.

Unfortunately, the excitement of the crew was shortlived, because recon photos
taken at dawn showed that there was no noticeable damage to the bridge, nor was
any trace of the bombs found. A second mission was planned for the night of May
31. The plan for Maj. Case's crew was basically the same with the exception of
a minor time change and slight modification to the flight route. A crew change
was made when Maj. Case asked 1Lt. Edmondson, the navigator from the previous
night's mission, to go along on this one because of his experience from the
night before. The rest of the crew included Capt. Emmett R. McDonald, 1Lt.
Armon D. Shingledecker, 1Lt. Harold J. Zook, SSgt. Bobby J. Alberton, AM1 Elroy
E. Harworth and AM1 Philip J. Stickney. The C130 departed DaNang at 1:10 a.m.

The crew aboard one of the F4's to fly diversionary included Col. Dayton
Ragland. Ragland was no stranger to conflict when he went to Vietnam. He had
been shot down over Korea in November 1951 and had served two years as a
prisoner of war. Having flown 97 combat missions on his tour in Vietnam,
Ragland was packed and ready to go home. He would fly as "backseater" to 1Lt.
Ned R. Herrold on the mission to give the younger man more combat flight time
while he operated the sophisticated technical navigational and bombing
equipment. The F4's left Thailand and headed for the area south of the Dragon.

At about two minutes prior to the scheduled C130 drop time, the F4's were
making their diversionary attack when crew members saw anti-aircraft fire and a
large ground flash in the bridge vicinity. Maj. Case and his crew were never
seen or heard from again. During the F4 attack, Herrold and Ragland's aircraft
was hit. On its final pass, the aircraft did not pull up, but went out to sea,
and reported that the aircraft had taken heavy weapons fire. A ball of fire was
seen as the plane went into the sea.

Reconnaissance crews and search and rescue scoured the target area and the Gulf
of Tonkin the next morning, finding no sign at all of the C130 or its crew.
Rescue planes spotted a dinghy in the area in which Herrold and Ragland's
aircraft had gone down, but saw no signs of life. The dinghy was sunk to
prevent it falling into enemy hands. The bridge still stood.

In March 1967, the U.S. Navy attacked the Thanh Hoa Bridge using the new
"Walleye" missiles, but failed to knock out the bridge. Before the war ended,
54 more Americans fell in the Dragon's Jaw area.

In late 1986 the remains of Harworth, Zook and Case were returned and buried
with the honor befitting an American fighting man who has died for his country.
Ragland, Herrold, Alberton, McDonald, Edmondson, Shingledecker, Stickney,
Smith, Draeger and Magnussen are still Missing in Action.





CASE SYNOPSIS: EDWARD RAY DODGE

Name: Edward Ray Dodge
Rank/Branch: E7/US Army Special Forces
Unit: Detachment C-1, 5th Special Forces Group
Date of Birth: 16 December 1933
Home City of Record: Norfolk VA
Loss Date: 31 December 1964
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 160631N 1075320E (ZC090830)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: O1F
Other Personnel In Incident: WO1 George B. Mundis (on another O1 in same
flight -not lost); Kurt C. McDonald (missing)

REMARKS: LAST SEEN TURNING AC IN VALLEY

SYNOPSIS: SFC Edward Dodge was based at Da Nang with Detachment C-1 of the 5th
Special Forces Group. On December 31, 1964, Dodge served as observer on an O1F
aircraft flown by U.S. Air Force Capt. Kurt C. McDonald. Dodge and McDonald
were one of two O1's launched that day on similar flight paths. The other
aircraft was flown by WO1 George B. Mundis.

The two aircraft took off at about 0815 hours in marginal weather conditions.
Their flight would take them to Camp A Shau, a Special Forces camp in the lower
end of the A Shau Valley garrisoned by Detachment A-102. McDonald's flight was
intended for a delivery to the camp.

Camp A Shau was a triangular shaped camp located in triple canopy jungle, and
surrounded by elephant grass twice as high as a man. In just over a year from
the day Dodge and McDonald were due to fly over the camp, it would be overrun
by the enemy.

Mundis and McDonald flew together until they reached Hill 3350, whereupon both
aircraft made a 180 degree turn. WO1 Mundis lost sight of McDonald's plane,
which entered some bad weather, with clouds completely obscuring the ridge to
the north and extending down to make a ragged roof above the triple canopy
jungle. Mundis never saw the aircraft again.

Although returned POWs did not see Dodge or McDonald in captivity, one source
selected the photographs of both men as those who were held captive by the
communists in Southeast Asia.

Studies of declassified documents indicate that there was more than one POW
prison "system" in place during the Vietnam war, and that POWs tended to be
moved within one "system" with the same prisoners. It appears possible that a
number of prisoners were held without the knowledge of other prisoners.

Refugees fleeing Southeast Asia have come with reports of Americans still held
in captivity. There are many such reports that withstand the closest scrutiny
the U.S. Government can give, yet official policy admits only to the
"possibility" that Americans remain as captives in Southeast Asia.

Until serious negotiations begin on Americans held in Southeast Asia, the
families of nearly 2500 Americans will wonder, "Where are they?"
EDWARDS, HARRY JEROME

Name: Harry Jerome Edwards
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: Troop D, 3rd Squadron, 5th Cavalry, 101st Airborne Division
Date of Birth: 24 November 1952
Home City of Record: Holly Hill SC
Date of Loss: 20 January 1972
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 163837N 1064557E (XD883408)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H
Other Personnel in Incident: David D. Berdahl (missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On January 20, 1972, SP4 Harry J. Edwards, one of four riflemen; PFC
David D. Berdahl, the door gunner, and a four man crew were aboard a UH1H
helicopter (tail #69-16717) on a recovery mission for downed F4 fighter jet
pilots.

At about 1815 hours, the aircraft was returning from the mission northwest of
Kne Sanh in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam, when an anti-aircraft weapon
fired on and hit the aircraft, causing it to catch fire.

At first, the fire appeared at the forward end of the tail boom, but
immediately spread over the boom and then engulfed the entire aircraft. The
helicopter autorotated to the bank of the Raoquan River, landed hard and rolled
over onto its left side.

The aircraft commander of another UH1H followed the burning aircraft down, made
a pass overhead, and came to a hover adjacent to the downed helicopter. Landing
was impossible because of jagged rocks. While in a hover, the aircraft
commander saw one man dressed in a flight suit, helmet and armored vest pinned
down in the burning aircraft. This individual was apparently Berdahl.

The hovering helicopter was forced to leave because the downed aircraft started
to explode. He did not observe anyone leaving the aircraft alive, but picked up
5 survivors from the crash site and flew about 50 feet downstream to pick up
another survivor.

Berdahl and Edwards were declared Killed in Action, Body Not Recovered. It has
not been possible since that day to locate them if alive, or to recover their
bodies, if dead.

It was not uncommon for men to die trying to rescue another wounded or downed
comrade - each would say it was their duty, and that the same would be done for
them. They kept the faith with each other. Edwards had only turned 20 years old
the previous November, and Berdahl was only four days older than the legal age
for being in a combat zone. He was just 19 years old.

Since the war ended, many thousands of reports have come in convincing many
authorities that hundreds of Americans remain alive in enemy hands. The U.S.
Government, although admitting the "possibility", continues to assert that
there is no "proof". Have we kept the faith with the men we sent to fight for
us? What would Berdahl and Edwards say?



EDWARDS, HARRY SANFORD JR.

Name: Harry Sanford Edwards, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O2/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 153, USS CONSTELLATION (CVA-64)
Date of Birth: 06 November 1943 (Wheeling WV)
Home City of Record: Decatur GA
Date of Loss: 20 October 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 202100N 1060800E (XH175508)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A4C
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

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: 01 January 1990

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Lt.Cdr. Harry S. Edwards, Jr. was a pilot assigned to Attack Squadron
153 onboard the aircraft carrier USS CONSTELLATION (CVA-64). On October 20,
1966 he launched in his A4C "Skyhawk" as the number two man in a flight of six
A4s and two F4 Phantom jets. Their mission was to bomb the Trinh Xu Yen Bridge
at Nam Dinh, Nam Ha Province, North Vietnam.

Edwards entered a 45 degree dive bombing attack on the bridge, following the
flight leader. The number 3 man in the flight say Edwards' aircraft impact the
ground approximately 300 yards east of the bridge. A large fireball was
observed at the crash site. No attempt to recover from the dive was noted; no
radio transmissions were hears; no ejection or parachute was seen; and no
emergency radio beeper signals were heard.

A thorough visual search of the target area by the remainder of the flight
failed to produce any evidence of Lt.Cdr. Edwards' survival. There was moderate
85 mm anti-aircraft fire observed enroute to the target area. No enemy fire was
observed in the immediate area of the attack, however, numerous active
anti-aircraft sites were known to be in the area. This was Harry S. Edwards'
second combat mission.

After visual searches failed to locate Edwards, he was classified Missing in
Action. There was still the possibility that he ejected unseen and had survived
in spite of the lack of emergency radio signals.

In the spring of 1973, when 591 Americans were released from prison camps in
Southeast Asia, Harry S. Edwards, Jr. was not among them. He remains missing.
The U.S. believes there is a high probability that the Vietnamese know the fate
of Edwards, but as yet, they have not been forthcoming with information
concerning him.

Nearly 3000 Americans remained prisoner, missing, or otherwise unaccounted for
at the end of U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia. The return of remains have
accounted for a sigificant number of these men, yet by the end of 1989, over
2300 were still missing.

Tragically, more that 10,000 reports have been received by the U.S. Government
related to Americans missing in Southeast Asia. Many authorities believe that
there are hundreds of Americans still alive, waiting for their country to
rescue them. If Harry S. Edwards is one of them, what must he be thinking of
us? It's time we brought our men home.

EGAN, JAMES THOMAS JR.

Name: James Thomas Egan, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O2/US Marine Corps
Unit: H/3/12
Date of Birth: 31 May 1943
Home City of Record: Mountainside NJ
Date of Loss: 21 January 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 144800N 1084100E (BS521369)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Others 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.

SYNOPSIS: James T. Egan graduated from the University of Notre Dame before his
21st birthday. He joined the Marine Corps, temporarily setting aside his
ambition to become a patent lawyer. A 95 average at Quantico allowed him to
select his assignment, and he chose Hawaii.

Once in Hawaii, 1Lt. Egan's unit was unexpectedly ordered to Vietnam. Egan's
bright future changed when his unit was hit by enemy fire and he disappeared on
January 21, 1966. His unit was operating about 15 miles southwest of the city of
Quang Ngai in South Vietnam. Egan failed to arrive at the scheduled rendezvous
point his reconnaissance patrol had arranged, and he was declared Missing in
Action.

Some years later, a South Vietnamese soldier reported that he had been held
captive with Egan, but that the communists had executed Egan. As the Marine
Corps never changed his status to Prisoner of War, the validity of this report
cannot be ascertained.

There have been thousands of reports received by the U.S. Government regarding
Americans held in Southeast Asia. Government experts disagree whether or not
these reports constitute actionable evidence. To date, the U.S. has been unable
to secure the release of even a single prisoner held after the war. The Egan
family wants to know if Egan is one of them - and when he will be brought home.

James T. Egan, Jr. was promoted to the rank of Major during the period he was
maintained Missing in Action.
EIDSMOE, NORMAN EDWARD

Name: Norman Edward Eidsmoe
Rank/Branch: O4/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 165, USS RANGER (CVA 61)
Date of Birth: 02 May 1933 (Bismark ND)
Home City of Record: Rapid City ND
Date of Loss: 26 January 1968
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 184400N 1054000E
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: A6A

Others in Incident: Michael E. Dunn (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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 Grumman A6 Intruder is a two-man all weather, low-altitude,
carrier based attack plane, with versions adapted as aerial tanker and
electronic warfare platform. The A6A primarily flew close-air-support,
all-weather and night attacks on enemy troop concentrations, and night
interdiction missions. Its advanced navigation and attack system, known as DIANE
(Digital Integrated Attack Navigation Equipment) allowed small precision
targets, such as bridges, barracks and fuel depots to be located and attacked in
all weather conditions, day or night. The planes were credited with some of the
most difficult single-plane strikes in the war, including the destruction of the
Hai Duong bridge between Hanoi and Haiphong. Their missions were tough, but
their crews among the most talented and most courageous to serve the United
States.

LCDR Norman E. Eidsmoe was a pilot assigned to Attack Squadron 165 onboard the
aircraft carrier USS RANGER. On January 26, 1968, Eidsmoe launched with his
Bombardier/Navigator (BN) from the carrier in their A6A Intruder attack aircraft
on a low-level, single-plane, night strike mission into North Vietnam. Two A4
Skyhawk and two A7 Corsair attack aircraft were scheduled to provide mission
support if required.

The flight proceeded normally to the initial run-in point at the coast. The
flight was tracked inbound to approximately 5 miles from the target at which
time radar contact was lost due to low altitude and distance from tracking
stations. Support aircraft remained on station about 30 minutes, waiting for the
attack aircraft to regain radio contact at the designated time and position upon
egress from the target area.

The support aircraft neither heard no saw the strike aircraft again. No radio
contact of any kind was heard from the aircraft. The UHF radio "guard" frequency
was monitored by all the support aircraft until low fuel states required their
return to ship. No surface-to-air missile (SAM) launches were received and no
anti-aircraft fire was noted by the support aircraft, even though there were
known enemy defenses in the target area including automatic weapons, light and
medium anti-aircraft artillery and one known SAM site.

The search and rescue (SAR) expanded the following day with the sortie of two
RA5C Vigilante reconnaissance aircraft. The electronic and photographic search
produced no significant findings. It was later determined that the aircraft had
crashed approximately 7 kilometers north of the city of Vinh, Nghe An Province,
North Vietnam.

Eidsmoe and Dunn were declared Missing in Action. When 591 Americans were
returned at the end of the war, Dunn and Eidsmoe were not among them. Unlike
"MIAs" from other wars, many of the over 2300 who remain missing for can be
accounted for. And, tragically, thousands of reports have amassed indicating
that some are still held prisoner against their will.

Whether Dunn survived the downing of his plane that day in January 1968 is
unknown. What is clear, however, is that someone knows what happened to him.
It's time we learned his fate, and brought all our men home.


Michael E. Dunn graduated from Texas A & M in 1963. He was advanced to the rank
of Lieutenant Commander during the period he was maintained missing.

Norman E. Eidsmoe was promoted to the rank of Commander during the period he was
maintained missing.
EILERS, DENNIS LEE

Name: Dennis Lee Eilers
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 06 December 1938
Home City of Record: Cedar Rapids IA
Date of Loss: 24 December 1965
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 154800N 1064400E (XC856474)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: AC47D
Other Personnel In Incident: Arden K. Hassenger; W. Kevin Colwell; Joseph
Christiano; Larry C. Thornton; Derrell B. Jeffords (all missing)

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: 01 January 1990

REMARKS: MAYDAY HEARD - SEARCH NEG - J

SYNOPSIS: On December 24, 1965, President Lyndon Johnson announced a week-long
bombing halt on North Vietnam. That same day, an AC47D "Spooky" gunship was
shot down during an armed reconnaissance flight just south of the city of Ban
Bac in Saravane Province, Laos. Planes in the area of the loss of the plane
heard mayday signals, but were unable to establish contact with the crew.

The Spooky had evolved from the famed "Puff the Magic Dragon" versions of the
Douglas C47. Puff introduced a new principle to air attack in Vietnam. Troubled
by difficulties in conducting nighttime defense, Capt. Ronald Terry of the U.S.
Air Force Aeronautical Systems Division remembered reading about flying
missionaries in Latin America who lowered baskets of supplies on a rope from a
tightly circling airplane. Throughout the series of pylon turns, the basket
remained suspended over a selected point on the ground. Could this principle be
applied to fire from automatic weapons? Tests proved it could, and could be
extremely successful.

Puff's "flare kicker" illuminated the target, then the pilot used a mark on the
window to his left as a gun sight and circled slowly as three multibarrel
7-62mm machine guns fired 18,000 rounds per minute from the door and two
windows in the port side of the passenger compartment. The aircraft was called
"Puff" after a popular song of the day, and because it resembled a dragon
overhead with flames billowing from its guns. Men on the ground welcomed the
presence of Puff and the later Spooky version, which was essentially the same
as the Puff, because of its ability to concentrate a heavy dose of defensive
fire in a surgically determined area. These aircraft were extremely successful
defending positions in South Vietnam, but proved unable to survive against the
anti-aircraft defenses in Laos.

The Spooky lost in Laos on December 24, 1965 was flown by Col. Derrel B.
Jeffords and Capt. Dennis L. Eilers. The crew aboard the aircraft was Maj.
Joseph Christiano, MSgt. Larry C. Thornton, TSgt. W. Kevin Colwell, and SSgt.
Arden K. Hassenger.

When 591 Americans were released from Vietnam in 1973, the Spooky crew was not
among them. As a matter of fact, no American held in Laos was (or has been)
released. The Lao were not included in negotiations ending American involvement
in the war in Southeast Asia.

In June 1989, Arden Hassenger's wife was informed that a report had been
received saying her husband had been sighted alive in Laos. This report is one
of nearly 10,000 relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asia received by
the U.S. Government since the war ended. Mrs. Hassenger was unable to sleep to
sleep at night wondering and worrying, yet Arden Hassenger is still missing.

Henry Kissinger predicted in the 50's that future "limited political
engagements" would result, unfortunately, in nonrecoverable prisoners of war.
We have seen this prediction fulfilled in Korea and Vietnam, where thousands of
men and women remain missing, and where ample evidence exists that many of them
(from BOTH wars) are still alive today. The U.S. Government seems unable (or
unwilling) to negotiate their freedom. For Americans, the "unfortunate"
abandonment of military personnel is not acceptable, and the policy that allows
it must be changed before another generation is left behind in some faraway war.
EISENBERGER, GEORGE JO BUCK

Name: George Joe Buck Eisenberger
Rank/Branch: E5/US Army
Unit: Company B, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Infantry, 1st Infantry Division
Date of Birth: 02 March 1940
Home City of Record: Pawhuska OK
Date of Loss: 05 December 1965
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 112552N 1063324E (XT690473)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Other Personnel In Incident: Morris F. Dibble; Edward C. Upner; (both 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: KIA GND COMB - REMS NOT LOC - J

SYNOPSIS: PFC Morris Dibble and SSgt. Edward C. Upner were squad members of a
team lead by Sgt. George J. Eisenberger on a ground combat mission in Binh Duong
Province, South Vietnam on December 5, 1965.

The unit came under hostile fire from what was believed to be a Viet Cong
encampment, and in the first burst of fire, the three men were mortally wounded.
When the unit was able to withdraw from the combat area, it was not possible to
recover Dibble, Upner and Eisenberger.

When the enemy threat abated, the squad reentered the area in an attempt to find
the bodies, but they were gone. It was generally believed that they were taken
by the Viet Cong and probably buried, which was not at all an uncommon thing to
do. (Veterans note that the Viet Cong also seemed to make it as hard as possible
for the graves to be found).

The three members of Company B are listed among the dead, but because their
bodies were not recovered, they are also listed among the missing. Witnesses
felt certain that the three died on the day their unit was hit. Other cases of
the missing are not quite as clear, however. Many missing were known to have
been alive at last point of contact. Some were photographed as POWs. Others even
wrote home from POW camps, never to be heard from again.

Since the war ended, thousands of reports have been received that have convinced
many authorities that hundreds of Americans remain alive in captivity in
Southeast Asia. Perhaps Upner, Eisenberger and Dibble are not among them. But
one can imagine them proudly defending one last firebase for their freedom.

George Joe Buck Eisenberger was an American Indian.
EISENBRAUN, WILLIAM FORBES

Name: William Forbes Eisenbraun
Rank/Branch: O3/US Army Special Forces
Unit: SQ5891, Headquarters MACV
Date of Birth: 15 December 1931 (Los Angeles CA)
Home City of Record: Santa Ana CA
Date of Loss: 05 July 1965
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 151000N 1083932E (BS485780)
Status (in 1973): Prisoner/Killed in Captivity
Category: 1
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: ground
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

REMARKS: 670807 DIC - ON PRG DIC LIST

SYNOPSIS: For Americans captured in South Vietnam, daily life could be expected
to be brutally difficult. Primarily, these men suffered from disease induced by
an unfamiliar and inadequate diet - dysentery, edema, skin fungus and eczema.
The inadequate diet coupled with inadequate medical care led to the deaths of
many. Besides dietary problems, these POWs had other problems as well. They
were moved regularly to avoid being in areas that would be detected by U.S.
troops, and occasionally found themselves in the midst of U.S. bombing strikes.
Supply lines to the camps were frequently cut off, and when they were, POWs and
guards alike suffered. Unless they were able to remain in one location long
enough to grow vegetable crops and tend small animals, their diet was limited
to rice and what they could gather from the jungle.

In addition to the primitive lifestyle imposed on these men, their Viet Cong
guards could be particularly brutal in their treatment. For any minor
infraction, including conversation with other POWs, the Americans were
psychologically and physically tortured. American POWs brought back stories of
having been buried; held for days in a cage with no protection from insects and
the environment; having had water and food withheld; being shackled and beaten.
The effects of starvation and torture frequently resulted in hallucinations and
extreme disorientation. Men were reduced to animals, relying on the basic
instinct of survival as their guide. After months in this psychological
condition, many POWs, lucky to survive, discovered that they were infinitely
better treated if they became docile and helpful prisoners. Unlike in the
North, the POWs in the south did not as naturally assume a military order among
themselves - perhaps because the preponderance of POWs in the North were
officers as opposed to a larger community of enlisted men in the South - and
frequently, there was no strong leader to encourage resistance and to bring
the comfort of order to a chaotic existance.

From the camps in the South came the group of American POWs ultimately charged
with collaboration with the enemy. These charges were later dropped, but are
indicative of the strong survival instinct inherent in man, and the need for
strong leadership. It is common knowledge that nearly all POWs "violated" the
Military Code of Conduct in one way or another; some to greater degrees than
others. Those who resisted utterly, the record shows, were executed or killed
in more horrible ways.

Americans tended to be moved from camp to camp in groups. One of the groups in
South Vietnam contained a number of Americans whose fates are varied.

Capt. William "Ike" Eisenbraun was attached to the 17th Infantry regiment of
the Seventh Division ("Buffalos") when he fought in Korea. He was awarded a
Purple Heart for wounds received in Korea. In 1961, Capt. Eisenbraun
volunteered for duty in Vietnam because he believed in what we were trying to
accomplish there. He was one of the earliest to go to Southeast Asia as an
advisor to the Royal Lao and South Vietnamese Armies.

On his fourth tour of duty, Eisenbraun served as Senior Advisor, Headquarters
MACV, SQ5891, U.S. Army Special Forces. He was at jungle outpost Ba Gia near
Quang Ngai in South Vietnam when the post was overrun by an estimated 1000-1500
Viet Cong force. Newspapers described it as "one of the bloodiest battles of
the war to date". A survivor told newsmen the Viet Cong attacked in "human
waves and couldn't be stopped." There were only 180 men defending the outpost.
Captain Eisenbraun was initially reported killed in action.

Later, two Vietnamese who had been captured and escaped reported that Capt.
Eisenbraun had been captured, was being held prisoner, and was in good health.
Through the debriefings of returned POWs held with Eisenbraun, it was learned
that he died as a POW. One returned POW said that on about September 1, 1967,
Eisenbraun fell out of his hammock (which was about five feet above a pile of
logs) and landed on his right side. For about 5 days after the fall, Eisenbraun
continued his daily activites, but complained of a severe pain in his side.
After that period he stayed in bed and at about 0100 hours on September 8,
LCpl. Grissett awakened PFC Ortiz-Rivera and told him that Eisenbraun had
stopped breathing.

Another POW said Ike had died as a result of torture after an escape attempt in
1967. Robert Garwood added that Ike had provided leadership for the prisoners
at the camp, and was an obstacle to the Viet Cong in interrogating the other
prisoners. He also spoke fluent Vietnamese, which made him a definite problem.
Garwood and Eisenbraun had been held alone together at one point in their
captivity, and Ike taught Bobby the secrets of survival he had learned in SF
training, and in his years in the jungle. Bobby states that Ike knew and taught
him which insects could be eaten to fend off common jungle diseases, and that
he and Ike jokingly planned to write a cookbook called "100 ways to cook a
rat". Garwood said that Ike had been severely beaten following the escape
attempt, and that one night he was taken from his cage and not returned. The
next morning, Garwood was told that Ike had fallen from his hammock and died.

Ike Eisenbraun was buried at the camp in Quang Nam Province along with other
POWs who had died of torture and starvation. His grave was marked with a rock
inscribed by Garwood. A map has been provided to the U.S. showing the precise
location of the little cemetery and grave, yet Ike's remains have not been
returned.

Bobby Garwood had been captured on September 28, 1965 as he was driving a jeep
in Quang Nam Province. Garwood made international headlines when he created an
international incident by smuggling a note out revealing his existance. The
note resulted in his release in March 1979, after having been a prisoner of war
for 14 years. The Marine Corps immediately charged him with collaboration and
assault on a fellow POW, and he was ultimately charged and dishonorably
discharged. He is the only serviceman to be charged with these crimes from the
Vietnam War, and many feel he was singled out to discredit the stories he has
told regarding other Americans held long after the war was over in Vietnam.

Several American POWs were held at a camp in Quang Nam Province numbered ST18,
including Eisenbraun, Garwood, Grissett, LCpl. Jose Agosto-Santos, PFC Luis
Antonio Ortiz-Rivera, Marine LCpl. Robert C. Sherman, Capt. Floyd H. Kushner,
W2 Francis G. Anton, SP4 Robert Lewis, PFC James F. Pfister, PFC Earl C.
Weatherman, Cpl. Dennis W. Hammond and Sgt. Joseph S. Zawtocki.

Agosto-Santos was captured when his unit was overrun in Quang Nam Province on
May 12, 1967. Cpl. Carlos Ashlock had been killed in the same action, and he
and Agosto-Santos had been left for dead. Agosto-Santos had been wounded in the
stomach and back. For about a month, he had been cared for in a cave by the
Viet Cong. Jose felt he owed his life to the Viet Cong. He was released in a
propaganda move by the Vietnamese on January 23, 1968. Ashlock was never seen
again.

Ortiz-Rivera was a Puerto Rican who barely spoke English. His Army unit was
overrun in Binh Dinh Province several miles north of the city of Phu Cat on
December 17, 1966, and Ortiz-Rivera was captured. Ortiz-Rivera was not a
problem prisoner, according to other returnees. He was released with
Agosto-Santos January 23, 1968.

Cpl. Bobby Sherman told fellow POWs that he had been on picket duty with ARVNs
on June 24, 1967 when he decided to go to a nearby village to "get laid".
The Vietnamese girl he met there led him to the Viet Cong instead. Sherman had
been on his second tour of Vietnam. During his first tour, he had suffered
psychological problems because of the grisly job assigned to him of handling
corpses of his comrades killed in action. In the spring of 1968, Sherman,
Hammond, Weatherman, Daly, and Zawtocki, with the help of other POWs, attempted
to escape. Sherman beat a guard in the attempt and was recaptured and punished.
He was held in stocks for many days and fellow POWs said he "got crazy and
never recovered." They said he spent months as a "zombie" and "never was there"
after that. According to Harold Kushner, Bobby Sherman died on November 23,
1968. The POWs buried him in the little cemetery with Ike Eisenbraun. In March
1985, the remains of Bobby Sherman were returned during a period that
Eisenbraun's daughter was publicly asking the President to bring her father
home. A map had been published of the cemetery, and many wondered if there was
a connection.

Capt. Harold Kushner had been the sole survivor of the crash of his UH1D
helicopter on a mountainside in Quang Nam Province on November 30, 1967.
Kushner was a Army Medical Corps Flight Surgeon and had broken a tooth and
sustained a wound to his shoulder when the helicopter crashed. He was
subsequently captured by the Viet Cong. During his captivity, his wife,
Valerie, became active in the effort to end the war, believing that was the
only hope her husband had of returning home. Kushner became ambivilent about
the war himself, and when held in North Vietnam, made propaganda tapes until
informed by the more organized prisoners captured and held in the North that it
was prohibited. Kushner was released March 16, 1973 from North Vietnam.

(Note: a number of other Americans were held with this group including PFC
David N. Harker; James A. Daly; Richard R. Rehe; Willie A. Watkins; Francis E.
Cannon; Richard F. Williams; and James H. Strickland. One detailed account of
the captivity of these men can be found in "The Survivors" by Zalen Grant.
Another can be read in "Conversations With The Enemy", written by Winston Groom
and Duncan Spencer. Homecoming II Project - 2408 Hull Rd. - Kinston NC 28501
-also maintains synopsis accounts of these men.)

W2 Francis Gene "Bones" Anton was the pilot of a UH1C helicopter, code name
"Firebird". On January 5, 1968, his crewchief was SP4 Robert Lewis III, and
door gunner was PFC James F. Pfister. The crew, flying out of the 71st Assault
Helicopter Company, was shot down as they were trying to assist C Company,
under heavy mortar attack at Happy Valley in Quang Nam Province. Their co-pilot
had escaped capture. Anton is one of the few POWs who believed that Garwood,
although clearly a collaborator, was still a loyal American, helpful to his
fellow POWs. Anton, according to other POWs was "always cussing the
Vietnamese". He was released from North Vietnam on March 16, 1973. When Cannon,
Williams, Harker and McMillan were brought to the POW camp at Happy Valley,
they found Anton, Pfister and Lewis well fed and clean. Pfister later made
propaganda tapes at the Plantation in Hanoi in April 1971. Garwood called him
the "head snitch" in one of the camps along the Rock River and White River in
South Vietnam. Both Pfister and Lewis were released on March 5, 1973. None of
the three were considered by superior officers to be among those who criminally
collaborated with the enemy.

Russ Grissett was on a search mission for a missing USMC officer when he became
separated from his unit on January 22, 1966. He was with the elite 1st Force
Recon, and was captured by the Viet Cong in Quang Ngai Province. Russ was
several inches over 6' tall and carried a normal weight of around 190 pounds.
After 2 years in captivity, however, his weight had dropped to around 125
pounds. Grissett suffered particularly from dysentery and malaria, and in his
weakened condition begged his fellow POWs not to tell him any secrets. He had
already been accused of sabotaging an escape plan by Kushner. He found it
difficult to resist, and willingly made propaganda tapes about "lenient
treatment". When Ortiz-Rivera and Agosto-Santos were released, he had "behaved"
enough that he was tremendously disappointed that he was not released with
them. During one period of near-starvation, in late November 1969, Grissett
caught and killed the camp's kitchen cat. It was a dangerous move, and fellow
POWs watched helplessly and innocently as guards beat Grissett for the crime
and he never recovered. Grissett was buried in the camp's cemetery by his
fellow POWs. Harold Kushner stated that Grissett died on December 2, 1969.
David Harker, another returned POW, stated that he had died at 3:30 a.m. on
November 23, 1968. On June 23, 1989, the U.S. announced that the Vietnamese had
"discovered" the remains of Russ Grissett and returned them to the U.S. (Note:
the "cat" incident spawned the assault charges against Garwood. Garwood,
enraged that others had stood by while Grisset was mortally beaten, back-handed
one of the bystanders in the stomach and asked, "How could you let them do this
to Russ?" Some witnesses stated that the blow was not a hard one intended to
injure, but seemingly for emphasis.)

Dennis Wayne "Denny" Hammond and Joseph S. Zawtocki were Marines who were
part of a pacification team when captured during the Tet offensive on February
8, 1968. Denny was a tall, lean, good-looking man thought to be part American
Indian. He attempted escape with the other POWs in the spring of 1968 and was
shot in the leg by Montagnards in a nearby village Denny had beaten a guard to
escape. Part of the "duties" of those POWs healthy enough was to harvest
oranges in nearby Montagnard orchards. The POWs were happy to do this because
it meant badly needed exercise and the opportunity for additional food. Daly
was once accused by guards of stealing oranges that Hammond had stolen. It was
on one of these workdays that the POWs effected their ill-fated escape. After
the escape attempt and recapture, Sherman remained relatively healthy for a
time, but in early March, 1970, died. He was buried near the camp and his grave
marked by a bamboo cross. (Hammond died on 7 or 8 of March, depending on the
source.)

Joe Zawtocki was a stocky, powerful, fair-haired man of Polish descent. He and
Garwood formed a close friendship and exchanged rings. Each promised the other
that if released alone, they would contact the other's family. Joe died on
December 24, 1968 of starvation and was buried near the POW camp. Davis, a
returnee, says that Garwood lost Joe's ring. Garwood states that, upon his
return, he gave Joe's ring to the Defense Intelligence Agency. Several years
later, he learned that DIA had never returned the ring to Joe's family. Joe
Zawtocki's remains were returned to the U.S. on August 15, 1985.

Perhaps one of the strangest cases involved in this group of POWs is that of
Pvt. Earl Clyde Weatherman. Weatherman was in the Marine brig at Da Nang where
he had been confined for slugging an officer in 1967. On November 8, 1967, he
escaped the brig (which constitutes desertion). Intelligence indicates that he
paid a Vietnamese driver to take him to his Vietnamese girlfriend's house, but
the driver instead delivered him to the Viet Cong. A tall, muscular young man
of about 20 years old with reddish-blond hair and blue eyes, Weatherman was
detained in the POW camps in Quang Nam Province, and was party to the ill-fated
escape attempt in the spring of 1968. Opinion was divided among the POWs
regarding the political loyalties of Earl Weatherman. Harker felt his alliance
to the Viet Cong was only an act. Weatherman had once said to him, "Don't
believe everything you hear about me." Others felt he was clearly a turncoat.
Perhaps Garwood stated it most accurately when he said, "Weatherman's only
crime was falling in love with the wrong person - a communist."

It was widely told that during the April 1, 1968 escape attempt, Weatherman was
killed. However, Garwood states that he heard of and saw Weatherman after 1973
when other U.S. POWs were returned, and years after his supposed death in South
Vietnam. Intelligence indicates that Weatherman continued to work for the
communists, and lived with a Vietnamese wife and family. One position said to
have been held by his was with the Vietnamese government's department of
construction - the Cong Tyxay Dung. Garwood last knew him to be at Bavi, living
with a Vietnamese woman.

In 1986, several national news articles revealed that intelligence documents
showed at least 7 missing Americans had been seen alive in Vietnam in the last
dozen years, including Weatherman. Some accounts added that Weatherman had
smuggled a note out of Vietnam that he wished to come home and bring with him
his wife and children. Weatherman's father was allegedly notified of this.

The POW/MIA groups reverberated with anticipation, knowing that if Weatherman
came home, a new source of information on those men still missing would be
available. Several activists questioned a Congressional aide regarding
Weatherman. They asked, "When will Weatherman be able to come home? We
understand the holdup is visas for his wife and children."  The aide, with a
caring and sympathetic look on his face, replied, "I don't know. I just don't
know."

Of this group of prisoners and missing, only Weatherman, Hammond, Ashlock and
Eisenbraun have not returned home, alive or dead. Ashlock was left for dead on
the battlefield. Hammond and Eisenbraun are dead, but still in enemy hands.
Weatherman, for whatever reason, chose love of a woman over love of his country
and remained behind. Can America close its doors to a man who may have a wealth
of information on Americans still alive in Vietnam? If he now wishes to return
to his homeland, can we be less forgiving to him that we were to those
Americans who fled to Canada to avoid the war?




ELKINS, FRANK CALLIHAN
Remains Returned - ID Announced March 1990

Name: Frank Callihan Elkins
Rank/Branch: O3/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 164, USS ORISKANY
Date of Birth: 25 May 1939
Home City of Record: Bladenboro NC
Date of Loss: 12 October 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 190500N 1053600E (WG631099)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A4E

Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 March 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, including "Alpha Strike Vietnam" by Jeffrey
L. Levinson, personal interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: The USS ORISKANY was a World War II-era carrier on duty in Vietnam as
early as 1964. The ORISKANY's 1966 tour was undoubtedly one of the most tragic
deployments of the Vietnam conflict. This cruise saw eight VA 164 "Ghostriders"
lost; four in the onboard fire, one in an aerial refueling mishap, and another
three in the operational arena.

On July 28, 1966, Ensign George P. McSwain, Jr. was flying an A4E Skyhawk in a
strike mission near the city of Vinh, Nghe An Province, North Vietnam, when his
aircraft was hit by a surface-to-air missile (SAM). McSwain successfully ejected
and reached the ground safely, but was captured by the North Vietnamese. He was
released in Operation Homecoming on March 4, 1973.

On August 26, 1966, LTJG William H. Bullard launched from the decks of the
ORISKANY in his A4E Skyhawk on a night combat mission. Mechanical problems
caused Bullard's aircraft to go down near the carrier and he was never found.
Bullard was listed Killed, Body Not Recovered.

On October 12, 1966 still another Ghostrider was shot down. LT Frank C. Elkins
was on a strike mission near the city of Tho Trang, about five miles from the
coast of Nghe An Province, when his aircraft went down. His A4E Skyhawk had been
damaged by SAM. It was not known what happened to Elkins after the crash of his
aircraft, and he was classified Missing in Action. In March 1990, the Vietnamese
"discovered" the mortal remains of Elkins and returned them to U.S. control.

When the war ended, 591 Americans were released from POW camps. Military
authorities at the time were shocked that hundreds more known or suspected to be
held captive were not released.

Since the war ended, over 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. These reports
are the source of serious distress to many returned American prisoners. They had
a code that no one could honorably return unless all of the prisoners returned.
Not only that code of honor, but the honor of our country is at stake as long as
even one man remains unjustly held. It's time we brought our men home.

Frank C. Elkins was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Commander during the
period he was listed missing.


ELLEN, WADE LYNN

Name: Wade Lynn Ellen
Rank/Branch: W1/US Army
Unit: 57th Aviation Company, 52nd Aviation Battalion, 17th Aviation Group, 1st
Aviation Brigade
Date of Birth: 25 November 1951 (Rocky Mount NC)
Home City of Record: Norfolk VA
Date of Loss: 24 April 1972
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 143918N 1074711E (ZB001219)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel in Incident: Robert W. Brownlee; George W. Carter; James E.
Hunsicker; Johnny M. Jones; Kenneth J. Yonan; Franklin Zollicoffer (all
missing); Charles M. Lea; Ricky B. Bogle (helicopter crew, rescued); Julius G.
Warmath; John P. Keller; Walter H. Ward (helicopter passengers, rescued);
Charles W. Gordon, Cao Ky Chi (evaded capture near Dak To)

REMARKS: KIA ON ISLE - 5 RCV - NT SUBJ - J

SYNOPSIS: On the evening of April 23, 1972, Capt. Kenneth J. Yonan accompanied
his ARVN counterpart to a water tower located on the northwestern edge of the
Tanh Canh base camp compound near Dak To, Kontum Province, South Vietnam. Yonan
was an advisor assigned to Advisory Team 22, MACV, and was assisting the ARVN
42nd Regiment based there.

At about 0530 hours on April 24, Capt. Yonan was still in the water tower when
Viet Cong attacked the camp perimeter. Although tanks fired at and hit the
water tower, two other advisors spoke to Capt. Yonan after the firing and Yonan
reported that he was not hit and planned to join the other advisors when it was
safe to do so. Radio contact was maintained with Yonan until 0730 hours. The
other U.S. advisors began escape and evasion operations from the beleaguered
compound.

Team 22 Advisors Maj. George W. Carter, Maj. Julius G. Warmath, and Capt. John
P. Keller, were extracted by helicopter. The aircraft was a UH1H from the 52nd
Aviation Battalion, 17th Aviation Group, (serial #69-15715) and was flown by
Lt. James E. Hunsicker. WO Wade L. Ellen was the co-pilot of the chopper, and
SP4 Charles M. Lea, and SP5 Ricky B. Bogle were crewmen. Other persons
extracted included 1Lt. Johnny M. Jones, from the 52nd Aviation Battalion; SP4
Franklin Zollicoffer, from the U.S. Army Installation at Pleiku, and Sgt.
Walter H. Ward, unit not specified.

The helicopter departed to the northwest from Dak To, but was apparently hit by
enemy fire, as it crashed and burned on a small island in the Dak Poko River
about 500 meters from the end of the dock to the runway. Because of the rolling
terrain, personnel at the airfield did not see the aircraft impact. A pilot
flying over the wreckage reported that the helicopter was burning, but they
could see no survivors. It was later discovered that five people did survive
the crash - Warmath, Keller, Bogle, Ward and Lea. According to their
statements, Hunsicker, Ellen, Zollicoffer, Jones and Carter were all dead.

Two other Team 22, MACV Advisors, LtCol. Robert W. Brownlee and Capt. Charles
W. Gordon, and their ARVN interpreter, Sgt. Cao Ky Chi, were in a bunker near
the airstrip approximately 4 kilometers to the west of the base camp when they
were forced to withdraw under heavy enemy attack. They proceeded south of the
compound across the Dak Poko River, but LtCol. Brownlee became separated from
the others as they were advancing up a hill. Sgt. Chi and Capt. Gordon called
out to him, but received no response. From the top of the hill, Sgt. Chi heard
the enemy call out to someone in Vietnamese to halt and raise their hands. Sgt.
Chi believed the Viet Cong were speaking to LtCol. Brownlee. Gordon and Chi
evaded capture and eventually made their way to safety.

A Vietnamese who was captured and subsequently released reported that he had
talked to another prisoner who had witnessed LtCol.Brownlee's death. He was
told that LtCol. Brownlee had killed himself with his own pistol when communist
soldiers told him to raise his hands in an attempt to capture him. Additional
hearsay reports of his suicide were reported by another ARVN source.

Yonan never caught up with the others. For three days, helicopter searches were
made of the area with no success. Ground search, because of the hostile threat
in the area, was not practical.

In April 1988, the Vietnamese "discovered" the remains of Capt. Kenneth J.
Yonan and returned them to the U.S. in a spirit of stepped-up cooperation on
the POW/MIA issue. For nearly 20 years, this 1969 West Point graduate was a
prisoner of war - alive or dead. His family now knows with certainty that he is
dead, but may never learn how - or when - he died.

In addition to the reports regarding Brownlee's death, a South Vietnamese
soldier reported that he observed the capture of one "big" American from the
camp. Another report described the capture of a U.S. Captain stationed at the
camp.

Since the war ended, reports and refugee testimony have convinced many
authorities that not only do the Vietnamese possess several hundred sets of
Americans' remains, more startlingly, they also control hundreds of living
American prisoners.

As long as they are allowed to do so, the Vietnamese will return remains at
politically expedient intervals. As long as they are allowed to do so, they
will hold our men prisoner.


ELLERD, CARL JOSEPH

Name: Carl Joseph Ellerd
Rank/Branch: E5/USN
Unit: Attack Squadron 97, USS CONSTELLATION
Date of Birth: 27 November 1939
Home City of Record: Odessa TX
Date of Loss: 02 October 1969
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 175402N 1073602E (YE754810)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: C2A

Personnel In Incident: Terry L. Beck; Richard W. Bell; Michael L. Bowman; Frank
Bytheway; Rolando C. Dayao; Donald C. Dean; Herbert H. Dilger; Carl J. Ellerd;
James J. Fowler; Roy G. Fowler; Leonardo M. Gan; Paul E. Gore; William D.
Gorsuch; Rayford J. Hill; Delvin L. Kohler; Howard M. Koslosky; Robert B.
Leonard; Richard A. Livingston; Ronald W. Montgomery; William R. Moore; Paul K.
Moser; Kenneth M. Prentice; Fidel G. Salazar; Keavin L. Terrell; Michael J. Tye;
Reynaldo R. Viado (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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: On October 2, 1969, a C2A "Greyhound" cargo aircraft from Reserve
Cargo Squadron 50 departed Cubi Point Naval Air Station, Republic of the
Philippines on a shuttle flight to various aircraft carriers in the Gulf of
Tonkin in Vietnam, including the USS CONSTELLATION, the USS WALKER, the USS
HAMMER, and the USS LONG BEACH.

The flight crew onboard the aircraft, assigned to Fleet Support Squadron 50
based in Atsugi Naval Air Station, Japan, included the pilot, Lt. Herbert H.
Dilger; co-pilot, Lt. Richard A. Livingston; air crewman, Petty Officer 3rd
Class Paul K. Moser; aircraft captain, Petty Officer 3rd Class Michael J. Tye;
and loadmaster-trainee, Petty Officer 3rd Class Rayford J. Hill. Most of the
twenty passengers appear to be bound for the USS CONSTELLATION, but one was
bound for the USS LONG BEACH, one of the four Philippine citizens onboard was
headed for the USS HAMMER, and two to the USS WALKER.

The aircraft was inbound to the CONSTITUTION and made communication at about
0600 hours, reporting that operations were normal. When communicatons were
established with the Carrier Air Control, control was passed to the Marshall
controller (Approach Control). The carrier's radar continued tracking the
aircraft until approximately 0655, at which time radar contact was lost at about
10 nautical miles from the CONSTELLATION.

Helicopter search and rescue efforts were immediately initiated from the ship.
The helicopter began sighting an oil slick and debris. A few pieces of aircraft
were recovered, and analysis of this debris indicated that the aircraft was in a
relatively high speed nose down, right wing down impact with the water or had a
possible right wing failure before impact. There was no sign of survivors, nor
were any bodies recovered.

The crew and passengers onboard the C2 which went down on October 2, 1969 were
all declared Killed/Body Not Recovered. There is very little hope that they will
ever be found. They are listed with honor among the missing because no remains
were ever located to repatriate to their homeland.

For many of the missing, however, solutions are not so simple. Several were
photographed in captivity, but never returned. Others were alive and well the
last they were seen awaiting rescue. Still others described their imminent
captures. For the families of these men, the years have passed heartbreakingly
slow.

Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing in
Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. Government. Many officials who
have reviewed this largely classified information are convinced that hundreds of
Americans are still alive as captives in Southeast Asia. It's time we brought
our men home.


ELLIOT, ROBERT MALCOLM

Name: Robert Malcolm Elliot
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 34th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Korat Airbase, Thailand
Date of Birth: 08 November 1929
Home City of Record: Springfield MA
Date of Loss: 14 February 1968
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 205400N 1055800E (WH988945)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F105D
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

REMARKS: SEVERAL IRS INDICATE CAPTURE

SYNOPSIS: Capt. Robert M. Elliot was assigned to the 34th Tactical Fighter
Squadron at Korat Airbase in southern Thailand. On Valentine's Day 1968, Elliot
was the pilot of an F105D fighter jet assigned a combat mission near Hanoi,
North Vietnam.

The F105 Thunderchief ("Thud"), in its various versions, flew more missions
against North Vietnam than any other U.S. aircraft. It also suffered more
losses, partially due to its vulnerability, which was constantly under
revision. Between 1965 and 1971, the aircraft was equipped with armor plate, a
secondary flight control system, an improved pilot ejection seat, a more
precise navigation system, better blind bombing capability and ECM pods for the
wings. While the D version was a single-place aircraft, the F model carried a
second crewman which made it well suited for the role of suppressing North
Vietnam's missile defenses.

Eighty-six F-105Ds fitted with radar homing and warning gear formed the
backbone of the Wild Weasel program, initiated in 1965 to improve the Air
Force's electronic warfare capability. Upon pinpointing the radar at a missile
site, the Wild Weasel attacked with Shrike missiles that homed on radar
emissions. The versatile aircraft was also credited with downing 25 Russian
MiGs. Thirteen of these modified F's were sent to Southeast Asia in 1966.

Capt. Elliot's Thunderchief was number two in a flight of four. The flight was
to make successive runs on their target near Hanoi. As Elliot was pulling off
the target during one of his planned runs, his aircraft was hit by hostile
fire. He radioed that he was hit, but the rest of the flight did not see any
parachute or hear emergency beeper signals indicating that he was able to eject
from the aircraft. Elliot was declared Missing in Action.

The Air Force was careful not to declare Elliot dead unduly, even though no
evidence existed to indicate that he survived. Early in the war, pilots had
been declared dead because of the grim circumstances surrounding the crash of
their aircraft, only to turn up in the prison systems of North Vietnam. Indeed,
several intelligence reports were received that indicated Elliot had been
captured, although outside confirmation of this fact was apparently never made.

Elliot is among many Americans on whom information is almost certainly held by
the Vietnamese, but the Vietnamese continue to deny knowledge of him or of his
fate. As reports mount convincing many authorities that Americans are still
alive in Southeast Asia, held captive by our long-ago enemy, one must wonder if
one of those said to be still alive is Robert Elliot. He may not know that he
has been promoted to the rank of Colonel. What must he be thinking of us?
ELLIOTT, ANDREW JOHN

Name: Andrew John Elliott
Rank/Branch: W2/US Army
Unit: Troop D, 3rd Squadron, 4th Cavalry, 25th Infantry Division
Date of Birth: 30 November 1941 (Glasgow, Scotland)
Home City of Record: Oakland CA (some records say Carmel CA)
Date of Loss: 09 June 1970
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 114302N 1061546E (XT376955)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: OH6A
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: The 3rd Squadron, 4th Cavalry provided ground reconnaissance for the
25th Infantry Division in Vietnam. Troop D was its air cavalry troop, serving
mostly with the divisions 25th Aviation Battalion. In 1970, after having seen
combat in the Saigon area during the Tet offensive of 1968, the Division
continued its primary operations around Cu Chi, South Vietnam, and in the
spring of 1970 sent elements into Cambodia seeking North Vietnamese Army
sanctuaries.

W2 Andrew J. Elliot was a pilot assigned to Troop D, and on June 9, 1970 was
assigned a flight to a fire support base at Katum South Vietnam. Aboard the
OH6A "Loach" with Elliott were SP5 Stephen L. Gobry and SP4 Jerry W. McGlothen,
passengers.

When the aircraft was about half-way between Fire Support Base Santa Barbara
and Katum, WO Elliott radioed that he could not see the road nor Katum. He was
instructed by the command and control aircraft to go to Tay Ninh and shut down,
that everyone would be called to Koropey as soon as the weather cleared.
Elliott acknowledged and said, "I'm going to Tay Ninh at this time." This was
the last communication with Elliott.

After it was determined that WO Elliott's aircraft was missing, a full scale
search effort was initiated and continued for 5 days. On June 24, the wreckage
was found and recovery teams inserted into the crash site. The bodies of Gobry
and McGlothlen were recovered and positively identified. About 50 meters from
the crash site, near the body of McGlothlen, a helmet and chest protector
belonging to Elliott were found. It appeared that the body had been dragged to
this position from the crash site. A search team remained on the ground 4 days,
but were never able to find any trace of Elliott. He was listed Missing in
Action.

Whether Elliott survived the crash to be captured was never learned for
certain. In 1973, when 591 Americans were released from POW camps in Vietnam,
Elliott was not among them.

Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports have been received by the U.S.
Government relating to missing Americans in Southeast Asia. Most authorities
agree that Americans are still alive today, held against their will. Few agree
on methods to bring them home.
ELLIOTT, JERRY WILLIAM

Name: Jerry William Elliott
Rank/Branch: E2/US Army
Unit: 282nd Assault Helicopter Co., 17th Aviation Group, 1st Aviation Brigade
Date of Birth: 14 July 1948
Home City of Record: Greenville MS
Date of Loss: 21 January 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 163722N 1064434E
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1D

Other Personnel In Incident: Billy D. Hill (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 March 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II
Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On January 21, 1968, Captain Tommy C. Stiner, pilot; WO Gerald L.
McKensey Jr., co-pilot; SSgt. Billy D. Hill, doorgunner; and SP5 David H.
Harrington, crewchief; were aboard the lead UH1D helicopter and PVT Jerry W.
Elliott was the doorgunner on the following UH1D on a troop insertion mission.
The two choppers were inserting ARVN troops at an old French fort approximately
1200 meters east of Khe Sanh. Also in the lead aircraft was LtCol. Semyo, senior
advisor to the ARVN unit being inserted.

As WO McKensey's aircraft touched down on the landing zone, NVA troops stood up
all around the aircraft and began firing at the aircraft at almost point blank
range. As soon as all the ARVN troops were off loaded, the aircraft lifted off.
At approximately 8-10 feet off the ground, the aircraft was hit by either a 57mm
recoilless rifle or a direct hit mortar fire, burst into flames and crashed. PVT
Elliott, doorgunner and his crewchief were on another UH1D that landed
approximately 50-60 feet from the crashed aircraft.

LtCol. Semyo died while pinned under the aircraft. His body was subsequently
recovered. The pilot, Stiner, exited the aircraft successfully, evaded capture
and returned to friendly lines. Harrington was able to board one of the rescue
aircraft that had landed in the LZ. Before leaving the vicinity, Capt. Stiner
was in a defensive position with WO McKensey. Stiner later reported that he
witnessed McKensey being shot in the back of the head and killed.

PVT Elliott and his crewchief exited their aircraft to assist survivors of the
downed helicopter. In a matter of seconds, the crewchief returned to his
aircraft and advised the pilot to take off immediately because of the highly
intense hostile fire. The aircraft lifted off, leaving Elliott on the ground,
circled and returned to the LZ, but could not locate PVT Elliott. Three days
after the incident, a helicopter searched the area and observed a body in the
tall elephant grass and small trees. By process of elimination, the pilot
determined that the body was that of PVT Elliott.

Two sets of remains were recovered from the crash site by an unidentified unit
and were later positively identified as those of Semyo and McKensey. Hill was
last seen by Capt. Stiner, just prior to the aircraft being hit in the
compartment in which Hill was manning his machine gun. Stiner stated that Hill
was probably struck by the same volley of rounds that downed the aircraft as his
machine gun was observed blown to pieces. Stiner searched the area before taking
evasive action, but Hill could not be located.

ELLIOTT, ROBERT THOMAS
Remains Recovered in Crash Site Excavation - Positive ID Accepted

Name: Robert Thomas Elliott
Rank/Branch: E6/US Air Force
Unit: 16th Special Operations Squadron, Ubon AB, Thailand
Date of Birth: 18 December 1948
Home City of Record: El Dorado AR
Date of Loss: 21 December 1972
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 152712N 1060048E (XC087086)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: AC130A gunship

Other Personnel In Incident: Rollie Reaid; George D. MacDonald; John Winningham;
Francis Walsh; James R. Fuller; Delma E. Dickens; Robert L. Liles; Harry
Lagerwall; Paul Meder; Thomas T. Hart; Stanley Kroboth; Charles Fenter (all
missing/remains returned --see text); Joel R. Birch (remains returned); Richard
Williams, Carl E. Stevens (rescued).

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1990 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.

REMARKS: I.R. #22370432 73 - DEAD

SYNOPSIS: An AC130A gunship, "Spectre 17", flown by Capt. Harry R. Lagerwall,
departed Ubon Airbase, Thailand on an interdiction mission to interrupt enemy
cargo movements along the Ho Chi Minh Trail on December 21, 1972. The crew
onboard numbered 16. During the flight to the target, the aircraft was hit by
ground fire and after 10 minutes of level flight, the fuel exploded. Two of the
crew, Richard Williams and Carl E. Stevens, bailed out safely and were
subsequently rescued hours later. The partial body of Joel Birch (an arm) was
later recovered some distance away from the crash site.

Heat-sensitive equipment which would pinpoint the location of human beings in
the jungles was used to search for the rest of the crew with no success. It was
assumed that the missing crewmen were either dead or were no longer in the area.

According to intelligence reports, several piles of bloody bandages and 5
deployed parachutes were seen and photographed at the crash site. Also, later
requests through the Freedom of Information Act revealed a photo of what
appeared to be the initials "TH" stomped in the tall elephant grass near the
crash site. A number of reports have been received which indicate Tom Hart, if
not others, was still alive as late as 1988.

In the early 1980's a delegation comprised in part of several POW/MIA family
members visited the site of the aircraft crash in Laos. Mrs. Anne Hart found
material on the ground in the area which she believed to be bone fragment. She
photographed the material and turned it over to the U.S. Government.

In February, 1985, a joint excavation of the crash site was done by the U.S. and
Laos from which a large number of small bone fragments were found. Analysis by
the U.S. Army's Central Identification Laboratory (CIL) in Hawaii reported the
positive identification of all 13 missing crewmembers. Some critics dubbed this
identificatin "Voodoo Forensics."

Mrs. Hart was immediately skeptical.  She was concerned that the positive
identification of all 13 missing men onboard the aircraft had seemed too
convenient. She was further concerned that among the remains said to be those of
her husband, she found the bone fragment which she had herself found at the
crash site location several years before. She believed this was too much of a
coincidence.

Anne Hart had an independent analysis of the seven tiny fragments of bone which
the government said constituted the remains of her husband. Dr. Michael Charney
of Colorado State University, an internationally respected Board Certified
Forensic Anthropologist with nearly 50 years of experience in anthropology,
conducted the study.

"It is impossible," Charney wrote in his report, "to determine whether these
fragments are from LTC Hart or any other individual, whether they are from one
individual or several, or whether they are even from any of the crew members of
the aircraft in study."

Mrs. Hart refused to accept the remains and sued the government, challenging its
identification procedures. Her challenge produced additional criticism of CIL
and the techniques it uses in identifying remains. Some scientists, including
Charney, charged that CIL deliberately misinterpreted evidence in order to
identify remains. They said the Army consistently drew unwarranted conclusions
about height, weight, sex and age from tiny bone fragments. Eleven of the
"positive" identifications made on the AC130 crew were determined to be
scientifically impossible.

"These are conclusions just totally beyond the means of normal identification,
our normal limits and even our abnormal limits," said Dr. William Maples,
curator of physical anthropology at Florida State Museum.

Among the egregious errors cited by Charney was a piece of pelvic bone that the
laboratory mistakenly said was a part of a skull bone and was used to identify
Chief Master Sgt. James R. Fuller. The Reaid ID had been made based on bits of
upper arm and leg bones and a mangled POW bracelet said to be like one Reaid
wore. The MacDonald ID had been made based on the dental records for a single
tooth.

Mrs. Hart won her suit against the government. Her husband's identification, as
well as that of George MacDonald, was rescinded. The Government no longer
claimed that the identifications were positive. However, these two men were
listed as "accounted for."

Mrs. Hart's suit on behalf of her husband made it U.S. Government policy for a
family to be given the opportunity to seek outside confirmation of any
identification of remains said to be their loved ones. Mrs. Hart also believed
that the suit was successful in keeping her husband's file open. Reports were
still being received related to him.

In 1988, the Air Force forwarded a live sighting report of Tom Hart to Mrs.
Hart. The Air Force had concluded the report was false or irrelevant because
Tom Hart was "accounted for." Mrs. Hart again went to court to try and ensure
that her husband was not abandoned if, indeed, he is still alive. She wanted him
put back on the "unaccounted for" list.

In early March, 1990, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the lower
court decision that had ruled the U.S. Government erred in identifying bone
fragments as being the remains of Thomas Hart. The appellate court ruled that
the government is free to use "its discretion" in handling the identification of
victims of war and that courts should not second-guess government decisions on
when to stop searching for soldiers believed to be killed in action.

The court also denied Mrs. Hart's request to have her husband returned to the
"unaccounted for" list. "The government must make a practical decision at some
point regarding when to discontinue the search for personnel," the court said in
its ruling.

Most Americans would make the practical decision to serve their country in war,
if asked to do so. Even though there is evidence that some of this crew did not
die in the crash of the aircraft, the U.S. Government has made the "practical
decision," and obtained the support of the Justice system, to quit looking for
them.

How can we allow our government to close the books on men who have not been
proven dead whose biggest crime is serving their country? If one or more of them
are among the hundreds many believe are still alive in captivity, what must they
be thinking of us?

Knowing one could be so callously abandoned, how many will serve when next asked
to do so?
ELLIS, BILLY JOE

Name: Billy Joe Ellis
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: Company D, 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division
Date of Birth: 20 April 1948 (Johnson City TN)
Home City of Record: Elizabethton TN
Date of Loss: 03 January 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 153847N 1081013E (AT968317)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
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: On January 3, 1968, SP4 Billy Ellis was on radio watch at landing zone
Leslie when the LZ came under heavy mortar and small arms attack. Other members
of SP4 Ellis' unit stated that he had been hit in the initial barrage as they
went to seek cover. While in a protected position, these individuals saw an
ammunition bunker explode.

After the engagement, no trace of SP4 Ellis could be found. From witness
statements, it was assumed that Ellis had probably crawled into the ammunition
bunker that exploded. However, Ellis was not declared Killed in Action, because
there was sufficient doubt that he was killed. He was declared Missing in
Action, and it is believed that the Vietnamese could account for him.

Witnesses believe that Ellis was probably killed the day LZ Leslie was attacked.
If Ellis crawled into the ammunition bunker, he almost certainly did die. But
still, doubts remain.

And as thousands of reports pour in relating to Americans missing, prisoner or
unaccounted for in Southeast Asia, the probability that many of them are still
alive grows. The question rises, "Where is Billy Ellis?" If alive, what must he
be thinking of us?

Billie Joe Ellis was promoted to the rank of Staff Sergeant during the period he
was maintained Missing in Action.
ELLIS, RANDALL SHELLEY

Name: Randall Shelley Ellis
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: Headquarters & Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry, 1st
Cavalry Division
Date of Birth: 14 June 1948
Home City of Record: Charleston SC
Date of Loss: 18 April 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 112323N 1061833E (XT428593)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On April 18, 1969, SP4 Ellis was serving as a medic for HHQ, 1st
Battalion, 8th Cavalry. His unit was on a combat mission in South Vietnam,
operating in a tank infantry formation when one of the tanks was hit by a
rocket propelled grenade (RPG), causing casualties. Ellis responded
immediately, and as he climbed aboard the tank, sniper fire wounded him in the
left hand. He was taken to a medivac landing zone to be taken to a medical aid
station. He was seen by several different people at the LZ.

Whether Ellis ever boarded a medivac dustoff helicopter was never determined.
No one ever saw him again. The area was cleared and searched twice that day
and again the following day. A company-sized sweep was conducted but nothing
was found. All medical facilities in the country and some out of the country
were queried about SP4 Ellis, but no information regarding his fate was
reported.

Ellis is among some 3000 Americans whose fate remained uncertain at the end of
American involvement in Vietnam. Since 1975, that number has dwindled to around
2400 due to case resolution, and return and identification of remains.

Incredibly, when Vietnamese refugees began to flood the world, they brought
with them stories of Americans still held in their country as prisoners of war.
By 1989, the number of these reports had almost reached the number of 10,000.
The quality of these reports has been deemed very high, as less than 20% of the
total have been determined to be fabricated.

Families of the missing are taunted by reports that men are alive, captives of
our long-ago enemy, while the U.S. seems unable to do what is necessary to
bring these men home.
ELLIS, WILLIAM JR.

Name: William Ellis Jr.
Rank/Branch: E3/US Army
Unit: Company A, 1st Battalion, 35th Infantry, 3rd Brigade, 25th Infantry
Division
Date of Birth: 28 January 1947
Home City of Record: Summerville SC
Date of Loss: 24 June 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 133913N 1073622E
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/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: PFC William Ellis, Jr. was a rifleman in Alpha Company which was on a
support operation in Pleiku Province to assist in the withdrawal of a
reconnaissance platoon on June 24, 1966. The Recon platoon had been engaged with
the enemy.

As Alpha Company moved from their landing zone to the vicinity of the recon
platoon, Ellis saw a wounded soldier and returned to the LZ to get help. As
Ellis moved toward the LZ, he was seen removing his field gear so he could move
faster. Shortly after Ellis was seen headed toward the LZ, friendly forces
evacuated the area, and Ellis was not seen again. The man Ellis was trying to
help was removed with the group during withdrawal.

Searches were conducted for three or four days and into July with no trace of
Ellis. He was classified as Missing In Action. No one saw him die, no one saw
him wounded. The 19-year-old black youth who left his home in South Carolina to
serve his country disappeared without trace.

When prisoners were released at the end of the was, Ellis was not one of them.
Although there is a high probability that the Vietnamese know his fate, they
deny any knowledge of him. Even though over 10,000 reports relating to Americans
lost in Southeast Asia have been received, and many authorities believe there
are still hundreds alive today, the U.S. maintains no actionable evidence is in
hand.

ELLISON, JOHN COOLEY

Name: John Cooley Ellison
Rank/Branch: O4/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 85, USS Kitty Hawk (CVA-63)
Date of Birth: 16 December 1928
Home City of Record: Layton UT
Date of Loss: 24 March 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 212500N 1065700E (YJ020693)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: A6A

Other Personnel In Incident: James E. Plowman (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: LtCdr. John Ellison was the pilot of an A6A Intruder jet aircraft that
launched from the USS Kitty Hawk on March 24, 1967 on a combat mission over
North Vietnam. Ellison's Bombardier/Navigator that day was Ltjg. James Plowman.
The two were assigned to a strike force suppression mission against Bac Giang
Thermal Power Plant in North Vietnam. They were to suppress surface-to-air
missile (SAM) sites. The target was defended by SAM sites, light, medium and
heavy anti-aircraft batteries, automatic weapons and small arms. After the
"bombs away" call, the airborne Combat Information Officer tracked their
aircraft about 11 miles north of the planed track. Radar indications disappeared
in the vicinity of Ha Bac Province, North Vietnam. Although Ellison had radio
contact with rescuers, he and Plowman were not rescued. Ha Bac Province is in
extreme northern Vietnam near the border of China.

The families of Ellison and Plowman wonder what happened to their men that day.
There is no indication that they died when their plane disappeared, and
unofficial reports that they have been unable to verify suggest that one or both
may have been captured. A photo of a POW in the front of a march conducted in
China was identified by Navy officer and returned POW Robert Flynn who was
released by the Chinese in 1973 as being James E. Plowman. Flynn also saw a
photo of Ellison while held in China.

Plowman's wife identified him from a North Vietnamese photo just prior to
December 1970, and his parents identified him from a 1967 North Vietnamese
photo.

After Seaman Douglas Hegdahl was released from Hanoi in 1969, he told family
members of Buzz Ellison that he had seen Buzz.

Ellison and Plowman were maintained throughout the war as Missing In Action.
Even though there seems to be some doubt that the two died and that they may
have been prisoners after all, their status was never changed, and by 1980, they
had been declared administratively dead.

Although evidence existed that China held prisoners from the Korean conflict and
the Vietnam war, the U.S. rushed towards friendly relations with that country,
ignoring their best men. Today, there is evidence that Vietnam is holding
hundreds of prisoners from the war in Vietnam, yet the U.S. is again signing the
death warrants of her best men in the rush for normalization of relations.


ELZINGA, RICHARD GENE

Name: Richard Gene Elzinga
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 56th Special Operations Wing, Udorn AF TH (RAVENS)
Date of Birth: 13 August 1942
Home City of Record: Shedd OR
Date of Loss: 26 March 1970
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 175900N 1023400E (TF543931)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: O1
Other Personnel in Incident: Henry L. Allen (missing)
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1990 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.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: The Steve Canyon program was a highly classified FAC (forward air
control) operation covering the military regions of Laos. U.S. military
operations in Laos were severely restricted during the Vietnam War era because
Laos had been declared neutral by the Geneva Accords.

The non-communist forces in Laos, however, had a critical need for military
support in order to defend territory used by Lao and North Vietnamese communist
forces. The U.S., in conjunction with non-communist forces in Laos, devised a
system whereby U.S. military personnel could be "in the black" or "sheep-dipped"
(clandestine; mustered out of the military to perform military duties as a
civilian) to operate in Laos under supervision of the U.S. Ambassador to Laos.

RAVEN was the radio call sign which identified the flyers of the Steve Canyon
Program. Men recruited for the program were rated Air Force officers with at
least six months experience in Vietnam. They tended to be the very best of
pilots, but by definition, this meant that they were also mavericks, and
considered a bit wild by the mainstream military establishment.

The Ravens came under the formal command of CINCPAC and the 7/13th Air Force
56th Special Operations Wing at Nakhon Phanom, but their pay records were
maintained at Udorn with Detachment 1. Officially, they were on loan to the
U.S. Air Attache at Vientiane. Unofficially, they were sent to outposts like
Long Tieng, where their field commanders were the CIA, the Meo Generals, and the
U.S. Ambassador. Once on duty, they flew FAC missions which controlled all U.S.
air strikes over Laos.

All tactical strike aircraft had to be under the control of a FAC, who was
intimately familiar with the locale, the populous, and the tactical situation.
The FAC would find the target, order up U.S. fighter/bombers from an airborne
command and control center, mark the target accurately with white phosphorus
(Willy Pete) rockets, and control the operation throughout the time the planes
remained on station. After the fighters had departed, the FAC stayed over the
target to make a bomb damage assessment (BDA).

The FAC also had to ensure that there were no attacks on civilians, a complex
problem in a war where there were no front lines and any hamlet could suddenly
become part of the combat zone. A FAC needed a fighter pilot's mentality, but
but was obliged to fly slow and low in such unarmed and vulnerable aircraft as
the Cessna O1 Bird Dog, and the Cessna O2. Consequently, aircraft used by the
Ravens were continually peppered with ground fire. A strong fabric tape was
simply slapped over the bullet holes until the aircraft could no longer fly.

Ravens were hopelessly overworked by the war. The need for secrecy kept their
numbers low (never more than 22 at one time), and the critical need of the Meo
sometimes demanded each pilot fly 10 and 12 hour days. Some Ravens completed
their tour of approximately 6 months with a total of over 500 combat missions.

The Ravens in at Long Tieng in Military Region II, had, for several years, the
most difficult area in Laos. The base, just on the southern edge of the Plain of
Jars, was also the headquarters for the CIA-funded Meo army commanded by General
Vang Pao. An interesting account of this group can be read in Christopher
Robbins' book, "The Ravens". This book contains an account of the loss of 1Lt.
Henry L. Allen and Capt. Richard G. Elzinga:

The post at Long Tieng had been under seige, and it became necessary for Ravens
to live in Vietntiane in new quarters nicknamed Silver City, but they continued
to stage out of Long Tieng. "They called the daily flight there and back...the
'commute.'

"Hank Allen, an exceptional pilot with eyes like a hawk, took off with Dick
Elzinga in the front seat of his O-1. Allen was 'short', soon to return home
after a tour in which he had notched up four hundred combat missions, and he
planned to return directly to the States and marry his fiancee within a
fortnight. Elzinga had only just arrived in Laos, and it was his first trip up
to the secret city. Allen intended to use the 'commute' as a checkout ride. It
was a cloudy day. He took off and reported over the radio...that the O-1 was
airborne. It was the last thing ever heard from them. Neither of the pilots,
nor the plane, was ever seen again.

"They had disappeared. Each of the Ravens spent at least two hours, on top of
their usual day's flying, searching for the wreckage. No Mayday call had been
heard, nor had a beeper signal been picked up from the survival radio, and no
clue to the airplane's whereabouts was discovered. The disappearance was a
complete mystery."

The official point of loss was noted as 20 miles northeast of Vientiane, Laos.
Both men were classified Missing in Action.

Three years later, on March 10, 1973, a Pathet Lao agent was captured carrying
three of Elzinga's traveler's checks and money of three countries. Elzinga had
not been in Vientiane long enough to get a locker for his billfold. According to
a 1974 list compiled by the National League of POW/MIA Families, Elzinga, at
least, survived the loss of the O1 plane.

Elzinga and Allen are among nearly 600 Americans lost in Laos. Even though the
Pathet Lao stated publicly that they held "tens of tens" of American prisoners,
not one American held in Laos was ever released -- or negotiated for.

Since U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War ended, nearly 10,000 reports have
been received by the U.S. Government relating to Americans missing in Southeast
Asia. Many authorities have reluctantly concluded that hundreds are still alive
in captivity today. We, as a nation, owe these men our best effort to find them
and bring them home. Until the fates of the men like Elzinga and Allen are
known, their families will wonder if they are dead or alive .. and why they were
abandoned.
ENGEN, ROBERT JOSEPH

Name: Robert Joseph Engen
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: 507th Transportation Detachment, 2nd Squadron
Date of Birth: 03 April 1951 (Grand Forks ND)
Home City of Record: Stockton CA
Date of Loss: 18 February 1971
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 163910N 1062226E (XD465415)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: OH6A

Other Personnel in Incident: Gregory S. Crandall; Walter E. Lewellen (both
missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 September 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: CRASH BURN - NO SURVIV OBS - J

SYNOPSIS: LAM SON 719 was a large offensive operation against NVA communications
lines in Laos. The operation called for ARVN troops to drive west from Khe Sanh,
cut the Ho Chi Minh Trail, seize Tchpone and return to Vietnam. The ARVN would
provide and command the ground forces, while U.S. Army and Air Force would
furnish aviation airlift and supporting firepower. The 101st Airborne Division
commanded all U.S. Army aviation units in direct support of the operation. Most
of the first part of the operation, which began January 30, 1971, was called
Operation DEWEY CANYON II, and was conducted by U.S. ground forces in Vietnam.

On February 8, 1971, early into the operation, a U.S. Army OH6A helicopter was
shot down about 8 miles east of Tchpone. This aircraft, flown by W1 Gregory
Crandall, pilot, SP4 Robert J. Engen, scout/observer, and Sgt. Walter E.
Lewellen, crew chief, was conducting an aerial reconnaissance mission when
Crandall radioed that he was under heavy enemy fire. As he maneuvered to evade
the fire, the aircraft was seen to crash and catch on fire. There was one major
and six secondary explosions. About March 7, an ARVN unit spotted the wreckage,
but was unable to reach it to thoroughly investigate. It was never learned for
certain that the crew perished.

Losses were heavy in Lam Son 719. The ARVN lost almost 50% of their force. U.S.
aviation units lost 168 helicopters; another 618 were damaged. Fifty-five
aircrewmen were killed, 178 wounded, and 34 missing in action in the entire
operation, lasting until April 6, 1971.

In all, nearly 600 Americans were lost in Laos, but because we did not negotiate
with the Pathet Lao, no Americans held in Laos were released. Since that time,
over 10,000 reports have been received relating to Americans prisoner, missing
or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia. Although many authorities are convinced
that hundreds remain alive, the U.S. has not secured the release of a single
man.



            CASE SYNOPSIS:  ENGLANDER, LAWRENCE JESSE

  ============================================================================

Name:                Lawrence Jesse Englander
Rank/Branch:            E5/US Army Special Forces
Unit:                Detachment A-109
                5th Special Forces Group
Date of Birth:            19 April 1943
Home City of Record:        Van Nuys CA
Date of Loss:            02 May 1968
Country of Loss:        South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates:        1054559N 1075019E
Status (in 1973):        Missing In Action
Category:            2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground:    Ground
Other Personnel
In Incident:            none missing

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS:  Sgt. Lawrence Englander was an advisor on a CIDG heliborne assault
operation conducted southwest of Thuong Duc Special Forces Camp.  His unit came
under intense automatic weapons fire from fortified NVA positions 8 miles from
the camp.  Englander stated by radio that he was wounded in the foot and arm
and pinned down in an open field behind a dead Vietnamese radio operator, but
refused help because he claimed to be "zeroed in", that any movement would
bring heavy fire, and that he would try to crawl back to friendly lines.

Englander's plan was to move back to the reserve element to lead them to the
forward element.  While moving to the rear, Englander was again hit by enemy
fire.  LLDB Lieutenant Ho Tang Dzu stated that he saw him hit by machine gun
fire in the back and head, but attempts to reach him failed and the battlefield
was abandoned.    He felt that the hits Englander took were probably fatal.

When sweeps of the area were conducted later, no trace of Englander was found.
While it was common for the Vietnamese to bury American casualties and
carefully conceal the graves, the possibility also exists that Englander
survived to be captured.  He was classified Missing In Action, and is among
nearly 2500 Americans who remain unaccounted for in Vietnam.

Evidence mounts that hundreds of Americans are still alive, captive in
Southeast Asia.  Whether Englander is among them is unknown, but one can
imagine him proudly moving back to lead them forward to freedom if he could.
ENSCH, JOHN CLYDE

Name: John Clyde Ensch
Rank/Branch: O3/US Navy
Unit: Fighter Squadron 161, USS MIDWAY
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Springfield IL
Date of Loss: 25 August 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 204231N 1062731E (XH512875)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4B

Other Personnel in Incident: Michael W. Doyle (remains returned)

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: 730329 RELSD BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: LTCDR Michael W. Doyle was a pilot assigned to Fighter Squadron 161
onboard the aircraft carrier USS MIDWAY. On August 25, 1972 he launched with his
Radar Intercept Officer (RIO), Lt. John C. Ensch, in their F4B Phantom fighter
aircraft. Their mission was a MiG Combat Air Patrol over North Vietnam.

At approximately 24 miles southwest of Haiphong the aircraft was hit by a
surface-to-air missile (SAM). Doyle and Ensch ejected immediately and were
sighted by their wingman on descent. An emergency radio beeper was heard for
approximately 10 seconds. Search and rescue efforts were initiated without
success, and were terminated two days later.

The U.S. received information quickly that John Ensch had been captured.
Although Doyle was at first listed Missing in Action, he, too, was ultimately
listed as Prisoner of War.

John Ensch was released in Operation Homecoming in 1973. William Doyle was not.
Ensch had suffered a broken left arm and hand which had been poorly set, leaving
him disfigured and disabled. Several returning POWs had information relating to
Doyle. Doyle's flight helmet had been seen with a pile of gear at the "Hanoi
Hilton" prisoner of war complex in Hanoi. Also, Doyle's name was scratched on a
pre-interrogation cell wall in the complex.

The Vietnamese denied any knowledge of William Doyle.

In July 1985, the Vietnamese "discovered" the remains of William Doyle and
returned them to U.S. control. Doyle was missing for 13 years.

Nearly 2500 Americans did not return from the war in Vietnam. Thousands of
reports have been received indicating that some hundreds remain alive in
captivity. As in the case of William Doyle, Vietnam and her communist allies can
account for most of them. Current "negotiations" between the U.S. and Vietnam
have yielded the remains of nearly 300 Americans -- remains which should have
been returned decades ago.

In the total view of the issue of the missing, however, the return of remains
signals no progress. In the early 1980's the very credible Congressional
testimony of a Vietnamese mortician indicated that the Vietnamese are in
possession of over 400 sets of remains. In 15 years, they have returned barely
half that number. More importantly, the same credible witness, whose testimony
regarding remains is believed throughout Congress, stated that he had seen live
Americans held at the same location where the remains were stored. The testimony
regarding live Americans is not considered credible.

As long as even one American remains alive in captivity in Southeast Asia, the
only issue is that one living man. We must bring them home before there are only
remains to negotiate for.


Michael William Doyle was promoted to the rank of Commander during the period he
was prisoner of war.

ENTRICAN, DANNY DAY

Name: Danny Day Entrican
Rank/Branch: O2/US Army Special Forces
Unit: Task Force 1, Advisory Element, USARV Advisory Group, 5th Special
Forces Group
Date of Birth: 12 August 1946 (Fort Devens MA)
Home City of Record: Brookhaven MS
Date of Loss: 18 May 1971
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 162800N 1065426E (YD036214)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 1
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Other Personnel In Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: 1Lt. Danny Entrican was a Special Forces reconnaissance patrol leader
for Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol (LRRP) alert team "Alaska" which was
inserted into the Da Krong Valley in Thua Thin Province, South Vietnam on May
8, 1971. Entrican's duty assignment in Da Nang was that of an advisor to the
South Vietnamese army. His team consisted of three Americans and three Chinese
Nung mercenaries. The team was overwhelmed in a firefight three days later about
1 mile from the border of Laos, due west of Hue.

During the firefight, two Americans and one Nung was killed. Surviving commando
Truong Minh Long and interpreter Truong To Ha stated that they rolled downhill
after a hostile search party detected them hiding in the bush. Danny and the two
Nung had tried to make a chopper pickup, but Entrican, who  was apparently
wounded and yelled at them to move out and try to make the pickup alone. Danny
Entrican was declared Missing In Action.

Three months later, a friend of Danny's who was intensely interested in learning
his fate heard his code name in an intercepted message. The message described
his movement from the South to the North as a prisoner. Because the code names
were highly secret and to be used by personnel on SOG missions to verify their
identity, the friend reasoned that the enemy had extracted the code name from
Danny. There could be no other way to obtain it and to him, it was clear proof
that Danny was alive.

Henry Kissinger did not put Danny's name on his list of "discrepancy" cases for
which the Vietnamese could certainly provide either the man or information on
his fate. These were individuals who were known to have been under enemy control
- alive or dead. To this date, Danny's family does not know his fate.

ERSKINE, JACK DOUGLAS

Name: Jack Douglas Erskine
Rank/Branch: U.S. Civilian
Unit: Geotronics Company
Date of Birth: 11 May 1927
Home City of Record:
Date of Loss: 13 November 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 112052N 1085252E (BN688552)
Status (in 1973): Prisoner Of War
Category: 1
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Jeep
Other Personnel in Incident: (Philippino, escaped)

REMARKS: VC SKETCHES OF ERSKINE FOUND

SYNOPSIS: On the afternoon of November 13, 1968, Jack D. Erskine, a civilian
employee of the Geotronics Company was captured by personnel wearing black
pajamas (presumed to be Viet Cong) when the jeep he was riding in was ambushed.
The incident occurred on National Highway 1 in Binh Thuan Province, South
Vietnam. Highway 1 follows the coastline of Vietnam, and Erskine was just about
at the point where Binh Thuan and Nunh Thuan Provinces meet when he was
captured. A Philippine national who was in the jeep with Erskine managed to
escape.

In February 1970, Viet Cong documents were found in Binh Thuan Province which
contained three artist sketches drawn in January 1970 depicting Erskine in
captivity. At about the same time, a Viet Cong rallier who had participated in
Erskine's capture reported on the incident.

Erskine's name did not appear on any list of prisoners held. He is one of
nearly 2500 Americans who are missing in Southeast Asia. Some, like Jack
Erskine were known to have been prisoners, yet the Vietnamese deny any
knowledge of their fates.

Since the end of the war, nearly 10,000 reports have been received by the U.S.
relating to the missing in Southeast Asia, convincing many authorities that
hundreds are still alive in captivity. Whether Erskine is among them is
unknown, but as long as there is even one American held unjustly, every effort
must be made to bring him home.
ERWIN, DONALD EDWARD
Remains Returned - ID Announced March 1990

Name: Donald Edward Erwin
Rank/Branch: O5/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 164, USS HANCOCK (CVA 19)
Date of Birth: 01 January 1929
Home City of Record: Hobart IN
Date of Loss: 02 October 1968
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 184957N 1052958E (WF680970)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A4E
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

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:

SYNOPSIS: The McDonnell Douglas A4 Skyhawk was intended to provide the Navy and
Marine Corps with an inexpensive, lightweight attack and ground support
aircraft. The design emphasized low-speed control and stability during take-off
and landing, as well as strength enough for catapult launch and carrier
landings. The plane was so compact that it did not need folding wings for
aboardship storage and handling.

Commander Donald Edward Erwin was the pilot of an A-4E "SKYHAWK" attack aircraft
assigned to Attack Squadron ONE SIX FOUR on board the USS HANCOCK (CVA-19). On
October 2, 1968 he launched on an armed reconnaissance mission over North
Vietnam. He received a direct hit from anti-aircraft fire, forcing him to guide
his aircraft over the water. Commander Erwin was observed ejecting by his
wingman and land in the water. On a later pass the wingman saw only the pilot's
helmet and parachute in the water. No emergency radio transmission were
received. There were numerous small fishing boats observed in the area of the
ejection. Search and Rescue helicopters had no success in locating Commander
Erwin.

Defense Department loss coordinates (184957N 1052958E) place Commander Erwin's
last position about 20 miles northwest of the city of Vinh in Nghe An Province,
North Vietnam. This location is about 15 miles inland from the Gulf of Tonkin.
Other U.S. Government records state that Commander Erwin's aircraft was lost
over water, and that he was killed in the crash, and his remains were
determined to be non-recoverable (indicating a disastrous sea crash where no
trace could be found of the pilot).

In March, 1990, the Defense Department announced that a number of American
remains had been returned by Vietnam and had been positively identified. Among
them were those of Donald E. Erwin.

Nearly 2500 Americans did not return from the war in Vietnam. Thousands of
reports have been received indicating that some hundreds remain alive in
captivity. As in the case of Commander Erwin, Vietnam and her communist allies
can account for most of them. Current "negotiations" between the U.S. and
Vietnam have yielded the remains of nearly 300 Americans. The families of these
men at least now have the peace of knowing whether their loved one is alive or
dead.

In the total view of the issue of the missing, however, the return of remains
signals no progress. In the early 1980's the very credible Congressional
testimony of a Vietnamese mortician indicated that the Vietnamese are in
possession of over 400 sets of remains. In 15 years, they have returned barely
half of them -- others coming from joint excavations of aircraft crash sites.
More importantly, the same credible witness, whose testimony is believed
throughout Congress, stated that he had seen live Americans held at the same
location where the remains were stored -- after the war was over for the U.S.

As long as even one American remains alive in captivity in Southeast Asia, the
only issue is that living man. We must bring them home before there are only
remains to negotiate for.







ESPENSHIED, JOHN LEE
Remains Returned December 1988

Name: John Lee Espenshied
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 17 August 1934
Home City of Record: Delaware OH
Date of Loss: 21 October 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 121000N 1084700E (BP588495)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: O2A
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Major John Espenshied was the observer aboard an O2A Cessna
observation aircraft on a flight over South Vietnam on October 21, 1969. Public
record does not indicate the name of the pilot of the aircraft.

The O2 was a stopgap replacement aircraft for the O1 "Birddog" until the North
American OV10A arrived in Vietnam. The O1, O2 and OV10 served as vehicles for
forward air contollers (FAC) in Vietnam, as well as reconnaissance aircraft.
The small aircraft would fly in rather low and mark targets for armed aircraft
to follow with airstrikes. The O1, O2 and OV10 were a sure signal to the
Vietnamese that bombing would follow, and while they were greatly feared for a
time, as time passed, the enemy became more and more aggressive in trying to
knock the planes out before the impending strikes could be directed. All three
aircraft lacked adequate armour to protect its passengers from heavy
anti-aircraft fire.

At a point where the Provinces of Tuyen Duc, Ninh Thuan and Khanh Hoa meet,
Espenshied's aircraft went down, and he was not found. At the time, the U.S.
judged that there could be no way of knowing whether the enemy found the crash,
or whether Espenshied had been killed or survived. He was listed as Missing In
Action.

For four years, Espenshied's family waited to see if he had been captured, and
would be released with other American POWs in 1973, but he was not. The
Vietnamese, who had pledged earlier that year to release all POWs and account
for as many as possible of the missing, denied any knowledge of Espenshied.

For the next 15 years, reports flowed in relating to Americans missing in
Southeast Asia. By the end of 1988, over 8,000 of them had been received by the
U.S. convincing many authorities that hundreds of Americans are still alive in
captivity. The Espenshied family did not want to write their man off as dead,
but yet the thought that he could be alive and abandoned to the enemy was more
than they could bear.

In December, 1988, the Vietnamese "discovered" the body of John Espenshied and
returned it to U.S. control. Like nearly 2500 other Americans, alive and dead,
he had been a chess piece in a political game for nearly 20 years.

For the Espenshied family, life can be resumed without the horror of not
knowing. For nearly 2500 other families, however, the agony continues. And for
hundreds of abandoned American prisoners, life goes on.



ESTES, WALTER "O" II
Remains Returned 30 September 1977

Name: Walter O Estes II
Rank/Branch: O2/US Navy Reserves
Unit: Fighter Squadron 151, USS CORAL SEA (CVA 43)
Date of Birth: 10 June 1939
Home City of Record: Williamston MI
Date of Loss: 19 November 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 204359N 1063857E (XH683896)
Status (in 1973): Prisoner of War
Category: 1
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4B

Other Personnel in Incident: Claude D. Clower (released POW); 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: 770930 REMS RETD BY SRV

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.



ESTOCIN, MICHAEL JOHN

Name: Michael John Estocin
Rank/Branch: O4/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 192, USS TICONDEROGA (CVA-14)
Date of Birth: 27 April 1931
Home City of Record: Turtle Creek PA
Loss Date: 26 April 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 204258N 1070257E (YH134919)
Status (in 1973): Prisoner of War
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: A4E
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 USS TICONDEROGA (CVA 14) was first in Vietnam waters in late 1944
when fighter planes from the TICONDEROGA and the USS HANCOCK flew strike
missions against enemy vessels in Saigon Harbor. The TICONDEROGA, the fourteenth
U.S. aircraft carrier to be built, was on station during the very early years of
the Vietnam war and remained throughout most of the duration of the war.

The "World Famous Golden Dragons" of Attack squadron 192 returned to the waters
off North Vietnam in November 1966, their third combat deployment and a cruise
that would prove to be both intense and noteworthy.

LTCDR Michael J. Estocin was an A4E Skyhawk pilot and the operations officer of
Attack Squadron ONE NINE TWO, onboard the USS TICONDEROGA. On March 11, 1967,
Estocin was the lead pilot of a three-plane group in support of a coordinated
strike against two thermal power plants in Haiphong. Estocin was to fly SHRIKE,
which considered among the toughest of the war. He was one of six SHRIKE pilots
in the squadron on this, his second tour of Vietnam. The previous month, the
executive officer of the squadron, CDR Ernest M. "Mel" Moore, had been hit on a
SHRIKE mission and had been captured by the North Vietnamese.

The SHRIKE pilot's job was to fly ahead of the strike group by five to seven
minutes literally trying to draw fire from the surface-to-air missile
emplacements. When the ground radar found the SHRIKE, the pilot would fire
anti-radar missiles at SAM sites. The goal was either to actually knock out the
SAM radar or, as was sometimes the case, to force the North Vietnamese to turn
off the radar, enabling the alpha strike force behind the SHRIKE aircraft to fly
on and off their targets without SAMs launched against them. The more SAMs that
were fired at the SHRIKES meant fewer fired at the formations, which had to stay
together to complete their part of the mission.

During the operation, Estocin provided warnings to the strike group leaders of
SAM threats, and personally neutralized three SAM sites. Although Estocin's
aircraft was severely damaged by an expoloding missile, he reentered the target
area and prosecuted a SHRIKE attack amidst intense anti-aircraft fire. He left
the target area when he had less than five minutes of fuel remaining. Estocin
refueled during his return to the ship.

Six days later, on April 26, Estocin again flew a SHRIKE mission over Haiphong
against enemy fuel facilities. Again, his aircraft was seriously damaged by
shrapnel from an exploding SAM, but he gained control of the plane and launched
his SHRIKE missiles before departing the area.

Estocin called, "I'm hit," and his wingman informed him that he was trailing
fuel and on fire. The aircraft was observed to recover after 4-5 uncontrolled
aileron rolls, and Estocin turned toward the sea calling: "I'm going down,
switch to channel five" (Search and Rescue Common Frequency). Estocin was
observed by his wingman to be sitting erect and appeared to be uninjured. The
cockpit area of the aircraft was undamaged by the missile. Passing an altitude
of 6000 feet the aircraft again commenced a series of uncontrolled aileron
rolls, and then stabilized in the inverted position descending in a 10-15 degree
dive.

Estocin's wingman observed the aircraft enter a 3500 feet undercast cloud layer
in the inverted position. Maximum ground elevation in the area was 1,086 feet.
The islands in the vicinity of Haiphong, where the aircraft was last seen, are
sparsely populated, densely covered with foliage, and ideal for escape and
evasion. No part of the ejection sequence was observed by the wingman, who was
less than 1,000 feet from the aircraft throughout this period. The overcast
cloud layer bottoms were lying on the ground which precluded observation of
aircraft impact or immediate search of the area for the pilot. Radio contact was
lost with Estocin after his aircraft entered the cloud layer.

Electronic and visual searches were conducted until dark and began again at the
first light. No voice or other electronic communications were established, and
visual search failed to locate the aircraft crash site or any sign of the pilot.
No reports of pilot capture or aircraft downing in the area was reported by the
Vietnamese following this incident. It was the considered opinion of the
Commanding Officer that Estocin be carried as Missing In Action.

On April 26 and 27, Radio Hanoi broadcasted information indicating that Estocin
may have been captured. U.S. intelligence sources reported that Estocin was
alive in North Vietnam, as a prisoner of war and his status was changed to
reflect this. An interesting side-note to Estocin's story is that one of his
squadron mates, who actually wrote the citation application for Estocin's
mission, never knew that there was the chance he had ejected. For the next 20
years, the squadron member believed no word had ever been surfaced on the fate
of Michael Estocin. This is not in the least unusual, given the U.S.
Government's conservative policy of releasing information on Americans who are
missing. Much of the information publicly released is classified or incomplete.
This would also apply even to military personnel who did not have a "need to
know."

Estocin's family wrote and sent packages. In August, 1972, a package sent by
Mike's sister was returned from Hanoi. All the contents were still in the
package, but it had been opened and other items had been added.

Added to the box was a crudely cut, hand-sewn felt bootie with two "M's" cut out
of felt on it (Michael's wife's name is Maria). Inside the bootie were three
hearts and two scraps of felt (The Estocins have three children). The Navy could
not determine how this could have happened. Mike's family felt they were made by
Mike and were heartened by this sign of his well-being.

In 1973, 591 American prisoners were released from North Vietnam. LCDR Estocin
was not among them. Returned POWs heard his name in several camps, and sources
reported that he was alive, still held prisoner. Hanoi denies any knowledge of
Michael Estocin. He is among nearly 2500 Americans still missing from the
Vietnam war.

Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports have been received relating to
Americans missing in Southeast Asia which have convinced many officials that
large numbers are still alive as captives. Estocin could be one of them.


Michael John Estocin is the only Navy jet pilot to receive the Congressional
Medal of Honor for a combat role. He was awarded the CMH for conspicuous
gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of
duty on 20 and 26 April 1967. While the CMH was not normally given for a
combination of missions, an exception was made for this very intense two-day
SHRIKE mission and, according to those who flew with Estocin, the honor was
well-deserved.


EVANCHO, RICHARD

Name: Richard Evancho
Rank/Branch: E4/US Marine Corps
Unit: MAB 536, Marine Air Group 36
Date of Birth: 18 March 1948
Home City of Record: Freeland PA
Date of Loss: 26 March 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 161408N 1080740E (AU930130)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: UH34D

Other Personnel In Incident: Glenn W. Mowrey; Larry E. Green; Frankie E.
Allgood; Ernest C. Kerr (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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: PIL/COP RES - ALL SEARCH FAIL - J

SYNOPSIS: The Sikorsky UH34D Seahorse was a vital aircraft in Vietnam, serving
as transport of both personnel and materiel. The Seahorse and its pilots
particularly distinguished themselves throughout the spring of 1968 during one
of the most crucial and bitterly contested struggles of the Vietnam War -- the
Tet Offensive.

On March 26, 1968, a UH34D was serving as a medevac helicopter in South Vietnam.
The crew consisted of the pilot and co-pilot, as well as CPL Larry E. Green,
crew chief; and LCPL Ernest C. Kerr Jr., gunner. They were transported wounded
Marines for medical treatment.

LTC Frankie E. Allgood had been wounded in the temple by shrapnel; LCPL Richard
Evancho and CPL Glenn W. Mowrey were also injured. These three were being
medevaced onboard the UH34D. The helicopter crossed a stretch of the South China
Sea during adverse weather conditions. The helicopter crashed into the sea about
three miles from its destination, Da Nang, South Vietnam.

Search teams were dispatched at once, and the pilot and co-pilot were rescued.
Crew members Kerr and Green were not rescued, nor were the other occupants of
the helicopter, including the badly wounded Frankie Allgood. All were presumed
drowned and were classified Killed, Body Not Recovered. Because the medevac was
apparently not struck by hostile fire, the incident was deemed non-battle
related.

For the men aboard the Seahorse lost on March 26, 1968, death seems a certainty.
For hundreds of others, however, simple answers are not possible. Adding to the
torment of nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asia
is the certain knowledge that some Americans who were known to be prisoners of
war were not released at the end of the war. Others were suspected to be
prisoners, and still others were in radio contact with would-be rescuers when
last seen alive. Many were known to have survived their loss incidents, only to
disappear without a trace.

The problem of Americans still missing torments not only the families of those
who are missing, but the men who fought by their sides, and those in the general
public who realize the full implication of leaving men unaccounted for at the
end of a war.

Tragically, many authorities believe there are hundreds of Americans still alive
in captivity in Southeast Asia today. What must they be thinking of us? What
will our next generation say if called to fight if we are unable to bring these
men home from Southeast Asia?



EVANS, BILLY KENNEDY JR.

Name: Billy Kennedy Evans Jr.
Rank/Branch: E5/US Army
Unit: HHC; 1st Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division
Date of Birth: 08 November 1947 (Elizabeth City NC)
Home City of Record: Roanoke VA
Date of Loss: 05 December 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 113045N 1055322E (WT970727)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: OH6A

Other Personnel In Incident: John A. Berry (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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 Hughes Aircraft OH6A Cayuse ("Loach") was envisioned as an
all-purpose helicopter to perform such duties as personnel or cargo transport,
light ground attack or casualty evacuation, observation, and photographic
reconnaissance. But the Loach proved most effective at visual reconnaissance,
searching out signs of the enemy even in heavily defended areas. The light
helicopter skimmed the treetops, its crew peering through gaps in the jungle
canopy in search of tracks, cooking fires, huts, or other signs of the enemy.

On December 5, 1968, SP4 Billy K. Evans Jr., observer, and WO1 John A. Berry,
pilot, were aboard the lead OH6A helicopter (tail #67-16341), in a flight of two
OH6As on a reconnaissance mission on a suspected enemy bunker complex in Tay
Ninh Province, South Vietnam, very near the border of Cambodia. During a pass
over the complex, Berry's aircraft received fire, and he notified his wingman of
the situation. Berry's helicopter then turned left, nosed over, crashed and
burned. The wingman and his observer had continuous observation of the incident
and saw no one thrown from the aircraft or departing the wreckage.

An aerial search of the open area around the crash site indicated no survivors.
No ground search was possible due to enemy anti-aircraft weapons and extensive
enemy bunkers in the area. At the time of the crash, Berry's OH6A had half a
tank of fuel and more than 3000 rounds of ammunition aboard. A small portion of
the tail boom and a piece of the tail rudder were the only recognizable portions
of the aircraft remaining. Both Berry and Evans were initially declared Missing
in Action, on the chance that they may have escaped the burning aircraft.

On October 18, 1973, a message from DIA cited a captured enemy film of a crash
site which showed 2 deceased American helicopter crewmembers. Based on the
analysis of this film, the status of Evans and Berry was changed to Killed in
Action, Bodies Not Recovered (KIA/BNR) by the U.S. Army.

A hearsay report was later received indicating that a set of remains had been
found in a crashed helicopter in the jungles of Tay Ninh Province. Allegedly,
the remains were those of a Second Lieutenant named Bill. This may correlate to
SP4 Billy Evans. Jr.

Like hundreds of others, Berry and Evans fate is unknown. While it is thought
they are dead, their families cannot be sure. Increasing number of reports of
Americans still alive and held captive prevent the families from being able to
lay the matter to rest. Until these men are brought home, someone will always
wonder, "Where are John Berry and Billy Evans?"

EVANS, CLEVELAND JR.

Name: Cleveland Evans, Jr.
Rank/Branch: E5/US Marine Corps
Unit: A/3DMTBN, 3rd Marine Division
Date of Birth: 22 November 1945
Home City of Record: Hot Springs AR
Date of Loss: 13 March 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 163650N 1072618E (YD601383)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1B

Other Personnel In Incident: Steven Heitman; Jimmy L. Watson (both missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On March 13, 1968, SP5 Heitman, Sgt. Evans, passengers, WO Jimmy
Watson, pilot, SFC Eugene Gubbins, PFC Larry Moore and Lt. Purda, crewmembers
and 4 unidentified passengers of the 101st Airborne Division were aboard a UH1H
helicopter (tail #67-17254) which proceeded north from Phu Bai airfield on a
logistics mission to Camp Evans, Republic of Vietnam. Evans was on the aircraft
on the first leg of a journey to Da Nang, to visit his brother, who was
stationed there.

About 3-5 miles southeast of Camp Evans, the helicopter was hit by enemy fire
and was forced to land. All 10 persons exited the aircraft and split into two
5-man teams in an attempt to evade to friendly lines.

Lt. Purda and the four 101st Airborne personnel walked into Camp Evans at 2000
hours. An intensive search was initiated, but failed to reveal any trace of the
aircraft or the 5 missing. On March 28, elements of the 1st Cavalry Division
found 2 bodies in a shallow grave in the area of the crash site. They were later
identified as those of SFC Gubbins and PFC Moore. The fates of the other 3
remained a mystery and the three were classified Missing in Action.

Since the war ended, thousands of reports have convinced many authorities that
hundreds of Americans are still held captive in Southeast Asia. The three
survivors of the helicopter crash on March 13, 1968 could be among them. They
also could be dead. Until the U.S. seriously pursues his fate, we may not know
with certainty what happened to Cleveland Evans.



EVANS, JAMES JOSEPH
Remains Returned 711108, ID'd 770422

Name: James Joseph Evans
Rank/Branch: O4/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 215, USS HANCOCK (CVA-19)
Date of Birth: 09 May 1930
Home City of Record: Valley Falls KS
Date of Loss: 02 April 1965
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 165500N 1055000E (WD861703)
Status (in 1973): Prisoner of War
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A1H
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1990 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.

REMARKS: REMS REC 711108, ID'D 770422

SYNOPSIS: Commander James J. Evans was a pilot assigned to Attack Squadron 215
onboard the aircraft carrier USS HANCOCK (CVA-19). On April 2, 1965, while on a
reconnaissance mission over Laos, his aircraft was lost, and he was placed in a
Missing in Action Status. He was operating over Savannakhet Province, about 5
miles southeast of the city of Ban Muong Sen.

At some point following the loss of Cdr. Evans, U.S. intelligence sources
reported that he was captured. Although the information was never confirmed,
Cdr. Evans was reclassified Prisoner of War. The Defense Intelligence Agency
further expanded Evans' 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.

In November 1971, skeletal remains were returned from Vietnam and subsequently,
the Armed Services Graves Registration Office (ASGRO) Board of Review approved
the identification of the remains on April 22, 1974 as being those of James
Joseph Evans. No explanation is given in public record as to the nature of the
information that was received precipitating Evans'status change to POW or how
Evans died, or when. Even though his 1973 status was Prisoner of War, the "enemy
knowledge" category assigned to him is Category 2, which does not correlate with
a known Prisoner of War, but rather of someone whom it is merely strongly
suspected the enemy has knowledge.

The Navy is not required to release more than basic information on American
Navy personnel missing in Southeast Asia. Many of their files, like other
branches of the service, are still classified after many years. The Defense
Intelligence Agency is mandated to classify most of the reports received (which
by the end of 1989 total nearly 10,000) relating to these same men, except in
cases where it is deemed suitable to release this information to the
appropriate family member. Thus, many of the cases of the missing in Southeast
Asia may forever be clouded with doubt, until and unless all information is
publicly available.
EVANS, WILLIAM ANTHONY

Name: William Anthony Evans
Rank/Branch: E5/US Army Special Forces
Unit: MACV-SOG, B-56 Project Sigma on loan to B-50 Project Omega, Recon Team #1
Date of Birth: 04 November 1948 (Spring Valley IL)
Home City of Record: Milwaukee WI
Date of Loss: 02 March 1969
Country of Loss: Cambodia
Loss Coordinates: 114157N 1061755E (XT415935)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel In Incident: Michael F. May (missing)

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: 01 January 1990

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Special Forces personnel Sgt. William Evans (the team leader) and
SP4 Michael May were part of an eleven man team conducting a secret mission
inside Cambodia. They were operating as an element of MACV-SOG, B-50 Project
Omega.

MACV-SOG (Military Assistance Command, Vietnam Studies and Observation Group)
was a joint service high command unconventional warfare task force engaged in
highly classified operations throughout Southeast Asia. The 5th Special Forces
channelled personnel into MACV-SOG (although it was not a Special Forces group)
through Special Operations Augmentation (SOA), which provided their "cover"
while under secret orders to MACV-SOG. The teams performed deep penetration
missions of strategic reconnaissance and interdiction which were called,
depending on the time frame, "Shining Brass" or "Prairie Fire" missions.

Evans and May's team operated under Command and Control South, which was
located at Ban Me Thuot, but operated from FOB's (Forward Operations Bases)
along the Cambodian border. Working with the 11-man American team was an
unspecified number of ARVN troops.

After being inserted at a landing zone, the team moved toward its objective. As
the team approached the wood line, several members of the team heard the sound
of rifle safeties being clicked, followed by a blast of weapons fire from the
front and left flank. It was later judged that the team had been hit by a
battalion-size NVA force from its base camp. The team fell back 60 meters to a
mound located in the area. A perimeter was formed, and the enemy closed in on
the position.

Gunships were called in to repel the enemy advance, and after they departed the
area, at about 1700 hours, the enemy attacked again. Later that day, a
projectile thought to be a B-40 rocket exploded directly over the team's
position resulting in wounds to 8 of 11 men. Evans at that time sustained a
lethal head wound and died shortly thereafter. May received multiple wounds to
the head and chest and died 30 minutes later. The surviving members of the team
moved about 60 meters from the area, leaving the remains of Evans, May and
three ARVN team members behind.

One account of the action states that medical evacuation teams conducted an
aerial search during which aerial photos revealed the Americans on the team had
all been killed. Another account reports that the nine American members of the
team survived.

Both Evans and May were classified Killed/Body Not Recovered.

Evans and May never returned. These highly trained soldiers knew that there was
the possibility they would be killed or captured. Their missions were highly
secret and dangerous, and in some cases, their existence had to be denied. They
also were told the possibility existed that the U.S. Government would not come
after them. Whether they truly believed that would be abandoned is a matter for
argument. This is America, after all, where even a single human life is of
paramount importance.

EVELAND, MICKEY EUGENE

Name: Mickey Eugene Eveland
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: 68th Aviation Company, 52nd Aviation Battalion, 17th Aviation Group, 1st
Aviation Brigade, Camp Holloway, Pleiku RV
Date of Birth: 22 June 1952 (Pendleton OR)
Home City of Record: Los Angeles CA
Date of Loss: 26 October 1971
Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 121301N 1091847E (CP165510)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Other Personnel In Incident: Michael Lautzenheiser; Thomas F. Green; Albert
Trudeau; Sanford I. Finger; Robert A. Nickol (all missing); Leonard G. Maquiling
(aircraft commander-remains recovered); three other non-crew aboard-bodies
recovered.

REMARKS: CRASHES-4 REMS FND-NOT SUBJS

SYNOPSIS: Before dawn on the morning of October 26, 1971, Mickey Eveland was
awakened by his assistant platoon leader, G.J. Curry and told that he was
needed as crew chief for a resupply flight from Camp Holloway at Pleiku to Cha
Rang Valley and An Son.  SP4 Walia, the crew's usual crew chief had to be
present at a promotion board that day, so Mickey Eveland was selected to fill
in for him. Pvt. Green, gunner; WO Albert Trudeau, pilot; CWO Leonard
Maquiling, aircraft commander; SP5 Michael Lautzenheiser, the flight engineer;
were also awakened. The crew flew from the 52nd Aviation Battalion, "Flying
Dragons". Mickey had a hard time waking up, and Curry had to return to reawaken
him. Maquiling, the oldest of the crew, had just turned 23; Trudeau had just
turned 22. Eveland and Green were barely 19. Mike was 20.

The CH47B, serial #66-19143, call sign Warrior 143, departed Camp Holloway at
0750 that morning and arrived at An Son at 0900 hours after a stop at Cha Rang
Valley. While at An Son, the aircraft received further orders to fly to Cam
Ranh Bay with a stop at Tuy Hoa. The helicopter arrived at Tuy Hoa at 1115
hours and departed there at 1350 hours. Shortly after departure from Tuy Hoa,
Trudeau radioed that he had 10 people aboard and expected to arrive at Cam Ranh
Bay at 1420 hours. He had taken on 6 passengers for the flight, Finger, Nickol,
and three others. The weather was expected to worsen south of Tuy Hoa, and the
pilot was cautioned to contact Coastal Center for weather conditions.

The last time anyone saw Warrior 143, it was near Nha Trang, headed south into
bad weather. Search and Rescue was initiated at 1555 hours. Between October 27
and November 1, debris identified as being from 143 was found washed ashore on
Hon Tre island, just offshore from Nha Trang. The condition of the debris
recovered indicated that the aircraft had struck the water at high speed. In
all, four crew members' remains were found during the search period. However,
there was no sign of Eveland, Trudeau, Nickol, Green, Finger or Lautzenheiser.
An extensive search continued through November 9, without success. In 1972, the
missing crew members were declared Killed in Action, Body Not Recovered.

An additional recovery attempt was made based on the possible sighting of the
wreckage of the aircraft on October 9, 1974. Two South Vietnamese scuba divers
spent 1 hour and 30 minutes each in an underwater search, but did not locate
the wreckage.

Hon Tre island was definitely Viet Cong territory and their junks plyed the
waters surrounding it at night. Veteran fighter pilots told the Lautzenheiser
family that, in spite of the seemingly dismal facts surrounding the loss of
123, the presence of so many Viet Cong made it possible that the crew of the
helicopter could have been taken captive.

As the years passed, anguish for the families of the men missing on Warrior 143
only grew as thousands of reports flowed in relating to Americans still held
captive in Southeast Asia. The Vietnamese appear, to many authorities, to be
holding the men against the day the U.S. will pay their promised reconstruction
aid. The U.S. firmly holds that it will not pay. Meanwhile, nearly 2500
American families wait in limbo, and American heroes die in the hands of a
long-ago enemy, victims of a political war that, for them, will not end.

Name:             Evelyn Anderson
Rank/Branch:         Civilian
Unit:             Missionary, Christian Missions of Many Lands
Date of Birth:         ca 1950
Home City of Record:     Quincy MI
Date of Loss:         27 October 1972
Country of Loss:     Laos
Loss Coordinates:     162600N 1051200E (WD215175)
Status (in 1973):     Killed in Captivity
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Other Personnel in Incident: Beatrice Kosin (assassinated); Lloyd Oppel;
                 Samuel Mattix (both released POWs)

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 the late hours of Saturday, October 27, 1972, a small group
of North Vietnamese soldiers invaded the southern Laotian town of
Kengkock, about thirty-five miles from Savannakhet. They took prisoners,
including Evelyn Anderson, Beatrice Kosin, Lloyd Oppel and Samuel
Mattix, all missionaries working for Christian Missions of Many Lands.
Several other Americans managed to escape and radioed for help.

At 9:04 on Sunday morning following the capture, an American helicopter
arrived and evacuated nine Filipinos, five Lao and the Americans who had
radioed for help. Less than an hour later, Sgt. Gerry Wilson returned by
helicopter to try and locate the two American women. Lt.Colonel Norman
Vaught immediately set rescue plans into motion.

The American Embassy in Vientiane heard of the rescue plan and ordered
from the highest level that no attempt be made to rescue the women. The
peace negotiations were ongoing and it was feared that a rescue attempt
would compromise the sustained level of progress at the talks.

On November 2, 1972, a radio message was intercepted which ordered that
the two women be executed. A captured North Vietnamese soldier later
told U.S. military intelligence that the women were captured, tied back
to back and their wrists wired around a house pillar. The women remained
in this position for five days. After receiving orders to execute the
two, the Communists simply set fire to the house where they were being
held and burned the women alive. A later search of the smoldering ruins
revealed the corpse of Miss Anderson. Her wrist was severed, indicating
the struggle she made to free herself.

Oppel and Mattix, the men who were captured with Anderson and Kosin,
were held captive and released in 1973. It is speculated that the women
would have been too much trouble to care for on the long trip to Hanoi,
and were killed instead. They were held in Hanoi from December 6, 1972
until January 16, 1973 at which time they were removed to a small
country prison and interrogated for three weeks. They were then moved
back to Hanoi and released on March 28. Contrary to some statements, the
two were not released by the Pathet Lao, but by the Vietnamese.

Anderson and Kosin were not in Laos to kill, but to help. Their deaths
must be blamed not only on the Communists who set the fire that killed
them, but also on the faceless, nameless Americans who decided they were
expendable.
EVERT, LAWRENCE GERALD

Name: Lawrence Gerald Evert
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit:

Date of Birth: 15 March 1938
Home City of Record: Cody WY
Date of Loss: 08 November 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 211500N 1054100E (WJ721508)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F105

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: The F105 Thunderchief (or "Thud") performed yoeman service on many
diversified missions in Southeast Asia. F105s flew more combat missions over
North Vietnam than any other USAF aircraft and consequently suffered the
heaviest losses in action. They dropped bombs by day and occasionally by night
from high or low altitude and some later versions (F105D in Wild Weasel guise)
attacked SAM sites with their radar tracking air-to-ground missiles. This
versatile aircraft was also credited with downing 25 Russian MiGs.

Capt. Lawrence G. Evert was the pilot of an F105 aircraft assigned a combat
mission over North Vietnam on November 8, 1967. As his aircraft was just
northwest of the city of Lang Tao (about 50 miles north of Hanoi), it was hit by
enemy fire and crashed. It was not determined if Evert survived. He was declared
Missing In Action, and the U.S. believes there is a good chance that the enemy
forces knew his fate.

Nearly 2500 Americans were lost in Southeast Asia during our military
involvement there. Since the war in Southeast Asia ended in 1973, thousands of
reports of Americans still in captivity have been received by the U.S.
Government. The official policy is that no conclusive proof has been obtained
that is current enough to act upon. Detractors of this policy say conclusive
proof is in hand, but that the willingness or ability to rescue these prisoners
does not exist.

Lawrence G. Evert, if one of those hundreds said to be still alive and in
captivity, must be wondering, "Where ARE you, America?" Where are we, America,
when the life of even one American is not worth the effort of recovery? When the
next war comes, and it is our sons lost, will we then care enough to do
everything we can to bring our prisoners home?

Lawrence G. Evert was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel during the
period he was maintained missing.
FALLON, PATRICK MARTIN

Name: Patrick Martin Fallon
Rank/Branch: O6/US Aif Force
Unit: Vice Commander, 56th Special Operations Wing, Nakhon Phanom RAFB, Thailand
Date of Birth: 12 November 1921
Home City of Record: Pittsburgh PA (family in GA)
Date of Loss: 04 July 1969
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 191700N 1030600E (UG004331)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: A1H
Other Personnel In Incident: (none missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Patrick Fallon was born in Turtle Creek, Pennsylvania November 12,
1921. He attended West Point, but dropped out in 1944 to serve in World War II.
In Korea, he flew 125 combat missions, and as a forward air controller,
parachuted behind enemy lines. He came home with a chest full of medals.

In 1968, Colonel Fallon elected to go to Vietnam, and departed for Nakhon
Phanom, Thailand in September 1969, to assume the position of Vice Commander of
the 56th Special Operations Wing. His wife and two daughters waited in Florida
for his return.

On July 4, 1969, Fallon and another A1 pilot were ordered to check out enemy
activity near the town of Xiangkhoang at the edge of the Plain of Jars in
Northern Laos. The flight was led by Col. Fallon, call sign Firefly 26, his
wingman, Firefly 27. Fallon took his plane down low to observe the Pathet Lao
positions, circled and came in for another pass. His plane was hit by enemy
fire at 200 feet, and Fallon bailed out.

Fallon reached the ground safely between two 4500 foot ridges. Pathet Lao
troops and machine gun emplacements were on both ridges. Fallon's wingman
called for assistance and rescue teams immediately. Firefly 27 was hit, but
continued to lay protective fire until he was forced to leave the area. He
subsequently made a crash landing in Thailand. Fallon maintained radio contact
with the planes above him, but they were unable to rescue him because of the
enemy presence. His last transmission advised them, "Put it all around me, I'm
hit".

When the Air Force came to Mrs. Fallon's door to inform her that her husband
had been shot down, she was packed and ready to meet Pat on leave in Hawaii.
When his personal effects were shipped home, she discovered he had flown over
100 combat missions from NKP, received a Purple Heart and a Distinguished
Flying Cross. He had never told her.

Through the years, reports have surfaced concerning Colonel Fallon as a
prisoner of war in Laos. Mrs. Fallon has never given up her search for
information on her husband's fate. He is one of nearly 600 Americans lost in
the "secret war" in Laos. When the U.S. signed peace agreements, Laos was not
included and no American prisoners held by the Lao were released.

Although the U.S. Government has received nearly 10,000 reports concerning
Americans still missing in Southeast Asia, convincing many authorities that
hundreds are still alive, the U.S. has been unable to find a way to free those
men captured in Laos. One of them could be Colonel Patrick Fallon. It's time
our men came home.
FANNING, HUGH MICHAEL

Name:  Hugh Michael Fanning
Rank/Branch: O3/US Marine Corps
Unit: 1st Marine Air Wing, Da Nang
Date of Birth: 12 July 1941 (Washington DC)
Home City of Record: Ft. Worth TX (family in OK)
Date of Loss: 31 October 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 205000N 1061200E (XJ248040)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: A6A

Other Personnel in Incident: Stephen Kott (remains returned)

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: Hugh M. Fanning was born in Washington D.C. July 12, 1941. He lived in
New York, where his parents later made their home, and attended college and
lived in Dallas, Texas, before he joined the Marine Corps. His wife and children
lived in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma when he went to Vietnam as a Marine pilot with
the First Marine Air Wing based at Da Nang, South Vietnam. Fanning flew the A6A
Intruder, an all-weather, low-altitude attack plane.

On October 31, 1967, Capt. Fanning and bombardier/navigator Capt. Stephen J. Kott
were sent on a mission over North Vietnam as number two in a flight of two
aircraft on a night electronics support mission. Their radio code name was
"Oatmeal." At about 1:50 a.m., Fanning indicated he was approaching the target.
At 2:02 a.m., the leader observed a bright orange flash in the vicinity of the
target area and in the estimated position of Fanning's aircraft which he
estimated to be about 15 miles east of Hanoi at an altitude of 100-500 feet.

It was believed that Fanning and Kott could have survived the crash of the
aircraft, and the two were classified Missing in Action. The U.S. believed that
the Vietnamese could account for them.

Several reports surfaced concerning the crash of Fanning's and Kott's plane in
the ensuing years, including one account that Kott was killed in the crash, but
Fanning was captured and taken away by jeep. The accuracy of these reports is
uncertain.

In August, 1984, remains were returned by the Vietnamese proported to be those
of Fanning and Kott. Mrs. Fanning was glad the years of waiting had finally
ended. Her casualty assistance officer assured her that existing dental records
of her husband's matched those of the remains, an important means of
identification. Moreover, he assured her that her husband had not been wounded
in the skull, the focus of a recurring dream that had plagued her for years. The
remains were buried with full military honors in Oklahoma City.

It was not until 10 months later, when she was first allowed access to her
husband's forensic file, that Mrs. Fanning learned that there had been NO skull
and NO teeth in the remains proported to be Hugh Fanning. Mrs. Fanning arranged
for the remains to be exhumed and examined independently. The examiner concluded
that the alleged remains of Hugh Fanning could not have been scientifically
identified as his ... or anyone else's.

The Kott family has accepted the positive identification of the remains said to
be those of Stephen Jay Kott. He has been buried with full military honors.

Whether Hugh Fanning died on October 31, 1967 in the crash of his plane or was
taken prisoner is not known. It can only be known with certainty when proof is
obtained of his death, or Major Fanning himself is brought home alive.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Fanning says, "My husband may be dead. However, until positive
proof is given to me, I must entertain the possibility that he may be alive.
Regardless of my husband's chances, I do believe that live Americans still
remain in Southeast Asia. I will continue to search for the truth."

Hugh Michael Fanning and Stephen Jay Kott were promoted to the rank of Major
during the period they were maintained missing.
FANNING, JOSEPH PETER

Name: Joseph Peter Fanning
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit: 606th Special Operations Squadron, Nakhon Phanom, Thailand
Date of Birth: 25 June 1944
Home City of Record: Long Island City NY
Date of Loss: 13 December 1968
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 170100N 1055900E (XD055824)
Status (In 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: C123K
Other Personnel in Incident: On C123K: Douglas Dailey; Morgan Donahue; John S.
Albright; Samuel Walker; Fred L. Clarke (all missing); On B57B: Thomas W.
Dugan; Francis J. McGouldrick (all missing)

REMARKS: MID AIR COL-1 PARA OBS

SYNOPSIS: On December 13, 1968, the crew of a C123K was dispatched from Nakhon
Phanom Airfield located in northern Thailand near the border of Laos on an
operational mission over Laos. The C123, a converted WWII glider equipped with
two engines, was assigned night patrol missions along the Ho Chi Minh trail.
Flying low at 2000-3000 feet, the job of the seven man crew was to spot enemy
truck convoys on the trail and to light up the trails for accompanying B57
bombers which were flying overhead.

The crew on this particular mission included the pilot (name unknown); 1Lt.
Joseph P. Fanning, co-pilot; 1Lt. John S. Albright, navigator; 1Lt. Morgan J.
Donahue, navigator; SSgt. Samuel F. Walker, SSgt. Douglas V. Dailey, TSgt. Fred
L. Clarke, crewmembers. At 0330 hours, as the aircraft was flying about 30 miles
southwest of the Ban Karai Pass in Laos, the crew of the C123 were jolted by a
blow on the top of their plane in the after section. An overhead B57 that had
been called in for an air strike had collided with the control plane. The C123
lost power and went out of control. The pilot, stunned by a blow to the head,
lost consciousness.

Because of its glider configuration, the plane did not fall straight to the
ground, but drifted lazily to the ground in a flat spin which lasted several
minutes. When the pilot regained consciousness, he noted that the co-pilot
(Fanning) and navigator (Donahue) were gone. Donahue's station was in the
underbelly of the plane where, lying on his stomach, he directed an infared
detection device through an open hatch. The pilot parachuted out, landed in a
treetop where he remained until rescued at dawn. On the way down, he saw
another chute below him, but, because of the dark, was unable to determine who
the crew member was.

Intelligence reports after the incident indicate that Donahue, at least, safely
reached the ground near Tchepone, but suffered a broken leg. A refugee who
escaped captivity in Laos in 1974 reported having observed an American prisoner
broughy to the caves near Tchepone, where he was held, in the period between
1968 and 1970. This American was later moved to another locatation unknown to
the refugee.

Several reports referring to "Moe-gan" and others describing Donahue as the
American called the "animal doctor" were received over the years since war's
end. In June and August, 1987, the Donahue family was given intelligence
reports tracking Morgan's movements from a POW camp in Kham Kuet, Khammouane
Province, Laos in the spring of 1987 to another camp in the Boualapha District
of the same province in August 1987. These reports were mere WEEKS old, yet the
U.S. marked them "routine". One of them gave Morgan's aircraft type and serial
number, which turned out to be, instead of the serial number of the aircraft,
Morgan's father's ZIP CODE. Morgan's family believes this is clearly a signal
to them from Morgan.

The crew of the C123K are among nearly 600 Americans who disappeared in Laos.
Many of these men were alive on the ground. The Lao admitted holding American
prisoners but these men were never negotiated for. Where are they? Are they
alive? Imagine the torture the Donahue family endures knowing Morgan is alive,
yet helpless to do anything to help him. What are we doing to help bring them
home?

(John S. Albright II and Morgan J. Donahue graduated in 1967 from the United
States Air Force Academy)



FANTLE, SAMUEL III
Remains Returned 770930

Name: Samuel Fantle III
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 357th Tactical fighter Squadron, Takhli
Date of Birth: 19 November 1939
Home City of Record: Sioux Falls SD
Date of Loss: 05 January 1968
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 213300N 1060327E (XJ061841)
Status (in 1973): Killed in Captivity
Category: 1
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F105F

Other Personnel in Incident: James C. Hartney (remains returned)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II
Project.

REMARKS: CHUTES BEEPERS - 1 SEEN ON GRND

SYNOPSIS: The F105 Thunderchief ("Thud"), in its various versions, flew more
missions against North Vietnam than any other U.S. aircraft. It also suffered
more losses, partially due to its vulnerability, which was constantly under
revision. Between 1965 and 1971, the aircraft was equipped with armor plate, a
secondary flight control system, an improved pilot ejection seat, a more precise
navigation system, better blind bombing capability and ECM pods for the wings.
While the D version was a single-place aircraft, the F model carried a second
crewman which made it well suited for the role of suppressing North Vietnam's
missile defenses.

Eighty-six F-105Ds fitted with radar homing and warning gear formed the backbone
of the Wild Weasel program, initiated in 1965 to improve the Air Force's
electronic warfare capability. Upon pinpointing the radar at a missile site, the
Wild Weasel attacked with Shrike missiles that homed on radar emissions. The
versatile aircraft was also credited with downing 25 Russian MiGs. Thirteen of
these modified F's were sent to Southeast Asia in 1966.

Major James C. Hartney, pilot, and Capt. Samuel Fantle III, co-pilot, were
dispatched in their F105F on a combat mission over North Vietnam on January 5,
1968. They were the lead plane in a flight of four, and their mission took them
over the Hanoi region.

At a point about 35 miles northeast of Hanoi, near the Kep Airfield, (at about
the border of Lang Son, Ha Bac and Vinh Phu Provinces), Maj. Hartney's aircraft
was struck in the left wing by hostile fire from a MiG17, causing the plane to
go out of control and forcing the crew to eject. Aircrew in the area picked up
the beeper signals from two emergency radios. (Note: Some accounts say that only
one beeper was heard.) The wingman saw Fantle landing on the ground, and Hartney
about to land, but no voice contact was made with them. Intense hostilities
prevented rescue.

In July 1969, Sam Fantle's parents requested George McGovern meet with North
Vietnam's Xuan Oanlt in Paris. Word came back to them from the Vietnamese that
Sam had hit a rock on bailout, but no word was given on Jim Hartney, who had
landed right beside Jim. The North Vietnamese gave Sam's parents the aircraft ID
number, Jim's serial number, and the time and date of shootdown.

Samuel Fantle, the first to eject from the aircraft, was classified Prisoner of
War, then later Killed in Captivity. Hartney, for unknown reasons, was not
declared prisoner of war, but Missing in Action. It cannot be determined why two
individuals landing side by side were not classified the same.

When the war ended, neither Fantle nor Hartney were released as prisoners. It
was over four years later when the Vietnamese "discovered" the remains of Samuel
Fantle III and returned them to U.S. control. It was at this time that U.S.
agencies initiated a "Special Change" notation on Hartney's records with no
further explanation. (NOTE: As most POW/MIA cases contain classified portions or
are entirely classified, and ALL are unavailable to the public in any detail, it
cannot be determined what the "Special Change" notation means in this incident.)

Since the war ended, reports continued to mount related to Americans prisoner,
missing, or otherwise unaccounted for in Southeast Asia. By 1989, nearly 10,000
reports had accumulated, convincing many authorities that hundreds of Americans
were still alive in captivity in Southeast Asia.

Eleven years after his backseater's remains were returned, Hartney's remains
also were returned by the Vietnamese. On November 20, 1989, the U.S. announced
that a positive identification had been made of these remains. At last Hartney's
family could begin their grieving process, no longer were tortured by the
thought that he could be among those thought to be still alive.

For thousands of other families, however, the wait continues. It's long past
time we brought all our men home from Vietnam.



FARLOW, CRAIG LEE

Name: Craig Lee Farlow
Rank/Branch: W1/US Army
Unit: Company A, 101st Aviation Battalion, 101st Airborne Division
Date of Birth: 15 March 1948 (Brian OH)
Home City of Record: Cleveland OH
Date of Loss: 16 May 1971
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 161527N 1072019E (YC499987)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H
Other Personnel in Incident: Elliott Crook; Timothy J. Jacobsen; Joseph P.
Nolan (all missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On May 16, 1971, Lt. Joseph P. Nolan, pilot; W1 Craig L. Farlow,
aircraft commander; SP4 Elliott Crook, crew chief; SP4 Timothy J. Jacobsen,
door gunner; comprised the crew of a UH1H helicopter conducting a combat
assault insertion of ARVN Marines into a landing zone (LZ) in the vicinity of
Hue, Thua Thin Province, South Vietnam.

Lt. Nolan's helicopter was the seventh to land on the LZ. On departing the LZ,
pilots of the fifts and sixth helicopters stated that they were taking enemy
fire. Lt. Nolan radioed after touchdown that he was taking heavy ground fire,
that his crew chief was wounded. Lt. Nolan immediately took off and at 250
feet, witnesses saw his aircraft rapidly lose rotor RPM and crash into the tree
tops, bursting into flames. No survivors were seen to exit the aircraft.

On May 24, a search and recovery team made a ground search and found 2 partial
skulls and one partial right foot, all badly burned. It was also noted that
there were four more possible remains that were trapped under the heavy
wreckage. The partial skulls were later determined to be Vietnamese. The other
remains were not recovered because of hostile fire.

The crew of the UH1H was presumed to be dead, and their bodies were never
recovered. They are listed with honor among the nearly 2500 Americans still
missing in Southeast Asia until such time as their remains can be returned home
for an honorable burial.

Others missing in Southeast Asia do not have such certain fates. Many were
alive and well the last they were seen. Some described their imminent capture
over radio to would-be rescuers. Still others were known to be captives, but
disappeared from the prison system and were not released.

Unfortunately, mounting evidence indicates that hundreds of Americans are still
captive, waiting for the country they proudly served to secure their freedom.
In our haste to leave an unpopular war, it now appears that we abandoned some
of our best men. In our haste to heal the wounds of this same war, will we sign
their death warrants, or will we do what is necessary to bring them home?

FARRIS, WILLIAM FARRELL

Name: William Farrell Farris
Rank/Branch: E4/US Navy
Unit: Patrol Squadron 26, U Tapao Airbase, Thailand
Date of Birth: 15 December 1942
Home City of Record: W. Salem IL
Date of Loss: 06 February 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 093050N 1040730E (VR040520)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: P3B
Other Personnel in Incident: Donald F. Burnett; Armando Chapa, Jr.; Donald L.
Gallagher; Roy A. Huss; Thomas P. Jones; Homer E. McKay; James C. Newman, Jr.;
Melvin C. Thompson; Lynn M. Travis (all missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: At 0900 hours on February 5, 1968, a P3 "Orion" aircraft assigned to
Patrol Squadron 26 at U Tapao Airbase, Thailand, left on a "Market Time"
mission over the Gulf of Thailand (Gulf of Siam). They were scheduled to return
to their base at about 0900 hours the following morning.

The crew on board the aircraft included Lt. Thomas P. Jones; LtJg. Lynn M.
Travis; LtJg. Roy A. Huss; AXCS Donald F. Burnett; AX3 Armando
Chapa Jr.; AX3 William F. Farris (AX designates Antisubmarine warfare
technicians and related duties); AOC Donald L. Gallagher; AMH2 Homer E. McKay;
ADR1 James C. Newman Jr.; AE1 Melvin C. Thompson (A designates in many cases,
aviation personnel, i.e. AE1 is Aviation Electrician's Mate First Class).

As antisubmarine warfare was all but unknown in Vietnam, there were a variety
of duties handled by those trained in antisubmarine warfare. As marking
submarines, and/or destroying them involved the use of marking buoys,
electronic "ears" and other technical equipment suited for target marking,
antisubmarine teams were frequently used for search missions. They also
sometimes assisted in attacks on small enemy water craft.

Shortly after midnight on February 6, the Orion reported a surface contact.
Some two hours later it reported another contact somewhat further east. The
last report received from the Orion was after 0300 hours. No subsequent
communication was received.

An emergency communication alert for the aircraft was declared shortly after
daybreak and a full search and rescue (SAR) was declared. In the late
afternoon of February 6, wreckage and debris were sighted and identified.

On February 7 search and rescue operations were terminated at sundown. Salvage
operations were conducted from February 11 through March 21. The investigating
officer concluded that the Orion had impacted with the water, and that the
aircraft had been completely destroyed, and that all of the crewmembers had
died instantly.

The Orion went down about 50 miles off the shores of South Vietnam's An Xuyen
Province in the Gulf of Thailand. Presumably, all the crew aboard are "buried"
at sea - an honorable burial for a naval man. This crew is listed with honor
among the missing because no remains were ever found.

For the crew of the Orion, death seems a certainty. For hundreds of others,
however, simple answers are not possible. Adding to the torment of nearly
10,000 reports relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asia is the certain
knowledge that some Americans who were known to be prisoners of war were not
released at the end of the war. Others were suspected to be prisoners, and
still others were in radio contact with would-be rescuers when last seen alive.
Many were known to have survived their loss incidents, only to disappear
without a trace.

The problem of Americans still missing torments not only the families of those
who are missing, but the men who fought by their sides, and those in the
general public who realize the full implication of leaving men unaccounted for
at the end of a war.

Tragically, many authorities believe there are hundreds of Americans still
alive in captivity in Southeast Asia today.  What must they be thinking of us?
What will our next generation say if called to fight if we are unable to bring
these men home from Southeast Asia?


Prepared by Homecoming II Project 01 December 1989.

FEATHERSTON, FIELDING WESLEY III

Name: Fielding Wesley Featherston III
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 555th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Udorn AB, Thailand
Date of Birth: 03 December 1942
Home City of Record: Wickliffe OH
Date of Loss: 30 December 1969
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 195900N 1032900E (UH413101)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2 Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D

Other Personnel In Incident: Douglas D. Ferguson (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 April 1990 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.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: The Plain of Jars region of Laos was long under the control of the
communist Pathet Lao and a continual effort had been made by the secret
CIA-directed force of some 30,000 indigenous tribesmen to strengthen
anti-communist strongholds there. The U.S. committed hundreds of millions of
dollars to the war effort in Laos, but details of this secret operation were not
released until August 1971.

Doug Ferguson and Fielding Featherston were aboard one of five F4D aircraft on a
mission into the Plaine des Jarres region of Laos on December 30, 1969. Their
ship was hit by enemy fire and exploded in a fireball. There were no parachutes
seen, nor were emergency radio "beeper" signals heard that day by other
aircraft.

On the following day, the crash site was photographed and two empty parachutes
were visible hanging in nearby trees. The area was too heavily defended for a
ground search to be possible.

Ferguson and Featherston may well have been captured. They are among the nearly
600 Americans lost in Laos. Because Laos was "neutral", and because the U.S.
continued to state they were not at war with Laos (although we were regularly
bombing North Vietnamese traffic along the border and conducted assaults against
communist strongholds thoughout the country at the behest of the anti-communist
government of Laos), and did not recognize the Pathet Lao as a government
entity, the nearly 600 Americans lost in Laos were never recovered.

The Pathet Lao stated that they would release the "tens of tens" of American
prisoners they held only from Laos. At war's end, no American held in Laos was
released - or negotiated for.

Voluminous evidence exists that Americans still survive, captive, in Indochina.
Until serious steps are taken to resolve the fate of these men, the families of
Ferguson and Featherston must wonder if their men are alive, abandoned by their
country.


Douglas D. Ferguson graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1967.

FEGAN, RONALD JAMES

Name: Ronald James Fegan
Rank/Branch: O1/US Navy
Unit: Fighter Squadron 96, USS Ranger (CVA-61)
Date of Birth: 11 February 1941 (New York NY)
Home City of Record: Brockport NY
Date of Loss: 09 April 1965
Country of Loss: China/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 091801N 1082604E (BL182290)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4B
Other Personnel In Incident: Terence M. Murphy (missing)

REMARKS: CRASH AT SEA AFT COMBAT - J

SYNOPSIS: Ltjg. Terence M. Murphy was a pilot assigned to Fighter Squadron 96
onboard the aircraft carrier USS Ranger in the Gulf of Tonkin. On April 9,
1965, he launched with his Radar Intercept Officer (RIO) Ensign Ronald J. Fegan
in their F4B Phantom fighter jet. They were to fly a Combat Air Patrol mission
over the Gulf of Tonkin.

Ltjg. Murphy and other mission aircraft engaged enemy aircraft at approximately
8:40 a.m. some 25 miles from the nearest land. After breaking off the
engagement, Ltjg. Murphy's aircraft did not check in with the flight leader and
was neither seen or heard from again. An aerial and surface search of the area
turned up no evidence of a plane crash, seat ejection or emergency radio
beacon. Search and rescue efforts covered an area of 2000 square miles
utilizing aircraft from three carriers, destroyers and a submarine. The search
was terminated on April 11 with negative results.

It was later discovered the the MIG aircraft that were engaged were not
Vietnamese, but Chinese. The incident took place near the Chinese island of
Hainan. Peking Radio stated later that day that eight U.S. military planes had
intruded over the areas of Aihsien, Paisha and Changkan of China's Hainan
Island. They further stated that Chinese planes immediately took off to engage
them and that a U.S. aircraft had been shot down by other U.S. planes. Careful
investigation revealed no basis of fact to support this claim.

Both crewmen were listed in a status of Missing In Action. This status was
changed three weeks later to Determined Dead/Body Not Recovered.

With absence of evidence, it cannot be known with certainty that Fegan and
Murphy went down with their aircraft on April 9, 1965. If, by some chance, they
bailed out successfully and were captured by military or civilian Chinese, we
will probably never know it. History has shown that Americans disappearing in
Chinese territory never come out. Several hundred Americans were known to have
been captured and held by the Chinese from the Korean war, never to be seen
again. Critics point to a lack of resolve to raise this sticky issue with the
Chinese on the part of the U.S., while the U.S. asserts that it is doing all it
can to determine the fates of those men as well as that of Ronald Fegan and
Terence Murphy.

FELLENZ, CHARLES RICHARD

Name: Charles Richard Fellenz
Rank/Branch: E5/US Air Force
Unit: 374th Tactical Airlift Wing, Ubon Airfield, Thailand
Date of Birth: 20 November 1939
Home City of Record: Marshfield WI
Date of Loss: 24 November 1969
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 154900N 1064600E (YC902495)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: C130A

Other Personnel in Incident: Michael D. Balamonti; Earl C. Brown; Rexford J.
Dewispelaere; Richard O. Ganley; Larry I. Grewell; Peter R. Matthes; Donald L.
Wright (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II
Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On November 24, 1969, a C130A departed Ubon Airfield, Thailand on an
operational mission over Laos. The crew aboard the aircraft included Maj.
Michael D. Balamonti (the navigator); Capt. Earl C. Brown; Capt. Richard O.
Ganley; 1Lt. Peter R. Matthes (the copilot); and Sgts. Donald L. Wright; Larry
I. Grewell; and Rexford J. DeWispelaere. Charles R. Fellenz was a passenger.

While on the mission, near Ban Bac, Savannakhet Province, Laos, the C130 was
observed to be struck by several rounds of 37mm anti-aircraft fire, burst into
flames, crash to the ground, and explode on impact. All onboard were declared
Missing in Action, but due to enemy presence in the area, it was strongly felt
that the enemy could account for them. It was not determined whether the crew
and passenger died or survived the crash of the aircraft.

The men onboard the C130 are among nearly 600 Americans who were lost in Laos.
When Dr. Henry Kissinger negotiated President Nixon's Peace Agreements in Paris
in 1973, ending American involvement in the Vietnam War, the Americans lost in
Laos were forgotten. Kissinger did not negotiate for them, even though several
were known to be Prisoners of War, and some 125 of them were known to have
survived their loss incidents. Furthermore, the Pathet Lao stated on several
occasions that they held "tens of tens" of American prisoners.

The nearly 600 Americans lost in Laos have never been negotiated for, and not
one American held in Laos was released at the end of the war.

Since the end of the war, nearly 10,000 reports have been received by the U.S.
relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asia. Many authorities believe that
hundreds remain alive today, held captive. Whether the crew of the C130 could
be among them is not known, but it seems certain that there are compelling
questions that need answers. Among them - why did we abandon the men who served
our country? What are we doing to bring them home?


FELLOWES, JOHN HEAPHY "JACK"

Name: John Heaphy "Jack" Fellowes
Rank/Branch: O4/US Navy Reserves
Unit: Attack Squadron 65, USS CONSTELLATION (CVA 64)
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Virginia Beach VA
Date of Loss: 27 August 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 184700N 1052700E (WF474767)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A6A

Other Personnel in Incident: George T. Coker (released POW)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 30 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: 730304 RELSD BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: The USS CONSTELLATION provided air power to the U.S. effort in Vietnam
early in the war, having participated in strikes against Loc Chao and Hon Gai in
North Vietnam during August 1964. One of the first American POWs of the war, and
certainly one of the most well-known, LTJG Everett Alverez, launched from her
decks and was captured during this series of strikes in 1964. The CONSTELLATION
was large and carried a full range of aircraft. Fighters from her air wing,
CVW-14, earned the carrier the Meritorious Unit Commendation in 1968 during a
particularly intense period of air attacks. VF-96, a premier fighter squadron
awarded the Clifton Trophy two straight years, flew from the CONSTELLATION in
October 1971. During this period, two of her pilots, LT Randall H. Cunningham
and LTJG William "Willie" Driscoll became the first American aces of the Vietnam
War, having shot down five Russian-made MiG enemy aircraft. The CONSTELLATION
remained on station throughout most of the war.

LCDR John H. "Jack" Fellowes was a pilot assigned to Attack Squadron 65 onboard
the USS CONSTELLATION. On August 27, 1966, he and his Bombardier/Navigator (BN),
LTJG George T. Coker, launched in their A6A Intruder all-weather attack aircraft
on a strike/bombing mission into North Vietnam.

When the flight was about 20 miles northwest of the city of Vinh in Nghe An
Province, Fellowes' aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire or debris from a
surface-to-air missile (SAM) in the right wing which caused the aircraft to
enter a flat spin forcing both crewmen to eject. Their wingman sighted two
parachutes at approximately 2,000 feet, and manually operated emergency radio
beeper signals commenced and persisted as the wingman maneuvered to keep the
chutes in sight. The area was about 18 miles inland in a well-populated area.
The terrain was primarily flat with rice paddies and numerous houses and
villages. There was little to offer concealment.

Moderate flak was encountered as the two parachutes passed 1,000 feet. Due to
poor weather visibility and enemy flak, the wingman lost sight of the two chutes
as they passed below 50 feet. An intensive search effort was conducted despite
moderate to heavy flak for nearly 3 hours, but the parachutes were not spotted
on the ground, nor were emergency beepers heard any longer. Both Fellowes and
Coker were classified Missing in Action.

Later that day, Radio Hanoi announced, "The Armed Forces and people in Nghe An
Province this morning shot down two U.S. aircraft during two counterattacks
within ten minutes. At 1030 hours, one of the two U.S. planes was shot down on
the spot at the first round while intruding into the airspace over the western
part of the province. The aggressor pilot was captured. Ten minutes later,
flights of U.S. aircraft send to the rescue of the U.S. air pirate had to flee
in disorder in the face of accurate ground fire. One of them was knocked down."
(NOTE: No other Americans were captured or listed as missing on that date.)
When this information was received, both men were reclassified Prisoner of War.

During their captivity, Coker and Fellowes suffered along with their fellow
POWs. Torture and deprivation was commonplace. Fellowes arms were both
permanently damaged by manipulation in the "ropes", a common torture-technique.
Coker actually escaped in December 1970 with another American. The two swam down
the Red River, but were recaptured. Coker was found buried in a mud bank
attempting to conceal his location from his captors.

Fellowes and Coker were held in various prisoner of war camps -- Cu Loc, Hoa Lo
(Hanoi Hilton), Alcatraz -- in and around Hanoi throughout the duration of the
war. On March 4, 1973, they were both released as part of Operation Homecoming.

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. These reports are the source of serious distress to many returned
American prisoners. They had a code that no one could honorably return unless
all of the prisoners returned. Not only that code of honor, but the honor of our
country is at stake as long as even one man remains unjustly held. It's time we
brought our men home.


George T. Coker was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant during the period he was
prisoner of war. He remained in the Navy and attained the rank of Commander. In
1986, Coker resided in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

John H. Fellowes was promoted to the rank of Commander during the period he was
prisoner of war. He remained in the Navy and attained the rank of Captain. He
retired from the Navy and as of 1989, resided in Annapolis, Maryland.

FELLOWS, ALLEN EUGENE

Name: Allen Eugene Fellows
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 01 December 1931
Home City of Record: Minneapolis MN
Date of Loss: 20 March 1968
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 162000N 1060000E (XD068059)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: O2A

Other Personnel In Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Allen Fellows had been in the Air Force 18 years when he took his O2A
observation plane into Laos on a mission. While in flight, and somewhere about
30 miles southwest of the city of Sepone, Laos, his aircraft disappeared and was
never found. No trace of Fellows was found.

Allen's family, like the families of the other men lost in the Vietnam war,
waited for news. At the end of the war a prisoner released occurred, but Allen,
like the nearly 600 others lost in Laos, where the U.S. "wasn't at war", was not
released. His family understood. The U.S. Government urged them to be patient.
The CIA had a list of men held in Laos. The U.S. and the Pathet Lao still had to
talk. Lao spokesmen indicated they held "tens of tens" of American prisoners in
Laos. The years passed, and not a man came home.

Finally, in 1979, Allen's family held a memorial service at the encouragement of
the Air Force, hoping that it would help end their torture. It didn't. Reports
mounted that Americans were still alive. Family members were slowly forced to
conclude that the U.S. Government had not been fully truthful with them. They
feared that their men had truly been abandoned.

A decade after Allen's memorial service was held, the U.S. Government has not
been successful in learning his fate. Reports relating to Americans prisoner,
missing or unaccounted for still flow in, having reached a total of over 10,000.
Many experts believe that hundreds of Americans are being held, but negotiations
seem inadequate to bring any one of them home.

FENELEY, FRANCIS JAMES

Name: Francis James Feneley
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: (unknown) Cam Ranh Bay
Date of Birth: 30 January 1930
Home City of Record: Curtis MI
Date of Loss: 11 May 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 174257N 1063457E (XE678593)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F105D
Other Personnel In Incident: (none missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Captain Francis Feneley was returning from what was to have been his
last mission in Vietnam when he was shot down in the Gulf of Tonkin north of
the demilitarized zone (DMZ).

In his last letter home, dated two days before the apparent crash, he told his
mother he expected to be home for her birthday on May 12. Feneley also wrote
that he regretted that his squadron was not being allowed to bomb key targets
he felt would have hastened the end of the war. Feneley was based at Cam Ranh
Bay in South Vietnam, a huge U.S. military installation northeast of Saigon
that is now used by the Soviet Navy as a long-sought warm water port to base
its fleet. U.S. Air Force records do not list his unit of assignment. His
military occupational specialty (MOS) is classified.

The career Air Force pilot was shot down only two months before North
Vietnamese patrol boats attacked the U.S. destroyer Maddox in the Tonkin Gulf.
The U.S. retaliated with what was claimed at the time to be the first aircraft
bombing of North Vietnam.

Feneley's F105D was part of a Rolling Thunder mission on May 11, 1966. As he
was returning from the mission, and was on the coast of North Vietnam, over
Quang Binh Province, approximately halfway between the cities of Dong Hoa and
Quang Khe, Feneley's aircraft was struck by hostile fire and immediately had a
flame out. The aircraft was observed to impact in water.

By May 27, the Air Force had accumulated what they felt was sufficient evidence
that Feneley was killed at the time of the crash of his aircraft, that they
classified him Presumed Killed in Action, Body Not Recovered. No trace of him
was ever found.

Francis Feneley was not among 591 American prisoners released at the end of
American involvement in the Vietnam war. Military experts expressed their
dismay that "hundreds" who were expected to be released were not.

Since that time, nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing in
Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. Government. Many authorities
believe there are large numbers of them alive in captivity.

Francis Feneley's family has not given up the quest to discover exactly what
happened to him on May 11, 1966. His mother is convinced that he may some day
come home alive. She refused the Air Force's offer of a memorial service saying
she will not have services for her son until she knows he is dead and has his
body. Like the majority of POW/MIA family members, she is prepared for the
worst, hopeful for the best. She wants the truth, and wants her son home.

Prepared by Homecoming II Project 01 December 1989

FENG, SHAO JIEN

Name: Shao Jien Feng
Rank/Branch: Civilian
Unit: Glomar Java Sea
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record:
Date of Loss: 25 October 1983
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates:
Status (in 1973):
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground:

Personnel in Incident: Herman Arms; Jerald T. Battiste; Sebe M. Bracey; Patrick
B. Cates; Wei Chen; Xiong Chen; Shu Guo Cheng; Jacob K. J. Chong; David P.
Clifton; James F. Cusick; Thomas J. Dixon; Shao Jien Feng; Jerald J. Flanagan;
Nigel Furness; Leonard E. Ganzinotti; La Juan A. Gilmore; Henry M. Gittings;
James K. Gittings; Terance C. Green; Jun Tian Guan; David Higgins, Jr.; Tyronne
Higgins; Hong Xi Huang; Rui Wen Huang; Yong Liang Huang; Timothy Jarvis; John W.
Jennings Jr.; Thomas J. Kofahl; Fan Xiang Kong; Guo Zhen Lai; John W. Lawrence;
Tong L. T. Lee; Chong Chang Li; Xuan Qiu Li; Zhan Jun Liang; Jie Feng Lin; Bing
Guang Liu; Edgar S. Lim; Gary Looke; Robert M. McCurry; Jerry L. Manfrida;
Raymond D. Miller; Xie Yi Mo; Tian Xue Mo; Kenneth W. Myers; Larry K. Myers;
Donald J. Ouellet; John D. Pierce; Peter Popiel; Clarence Reed; Jewell J.
Reynolds; E.J. Russell Reynolds; Walter T. Robinson; Kenneth B. Rogers; Lawrence
M. Salzwedel; William R. Schug; Richard E. Shoff; Christopher J. Sleeman; Delmar
A. Spencer; George G. Sullivan; Chong Jian Sun; Gustaf F. Swanson; Kevin C.
Swanson; Guo Dong Tang; Michael W. Thomas; Jiang Wang; Yu Fang Wang; Dong Cai
Wang; Guo Rong Wu; jing Sheng Xia; Xing Xing; Hui Xu; Ming Rui Xu; Mua Guang
Yuan; Xing Zhen Zhang; Yi Hua Zhang; Ji Chang Zhen; Shu Rong Zhou; Yao Wu Zhou;
Jie Fang Zhou; Da Huai Zhu.

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 10 December 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 5,930-ton American drilling ship, "Glomar Java Sea" was owned by
Global Marine of Houston, Texas, and leased to Atlantic Richfield Company
(ARCO). In the fall of 1983, the vessel was on duty about 200 miles east of the
Vietnamese coast. The ship was drilling for oil in the South China Sea in a
joint venture of ARCO and China Naitonal Offshore Oil Corporation, a state-owned
concern.

The "Glomar Java Sea" is a sister ship of the "Glomar Explorer," which, under
the guise of being utilized by the late Howard Hughes in a deep sea mining
operation in the Paficic, was really being used by the CIA and Navy in a $350
million project to retrieve a sunken Soviet Golf-class submarine. A large part
of the submarine was in fact recovered in 1974 before details of the project
were publicly revealed.

The Glomar Java Sea, with its crew of 81, began drilling operations on January
9, 1983 and was the first American wildcat operaton off the Chinese coast. On
October 25, 1983, the vessel was sunk during Typhoon Lex.

Documents removed from the ship by a crewman before the disaster indicate that
the vessel was being shadowed by armed Vietnamese naval craft and that there
were submarine mines beneath the "Glomar Java Sea," placed there and retrievable
by its crew. Another document indicates that the ship was damaged prior ot the
typhoon when a Chinese supply boat rammed into its side, causing some $320,000
damage to the vessel. The Glomar Java Sea did not leave its post for repairs.

Communications between ARCO and Global Marine, as well as telegraphic and radio
communications of the U.S. Western Pacific Rescue Coordination Center (WESTPAC)
reveal information about the search for the crew of the Glomar Java Sea.

The documents indicate that a number of survivors from the stricken vessel were
floundering in the water off the coast of Vietnam for hours after the disaster.
There is also indication that the men were picked up by Vietnamese coastal
patrols and are held captive of the Hanoi regime.

The crew of the Glomar Java Sea included 37 Americans, 35 Chinese, four British,
two Singaporeans, one Filipino, one Australian, and one Canadian.

From a transcript of a radio communicaton between WESTPAC and Global Marine on
October 28, three days after the sinking, WESTPAC was told:  "We are informed
that the SOS transmission could not have been transmitted except by human
operators..." There were two 64-man lifeboats aboard the drilling ship, plus
smaller lifeboats.

In an October 29 communicaton from WESTPAC to Global Marine, it is clearly
stated that five strobe lights were sighted by rescue aircraft in the vicinity
of 17-30 North 107-45 East. The aircraft were dispatched to the area because
strobe lights had been previously sighted. Lifejackets from the Glomar Java Sea
were equipped with strobe lights to signal rescuers.

Another October 29 communication between ARCO and Global Marine states that
ARCO's search aircraft had spotted survivors in the water at 17.27 North 107.54
East, and had attempted to divert surface vessels to this location. The
communication expressed the urgency to rescue the men before dark.

At 8:01 a.m. on October 29, ARCO had dropped a rescue raft to survivors.  Pickup
would be delayed for several hours, but the "Salvanquish," a Singapore-based
salvage ship, was within one half-mile of the site.

At 8:38 a.m search aircraft reported pinpointing the survivors' positions by dye
markers released by the survivors into the water. Two survivors were confirmed
with a possible third some distance away. Plans were also made to return to the
downed vessell to offlift survivors.

Another document shows that on nine different occasions radio transmissions were
picked up from a lifeboat. They ranged from "very strong" to "weak" with most
being described as "strong."

Inexplicably, despite the successful search, no rescue was made of the
survivors. Later that day, the Chinese Navy picked up a Vietnamese broadcast
reporting that the Vietnamese had sighted a lifeboat near their coast. The
location of the lifeboat was not confirmed by friendly search parties.

ARCO-Global Marine determined that this sighting was in the vicinity of Hon Gio
Island, located about 80 miles up the Vietnamese coast from the old U.S. base at
Da Nang and about 14 miles offshore, which placed it in Vietnamese territorial
waters. It appears that rescue craft were hampered in fully investigating the
report due to its location and the hint of possible interference by the
Vietnamese military.

It is likely that survivors would have been picked up by the Vietnamese if they
had in fact drifted within Vietnam's territory.

In the years following the loss of the Glomar Java Sea, a number of reports, all
unconfirmed by the U.S., indicate that survivors were seen in captivity in
Vietnam. It is known that the Vietnamese had shown a hostile interest in the
vessel, and the Glomar Java Sea had standing orders to be alert for Vietnamese
vessels in the area. The Chinese Navy served as protection for the vessel and
stood ready to take action should Vietnamese craft wander too close. The waters
below the vessel were mined.

A month after the Glomar Java Sea went down, Chinese divers went down to the
wreckage and went through the ship with a video cameras.

In March 1984, American divers were able to retrieve 31 bodies from the sunken
vessel. Fifteen of the bodies were identified as Americans. In addition, three
British and one Singaporean were identified. The bodies of another American and
two Chinese were tentatively identified. Divers photographed two bodies they
were unable to retrieve. They also found one of the Chinese divers that had
explored the wreckage in November 1983, lashed to the deck of the ship.

The American divers determined that one of the ship's large lifeboats was
launched and that an attempt had been made to launch another. Their film was
seen by the mother of one of the lost crewmen. She reported that the crack in
the hull of the ship at one point was a hole 48 inches across, which was
punctured inward, "as though the rig had been hit by something that exploded."
This fueled additional speculation that the vessel had, in fact, been attacked
rather that simply mortally damaged by the typhoon.

The National Transportaton Safety Board officially determined in November 1984
that an "unexplained crack" in the hull of the Glomar Java Sea was responsible
for its sinking during the typhoon. Apparently, the crack in the hull allowed
two storage tanks to fill with water, causing the vessel to become off-balanced,
making it vulnerable to the forces of the typhoon. Officials believed it was
possible that survivors may have been able to abandon the ship before it sank.
It was determined that the ship had been improperly prepared for the storm.

During 1984, there were reports from Southeast Asia that between six and twelve
survivors of the Glomar Java Sea were being held in prisoner of war camps in
Vietnam. One of the survivors was identified by a Vietnamese refugee as American
crewman John Pierce.

Douglas F. Pierce, father of John Pierce, reported that the refugee had seen his
son, five other Americans and eight Chinese when they were brought into a prison
in Da Nang, where the refugee was being held. John Pierce gave the refugee his
father's business card and two sticks of gum.

Mr. Pierce gave the information to Defense Intelligence Agency who determined
that the refugee had not been in the camp at all, but had received the business
card by mail from a friend, not directly from Pierce. DIA further determined
that the incident had occurred in late October 1983 (shortly after the Glomar
Java Sea went down). The refugee gave Mr. Pierce the original letter, which
contained the names and addresses of two mutual Vietnamese friends.

No followup was conducted on the two names in the letter by DIA, and DIA
discounted the information provided by the refugee. It was not until 1990 that
it became apparent that the Defense Department felt no responsibility for the
Americans lost on the Glomar Java Sea. At that time, DIA reported that the
responsibility for these civilians belonged to the U.S. State Department.

Mr. Pierce did not stop there. He uncovered a U.S. State Department document
that revealed that Cheng Quihong, the secretary and wife of the Director of
China's Visa Office, was overheard telling her companion at a Hong Kong dinner
that survivors from the Glomar had been picked up and were held by the
Vietnamese.

Pierce also learned that a JCRC report sent to DIA dated November 6, 1984,
reported that a former prisoner from Pleiku prison had been held with a Chinese
man who claimed to have been off the Glomar. The man said he was one of three
men who were captured, and that the other two were Americans.

Pierce adds that to his knowledge, neither of these reports were followed up by
U.S. officials, and Pierce has received no reply to his queries regarding them.

In 1989 a Japanese monk named Yoshida was released from prison after being held
for years by the Vietnamese. Yoshida was shown a photograph of John Pierce and
stated that Pierce looked very familiar, and that he had either seen him or
someone who looked very much like him.

In November, 1990, Vietamese Foreign Minister Nguyen Co Thach traveled to the
U.S. and spoke with U.S. officials on a variety of matters. At this time, he
announced that there was a black American named Walter T. Robinson living
illegally in Vietnam, and invited U.S. representatives to come and help find
him. Thach provided a social security number and two photographs.

The Pentagon told "The Washington Times" that the two photographs of Robinson
provided by Thach are of a black man. However, the Pentagon has since admitted
that the photos "are not very well developed" and appear to be of either a black
man or a dark Asian. Photocopies of old newspaper articles concerning Robinson,
obtained by Homecoming II, show a dark-haired man of relatively dark complexion.

The Pentagon has not released the photographs to the press.

The Defense Department determined that Walter T. Robinson had never been listed
as missing in Vietnam. Thach had provided a social security number, and
according to DOD, this information correlated to a white American living in the
Midwest. They concluded that the Thach information, therefore, was in error.

Later information indicated that a Walter T. Robinson was listed on the crew
roster of the Glomar Java Sea. When queried, the Defense Department reported
that they were aware of this Robinson, but that civilians were the
responsibility of the State Department.

It seems apparent that the U.S. is not vigorously looking for the men missing
from the Glomar Java Sea, and that like the missing and prisoners who served in
military and civilian capacities during the Vietnam war, they have been
abandoned.


FENTER, CHARLES FREDERICK
Remains Recovered in Crash Site Excavation - Positive ID Accepted

Name: Charles Frederick Fenter
Rank/Branch: E3/US Air Force
Unit: 16th Special Operations Squadron, Ubon AB, Thailand
Date of Birth: 01 November 1953
Home City of Record: Tucson AZ
Date of Loss: 21 December 1972
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 152712N 1060048E (XC087086)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: AC130A gunship

Other Personnel In Incident: Rollie Reaid; George D. MacDonald; John Winningham;
Francis Walsh; James R. Fuller; Robert T. Elliott; Robert L. Liles; Harry
Lagerwall; Paul Meder; Thomas T. Hart; Stanley Kroboth; Delma E. Dickens (all
missing/remains returned --see text); Joel R. Birch (remains returned); Richard
Williams, Carl E. Stevens (rescued).

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1990 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.

REMARKS: I.R. #22370432 73 - DEAD

SYNOPSIS: An AC130A gunship, "Spectre 17", flown by Capt. Harry R. Lagerwall,
departed Ubon Airbase, Thailand on an interdiction mission to interrupt enemy
cargo movements along the Ho Chi Minh Trail on December 21, 1972. The crew
onboard numbered 16. During the flight to the target, the aircraft was hit by
ground fire and after 10 minutes of level flight, the fuel exploded. Two of the
crew, Richard Williams and Carl E. Stevens, bailed out safely and were
subsequently rescued hours later. The partial body of Joel Birch (an arm) was
later recovered some distance away from the crash site.

Heat-sensitive equipment which would pinpoint the location of human beings in
the jungles was used to search for the rest of the crew with no success. It was
assumed that the missing crewmen were either dead or were no longer in the area.

According to intelligence reports, several piles of bloody bandages and 5
deployed parachutes were seen and photographed at the crash site. Also, later
requests through the Freedom of Information Act revealed a photo of what
appeared to be the initials "TH" stomped in the tall elephant grass near the
crash site. A number of reports have been received which indicate Tom Hart, if
not others, was still alive as late as 1988.

In the early 1980's a delegation comprised in part of several POW/MIA family
members visited the site of the aircraft crash in Laos. Mrs. Anne Hart found
material on the ground in the area which she believed to be bone fragment. She
photographed the material and turned it over to the U.S. Government.

In February, 1985, a joint excavation of the crash site was done by the U.S. and
Laos from which a large number of small bone fragments were found. Analysis by
the U.S. Army's Central Identification Laboratory (CIL) in Hawaii reported the
positive identification of all 13 missing crewmembers. Some critics dubbed this
identificatin "Voodoo Forensics."

Mrs. Hart was immediately skeptical.  She was concerned that the positive
identification of all 13 missing men onboard the aircraft had seemed too
convenient. She was further concerned that among the remains said to be those of
her husband, she found the bone fragment which she had herself found at the
crash site location several years before. She believed this was too much of a
coincidence.

Anne Hart had an independent analysis of the seven tiny fragments of bone which
the government said constituted the remains of her husband. Dr. Michael Charney
of Colorado State University, an internationally respected Board Certified
Forensic Anthropologist with nearly 50 years of experience in anthropology,
conducted the study.

"It is impossible," Charney wrote in his report, "to determine whether these
fragments are from LTC Hart or any other individual, whether they are from one
individual or several, or whether they are even from any of the crew members of
the aircraft in study."

Mrs. Hart refused to accept the remains and sued the government, challenging its
identification procedures. Her challenge produced additional criticism of CIL
and the techniques it uses in identifying remains. Some scientists, including
Charney, charged that CIL deliberately misinterpreted evidence in order to
identify remains. They said the Army consistently drew unwarranted conclusions
about height, weight, sex and age from tiny bone fragments. Eleven of the
"positive" identifications made on the AC130 crew were determined to be
scientifically impossible.

"These are conclusions just totally beyond the means of normal identification,
our normal limits and even our abnormal limits," said Dr. William Maples,
curator of physical anthropology at Florida State Museum.

Among the egregious errors cited by Charney was a piece of pelvic bone that the
laboratory mistakenly said was a part of a skull bone and was used to identify
Chief Master Sgt. James R. Fuller. The Reaid ID had been made based on bits of
upper arm and leg bones and a mangled POW bracelet said to be like one Reaid
wore. The MacDonald ID had been made based on the dental records for a single
tooth.

Mrs. Hart won her suit against the government. Her husband's identification, as
well as that of George MacDonald, was rescinded. The Government no longer
claimed that the identifications were positive. However, these two men were
listed as "accounted for."

Mrs. Hart's suit on behalf of her husband made it U.S. Government policy for a
family to be given the opportunity to seek outside confirmation of any
identification of remains said to be their loved ones. Mrs. Hart also believed
that the suit was successful in keeping her husband's file open. Reports were
still being received related to him.

In 1988, the Air Force forwarded a live sighting report of Tom Hart to Mrs.
Hart. The Air Force had concluded the report was false or irrelevant because
Tom Hart was "accounted for." Mrs. Hart again went to court to try and ensure
that her husband was not abandoned if, indeed, he is still alive. She wanted him
put back on the "unaccounted for" list.

In early March, 1990, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the lower
court decision that had ruled the U.S. Government erred in identifying bone
fragments as being the remains of Thomas Hart. The appellate court ruled that
the government is free to use "its discretion" in handling the identification of
victims of war and that courts should not second-guess government decisions on
when to stop searching for soldiers believed to be killed in action.

The court also denied Mrs. Hart's request to have her husband returned to the
"unaccounted for" list. "The government must make a practical decision at some
point regarding when to discontinue the search for personnel," the court said in
its ruling.

Most Americans would make the practical decision to serve their country in war,
if asked to do so. Even though there is evidence that some of this crew did not
die in the crash of the aircraft, the U.S. Government has made the "practical
decision," and obtained the support of the Justice system, to quit looking for
them.

How can we allow our government to close the books on men who have not been
proven dead whose biggest crime is serving their country? If one or more of them
are among the hundreds many believe are still alive in captivity, what must they
be thinking of us?

Knowing one could be so callously abandoned, how many will serve when next asked
to do so?
FER, JOHN

Name: John Fer
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Hemet CA
Date of Loss: 04 February 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 221546N 1055300E (WK910620)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: EB66C
Other Personnel in Incident: John O. Davies; Jack W. Bomar (both released
POWs); Russell A. Poor (missing); Herb Doby; Woodrow H. Wilburn (remains
returned)
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1990 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.

REMARKS: 730304 RELSD BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: The Douglas EB66C Skywarrior was outfitted as an electronic warfare
aircraft which carried roughly 5 tons of electronic gear in addition to its
flight crew of three and technical personnel. The EB66C featured a pressurized
capsule installed in the bomb bay, that accommodated four technicians whose
responsibility was to operate electronic reconnaissance gear.

On February 4, 1967, an EB66C was dispatched on an operational mission over
North Vietnam. The crew and technicians that day included Maj. Jack W. Bomar,
1Lt. John O. Davies, Capt. John Fer, Capt. Russell A. Poor, Capt. Herb Doby, and
Maj. Woodrow Hoover.

At a point about 40 miles from the China border in Bac Thai Province, North
Vietnam, the EB66C was shot down. Bomar, Fer and Davies were captured. The fates
of Doby, Poor and Wilburn were uncertain.

In the spring of 1973, 591 Americans were released from prison camps in Vietnam,
including Bomar, Davies and Fer. They had been POWs for just over six years.
Poor, Doby and Wilburn remained Missing in Action.

In 1977, the Vietnamese returned remains which were identified as being those of
Capt. Herb Doby, but denied any knowledge of the fates of Poor and Wilburn.

In 1990, it was announced that the Vietnamese had "discovered" and returned the
remains of Maj. Woodrow Wilburn.

For 23 years, the Vietnamese have denied knowledge of the fates of the missing
from the EB66C they shot down on February 4, 1967. Among the entire crew, only
Poor remains missing.

Disturbing testimony was given to Congress in 1980 that the Vietnamese
"stockpiled" the remains of Americans to return at politically advantageous
times. Could Poor be waiting, 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. Could Poor be among these?

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.

FERGUSON, DOUGLAS DAVID

Name: Douglas David Ferguson
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit: 555th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Udorn AB, Thailand
Date of Birth: 26 April 1945
Home City of Record: Tacoma WA
Date of Loss: 30 December 1969
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 195900N 1032900E (UH413101)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D

Other Personnel In Incident: Fielding W. Featherston III (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 April 1990 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.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: The Plain of Jars region of Laos was long under the control of the
communist Pathet Lao and a continual effort had been made by the secret
CIA-directed force of some 30,000 indigenous tribesmen to strengthen
anti-communist strongholds there. The U.S. committed hundreds of millions of
dollars to the war effort in Laos, but details of this secret operation were not
released until August 1971.

Doug Ferguson and Fielding Featherston were aboard one of five F4D aircraft on a
mission into the Plaine des Jarres region of Laos on December 30, 1969. Their
ship was hit by enemy fire and exploded in a fireball. There were no parachutes
seen, nor were emergency radio "beeper" signals heard that day by other
aircraft.

On the following day, the crash site was photographed and two empty parachutes
were visible hanging in nearby trees. The area was too heavily defended for a
ground search to be possible.

Ferguson and Featherston may well have been captured. They are among the nearly
600 Americans lost in Laos. Because Laos was "neutral", and because the U.S.
continued to state they were not at war with Laos (although we were regularly
bombing North Vietnamese traffic along the border and conducted assaults against
communist strongholds thoughout the country at the behest of the anti-communist
government of Laos), and did not recognize the Pathet Lao as a government
entity, the nearly 600 Americans lost in Laos were never recovered.

The Pathet Lao stated that they would release the "tens of tens" of American
prisoners they held only from Laos. At war's end, no American held in Laos was
released - or negotiated for.

Voluminous evidence exists that Americans still survive, captive, in Indochina.
Until serious steps are taken to resolve the fate of these men, the families of
Ferguson and Featherston must wonder if their men are alive, abandoned by their
country.


Douglas D. Ferguson graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1967.

CASE SYNOPSIS: FERGUSON, WALTER JR.

Name: Walter Ferguson, Jr.
Rank/Branch: E6/US Army
Unit: Company D, 1st Battalion, 2nd Infantry, 1st Infantry Division
Date of Birth: 13 August 1947 (Hampton SC)
Home City of Record: New York NY
Date of Loss: 23 August 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 115051N 1063647E (XU757101)
Status (in 1973): Prisoner of War
Category: 1
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel In Incident: none missing

REMARKS: 7005 DIC - ON PRG DIC LIST

SYNOPSIS: SSgt. Walter Ferguson was captured in Binh Long Province, South
Vietnam, while his unit was engaging Viet Cong forces on August 23, 1968. He
was held in captivity with other U.S. prisoners who were repatriated in 1973
until June 1970 when he was reportedly killed in an escape attempt at a POW
camp in Cambodia. The Provisional Revolutionary Government (PRG) list provided
in Paris in 1973 states that Ferguson died in captivity in May 1970.

The guards at the camp where Ferguson was held called him "Wa". If Ferguson was
actually killed in an escape attempt, these guards probably also buried him or
oversaw the burial. There is no doubt that the Vietnamese know where his body
lies.

Ferguson is one of about 100 who were known to have been prisoner of war and
remain unaccounted for. He is among nearly 2500 missing. Of the others, some
were teammates of known prisoners, some were alive and in good health as they
described their imminent capture to search teams.

All details of Walter Ferguson's mission and captivity are still classified for
unspecified reasons. Detractors say it is this policy of classification that
inspires doubt and distrust in the issue of the fates of those still missing.

Evidence mounts that hundreds of these missing men are actually alive in the
hands of a long-ago enemy. To date, U.S. efforts have not resulted in the
return of a single living American POW. Yet, by 1989, U.S. intent is clearly
to let bygones be bygones. When we signed peace agreements in 1973, military
experts expressed dismay that "some hundreds" of POWs expected to be released
were not. In our haste to leave Southeast Asia, we abandoned our best men. In
our haste to return, will we sign their death warrants?
FERGUSON, WALTER LEE
Remains Returned 780823

Name: Walter Lee Ferguson
Rank/Branch: E7/US Air Force
Unit: 340th Bombardment Squadron, Anderson AFB Guam
Date of Birth: 22 June 1929
Home City of Record: Detroit MI
Date of Loss: December 18 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 21138N 1054247E (WJ740473)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: B52G
Other Personnel in Incident: Donald L. Rissi; Robert J. Thomas (both remains
returned); Richard E. Johnson; Richard T. Simpson; Robert G. Certain (all
released POWs)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources including "Linebacker" by Karl J. Eschmann.
Copyright 1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS: REMS RET MONTG HANOI 780823

SYNOPSIS: Frustrated by problems in negotiating a peace settlement, and
pressured by a Congress and public wanting an immediate end to American
involvement in Vietnam, President Nixon ordered the most concentrated air
offensive of the war - known as Linebacker II - in December 1972. During the
offensive, sometimes called the "Christmas bombings," 40,000 tons of bombs were
dropped, primarily over the area between Hanoi and Haiphong. White House Press
Secretary Ronald Ziegler said that the bombing would end only when all U.S. POWs
were released and an internationally recognized cease-fire was in force.

On the first day of Linebacker II, December 18, 129 B52s arrived over Hanoi in
three waves, four to five hours apart. They attacked the airfields at Hoa Lac,
Kep and Phuc Yen, the Kinh No complex and the Yen Vien railyards. The aircraft
flew in tight cells of three to maximize the mutual support benefits of their
ECM equipment and flew straight and level to stabilize the bombing computers and
ensure that all bombs fell on the military targets and not in civilian areas.

The pilots of the early missions reported that "wall-to-wall SAMS" surrounded
Hanoi as they neared its outskirts. The first night of bombing, December 18, saw
the operation's first casualties.

Charcoal 01, a B52G, flown by LtCol. Donald L. Rissi. The crew had been
scheduled to return home to Blytheville AFB, Arkansas, two weeks earlier. But
due to a snowstorm, their replacement crew from Loring AFB, Maine, was too late
in arriving to transition to a combat-ready status. So, instead of being at
home, the Charcoal 01 crew met its tragic fate over North Vietnam.

The crew of the aircraft included its pilot and commander, LTCOL Donald L. Rissi
and crewmen Maj. Richard E. Johnson, the radar navigator; Capt. Richard T.
Simpson, electronics warfare officer; Capt. Robert G. Certain, the navigator;
1Lt. Robert J. Thomas, the co-pilot; and Sgt. Walter L. Ferguson, the gunner.

Just seconds to reaching the bomb-release point over the Yen Vien rail yards,
B52G Charcoal 01 was hit simultaneously by two SAMs. Less than a minute later
the aircraft nosed down, crashed and exploded ten miles northwest of Hanoi. It
was the first casualty of the LINEBACKER II operation, and its fate would be
shared by fourteen other crews in the next eleven nights of combat.

Certain, Simpson and Johnson were captured and shown the bodies of the other
crew members. Certain, Simpson and Johnson were held prisoner in Hanoi until
March 29, 1973, when they were released in Operation Homecoming. Six years
later, the bodies of Rissi, Thomas and Ferguson were returned to U.S. control by
the Vietnamese.

The Christmas Bombings, despite press accounts to the contrary, were of the most
precise the world had seen. Pilots involved in the immense series of strikes
generally agree that the strikes against anti-aircraft and strategic targets was
so successful that the U.S. "could have taken the entire country of Vietnam by
inserting an average Boy Scout troop in Hanoi and marching it southward."

To achieve this precision bombing, the Pentagon deemed it necessary to maintain
a regular flight path. For many missions, the predictable B52 strikes were
anticipated and prepared for by the North Vietnamese. Later, however, flight
paths were altered and attrition all but eliminated any hostile threat from the
ground.

The survival rate of the B52 crews downed was surprisingly high, and many were
released in 1973. Many others were known to survive the crash of the aircraft,
only to disappear. Reports mount that have convinced many authorities that
Americans are still held captive in Southeast Asia. Although the crew of
Charcoal 01 is accounted for, many others involved in the LINEBACKER operations
are not. There is every reason to believe some of them could be among those
still alive today. It's time we found them and brought them home.






FIESZEL, CLIFFORD WAYNE

Name: Clifford Wayne Fieszel
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 23 November 1937
Home City of Record: Lubbock TX
Date of Loss: 30 September 1968
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 172700N 1063200E (XE631311)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F105F

Other Personnel In Incident: Howard H. Smith (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: The F105 Thunderchief (or "Thud") performed yoeman service on many
diversified missions in Southeast Asia. F105s flew more combat missions over
North Vietnam than any other USAF aircraft and consequently suffered the
heaviest losses in action. They dropped bombs by day and occasionally by night
from high or low altitude and some later versions (F105D in Wild Weasel guise)
attacked SAM sites with their radar tracking air-to-ground missiles. This
versatile aircraft was also credited with downing 25 Russian MiGs.

Maj. Howard H. Smith was the pilot and Capt. Clifford Fieszel the co-pilot of an
F105 assigned a combat mission over North Vietnam on September 30, 1968. During
the mission, about 50 miles north of the DMZ near Quang Khe, the aircraft was
hit by enemy ground fire. Smith's wingman had just been hit and headed out to
sea, and did not see the plane hit.

Search and rescue units monitored beeper signals for 24 hours after Fieszel's
plane went down, but were unable to rescue him or Smith. On the following day,
Radio Hanoi announced that two F105's had been shot down in the Quang Khe and
the pilot of the second plane had been captured. On October 7 a Hanoi newspaper
repeated the story. It was thought that the Vietnamese believed the wingman's
plane had also gone down since it was on fire when it headed out to sea. No
mention was made of Smith in either report.

When the last American troops left Southeast Asia in 1975, some 2500 Americans
were unaccounted for. Reports received by the U.S. Government since that time
build a strong case for belief that hundreds of these "unaccounted for"
Americans are still alive and in captivity.

Until the fates of the men like Fieszel and Smith are known, their families will
wonder if they are dead or alive .. and why they were deserted.

Howard H. Smith was promoted to the rank of Colonel and Clifford W. Fieszel to
the rank of Lieutenant Colonel during the period they were maintained Missing in
Action.
FINCH, MELVIN WAYNE
Remains Returned 14 August 1985

Name: Melvin Wayne Finch
Rank/Branch: O3/US Army
Unit:
Date of Birth: 10 November 1944
Home City of Record: Ft. Belvoir VA
Date of Loss: 30 March 1972
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 141627N 1074920E (ZA045798)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 1
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: OH6A

Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS: DIED QUANG BINH SEPT 72 - W/US POWS

SYNOPSIS: The Hughes Aircraft OH6A "Loach" helicopter was envisioned as an
all-purpose helicopter to perform such duties as personnel or cargo transport,
light ground attack or casualty evacuation, observation, and photographic
reconnaissance. In South Vietnam, the Loach proved most effective at visual
reconnaissance, searching out signs of the enemy in even heavily defended areas.
Its crew peered through gaps in the jungle canopy in search of tracks, cooking
fires, huts, or other signs of the enemy as the light helicopter skimmed the
treetops.

Capt. Melvin W. Finch was onboard an OH6A on a combat mission in South Vietnam
on March 30, 1972. The mission was a recon of a bunker-hooch complex about 12
miles west-southwest of Kontum. During the mission, small arms fire from one of
the hooches downed the helicopter. Finch and SP4 Blackwood, also on the
aircraft, got out of the crashed helicopter alive.

Finch was dazed and injured and had blood on his face and in his eyes. As he
departed the aircraft he began running toward enemy fire. Blackwood was unable
to get his attention to alert him to run the other way. Blackwood crawled 30
meters to a nearby road and was rescued.

Melvin Finch was alive the last time he was seen, and the Department of Defense
gave him an enemy knowledge category of "1" which indicates the enemy certainly
did know his fate. However, Finch was not listed Prisoner of War, but Missing in
Action.

In February 1974, after 591 Americans had been released from prison camps in
Vietnam, released ARVN POWs reported and identified Finch and returnee Reeder as
two U.S. Army captains they had been held with before the two Americans were
moved north.

Other unspecified information indicates that Finch died in captivity with other
Americans in Quang Binh Province (just north of the DMZ) in September 1972.

Melvin Finch's final classification by the Department of Defense was Killed or
Died in Captivity. Although the U.S. is certain the Vietnamese could account for
him, they continue to deny any knowledge of him.

Nearly 2500 Americans remain missing or otherwise unaccounted for in Vietnam.
Since the war ended, over 10,000 reports concerning missing Americans in
Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. Government. Many experts are
completely convinced that hundreds of Americans are still held captive.

One set of critics say that the U.S. has done little to address the issue of
live POWs, preferring the politically safer issue of remains return. Others
place the blame on the Vietnamese, for using the issue of POW/MIA to their
political advantage. Regardless of blame, no living American has returned
through the efforts of negotiations between the countries, and the reports
continue to pour in. Are we doing enough to bring these men home?


FINGER, SANFORD IRA

Name: Sanford Ira Finger
Rank/Branch: E6/US Army
Unit: US Army Element Vietnam Army-Air Force Regional Exchange (USA ELM VRE),
PACEX, US Army Headquarters Area Command (USAHAC), US Army, Vietnam (USARV)
Date of Birth: 19 August 1942
Home City of Record: New York NY
Date of Loss: 26 October 1971
Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 121301N 1091847E (CP165510)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Other Personnel In Incident: Michael Lautzenheiser; Mickey Eveland; Thomas
Green; Albert Trudeau; Robert A. Nickol (all missing); Leonard G. Maquiling
(aircraft commander-remains recovered); three other non-crew aboard-bodies
recovered.

REMARKS: CRASHES-4 REMS FND-NOT SUBJS

SYNOPSIS: Before dawn on the morning of October 26, 1971, Mickey Eveland was
awakened by his assistant platoon leader, G.J. Curry and told that he was
needed as crew chief for a resupply flight from Camp Holloway at Pleiku to Cha
Rang Valley and An Son.  SP4 Walia, the crew's usual crew chief had to be
present at a promotion board that day, so Mickey Eveland was selected to fill
in for him. Pvt. Green, gunner; WO Albert Trudeau, pilot; CWO Leonard
Maquiling, aircraft commander; SP5 Michael Lautzenheiser, the flight engineer;
were also awakened. The crew flew from the 52nd Aviation Battalion, "Flying
Dragons". Mickey had a hard time waking up, and Curry had to return to reawaken
him. Maquiling, the oldest of the crew, had just turned 23; Trudeau had just
turned 22. Eveland and Green were barely 19. Mike was 20.

The CH47B, serial #66-19143, call sign Warrior 143, departed Camp Holloway at
0750 that morning and arrived at An Son at 0900 hours after a stop at Cha Rang
Valley. While at An Son, the aircraft received further orders to fly to Cam
Ranh Bay with a stop at Tuy Hoa. The helicopter arrived at Tuy Hoa at 1115
hours and departed there at 1350 hours. Shortly after departure from Tuy Hoa,
Trudeau radioed that he had 10 people aboard and expected to arrive at Cam Ranh
Bay at 1420 hours. He had taken on 6 passengers for the flight, Finger, Nickol,
and three others. The weather was expected to worsen south of Tuy Hoa, and the
pilot was cautioned to contact Coastal Center for weather conditions.

The last time anyone saw Warrior 143, it was near Nha Trang, headed south into
bad weather. Search and Rescue was initiated at 1555 hours. Between October 27
and November 1, debris identified as being from 143 was found washed ashore on
Hon Tre island, just offshore from Nha Trang. The condition of the debris
recovered indicated that the aircraft had struck the water at high speed. In
all, four crew members' remains were found during the search period. However,
there was no sign of Eveland, Trudeau, Nickol, Green, Finger or Lautzenheiser.
An extensive search continued through November 9, without success. In 1972, the
missing crew members were declared Killed in Action, Body Not Recovered.

An additional recovery attempt was made based on the possible sighting of the
wreckage of the aircraft on October 9, 1974. Two South Vietnamese scuba divers
spent 1 hour and 30 minutes each in an underwater search, but did not locate
the wreckage.

Hon Tre island was definitely Viet Cong territory and their junks plyed the
waters surrounding it at night. Veteran fighter pilots told the Lautzenheiser
family that, in spite of the seemingly dismal facts surrounding the loss of
123, the presence of so many Viet Cong made it possible that the crew of the
helicopter could have been taken captive.

As the years passed, anguish for the families of the men missing on Warrior 143
only grew as thousands of reports flowed in relating to Americans still held
captive in Southeast Asia. The Vietnamese appear, to many authorities, to be
holding the men against the day the U.S. will pay their promised reconstruction
aid. The U.S. firmly holds that it will not pay. Meanwhile, nearly 2500
American families wait in limbo, and American heroes die in the hands of a
long-ago enemy, victims of a political war that, for them, will not end.
FINLEY, DICKIE WAINE

Name: Dickie Waine Finley
Rank/Branch: E3/US Army
Unit: HHC, 2nd Brigade, 4th Infantry Division
Date of Birth: 29 June 1947 (East Prairie MO)
Home City of Record: Sweet Springs MO
Date of Loss: 21 October 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 124615N 1075719E (ZV207135)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Other Personnel In Incident: SP4 Ghahate (killed)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On October 21, 1968, PFC Dickie Finley was the team leader of a 5-man
Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol (LRRP) team operating in the vicinity of Ban Me
Thuot in Darlac Province, South Vietnam. The unit was based at Kontum in South
Vietnam. During the evening, PFC Finley reported enemy contact and after
expending their ammunition, the team withdrew to a pickup zone to await a
helicopter.

The enemy had previously given a false report on their position and marked their
location with red smoke. Finley radioed again for a pickup. The extraction
helicopter hovered over a shallow pond and began loading the team members.
Finley threw his rifle onboard and was helpint three team members board the
aircraft when it took off prematurely, leaving PFC Finley behind. SP4 Ghahate
was clinging to the skids until he fell off.

In the darkness, it was not immediately known that all the team members were not
aboard. One team member looked out and saw a man hanging on the helicopter
landing skid. He signaled the pilot, but when he looked again, the man was gone.
The pilot circled the area in search of the 2 missing men. the search was
terminated after 30 minutes because of darkness.

The following day a 3 day search was initiated by ground forces and helicopter
units. The body of Ghahate was recovered. He had been wounded and it was
believed that it was he who fell from the helicopter. No sign was found of
Finley.

The family was told by friends of Finley's that during the searches his
Lieutenant went back and found a Bible and flashlight in the fork of a tree,
indicating that some sort of marker had been placed for search teams. The Army
reports no evidence of this in their files. Another account, given by Finley's
wife states that Finley's strobe light was found wedged in the branch of a tree.

Dickie Finley, according to friends, was a scrapper. He wouldn't give up easily
on anything. It's their feeling that if Dickie was not killed, he is still
fighting for his freedom.

Dickie W. Finley was promoted to the rank of Staff Sergeant during the period he
was maintained Missing in Action.
FINN, WILLIAM ROBERT

Name: William Robert Finn
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 16 August 1947
Home City of Record: Metairie LA
Date of Loss: 24 December 1971
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 144200N 1064700E (YB477233)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: OV10A
Other Personnel in Incident: Timothy M. Tucker (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project with the assistance of Task Force
Omega from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency
sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews.
Date Compiled: 01 January 1990

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: The OV10 Bronco was among the aircraft most feared by the Viet Cong
and NVA forces, because whenever the Bronco appeared overhead, an air strike
seemed certain to follow. Although the glassed-in cabin could become
uncomfortably warm, it provided splendid visibility. The two-man crew had armor
protection and could use machine guns and bombs to attack, as well as rockets
to mark targets for fighter bombers. This versatility enabled the plane to fly
armed reconnaissance missions, in addition to serving as vehicle for forward
air controllers.

1Lt. Timothy M. Tucker was the pilot and 1Lt. William R. Finn the co-pilot of an
OV10 Bronco assigned a mission over Laos on Christmas Eve, 1971. Their mission
took them over Attopeu Province, the extreme southeast province of Laos.

At a point about 12 miles south of the city of Attopeu, the Bronco was lost,
and Tucker and Finn became Missing in Action. Upon subsequent evaluation of
their cases, it was thought doubtful that the enemy knew either of their fates.

In 1973, the prisoners of war held in Vietnam were released. Laos was not part
of the Paris agreement which ended American involvement in Indochina. No
prisoners held by the Lao were ever released. Nearly 600 Americans were left
behind, forgotten.

In 1975, refugees fled Southeast Asia and brought with them stories of
Americans still held prisoner. The reports continued to flow in as the years
passed. By 1990, nearly 10,000 reports had been received. Some sources have
passed multiple polygraph tests, but the U.S. Government still insists that
proof is not available, yet maintains most of the reports in classified status.
One such report describes William R. Finn's capture, and names him by name.
This report has never been confirmed, as far as public scrutiny can determine.

Meanwhile, the Lao voice dismay about the large numbers of their people that
were killed and the fact that much of their once beautiful homeland now is
cratered like the moon from bombs dropped by American planes. They seem to want
acknowledgement that, in bombing enemy sanctuaries in Laos, we also did great
harm to the Lao people.

We are haunted by the secret war we conducted in Laos through the lives of the
Americans we left behind. Some of them may still be alive. What must they be
thinking of us?

FINNEY, CHARLES ELBERT

Name: Charles Elbert Finney
Rank/Branch: O3/US Marine Corps
Unit: VMA 533, Marine Air Group 12
Date of Birth: 05 August 1944
Home City of Record: Saltville MS
Date of Loss: 17 March 1969
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 161900N 1063300E (XD530190)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A6A

Other Personnel In Incident: Steven R. Armistead (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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 Grumman A6 Intruder is a two-man all weather, low-altitude,
carrier based attack plane, with versions adapted as aerial tanker and
electronic warfare platform. The A6A primarily flew close-air-support, all
weather and night attacks on enemy troop concentrations, and night interdiction
missions. Its advanced navigation and attack system, known as DIANE (Digital
Integrated Attack navigation Equipment) allowed small precision targets, such as
bridges, barracks and fuel depots to be located and attacked in all weather
conditions, day or night. The planes were credited with some of the most
difficult single-plane strikes in the war, including the destruction of the Hai
Duong bridge between Hanoi and Haiphong by a single A6. Their missions were
tough, but their crews among the most talented and most courageous to serve the
United States.

1LT Steven R. Armistead was the pilot and Capt. Charles E. Finney was the
bombardier/navigator on board an A6A Intruder aircraft sent on a night mission
over Laos on March 17, 1969. The mission was in support of air activity being
conducted by the 7th Air Force.

When the aircraft had completed its target strike, it was hit by enemy fire and
went down near the city of Muong Nong, located southwest of the demilitarized
zone (DMZ), in Savannakhet Province, Laos. Air searches proved unsuccessful, and
both men were listed as Missing In Action.

The Defense Intelligence Agency further expanded Armistead's and Finney's
classifications 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.

Finney and Armistead are among nearly 600 Americans lost in the country of Laos
during the Vietnam War. Although the numbers of men actually termed "prisoner of
war" are quite low, this can be explained in understanding the blanket of
security surrounding the "secret war" the U.S. waged in Laos. To protect the
public perception that we "were not in Laos," details of many loss incidents
were "rearranged" to show a loss or casualty in South Vietnam. Only a handful of
publicly-exposed cases were ever acknowledged POW, even though scores of pilots
and ground personnel were known to have been alive and well at last contact
(thus increasing the chance they were captured alive).

The Lao communist faction, the Pathet Lao, stated on several occasions they held
"tens of tens" of American prisoners, but the Pathet Lao were not included in
the Paris Peace agreements ending American involvement in the war. Consequently,
no American POWs held in Laos were negotiated for. Not one American held in Laos
has ever been released. They were abandoned to the enemy.

Reports continue to be received that Americans are alive today, being held
captive. Whether Armistead and Finney are among them is not known. What is
certain, however, is that they deserve better than the abandonment they received
at the hands of the country they so proudly served.


Charles Finney attended the military academy at West Point, and had been named
first, to the Marine Corps Honor Guard, and later to the Silent Drill Team. He
was promoted to the rank of Captain during the period he was maintained missing.

Steven R. Armistead was promoted to the rank of Major during the period he was
missing.

FISCHER, RICHARD W.

Name: Richard W. Fischer
Rank/Branch: USMC E3
Unit: M 3/5 1ST MAR DIV
Date of Birth: 15 June 47
Home City of Record: Madison, WI
Date of Loss: 08 January 68
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 155456N 1081058E
Status (in 1973): Missing
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Other Personnel In Incident:

Source: Compiled by THE P.O.W. NETWORK 02 February 93 from the
following published sources - POW/MIA's -- Report of the Select Committee
on POW/MIA Affairs United States Senate -- January 13, 1993. "The Senate
Select Committee staff has prepared case summaries for the priority cases
that the Administration is now investigating. These provide the facts about
each case, describe the circumstances under which the individual was lost,
and detail the information learned since the date of loss.  Information in
the case summaries is limited to information from casualty files, does not
include any judgments by Committee staff, and attempts to relate essential
facts. The Committee acknowledges that POW/MIAs' primary next-of- kin know
their family members' cases in more comprehensive detail than summarized
here and recognizes the limitations that the report format imposes on these
summaries."

On January 8, 1968, Lance Corporal Fisher was with an ambush team
in Dien Ban District, south of Da Nang City, Quang Nam Province.
He left his ambush site with a one-legged girl and was never seen
again.  A search and rescue party attempting to locate him was
fired upon.  A later search failed to locate any trace of him but
an older local resident did say that an American had been taken
prisoner.  The non-commissioned officer in charge of the ambush was
recommended for court-martial for permitting a member of the team
to leave the site.  In 1970, a former Vietnam People's Army
Lieutenant Colonel provided information, possibly hearsay, that
Corporal Fisher had been killed and buried.

Corporal Fisher was initially declared missing.  In December 1978,
he was declared dead/body not recovered.  Returning U.S. POWs were
unable to provide any information about him being alive in the
Vietnamese prison system.

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.
FISHER, DONALD ELLIS

Name: Donald Ellis Fisher
Rank/Branch: O5/US Air Force
Unit: 314th Tactical Airlift Wing, Nha Trang Airbase, South Vietnam
Date of Birth: 19 May 1924
Home City of Record: Halfway OR
Date of Loss: 29 December 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 220900N 1032200E (UK315501)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: C130E
Other Personnel In Incident: James R. Williams; Gean P. Clapper; Charles P.
Claxton; Wayne A. Eckley; Edward J. Darcy; Edwin N. Osborne; Frank C. Parker;
Gerald G. VanBuren; Gordon J. Wenaas; Jack McCrary; (all missing)

REMARKS: RADIO CONTACT LOST

SYNOPSIS: On December 29, 1967, a C130E aircraft departed Nha Trang Airbase
shortly after midnight on an operational mission over North Vietnam. The eleven
man crew aboard the aircraft included Maj. Charles P. Claxton; Capt. Edwin N.
Osborne Jr., and Capt. Gerald G. Van Buren (all listed as pilots); and crewmen
SSgt. Edward J. Darcy; SSgt. Gean P. Clapper; SSgt. Wayne A. Eckley; LtCol.
Donald E. Fisher; TSgt. Jack McCrary; Capt. Frank C. Parker III; Capt. Gordon
J. Wenaas; and Sgt. James R. Williams.

At 4:30 a.m., the pilot made radio contact with Nha Trang and said the mission
was progressing as scheduled. No further contact was made. The aircraft's last
known position was in extreme northwest North Vietnam, in mountainous Lai Chau
Province. The eleven Americans aboard the aircraft were declared Missing in
Action.

When the war ended, and 591 Americans were released from Vietnamese prison
camps, the crew of the C130 was not among them. Although the Vietnamese
pledged, as part of the Paris Peace Accords, to release all prisoners and make
the fullest possible accounting of the missing, they have done neither. The
Vietnamese deny any knowledge of the crew of the C130.

Alarmingly, evidence continues to mount that Americans were left as prisoners
in Southeast Asia and continue to be held today. Unlike "MIAs" from other wars,
most of the nearly 2500 men and women who remain missing in Southeast Asia can
be accounted for. If even one was left alive (and many authorities estimate the
numbers to be in the hundreds), we have failed as a nation until and unless we
do everything possible to secure his freedom and bring him home.


FISHER, DONALD GARTH

Name: Donald Garth Fisher
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit: 16th Special Operations Squadron, Ubon Airbase, Thailand
Date of Birth: 30 June 1930
Home City of Record: Hazleton PA
Date of Loss: 22 April 1970
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 154400N 1065100E (XC990410)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: AC130A
Other Personnel in Incident: Ronnie Hensley; Robert Ireland;Stephen Harris;
Donald Lint; William Brooks; Charles B. Davis; Thomas Y. Adachi; John C. Towle;
Charles Rowley (all missing); Eugene L. Fields (rescued).

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: In the early hours of April 22, 1970, an AC130 gunship flown by
veteran pilot Major William Brooks departed Ubon Airbase with a crew of ten for
a Commando Hunt mission over the Ho Chi Minh Trail in southern Laos. The
aircraft, code named "Ad Lib", was joined near its destination by two jet
escort fighter bombers, code named "Killer 1" and "Killer 2", and immediately
began air strikes against enemy traffic below. The crew of the aircraft
included Brooks, the pilot; SSgt. Thomas Y. Adachi, the aerial gunner; LtCol.
Charlie B. Davis, a navigator; Maj. Donald G. Fisher, a navigator; SSgt.
Stephen W. Harris; SSgt. Ronnie L. Hensley; Master Sgt. Robert N. Ireland;
Airman Donald M. Lint; LtCol. Charles S. Rowley; and 1Lt. John C. Towle.

During its fourth strike, the gunship was hit by anti-aircraft fire and began
burning. Brooks radioed, "I've been hit, babe". Fisher, the navigator, reported
that his position was OK. Fields and Hensley, battling the blaze in the rear of
the aircraft, lost contact with each other in the smoke. Fields inched his way
to Adachi's position, and found Adachi gone and the left scanner window open.
Fields used an auxiliary parachute to abandon the aircraft.

Killer 1 reported seeing no parachutes, although Killer 2 reported the crew was
bailing out. Just before Killer 1 departed the area for refueling, it received
one emergency beeper signal from the ground. Killer 2 established voice contact
with a member of the crew identifying himself as Ad-Lib 12 (Fisher), who
reported that he had burns on his face and hands. Killer 2 also left for
refueling, while other aircraft monitored the downed craft and waited for
morning to attempt rescue of the survivors.

The following morning, Ad-Lib 11 (Fields) was rescued, but due to hostile
ground forces, no ground search or photographs were made at the time. The Air
Force assumed at the time that Fields had incorrectly identified himself, and
announced that 6 of the crew had been killed and four were missing.

The rest of the story is confusing. The family of one of the crew was told that
a ground crew had been inserted and that partial remains of one crew member had
been recovered. Another family was advised that photographs of the crashsite
existed. A photograph of a captive airman having burn bandages on his hands was
identified as being Fisher by his family. Rowley's family was informed of a
secret intelligence report indicating that 8 of the crew had been captured, and
that a controlled American source had witnessed them being tortured to death
for their "crimes".

A returned POW reported seeing Rowley in a propaganda film. Another returned
POW stated that Fisher had been a POW. Although the Air Force would not allow
family members to contact the only survivor, Fields, Fisher's son located him
after 18 years. Fisher denied ever being in contact with any of the Killer jet
escorts. It was not he who identified himself by radio to rescue forces.

Apparently, at least some of the crew of Ad Lib survived to be captured in
Laos, often called the "Black Hole" of the POW issue because of nearly 600 lost
there, not a SINGLE man was released that had been held in Laos. The Pathet Lao
stated on several occasions that they held prisoners, yet we never negotiated
their freedom, and reports continue to be received that some of these men are
still alive. The surviving crew members lost that day were abandoned by the
country for which they bravely fought.

FITTON, CROSLEY JAMES JR.
Remains Returned 21 December 1975

Name: Crosley James Fitton, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 28 February 1933
Home City of Record: Hartford CT (family in Salina KS)
Date of Loss: 29 February 1969
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 205500N 1054600E (WJ797129)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F105F

Other Personnel in Incident: Cleveland S. Harris (remains returned)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS: 751221 SRV RET REMS

SYNOPSIS: The F105 Thunderchief (or "Thud") performed yoeman service on many
diversified missions in Southeast Asia. F105s flew more combat missions over
North Vietnam than any other USAF aircraft and consequently suffered the
heaviest losses in action.

Maj. Crosley J. Fitton, Jr. was the pilot and Capt. Cleveland S. Harris was the
co-pilot of an F105F which was one in a flight of four F105s sent on a combat
mission on the outskirts of Hanoi on February 29, 1969.

During the mission, the aircraft was hit by a surface-to-air missile (SAM).
Others in the flight observed both Fitton and Harris bail out with good
parachutes. The flight leader tracked both on radar and picked up both emergency
radio beeper signals. The beepers, which must be manually shut off, stopped
shortly after the crewmen landed on the ground.

Although Fitton and Harris landed safely on the ground, it was not certain what
happened to them after that. Both were declared Missing in Action. Their
families resigned themselves to the long wait.

In the spring of 1973, 591 American POWs were released by the Vietnamese, but
Harris and Fitton were not among them. Military officials expressed their dismay
at the time that hundreds of men known or suspected to be prisoners were not
released.

In 1975, the Vietnamese discovered and returned the remains of Crosley J.
Fitton. It was another ten years before Harris was to return. His remains were
turned over to U.S. control in April of 1985.

Nearly 2500 Americans did not return from the war in Vietnam. Thousands of
reports have been received indicating that some hundreds remain alive in
captivity. As in the case of Fitton and Harris, Vietnam and her communist allies
can account for most of them. Current "negotiations" between the U.S. and
Vietnam have yielded the remains of nearly 300 Americans. The families of these
men at last have the peace of knowing whether their loved one is alive or dead.

In the total view of the issue of the missing, however, the return of remains
signals no progress. In the early 1980's the very credible Congressional
testimony of a Vietnamese mortician indicated that the Vietnamese are in
possession of over 400 sets of remains. In 15 years, they have returned barely
half of them. More importantly, the same credible witness, whose testimony is
believed throughout Congress, stated that he had seen live Americans held at the
same location where the remains were stored.

As long as even one American remains alive in captivity in Solutheast Asia, the
only issue is that one living man. We must bring them home before there are only
remains to negotiate for.



FITTS, RICHARD ALLAN

Remains Returned - ID Announced 03 January 1990

Name: Richard Allan Fitts
Rank/Branch: E5/US Army Special Forces
Unit: Command & Control North, MACV-SOG, 5th Special Forces Group
Date of Birth: 23 February 1946 (Weymouth MA)
Home City of Record: Abington MA
Date of Loss: 30 November 1968
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 163852N 1062514E (XD515410)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: CH34

Other Personnel In Incident: Gary R. LaBohn; Michael H. Mein; Raymond Stacks;
Samuel K. Toomey; Klaus Scholz; Arthur E. Bader (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 April 1990 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.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: SSgt Richard A. Fitts was born on February 23, 1946 in Weymouth,
Massachussetts. He entered the Army in January,1966. In Vietnam, Fitts was part
of Military Assistance Command Vietnam Studies and Observation Group (MACV-SOG)
which was a joint service high command unconventional warfare task force engaged
in highly classified operations throughout Southeast Asia. The 5th Special
Forces channeled personnel into MACV-SOG (though it was not a Special Forces
group) through Special Operations Augmentation (SOA) which provided their
"cover" while under secret orders to MACV-SOG. These teams performed deep
penetration missions of strategic reconnaissance and interdiction missions in
Laos and Cambodia which were called, depending on the country and time frame,
"Shining Brass" or "Prairie Fire" missions.

On November 30, 1968, Sgt. Richard A. Fitts, Sgt. Arthur E. Bader, Cpl. Gary R.
LaBohn, SSgt. Klaus D. Scholz, Maj. Samuel K. Toomey, Cpl. Michael H. Mein, 1Lt.
Raymond C. Stacks were passengers aboard a Vietnamese Air Force CH34 helicopter
(serial #14-4653) as their team was being transported to their reconnaissance
mission area in Laos. Details of their mission was classified at that time, and
remains classified in early 1990. However, information received from some of the
family members indicates that the mission was related to disarming an enemy
munitions store. This same account includes the informaton that Maj. Toomey was
a chemical warfare expert. Other information states that he was a communications
officer. Toomey's family identified his job as one that he could not talk about,
but that he was an "Advisor to the Special Forces."

The helicopter was flying at 4,000 feet when it was struck by 37mm anti-aircraft
fire, went into a spin, crashed in a mass of flames and exploded. The helicopter
crashed about 10 miles northwest of Khe Sanh, just into Laos east of Tchepone.
The crash site is in heavy jungle, near a stream. From the time the aircraft was
hit until the time it impacted out of view, the helicopter was under observation
and no one was seen to leave the aircraft during its descent. No ground search
was initiated because the location was in a denied area. Later visual search
indicated that the pilot's hatch was open, and his helmet was seen 25-30 feet
from the helicopter, but no survivors or bodies were seen. All the personnel
aboard the aircraft, however, were not declared dead, but were were declared
Missing in Action, which was procedure when no proof of death existed.

When the war ended, and 591 Americans were releaesed from prison camps in
Southeast Asia, not one man who had been held in Laos was released. Although the
Pathet Lao stated publicly that they held "tens of tens" of Americans, no
negotiations occurred which would free them at that time, nor have any occurred
since.

In March 1988, the area in which the helicopter crashed was excavated by a joint
Lao/US technical team. Human remains consisting of 17 teeth and 145 bone
fragments, none measuring over two inches, were recovered. The remains were
returned to the U.S. Army Central Identification (CIL) in Hawaii.

On January 3, 1990, it was announced that the remains of Richard Fitts had been
positively identified from the material recovered at the crash site. That
identification was determined by the government's conclusion that two of the 17
teeth belonged to Fitts. Fitts' parents, after having an independent analysis
conducted on the teeth, felt assured that the teeth belonged to their son, and
subsequently buried them in Boston, Massachusetts. The remaining 15 teeth and
145 bone fragments were said to be unidentifiable.

Barely a month later, on February 8, 1990, the Department of Defense announced
that the remainder of the crew had been positively identified and would be
buried, along with the Vietnamese crew, in a mass grave in Arlington National
Cemetery. Fitts' name was included on that tombstone along with the other
Americans because the Pentagon believed some of the bone fragments belonged to
Fitts. Thus, even though the remains were scientifically unidentifiable, the
cases were closed on these individuals.

Critics of the U.S. Government's identification of the entire crew of the
helicopter point to a similar incident some years ago. In 1968, unidentifiable
remains attributed to a group of U.S. Marines killed near Khe Sanh on February
25, 1968 were buried in a mass grave in St. Louis. One of the deceased was
identified as being Marine Sgt. Ronald Ridgeway.

Five years later, Ridgeway was released from a Vietnamese prisoner of war camp,
giving rise to considerable speculation as to the validity of the positive
identification of the other remains buried in St. Louis.

There are still over 2300 Americans who remain prisoner, missing, or otherwise
unaccounted for in Southeast Asia. Nearly 600 of them were lost in Laos. The
U.S. Government, by early 1990, had received nearly 10,000 reports relating to
Americans missing in Southeast Aisa. Many authorities believe there are hundreds
of Americans still alive today, held captive.

In recent years, the numbers of remains returned from Vietnam and excavated in
Laos has increased dramatically. Government strategists happily point to this as
"progress" on the POW/MIA issue, although most of these remains are still
unidentified. Indeed, many families, having had independent studies of the
remains to assure accurate identification, now have answers to long-awaited
concerns about their loved ones. However, when remains are positively
identified, the U.S. Government closes the books and the search for that missing
man ends. Can we afford to close the books on an American who may be alive
waiting for his country to bring him home?

How many will serve in the next war knowing they may be abandoned?



CASE SYNOPSIS: FITZGERALD, JOSEPH EDWARD

Name: Joseph Edward Fitzgerald
Rank/Branch: E3/US Army
Unit: LLRP, 3rd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division (See note in text)
Date of Birth: 25 November 1948 (St. Johnsbury VT)
Home City of Record: Northbridge MA
Loss Date: 31 May 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 145215N 1085242E (BS718450)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel In Incident: Brian K. McGar; John A. Jakovac (both missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On May 31, 1967, PFC Brian K. McGar, PFC Joseph E. Fitzgerald,
riflemen; Sgt. John A. Jakovac, ammo bearer; Cpl. Charles G. Rogerson, and SP4
Carl D. Flowers were members of a Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol (LRRP)
deployed in Quang Ngai Province, South Vietnam.

The LRRP unit was inserted to move to the base of Hill 310 and to check out an
area long a hedge row where several Viet Cong had been seen and fired upon by
gunships earlier that day. Then, at night, the patrol was to move to the top of
Hill 310 to establish an observation point. Early that afternoon, a report was
received that the patrol had established a position and reported everything was
normal.

At 2030 hours, the patrol reported that they were going to proceed to the top
of the hill to establish the observation point as briefed. Radio contact with
the patrol was lost after that, as the patrol failed to made a scheduled report
at 2145 hours.

On the morning of June 1, search elements began sweeping the area. During the
search, bodies of Rogerson and Flowers were discovered in fresh graves. The
search element also found an extended NAK-47, 5.56 and 7.62 millimeter brass as
well as hand grenade fragments. Blood trails were discovered leading from the
area. Searches conducted from June 2 through July 12 proved unsuccessful.

There is very good reason to believe the communist government of Vietnam knows
what happened to these young men, but as yet, no word has surfaced on them.
They are among 2500 Americans who did not come home from the war in Vietnam.
As evidence continues to mount that hundreds of Americans are still captive in
Southeast Asia, the Fitzgerald, McGar and Jakovac families must wonder if their
sons are among those said to be still alive, and wonder why they were abandoned
by the country they loved.

NOTE: In April 1967 elements of the 196th Infantry Brigade, the 1st Brigade,
101st Airborne Division, and the 3rd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division were
selected to form a provisional division-sized unit called Task Force OREGON and
then moved to the I Corps Tactical Zone where it operated in Quang Ngai and the
southern part of Quang Tin Provinces. When OREGON was replaced by 23rd Infantry
Division (AMERICAL) 25 September 1967, only the 196th remained in its
descendant division. The other units were returned.

While U.S. Army records place Fitzgerald, Jakovac and McGar in 3rd Brigade,
25th Infantry Division, this unit was operating in the other end of the
country. The three therefore, must have been among the element chosen to
comprise Task Force OREGON.
FITZGERALD, PAUL LAWRENCE JR.

Name: Paul Lawrence Fitzgerald, Jr.
Rank/Branch: E5/US Army
Unit: A Company, 2nd Battalion, 28th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division
Date of Birth: 03 November 1947
Home City of Record: Ft. Valley GA
Date of Loss: 17 October 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 112220N 1063239E (XT685575)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Other Personnel In Incident: Olin Hargrove, Jr. (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: On October 17, 1967, SP4 Fitzgerald and PFC Hargrove were riflemen on
a search and destroy mission in South Vietnam. Their unit became engaged in
close, heavy contact and suffered heavy losses. Contact was broken and their
unit withdrew to set up a hasty defense in order to secure their dead and
wounded. At this time, SP4 Fitzgerald and PFC Hargrove were located on the south
side of the perimeter, between the main body and the enemy.

It is believed that Fitzgerald and Hargrove became disoriented and moved in the
wrong direction, as they were not seen to board the helicopters. One witness
stated that PFC Hargrove had already been wounded in the back. On October 18 and
19, a company-sized unit searched the entire area, however, no trace of the two
was ever found.

Paul Fitzgerald and Olin Hargrove were classified missing in action. They are
among nearly 2500 Americans who disappeared in Southeast Asia. Since the war
ended, thousands of reports have been received which indicate that hundreds of
these missing men are actually still alive, captives of a long-ago enemy. If
Fitzgerald and Hargrove are among them, what must they think of us?

Paul L. Fitzgerald, Jr. and Olin Hargrove, Jr. were both promoted to the rank of
Staff Sergeant during the period they were maintained Missing in Action.


FIVELSON, BARRY FRANK

Name: Barry Frank Fivelson
Rank/Branch: W1/US Army
Unit: 159th Aviation Battalion, 101st Airborne Division
Date of Birth: 19 March 1950
Home City of Record: Evanston IL
Date of Loss: 15 February 1971
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 163836N 1062558E (XD528405)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: CH47C

Other Personnel In Incident: Donald E. Crone; Willis C. Crear; John L. Powers;
Marvin M. Leonard; James H. Taylor (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 September 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: EXPLODE - NO SURV OBS AIR - J

SYNOPSIS: Lam Son 719 was a large-scale offensive against enemy communications
lines which was conducted in that part of Laos adjacent to the two northern
provinces of South Vietnam. The South Vietnamese would provide and command
ground forces, while U.S. forces would furnish airlift and supporting fire.

Phase I, renamed Operation Dewey Canyon II, involved an armored attack by the
U.S. from Vandegrift base camp toward Khe Sanh, while the ARVN moved into
position for the attack across the Laotian border. Phase II began with an ARVN
helicopter assault and armored brigade thrust along Route 9 into Laos. ARVN
ground troops were transported by American helicopters, while U.S. Air Force
provided cover strikes around the landing zones.

On February 15, 1971, during one of these maneuvers, a CH47 helicopter was
assigned the task of ferrying a load of gasoline into Savannakhet Province,
Laos. The crew of the aircraft consisted of SP4 Donald E. Crone, crew chief; CWO
Marvin M. Leonard, pilot; SP4 Willis C. Crear, door gunner; SP4 John L. Powers,
flight engineer; 2Lt. James H. Taylor, aircraft commander. WO Barry F. Fivelson
was a passenger onboard the aircraft.

During the mission, the aircraft was hit by enemy fire and began to lose
altitude. During the descent, the sling load apparently exploded, causing the
helicopter to explode, break into pieces, and crash. Observers later said that
the helicopter seemed disoriented and that it had overflown the nearest friendly
location by several miles and had descended in enemy-held territory about 10
miles southeast of Sepone.

According to the U.S. Army, air searches conducted within minutes of the crash
revealed no sign of survivors. However, according to information given to family
members, the aerial search failed to find evidence of a crash. A ground search
was not possible because of hostile threat in the area. (Note also that Defense
Department data remarks indicates that a crash site was found and that no
survivors were observed from the air.)

The men aboard the CH47 were all classified Killed/Body Not Recovered. The
families maintain there is still a mystery surrounding the crash of the
aircraft, and they would like to know the whole truth.

Proof of the deaths of Powers, Fivelson, Taylor, Crear, Crone and Leonard was
never found. No remains came home; none was released from prison camp. They were
not blown up, nor did they sink to the bottom of the ocean. Someone knows what
happened to them.

The personnel aboard the CH47 are among nearly 600 Americans lost in Laos. The
communist Lao stated on several occasions that they held American prisoners, but
as the U.S. did not recognize the Pathet Lao as a legitimate government, we
never negotiated with them for their release. Consequently, not one man held in
Laos was ever released.

Were it not for thousands of reports relating to Americans still held captive in
Southeast Asia today, the families of the CH47 helicopter crew might be able to
believe their men died with their aircraft. But until proof exists that they
died, or they are brought home alive, they will wonder and wait.

How long must they wait before we bring our men home?


FLANAGAN, JERALD J.

Name: Jerald J. Flanagan
Rank/Branch: Civilian
Unit: Glomar Java Sea
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record:
Date of Loss: 25 October 1983
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates:
Status (in 1973):
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground:

Personnel in Incident: Herman Arms; Jerald T. Battiste; Sebe M. Bracey; Patrick
B. Cates; Wei Chen; Xiong Chen; Shu Guo Cheng; Jacob K. J. Chong; David P.
Clifton; James F. Cusick; Thomas J. Dixon; Shao Jien Feng; Jerald J. Flanagan;
Nigel Furness; Leonard E. Ganzinotti; La Juan A. Gilmore; Henry M. Gittings;
James K. Gittings; Terance C. Green; Jun Tian Guan; David Higgins, Jr.; Tyronne
Higgins; Hong Xi Huang; Rui Wen Huang; Yong Liang Huang; Timothy Jarvis; John W.
Jennings Jr.; Thomas J. Kofahl; Fan Xiang Kong; Guo Zhen Lai; John W. Lawrence;
Tong L. T. Lee; Chong Chang Li; Xuan Qiu Li; Zhan Jun Liang; Jie Feng Lin; Bing
Guang Liu; Edgar S. Lim; Gary Looke; Robert M. McCurry; Jerry L. Manfrida;
Raymond D. Miller; Xie Yi Mo; Tian Xue Mo; Kenneth W. Myers; Larry K. Myers;
Donald J. Ouellet; John D. Pierce; Peter Popiel; Clarence Reed; Jewell J.
Reynolds; E.J. Russell Reynolds; Walter T. Robinson; Kenneth B. Rogers; Lawrence
M. Salzwedel; William R. Schug; Richard E. Shoff; Christopher J. Sleeman; Delmar
A. Spencer; George G. Sullivan; Chong Jian Sun; Gustaf F. Swanson; Kevin C.
Swanson; Guo Dong Tang; Michael W. Thomas; Jiang Wang; Yu Fang Wang; Dong Cai
Wang; Guo Rong Wu; jing Sheng Xia; Xing Xing; Hui Xu; Ming Rui Xu; Mua Guang
Yuan; Xing Zhen Zhang; Yi Hua Zhang; Ji Chang Zhen; Shu Rong Zhou; Yao Wu Zhou;
Jie Fang Zhou; Da Huai Zhu.

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 10 December 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 5,930-ton American drilling ship, "Glomar Java Sea" was owned by
Global Marine of Houston, Texas, and leased to Atlantic Richfield Company
(ARCO). In the fall of 1983, the vessel was on duty about 200 miles east of the
Vietnamese coast. The ship was drilling for oil in the South China Sea in a
joint venture of ARCO and China Naitonal Offshore Oil Corporation, a state-owned
concern.

The "Glomar Java Sea" is a sister ship of the "Glomar Explorer," which, under
the guise of being utilized by the late Howard Hughes in a deep sea mining
operation in the Paficic, was really being used by the CIA and Navy in a $350
million project to retrieve a sunken Soviet Golf-class submarine. A large part
of the submarine was in fact recovered in 1974 before details of the project
were publicly revealed.

The Glomar Java Sea, with its crew of 81, began drilling operations on January
9, 1983 and was the first American wildcat operaton off the Chinese coast. On
October 25, 1983, the vessel was sunk during Typhoon Lex.

Documents removed from the ship by a crewman before the disaster indicate that
the vessel was being shadowed by armed Vietnamese naval craft and that there
were submarine mines beneath the "Glomar Java Sea," placed there and retrievable
by its crew. Another document indicates that the ship was damaged prior ot the
typhoon when a Chinese supply boat rammed into its side, causing some $320,000
damage to the vessel. The Glomar Java Sea did not leave its post for repairs.

Communications between ARCO and Global Marine, as well as telegraphic and radio
communications of the U.S. Western Pacific Rescue Coordination Center (WESTPAC)
reveal information about the search for the crew of the Glomar Java Sea.

The documents indicate that a number of survivors from the stricken vessel were
floundering in the water off the coast of Vietnam for hours after the disaster.
There is also indication that the men were picked up by Vietnamese coastal
patrols and are held captive of the Hanoi regime.

The crew of the Glomar Java Sea included 37 Americans, 35 Chinese, four British,
two Singaporeans, one Filipino, one Australian, and one Canadian.

From a transcript of a radio communicaton between WESTPAC and Global Marine on
October 28, three days after the sinking, WESTPAC was told:  "We are informed
that the SOS transmission could not have been transmitted except by human
operators..." There were two 64-man lifeboats aboard the drilling ship, plus
smaller lifeboats.

In an October 29 communicaton from WESTPAC to Global Marine, it is clearly
stated that five strobe lights were sighted by rescue aircraft in the vicinity
of 17-30 North 107-45 East. The aircraft were dispatched to the area because
strobe lights had been previously sighted. Lifejackets from the Glomar Java Sea
were equipped with strobe lights to signal rescuers.

Another October 29 communication between ARCO and Global Marine states that
ARCO's search aircraft had spotted survivors in the water at 17.27 North 107.54
East, and had attempted to divert surface vessels to this location. The
communication expressed the urgency to rescue the men before dark.

At 8:01 a.m. on October 29, ARCO had dropped a rescue raft to survivors.  Pickup
would be delayed for several hours, but the "Salvanquish," a Singapore-based
salvage ship, was within one half-mile of the site.

At 8:38 a.m search aircraft reported pinpointing the survivors' positions by dye
markers released by the survivors into the water. Two survivors were confirmed
with a possible third some distance away. Plans were also made to return to the
downed vessell to offlift survivors.

Another document shows that on nine different occasions radio transmissions were
picked up from a lifeboat. They ranged from "very strong" to "weak" with most
being described as "strong."

Inexplicably, despite the successful search, no rescue was made of the
survivors. Later that day, the Chinese Navy picked up a Vietnamese broadcast
reporting that the Vietnamese had sighted a lifeboat near their coast. The
location of the lifeboat was not confirmed by friendly search parties.

ARCO-Global Marine determined that this sighting was in the vicinity of Hon Gio
Island, located about 80 miles up the Vietnamese coast from the old U.S. base at
Da Nang and about 14 miles offshore, which placed it in Vietnamese territorial
waters. It appears that rescue craft were hampered in fully investigating the
report due to its location and the hint of possible interference by the
Vietnamese military.

It is likely that survivors would have been picked up by the Vietnamese if they
had in fact drifted within Vietnam's territory.

In the years following the loss of the Glomar Java Sea, a number of reports, all
unconfirmed by the U.S., indicate that survivors were seen in captivity in
Vietnam. It is known that the Vietnamese had shown a hostile interest in the
vessel, and the Glomar Java Sea had standing orders to be alert for Vietnamese
vessels in the area. The Chinese Navy served as protection for the vessel and
stood ready to take action should Vietnamese craft wander too close. The waters
below the vessel were mined.

A month after the Glomar Java Sea went down, Chinese divers went down to the
wreckage and went through the ship with a video cameras.

In March 1984, American divers were able to retrieve 31 bodies from the sunken
vessel. Fifteen of the bodies were identified as Americans. In addition, three
British and one Singaporean were identified. The bodies of another American and
two Chinese were tentatively identified. Divers photographed two bodies they
were unable to retrieve. They also found one of the Chinese divers that had
explored the wreckage in November 1983, lashed to the deck of the ship.

The American divers determined that one of the ship's large lifeboats was
launched and that an attempt had been made to launch another. Their film was
seen by the mother of one of the lost crewmen. She reported that the crack in
the hull of the ship at one point was a hole 48 inches across, which was
punctured inward, "as though the rig had been hit by something that exploded."
This fueled additional speculation that the vessel had, in fact, been attacked
rather that simply mortally damaged by the typhoon.

The National Transportaton Safety Board officially determined in November 1984
that an "unexplained crack" in the hull of the Glomar Java Sea was responsible
for its sinking during the typhoon. Apparently, the crack in the hull allowed
two storage tanks to fill with water, causing the vessel to become off-balanced,
making it vulnerable to the forces of the typhoon. Officials believed it was
possible that survivors may have been able to abandon the ship before it sank.
It was determined that the ship had been improperly prepared for the storm.

During 1984, there were reports from Southeast Asia that between six and twelve
survivors of the Glomar Java Sea were being held in prisoner of war camps in
Vietnam. One of the survivors was identified by a Vietnamese refugee as American
crewman John Pierce.

Douglas F. Pierce, father of John Pierce, reported that the refugee had seen his
son, five other Americans and eight Chinese when they were brought into a prison
in Da Nang, where the refugee was being held. John Pierce gave the refugee his
father's business card and two sticks of gum.

Mr. Pierce gave the information to Defense Intelligence Agency who determined
that the refugee had not been in the camp at all, but had received the business
card by mail from a friend, not directly from Pierce. DIA further determined
that the incident had occurred in late October 1983 (shortly after the Glomar
Java Sea went down). The refugee gave Mr. Pierce the original letter, which
contained the names and addresses of two mutual Vietnamese friends.

No followup was conducted on the two names in the letter by DIA, and DIA
discounted the information provided by the refugee. It was not until 1990 that
it became apparent that the Defense Department felt no responsibility for the
Americans lost on the Glomar Java Sea. At that time, DIA reported that the
responsibility for these civilians belonged to the U.S. State Department.

Mr. Pierce did not stop there. He uncovered a U.S. State Department document
that revealed that Cheng Quihong, the secretary and wife of the Director of
China's Visa Office, was overheard telling her companion at a Hong Kong dinner
that survivors from the Glomar had been picked up and were held by the
Vietnamese.

Pierce also learned that a JCRC report sent to DIA dated November 6, 1984,
reported that a former prisoner from Pleiku prison had been held with a Chinese
man who claimed to have been off the Glomar. The man said he was one of three
men who were captured, and that the other two were Americans.

Pierce adds that to his knowledge, neither of these reports were followed up by
U.S. officials, and Pierce has received no reply to his queries regarding them.

In 1989 a Japanese monk named Yoshida was released from prison after being held
for years by the Vietnamese. Yoshida was shown a photograph of John Pierce and
stated that Pierce looked very familiar, and that he had either seen him or
someone who looked very much like him.

In November, 1990, Vietamese Foreign Minister Nguyen Co Thach traveled to the
U.S. and spoke with U.S. officials on a variety of matters. At this time, he
announced that there was a black American named Walter T. Robinson living
illegally in Vietnam, and invited U.S. representatives to come and help find
him. Thach provided a social security number and two photographs.

The Pentagon told "The Washington Times" that the two photographs of Robinson
provided by Thach are of a black man. However, the Pentagon has since admitted
that the photos "are not very well developed" and appear to be of either a black
man or a dark Asian. Photocopies of old newspaper articles concerning Robinson,
obtained by Homecoming II, show a dark-haired man of relatively dark complexion.

The Pentagon has not released the photographs to the press.

The Defense Department determined that Walter T. Robinson had never been listed
as missing in Vietnam. Thach had provided a social security number, and
according to DOD, this information correlated to a white American living in the
Midwest. They concluded that the Thach information, therefore, was in error.

Later information indicated that a Walter T. Robinson was listed on the crew
roster of the Glomar Java Sea. When queried, the Defense Department reported
that they were aware of this Robinson, but that civilians were the
responsibility of the State Department.

It seems apparent that the U.S. is not vigorously looking for the men missing
from the Glomar Java Sea, and that like the missing and prisoners who served in
military and civilian capacities during the Vietnam war, they have been
abandoned.


FLANIGAN, JOHN NORLEE

Name: John Norlee Flanigan
Rank/Branch: O3/US Marine Corps
Unit: VMGA 542, MAG 11
Date of Birth: 07 August 1934
Home City of Record: Winter Haven FL
Date of Loss: 19 August 1969
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 170400N 1070600E (XE810020)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4B
Other Personnel in Incident: Robert N. Smith (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project with the assistance of Task Force
Omega from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency
sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews.
Date Compiled: 01 January 1990

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On August 19, 1969, Lt.Col. Robert N. Smith, pilot, and Capt. John N.
Flanigan, radar intercept officer, departed Da Nang in their F4B Phantom
fighter/bomber jet aircraft to fly escort on a photo reconnaissance mission
just north of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).

Smith's aircraft made one run over the target, and then he and the other
aircraft separated and were supposed to rendezvous for a second run. Smith
never returned for the second run, and contact was never established with Smith
or his backseater.

It was never determined whether Smith's aircraft was shot down or crashed
because of a malfunction. However, the area in which they were last seen, about
5 miles east of the city of Vinh Linh in Quang Binh Province, North Vietnam,
was relatively heavily defended. The U.S. believes there is a high degree of
probability that the enemy knew what happened to Smith and Flanigan.

Smith and Flanigan were not among the prisoners of war that were released in
1973. High ranking U.S. officials admit their dismay that "hundreds" of
suspected American prisoners of war did not return.

Alarmingly, evidence continues to mount that Americans were left as prisoners
in Southeast Asia and continue to be held today. Unlike "MIAs" from other wars,
most of the nearly 2500 men and women who remain missing in Southeast Asia can
be accounted for. Smith and Flanigan could be among them. Isn't it time we
brought our men home?

FLEMING, HORACE HIGLEY III

Name: Horace Higley Fleming III
Rank/Branch: O2/US Marine Corps
Unit: HMM 256, Marine Air Group 16
Date of Birth: 13 May 1941
Home City of Record: Pensacola FL
Date of Loss: 10 May 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 152200N 1074500E (YC965009)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: CH46A
Personnel in Incident: Ngok Tavak: Horace H. Fleming; Thomas J. Blackman;
Joseph F. Cook; Paul S. Czerwonka; Thomas W. Fritsch; Barry L. Hempel; Raymond
T. Heyne; Gerald E. King; Robert C. Lopez; William D. McGonigle; Donald W.
Mitchell; James R. Sargent (members of USMC search team - all missing); Glenn
E. Miller; Thomas H. Perry (USSF teammembers - missing); Kham Duc: Richard E.
Sands (missing from CH47); Bernard L. Bucher; Frank M. Hepler; George W. Long;
John L. McElroy; Stephan C. Moreland (USAF crew of C130 - all missing); Warren
R. Orr (USSF on C130 - missing); Harry B. Coen; Andrew J. Craven; Juan M.
Jimenez; Frederick J. Ransbottom; Maurice H. Moore; Joseph L. Simpson; William
E. Skivington; John C. Stuller; Imlay S. Widdison; Danny L. Widner; Roy C.
Williams (all missing); Julius W. Long (released POW).

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Kham Duc Special Forces camp (A-105), was located on the western
fringes of Quang Tin ("Great Faith") Province, South Vietnam. In the spring of
1968, it was the only remaining border camp in Military Region I. Backup
responsibility for the camp fell on the 23rd Infantry Division (Americal),
based at Chu Lai on the far side of the province.

The camp had originally been built for President Diem, who enjoyed hunting in
the area. The 1st Special Forces detachment (A-727B) arrived in September 1963
and found the outpost to be an ideal border surveillance site with an existing
airfield. The camp was located on a narrow grassy plain surrounded by rugged,
virtually uninhabited jungle. The only village in the area, located across the
airstrip, was occupied by post dependents, camp followers and merchants. The
camp and airstrip were bordered by the Ngok Peng Bum ridge to the west and Ngok
Pe Xar mountain, looming over Kham Duc to the east. Steep banked streams full
of rapids and waterfalls cut through the tropical wilderness. The Dak Mi River
flowed past the camp over a mile distant, under the shadow of the Ngok Pe Xar.

Five miles downriver was the small forward operating base of Ngok Tavak,
defended by the 113-man 11th Mobile Strike Force Company with its 8 Special
Forces and 3 Australian advisors. Since Ngok Tavak was outside friendly
artillery range, 33 Marine artillerymen of Battery D, 2nd Battalion, 13th
Marines, with two 105mm howitzers were located at the outpost.

Capt. Christopher J. Silva, commander of Detachment A-105 helicoptered into
Ngok Tavak on May 9, 1968 in response to growing signs of NVA presence in the
area. Foul weather prevented his scheduled evening departure. A Kham Duc CIDG
platoon fleeing a local ambush also arrived and was posted to the outer
perimeter. It was later learned that the CIDG force contained VC infiltrators.

Ngok Tavak was attacked by an NVA infantry battalion at 0315 hours on May 10.
The base was pounded by mortars and direct rocket fire. As the frontal assault
began, the Kham Duc CIDG soldiers moved toward the Marines in the fort yelling,
"Don't shoot, don't shoot! Friendly, friendly!" Suddenly they lobbed grenades
into the Marine howitzer positions and ran into the fort, where they shot
several Marines with carbines and sliced claymore mine and communication wires.

The defenders suffered heavy casualties but stopped the main assault and killed
the infiltrators. The NVA dug in along the hill slopes and grenaded the trenches
where the mobile strike force soldiers were pinned by machine gun and rocket
fire. An NVA flamethrower set the ammunition ablaze, banishing the murky flare-
lighted darkness for the rest of the night. SFC Harold M. Swicegood and the
USMC platoon leader, Lt. Adams, were badly wounded and moved to the command
bunker. Medical Spec4 Blomgren reported that the CIDG mortar crews had abandoned
their weapons. Silva tried to operate the main 4.2 inch mortar but was wounded.
At about 0500 hours, Sgt. Glenn Miller, an A-105 communications specialist, was
shot through the head as he ran over to join the Marine howitzer crews.

The NVA advanced across the eastern side of Ngok Tavak and brought forward more
automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenade launchers. In desperation, the
defenders called on USAF AC-47 "Spooky" gunships to strafe the perimeter and
the howitzers, despite the possible presence of friendly wounded in the gun
pits. The NVA countered with tear gas, but the wind kept drifting the gas over
their own lines. After three attempts, they stopped. A grenade fight between
the two forces lasted until dawn.

At daybreak Australian Warrant Officers Cameron and Lucas, joined by Blomgren,
led a CIDG counterattack. The North Vietnamese pulled back under covering fire,
and the howitzers were retaken. The Marines fired the last nine shells and
spiked the tubes. Later that morning medical evacuation helicopters supported
by covering airstrikes took out the seriously wounded, including Silva and
Swicegood. Two CH46's were able to land 45 replacements from the 12th Mobile
Strike Force Company, accompanied by Capt. Euge E. Makowski (who related much
of this account to Shelby Stanton, author of "Green Berets at War"), but one
helicopter was hit in the fuel line and forced down. Another helicopter was hit
by a rocket and burst into flames, wrecking the small helipad. The remaining
wounded were placed aboard a hovering helicopter. As it lifted off, two Mike
Force soldiers and 1Lt. Horace Fleming, one of the stranded aviation crewmen,
grabbed the helicopter skids. All three fell to their deaths after the
helicopter had reached an altitude of over one hundred feet.

The mobile strike force soldiers were exhausted and nervous. Ammunition and
water were nearly exhausted, and Ngok Tavak was still being pounded by sporadic
mortar fire. They asked permission to evacuate their positions, but were told
to "hold on" as "reinforcements were on the way". By noon the defenders decided
that aerial reinforcement or evacuation was increasingly unlikely, and night
would bring certain destruction. An hour later, they abandoned Ngok Tavak.

Thomas Perry, a medic from C Company, arrived at the camp at 0530 hours the
morning of the 10th. He cared for the wounded and was assisting in an attempt
to establish a defensive perimeter when the decision was made to evacuate the
camp. As survivors were leaving, Perry was seen by Sgt. Cordell J. Matheney,
Jr., standing 20 feet away, as Australian Army Capt. John White formed the
withdrawal column at the outer perimeter wire on the eastern Ngok Tavak
hillside. It was believed that Perry was going to join the end of the column.

All the weapons, equipment and munitions that could not be carried were hastily
piled into the command bunker and set afire. The helicopter that had been
grounded by a ruptured fuel line was destroyed with a LAW. Sgt. Miller's body
was abandoned.

After survivors had gone about 1 kilometer, it was discovered that Perry was
missing. Efforts were conducted to locate both Perry and Miller, including a
search by a group from Battery D. They were searching along the perimeter when
they were hit by enemy grenades and arms fire. Neither the men on the team nor
Perry was ever found. Included in this team were PFC Thomas Blackman; LCpl.
Joseph Cook; PFC Paul Czerwonka; LCpl. Thomas Fritsch; PFC Barry Hempel; LCpl.
Raymond Heyne; Cpl. Gerald King; PFC Robert Lopez; PFC William McGonigle; LCpl.
Donald Mitchell; and LCpl. James Sargent. The remaining survivors evaded
through dense jungle to a helicopter pickup point midway to Kham Duc. Their
extraction was completed shortly before 1900 hours on the evening of May 10.

In concert with the Ngok Tavak assault, the Kham Duc was blasted by a heavy
mortar and recoilless rifle attack at 0245 hours that same morning. Periodic
mortar barrages ripped into Kham Duc throughout the rest of the day, while the
Americal Division airmobiled a reinforced battalion of the 196th Infantry
Brigade into the compound. A Special Forces command party also landed, but the
situation deteriorated too rapidly for their presence to have positive effect.

The mortar attack on fog-shrouded Kham Duc resumed on the morning of May 11.
The bombardment caused heavy losses among the frightened CIDG soldiers, who
fled from their trenches across open ground, seeking shelter in the bunkers.
The LLDB commander remained hidden. CIDG soldiers refused orders to check the
rear of the camp for possible North Vietnamese intruders. That evening the 11th
and 12th Mobile Strike Force companies were airlifted to Da Nang, and half of
the 137th CIDG Company from Camp Ha Thanh was airlanded in exchange.

The 1st VC Regiment, 2nd NVA Division, began closing the ring around Kham Duc
during the early morning darkness of 12 May. At about 0415 to 0430 hours, the
camp and outlying positions came under heavy enemy attack. Outpost #7 was
assaulted and fell within a few minutes. Outposts #5, #1 and #3 had been
reinforced by Americal troops but were in North Vietnamese hands by 0930 hours.

OP1 was manned by PFC Harry Coen, PFC Andrew Craven, Sgt. Joseph Simpson, and
SP4 Julius Long from Company E, 2nd of the 1st Infantry. At about 0415 hours,
when OP1 came under heavy enemy attack, PFC Coen and SP4 Long were seen trying
to man a 106 millimeter recoilless rifle. Survivors reported that in the
initial enemy fire, they were knocked off their bunker. Both men again tried to
man the gun, but were knocked down again by RPG fire.

PFC Craven, along with two other men, departed the OP at 0830 hours on May 12.
They moved out 50 yards and could hear the enemy in their last position. At
about 1100 hours, as they were withdrawing to the battalion perimeter, they
encountered an enemy position. PFC Craven was the pointman and opened fire. The
enemy returned fire, and PFC Craven was seen to fall, with multiple chest
wounds. The other two men were unable to recover him, and hastily departed the
area. PFC Craven was last seen lying on his back, wounded, near the camp.

OP2 was being manned by 1Lt. Frederick Ransbottom, SP4 Maurice Moore, PFC Roy
Williams, PFC Danny Widner, PFC William Skivington, PFC Imlay Widdison, and SP5
John Stuller, from the 2nd of the 3rd Infantry when it came under attack.
Informal questioning of survivors of this position indicated that PFC Widdison
and SP5 Stuller may have been killed in action. However, the questioning was
not sufficiently thorough to produce enough evidence to confirm their deaths.

The only information available concerning 1Lt. Ransbottom, SP4 Moore, PFC Lloyd
and PFC Skivington that Lt. Ransbottom allegedly radioed PFC Widner and PFC
Williams, who were in the third bunker, and told them that he was shooting at
the enemy as they entered his bunker.

SP4 Juan Jimenez, a rifleman assigned to Company A, 2nd of the 1st Infantry,
was occupying a defensive position when he was severely wounded in the back by
enemy mortar fire. SP4 Jimenez was declared dead by the Battalion Surgeon in
the early morning hours of May 12. He was then carried to the helipad for
evacuation. However, due to the situation, space was available in the
helicopter for only the wounded, and SP4 Jimenez'remains were left behind.

At noon a massive NVA attack was launched against the main compound. The charge
was stopped by planes hurling napalm, cluster bomb units and 750 pound bombs
into the final wire barriers. The decision was made by the Americal Division
officers to call for immediate extraction.

The evacuation was disorderly, and at times, on the verge of complete panic.
One of the first extraction helicopters to land was exploded by enemy fire,
blocking the airstrip. Engineers of Company A, 70th Engineer Battalion,
frantically reassembled one of their dozers (previously torn apart to prevent
capture) to clear the runway. Eight more aircraft were blown out of the sky.

PFC Richard E. Sands was a member of Company A, 1st Battalion, 46th Infantry,
198th Light Infantry Brigade being extracted on a CH47 helicopter (serial
#67-18475). The helicopter was hit by 50 calliber machine gun fire at an
altitude of 1500-1600 feet shortly after takeoff.

Sands, who was sitting near the door gunner, was hit in the head by an incoming
rounds. The helicopter made a controlled landing and caught fire. During the
evacuation from the burning helicopter, four personnel and a medic checked PFC
Sands and indicated that he had been killed instantly. Because of the danger of
incoming mortar rounds and the fire, personnel attempting to remove PFC Sands
from the helicopter were ordered to abandon their attempt. The remaining
personnel were evacuated from the area later by another helicopter.

Intense antiaircraft fire from the captured outposts caused grave problems.
Control over the indigenous forces was difficult. One group of CIDG soldiers
had to be held in trenches at gunpoint to prevent them from mobbing the runway.

As evacuation was in progress, members of Company A, 1/46, who insisted on
boarding the aircraft first, shoved Vietnamese dependents out of the way. As
more Americal infantry tried to clamber into the outbound planes, the outraged
Special Forces staff convinced the Air Force to start loading civilians onboard
a C130, then watched as the civilians pushed children and weaker adults aside.

The crew of the U.S. Air Force C130 aircraft (serial #60-0297) consisted of
Maj. Bernard Bucher, pilot; SSgt. Frank Hepler, flight engineer; Maj. John
McElroy, navigator; 1Lt. Steven Moreland, co-pilot; George Long, load master;
Capt. Warren Orr, passenger, and an undetermined number of Vietnamese civilians.

The aircraft reported receiving ground fire on takeoff. The Forward Air Control
(FAC) in the area reported that the aircraft exploded in mid-air and crashed in
a fire ball about one mile from camp. All crew and passengers were believed
dead, as the plane burned quickly and was completely destroyed except for the
tail boom. No remains were recovered from the aircraft.

Capt. Orr was not positively identified by U.S. personnel as being aboard the
aircraft. He was last seen near the aircraft helping the civilians to board.
However, a Vietnamese stated that he had seen Capt. Orr board the aircraft and
later positively identified him from a photograph. Rescue efforts were
impossible because of the hostile threat in the area.

At the time the order was given to escape and evade, SP4 Julius Long was was
with Coen and Simpson. All three had been wounded, and were trying to make
their way back to the airfield about 350 yards away. As they reached the
airfield, they saw the last C130 departing. PFC Coen, who was shot in the
stomach, panicked and started running and shooting his weapon at random. SP4
Long tried to catch him, but could not, and did not see PFC Coen again. Long
then carried Sgt. Simpson to a nearby hill, where they spent the night.

During the night, the airfield was strafed and bombed by U.S. aircraft. SP4
Long was hit twice in the back by fragments, and Sgt. Simpson died during the
night. SP4 Long left him lying on the hill near the Cam Duc airfield and
started his escape and evasion toward Chu Lai, South Vietnam. SP4 Long was
captured and was released in 1973 from North Vietnam.

The Special Forces command group was the last organized group out of the camp.
As their helicopter soared into the clouds, Kham Duc was abandoned to advancing
NVA infantry at 4:33 p.m. on May 12, 1968. The last Special Forces camp on the
northwestern frontier of South Vietnam had been destroyed.

Two search and recovery operations were conducted in the vicinity of OP1 and
OP2 and the Cam Duc airfield on July 18, 1970 and August 17, 1970. In these
operations, remains of personnel previously reported missing from this incident
were recovered and subsequently identified. (SP4 Bowers, PFC Lloyd, Sgt. Sisk,
PFC Guzman-Rios and SSgt. Carter). However, extensive search and excavation
could not be completed at OP1 and OP2 because of the tactical situation.

It was assumed that all the missing at Kham Duc were killed in action until
about 1983, when the father of one of the men missing discovered a Marine Corps
document which indicated that four of the men had been taken prisoner. The
document listed the four by name. Until then, the families had not been advised
of the possibility there were any American prisoners taken other than Julius
Long. A Vietnamese rallier identified the photograph of Roy C. Williams as
positively having been a POW.

Until proof is obtained that the rest of the men lost at Ngok Tavak and Kham
Duc are dead, their families will always wonder if they are among those said to
still be alive in Southeast Asia.



FLYNN, ROBERT JAMES

Name: Robert James Flynn
Rank/Branch: O3/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 196, USS CONSTELLATION
Date of Birth: 15 September 1937 (La Crosse WI)
Home City of Record: Houston MN
Date of Loss: 21 August 1967
Country of Loss: China
Loss Coordinates: 213300N 1073200E (YJ519957)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A6A
Other Personnel in Incident: Jimmy L. Buckley (ashes returned); from other A6s:
Forrest G. Trembley and Dain V. Scott (both missing); Leo T. Profilet and
William M. Hardman (both released POWs); on USAF F105s: Lynn K. Powell and
Merwin L. Morrill (both remains returned)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project with the assistance of Task Force
Omega from 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 RELEASED BY CHINA

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.



FLYNN, SEAN LESLIE

Name: Sean Leslie Flynn
Rank/Branch: U.S. Civilian
Unit: Free Lance Photo/journalist working for Time Magazine
Date of Birth: 31 May 1941
Home City of Record:
Date of Loss: 06 April 1970
Country of Loss: Cambodia
Loss Coordinates: 110236N 1060419E (XT171209)
Status (In 1973): Prisoner Of War
Category: 1
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Honda motorbike

Other Personnel in Incident: with Flynn: Dana Stone (missing); same day at same
grid coordinates: Claude Arpin; Akira Kusaka; Yujiro Takagi (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 March 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II
Project.

REMARKS: DEAD/6 918 6735 74

SYNOPSIS: Photo journalists Sean Flynn and Dana Stone left Phnom Penh on rented
Honda motorbikes to find the front lines of fighting in Cambodia. Traveling
southeast on Route One near a eucalyptus plantation in eastern Cambodia, the two
men were stopped at a check point at grid coordinates XT171209 in Svay Rieng
Province, Cambodia, and led away by elements of the Viet Cong Tay Ninh Armed
Forces and elements of the combined North Vietnamese-Viet Cong Ningh Division
based in Cambodia.

On the same day, French journalist Claude Arpin and Japanese correspondents
Akira Kusaka and Yujiro Takagi arrived by auto at the same location on Route 1.
Details are sketchy regarding these foreign nationals, but by 1988, they were
still classified as missing.

Sean Flynn is the son of actor Erroll Flynn. Although Flynn had spent much of
his life in California and New York, his mother, Lili Loomis, maintained homes
both in Palm Beach and Ft. Dodge, Iowa. Flynn was on a photo contract to Time
Magazine, and his friend Dana Stone was on contract to CBS to cover American
fighting in Cambodia. Both men were "veterans" of combat news.

Stone attended school in New Hampshire, but his home was in Vermont, where his
parents resided. He had been in the U.S. Navy at the time of the Bay of Pigs
incident. Both men frequently travelled with military units on patrol and
operations. The Marines who knew Dana Stone called him, "Mini-Grunt".

Information obtained from indigenous sources indicated that Stone and Flynn were
executed in mid-1971 in Kampong Cham Province, Cambodia.

Various sources, including an intercepted radio message from COSUN, the Viet
Cong high command, indicate that Flynn and Stone survived. One source reported
that he had seen "a group of very long haired, bearded, tall prisoners near
Minot, Cambodia" who were identified as "imperialist journalists". Over the
years, meanwhile, there has been occasional word from isolated Cambodian
villages that someone saw the "movie star" who is being held prisoner by the
Khmer Rouge.

Flynn's colleagues have said, "If anyone is equipped to survive...years of
hardship in the jungle, it's Sean Flynn...he's very much an expert at jungle
survival."

Flynn, Stone, Arpin, Kusaka and Takagi are among 22 international journalists
missing in Southeast Asia, most known to have been captured. For several years
during the war, the correspondents community rallied and publicized the fates of
fellow journalists. After a while, they tired of the effort, and today these men
are forgotten by all but families and friends.

Tragically, nearly the whole world turns its head while thousands of reports
continue to flow in that prisoners are still held in Southeast Asia. Cambodia
offered to return a substantial number of remains of men it says are Americans
missing in Cambodia (in fact the number offered exceeded the number of those
officially missing). But the U.S. has no formal diplomatic relations with the
communist government of Cambodia, and refused to directly respond to this offer.
Although several U.S. Congressmen offered to travel to Cambodia to receive the
remains, they have not been permitted to do so by the U.S.


FOBAIR, ROSCOE HENRY

Name: Roscoe Henry Fobair
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 30 September 1935
Home City of Record: Oxnard CA
Date of Loss: 24 July 1965
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 210657N 1050857E (WJ155348)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4C

Other Personnel in Incident: Richard P. Keirn (released POW)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS: AC TOLD DEAD BY VIETNAMESE

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.
Most pilots considered it one of the "hottest" planes around.

Capt. Roscoe H. Fobair was the pilot and Capt. Richard P. Keirn the
weapons/systems operator on an F4C sent on a combat mission near Hanoi on July
24, 1965. About 40 miles east-northeast of Hanoi, in Vinh Phu Province, the
aircraft was shot down.

Roscoe Fobair was captured by the North Vietnamese, but Fobair's fate remained
unclear. Sometime in late 1972 or early 1973, the North Vietnamese announced
that Fobair had died, failing to say when, or if he had been a captive. Fobair
remained classified Missing in Action.

Keirn spent the next 7 1/2 years as a prisoner of war. Like other Americans, he
endured torture and deprivation at the hands of the Vietnamese. Then on February
12, 1973, he was released in Operation Homecoming.

Since the war ended, over 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. These reports
are the source of serious distress to many returned American prisoners. They had
a code that no one could honorably return unless all of the prisoners returned.
Not only that code of honor, but the honor of our country is at stake as long as
even one man remains unjustly held. It's time we brought our men home.

Roscoe H. Fobair was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel during the
period he was maintained missing.
FOLEY, BRENDAN PATRICK

Name: Brendan Patrick Foley
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit: 11th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, Udorn
Date of Birth: 27 March 1932
Home City of Record: New York NY
Date of Loss: 24 November 1967
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 184800N 1034000E (UF595790)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: RF4C

Other Personnel In Incident: Ronald M. Mayercik (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II
Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: In violation of the neutrality of Laos accorded at Geneva in a 14-
nation conference July 23, 1962, the North Vietnamese and supporting communist
insurgent group, the Pathet Lao, lost no time in building strategic strongholds
of defense in Northern Laos and establishing a steady flow of manpower and
material to their revolutionary forces in South Vietnam via the Ho Chi Minh
Trail on the eastern border of the Laotian panhandle.

As a result, the Royal Lao sought help from the U.S. in stopping both
initiatives. It was strategically important to do so, although every initiative
had to be cleared through the U.S. Ambassador at Vientiane, so that the delicate
balance of "look-the-other-way-neutrality" engaged in by the nations involved
(including China) could be preserved.

U.S. support of non-communist activity in Laos fell into 3 general groups: 1)
U.S. Army and CIA bolstering the Meo (Hmong) army led by Gen. Vang Pao; 2)
Strategic U.S. Air Force bombing initiatives on the Ho Chi Minh Trail
(Operations Commando Hunt, Steel Tiger, etc.); 3) Air Force bombing initiatives
in northern Laos (Operation Barrel Roll, etc.) against communist strongholds
there, and in support of the Royal Lao and Vang Pao.

Maj. Brendan P. Foley and 1Lt. Ronald M. Mayercik comprised the crew of an RF4C
Phantom jet sent on a photo reconnaissance mission over the Plain of Jars in
Northern Laos on November 24, 1967. Foley was the pilot, and Mayercik manned the
camera and technical equipment for the mission. Their aircraft, flying alone,
was on a routine weather reconnaissance mission. The aircraft was shot down
southwest of the Plain of Jars, and both men were listed as Missing In Action.

American involvement in Southeast Asia drew to a close as a result of the Paris
Peace Accords signed in 1973 with the Vietnamese. Although the U.S. had
committed millions of dollars to a "secret war" in Laos, it did not negotiate
with Laos to free American POWs held in Laos. As a result, not one American held
in Laos was released at the end of the war or in the years following.

In 1979, Sean O'Toolis, an Irish-American, was touring Bong Song Camp, 40 miles
south of Hanoi, on an IRA gun-buying mission, when he alleges he met and spoke
with American POWs Brendan Foley and Wade Groth, who were prison workmates. He
also claims to have spoken to men named MacDonald, Jenning and an O'Hare or
O'Hara. He brought a message to Foley's brother and fingerprints of Foley and
O'Hara. He identified old photos of Groth, and gave believable descriptions of
Foley and Groth. Neither family knows whether or not to believe O'Toolis, as
much of his account of his travels seems incorrect.

Foley and Mayercik are two of nearly 600 Americans were lost in Laos. The Pathet
Lao, stated on several occasions that they held "tens of tens" of American
prisoners, but Laos was not included in the Paris Peace agreements ending the
war. As a consequence, no American POWs held in Laos were negotiated for. Not
one American held in Laos has ever been released. Men like Foley and Mayercik
were abandoned to the enemy.

Reports continue to be received that Americans are alive today, being held
captive. Whether Foley and Mayercik are among them is not known, but they
certainly do not deserve the abandonment they received at the hands of the
country they so proudly served.

Brendan P. Foley was promoted to the rank of Colonel and Ronald M. Mayercik to
the rank of Captain during the period they were maintained Missing in Action.



FOLEY, JOHN JOSEPH III

Name: John Joseph Foley III
Rank/Branch: E3/US Marine Corps
Unit: 3rd Recon Company, 3rd Recon Battalion, 3rd Marine Division
Date of Birth: 11 June 1947
Home City of Record: Plainfield NJ
Date of Loss: 11 June 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 165454N 1065530E (YD048689)
Status (in 1973): Killed In Action/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: CH46A

Other Personnel In Incident: Dennis R. Christie, Curtis R. Bohlscheid; Charles
D. Chomel; Jose J. Gonzales; Thomas M. Hanratty; Michael W. Havranek; James W.
Kooi, Jim E. Moshier; John S. Oldham; James E. Widener (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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: A/C CRASH-EXPLODED-NO SURVS OBS-J

SYNOPSIS: On 11 June 1967, 1LT Curtis Bohlscheid was the pilot of a CH46A
helicopter inserting a seven-man Marine Force Recon team into a predesignated
area 11 1/2 nautical miles northwest of Dong Ha, South Vietnam -- right on the
Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). A total of four aircraft were involved in the mission,
two CH46's and two UH1E helicopter gunships. Bohlscheid flew the lead aircraft.
His crew included MAJ John S. Oldham, LCPL Jose J. Gonzales (crew chief), and
PFC Thomas M. Hanratty (crew chief).

Members of the 3rd Recon Company, 3rd Recon Battalion, 3rd Marine Division who
were being inserted were CPL Jim E. Moshier, LCPL Dennis R. Christie, LCPL John
J. Foley III, LCPL Michael W. Havranek, LCPL James W. Kooi, PFC Charles D.
Chomel, and PFC James E. Widener.

The flight departed Dong Ha at about 11:15 a.m. and proceeded to the insertion
location. The gunships made low strafing runs over the landing zone to clear
booby traps and to locate any enemy troops in the area. No enemy fire was
received and no activity was observed. The lead aircraft then began its approach
to the landing zone. At an estimated altitude of 400-600 feet, the helicopter
was observed to climb erratically, similar to an aircraft commencing a loop.
Machinegunmen had been waiting for the opportune time to fire on the aircraft.
Portions of the rear blades were seen to separate from the aircraft and a radio
transmission was received from the aircraft indicating that it had been hit. The
helicopter became inverted and continued out of control until it was seen to
crash by a stream in a steep ravine.

Subsequent efforts by ground units to reach the crash area failed due to a heavy
bunker complex surrounding the site. The ground units inspected the site from
within 500 meters through binoculars and observed no survivors. All eleven
personnel aboard the helicopter were therefore classified Killed In Action, Body
Not Recovered. Other USMC records indicate that the helicopter also burst into
flames just prior to impacting the ground.

For the crew of the CH46A lost on June 11, 1967, death seems a certainty. For
hundreds of others, however, simple answers are not possible. Adding to the
torment of nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asia
is the certain knowledge that some Americans who were known to be prisoners of
war were not released at the end of the war. Others were suspected to be
prisoners, and still others were in radio contact with would-be rescuers when
last seen alive. Many were known to have survived their loss incidents, only to
disappear without a trace.

The problem of Americans still missing torments not only the families of those
who are missing, but the men who fought by their sides, and those in the general
public who realize the full implication of leaving men unaccounted for at the
end of a war.

Tragically, many authorities believe there are hundreds of Americans still alive
in captivity in Southeast Asia today.  What must they be thinking of us? What
will our next generation say if called to fight if we are unable to bring these
men home from Southeast Asia?


FORAME, PETER CHARLES

Name: Peter Charles Forame
Rank/Branch: O2/US Army
Unit: Air Cavalry Troop, 2nd Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry
Date of Birth: 21 May 1947 (Austria)
Home City of Record: McLean VA
Date of Loss: 19 December 1971
Country of Loss: Cambodia
Loss Coordinates: 115901N 1055633E (XU026248)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: OH6A
Other Personnel in Incident: Thomas W. Skiles (missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On December 19, 1971, W1 Thomas W. Skiles was the pilot and 1Lt.
Peter C. Forame the co-pilot on board an OH6A helicopter (tail #67-16347) on a
bomb damage assessment mission southeast of Bambe, Kampong Cham Province,
Cambodia.

During the mission, the helicopter began receiving heavy 30 and 51 caliber
automatic weapons fire and in attempting to climb, the helicopter turned and
burst into flames. The aircraft passed over an open area and crashed into a
tree line, exploded on impact, and was completely destroyed by fire in a very
short time.

Two other helicopters immediately flew near the crash site to search for
survivors, but these aircraft were driven away by RPG and automatic weapons
fire. One of the helicopters suffered extensive damage.

A short time later, gunships were called in to supress the enemy fire. A scout
helicopter crew reported that the Forame/Skiles helicopter was destroyed by
fire, and that they had spotted two burned bodies near the aircraft. The
remainder of the day, air strikes were conducted, and the following day,
another attempt to recover the remains was made. This helicopter was shot down
and one of the recovery crewmen was critically wounded. On December 22 and 23,
extensive air strikes were conducted in the general area to include B52 strikes.

In the same hot region of Cambodia, two had died, and one had been critically
wounded by enemy fire trying to bring out the bodies of comrades. The combined
military service branches did their best to see that another American life was
not taken at this location.

Skiles and Forame are listed with honor among the missing because no remains
were brought home to their families for honorable burial. They remain in the
hands of the enemy.

Many authorities, having examined thousands of sighting reports, have concluded
that hundreds of Americans are still alive in the hands of the enemy.
Extraordinary measures were taken to try and retrieve Skiles and Forame.
Extraordinary measures are now needed to bring home their live comrades.
            CASE SYNOPSIS:    FORD, EDWARD

  ============================================================================

Name:                Edward Ford
Rank/Branch:            E5/US Army
Unit:                Company B, 65th Engineer Battalion
                25th Infantry Division
Date of Birth:            05 November 1941
Home City of Record:        Birmingham AL
Date of Loss:            09 December 1968
Country of Loss:        South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates:        110456N 1062010E
Status (in 1973):        Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category:            4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground:    Ground
Other Personnel
In Incident:            None missing

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS:  On December 9, 1968, SP5 Edward Ford and PFC Leo S. Goralski were
serving on a mine sweeping team in Hau Nghia Province, South Vietnam.  These
two men were operating a mine detector with the other engineers, and the unit
they were supporting was following behind.  It is believed that the two men
were standing atop a 100-150 pound enemy mine when it exploded.

A search was made of the area, but no identifiable remains were found.    The
following day, another engineer team found identifiable remains for Goralski.
Inquiries of the provencial representative and local residents produced no
leads or new information.  JCRC was denied access to the site for further
examination.

Apparently, the case of Edward Ford is clear.  He is listed among the dead
because unless he had abandoned his position, he disappeared when the large
mine exploded beneath him.  His is also listed with honor among the missing
because his remains were not recovered.

The cases of all the missing are not so clear.    Many were known to have been
alive and well at the time they went missing.  Some were photographed or
otherwise identified as prisoners of war.  Nearly 2500 Americans are missing,
and experts now believe hundreds of them are still alive, captives of a
long-ago enemy.
FORMAN, WILLIAM STANNARD

Name: William Stannard Forman
Rank/Branch: O3/US Navy
Unit: Anti-Submarine Squadron 35, USS HORNET (CVA12)
Date of Birth: 08 November 1936
Home City of Record: Pipestone MN
Loss Date: 22 January 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 193958N 1072159E (YG481761)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 5
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: S2D
Other Personnel In Incident: Edmund Frenya; Robert Sennett; Erwin Templin (all
missing)

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:

SYNOPSIS: In early 1966, there were several search and rescue (SAR) destroyers
parked off the coast of North Vietnam in the Gulf of Tonkin. When the attack and
fighter people would egress, they would be there to assist a cripple or pick up
a guy who had to punch out or ditch. During the night when the strike activity
would ebb, the SAR DDs would steam around their small areas waiting for the next
day's activities. It was during these night and early morning hous that high
speed surface contacts would probe their positions. The "Stoof" (S2D) helped
provide air cover for these surface ships. The Stoof was technically an
anti-submarine aircraft, but had little call to exercise submarine missions in
Vietnam. There were only a few of such planes assigned to Vietnam at all.

If a ship thought its position was being probed by enemy boats, it would vector
the Stoof out over the target. The Stoof tactic was to drop a parachute retarded
flare from about 10,000 feet over the target, circle back around at a low
altitude (about 300 feet) and investigate. If the target was unfriendly, then
the S2 would engage and destroy it. There was a certain amount of risk involved
in these operations, as the Vietnamese PT boats had radar that enabled them to
strike with no visual contact.

In the dead of night on January 22, 1966, a Stoof launched from the USS Hornet
with pilot William S. Forman and crewmembers Edwin B. Templin, Robert R. Sennett
and Edmund H. Frenyea. Their mission was to investigate an unidentified bogie.
Their progress was under the advisory control of the USS BERKELEY, and no
unusual circumstances were reported.

About 6:45 AM the USS BERKELEY reminded the crew that their mission should be
concluded shortly and they should return to the USS HORNET. Receipt of this
information was acknowledged and it was reported that they had a surface contact
and would investigate before departing the area.

Shortly thereafter the aircraft disappeared from the radar scope of the USS
BERKELEY. This was not considered significant or alarming at that time as it was
believed the aircraft had gone beneath the radar to investigate its contact. It
is thought that the natural curvature of the earth caused the aircraft to go off
radar approximately five minutes before they were scheduled to return to the
HORNET. Their last known location according to coordinates was in the Gulf of
Tonkin about halfway between the coastal city of Thanh Hoa, North Vietnam and
the Chinese island of Hai Nan, although reports to some of the families placed
them much closer to the island - about 15 miles away. Within a few hours of the
disappearance, Radio Hanoi reported that an aircraft had been shot down near
Bach Long Vi Island, North Vietnam. The Navy did not classify the men missing as
Prisoners of War because this report could not be confirmed as accurate. The
last known location of the aircraft was about 30 miles from this island.

At 7:15 AM the USS BERKELEY notified the USS MAHAN that the aircraft should be
inbound to USS MAHAN enroute to the USS HORNET. Upon receipt of this information
the USS MAHAN tried unsuccessfully to contact the aircraft by radio and radar
and subsequently reported the situation to the USS HORNET. Shortly thereafter
search and rescue efforts were commenced and LCDR Forman and his crew were
reported missing at sea.

A close friend of Templin's was part of the effort. According to him, the
weather was clear, and there was not a puff of wind. The Gulf was so calm that
there was not a ripple on the surface, so that objects floating great distances
away could be seen. The search parties found no trace, no oil slick and no
debris indicating where the plane went down. According to Templin's friend, the
search went on for the remaining months he was on station. He says, "Our
squadron was uniquely qualified...we had the right kind of airplane and were
working in the immediate area and more importantly...we cared. We found
nothing."

On February 1, 1966 the four-man life raft from the aircraft was found off the
coast of North Vietnam approximately 152 miles from the last known position of
the aircraft. The raft, which was identified by its serial number, bore no
evidence of having been used and did not show any signs of damage by fire or
gunfire. This particular raft is designed to automatically inflate when immersed
in salt water. On March 14, 1966 a flight helmet was found by a friendly fishing
junk and turned over to U.S. authorities. This helmet was picked up in the same
general area as where the life raft was located and has been identified as
belonging to Bernard Templin.

When Templin`s friend left Yankee Station and was steaming away to safer waters,
he was walking down a passageway and one of the Intelligence Officers from the
Flag stopped him. They went to a secure area and he told Templin's friend that
some very high-level intelligence had been forwarded to the ship identifying one
or more of the crew members from the aircraft as positively seen in North
Vietnam. Templin's friend naturally assumed that they were POWs. None of the
crew ever returned.

The four were maintained as missing until 1975, at which time a "finding of
death" was made on the crew based on no information to indicate they were alive.

Tragically, information has poured from Southeast Asia since the end of the war
regarding American prisoners still alive in captivity. The U.S. Government has
received nearly 10,000 such reports, yet seems unable to find the formula to
secure the freedom of those Americans.


Erwin Bernard Templin, Jr. is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy



FORRESTER, RONALD WAYNE

Name: Ronald Wayne Forrester
Rank/Branch: O2/US Marine Corps
Unit: VMA 533, MAG 15, 1st Marine Air Wing
Date of Birth: 15 March 1947
Home City of Record: Odessa TX
Date of Loss: 27 December 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 171500N 1064500E (XD985800)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: A6A

Other Personnel in Incident: Ralph J. Chipman (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: POSS DEAD/QUAN DOI NHAN DAN

SYNOPSIS: The Grumman A6 Intruder is an all weather, low-altitude, carrier-based
attack plane. The A6A primarily flew close air support, all-weather and night
attacks on enemy troop concentrations, and night interdiction missions. Its
advanced navigation and attack system, known as DIANE (Digital Integrated Attack
navigation Equipment) allowed small precision targets, such as bridges, barracks
and fuel depots to be located and attacked in all weather conditions, day or
night. The planes were credited with some of the most difficult single-plane
strikes in the war, including the destruction of the Hai Duong bridge between
Hanoi and Haiphong by a single A6. Their missions were tough, but their crews
among the most talented and most courageous to serve the United States.

Capt. Ralph J. Chipman was the pilot of an Intruder assigned a mission over
North Vietnam on December 27, 1972. His co-pilot on the flight was 1Lt. Ronald
W. Forrester. The aircraft did not return from the mission, and last contact was
made with the crew over the target area.

A subsequent article in Quan Doi Nhan Dan, a daily Vietnamese newspaper
described an aircraft downed by the Vietnamese. Apparently the pilot was
reported to be dead, and possibly the co-pilot as well. Although this article
was thought to possibly relate to Chipman and Forrester, it was not definite
enough for proof of death. Both men were classified Missing in Action. It is
believed that the Vietnamese could account for them.

Forrester and Chipman are among nearly 2500 Americans who remained missing from
the Vietnam war. Many experts, having seen the "several million" documents
relating to Americans prisoner, missing or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia,
believe that hundreds of these men are still alive in captivity today.

In our haste to leave Southeast Asia, we abandoned some of our best men.
Surprisingly, in 1990, overtures by many U.S. government officials hint at
normalization of relations with Vietnam, yet no agreements have been reached
which would free those Americans still held in Southeast Asia. In our haste to
return to Indochina will we again abandon our men?

Ronald W. Forrester graduated from Texas A & M in 1969. He was promoted to the
rank of Captain during the period he was maintained missing.
FORS, GARY HENRY

Name: Gary Henry Fors
Rank/Branch: O3/US Marine Corps
Unit: VMFA 122, MAG 11
Date of Birth: 29 April 1941
Home City of Record: Puyallup WA
Date of Loss: 22 December 1967
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 161433N 1065607E (YC080970)
Status (In 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4B
Other Personnel in Incident: Lt. Gary Lashlee (rescued)

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: 01 January 1990

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.

Capt. Gary H. Fors was the pilot, and Lt. Gary Lashlee his weapons systems
operator when the two led an attack mission over Laos in their F4B Phantom. At
a point about 5 miles inside Laos in northern Saravane Province, Fors' aircraft
was hit and he and Lashlee ejected. Lashlee, the first to eject and still
drifting towards the ground, observed Fors as he parachuted safely to the
ground near the crash site of the aircraft. As Fors was landing on the ground,
communist troops were approaching. Lashlee drifted farther away, and could not
determine what happened next. The Marine Corps concluded that Fors had probably
been captured. Lt. Gary Lashlee drifted was rescued within half an hour.

In 1969, Fors' family identified him in pictures of captured servicemen. The
military first ruled the photo unrecognizable, then agreed with an Air Force
POW who, after he was released in 1973, said it was a picture of himself.

In 1972, a Pathet Lao defector reported that he had seen someone who looked
like Gary Fors chained near a limestone cave in Laos. A photograph of a POW in
captivity was correlated to Fors by CIA in 1973.

In 1980, a Seattle refugee resident named Boukeva Phavavont said that in 1976,
after his own capture by communist soldiers the year before, he saw five
Americans imprisoned in a cave near the site where Fors was shot down.

Fors is one of nearly 600 Americans who were left behind in Laos. Even though
the Pathet Lao stated publicly that they held "tens of tens" of American
prisoners, these men were not negotiated for in the Paris Peace Accords which
resulted in the release of 591 Americans from North Vietnam.

Nearly 10,000 reports such as those on Gary Fors have been received by the U.S.
Government since American involvement in Indochina ended in 1975, yet U.S.
policy continues to be that there is not actionable evidence that any Americans
are still alive.

Many authorities disagree, believing that there are hundreds of Americans still
alive and being held unjustly and against their will in Southeast Asia. Gary
Fors could be one of those thought to still be alive. If so, what must he be
thinking of us?
FORTNER, FREDERICK JOHN
Remains Returned November 3, 1988

Name: Frederick John Fortner
Rank/Branch: O2/US Navy Reserves
Unit: Attack Squadron 155, USS CORAL SEA (CVA-43)
Date of Birth: 15 May 1943 (Upland CA)
Home City of Record: Pomona CA
Date of Loss: 17 October 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 210700N 1072800E (YJ562350)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A4E
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: LtCdr. Frederick Fortner was a pilot assigned to Attack Squadron 155
onboard the aircraft carrier USS CORAL SEA (CVA-43). On October 17, 1967,
LtCdr. Fortner launched in his A4E "Skyhawk" on an attack mission over North
Vietnam.

After firing his rockets at a target, Fortner's aircraft was seen to be
streaming smoke or fuel and his wingman radioed for him to clear the area and
begin heading for the open sea. Fortner called that his flight controls were
locked and no further transmissions were received from him. No ejection or
parachute was seen and it was uncertain that he survived the air crash in the
thick jungle terrain. Fortner was categorized as Missing in Action.

When the war ended, Fortner's family thought it would be possible that he had
been captured, and that he would be released with other American POWs, but he
was not. The Vietnamese denied having any knowledge of him.

Following the war, refugees fled Vietnam, bringing with them reports of
American aircraft crash sites, dog tags they had found, and shockingly, reports
of Americans still alive in captivity in Southeast Asia. By the end of 1988,
the U.S. had received over 8,000 such reports.

On November 3, 1988, the Vietnamese discovered the remains of LtCdr. Frederick
Fortner and returned them to U.S. control. Fortner's family finally knows that
he is dead, and no is longer haunted by the continual flow of reports of
Americans still in Vietnam.

For nearly 2500 other American families, however, life goes on in agonizing
uncertainty. For the hundreds of American POWs thought to be still alive,
another day of abandonment passes.



FOSTER, MARVIN LEE

Name: Marvin Lee Foster
Rank/Branch: O4/US Army
Unit: Headquarters Company, USARV
Date of Birth: 29 December 1929 (Willow OK)
Home City of Record: Hubbard TX
Date of Loss: 16 March 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietham
Loss Coordinates: 161357N 1074448E (YC936965)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: U21A
Other Personnel In Incident: Raymond E. Bobe; David R. Smith; Charles R.
Barnes; Michael L. Batt (all missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Charles Barnes, co-pilot; David R. Smith, aircraft commander; and
passengers Michael Batt, Marvin L. Foster, and Raymond Bobe were the passengers
aboard a U21A aircraft lost in Tuan Thien Province, South Vietnam. The U21 is a
medium-sized aircraft, built to hold 8 or 10 passengers and crew. It is a
fixed-wing craft, generally used for VIP or commutes rather than surveillance
or combat support missions.

The circumstances surrounding the loss of this crew and passengers are still
completely classified as of 1989, although it is known that contact was lost
with the aircraft, and it is not strongly believed that the enemy knew the
fates of the crew and passengers. The last known location of the aircraft was
about half-way between Hue and Da Nang, South Vietnam.

Batt's photograph was selected as a known prisoner from the JCRC photo album of
those missing, but the U.S. Government states that it is unknown why the source
selected Batt's photo. Returning POWs did not indicate that any of the crew or
passengers had been held with them in their prison system.

When 591 Americans were released from Vietnamese prisons in 1973, high-ranking
military officials were shocked that "hundreds" who were expected to be
released were not.

Examination of intelligence reports suggest that there was more than one prison
"system" in Vietnam. Those prisoners who were released were maintained in the
same systems. If the missing men aboard the U21A were captured and kept in
another system, the POWs who returned would not know it.

Now, nearly 20 years later, men like these are all but forgotten except by
friends, family and fellow veterans. The U.S. "priority" placed on
determining their fates pales in comparison to the results it has achieved.

Since the U21 A was lost, nearly 10,000 reports have been received by the U.S.
relating to Americans still missing in Southeast Asia. Many authorities believe
that hundreds remain alive, waiting for their country to come for them. Whether
the men aboard the U21A are among them is not known. What is certain, however,
is that we, as a nation, are guilty of the abandonment of nearly 2500 of our
best and most courageous men. We cannot forget, and must do everything in our
power to bring these men home.

FOSTER, PAUL LEONARD

Name: Paul Leonard Foster
Rank/Branch: E4/US Air Force
Unit: 606th Air Commando Squadron
Date of Birth: 20 November 1945
Home City of Record: Knoxville TN
Date of Loss: 29 December 1967
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 164900N 1060300E (XD125595)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: A26A

Other Personnel In Incident: Carlos R. Cruz; William J. Potter (both missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 September 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 Douglas A26 Invader was a twin-engine attack bomber with World War
II service. In Vietnam, it served the French in the 1950's and also the U.S. in
the early years of American involvement in Southeast Asia. In 1966, eight A26's
were deployed to Nakhon Phanom to perform hunter-killer missions against truck
convoys in southern Laos.

Capt. Carlos R. Cruz, pilot, Capt. William J. Potter Jr., co-pilot, and SSGT
Paul L. Foster, crewmember, comprised the crew of an A26A Invader assigned a
mission in Laos December 29, 1967. The three flew from Nakhon Phanom from the
606th Air Commando Squadron to a target area along the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

During the mission the aircraft was hit by enemy fire and was seen to crash. The
last known location for Foster's plane was about 15 miles northwest of the city
of Muang Xepone (Sepone) in Savannakhet Province. This is just about due west of
the DMZ in Vietnam. No parachutes were seen, and no emergency radio beeper
signals were heard by aircraft in the area.

A day or so before the Invader was shot down, Lao Premier Souvanna Phouma
reported that North Vietnamese troops had started a general offensive against
Lao government forces in southern Laos. North Vietnam denied this report on
December 29th, the day the Invader was shot down.

The three men onboard the Invader were declared Missing in Action. The U.S.
believes the enemy may know their fates. Unfortunately, although the Pathet Lao
stated publicly that they held American prisoners, the U.S. never negotiated for
their freedom. Consequently, no American held in Laos has ever been released.

The fates of the crew of the Invader remain unknown. They are among nearly 600
Americans who disappeared in the "secret war" in Laos and never returned. There
is ample reason to believe that the Vietnamese and/or the Communist Lao know
what happened to Cruz, Potter and Foster on December 29, 1967.


William J. Potter Jr. was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, Carlos R.
Cruz to the rank of Major and Paul L. Foster to the rank of Senior Master
Sergeant during the period they were maintained missing.
FOSTER, ROBERT EUGENE

Name: Robert Eugene Foster
Rank/Branch: E5/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 28 Mar 1928
Home City of Record: Lockport NY
Date of Loss: 09 March 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 160758N 1071956E (YC494849)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: AC47

Other Personnel in Incident: Willard M. Collins; Delbert R. Peterson (both
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: KIA AT CRASH S SED 3 RECOV-J

SYNOPSIS: The AC47 introduced a new principle to air attack in Vietnam. Troubled
by difficulties in conducting nighttime defense, Capt. Ronald Terry of the U.S.
Air Force Aeronautical Systems Division recalled reading about missionaries in
Latin America who lowered baskets of supplies on a rope from a tightly circling
airplane. During the series of pylon turns, the basket remained suspended over a
selected point on the ground. Could this principle be applied to fire from
automatic weapons? Tests proved it could, and could be extremely successful.

The aircraft chosen for this new principle was a version of the Douglas C47. It
was dubbed, "Puff the Magic Dragon," after a popular song of the day, because it
resembled a dragon overhead with flames billowing from its guns. In operation,
Puff's "flare kicker" illuminated the target, then the pilot used a mark on his
left window as a gun sight, and circled slowly as three multibarrel machine guns
fired 18,000 rounds per minute from the door and two windows in the port side of
the rear compartment. Ground troops welcomed the sight of Puff because of its
ability to put a heavy dose of defensive fire in a surgically determined area.

On March 9, 1966, Capt. Willard M. Collins, 1Lt. Delbert R. Peterson, and Ssgt.
Robert E. Foster were part of the crew of an AC47 sent on a combat mission over
the A Shau Valley in Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam. They were engaged in an
effort to save a Special Forces firebase from being overrun by enemy troops.

During the mission, the Puff was hit by enemy fire and crashed. After impact,
three of the crew were rescued. According to these men, Foster was holding off
enemy troops when the last attempt to rescue him failed. Of the three who were
not rescued, Foster and Collins were declared Killed in Action and Peterson was
declared Missing in Action. This suggests that at least Foster and Peterson, and
perhaps all three, were alive at the time of the last futile rescue attempt.

Since American involvement in Southeast Asia ended, over 10,000 reports have
been received by the U.S. Government relating to Americans missing there. Many
authorities have concluded that there are hundreds left alive in captivity
today. When the United States left Southeast Asia, what was termed "peace with
honor" was in reality an abandonment -- of the freedom-loving peoples of Vietnam
and Laos, and of America's best men. It's time we brought our men home.

Delbert R. Peterson was promoted to the rank of Major during the period he was
maintained Missing in Action.

FOULKS, RALPH EUGENE JR.

Name: Ralph Eugene Foulks, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O2/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 163, USS ORISKANY (CVA-34)
Date of Birth: 21 July 1943
Home City of Record: Ridgecrest CA
Date of Loss: 05 January 1968
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 200600N 1060400E (XH167227)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A4E
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

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: 01 January 1990

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Lt. Ralph E. Foulks, Jr. was a pilot assigned to Attack Squadron 163
onboard the aircraft carrier USS ORISKANY (CVA-34). On January 5, 1968, he
launched in his A4E "Skyhawk" attack aircraft as the wingman on a two-plane
night armed reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam.

Shortly after crossing the coast, the flight leader took a column of trucks
under attack. Lt. Foulks acknowledged that he had the bomb impacts of his
flight leader in sight. The time was 6:10 a.m. and that was the last
communication received from him. At that time, Foulks was located at Phat Diem
in Ninh Binh Province, North Vietnam.

No crash was observed, nor were ejection or parachute seen. If Foulks radioed
or transmitted emergency signals, they were not heard. All Search and Rescue
efforts were unsuccessful in locating Lt. Foulks. Both Da Nang and Chu Lai
airfields, the two designated emergency locations, were contacted with no
results. Lt. Ralph E. Foulks, Jr. was placed in Missing in Action status.

When the last American troops left Southeast Asia in 1975, some 2500 Americans
were unaccounted for. Reports received by the U.S. Government since that time
build a strong case for belief that hundreds of these "unaccounted for"
Americans are still alive and in captivity. "Unaccounted for" is a term that
should apply to numbers, not men. We, as a nation, owe these men our best
effort to find them and bring them home. Until the fates of men like Foulks are
known, their families will wonder if they are dead or alive - and why they were
deserted.
            CASE SYNOPSIS:    FOWLER, DONALD RANDALL

  ============================================================================

Name:                Donald Randall Fowler
Rank/Branch:            E4/US Army
Unit:                240th Assault Helicopter Co.
                214th Aviation Btn., 12th Aviation Group
Date of Birth:            03 August 1949
Home City of Record:        Athens GA
Date of Loss:            01 August 1968
Country of Loss:        South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates:        114856N 1071107E
Status (in 1973):        Missing In Action
Category:            4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground:    UH1C
Other Personnel
In Incident:            Steven M. Hastings; Peter J. Russell
                (both missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS:  SP4 Donald Fowler, gunner; Sgt. Steven Hastings, crewchief; WO
Fernam, aircraft commander and 1Lt. Peter J. Russell, pilot, comprised the crew
of one UH1C helicopter in a flight of two on a combat mission.

Due to inclement weather and poor visibility, the mission was aborted.    During
the return flight, the two aircraft became separated while attempting to return
to the Song Be airstrip.  One aircraft crashed into the trees and crewmembers
were extracted the following morning.  Radio contact was lost with 1Lt.
Russell's aircraft after the last contact at 2025 hours on August 1.  At that
time, the aircraft commander indicated that he was diverting to Binh Hoa
airbase rather than returning to Song Be.

When the aircraft failed to arrive at either Binh Hoa or Song Be, search
efforts were begun at daylight, and continued for 3 days.  On August 6,
wreckage of the helicopter was discovered.  On August 21, a recovery effort was
conducted in the area of the aircraft and it was determined that the helicopter
had crashed but not burned.  During the recovery effort, portions of remains
were found that were associated with WO Fernam, along with some personal
effects that belonged to him.  Only flight helmets were found for the other 3
individuals.  No trace was found of the other 3 in subsequent searches.

In 1985, a private citizen obtained a previously classified document through
the Freedom of Information Act which described in great detail a prisoner of
war camp in South Vietnam.  Together with the drawings and maps of the compound
were lists of guards and their backgrounds, and a list of Americans the source
had positively identified from photographs.  On the list of positive id's was
the name of Steven Hastings.  Returned POWs have verified the accuracy of the
drawings and much of the information.  (Some on the positive list were POWs who
returned in 1973)

Although the Defense Department has stated that the source was a liar, there
appears to be some question as to whether Hastings, at least, perished in the
crash of his helicopter or survived to be captured.  And if there is question
on Hastings, what of the other 2?

Nearly 2500 Americans are missing in Southeast Asia.  Over 6000 reports have
been received indicating that there are hundreds of Americans still alive as
captives there.  It's long past time we got to the bottom of the issue and
brought our men home - alive.
FOWLER, JAMES ALAN

Name: James Alan Fowler
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit: Udorn Airfield, Thailand
Date of Birth: 07 January 1938  (Minneapolis MN)
Home City of Record: Bismark ND
Date of Loss: 06 June 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 215000N 1045300E (VK879141)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D

Other Personnel In Incident: John W. Seuell (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Lt.Colonel James A. Fowler and his weapons systems officer, Captain
John W. Seuell, departed Udorn Airfield at 10 a.m. on June 6, 1972 on a combat
air patrol mission northwest of Hanoi. Their F4D was the lead aircraft in a
flight of four F4Ds on the mission.

The mission progressed as planned and the flight arrived in the target area
without incident. Upon completion of the mission, the flight proceeded back to
Thailand. Approaching surface-to-air missile launching sites near Yen Bai
Airfield, North Vietnam, the launch of a missile was detected about 11:29 a.m.
Although evasive maneuvers were initiated, the missile was seen to explode about
five feet below the tail section of Fowler's plane. The aircraft burst into
flames, but did not disintigrate. No canopies or parachutes were seen. Thirty
minutes later, flights in the area reported hearing two emergency signals, but
no voice contact could be established. Because the incident occurred deep in
enemy territory, no organized search could be made.

The shootdown site was in an are in North Vietnam that the U.S. had access to in
May, 1973, but failed to inspect.

When 591 Americans were released from Vietnam in 1973, Fowler and Seuell were
not among them. Neither were hundreds more whom military heads believed had been
captured. Unlike MIAs in other wars, most of the nearly 2500 missing in Vietnam
can be accounted for with relative ease. Since the war's end, thousands of
reports have been received by the U.S. Government regarding Americans still in
captivity in Southeast Asia. There is a large volume of evidence which indicates
that hundreds are still being held. Perhaps two of them could be Fowler and
Seuell.

Henry Kissinger predicted, in the 50's, that future "limited political
engagements" would result, unfortunately, in nonrecoverable prisoners of war. We
have seen this prediction fulfilled in Korea and Vietnam, where thousands of men
and women remain missing, and where ample evidence exists that many of them
(from BOTH wars) are still alive today. The U.S. Government seems unable (or
unwilling) to negotiate their freedom. For Americans, the "unfortunate"
abandonment of military personnel is not acceptable, and the policy that allows
it must be changed before another generation is left behind in some faraway war.

James A. Fowler was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel during the period
he was maintained missing. Seuell's rank was maintained as Captain.

FOWLER, JAMES JEWEL

Name: James Jewel Fowler
Rank/Branch: E2/USN
Unit:
Date of Birth: 24 February 1947
Home City of Record: Lamonte MO
Date of Loss: 02 October 1969
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 175402N 1073602E (YE754810)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: C2A

Personnel In Incident: Terry L. Beck; Richard W. Bell; Michael L. Bowman; Frank
Bytheway; Rolando C. Dayao; Donald C. Dean; Herbert H. Dilger; Carl J. Ellerd;
James J. Fowler; Roy G. Fowler; Leonardo M. Gan; Paul E. Gore; William D.
Gorsuch; Rayford J. Hill; Delvin L. Kohler; Howard M. Koslosky; Robert B.
Leonard; Richard A. Livingston; Ronald W. Montgomery; William R. Moore; Paul K.
Moser; Kenneth M. Prentice; Fidel G. Salazar; Keavin L. Terrell; Michael J. Tye;
Reynaldo R. Viado (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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: On October 2, 1969, a C2A "Greyhound" cargo aircraft from Reserve
Cargo Squadron 50 departed Cubi Point Naval Air Station, Republic of the
Philippines on a shuttle flight to various aircraft carriers in the Gulf of
Tonkin in Vietnam, including the USS CONSTELLATION, the USS WALKER, the USS
HAMMER, and the USS LONG BEACH.

The flight crew onboard the aircraft, assigned to Fleet Support Squadron 50
based in Atsugi Naval Air Station, Japan, included the pilot, Lt. Herbert H.
Dilger; co-pilot, Lt. Richard A. Livingston; air crewman, Petty Officer 3rd
Class Paul K. Moser; aircraft captain, Petty Officer 3rd Class Michael J. Tye;
and loadmaster-trainee, Petty Officer 3rd Class Rayford J. Hill. Most of the
twenty passengers appear to be bound for the USS CONSTELLATION, but one was
bound for the USS LONG BEACH, one of the four Philippine citizens onboard was
headed for the USS HAMMER, and two to the USS WALKER.

The aircraft was inbound to the CONSTITUTION and made communication at about
0600 hours, reporting that operations were normal. When communicatons were
established with the Carrier Air Control, control was passed to the Marshall
controller (Approach Control). The carrier's radar continued tracking the
aircraft until approximately 0655, at which time radar contact was lost at about
10 nautical miles from the CONSTELLATION.

Helicopter search and rescue efforts were immediately initiated from the ship.
The helicopter began sighting an oil slick and debris. A few pieces of aircraft
were recovered, and analysis of this debris indicated that the aircraft was in a
relatively high speed nose down, right wing down impact with the water or had a
possible right wing failure before impact. There was no sign of survivors, nor
were any bodies recovered.

The crew and passengers onboard the C2 which went down on October 2, 1969 were
all declared Killed/Body Not Recovered. There is very little hope that they will
ever be found. They are listed with honor among the missing because no remains
were ever located to repatriate to their homeland.

For many of the missing, however, solutions are not so simple. Several were
photographed in captivity, but never returned. Others were alive and well the
last they were seen awaiting rescue. Still others described their imminent
captures. For the families of these men, the years have passed heartbreakingly
slow.

Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing in
Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. Government. Many officials who
have reviewed this largely classified information are convinced that hundreds of
Americans are still alive as captives in Southeast Asia. It's time we brought
our men home.


FOWLER, ROY GILLMAN

Name: Roy Gillman Fowler
Rank/Branch: E4/USN Reserves
Unit: USS CONSTELLATION (crewman)
Date of Birth: 03 November 1946 (Washington DC)
Home City of Record: Annandale VA
Date of Loss: 02 October 1969
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 175402N 1073602E (YE754810)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: C2A

Personnel In Incident: Terry L. Beck; Richard W. Bell; Michael L. Bowman; Frank
Bytheway; Rolando C. Dayao; Donald C. Dean; Herbert H. Dilger; Carl J. Ellerd;
James J. Fowler; Roy G. Fowler; Leonardo M. Gan; Paul E. Gore; William D.
Gorsuch; Rayford J. Hill; Delvin L. Kohler; Howard M. Koslosky; Robert B.
Leonard; Richard A. Livingston; Ronald W. Montgomery; William R. Moore; Paul K.
Moser; Kenneth M. Prentice; Fidel G. Salazar; Keavin L. Terrell; Michael J. Tye;
Reynaldo R. Viado (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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: On October 2, 1969, a C2A "Greyhound" cargo aircraft from Reserve
Cargo Squadron 50 departed Cubi Point Naval Air Station, Republic of the
Philippines on a shuttle flight to various aircraft carriers in the Gulf of
Tonkin in Vietnam, including the USS CONSTELLATION, the USS WALKER, the USS
HAMMER, and the USS LONG BEACH.

The flight crew onboard the aircraft, assigned to Fleet Support Squadron 50
based in Atsugi Naval Air Station, Japan, included the pilot, Lt. Herbert H.
Dilger; co-pilot, Lt. Richard A. Livingston; air crewman, Petty Officer 3rd
Class Paul K. Moser; aircraft captain, Petty Officer 3rd Class Michael J. Tye;
and loadmaster-trainee, Petty Officer 3rd Class Rayford J. Hill. Most of the
twenty passengers appear to be bound for the USS CONSTELLATION, but one was
bound for the USS LONG BEACH, one of the four Philippine citizens onboard was
headed for the USS HAMMER, and two to the USS WALKER.

The aircraft was inbound to the CONSTITUTION and made communication at about
0600 hours, reporting that operations were normal. When communicatons were
established with the Carrier Air Control, control was passed to the Marshall
controller (Approach Control). The carrier's radar continued tracking the
aircraft until approximately 0655, at which time radar contact was lost at about
10 nautical miles from the CONSTELLATION.

Helicopter search and rescue efforts were immediately initiated from the ship.
The helicopter began sighting an oil slick and debris. A few pieces of aircraft
were recovered, and analysis of this debris indicated that the aircraft was in a
relatively high speed nose down, right wing down impact with the water or had a
possible right wing failure before impact. There was no sign of survivors, nor
were any bodies recovered.

The crew and passengers onboard the C2 which went down on October 2, 1969 were
all declared Killed/Body Not Recovered. There is very little hope that they will
ever be found. They are listed with honor among the missing because no remains
were ever located to repatriate to their homeland.

For many of the missing, however, solutions are not so simple. Several were
photographed in captivity, but never returned. Others were alive and well the
last they were seen awaiting rescue. Still others described their imminent
captures. For the families of these men, the years have passed heartbreakingly
slow.

Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing in
Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. Government. Many officials who
have reviewed this largely classified information are convinced that hundreds of
Americans are still alive as captives in Southeast Asia. It's time we brought
our men home.


FRANCISCO, SAN DEWAYNE

Name: San Dewayne Francisco
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 29 February 1944
Home City of Record: Burbank WA
Date of Loss: 25 November 1968
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 172000N 1061200E (XE270185)
Status (in 1973): Prisoner of War
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D

Other Personnel In Incident: Joseph C. Morrison (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS: VOICE CONTACT ON GROUND

SYNOPSIS: 1Lt. San D. Francisco and Maj. Joseph C. Morrison were flying an F4D
aircraft on a combat mission in North Vietnam when it was shot down November 25,
1968. Both officers safely ejected from the plane and established radio contact
on the ground with recovery forces. Their parachutes were spotted with 700
meters of a North Vietnamese encampment.

Contact with Francisco was lost within a half hour. Morrison evaded successfully
throughout the night, and re-established radio contact on the following day.
Recovery was prevented, primarily by weather, and voice and beeper contact was
lost. Both Morrison and Francisco were placed in Prisoner of War Status and
expected to be released in 1973 when 591 Americans were freed from North
Vietnamese prisons. However, neither man was released.

A later coordination of records showed that Francisco and Morrison were both
listed as Missing (not Prisoner) by Defense Intelligence Agency and the Air
Force, while JCRC (Thailand) carried both Francisco and Morrison as Prisoner
(not missing). JCRC was ordered to "delete any references pertaining to PW
status" in Francisco's case. No order was issued at that time to change
Morrison's status. The reasons behind the order are unclear.

Over a thousand reports of Americans alive in the hands of the Vietnamese have
been received by the U.S. since the end of the war. Many government officials
state that they believe Americans are currently being held against their will in
Southeast Asia. The question is, who are they, and how will we bring them home?
Are Morrison and Francisco among them?

San D. Francisco was promoted to the rank of Major and Joseph C. Morrison to the
rank of Colonel during the period they were maintained Prisoner of War.
FRANK, MARTIN STANLEY

Name: Martin Stanley Frank
Rank/Branch: E5/US Army
Unit: Company B, 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry, 4th Infantry Division
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record:
Date of Loss: 12 Jul 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 134026N 1073809E (YA850131)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel In Incident: Nathan B. Henry; Cordine McMurray; Stanley A.
Newell; Richard R. Perricone (all released); James F. Schiele; James L. Van
Bendegom (both missing). Held with men from at least two other incidents
including: Incident on 18 May 1967: Joe L. DeLong (missing); Incident on 17 Feb
1967: David W. Sooter (released).

REMARKS: 730305 RELSD BY PRG

SYNOPSIS: In the spring of 1973, 591 American Prisoners of War were released
from prisons and camps in Vietnam. Among them were six of a group of nine U.S.
Army 4th Infantry Division personnel captured in and near Pleiku Province,
South Vietnam during the year of 1967 whose lives had been intertwined for the
past six years. All had belonged to that part of the "Ivy Division" which was
assigned to Task Force Oregon conducting border operations called Operation Sam
Houston (1 Jan - 5 Apr 67) and Operation Francis Marion (5 Apr - 12 Oct 67).

On February 17, 1967, W1 David W. Sooter was the only man captured from a
OH23 helicopter downed at the southeastern edge of Kontum Province near the
edge of Pleiku Province, and near the Cambodian border.

PFC Joe Lynn DeLong was the machine gunner for his company, on a company-sized
patrol in Rotanokiri Province, Cambodia on May 18, 1967. (Note: most records
list this loss as in South Vietnam, and coordinates place it in the Ia Drang
Valley, Pleiku Province, South Vietnam near the border of Cambodia, but U.S.
Army casualty reports state that the loss was in Kotanokiri Province,
Cambodia.) While on patrol, his unit was hit by a Viet Cong force of unknown
size and cut off from the rest of the company. DeLong's platoon formed a
defensive perimeter and attempted to hold their position. Later that day, at
about 1830 hours, DeLong's platoon position was overrun. The next morning,
another unit reached his position, and was able to account for all platoon
members except for DeLong. It was later learned that DeLong had been captured.

Nearly two months later, on July 12, 1967, SP4 Martin S. Frank, PFC Nathan B.
Henry, Sgt. Cordine McMurray, PFC Stanley A. Newell, PFC Richard R. Perricone,
SP4 James F. Schiele and PFC James L. Van Bendegom, all members of Company B,
1st Battalion, 12th Infantry, 4th Infantry Division, were conducting a search
and destroy mission along the Cambodian border when their position was overrun
by the Viet Cong. With the execption of Schiele, all the men were captured. The
U.S. Army notes that Schiele and Van Bendegom were captured by the North
Vietnamese, while the others, apparently, were captured by Viet Cong.

PFC Schiele was seen by his platoon leader as his unit was forced to withdraw,
leaving him behind. He had been hit a number of times by automatic weapons fire
in the legs and chest and was thought to be dead. PFC Perricone stated in his
debrief upon return to the U.S. that the enemy camp commander of Camp 102 told
him that SP4 Schiele had died of wounds received in the fire fight. However,
since there was no positive proof of death, the U.S. government placed Schiele
in a Missing in Action category. Classified information given to the Vietnamese
by Gen. John Vessey in 1987, however, states that both Schiele and Van Bendegom
were captured by the North Vietnamese.

PFC Vanbendegom was also wounded in the engagement, and was seen alive by other
Americans captured in the same battle about one week after his capture at a
communist field hospital in Cambodia, not far from his capture location. One of
the released Americans was later told by the commanding North Vietnamese
officer at his prison camp in Cambodia that SP4 Vanbendegom had died of his
wounds. Vanbendegom was categorized as a Prisoner of War.

The other seven Americans were held in prison camps on the Vietnam/Cambodia
border for several months. According to the debriefs of releasees Sooter and
Perricone, they and DeLong had attempted to escape from a border camp in
Cambodia on November 6, 1967, but were recaptured the same day. Two days later,
Sooter and Perricone were shown DeLong's bullet-ridden and blood-soaked
trousers and were told that DeLong had been killed resisting recapture. The
Vietnamese included DeLong's name on a list of prisoners who had died in
captivity (saying he died in November 1967), did not return his remains, and
did not offer any explaination.

Sooter, Frank, Henry, Perricone, McMurray and Newell were all released by the
PRG in 1973. Frank was never known to be a prisoner by the U.S. Henry was
injured, and maintains a permanent disability today. The U.S. is certain the
Vietnamese also know the fates of DeLong, Schiele and Vanbendegom, but the
Vietnamese continue to remain silent.

Since the end of the war, only a few score of the many remains the Vietnamese
could provide have been returned to U.S. control. Each return of remains
signals some political move by the Vietnamese. Strong moves towards
normalization of relations began in the mid-80's, which most Americans would
not oppose. As evidence mounts that hundreds of Americans are still held
captive by these same governments the U.S. is rushing to befriend, many
concerned Americans believe that in our rush to leave Indochina, we abandoned
our best men. And that in our rush to return, we will sign their death warrants.

FRANKLIN, CHARLES EDWARD
Remains Returned 13 July 1988 - ID'D October 1988

Name: Charles Edward Franklin
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 14 September 1934
Home City of Record: Youngstown OH
Date of Loss: 14 August 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 214800N 1055000E (WK850110)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F105

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: Chuck Franklin was the pilot of an F105 aircraft on a bombing run over
the mail link to China in North Vietnam on August 14, 1966. Also on the run were
two other pilots, each with his own plane. Seventy miles north of Hanoi the
three aircraft ran into heavy surface to air missile (SAM) fire. Chuck
instructed the other 2 men to try and get out while he drew fire. The other two
planes were able to escape, but Chuck was not. He radioed that he had been hit,
headed for the hills and ejected.

There was every reason to suspect Franklin may have survived, and he was listed
Missing in Action. His family waited for the war to end and the POWs to come
home. However, in the spring of 1973, when 591 Americans were released from
Hanoi, Franklin was not among them. The Vietnamese denied any knowledge of him.

Then in July 1988, the Vietnamese discovered the remains of Charles E. Franklin
and turned them over to Presidential Envoy General John Vessey. Franklin had
been a prisoner, living or dead, for 22 years.

Nearly 2500 Americans did not return from the war in Vietnam. Thousands of
reports have been received indicating that some hundreds are alive today.  As in
the case of Chuck Franklin, Vietnam and her allies can account for most of them.

In the total view of the issue of the missing, however, the return of remains
signals NO progress. In the early 1980's the very credible Congressional
testimony of a Vietnamese mortician indicated that the Vietnamese are in
possession of over 400 sets of remains. In 10 years, they have returned barely
half of them. More importantly, the same credible witness, whose testimony is
believed throughout Congress, stated that he had seen live Americans held at the
same location where the remains were stored.

As long as even one American remains alive in captivity in Southeast Asia, the
only issue is that living man. We must bring them home before there are only
remains to negotiate for.

Charles E. Franklin was promoted to the rank of Colonel during the period he was
maintained Missing in Action.
            CASE SYNOPSIS:    FRANKS, IAN JACK

  ============================================================================

Name:                Ian Jack Franks
Rank/Branch:            E4/US Army
Unit:                224th Aviation Co., 164th Aviation Group
                1st Aviation Brigade
Date of Birth:            28 September 1946
Home City of Record:        New York NY
Date of Loss:            23 March 1968
Country of Loss:        South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates:        100245N 1054752E
Status (in 1973):        Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category:            4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground:    OV1C
Other Personnel
In Incident:            Masaki Hattori (missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS:  On March 23, 1968 Major Masaki Hattori, the pilot, and SP4 Ian
Franks, observer, were flying an OV1C (tail #603756) when their aircraft, in an
effort to avoid a mid-air collision with two U.S. Navy helicopters, crashed
into the Hau Giang River near Can Tho, South Vietnam.

Eyewitnesses to the crash confirmed that neither crewmember bailed out.  After
a 4 day extensive search, some aircraft wreckage was found, along with 2
shattered flight helmets with bits of hair and tissue attached.  A medical
analyst examined the helmets and concluded that no one could have survived the
crash.

Leaflets were distributed along the river banks, but no additional leads or
information was forthcoming.  Franks and Hattori were classified as killed, but
as their remains were not found, they are listed among the missing.

Nearly 2500 Americans are missing in Southeast Asia.  Franks and Hattori are
two of the few whose cases seem clear.    For many families, the memory that
their man's photo appeared in a communist paper shortly after capture emotes
bitter resentment and great sadness.  Other men were in radio contact with
search and rescue teams who were trying to get to them before the enemy did.
Some simply vanished.

In recent years, evidence has poured in regarding Americans still alive in
Southeast Asia, held captive by a long-ago enemy.  One can only guess what they
must be thinking of the country they went to serve.
FRANSEN, ALBERT MARK JR.

Name: Albert Mark Fransen, Jr.
Rank/Branch: E4/US Navy
Unit: Commander Coastal Division 15
Date of Birth: 09 November 1944 (Clinton OK)
Home City of Record: Las Vegas NV
Date of Loss: 02 July 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 125029N 1092706E (CQ320200)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Boat (PCF 87)

Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 30 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: Engineman Petty Officer Third Class Albert M. Fransen, Jr. was
assigned to Commander Coastal Division 15. On July 2, 1969, he was onboard a
swift boat (PCF-87) which was conducting harrassment and interdiction fire about
50 miles south of Qui Nhon, South Vietnam, when the boat was hit by an 81mm
mortar round.

Petty Officer Fransen was killed by wounds inflicted by the mortar. Navy
information provides no further details of the boat or the rest of the crew. It
is only states that Fransen could not be found. He was listed Killed in Action,
Body Not Recovered (KIA/BNR).

Petty Officer Fransen is listed among the missing because his body was never
located to return home for burial. There is no doubt that he is dead. He is
among over 3000 Americans who were prisoner, missing or unaccounted for when the
war ended.

Others who are missing do not have such clear cut cases. Some were known to be
captives; some were photographed as they were led by their guards. Some were in
radio contact with search teams, while others simply disappeared.

Since the war ended, over 250,000 interviews have been conducted with those who
claim to know about Americans still alive in Southeast Asia, and several million
documents have been studied. U.S. Government experts cannot seem to agree
whether Americans are there alive or not. Distractors say it would be far too
politically difficult to bring the men they believe to be alive home, and the
U.S. is content to negotiate for remains.

Over 1000 eyewitness reports of living American prisoners were received by 1989.
Most of them are still classified. If, as the U.S. seems to believe, the men are
all dead, why the secrecy after so many years? If the men are alive, why are
they not home?


FRAWLEY, WILLIAM DAVID

Name: William David Frawley
Rank/Branch: O3/US Navy
Unit: Fighter Squadron 143, USS RANGER (CVA-61)
Date of Birth: 14 November 1938
Home City of Record: Brockton MA
Loss Date: 01 March 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 200700N 1062500E (XH480248)
Status (in 1973): Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4B

Other Personnel In Incident: William M. Christensen (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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 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.

LT. William D. Frawley was a pilot assigned to Fighter Squadron 143 onboard the
aircraft carrier USS RANGER. On March 1, 1966, he launched in his F4B Phantom
with his Radar Intercept Officer (RIO), LTJG William M. Christensen. Along with
two other F4 aircraft, they were assigned an armed coastal reconnaissance
mission.

After routine aerial refueling, they began their mission into what was
deteriorating weather conditions. While just off the coast of North Vietnam and
at extremely low level, all three aircraft began a coordinated low-level turn
through inclement weather. Midway through the turn, the lead aircraft lost
contact with Frawley's plane.

The flight leader radioed Frawley to see if he held the flight leader visually.
Frawley responded that he did not. The flight leader then joined up on the
third F4, but neither were able to contact or get a visual on Frawley's
aircraft. The flight leader contacted a rescue destroyer and gave the shop the
last known position of frawley's aircraft.

Limited search efforts were begun by the USS BERKELEY, USS ISBELL and HU-16 and
A-1H aircraft, covering an area from the shoreline out to 10 miles. No visual or
electronic signals were made of the two crewmembers. The other two F4s returned
safely to the RANGER without further incident.

It was learned later that during the course of events, the crew of the second
aircraft did near a surface-to-air missile (SAM) alert warning on UHF radio, but
no missiles were seen or reported fire. Circumstances strongly suggest collision
with the water, however enemy action was not ruled out. Their last known
location was approximately 50 miles southwest of Haiphong, and about 10 miles
south of the city of Hoanh Dong, North Vietnam. Both men were declared Missing
in Action, but because it was suspected they crashed in the Gulf of Tonkin, it
is not believed their remains, if killed, are recoverable.

The following day, evidence of an aircraft crash was located just off the
shoreline which was believed to increase the chance that the plane was shot down
by enemy fire. No trace was ever found of Frawley of Christensen, and the
decision to keep them in Missing in Action status rather than Killed status was
made. This status was maintained for the next 7 years.

In 1973, 591 Americans were released from prisons in Vietnam. A list of those
who died in captivity was provided, and some of their remains were repatriated.
Some remains have been repatriated since. There were many men who were known to
have survived their loss incident who did not return. The Vietnamese deny any
knowledge of these men, even though some were photographed as their captives.

Unlike "MIAs" from other wars, most of the over 2300 remaining missing in
Southeast could be accounted for. Because of this, and because the U.S. has
received thousands of reports indicating hundreds of Americans are still held
captive in Southeast Asia, we cannot close this chapter of the Vietnam war.

Perhaps Frawley and Christenson perished. Perhaps in their story, they have
another mission to fly -- that of telling us never to quit, never to give up
until ALL Americans are home, especially those who are still alive, captive and
fighting the war that claimed America's best sons -- like Bill Christensen and
Bill Frawley.

            CASE SYNOPSIS:    FRAZIER, PAUL REID

  ============================================================================

Name:                Paul Reid Frazier
Rank/Branch:            E5/US Army
Unit:                191st Assault Helicopter Co.
                214th Aviation Group, 1st Aviation Brigade
Date of Birth:            11 March 1949
Home City of Record:        Milwaukee WI
Date of Loss:            03 September 1968
Country of Loss:        South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates:        103441N 1063728E
Status (in 1973):        Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category:            5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground:    UH1C
Other Personnel
In Incident:            none missing

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS:  On September 3, 1968 Sgt. Frazier was a crewman aboard a UH1C
helicopter (tail #66-66613) which crashed and exploded in South Vietnam.  The
site was inspected within 8 hours of the crash.  All personnel aboard are
accounted for except for Sgt. Frazier.    The crash site was inspected on May 7
and 8, 1973 by JCRC and positively identified as being the aircraft and site
associated with Frazier's death.  No remains were recovered.

On June 29, 1973, JCRC concluded that no remains were recoverable, as remains
were destroyed by explosive ordnance, aircraft fire or removal from site by
other means.  JCRC recommended that no further operations be planned to recover
Frazier unless new information became available and that the case be closed.

Several reports have been received concerning the location of remains which
may relate to Sgt. Frazier, but to date, no positive correlation has been made,
nor have any remains been recovered.

Sgt. Frazier is among the missing because his body was never returned to U.S.
control.  For his family, his fate is clear.  For others who are missing, the
agony continues.  Many missing were known prisoners.  Many were in radio
contact as they were being approached by enemy troops.    Others disappeared,
leaving a provocative trail that precludes the assumption of death.

As evidence mounts that hundreds of Americans may still be alive in Southeast
Asia, one remembers men like Sgt. Frazier.  Would he do more than we have to
bring our men home?
FREDERICK, WILLIAM VANDERVOS

Remains Returned - ID Announced 03 January 1990

Name: William Vandervos Frederick
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 01 June 1933
Home City of Record: Deerfield OH
Date of Loss: 05 July 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 213200N 1065400E (YJ019804)
Status (in 1973): Prisoner of War
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F105D

Other Personnel In Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 April 1990 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.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Captain William V. Frederick was the pilot of an F105 Thunderchief
fighter-bomber sent on a mission over North Vietnam on July 5, 1967. His mission
took him into the Haiphong area southeast of Hanoi, one of the primary strategic
targets being attacked as part of the ongoing Rolling Thunder bombing operation
begun two years before.

The F105 Thunderchief ("Thud"), in its various versions, flew more missions
against North Vietnam than any other U.S. aircraft. It also suffered more
losses, partially due to its vulnerability, which was constantly under revision.
Between 1965 and 1971, the aircraft was equipped with armor plate, a secondary
flight control system, an improved pilot ejection seat, a more precise
navigation system, better blind bombing capability and ECM pods for the wings.

While near Haiphong, Capt. Frederick's aircraft went down. Circumstances of loss
caused Joint Casualty Resolution Center (JCRC) to maintain Captain Frederick as
a Prisoner of War.

In November 1973, JCRC received a message from Randolph Airforce Base
instructing them to remove all references pertaining to PW status and place
Captain Frederick in MIA classification. This message was routed through the
highest channels, and contained the names of 10 other men. Although the Air
Force maintained that this was an administrative cleanup procedure, some
analysts feel it was a deliberate effort to downplay these cases as confirmed
prisoner of war cases.

No substantial information surfaced about Capt. Frederick for over twenty years.
Then in early January 1990, the U.S. announced that it had positively identified
Capt. Frederick's remains from among a group of remains returned to U.S. control
by the Vietnamese. William V. Frederick, dead or alive, was a prisoner of war
for nearly 23 years.

Evidence continues to mount that hundreds of Americans are still alive in
Southeast Asia. Clearly, William V. Frederick is not among them. But as long as
even one American remains held against his will, we must do everything possible
to bring him home.

FRENG, STANLEY JON

Name: Stanley Jon Freng
Rank/Branch: E5/US Navy
Unit: Air Transport Squadron 7
Date of Birth: 24 December 1942
Home City of Record: Mission Hill SD
Date of Loss: 17 June 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 125336N 1093123E (CQ398257)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: C130E
Other Personnel in Incident: Ralph B. Cobbs; Jack I. Dempsey; Curtis D.
Collette; Edward L. Romig; M.J. Savoy; Donald E. Siegwarth; Robert A. Cairns;
Gene K. Hess; Connie M. Gravitte; Oley N. Adams; Larry E. Washburn (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project with the assistance of Task Force
Omega from 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: EXPLODE AIR & IMPACT SEA - J

SYNOPSIS: On June 17, 1966, a C130E "Hercules" aircraft departed Cam Ranh Bay,
South Vietnam en route to Kadena Air Base, Okinawa on an operational airlift
support mission. Aboard the flight were the crew, consisting of LtCdr. Ralph B.
Cobbs; ADJ2 Curtis D. Collette; YN2 Jack I. Dempsey; ADR2 Stanley J. Freng;
Ltjg. Edward L. Romig; AN M.J. Savoy; and Ltjg. Donald E. Siegwarth. All were
assigned to the 7th Air Transport Squadron. Also aboard the aircraft were U.S.
Air Force personnel SSgt. Robert A. Cairns; SSgt. Gene K. Hess; Capt. Connie M.
Gravitte; SSgt. Oley N. Adams; and A1 Larry E. Washburn, and one other
individual.

About 30 minutes into the flight, when the aircraft was 43 miles northeast of
Nha Trang, the crew of a naval gunboat cruising off the South Vietnam coast
observed the C130 explode and crash into the South China Sea. No hostile fire
was observed, and the exact cause of the crash could not be determined. The
vessell arrived at the crash scene only minutes after the impact and began an
immediate search. The accident took place so swiftly that it must be assumed
all aboard perished instantly. Some debris and wreckage have been recovered
including parts of the aircraft and personal belongings. Only one body was
recovered from the crash site. The others are listed as "Dead/Body Not
Recovered."

Cobbs and Siegworth were pilots, and probably the co-pilots of the aircraft,
although this information is not included in public data relating to the loss.
Crew positions of the remaining crew members are not available.

Inexplicably, Cobbs' loss coordinates place him on the coast of South Vietnam a
few miles northeast of Tuy Hoa, while the others aboard are listed as lost
northeast of Na Trang. (This is a difference of about 55 miles.) Also, the
entire crew of the aircraft has been assigned "Knowledge Category 4", while the
passengers are in "Knowledge Category 5". Category 5 includes those individuals
whose remains have been determined to be non-recoverable. Category 4 includes
individuals whose loss details, such as location and time, are unknown and who
do not fit into any of the varying degrees of knowledge other than category 5.
No reason for this discrepancy can be determined.

The Americans aboard the C130E are listed among the missing because their
remains were never found to be returned to their homeland. They are among
nearly 2500 Americans who remain unaccounted for from the Vietnam war. The
cases of some, like the C130E crew, seem clear - that they perished and cannot
be recovered, Unfortunately, many others who are missing do not have such clear
cut cases. Some were known captives; some were photographed as they were led by
their guards. Some were in radio contact with search teams, while others simply
disappeared.

Since the war ended, over 250,000 interviews have been conducted with those who
claim to know about Americans still alive in Southeast Asia, and several
million documents have been studied. U.S. Government experts cannot seem to
agree whether Americans are there alive or not. Distractors say it would be far
too politically difficult to bring the men they believe to be alive home, and
the U.S. is content to negotiate for remains.

Over 1000 eye-witness reports of living American prisoners were received by
1989. Most of them are still classified. If, as the U.S. seems to believe, the
men are all dead, why the secrecy after so many years? If the men are alive,
why are they not home?

In our haste to leave an unpopular war, it now appears we abandoned some of our
best men. In our haste to heal the wounds of this same war, will we sign their
death warrants? Or will we do what we can to bring them home?



FRENYEA, EDMUND HENRY

Name: Edmund Henry Frenyea
Rank/Branch: E3/US Navy
Unit: Anti-Submarine Squadron 35, USS HORNET (CVA12)
Date of Birth: 24 May 1930
Home City of Record: Ukiah CA
Loss Date: 22 January 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 193958N 1072159E (YG481761)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 5
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: S2D
Other Personnel In Incident: William Forman; Robert Sennett; Erwin Templin
(all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project with the assistance of Task Force
Omega from 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:

SYNOPSIS: In early 1966, there were several search and rescue (SAR) destroyers
parked off the coast of North Vietnam in the Gulf of Tonkin. When the attack and
fighter people would egress, they would be there to assist a cripple or pick up
a guy who had to punch out or ditch. During the night when the strike activity
would ebb, the SAR DDs would steam around their small areas waiting for the next
day's activities. It was during these night and early morning hous that high
speed surface contacts would probe their positions. The "Stoof" (S2D) helped
provide air cover for these surface ships. The Stoof was technically an
anti-submarine aircraft, but had little call to exercise submarine missions in
Vietnam. There were only a few of such planes assigned to Vietnam at all.

If a ship thought its position was being probed by enemy boats, it would vector
the Stoof out over the target. The Stoof tactic was to drop a parachute retarded
flare from about 10,000 feet over the target, circle back around at a low
altitude (about 300 feet) and investigate. If the target was unfriendly, then
the S2 would engage and destroy it. There was a certain amount of risk involved
in these operations, as the Vietnamese PT boats had radar that enabled them to
strike with no visual contact.

In the dead of night on January 22, 1966, a Stoof launched from the USS Hornet
with pilot William S. Forman and crewmembers Edwin B. Templin, Robert R. Sennett
and Edmund H. Frenyea. Their mission was to investigate an unidentified bogie.
Their progress was under the advisory control of the USS BERKELEY, and no
unusual circumstances were reported.

About 6:45 AM the USS BERKELEY reminded the crew that their mission should be
concluded shortly and they should return to the USS HORNET. Receipt of this
information was acknowledged and it was reported that they had a surface contact
and would investigate before departing the area.

Shortly thereafter the aircraft disappeared from the radar scope of the USS
BERKELEY. This was not considered significant or alarming at that time as it was
believed the aircraft had gone beneath the radar to investigate its contact. It
is thought that the natural curvature of the earth caused the aircraft to go off
radar approximately five minutes before they were scheduled to return to the
HORNET. Their last known location according to coordinates was in the Gulf of
Tonkin about halfway between the coastal city of Thanh Hoa, North Vietnam and
the Chinese island of Hai Nan, although reports to some of the families placed
them much closer to the island - about 15 miles away. Within a few hours of the
disappearance, Radio Hanoi reported that an aircraft had been shot down near
Bach Long Vi Island, North Vietnam. The Navy did not classify the men missing as
Prisoners of War because this report could not be confirmed as accurate. The
last known location of the aircraft was about 30 miles from this island.

At 7:15 AM the USS BERKELEY notified the USS MAHAN that the aircraft should be
inbound to USS MAHAN enroute to the USS HORNET. Upon receipt of this information
the USS MAHAN tried unsuccessfully to contact the aircraft by radio and radar
and subsequently reported the situation to the USS HORNET. Shortly thereafter
search and rescue efforts were commenced and LCDR Forman and his crew were
reported missing at sea.

A close friend of Templin's was part of the effort. According to him, the
weather was clear, and there was not a puff of wind. The Gulf was so calm that
there was not a ripple on the surface, so that objects floating great distances
away could be seen. The search parties found no trace, no oil slick and no
debris indicating where the plane went down. According to Templin's friend, the
search went on for the remaining months he was on station. He says, "Our
squadron was uniquely qualified...we had the right kind of airplane and were
working in the immediate area and more importantly...we cared. We found
nothing."

On February 1, 1966 the four-man life raft from the aircraft was found off the
coast of North Vietnam approximately 152 miles from the last known position of
the aircraft. The raft, which was identified by its serial number, bore no
evidence of having been used and did not show any signs of damage by fire or
gunfire. This particular raft is designed to automatically inflate when immersed
in salt water. On March 14, 1966 a flight helmet was found by a friendly fishing
junk and turned over to U.S. authorities. This helmet was picked up in the same
general area as where the life raft was located and has been identified as
belonging to Bernard Templin.

When Templin`s friend left Yankee Station and was steaming away to safer waters,
he was walking down a passageway and one of the Intelligence Officers from the
Flag stopped him. They went to a secure area and he told Templin's friend that
some very high-level intelligence had been forwarded to the ship identifying one
or more of the crew members from the aircraft as positively seen in North
Vietnam. Templin's friend naturally assumed that they were POWs. None of the
crew ever returned.

The four were maintained as missing until 1975, at which time a "finding of
death" was made on the crew based on no information to indicate they were alive.

Tragically, information has poured from Southeast Asia since the end of the war
regarding American prisoners still alive in captivity. The U.S. Government has
received nearly 10,000 such reports, yet seems unable to find the formula to
secure the freedom of those Americans.


Erwin Bernard Templin, Jr. is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy


CASE SYNOPSIS: FRINK, JOHN WESLEY

Name: John Wesley Frink
Rank/Branch: W1/US Army
Unit: F Troop, 8th Cavalry, 196th Infantry Brigade
Date of Birth: 07 November 1945 (Truth or Consequences NM)
Home City of Record: Albuquerque NM
Date of Loss: 02 April 1972
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 165021N 1070454E (YD218628)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 1
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H
Personnel in Incident: April 2: Robin F. Gatwood; Wayne L. Bolte; Anthony
Giannangeli; Charles A. Levis; Henry M. Serex; (all missing from the EB66).
LtCol. Iceal Hambleton (rescued after 12 days from EB66). Ronald P. Paschall;
Byron K. Kulland; John W. Frink (all missing from UH1H rescue helicopter), Jose
M. Astorga (captured and released in 1973 from UH1H). April 3: William J.
Henderson (captured and released in 1973 from OV10A rescue craft); Mark Clark
(rescued after 12 days from OV10A rescue craft).  April 6: James H. Alley;
Allen J. Avery; Peter H. Chapman; John H. Call; William R. Pearson; Roy D.
Prater (all KIA/BNR from HH53C "Jolly 52" rescue chopper). Also in very close
proximity to "Bat 21"on April 3: Allen D. Christensen; Douglas L. O'Neil;
Edward W. Williams; Larry A. Zich (all missing from UH1H).  April 7: Bruce
Charles Walker (evaded 11 days); Larry F. Potts (captured & died in POW camp)
(both missing from OV10A).

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On the afternoon of April 2, 1972, two Thailand-based EB66 aircraft
(Bat 21 and Bat 22), from the 30th Air Division, were flying pathfinder escort
for a cell of B52s bombing near the DMZ. Bat 21 took a direct SAM hit and the
plane went down. A single beeper signal was heard, that of navigator Col. Iceal
Hambleton. At this time it was assumed the rest of the crew died in the crash.
The crew included Maj. Wayne L. Bolte, pilot; 1Lt. Robin F. Gatwood, LtCol.
Anthony R. Giannangeli, LtCol. Charles A. Levis, and Maj. Henry M. Serex, all
crew members. It should be noted that the lowest ranking man aboard this plane
was Gatwood, a First Lieutenant. This was not an ordinary crew, and its
members, particularly Hambleton, would be a prize capture for the enemy because
of military knowledge they possessed.

It became critical, therefore, that the U.S. locate Hambleton, and any other
surviving crew members before the Vietnamese did - and the Vietnamese were
trying hard to find them first.

An Army search and rescue team was nearby and dispatched two UH1H "slicks" and
two UH1B "Cobras". When they approached Hambleton's position just before dark,
at about 50 feet off the ground, with one of the AH1G Cobra gunships flying at
300 feet for cover, two of the helicopters were shot down. One, the Cobra (Blue
Ghost 28) reached safety and the crew was picked up, without having seen the
other downed helicopter. The other, a UH1H from F Troop, 8th Cavalry, 196th
Brigade, had just flown over some huts into a clearing when they encountered
ground fire, and the helicopter exploded. Jose Astorga, the gunner, was injured
in the chest and knee by the gunfire. Astorga became unconscious, and when he
recovered, the helicopter was on the ground. He found the pilot, 1Lt. Byron K.
Kulland, lying outside the helicopter. WO John W. Frink, the co-pilot, was
strapped in his seat and conscious. The crew chief, SP5 Ronald P. Paschall, was
pinned by his leg in the helicopter, but alive. WO Franks urged Astorga to
leave them, and Astorga was captured. He soon observed the aircraft to be hit
by automatic weapons fire, and to explode with the rest of the crew inside. He
never saw the rest of the crew again. Astorga was relesed by the North
Vietnamese in 1973.

The following day, Nail 38, an OV10A equipped with electronic rescue gear
enabling its crew to get a rapid "fix" on its rescue target entered Hambleton's
area and was shot down. The crew, William J. Henderson and Mark Clark, both
parachuted out safely. Henderson was captured and released in 1973. Clark
evaded for 12 days and was subsequently rescued.

On April 3, the day Nail 38 was shot down, a UH1H "slick" went down in the same
area carrying a crew of four enlisted Army personnel. They had no direct
connection to the rescue of Bat 21, but were very probably shot down by the
same SAM installations that downed Bat 21. The helicopter, from H/HQ, 37th
Signal Battalion, 1st Signal Brigade, had left Marble Mountain Airfield, Da
Nang, on a standard resupply mission to signal units in and around Quang Tri
City. The crew, consisting of WO Douglas L. O'Neil, pilot; CW2 Larry A. Zich,
co-pilot; SP5 Allen D. Christensen, crew chief; and SP4 Edward W. Williams,
gunner; remain missing in action.

On April 6, an attempt was made to pick up Clark and Hambleton which resulted
in an HH53C helicopter being shot down. The chopper was badly hit. The
helicopter landed on its side and continued to burn, consuming the entire craft,
and presumably, all 6 men aboard. The crew of this aircraft consisted of James
H. Alley; Allen J. Avery, John H. Call III, Peter H. Chapman, William R.
Pearson, and Roy D. Prater. Search and rescue noted no signs of survivors, but
it is felt that the Vientamese probably know the fate of this crew because of
the close proximity of the downed aircraft to enemy locations.

On April 7 another Air Force OV10A went down in the area with Larry Potts and
Bruce Walker aboard. Walker, the Air Force pilot of the aircraft, evaded
capture 11 days, while it is reported that Potts was captured and died in Quang
Binh prison. Potts, the observer, was a Marine Corps officer. Walker's last
radio transmission to search and rescue was for SAR not to make an attempt to
rescue, the enemy was closing in. Both men remain unaccounted for.

Hambleton and Clark were rescued after 12 incredible days. Hambleton
continually changed positions and reported on enemy activity as he went, even
to the extent of calling in close air strikes near his position. He was tracked
by a code he devised relating to the length and lie direction of various golf
holes he knew well. Another 20 or so Americans were not so fortunate.

In July 1986, the daughter of Henry Serex learned that, one week after all
search and rescue had been "called off" for Bat 21, another mission was mounted
to recover "another downed crewmember" from Bat 21. She doesn't know whether or
not it is her father or another man on the EB66 aircraft. No additional
information has been released. When the movie "Bat 21" was released, she was
horrified to learn that virtually no mention of the rest of the crew, including
her father, was made.

In Vietnam, to most fighting men, the man that fought beside them, whether in
the air or on the ground, was worth dying for. Each understood that the other
would die for him if necessary. Thus, also considering the critical knowledge
possessed by Col. Hambleton and some of the others, the seemingly uncanny means
taken to recover Clark and Hambleton are not so unusual at all.

What defies logic and explaination, however, is that the government that sent
these men to battle can distort or withold information to their families, and
knowingly abandon hundreds of men known or strongly suspected to be in enemy
hands.

Thousands of reports have been received by the U.S. Government indicating that
Americans are still alive, in captivity in Southeast Asia. It has been 17 years
for those who may have survived the 1972 Easter crashes and rescue attempts.
How much longer must they wait for their country to bring "peace with honor" to
them and bring them home?



FRISHMANN, ROBERT FRANCHOT "BOB"

Name: Robert "Bob" Franchot Frishmann
Rank/Branch: O2/US Navy
Unit: USS Coral Sea
Date of Birth: (ca 1940)
Home City of Record: San Francisco CA
Date of Loss: 24 October 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 212800N 1052600E (WJ448736)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4B
Other Personnel In Incident: at same coordinates, same day on another F4 -
Richard C. Clark (missing) and Charles R. Gillespie (returned POW); Earl G.
Lewis (returned POW)

REMARKS: 690805 RELEASED BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: On October 24, 1967, Ltjg. Richard Clark was flying as backseater
aboard the F4B Phantom fighter jet flown by Commander Charles R. Gillespie on a
bombing mission over the Hanoi, Haiphong and Vinh Phuc region of North Vietnam.
The aircraft was one in a flight of two.

Clark and Gillespie's aircraft was hit by a surface-to-air missile and crashed
in Vinh Phu Province. Other members of the flight observed two good parachutes,
heard one electronic beacon signal, and observed one unidentified crew member
on the ground.

On the same day, the F4 flown by Earl Lewis and Robert Frishmann was shot down
at the same coordinates. Frishmann relates that he "wasn't even diving when
they hit me. I was flying. Bad luck!" Frishmann sustained a serious injury to
his arm by missile fragments. Frishmann believed Lewis was dead, but after 4
hours, located him. Both were captured by the Vietnamese.

The Vietnamese were able to save Frishmann's arm, but he lost his elbow,
leaving the arm nearly 8 inches shorter than the other. A reporter, Oriana
Fallaci, interviewed Frishmann for Look Magazine in July 1969. At that time, he
had been held in solitary confinement for 18 months.

Lewis, Frishmann and Gillespie were held in various locations in and around
Hanoi as prisoners. At no time did any of them see Richard Clark, who had
successfully ejected from the aircraft.

Lt. Frishmann was released in August 1969 with the blessings of the POW
community. His message to the world would reveal the torture endured by
Americans held in Vietnam and cause a public outcry which would eventually help
stop the torture and result in better treatment for the prisoners.

Gillespie and Lewis were both released from Hanoi March 14, 1973 in the general
prisoner release nearing the end of American involvement in the war in Vietnam.

Cdr. Gillespie, in his debrief, stated that after the missile hit, smoke filled
the cockpit, and as the intercom system failed, he gave an emergency hand
signal to eject and he did not see Lt. Clark again. On October 24, Radio Hanoi
announced that in the afternoon of October 24, eight U.S. war planes had been
shot down and that a number of U.S. pilots had been captured. The U.S.
correlates this information to Lt. Clark and placed him in prisoner of war
classification. (Inexplicably, however, the Defense Intelligence Agency codes
Clark as "category 2" which means only "suspected" enemy knowledge of his fate.)

If Lt. Clark was captured, why did he not return home? If he died, where are
his remains? If he is one of the hundreds of Americans experts now believe are
still alive in captivity in Southeast Asia, what are we doing to bring him
home? What must he be thinking of us?



FRITS, ORVILLE BILL
Remains Recovered 670522 - ID'D 670523

Name: Orville Bill Frits
Rank/Branch: E7/US Army
Unit:
Date of Birth: 03 November 1931
Home City of Record: Concord CA
Date of Loss: 20 May 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 164500N 1071200E
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Recovered
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel in Incident: William M. Grammar (killed)

REMARKS: 670522 REMS RECOV - ID 670523

SYNOPSIS: U.S. Army Sgt. Orville Bill Frits and U.S. Marine 1Lt. William
Michael Grammar were both involved in ground fighting against Viet Cong and NVA
forces near the city of Quang Tri in the northern portion of South Vietnam on
May 20, 1967 and were captured by the North Vietnamese.

The enemy position was eventually taken and American troops found the tortured
and executed bodies of Frits and Grammar.

The 1st Marine Division had been involved in Operation Union in the nearby
Provinces of Quang Nam and Quang Tin for 27 days only a few days earlier.
During this operation, nearly 1000 of the enemy were killed. Perhaps the brutal
deaths of Frits and Grammar could be explained as retribution of some sort; it
was never known for sure.

Grammar was not declared missing, his remains having been recovered and
identified in a relatively short period of time. Frits, however, was initially
placed in a Missing In Action category until his remains were recovered on May
22 and subsequently politively identified the following day.

Frits and Grammar are examples of the darker side of war - that side which
takes men beyond "kill or be killed" and into the realm of cold blooded murder.
Although this sort of incident would be considered a war crime by any
definition, the Vietnamese have never been brought to account for actions such
as the murders of Bill Frits and Bill Grammar.

Nor have the Vietnamese been forced to abide by the treaty they signed which
requires them to account for the thousands of Americans lost in Vietnam, Laos
and Cambodia during the war.

Tragically, nearly 10,000 reports of Americans still missing, prisoner or
unaccounted for have reached U.S. hands, convincing many authorities that
hundreds of Americans are still alive in captivity. Will our government ever be
inclined to force their release, or like countless other injustices, will we
simply choose to ignore the problem?

FRITSCH, THOMAS WILLIAM

Name: Thomas William Fritsch
Rank/Branch: E3/US Marine Corps
Unit: Battery D, 2nd Battalion, 13th Marines, 1st Marine Division
Date of Birth: 26 August 1946
Home City of Record: Cromwell CT
Date of Loss: 10 May 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 152208N 1074540E (YC965009)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Personnel in Incident: Ngok Tavak: Horace H. Fleming; Thomas J. Blackman;
Joseph F. Cook; Paul S. Czerwonka; Thomas W. Fritsch; Barry L. Hempel; Raymond
T. Heyne; Gerald E. King; Robert C. Lopez; William D. McGonigle; Donald W.
Mitchell; James R. Sargent (members of USMC search team - all missing); Glenn
E. Miller; Thomas H. Perry (USSF teammembers - missing); Kham Duc: Richard E.
Sands (missing from CH47); Bernard L. Bucher; Frank M. Hepler; George W. Long;
John L. McElroy; Stephan C. Moreland (USAF crew of C130 - all missing); Warren
R. Orr (USSF on C130 - missing); Harry B. Coen; Andrew J. Craven; Juan M.
Jimenez; Frederick J. Ransbottom; Maurice H. Moore; Joseph L. Simpson; William
E. Skivington; John C. Stuller; Imlay S. Widdison; Danny L. Widner; Roy C.
Williams (all missing); Julius W. Long (released POW).

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Kham Duc Special Forces camp (A-105), was located on the western
fringes of Quang Tin ("Great Faith") Province, South Vietnam. In the spring of
1968, it was the only remaining border camp in Military Region I. Backup
responsibility for the camp fell on the 23rd Infantry Division (Americal),
based at Chu Lai on the far side of the province.

The camp had originally been built for President Diem, who enjoyed hunting in
the area. The 1st Special Forces detachment (A-727B) arrived in September 1963
and found the outpost to be an ideal border surveillance site with an existing
airfield. The camp was located on a narrow grassy plain surrounded by rugged,
virtually uninhabited jungle. The only village in the area, located across the
airstrip, was occupied by post dependents, camp followers and merchants. The
camp and airstrip were bordered by the Ngok Peng Bum ridge to the west and Ngok
Pe Xar mountain, looming over Kham Duc to the east. Steep banked streams full
of rapids and waterfalls cut through the tropical wilderness. The Dak Mi River
flowed past the camp over a mile distant, under the shadow of the Ngok Pe Xar.

Five miles downriver was the small forward operating base of Ngok Tavak,
defended by the 113-man 11th Mobile Strike Force Company with its 8 Special
Forces and 3 Australian advisors. Since Ngok Tavak was outside friendly
artillery range, 33 Marine artillerymen of Battery D, 2nd Battalion, 13th
Marines, with two 105mm howitzers were located at the outpost.

Capt. Christopher J. Silva, commander of Detachment A-105 helicoptered into
Ngok Tavak on May 9, 1968 in response to growing signs of NVA presence in the
area. Foul weather prevented his scheduled evening departure. A Kham Duc CIDG
platoon fleeing a local ambush also arrived and was posted to the outer
perimeter. It was later learned that the CIDG force contained VC infiltrators.

Ngok Tavak was attacked by an NVA infantry battalion at 0315 hours on May 10.
The base was pounded by mortars and direct rocket fire. As the frontal assault
began, the Kham Duc CIDG soldiers moved toward the Marines in the fort yelling,
"Don't shoot, don't shoot! Friendly, friendly!" Suddenly they lobbed grenades
into the Marine howitzer positions and ran into the fort, where they shot
several Marines with carbines and sliced claymore mine and communication wires.

The defenders suffered heavy casualties but stopped the main assault and killed
the infiltrators. The NVA dug in along the hill slopes and grenaded the trenches
where the mobile strike force soldiers were pinned by machine gun and rocket
fire. An NVA flamethrower set the ammunition ablaze, banishing the murky flare-
lighted darkness for the rest of the night. SFC Harold M. Swicegood and the
USMC platoon leader, Lt. Adams, were badly wounded and moved to the command
bunker. Medical Spec4 Blomgren reported that the CIDG mortar crews had abandoned
their weapons. Silva tried to operate the main 4.2 inch mortar but was wounded.
At about 0500 hours, Sgt. Glenn Miller, an A-105 communications specialist, was
shot through the head as he ran over to join the Marine howitzer crews.

The NVA advanced across the eastern side of Ngok Tavak and brought forward more
automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenade launchers. In desperation, the
defenders called on USAF AC-47 "Spooky" gunships to strafe the perimeter and
the howitzers, despite the possible presence of friendly wounded in the gun
pits. The NVA countered with tear gas, but the wind kept drifting the gas over
their own lines. After three attempts, they stopped. A grenade fight between
the two forces lasted until dawn.

At daybreak Australian Warrant Officers Cameron and Lucas, joined by Blomgren,
led a CIDG counterattack. The North Vietnamese pulled back under covering fire,
and the howitzers were retaken. The Marines fired the last nine shells and
spiked the tubes. Later that morning medical evacuation helicopters supported
by covering airstrikes took out the seriously wounded, including Silva and
Swicegood. Two CH46's were able to land 45 replacements from the 12th Mobile
Strike Force Company, accompanied by Capt. Euge E. Makowski (who related much
of this account to Shelby Stanton, author of "Green Berets at War"), but one
helicopter was hit in the fuel line and forced down. Another helicopter was hit
by a rocket and burst into flames, wrecking the small helipad. The remaining
wounded were placed aboard a hovering helicopter. As it lifted off, two Mike
Force soldiers and 1Lt. Horace Fleming, one of the stranded aviation crewmen,
grabbed the helicopter skids. All three fell to their deaths after the
helicopter had reached an altitude of over one hundred feet.

The mobile strike force soldiers were exhausted and nervous. Ammunition and
water were nearly exhausted, and Ngok Tavak was still being pounded by sporadic
mortar fire. They asked permission to evacuate their positions, but were told
to "hold on" as "reinforcements were on the way". By noon the defenders decided
that aerial reinforcement or evacuation was increasingly unlikely, and night
would bring certain destruction. An hour later, they abandoned Ngok Tavak.

Thomas Perry, a medic from C Company, arrived at the camp at 0530 hours the
morning of the 10th. He cared for the wounded and was assisting in an attempt
to establish a defensive perimeter when the decision was made to evacuate the
camp. As survivors were leaving, Perry was seen by Sgt. Cordell J. Matheney,
Jr., standing 20 feet away, as Australian Army Capt. John White formed the
withdrawal column at the outer perimeter wire on the eastern Ngok Tavak
hillside. It was believed that Perry was going to join the end of the column.

All the weapons, equipment and munitions that could not be carried were hastily
piled into the command bunker and set afire. The helicopter that had been
grounded by a ruptured fuel line was destroyed with a LAW. Sgt. Miller's body
was abandoned.

After survivors had gone about 1 kilometer, it was discovered that Perry was
missing. Efforts were conducted to locate both Perry and Miller, including a
search by a group from Battery D. They were searching along the perimeter when
they were hit by enemy grenades and arms fire. Neither the men on the team nor
Perry was ever found. Included in this team were PFC Thomas Blackman; LCpl.
Joseph Cook; PFC Paul Czerwonka; LCpl. Thomas Fritsch; PFC Barry Hempel; LCpl.
Raymond Heyne; Cpl. Gerald King; PFC Robert Lopez; PFC William McGonigle; LCpl.
Donald Mitchell; and LCpl. James Sargent. The remaining survivors evaded
through dense jungle to a helicopter pickup point midway to Kham Duc. Their
extraction was completed shortly before 1900 hours on the evening of May 10.

In concert with the Ngok Tavak assault, the Kham Duc was blasted by a heavy
mortar and recoilless rifle attack at 0245 hours that same morning. Periodic
mortar barrages ripped into Kham Duc throughout the rest of the day, while the
Americal Division airmobiled a reinforced battalion of the 196th Infantry
Brigade into the compound. A Special Forces command party also landed, but the
situation deteriorated too rapidly for their presence to have positive effect.

The mortar attack on fog-shrouded Kham Duc resumed on the morning of May 11.
The bombardment caused heavy losses among the frightened CIDG soldiers, who
fled from their trenches across open ground, seeking shelter in the bunkers.
The LLDB commander remained hidden. CIDG soldiers refused orders to check the
rear of the camp for possible North Vietnamese intruders. That evening the 11th
and 12th Mobile Strike Force companies were airlifted to Da Nang, and half of
the 137th CIDG Company from Camp Ha Thanh was airlanded in exchange.

The 1st VC Regiment, 2nd NVA Division, began closing the ring around Kham Duc
during the early morning darkness of 12 May. At about 0415 to 0430 hours, the
camp and outlying positions came under heavy enemy attack. Outpost #7 was
assaulted and fell within a few minutes. Outposts #5, #1 and #3 had been
reinforced by Americal troops but were in North Vietnamese hands by 0930 hours.

OP1 was manned by PFC Harry Coen, PFC Andrew Craven, Sgt. Joseph Simpson, and
SP4 Julius Long from Company E, 2nd of the 1st Infantry. At about 0415 hours,
when OP1 came under heavy enemy attack, PFC Coen and SP4 Long were seen trying
to man a 106 millimeter recoilless rifle. Survivors reported that in the
initial enemy fire, they were knocked off their bunker. Both men again tried to
man the gun, but were knocked down again by RPG fire.

PFC Craven, along with two other men, departed the OP at 0830 hours on May 12.
They moved out 50 yards and could hear the enemy in their last position. At
about 1100 hours, as they were withdrawing to the battalion perimeter, they
encountered an enemy position. PFC Craven was the pointman and opened fire. The
enemy returned fire, and PFC Craven was seen to fall, with multiple chest
wounds. The other two men were unable to recover him, and hastily departed the
area. PFC Craven was last seen lying on his back, wounded, near the camp.

OP2 was being manned by 1Lt. Frederick Ransbottom, SP4 Maurice Moore, PFC Roy
Williams, PFC Danny Widner, PFC William Skivington, PFC Imlay Widdison, and SP5
John Stuller, from the 2nd of the 3rd Infantry when it came under attack.
Informal questioning of survivors of this position indicated that PFC Widdison
and SP5 Stuller may have been killed in action. However, the questioning was
not sufficiently thorough to produce enough evidence to confirm their deaths.

The only information available concerning 1Lt. Ransbottom, SP4 Moore, PFC Lloyd
and PFC Skivington that Lt. Ransbottom allegedly radioed PFC Widner and PFC
Williams, who were in the third bunker, and told them that he was shooting at
the enemy as they entered his bunker.

SP4 Juan Jimenez, a rifleman assigned to Company A, 2nd of the 1st Infantry,
was occupying a defensive position when he was severely wounded in the back by
enemy mortar fire. SP4 Jimenez was declared dead by the Battalion Surgeon in
the early morning hours of May 12. He was then carried to the helipad for
evacuation. However, due to the situation, space was available in the
helicopter for only the wounded, and SP4 Jimenez'remains were left behind.

At noon a massive NVA attack was launched against the main compound. The charge
was stopped by planes hurling napalm, cluster bomb units and 750 pound bombs
into the final wire barriers. The decision was made by the Americal Division
officers to call for immediate extraction.

The evacuation was disorderly, and at times, on the verge of complete panic.
One of the first extraction helicopters to land was exploded by enemy fire,
blocking the airstrip. Engineers of Company A, 70th Engineer Battalion,
frantically reassembled one of their dozers (previously torn apart to prevent
capture) to clear the runway. Eight more aircraft were blown out of the sky.

PFC Richard E. Sands was a member of Company A, 1st Battalion, 46th Infantry,
198th Light Infantry Brigade being extracted on a CH47 helicopter (serial
#67-18475). The helicopter was hit by 50 calliber machine gun fire at an
altitude of 1500-1600 feet shortly after takeoff.

Sands, who was sitting near the door gunner, was hit in the head by an incoming
rounds. The helicopter made a controlled landing and caught fire. During the
evacuation from the burning helicopter, four personnel and a medic checked PFC
Sands and indicated that he had been killed instantly. Because of the danger of
incoming mortar rounds and the fire, personnel attempting to remove PFC Sands
from the helicopter were ordered to abandon their attempt. The remaining
personnel were evacuated from the area later by another helicopter.

Intense antiaircraft fire from the captured outposts caused grave problems.
Control over the indigenous forces was difficult. One group of CIDG soldiers
had to be held in trenches at gunpoint to prevent them from mobbing the runway.

As evacuation was in progress, members of Company A, 1/46, who insisted on
boarding the aircraft first, shoved Vietnamese dependents out of the way. As
more Americal infantry tried to clamber into the outbound planes, the outraged
Special Forces staff convinced the Air Force to start loading civilians onboard
a C130, then watched as the civilians pushed children and weaker adults aside.

The crew of the U.S. Air Force C130 aircraft (serial #60-0297) consisted of
Maj. Bernard Bucher, pilot; SSgt. Frank Hepler, flight engineer; Maj. John
McElroy, navigator; 1Lt. Steven Moreland, co-pilot; George Long, load master;
Capt. Warren Orr, passenger, and an undetermined number of Vietnamese civilians.

The aircraft reported receiving ground fire on takeoff. The Forward Air Control
(FAC) in the area reported that the aircraft exploded in mid-air and crashed in
a fire ball about one mile from camp. All crew and passengers were believed
dead, as the plane burned quickly and was completely destroyed except for the
tail boom. No remains were recovered from the aircraft.

Capt. Orr was not positively identified by U.S. personnel as being aboard the
aircraft. He was last seen near the aircraft helping the civilians to board.
However, a Vietnamese stated that he had seen Capt. Orr board the aircraft and
later positively identified him from a photograph. Rescue efforts were
impossible because of the hostile threat in the area.

At the time the order was given to escape and evade, SP4 Julius Long was was
with Coen and Simpson. All three had been wounded, and were trying to make
their way back to the airfield about 350 yards away. As they reached the
airfield, they saw the last C130 departing. PFC Coen, who was shot in the
stomach, panicked and started running and shooting his weapon at random. SP4
Long tried to catch him, but could not, and did not see PFC Coen again. Long
then carried Sgt. Simpson to a nearby hill, where they spent the night.

During the night, the airfield was strafed and bombed by U.S. aircraft. SP4
Long was hit twice in the back by fragments, and Sgt. Simpson died during the
night. SP4 Long left him lying on the hill near the Cam Duc airfield and
started his escape and evasion toward Chu Lai, South Vietnam. SP4 Long was
captured and was released in 1973 from North Vietnam.

The Special Forces command group was the last organized group out of the camp.
As their helicopter soared into the clouds, Kham Duc was abandoned to advancing
NVA infantry at 4:33 p.m. on May 12, 1968. The last Special Forces camp on the
northwestern frontier of South Vietnam had been destroyed.

Two search and recovery operations were conducted in the vicinity of OP1 and
OP2 and the Cam Duc airfield on July 18, 1970 and August 17, 1970. In these
operations, remains of personnel previously reported missing from this incident
were recovered and subsequently identified. (SP4 Bowers, PFC Lloyd, Sgt. Sisk,
PFC Guzman-Rios and SSgt. Carter). However, extensive search and excavation
could not be completed at OP1 and OP2 because of the tactical situation.

It was assumed that all the missing at Kham Duc were killed in action until
about 1983, when the father of one of the men missing discovered a Marine Corps
document which indicated that four of the men had been taken prisoner. The
document listed the four by name. Until then, the families had not been advised
of the possibility there were any American prisoners taken other than Julius
Long. A Vietnamese rallier identified the photograph of Roy C. Williams as
positively having been a POW.

Until proof is obtained that the rest of the men lost at Ngok Tavak and Kham
Duc are dead, their families will always wonder if they are among those said to
still be alive in Southeast Asia.





FRITZ, JOHN JOSEPH JR.

Name: John Joseph Fritz, Jr.
Rank/Branch: U.S. Civilian
Unit:
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Williamstown NJ
Date of Loss: 08 February 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 104936N 1065628E (YS126965)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Auto
Other Personnel In Incident: James A. Newingham (released); Tanos E. Kalil
(captured)

REMARKS: 730212 RELSD BY PRG

SYNOPSIS: Tanos E. Kalil, John J. Fritz and James A. Newingham were three U.S.
civilians captured by Viet Cong forces on February 8, 1969 in Bien Hoa
Province, South Vietnam. The three were held together as captives.

In 1973 Operation Homecoming occurred and 591 Americans were released by the
Vietnamese. Two of those lucky Americans were John Fritz and James Newingham.
John Fritz told of having been tortured and repeatedly thrown in a pit with
snakes and scorpions. Being held in South Vietnam and Cambodia had its own
horrors. Fritz and Newingham were lucky to be alive.

The two also told of Tanos Kalil's fate. In April 1969, they reported, Kalil
fell ill with kidney problems. Because of poor medical attention and even
poorer diet, the illness grew more serious and he ultimately died in June 1969
and was buried near camp.

The Provisional Revolutionary Government (PRG) listed Tanos Kalil as a prisoner
who had died while in captivity. They did not return his remains to U.S.
control. For over 20 years, the U.S. has been unable to bargain for even those
Americans known to have been held captive and now are deceased. Many consider
this an outrage.

Even more outrageous, certainly, is the mounting evidence that hundreds of
Americans are still alive in Southeast Asia. While Vietnam and the U.S. hold
talks which focus on the only remaining barrier to normalized relations being
Vietnamese occupation of Cambodia, families of the nearly 2500 missing men
stand by in helpless horror.

FRYAR, BRUCE CARLTON

Name: Bruce Carlton Fryar
Rank/Branch: O3/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 196, USS RANGER (CVA 61)
Date of Birth: 28 March 1944
Home City of Record: Ridgewood NJ
Date of Loss: 02 January 1970
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 173400N 1053900E
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A6A

Other Personnel In Incident: Nicholas G. Brooks (remains returned)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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: On the second day of 1970, warplanes were launched from the American
aircraft carrier USS RANGER, passed over the South China Sea and central Vietnam
and began once again the almost impossible task of trying to close the Ho Chi
Minh Trail with bombs and guns.

The planes included A6 Intruders, at the time the best all-weather, ship-based
attack aircraft in the world. Sophisticated radar and other advanced technology
allowed the strangely shaped planes to bomb through the clouds as well as
veteran pilots usually did in the sunshine.

Flying one particular A6, the A model, was Lt. Bruce Fryar. The primary missions
of the A models were close-air-support, all-weather and night attacks on enemy
troop concentrations, and night interdiction. Flying with Fryar was Lt. Nicholas
G. Brooks, the Bombardier/Navigator (BN). At an altitude of approximate 7,000
feet, during a visual dive-bombing attack on a target, the aircraft was struck
by enemy aiti-aircraft fire. The Intruder immediately begain breaking up and
subsequently impacted the ground, exploded and burned.

Both the strike control aircraft and the downed aircraft's wingman observed two
parachutes, and heard the beeper signals from two survival radios. Both crewmen
had safely ejected from the crippled aircraft.

Search and Rescue (SAR) efforts began immediately. Incident to SAR efforts, one
man was sighted on the ground in a prone position with the parachute still
attached. A SAR helicopter crewman was lowered to the ground and attempted to
attach a hoist to the prone man. Heavy enemy ground fire forced the helicopter
to depart prior to hoisting the downed flyer. The SAR crewman had scarcely
seconds to attempt the recovery, but was able to identify the downed crewman as
Lt. Fryar. The SAR crewman indicated that the flyer was unconscious but did not
have time to determine if he was dead or alive. Darkness precluded further
rescue attempts that day.

Upon resumption of rescue efforts at first light on January 3, the SAR helo
returned to the location of the prone man to find that he and the parachute were
no longer in sight. An emergency beeper was heard during the morning, but
attempts to have any pattern of transmission or voice contact were unsuccessful.
SAR efforts were eventually called off several days later. Both men were
classified Missing in Action.

The Brooks family later received information that Nick had been captured and
escaped at least three times. In 1982, Nick Brooks' remains were returned to his
family. His parents had his remains independently analyzed, and satisfied with
the results, buried their son at sea on March 25, 1982. They had been recovered
by "Lao Nationals" (freedom fighters), and returned through an American working
with resistance elements in Laos in an attempt to bring home living American
POWs.

Brooks' remains are among very few recovered from Laos. Nearly 600 Americans
disappeared there during the war, but as Laos was not included in the peace
agreements which ended American involvement in Southeast Asia, no Americans held
in Laos were released at the end of the war...or since.

Brooks and Fryar did not die when their plane was shot down. Brooks is home.
Fryar could be one of the hundreds of Americans experts believe are still alive,
waiting for their country to bring them home. It's time we did.


Nicholas G. Brooks graduated from the Naval Academy in 1966.
FRYE, DONALD PATRICK
Remains Returned 14 October 1982

Name: Donald Patrick Frye
Rank/Branch: O1/US Navy
Unit: USS ORISKANY (CVA-34)
Date of Birth: 23 September 1943
Home City of Record: Los Angeles CA
Date of Loss: 19 July 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 203057N 1054859E (WH814646)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: SH3A

Other Personnel In Incident: Dennis W. Peterson (missing); William B. Jackson;
Donald P. McGrane; Richard D. Hartman (all remains recovered)

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 including "Alpha Strike Vietnam" by Jeffrey
L. Levinson, personal interviews.

REMARKS: CRSH - N SURV OBS - FBIS SEZ DED - J

SYNOPSIS: The USS ORISKANY was a World War II-era carrier on duty in Vietnam as
early as 1964. The ORISKANY at one time carried the RF8A (number 144608) that
Maj. John H. Glenn, the famous Marine astronaut (and later Senator), flew in his
1957 transcontinental flight. In October, 1966 the ORISKANY endured a tragic
fire which killed 44 men onboard, but was soon back on station. In 1972, the
ORISKANY had an at-sea accident which resulted in the loss of one of its
aircraft elevators, and later lost a screw that put the carrier into drydock in
Yokosuka, Japan for major repairs, thus delaying its involvement until the late
months of the war.

The ORISKANY's 1966 tour was undoubtedly one of the most tragic deployments of
the Vietnam conflict. This cruise saw eight VA 164 "Ghostriders" lost; four in
the onboard fire, one in an aerial refueling mishap, and another three in the
operational arena. However, the 1967 deployment, which began in June and ended
on a chilly January morning as the ORISKANY anchored in San Francisco Bay,
earned near legendary status by virtue of extensive losses suffered in the
ship's squadrons, including among the Ghostriders of VA 164, and Saints of VA
163. One reason may have been that Navy aviators were, at this time, still
forbidden to strike surface-to-air missile (SAM) sites which were increasing in
number in North Vietnam.

On July 18, 1967, LCDR Richard D. Hartman's aircraft fell victim to
anti-aircraft fire near Phu Ly in Nam Ha Province, North Vietnam. Hartman, from
VA 164, ejected safely, but could not be rescued due to the hostile threat in
the area. Others in the flight were in radio contact with him and resupplied him
for about three days. He was on a karst hill in a difficult recovery area.
Eventually the North Vietnamese moved in a lot of troops and AAA guns, making
rescue almost impossible.

One of the rescue helicopters attempting to recover LCDR Hartman on the 19th was
a Sikorsky SH3A helicopter flown by Navy LT Dennis W. Peterson. The crew onboard
the aircraft included ENS Donald P. Frye and AX2 William B. Jackson and AX2
Donald P. McGrane. While attempting to rescue LCDR Hartman, this aircraft was
hit by enemy fire and crashed killing all onboard. The remains of all but the
pilot, Peterson, were returned by the Vietnamese on October 14, 1982. Peterson
remains missing.

The decision was made to leave Hartman before more men were killed trying to
rescue him. It was not an easy decision, and one squadron mate said, "To this
day, I can remember his voice pleading, 'Please don't leave me.' We had to, and
it was a heartbreaker." Hartman was captured and news returned home that he was
in a POW camp. However, he was not released in 1973. The Vietnamese finally
returned his remains on March 5, 1974. Hartman had died in captivity from
unknown causes.

In July 1967, LCDR Donald V. Davis was one of the Saints of VA 163 onboard the
ORISKANY. Davis was an aggressive pilot. On the night of July 25, 1967, Davis
was assigned a mission over North Vietnam. The procedure for these night attacks
was to drop flares over a suspected target and then fly beneath them to attack
the target in the light of the flares. Davis and another pilot were conducting
the mission about 10 miles south of Ha Tinh when Davis radioed that he had
spotted a couple of trucks. He dropped the flares and went in. On his strafing
run, he drove his Skyhawk straight into the ground and was killed immediately.
Davis is listed among the missing because his remains were never recovered.

LTJG Ralph C. Bisz was also assigned to Attack Squadron 163. On August 4, 1967,
Bisz launched on a strike mission against a petroleum storage area near
Haiphong. Approximately a minute and a half from the target area, four
surface-to-air missiles (SAM) were observed lifting from the area northeast of
Haiphong. The flight maneuvered to avoid the SAMs, however, Bisz' aircraft was
observed as it was hit by a SAM by a wingman. Bisz' aircraft exploded, burst
into flames, and spun downward in a large ball of fire. Remnants of the aircraft
were observed falling down in the large ball of fire until reaching an altitude
estimated to be 5,000 feet and then appeared to almost completely burn out prior
to reaching the ground. No parachute or ejection was observed. No emergency
beeper or voice communications were received.

Bisz' aircraft went down in a heavily populated area in Hai Duong Province,
Vietnam. Information from an indigenous source which closely parallels his
incident indicated that his remains were recovered from the wreckage and taken
to Hanoi for burial. The U.S. Government listed Ralph Bisz as a Prisoner of War
with certain knowledge that the Vietnamese know his fate. Bisz was placed in a
casualty status of Captured on August 4, 1967.

The Navy now says that the possibility of Bisz ejecting was slim. If he had
ejected, his capture would have taken place in a matter of seconds due to the
heavy population concentration in the area and that due to the lack of
additional information it is believed that Bisz did not eject from his aircraft
and that he was killed on impact of the SAM.

Classified information on Bisz' case was presented to the Vietnamese by General
Vessey in the fall of 1987 in hopes that the Vietnamese would be able to resolve
the mystery of Bisz' fate. His case is one of what are called "discrepancy"
cases, which should be readily resolved. The Vietnamese have not been
forthcoming with information on Ralph Bisz.

On August 31, three pilots from the ORISKANY were shot down on a particularly
wild raid over Haiphong. The Air Wing had been conducting strikes on Haiphong
for two consecutive days. On this, the third day, ten aircraft launched in three
flights; four from VA 164 (call sign Ghostrider), four from VA 163 (call sign
Old Salt) and two from VA 163. As the flight turned to go into Haiphong, one of
the section leaders spotted two SAMs lifting off from north of Haiphong. They
were headed towards the Saints section leader and the Ghostrider section leader,
LCDR Richard C. Perry.

The Saints section leader and his wingman pitched up and to the right, while Old
Salt 3 (LCDR Hugh A. Stafford) turned down, his wingman, LTJG David J. Carey
close behind him. Carey, an Air Force Academy graduate, was on his first
operational mission. The missile detonated right in front of them and aircraft
pieces went everywhere.

The other SAM headed towards Perry's section, and he had frozen in the cockpit.
All three planes in the division pulled away, and he continued straight and
level. His helpless flightmates watched as the missile came right up and hit the
aircraft. The aircraft was generally whole and heading for open water.

Old Salt Three and Old Salt Four, Stafford and Carey, had by that time ejected
from their ruined planes and were heading towards the ground. Both were okay,
but Stafford had landed in a tree near a village, making rescue impossible.
Stafford and Carey were captured and held in various prisoner of war camps until
their release in Operation Homecoming on March 14, 1973.

Richard Perry had also ejected and was over open water. But as Perry entered the
water, his parachute went flat and he did not come up. A helicopter was on scene
within minutes, and a crewman went into the water after Perry. He had suffered
massive chest wounds, either in the aircraft or during descent in his parachute
and was dead. To recover his body was too dangerous because the North Vietnamese
were mortaring the helicopter. The helicopter left the area. Richard Perry's
remains were recovered by the Vietnamese and held until February 1987, at which
time they were returned to U.S. control.

Flight members were outraged that they had lost three pilots to SAMs that they
were forbidden to attack. Policy was soon changed to allow the pilots to strike
the sites, although never to the extent that they were disabled completely.

On October 7, 1967, VA 164 pilot LT David L. Hodges was killed when his Skyhawk
was hit by a SAM about twelve miles southwest of Hanoi. His remains were never
recovered and he is listed among those missing in Vietnam.

On October 18, 1967, VA 164 pilot LCDR John F. Barr was killed when his Skyhawk
was hit by enemy fire and slammed into the ground while on a strike mission at
Haiphong. Barr's remains were not recovered.

On November 2, 1967, VA 164 pilot LTJG Frederic Knapp launched as the lead of a
flight of two aircraft on an armed reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam.
The wingman reported that during an attack run, the aircraft appeared to have
been hit by anti-aircraft fire. The wingman saw Knapp's aircraft impact the
ground and did not see the canopy separate from the aircraft. There was no
parachute sighted or emergency radio beeper heard. The aircraft crashed about 9
kilometers west-southwest of Cho Giat, near route 116, in Nghe An Province.

A source later reported that people from his village had removed the remains of
a dead pilot from his aircraft and buried the remains nearby. These remains are
believed to be those of Knapp. On October 14, 1982, Vietnamese officials turned
over to U.S. authorities a Geneva Convention card belonging to Ltjg. Knapp. To
date, no remains have been repatriated.

Six of the thirteen pilots and crewmen lost in 1967 off the decks of the
ORISKANY remain prisoner, missing, or otherwise unaccounted for in Vietnam.
Disturbing testimony was given to Congress in 1980 that the Vietnamese
"stockpiled" the remains of Americans to return at politically advantageous
times. Could any of these six be in a casket, awaiting 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. Could any of these six be
among them?

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.




FRYER, BENNIE LAMAR
Remains Returned 30 September 1977

Name: Bennie Lamar Fryer
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit: 72nd Strat Wing, Guam
Date of Birth: 28 October 1945
Home City of Record: Stockton CA
Date of Loss: 28 December 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 210700N 1055600E (WJ980330)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: B52D

Other Personnel in Incident: Allen L. Johnson (remains returned); James W.
Gough; James C. Condon; Frank D. Lewis Samuel B. Cusimano (all released POWs)

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: RELSD 730329 BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: Frustrated by problems in negotiating a peace settlement, and
pressured by a Congress and public wanting an immediate end to American
involvement in Vietnam, President Nixon ordered the most concentrated air
offensive of the war - known as Linebacker II - in December 1972. During the
offensive, sometimes called the "Christmas bombings," 40,000 tons of bombs were
dropped, primarily over the area between Hanoi and Haiphong. White House Press
Secretary Ronald Ziegler said that the bombing would end only when all U.S. POWs
were released and an internationally recognized cease-fire was in force.

Linebacker II flights generally arrived over Hanoi in tight cells of three
aircraft to maximize the mutual support benefits of their ECM equipment and flew
straight and level to stabilize the bombing computers and ensure that all bombs
fell on the military targets and not in civilian areas.

The pilots of the early missions reported that "wall-to-wall SAMS" surrounded
Hanoi as they neared its outskirts. The Christmas Bombings, despite press
accounts to the contrary, were of the most precise the world had seen.

On December 28, 1972, twelve aircraft were assigned to strike the Trung Quang
rail yards near Hanoi. One three-ship cell was code-named Cobalt. The second
B52D in the flight, Cobalt 01, assumed lead in the cell because the other two
were experiencing problems with their electronic warfare equipment. At about
2330 hours, the cell turned inbound on Hanoi and went to independent bombing
mode, meaning each aircraft used its own radar to locate and attack the target.

The cell saw medium to heavy antiaircraft fire ahead and soon began receiving
SAM signals and saw SAM launches beginning. A total of 45 SAMs were fired at the
cells. When Cobalt 01 was within sixty seconds of bomb release, two SAMS locked
on and began tracking the aircraft. Lewis was able to evade these two, but
received a near-direct hit by another while still in a violent evasive turn.

Every crew member onboard received injuries from the impacting SAM fragments.
The crew consisted of Capt. Frank D. Lewis, pilot and aircraft commander; Capt.
Sam Cusimano, co-pilot; Maj. Allen Johnson, Electronic Warfare Officer (EWO);
Lt.Col. Jim Condon, radar navigator; 1Lt. Bennie Fryer, navigator; and SMSgt.
Jim Gough, gunner.

Capt. Frank D. Lewis, the pilot, attempted to maintain control of the aircraft
as it headed west, but he knew the aircraft had taken a fatal hit and was going
down. The wings were on fire and the ruptured fuel tanks fed the rapidly
spreading fire. All electrical systems were out, as well as the crew interphone
system. The pilot verbally gave the order to bail out only forty seconds after
the SAM impact. Lewis ejected, and the crew followed.

The gunner, MSgt. James A. Gough, could not hear the ejection order, but knew
that he would soon have to bail out. The flames from the burning aircraft
extended back on both sides of the B52 to the gunner's turret, and he decided to
wait for a better chance as long as the aircraft was still in level flight.

By then, the other crew members who were able to eject had departed the plane.
When the gunner saw that the aircraft was descending into the low undercast, he
knew he had to leave then or lose his chance. When he jumped, he went through
burning debris of the disintegrating engines and wings and had numerous pieces
of wiring and metal fragments embedded in his body. Luckily, Gough was able to
deploy his parachute. He was captured soon after he landed on the ground.

The pilot, Capt. Lewis, was lucky to be captured alive after he landed in a rice
paddy. A North Vietnamese peasant took Lewis' revolver and would have killed him
on the spot if the gun had been loaded. As the click, click of the empty pistol
sounded, NVA troops approached and captured Lewis alive, taking him from the
custody of the peasant.

Meanwhile, the other crew members had also landed and were being captured by NVN
troops. All had ejected except for the navigator, 1Lt. Ben L. Fryer, who was
apparently killed by the SAM explosion. Lewis and Condon were reunited soon
after they were captured. After having been taken to Hanoi, Lewis believes he
heard his EWO, Major Johnson scream not too far away. The thought that Johnson
was also encouraged him -- he worried about his crew.

Lewis was subjected to the same harassment and torture by his captors that many
returned POWs have described. After a month in solitary, he was moved to the
"Zoo" where he was reunited with Gough, Condon, Cusimano and Fryer. Together,
they reconstructed the shootdown. Notably, LtCol. Condon, the radar navigator,
remembers hearing three ejection seats going above him before he ejected. These
three would have been the EWO (Johnson), pilot (Lewis) and co-pilot (Cusimano).

Lt.Col. Condon said that Lt. Bennie Fryer was apparently killed in the SAM
explosion, as he collapsed forward on the nav table and was bleeding profusely.
His seat was the closest of any crew member to the point of impact of the SAM.
Condon himself was wounded in the leg by shrapnel, and tried shaking Fryer and
yelling at him to arouse him, but got no response.

The fate of Maj. Allen Johnson is still a mystery. The surviving crew members
believe that he ejected from the aircraft, and Lewis believes he was alive and
in the hands of the North Vietnamese, because he heard what he believed to be
Johnson screaming. Further, Lewis' interrogator told him that Johnson was a
black man, a fact not revealed by any of the crew in interrogation.

Then on September 30, 1977, the Vietnamese "discovered" and returned the remains
of Bennie L. Fryer. It was not until December 4, 1985 that the Vietnamese
returned the remains of Allen L. Johnson. The positive identification of these
remains was announced publicly in June 1986. The Vietnamese denied knowledge of
either man until their remains were returned.

Reports mount that have convinced many authorities that Americans are still held
captive in Southeast Asia. Were Johnson and Fryer among them? Did they survive
to know the country they love has abandoned them? Isn't it time we brought our
men home?


FULLAM, WAYNE EUGENE
Remains Returned 24 September 1987; ID Announced 7 January 1988

Name: Wayne Eugene Fullam
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 09 March 1932
Home City of Record: Chattanooga TN
Date of Loss: 07 October 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 211600N 1065500E (XJ970520)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F105D

Other Personnel In Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: In the early 1970's, families and friends of missing Americans
launched a campaign to plant Freedom Trees in honor of the missing men. The
first Tree planted at McGhee Tyson Air Base, Alcoa, Tennessee was dedicated to
Air Force Major Wayne E. Fullam. Since that time, many of the freedom trees have
been removed or forgotten, but many have grown tall in the two decades since
their planting, leaving a living reminder of the men America left behind in
Southeast Asia.

Major Wayne Fullam was the lead F105D pilot in a group of 20 planes on a strike
mission in North Vietnam. Fullam's plane was shot down about 30 miles
north-northeast of Haiphong over Ha Bac Province. Fullam radioed to his wingman
that he was "getting out." In nearby Hanoi, Soviet helicopters were being bombed
and destroyed for the first time in the war. Maj. Fullam was observed to eject
with a good parachute, and strong emergency beeper signals were received by his
flight members. Voice contact was not made, however, after he bailed out.

A rescue helicopter started in after Fullam, but was driven back by heavy fire.
When search and rescue teams arrived, Fullam's parachute was seen hanging in the
trees with his beeper still transmitting. The helicopter crew watched as
Fullam's parachute was being pulled from the tree. When SAR made a second pass,
the parachute was gone and the beeper had been silenced. At the time, it was
assumed that Fullam had been injured or killed during his ejection or had been
unconscious and subsequently captured. Since no proof of either capture or death
was obtained, Maj. Fullam was listed Missing in Action.

A subsequent intelligence report indicated that Fullam had been captured in good
condition by members of a Chinese anti-aircraft unit operating in Vietnam,
turned over the the North Vietnamese, and was last seen being driven away in a
jeep. This report was never verified, however, and Maj. Fullam's status remained
Missing in Action.

The Vietnamese are believed to have information about the fate of Fullam. He did
not disappear into a vacuum. When 591 lucky Americans were released from North
Vietnamese prisons in 1973, Fullam was not among them. The Vietnamese denied all
knowledge of him.

By 1985, all the nearly 2500 missing Americans were presumptively declared dead
by the U.S. Government, except for only one man, who remains in Prisoner of War
status.

In September 1987, twenty-one years after Major Fullam was shot down, the Vietnamese
"discovered" his remains and returned them to U.S. control. In January 1988, the
U.S. announced that it had verified the identification of the remains, and they
were turned over to Fullam's family for burial.

By 1991, over 10,000 reports relating to Americans prisoner, missing and
unaccounted for in Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. Many
authoritied who have reviewed this largely-classified information believe there
are hundreds of Americans are still alive in captivity today.

Regardless of political viewpoints on the war in Indochina, Americans agree that
the high value of human lives is one of our basic tenets. For the Communists,
however, human life is subjugated for the good of the State. "Humanitarian" is
not a word in the Communist vocabulary. Negotiations with the Vietnamese, on a
"humanitarian" basis, cannot, therefore, have any hope for success. Meanwhile,
Americans wait in captivity while governments decide on common ground for
negotiations.

Wayne E. Fullam was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel during the period
he was maintained missing.

FULLER, JAMES RAY
Remains Recovered in Crash Site Excavation - Positive ID Contested

Name: James Ray Fuller
Rank/Branch: E6/US Air Force
Unit: 16th Special Operations Squadron, Ubon AB, Thailand
Date of Birth: 04 April 1937
Home City of Record: Cibolo TX
Date of Loss: 21 December 1972
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 152712N 1060048E (XC087086)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: AC130A gunship

Other Personnel In Incident: Rollie Reaid; George D. MacDonald; John Winningham;
Francis Walsh; Delma E. Dickens; Robert T. Elliott; Robert L. Liles; Harry
Lagerwall; Paul Meder; Thomas T. Hart; Stanley Kroboth; Charles Fenter (all
missing/remains returned --see text); Joel R. Birch (remains returned); Richard
Williams, Carl E. Stevens (rescued).

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1990 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.

REMARKS: I.R. #22370432 73 - DEAD

SYNOPSIS: An AC130A gunship, "Spectre 17", flown by Capt. Harry R. Lagerwall,
departed Ubon Airbase, Thailand on an interdiction mission to interrupt enemy
cargo movements along the Ho Chi Minh Trail on December 21, 1972. The crew
onboard numbered 16. During the flight to the target, the aircraft was hit by
ground fire and after 10 minutes of level flight, the fuel exploded. Two of the
crew, Richard Williams and Carl E. Stevens, bailed out safely and were
subsequently rescued hours later. The partial body of Joel Birch (an arm) was
later recovered some distance away from the crash site.

Heat-sensitive equipment which would pinpoint the location of human beings in
the jungles was used to search for the rest of the crew with no success. It was
assumed that the missing crewmen were either dead or were no longer in the area.

According to intelligence reports, several piles of bloody bandages and 5
deployed parachutes were seen and photographed at the crash site. Also, later
requests through the Freedom of Information Act revealed a photo of what
appeared to be the initials "TH" stomped in the tall elephant grass near the
crash site. A number of reports have been received which indicate Tom Hart, if
not others, was still alive as late as 1988.

In the early 1980's a delegation comprised in part of several POW/MIA family
members visited the site of the aircraft crash in Laos. Mrs. Anne Hart found
material on the ground in the area which she believed to be bone fragment. She
photographed the material and turned it over to the U.S. Government.

In February, 1985, a joint excavation of the crash site was done by the U.S. and
Laos from which a large number of small bone fragments were found. Analysis by
the U.S. Army's Central Identification Laboratory (CIL) in Hawaii reported the
positive identification of all 13 missing crewmembers. Some critics dubbed this
identificatin "Voodoo Forensics."

Mrs. Hart was immediately skeptical.  She was concerned that the positive
identification of all 13 missing men onboard the aircraft had seemed too
convenient. She was further concerned that among the remains said to be those of
her husband, she found the bone fragment which she had herself found at the
crash site location several years before. She believed this was too much of a
coincidence.

Anne Hart had an independent analysis of the seven tiny fragments of bone which
the government said constituted the remains of her husband. Dr. Michael Charney
of Colorado State University, an internationally respected Board Certified
Forensic Anthropologist with nearly 50 years of experience in anthropology,
conducted the study.

"It is impossible," Charney wrote in his report, "to determine whether these
fragments are from LTC Hart or any other individual, whether they are from one
individual or several, or whether they are even from any of the crew members of
the aircraft in study."

Mrs. Hart refused to accept the remains and sued the government, challenging its
identification procedures. Her challenge produced additional criticism of CIL
and the techniques it uses in identifying remains. Some scientists, including
Charney, charged that CIL deliberately misinterpreted evidence in order to
identify remains. They said the Army consistently drew unwarranted conclusions
about height, weight, sex and age from tiny bone fragments. Eleven of the
"positive" identifications made on the AC130 crew were determined to be
scientifically impossible.

"These are conclusions just totally beyond the means of normal identification,
our normal limits and even our abnormal limits," said Dr. William Maples,
curator of physical anthropology at Florida State Museum.

Among the egregious errors cited by Charney was a piece of pelvic bone that the
laboratory mistakenly said was a part of a skull bone and was used to identify
Chief Master Sgt. James R. Fuller. The Reaid ID had been made based on bits of
upper arm and leg bones and a mangled POW bracelet said to be like one Reaid
wore. The MacDonald ID had been made based on the dental records for a single
tooth.

Mrs. Hart won her suit against the government. Her husband's identification, as
well as that of George MacDonald, was rescinded. The Government no longer
claimed that the identifications were positive. However, these two men were
listed as "accounted for."

Mrs. Hart's suit on behalf of her husband made it U.S. Government policy for a
family to be given the opportunity to seek outside confirmation of any
identification of remains said to be their loved ones. Mrs. Hart also believed
that the suit was successful in keeping her husband's file open. Reports were
still being received related to him.

In 1988, the Air Force forwarded a live sighting report of Tom Hart to Mrs.
Hart. The Air Force had concluded the report was false or irrelevant because
Tom Hart was "accounted for." Mrs. Hart again went to court to try and ensure
that her husband was not abandoned if, indeed, he is still alive. She wanted him
put back on the "unaccounted for" list.

In early March, 1990, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the lower
court decision that had ruled the U.S. Government erred in identifying bone
fragments as being the remains of Thomas Hart. The appellate court ruled that
the government is free to use "its discretion" in handling the identification of
victims of war and that courts should not second-guess government decisions on
when to stop searching for soldiers believed to be killed in action.

The court also denied Mrs. Hart's request to have her husband returned to the
"unaccounted for" list. "The government must make a practical decision at some
point regarding when to discontinue the search for personnel," the court said in
its ruling.

Most Americans would make the practical decision to serve their country in war,
if asked to do so. Even though there is evidence that some of this crew did not
die in the crash of the aircraft, the U.S. Government has made the "practical
decision," and obtained the support of the Justice system, to quit looking for
them.

How can we allow our government to close the books on men who have not been
proven dead whose biggest crime is serving their country? If one or more of them
are among the hundreds many believe are still alive in captivity, what must they
be thinking of us?

Knowing one could be so callously abandoned, how many will serve when next asked
to do so?
FULLER, ROBERT BYRON

Name: Robert Byron Fuller
Rank/Branch: O5/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 76, USS BON HOMME RICHARD
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Jacksonville FL
Date of Loss: 14 July 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 204000N 1060200E (XH076854)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A4C

Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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: 730304 RELSD BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: The USS BON HOMME RICHARD (CVA 31) saw early Vietnam war action. A
World War II Essex-class carrier, she was on station participating in combat
action against the Communists as early as August 1964. Her aircraft carried the
first Walleye missiles when they were introduced in 1967. In November 1970, the
"Bonnie Dick" completed its sixth combat deployment and was scheduled for
decommissioning by mid-1971.

One of the aircraft that launched from the decks of the BON HOMME RICHARD was
the Douglas Aircraft A4 Skyhawk. The Skyhawk was intended to provide the Navy
and Marine Corps with an inexpensive, lightweight attack and ground support
aircraft. The design emphasized low-speed control and stability during take-off
and landing as well as strength enough for catapult launch and carrier landings.
The plane was so compact that it did not need folding wings for aboardship
storage and handling. In spite of its diminutive size, the A4 packed a
devastating punch and performed well where speed and maneuverability were
essential.

The Spirits of VA76, assigned to Air Wing 21, reached the coastal waters of
Vietnam in January 1967. As the monsoon season faded, the air war's intensity
rapidly ballooned and sites in North Vietnam that previously had been off-limits
were opened up for U.S. air strikes.

CDR Robert B. Fuller was a Skyhawk pilot and the commanding officer of Attack
Squadron 76 onboard the BON HOMME RICHARD. On July 14, 1967, he launched in his
A4C on a mission near the city of Hun Yen in Hai Hung Province, North Vietnam.
During the mission, as he was just northwest of the city, Fuller's aircraft was
shot down. He ejected from the aircraft and was captured. Fuller spent the six
years in captivity and was finally released on March 4, 1973 in Operation
Homecoming.

Byron Fuller was one of the lucky ones. For hundreds of others, however, simple
answers are not possible. Adding to the torment of nearly 10,000 reports
relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asia is the certain knowledge that
some Americans who were known to be prisoners of war were not released at the
end of the war. Others were suspected to be prisoners, and still others were in
radio contact with would-be rescuers when last seen alive. Many were known to
have survived their loss incidents, only to disappear without a trace.

The problem of Americans still missing torments not only the families of those
who are missing, but the men who fought by their sides, and those in the
general public who realize the full implication of leaving men unaccounted for
at the end of a war.

Tragically, many authorities believe there are hundreds of Americans still
alive in captivity in Southeast Asia today.  What must they be thinking of us?
What will our next generation say if called to fight if we are unable to bring
these men home from Southeast Asia?


During the period he was a prisoner of war Robert B. Fuller was promoted to the
rank of Captain.
FULLERTON, FRANK EUGENE

Name: Frank Eugene Fullerton
Rank/Branch: O4/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 93, USS BON HOMME RICHARD (CVA-31)
Date of Birth: 02 January 1934 (Riverdale GA)
Home City of Record: Jonesboro GA
Date of Loss: 27 July 1968
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 183200N 1054800E (WE970994)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A4F
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project with the assistance of Task Force
Omega from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency
sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews.
Date Compiled: 01 January 1990

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Capt. Frank E. Fullerton was a pilot assigned to Attack Squadron 93
onboard the aircraft carrier USS BON HOMME RICHARD (CVA-31). On July 27, 1968,
he launched in his A4F "Skyhawk" attack aircraft as the flight leader of a
two-plane section on a night road reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam.

As the flight crossed the coastline, Capt. Fullerton had his wingman placed in
a one to two0mile trail position 2000 feet above him. Three to four minutes
after crossing the coastline, Capt. Fullerton spotted a series of lights on the
ground and assessed them to be trucks. He then called to his wingman saying
that he was going to make a bomb run. The wingman saw two bombs detonate and
then observed an orange-red fire ball close to the bomb hits, which he presumed
was a secondary explosion. The second explosion threw flaming debris high in
the air.

The wingman made his bomb run and made his first radio call to form-up on Capt.
Fullerton. There was no contact returned by Capt. Fullerton, and the air
controller aircraft in the area was contact to aid in making contact. Although
an IFF radio mode III squawk was heard, the radar return faded at 20 miles
before a positive identification could be made, and no confirmed contact was
ever made with Capt. Fullerton, and he was declared Missing in Action.

Upon review of the information available, it was considered that Capt.
Fullerton either misjudged his bombing run altitude and impacted the ground
after his bomb release (in which case he probably went down with the aircraft),
or the IFF squawk was made by Capt. Fullerton. No solid information was ever
received to determine exactly what happened to Capt. Frank E. Fullerton.

Fullerton was not among the prisoners of war that were released in 1973. High
ranking U.S. officials admit their dismay that "hundreds" of suspected American
prisoners of war did not return.

Alarmingly, evidence continues to mount that Americans were left as prisoners
in Southeast Asia and continue to be held today. Unlike "MIAs" from other wars,
most of the nearly 2500 men and women who remain missing in Southeast Asia can
be accounted for. Fullerton could be one of them. Isn't it time we brought our
men home?
FURNESS, NIGEL

Name: Nigel Furness
Rank/Branch: Civilian
Unit: Glomar Java Sea
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record:
Date of Loss: 25 October 1983
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates:
Status (in 1973):
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground:

Personnel in Incident: Herman Arms; Jerald T. Battiste; Sebe M. Bracey; Patrick
B. Cates; Wei Chen; Xiong Chen; Shu Guo Cheng; Jacob K. J. Chong; David P.
Clifton; James F. Cusick; Thomas J. Dixon; Shao Jien Feng; Jerald J. Flanagan;
Nigel Furness; Leonard E. Ganzinotti; La Juan A. Gilmore; Henry M. Gittings;
James K. Gittings; Terance C. Green; Jun Tian Guan; David Higgins, Jr.; Tyronne
Higgins; Hong Xi Huang; Rui Wen Huang; Yong Liang Huang; Timothy Jarvis; John W.
Jennings Jr.; Thomas J. Kofahl; Fan Xiang Kong; Guo Zhen Lai; John W. Lawrence;
Tong L. T. Lee; Chong Chang Li; Xuan Qiu Li; Zhan Jun Liang; Jie Feng Lin; Bing
Guang Liu; Edgar S. Lim; Gary Looke; Robert M. McCurry; Jerry L. Manfrida;
Raymond D. Miller; Xie Yi Mo; Tian Xue Mo; Kenneth W. Myers; Larry K. Myers;
Donald J. Ouellet; John D. Pierce; Peter Popiel; Clarence Reed; Jewell J.
Reynolds; E.J. Russell Reynolds; Walter T. Robinson; Kenneth B. Rogers; Lawrence
M. Salzwedel; William R. Schug; Richard E. Shoff; Christopher J. Sleeman; Delmar
A. Spencer; George G. Sullivan; Chong Jian Sun; Gustaf F. Swanson; Kevin C.
Swanson; Guo Dong Tang; Michael W. Thomas; Jiang Wang; Yu Fang Wang; Dong Cai
Wang; Guo Rong Wu; jing Sheng Xia; Xing Xing; Hui Xu; Ming Rui Xu; Mua Guang
Yuan; Xing Zhen Zhang; Yi Hua Zhang; Ji Chang Zhen; Shu Rong Zhou; Yao Wu Zhou;
Jie Fang Zhou; Da Huai Zhu.

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 10 December 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 5,930-ton American drilling ship, "Glomar Java Sea" was owned by
Global Marine of Houston, Texas, and leased to Atlantic Richfield Company
(ARCO). In the fall of 1983, the vessel was on duty about 200 miles east of the
Vietnamese coast. The ship was drilling for oil in the South China Sea in a
joint venture of ARCO and China Naitonal Offshore Oil Corporation, a state-owned
concern.

The "Glomar Java Sea" is a sister ship of the "Glomar Explorer," which, under
the guise of being utilized by the late Howard Hughes in a deep sea mining
operation in the Paficic, was really being used by the CIA and Navy in a $350
million project to retrieve a sunken Soviet Golf-class submarine. A large part
of the submarine was in fact recovered in 1974 before details of the project
were publicly revealed.

The Glomar Java Sea, with its crew of 81, began drilling operations on January
9, 1983 and was the first American wildcat operaton off the Chinese coast. On
October 25, 1983, the vessel was sunk during Typhoon Lex.

Documents removed from the ship by a crewman before the disaster indicate that
the vessel was being shadowed by armed Vietnamese naval craft and that there
were submarine mines beneath the "Glomar Java Sea," placed there and retrievable
by its crew. Another document indicates that the ship was damaged prior ot the
typhoon when a Chinese supply boat rammed into its side, causing some $320,000
damage to the vessel. The Glomar Java Sea did not leave its post for repairs.

Communications between ARCO and Global Marine, as well as telegraphic and radio
communications of the U.S. Western Pacific Rescue Coordination Center (WESTPAC)
reveal information about the search for the crew of the Glomar Java Sea.

The documents indicate that a number of survivors from the stricken vessel were
floundering in the water off the coast of Vietnam for hours after the disaster.
There is also indication that the men were picked up by Vietnamese coastal
patrols and are held captive of the Hanoi regime.

The crew of the Glomar Java Sea included 37 Americans, 35 Chinese, four British,
two Singaporeans, one Filipino, one Australian, and one Canadian.

From a transcript of a radio communicaton between WESTPAC and Global Marine on
October 28, three days after the sinking, WESTPAC was told:  "We are informed
that the SOS transmission could not have been transmitted except by human
operators..." There were two 64-man lifeboats aboard the drilling ship, plus
smaller lifeboats.

In an October 29 communicaton from WESTPAC to Global Marine, it is clearly
stated that five strobe lights were sighted by rescue aircraft in the vicinity
of 17-30 North 107-45 East. The aircraft were dispatched to the area because
strobe lights had been previously sighted. Lifejackets from the Glomar Java Sea
were equipped with strobe lights to signal rescuers.

Another October 29 communication between ARCO and Global Marine states that
ARCO's search aircraft had spotted survivors in the water at 17.27 North 107.54
East, and had attempted to divert surface vessels to this location. The
communication expressed the urgency to rescue the men before dark.

At 8:01 a.m. on October 29, ARCO had dropped a rescue raft to survivors.  Pickup
would be delayed for several hours, but the "Salvanquish," a Singapore-based
salvage ship, was within one half-mile of the site.

At 8:38 a.m search aircraft reported pinpointing the survivors' positions by dye
markers released by the survivors into the water. Two survivors were confirmed
with a possible third some distance away. Plans were also made to return to the
downed vessell to offlift survivors.

Another document shows that on nine different occasions radio transmissions were
picked up from a lifeboat. They ranged from "very strong" to "weak" with most
being described as "strong."

Inexplicably, despite the successful search, no rescue was made of the
survivors. Later that day, the Chinese Navy picked up a Vietnamese broadcast
reporting that the Vietnamese had sighted a lifeboat near their coast. The
location of the lifeboat was not confirmed by friendly search parties.

ARCO-Global Marine determined that this sighting was in the vicinity of Hon Gio
Island, located about 80 miles up the Vietnamese coast from the old U.S. base at
Da Nang and about 14 miles offshore, which placed it in Vietnamese territorial
waters. It appears that rescue craft were hampered in fully investigating the
report due to its location and the hint of possible interference by the
Vietnamese military.

It is likely that survivors would have been picked up by the Vietnamese if they
had in fact drifted within Vietnam's territory.

In the years following the loss of the Glomar Java Sea, a number of reports, all
unconfirmed by the U.S., indicate that survivors were seen in captivity in
Vietnam. It is known that the Vietnamese had shown a hostile interest in the
vessel, and the Glomar Java Sea had standing orders to be alert for Vietnamese
vessels in the area. The Chinese Navy served as protection for the vessel and
stood ready to take action should Vietnamese craft wander too close. The waters
below the vessel were mined.

A month after the Glomar Java Sea went down, Chinese divers went down to the
wreckage and went through the ship with a video cameras.

In March 1984, American divers were able to retrieve 31 bodies from the sunken
vessel. Fifteen of the bodies were identified as Americans. In addition, three
British and one Singaporean were identified. The bodies of another American and
two Chinese were tentatively identified. Divers photographed two bodies they
were unable to retrieve. They also found one of the Chinese divers that had
explored the wreckage in November 1983, lashed to the deck of the ship.

The American divers determined that one of the ship's large lifeboats was
launched and that an attempt had been made to launch another. Their film was
seen by the mother of one of the lost crewmen. She reported that the crack in
the hull of the ship at one point was a hole 48 inches across, which was
punctured inward, "as though the rig had been hit by something that exploded."
This fueled additional speculation that the vessel had, in fact, been attacked
rather that simply mortally damaged by the typhoon.

The National Transportaton Safety Board officially determined in November 1984
that an "unexplained crack" in the hull of the Glomar Java Sea was responsible
for its sinking during the typhoon. Apparently, the crack in the hull allowed
two storage tanks to fill with water, causing the vessel to become off-balanced,
making it vulnerable to the forces of the typhoon. Officials believed it was
possible that survivors may have been able to abandon the ship before it sank.
It was determined that the ship had been improperly prepared for the storm.

During 1984, there were reports from Southeast Asia that between six and twelve
survivors of the Glomar Java Sea were being held in prisoner of war camps in
Vietnam. One of the survivors was identified by a Vietnamese refugee as American
crewman John Pierce.

Douglas F. Pierce, father of John Pierce, reported that the refugee had seen his
son, five other Americans and eight Chinese when they were brought into a prison
in Da Nang, where the refugee was being held. John Pierce gave the refugee his
father's business card and two sticks of gum.

Mr. Pierce gave the information to Defense Intelligence Agency who determined
that the refugee had not been in the camp at all, but had received the business
card by mail from a friend, not directly from Pierce. DIA further determined
that the incident had occurred in late October 1983 (shortly after the Glomar
Java Sea went down). The refugee gave Mr. Pierce the original letter, which
contained the names and addresses of two mutual Vietnamese friends.

No followup was conducted on the two names in the letter by DIA, and DIA
discounted the information provided by the refugee. It was not until 1990 that
it became apparent that the Defense Department felt no responsibility for the
Americans lost on the Glomar Java Sea. At that time, DIA reported that the
responsibility for these civilians belonged to the U.S. State Department.

Mr. Pierce did not stop there. He uncovered a U.S. State Department document
that revealed that Cheng Quihong, the secretary and wife of the Director of
China's Visa Office, was overheard telling her companion at a Hong Kong dinner
that survivors from the Glomar had been picked up and were held by the
Vietnamese.

Pierce also learned that a JCRC report sent to DIA dated November 6, 1984,
reported that a former prisoner from Pleiku prison had been held with a Chinese
man who claimed to have been off the Glomar. The man said he was one of three
men who were captured, and that the other two were Americans.

Pierce adds that to his knowledge, neither of these reports were followed up by
U.S. officials, and Pierce has received no reply to his queries regarding them.

In 1989 a Japanese monk named Yoshida was released from prison after being held
for years by the Vietnamese. Yoshida was shown a photograph of John Pierce and
stated that Pierce looked very familiar, and that he had either seen him or
someone who looked very much like him.

In November, 1990, Vietamese Foreign Minister Nguyen Co Thach traveled to the
U.S. and spoke with U.S. officials on a variety of matters. At this time, he
announced that there was a black American named Walter T. Robinson living
illegally in Vietnam, and invited U.S. representatives to come and help find
him. Thach provided a social security number and two photographs.

The Pentagon told "The Washington Times" that the two photographs of Robinson
provided by Thach are of a black man. However, the Pentagon has since admitted
that the photos "are not very well developed" and appear to be of either a black
man or a dark Asian. Photocopies of old newspaper articles concerning Robinson,
obtained by Homecoming II, show a dark-haired man of relatively dark complexion.

The Pentagon has not released the photographs to the press.

The Defense Department determined that Walter T. Robinson had never been listed
as missing in Vietnam. Thach had provided a social security number, and
according to DOD, this information correlated to a white American living in the
Midwest. They concluded that the Thach information, therefore, was in error.

Later information indicated that a Walter T. Robinson was listed on the crew
roster of the Glomar Java Sea. When queried, the Defense Department reported
that they were aware of this Robinson, but that civilians were the
responsibility of the State Department.

It seems apparent that the U.S. is not vigorously looking for the men missing
from the Glomar Java Sea, and that like the missing and prisoners who served in
military and civilian capacities during the Vietnam war, they have been
abandoned.


GADDIS, NORMAN CARL

Name: Norman Carl Gaddis
Rank/Branch: O6/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: (ca 1934)
Home City of Record: Knoxville TN (family was in Winston/Salem NC)
Date of Loss: 12 May 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 205856N 2053022E (WJ526201)
Status (in 1973):
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4C

Other Personnel In Incident: James M. Jefferson (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: 730304 RELSD BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: James M. Jefferson left sunny Florida to attend the United States Air
Force Academy, where his brother had graduated in 1959. In 1964, Jefferson
graduated and embarked on what seemed to be a promising career with the Air
Force. After being trained on the F4 Phantom fighter jet, he was sent to
Vietnam.

On May 12, 1967, Col. Normal C. Gaddis, with 1Lt. Jefferson serving as his
bombardier/navigator, were sent on a mission over North Vietnam. When the flight
was near the border of Ha Tay and Hoa Binh Provinces, North Vietnam, it was hit
by enemy fire and crashed. Jefferson, as backseater, ejected first. Gaddis
ejected second and was immediately captured by the North Vietnamese.

While Gaddis was a prisoner, he was shown a name tag and other items belonging
to his crewman, which were in good condition. He believed that Jefferson had
also been captured, although he never found him in the prison system in which he
was being held. As the years passed, he began to lose hope of finding Jefferson
alive.

In 1973, Gaddis was released with 590 other Americans. Shortly after his
release, Gaddis referred to some 300 Americans still in prison in Vietnam. He
publicly endorsed payment of reconstruction aid as a means of stability in
Southeast Asia. President Nixon had promised reconstruction aid to the
Vietnamese, but Congress ultimately vetoed its appropriation.

James M. Jefferson was not released, nor have the Vietnamese accounted for him
since that day. His fate is unknown, like nearly 2500 other Americans still
missing from Southeast Asia. Although the Vietnamese clearly know what happened
to Jefferson, the U.S. has been helpless to extract that information from them.

Since 1973, over 10,000 reports have been received, convincing many experts that
hundreds of Americans are still alive in the hands of the governments of
Southeast Asia. One of them could be James M. Jefferson. What are we doing to
bring him home?

James M. Jefferson was promoted to the rank of Major during the period he was
maintained Missing in Action.

GAITHER, RALPH ELLIS, JR

Name: Ralph Ellis Gaither, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O2/US Navy
Unit: Fighter Squadron 84, USS INDEPENDENCE (CVA 62)
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Miami FL
Date of Loss: 17 October 1965
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 215400N 1065900E (YK048228)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4B

Other Personnel In Incident: Rodney A. Knutsenreleased POW); At nearby
coordinates, all F4 aircraft from USS Independence and US Navy personnel;
Stanley E. Olmstead (missing) and Porter A. Halyburton (released POW); Roderick
L. Mayer (missing) and David R. Wheat (released POW)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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: 730212 RLSD BY DRV - INJURED

SYNOPSIS: LT Roderick Mayer was a pilot assigned to the aircraft carrier USS
INDEPENDENCE (CVA-62). On October 17, 1965 he and his Radar Intercept Officer
(RIO), LTJG David Wheat launched in their F4B Phantom fighter jet for a day
strike mission on the Thai Nguyen bridge northeast of Hanoi.

On the same day, a second Phantom flown by LCDR Stanley E. Olmstead, with LTJG
Porter A. Halyburton as his RIO, and a third Phantom flown by LTJG Ralph Gaither
and LTJG Rodney A/ Knutson also launched from the USS INDEPENCENCE. These four
pilots were part of Fighter Squadron 84, the "Jolly Rogers". Mayer and Wheat
were part of the carriers Fighter Squadron 41. All were dispatched to the same
general mission area near the city of Thai Nguyen.

The three Phantoms were all shot down within a few miles of each other. Knutson
and Gaither were shot down in Long Song Province, North Vietnam, near the border
of China, or about 75 miles northeast of the city of Thai Nguyen. Olmstead and
Halyburton were shot down in Long Son Province about 40 miles east of the city
of Thai Nguyen. Mayer and Wheat were shot down about 55 miles east-northeast of
the city of Thai Nguyen, in Long Son Province.

Mayer and Wheat's aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire. Both men were seen to
eject from the aircraft. Search and rescue (SAR) efforts were hampered due to
enemy small arms fire. Lt. Mayer was observed over a period of two hours in a
prone position, still in his parachute. Before rescue helicopters could reach
the scene, both Mayer and Wheat had disappeared from sight and enemy troops were
seen in the area. David R. Wheat was confirmed to be a prisoner of war, and when
released in 1973, made statements which suggest that Mayer was killed during the
ejection or that he died later of injuries resulting from the ejection. He
stated that Lt. Mayer did not move, even when he was found by ground troops.
Mayer was classified Prisoner of War.

LCDR Olmstead's aircraft was hit by hostile fire and crashed while on a bombing
mission. No transmissions were heard, nor was there any sign of ejection by
either crewmember. Other U.S. aircraft passed over the crash site and deterimed
that there was no possibility of survival. However, it was later learned that
Halyburton had survived, and was captured. Being the RIO, Halyburton would eject
first. It was believed that Olmstead had probably died in the crash of the
aircraft, but there was no proof of this theory. Olmstead was classified Missing
in Action.

Gaither and Knutson were captured by the North Vietnamese, spent nearly 8 years
as prisoners and were both released on February 12, 1973 in Operation
Homecoming. Knutson had been injured, and was not fully recovered at the time of
his release.

The fates of these six men from the USS INDEPENDENCE was not clear at the time
they were shot down. Their status changed from Reported Dead to Prisoner of War
or Missing in Action. At the end of the war, only Olmstead and Mayer remained
missing. Ultimately, they were declared dead for lack of evidence that they were
still alive.

When the war ended, refugees from the communist-overrun countries of Southeast
Asia began to flood the world, bringing with them stories of live GI's still in
captivity in their homelands. Since 1975, nearly 10,000 reports relating to
Americans missing in Southeast Asia have been received. Many authorities believe
that hundreds of Americans are still held in the countries in Southeast Asia.

The U.S. Government operates on the "assumption" that one or more men are being
held, but that it cannot "prove" that this is the case, allowing action to be
taken. Meanwhile, low-level talks between the U.S. and Vietnam proceed, yielding
a few sets of remains when it seems politically expedient to return them, but as
yet, no living American has returned.


Roderick L. Mayer was promoted to the rank of Commander during the period he was
maintained missing and David R. Wheat was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant
Commander.

Rodney A. Knutson and Ralph E. Gaither were promoted to the rank of Lieutenant
Commander during the period they were maintained as prisoner of war.

Stanley E. Olmstead was promoted to the rank of Commander during the period he
was maintained missing. Porter A. Halyburton was promoted to the rank of
Lieutenant Commander during the period he was maintained as a prisoner of war.


GALBRAITH, RUSSELL D.

Name: Russell D. Galbraith
Rank/Branch: USAF, O3
Unit:
Date of Birth: 25 July 48
Home City of Record: Tippencanoe, OH
Date of Loss: 11 December 68
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 165200N 1054400E
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: RF4C

Other Personnel In Incident: Harlan J. Drewry (rescued)

Source: Compiled by THE P.O.W. NETWORK 02 February 93 from the
following published sources - POW/MIA's -- Report of the Select Committee
on POW/MIA Affairs United States Senate -- January 13, 1993. "The Senate
Select Committee staff has prepared case summaries for the priority cases
that the Administration is now investigating. These provide the facts about
each case, describe the circumstances under which the individual was lost,
and detail the information learned since the date of loss.  Information in
the case summaries is limited to information from casualty files, does not
include any judgments by Committee staff, and attempts to relate essential
facts. The Committee acknowledges that POW/MIAs' primary next-of- kin know
their family members' cases in more comprehensive detail than summarized
here and recognizes the limitations that the report format imposes on these
summaries."

On December 11, 1968, Captains Galbraith and Harlan J. Drewry were
the crew of an RF-4C on a reconnaissance mission over Savannakhet
Province.  Captain Galbraith later described feeling a thump and
losing control of the aircraft.  Captain Drewry ejected safely and
was rescued but reported he did not see Captain Galbraith exit the
aircraft.  The aircraft crashed into an area approximately 65
kilometers northwest of Tchepone.

Captain Drewry [NETWORK NOTE: should be Galbraith] was declared missing in
action. Returning U.S. POWs had no information on his precise fate.  In
August 1978 he was declared dead/body not recovered, based on a presumptive
finding of death.
GALLAGHER, DONALD LOUIS

Name: Donald Louis Gallagher
Rank/Branch: E7/US Navy
Unit: Patrol Squadron 26, U Tapao Airbase, Thailand
Date of Birth: 02 March 1938
Home City of Record: Sheboygan WI
Date of Loss: 06 February 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 093050N 1040730E (VR040520)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: P3B
Other Personnel in Incident:  Donald F. Burnett; Armando Chapa, Jr.; William F.
Farris; Roy A. Huss; Thomas P. Jones; Homer E. McKay; James C. Newman, Jr.;
Melvin C. Thompson; Lynn M. Travis (all missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: At 0900 hours on February 5, 1968, a P3 "Orion" aircraft assigned to
Patrol Squadron 26 at U Tapao Airbase, Thailand, left on a "Market Time"
mission over the Gulf of Thailand (Gulf of Siam). They were scheduled to return
to their base at about 0900 hours the following morning.

The crew on board the aircraft included Lt. Thomas P. Jones; LtJg. Lynn M.
Travis; LtJg. Roy A. Huss; AXCS Donald F. Burnett; AX3 Armando
Chapa Jr.; AX3 William F. Farris (AX designates Antisubmarine warfare
technicians and related duties); AOC Donald L. Gallagher; AMH2 Homer E. McKay;
ADR1 James C. Newman Jr.; AE1 Melvin C. Thompson (A designates in many cases,
aviation personnel, i.e. AE1 is Aviation Electrician's Mate First Class).

As antisubmarine warfare was all but unknown in Vietnam, there were a variety
of duties handled by those trained in antisubmarine warfare. As marking
submarines, and/or destroying them involved the use of marking buoys,
electronic "ears" and other technical equipment suited for target marking,
antisubmarine teams were frequently used for search missions. They also
sometimes assisted in attacks on small enemy water craft.

Shortly after midnight on February 6, the Orion reported a surface contact.
Some two hours later it reported another contact somewhat further east. The
last report received from the Orion was after 0300 hours. No subsequent
communication was received.

An emergency communication alert for the aircraft was declared shortly after
daybreak and a full search and rescue (SAR) was declared. In the late
afternoon of February 6, wreckage and debris were sighted and identified.

On February 7 search and rescue operations were terminated at sundown. Salvage
operations were conducted from February 11 through March 21. The investigating
officer concluded that the Orion had impacted with the water, and that the
aircraft had been completely destroyed, and that all of the crewmembers had
died instantly.

The Orion went down about 50 miles off the shores of South Vietnam's An Xuyen
Province in the Gulf of Thailand. Presumably, all the crew aboard are "buried"
at sea - an honorable burial for a naval man. This crew is listed with honor
among the missing because no remains were ever found.

For the crew of the Orion, death seems a certainty. For hundreds of others,
however, simple answers are not possible. Adding to the torment of nearly
10,000 reports relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asia is the certain
knowledge that some Americans who were known to be prisoners of war were not
released at the end of the war. Others were suspected to be prisoners, and
still others were in radio contact with would-be rescuers when last seen alive.
Many were known to have survived their loss incidents, only to disappear
without a trace.

The problem of Americans still missing torments not only the families of those
who are missing, but the men who fought by their sides, and those in the
general public who realize the full implication of leaving men unaccounted for
at the end of a war.

Tragically, many authorities believe there are hundreds of Americans still
alive in captivity in Southeast Asia today.  What must they be thinking of us?
What will our next generation say if called to fight if we are unable to bring
these men home from Southeast Asia?


Prepared by Homecoming II Project 01 December 1989.

GALLAGHER, JOHN THEODORE

Name: John Theodore Gallagher
Rank/Branch: E6/US Army Special Forces
Unit: Command & Control North, MACV-SOG, 5th Special Forces Group
Date of Birth: 17 June 1943 (Summit NJ)
Home City of Record: Hamden CT
Date of Loss: 05 January 1968
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 161907N 1063445E (XD701021)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1D
Other Personnel In Incident: James Williamson; Dennis C. Hamilton; Ernest F.
Briggs; Sheldon D. Schultz (all missing); (indigenous team members, names,
numbers, fates unknown)

REMARKS: NO SIGN OF CREW

SYNOPSIS: On January 5, 1968, WO Dennis C. Hamilton, aircraft commander; WO
Sheldon D. Schultz, pilot; SP5 Ernest F. Briggs, Jr., crew chief; SP4 James P.
Williamson, crewman, and SSgt. John T. Gallagher, passenger; were aboard a UH1D
helicopter (tail # 66-1172) on a mission to infiltrate an indigenous
reconnaissance patrol into Laos.

The reconnaissance patrol and SSgt. Gallagher were operating under orders to
Command & Control North, MACV-SOG (Military Assistance Command, Vietnam Studies
and Observation Group). MACV-SOG was a joint service high command
unconventional warfare task force engaged in highly classified operations
throughout Southeast Asia. The 5th Special Forces channeled personnel into
MACV-SOG (although it was not a Special Forces group) through Special
Operations Augmentation (SOA), which provided their "cover" while under secret
orders to MACV-SOG. The teams performed deep penetration missions of strategic
reconnaissance and interdiction which were called, depending on the time frame,
"Shining Brass" or "Prairie Fire" missions.

As the aircraft approached the landing zone about 20 miles inside Laos south of
Lao Bao, it came under heavy 37mm anti-aircraft fire while at an altitude of
about 300 feet above ground level. The aircraft immediately entered a nose-low
vertical dive and crashed.

Upon impact with the ground, the aircraft burst into flames which were 10 to 20
feet high. No radio transmissions were heard during the helicopter's descent,
nor were radio or beeper signals heard after impact. Four attempts to get into
the area of the downed helicopter failed due to intense ground fire.

During the next two days more attempts to get to the wreckage failed. The pilot
of one search helicopter maneuvered to within 75 feet of the crash site before
being forced out by enemy fire. The pilot who saw the wreckage stated that the
crashed helicopter was a mass of burned metal and that there was no part of the
aircraft that could be recognized. No signs of life were seen in the crash area.

Weather delayed further search attempts for a couple of days. After the weather
improved, the successful insertion of a ground team was made east of the crash
site to avoid enemy fire. The team was extracted after the second day, finding
nothing. The crash site was located near the city of Muong Nong in Savannakhet
Province, Laos.

Nearly 600 Americans were lost in Laos. The Pathet Lao insisted that the "tens
of tens" of Americans they held would only be released from Laos, but the U.S.
did not officially recognize the communist faction in Laos and did not
negotiate for American prisoners being held by them. Not one American held by
the Lao was ever released.

Alarmingly, evidence continues to mount that Americans were left as prisoners
in Southeast Asia and continue to be held today. Unlike "MIAs" from other wars,
most of the nearly 2500 men and women who remain missing in Southeast Asia can
be accounted for. Perhaps the crew of the helicopter did not survive the crash,
but until there is positive proof of their deaths, we cannot forget them. If
even one was left behind at the end of the war, alive, (and many authorities
estimate the numbers to be in the hundreds), we have failed as a nation until
and unless we do everything possible to secure his freedom and bring him home.


GALLANT, HENRY JOSEPH

Name: Henry Joseph Gallant
Rank/Branch: E8/US Army 5th Special Forces
Unit: Detachment B-52 Delta
Date of Birth: 30 September 1929
Home City of Record: Tampa FL
Date of Loss: 13 July 1965
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 140342N 1083335E (BR365558)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Other Personnel In Incident: Fred Taylor (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: WOUND GUT - AIRGND SERCH NEG - J

SYNOPSIS: On July 13, 1965, SFC Fred Taylor and MSGT Henry J. Gallant were
U.S. Army Special Forces (B-52 Delta) advisors to a South Vietnamese unit (ARVN)
on a reconnaissance mission in Dien Bien Province, South Vietnam when they were
engaged by a hostile force.

During the battle, Gallant was wounded, although the seriousness of his wound
was not known. The two were cut off from the bulk of their ARVN unit and were
last seen as they were moving southwest into the surrounding jungle in an
attempt to evade the enemy. All searches conducted were negative.

While the A Detachments of the Special Forces concentrated on manning static
defenses and training natives in local defense, the B Detachments were committed
to deep strikes into uncontrolled territory to seek out Viet Cong formations and
supply sources. The genesis of this program (May, 1964) was called Leaping Lena,
and provided the groundwork for the formation of a combined American/South
Vietnamese special reconnaissance unit capable of conducting these hazardous
missions. Organized as Project DELTA in October 1964, Detachment B-52 was
created to provide a control headquarters in June 1965.

Sgts. Gallant and Taylor were not ordinary foot soldiers. They were highly
trained in survival and evasion techniques. The chances of their survival,
barring outright assassination, are high. The fact that Gallant was wounded and
that all searches proved negative do not suggest survival, but do not
contraindict it.

As the years have passed, over 10,000 reports have been received relating to
Americans missing, prisoner, or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia. These reports
have convinced many that hundreds are still alive in the hands of a long-ago
enemy. Gallant and Taylor could be among them. What are we doing to bring these
men home?

GALVIN, RONALD EDMOND

Name: Ronald Edmond Galvin
Rank/Branch: E2/US Navy
Unit: Heavy Attack Squadron 4, USS Kitty Hawk (CVA-63)
Date of Birth: 20 June 1941
Home City of Record: River Forest IL
Date of Loss: 08 March 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 175500N 1064000E (XE818816)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A3B
Other Personnel in Incident: Carrol O. Crain, George F. Pawlish (missing)

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: RADIO CONTACT LOST

SYNOPSIS: LCdr. Carrol O. Crain, pilot; LtJG George F. Pawlish, co-pilot; and
AT Ronald E. Galvin, aviation electronics technician; comprised the crew of an
A3B "Skywarrior" aircraft on board the USS Kitty Hawk (CVA-63) off the coast of
Vietnam in 1967. The three were assigned to Heavy Attack Squadron 4.

On March 8, 1967 Crain's aircraft launched from the Kitty Hawk on a strike
mission into North Vietnam. Shortly after launch, they were notified to delay
their time over the target by ten minutes due to a delay in the launching of the
support aircraft. This was the last contact with them. No distress signals were
received and all efforts to locate or make contact with them were unsuccessful.
Their last known location was about 15 miles off the coast of North Vietnam, due
east of the city of Ron.

All three men were listed Missing In Action, and were not declared dead until
seven years later, at which time their deaths were accounted as hostile deaths
occurring while the men were missing, indicating that enemy action was involved,
not merely in a watery grave. Despite these determinations, the Navy judged that
the aircraft flew or fell into the water prior to departing their over-water
holding point. A naval casualty board determined that their bodies could not be
recovered.

Although returned U.S. prisoners in 1973 were unable to show that either he or
his crewmen were ever in the prison system, in the absence of proof otherwise,
it is possible to entertain the notion that the three, if they managed to escape
the sinking aircraft, could have been picked up by Vietnamese boats who happened
to be in the coastal area.

Certainly, the possibility also exists that Crain, Pawlish and Galvin died the
day their aircraft went down. They are among nearly 2500 Americans still
missing, prisoner or unaccounted for from the Vietnam War.

Unfortunately, nearly 10,000 reports have convinced many authorities that there
are hundreds of Americans still alive and in captivity in Southeast Asia.
Whether the crew of the A3 is among them is uncertain, but one cannot question
that it is long past time to bring our men home.


GAN, LEONARDO MEDINA

Name: Leonardo Medina Gan
Rank/Branch: E7/USN
Unit: USS WALKER
Date of Birth: 13 April 1929
Home City of Record: Philippines
Date of Loss: 02 October 1969
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 175402N 1073602E (YE754810)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: C2A

Personnel In Incident: Terry L. Beck; Richard W. Bell; Michael L. Bowman; Frank
Bytheway; Rolando C. Dayao; Donald C. Dean; Herbert H. Dilger; Carl J. Ellerd;
James J. Fowler; Roy G. Fowler; Leonardo M. Gan; Paul E. Gore; William D.
Gorsuch; Rayford J. Hill; Delvin L. Kohler; Howard M. Koslosky; Robert B.
Leonard; Richard A. Livingston; Ronald W. Montgomery; William R. Moore; Paul K.
Moser; Kenneth M. Prentice; Fidel G. Salazar; Keavin L. Terrell; Michael J. Tye;
Reynaldo R. Viado (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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: On October 2, 1969, a C2A "Greyhound" cargo aircraft from Reserve
Cargo Squadron 50 departed Cubi Point Naval Air Station, Republic of the
Philippines on a shuttle flight to various aircraft carriers in the Gulf of
Tonkin in Vietnam, including the USS CONSTELLATION, the USS WALKER, the USS
HAMMER, and the USS LONG BEACH.

The flight crew onboard the aircraft, assigned to Fleet Support Squadron 50
based in Atsugi Naval Air Station, Japan, included the pilot, Lt. Herbert H.
Dilger; co-pilot, Lt. Richard A. Livingston; air crewman, Petty Officer 3rd
Class Paul K. Moser; aircraft captain, Petty Officer 3rd Class Michael J. Tye;
and loadmaster-trainee, Petty Officer 3rd Class Rayford J. Hill. Most of the
twenty passengers appear to be bound for the USS CONSTELLATION, but one was
bound for the USS LONG BEACH, one of the four Philippine citizens onboard was
headed for the USS HAMMER, and two to the USS WALKER.

The aircraft was inbound to the CONSTITUTION and made communication at about
0600 hours, reporting that operations were normal. When communicatons were
established with the Carrier Air Control, control was passed to the Marshall
controller (Approach Control). The carrier's radar continued tracking the
aircraft until approximately 0655, at which time radar contact was lost at about
10 nautical miles from the CONSTELLATION.

Helicopter search and rescue efforts were immediately initiated from the ship.
The helicopter began sighting an oil slick and debris. A few pieces of aircraft
were recovered, and analysis of this debris indicated that the aircraft was in a
relatively high speed nose down, right wing down impact with the water or had a
possible right wing failure before impact. There was no sign of survivors, nor
were any bodies recovered.

The crew and passengers onboard the C2 which went down on October 2, 1969 were
all declared Killed/Body Not Recovered. There is very little hope that they will
ever be found. They are listed with honor among the missing because no remains
were ever located to repatriate to their homeland.

For many of the missing, however, solutions are not so simple. Several were
photographed in captivity, but never returned. Others were alive and well the
last they were seen awaiting rescue. Still others described their imminent
captures. For the families of these men, the years have passed heartbreakingly
slow.

Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing in
Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. Government. Many officials who
have reviewed this largely classified information are convinced that hundreds of
Americans are still alive as captives in Southeast Asia. It's time we brought
our men home.

GANLEY, RICHARD OWEN

Name: Richard Owen Ganley
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 41st Tactical Airlift Squadron, Ubon Airfield, Thailand
Date of Birth: 22 September 1940
Home City of Record: Keene NH
Date of Loss: 24 November 1969
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 154900N 1064600E (YC902495)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: C130A
Other Personnel in Incident: Michael D. Balamonti; Earl C. Brown; Rexford J.
Dewispelaere; Charles R. Fellenz; Larry I. Grewell; Peter R. Matthes; Donald L.
Wright (all missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On November 24, 1969, a C130A departed Ubon Airfield, Thailand on an
operational mission over Laos. The crew aboard the aircraft included Maj.
Michael D. Balamonti (the navigator); Capt. Earl C. Brown; Capt. Richard O.
Ganley; 1Lt. Peter R. Matthes (the copilot); and Sgts. Donald L. Wright; Larry
I. Grewell; Charles R. Fellenz; and Rexford J. DeWispelaere.

While on the mission, near Ban Bac, Savannakhet Province, Laos, the C130 was
observed to be struck by several rounds of 37mm anti-aircraft fire, burst into
flames, crash to the ground, and explode on impact. All the crew was declared
Missing in Action, but due to enemy presence in the area, it was strongly felt
that the enemy could account for them. It was not determined whether the crew
died or survived the crash of the aircraft.

The crew of the C130 are among nearly 600 Americans who were lost in Laos. When
Dr. Henry Kissinger negotiated President Nixon's Peace Agreements in Paris in
1973, ending American involvement in the Vietnam War, the Americans lost in
Laos were forgotten. Kissinger did not negotiate for them, even though several
were known to be Prisoners of War, and some 125 of them were known to have
survived their loss incidents. Furthermore, the Pathet Lao stated on several
occasions that they held "tens of tens" of American prisoners.

The nearly 600 Americans lost in Laos have never been negotiated for, and not
one American held in Laos was released at the end of the war.

Since the end of the war, nearly 10,000 reports have been received by the U.S.
relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asia. Many authorities believe that
hundreds remain alive today, held captive. Whether the crew of the C130 could
be among them is not known, but it seems certain that there are compelling
questions that need answers. Among them - why did we abandon the men who served
our country? What are we doing to bring them home?


Prepared by Homecoming II Project 01 December 1989.




GANOE, BERMAN JR.

Name: Berman Ganoe, Jr.
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit:170th Aviation Company, 17th Aviation Group, 52nd Aviation Battalion, 1st
Aviation Brigade
Date of Birth: 25 November 1948 (Jacksonville FL)
Home City of Record: Belleview FL
Date of Loss: 24 March 1970
Country of Loss: Cambodia
Loss Coordinates: 142750N 1071816E (YB484003)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 3
Acft/Venicle/Ground: UH1H

Other Personnel in Incident: John C. Hosken; Rudy M. Becerra; Michael
O'Donnell; John Boronski; Gary A. Harned, Jerry L. Pool (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 July 1990 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, including James E. Lake's account found in
"Life on the Line" by Philip D. Chinnery, interviews.

REMARKS: SURVIVAL UNLIKELY - PER SAR

SYNOPSIS: Kontum, South Vietnam was in the heart of "Charlie country" -- hostile
enemy territory. The little town is along the Ia Drang River, some forty miles
north of the city of Pleiku. U.S. forces never had much control over the area.
In fact, the area to the north and east of Kontum was freefire zone where
anything and anyone was free game. The Kontum area was home base to what was
known as FOB2 (Forward Observation Base 2), a classified, long-term operations
of the Special Operations Group (SOG) that involved daily operations into Laos
and Cambodia. SOG teams operated out of Kontum, but staged out of Dak To.

The mission of the 170th Assault Helicopter Company ("Bikinis") was to perform
the insertion, support, and extraction of these SOG teams deep in the forest on
"the other side of the fence" (a term meaning Laos or Cambodia, where U.S.
forces were not allowed to be based). Normally, the teams consisted of two
"slicks" (UH1 general purpose helicopters), two Cobras (AH1 assault helicopters)
and other fighter aircraft which served as standby support.

On March 24, 1970, helicopters from the 170th were sent to extract a MACV-SOG
long-range reconnaissance patrol (LRRP) team which was in contact with the enemy
about fourteen miles inside Cambodia in Ratanokiri Province. The flight leader,
RED LEAD, serving as one of two extraction helicopters was commanded by James E.
Lake. Capt. Michael D. O'Donnell was the aircraft commander of one of the two
cover aircraft (serial #68-15262, RED THREE). His crew consisted of WO John C.
Hoskins, pilot; SP4 Rudy M. Beccera, crew chief; and SP4 Berman Ganoe, gunner.

The MACV-SOG team included 1LT Jerry L. Pool, team leader and team members SSGT
John A. Boronsky and SGT Gary A. Harned as well as five indigenous team members.
The team had been in contact with the enemy all night and had been running and
ambusing, but the hunter team pursuing them was relentless and they were
exhausted and couldn't continue to run much longer. when Lake and O'Donnell
arrived at the team's location, there was no landing zone (LZ) nearby and they
were unable to extract them immeidately. The two helicopters waited in a high
orbit over the area until the team could move to a more suitable extraction
point.

While the helicopters were waiting, they were in radio contact with the team.
After about 45 minutes in orbit, Lake received word from LT Pool that the NVA
hunter team was right behind them. RED LEAD and RED THREE made a quick trip to
Dak To for refueling. RED THREE was left on station in case of an emergency.

When Lake returned to the site, Pool came over the radio and said that if the
team wasn't extracted then, it would be too late. Capt. O'Donnell evaluated the
situation and decided to pick them up. He landed on the LZ and was on the ground
for about 4 minutes, and then transmitted that he had the entire team of eight
on board. The aircraft was beginning its ascent when it was hit by enemy fire,
and an explosion in the aircraft was seen. The helicopter continued in flight
for about 300 meters, then another explosion occurred, causing the aircraft to
crash in the jungle. According to Lake, bodies were blown out the doors and fell
into the jungle. [NOTE: According to the U.S. Army account of the incident, no
one was observed to have been thrown from the aircraft during either explosion.]

The other helicopter crewmen were stunned. One of the Cobras, Panther 13,
radioed "I don't think a piece bigger than my head hit the ground." The second
explosion was followed by a yellow flash and a cloud of black smoke billowing
from the jungle. Panther 13 made a second high-speed pass over the site and came
under fire, but made it away unscathed.

Lake decided to go down and see if there was a way to get to the crash site. As
he neared the ground, he was met with intense ground fire from the entire area.
He could not see the crash site sice it was under heavy tree cover. There was no
place to land, and the ground fire was withering. He elected to return the
extract team to Dak To before more aircraft was lost. Lake has carried the
burden of guilt with him for all these years, and has never forgiven himself for
leaving his good friend O'Donnell and his crew behind.

The Army account concludes stating that O'Donnell's aircraft began to burn
immediately upon impact. Aerial search and rescue efforts began immediately;
however, no signs of life could be seen around the crash site. Because of the
enemy situation, attempts to insert search teams into the area were futile. SAR
efforts were discontinued on April 18. Search and rescue teams who surveyed the
site reported that they did not hold much hope for survival for the men aboard,
but lacking proof that they were dead, the Army declared all 7 missing in
action.


For every patrol like that of the MACV-SOG LRRP team that was detected and
stopped, dozens of other commando teams safely slipped past NVA lines to strike
a wide range of targets and collect vital information. The number of MACV-SOG
missions conducted with Special Forces reconnaissance teams into Laos and
Cambodia was 452 in 1969. It was the most sustained American campaign of
raiding, sabotage and intelligence gathering waged on foreign soil in U.S.
military history. MACV-SOG's teams earned a global reputation as one of the most
combat effective deep penetration forces ever raised.

By 1990 over 10,000 reports have been received by the U.S. Government concerning
men missing in Southeast Asia. The government of Cambodia has stated that it
would like to return a number of American remains to the U.S. (in fact, the
number of remains mentioned is more than are officially listed missing in that
country), but the U.S., having no diplomatic relations with Cambodia, refuses to
respond officially to that offer.

Most authorities believe there are hundreds of Americans still alive in
Southeast Asia today, waiting for their country to come for them. Whether the
LRRP team and helicopter crew is among them doesn't seem likely, but if there is
even one American alive, he deserves our ultimate efforts to bring him home.


Michael O'Donnell was recommended for the Congressional Medal of Honor for his
actions on March 24, 1970. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the
Air Medal, the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart as well as promoted to the rank
of Major following his loss incident. O'Donnell was highly regarded by his
friends in the "Bikinis." They knew him as a talented singer, guitar player and
poet. One of his poems has been widely distributed, but few understand that the
author remains missing.

If you are able,
save them a place
inside of you
and save one backward glance
when you are leaving
for the places they can
no longer go.
Be not ashamed to say
you loved them,
though you may
or may not have always.
Take what they have left
and what they have taught you
with their dying
and keep it with your own.
And in that time
when men decide and feel safe
to call the war insane,
take one moment to embrace
those gentle heroes
you left behind.

Major Michael Davis O'Donnell
1 January 1970
Dak To, Vietnam



GANZINOTTI, LEONARD E.

Name: Leonard E. Ganzinotti
Rank/Branch: Civilian
Unit: Glomar Java Sea
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record:
Date of Loss: 25 October 1983
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates:
Status (in 1973):
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground:

Personnel in Incident: Herman Arms; Jerald T. Battiste; Sebe M. Bracey; Patrick
B. Cates; Wei Chen; Xiong Chen; Shu Guo Cheng; Jacob K. J. Chong; David P.
Clifton; James F. Cusick; Thomas J. Dixon; Shao Jien Feng; Jerald J. Flanagan;
Nigel Furness; Leonard E. Ganzinotti; La Juan A. Gilmore; Henry M. Gittings;
James K. Gittings; Terance C. Green; Jun Tian Guan; David Higgins, Jr.; Tyronne
Higgins; Hong Xi Huang; Rui Wen Huang; Yong Liang Huang; Timothy Jarvis; John W.
Jennings Jr.; Thomas J. Kofahl; Fan Xiang Kong; Guo Zhen Lai; John W. Lawrence;
Tong L. T. Lee; Chong Chang Li; Xuan Qiu Li; Zhan Jun Liang; Jie Feng Lin; Bing
Guang Liu; Edgar S. Lim; Gary Looke; Robert M. McCurry; Jerry L. Manfrida;
Raymond D. Miller; Xie Yi Mo; Tian Xue Mo; Kenneth W. Myers; Larry K. Myers;
Donald J. Ouellet; John D. Pierce; Peter Popiel; Clarence Reed; Jewell J.
Reynolds; E.J. Russell Reynolds; Walter T. Robinson; Kenneth B. Rogers; Lawrence
M. Salzwedel; William R. Schug; Richard E. Shoff; Christopher J. Sleeman; Delmar
A. Spencer; George G. Sullivan; Chong Jian Sun; Gustaf F. Swanson; Kevin C.
Swanson; Guo Dong Tang; Michael W. Thomas; Jiang Wang; Yu Fang Wang; Dong Cai
Wang; Guo Rong Wu; jing Sheng Xia; Xing Xing; Hui Xu; Ming Rui Xu; Mua Guang
Yuan; Xing Zhen Zhang; Yi Hua Zhang; Ji Chang Zhen; Shu Rong Zhou; Yao Wu Zhou;
Jie Fang Zhou; Da Huai Zhu.

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 10 December 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 5,930-ton American drilling ship, "Glomar Java Sea" was owned by
Global Marine of Houston, Texas, and leased to Atlantic Richfield Company
(ARCO). In the fall of 1983, the vessel was on duty about 200 miles east of the
Vietnamese coast. The ship was drilling for oil in the South China Sea in a
joint venture of ARCO and China Naitonal Offshore Oil Corporation, a state-owned
concern.

The "Glomar Java Sea" is a sister ship of the "Glomar Explorer," which, under
the guise of being utilized by the late Howard Hughes in a deep sea mining
operation in the Paficic, was really being used by the CIA and Navy in a $350
million project to retrieve a sunken Soviet Golf-class submarine. A large part
of the submarine was in fact recovered in 1974 before details of the project
were publicly revealed.

The Glomar Java Sea, with its crew of 81, began drilling operations on January
9, 1983 and was the first American wildcat operaton off the Chinese coast. On
October 25, 1983, the vessel was sunk during Typhoon Lex.

Documents removed from the ship by a crewman before the disaster indicate that
the vessel was being shadowed by armed Vietnamese naval craft and that there
were submarine mines beneath the "Glomar Java Sea," placed there and retrievable
by its crew. Another document indicates that the ship was damaged prior ot the
typhoon when a Chinese supply boat rammed into its side, causing some $320,000
damage to the vessel. The Glomar Java Sea did not leave its post for repairs.

Communications between ARCO and Global Marine, as well as telegraphic and radio
communications of the U.S. Western Pacific Rescue Coordination Center (WESTPAC)
reveal information about the search for the crew of the Glomar Java Sea.

The documents indicate that a number of survivors from the stricken vessel were
floundering in the water off the coast of Vietnam for hours after the disaster.
There is also indication that the men were picked up by Vietnamese coastal
patrols and are held captive of the Hanoi regime.

The crew of the Glomar Java Sea included 37 Americans, 35 Chinese, four British,
two Singaporeans, one Filipino, one Australian, and one Canadian.

From a transcript of a radio communicaton between WESTPAC and Global Marine on
October 28, three days after the sinking, WESTPAC was told:  "We are informed
that the SOS transmission could not have been transmitted except by human
operators..." There were two 64-man lifeboats aboard the drilling ship, plus
smaller lifeboats.

In an October 29 communicaton from WESTPAC to Global Marine, it is clearly
stated that five strobe lights were sighted by rescue aircraft in the vicinity
of 17-30 North 107-45 East. The aircraft were dispatched to the area because
strobe lights had been previously sighted. Lifejackets from the Glomar Java Sea
were equipped with strobe lights to signal rescuers.

Another October 29 communication between ARCO and Global Marine states that
ARCO's search aircraft had spotted survivors in the water at 17.27 North 107.54
East, and had attempted to divert surface vessels to this location. The
communication expressed the urgency to rescue the men before dark.

At 8:01 a.m. on October 29, ARCO had dropped a rescue raft to survivors.  Pickup
would be delayed for several hours, but the "Salvanquish," a Singapore-based
salvage ship, was within one half-mile of the site.

At 8:38 a.m search aircraft reported pinpointing the survivors' positions by dye
markers released by the survivors into the water. Two survivors were confirmed
with a possible third some distance away. Plans were also made to return to the
downed vessell to offlift survivors.

Another document shows that on nine different occasions radio transmissions were
picked up from a lifeboat. They ranged from "very strong" to "weak" with most
being described as "strong."

Inexplicably, despite the successful search, no rescue was made of the
survivors. Later that day, the Chinese Navy picked up a Vietnamese broadcast
reporting that the Vietnamese had sighted a lifeboat near their coast. The
location of the lifeboat was not confirmed by friendly search parties.

ARCO-Global Marine determined that this sighting was in the vicinity of Hon Gio
Island, located about 80 miles up the Vietnamese coast from the old U.S. base at
Da Nang and about 14 miles offshore, which placed it in Vietnamese territorial
waters. It appears that rescue craft were hampered in fully investigating the
report due to its location and the hint of possible interference by the
Vietnamese military.

It is likely that survivors would have been picked up by the Vietnamese if they
had in fact drifted within Vietnam's territory.

In the years following the loss of the Glomar Java Sea, a number of reports, all
unconfirmed by the U.S., indicate that survivors were seen in captivity in
Vietnam. It is known that the Vietnamese had shown a hostile interest in the
vessel, and the Glomar Java Sea had standing orders to be alert for Vietnamese
vessels in the area. The Chinese Navy served as protection for the vessel and
stood ready to take action should Vietnamese craft wander too close. The waters
below the vessel were mined.

A month after the Glomar Java Sea went down, Chinese divers went down to the
wreckage and went through the ship with a video cameras.

In March 1984, American divers were able to retrieve 31 bodies from the sunken
vessel. Fifteen of the bodies were identified as Americans. In addition, three
British and one Singaporean were identified. The bodies of another American and
two Chinese were tentatively identified. Divers photographed two bodies they
were unable to retrieve. They also found one of the Chinese divers that had
explored the wreckage in November 1983, lashed to the deck of the ship.

The American divers determined that one of the ship's large lifeboats was
launched and that an attempt had been made to launch another. Their film was
seen by the mother of one of the lost crewmen. She reported that the crack in
the hull of the ship at one point was a hole 48 inches across, which was
punctured inward, "as though the rig had been hit by something that exploded."
This fueled additional speculation that the vessel had, in fact, been attacked
rather that simply mortally damaged by the typhoon.

The National Transportaton Safety Board officially determined in November 1984
that an "unexplained crack" in the hull of the Glomar Java Sea was responsible
for its sinking during the typhoon. Apparently, the crack in the hull allowed
two storage tanks to fill with water, causing the vessel to become off-balanced,
making it vulnerable to the forces of the typhoon. Officials believed it was
possible that survivors may have been able to abandon the ship before it sank.
It was determined that the ship had been improperly prepared for the storm.

During 1984, there were reports from Southeast Asia that between six and twelve
survivors of the Glomar Java Sea were being held in prisoner of war camps in
Vietnam. One of the survivors was identified by a Vietnamese refugee as American
crewman John Pierce.

Douglas F. Pierce, father of John Pierce, reported that the refugee had seen his
son, five other Americans and eight Chinese when they were brought into a prison
in Da Nang, where the refugee was being held. John Pierce gave the refugee his
father's business card and two sticks of gum.

Mr. Pierce gave the information to Defense Intelligence Agency who determined
that the refugee had not been in the camp at all, but had received the business
card by mail from a friend, not directly from Pierce. DIA further determined
that the incident had occurred in late October 1983 (shortly after the Glomar
Java Sea went down). The refugee gave Mr. Pierce the original letter, which
contained the names and addresses of two mutual Vietnamese friends.

No followup was conducted on the two names in the letter by DIA, and DIA
discounted the information provided by the refugee. It was not until 1990 that
it became apparent that the Defense Department felt no responsibility for the
Americans lost on the Glomar Java Sea. At that time, DIA reported that the
responsibility for these civilians belonged to the U.S. State Department.

Mr. Pierce did not stop there. He uncovered a U.S. State Department document
that revealed that Cheng Quihong, the secretary and wife of the Director of
China's Visa Office, was overheard telling her companion at a Hong Kong dinner
that survivors from the Glomar had been picked up and were held by the
Vietnamese.

Pierce also learned that a JCRC report sent to DIA dated November 6, 1984,
reported that a former prisoner from Pleiku prison had been held with a Chinese
man who claimed to have been off the Glomar. The man said he was one of three
men who were captured, and that the other two were Americans.

Pierce adds that to his knowledge, neither of these reports were followed up by
U.S. officials, and Pierce has received no reply to his queries regarding them.

In 1989 a Japanese monk named Yoshida was released from prison after being held
for years by the Vietnamese. Yoshida was shown a photograph of John Pierce and
stated that Pierce looked very familiar, and that he had either seen him or
someone who looked very much like him.

In November, 1990, Vietamese Foreign Minister Nguyen Co Thach traveled to the
U.S. and spoke with U.S. officials on a variety of matters. At this time, he
announced that there was a black American named Walter T. Robinson living
illegally in Vietnam, and invited U.S. representatives to come and help find
him. Thach provided a social security number and two photographs.

The Pentagon told "The Washington Times" that the two photographs of Robinson
provided by Thach are of a black man. However, the Pentagon has since admitted
that the photos "are not very well developed" and appear to be of either a black
man or a dark Asian. Photocopies of old newspaper articles concerning Robinson,
obtained by Homecoming II, show a dark-haired man of relatively dark complexion.

The Pentagon has not released the photographs to the press.

The Defense Department determined that Walter T. Robinson had never been listed
as missing in Vietnam. Thach had provided a social security number, and
according to DOD, this information correlated to a white American living in the
Midwest. They concluded that the Thach information, therefore, was in error.

Later information indicated that a Walter T. Robinson was listed on the crew
roster of the Glomar Java Sea. When queried, the Defense Department reported
that they were aware of this Robinson, but that civilians were the
responsibility of the State Department.

It seems apparent that the U.S. is not vigorously looking for the men missing
from the Glomar Java Sea, and that like the missing and prisoners who served in
military and civilian capacities during the Vietnam war, they have been
abandoned.


GARBETT, JIMMY RAY

Name: Jimmy Ray Garbett
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: Company A, 5th Battalion, 12th Infantry, 199th Light Infantry Brigade
Date of Birth: 30 August 1948 (Quitman GA)
Home City of Record: Lake City FL
Date of Loss: 09 October 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 110546N 1070433E (YD267273)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1D
Other Personnel in Incident: Dallas A. Driver; Raymond G. Moore; James L.
Suydam; James H. Turner; (all missing).  WO Kilbourne (the pilot - survived);
unnamed crew chief, (survived immediate crash, later drowned - remains
recovered); CW4 James W. Bailey (aircraft commander - remains recovered)

REMARKS: IN RIV - 2 REMS RCV - NSUBJ - J

SYNOPSIS: On October 9, 1969, a UH1H helicopter crew and passengers were
attempting an extraction from a mined pickup zone in eastern Long Khanh
Province, South Vietnam near the shores of the Song Dong Nai River.

During the extraction attempt, the helicopter's rotor blade struck trees,
causing the loss of rotor RPM's and lift capability. The helicopter began
losing altitude, turned right and headed west and downriver in an attempt to
regain air speed. Shortly thereafter, the aircraft struck 15-20 feet of water
in an almost level attitude, and sank on its left side in less than 10 seconds.

Immediate and continuous air and water searches, loudspeaker broadcasts, and
phamplet distributions were conducted during the period of 9-15 October and
19-21 October, suspended October 16-18 only because of poor weather conditions.
No recovery was made of any of those missing from the aircraft, but the remains
of two personnel aboard were located and subsequently identified.

A LRRP swimmer trying to inspect the site had difficulty staying afloat even
with a rope. The individual reported that equipment seen on the shore after the
crash appeared to be alternately submerged and then reappear. It could not be
determined at the time how many persons escaped the aircraft. One who was known
to escape (unnamed in Army records) reported that he could not make it to shore
and went under. Another survivor reported seeing him go down within 3-4 feet of
him, but never saw him again. One of the individuals who was initially seen to
survive, later drowned or was lost in the indicent.

The only survivor of the original crash was WO Kilbourne, the pilot. The two
remains located were identified as the crew chief, who had survived the
immediate crash, but later drowned. CW4 James W. Bailey, the aircraft
commander, was lost and remains recovered.

The waters of the Song Dong Nai River were swift and treacherous. It is
particularly tragic that men who survived an aircraft would drown trying to
reach safety. Driver, Garbett, Moore and Turner were listed as Killed, Body Not
Recovered. Since their remains were never found, they are listed with honor
among the missing.

Unlike the crew of the UH1H, many of the cases of missing Americans in
Southeast Asia have no clear resolution. Some were known to have been captives,
but simply did not come home. Others were alive and well the last time they
were seen. Reports continue to be received on some, specifically by name and
location. Many authorities believe that there are hundreds still alive being
held against their wills.

Although the U.S. has named the resolution of the POW/MIA issue of "highest
national priority", little seems to have been done for those who wait for their
country to secure their freedom.




GARCIA, ANDRES

Name: Andres Garcia
Rank/Branch: E3/US Marine Corps
Unit: HS/2nd Battalion, 9th Marines, 3rd Marine Division
Date of Birth: 27 November 1954
Home City of Record: Carlsbad NM
Date of Loss: 15 May 1975
Country of Loss: Cambodia/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 101800N 1030830E (TS965400)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: CH53A
Other Personnel in Incident: Lynn Blessing; Walter Boyd; Gregory S. Copenhaver;
Daniel A. Benedett; Bernard Gause Jr., James J. Jacques; Ronald J. Manning;
James R. Maxwell; Richard W. Rivenburgh; Antonio R. Sandoval; Kelton R. Turner;
Richard Van de Geer (all missing on CH53A); Gary L. Hall; Joseph N. Hargrove;
Danny G. Marshall (missing on Koah Tang Island); Ashton N. Loney (missing from
Koah Tang Island); Elwood E. Rumbaugh (missing from a CH53A)

REMARKS: 750515 MAYAGUEZ INCIDENT LOSS

SYNOPSIS: When U.S. troops were pulled out of Southeast Asia in early 1975,
Vietnamese communist troops began capturing one city after another, with Hue,
Da Nang and Ban Me Thuot in March, Xuan Loc in April, and finally on April 30,
Saigon. In Cambodia, communist Khmer Rouge had captured the capital city of
Phnom Penh on April 17. The last Americans were evacuated from Saigon during
"Option IV", with U.S. Ambassador Martin departing on April 29. The war,
according to President Ford, "was finished."

2Lt. Richard Van de Geer, assigned to the 21st Special Ops Squadron at NKP, had
participated in the evacuation of Saigon, where helicopter pilots were required
to fly from the decks of the 7th Fleet carriers stationed some 500 miles
offshore, fly over armed enemy-held territory, collect American and allied
personnel and return to the carriers via the same hazardous route, heavily
loaded with passengers. Van de Geer wrote to a friend, "We pulled out close to
2,000 people. We couldn't pull out any more because it was beyond human
endurance to go any more..."

At 11:21 a.m. on May 12, the U.S. merchant ship MAYAGUEZ was seized by the
Khmer Rouge in the Gulf of Siam about 60 miles from the Cambodian coastline and
eight miles from Poulo Wai island. The ship, owned by Sea-Land Corporation, was
en route to Sattahip, Thailand from Hong Kong, carrying a non-arms cargo for
military bases in Thailand.

Capt. Charles T. Miller, a veteran of more than 40 years at sea, was on the
bridge. He had steered the ship within the boundaries of international waters,
but the Cambodians had recently claimed territorial waters 90 miles from the
coast of Cambodia. The thirty-nine seamen aboard were taken prisoner.

President Ford ordered the aircraft carrier USS CORAL SEA, the guided missile
destroyer USS HENRY B. WILSON and the USS HOLT to the area of seizure. By
night, a U.S. reconnaissance aircraft located the MAYAGUEZ at anchor off Poulo
WaI island. Plans were made to rescue the crew.  A battalion landing team of
1,100 Marines was ordered flown from bases in Okinawa and the Philippines to
assemblE at Utapao, Thailand in preparation for the assault.

The first casualties of the effort to free the MAYAGUEZ are recorded on May 13
when a helicopter carrying Air Force security team personnel crashed en route
to Utapao, killing all 23 aboard.

Early in the morning of May 13, the Mayaguez was ordered to head for Koh Tang
island. Its crew was loaded aboard a Thai fishing boat and taken first to Koh
Tang, then to the mainland city of Kompong Song, then to Rong San Lem island.
U.S. intelligence had observed a cove with considerable activity on the island
of Koh Tang, a small five-mile long island about 35 miles off the coast of
Cambodia southwest of the city of Sihanoukville (Kampong Saom), and believed
that some of the crew might be held there. They also knew of the Thai fishing
boat, and had observed what appeared to be caucasians aboard it, but it could
not be determined if some or all of the crew was aboard.

The USS HOLT was ordered to seize and secure the MAYAGUEZ, still anchored off
Koh Tang. Marines were to land on the island and rescue any of the crew. Navy
jets from the USS CORAL SEA were to make four strikes on military installments
on the Cambodian mainland.

On May 15, the first wave of 179 Marines headed for the island aboard eight Air
Force "Jolly Green Giant" helicopters. Three Air Force helicopters unloaded
Marines from the 1st Battalion, 4th Marines onto the landing pad of the USS
HOLT and then headed back to Utapao to pick up the second wave of Marines.
Planes dropped tear gas on the MAYAGUEZ, and the USS HOLT pulled up along side
the vessel and the Marines stormed aboard. The MAYAGUEZ was deserted.

Simultaneously, the Marines of the 2/9 were making their landings on two other
areas of the island. The eastern landing zone was on the cove side where the
Cambodian compound was located. The western landing zone was a narrow spit of
beach about 500 feet behind the compound on the other side of the island. The
Marines hoped to surround the compound.

As the first troops began to unload on both beaches, the Cambodians opened
fire. On the western beach, one helicopter was hit and flew off crippled, to
ditch in the ocean about 1 mile away. The pilot had just disembarked his
passengers, and he was rescued at sea.

Meanwhile, the eastern landing zone had become a disaster. The first two
helicopters landing were met by enemy fire. Ground commander, (now) Col.
Randall W. Austin had been told to expect between 20 and 40 Khmer Rouge
soldiers on the island. Instead, between 150 and 200 were encountered. First,
Lt. John Shramm's helicopter tore apart and crashed into the surf after the
rotor system was hit. All aboard made a dash for the tree line on the beach.

One CH53A helicopter was flown by U.S. Air Force Major Howard Corson and 2Lt.
Richard Van de Geer and carrying 23 U.S. Marines and 2 U.S. Navy corpsmen, all
from the 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines. As the helicopter approached the island,
it was caught in a cross fire and hit by a rocket. The severely damaged
helicopter crashed into the sea just off the coast of the island and exploded.
To avoid enemy fire, survivors were forced to swim out to sea for rescue.
Twelve aboard, including Maj. Corson, were rescued. Those missing from the
helicopter were 2Lt. Richard Van de Geer, PFC Daniel A. Benedett, PFC Lynn
Blessing, PFC Walter Boyd, Lcpl. Gregory S. Copenhaver, Lcpl. Andres Garcia,
PFC James J. Jacques, PFC James R. Maxwell, PFC Richard W. Rivenburgh, PFC
Antonio R. Sandoval, PFC Kelton R. Turner, all U.S. Marines. Also missing were
HM1 Bernard Gause, Jr. and HM Ronald J. Manning, the two corpsmen.

Other helicopters were more successful in landing their passengers. One CH53A,
however was not. SSgt. Elwood E. Rumbaugh's aircraft was near the coastline
when it was shot down. Rumbaugh is the only missing man from the aircraft. The
passengers were safely extracted. (It is not known whether the passengers went
down with the aircraft or whether they were rescued from the island.)

By midmorning, when the Cambodians on the mainland began receiving reports of
the assault, they ordered the crew of the MAYAGUEZ on a Thai boat, and then
left. The MAYAGUEZ crew was recovered by the USS WILSON before the second wave
of Marines was deployed, but the second wave was ordered to attack anyway.

Late in the afternoon, the assault force had consolidated its position on the
western landing zone and the eastern landing zone was evacuated at 6:00 p.m. By
the end of the 14-hour operation, most of the Marines were extracted from the
island safely, with 50 wounded. Lcpl. Ashton Loney had been killed by enemy
fire, but his body could not be recovered.

Protecting the perimeter during the final evacuation was the machine gun squad
of PFC Gary L. Hall, Lcpl. Joseph N. Hargrove and Pvt. Danny G. Marshall. They
had run out of ammunition and were ordered to evacuate on the last helicopter.
It was their last contact. Maj. McNemar and Maj. James H. Davis made a final
sweep of the beach before boarding the helicopter and were unable to locate
them. They were declared Missing in Action.

The eighteen men missing from the MAYAGUEZ incident are listed among the
missing from the Vietnam war. Although authorities believe that there are
perhaps hundreds of American prisoners still alive in Southeast Asia from the
war, most are pessimistic about the fates of those captured by the Khmer Rouge.

In 1988, the communist government of Kampuchea (Cambodia) announced that it
wished to return the remains of several dozen Americans to the United States.
(In fact, the number was higher than the official number of Americans missing
in Cambodia.) Because the U.S. does not officially recognize the Cambodian
government, it has refused to respond directly to the Cambodians regarding the
remains. Cambodia, wishing a direct acknowledgment from the U.S. Government,
still holds the remains.



GARCIA, RICARDO MARTINEZ

Name: Ricardo Martinez Garcia
Rank/Branch: E5/US Army
Unit: 48th Aviation Company, 11th Aviation Group
Date of Birth: 15 September 1951 (Kingsville TX)
Home City of Record: Driscoll TX
Date of Loss: 19 March 1971
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 163940N 1062920E (XD585428)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1C

Other Personnel In Incident: Paul Langenour (rescued); Jon M. Sparks, Frederick
L. Cristman (both missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 September 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: Lam Son 719 was a large-scale offensive against enemy communications
lines which was conducted in that part of Laos adjacent to the two northern
provinces of South Vietnam. The South Vietnamese would provide and command
ground forces, while U.S. forces would furnish airlift and supporting fire.

Phase I, renamed Operation Dewey Canyon II, involved an armored attack by the
U.S. from Vandegrift base camp toward Khe Sanh, while the ARVN moved into
position for the attack across the Laotian border. Phase II began with an ARVN
helicopter assault and armored brigade thrust along Route 9 into Laos. ARVN
ground troops were transported by American helicopters, while U.S. Air Force
provided cover strikes around the landing zones.

During one of these maneuvers, CW2 Frederick L. Cristman was flying a UH1C
helicopter (serial #65-9489) with a crew of three - SP4 Paul A. Langenour, door
gunner, WO1 Jon M. Sparks, co-pilot, and SP5 Ricardo M. Garcia, crew chief -
covering a downed U.S. helicopter during a rescue effort. Cristman's aircraft
flew as the trail ship in a flight of two UH1s on the armed escort mission.

The landing zone (LZ) was under fire, and the pilot of the downed craft was a
buddy of Fred's. He worked the area with his minigun while another helicopter
successfully extracted the pilot.

Cristman and his crew continued to work the hot LZ while other helicopters came
in. His gunship was hit by enemy gunfire. Cristman radioed in to the flight
leader that his transmission oil pressure caution light was on, and that he was
making an emergency landing on the LZ. This was verified by the lead aircraft,
who made several passes over the downed helicopter. Cristman's aircraft crashed
into the ARVN perimeter, and was hit on the roof by a mortar round just as the
crew jumped out. Cristman, his copilot and the crew chief were thrown to the
ground, while the door gunner, SP4 Langenour, was able to exit the aircraft and
join a nearby ARVN unit which returned to a U.S. military controlled area. The
others remained with the chopper, although this was not immediately apparent
from the air. The flight leader's aircraft was also battle-damaged, and he had
to leave the area.

Another helicopter arrived, and although enemy ground fire was received, made it
into the landing zone. Intense enemy fire necessitated a hasty departure, and
only two Vietnamese troops were picked up. During the initial rescue attempt by
the rescue helicopter, no American crewmen were seen on the downed aircraft, and
no radio contact was established.

SP Langenour later stated that after landing, the aircraft received numerous
rounds of mortar fire and he departed the area. He last saw all the other crew
members alive. Due to enemy activity in the area, no ground search of the site
was conducted.

Proof of the deaths of Cristman, Sparks and Garcia was never found. No remains
came home; none was released from prison camp. They were not blown up, nor did
they sink to the bottom of the ocean. Someone knows what happened to them.

Were it not for thousands of reports relating to Americans still held captive in
Southeast Asia today, the families of the UH1C helicopter crew might be able to
believe their men died with their aircraft. But until proof exists that they
died, or they are brought home alive, they will wonder and wait.

How long must they wait before we bring our men home?



GARDNER, GLENN VIRGIL

Name: Glenn Virgil Gardner
Rank/Branch: E2/US Army
Unit: Company B, 4th Battalion, 12th Infantry, 99th Light Infantry Brigade
Date of Birth: 14 August 1947 (Sanger CA)
Home City of Record: San Bernardino CA
Date of Loss: 25 November 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 072730N 1052612E (WP482244)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: water

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: JUMPED OVERBOARD

SYNOPSIS: Private Glenn Gardner was a member of Company B, 4th Battalion, 12th
Infantry, 99th LIB. He was a passenger on troop carrier USNS Daniel I. Salton en
route to Vietnam when he jumped overboard and drowned.

On several occasions, Gardner had threatened to take his life, and to jump
overboard. On this day, he was last seen at 1730 hours, and was reported missing
at approximately 1800 hours following a roll call in which he did not respond. A
search was mounted immediately and continued through the night until 1000 hours
the next day with no results. Gardner was presumed dead, and it was determined
his body could not be recovered.

The Vietnam War touched many lives. Tens of thousands of families lost loved
ones in battle deaths. Tens of thousands saw their sons and brothers come home
maimed physically and mentally from the wounds and torments of the savagry of
war. Some received telegrams that their loved ones drowned in recreation; a few
learned their sons died from drug overdose; and some learned their sons, for
unknown reasons chose to end their lives in Vietnam.

As long as man has been, war has been. As a society, we tend to bury the
unpleasant aspects of war and concentrate on the victory. In Vietnam, we have
only a hollow "Peace with Honor" and must instead, focus on the warriors - men
who willingly served their country when called. Men whose lives we used as the
price for our freedom.

The most tragic of all the warriors are those who still wait, captive and
abandoned by their country in prisons and camps in Southeast Asia. In abandoning
them, we have made the deaths and suffering of thousands a frivolous waste. We
must never neglect the duty we have to the men who must someday answer their
country's call.

CASE SYNOPSIS: GARDNER, JOHN GARRETT

Name: John Garrett Gardner
Rank/Branch: O3/US Marine Corps
Unit: HHM 165, Marine Air Group 36
Date of Birth: 20 July 1940
Home City of Record: Hot Springs NC
Loss Date: 03 June 1967
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 161914N 1064049E (XD795050)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: CH46A
Other Personnel In Incident: Frank E. Cius (returned POW 1973); Timothy R.
Bodden; Ronald J. Dexter; Stephen P. Hanson; Billy Laney; (all missing); Mr. Ky
(Nung Cdr. - wounded and rescued); Charles F. Wilklow (rescued)

REMARKS: LAST SEEN IN CRASHED ACFT

SYNOPSIS: On June 3, 1967, Capt. Steven P. Hanson, pilot; 1Lt. John G. Gardner,
co-pilot; Sgt. Timothy R. Bodden, crew chief/door gunner; LCpl. Frank E. Cius,
doorgunner; SFC Billy R. Laney, SFC Ronald J. Dexter, SFC Charles F. Wilklow
and an unknown number of ARVN personnel, all passengers, were aboard a CH46A
helicopter (serial #150955) on an extraction mission in Laos.

The USMC aircraft picked up a U.S. Army Special Forces team attached to
MACV-SOG, Command and Control, and the ARVN troops they were working with.
Military Assistance Command Vietnam Studies and Observation Group (MACV-SOG)
was a joint service high command unconventional warfare task force engaged in
highly classified operations throughout Southeast Asia. The 5th Special Forces
channeled personnel into MACV-SOG (not a Special Forces group) through Special
Operations Augmentation (SOA) which provided their "cover" while under secret
orders to MACV-SOG. These teams performed deep penetration missions of
strategic reconnaissance and interdiction which were called, depending on the
time frame, "Shining Brass" or "Prairie Fire" missions.

The aircraft received extensive automatic small arms fire upon takeoff from the
Landing Zone, took numerous hits and crashed 350 meters from the LZ, located
about 15 miles inside Laos west of the A Shau Valley. The helicopter did not
burn on impact, and continued to receive fire. Three ARVN troops were able to
return to the LZ where the troops remaining at the LZ were extracted the
following day.

The troops waiting at the LZ could not search because of the hostile threat in
the area. Air searches located the survivors of the crash, but they could not
be evacuated. The only America found to be in a position to be safely evacuated
was SFC Wilklow. He gave the following account of what happened to the crew and
passengers aboard the CH46:

SFC Dexter appeared uninjured and left the wreckage with a large number of ARVN
troops. Capt. Hanson was wounded and outside the helicopter, but stated that he
had to return to get his carbine. The Marine Corps believes he died of the
wounds he received when the aircraft was overrun, although Hanson's wife later
identified her husband in a widely distributed Vietnamese propaganda photograph
of a pilot being captured. When last seen, all the other Americans were still
in the wreckage, and enemy troops (the U.S. Army says they were Viet Cong; the
U.S. Marines say they were North Vietnamese Army - possibly a joint force of
both) were tossing grenades toward the aircraft with no attempt to capture the
personnel inside. Wilklow left the crash site, and noted that gunfire suddenly
stopped. He continued to evade the enemy and was picked up 3 days later.

When Mr. Ky, the Nung Commander was being evacuated by the last helicopter out,
he noted several men (undoubtedly Dexter and the ARVN) in a large bomb crater
firing red star clusters from a flare gun. Frank Cius was taken prisoner and
released from Hanoi in 1973. He was one of the dozen or so captured by the
Vietnamese and taken immediately to Hanoi claimed to be the "Laos" prisoners.
In reality, none of the dozen had been held in Laos. Ronald Dexter, according
to Frank Cius, was captured, and died in captivity on July 29, 1967. John
Gardner, according to the USMC, died on the ground after the crash of the
aircraft due to intense enemy fire. Billy Laney was last seen lying wounded on
the floor of the aircraft between a crewmember with a broken back and the door
gunner with a head wound.

NOTE: the USMC states that Bodden, crewchief/door gunner was shot in the back
and never left the aircraft, but reports received by the National League of
Families indicate that he was definitely alive after the aircraft crashed. The
U.S. did not know Cius was captured until he was released, evidently believing
he never exited the aircraft, and Wilklow had indicated that the Vietnamese
were not trying to capture the occupants of the aircraft. Therefore, as door
gunner, he must have been the "door gunner with the head wound", and Bodden the
"crewmember with a broken back".)

Since 1975, the U.S. Government has received thousands of reports relating to
Americans still alive in Southeast Asia. Many of them cannot be dismissed as
untrue. Officially, the U.S. says it is operating under the assumption that men
are being held, and that the matter is of "highest national priority". Yet, we
seem unable to resolve the mystery. Nor have they ever negotiated for the "tens
of tens" of American prisoners the Lao stated they held.

There can be no question that the communists know the fate of those who were
last seen on the ill-fated CH 46A that day. The men aboard this craft were
inserted into Laos for exceedingly dangerous and important missions. They
deserve no less than America's very best efforts to determine their fates. If
any of them are alive, they must be brought home.
GARNER, JOHN HENRY

Name: John Henry Garner
Rank/Branch: E4/US Navy
Unit: H & S Company, 1st Battalion, 1st Marines, 1st Marine Division
Date of Birth: 14 May 1947
Home City of Record: Charleston Heights SC
Date of Loss: 29 May 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 160338N 1081218E
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Boat

Other Personnel In Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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: As a Hospital Corpsman, John Garner had a standard to meet. The
Marines he served with expected him to be singularly fearless, able to ignore
battles in progress to be in constant attendance of those who were wounded. A
short delay because of fear could mean death to an injured man. The men needed
to know they could count on their Medic.

As a black enlisted man, John Garner had another hurdle to make as well. These
were times when racism was a tense matter, and an adjustment period between
races always occurred until things settled from black/white/red/yellow to
"shades of green".

Hospital Corpsman Third Class Petty Officer John Garner had just turned 20 when
he was returning with his unit from a U.S. Marine search and destroy mission
onboard a River Patrol Boat and the boat came under enemy rifle fire and
overturned. Garner apparently drowned in the accident and searches did not
reveal the whereabouts of his body. He was listed in a casualty status of Killed
In Action/Body Not Recovered (KIA/BNR).

The case of John Garner seems clear. Others who are yet to be accounted for have
cases not so easy to close. Some were known prisoners of war. Some were in radio
contact with would-be rescuers as they described their imminent capture. Some
simply vanished.

Since the war ended, thousands of reports have been received convincing many
that several hundred Americans are still alive in Southeast Asia. While Garner
is evidently not among them, one can imagine this young man proudly jumping at
the cry, "Medic!", to help bring them in.
GARRETT, MAURICE EDWIN JR.

Name: Maurice Edwin Garrett, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O3/US Army
Unit: Troop A, 2nd Squadron, 17th Cavalry, 101st Airborne Division
Date of Birth: 17 April 1946 (Sharon PA)
Home City of Record: Mercer PA
Date of Loss: 22 October 1971
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 163701N 1065442E (YD033383)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: AH1G
Other Personnel in Incident: Danny A Cowan (killed, remains recovered)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Maurice E. Garrett Jr. wanted to fly from the time he was four years
old. He accomplished this goal by learning to fly in the private sector. Garrett
entered the U.S. Army in May, 1966, and steadily advanced through the ranks and
completed Military Police training. Later he graduated from officer training at
Ft. Benning, Georgia. Receiving his commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in August
1967, Garrett was in Vietnam by November for his first tour of duty.

During his first tour, Garrett was a paratrooper. He was wounded three times
during this tour and received three purple hearts, a Silver Star, and other
decorations. He was also promoted to 1st Lieutenant.

Upon completion of his tour, Garrett was selected tor flight training and
trained on the Huey Cobra gunship, and promoted to the rank of Captain. In
December 1970, he returned to Vietnam as the commander of the helicopter
squadron, Troop A, 2nd Squadron, 17th Cavalry, 101st Airborne Division.

On October 22, 1971, Capt. Maurice E. Garrett, Jr., pilot and 1Lt. Danny A.
Cowan, co-pilot/gunner, were aboard an AH1G helicopter (serial #67-15752) as
part of a "Hunter-Killer" team consisting of two AH1G helicopters, one OH6A and
one UH1H.

The team departed Quang Tri and proceeded west on an armed visual
reconnaissance mission. Capt. Garrett instructed the flight to hold on the
eastern side of a ridge line while he continued westward into a valley to check
weather that appeared marginal for team operations.

About one minute after entering the valley, Garrett reported the weather to be
about 200 feet overcast, and continued his weather assessment flight. About 5
minutes from the time he was last seen, Garrett reported that he was in the
cloud and would return to Quang Tri on instruments. He gave instructions for
the rest of the flight to stay clear of his intended flight path.

Shortly afterwards, the aircraft apparently struck trees and continued for a
short distance before crashing. The aircraft impacted and exploded with such
force that the only large identifiable aircraft part that was found was a
vertical fin with part of the serial number. Some parts of the cockpit section
could be identified, but all were badly burned, smashed and scattered by the
explosion.

1Lt. Cowan's remains were found after a ground search was conducted of the
area. As no trace of Capt. Garrett was found, it was determined that he was
killed in the crash, and his body completely destroyed upon impact and
explosion. However, the thorough search failed to reveal any trace of Maurice E.
Garrett--no helmet, no watch, no dentures, no boot eyelets--nothing at all.

Even though the Garrett family was given three separate versions of the loss of
their loved one, for years they were given hope that he could have survived.
Then in 1984, the Garrett family received word from a private source that their
son was still alive. They were among eight families who were so notified.
According to the U.S. this information is false, but the Garretts are not so
sure. And in the back of their minds remains the seeming uncertainty surrounding
the loss as indicated by the Army's three versions.

Whether Garrett survived is unknown. For some of his comrades, however, there is
ample reason for hope. Mounting evidence indicates that hundreds of Americans
were abandoned as prisoners of war at the end of the war and remain in captivity
today. For the honor of those who died in Southeast Asia as well as the honor of
our country itself, those live Americans must be brought home.


GARSIDE, FREDERICK THOMAS

Name: Frederick Thomas Garside
Rank/Branch: E4/US Air Force
Unit: 314th Air Division - Osan Airbase, Korea
Date of Birth: 16 November 1936
Home City of Record: Plymouth MA
Loss Date: 23 March 1961
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 192855N 1031014E (UG081550)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 1
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: C47
Other Personnel in Incident: Lawrence Bailey (released 1962); Alfons
Bankowski; Ralph W. Magee; Glenn Matteson; Leslie V. Sampson; Edgar
Weitkamp; Oscar Weston (all missing)

REMARKS: KIA - RES SHTDN/CRSH

SYNOPSIS: Henry Kissinger once predicted that an "unfortunate" by-product of
"limited political engagements" would be personnel who could not be recovered.
On March 23, 1961, one of the first group of Americans to fall into that
"unfortunate" category were shot from the sky by Pathet Lao antiaircraft guns.
Most Americans at that time did not even know that the United States had
military personnel in Southeast Asia. In fact, most Americans had not even
heard of the name "Laos". The Geneva Agreements had yet to be signed; air
rescue teams had yet to arrive in Southeast Asia.

The C47 aircraft crew consisted of 1Lt. Ralph W. Magee, pilot; 1Lt. Oscar B.
Weston, co-pilot; 2Lt. Glenn Matteson, navigator; SSgt. Alfons A. Bankowski,
flight engineer; SSgt. Frederick T. Garside, assistant flight engineer; SSgt.
Leslie V. Sampson, radio operator; and passengers Maj. Lawrence R. Bailey and
WO1 Edgar W. Weitkamp. Bailey and Weitkamp were assigned to the Army Attache
Office at Vientiane, Laos. The aircraft crew were all Air Force personnel
flying from the 315th Air Division, Osan Airbase, Korea.

This C47 was a specially modified intelligence-gathering SC-47 which took off
from Vientiane for Saigon. The passengers and crew were bound for "R & R" in
the "Paris of the Orient". Before heading for Saigon, the pilot turned north
toward Xieng Khouangville, a Pathet Lao stronghold on the eastern edge of the
Plain of Jars. The crew, experienced in intelligence collection, planned to use
their radio-direction finding equipment to determine the frequencies being used
by Soviet pilots to locate the Xieng Khouangville airfield through the dense
fog that often blanketed the region. Pathet Lao anti-aircraft guns downed the
plane, shearing off a wing and sending the aircraft plummeting toward the
jungle.

Maj. Bailey, who always wore a parachute when he flew, jumped from the falling
aircraft and was captured by the Pathet Lao. Bailey spent seventeen months as a
prisoner in Sam Neua, the Pathet Lao headquarters near the North Vietnamese
border, before being repatriated after the signing of the Geneva Agreements on
Laos in 1962. The caves at Sam Neua were said to have held scores of American
prisoners during and after the war.

The seven men lost on March 23, 1961 were the first of many hundreds of
American personnel shot from the sky only to disappear in the jungles of Laos.
Four Lao sources stated that 7 of the 8 personnel on board died in the crash of
the aircraft, and were buried in the vicinity.

Sixteen years later, in February 1977, several Pathet Lao films were obtained
by a friendly foreign government showing an identification card with a photo of
SSgt. Garside, and an open passport bearing 1Lt. Magee's ID number. The fact
that these items were recovered in good condition is evidence that further
information is available on the crew, due to the fact that the plane was not
completely destroyed, and the Pathet Lao were present at the site of the crash.

Clearly, someone knows what happened to the crew of the C47. Because Laos was
not included in the Paris agreements ending American involvement in Southeast
Asia, and because no agreement has been reached since regarding Lao-held
American POWs, hundreds of Americans remain missing, including the crew of the
C47. Many Americans were known to have survived, and hundreds of reports point
to their survival today.

GARWOOD, ROBERT RUSSELL

Name: Robert Russell Garwood
Rank/Branch: E2/US Marine Corps
Unit:
Date of Birth: 01 April 1946
Home City of Record: Greenville IN
Date of Loss: 28 September 1965
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 160533N 1081431E (BT098670)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: ground
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

REMARKS: 790321 RELSD/EXPAT

SYNOPSIS: For Americans captured in South Vietnam, daily life could be expected
to be brutally difficult. Primarily, these men suffered from disease induced by
an unfamiliar and inadequate diet - dysentery, edema, skin fungus and eczema.
The inadequate diet coupled with inadequate medical care led to the deaths of
many. Besides dietary problems, these POWs had other problems as well. They
were moved regularly to avoid being in areas that would be detected by U.S.
troops, and occasionally found themselves in the midst of U.S. bombing strikes.
Supply lines to the camps were frequently cut off, and when they were, POWs and
guards alike suffered. Unless they were able to remain in one location long
enough to grow vegetable crops and tend small animals, their diet was limited
to rice and what they could gather from the jungle.

In addition to the primitive lifestyle imposed on these men, their Viet Cong
guards could be particularly brutal in their treatment. For any minor
infraction, including conversation with other POWs, the Americans were
psychologically and physically tortured. American POWs brought back stories of
having been buried; held for days in a cage with no protection from insects and
the environment; having had water and food withheld; being shackled and beaten.
The effects of starvation and torture frequently resulted in hallucinations and
extreme disorientation. Men were reduced to animals, relying on the basic
instinct of survival as their guide. After months in this psychological
condition, many POWs, lucky to survive, discovered that they were infinitely
better treated if they became docile and helpful prisoners. Unlike in the
North, the POWs in the south did not as naturally assume a military order among
themselves - perhaps because the preponderance of POWs in the North were
officers as opposed to a larger community of enlisted men in the South - and
frequently, there was no strong leader to encourage resistance and to bring
the comfort of order to a chaotic existance.

From the camps in the South came the group of American POWs ultimately charged
with collaboration with the enemy. These charges were later dropped, but are
indicative of the strong survival instinct inherent in man, and the need for
strong leadership. It is common knowledge that nearly all POWs "violated" the
Military Code of Conduct in one way or another; some to greater degrees than
others. Those who resisted utterly, the record shows, were executed or killed
in more horrible ways.

Americans tended to be moved from camp to camp in groups. One of the groups in
South Vietnam contained a number of Americans whose fates are varied.

Capt. William "Ike" Eisenbraun was attached to the 17th Infantry regiment of
the Seventh Division ("Buffalos") when he fought in Korea. He was awarded a
Purple Heart for wounds received in Korea. In 1961, Capt. Eisenbraun
volunteered for duty in Vietnam because he believed in what we were trying to
accomplish there. He was one of the earliest to go to Southeast Asia as an
advisor to the Royal Lao and South Vietnamese Armies.

On his fourth tour of duty, Eisenbraun served as Senior Advisor, Headquarters
MACV, SQ5891, U.S. Army Special Forces. He was at jungle outpost Ba Gia near
Quang Ngai in South Vietnam when the post was overrun by an estimated 1000-1500
Viet Cong force. Newspapers described it as "one of the bloodiest battles of
the war to date". A survivor told newsmen the Viet Cong attacked in "human
waves and couldn't be stopped." There were only 180 men defending the outpost.
Captain Eisenbraun was initially reported killed in action.

Later, two Vietnamese who had been captured and escaped reported that Capt.
Eisenbraun had been captured, was being held prisoner, and was in good health.
Through the debriefings of returned POWs held with Eisenbraun, it was learned
that he died as a POW. One returned POW said that on about September 1, 1967,
Eisenbraun fell out of his hammock (which was about five feet above a pile of
logs) and landed on his right side. For about 5 days after the fall, Eisenbraun
continued his daily activites, but complained of a severe pain in his side.
After that period he stayed in bed and at about 0100 hours on September 8,
LCpl. Grissett awakened PFC Ortiz-Rivera and told him that Eisenbraun had
stopped breathing.

Another POW said Ike had died as a result of torture after an escape attempt in
1967. Robert Garwood added that Ike had provided leadership for the prisoners
at the camp, and was an obstacle to the Viet Cong in interrogating the other
prisoners. He also spoke fluent Vietnamese, which made him a definite problem.
Garwood and Eisenbraun had been held alone together at one point in their
captivity, and Ike taught Bobby the secrets of survival he had learned in SF
training, and in his years in the jungle. Bobby states that Ike knew and taught
him which insects could be eaten to fend off common jungle diseases, and that
he and Ike jokingly planned to write a cookbook called "100 ways to cook a
rat". Garwood said that Ike had been severely beaten following the escape
attempt, and that one night he was taken from his cage and not returned. The
next morning, Garwood was told that Ike had fallen from his hammock and died.

Ike Eisenbraun was buried at the camp in Quang Nam Province along with other
POWs who had died of torture and starvation. His grave was marked with a rock
inscribed by Garwood. A map has been provided to the U.S. showing the precise
location of the little cemetery and grave, yet Ike's remains have not been
returned.

Bobby Garwood had been captured on September 28, 1965 as he was driving a jeep
in Quang Nam Province. Garwood made international headlines when he created an
international incident by smuggling a note out revealing his existance. The
note resulted in his release in March 1979, after having been a prisoner of war
for 14 years. The Marine Corps immediately charged him with collaboration and
assault on a fellow POW, and he was ultimately charged and dishonorably
discharged. He is the only serviceman to be charged with these crimes from the
Vietnam War, and many feel he was singled out to discredit the stories he has
told regarding other Americans held long after the war was over in Vietnam.

Several American POWs were held at a camp in Quang Nam Province numbered ST18,
including Eisenbraun, Garwood, Grissett, LCpl. Jose Agosto-Santos, PFC Luis
Antonio Ortiz-Rivera, Marine LCpl. Robert C. Sherman, Capt. Floyd H. Kushner,
W2 Francis G. Anton, SP4 Robert Lewis, PFC James F. Pfister, PFC Earl C.
Weatherman, Cpl. Dennis W. Hammond and Sgt. Joseph S. Zawtocki.

Agosto-Santos was captured when his unit was overrun in Quang Nam Province on
May 12, 1967. Cpl. Carlos Ashlock had been killed in the same action, and he
and Agosto-Santos had been left for dead. Agosto-Santos had been wounded in the
stomach and back. For about a month, he had been cared for in a cave by the
Viet Cong. Jose felt he owed his life to the Viet Cong. He was released in a
propaganda move by the Vietnamese on January 23, 1968. Ashlock was never seen
again.

Ortiz-Rivera was a Puerto Rican who barely spoke English. His Army unit was
overrun in Binh Dinh Province several miles north of the city of Phu Cat on
December 17, 1966, and Ortiz-Rivera was captured. Ortiz-Rivera was not a
problem prisoner, according to other returnees. He was released with
Agosto-Santos January 23, 1968.

Cpl. Bobby Sherman told fellow POWs that he had been on picket duty with ARVNs
on June 24, 1967 when he decided to go to a nearby village to "get laid".
The Vietnamese girl he met there led him to the Viet Cong instead. Sherman had
been on his second tour of Vietnam. During his first tour, he had suffered
psychological problems because of the grisly job assigned to him of handling
corpses of his comrades killed in action. In the spring of 1968, Sherman,
Hammond, Weatherman, Daly, and Zawtocki, with the help of other POWs, attempted
to escape. Sherman beat a guard in the attempt and was recaptured and punished.
He was held in stocks for many days and fellow POWs said he "got crazy and
never recovered." They said he spent months as a "zombie" and "never was there"
after that. According to Harold Kushner, Bobby Sherman died on November 23,
1968. The POWs buried him in the little cemetery with Ike Eisenbraun. In March
1985, the remains of Bobby Sherman were returned during a period that
Eisenbraun's daughter was publicly asking the President to bring her father
home. A map had been published of the cemetery, and many wondered if there was
a connection.

Capt. Harold Kushner had been the sole survivor of the crash of his UH1D
helicopter on a mountainside in Quang Nam Province on November 30, 1967.
Kushner was a Army Medical Corps Flight Surgeon and had broken a tooth and
sustained a wound to his shoulder when the helicopter crashed. He was
subsequently captured by the Viet Cong. During his captivity, his wife,
Valerie, became active in the effort to end the war, believing that was the
only hope her husband had of returning home. Kushner became ambivilent about
the war himself, and when held in North Vietnam, made propaganda tapes until
informed by the more organized prisoners captured and held in the North that it
was prohibited. Kushner was released March 16, 1973 from North Vietnam.

(Note: a number of other Americans were held with this group including PFC
David N. Harker; James A. Daly; Richard R. Rehe; Willie A. Watkins; Francis E.
Cannon; Richard F. Williams; and James H. Strickland. One detailed account of
the captivity of these men can be found in "The Survivors" by Zalen Grant.
Another can be read in "Conversations With The Enemy", written by Winston Groom
and Duncan Spencer. Homecoming II Project - 2408 Hull Rd. - Kinston NC 28501
-also maintains synopsis accounts of these men.)

W2 Francis Gene "Bones" Anton was the pilot of a UH1C helicopter, code name
"Firebird". On January 5, 1968, his crewchief was SP4 Robert Lewis III, and
door gunner was PFC James F. Pfister. The crew, flying out of the 71st Assault
Helicopter Company, was shot down as they were trying to assist C Company,
under heavy mortar attack at Happy Valley in Quang Nam Province. Their co-pilot
had escaped capture. Anton is one of the few POWs who believed that Garwood,
although clearly a collaborator, was still a loyal American, helpful to his
fellow POWs. Anton, according to other POWs was "always cussing the
Vietnamese". He was released from North Vietnam on March 16, 1973. When Cannon,
Williams, Harker and McMillan were brought to the POW camp at Happy Valley,
they found Anton, Pfister and Lewis well fed and clean. Pfister later made
propaganda tapes at the Plantation in Hanoi in April 1971. Garwood called him
the "head snitch" in one of the camps along the Rock River and White River in
South Vietnam. Both Pfister and Lewis were released on March 5, 1973. None of
the three were considered by superior officers to be among those who criminally
collaborated with the enemy.

Russ Grissett was on a search mission for a missing USMC officer when he became
separated from his unit on January 22, 1966. He was with the elite 1st Force
Recon, and was captured by the Viet Cong in Quang Ngai Province. Russ was
several inches over 6' tall and carried a normal weight of around 190 pounds.
After 2 years in captivity, however, his weight had dropped to around 125
pounds. Grissett suffered particularly from dysentery and malaria, and in his
weakened condition begged his fellow POWs not to tell him any secrets. He had
already been accused of sabotaging an escape plan by Kushner. He found it
difficult to resist, and willingly made propaganda tapes about "lenient
treatment". When Ortiz-Rivera and Agosto-Santos were released, he had "behaved"
enough that he was tremendously disappointed that he was not released with
them. During one period of near-starvation, in late November 1969, Grissett
caught and killed the camp's kitchen cat. It was a dangerous move, and fellow
POWs watched helplessly and innocently as guards beat Grissett for the crime
and he never recovered. Grissett was buried in the camp's cemetery by his
fellow POWs. Harold Kushner stated that Grissett died on December 2, 1969.
David Harker, another returned POW, stated that he had died at 3:30 a.m. on
November 23, 1968. On June 23, 1989, the U.S. announced that the Vietnamese had
"discovered" the remains of Russ Grissett and returned them to the U.S. (Note:
the "cat" incident spawned the assault charges against Garwood. Garwood,
enraged that others had stood by while Grisset was mortally beaten, back-handed
one of the bystanders in the stomach and asked, "How could you let them do this
to Russ?" Some witnesses stated that the blow was not a hard one intended to
injure, but seemingly for emphasis.)

Dennis Wayne "Denny" Hammond and Joseph S. Zawtocki were Marines who were
part of a pacification team when captured during the Tet offensive on February
8, 1968. Denny was a tall, lean, good-looking man thought to be part American
Indian. He attempted escape with the other POWs in the spring of 1968 and was
shot in the leg by Montagnards in a nearby village Denny had beaten a guard to
escape. Part of the "duties" of those POWs healthy enough was to harvest
oranges in nearby Montagnard orchards. The POWs were happy to do this because
it meant badly needed exercise and the opportunity for additional food. Daly
was once accused by guards of stealing oranges that Hammond had stolen. It was
on one of these workdays that the POWs effected their ill-fated escape. After
the escape attempt and recapture, Sherman remained relatively healthy for a
time, but in early March, 1970, died. He was buried near the camp and his grave
marked by a bamboo cross. (Hammond died on 7 or 8 of March, depending on the
source.)

Joe Zawtocki was a stocky, powerful, fair-haired man of Polish descent. He and
Garwood formed a close friendship and exchanged rings. Each promised the other
that if released alone, they would contact the other's family. Joe died on
December 24, 1968 of starvation and was buried near the POW camp. Davis, a
returnee, says that Garwood lost Joe's ring. Garwood states that, upon his
return, he gave Joe's ring to the Defense Intelligence Agency. Several years
later, he learned that DIA had never returned the ring to Joe's family. Joe
Zawtocki's remains were returned to the U.S. on August 15, 1985.

Perhaps one of the strangest cases involved in this group of POWs is that of
Pvt. Earl Clyde Weatherman. Weatherman was in the Marine brig at Da Nang where
he had been confined for slugging an officer in 1967. On November 8, 1967, he
escaped the brig (which constitutes desertion). Intelligence indicates that he
paid a Vietnamese driver to take him to his Vietnamese girlfriend's house, but
the driver instead delivered him to the Viet Cong. A tall, muscular young man
of about 20 years old with reddish-blond hair and blue eyes, Weatherman was
detained in the POW camps in Quang Nam Province, and was party to the ill-fated
escape attempt in the spring of 1968. Opinion was divided among the POWs
regarding the political loyalties of Earl Weatherman. Harker felt his alliance
to the Viet Cong was only an act. Weatherman had once said to him, "Don't
believe everything you hear about me." Others felt he was clearly a turncoat.
Perhaps Garwood stated it most accurately when he said, "Weatherman's only
crime was falling in love with the wrong person - a communist."

It was widely told that during the April 1, 1968 escape attempt, Weatherman was
killed. However, Garwood states that he heard of and saw Weatherman after 1973
when other U.S. POWs were returned, and years after his supposed death in South
Vietnam. Intelligence indicates that Weatherman continued to work for the
communists, and lived with a Vietnamese wife and family. One position said to
have been held by his was with the Vietnamese government's department of
construction - the Cong Tyxay Dung. Garwood last knew him to be at Bavi, living
with a Vietnamese woman.

In 1986, several national news articles revealed that intelligence documents
showed at least 7 missing Americans had been seen alive in Vietnam in the last
dozen years, including Weatherman. Some accounts added that Weatherman had
smuggled a note out of Vietnam that he wished to come home and bring with him
his wife and children. Weatherman's father was allegedly notified of this.

The POW/MIA groups reverberated with anticipation, knowing that if Weatherman
came home, a new source of information on those men still missing would be
available. Several activists questioned a Congressional aide regarding
Weatherman. They asked, "When will Weatherman be able to come home? We
understand the holdup is visas for his wife and children."  The aide, with a
caring and sympathetic look on his face, replied, "I don't know. I just don't
know."

Of this group of prisoners and missing, only Weatherman, Hammond, Ashlock and
Eisenbraun have not returned home, alive or dead. Ashlock was left for dead on
the battlefield. Hammond and Eisenbraun are dead, but still in enemy hands.
Weatherman, for whatever reason, chose love of a woman over love of his country
and remained behind. Can America close its doors to a man who may have a wealth
of information on Americans still alive in Vietnam? If he now wishes to return
to his homeland, can we be less forgiving to him that we were to those
Americans who fled to Canada to avoid the war?




GARY GENE WRIGHT

Name: Gary Gene Wright
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit: Udorn AFB, Thailand
Date of Birth: 20 November 1930
Home City of Record: San Diego CA
Date of Birth: 17 January 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 205000N 1053000E (WJ589073)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: RF4C

Other Personnel In Incident:  Frederick Wozniak (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: A/C DISAP - NO TRACE OF CREW

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.
Most pilots considered it one of the "hottest" planes around.

Maj. Gary G. Wright and his backseater, 1Lt. Frederick J. Wozniak, were aboard
an RF4C aircraft when it disappeared on an unarmed reconnaissance mission over
North Vietnam on January 17, 1967. The plane was lost in Than Hoa Province.

That same day, Peking Radio announced that three American planes had been downed
over Hanoi on January 17. The announced location coincided with the intended
flight path of Wright's mission. While no names were given, there is a
reasonable possibility that Wright and Wozniak survived.

Wright and Wozniak were not among the prisoners of war that were released in
1973 by the Vietnamese. The Vietnamese deny any knowledge of them, though
circumstances surrounding their incident indicate the strong probability that
enemy forces knew their fates.

Alarmingly, evidence continues to mount that Americans were left as prisoners in
Southeast Asia and continue to be held today. Unlike "MIAs" from other wars,
most of the nearly 2500 men and women who remain missing in Southeast Asia can
be accounted for. If even one was left alive (and many authorities estimate the
numbers to be in the hundreds), we have failed as a nation until and unless we
do everything possible to secure his freedom and bring him home.

Gary G. Wright was promoted to the rank of Colonel and Frederick J. Wozniak was
promoted to the rank of Major during the period they were maintained Missing in
Action.
CASE SYNOPSIS: GASSMAN, FRED ALLEN

Name: Fred Allen Gassman
Rank/Branch: E5/US Army Special Forces
Unit: MACV-SOG, C & C North, 5th Special Forces Group
Date of Birth: 05 September 1947 (Egland Field FL)
Home City of Record: Ft. Walton Beach FL
Date of Loss: 05 October 1970
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 161126N 1070527E (YC227912)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel In Incident: David A. Davidson (missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: In Vietnam, Sgt. Fred A. Gassman was assigned to Command and Control
North, MACV-SOG (Military Assistance Command, Vietnam Studies and Observation
Group). MACV-SOG was a joint service high command unconventional warfare task
force engaged in highly classified operations throughout Southeast Asia. The 5th
Special Forces channelled personnel into MACV-SOG (although it was not a
Special Forces group) through Special Operations Augmentation (SOA), which
provided their "cover" while under secret orders to MACV-SOG. The teams
performed deep penetration missions of strategic reconnaissance and
interdiction which were called, depending on the time frame, "Shining Brass" or
"Prairie Fire" missions.

On October 5, 1970, SSgt. David Davidson and Sgt. Gassman were members of a
joint American and Vietnamese reconnaissance patrol operating about 12 miles
inside Laos. The patrol had established their night position west of Ta Bat
when they were attacked by a hostile force. According to the two surviving
indigenous patrol members, Davidson was hit once in the head during a long
burst of enemy fire while the team was attempting to evacuate the area, and
fell down a ridge, after which he lay motionless with appeared to be a
fatal head wound.

At about 1300 hours, Gassman radioed the overhead aircraft that they were
being hit from three sides, and that they were low on ammunition and
requested an emergency extraction and air strikes. As he attempted to
retrieve the homing device, he stated on the radio, "I've been hit, and in the
worst way", followed by several groans before the radio went dead. The
surviving indigenous patrol members said that they last saw Gassman lying
motionless with a large hole in his back.

One unsuccessful search and recovery attempt was made shortly after the
incident, but further attempts were curtailed due to the difficult tactical
situation in the area. Davidson and Gassman remain missing. All other team
members were successfully extracted.

There is every reason to believe that the enemy forces surrounding the night
encampment know what happened to Davidson and Gassman, yet no information has
been secured regarding their fates.

Nearly 600 Americans were lost in Laos, and although the Pathet Lao stated on
several occasions that they held American prisoners, the U.S. did not negotiate
with the Pathet Lao for their release. Since that time, reports have flowed in
indicating that hundreds of Americans are still alive, waiting to be free. Did
Davidson and Gassman die on October 5, 1970? Or are they still in Laos,
wondering why the country they fought so proudly for has not come to rescue
them?
CASE SYNOPSIS: GATES, JAMES WAYNE

Name: James Wayne Gates
Rank/Branch: O3/US Army
Unit: 20th Aviation Detachment (see note in text)
Date of Birth: 30 December 1933 (Bonita LA)
Home City of Record: Mer Rouge LA
Loss Date: 06 April 1966
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 161819N 1064116E (XD803033)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 1
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: OV1A
Other Personnel In Incident: John W. Lafayette (missing); Harry Duensing; Larry
Johnson (on another OV1 - both rescued)

SYSOPSIS:  On April 6, 1966, Capt. James W. Gates, pilot, and Capt. John W.
Lafayette, observer, departed Hue/Phu Bai airfield at 1540 hours in an OV1A
Mohawk (serial #63-1377) as number 2 aircraft on a visual reconnaissance
mission over Laos. Number one aircraft was an OV1A flown by Capt. Harry
Duensing and observer SP5 Larry Johnson.

At about 1648 hours, the U.S. Air Force airborne command post, Hillsborough,
received a mayday from the two OV1 aircraft, and dispatched two FAC in the area
for an immediate search for the two downed air crews. At 1730 hours, the air
crews were on the ground about 1 kilometer apart. One of the FAC's established
radio contact with both crews, who reported that they were all okay.

Duensing's aircraft had been hit by enemy ground fire, and Gates and Lafayette
began flying cover for the other crew. Gates' plane was hit immediately. All
four men safely ejected from their planes in the vicinity of 502-Charlie and
were in radio contact with air cover. Duensing and Johnson were evacuated
safely, and radio contact continued for 1 1/2 hours before contact was lost
with Gates and Lafayette. Their last transmission reported that they were being
surrounded by Viet Cong. It is believed that both men were captured.

The OV1A was outfitted with photo equipment for aerial photo reconnaissance.
The planes obtained aerial views of small targets - hill masses, road
junctions, or hamlets - in the kind of detail needed by ground commanders. The
planes were generally unarmed. The OV1's were especially useful in
reconnoitering the Ho Chi Minh trail.

When 591 American prisoners were released in 1973, Gates and Lafayette were not
among them. In fact, the Vietnamese deny any knowledge of the two. They are
among nearly 2500 Americans who did not come home from Southeast Asia at the
end of the war. Unlike the MIAs of other wars, many of these men can be
accounted for. Tragically, nearly 6000 reports of Americans still in captivity
in Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S., yet freedom for them seems
beyond our grasp.

Men like Gates and Lafayette went to Indochina in our name. What must they be
thinking of us now?

NOTE: The 20th Aviation Detachment existed until December 1966, at which time
it was reassigned as the 131st Aviation Company, 223rd Aviation Battalion
(Combat Support). The 131st Aviation Company had been assigned to I Corps
Aviation Battalion since June 1966, when it arrived in Vietnam. In August 1967,
the 131st Aviation Company was reassigned to the 212th Aviation Battalion where
it remained until July 1971, whereupon it transferred out of Vietnam.

There were a large number of pilots lost from this unit, including Thaddeus E.
Williams and James P. Schimberg (January 9, 1966); John M. Nash and Glenn D.
McElroy (March 15, 1966); James W. Gates and John W. Lafayette (April 6, 1966);
Robert G. Nopp and Marshall Kipina (July 14, 1966); Jimmy M. Brasher and Robert
E. Pittman (September 28, 1966); James M. Johnstone and James L. Whited
(November 19, 1966); Larry F. Lucas (December 20, 1966); and Jack W. Brunson
and Clinton A. Musil (May 31, 1971). Missing OV1 aircraft crew from the
20th/131st represent well over half of those lost on OV1 aircraft during the
war.

U.S. Army records list both Nopp and Kipina as part of the "131st Aviation
Company, 14th Aviation Battalion", yet according to "Order of Battle" by Shelby
Stanton, a widely recognized military source, this company was never assigned
to the 14th Aviation Battalion. The 131st was known as "Nighthawks", and was a
surveillance aircraft company.

CASE SYNOPSIS: GATWOOD, ROBIN FREDERICK

Name: Robin Frederick Gatwood
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit: 30th Air Division
Date of Birth: 05 December 1946
Home City of Record: Hickory NC
Loss Date: 02 April 1972
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 165000N 1070100E (YD146612)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: EB66E ("Bat 21")
Personnel in Incident: April 2: Robin F. Gatwood; Wayne L. Bolte; Anthony
Giannangeli; Charles A. Levis; Henry M. Serex; (all missing from the EB66).
LtCol. Iceal Hambleton (rescued after 12 days from EB66). Ronald P. Paschall;
Byron K. Kulland; John W. Frink (all missing from UH1H rescue helicopter), Jose
M. Astorga (captured and released in 1973 from UH1H). April 3: William J.
Henderson (captured and released in 1973 from OV10A rescue craft); Mark Clark
(rescued after 12 days from OV10A rescue craft).  April 6: James H. Alley;
Allen J. Avery; Peter H. Chapman; John H. Call; William R. Pearson; Roy D.
Prater (all KIA/BNR from HH53C "Jolly 52" rescue chopper). Also in very close
proximity to "Bat 21"on April 3: Allen D. Christensen; Douglas L. O'Neil;
Edward W. Williams; Larry A. Zich (all missing from UH1H).  April 7: Bruce
Charles Walker (evaded 11 days); Larry F. Potts (captured & died in POW camp)
(both missing from OV10A).

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On the afternoon of April 2, 1972, two Thailand-based EB66 aircraft
(Bat 21 and Bat 22), from the 30th Air Division, were flying pathfinder escort
for a cell of B52s bombing near the DMZ. Bat 21 took a direct SAM hit and the
plane went down. A single beeper signal was heard, that of navigator Col. Iceal
Hambleton. At this time it was assumed the rest of the crew died in the crash.
The crew included Maj. Wayne L. Bolte, pilot; 1Lt. Robin F. Gatwood, LtCol.
Anthony R. Giannangeli, LtCol. Charles A. Levis, and Maj. Henry M. Serex, all
crew members. It should be noted that the lowest ranking man aboard this plane
was Gatwood, a First Lieutenant. This was not an ordinary crew, and its
members, particularly Hambleton, would be a prize capture for the enemy because
of military knowledge they possessed.

It became critical, therefore, that the U.S. locate Hambleton, and any other
surviving crew members before the Vietnamese did - and the Vietnamese were
trying hard to find them first.

An Army search and rescue team was nearby and dispatched two UH1H "slicks" and
two UH1B "Cobras". When they approached Hambleton's position just before dark,
at about 50 feet off the ground, with one of the AH1G Cobra gunships flying at
300 feet for cover, two of the helicopters were shot down. One, the Cobra (Blue
Ghost 28) reached safety and the crew was picked up, without having seen the
other downed helicopter. The other, a UH1H from F Troop, 8th Cavalry, 196th
Brigade, had just flown over some huts into a clearing when they encountered
ground fire, and the helicopter exploded. Jose Astorga, the gunner, was injured
in the chest and knee by the gunfire. Astorga became unconscious, and when he
recovered, the helicopter was on the ground. He found the pilot, 1Lt. Byron K.
Kulland, lying outside the helicopter. WO John W. Frink, the co-pilot, was
strapped in his seat and conscious. The crew chief, SP5 Ronald P. Paschall, was
pinned by his leg in the helicopter, but alive. WO Franks urged Astorga to
leave them, and Astorga was captured. He soon observed the aircraft to be hit
by automatic weapons fire, and to explode with the rest of the crew inside. He
never saw the rest of the crew again. Astorga was relesed by the North
Vietnamese in 1973.

The following day, Nail 38, an OV10A equipped with electronic rescue gear
enabling its crew to get a rapid "fix" on its rescue target entered Hambleton's
area and was shot down. The crew, William J. Henderson and Mark Clark, both
parachuted out safely. Henderson was captured and released in 1973. Clark
evaded for 12 days and was subsequently rescued.

On April 3, the day Nail 38 was shot down, a UH1H "slick" went down in the same
area carrying a crew of four enlisted Army personnel. They had no direct
connection to the rescue of Bat 21, but were very probably shot down by the
same SAM installations that downed Bat 21. The helicopter, from H/HQ, 37th
Signal Battalion, 1st Signal Brigade, had left Marble Mountain Airfield, Da
Nang, on a standard resupply mission to signal units in and around Quang Tri
City. The crew, consisting of WO Douglas L. O'Neil, pilot; CW2 Larry A. Zich,
co-pilot; SP5 Allen D. Christensen, crew chief; and SP4 Edward W. Williams,
gunner; remain missing in action.

On April 6, an attempt was made to pick up Clark and Hambleton which resulted
in an HH53C helicopter being shot down. The chopper was badly hit. The
helicopter landed on its side and continued to burn, consuming the entire craft,
and presumably, all 6 men aboard. The crew of this aircraft consisted of James
H. Alley; Allen J. Avery, John H. Call III, Peter H. Chapman, William R.
Pearson, and Roy D. Prater. Search and rescue noted no signs of survivors, but
it is felt that the Vientamese probably know the fate of this crew because of
the close proximity of the downed aircraft to enemy locations.

On April 7 another Air Force OV10A went down in the area with Larry Potts and
Bruce Walker aboard. Walker, the Air Force pilot of the aircraft, evaded
capture 11 days, while it is reported that Potts was captured and died in Quang
Binh prison. Potts, the observer, was a Marine Corps officer. Walker's last
radio transmission to search and rescue was for SAR not to make an attempt to
rescue, the enemy was closing in. Both men remain unaccounted for.

Hambleton and Clark were rescued after 12 incredible days. Hambleton
continually changed positions and reported on enemy activity as he went, even
to the extent of calling in close air strikes near his position. He was tracked
by a code he devised relating to the length and lie direction of various golf
holes he knew well. Another 20 or so Americans were not so fortunate.

In July 1986, the daughter of Henry Serex learned that, one week after all
search and rescue had been "called off" for Bat 21, another mission was mounted
to recover "another downed crewmember" from Bat 21. She doesn't know whether or
not it is her father or another man on the EB66 aircraft. No additional
information has been released. When the movie "Bat 21" was released, she was
horrified to learn that virtually no mention of the rest of the crew, including
her father, was made.

In Vietnam, to most fighting men, the man that fought beside them, whether in
the air or on the ground, was worth dying for. Each understood that the other
would die for him if necessary. Thus, also considering the critical knowledge
possessed by Col. Hambleton and some of the others, the seemingly uncanny means
taken to recover Clark and Hambleton are not so unusual at all.

What defies logic and explaination, however, is that the government that sent
these men to battle can distort or withold information to their families, and
knowingly abandon hundreds of men known or strongly suspected to be in enemy
hands.

Thousands of reports have been received by the U.S. Government indicating that
Americans are still alive, in captivity in Southeast Asia. It has been 17 years
for those who may have survived the 1972 Easter crashes and rescue attempts.
How much longer must they wait for their country to bring "peace with honor" to
them and bring them home?





GAULEY, JAMES PAUL

Name: James Paul Gauley
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 288th Tactical Fighter Wing
Date of Birth: 22 March 1939
Home City of Record: Ringwood OK
Date of Loss: 10 January 1967
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 190858N 1034058E (UG608182)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F105D

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 violation of, yet somewhat protected by, the neutrality of Laos
accorded at Geneva in a 14-nation protocol conference July 23, 1962, the North
Vietnamese and supporting communist insurgent group, the Pathet Lao, lost no
time in building strategic strongholds of defense in Northern Laos and
establishing a steady flow of manpower and material to their revolutionary
forces in South Vietnam via the Ho Chi Minh Trail on the eastern border of the
Laotian panhandle.

As a result, the Royal Lao sought help from the U.S. in stopping both
initiatives. It was strategically important to do so, although every initiative
had to be cleared through the U.S. Ambassador at Vientiane, so that the delicate
balance of "look-the-other-way-neutrality" engaged in by the nations involved
(including China) could be preserved.

Defense of non-communist activity in Laos generally fell into three categories:
1) U.S. Army and CIA's bolstering of the Meo (Hmong) army led by General Vang
Pao; 2) Strategic U.S. Air Force bombing initiatives on the Ho Chi Minh Trail
(Operations Commando Hunt, Steel Tiger, etc.); 3) U.S. Air Force bombing ini-
tiatives in northern Laos (Operation Barrell Roll, etc.) both against communist
strongholds there, and in support of the Royal Lao and Gen. Vang Pao's army.

It was over Northern Laos that Capt. Paul Gauley flew on January 10, 1967 as
pilot of a F105D Thunderchief. When he was in the region of the Plaines des
Jarres, his aircraft was shot down and he was presumed to be dead. He is among
nearly 2500 Americans lost in Indochina, and one of nearly 600 lost in Laos.

Twenty-two years after Paul Gauley was shot down, the U.S., through private
agencies, completed plans for a medical clinic in Laos to encourage Lao
assistance in excavating crash sites of U.S. aircraft downed in Laos. Critics
say that the U.S. has not addressed the issue of live American prisoners held in
Laos and in building clinics is further destroying the possibility that they
will ever be released alive. Indeed, of the nearly 600 downed in Laos, many were
known to have been alive on the ground, and the Pathet Lao stated publicly they
held "tens of tens" of Americans - yet not a single American held in Laos was
ever released...or negotiated for.
GAUNTT, WILLIAM AARON

Name: William Aaron Gauntt
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Mt. Pleasant TX
Date of Loss: 13 August 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 165835N 1965910E (YD135778)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: RF4C
Other Personnel in Incident: Francis W. Townsend (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 April 1990 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.

REMARKS: 730327 RELEASED BY PRG

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.

Capt. William A. Gauntt was the pilot and 1Lt. Francis W. Townsend his systems
officer on the reconnaissance version of the Phantom, the RF4. On August 13,
1972, Gauntt and Townsend were sent on a mission which would take them to the
area of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). As they were over the DMZ, about 10 miles
southwest of Vinh Linh in Quang Binh Province, North Vietnam, the RF4 was shot
down.

Military officials at the time were uncertain as to the fate of Gauntt and
Townsend. However, on March 27, 1973, William A. Gauntt was among 591 Americans
released from POW camps in Vietnam. Francis W. Townsend was not. Officials at
the time were heartened to learn that Gauntt had been captured and released, but
horrified that hundreds of others who had been thought to be captured were not.

Evidently Gauntt gave the U.S. information that Townsend had also been captured,
for in 1973, Townsend was classified as a Prisoner of War. The Defense
Intelligence Agency further expanded this 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. The fact that Townsend was never
classified Category 1 indicates that the information relating to his possible
capture was probably not conclusive.

Since American involvement in Southeast Asia ended, nearly 10,000 reports
relating to Americans missing, prisoner or otherwise unaccounted for in
Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. Government. Many officials who
have examined this largely classified information have reluctantly concluded
that many Americans are still alive in captivity today.

Whether Francis W. Townsend survived to be captured, was executed, or is among
those thought to be still alive is unknown. What is certain, however, is that as
long as there is even one American held against his will, we owe him our very
best efforts to bring him to freedom.


Francis W. Townsend graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1970.

GAUSE, BERNARD JR.

Name: Bernard Gause, Jr.
Rank/Branch: E5/US Navy
Unit: HQ Service Company, 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines, 3rd Marine Division
Date of Birth: 11 November 1940
Home City of Record: Birmingham AL
Date of Loss: 15 May 1975
Country of Loss: Cambodia/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 101800N 1030830E (TS965400)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: CH53A
Other Personnel in Incident: Lynn Blessing; Walter Boyd; Gregory S. Copenhaver;
Andres Garcia; Daniel Benedett, James J. Jacques; Ronald J. Manning; James R.
Maxwell; Richard W. Rivenburgh; Antonio R. Sandoval; Kelton R. Turner; Richard
Van de Geer (all missing on CH53A); Gary L. Hall; Joseph N. Hargrove; Danny G.
Marshall (missing on Koah Tang Island); Ashton N. Loney (missing from Koah Tang
Island); Elwood E. Rumbaugh (missing from a CH53A)

REMARKS: 750515 MAYAGUEZ INCIDENT LOSS

SYNOPSIS: When U.S. troops were pulled out of Southeast Asia in early 1975,
Vietnamese communist troops began capturing one city after another, with Hue,
Da Nang and Ban Me Thuot in March, Xuan Loc in April, and finally on April 30,
Saigon. In Cambodia, communist Khmer Rouge had captured the capital city of
Phnom Penh on April 17. The last Americans were evacuated from Saigon during
"Option IV", with U.S. Ambassador Martin departing on April 29. The war,
according to President Ford, "was finished."

2Lt. Richard Van de Geer, assigned to the 21st Special Ops Squadron at NKP, had
participated in the evacuation of Saigon, where helicopter pilots were required
to fly from the decks of the 7th Fleet carriers stationed some 500 miles
offshore, fly over armed enemy-held territory, collect American and allied
personnel and return to the carriers via the same hazardous route, heavily
loaded with passengers. Van de Geer wrote to a friend, "We pulled out close to
2,000 people. We couldn't pull out any more because it was beyond human
endurance to go any more..."

At 11:21 a.m. on May 12, the U.S. merchant ship MAYAGUEZ was seized by the
Khmer Rouge in the Gulf of Siam about 60 miles from the Cambodian coastline and
eight miles from Poulo Wai island. The ship, owned by Sea-Land Corporation, was
en route to Sattahip, Thailand from Hong Kong, carrying a non-arms cargo for
military bases in Thailand.

Capt. Charles T. Miller, a veteran of more than 40 years at sea, was on the
bridge. He had steered the ship within the boundaries of international waters,
but the Cambodians had recently claimed territorial waters 90 miles from the
coast of Cambodia. The thirty-nine seamen aboard were taken prisoner.

President Ford ordered the aircraft carrier USS CORAL SEA, the guided missile
destroyer USS HENRY B. WILSON and the USS HOLT to the area of seizure. By
night, a U.S. reconnaissance aircraft located the MAYAGUEZ at anchor off Poulo
WaI island. Plans were made to rescue the crew.  A battalion landing team of
1,100 Marines was ordered flown from bases in Okinawa and the Philippines to
assemblE at Utapao, Thailand in preparation for the assault.

The first casualties of the effort to free the MAYAGUEZ are recorded on May 13
when a helicopter carrying Air Force security team personnel crashed en route
to Utapao, killing all 23 aboard.

Early in the morning of May 13, the Mayaguez was ordered to head for Koh Tang
island. Its crew was loaded aboard a Thai fishing boat and taken first to Koh
Tang, then to the mainland city of Kompong Song, then to Rong San Lem island.
U.S. intelligence had observed a cove with considerable activity on the island
of Koh Tang, a small five-mile long island about 35 miles off the coast of
Cambodia southwest of the city of Sihanoukville (Kampong Saom), and believed
that some of the crew might be held there. They also knew of the Thai fishing
boat, and had observed what appeared to be caucasians aboard it, but it could
not be determined if some or all of the crew was aboard.

The USS HOLT was ordered to seize and secure the MAYAGUEZ, still anchored off
Koh Tang. Marines were to land on the island and rescue any of the crew. Navy
jets from the USS CORAL SEA were to make four strikes on military installments
on the Cambodian mainland.

On May 15, the first wave of 179 Marines headed for the island aboard eight Air
Force "Jolly Green Giant" helicopters. Three Air Force helicopters unloaded
Marines from the 1st Battalion, 4th Marines onto the landing pad of the USS
HOLT and then headed back to Utapao to pick up the second wave of Marines.
Planes dropped tear gas on the MAYAGUEZ, and the USS HOLT pulled up along side
the vessel and the Marines stormed aboard. The MAYAGUEZ was deserted.

Simultaneously, the Marines of the 2/9 were making their landings on two other
areas of the island. The eastern landing zone was on the cove side where the
Cambodian compound was located. The western landing zone was a narrow spit of
beach about 500 feet behind the compound on the other side of the island. The
Marines hoped to surround the compound.

As the first troops began to unload on both beaches, the Cambodians opened
fire. On the western beach, one helicopter was hit and flew off crippled, to
ditch in the ocean about 1 mile away. The pilot had just disembarked his
passengers, and he was rescued at sea.

Meanwhile, the eastern landing zone had become a disaster. The first two
helicopters landing were met by enemy fire. Ground commander, (now) Col.
Randall W. Austin had been told to expect between 20 and 40 Khmer Rouge
soldiers on the island. Instead, between 150 and 200 were encountered. First,
Lt. John Shramm's helicopter tore apart and crashed into the surf after the
rotor system was hit. All aboard made a dash for the tree line on the beach.

One CH53A helicopter was flown by U.S. Air Force Major Howard Corson and 2Lt.
Richard Van de Geer and carrying 23 U.S. Marines and 2 U.S. Navy corpsmen, all
from the 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines. As the helicopter approached the island,
it was caught in a cross fire and hit by a rocket. The severely damaged
helicopter crashed into the sea just off the coast of the island and exploded.
To avoid enemy fire, survivors were forced to swim out to sea for rescue.
Twelve aboard, including Maj. Corson, were rescued. Those missing from the
helicopter were 2Lt. Richard Van de Geer, PFC Daniel A. Benedett, PFC Lynn
Blessing, PFC Walter Boyd, Lcpl. Gregory S. Copenhaver, Lcpl. Andres Garcia,
PFC James J. Jacques, PFC James R. Maxwell, PFC Richard W. Rivenburgh, PFC
Antonio R. Sandoval, PFC Kelton R. Turner, all U.S. Marines. Also missing were
HM1 Bernard Gause, Jr. and HM Ronald J. Manning, the two corpsmen.

Other helicopters were more successful in landing their passengers. One CH53A,
however was not. SSgt. Elwood E. Rumbaugh's aircraft was near the coastline
when it was shot down. Rumbaugh is the only missing man from the aircraft. The
passengers were safely extracted. (It is not known whether the passengers went
down with the aircraft or whether they were rescued from the island.)

By midmorning, when the Cambodians on the mainland began receiving reports of
the assault, they ordered the crew of the MAYAGUEZ on a Thai boat, and then
left. The MAYAGUEZ crew was recovered by the USS WILSON before the second wave
of Marines was deployed, but the second wave was ordered to attack anyway.

Late in the afternoon, the assault force had consolidated its position on the
western landing zone and the eastern landing zone was evacuated at 6:00 p.m. By
the end of the 14-hour operation, most of the Marines were extracted from the
island safely, with 50 wounded. Lcpl. Ashton Loney had been killed by enemy
fire, but his body could not be recovered.

Protecting the perimeter during the final evacuation was the machine gun squad
of PFC Gary L. Hall, Lcpl. Joseph N. Hargrove and Pvt. Danny G. Marshall. They
had run out of ammunition and were ordered to evacuate on the last helicopter.
It was their last contact. Maj. McNemar and Maj. James H. Davis made a final
sweep of the beach before boarding the helicopter and were unable to locate
them. They were declared Missing in Action.

The eighteen men missing from the MAYAGUEZ incident are listed among the
missing from the Vietnam war. Although authorities believe that there are
perhaps hundreds of American prisoners still alive in Southeast Asia from the
war, most are pessimistic about the fates of those captured by the Khmer Rouge.

In 1988, the communist government of Kampuchea (Cambodia) announced that it
wished to return the remains of several dozen Americans to the United States.
(In fact, the number was higher than the official number of Americans missing
in Cambodia.) Because the U.S. does not officially recognize the Cambodian
government, it has refused to respond directly to the Cambodians regarding the
remains. Cambodia, wishing a direct acknowledgment from the U.S. Government,
still holds the remains.



GEHRIG, JAMES MONROE JR.

Name: James Monroe Gehrig, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit: 441st Bombardment Squadron
Date of Birth: 05 April 1930
Home City of Record: Williamsport PA
Date of Loss: 18 June 1965
Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 173000N 1180000E
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: B52

Other Personnel in Incident: James A. Marshall; Robert L. Armond; Tyrrell G.
Lowry; William E. Neville; Harold J. Roberts Jr.; Frank P. Watson (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II
Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Boeing B52 Stratofortress bombers have long been the Air Force's most
important strategic bomber. Used heavily in Vietnam, the venerable aircraft
continued its role throughout the Southeast Asia conflict and played an
important role in the Persian Gulf war two decades later.

On June 18, 1965, two B52 aircraft were performing a mission over the South
China Sea when they collided. The aircraft were approximately 250 miles offshore
at the point of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) when the accident occurred.
Apparently the crew of one of the aircraft survived or were recovered, but the
entire crew of the second remain missing.

The missing crew includes pilots Capt. Robert L. Armond and 1Lt. James A.
Marshall, and crewmembers Maj. James M. Gehrig, Capt. Tyrrell G. Lowry, Capt.
Frank P. Watson, TSgt. William E. Neville, and MSgt. Harold J. Roberts Jr.

All the crew and passengers on board the B52 downed that day were confirmed
dead. It is unfortunate, but a cold reality of war that their remains were not
recoverable. They are listed with honor among the missing because their remains
cannot be buried with honor at home.

Others who are missing do not have such clear-cut cases. Some were known
captives; some were photographed as they were led by their guards. Some were in
radio contact with search teams, while others simply disappeared.

Since the war ended, over 250,000 interviews have been conducted with those who
claim to know about Americans still alive in Southeast Asia, and several million
documents have been studied. U.S. Government experts cannot seem to agree
whether Americans are there alive or not. Detractors say it would be far too
politically difficult to bring the men they believe to be alive home, and the
U.S. is content to negotiate for remains.

Well over 1000 first-hand, eye-witness reports of American prisoners still alive
in Southeast Asia have been received by 1990. Most of them are still classified.
If, as the U.S. seems to believe, the men are all dead, why the secrecy after so
many years? If the men are alive, why are they not home?



CASE SYNOPSIS: GEIST, STEPHEN JONATHAN

Name: Stephen Jonathan Geist
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: Detachment A-334, 5th Special Forces
Date of Birth: 12 April 1946 (Philadelphia PA)
Home City of Record: Silver Springs MD
Loss Date: 26 September 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 113115N 1062952E (XT633739)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: O1D
Other Personnel In Incident: Lynn R. Huddleston (missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Steve Geist left college to join the Army, and graduated from Special
Forces training third in his class. He had a choice of assignments, and
selected Vietnam. He left his treasured old Chevy, "Black Beauty" to the care
of his parents. His letters were filled with sadness of the death he saw, and
of hopeful anticipation of his return.

At 0910 hours on September 26, 1967, 1Lt. Lynn R. Huddleston was the pilot of
an O1D reconnaissance aircraft on which Geist was the observer. Huddleston was
from the 74th Aviation Company "Aloft", a recon aircraft company from the 145th
Aviation Battalion. Geist was from Detachment A-332, 5th Special Forces Group.
The aircraft left on a visual reconnasaince mission of the Minh Than area.

A radio call was received by Detachment A-332 at 0930 hours from Lt.
Huddleston. No coordinates were given. Again at 1030 hours, a call from Lt.
Huddleston was monitored by Hon Quan Radar, and Huddleston gave his position as
the vicinity of grid coordinates XT633739, or a few miles from the border of
Cambodia just north of Minh Thanh. This was the last radio communication with
the personnel aboard the O1D. The plane never reached its destination. Search
and rescue was initiated at 1310 hours, but was terminated 3 days later without
any sightings of either the aircraft or its crew. There has been no word of the
two since.

Reports continue to mount that Americans are held prisoner in Southeast Asia.
Nearly 2500 Americans remain missing. Until serious effort is made to find
them, their famlies will wonder whether their men are alive or dead.
GELONECK, TERRY MERCER

Name: Terry Mercer Geloneck
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 307th Strat Wing, Utapao
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Decatur AL
Date of Loss: 20 December 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 210500N 1054000E (WJ692313)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: B52G

Other Personnel In Incident: William Y. Arcuri; Roy Madden Jr.; Michael R.
Martini (all released POWs); Craig A. Paul; Warren R. Spencer (both remains
returned)

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, including "Linebacker" by Karl J. Eschmann.

REMARKS: 730219 RELSD BY DRV - INJ

SYNOPSIS: Frustrated by problems in negotiating a peace settlement, and
pressured by a Congress and public wanting an immediate end to American
involvement in Vietnam, President Nixon ordered the most concentrated air
offensive of the war, known as Linebacker II, in December 1972. During the
offensive, sometimes called the "Christmas bombings," 40,000 tons of bombs were
dropped, primarily over military targets in the area between Hanoi and Haiphong.
White House Press Secretary Ronald Ziegler said that the bombing would end only
when all U.S. POWs were released and an internationally recognized cease-fire
was in force.

The Christmas Bombings were of the most precise the world had seen. Pilots
involved in the immense series of strikes generally agree that the strikes
against anti-aircraft and strategic targets was so successful that the U.S.
"could have taken the entire country of Vietnam by inserting an average Boy
Scout troop in Hanoi and marching it southward."

The operation had its costs, however, in loss of aircraft and personnel. During
the month of December 1972, 62 crewmembers of B52 aircraft were shot down and
captured or went missing. Of these 62, 33 men were released in 1973. The remains
of roughly a dozen more have been returned over the years, and the rest are
still missing. At least 10 those missing survived to eject safely. Yet they did
not return at the end of the war.

On December 20, 1972, three B52 aircraft -- Quilt Cell -- departed Utapao
Airbase, Thailand for a bombing mission over Hanoi. One of the aircraft was
flown by Capt. Terry M. Geloneck. The crew consisted of 1Lt. William Y. Arcuri,
co-pilot; Capt. Craig A. Paul, Electronic Warfare Officer; Capt. Warren R.
Spencer, the radar navigator; 1LT Michael R. Martini, navigator; and SSgt. Roy
Madden, the gunner.

Approaching the initial point where the bombing run was to begin, the EWO (Paul)
reported SAM signals. The aircraft instituted evasive maneuvers while calmly
running through their checklist in preparation of releasing the twenty-seven
750-pound bomb load.

About 30 seconds to target, three or four SAMs were sighted. The crew could do
nothing but watch their progress until the "bombs away" was called and evasive
action could be taken. After releasing the bomb load, the aircraft had been in a
hard turn about 10 seconds when the loud metallic bank of an exploding SAM hit
them, accompanied by a bright white flash. The aircraft was still airborne and
in its post-target turn.

Martini reported that he, Arcuri and Spencer were okay, but that they had
sustained a fuel leak in the left main fuel tank, and that cabin pressurization
was lost. Paul had been hit and was bleeding heavily. There were four six-inch
holes in the fuselage next to Madden, and his leg was shattered.

As the aircraft began losing altitude, the crew prepared for bailout. Geloneck,
Arcuri, Martini and Madden successfully ejected from the aircraft and were
captured immediately. It is not known whether Spencer and Paul ejected.

When they were released in mid-February, 1973, Madden, Martini, Arcuri and
Geloneck were all injured; Madden's leg was still in dangerous condition, and he
was brought home on a litter. The leg was later amputated. The Vietnamese
returned the remains of Paul and Spencer on September 30, 1977, despite earlier
protestations that they knew nothing about the two.

One thing that amazed analysts about the B52 bombers that were shot down over
Hanoi during this period was the high survival rate of the crewmembers. Many
more were returned as POWs than was expected. The B52s that were shot down were
downed in extremely hostile territory with little or no chance of rescue.
However, they were fortunate to be captured during a period in which little or
no harassment and torture was being experienced by American POWs. In fact, the
Vietnamese were "fattening them up" for their imminent release.

Unfortunately, it does not appear that all the prisoners were returned in 1973
at the end of the war. Since the end of the war, thousands of reports have been
received by the U.S. Government relating to Americans still alive in captivity.
U.S. experts have stated they believe Americans are still being held prisoner in
Southeast Asia. The question is no longer whether any are alive, but who are
they, and how can we bring them home?
GENSLUCKNER, GEORG

Name: Georg Gensluckner
Rank/Branch: Civilian
Unit:
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Austria
Date of Loss: 08 April 1970
Country of Loss: Cambodia
Loss Coordinates: WT998205
Status (in 1973): Prisoner of War
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: auto
Other Personnel in Incident: Dieter Bellendorf; Unh Ling Yieng (both captured)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 15 March 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: German camerman Dieter Bellendorf and Austrian newsman Georg
Gensluckner left Phnom Penh in an automobile on April 8, 1970. They were
accompanied by Cambodian citizen, Ung Ling Yieng, serving as a translator for
the group. The newsmen were heading for the front lines of fighting in Cambodia,
looking for a story as military action in Cambodia had stepped up considerably
at this time. Bellendorf was on assignment for NBC at the time.

Traveling southeast on Route One in eastern Cambodia, the three men were
captured 15 kilometers west of Chi Phu on Route 2 at grid coordinates WT998205.
Various sources including Washington Post and TV Guide articles state that
Bellendorf, at least, was seen twice in captivity, working as a laborer on a
road gang in eastern Cambodia. He apparently was wounded when captured, and
again by a B52 strike.

Author Zalin Grant interviewed returned ARVN POWs in early 1973 and released the
following data supporting other stories indicating journalists could still be
alive. "Returned ARVN POWs sighted the (unnamed) journalists on Route #7, 17
miles south of Snoul in Eastern Cambodia 7-72 in ox-carts pulled by Hondas;
another said a VC captain near Minot, eastern Cambodia (where military American
POWs were released from in 1973) reported the (unnamed) journalists held in 7-72
had cameras; Cambodian national saw (unnamed) journalists in 6-72 at Prince
Sihanouk's FUNK camp south of Route #13 in Kratie Province; returned ARVN POWs
said a guard told them in 3073 that the journalists were still alive and held in
their area." Walter Cronkite reported a sighting of (unnamed) journalists in
January, 1974.

Whether Grant's and Cronkite's information relates to Bellendorf, Gensluckner,
and Yieng is not known. The three are among 22 international journalists still
missing in Southeast Asia, most known to have been captured. For several years
during the war, the correspondents community rallied and publicized the fates of
fellow journalists. After a while, they tired of the effort, and today these men
are forgotten by all but families and friends.

Tragically, nearly the whole world turns its head while thousands of reports
continue to flow in that prisoners are still held in Southeast Asia. Cambodia
offered to return a substantial number of remains of men it says are Americans
missing in Cambodia (in fact the number offered exceeded the number of those
officially missing). But the U.S. has no formal diplomatic relations with the
communist government of Cambodia, and refused to directly respond to this offer.
Although several U.S. Congressmen offered to travel to Cambodia to receive the
remains, they have not been permitted to do so by the U.S.




GEORGE, JAMES EDWARD JR.

Name: James Edward George, Jr.
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: 129th Maintenance Company, 69th Maintenance Battalion
Date of Birth: 19 July 1947
Home City of Record: Ft. Worth TX
Date of Loss: 08 February 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 164424N 1071941E (YD471521)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action (later changed to Killed in Captivity)
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1D
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: SP4 James E. George, Jr. was a passenger aboard a UH1D helicopter
that was downed near the city of Quang Tri, in Quang Tri Province, South
Vietnam, on February 8, 1968. Every detail of the crash of the aircraft remains
classified over 20 years after its loss, including the nature of the flight.

SP4 George was captured following the crash of the UH1D, although the U.S. was
not to discover this for some time. It was not until 591 American POWs were
released in the general prisoner release in 1973 that George's fate became
known.

An American releasee reported during his debriefing on March 30, 1973, that SP4
George was with him and others the day after George`s capture. The group was
being marched, presumably north, although the destination is not clear. The
releasee stated that George could not keep up with the group and he was pulled
from the group. Later a shot was heard from the direction George had been
taken. The releasee believed that George had been executed by the guards.

Several returned POWs identified George as having been a prisoner of war, and
by 1980, his records were adjusted accordingly. He had been carried as Missing
in Action until it was clear that he had been captured.

Although George was confirmed to be an American POW, the Vietnamese deny any
knowledge of him, and have not returned his remains. He is one of nearly 2500
Americans still missing, prisoner or unaccounted for from the Vietnam war.

Unfortunately, thousands of reports have been received regarding the men
missing in Southeast Asia. Most authorities agree that many are alive.
Presidents Reagan and Bush have both pledged to take necessary action to free
them if confirmed "proof" is found, but distractors say that proof is in hand,
but the willingness to act is missing.

As long as one American remains prisoner in Southeast Asia, the war cannot be
considered over. Future generations of American fighting men who keep the faith
with their country must know that their country will do everything to keep the
faith with them. These men must be brought home.
GERBER, DANIEL AMSTUTZ

Name: Daniel Amstutz Gerber
Rank/Branch: Civilian
Unit: Missionary, Mennonite Central Committee
Date of Birth: 14 August 1940
Home City of Record:
Date of Loss: 30 May 1962
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 123250N 1075927E (ZU250888)
Status (in 1973): Prisoner of War
Category: 1
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel in Incident: Rev. Archie E. Mitchell; Dr. Ardel Vietti (both
captured)

REMARKS: TAKEN FROM LEPROSARIUM

SYNOPSIS: The Ban Me Thuot Leprosarium was located in dense jungle terrain in
Darlac Province, South Vietnam, near the provincial capitol of Ban Me Thuot.
The Leprosarium was jointly financed by The Christian and Missionary Alliance,
the Mennonite Central Committee and American Leprosy Missions, Inc. There were
56 Alliance church groups in the areas outlying Ban Me Thuot in 1962.

The Leprosarium had a staff of nine, including Rev. Archie Mitchell, the
administrative officer; Dr. Ardel Vietti, a surgeon, Daniel A. Gerber, and
nurses, Misses Craig, Deets, Kingsbury and Wilting. There were two others on
staff; also, the Mitchell's four children lived at the Leprosarium.

Late afternoon on Wednesday, May 30, 1962, a group of about 12 armed Viet Cong
entered the Leprosarium compound and abducted Dan Gerber, Dr. Vietti and Rev.
Mitchell. The nurses were sternly lectured on their betrayal of the Vietnamese
people and assured that they deserved immediate death, but were not molested or
abducted. Mrs. Mitchell and her four children were not harmed. The VC ransacked
all the buildings for anything they could use - linens, medicines, clothing and
surgical instruments. About 10:00 p.m., the Viet Cong finally left, taking
their three prisoners with them.

When the three were captured, the U.S. pledged all of its resources in order to
see that everything possible was done to get them back safely in 1962.

At the time, U.S. and South Vietnamese intelligence discovered their probable
location, but were never able to rescue the three. Reports have continued to
surface on them through the years since 1962. Some of the members of their
families believe them to be still alive.

Now, 25 years later, Gerber, Vietti and Mitchell are still missing. They were
not military personnel, nor were they engaged in highly paid jobs relating to
the war. They were just there to help sick Vietnamese people.

Although the U.S. has given the Vietnamese information on Gerber, Vietti and
Mitchell, the Vietnamese deny any knowledge of them.
GERSTEL, DONALD ARTHUR

Name: Donald Arthur Gerstel
Rank/Branch: O4/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 93, USS MIDWAY
Date of Birth: 23 June 1938 (Harvey IL)
Home City of Record: Matteson IL
Date of Loss: 08 September 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 184800N 1055300E (WF932788)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A7B
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

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:

SYNOPSIS: The Vought A7 Corsair II was a single-seat attack jet utilized by
both the Navy and Air Force in Vietnam. The aircraft was designed to meet the
Navy's need for a subsonic attack plane able to carry a greater load of
non-nuclear weapons that the A4 Skyhawk. The aircraft's unique design completely
freed the wingspace for bomb loading; the Pratt and Whitney jet engine was
beneath the fuselage of the aircraft. The Corsair was used primarily for close
air support and interdiction, although it was also used for reconnaissance. A
Corsair is credited with flying the last official combat mission in the war -
bombing a target in Cambodia on 15 August 1973.

Major Donald A. Gerstel was the pilot of an A7B Corsair assigned to Attack
Squadron 93 on board the aircraft carrier, USS MIDWAY. On September 8, 1972,
Gerstel launched as the leader of a section of aircraft assigned a surface
reconnaissance mission which would take him over North Vietnam. The surveillance
mission maintained watch over the Chinese merchant shops anchored off the coast
of North Vietnam and Gerstel's flight was assigned to an anchorage adjacent to
the small island of Hon Nieu.

The flight rendezvoused without incident and proceeded toward the anchorage at
an altitude of 6,OOO feet. They switched their radios to the controlling ships
frequency. Gerstel's transponder was not received by the carrier's strike
controller. As a result of this, the wingman's transponder was used to monitor
the flight. Nearing the anchorage, the flight entered instrument flight
conditions and Gerstel detached his wingman and instructed him to climb above
the base altitude and orbit while he commenced a descent to determine the bases
of the clouds. The section was in an area of severe turbulence and lightning.
Shortly after the separation Gerstel reported that he had been struck by
lightning. When his wingman asked if he was alright, he replied: "Yes, just a
lot of sparks". The wingman then asked his position and he reported that he was
3O miles west southwest of the control ship. The weather prevented the control
ship from obtaining a radar return from Gerstel's aircraft. Since Gerstel's
transponder was inoperative, it was impossible for the control ship to maintain
him under positive control. Later Gerstel reported his location as midway
between the islands of Hon Nieu and Hon Matt. Gerstel's loss coordinates last
place him in the Gulf of Tonkin about 18 miles east of the city of Phu Dien Chau
in Nghe An Province. After that report there were no further contact, visual,
radio or radar was made with him. Search efforts was conducted with negative
results. Lt.Cdr. Gerstel was classified Missing in Action.

The Defense Intelligence Agency further expanded Gerstel'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 591 Americans were released from prison camps in the spring of 1973,
Gerstel was not among them. Military officials later expressed their horror that
"hundreds" who had been believed captured were not released. The Vietnamese
denied any knowledge of these men, including Donald A. Gerstel.

Since American involvement in Vietnam ended in 1975, nearly 10,000 reports
relating to Americans missing, prisoner, or otherwise unaccounted for in
Indochina have been received by the U.S. Government. Many officials, having
examined this largely classified information, have reluctantly concluded that
many Americans are still alive today, held captive by our long-ago enemy.

Whether Gerstel survived the over-water crash of his aircraft to be captured by
the multitude of enemy fishing and military vessels often found along the
coastline is certain not known. It is not known if he might be among those
thought to be still alive today. What is certain, however, is that as long as
even one American remains alive, held against his will, we owe him our very best
efforts to bring him to freedom.
            CASE SYNOPSIS:    GERVAIS, DONALD PETER

  ============================================================================

Name:                Donald Peter Gervais
Rank/Branch:            E5/US Army
Unit:                Troop B, 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry
                1st Cavalry Division
Date of Birth:            20 July 1943
Home City of Record:        Clarksville TN
Date of Loss:            01 May 1968
Country of Loss:        South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates:        162105N 1070535E
Status (in 1973):        Missing In Action
Category:            2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground:    UH6A
Other Personnel
In Incident:            Richard D. Martin; Warren T. Whitmire
                (both missing)
REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS:  Sgt. Donald Gervais, gunner; CPL Richard D. Martin, crewchief; and
WO1 Warren T. Whitmire, pilot comprised the crew of a UH6A helicopter on a
visual reconnaissance mission over the A Shau Valley in South Vietnam.

At 1800 hours, another aircrew saw Whitmire's aircraft crash into a ravine.  It
appeared to the crew of the other aircraft that Whitmire's helicopter hit a
dead tree.  The other aircraft received gunfire as it flew closer to the site.

Visual reconnaissance of the site was difficult because of enemy fire and it
was determined that search crews could not be inserted because of the presence
of enemy troops and rugged terrain.

An infantry platoon that was on the ground had encountered the enemy troops,
and had observed the crash through binoculars from 300 meters away.  The
platoon leader tried to move closer to the site, but encountered enemy activity
and had to withdraw.  Heavy enemy activity continued in the area, making it
impossible to reach the site again.

Gervais, Martin and Whitmire were declared Missing In Action.  As no one saw
them die, it is assumed that they could have survived.    Certainly, the enemy
should know their fate - alive or dead.

Since the war ended, thousands of reports have been received regarding
Americans still held captive in Indochina.  Is one of them Donald Gervais?
If so, what must he be thinking of us?

GETCHELL, PAUL EVERETT

Name: Paul Everett Getchell
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 8th Tactical Bomber Squadron, Phan Rang Airbase
Date of Birth: 12 November 1936
Home City of Record: Portland ME
Date of Loss: 13 January 1969
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 161600N 1064800E (XD936005)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: B57
Other Personnel In Incident: Norman D. Eaton (missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: The B57 Canberra was a light tactical bomber that played a varied
role in the Vietnam conflict. A veteran of operations Rolling Thunder and Steel
Tiger, B57's from the 8th Tactical Bombing Squadron at Phan Rang, South Vietnam
had also been equipped with infared sensors for night strike operations in
Tropic Moon II and III in the spring of 1967.

Col. Dale Eaton was the pilot and Capt. Paul E. Getchell the co-pilot
of a B57 Canberra light bomber which was lost in Savannakhet Province, Laos on
January 13, 1969. The aircraft was apparently struck by hostile fire at about
50 miles southeast of the city of Muong Nong. (NOTE: Although the B57 model on
which Eaton and Getchell were flying is not noted in any available records,
based on the history of the aircraft and the nature of warfare in Laos, it is
likely that the two were aboard either one of the later G models - assigned to
night intruder missions - or the RB57E model - assigned to night
reconnaissance.)

Although no parachutes were observed by other aircraft in the area, a forward
air controller (FAC) reported hearing a faint beeper in the approximate area
where the last radio transmission was received.

Both men were declared Missing In Action and classified in "Category 2", which
indicates the strong possibility that the enemy knew their fate. There are
nearly 600 lost in Laos. They were not negotiated for in the Paris Peace
accords, nor have they been negotiated for since, and as a consequence, not one
man held in Laos was ever released.

There are nearly 2500 Americans who remain missing in Southeast Asia.
Intelligence and refugee reports from the region continue to mount that there
are still Americans in captivity in Southeast Asia. Dale Eaton and Paul
Getchell could be among them. It's time we brought our men home.

(Normal Dale Eaton is a 1949 graduate of West Point.)



            CASE SYNOPSIS:    GIAMMERINO, VINCENT FRANK

  ============================================================================

Name:                Vincent Frank Giammerino
Rank/Branch:            E3/US Army
Unit:                C Co., 1st Btn, 22nd Infantry
                4th Infantry Division
Date of Birth:            13 April 1947
Home City of Record:        New York NY
Date of Loss:            27 June 1968
Country of Loss:        South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates:        135131N 1081926E
Status (in 1973):        Missing In Action
Category:            2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground:    Ground
Other Personnel
In Incident:            none missing

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS:  PFC Vincent Giammerino was a rifleman on a Bomb Damage Assessment
(BDA) patrol in the Pleiku area of South Vietnam.  Giammerino had departed on
patrol and the unit was going to an area where they had previously encountered
enemy contact.

Shortly after the patrol began, it was discovered that Giammerino was not with
his unit, nor could he be located.  No enemy contact had been made during the
patrol, but the possibility he was killed by a concealed enemy was considered,
as was the possibility of his capture, and also that he simply was lost.

Thorough searches were made of the area for the next 2 days without results.
On the second day, an aircraft was employed using a loud speaker system, but
Giammerino (nor any body) was ever found.

Giammerino was classified Missing In Action.  It is believed that there is a
very good chance that the enemy knows his fate.  He is among nearly 2500
Americans remain missing or otherwise unaccounted for in Vietnam.  Since the
war ended, over 6000 reports concerning Americans still alive in Southeast Asia
have been received by the U.S. Government.  Many experts are completely
convinced that hundreds of Americans are now held captive.

One set of critics say that the U.S. has done little to address the issue of
live POWs, preferring the politically safer issue of remains return.  Others
place the blame on the Vietnamese, for using the issue of POW/MIA to their
political advantage.  Regardless of blame, no living American has returned
through the efforts of negotiations between the countries, and the reports
continue to pour in.  Are we doing enough to bring these men home?
CASE SYNOPSIS: GIANNANGELI, ANTHONY ROBERT

Name: Anthony Robert Giannangeli
Rank/Branch: O5/US Air Force
Unit: 30th Air Division
Date of Birth: 28 February 1931
Home City of Record: Lansford PA
Date of Loss: 02 April 1972
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 165000N 1070100E (YD146612)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: EB66E ("Bat 21")
Personnel in Incident: April 2: Robin F. Gatwood; Wayne L. Bolte; Anthony
Giannangeli; Charles A. Levis; Henry M. Serex; (all missing from the EB66).
LtCol. Iceal Hambleton (rescued after 12 days from EB66). Ronald P. Paschall;
Byron K. Kulland; John W. Frink (all missing from UH1H rescue helicopter), Jose
M. Astorga (captured and released in 1973 from UH1H). April 3: William J.
Henderson (captured and released in 1973 from OV10A rescue craft); Mark Clark
(rescued after 12 days from OV10A rescue craft).  April 6: James H. Alley;
Allen J. Avery; Peter H. Chapman; John H. Call; William R. Pearson; Roy D.
Prater (all KIA/BNR from HH53C "Jolly 52" rescue chopper). Also in very close
proximity to "Bat 21"on April 3: Allen D. Christensen; Douglas L. O'Neil;
Edward W. Williams; Larry A. Zich (all missing from UH1H).  April 7: Bruce
Charles Walker (evaded 11 days); Larry F. Potts (captured & died in POW camp)
(both missing from OV10A).

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On the afternoon of April 2, 1972, two Thailand-based EB66 aircraft
(Bat 21 and Bat 22), from the 30th Air Division, were flying pathfinder escort
for a cell of B52s bombing near the DMZ. Bat 21 took a direct SAM hit and the
plane went down. A single beeper signal was heard, that of navigator Col. Iceal
Hambleton. At this time it was assumed the rest of the crew died in the crash.
The crew included Maj. Wayne L. Bolte, pilot; 1Lt. Robin F. Gatwood, LtCol.
Anthony R. Giannangeli, LtCol. Charles A. Levis, and Maj. Henry M. Serex, all
crew members. It should be noted that the lowest ranking man aboard this plane
was Gatwood, a First Lieutenant. This was not an ordinary crew, and its
members, particularly Hambleton, would be a prize capture for the enemy because
of military knowledge they possessed.

It became critical, therefore, that the U.S. locate Hambleton, and any other
surviving crew members before the Vietnamese did - and the Vietnamese were
trying hard to find them first.

An Army search and rescue team was nearby and dispatched two UH1H "slicks" and
two UH1B "Cobras". When they approached Hambleton's position just before dark,
at about 50 feet off the ground, with one of the AH1G Cobra gunships flying at
300 feet for cover, two of the helicopters were shot down. One, the Cobra (Blue
Ghost 28) reached safety and the crew was picked up, without having seen the
other downed helicopter. The other, a UH1H from F Troop, 8th Cavalry, 196th
Brigade, had just flown over some huts into a clearing when they encountered
ground fire, and the helicopter exploded. Jose Astorga, the gunner, was injured
in the chest and knee by the gunfire. Astorga became unconscious, and when he
recovered, the helicopter was on the ground. He found the pilot, 1Lt. Byron K.
Kulland, lying outside the helicopter. WO John W. Frink, the co-pilot, was
strapped in his seat and conscious. The crew chief, SP5 Ronald P. Paschall, was
pinned by his leg in the helicopter, but alive. WO Franks urged Astorga to
leave them, and Astorga was captured. He soon observed the aircraft to be hit
by automatic weapons fire, and to explode with the rest of the crew inside. He
never saw the rest of the crew again. Astorga was relesed by the North
Vietnamese in 1973.

The following day, Nail 38, an OV10A equipped with electronic rescue gear
enabling its crew to get a rapid "fix" on its rescue target entered Hambleton's
area and was shot down. The crew, William J. Henderson and Mark Clark, both
parachuted out safely. Henderson was captured and released in 1973. Clark
evaded for 12 days and was subsequently rescued.

On April 3, the day Nail 38 was shot down, a UH1H "slick" went down in the same
area carrying a crew of four enlisted Army personnel. They had no direct
connection to the rescue of Bat 21, but were very probably shot down by the
same SAM installations that downed Bat 21. The helicopter, from H/HQ, 37th
Signal Battalion, 1st Signal Brigade, had left Marble Mountain Airfield, Da
Nang, on a standard resupply mission to signal units in and around Quang Tri
City. The crew, consisting of WO Douglas L. O'Neil, pilot; CW2 Larry A. Zich,
co-pilot; SP5 Allen D. Christensen, crew chief; and SP4 Edward W. Williams,
gunner; remain missing in action.

On April 6, an attempt was made to pick up Clark and Hambleton which resulted
in an HH53C helicopter being shot down. The chopper was badly hit. The
helicopter landed on its side and continued to burn, consuming the entire craft,
and presumably, all 6 men aboard. The crew of this aircraft consisted of James
H. Alley; Allen J. Avery, John H. Call III, Peter H. Chapman, William R.
Pearson, and Roy D. Prater. Search and rescue noted no signs of survivors, but
it is felt that the Vientamese probably know the fate of this crew because of
the close proximity of the downed aircraft to enemy locations.

On April 7 another Air Force OV10A went down in the area with Larry Potts and
Bruce Walker aboard. Walker, the Air Force pilot of the aircraft, evaded
capture 11 days, while it is reported that Potts was captured and died in Quang
Binh prison. Potts, the observer, was a Marine Corps officer. Walker's last
radio transmission to search and rescue was for SAR not to make an attempt to
rescue, the enemy was closing in. Both men remain unaccounted for.

Hambleton and Clark were rescued after 12 incredible days. Hambleton
continually changed positions and reported on enemy activity as he went, even
to the extent of calling in close air strikes near his position. He was tracked
by a code he devised relating to the length and lie direction of various golf
holes he knew well. Another 20 or so Americans were not so fortunate.

In July 1986, the daughter of Henry Serex learned that, one week after all
search and rescue had been "called off" for Bat 21, another mission was mounted
to recover "another downed crewmember" from Bat 21. She doesn't know whether or
not it is her father or another man on the EB66 aircraft. No additional
information has been released. When the movie "Bat 21" was released, she was
horrified to learn that virtually no mention of the rest of the crew, including
her father, was made.

In Vietnam, to most fighting men, the man that fought beside them, whether in
the air or on the ground, was worth dying for. Each understood that the other
would die for him if necessary. Thus, also considering the critical knowledge
possessed by Col. Hambleton and some of the others, the seemingly uncanny means
taken to recover Clark and Hambleton are not so unusual at all.

What defies logic and explaination, however, is that the government that sent
these men to battle can distort or withold information to their families, and
knowingly abandon hundreds of men known or strongly suspected to be in enemy
hands.

Thousands of reports have been received by the U.S. Government indicating that
Americans are still alive, in captivity in Southeast Asia. It has been 17 years
for those who may have survived the 1972 Easter crashes and rescue attempts.
How much longer must they wait for their country to bring "peace with honor" to
them and bring them home?





GIERAK, GEORGE GREGORY JR.

Name: George Gregory Gierak, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O2/US Navy
Unit: Heavy Photo Squadron 61, USS HANCOCK (CVA-19)
Date of Birth: 25 July 1940
Home City of Record: Springfield NY
Date of Loss: 13 June 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 181557N 1060659E (XF180198)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: RA3B

Other Personnel In Incident: John T. Glanville; Bennie R. Lambton (both missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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: HIT-N TRACE-FBIS SEZ DED-J

SYNOPSIS: On June 13, 1966, LTCDR John Glanville, pilot; LTJG George Gierak,
co-pilot; and Chief Petty Officer Bennie R. Lambton, photographic
intelligenceman, launched from the aircraft carrier USS Hancock (CVA-19) in
their RA3B Skywarrior aircraft on a night low-level photo reconnaissance mission
in the Ha Tinh province of North Vietnam.

The flight was directed by Heavy Photographic Squadron 61, to which the crew was
attached. During their mission, the aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire, and
it was assumed they went down under heave fire. No communication or distress
signals were received. The escort aircraft observed a bright orange flash near
the mouth of the Gia Hoi River and thereafter radio contact with the aircraft
had been lost.

An extensive search was conducted in the immediate area, as well as over the
adjacent waters by various aircraft, but results were negative.

On June 15, 1966, Radio Peking stated that a photo reconnaissance jet was shot
down and the crew killed in the crash.

The crew escape system of this type aircraft does not provide ejection seats,
and makes high speed bailout extremely difficult. Low-altitude bailout is
virtually impossible. All information taken into consideration, the Commanding
Officer of the squadron changed the crew's initial classification from Missing
in Action to Killed in Action/Body Not Recovered on June 17, 1966.

The crew of the RA3B shot down on June 13, 1966 are listed with honor among the
missing because no remains were found. Their cases seem quite clear. For others
who are listed missing, resolution is not as simple. Many were known to have
survived their loss incident. Quite a few were in radio contact with search
teams and describing an advancing enemy. Some were photographed or recorded in
captivity. Others simply vanished without a trace.

Reports continue to mount that we abandoned hundreds of Americans to the enemy
when we left Southeast Asia. While the crew of the RA3B may not be among them,
one can imagine their proud willingness to fly one more mission to bring in the
intelligence needed to secure their rescue and flight to freedom.


GILBERT, PAUL FARIS

Name: Paul Faris Gilbert
Rank/Branch: O2/USAF
Unit: 16th Special Operations Squadron (PAF), Ubon, Thailand
Date of Birth: 19 September 1941
Home City of Record: Plainview TX
Date of Loss: 18 June 1972
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 161500N 1071200E (YC343978)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: AC130A

Other Personnel in Incident: Jacob Mercer; Richard Nyhof; Robert Wilson; Leon A.
Hunt; Larry J. Newman; Gerald F. Ayres; Stanley Lehrke; Robert Harrison; Donald
H. Klinke; Richard M. Cole; Mark G. Danielson (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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: Lockheed's versatile C130 aircraft filled many roles in Vietnam,
including transport, tanker, gunship, drone controller, airborne battlefield
command and control center, weather reconnaissance, electronic reconnaissance,
and search, rescue and recovery.

The AC130, outfitted as a gunship, was the most spectacular of the modified
C130's. These ships pierced the darkness using searchlights, flares, night
observation devices that intensified natural light, and a variety of electronic
sensors such as radar, infared equipment and even low-level television. On some
models, a computer automatically translated sensor data into instructions for
the pilot, who kept his fixed, side-firing guns trained on target by adjusting
the angle of bank as he circled. The crew of these planes were, therefore,
highly trained and capable. They were highly desirable "captures" for the enemy
because of their technical knowledge.

1LT Paul F. Gilbert was the pilot of an AC130A gunship assigned a mission near
the A Shau Valley in the Republic of Vietnam on June 18, 1972. The crew,
totaling 15 men included MAJ Gerald F. Ayres, MAJ Robert H. Harrison, CAPT
Robert A. Wilson, CAPT Mark G. Danielson, TSGT Richard M. Cole Jr., SSGT Donald
H. Klinke, SSGT Richard E. Nyhof, SSGT Larry J. Newman, SGT Leon A. Hunt, and
SGT Stanley L. "Larry" Lehrke.

During the mission, the aircraft was hit by a surface-to-air missile (SAM) and
went down near the border of Laos and Vietnam. In fact, the first location
coordinates given to the families were indeed Laos, but were quickly changed to
reflect a loss just inside South Vietnam.

Three survivors of the crash were rescued the next day. After several years of
effort, some of the family members of the other crewmembers were able to review
part of their debriefings, which revealed that a bail-out order was given, and
that at least one unexplained parachute was observed, indicating that at least
one other airman may have safely escaped the crippled aircraft.

In early 1985, resistance forces surfaced information which indicated that SGT
Mercer had survived the crash and was currently held prisoner. Parents of
another crew member, Mark G. Danielson, discovered a photograph of an
unidentified POW printed about 6 months after the crash, in their local
newspaper whom they were CONVINCED was Mark. It was several years, however,
before the U.S. Government allowed the Danielsons to view the film from which
the photo was taken. When they viewed the film, their certainty diminished.

The hope that some of the twelve missing from the AC130A gunship has not
diminished, however. Since the war ended, over 10,000 reports relating to
Americans missing, prisoner or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia have been
received by the U.S. Government, including over 1,000 first-hand live sighting
reports.

Families who might be able to lay their anguish and uncertainty to rest are
taunted by these reports, wondering if their loved one is still alive, abandoned
and alone. Since a large portion of the information is classified, it is
impossible for the families to come to their own conclusions as to the accuracy
of the reports.

The fate of the twelve missing men from the gunship lost on June 18, 1972 is
unknown. What is certain is that the governments of Southeast Asia possess far
more knowledge than they have admitted to date. A large percentage of the nearly
2500 missing Americans CAN be accounted for. There can be no question that if
even one American remains alive in captivity today, we have a moral and legal
obligation to do everything possible to bring him home.

GILCHRIST, ROBERT MICHAEL

Name: Robert Michael Gilchrist
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 27 November 1940
Home City of Record: Littleton CO
Date of Loss: 07 October 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 174800N 1062900E (XE572685)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 3
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: RF4C

Other Personnel In Incident: Eugene M. Pabst (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: The F4 Phantom served a variety of functions including fighter-bomber
and interceptor, photo and electronic surveillance. The two-man craft was very
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 all
altitudes. Most pilots considered it one of the "hottest" planes around.

1Lt. Robert M. Gilchrist was an Air Force pilot who flew a reconnaissance
version of the Phantom, the RF4C. On October 7, 1966, Gilchrist and his
backseater, 1Lt. Eugene M. Pabst were sent on a reconnaissance mission over
North Vietnam near the city of Ba Don.

During the mission, Gilchrist's aircraft was hit by enemy fire and crashed. Both
men were listed as Missing In Action. The U.S. believes that the Vietnamese
could account for both of them.

Since the fall of Saigon in 1975, tens of thousands of refugees have fled
Southeast Asia bringing with them stories of Americans still held in communist
prisons. To date, the U.S. Government maintains that none of the reports can be
verified, although intelligence assets are "fully focused" on the region.

Whether Gilchrist and Pabst survived to be captured is unknown. But it seems
clear that hundreds of Americans are still alive, waiting to come home. Men like
Gilchrist and Pabst become the leaders of our nation. We must find the formula
to free them. We cannot afford to abandon our best.

Robert M. Gilchrist graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1963.

Robert M. Gilchrist and Eugene M. Pabst were promoted to the rank of Major
during the period they were maintained Missing in Action.

GILLEN, THOMAS ELDON

Name: Thomas Eldon Gillen
Rank/Branch: O4/USAF
Unit:
Date of Birth: 08 May 1933
Home City of Record: Kingman KS
Date of Loss: 18 February 1970
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 192900N 1040300E (VG008547)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D
Other Personnel In Incident: Unknown (rescued)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 15 March 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Thomas Gillen was one of 9 children in a poor Kansas ranch family. He
worked hard for every goal he attained and appreciated the blessings he had in
life because he knew what it was like "to be without." His ideals were high and
his love for his country ran strong and deep.

Tom Gillen's sense of duty to his country and love of flying brought him to
Vietnam. In leaving, he reminded his family of all the blessings they enjoyed,
more than most, and asked them not to be bitter if he failed to return.

On February 18, 1970, Gillen was on a mission over Laos when his F4D was lost.
Although his bombardier/navigator was apparently rescued, no parachute was seen
for Tom. There has been no word of his fate.

Gillen is one of nearly 600 Americans lost in Laos, and one of nearly 2500 in
Southeast Asia who never returned. Mounting evidence indicates that some of them
are alive, held prisoner. The United States has never negotiated the freedom of
the prisoners of war held by Laos. Not one prisoner held in Laos has returned.

Americans like Gillen went to Vietnam prepared to die, even prepared to be
wounded or taken prisoner. They did not go prepared to be abandoned. They must
be brought home.

Thomas E. Gillen was promoted to the rank of Colonel during the period he was
maintained missing in action.
GILLESPIE, CHARLES ROGERS JR.

Name: Charles Rogers Gillespie, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O5/US Navy
Unit: USS Coral Sea
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Meridian MS
Date of Loss: 24 October 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 212800N 1052600E (WJ448736)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4B
Other Personnel In Incident: Richard C. Clark (missing); at same coordinates,
same day on another F4 - Robert Frishmann, Earl G. Lewis (both returned POWs)

REMARKS: 730314 RELEASED BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: On October 24, 1967, Ltjg. Richard Clark was flying as backseater
aboard the F4B Phantom fighter jet flown by Commander Charles R. Gillespie on a
bombing mission over the Hanoi, Haiphong and Vinh Phuc region of North Vietnam.
The aircraft was one in a flight of two.

Clark and Gillespie's aircraft was hit by a surface-to-air missile and crashed
in Vinh Phu Province. Other members of the flight observed two good parachutes,
heard one electronic beacon signal, and observed one unidentified crew member
on the ground.

On the same day, the F4 flown by Earl Lewis and Robert Frishmann was shot down
at the same coordinates. Frishmann relates that he "wasn't even diving when
they hit me. I was flying. Bad luck!" Frishmann sustained a serious injury to
his arm by missile fragments. Frishmann believed Lewis was dead, but after 4
hours, located him. Both were captured by the Vietnamese.

The Vietnamese were able to save Frishmann's arm, but he lost his elbow,
leaving the arm nearly 8 inches shorter than the other. A reporter, Oriana
Fallaci, interviewed Frishmann for Look Magazine in July 1969. At that time, he
had been held in solitary confinement for 18 months.

Lewis, Frishmann and Gillespie were held in various locations in and around
Hanoi as prisoners. At no time did any of them see Richard Clark, who had
successfully ejected from the aircraft.

Lt. Frishmann was released in August 1969 with the blessings of the POW
community. His message to the world would reveal the torture endured by
Americans held in Vietnam and cause a public outcry which would eventually help
stop the torture and result in better treatment for the prisoners.

Gillespie and Lewis were both released from Hanoi March 14, 1973 in the general
prisoner release nearing the end of American involvement in the war in Vietnam.

Cdr. Gillespie, in his debrief, stated that after the missile hit, smoke filled
the cockpit, and as the intercom system failed, he gave an emergency hand
signal to eject and he did not see Lt. Clark again. On October 24, Radio Hanoi
announced that in the afternoon of October 24, eight U.S. war planes had been
shot down and that a number of U.S. pilots had been captured. The U.S.
correlates this information to Lt. Clark and placed him in prisoner of war
classification. (Inexplicably, however, the Defense Intelligence Agency codes
Clark as "category 2" which means only "suspected" enemy knowledge of his fate.)

If Lt. Clark was captured, why did he not return home? If he died, where are
his remains? If he is one of the hundreds of Americans experts now believe are
still alive in captivity in Southeast Asia, what are we doing to bring him
home? What must he be thinking of us?


GILLSON, PETER RAYMOND

Name: Peter Raymond Gillson
Rank/Branch: E1
Unit:
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Australia
Date of Loss: 08 November 1965
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: YT164234
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Other Personnel in Incident: Richard H.J. Parker (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. Two of them are Pvt. Peter R. Gillson and PFC Richard H.J. Parker, lost
on November 8, 1965. Parker and Gillson are the first two Australians listed
Missing in Action.

Gillson and Parker were with a unit which came in close contact with the enemy
during fierce fighting for the Battle of the Hump twenty-one kilometers
northeast of Bien Hoa. The company came under heavy fire and Parker was last
seen lying on the ground during the ambush. Although he was heard to groan, he
did not answer calls.

Gillson, according to some sources, was injured about 9 kilometers northeast of
Parker's location, but according to U.S. records, Gillson and Parker were lost
at the same location. The unit was forced to withdraw. Gillson was thought to be
dead, but Parker's condition was not really known.

Australian comrades were furious when U.S. orders prevented them from returning
to the site to locate Gillson and Parker. Both men were listed presumed Killed
in Action/Body Not Recovered.

While Gillson and Parker's military unit is not known, it is nearly certain that
their unit was working with the 173rd Airborne Brigade at Bien Hoa, and they
were possibly part of the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (RAR) which
arrived in Vietnam in May 1965.

Gillson and Parker do not appear on most U.S. lists since they were not U.S.
citizens. 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.

GILMORE, LA JUAN A.

Name: La Juan A. Gilmore
Rank/Branch: Civilian
Unit: Glomar Java Sea
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record:
Date of Loss: 25 October 1983
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates:
Status (in 1973):
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground:

Personnel in Incident: Herman Arms; Jerald T. Battiste; Sebe M. Bracey; Patrick
B. Cates; Wei Chen; Xiong Chen; Shu Guo Cheng; Jacob K. J. Chong; David P.
Clifton; James F. Cusick; Thomas J. Dixon; Shao Jien Feng; Jerald J. Flanagan;
Nigel Furness; Leonard E. Ganzinotti; La Juan A. Gilmore; Henry M. Gittings;
James K. Gittings; Terance C. Green; Jun Tian Guan; David Higgins, Jr.; Tyronne
Higgins; Hong Xi Huang; Rui Wen Huang; Yong Liang Huang; Timothy Jarvis; John W.
Jennings Jr.; Thomas J. Kofahl; Fan Xiang Kong; Guo Zhen Lai; John W. Lawrence;
Tong L. T. Lee; Chong Chang Li; Xuan Qiu Li; Zhan Jun Liang; Jie Feng Lin; Bing
Guang Liu; Edgar S. Lim; Gary Looke; Robert M. McCurry; Jerry L. Manfrida;
Raymond D. Miller; Xie Yi Mo; Tian Xue Mo; Kenneth W. Myers; Larry K. Myers;
Donald J. Ouellet; John D. Pierce; Peter Popiel; Clarence Reed; Jewell J.
Reynolds; E.J. Russell Reynolds; Walter T. Robinson; Kenneth B. Rogers; Lawrence
M. Salzwedel; William R. Schug; Richard E. Shoff; Christopher J. Sleeman; Delmar
A. Spencer; George G. Sullivan; Chong Jian Sun; Gustaf F. Swanson; Kevin C.
Swanson; Guo Dong Tang; Michael W. Thomas; Jiang Wang; Yu Fang Wang; Dong Cai
Wang; Guo Rong Wu; jing Sheng Xia; Xing Xing; Hui Xu; Ming Rui Xu; Mua Guang
Yuan; Xing Zhen Zhang; Yi Hua Zhang; Ji Chang Zhen; Shu Rong Zhou; Yao Wu Zhou;
Jie Fang Zhou; Da Huai Zhu.

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 10 December 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 5,930-ton American drilling ship, "Glomar Java Sea" was owned by
Global Marine of Houston, Texas, and leased to Atlantic Richfield Company
(ARCO). In the fall of 1983, the vessel was on duty about 200 miles east of the
Vietnamese coast. The ship was drilling for oil in the South China Sea in a
joint venture of ARCO and China Naitonal Offshore Oil Corporation, a state-owned
concern.

The "Glomar Java Sea" is a sister ship of the "Glomar Explorer," which, under
the guise of being utilized by the late Howard Hughes in a deep sea mining
operation in the Paficic, was really being used by the CIA and Navy in a $350
million project to retrieve a sunken Soviet Golf-class submarine. A large part
of the submarine was in fact recovered in 1974 before details of the project
were publicly revealed.

The Glomar Java Sea, with its crew of 81, began drilling operations on January
9, 1983 and was the first American wildcat operaton off the Chinese coast. On
October 25, 1983, the vessel was sunk during Typhoon Lex.

Documents removed from the ship by a crewman before the disaster indicate that
the vessel was being shadowed by armed Vietnamese naval craft and that there
were submarine mines beneath the "Glomar Java Sea," placed there and retrievable
by its crew. Another document indicates that the ship was damaged prior ot the
typhoon when a Chinese supply boat rammed into its side, causing some $320,000
damage to the vessel. The Glomar Java Sea did not leave its post for repairs.

Communications between ARCO and Global Marine, as well as telegraphic and radio
communications of the U.S. Western Pacific Rescue Coordination Center (WESTPAC)
reveal information about the search for the crew of the Glomar Java Sea.

The documents indicate that a number of survivors from the stricken vessel were
floundering in the water off the coast of Vietnam for hours after the disaster.
There is also indication that the men were picked up by Vietnamese coastal
patrols and are held captive of the Hanoi regime.

The crew of the Glomar Java Sea included 37 Americans, 35 Chinese, four British,
two Singaporeans, one Filipino, one Australian, and one Canadian.

From a transcript of a radio communicaton between WESTPAC and Global Marine on
October 28, three days after the sinking, WESTPAC was told:  "We are informed
that the SOS transmission could not have been transmitted except by human
operators..." There were two 64-man lifeboats aboard the drilling ship, plus
smaller lifeboats.

In an October 29 communicaton from WESTPAC to Global Marine, it is clearly
stated that five strobe lights were sighted by rescue aircraft in the vicinity
of 17-30 North 107-45 East. The aircraft were dispatched to the area because
strobe lights had been previously sighted. Lifejackets from the Glomar Java Sea
were equipped with strobe lights to signal rescuers.

Another October 29 communication between ARCO and Global Marine states that
ARCO's search aircraft had spotted survivors in the water at 17.27 North 107.54
East, and had attempted to divert surface vessels to this location. The
communication expressed the urgency to rescue the men before dark.

At 8:01 a.m. on October 29, ARCO had dropped a rescue raft to survivors.  Pickup
would be delayed for several hours, but the "Salvanquish," a Singapore-based
salvage ship, was within one half-mile of the site.

At 8:38 a.m search aircraft reported pinpointing the survivors' positions by dye
markers released by the survivors into the water. Two survivors were confirmed
with a possible third some distance away. Plans were also made to return to the
downed vessell to offlift survivors.

Another document shows that on nine different occasions radio transmissions were
picked up from a lifeboat. They ranged from "very strong" to "weak" with most
being described as "strong."

Inexplicably, despite the successful search, no rescue was made of the
survivors. Later that day, the Chinese Navy picked up a Vietnamese broadcast
reporting that the Vietnamese had sighted a lifeboat near their coast. The
location of the lifeboat was not confirmed by friendly search parties.

ARCO-Global Marine determined that this sighting was in the vicinity of Hon Gio
Island, located about 80 miles up the Vietnamese coast from the old U.S. base at
Da Nang and about 14 miles offshore, which placed it in Vietnamese territorial
waters. It appears that rescue craft were hampered in fully investigating the
report due to its location and the hint of possible interference by the
Vietnamese military.

It is likely that survivors would have been picked up by the Vietnamese if they
had in fact drifted within Vietnam's territory.

In the years following the loss of the Glomar Java Sea, a number of reports, all
unconfirmed by the U.S., indicate that survivors were seen in captivity in
Vietnam. It is known that the Vietnamese had shown a hostile interest in the
vessel, and the Glomar Java Sea had standing orders to be alert for Vietnamese
vessels in the area. The Chinese Navy served as protection for the vessel and
stood ready to take action should Vietnamese craft wander too close. The waters
below the vessel were mined.

A month after the Glomar Java Sea went down, Chinese divers went down to the
wreckage and went through the ship with a video cameras.

In March 1984, American divers were able to retrieve 31 bodies from the sunken
vessel. Fifteen of the bodies were identified as Americans. In addition, three
British and one Singaporean were identified. The bodies of another American and
two Chinese were tentatively identified. Divers photographed two bodies they
were unable to retrieve. They also found one of the Chinese divers that had
explored the wreckage in November 1983, lashed to the deck of the ship.

The American divers determined that one of the ship's large lifeboats was
launched and that an attempt had been made to launch another. Their film was
seen by the mother of one of the lost crewmen. She reported that the crack in
the hull of the ship at one point was a hole 48 inches across, which was
punctured inward, "as though the rig had been hit by something that exploded."
This fueled additional speculation that the vessel had, in fact, been attacked
rather that simply mortally damaged by the typhoon.

The National Transportaton Safety Board officially determined in November 1984
that an "unexplained crack" in the hull of the Glomar Java Sea was responsible
for its sinking during the typhoon. Apparently, the crack in the hull allowed
two storage tanks to fill with water, causing the vessel to become off-balanced,
making it vulnerable to the forces of the typhoon. Officials believed it was
possible that survivors may have been able to abandon the ship before it sank.
It was determined that the ship had been improperly prepared for the storm.

During 1984, there were reports from Southeast Asia that between six and twelve
survivors of the Glomar Java Sea were being held in prisoner of war camps in
Vietnam. One of the survivors was identified by a Vietnamese refugee as American
crewman John Pierce.

Douglas F. Pierce, father of John Pierce, reported that the refugee had seen his
son, five other Americans and eight Chinese when they were brought into a prison
in Da Nang, where the refugee was being held. John Pierce gave the refugee his
father's business card and two sticks of gum.

Mr. Pierce gave the information to Defense Intelligence Agency who determined
that the refugee had not been in the camp at all, but had received the business
card by mail from a friend, not directly from Pierce. DIA further determined
that the incident had occurred in late October 1983 (shortly after the Glomar
Java Sea went down). The refugee gave Mr. Pierce the original letter, which
contained the names and addresses of two mutual Vietnamese friends.

No followup was conducted on the two names in the letter by DIA, and DIA
discounted the information provided by the refugee. It was not until 1990 that
it became apparent that the Defense Department felt no responsibility for the
Americans lost on the Glomar Java Sea. At that time, DIA reported that the
responsibility for these civilians belonged to the U.S. State Department.

Mr. Pierce did not stop there. He uncovered a U.S. State Department document
that revealed that Cheng Quihong, the secretary and wife of the Director of
China's Visa Office, was overheard telling her companion at a Hong Kong dinner
that survivors from the Glomar had been picked up and were held by the
Vietnamese.

Pierce also learned that a JCRC report sent to DIA dated November 6, 1984,
reported that a former prisoner from Pleiku prison had been held with a Chinese
man who claimed to have been off the Glomar. The man said he was one of three
men who were captured, and that the other two were Americans.

Pierce adds that to his knowledge, neither of these reports were followed up by
U.S. officials, and Pierce has received no reply to his queries regarding them.

In 1989 a Japanese monk named Yoshida was released from prison after being held
for years by the Vietnamese. Yoshida was shown a photograph of John Pierce and
stated that Pierce looked very familiar, and that he had either seen him or
someone who looked very much like him.

In November, 1990, Vietamese Foreign Minister Nguyen Co Thach traveled to the
U.S. and spoke with U.S. officials on a variety of matters. At this time, he
announced that there was a black American named Walter T. Robinson living
illegally in Vietnam, and invited U.S. representatives to come and help find
him. Thach provided a social security number and two photographs.

The Pentagon told "The Washington Times" that the two photographs of Robinson
provided by Thach are of a black man. However, the Pentagon has since admitted
that the photos "are not very well developed" and appear to be of either a black
man or a dark Asian. Photocopies of old newspaper articles concerning Robinson,
obtained by Homecoming II, show a dark-haired man of relatively dark complexion.

The Pentagon has not released the photographs to the press.

The Defense Department determined that Walter T. Robinson had never been listed
as missing in Vietnam. Thach had provided a social security number, and
according to DOD, this information correlated to a white American living in the
Midwest. They concluded that the Thach information, therefore, was in error.

Later information indicated that a Walter T. Robinson was listed on the crew
roster of the Glomar Java Sea. When queried, the Defense Department reported
that they were aware of this Robinson, but that civilians were the
responsibility of the State Department.

It seems apparent that the U.S. is not vigorously looking for the men missing
from the Glomar Java Sea, and that like the missing and prisoners who served in
military and civilian capacities during the Vietnam war, they have been
abandoned.


GINN, DAVID LANDRELL

Name: David Landrell Ginn
Rank/Branch: E3/US Army
Unit: 329th Transportation Company, 5th Transportation Command (Terminal)
Date of Birth: 04 August 1950
Home City of Record: Anderson SC
Date of Loss: 03 November 1970
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 163226N 1074138E (YD925275)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: LCU-63
Other Personnel In Incident: Richard C. Dority; Dennis I. Day; Arlie R. Mangus;
Jerry D. Martin; Calvin A. Norris; James R. Pantall; John D. Shewmake; David W.
Woods (all classified Killed/Body Not Recovered); Perry C. Kitchens; Billy H.
Peeples (remains recovered)

REMARKS: LCU SANK-NO PARABEEP-NO PERS-NO SURV OBS AIR-J

SYNOPSIS: The 5th Transportation Command (Terminal) had the duty of running the
extensive Qui Nhon port and served under the U.S. Army Support Command, Qui
Nhon. The 5th Transportation Command was later deployed to Da Nang, and had
Battalions serving Vung Tau and Cat Lai. Among its duties were support of
amphibious operation and supplying ammunition and ordnance to operational
units, primarily by heavy boat.

On the afternoon of November 2, 1970, Sgt. Dennis I. Day, Sgt. Richard C.
Dority, Sgt. David L. Ginn, Sgt. Perry C. Kitchens, Sgt. Arlie R. Mangus, Sgt.
Jerry D. Martin, SSgt. Calvin A. Norris, Sgt. James R. Pantall, SFC John D.
Shewmake, Sgt. David W. Woods, and PFC Billie Hammond Peeples were the crew of a
landing craft, LCU #63, which departed Da Nang en route to Tan My, South Vietnam
on a resupply mission. The LCU was a heavy craft able to carry large loads of
ammunition.

At 1010 hours on November 3, 1970, helicopter pilots sighted the craft capsized
about 5 nautical miles south of Tan My port. In an initial search by air/sea
rescue, however, no sign of the crew of the LCU were observed. There was no
apparent hostile action, and the reason for the incident is unknown.

On November 6, the remains of Billy H. Peoples were recovered near Cu Loi
Island, fully rigged in a life jacket. During the period of December 4-20,
attempts were made to salvage the craft and locate the crew. Divers gained
access to all compartments and voids of the craft, but no survivors or evidence
of remains were found. Pieces of clothing, small arms ammo, cans and a radio
were recovered.

On March 16, 1977, the body of Perry Kitchens was returned to U.S. control and
subsequently positively identified. There has been no word of the rest of the
crew. The missing eight men were all presumed to have drowned, and the U.S.
Army believes there is no chance to ever recover the eight men missing from
LCU-63.

There are several descrepancies in the case of LCU-63 which should be noted.
First of all, the U.S. Army, the State Department and the Vietnam Veterans
Memorial Directory lists all the crew except Peeples as Sergeant, Staff
Sergeant, or Sergeant First Class, which are ranks one grade above those listed
by Defense Department and Joint Casualty Resolution Center records. The lower
grades are listed as follows: Ginn, Martin, Pantall, Peeples - E3 or PFC; Day,
Dority, Kitchens, Mangus and Woods - E4 - which can be either Corporal or SP4;
Norris - E5 or Sergeant; Shewmake - E6 or Staff Sergeant.

Secondly, the Memorial Directory lists the entire crew with the exceptions of
Peeples and Kitchens as missing on 4 November 1971 (a year and a day later than
all other records).

Third, the military occupational specialties of all 10 men on whom information
can be gathered are classified.

It was not uncommon for promotions to be given during the period between the
time personnel went missing and the time they were declared dead. This group is
classified as having had "non-hostile, died while missing" deaths, leading one
to assume that for a brief time, at least, they were declared missing, so that
it might be possible to have attained a grade increase during that period. It
is uncommon, however for grade increases to be given to those whom are
considered dead and non-recoverable. It was also uncommon for a group of 18 and
19 year-olds, as was most of this crew, to attain the rank of sergeant.

Strange things have been known to happen regarding missing men. One pilot was
declared dead because his aircraft exploded close to the ground. Later, the
pilot, who had ejected in a cloud of smoke, and landed on the ground even
before his parachute was fully deployed, was released from POW camp. One
Marine, Ronald Ridgeway, was declared dead and actually "buried" in a mass
grave in the United States with other men from the same action, only to come
home from POW camp in 1973. Mistakes were made, and errors in judgement
occurred.

Given that the LCU sank with no witnesses, and sank in the proximity of an
island, it is imaginable that the crew could have survived to be captured. This
could be said to be supported by the fact that Peeples was found fully
outfitted in his life jacket. It is, of course, only conjecture.

Tragically, thousands of reports have been received that indicate Americans are
still being held captive in Southeast Asia. Whether the LCU crew is among them
is certainly not known, but they could be. The evidence suggests that hundreds
are alive, waiting for their country to free them. It's time we got answers.




GIROUX, PETER JAMES

Name: Peter James Giroux
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 22nd Bomber Wing, Utapao Airfield, Thailand
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Trumansburg NY
Loss Date: 22 December 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 212500N 1062500E (WJ866264)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: B52D

Other Personnel In Incident: Thomas W. Bennett; (missing); Louis E. LeBlanc;
Peter P. Camerota (both returned POWs in 1973); Gerald W. Alley; Joseph B.
Copack (remains returned)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 31 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: 730212 RELSD BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: Frustrated by problems in negotiating a peace settlement, and
pressured by a Congress and public wanting an immediate end to American
involvement in Vietnam, President Nixon ordered the most concentrated air
offensive of the war - known as Linebacker II - in December 1972. During the
offensive, sometimes called the "Christmas bombings," 40,000 tons of bombs were
dropped, primarily over the area between Hanoi and Haiphong. White House Press
Secretary Ronald Ziegler said that the bombing would end only when all U.S. POWs
were released and an internationally recognized cease-fire was in force.

In early December 1972, several men stationed at Utapao, Thailand sent Christmas
presents home and readied themselves for a few final runs they would have to
make before Christmas. They were looking forward to returning to Thailand in
time to see Bob Hope on December 22. They never saw Bob Hope, and none of them
returned for Christmas.

On December 22, a B52D crew consisting of Capt. Thomas W. Bennett, co-pilot;
LtCol. Gerald W. Alley; Capt. Peter P. Camerota, bombardier; 1Lt. Joseph B.
Copack, Jr., navigator; Capt. Peter J. Giroux, pilot; and MSgt. Louis E.
LeBlanc, tailgunner; departed Utapao on a bombing mission over Hanoi.

When the B52D was about 50 miles northwest of Hanoi, it was hit by Surface to
Air Missiles (SAM). Bennett called the mayday and manually ejected the pilot,
who had blacked out and then bailed out himself. The tailgunner later reported
that he observed in the bright moonlight that the entire crew of six had
deployed parachutes. Three of them, Camerota, Giroux and LeBlanc were released
from prisoner of war camps in Hanoi a few months later in the general prisoner
release of 1973. The U.S. was not expecting them. They had not known that the
three were being held prisoner. Alley, Copack and Bennett were not released and
remained Missing in Action.

During the month of December, 62 crewmembers of B52 aircraft were shot down and
captured or went missing. Of these 62, 33 men were released in 1973. The remains
of about a dozen more have been returned over the years, and the rest are still
missing. At least 10 of those missing survived to eject safely. Where are they?

As reports mounted following the war convinced many authorities that hundreds of
Americans were still held captive in Southeast Asia, many families wonder if
their men were among those said to be still alive in captivity, and are
frustrated at inadequate efforts by the U.S. Government to get information on
their men.

On June 23, 1989, the U.S. announced that the Vietnamese had "discovered" the
remains of Gerald W. Alley and Josepg B. Copack and had sent them home at last.
For 17 years, Alley and Copack - alive or dead - were prisoners in enemy hands.
Their families at last know for certain that their sons are dead. What they may
never know, however, is how - and when - they died, and if they knew that their
country had abandoned them.


Gerald W. Alley was promoted to the rank of Colonel, Thomas W. Bennett was
promoted to the rank of Major and Joseph B. Copack was promoted to the rank of
Captain during the period they were maintained missing.



GISH, HENRY GERALD

Name: Henry Gerald Gish
Rank/Branch: E5/US Air Force
Unit: TDY-Civilian/Lockheed
Date of Birth: 18 December 1946
Home City of Record: Lancaster PA
Date of Loss: 11 March 1968
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 202600N 1034400E (YH680600)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Other Personnel In Incident: Clarence Blanton; James Calfee; James Davis; Willis
Hall; Melvin Holland; Herbert Kirk; David Price; Patrick Shannon; Donald
Springsteadah; Don Worley (all missing from Lima 85); Donald Westbrook (missing
from SAR 13 March)

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: When Henry Gish volunteered for a sensitive assignment called Project
Heavy Green, his wife had to sign a secrecy agreement too. Gish, an Air Force
man, was to be temporarily relieved of duty to take a civilian job with Lockheed
Aircraft. He would be running Lima Site 85, a radar base in Laos, whose
neutrality prohibited U.S. military presence. No one was to know.

Lima 85 was on a peak in the Annam Highlands near the village of Sam Neua on a
5860-foot mountain called Phou Pha Thi. The mountain was protected by sheer
cliffs on three sides, and guarded by 300 tribesmen working for CIA. Unarmed US
"civilians" operated the radar which swept across the Tonkin Delta to Hanoi.

For three months in early 1968, a steady stream of intelligence was received
which indicated that communist troops were about to launch a major attack on
Lima 85. Intelligence watched as enemy troops even built a road to the area to
facilitate moving heavy weapons, but the site was so important that William H.
Sullivan, U.S. Ambassador to Laos, made the decision to leave the men in place.
When the attack came March 11, some were rescued by helicopter, but eleven men
were missing. The President announced a halt in the bombing of North Vietnam.

Donald Westbrook was flying one of 4 A1E's orbiting on stand-by to search for
survivors of the attack at Phou Pha Thi when his plane was shot down March 13.
Westbrook was never found. Finding no survivors, the Air Force destroyed Lima 85
to prevent the equipment from falling into the hands of the enemy.

In mid-March, Doris Jean Gish was notified that Lima 85 had been overrun by
enemy forces, and that her husband and the others who had not escaped had been
killed. Many years later, she learned that was not the whole truth.

Two separate reports indicate that all the men missing at Phou Pha Thi did not
die. One report suggests that at least one of the 11 was captured, and another
indicates that 6 were captured. Information has been hard to get. The fact that
Lima Site 85 existed was only declassified in 1983, and finally the wives could
be believed when they said their husbands were missing in Laos. Some of the
men's files were shown to their families for the first time in 1985.

Doris Jean Gish and the other wives have talked and compared notes. They still
feel there is a lot of information to be had. They think someone survived the
attack on Lima Site 85 that day in March 1968. They wonder if their country will
bring those men home.

GITTINGS, HENRY M.

Name: Henry M. Gittings
Rank/Branch: Civilian
Unit: Glomar Java Sea
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record:
Date of Loss: 25 October 1983
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates:
Status (in 1973):
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground:

Personnel in Incident: Herman Arms; Jerald T. Battiste; Sebe M. Bracey; Patrick
B. Cates; Wei Chen; Xiong Chen; Shu Guo Cheng; Jacob K. J. Chong; David P.
Clifton; James F. Cusick; Thomas J. Dixon; Shao Jien Feng; Jerald J. Flanagan;
Nigel Furness; Leonard E. Ganzinotti; La Juan A. Gilmore; Henry M. Gittings;
James K. Gittings; Terance C. Green; Jun Tian Guan; David Higgins, Jr.; Tyronne
Higgins; Hong Xi Huang; Rui Wen Huang; Yong Liang Huang; Timothy Jarvis; John W.
Jennings Jr.; Thomas J. Kofahl; Fan Xiang Kong; Guo Zhen Lai; John W. Lawrence;
Tong L. T. Lee; Chong Chang Li; Xuan Qiu Li; Zhan Jun Liang; Jie Feng Lin; Bing
Guang Liu; Edgar S. Lim; Gary Looke; Robert M. McCurry; Jerry L. Manfrida;
Raymond D. Miller; Xie Yi Mo; Tian Xue Mo; Kenneth W. Myers; Larry K. Myers;
Donald J. Ouellet; John D. Pierce; Peter Popiel; Clarence Reed; Jewell J.
Reynolds; E.J. Russell Reynolds; Walter T. Robinson; Kenneth B. Rogers; Lawrence
M. Salzwedel; William R. Schug; Richard E. Shoff; Christopher J. Sleeman; Delmar
A. Spencer; George G. Sullivan; Chong Jian Sun; Gustaf F. Swanson; Kevin C.
Swanson; Guo Dong Tang; Michael W. Thomas; Jiang Wang; Yu Fang Wang; Dong Cai
Wang; Guo Rong Wu; jing Sheng Xia; Xing Xing; Hui Xu; Ming Rui Xu; Mua Guang
Yuan; Xing Zhen Zhang; Yi Hua Zhang; Ji Chang Zhen; Shu Rong Zhou; Yao Wu Zhou;
Jie Fang Zhou; Da Huai Zhu.

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 10 December 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 5,930-ton American drilling ship, "Glomar Java Sea" was owned by
Global Marine of Houston, Texas, and leased to Atlantic Richfield Company
(ARCO). In the fall of 1983, the vessel was on duty about 200 miles east of the
Vietnamese coast. The ship was drilling for oil in the South China Sea in a
joint venture of ARCO and China Naitonal Offshore Oil Corporation, a state-owned
concern.

The "Glomar Java Sea" is a sister ship of the "Glomar Explorer," which, under
the guise of being utilized by the late Howard Hughes in a deep sea mining
operation in the Paficic, was really being used by the CIA and Navy in a $350
million project to retrieve a sunken Soviet Golf-class submarine. A large part
of the submarine was in fact recovered in 1974 before details of the project
were publicly revealed.

The Glomar Java Sea, with its crew of 81, began drilling operations on January
9, 1983 and was the first American wildcat operaton off the Chinese coast. On
October 25, 1983, the vessel was sunk during Typhoon Lex.

Documents removed from the ship by a crewman before the disaster indicate that
the vessel was being shadowed by armed Vietnamese naval craft and that there
were submarine mines beneath the "Glomar Java Sea," placed there and retrievable
by its crew. Another document indicates that the ship was damaged prior ot the
typhoon when a Chinese supply boat rammed into its side, causing some $320,000
damage to the vessel. The Glomar Java Sea did not leave its post for repairs.

Communications between ARCO and Global Marine, as well as telegraphic and radio
communications of the U.S. Western Pacific Rescue Coordination Center (WESTPAC)
reveal information about the search for the crew of the Glomar Java Sea.

The documents indicate that a number of survivors from the stricken vessel were
floundering in the water off the coast of Vietnam for hours after the disaster.
There is also indication that the men were picked up by Vietnamese coastal
patrols and are held captive of the Hanoi regime.

The crew of the Glomar Java Sea included 37 Americans, 35 Chinese, four British,
two Singaporeans, one Filipino, one Australian, and one Canadian.

From a transcript of a radio communicaton between WESTPAC and Global Marine on
October 28, three days after the sinking, WESTPAC was told:  "We are informed
that the SOS transmission could not have been transmitted except by human
operators..." There were two 64-man lifeboats aboard the drilling ship, plus
smaller lifeboats.

In an October 29 communicaton from WESTPAC to Global Marine, it is clearly
stated that five strobe lights were sighted by rescue aircraft in the vicinity
of 17-30 North 107-45 East. The aircraft were dispatched to the area because
strobe lights had been previously sighted. Lifejackets from the Glomar Java Sea
were equipped with strobe lights to signal rescuers.

Another October 29 communication between ARCO and Global Marine states that
ARCO's search aircraft had spotted survivors in the water at 17.27 North 107.54
East, and had attempted to divert surface vessels to this location. The
communication expressed the urgency to rescue the men before dark.

At 8:01 a.m. on October 29, ARCO had dropped a rescue raft to survivors.  Pickup
would be delayed for several hours, but the "Salvanquish," a Singapore-based
salvage ship, was within one half-mile of the site.

At 8:38 a.m search aircraft reported pinpointing the survivors' positions by dye
markers released by the survivors into the water. Two survivors were confirmed
with a possible third some distance away. Plans were also made to return to the
downed vessell to offlift survivors.

Another document shows that on nine different occasions radio transmissions were
picked up from a lifeboat. They ranged from "very strong" to "weak" with most
being described as "strong."

Inexplicably, despite the successful search, no rescue was made of the
survivors. Later that day, the Chinese Navy picked up a Vietnamese broadcast
reporting that the Vietnamese had sighted a lifeboat near their coast. The
location of the lifeboat was not confirmed by friendly search parties.

ARCO-Global Marine determined that this sighting was in the vicinity of Hon Gio
Island, located about 80 miles up the Vietnamese coast from the old U.S. base at
Da Nang and about 14 miles offshore, which placed it in Vietnamese territorial
waters. It appears that rescue craft were hampered in fully investigating the
report due to its location and the hint of possible interference by the
Vietnamese military.

It is likely that survivors would have been picked up by the Vietnamese if they
had in fact drifted within Vietnam's territory.

In the years following the loss of the Glomar Java Sea, a number of reports, all
unconfirmed by the U.S., indicate that survivors were seen in captivity in
Vietnam. It is known that the Vietnamese had shown a hostile interest in the
vessel, and the Glomar Java Sea had standing orders to be alert for Vietnamese
vessels in the area. The Chinese Navy served as protection for the vessel and
stood ready to take action should Vietnamese craft wander too close. The waters
below the vessel were mined.

A month after the Glomar Java Sea went down, Chinese divers went down to the
wreckage and went through the ship with a video cameras.

In March 1984, American divers were able to retrieve 31 bodies from the sunken
vessel. Fifteen of the bodies were identified as Americans. In addition, three
British and one Singaporean were identified. The bodies of another American and
two Chinese were tentatively identified. Divers photographed two bodies they
were unable to retrieve. They also found one of the Chinese divers that had
explored the wreckage in November 1983, lashed to the deck of the ship.

The American divers determined that one of the ship's large lifeboats was
launched and that an attempt had been made to launch another. Their film was
seen by the mother of one of the lost crewmen. She reported that the crack in
the hull of the ship at one point was a hole 48 inches across, which was
punctured inward, "as though the rig had been hit by something that exploded."
This fueled additional speculation that the vessel had, in fact, been attacked
rather that simply mortally damaged by the typhoon.

The National Transportaton Safety Board officially determined in November 1984
that an "unexplained crack" in the hull of the Glomar Java Sea was responsible
for its sinking during the typhoon. Apparently, the crack in the hull allowed
two storage tanks to fill with water, causing the vessel to become off-balanced,
making it vulnerable to the forces of the typhoon. Officials believed it was
possible that survivors may have been able to abandon the ship before it sank.
It was determined that the ship had been improperly prepared for the storm.

During 1984, there were reports from Southeast Asia that between six and twelve
survivors of the Glomar Java Sea were being held in prisoner of war camps in
Vietnam. One of the survivors was identified by a Vietnamese refugee as American
crewman John Pierce.

Douglas F. Pierce, father of John Pierce, reported that the refugee had seen his
son, five other Americans and eight Chinese when they were brought into a prison
in Da Nang, where the refugee was being held. John Pierce gave the refugee his
father's business card and two sticks of gum.

Mr. Pierce gave the information to Defense Intelligence Agency who determined
that the refugee had not been in the camp at all, but had received the business
card by mail from a friend, not directly from Pierce. DIA further determined
that the incident had occurred in late October 1983 (shortly after the Glomar
Java Sea went down). The refugee gave Mr. Pierce the original letter, which
contained the names and addresses of two mutual Vietnamese friends.

No followup was conducted on the two names in the letter by DIA, and DIA
discounted the information provided by the refugee. It was not until 1990 that
it became apparent that the Defense Department felt no responsibility for the
Americans lost on the Glomar Java Sea. At that time, DIA reported that the
responsibility for these civilians belonged to the U.S. State Department.

Mr. Pierce did not stop there. He uncovered a U.S. State Department document
that revealed that Cheng Quihong, the secretary and wife of the Director of
China's Visa Office, was overheard telling her companion at a Hong Kong dinner
that survivors from the Glomar had been picked up and were held by the
Vietnamese.

Pierce also learned that a JCRC report sent to DIA dated November 6, 1984,
reported that a former prisoner from Pleiku prison had been held with a Chinese
man who claimed to have been off the Glomar. The man said he was one of three
men who were captured, and that the other two were Americans.

Pierce adds that to his knowledge, neither of these reports were followed up by
U.S. officials, and Pierce has received no reply to his queries regarding them.

In 1989 a Japanese monk named Yoshida was released from prison after being held
for years by the Vietnamese. Yoshida was shown a photograph of John Pierce and
stated that Pierce looked very familiar, and that he had either seen him or
someone who looked very much like him.

In November, 1990, Vietamese Foreign Minister Nguyen Co Thach traveled to the
U.S. and spoke with U.S. officials on a variety of matters. At this time, he
announced that there was a black American named Walter T. Robinson living
illegally in Vietnam, and invited U.S. representatives to come and help find
him. Thach provided a social security number and two photographs.

The Pentagon told "The Washington Times" that the two photographs of Robinson
provided by Thach are of a black man. However, the Pentagon has since admitted
that the photos "are not very well developed" and appear to be of either a black
man or a dark Asian. Photocopies of old newspaper articles concerning Robinson,
obtained by Homecoming II, show a dark-haired man of relatively dark complexion.

The Pentagon has not released the photographs to the press.

The Defense Department determined that Walter T. Robinson had never been listed
as missing in Vietnam. Thach had provided a social security number, and
according to DOD, this information correlated to a white American living in the
Midwest. They concluded that the Thach information, therefore, was in error.

Later information indicated that a Walter T. Robinson was listed on the crew
roster of the Glomar Java Sea. When queried, the Defense Department reported
that they were aware of this Robinson, but that civilians were the
responsibility of the State Department.

It seems apparent that the U.S. is not vigorously looking for the men missing
from the Glomar Java Sea, and that like the missing and prisoners who served in
military and civilian capacities during the Vietnam war, they have been
abandoned.


GITTINGS, JAMES K.

Name: James K. Gittings
Rank/Branch: Civilian
Unit: Glomar Java Sea
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record:
Date of Loss: 25 October 1983
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates:
Status (in 1973):
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground:

Personnel in Incident: Herman Arms; Jerald T. Battiste; Sebe M. Bracey; Patrick
B. Cates; Wei Chen; Xiong Chen; Shu Guo Cheng; Jacob K. J. Chong; David P.
Clifton; James F. Cusick; Thomas J. Dixon; Shao Jien Feng; Jerald J. Flanagan;
Nigel Furness; Leonard E. Ganzinotti; La Juan A. Gilmore; Henry M. Gittings;
James K. Gittings; Terance C. Green; Jun Tian Guan; David Higgins, Jr.; Tyronne
Higgins; Hong Xi Huang; Rui Wen Huang; Yong Liang Huang; Timothy Jarvis; John W.
Jennings Jr.; Thomas J. Kofahl; Fan Xiang Kong; Guo Zhen Lai; John W. Lawrence;
Tong L. T. Lee; Chong Chang Li; Xuan Qiu Li; Zhan Jun Liang; Jie Feng Lin; Bing
Guang Liu; Edgar S. Lim; Gary Looke; Robert M. McCurry; Jerry L. Manfrida;
Raymond D. Miller; Xie Yi Mo; Tian Xue Mo; Kenneth W. Myers; Larry K. Myers;
Donald J. Ouellet; John D. Pierce; Peter Popiel; Clarence Reed; Jewell J.
Reynolds; E.J. Russell Reynolds; Walter T. Robinson; Kenneth B. Rogers; Lawrence
M. Salzwedel; William R. Schug; Richard E. Shoff; Christopher J. Sleeman; Delmar
A. Spencer; George G. Sullivan; Chong Jian Sun; Gustaf F. Swanson; Kevin C.
Swanson; Guo Dong Tang; Michael W. Thomas; Jiang Wang; Yu Fang Wang; Dong Cai
Wang; Guo Rong Wu; jing Sheng Xia; Xing Xing; Hui Xu; Ming Rui Xu; Mua Guang
Yuan; Xing Zhen Zhang; Yi Hua Zhang; Ji Chang Zhen; Shu Rong Zhou; Yao Wu Zhou;
Jie Fang Zhou; Da Huai Zhu.

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 10 December 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 5,930-ton American drilling ship, "Glomar Java Sea" was owned by
Global Marine of Houston, Texas, and leased to Atlantic Richfield Company
(ARCO). In the fall of 1983, the vessel was on duty about 200 miles east of the
Vietnamese coast. The ship was drilling for oil in the South China Sea in a
joint venture of ARCO and China Naitonal Offshore Oil Corporation, a state-owned
concern.

The "Glomar Java Sea" is a sister ship of the "Glomar Explorer," which, under
the guise of being utilized by the late Howard Hughes in a deep sea mining
operation in the Paficic, was really being used by the CIA and Navy in a $350
million project to retrieve a sunken Soviet Golf-class submarine. A large part
of the submarine was in fact recovered in 1974 before details of the project
were publicly revealed.

The Glomar Java Sea, with its crew of 81, began drilling operations on January
9, 1983 and was the first American wildcat operaton off the Chinese coast. On
October 25, 1983, the vessel was sunk during Typhoon Lex.

Documents removed from the ship by a crewman before the disaster indicate that
the vessel was being shadowed by armed Vietnamese naval craft and that there
were submarine mines beneath the "Glomar Java Sea," placed there and retrievable
by its crew. Another document indicates that the ship was damaged prior ot the
typhoon when a Chinese supply boat rammed into its side, causing some $320,000
damage to the vessel. The Glomar Java Sea did not leave its post for repairs.

Communications between ARCO and Global Marine, as well as telegraphic and radio
communications of the U.S. Western Pacific Rescue Coordination Center (WESTPAC)
reveal information about the search for the crew of the Glomar Java Sea.

The documents indicate that a number of survivors from the stricken vessel were
floundering in the water off the coast of Vietnam for hours after the disaster.
There is also indication that the men were picked up by Vietnamese coastal
patrols and are held captive of the Hanoi regime.

The crew of the Glomar Java Sea included 37 Americans, 35 Chinese, four British,
two Singaporeans, one Filipino, one Australian, and one Canadian.

From a transcript of a radio communicaton between WESTPAC and Global Marine on
October 28, three days after the sinking, WESTPAC was told:  "We are informed
that the SOS transmission could not have been transmitted except by human
operators..." There were two 64-man lifeboats aboard the drilling ship, plus
smaller lifeboats.

In an October 29 communicaton from WESTPAC to Global Marine, it is clearly
stated that five strobe lights were sighted by rescue aircraft in the vicinity
of 17-30 North 107-45 East. The aircraft were dispatched to the area because
strobe lights had been previously sighted. Lifejackets from the Glomar Java Sea
were equipped with strobe lights to signal rescuers.

Another October 29 communication between ARCO and Global Marine states that
ARCO's search aircraft had spotted survivors in the water at 17.27 North 107.54
East, and had attempted to divert surface vessels to this location. The
communication expressed the urgency to rescue the men before dark.

At 8:01 a.m. on October 29, ARCO had dropped a rescue raft to survivors.  Pickup
would be delayed for several hours, but the "Salvanquish," a Singapore-based
salvage ship, was within one half-mile of the site.

At 8:38 a.m search aircraft reported pinpointing the survivors' positions by dye
markers released by the survivors into the water. Two survivors were confirmed
with a possible third some distance away. Plans were also made to return to the
downed vessell to offlift survivors.

Another document shows that on nine different occasions radio transmissions were
picked up from a lifeboat. They ranged from "very strong" to "weak" with most
being described as "strong."

Inexplicably, despite the successful search, no rescue was made of the
survivors. Later that day, the Chinese Navy picked up a Vietnamese broadcast
reporting that the Vietnamese had sighted a lifeboat near their coast. The
location of the lifeboat was not confirmed by friendly search parties.

ARCO-Global Marine determined that this sighting was in the vicinity of Hon Gio
Island, located about 80 miles up the Vietnamese coast from the old U.S. base at
Da Nang and about 14 miles offshore, which placed it in Vietnamese territorial
waters. It appears that rescue craft were hampered in fully investigating the
report due to its location and the hint of possible interference by the
Vietnamese military.

It is likely that survivors would have been picked up by the Vietnamese if they
had in fact drifted within Vietnam's territory.

In the years following the loss of the Glomar Java Sea, a number of reports, all
unconfirmed by the U.S., indicate that survivors were seen in captivity in
Vietnam. It is known that the Vietnamese had shown a hostile interest in the
vessel, and the Glomar Java Sea had standing orders to be alert for Vietnamese
vessels in the area. The Chinese Navy served as protection for the vessel and
stood ready to take action should Vietnamese craft wander too close. The waters
below the vessel were mined.

A month after the Glomar Java Sea went down, Chinese divers went down to the
wreckage and went through the ship with a video cameras.

In March 1984, American divers were able to retrieve 31 bodies from the sunken
vessel. Fifteen of the bodies were identified as Americans. In addition, three
British and one Singaporean were identified. The bodies of another American and
two Chinese were tentatively identified. Divers photographed two bodies they
were unable to retrieve. They also found one of the Chinese divers that had
explored the wreckage in November 1983, lashed to the deck of the ship.

The American divers determined that one of the ship's large lifeboats was
launched and that an attempt had been made to launch another. Their film was
seen by the mother of one of the lost crewmen. She reported that the crack in
the hull of the ship at one point was a hole 48 inches across, which was
punctured inward, "as though the rig had been hit by something that exploded."
This fueled additional speculation that the vessel had, in fact, been attacked
rather that simply mortally damaged by the typhoon.

The National Transportaton Safety Board officially determined in November 1984
that an "unexplained crack" in the hull of the Glomar Java Sea was responsible
for its sinking during the typhoon. Apparently, the crack in the hull allowed
two storage tanks to fill with water, causing the vessel to become off-balanced,
making it vulnerable to the forces of the typhoon. Officials believed it was
possible that survivors may have been able to abandon the ship before it sank.
It was determined that the ship had been improperly prepared for the storm.

During 1984, there were reports from Southeast Asia that between six and twelve
survivors of the Glomar Java Sea were being held in prisoner of war camps in
Vietnam. One of the survivors was identified by a Vietnamese refugee as American
crewman John Pierce.

Douglas F. Pierce, father of John Pierce, reported that the refugee had seen his
son, five other Americans and eight Chinese when they were brought into a prison
in Da Nang, where the refugee was being held. John Pierce gave the refugee his
father's business card and two sticks of gum.

Mr. Pierce gave the information to Defense Intelligence Agency who determined
that the refugee had not been in the camp at all, but had received the business
card by mail from a friend, not directly from Pierce. DIA further determined
that the incident had occurred in late October 1983 (shortly after the Glomar
Java Sea went down). The refugee gave Mr. Pierce the original letter, which
contained the names and addresses of two mutual Vietnamese friends.

No followup was conducted on the two names in the letter by DIA, and DIA
discounted the information provided by the refugee. It was not until 1990 that
it became apparent that the Defense Department felt no responsibility for the
Americans lost on the Glomar Java Sea. At that time, DIA reported that the
responsibility for these civilians belonged to the U.S. State Department.

Mr. Pierce did not stop there. He uncovered a U.S. State Department document
that revealed that Cheng Quihong, the secretary and wife of the Director of
China's Visa Office, was overheard telling her companion at a Hong Kong dinner
that survivors from the Glomar had been picked up and were held by the
Vietnamese.

Pierce also learned that a JCRC report sent to DIA dated November 6, 1984,
reported that a former prisoner from Pleiku prison had been held with a Chinese
man who claimed to have been off the Glomar. The man said he was one of three
men who were captured, and that the other two were Americans.

Pierce adds that to his knowledge, neither of these reports were followed up by
U.S. officials, and Pierce has received no reply to his queries regarding them.

In 1989 a Japanese monk named Yoshida was released from prison after being held
for years by the Vietnamese. Yoshida was shown a photograph of John Pierce and
stated that Pierce looked very familiar, and that he had either seen him or
someone who looked very much like him.

In November, 1990, Vietamese Foreign Minister Nguyen Co Thach traveled to the
U.S. and spoke with U.S. officials on a variety of matters. At this time, he
announced that there was a black American named Walter T. Robinson living
illegally in Vietnam, and invited U.S. representatives to come and help find
him. Thach provided a social security number and two photographs.

The Pentagon told "The Washington Times" that the two photographs of Robinson
provided by Thach are of a black man. However, the Pentagon has since admitted
that the photos "are not very well developed" and appear to be of either a black
man or a dark Asian. Photocopies of old newspaper articles concerning Robinson,
obtained by Homecoming II, show a dark-haired man of relatively dark complexion.

The Pentagon has not released the photographs to the press.

The Defense Department determined that Walter T. Robinson had never been listed
as missing in Vietnam. Thach had provided a social security number, and
according to DOD, this information correlated to a white American living in the
Midwest. They concluded that the Thach information, therefore, was in error.

Later information indicated that a Walter T. Robinson was listed on the crew
roster of the Glomar Java Sea. When queried, the Defense Department reported
that they were aware of this Robinson, but that civilians were the
responsibility of the State Department.

It seems apparent that the U.S. is not vigorously looking for the men missing
from the Glomar Java Sea, and that like the missing and prisoners who served in
military and civilian capacities during the Vietnam war, they have been
abandoned.


GLANDON, GARY ALVEN

Name: Gary Alven Glandon
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit: (Unknown per USAF)
Date of Birth: 17 April 1940
Home City of Record: Powell TX
Date of Loss: 26 May 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 135342N 1991442E (CR104367)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4C

Other Personnel in Incident: Terrance H. Griffey (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 September 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: 1Lt. Terrance H. Griffey was the pilot and 1Lt. Gary A. Glandon his
weapons systems officer on an F4C Phantom sent on a bombing mission on May 26,
1966. The aircraft was number two in a flight of three. After making the bombing
run over the target, Griffey's aircraft was observed to burst into flames and
explode. The aircraft burned in the air, impacted the ground and disintegrated
into small pieces. The location of the crash was on the coast of South Vietnam
about 10 miles northeast of the city of Qui Nhon in Binh Dinh Province. Both men
were thought to have been killed and to have gone down with the aircraft.

These two young officers were among the nearly 3000 Americans who were missing,
prisoner, or otherwise unaccounted for at the end of the Vietnam war. Griffey,
25, who had excelled at football at the Air Force Academy was just beginning an
Air Force career. Glandon, a native Tennessean, had just turned 26. They are
among roughly 58,000 men who died in Vietnam -- men who become statistics from
the sheer enormity of the numbers.

Since American involvement in Vietnam ended in 1975, nearly 10,000 reports
relating to Americans missing, prisoner, or otherwise unaccounted for in
Indochina have been received by the U.S. Government. Many officials, having
examined this largely classified information, have reluctantly concluded that
many Americans are still alive today, held captive by our long-ago enemy.

Griffey and Glandon apparently did not survive the crash of their aircraft to be
captured, and cannot be among those thought to be still alive today. What is
certain, however, is that as long as even one American remains alive, held
against his will, we owe him our very best efforts to bring him to freedom.

Terrance H. Griffey graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1962.


GLANVILLE, JOHN TURNER JR.

Name: John Turner Glanville, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O4/US Navy
Unit: Heavy Photo Squadron 61, USS HANCOCK (CVA-19)
Date of Birth: 18 March 1934
Home City of Record: Mandham NJ
Date of Loss: 13 June 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 181557N 1060659E (XF180198)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: RA3B

Other Personnel In Incident: George G. Gierak; Bennie R. Lambton (both missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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: HIT-N TRACE-FBIS SEZ DED-J

SYNOPSIS: On June 13, 1966, LTCDR John Glanville, pilot; LTJG George Gierak,
co-pilot; and Chief Petty Officer Bennie R. Lambton, photographic
intelligenceman, launched from the aircraft carrier USS Hancock (CVA-19) in
their RA3B Skywarrior aircraft on a night low-level photo reconnaissance mission
in the Ha Tinh province of North Vietnam.

The flight was directed by Heavy Photographic Squadron 61, to which the crew was
attached. During their mission, the aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire, and
it was assumed they went down under heave fire. No communication or distress
signals were received. The escort aircraft observed a bright orange flash near
the mouth of the Gia Hoi River and thereafter radio contact with the aircraft
had been lost.

An extensive search was conducted in the immediate area, as well as over the
adjacent waters by various aircraft, but results were negative.

On June 15, 1966, Radio Peking stated that a photo reconnaissance jet was shot
down and the crew killed in the crash.

The crew escape system of this type aircraft does not provide ejection seats,
and makes high speed bailout extremely difficult. Low-altitude bailout is
virtually impossible. All information taken into consideration, the Commanding
Officer of the squadron changed the crew's initial classification from Missing
in Action to Killed in Action/Body Not Recovered on June 17, 1966.

The crew of the RA3B shot down on June 13, 1966 are listed with honor among the
missing because no remains were found. Their cases seem quite clear. For others
who are listed missing, resolution is not as simple. Many were known to have
survived their loss incident. Quite a few were in radio contact with search
teams and describing an advancing enemy. Some were photographed or recorded in
captivity. Others simply vanished without a trace.

Reports continue to mount that we abandoned hundreds of Americans to the enemy
when we left Southeast Asia. While the crew of the RA3B may not be among them,
one can imagine their proud willingness to fly one more mission to bring in the
intelligence needed to secure their rescue and flight to freedom.

GLASSON, WILLIAM ALBERT JR.

Name: William Albert Glasson, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O4/US Navy
Unit: Heavy Attack Squadron 4, Detachment C, USS KITTY HAWK
Date of Birth: 20 February 1933
Home City of Record: Los Angeles CA
Date of Loss: 12 April 1966
Country of Loss: China/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 210800N 1111700E (DN080420)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: KA3B
Other Personnel in Incident: Reuben B. Harris; Larry M. Jordan (missing);
Kenneth W. Pugh (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:

SYNOPSIS: On April 12, 1966, at 1134 hours, LtCdr. William A. Glasson, pilot;
and LtJG Larry M. Jordan, ATCS Reuben B. Harris and PRCS Kenneth W. Pugh,
crewmembers, were flying a KA3B aerial tanker from Naval Air Station Cubi Point,
Republic of the Philippines for a return flight to their base carrier. The crew
were all assigned to Heavy Attack Squadron 4, Detachment Charlie on board the
USS Kitty HAWK. The aircraft had just undergone repair of minor skin damage in
the nosewheel area. When the aircraft did not arrive at the ship at the planned
recovery time, a search and rescue effort was initiated with the assistance of
the USS ENTERPRISE (CVN-65) and units from the 3rd ARRG/13th Air Force.

A diplomatic incident occurred on April 19th when twenty-four aircraft from the
KITTY HAWK hit a harbor town 35 miles from the Chinese border. No aircraft were
lost over the town, Cam Pha, but a Polish merchant ship in the harbor claimed
to have been nearly struck by a bomb. Messages flew between Washington D.C. and
the fleet regarding details of the incident.

Hitting so close to Communist China's borders was dangerous. Soon the Chinese
began claiming numerous violations of their airspace by "United States
Imperialists". The Chinese claimed the destruction of the KA3B aircraft lost on
April 12, saying the aircraft had flown into Chinese territory and was shot down
near Hainan Island, which roughly correlated in both time and approximate
location with the missing KA3B aircraft. Protests were lodged by the State
Department, but the Communists maintained that the plane was attacking Chinese
fishermen on the high seas of the Gulf of Tonkin.

It was later determined after search and rescue efforts were terminated that the
A-3B aircraft was in fact shot down in the vicinity of the Luichow Peninsula,
Kuangtung Province, China. It was the opinion of a casualty review board that
the crew most likely was killed in the crash.

Normally, tankers are unarmed, but they still retained their weapons bay, and
the United States never denied outright that the Skywarrior was armed. This is
not the first time such a situation had occurred. From time to time, there were
claims and counterclaims of shootdowns and harassment. (It is probably true
also that American pilots in hot pursuit of escaping MiGs may have
inadvertently - or intentionally - chased their quarry into Red Chinese
territory.)

On December 16, 1975, the People's Republic of China returned ashes it said
were those of Kenneth Pugh, but gave no word of the rest of the crew. The three
are among less than a dozen Americans missing in China from the Vietnam war,

There is mounting evidence that China retained (and retains today) many
Americans from the Korean conflict, while denying knowledge of their
whereabouts. While the circumstances of the loss of the KA3B does not seem to
indicate that any of the crew survived, it would seem that if China could
account for Pugh, it could also account for Glasson, Jordan and Harris.


GLOVER, CALVIN CHARLES

Name: Calvin Charles Glover
Rank/Branch: E5/USAF
Unit: 41st Tactical Airlift Squadron, Ubon Airbase, Thailand
Date of Birth: 07 January 1938
Home City of Record: Steubenville OH
Date of Loss: 22 May 1968
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 162000N 1063000E (XC843858)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: C130A
Other Personnel in Incident: Jerry L. Chambers; William H. Mason; Thomas E.
Knebel; John Q. Adam; William T. McPhail; Thomas B. Mitchell; Gary Pate;
Melvin D. Rash (all missing)

REMARKS: CONTACT LOST - NFI

SYNOPSIS: The Lockheed C130 Hercules aircraft was a multi-purpose propeller
driven aircraft, and was used as transport, tanker, gunship, drone controller,
airborne battlefield command and control center, weather reconnaissance craft,
electronic reconnaissance platform; search, rescue and recovery craft.

In the hands of the "trash haulers", as the crews of Tactical Air Command
transports styled themselves, the C130 proved the most valuable airlift
instrument in the Southeast Asia conflict, so valuable that Gen. William
Momyer, 7th Air Force commander, refused for a time to let them land at Khe
Sanh where the airstrip was under fire from NVA troops surrounding that base.

Just following the Marine Corps operation Pegasus/Lam Son 207 in mid-April
1968, to relieve the siege of Khe Sanh, Operation Scotland II began in the Khe
Sanh area, more or less as a continuation of this support effort. The C130 was
critical in resupplying this area, and when the C130 couldn't land, dropped its
payload by means of parachute drop.

One of the bases from which the C130 flew was Ubon, located in northeast
Thailand. C130 crews from this base crossed Laos to their objective location.
One such crew was comprised of LtCol. William H. Mason and Capt. Thomas B.
Mitchell, pilots; Capt. William T. McPhail, Maj. Jerry L. Chambers, SA Gary
Pate, SSgt. Calvin C. Glover, AM1 Melvin D. Rash and AM1 John Q. Adam, crew
members.

On May 22, 1968, this crew departed Ubon on an operational mission in a C130A
carrying one passenger - AM1 Thomas E. Knebel. Radio contact was lost while the
aircraft was over Savannakhet Province, Laos near the city of Muong Nong,
(suggesting that its target area may have been near the DMZ - Khe Sanh). When
the aircraft did not return to friendly control, the crew was declared Missing
In Action from the time of estimated fuel exhaustion. There was no further word
of the aircraft or its crew.

The nine members of the crew are among nearly 600 Americans who disappeared in
Laos. Many are known to have been alive on the ground following their shoot
downs. Although the Pathet Lao publicly stated on several occasions that they
held "tens of tens" of American prisoners, not one American held in Laos has
ever been released. Laos did not participate in the Paris Peace accords ending
American involvment in the war in 1973, and no treaty has ever been signed that
would free the Americans held in Laos, and not one of them has returned home.

(William Mason was a 1946 graduate of West Point. Thomas Mitchell was a 1963
graduate of the Air Force Academy.)


GLOVER, DOUGLAS JOHN

Name: Douglas John Glover
Rank/Branch: E6/US Army 5th Special Forces
Unit: MACV-SOG Command & Control
Date of Birth: 02 May 1943
Home City of Record: Cortland NY
Date of Loss: 19 February 1968
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 145430N 1072800E (YB665498)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H

Other Personnel In Incident: Melvin C. Dye; Robert S. Griffith (still missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Melvin Dye was the engineer and Robert Griffith the door gunner aboard
a UH1H helicopter performing an emergency extraction mission in Laos. They were
extracting a reconnaissance patrol team consisting of three U.S. Army Special
Forces personnel and 3 indigenous personnel. The aircraft carried a crew of
four. Douglas Glover was one of the Special Forces personnel aboard.

As the helicopter picked up the team 4 miles inside Laos west of Dak Sut, it
received a heavy volume of small arms fire. It is not known whether the aircraft
was hit by hostile fire or hit a tree, but it nosed over, impacted the ground
and exploded, bursting into flames.

The pilot, co-pilot and one passenger managed to leave the aircraft. Because of
the fire and exploding small arms ammunition, rescue attempts for the others
were futile.

There were six U.S. and 3 indigenous personnel aboard the helicopter. When
search teams reached the site the same day, they could not account for the other
U.S. personnel. Five were accounted for, but could not be recovered because of
intense heat.

Dye, Glover and Griffith were classified as Missing In Action. They did not
return when the general prisoner release occurred in 1973. Since the war ended,
evidence mounts that Americans were left behind in enemy prison camps and that
hundreds of them could be alive today. They deserve better than the abandonment
they received from the country they proudly served.


GODWIN, SOLOMON HUGHEY

Name: Solomon Hughey Godwin
Rank/Branch: W1/US Marine Corps
Unit: SUISVC, Headquarters Battalion, 1st Marine Division
Date of Birth: 24 January 1935
Home City of Record: Hot Springs AR
Date of Loss: 05 February 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 162718N 1073520E (YD764209)
Status (in 1973): Prisoner of War
Category: 1
Acft/Venicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: WO1 Solomon Hughey Godwin was captured in Hue during the Tet
Offensive on February 5, 1968. A U.S. trained Vietnamese intelligence agent who
was held with Godwin escaped three weeks after capture and reported on Godwin's
status.

Godwin was detained in the hills outside of Hue until late July 1968, when he
and one other American POW, Mr. Eugene Weaver, began their journey to North
Vietnam. Weaver had been captured at Hue on January 31.

WO1 Godwin's health was deteriorating rapidly, and he died during the march
north. Mr. Weaver was told to sign a document verifying that WO1 Godwin died.
The place of death was also recorded on this document, although it was
illegible to Mr. Weaver.

Eugene Weaver was one of 591 lucky Americans released in Operation Homecoming
in the spring of 1973. Godwin's name did not appear on any list provided by the
Hanoi government.

In 1987, Gen. John Vessey provided classified information relating to Godwin to
the Vietnamese in the hopes that they would return his remains or be more
forthcoming with information on his fate. Hanoi denies any knowledge WO1 Godwin.

Since the end of the war, nearly 10,000 have been received relating to
Americans missing in Southeast Asia. Many experts believe that there are still
hundreds alive in captivity. Some of the nearly 2500 missing were known to have
been captured, like Godwin. Others were known to be alive and capture imminent.

The Vietnamese periodically "discover" information and remains of Americans in
their country, yet have yet to "discover" the fate of Solomon H. Godwin.




GOEGLEIN, JOHN WINFRED

Name: John Winfred Goeglein
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit: 40th Aerospace Rescue/Recovery Squadron, Udorn Airfield, Thailand
Date of Birth: 30 July 1930
Home City of Record: Kirkwood MO
Date of Loss: 30 June 1970
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 165004N 1063104E (XD617617)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: HH53C

Other Personnel In Incident: Michael F. Dean; Paul L. Jenkins; Marvin E. Bell;
Leroy C. Schaneberg (missing); on nearby OV10A: Williams S. Sanders (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II
Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On June 30, 1970, a crew from the 40th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery
Squadron at Udorn Airfield, Thailand was dispatched to rescue a downed flight
crew. Crew aboard the Sikorsky HH53C "Super Jolly" helicopter included the
pilot, Capt. Leroy C. Schaneberg, crewmembers Major John W. Goeglein, MSgt. Paul
L. Jenkins, SSgt. Marvin E. Bell, and SSgt. Michael F. Dean.

The members of the 40th Air R & R were trained for both air and sea recovery,
and the big "Super Jolly" was equipped to airlift both the crew and aircraft out
of sticky situations.

The downed and injured pilot was located in Savannakhet Province, Laos, about
two kilometers south of Bang Tang. The HH53C penetrated the area, known to be
hostile, in an attempt to rescue the pilot, but was forced away by hostile
ground fire. A second attempt was made, but the helicopter was hit by hostile
fire, caught on fire, went out of control and crashed. The Air Force states it
received evidence on July 4, 1970, that the crew was dead, but that evidence is
not specifically described, and no remains identifiable as Bell, Dean, Goeglein,
Schaneberg, or Jenkins have been recovered. Schaneberg received the Air Force
Cross for extraordinary heroism as the aircraft commander on this rescue
mission.

On the same day, Capt. Williams S. Sanders was flying an OV10A Bronco southeast
of Khe Sanh at a point where Laos veers north to intrude on South Vietnam. His
aircraft was shot down just inside Laos, not far from the location of the downed
helicopter. The Bronco was generally used for marking targets, armed
reconnaissance and forward air control, so the nature of Capt. Sanders' mission
and its precise relation to the mission of the Super Jolly from Udorn is
unknown. The crew of the helicopter was numerically listed missing before the
OV10, so it is does not seem likely that the helicopter was assisting the
observation aircraft, but as no other aircraft is missing on that day in that
area, either the downed pilot was Sanders or the pilot was rescued by other
means.

Unfortunately, for families of men missing in Laos, information is difficult to
obtain. Twenty and twenty-five year old records remain classified and details
obscured. Much of this information was classified to distort American
involvement in a now well known "secret" war in Laos.

Since the war's end in 1973, thousands of reports have been received by the U.S.
Government regarding Americans still in captivity in Southeast Asia. Many of the
reports involve Americans in Laos, where nearly 600 Americans went missing, and
none released despite public statements by the Pathet Lao that "tens of tens" of
Americans were being held there.

Henry Kissinger predicted, in the 50's, that future "limited political
engagements" would result, unfortunately, in nonrecoverable prisoners of war. We
have seen this prediction fulfilled in Korea and Vietnam, where thousands of men
and women remain missing, and where ample evidence exists that many of them
(from BOTH wars) are still alive today.

For Americans, the "unfortunate" abandonment of military personnel is not
acceptable, and the policy that allows it must be changed before another
generation is left behind in some faraway war.



GOFF, KENNETH B. JR.

Name: Kenneth B. Goff, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O2/US Army
Unit: 4th Replacement Detachment, 4th Infantry Division, I Field Force, Vietnam
Date of Birth: 09 March 1943 (Providence RI)
Home City of Record: Warwick RI
Loss Date: 24 August 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 141813N 1075140E (ZA087831)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H
Other Personnel in Incident: Richard M. Allard; Ronald L. Holtzman; Richard
Schell (all missing); Dayton Witherall; Richard N. Morrison; John R. Ulp;
Cynthia Colburn (all rescued); Sterling A. Wall (died, body recovered)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On August 24, 1967, WO Dayton Witherall, pilot; WO Richard N.
Morrison, aircraft commander; SP4 Richard L. Holtzman, gunner; SP4 Richard M.
Allard, crewchief; 2Lt. Kenneth B. Goff, 2Lt. Richard J. Schell, Sgt. Major
John R. Ulp, 1Lt. Sterling A. Wall, and Miss Cynthia Colburn, passengers; were
aboard a UH1C helicopter (serial #66-12526) which departed Polei Kleng, South
Vietnam to Plei Krong, South Vietnam on a combat support liaison mission.

The 4th Infantry, with the assistance of the 25th Infantry Division and 1st
Cavalry (Airmobile), was at that time conducting an operation called Paul
Revere IV, a continuing effort near the Cambodian border of Pleiku Province.
The UH1H flying over Pleiku Province that day in August 1966 was flying out of
Pleiku, where its crew and passengers were stationed.

(NOTE: While the U.S. Army and describes the flight mission as combat-related,
it also acknowledges that Ms. Colburn was on the aircraft, a situation which
was "illegal", as women serving in Vietnam were not supposed to be placed in
combat situations. It is not clear in public record why she was on the
aircraft, although Phyllis Allard, Richard Allard's mother, has said that the
aircraft was carrying passengers enroute from a hospital and that Colburn was a
Red Cross worker.)

During the flight, the pilot elected to fly low-level along the Dak Bla River.
While attempting a 180 degree turn, the aircraft failed to recover and was
caught in a severe downdraft and crashed into the Krong Bo Lah River in about
10 feet of water at a point where the current was swift and the water was deep.
(NOTE: loss coordinates place the site of loss unquestionably on the Se San
River about 15 miles southwest of the city of Kontum, and about 28 miles due
south of the city of Dak To. Just south of Dak To is the juncture of the Se San
and another river. Whether at this juncture the two rivers have other names
cannot be determined with materials on hand at the time of this writing.
Information provided by family members states that the aircraft landed in the
"bottomless, rapid Boc River called Dak Bla".)

Rescue helicopters arrived 10 - 45 minutes after the crash and rescued WO
Morrison, WO Witherall, Ms Colburn and Sgt. Major Ulp, after their having been
swept several hundred feet downstream. 2Lt. Goff, SP4 Allard and 2Lt. Schell
were not seen by any of the survivors after the crash. SP4 Holtzman was seen by
WO Morrison, who stated that Holtzman was wearing a flight jacket, armor plate,
and a flak jacket, and called out to Morrison that he could not swim. WO
Morrison stated that Holtzman drifted away in the swift current before he could
help him.

Later searches of the area revealed several pieces of debris, but the aircraft
itself was not found. In September, Lt. Wall's body was retrieved from the
river. Searches were conducted through December 26, but neither the aircraft
nor the four missing men aboard it were found.

Richard Allard's mother received a collect call from Cambodia a few days after
the crash by someone she believed was Richard. She subsequently had the call
checked by Illinois Bell and states that the results "produced evidence that
they [the crew] were in the hands of the enemy". In 1970 she saw a prisoner on
television in a Viet Cong film which she believed was Richard. The Army was
elusive in its conclusions on both events, so Mrs. Allard borrowed money from
friends to go to Cambodia in January of 1972.

Through a series of events which belong in a spy novel, Mrs. Allard said that
she found herself in a cave where she was blindfolded and led into a bare room.
An official and a soldier came in with her son. In the moments he was allowed
to stay, he said, "Shame on you for coming." He apparently was afraid for his
mother's safety. The Army later said they couldn't believe Mrs. Allard's
account unless the Communists corroborated it in writing. Mrs. Allard has
worked continually for 22 years for information about her son.

In 1969, a communist defector was shown a number of photographs of missing men.
One of the photos he identified positively as being a prisoner of war was
Richard Schell. The U.S. could not determine why the photo was selected.

Clearly, all the evidence is not in on the events of August 24, 1967. Whether
Mrs. Allard's story is true is unknown. Whether Allard and Schell were truly
prisoners can only be known by the communists, and of course, Allard and Schell
themselves. The Vietnamese deny any knowledge of any of the four missing.


GOLD, EDWARD FRANK

Name: Edward Frank Gold
Rank/Branch: O3/US Navy
Unit:
Date of Birth: 30 January 1927
Home City of Record: Oakland CA
Date of Loss: 22 December 1965
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 211300N 1065700E (XJ023471)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A6A

Other Personnel in Incident: Billie J. Cartwright (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: When nuclear powered USS ENTERPRISE arrived on Yankee Station on
December 2, 1965, she was the largest warship ever built. She brought with her
not only an imposing physical presence, but also an impressive component of
warplanes and the newest technology. Her air wing (CAG 9) consisted of more than
ninety aircraft. Among her attack squadrons were VA 36, VA 93, VA 76 and VA 94.
She launched her opening combat strike against targets in North Vietnam on
December 17, and by the end of her first week of combat operations, the
ENTERPRISE had set a record of 165 combat sorties in a single day, surpassing
the KITTY HAWK's 131. By the end of her first combat cruise, her air wing had
flown over 13,000 combat sorties. The record had not been achieved without cost.

On December 22, the ENTERPRISE teamed with the carriers KITTY HAWK and
TICONDEROGA in one of the war's biggest strikes to date, with one hundred
aircraft hitting the thermal power plant at Uong Bi located fifteen miles
north-northeast of the city of Haiphong. This was the first industrial target
authorized by the Johnson administration. The ENTERPRISE's aircraft approached
from the north and the KITTY HAWK/TICONDEROGA force from the south, leaving the
plant in shambles. The day's casualties were two A4Cs from the ENTERPRISE, an
RA5C Vigilante, and an A6A Intruder -- six Americans shot down.

One of the A4s was flown by LTJG Wendell R. Alcorn, a pilot from Attack Squadron
94 onboard the ENTERPRISE. Alcorn's aircraft was shot down about 15 miles
north-northeast of Haiphong and he was captured by the North Vietnamese. For the
next 7 years, Alcorn was a "guest" in the Hanoi prison system. He was ultimately
released in Operation Homecoming on Valentine's Day, 1973.

The second A4C shot down on December 22, 1965 was flown from the ENTERPRISE by
LT John D. Prudhomme. Prudhomme's aircraft was hit by enemy fire and crashed
near Alcorn's position. Prudhomme was not as lucky as Alcorn; he was deemed to
have been killed in the crash of his aircraft. He is listed among the missing
because his remains were not recovered.

The RA5C reconnaissance aircraft was shot down about 5 miles east of Hai Duong
in Hai Hung Province, about 30 miles from Alcorn and Prudhomme. Its crew
consisted of the pilot, LCDR Max D. Lukenbach and his rear-seater, LTJG Glenn H.
Daigle. LTJG Daigle was captured by the Vietnamese and held in Hanoi until his
release on February 12, 1973. Lukenbach, according to intelligence received,
died in the crash of the plane and was buried near the crash site.

The fates of the crew of the fourth aircraft to be shot down is uncertain. Pilot
CDR Billie J. Cartwright and his rear-seater LT Edward F. Gold were declared
missing in action after their A6A Intruder went down about 30 miles northeast of
Haiphong.

On December 23, twenty-four hours before President Johnson's thirty-seven-day
bombing halt would take effect, another large flight launched from the
ENTERPRISE for strikes in North Vietnam.

LTJG William L. Shankel describes the flight:

"About twenty planes were going after a bridge over the Red River, halfway
between Hanoi and Haiphong and I was in the second section. My A4 was a real
dog, and I had to cut corners to keep everybody else from running off and
leaving me. I reached the target by myself, pulled up, and rolled in to
dive-bomb the bridge. The plane was hit as soon as the bombs left, at the bottom
of the dive... When I went out, the plane was inverted and almost supersonic,
and the ejection really thrashed my right knee."

Shankel, Alcorn and Daigle were all held in what has come to be known as the
Hanoi prison system -- The Hoa Lo (Hanoi Hilton), Heartbreak Hotel, the Zoo,
Alcatraz, Briarpatch and others. Although their captivity was distinctly
unpleasant, both from the standpoint of torture and deprivation and from the
mental torture of wondering year after year, if they would ever come home, these
three are among the more lucky ones. They came home alive.

At the end of the war, 591 Americans were released from the Hanoi prison system.
Military authorities at the time were shocked that hundreds more known or
suspected to be prisoners were not released. Since that time, nearly 10,000
intelligence reports have been received relating to Americans who were prisoner,
missing or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia. Some officials, having reviewed
this largely-classified information, have reluctantly concluded that large
numbers of Americans are still alive in captivity today.

These reports are the source of serious distress to many returned American
prisoners. They had a code that no one could honorably return unless all of the
prisoners returned. Not only that code of honor, but the honor of our country is
in jeopardy as long as even one man remains unjustly held.


William L. Shankel, Glenn H. Daigle and Wendell R. Alcorn were promoted to the
rank of Lieutenant Commander during the period they were Prisoners of War.
Billie J. Cartwright was promoted to the rank of Captain and Edward F. Gold to
the rank of Commander during the period they were maintained missing.

William L. Shankel, MD is a surgeon and resides in Laughlin, Nevada.

GOLLAHON, GENE RAYMOND

Name: Gene Raymond Gollahon
Rank/Branch: O3/US Navy
Unit:
Date of Birth: 07 November 1930
Home City of Record: Cincinnati OH
Date of Loss: 13 August 1965
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 200659N 1055157E (WH905244)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F8D

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: EXPLODE - CRASH - NO PARABEEP - J

SYNOPSIS: North Vietnam learned the lessons of modern aerial warfare rapidly.
Over the short span of 36 months, Ho Chi Minh, with the help of his supporters,
led the North Vietnamese military from technology-poor and ground-oriented
military to one with one of the world's strongest and most sophisticated air
defense networks.

The motivation was simple. During the 1965-1968 ROLLING THUNDER program, U.S.
aircraft dropped a daily average of 800 tons of bombs, rockets and missiles on
North Vietnam. The Soviet Union and China to a lesser degree, provided
surface-to-air missiles (SAM), anti-aircraft guns, small arms and jet aircraft
almost as fast as the dock workers at Haiphong could unload the cargo. They also
sent an array of technical advisors and food products to support their communist
brethren.

Consequently, North Vietnamese missile sites grew from ground zero in 1965 to
estimates three years later of two hundred SAM sites nationwide and some thirty
missile battalions in the Hanoi area alone. Each battalion contained up to six
missile launchers plus accompanying radar, computers and generators.

Surface-to-air missiles, however, were just one element for U.S. pilots to
reckon with. By September 1967 the defense system included some eight thousand
lethal AAA guns firing twenty-five thousand tons of ammunition each month at
American planes, a complex radar system, and computerized control centers. An
elaborate warning system was devised, the more sophisticated systems keyed by
Soviet observation trawlers on duty near American carriers. These spy ships
relayed how many aircraft were leaving the deck, their bomb loads and side
numbers, and it was not too difficult for North Vietnam to compute where and
when the aircraft would arrive and to prepare a proper welcome. The primitive
alarm systems utilized observation towers, whistles, gongs, drums and triangles
to warn of impending attacks.

The rules of engagement (ROE) limited ROLLING THUNDER's damage on the enemy. It
was actually designed only to apply military pressure "for the specific purpose
of halting aggression in South Vietnam," not for inflicting maximum damage.
Unfortunately, U.S. aircrews died while fighting under these less than ideal
conditions as the North Vietnamese became very efficient at employing their
defense network.

The SAMs (Soviet-supplies SA-2 Guideline missiles) consisted of a
thirty-five-foot-high, two-stage, radar-guided rocket topped by a 350-pound
explosive warhead. The missile, with a ceiling of sixty thousand feet, was fused
to go off on contact; by proximity or altitude; or on command from below. SAMs
were typically fired in pairs, and in most cases were lethal if they exploded
within three hundred feet of an aircraft.

The first SAM site was discovered in April 1965, yet U.S. pilots were forbidden
to take immediate defensive action. A second SAM site was spotted about a year
later, and by mid-July, several more sites were photographed in the area of
Hanoi and Haiphong. Defensive strikes were not approved for any of the sites,
primarily because Washington leadership feared killing Soviet personnel involved
in training the North Vietnamese crews. It was not until the North Vietnamese
had shot down a number of U.S. aircraft that U.S. air forces were permitted to
strike back at the sites.

On the night of August 11-12, the first Navy aircraft fell victim to SAMs. LCDR
Francis D. Roberge and LTJG Donald H. Brown of VA 23, flying A4Es from the deck
of the carrier USS MIDWAY, were struck by SAMS while on a road reconnaissance
some sixty miles south of Hanoi. The pilots saw what they believed were two
flares glowing beneath the clouds and coming closer. Too late, they realized
that glowing missile propellant was the source of the light. Brown's aircraft
exploded and crashed, while Roberge's limped back to the ship with a horribly
scorched and peppered belly.

Navy reaction was immediate, but costly. On Black Friday, August 13 1965,
seventy-six low-level "Iron Hand" missions were launched to seek out and destroy
SAM sites. Five aircraft and three pilots were lost to enemy guns, and seven
other planes were damaged, but no SAMs were discovered.

One of the pilots lost on August 13 were Navy CDR Harry E. Thomas, skipper of
the "Blue Tails -- VA 153, an attack squadron flying off the carrier CORAL SEA.
Thomas, a Korean War veteran had been skipper of the squadron since May. He had
a lot of air combat experience, and important to the squadron, a lot of night
experience. He taught the younger officers night flying, which in Vietnam,
proved to be not only highly successful, but also safer than day strikes. The
method used was to fly low at about 100 or 200 feet beneath the flares to find
the target and, using low-level, lay-down ordnance such as snakeyes, cluster
bombs or gun pods, to destroy such targets as enemy truck convoys.

On the August 13 mission, Blue Tail members went on a mass, low-level strike
looking for SAM sites. Thomas' aircraft flew into a volley of flak and was hit
by heavy anti-aircraft fire and crashed. Observers noted that the canopy was
still intact on the aircraft, thus precluding any chance that Thomas survived.
He was listed Killed in Action, Body Not Recovered.

SAM evasion tactics were still being devised. The current tactic was to fly in
low, below two thousand feet because thei North Vietnamese could not get the
radar guidance working at that altitude. But it also put a pilot right down into
the fire zone of small arms and even foreign objects thrown by hand that the
aircraft could conceivably ingest and go down from. Thomas had not believed the
tactic of flying en masse at low levels was smart, but was not given the normal
tactical flexibility to change it. The Navy never used this particular tactic
again. They learned that, even at high speed, you couldn't beat massed automatic
weapons. Eventually, the military moved from medium alititude to 3,000 to 5,000
feet and had more success dealing with SAMs.

Perhaps the greatest tragedy was that VA153's aircraft was fitted with the
APR-23 Redhead, a device that would have been helpful in locating SAM sites, had
the squadron been trained to use them. Thomas and CDR David Leue, who replaced
him as squadron skipper, tried to generate interest in using this device rather
than sending in a mass, low-level group looking for SAMS. Their efforts were
futile. Following Thomas' death, however, tactics were changed, based on the
material and information available at the time.

The second pilot lost on Black Friday was Air Force Captain Fredric M. Mellor.
Mellor was the pilot of an RF101C "Voodoo" tactical reconnaissance aircraft.
During his mission, Mellor's aircraft was hit by enemy fire and crashed. Mellor
radioed that he had successfully ejected and was on the ground without serious
injury. He was advised to avoid further radio contact until the arrival of
rescue forces. When the rescue helicopter approached the area and attempted to
make radio contact with Mellor, there was no reply. Subsequent search operations
were negative. Mellor had disappeared.

In U.S. Government records dated 1970-1973, Mellor's last known location was
listed in Son La Province, North Vietnam, about 25 miles due west of the city of
Hoa Binh. Defense Department records of 25 July 1980 show he disappeared about
25 miles east-northeast of that location, or about 100 miles due west of Hanoi
on the tri-province borders of Son La, Nghia Lo and Hoa Binh.

The third pilot shot down on Black Friday was U.S. Navy LT Gene R. Gollahon
F8D pilot. Gollahon's aircraft was hit by enemy fire about 10 miles west of the
city of Phat Diem in Thanh Hoa Province, North Vietnam. The aircraft crashed and
exploded. No parachute was noted and no emergency radio beeper signals were
heard. Little hope was held out for Gollahon's survival and he was declared
Killed/Body Not Recovered.

Of the four pilots lost in the beginning days of ROLLING THUNDER, three were
declared dead. On August 14, 1985, twenty years and two days after he was shot
down, the Vietnamese "discovered" the remains of Donald H. Brown, Jr. and
returned them to U.S. control. Of the four, only Fredric Mellor was declared
Missing in Action. Public perception of the word "MIA" is ashes on an isolated
mountainside, or someone lost at the bottom of the sea. Mellor was alive and
well on the ground. There is every reason to believe he was captured, or that
the North Vietnamese know very well what happened to him on that day. Yet, the
Vietnamese deny knowledge of him, and the U.S. has not found a way to bring him
home -- dead or alive.


Between 1965 and 1968, the Navy's Seventh Fleet lost 382 planes over Southeast
Asia, of which fifty-eight fell victim to SAMs nd the rest to AAA and small arms
fire.


Fredric M. Mellor was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel during the
period he was maintained missing.

GOLTZ, JOHN BRYAN

Name: John Bryan Golz
Rank/Branch: O2/US Navy
Unit:
Date of Birth: 19 July 1945
Home City of Record: Rock Island IL
Date of Loss: 22 Apri 1970
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 155904N 1064053E
Status (in 1973): Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: A4C
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 15 March 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: When Douglas Aircraft created the A4 Skyhawk the intent was to provide
the Navy and Marine Corps with an inexpensive, lightweight attack and ground
support aircraft. The design emphasized low-speed control and stability during
take-off and landing as well as strength enough for catapult launch and carrier
landings. The plane was so compact that it did not need folding wings for
aboardship storage and handling. In spite of its diminutive size, the A4 packed
a devastating punch and performed well where speed and maneuverability were
essential.

Ltjg. John B. Golz was the pilot of an A4C Skyhawk sent on a bombing raid over
the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos on April 22, 1970. During the mission, his plane
crashed and exploded when struck by enemy fire. His family holds little hope
that John survived the incident and feels that he was probably dead before he
hit the ground. The alternative, they say, thinking of him as a prisoner for all
those years, would be unbearable. They feel they may have more peace of mind
than other families.

The Golz family is lucky to have information that indicates their son is dead.
Nearly 600 Americans were lost in Laos, and even those who were known to be
alive on the ground and captured, disappeared without a trace. The Lao made
public statements that they held prisoners, and that they would be released only
from Laos, yet no agreement was ever made with the Lao regarding American
prisoners.

In the years following the fall of Saigon in 1975, refugees have fled Southeast
Asia, bringing with them reports of Americans still alive and in captivity in
their homelands. By early 1987, the number of these reports topped the 5000
mark. A committee charged with investigating Defense Intelligence Agency, the
entity charged with analysis of these reports, concluded that there was a strong
possiblity that Americans were being held against their will.

John Golz was willing to die trying to keep a little nation free from communism.
How much more willing he would be to fly one more mission for those of his
comrades who were left behind in the hands of those communists. The Bush
administration has stated that the resolution of the POW/MIA issue is one of
"highest national priority". President Nixon said the same thing. These words
have no meaning to the hundreds of Americans thought to be still alive. They
need to be brought home.

GOMEZ, ROBERT ARTHUR

Name: Robert Arthur Gomez
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 20 March 1944
Home City of Record: Jacksonville FL
Date of Loss: 23 April 1970
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 170900N 1060500E (XD122982)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D
Other Personnel In Incident: Albin E. Lucki (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 15 March 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: By the spring of 1970, the North Vietnamese had established
substantial missile and AAA sites as well as logistic facilities near Barthelemy
pass, Ban Karai pass and in a sector north of the DMZ. The passes were of
special concern, as U.S. fighters headed into Vietnam from Thailand were
frequently routed through them. Efforts were continually being made to clear
these areas, as well as the infamous Ho Chi Minh Trail, used extensively as a
supply route by the North Vietnamese.

On April 23, 1Lt. Robert A. Gomez was the pilot and and Capt. Albin E. Lucki
the bombardier/navigator of an F4D Phantom fighter/bomber sent on a mission
which took them near the Ban Karai pass. During the mission, the aircraft was
shot down and both men were declared missing in action. They joined what
eventually became nearly 600 Americans lost in Laos.

In 1973, when American prisoners were released, the families of those men lost
in Laos were shocked to find that not one man had been released from Laos,
although they had been told negotiations had included them. Many knew their man
had survived, some had evidence of captivity.

There has been no negotiated release of prisoners from Laos since the war ended.
The nearly 600 Americans are still there, and tragically, reports continue to be
received that some are still alive as captives. Gomez and Lucki could be among
them. It's long past time we brought our men home.

During the period he was maintained missing, Robert A. Gomez was promoted to the
rank of Captain. Albin E. Lucki graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in
1965.
CASE SYNOPSIS: GONZALES, JESUS ARMANDO

Name: Jesus Armando Gonzales
Rank/Branch: E5/US Army
Unit: Company A, 228th Aviation Battalion (Assault Support Helicopter), 11th
Aviation Group, 1st Cavalry Division
Date of Birth: 20 September 1947 (Mexico)
Home City of Record: Pittsburgh PA
Date of Loss: 19 April 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 162248N 1070700E (YD290105)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: CH47A
Other Personnel In Incident: Douglas R. Blodgett, William R. Dennis; (missing
from CH47A, coordinates YD290105, pilot and co-pilot survived); Michael J.
Wallace, Anthony F. Housh; (missing from CH47, coordinates YD291087-LZ Tiger;
pilot, co-pilot and gunner survived); Arthur J. Lord; Charles W. Millard;
Philip R. Shafer; Michael R. Werdehoff (missing on CH54, coordinates
YD255095-LZ Tiger)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On April 19, 1968 three Army helicopters were shot down in the A Shau
Valley of South Vietnam. All three were making supply runs to Landing Zone
Tiger in Quang Tri Province. Five men survived the three crashes, and nine men
remain missing.

The CH47A on which Douglas Blodgett was a crewman, William Dennis was flight
engineer, and Jesus Gonzales was crewchief was resupplying ammunition at the LZ
when it received small arms fire from the ground and crashed. The pilot and
co-pilot were able to crawl away, but the rest of the crew was never found.
They were declared Missing In Action.

The CH47 on which Anthony Housh was flight engineer and Michael Wallace was
crewchief was hit by 50 calibre and 37 mm ground fire on its approach to the
LZ. Housh and Wallace jumped from the aircraft from an altitude of 50-100 feet
above the jungle canopy. The others were rescued. No trace of Housh and Wallace
was ever found. They were declared Missing In Action.

The CH54 "Flying Crane" on which Arthur Lord was aircraft commander, Charles
Millard pilot, Arthur J. Lord co-pilot, Michael Werdehoff flight engineer, and
Philip Shafer crewchief was carrying a bulldozer into the recently resecured LZ
Tiger when the aircraft was hit and crashed. All the crew were classified
Missing In Action.

Thorough searches for the 3 helicopters were not immediately possible because
of the enemy situation. A refugee later reported that he had found the wreckage
of two U.S. helicopters, one with 3 sets of skeletal remains, in Quang Tri
Province. The U.S. Army believes this could correlate with any of the three
helicopters lost on April 19, 1968, but no firm evidence has been secured that
would reveal the fate of the nine missing servicemen.

Some 250,000 interviews and "millions of documents" have been analyzed relating
to Americans who may still be alive, captive, in Southeast Asia. Many experts
believe there are hundreds of men still alive, waiting for their country to
rescue them. Whether any of the nine missing from near LZ Tiger is among them is
unknown, but it is clearly past time for us to bring our men home.




















GONZALES, JOSE JESUS

Name: Jose Jesus Gonzales
Rank/Branch: E3/US Marine Corps
Unit: HMM265, Marine Air Group 16
Date of Birth: 26 June 1944
Home City of Record: El Paso TX
Date of Loss: 11 June 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 165454N 1065530E (YD048689)
Status (in 1973): Killed In Action/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: CH46A

Other Personnel In Incident: Dennis R. Christie, Charles D. Chomel; John J.
Foley; Curtis R. Bohlscheid; Thomas M. Hanratty; Michael W. Havranek; James W.
Kooi, Jim E. Moshier; John S. Oldham; James E. Widener (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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: A/C CRASH-EXPLODED-NO SURVS OBS-J

SYNOPSIS: On 11 June 1967, 1LT Curtis Bohlscheid was the pilot of a CH46A
helicopter inserting a seven-man Marine Force Recon team into a predesignated
area 11 1/2 nautical miles northwest of Dong Ha, South Vietnam -- right on the
Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). A total of four aircraft were involved in the mission,
two CH46's and two UH1E helicopter gunships. Bohlscheid flew the lead aircraft.
His crew included MAJ John S. Oldham, LCPL Jose J. Gonzales (crew chief), and
PFC Thomas M. Hanratty (crew chief).

Members of the 3rd Recon Company, 3rd Recon Battalion, 3rd Marine Division who
were being inserted were CPL Jim E. Moshier, LCPL Dennis R. Christie, LCPL John
J. Foley III, LCPL Michael W. Havranek, LCPL James W. Kooi, PFC Charles D.
Chomel, and PFC James E. Widener.

The flight departed Dong Ha at about 11:15 a.m. and proceeded to the insertion
location. The gunships made low strafing runs over the landing zone to clear
booby traps and to locate any enemy troops in the area. No enemy fire was
received and no activity was observed. The lead aircraft then began its approach
to the landing zone. At an estimated altitude of 400-600 feet, the helicopter
was observed to climb erratically, similar to an aircraft commencing a loop.
Machinegunmen had been waiting for the opportune time to fire on the aircraft.
Portions of the rear blades were seen to separate from the aircraft and a radio
transmission was received from the aircraft indicating that it had been hit. The
helicopter became inverted and continued out of control until it was seen to
crash by a stream in a steep ravine.

Subsequent efforts by ground units to reach the crash area failed due to a heavy
bunker complex surrounding the site. The ground units inspected the site from
within 500 meters through binoculars and observed no survivors. All eleven
personnel aboard the helicopter were therefore classified Killed In Action, Body
Not Recovered. Other USMC records indicate that the helicopter also burst into
flames just prior to impacting the ground.

For the crew of the CH46A lost on June 11, 1967, death seems a certainty. For
hundreds of others, however, simple answers are not possible. Adding to the
torment of nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asia
is the certain knowledge that some Americans who were known to be prisoners of
war were not released at the end of the war. Others were suspected to be
prisoners, and still others were in radio contact with would-be rescuers when
last seen alive. Many were known to have survived their loss incidents, only to
disappear without a trace.

The problem of Americans still missing torments not only the families of those
who are missing, but the men who fought by their sides, and those in the general
public who realize the full implication of leaving men unaccounted for at the
end of a war.

Tragically, many authorities believe there are hundreds of Americans still alive
in captivity in Southeast Asia today.  What must they be thinking of us? What
will our next generation say if called to fight if we are unable to bring these
men home from Southeast Asia?

GOODMAN, RUSSELL CLEMENSEN

Name: Russell Clemensen Goodman
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit: Liaison, USAF/USN, USS ENTERPRISE
Date of Birth: 19 July 1934
Home City of Record: Salt Lake City UT
Date of Loss: 20 February 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 194158N 1054257E (WG750782)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4B

Other Personnel in Incident: Gary L. Thornton (released POW)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 April 1990 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.

REMARKS: POSS DIED IN CRASH

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.

Major Russell C. Goodman was an Air Force pilot flying as a liaison officer
between the Air Force and the Navy. On 20 February 1967, he was the pilot of an
F4B Phantom fighter jet with Ensign Gary L. Thornton flying as his
weapons/systems officer. The team was scheduled to fly a bombing mission against
a railroad siding in North Vietnam.

At a point about 8 miles south of the city Thanh Hoa in Thanh Hoa Province,
North Vietnam, Goodman's aircraft was hit by a surface-to-air missile (SAM) in
the left front section. Ensign Thornton could not establish contact with Maj.
Goodman. Before he ejected from the badly damaged jet, Thornton noted that
Goodman was either dead or unconscious because his head was down and wobbling
back and forth.

Ensign Thornton was captured by the North Vietnamese and returned to U.S.
control on March 4, 1973 during Operation Homecoming. During his debriefing,
Thornton expressed his belief that Maj. Goodman did not exit the aircraft.

Since American involvement in Vietnam ended in 1975, nearly 10,000 reports
relating to Americans missing, prisoner, or otherwise unaccounted for in
Indochina have been received by the U.S. Government. Many officials, having
examined this largely classified information, have reluctantly concluded that
many Americans are still alive today, held captive by our long-ago enemy.

Maj. Russell C. Goodman probably died the day his Phantom took a SAM hit. But
one can imagine that he would gladly be among those first in line to help bring
his comrades home. It's time the war ended. It's time our men came home.

GOODWIN, CHARLES BERNARD

Name: Charles Bernard Goodwin
Rank/Branch: O2/US Navy
Unit:
Date of Birth: 02 August 1940
Home City of Record: Haskell TX
Date of Loss: 08 September 1965
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 174300N 1063500E (XE678593)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Veicle/Ground: RF8A

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-A models were equipped for photo reconnaissance. The RF-G
were also photographic versions, but with additional cameras and navigational
equipment.

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. In addition, there were 16
pilots who went down on photographic versions of the aircraft. Of these 16,
seven were captured (six were released, one died in captivity).

Lt.JG Charles B. Goodwin was the pilot of an RF8A on a combat mission in Quang
Binh Province, North Vietnam on September 8, 1965. As he was about 5 miles east
of the city of Quang Khe, just over the Gulf of Tonkin, his aircraft crashed. It
was felt that there was a very good chance that Goodwin survived, and he was
declared Missing in Action.

The Defense Intelligence Agency further expanded Goodwin'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.

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 some of them could be abandoned by the country they
proudly served.


GOPP, THOMAS ALAN

Name: Thomas Alan Gopp
Rank/Branch: E4/US Marine Corps
Unit: A Company, 3rd Recon Battalion, 3rd Marine Division
Date of Birth: 15 March 1947
Home City of Record: New London OH
Date of Loss: 03 August 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 160622N 1072247E (YC545820)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: CH46A

Other Personnel In Incident: John B. Nahan; Jack Wolpe; James P. McGrath (all
missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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: SURVIVS EXTRACT SAY DED - J

SYNOPSIS: In early August, 1967, a nine-man team from A Company, 3rd
Reconnaissance Battalion, 3rd Marine Division began a night reconnaissance
patrol in the A Shau Valley that was spotted by a Montagnard tribal woman and
child, who alerted a nearby North Vietnamese unit.

North Vietnamese troops slowly surrounded the Marine patrol and another that had
joined it, trapping them for two days in hopes of luring a helicopter rescue.

The following day (August 3), the first of two helicopters arrived and loaded
some men from the patrols, but was hit by a bazooka shell and crashed during
takeoff. The pilot was killed by small-arms fire. The nine passengers were
believed to have perished, but all of their bodies could not be recovered
because of hostile fire.

John Nahan and Jack Wolpe were passengers aboard the aircraft. They were two of
the A Company Reconnaissance patrol. Thomas Gopp was crewchief of the
helicopter. James McGrath was a U.S. Navy hospital corpsman attached to H & S
Company accompanying the Recon team. These four were listed as Killed in Action,
Body Not Recovered (KIA/BNR).

The men of the CH46A shot down on August 3, 1967 are listed with honor among the
missing because no remains were found. Their cases seem quite clear. For others
who are listed missing, resolution is not as simple. Many were known to have
survived their loss incident. Quite a few were in radio contact with search
teams and describing an advancing enemy. Some were photographed or recorded in
captivity. Others simply vanished without a trace.

Reports continue to mount that we abandoned hundreds of Americans to the enemy
when we left Southeast Asia. While the men aboard the CH46 may not be among
them, one can imagine their proud willingness to fly one more mission to help
bring them to freedom.



GORE, PAUL EDWIN

Name: Paul Edwin Gore
Rank/Branch: E6/USN
Unit: USS CONSTELLATION (crewman)
Date of Birth: 11 November 1939 (Johnston NC)
Home City of Record: Faison NC
Date of Loss: 02 October 1969
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 175402N 1073602E (YE754810)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: C2A

Personnel In Incident: Terry L. Beck; Richard W. Bell; Michael L. Bowman; Frank
Bytheway; Rolando C. Dayao; Donald C. Dean; Herbert H. Dilger; Carl J. Ellerd;
James J. Fowler; Roy G. Fowler; Leonardo M. Gan; Paul E. Gore; William D.
Gorsuch; Rayford J. Hill; Delvin L. Kohler; Howard M. Koslosky; Robert B.
Leonard; Richard A. Livingston; Ronald W. Montgomery; William R. Moore; Paul K.
Moser; Kenneth M. Prentice; Fidel G. Salazar; Keavin L. Terrell; Michael J. Tye;
Reynaldo R. Viado (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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: On October 2, 1969, a C2A "Greyhound" cargo aircraft from Reserve
Cargo Squadron 50 departed Cubi Point Naval Air Station, Republic of the
Philippines on a shuttle flight to various aircraft carriers in the Gulf of
Tonkin in Vietnam, including the USS CONSTELLATION, the USS WALKER, the USS
HAMMER, and the USS LONG BEACH.

The flight crew onboard the aircraft, assigned to Fleet Support Squadron 50
based in Atsugi Naval Air Station, Japan, included the pilot, Lt. Herbert H.
Dilger; co-pilot, Lt. Richard A. Livingston; air crewman, Petty Officer 3rd
Class Paul K. Moser; aircraft captain, Petty Officer 3rd Class Michael J. Tye;
and loadmaster-trainee, Petty Officer 3rd Class Rayford J. Hill. Most of the
twenty passengers appear to be bound for the USS CONSTELLATION, but one was
bound for the USS LONG BEACH, one of the four Philippine citizens onboard was
headed for the USS HAMMER, and two to the USS WALKER.

The aircraft was inbound to the CONSTITUTION and made communication at about
0600 hours, reporting that operations were normal. When communicatons were
established with the Carrier Air Control, control was passed to the Marshall
controller (Approach Control). The carrier's radar continued tracking the
aircraft until approximately 0655, at which time radar contact was lost at about
10 nautical miles from the CONSTELLATION.

Helicopter search and rescue efforts were immediately initiated from the ship.
The helicopter began sighting an oil slick and debris. A few pieces of aircraft
were recovered, and analysis of this debris indicated that the aircraft was in a
relatively high speed nose down, right wing down impact with the water or had a
possible right wing failure before impact. There was no sign of survivors, nor
were any bodies recovered.

The crew and passengers onboard the C2 which went down on October 2, 1969 were
all declared Killed/Body Not Recovered. There is very little hope that they will
ever be found. They are listed with honor among the missing because no remains
were ever located to repatriate to their homeland.

For many of the missing, however, solutions are not so simple. Several were
photographed in captivity, but never returned. Others were alive and well the
last they were seen awaiting rescue. Still others described their imminent
captures. For the families of these men, the years have passed heartbreakingly
slow.

Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing in
Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. Government. Many officials who
have reviewed this largely classified information are convinced that hundreds of
Americans are still alive as captives in Southeast Asia. It's time we brought
our men home.


GORSUCH, WILLIAM DALE

Name: William Dale Gorsuch
Rank/Branch: E4/USN
Unit: USS CONSTELLATION
Date of Birth: 20 March 1948 (Beaver Dam WI)
Home City of Record: Cambria WI
Date of Loss: 02 October 1969
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 175402N 1073602E (YE754810)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: C2A

Personnel In Incident: Terry L. Beck; Richard W. Bell; Michael L. Bowman; Frank
Bytheway; Rolando C. Dayao; Donald C. Dean; Herbert H. Dilger; Carl J. Ellerd;
James J. Fowler; Roy G. Fowler; Leonardo M. Gan; Paul E. Gore; William D.
Gorsuch; Rayford J. Hill; Delvin L. Kohler; Howard M. Koslosky; Robert B.
Leonard; Richard A. Livingston; Ronald W. Montgomery; William R. Moore; Paul K.
Moser; Kenneth M. Prentice; Fidel G. Salazar; Keavin L. Terrell; Michael J. Tye;
Reynaldo R. Viado (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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: On October 2, 1969, a C2A "Greyhound" cargo aircraft from Reserve
Cargo Squadron 50 departed Cubi Point Naval Air Station, Republic of the
Philippines on a shuttle flight to various aircraft carriers in the Gulf of
Tonkin in Vietnam, including the USS CONSTELLATION, the USS WALKER, the USS
HAMMER, and the USS LONG BEACH.

The flight crew onboard the aircraft, assigned to Fleet Support Squadron 50
based in Atsugi Naval Air Station, Japan, included the pilot, Lt. Herbert H.
Dilger; co-pilot, Lt. Richard A. Livingston; air crewman, Petty Officer 3rd
Class Paul K. Moser; aircraft captain, Petty Officer 3rd Class Michael J. Tye;
and loadmaster-trainee, Petty Officer 3rd Class Rayford J. Hill. Most of the
twenty passengers appear to be bound for the USS CONSTELLATION, but one was
bound for the USS LONG BEACH, one of the four Philippine citizens onboard was
headed for the USS HAMMER, and two to the USS WALKER.

The aircraft was inbound to the CONSTITUTION and made communication at about
0600 hours, reporting that operations were normal. When communicatons were
established with the Carrier Air Control, control was passed to the Marshall
controller (Approach Control). The carrier's radar continued tracking the
aircraft until approximately 0655, at which time radar contact was lost at about
10 nautical miles from the CONSTELLATION.

Helicopter search and rescue efforts were immediately initiated from the ship.
The helicopter began sighting an oil slick and debris. A few pieces of aircraft
were recovered, and analysis of this debris indicated that the aircraft was in a
relatively high speed nose down, right wing down impact with the water or had a
possible right wing failure before impact. There was no sign of survivors, nor
were any bodies recovered.

The crew and passengers onboard the C2 which went down on October 2, 1969 were
all declared Killed/Body Not Recovered. There is very little hope that they will
ever be found. They are listed with honor among the missing because no remains
were ever located to repatriate to their homeland.

For many of the missing, however, solutions are not so simple. Several were
photographed in captivity, but never returned. Others were alive and well the
last they were seen awaiting rescue. Still others described their imminent
captures. For the families of these men, the years have passed heartbreakingly
slow.

Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing in
Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. Government. Many officials who
have reviewed this largely classified information are convinced that hundreds of
Americans are still alive as captives in Southeast Asia. It's time we brought
our men home.


GORTON, THOMAS FREDERICK

Name: Thomas Frederick Gorton
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 06 December 1929
Home City of Record: Toledo OH
Date of Loss: 06 December 1963
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 101411N 1064617E (XS940320)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: B26B

Other Personnel in Incident: Richard D. Hill (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 September 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 Douglas B26 was a twin-engine attack bomber with World War II
service. In Vietnam, it served the French in the 1950's and also the U.S. in the
early years of American involvement in Southeast Asia. As the legend goes, the
B26 was renamed "A26" in the early years of because the U.S. did not want to
admit using bombers in Southeast Asia.

Capt. Thomas F. Gorton and Airman 2nd Class Richard D. Hill were crewmembers
onboard a B26B which went down in South Vietnam in the early years. The aircraft
had been on a photo reconnaissance mission near the coast of Kien Hoa Province.
Hill was an aerial photographer while Gorton was part of the flight crew.

The aircraft crash site was located about 40 miles south-southeast of Saigon
near the mouth of the Mekong River in about five feet of water. No personnel
were aboard. The remains of the pilot and navigator were subsequently located
which indicated that these men had tried to swim away after the crash. Hill and
Gorton could not be found. The two were first classified Missing in Action but
their status was later changed to Killed in Action/Body Not Recovered.

Gorton and Hill are listed among the missing because their remains were never
found to send home to the country he served. For other who are missing, however,
the evidence leads not to death, but to survival. Since the war ended, nearly
10,000 reports received relating to Americans still held captive in Indochina
have convinced experts that hundreds of men are still alive, waiting for their
country to rescue them. The notion that Americans are dying without hope in the
hands of a long-ago enemy belies the idea that we left Vietnam with honor. It
also signals that tens of thousands of lost lives were a frivolous waste of our
best men.


GOSEN, LAWRENCE DEAN

Name: Lawrence Dean Gosen
Rank/Branch: O4/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 23, USS TICONDEROGA (CVA 14)
Date of Birth: 04 February 1938 (Windom MN)
Home City of Record: Bingham Lake MN
Date of Loss: 23 July 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: YF949310
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A4F

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 USS TICONDEROGA had first been in Vietnam waters in late 1944 when
fighter planes from the TICONDEROGA and the USS HANCOCK flew strike missions
against enemy vessels in Saigon Harbor. The TICONDEROGA, the fourteenth U.S.
aircraft carrier to be built, was on station during the very early years of the
Vietnam war and remained throughout most of the duration of the war.

One of the aircraft that launched from the decks of the TICONDEROGA was the A4
Skyhawk. Douglas Aircraft created the A4 Skyhawk to provide the Navy and Marine
Corps with an inexpensive, lightweight attack and ground support aircraft. The
design emphasized low-speed control and stability during take-off and landing as
well as strength enough for catapult launch and carrier landings. The plane was
so compact that it did not need folding wings for aboardship storage and
handling. In spite of its diminutive size, the A4 packed a devastating punch and
performed well where speed and maneuverability were essential.

LTCDR Lawrence D. Gosen was an A4F pilot assigned to Attack Squadron 23 onboard
the USS TICONDEROGA. On July 23, 1968, Gosen was launched from the port catapult
in his A4F Skyhawk on a combat RESCAP mission. The aircraft was observed to
rotate slightly, proceed 200 yards directly ahead of the ship and impact in the
water. The aircraft was launched with 16 knots excess end speed. No landing
gear or flap retraction was witnessed, and no radio transmission was made. The
aircraft exploded on impact with the water about 100 yards from the carrier.

(NOTE: Although LTCDR Gosen is listed as lost in South Vietnam, the grid
coordinates carried on file by the Joint Casualty Resolution Center (JCRC)
indicate that the position of loss was well into the Gulf of Tonkin, at
approximately 180N latitude. No reason for this discrepancy can be determined.)

When search and rescue efforts were conducted, LTCDR Gosen's helmet was
recovered. Some of his teeth were imbedded in the helmet. Clearly, Gosen did not
survive the crash of his aircraft. He is listed with honor among those Americans
who are still prisoner, missing, or unaccounted for because his body was not
recovered.

For LTCDR Gosen, death seems a certainty. For hundreds of others, however,
simple answers are not possible. Adding to the torment of nearly 10,000 reports
relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asia is the certain knowledge that
some Americans who were known to be prisoners of war were not released at the
end of the war. Others were suspected to be prisoners, and still others were in
radio contact with would-be rescuers when last seen alive. Many were known to
have survived their loss incidents, only to disappear without a trace.

The problem of Americans still missing torments not only the families of those
who are missing, but the men who fought by their sides, and those in the general
public who realize the full implication of leaving men unaccounted for at the
end of a war.

Tragically, many authorities believe there are hundreds of Americans still alive
in captivity in Southeast Asia today.  What must they be thinking of us? What
will our next generation say if called to fight if we are unable to bring these
men home from Southeast Asia?
GOTNER, NORBERT ANTHONY

Name: Norbert Anthony Gotner
Rank/Branch: O4/USAF
Unit: 25th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Ubon Airfield, Thailand
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Kansas City, KS
Date of Loss: 03 February 1971
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 171700N 1061030E (XE230120 or XD258926)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D
Other Personnel in Incident: Robert L. Standerwick (missing)

REMARKS: 730329 RELSD BY PL

SYNOPSIS: When North Vietnam began to increase their military strength in South
Vietnam, NVA and Viet Cong troops again intruded on neutral Laos for sanctuary,
as the Viet Minh had done during the war with the French some years before. The
border road, termed the "Ho Chi Minh Trail" was used for transporting weapons,
supplies and troops. Hundreds of American pilots were shot down trying to stop
this communist traffic to South Vietnam. Fortunately, search and rescue teams
in Vietnam were extremely successful and the recovery rate was high. Still
there were nearly 600 lost in Laos who were not rescued. Many of them went down
along the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

During his Air Force career, Col. Robert L. Standerwick, Sr. flew a variety of
aircraft. At Omaha, Nebraska, he was selected to fly SAC's "Looking Glass"
missions.He was among the first of his friends to be selected to fly the
Phantom F4 fighter/bomber. After Thanksgiving 1970, Standerwick left Omaha and
shipped out to Vietnam, to be stationed at Ubon Airfield, Thailand, with the
25th Tactical Fighter Squadron. To his four children, it seemed like just
another long period Dad would be away.

On February 3, 1971, Standerwick was assigned a mission over the Ho Chi Minh
Trail along the eastern border of Laos. Standerwick's backseater was Maj.
Norbert A. Gotner, from Kansas City, Kansas. Their aircraft was the D model F4.

The D model of the Phantom F4 aircraft had arrived at Ubon in 1967. This model
was improved with the installation of a central air data computer for bombing
and navigation. The computer automatically determined the weapon release point
for all bombing modes. This version also launched Walleye television-guided
missiles and laser-guided bombs. Combined with the aircraft's max level speed
of over Mach 2 and its tremendous manuverability, the aircraft was considered
one of the "hottest" high-tech aircraft of the day.

Standerwick and Gotner's mission on February 3 was not a bombing mission,
however, but a "sensor drop" - dropping strategically placed sensors to help
monitor truck and troop movement along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. The Trail was
heavily defended and heavily trafficked.

During the mission, Standerwick and Gotner's F4 was shot down, and both men
ejected as the aircraft crashed. Radio contact was made with both Col.
Standerwick and Maj. Gotner, who reported that they were alive and uninjured on
the ground. The two were close enough to talk with each other. Rescue could not
be made due to darkness and weather.

A later radio message from Standerwick reported that he was surrounded and had
been hit by gunfire. Some first hand accounts report that Standerwick yelled or
screamed. Soon after, contact with Gotner and Standerwick was lost, and the Air
Force declared both men Missing in Action.

An immediate intelligence report was received by the U.S. describing two
Americans being moved through Mahaxay Village in southern Khammouane Province,
Laos (about 8 miles northeast of the point the F4D was downed). This report,
although not felt to be specific enough to be a definite identification, was
thought to relate to Standerwick and Gotner. No further word was heard of
either man.

Unknown to U.S. intelligence and the Air Force, Maj. Gotner had been captured
by North Vietnamese troops. He was moved immediately to North Vietnam, where he
and a handful of other men captured in Laos were held in the same prisons as
men captured in North and South Vietnam. Gotner and the other few captured in
Laos and moved to Hanoi were held incommunicado from other American POWs for
the next two years.

When peace agreements were signed in Paris in January 1973, the Vietnamese
agreed to release all American Prisoners of War in their hands. The list they
provided the U.S. did not include any of the men lost in Laos. A subsequent
list of eleven individuals was provided at the last minute, and it was known
for the first time that Norbert Gotner was a Prisoner of War and would be
returning home. The eleven had all been held in North Vietnam, apart from other
Americans. Bob Standerwick's name appeared on no list. He was not returned home
with the 591 Americans who were released from North Vietnam.

Families of men lost in Laos were horrified that none of the over 100 men they
knew had been alive were released. The Pathet Lao had repeatedly stated that
they held "tens of tens" of Americans, yet no negotiations had occurred that
would secure their freedom. A series of assurances were made over a period of
years that these men had not been forgotten, and that negotiations would occur
to free them. None of the assurances brought a single man home. These nearly
600 abandoned Americans were seemingly forgotten.

In 1980, the Standerwick family was told by a non-government source that Bob
Standerwick's name had been on a report prepared for Presidential review. The
source described the report as detailing two groups of about 2 dozen Americans
each. On one group, the source stated, there was only sketchy information; on
the second group, there were more details. The source stated the report gave
very current and specific information about Bob Standerwick, listing his
location at that time, identifying the group that held him, and describing the
menial labor job he was being forced to do in northern Laos. The source
identified the author of the report, the number of pages it contained, the
number of copies that had been made and where they were located. The
Standerwick family has never been able to substantiate this report, and U.S.
Government sources deny the existence of the report. All copies of the report,
according to the source, are under U.S. Government control.

When Norbert Gotner was released, he provided little further information about
his pilot. He did state that shortly before his own release he was asked by his
Vietnamese captors, "What do you know about Col. Standerwick?" As Gotner
himself was unknown to other Americans for most of his captivity, this question
takes on greater potential meaning. Many observers feel that only those POWs
held in the "Hanoi" prison system were released in 1973, and that parallel
prison systems existed in which prisoners were held without exposure to those
in other systems. One case which supports the theory that only the "Hanoi"
group, which was known to each other, was released is the case of American
civilian Bobby Keese, whose existence was discovered only days before the
general prisoner release in the spring of 1973. Keese, who had been held in a
separate section of a prison from other Americans, was not scheduled for
release and may yet be imprisoned were it not for a unified effort on the part
of other POWs to see that he was released.

Friends of Bob Standerwick say that there is no chance he would ever give up.
They say that unless he was murdered, there is every chance he could be alive.
Friends of Standerwick's children see the same ingenuity, courage, resolve and
determination in them. They have not stopped seeking information on their
father and the Americans still missing in Southeast Asia since they were old
enough to understand the circumstances of the loss of their father.

An interesting study can be made in the reports surrounding the last radio
messages from Bob Standerwick. Until the time the Air Force administratively
declared Standerwick dead on June 20, 1980, because there was "no evidence that
he was alive", these reports were evidence to support Standerwick's Missing in
Action status - the hope that Standerwick could still be alive. At the time of
his PFOD (Presumptive Finding of Death), these same reports were used in the
case to close the books on Bob Standerwick.

Belying the across-the-board PFOD findings, nearly 10,000 reports have been
received by the U.S. Government relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asia.
Many authorities believe that hundreds of Americans are still alive in
captivity today. Few agree on the most appropriate measure needed to bring them
home.

Standerwick's family does not consider him dead until proof has been found that
he is, indeed, dead. His wife has consistently aggravated the Air Force by
refusing to sign any form or document as his "widow". It's a small, but
important matter to her. The Standerwicks hold no "false hopes" that he is
alive; they are psychologically prepared to accept it if they learn that he
died. They want only the truth. They say, "The important point is that either
he was killed (at capture), or he was shot, wounded and taken captive. One way
or another, somebody knows whether he's alive or dead. If he is not, someone's
father, son or brother IS alive, and we owe it to him to do everything we can
to obtain his freedom."


(Robert L. Standerwick, Sr. is a graduate of the University of Kansas.)


Prepared by Homecoming II Project 01 December 1989


GOTT, RODNEY HERSCHEL
Remains Returned (see text)

Name: Rodney Herschel Gott
Rank/Branch: E5/US Air Force
Unit: 6994th Security Squadron
Date of Birth: 03 May 1947
Home City of Record: Miami FL
Date of Loss: 05 February 1969
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 152600N 1064700E (approx)
Status (in 1973): Killed In Action
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: EC47

Other Personnel in Incident: Hugh L. Sherburn; Robert E. Olson; Louis J. Clever;
Harry T. Niggle; Clarence L. McNeill; Homer M. Lynn; Walter F. Burke; James V.
Dorsey Jr.; Wilton N. Hatton (all reported KIA)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 September 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: ** NOT ON MISSING LISTS **

SYNOPSIS: The Douglas C47 was designed as a transport, gunship, and electronic
or regular reconnaissance aircraft, depending on the configuration. The aircraft
served in World War II and served French forces in Indochina in the 1950's, and
returned to Vietnam at the outset of American involvement there.

On February 5, 1969, an EC47 (electronic surveillance) departed Pleiku Airbase,
Republic of Vietnam on a tactical reconnaissance mission over Laos. The aircraft
crew included LtCol. Harry T. Niggle, Capt. Walter F. Burke, Major Robert E.
Olson, Major Homer M. Lynn Jr., MSgt. Wilton N. Hatton, SSgt. Rodney H. Gott,
TSgt. Louis J. Clever, SSgt. James V. Dorsey Jr., SSgt. Hugh L. Sherburn (radio
operator on the aircraft), and Sgt. Clarence L. McNeill. The last radio contact
with the aircraft was at 8:10 a.m. at which time it was located about 21 miles
west-northwest of the city of Chavane in Saravane Province, Laos.

When the aircraft failed to make a scheduled stop at Phu Bai Airport near Hue
shortly before noon, search efforts were initiated to locate the aircraft.
During the remainder of the day and for six succeeding days, extensive
communication and ramp checks were made, as well as a visual search of the area
from the last known position of the aircraft through its intended flight path.
Because no information was forthcoming which would reveal the whereabouts of the
missing aircraft and crew, the search was then terminated.

In the fall of 1969, the wreckage of an EC47 was located in a jungle-covered
mountainous area in the approximate last known location of Sherburn's aircraft.
The wreckage site was searched, and remains and a number of items were
recovered. These items were later correlated to Sherburn's aircraft.

The Department of the Air Force believes that the aircraft was faced with a
sudden airborne emergency since the right wing of the aircraft was found some
500 meters from the main wreckage site. It was believed that the engine caught
fire causing the wing to separate from the fuselage while the aircraft was still
in the air. Further, the Air Force states that although the crew members had
parachutes, it is unlikely that the apparent suddenness of the emergency would
have permitted anyone to abandon the aircraft. The absence of emergency radio
signals further diminished the hope that any of the crew members could have
survived.

At this time, the Air Force declared the ten men onboard the aircraft to be
dead, and so notified the families. The remains found at the crash site were
interred in a single grave at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St. Louis.
Military officials told eight of the families that the remains of only two
individuals had been identified, but would not reveal those identities to them.
(It is assumed that the families of the two individuals identified were
informed.)

In February 1970, the Sherburn family was informed that the remains found at the
crash site were skeletal and commingled, and that Air Force identification
specialists were unable to determine that they had a composite of ten
individuals -- and were unable to establish the identity of any of the remains.

About the same time the crew of the EC47 was being interred in St. Louis,
another mass burial was conducted, containing 18 USMC and Navy personnel. On
January 28, 1973, PFC Ronald Ridgeway, one of those 18 "dead and buried"
servicemen, was released alive from a POW camp in Hanoi. The U.S. had not known
that he was a prisoner of war.

Although the relatives found little hope in Ridgeway's return, some thought
it entirely possible that others might have escaped with Ridgeway. How many
others, some family members wondered, had been captured without the U.S. finding
out?

If such a thing could happen to the Marine and Navy group, what about the EC47
lost in Laos? Unfortunately, when the war ended, no American held in Laos was
released. The U.S. has not negotiated the freedom of a single man the Pathet Lao
asserted they held prisoner in Laos.

The U.S. Government has never changed its position on the Marines, Navy and Air
Force personnel interred in mass graves in St. Louis, and has continued to state
unequivocally that they were killed in action because the families could not
produce proof otherwise. Although the government lacked positive evidence that
most of these men were dead, its assumption that they were dead overruled any
assumption that they might be alive. The Marine Corps has admitted that some of
those "buried" men could have been captured, but that it is doubtful. Even
though considerable doubt surrounds the identification of the men buried in St.
Louis, and, indeed, some of them might have survived, official status change has
been denied.

Since the war ended, over 10,000 reports of Americans prisoner, missing or
unaccounted for in Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. Government. It
would not be erroneous to speculate that if the U.S. received a first-hand, live
sighting report on the men "buried" in St. Louis, that report would be debunked
because they are all "dead."

Although many experts who have reviewed the largely-classified information
relating to Americans still missing in Southeast Asia have concluded that
hundreds of them are still alive in captivity, the USG cannot seem to make up
its mind. Meanwhile, how many wait for their country to come for them? Who will
look for these men?










GOUGH, JAMES WAYNE

Name: James Wayne Gough
Rank/Branch: E7/US Air Force
Unit: 72nd Strat Wing, Guam
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Fresno CA
Date of Loss: 28 December 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 210700N 1055600E (WJ980330)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: B52D

Other Personnel in Incident: Bennie L. Fryer; Allen L. Johnson (remains
returned); Samuel B. Cusimano; James C. Condon; Frank D. Lewis (all released
POWs)

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: RELSD 730329 BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: Frustrated by problems in negotiating a peace settlement, and
pressured by a Congress and public wanting an immediate end to American
involvement in Vietnam, President Nixon ordered the most concentrated air
offensive of the war - known as Linebacker II - in December 1972. During the
offensive, sometimes called the "Christmas bombings," 40,000 tons of bombs were
dropped, primarily over the area between Hanoi and Haiphong. White House Press
Secretary Ronald Ziegler said that the bombing would end only when all U.S. POWs
were released and an internationally recognized cease-fire was in force.

Linebacker II flights generally arrived over Hanoi in tight cells of three
aircraft to maximize the mutual support benefits of their ECM equipment and flew
straight and level to stabilize the bombing computers and ensure that all bombs
fell on the military targets and not in civilian areas.

The pilots of the early missions reported that "wall-to-wall SAMS" surrounded
Hanoi as they neared its outskirts. The Christmas Bombings, despite press
accounts to the contrary, were of the most precise the world had seen.

On December 28, 1972, twelve aircraft were assigned to strike the Trung Quang
rail yards near Hanoi. One three-ship cell was code-named Cobalt. The second
B52D in the flight, Cobalt 01, assumed lead in the cell because the other two
were experiencing problems with their electronic warfare equipment. At about
2330 hours, the cell turned inbound on Hanoi and went to independent bombing
mode, meaning each aircraft used its own radar to locate and attack the target.

The cell saw medium to heavy antiaircraft fire ahead and soon began receiving
SAM signals and saw SAM launches beginning. A total of 45 SAMs were fired at the
cells. When Cobalt 01 was within sixty seconds of bomb release, two SAMS locked
on and began tracking the aircraft. Lewis was able to evade these two, but
received a near-direct hit by another while still in a violent evasive turn.

Every crew member onboard received injuries from the impacting SAM fragments.
The crew consisted of Capt. Frank D. Lewis, pilot and aircraft commander; Capt.
Sam Cusimano, co-pilot; Maj. Allen Johnson, Electronic Warfare Officer (EWO);
Lt.Col. Jim Condon, radar navigator; 1Lt. Bennie Fryer, navigator; and SMSgt.
Jim Gough, gunner.

Capt. Frank D. Lewis, the pilot, attempted to maintain control of the aircraft
as it headed west, but he knew the aircraft had taken a fatal hit and was going
down. The wings were on fire and the ruptured fuel tanks fed the rapidly
spreading fire. All electrical systems were out, as well as the crew interphone
system. The pilot verbally gave the order to bail out only forty seconds after
the SAM impact. Lewis ejected, and the crew followed.

The gunner, MSgt. James A. Gough, could not hear the ejection order, but knew
that he would soon have to bail out. The flames from the burning aircraft
extended back on both sides of the B52 to the gunner's turret, and he decided to
wait for a better chance as long as the aircraft was still in level flight.

By then, the other crew members who were able to eject had departed the plane.
When the gunner saw that the aircraft was descending into the low undercast, he
knew he had to leave then or lose his chance. When he jumped, he went through
burning debris of the disintegrating engines and wings and had numerous pieces
of wiring and metal fragments embedded in his body. Luckily, Gough was able to
deploy his parachute. He was captured soon after he landed on the ground.

The pilot, Capt. Lewis, was lucky to be captured alive after he landed in a rice
paddy. A North Vietnamese peasant took Lewis' revolver and would have killed him
on the spot if the gun had been loaded. As the click, click of the empty pistol
sounded, NVA troops approached and captured Lewis alive, taking him from the
custody of the peasant.

Meanwhile, the other crew members had also landed and were being captured by NVN
troops. All had ejected except for the navigator, 1Lt. Ben L. Fryer, who was
apparently killed by the SAM explosion. Lewis and Condon were reunited soon
after they were captured. After having been taken to Hanoi, Lewis believes he
heard his EWO, Major Johnson scream not too far away. The thought that Johnson
was also encouraged him -- he worried about his crew.

Lewis was subjected to the same harassment and torture by his captors that many
returned POWs have described. After a month in solitary, he was moved to the
"Zoo" where he was reunited with Gough, Condon, Cusimano and Fryer. Together,
they reconstructed the shootdown. Notably, LtCol. Condon, the radar navigator,
remembers hearing three ejection seats going above him before he ejected. These
three would have been the EWO (Johnson), pilot (Lewis) and co-pilot (Cusimano).

Lt.Col. Condon said that Lt. Bennie Fryer was apparently killed in the SAM
explosion, as he collapsed forward on the nav table and was bleeding profusely.
His seat was the closest of any crew member to the point of impact of the SAM.
Condon himself was wounded in the leg by shrapnel, and tried shaking Fryer and
yelling at him to arouse him, but got no response.

The fate of Maj. Allen Johnson is still a mystery. The surviving crew members
believe that he ejected from the aircraft, and Lewis believes he was alive and
in the hands of the North Vietnamese, because he heard what he believed to be
Johnson screaming. Further, Lewis' interrogator told him that Johnson was a
black man, a fact not revealed by any of the crew in interrogation.

Then on September 30, 1977, the Vietnamese "discovered" and returned the remains
of Bennie L. Fryer. It was not until December 4, 1985 that the Vietnamese
returned the remains of Allen L. Johnson. The positive identification of these
remains was announced publicly in June 1986. The Vietnamese denied knowledge of
either man until their remains were returned.

Reports mount that have convinced many authorities that Americans are still held
captive in Southeast Asia. Were Johnson and Fryer among them? Did they survive
to know the country they love has abandoned them? Isn't it time we brought our
men home?


GOULD, FRANK ALTON

Name: Frank Alton Gould
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit: 72nd Strat Wing, Guam
Date of Birth: 22 May 1933
Home City of Record: New York NY
Date of Loss: 21 December 1972
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 194400N 1035900E (UH950020)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: B52D

Other Personnel in Incident: Vincent Russo; James Farmer; Deverl Johnson (two
other crewmen); all rescued.

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 including "Linebacker" by Karl J. Eschmann.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Frustrated by problems in negotiating a peace settlement, and
pressured by a Congress and public wanting an immediate end to American
involvement in Vietnam, President Nixon ordered the most concentrated air
offensive of the war, known as Linebacker II, in December 1972. During the
offensive, sometimes called the "Christmas bombings," 40,000 tons of bombs were
dropped, primarily over military targets in the area between Hanoi and Haiphong.
White House Press Secretary Ronald Ziegler said that the bombing would end only
when all U.S. POWs were released and an internationally recognized cease-fire
was in force.

The Christmas Bombings were of the most precise the world had seen. Pilots
involved in the immense series of strikes generally agree that the strikes
against anti-aircraft and strategic targets was so successful that the U.S.
"could have taken the entire country of Vietnam by inserting an average Boy
Scout troop in Hanoi and marching it southward."

The operation had its costs, however, in loss of aircraft and personnel. During
the month of December 1972, 62 crewmembers of B52 aircraft were shot down and
captured or went missing. Of these 62, 33 men were released in 1973. The remains
of roughly a dozen more have been returned over the years, and the rest are
still missing. At least 10 those missing survived to eject safely. Yet they did
not return at the end of the war.

December 21, 1972, on the third day of bombing, Waves One and Two proceeded with
their bombing missions. During Wave Two, due to the losses suffered by G-models
over Hanoi, the 6 B52Gs assigned to strike the rail yards were recalled by
SAC. Wave Three consisted 12 B52G and 9 B52D aircraft from Guam and 18 B52Ds from
Utapao. The Guam B52Ds were targeted against the Hanoi rail yards that had been
bypassed by Wave Two.

The Straw B52 cell flew into its mission at 34,000 feet, transiting the densest
air defense in the world with Soviet SA-2 missiles poised for their flight path.
Straw 02, the fifth aircraft in, took a hit about two seconds into its
post-target run from a missile fired, most probably, by SAM site VN-549. Straw
cell was engaged by up to 18 SAMs during the bomb run. The pilot had just
started a 45 degree banked turn when everything went black inside the fuselage.

The aircraft had fire in two engines and no electrical power. Because the crew
could not transfer fuel from one side of the plane to the other, as fuel ran out
in one tank, the bomber began losing its center of gravity. Severely damaged,
Straw 02 managed to keep airborne for thirty minutes as it flew towards Laos,
whereupon the pilot called for bailout.

At 15,000 feet, the pilot, Capt. Russo, exited the plane and watched as the
aircraft turned into a fireball as it impacted a hillside. After landing in a
tree, Russo waited 20 minutes for first light before lowering himself to the
ground. After a few minutes, he used his survival radio to transmit a Mayday
call. An F4 crew responded, telling him help was on the way. An SAR A7
eventually located him, after which a rescue HH53 arrived and hoisted him to
safety. All the remaining crew was rescued in the same manner except for Maj.
Frank A. Gould, the radar navigator, who was injured during the SAM explosion
and was not observed in a parachute.

SAR forces could not obtain any reading of a survivor beeper, and after an
initial search, it was determined that Gould had probably gone down with the
aircraft. In 1981 a U.S. satellite photographed a jungle clearing in this
isolated part of Laos. The photograph showed that someone had stamped the number
"52" in the elephant grass, in numerals three feet wide and fifteen feet long.
It is believed possible that Gould had in fact successfully ejected but may have
had a defective locator. If this is true, he was tragically missed during the
rescue attempt.

Gould is one of nearly 600 Americans who were lost in Laos. Although the Pathet
Lao stated they held "tens of tens" of Americans, no negotiations were held to
secure their release. As a result, not one American held in Laos was ever
released.

Since the end of the war, thousands of reports have been received by the U.S.
Government relating to Americans still alive in captivity. U.S. experts have
stated they believe Americans are still being held prisoner in Southeast Asia.
The question is no longer whether any are alive, but who are they, and how can
we bring them home?




GOURLEY, LAURENT LEE

Name: Laurent Lee Gourley
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 416th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Tuy Hoa Airbase, South Vietnam
Date of Birth: 05 September 1944
Home City of Record: Villisco IA
Date of Loss: 09 August 1969
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 161800N 1063900E (XD762026)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F100F
Other Personnel In Incident: Jefferson S. Dotson (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project from one or more of the following: raw
data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families,
published sources, interviews.
Date Compiled: 01 January 1990

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: When North Vietnam began to increase their military strength in South
Vietnam, NVA and Viet Cong troops intruded on neutral Laos for sanctuary, as
the Viet Minh had done during the war with the French some years before. The
border road, termed the "Ho Chi Minh Trail" was used for transporting weapons,
supplies and troops. Scores of American pilots were shot down trying to stop
this communist traffic to South Vietnam. Fortunately, search and rescue teams
in Vietnam were extremely successful and the recovery rate was high. Still,
there were nearly 600 who were not rescued in Laos. Many of them went down
along the Ho Chi Minh Trail and the passes through the border mountains between
Laos and Vietnam.

In the early morning of August 9, 1969, 1Lt. Jefferson S. Dotson, pilot, and
Capt. Lee Gourley, his rear-seat co-pilot, departed Tuy Hoa Airbase located on
the coast of central South Vietnam on a "Misty" Forward Air Control (FAC)
mission over the Ho Chi Minh Trail in central Laos.

Lee Gourley had written home early that same day saying that all missions for
that day had been scrubbed due to bad weather. He did not expect to have to fly
that day - and he had time to write his family. Gourley had been working with
Misty for some time as a volunteer. Misty FAC volunteers were chosen from among
the best and most experienced pilots. He had delayed a trip to Hawaii for R & R
until the Misty duties were complete in another week, knowing his time in the
Vietnam arena would be short following his return. The FAC mission had come up
unexpectedly.

The aircraft Dotson and Gourley flew, the F100 Super Sabre, had been specially
modified a few years before to include a second crewman. The F model,
introduced in 1965, had the latest technology in radar signal detectors. The
initial shipment of F100F's were called "Wild Weasel I" and were an important
element in several combat operations.

Gourley and Dotson were not on a Wild Weasel mission, however, and on the FAC
mission this day, no bombs were loaded. They were to fly low and fast over
their objective area and presumably analyze targets for future air strikes,
or assess the potential need for further strikes. FAC reconnaissance missions
in the traditional sense were often flown by light observation aircraft rather
than fighter/bombers, but the necessary element for this mission was low
altitude and high speed, as well as the ability to cover a large territory.

Although there was normally no scheduled air backup or escort on a FAC mission,
and Gourley and Jefferson had none, other aircraft which happened to be in the
area provide information as to what happened to Dotson and Gourley as they flew
near Sepone in Savannakhet Province, Laos.

One passing aircraft intercepted a radio transmission from the F100F, "We've
been hit, we're going to try to get out." Observers from the passing aircraft
then saw the F100 go up in flames, and observed one fully deployed parachute.
(NOTE: The standard ejection called for the rear-seater, Gourley, to make the
first ejection, then the pilot, and a fully deployed chute indicated the
successful ejection of a crew member.)

Dotson and Gourley were classified Missing in Action. Their families understood
that they might have been captured, and like the families of others who were
missing, wrote regular letters.

Lee Gourley's sister, Elzene, became active in the POW/MIA families' effort to
"watchdog" U.S. Government actions regarding American Prisoners of War held in
Indochina. In early 1973, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger came to the
POW/MIA families and announced that peace agreements were ready to be signed
and their men would soon be home, or accounted for, if they were dead. Elzene
Gourley specifically asked Kissinger about the prisoners in other countries
besides Vietnam - Laos, Cambodia and China - and if his good news included the
men missing there. Kissinger replied, "What do you think took us so long?"

When 591 American prisoners were released from communist prison camps in
Southeast Asia in the spring of 1973, it became apparent that Kissinger had
lied to the POW/MIA families. Not a single man who had been held in Laos had
been released. Although the Pathet Lao had spoken publicly of American
prisoners they held, and many were known to have survived their loss incidents,
the U.S. had not negotiated the freedom of the American POWs held in Laos.

In 1974, the Gourleys sent a letter to Lee in care of the Prime Minister of
Laos, who responded that the letter would be conveyed later to their son. The
U.S. State Department said the Prime Minister might not know English and
probably an error was made in translation.

In 1976, the Gourleys wrote to Lee in care of Prince Souvanna Phouma in
Vientiane, Laos. He wrote back that he would give their letter to the "central
committee" to be sent to the "one for whom (it was) intended." The U.S. State
Department ordered the Gourleys to quit writing Lee in care of the Lao.

Following the war, refugees fled Southeast Asia and brought with them stories
of Americans still held prisoner and other information relating to Americans
missing in their homelands. By 1989, the number of such reports approaches
10,000, and most authorities reluctantly have concluded that many Americans
must still be alive and held captive.

It is certainly reasonable to speculate that Gourley and Dotson survived to be
captured. Only the communist goverments of Southeast Asia could say if they are
among those hundreds of Americans thought to be still alive, and they deny any
knowledge of Americans missing in their countries.

Lee Gourley and Jefferson Dotson pledged to "keep the faith" with their
country. Have we kept faith with the men who are still fighting an old war in
our names? What would Lee Gourley and Jefferson Dotson say?


(Laurent Lee Gourley graduated from the U. S. Air Force Academy in 1966.)
GOVAN, ROBERT ALLEN

Name: Robert Allen Govan
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit: 606th Air Commando Squadron
Date of Birth: 27 May 1934
Home City of Record: Washington DC
Date of Loss: 01 April 1967
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 165843N 1055800E (XD029773)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: T28D

Other Personnel In Incident: David R. Williams (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 September 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: NEGATIVE SAR CONTACT

SYNOPSIS: The North American T28 Nomad was used throughout Southeast Asia for
counterinsurgency missions and flew many successful strikes in Laos and South
Vietnam before increasingly more accurate ground fire proved the aircraft too
vulnerable to survive.

Major David R. Williams and Maj. Robert A. Govan comprised the crew of a T28D
Nomad sent on an armed reconnaissance mission over Laos on April 1, 1967. While
in the process of preparing to attack the target, the T28 was struck by hostile
fire. A fireball was observed on the ground. No communication was received from
the crew members and no parachutes were seen. The aircraft crashed about 10
miles east of Ban Muong Sen in Savannakhet Province.

Williams and Govan became two of nearly 600 Americans who disappeared in Laos
during the Vietnam War. Although Pathet Lao leaders stressed that they held
"tens of tens" of American prisoners, they stated that those captured in Laos
would be released in Laos, hoping to gain a seat at the negotiating table in
Paris where the U.S. and Vietnam were negotiating an end to the war.

The U.S. did not include Laos in the Paris Peace Accords, and no Americans held
in Laos were released. In America's haste to leave Southeast Asia, it abandoned
its finest men. Since the end of the war, the U.S. has received thousands of
reports convincing many that hundreds of Americans are still held captive today.

In seeming disregard for the Americans either held or having been murdered by
the Pathet Lao, by 1989, the U.S. and the Lao devised a working plan to provide
Laos with humanitarian and economic aid leading toward ultimate full diplomatic
and trade relations while Laos allows the excavation of military crash sites at
sporadic intervals. In America's haste to return to Southeast Asia, we are again
abandoning our men.

David R. Williams was promoted to the rank of Colonel and Robert A. Govan to the
rank of Lieutenant Colonel during the period they were maintained missing.

GRACE, JAMES WILLIAM

Name: James William Grace
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 20 December 1939
Home City of Record: New Iberia LA
Date of Loss: 14 June 1969
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 164300N 1060000E (XD105644)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D

Other Personnel In Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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.

SYNOPSIS: Air Force Capt. James W. Grace was the pilot of an F4D Phantom
fighter/bomber. The aircraft was one of the most advanced of its kind for the
time. Its computers controlled navigation and enabled precise television and
laser-guided bombing. Its speed topped Mach 2. Many pilots envied Grace's job.

Jim Grace once told a friend that if he were ever shot down, captured and held
for several years, he would start a new life rather than disrupt his family if
he learned his wife had remarried.

Shortly afterward, on June 14, 1969, Grace was flying a mission over Laos when
his plane went down about 10 miles west of Muang Xepone (Sepone), Laos. His
backseater, who would have been the first to eject, is not missing, so it is
assumed he was rescued safely.

Government documents show Grace's "last known location" in Laos 40 miles away
from the spot where he was shot down and where colleagues tried to rescue him,
an attempt the government says killed Capt. Grace when he fell from the
helicopter hoist lifting him out of the jungle. When pressed, the Pentagon
reinterpreted its geographical data to bring Capt. Grace back to a latitude and
longitude closer to the crash site.

Throughout the early years Jim was missing, his wife, Lillian, sifted through
government statements about her husband, attempting to sort out what happened
and what the chances were that he survived. One document says "the possibility
definitely exists that he could be alive," an assessment made after witnesses
claimed to have seen Capt. Grace fall 300 feet to 500 feet from the helicopter
hoist.

Someone must have agreed with that assessment, because Capt. Grace, who had been
classified Missing in Action (rather than Killed/Body Not Recovered), wasn't
declared dead for seven years.

Three years after he was shot down, Mrs. Bickel discovered "Photograph No. 77"
in a government "mug book" of unidentified Americans held captive in North
Vietnam or Laos. She thought the man in the photograph was her husband. The
photo had been taken in North Vietnam by a Soviet film crew. The US government
gently replied that three other families claimed the man in the photograph was
their relative and that no positive identification could be made. Mrs. Bickel
didn't agree and found two witnesses who also said the man in the photo was
James Grace. She believed the photographs proved that her husband had been taken
prsoner. The Pentagon denied her claim.

But the paper trail doesn't end there. An Air Force form dated November 1, 1972,
shows that Capt. Grace's medical and personnel records were ordered transmitted
to Keesler Air Force Base in Mississippi in anticipation of his eventual return.
This document lists him as a "repatriated MIA." Air Force officials claim to
have prepared more than 1,000 such documents for returning MIAs and POWs. If so,
the preparation of those forms may indicate, as Mrs. Bickel says, that the
government fully expected those men, including Capt. Grace, to return. Jim Grace
did not return in the general prisoner release in 1973. In fact, even though the
Pathet Lao stated publicly that they held "tens of tens" of American prisoners,
not one of these men were released -- or negotiated for.

Lillian Grace, after many years of hard work and disappointment in trying to
solve the mystery of her husband's disappearance, remarried and started a new
life.

Then on June 14, 1982, Lillian Grace Bickel received a postcard from Hawaii. It
was blank except for the postmark, the typewritten address and the inscription
referring to the photograph on the front: "After years of dormancy, the volcano
Mauna Loa comes to life."

When Mrs. Bickel turned the card over, she "started shaking and went into shock.
In the blue sky over the volcano, someone had printed the tiny initials "JMJ."
Lillian and Jim, who were childhood sweethearts, used to write the letters "JMJ"
on test papers for good luck. JMJ stood for Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Lillian
stopped the practice after the eighth grade, but not Jim. The three letters
"were of such a personalized nature that only I would have recognized the
significance," Lillian said. She believes Grace, either himself or through an
intermediary, was telling her he was alive. The card postmarked on the 13th
anniversary of Jim Grace's shootdown.

Lillian Bickel, although remarried, never gave up the search for her first
husband. She says, "If he's alive, I want to make contact with him. He has two
very fine children" and "it would make their lives complete" if they could meet
their father.

In early 1990, Lillian Bickel sought action through a new congressional inquiry
initiated by North Carolina Sen. Jesse Helms. The old photos she believed were
Jim Grace were given to a noted Colorado forensic anthropologist, Dr. Michael
Charney, for comparison with other photographs of Grace.

Dr. Charney not only said the man in photo No. 77 is James Grace, but also
states that the man could not have been any of the men the other three families
claimed he was. Charney pointed to Capt. Grace's receding hairline, a
characteristic of male-pattern baldness. Other witnesses recognized Capt.
Grace's hairline, posture, the shape of his nose and his flight-suit sleeves --
pushed up on his forearms, a Jim Grace trademark.

Confronted with these witnesses, the Defense Intelligence Agency changed the
date on which the photograph was said to have been taken. DIA's story is that
the man in the photograph couldn't be Capt. Grace because the photo was lifted
from a communist propagenda film made before he was shot down, then given to the
Defense Intelligence Agency six weeks later, after Capt. Grace went down. If so,
why didn't the government officials know this when they obtained the film nearly
20 years ago?  Why was the film dated incorrectly in the DIA's "mug book"?

Today, contrary to witness reports that state Grace could have survived,
Government officials insist that Capt. Grace was killed in the rescue attempt.
"I can get you up in a helicopter to 300 feet and let you step out," one Defense
Department official confidently says. Mrs. Bickel concludes that the man on the
hoist may not have been her husband.

Unfortunately, Mrs. Bickel's frustrating case is not isolated or unusual. Many
other POW/MIA cases have much in common: documents and eyewitness accounts that
reveal information about missing servicemen the government has been keeping from
family members. Although a government commission chaired by former DIA chief
Lt.Gen. Eugene Tighe reported in 1986 that a large volume of evidence points to
the likelihood that Americans are being held against their will in Vietnam, the
Pentagon so far seems to have been mightily unimpressed by such people as Mrs.
Bickel.

The fate of Capt. James Grace may never be known, but the nagging question
remains: What happened? And if Lillian Bickel's questions are hopelessly naive
or out of line, why can't she get straight answers to them? And if men are
alive, why are we not bringing them home?
GRAF, JOHN GEORGE

Name: John George Graf
Rank/Branch: O4/USN
Unit: Chief of Naval AD Group US MACV, South Vietnam
Date of Birth: 20 October 1927 (Los Angeles CA
Home City of Record: Glendale CA
Date of Loss: 15 November 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 094036N 1063437E (XR730700)
Status (in 1973): Prisoner of War
Category: 1
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: OV1C
Other Personnel in Incident: Robert Thomas White (Released 1973)

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: DIED ESCAPING 7000215; W/WHITE, R

SYNOPSIS: John G. Graf was a Tactical Observer attached to Chief of Naval AD
Group, U.S. MACV, South Vietnam. On November 15, 1969, Graf was a crewmember
aboard an OV1C aircraft flown by U.S. Army Capt. Robert T. White on a visual
reconnaissance mission. The U.S. Army aircraft was hit by hostile ground fire
and crashed some 20 miles southeast of Tra Vinh City, Vinh Binh Province, South
Vietnam. Both the pilot and observer were observed by an American Coast Guard
unit to eject safely. A local villager reported that National Liberation Front
Forces captured both crewmen.

On March 29, 1973, the Viet Cong announced that White was to be released on
April 1. He was the last American in the repatriation program dubbed "Operation
Homecoming". In his debrief, Capt. White reported that he was held with Graf in
various prison camps until late January 1970, when Graf escaped with another
POW. Before his release, the National Liberation Front area commander told
White to inform the U.S. authorities that Graf had drowned during an escape
attempt in February 1970. Former residents of this area also reported this
story to officials and that his remains were buried in the Long Toan area.

Viet Cong papers were found in a Viet Cong camp which contained the
interrogation reports of both LCdr. Graf and Capt. White. Other captured
documents stated that Graf had died in February 1970, and listed the location of
his grave in Vinh Binh Province.

Although information concerning LCdr. Graf is still classified, it was given to
the Vietnamese in hopes that they would be forthcoming with further information
about his fate. The Vietnamese continue to deny any knowledge of LCdr. Graf.

Nearly 2500 Americans remain missing or otherwise unaccounted for in Vietnam.
Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports concerning these missing Americans
have been received by the U.S. Government. Many experts are completely convinced
that hundreds of Americans are now held captive.

One set of critics say that the U.S. has done little to address the issue of
live POWs, preferring the politically safer issue of remains return. Others
place the blame on the Vietnamese, for using the issue of POW/MIA to their
political advantage. Regardless of blame, no living American has returned
through the efforts of negotiations between the countries, and the reports
continue to pour in. Are we doing enough to bring these men home?

GRAFFE, PAUL LEROY

Name: Paul Leroy Graffe
Rank/Branch: O2/US Army
Unit: 225th Aviation Company, 223rd Aviation Battalion, 17th Aviation Group,
1st Aviation Brigade
Date of Birth: 19 August 1946
Home City of Record: Shelton WA
Date of Loss: 03 October 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 145719N 1075326E (ZB109553)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: OV1C
Other Personnel In Incident: Kenneth Cunningham

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: The OV1C Mohawk aircraft was designed as a battlefield reconnaissance
aircraft and was used primarily by the U.S. Army. The various models were
outfitted with different detection equipment. The standard aircraft was not
armed, but some carried various weapons. The C model featured infared detection
equipment and a forward-aimed camera. Because the North Vietnamese and Viet
Cong relied so heavily upon darkness to conceal their activities, the infared
sensor proved especially valuable.

On October 3, 1969, 1Lt. Paul L. Graffe, pilot; and PFC Kenneth L. Cunningham,
observer; departed Phu Hiep, South Vietnam, during the early evening on a
surveillance mission of targets located in the northwest portion of MR2
(Military Region 2) in the tri-border area of Cambodia, Laos and South Vietnam.

The aircraft (serial #61-02679) failed to return at the scheduled time. The
last radio contact with Graffe and Cunningham was at 1800 hours when another
OV1 aircraft had been informed by Grasse that they were going to continue their
mission for about 30 more minutes, and then begin the return trip to Phu Hiep.
All further attempts at electronic contact with the missing OV1 were
unsuccessful.

On the morning of October 5, search and rescue aircraft located the wreckage of
an aircraft atop a 7,000 foot peak in a mountain range north of the city of
Kontum. This wreckage was positively identified as that of Graffe and
Cunningham. Efforts were made to insert a ground team at the site on October 5
and 6, but inclement weather prevented the team from being inserted. On neither
occasion was either visual or electronic contact made with the downed crew.

On the morning of October 7, another attempt was made to insert a ground SAR
team. However, the SAR pilots noticed a change in position in the aircraft
wreckage, and the SAR aircraft was receiving continuous beeper signals from the
ground. Since this continuous beeper signal was not compatible with established
emergency radio procedures, the SAR flight leader directed that the site was
probably a trap and withdrew from the area. Both crewmembers were declared
Missing In Action.

Graffe and Cunningham are among nearly 3000 Americans who were missing,
prisoner or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia at the end of the war. Unlike the
MIAs from other wars, most of these men can be accounted for. Tragically, over
10,000 reports relating to missing Americans in Southeast Asia have been
received by the U.S., convincing many authorities that hundreds of men are
still alive in captivity, yet freedom for them seems beyond our grasp.
GRAHAM, ALLEN UPTON
Remains Returned September 30, 1977

Name: Allen Upton Graham
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 27 February 1945
Home City of Record: Mobile AL
Date of Loss: 17 October 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 211526N 1054135E (WJ719506)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 1
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F111A

Other Personnel In Incident: James A. Hockridge (remains returned)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS: 770930 REMS RETD BY SRV

SYNOPSIS: The F111 was first used in Southeast Asia in March 1968 during
Operation Combat Lancer and flew nearly 3,000 missions during the war despite
frequent periods of grounding. From 1968 to 1973, the F111 was grounded several
months because of excess losses of aircraft. By 1969, there had been 15 F111's
downed by malfunction or enemy fire. The major malfunctions involved engine
problems and problems with the terrain following radar (TFR) which reads the
terrain ahead and flies over any obstructions.

Eight of the F111's downed during the war were flown by crews that were captured
or declared missing. The first was one of two F111's downed during Operation
Combat Lancer, during which the F111 crews conducted night and all-weather
attacks against targets in North Vietnam. On March 28, the F111A flown by Maj.
Henry E. MacCann and Capt. Dennis L. Graham was downed near the airfield at Phu
Xa, about 5 miles northwest of the city of Dong Hoi in Quang Binh Province,
North Vietnam. Both MacCann and Graham were declared Missing in Action. Graham
had been a graduate of Texas A & M in 1963. The crew of the second F111 downed
during March 1968 was recovered.

On April 22, 1968 at about 7:30 p.m., Navy LCdr. David L. Cooley and Air Force
LtCol. Edwin D. Palmgren departed the 428th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Ubon
Air Base, Thailand to fly an attack mission against the Mi Le Highway Ferry over
Dai Giang along Route 101. They were to pass over very heavily defended areas of
Laos at rather low altitude. Although searches continued for four days, no
wreckage was ever found. The loss coordinates are located near Quang Bien, in
Laos, although the two men are listed as Missing in Action in North Vietnam.

As a result of the loss of the Cooley/Palmgren F111A, the Air Force suspended
use of the aircraft for a limited period to investigate the cause of the losses
and make any necessary modifications. After the aircraft returned to the air,
the crashes resumed. When the 15th F111 went down in late 1969 because of
mechanical failure, all F111's were grounded and the plane did not return to
Vietnam service for several months.

In September 1972 F111A's were returned to Southeast Asia. On September 29,
1972, the F111A flown by Maj. William C. Coltman and commanded by 1Lt. Robert A.
Brett, Jr. went down in North Vietnam on the Red River about 10 miles southwest
of the city of Yen Bai. Inexplicably, the National League of Families published
a list in 1974 that indicated that Robert A. Brett had survived the downing of
his aircraft, and that the loss location was in Laos, not North Vietnam. Both
men remain Missing in Action.

On October 17, 1972, Capt. James A. Hockridge and 1Lt. Allen U. Graham were
flying an F111A near the city of Cho Moi in Bac Thai Province, North Vietnam,
when their aircraft was shot down. Later, Hanoi released a photo showing the ID
cards of both men, and other military papers from the crash. Both Hockridge and
Graham were mentioned in the story, which featured photos of the totally burned
wreckage of the aircraft, even though the military papers and ID cards showed no
fire damage. Radio Hanoi claimed both pilots died in the crash and that this was
the 4,000th aircraft downed over North Vietnam. A later broadcast reported some
remains were recovered and buried along the Ca Lo River. Both men were listed as
Missing in Action, until their remains were returned by the Vietnamese September
30, 1977.

On November 7, 1972, Maj. Robert M. Brown and Maj. Robert D. Morrissey flew an
F111A on a mission over North Vietnam. Morrissey, on his second tour of Vietnam,
was a 20 year veteran of the Air Force. The aircraft was first reported lost
over North Vietnam, but loss coordinates released later indicated that the
aircraft was lost in Khammouane Province, Laos near the city of Ban Phaphilang.
Both Brown and Morrissey remain missing.

On November 21, 1972, the F111A flown by Capt. Ronald D. Stafford and Capt.
Charles J. Caffarelli went down about halfway between Hue and Da Nang in South
Vietnam. Both the pilot and backseater were thought to have died in the crash
into the South China Sea, but no remains were ever found.

On December 18, 1972, LtCol. Ronald J. Ward and Maj. James R. McElvain were
flying an F111 on a combat mission over North Vietnam when their aircraft was
forced to ditch in the Gulf of Tonkin near the coastline at Hoanh Dong. It was
suspected that these two airmen may have ejected. They remain Missing in Action.

The last missing F111A team to be shot down was Capt. Robert D. Sponeyberger and
1Lt. William W. Wilson. Sponeyberger and Wilson were flying a typical F111
tactical mission when they were hit - flying at supersonic speed only a few
hundred feet altitude. They were declared Missing in Action.

In 1973, however, Sponeyberger and Wilson were released by the North Vietnamese,
who had held them prisoner since the day their aircraft was shot down. Their
story revealed another possibility as to why so many F111's had been lost.

Air Force officials had suspected mechanical problems, but really had no idea
why the planes were lost because they fly singly and out of radio contact. Capt.
Sponeyberger and 1Lt. Wilson had ruled out mechanical problems. "It seems
logical that we were hit by small arms," Wilson said, "By what you would
classify as a 'Golden BB' - just a lucky shot." Sponeyberger added that small
arms at low level were the most feared weapons by F111 pilots. The SAM-25 used
in North Vietnam was ineffective at the low altitudes flown by the F111, and
anti-aircraft cannot sweep the sky fast enough to keep up with the aircraft.

That a 91,000 pound aircraft flying at supersonic speeds could be knocked out of
the air by an ordinary bullet from a hand-held rifle or machine gun is a David
and Goliath-type story the Vietnamese must love to tell and retell.

As reports continue to be received by the U.S.Government build a strong case for
belief that hundreds of these missing Americans are still alive and in
captivity, one must wonder if their retention provides yet another David and
Goliath story for Vietnamese propaganda. The F111 missions were hazardous and
the pilots who flew them brave and skilled. Fourteen Americans remain missing
from F111 aircrafts downed in Southeast Asia. If any of them are among those
said to be still missing, what must they be thinking of us?

GRAHAM, DENNIS LEE

Name: Dennis Lee Graham
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 428th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Tahkli AFB, Thailand
Date of Birth: 11 May 1941
Home City of Record: Greenburg KS
Date of Loss: 28 March 1968
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 173200N 1062900E (VD600980)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F111A
Other Personnel In Incident: Henry E. MacCann (missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: The F111 was first used in Southeast Asia in March 1968 during
Operation Combat Lancer and flew nearly 3,000 missions during the war despite
frequent periods of grounding. From 1968 to 1973, the F111 was grounded several
months because of excess losses of aircraft. By 1969, there had been 15 F111's
downed by malfunction or enemy fire. The major malfunctions involved engine
problems and problems with the terrain following radar (TFR) which reads the
terrain ahead and flies over any obstructions.

Eight of the F111's downed during the war were flown by crews that were
captured or declared missing. The first was one of two F111's downed during
Operation Combat Lancer, during which the F111 crews conducted night and
all-weather attacks against targets in North Vietnam. On March 28, the F111A
flown by Maj. Henry E. MacCann and Capt. Dennis L. Graham was downed near the
airfield at Phu Xa, about 5 miles northwest of the city of Dong Hoi in Quang
Binh Province, North Vietnam. Both MacCann and Graham were declared Missing in
Action. Graham had been a graduate of Texas A & M in 1963. The crew of the
second F111 downed during March 1968 was recovered.

On April 22, 1968 at about 7:30 p.m., Navy LCdr. David L. Cooley and Air Force
LtCol. Edwin D. Palmgren departed the 428th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Ubon
Air Base, Thailand to fly an attack mission against the Mi Le Highway Ferry
over Dai Giang along Route 101. They were to pass over very heavily defended
areas of Laos at rather low altitude. Although searches continued for four
days, no wreckage was ever found. The loss coordinates are located near Quang
Bien, in Laos, although the two men are listed as Missing in Action in North
Vietnam.

As a result of the loss of the Cooley/Palmgren F111A, the Air Force suspended
use of the aircraft for a limited period to investigate the cause of the losses
and make any necessary modifications. After the aircraft returned to the air,
the crashes resumed. When the 15th F111 went down in late 1969 because of
mechanical failure, all F111's were grounded and the plane did not return to
Vietnam service for several months.

In September 1972 F111A's were returned to Southeast Asia. On September 29,
1972, the F111A flown by Maj. William C. Coltman and commanded by 1Lt. Robert
A. Brett, Jr. went down in North Vietnam on the Red River about 10 miles
southwest of the city of Yen Bai. Inexplicably, the National League of Families
published a list in 1974 that indicated that Robert A. Brett had survived the
downing of his aircraft, and that the loss location was in Laos, not North
Vietnam. Both men remain Missing in Action.

On October 17, 1972, Capt. James A. Hockridge and 1Lt. Allen U. Graham were
flying an F111A near the city of Cho Moi in Bac Thai Province, North Vietnam,
when their aircraft went down. Both men were listed as Missing in Action, until
their remains were returned September 30, 1977.

On November 7, 1972, Maj. Robert M. Brown and Maj. Robert D. Morrissey flew an
F111A on a mission over North Vietnam. Morrissey, on his second tour of
Vietnam, was a 20 year veteran of the Air Force. The aircraft was first
reported lost over North Vietnam, but loss coordinates released later indicated
that the aircraft was lost in Khammouane Province, Laos near the city of Ban
Phaphilang. Both Brown and Morrissey remain missing.

On November 21, 1972, the F111A flown by Capt. Ronald D. Stafford and Capt.
Charles J. Caffarelli went down about halfway between Hue and Da Nang in South
Vietnam. Both the pilot and backseater were thought to have died in the crash
into the South China Sea, but no remains were ever found.

On December 18, 1972, LtCol. Ronald J. Ward and Maj. James R. McElvain were
flying an F111 on a combat mission over North Vietnam when their aircraft was
forced to ditch in the Gulf of Tonkin near the coastline at Hoanh Dong. It was
suspected that these two airmen may have ejected. They remain Missing in Action.

The last missing F111A team to be shot down was Capt. Robert D. Sponeyberger
and 1Lt. William W. Wilson. Sponeyberger and Wilson were flying a typical F111
tactical mission when they were hit - flying at supersonic speed only a few
hundred feet altitude. They were declared Missing in Action.

In 1973, however, Sponeyberger and Wilson were released by the North
Vietnamese, who had held them prisoner since the day their aircraft was shot
down. Their story revealed another possibility as to why so many F111's had
been lost.

Air Force officials had suspected mechanical problems, but really had no idea
why the planes were lost because they fly singly and out of radio contact.
Capt. Sponeyberger and 1Lt. Wilson had ruled out mechanical problems. "It seems
logical that we were hit by small arms," Wilson said, "By what you would
classify as a 'Golden BB' - just a lucky shot." Sponeyberger added that small
arms at low level were the most feared weapons by F111 pilots. The SAM-25 used
in North Vietnam was ineffective at the low altitudes flown by the F111, and
anti-aircraft cannot sweep the sky fast enough to keep up with the aircraft.

That a 91,000 pound aircraft flying at supersonic speeds could be knocked out
of the air by an ordinary bullet from a hand-held rifle or machine gun is a
David and Goliath-type story the Vietnamese must love to tell and retell.

As reports continue to be received by the U.S.Government build a strong case
for belief that hundreds of these missing Americans are still alive and in
captivity, one must wonder if their retention provides yet another David and
Goliath story for Vietnamese propaganda. The F111 missions were hazardous and
the pilots who flew them brave and skilled. Fourteen Americans remain missing
from F111 aircrafts downed in Southeast Asia. If any of them are among those
said to be still missing, what must they be thinking of us?


Robert Mack Brown was appointed to the United States Air Force Academy in 1963.



GRAHAM, GILBERT JAMES

Name: Gilbert James Graham
Rank/Branch: E3/US Navy Reserves
Unit: Commander River Squadron 5, River Sector 51, River Patrol Boat 100
Date of Birth: 24 February 1946 (London, Ontario, Canada)
Home City of Record: Anaheim CA
Date of Loss: 28 September 1967
Country of Loss:  South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 101600N 1060301E (XS150350)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: PBR 100

Other Personnel In Incident: Joseph T. Musetti (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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: Seaman Gilbert Graham and Engineman Petty Officer Second Class Joseph
Musetti were crewmembers aboard River Patrol Boat #100 assigned to Commander
River Squadron 5, River Sector 51. On the afternoon of September 28, 1967,
Graham was the forward gunner aboard PBR 100 on a routine patrol of the Mekong
River approximately five miles northeast of Vinh Long, South Vietnam. Musetti
was a boat captain.

The commander of the craft was in the process of investigating watercraft near
the mouth of a canal when it received enemy rocket fire. Three rocket rounds
struck the boat killing Graham and Musetti. The resultant explosion and fire
consumed the boat and made it impossible to remove the bodies. From the
survivors of the incident, it was determined that Graham and Musetti were killed
instantly when the rockets exploded nearby. Both crewmen were placed in
Killed/Body Not Recovered status.

In 1985, a private citizen obtained a lengthy document through the Freedom of
Information Act describing in great detail a POW camp near Hue where many
American prisoners of war were held. Details of the report were confirmed by
returned POWs who were held there. The source was shown photos of missing men
who did not return and identified several - some as "positive", and others as
"possible". On the "possible" list was the name Richard Musetti, USN. There is
no other Musetti missing.

The Department of Defense states that the source is a liar.

The two crewmembers of PBR 100 are listed with honor among the missing because
their remains were never found. Their cases seem fairly clear. For others who
are listed missing, resolution is not as simple. Many were known to have
survived their loss incident. Quite a few were in radio contact with search
teams and describing an advancing enemy. Some were photographed or recorded in
captivity. Others simply vanished without a trace.

Reports continue to mount that we abandoned hundreds of Americans to the enemy
when we left Southeast Asia. While the crewmembers of PBR 100 may not be among
them, one can imagine their proud willingness to cruise one more mile of river
to help bring them home.

GRAHAM, JAMES SCOTT
Remains Returned 14 August 1985

Name: James Scott Graham
Rank/Branch: O2/US Navy
Unit: USS ENTERPRISE
Date of Birth: 25 October 1941
Home City of Record: Ardmore PA
Date of Loss: 04 May 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 194523N 1955231E (WG907838)
Status (in 1973): Prisoner of War
Category: 1
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A4C

Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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: GOOD CHUTE - WAVED IN DESCENT

SYNOPSIS: When nuclear powered USS ENTERPRISE arrived on Yankee Station on
December 2, 1965, she was the largest warship ever built. She brought with her
not only an imposing physical presence, but also an impressive component of
warplanes and the newest technology. By the end of her first week of combat
operations, the ENTERPRISE had set a record of 165 combat sorties in a single
day, surpassing the KITTY HAWK's 131. By the end of her first combat cruise, her
air wing had flown over 13,000 combat sorties. The record had not been achieved
without cost.

One of the aircraft that launched from the decks of the ENTERPRISE was the
McDonnell Douglas A4 Skyhawk was intended to provide the Navy and Marine Corps
with an inexpensive, lightweight attack and ground support aircraft. The design
emphasized low-speed control and stability during take-off and landing, as well
as strength enough for catapult launch and carrier landings. The plane was so
compact that it did not need folding wings for aboardship storage and handling.

Lt. James S. Graham was a naval aviator. He had served one tour of Vietnam
onboard the USS KITTY HAWK when he deployed to Vietnam as an A4C Skyhawk on the
ENTERPRISE. On May 4, 1967, Graham and another aircraft launched on a combat
mission over Thanh Hoa Province, near the city of Thanh Hoa, one of the points
of what was referred to as the "Iron Triangle." This was also the location of
the famed "Dragon Jaw" bridge which had been the object of many joint-service
attacks in the two previous years. The mission was Graham's 172nd combat sortie.

Graham's aircraft was hit by enemy fire during the mission, and he successfully
ejected. His wingman, risking the fire of surface-to-air missiles (SAMs)
followed Graham in and watched his descent. Graham waved to him as he parachuted
into some trees. When the wingman circled around, Graham was gone.

Without question, more information was received by the U.S. Government about
James S. Graham. He was classified Prisoner of War -- a category not assigned
without reason. His parents patiently waited for the war to end, never hearing
a word from their son.

In 1973, 591 lucky Americans were released from Vietnamese prisoner of war camps
and returned home. Jim Graham was not among them. Military officials had been
prepared for hundreds more who were known or suspected to be held prisoner. The
Graham family was told that returning POWs did not see their son in captivity.

Intelligence reports surfacing over the years during the war and following build
a strong case for a well-organized second prison system, and a well-orchestrated
plan to keep prisoners within systems from intermingling. As it is widely
believed that the Vietnamese withheld the release of many prisoners until peace
agreement terms were met (specifically, reconstruction aid), it is logical to
assume that one prison system's inmates were released while another were held
back for possible release at a later date. It is also logical to assume that the
scenario might be played to its fullest, including convincing each man in a two
man crew that had been separated, that the other was dead.

Ultimately, the U.S. Government declared that Graham must have been killed in
captivity, since there was no proof that he was alive.

In 1984, Jim Graham's father died, never knowing the fate of his son.

In 1985, the Vietnamese "discovered" and returned the remains of James S.
Graham. Mrs. Graham said, "It's quite a blow. If it's over, I suppose it's a
relief. On the other hand, it's just like losing him all over again." At last,
Graham's family could begin a grieving period, without doubt and questions.

Over 2300 Americans remain missing, prisoner or otherwise unaccounted for from
the Vietnam war. Nearly 10,000 reports received relating to these men have
convinced many authorities that hundreds of them are still alive waiting for
their country to secure their freedom. If so, what must they be thinking of us?
It's time we brought our men home.


GRAINGER, JOSEPH W.

Name: Joseph W. Grainger
Rank/Branch: Civilian
Unit:
Date of Birth: 28 April 1925
Home City of Record:
Date of Loss: 08 August 1964
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 125903N 1091047E (BQ972338)
Status (in 1973): Killed in Captivity
Category: 1
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: ground

Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 April 1990 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.

REMARKS: DIED - ON PRG DIC LIST 650317

SYNOPSIS: In February 1964, President Johnson ordered the withdrawal of American
dependents from South Vietnam. Two months later, North Vietnam began
infiltration of regular army units into South Vietnam. Gen. William Westmoreland
was appointed commander of MACV in June. By October the war was heating up. On
October 7, the U.S. Congress passed the Tonkin Gulf Resolution which allowed the
President a de facto declaration of war.

Wartime requires the presence of more than just soldiers and pilots. Private
industry is needed to assist in building roads, airstrips, housing for the
military. Private industry consultants might be on hand to solve problems with
sophisticated military hardware. Even as early as 1964, there were many American
civilians in Southeast Asia; some were CIA operatives, some were missionaries,
some were journalists, and some were simply technical or construction
specialists.

On October 8, 1964, one of these civilians, Joseph W. Grainger, was captured
about 15 miles southwest of Tuy Hoa in Phu Yen Province, South Vietnam. During
the remainder of the war, the U.S. compiled lists of Americans believed to be
captured, to have ready at the time POWs would be released. This, they hoped,
would eliminate the possibility of anyone being forgotten. They wanted to make
sure all possible missing were accounted for. Joseph W. Grainger's name was not
on this list, later called "list of descrepancy cases".

According to his Vietnamese captors, Grainger died in captivity on March 17,
1965. His name appeared on a list provided to the U.S. in 1973. Grainger's body,
however, was not returned, nor have the Vietnamese directly referenced their
failure to return his remains.

Some 100 Americans were listed on Vietnam's list of died in captivity whose
remains were not returned. In the cases of some, maps have been drawn indicating
the exact location of burial by fellow POWs. Some may never be recovered because
of having been buried at the side of an obscure trail while the POWs were being
moved from one location to another. Curiously, the Vietnamese do not feel
compelled to account for these men they say died in captivity, even though it
seems apparent that most of them could be easily accounted for.

Tragically, since American involvement in Vietnam ended in 1975, nearly 10,000
reports relating to Americans missing, prisoner, or otherwise unaccounted for in
Indochina have been received by the U.S. Government. Many officials, having
examined this largely classified information, have reluctantly concluded that
many Americans are still alive today, held captive by our long-ago enemy.

American civilians who went to Vietnam during the war knew the risks they were
taking. They understood that they could be wounded, killed, or captured.
Probably Grainger never believed that his country would completely abandon him
-- alive or dead.

GRANGER, PAUL LOUIS

Name: Paul Louis Granger
Rank/Branch: O1/US Air Force
Unit: 307th Strategic Wing, Utapoa AF TH
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: San Francisco CA
Date of Loss: 20 December 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 210500N 1055900E (WJ869477)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: B52D

Other Personnel In Incident: Thomas J. Klomann (released POW); Arthur V.
McLaughlin; Irwin S. Lerner; Randolph A. Perry Jr.; John F. Stuart (all
missing); from a B52G at WJ692313: William Y. Arcuri; Terry M. Geloneck; Roy
Madden Jr.; Michael R. Martini (all released POWs); Craig A. Paul; Warren R.
Spencer (both remains returned)

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: 730329 RELSD BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: Frustrated by problems in negotiating a peace settlement, and
pressured by a Congress and public wanting an immediate end to American
involvement in Vietnam, President Nixon ordered the most concentrated air
offensive of the war, known as Linebacker II, in December 1972. During the
offensive, sometimes called the "Christmas bombings," 40,000 tons of bombs were
dropped, primarily over military targets in the area between Hanoi and Haiphong.
White House Press Secretary Ronald Ziegler said that the bombing would end only
when all U.S. POWs were released and an internationally recognized cease-fire
was in force.

The Christmas Bombings, despite press accounts to the contrary, were of the most
precise the world had seen. Pilots involved in the immense series of strikes
generally agree that the strikes against anti-aircraft and strategic targets was
so successful that the U.S., had it wished, "could have taken the entire country
of Vietnam by inserting an average Boy Scout troop in Hanoi and marching them
southward."

The operation had its costs, however, in loss of aircraft and personnel. During
the month of December 1972, 62 crewmembers of B52 aircraft were shot down and
captured or went missing. Of these 62, 33 men were released in 1973. The remains
of roughly a dozen more have been returned over the years, and the rest are
still missing. At least 10 those missing survived to eject safely. Yet they did
not return at the end of the war.

On December 20, 1972, three B52 aircraft departed Utapao Airbase, Thailand for a
bombing mission over Hanoi. During the mission, two of the three aircraft were
shot down by surface-to-air missiles (SAM). One of the aircraft, a B52G,
contained the following crewmembers: Capt. Warren R. Spencer; Capt. Craig A.
Paul; Capt. Terry M. Geloneck; 1LT William Y. Arcuri; 1LT Michael R. Martini;
and SSgt. Roy Madden, Jr. SSgt. Madden was the gunner on this aircraft.

The number three aircraft in the flight, a B52D, contained the following crew
members: Major John F. Stewart, pilot; Major Randolph A. Perry; Capt. Thomas J.
Klomann; Capt. Irwin S. Lerner; 1Lt. Paul L. Granger; and Chief Master Sgt.
Arthur V. McLaughlin, Jr., pilot.

These two B52 crews met varied fates. On the first aircraft, all but Paul and
Spencer were captured and released in 1973. Madden, Martini, Arcuri and Geloneck
were all injured; Madden sufficiently that he was brought home on a litter. The
remains of Paul and Spencer were returned by the Vietnamese on September 30,
1977, despite earlier denials that the Vietnamese knew anything about the two.

From the second aircraft, only two men were captured and released -- Granger and
Klomann. Klomann was sufficiently injured that it was necessary to bring him off
the Freedom bird on a litter.

From the two aircraft, Lerner, McLaughlin, Perry and Stuart remain unaccounted
for. The U.S. believes there is ample reason to suspect the Vietnamese could
account for these men, yet the Vietnamese deny any knowledge of them.

One thing that amazed analysts about the B52 bombers that were shot down over
Hanoi during this period was the high survival rate of the crewmembers. Many
more were returned as POWs than was expected. The B52s that were shot down were
downed in extremely hostile territory with little or no chance of rescue.
However, they were fortunate to be captured during a period in which little or
no harassment and torture was being experienced by American POWs. In fact, the
Vietnamese were, during this time, "fattening them up" for what they believed
was to be their imminent release.

Unfortunately, it does not appear that all the prisoners were returned in 1973
at the end of the war. Since the end of the war, thousands of reports have been
received by the U.S. Government relating to Americans still alive in captivity.
Experts in the U.S. Government have stated they believe Americans are still
being held prisoner in Southeast Asia. The question then, is no longer whether
or not they are alive, but who are they, and how can we bring them home?

        CASE SYNOPSIS:    GRANIELA, JOSE ANTONIO JR.

  ============================================================================

Name:                Jose Antonio Graniela, Jr.
Rank/Branch:            E3/US Army
Unit:                Co.D, 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry
                101st Airborne Division
Date of Birth:            22 June 1944
Home City of Record:        Brentwood NY
Date of Loss:            16 August 1968
Country of Loss:        South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates:        161733N 1071104E
Status (in 1973):        Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category:            3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground:    Ground
Other Personnel
In Incident:            none missing

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS:  PFC Graniela was a rifleman in Delta Company, 327th Infantry, 101st
Airborne Division.  At 1100 hours on August 16, Graniela was on a combat
operation with his platoon when they began receiving intense automatic weapons
fire.  All members of the platoon immediately took cover.  Graniela was hit in
the leg with several rounds of small arms fire.  After calling for help, he
went into shock.  A tourniquet was applied to his leg and mouth-to-mouth
resuscitation was administered, but to no visible avail.  Several members of
the platoon believed that Graniela died at that time.

Because of intense hostile fire, the remains could not be recovered at that
time without the platoon receiving more casualties, and a return to the area
was impossible.  The following day, the area was bombarded by air strikes and
artillery.  Nothing was ever recovered that could be associated with Graniela.

PFC Graniela is listed with honor among the missing because no remains were
found.    His case seems clear.  For others who are listed missing, resolution is
not as simple.    Many were known to have survived their loss incident.  Quite a
few were in radio contact with search teams and describing an advancing enemy.
Some were photographed or recorded in captivity.  Others simply vanished.

Reports continue to mount that we left hundreds of Americans in enemy hands
when we left Southeast Asia.  Their abandonment makes the deaths of nearly
60,000 of America's finest young men a frivolous waste.  We must bring these
men home.

GRANTHAM, ROBERT EUGENE

Name: Robert Eugene Grantham
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: Troop B, 2nd Squadron, 17th Cavalry, 101st Airborne Division
Date of Birth: 09 December 1951
Home City of Record: Los Angeles CA
Date of Loss: 08 March 1971
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 162319N 1070333E (YD199129)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: OH6A
Other Personnel in Incident: John D. Hale (missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On March 8, 1971, 1Lt. John D. Hale, pilot, and Cpl. Robert E.
Grantham, observer, were on board an OH6A helicopter (serial #67-16645) on an
armed reconnaissance mission with an AH1G Cobra gunship and a UH1A helicopter
as a control ship. The OH6A aircraft was attempting to start a fire on a
hilltop by dropping incinerary grenades.

When 1Lt. Hale's aircraft later made a pass over the area to see if the fire
had started, it began receiving ground fire.  The crew of the AH1G gunship saw
the ground fire and engaged a target while instructing Hale to break away. Lt.
Hale called after he broke away, "I'm taking fire from 3 o'clock."  The AH1G
gunship then broke away from the first source of gunfire to engage the second.
At that time both the OH6A and AH1G pilots reported taking fire.

In the next radio transmission, Hale's OH6A reported that he was hit and was
going down, and asked if he was in sight. The AH1G gunship did see him and
called the UH1H control ship to confirm the sighting, but the control ship
could not spot Hale's aircraft. The gunship began dropping white phosphorous
grenades to help illuminate the area of Hale's aircraft.

At the time Hale called that he was going down, his aircraft seemed to come
apart and begin spinning, as if it had a tail rotor failure. Numerous objects
were flying out of the aircraft while it was spinning. The spinning slowed at
about 500 feet above the ground, but increased again prior to impact. The
aircraft exploded upon impact with the ground.

The chase control ship went over the crash site and hovered there, looking for
survivors, but due to the intense enemy fire, it had to leave the area. The
control ship returned, but saw no survivors on either hover. The largest part
of the aircraft that could be seen was what appeared to be the left engine
door. An electronic search was unsuccessful. No ground search was possible
because of the intense enemy activity.

Hale and Grantham went down in an area so hot that no one could go in for them.
Because of this, the U.S. believes there is a strong probability that the
Vietnamese know exactly what happened to them and to their aircraft. By 1973,
aerial photographs revealed no sign of the aircraft;  presumably, the aircraft
parts had been salvaged by villagers or soldiers. What of the crew?

Thousands of reports have been received concerning Americans still alive in
Southeast Asia. Clearly, the Vietnamese have a lot of information they are not
revealing. Hale and Grantham are prisoners of war - dead or alive.


GRAUERT, HANS HUBERT

Name: Hans Hubert Grauert
Rank/Branch: O2/US Navy
Unit: USS CONSTELLATION
Date of Birth: 31 August 1942
Home City of Record: Rochester NY
Date of Loss: 03 November 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 18128N 1071800E (YF423865)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: KA3B

Other Personnel In Incident: Peter H. Krusi (missing); Richard W. Sanifer
(killed, body recovered)

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: ON CONSTELLATION - CRSH ON TAKEOFF

SYNOPSIS: LCdr. Peter H. Krusi, pilot; LtJg. Hans H. Grauert, co-pilot; and Lt.
Richard W. Sanifer, crewman, launched from the USS CONSTELLATION on November 3,
1967 in their KA3B tanker about 1900 hours in support of a combat mission. Their
responsibility was to circle outside the combat area for accompanying fighter
jets to return to their area for refueling.

Upon takeoff, the tanker crashed, and all aboard were killed. Subsequent
searches yielded the body of Richard Sanifer, but the bodies of the rest of the
crew were not located. Krusi and Grauert were placed in the category of
Killed/Body Not Recovered. There is no hope that their remains can be recovered.

The crew of the KA3B lost on November 3, 1967 are listed with honor among the
missing because no remains were found. Their cases seem quite clear. For others
who are listed missing, resolution is not as simple. Many were known to have
survived their loss incident. Quite a few were in radio contact with search
teams and describing an advancing enemy. Some were photographed or recorded in
captivity. Others simply vanished without a trace.

Reports continue to mount that we abandoned hundreds of Americans to the enemy
when we left Southeast Asia. While the crew of the KA3B may not be among them,
one can imagine their proud willingness to fly one more mission to make sure
their freedom flights have the fuel to bring them to safety.


GRAVES, RICHARD CAMPBELL

Name: Richard Campbell Graves
Rank/Branch: O1/US Navy Reserves
Unit: Attack Squadron 215, USS BON HOMME RICHARD (CVA-31)
Date of Birth: 05 August 1944 (Richmond VA)
Home City of Record: Sunderland MA
Date of Loss: 25 May 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 185359N 1054200E
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A1H

Other Personnel In Incident: (None missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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: Ensign Richard C. Graves was a pilot assigned to Attack Squadron 215
onboard the aircraft carrier USS Bon Homme Richard (CVA-31). On May 25, 1967, he
launched in his A1H Skyraider on an armed coastal reconnaissance mission over
North Vietnam. Ensign Graves was the wingman for Lt. O'Rourke on this mission.
The flight was to seek out and destroy enemy water-borne logistics traffic.

The lead aircraft started an attack run on a small cargo boat with Ensign Graves
immediately behind him. Graves fired rockets on and around the craft, then
pulled out of the run in a normal manner. As the aircraft approached a wings
level, climging position, the left wing started to drop and continued to lose
altitude until it made contact with the water. The aircraft exploded on impact
and burst into flames.

Under the circumstances, Ensign Graves was unable to exit the plane. An
immediate search and rescue effort was started with the assistance of other A1
aircraft and a rescue helicopter in the area. During the search, they were taken
under fire from three anti-aircraft batteries located on the coast about a mile
from the crash scene. It is probable that Graves' aircraft was hit by these
batteries during the pull-out from his rocket attack.

Ensign Richard Graves is listed with honor among the missing because no remains
were found. His case seems quite clear. For others who are listed missing,
resolution is not as simple. Many were known to have survived their loss
incident. Quite a few were in radio contact with search teams and describing an
advancing enemy. Some were photographed or recorded in captivity. Others simply
vanished without a trace.

Reports continue to mount that we abandoned hundreds of Americans to the enemy
when we left Southeast Asia. While Graves may not be among them, one can imagine
his proud willingness to fly one more mission to help bring them home.
GRAVITTE, CONNIE MACK

Name: Connie Mack Gravitte
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 12 July 1933
Home City of Record: Ca-Vel NC
Date of Loss: 17 June 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 125336N 1093123E (CQ398257)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: C130E
Other Personnel in Incident: Ralph B. Cobbs; Jack I. Dempsey; Stanley J. Freng;
Edward L. Romig; M.J. Savoy; Donald E. Siegwarth; Curtis D. Collette; Gene K.
Hess; Robert A. Cairns; Oley N. Adams; Larry E. Washburn (all missing)

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: EXPLODE AIR & IMPACT SEA - J

SYNOPSIS: On June 17, 1966, a C130E "Hercules" aircraft departed Cam Ranh Bay,
South Vietnam en route to Kadena Air Base, Okinawa on an operational airlift
support mission. Aboard the flight were the crew, consisting of LtCdr. Ralph B.
Cobbs; ADJ2 Curtis D. Collette; YN2 Jack I. Dempsey; ADR2 Stanley J. Freng;
Ltjg. Edward L. Romig; AN M.J. Savoy; and Ltjg. Donald E. Siegwarth. All were
assigned to the 7th Air Transport Squadron. Also aboard the aircraft were U.S.
Air Force personnel SSgt. Robert A. Cairns; SSgt. Gene K. Hess; Capt. Connie M.
Gravitte; SSgt. Oley N. Adams; and A1 Larry E. Washburn, and one other
individual.

About 30 minutes into the flight, when the aircraft was 43 miles northeast of
Nha Trang, the crew of a naval gunboat cruising off the South Vietnam coast
observed the C130 explode and crash into the South China Sea. No hostile fire
was observed, and the exact cause of the crash could not be determined. The
vessell arrived at the crash scene only minutes after the impact and began an
immediate search. The accident took place so swiftly that it must be assumed
all aboard perished instantly. Some debris and wreckage have been recovered
including parts of the aircraft and personal belongings. Only one body was
recovered from the crash site. The others are listed as "Dead/Body Not
Recovered."

Cobbs and Siegworth were pilots, and probably the co-pilots of the aircraft,
although this information is not included in public data relating to the loss.
Crew positions of the remaining crew members are not available.

Inexplicably, Cobbs' loss coordinates place him on the coast of South Vietnam a
few miles northeast of Tuy Hoa, while the others aboard are listed as lost
northeast of Na Trang. (This is a difference of about 55 miles.) Also, the
entire crew of the aircraft has been assigned "Knowledge Category 4", while the
passengers are in "Knowledge Category 5". Category 5 includes those individuals
whose remains have been determined to be non-recoverable. Category 4 includes
individuals whose loss details, such as location and time, are unknown and who
do not fit into any of the varying degrees of knowledge other than category 5.
No reason for this discrepancy can be determined.

The Americans aboard the C130E are listed among the missing because their
remains were never found to be returned to their homeland. They are among
nearly 2500 Americans who remain unaccounted for from the Vietnam war. The
cases of some, like the C130E crew, seem clear - that they perished and cannot
be recovered, Unfortunately, many others who are missing do not have such clear
cut cases. Some were known captives; some were photographed as they were led by
their guards. Some were in radio contact with search teams, while others simply
disappeared.

Since the war ended, over 250,000 interviews have been conducted with those who
claim to know about Americans still alive in Southeast Asia, and several
million documents have been studied. U.S. Government experts cannot seem to
agree whether Americans are there alive or not. Distractors say it would be far
too politically difficult to bring the men they believe to be alive home, and
the U.S. is content to negotiate for remains.

Over 1000 eye-witness reports of living American prisoners were received by
1989. Most of them are still classified. If, as the U.S. seems to believe, the
men are all dead, why the secrecy after so many years? If the men are alive,
why are they not home?

In our haste to leave an unpopular war, it now appears we abandoned some of our
best men. In our haste to heal the wounds of this same war, will we sign their
death warrants? Or will we do what we can to bring them home?



GRAYSON, WILLIAM RONALD

Name: William Ronald Grayson
Rank/Branch: O5/US Navy
Unit: Heavy Attack Squadron 4, USS ENTERPRISE (CVN 65)
Date of Birth: 05 November 1930
Home City of Record: Riverside CA
Date of Loss: 01 April 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 175051N 1083538E (BK450750)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A3B
Other Personnel in Incident: Melvin T. Krech (missing); William R. Grayson
(missing); William F. Kohlrusch (rescued, but died of injuries)

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:

SYNOPSIS: The A3 Skywarrior "Whale" is a three-place turbojet light bomber,
reconnaissance plane, electronic warfare craft or aerial tanker, depending upon
its outfitting. The aircraft was comparable in speed to other fighter aircraft
of the era, and the B model only required armament consisting of a pair of
radar-aimed 20mm cannons in a remotely controlled tail turret.

The USS ENTERPRISE was the largest warship built until the mid-1970's. The
nuclear-propelled carrier carried an air wing of more than ninety aircraft. The
USS ENTERPRISE was the last addition to the permanent combat force which would
remain on station until the end of the war, arriving on Yankee Station in
December 1965.

On March 17, 1966 the flight wings on board the ENTERPRISE began a 27 day strike
period on enemy concentrations near the DMZ in the height of monsoon season.

On April 1, 1966, two USS ENTERPRISE personnel were lost in an A3B(T) Skywarrior
in the Gulf of Tonkin about 45 miles off the southwest shore of the Chinese
island of Hai Nan Tao. The pilot of the aircraft was Commander William R.
Grayson; ADJ2 Melvin T. Krech was the designated navigator; LtJG William F.
Kohlrusch was the electronics flight officer. At 800 hours that day, the
aircraft was catapult launched for an operational flight, but did not maintain
airspeed and crashed near the ship.

The rescue helicopter was on the scene within moments of the crash, but sighted
only Kohlrusch and he was the only one retrieved from the crash site. He died
minutes after he was rescued. The investigation which followed did not determine
the cause of the accident.

Krech and Grayson were listed Killed, Body Not Recovered. Navy officials
believed at that time, due to the circumstances surrounding the loss of Grayson
and Krech, that both were dead, and recovery of their remains would probably be
impossible.

Following their loss, both Grayson and Krech were posthumously awarded Air
Medals; Grayson's with two Gold Stars in lieu of third award, and Krech's with
three Gold Stars in lieu of fourth award.

Grayson and Krech are among nearly 2500 Americans who remain unaccounted for
from the Vietnam war. The cases of some, like Grayson and Krech, seem clear -
that they perished and cannot be recovered. Unfortunately, mounting evidence
indicates that hundreds of Americans are still captive, waiting for the country
they proudly served to secure their freedom.

In our haste to leave an unpopular war, it now appears we abandoned some of our
best men. In our haste to heal the wounds of this same war, will we sign their
death warrants? Or will we do what we can to bring them home?




GRAZIOSI, FRANCIS GEORGE

Name: Francis George Graziosi
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: 71st Aviation Company, 14th Aviation Battalion, 16th Aviation Group, 23rd
Infantry Division (Americal), Chu Lai, South Vietnam
Date of Birth: 10 January 1951
Home City of Record: Rochester NY
Date of Loss: 10 January 1970
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 152927N 1081808E (BT239141)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1C

Other Personnel In Incident: George A. Howes; Wayne C. Allen; Herbert C. Crosby
(all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On January 19, 1970, Capt. Herbert C. Crosby, pilot; WO George A.
Howes, co-pilot; SP5 Wayne C. Allen, crew chief; and SP4 Francis G. Graziosi,
door gunner; were flying a UH1C helicopter (serial #66-739) as the flight lead
in a flight of three helicopters returning from Tien Phuoc to the unit base at
Chu Lai, South Vietnam.

(Note: Records differs as to the aircraft type on this incident. Some records
show the aircraft type this crew was flying as UH1H, and some show it as a
UH1C. Herbert Crosby flew Charlie models every day from at least July 1969 to
January 1970. The serial number, #66-739 correlates to a C model, the first two
numbers indicating that the aircraft had been made in 1966, and the H model
only had come out a few months before this time. Although C models were
gunships, and usually flew more or less independently, while this aircraft was
flying in tight formation as flight lead, which would correlate with the H
model, it has been confirmed that the ship on which this crew was flying was
definitely a Charlie model.)

At 1300 hours, the three helicopters departed Tien Phuoc. Five to ten minutes
later, due to instrument flight rules, Capt. Crosby directed the flight to
change to a different flight heading. When the helicopters changed frequencies
to contact Chu Lai ground control approach, radio contact was lost with Capt.
Crosby and was not regained.

The other two aircraft reached Chu Lai heliport, and at 1400 hours, serach
efforts were begun for the missing aircraft, although the crew was not found.

According to a 1974 National League of Families report, George Howes survived
the crash of this helicopter. The report further maintains that the loss
occurred in Laos, although the coordinates place it some 40-odd miles from that
country.

A North Vietnamese prisoner released later reported that he had seen Howes in
captivity the same month the helicopter went down. A second sighting by a
villager in Phuoc Chouc (or Phouc Chau) village reported Howes and two other
POWs stopped for water at his house in February, 1970, en route to Laos.
Whether these reports also relate to Allen, Crosby and Graziosi, is unknown.

When the last American troops left Southeast Asia in 1975, some 2500 Americans
were unaccounted for. Reports received by the U.S.Government since that time
build a strong case for belief that hundreds of these "unaccounted for"
Americans are still alive and in captivity.

"Unaccounted for" is a term that should apply to numbers, not men. We, as a
nation, owe these men our best effort to find them and bring them home. Until
the fates of the men like the UH1C crew are known, their families will wonder
if they are dead or alive .. and why they were deserted.


GREEN, FRANK CLIFFORD JR.

Name: Frank Clifford Green, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O5/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 212, USS HANCOCK (CVA 19)
Date of Birth: 05 June 1935
Home City of Record: Waskom TX
Date of Loss: 10 July 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 201100N 1055700E (WH871207)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A4F

Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 30 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 USS HANCOCK first saw action in Vietnam when aircraft from her
decks flew strikes against enemy vessels in Saigon Harbor in late 1944. The
Essex class carrier, extensively modernized, returned to Vietnam during the
early years of the Vietnam war. 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 HANCOCK was the smallest type of
flattop to operate in the Vietnam theater, but pilots from her fighter and
attack squadrons distinguished themselves throughout the duration of the war. On
June 12, 1966, Commander Hal Marr, the CO of VF-211 gained the first F8 Russian
MiG kill.

Commander Frank C. Green was a pilot assigned to Attack Squadron 212 onboard the
USS HANCOCK. On July 10, 1972, CDR Green was launched in his A4F Skyhawk
aircraft to lead a night armed reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam.

Green and his wingman had completed the armed reconnaissance of an assigned road
segment and proceeded on their secondary mission to locate and destroy any
targets of opportunity they might find. They sighted vehicle lights some
distance south of their position and flew in that direction in order to make an
unlighted bomb attack. Shortly after the attack, the wingman observed a small
flash in the general target area immediately followed by a large, fuel type,
secondary explosion on the ground. Not hearing an acknowledgement that CDR Green
was off the target or a reply to his comments about the explosion, the wingman
suspected that the explosion might be CDR Green's aircraft.

Search and rescue efforts were initiated immediately, but attempts made to
contact CDR Green met with negative results. The crash site was located, and
shortly after, the crash site had been camouflaged. It was believed that Green
would not have camouflaged the site before he could be rescued. Since it was not
known if CDR Green was killed in the crash of his aircraft or survived to be
captured, Green was placed in a casualty status of Missing in Action. Since the
area in which he crashed (about 5 miles southwest of the city of Ninh Binh in
Ninh Binh Province) was near a heavily populated area, there is every reason to
believe the North Vietnamese could tell us what happened to CDR Frank C. Green.

When 591 Americans were released from POW camps at the end of the war, CDR Green
was not among them. Military officials were startled that "hundreds" suspected
to be prisoner or expected to be released, were not freed. Since that time,
nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing, prisoner or unaccounted for
in Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. Government. Many officials,
having reviewed this largely classified information, believe that there are
hundreds of Americans still alive in captivity today.

Whether CDR Frank C. Green, Jr. survived to be captured is not known. If he is
among those believed to still be alive is uncertain. What is certain, however,
is that the United States has a legal and moral obligation to the men she sent
to war in her name. If there is even one American held alive against his will,
we must do everything in our power to bring him home.

GREEN, GEORGE CURTIS JR.

Name: George Curtis Green, Jr.
Rank/Branch: E5/US Army Special Forces
Unit: C & C Detachment, MACV-SOG, 5th Special Forces Group
Date of Birth: 13 May 1950 (Indianapolis IN)
Home City of Record: Attica IN
Date of Loss: 04 December 1970
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 145418N 1072858E (YB671492)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Sgt. George C. Green Jr. was a rifleman assigned to Special
Operations Augmentation, Command & Control Detachment, MACV-SOG (Military
Assistance Command, Vietnam Studies and Observation Group). MACV-SOG was a
joint service high command unconventional warfare task force engaged in highly
classified operations throughout Southeast Asia. The 5th Special Forces
channeled personnel into MACV-SOG (although it was not a Special Forces group)
through Special Operations Augmentation (SOA), which provided their "cover"
while under secret orders to MACV-SOG. The teams performed deep penetration
missions of strategic reconnaissance and interdiction which were called,
depending on the time frame, "Shining Brass" or "Prairie Fire" missions.

Green's long range reconnaissance patrol (LRRP) was operating in Attopeu
Province, Laos about 20 miles west of the South Vietnamese city of Dak Sut on
December 4, 1970. At 0920 hours that day, the enemy assaulted the team at a
landing zone (LZ) with rifle fire and rocket propelled grenades. Green was hit
three times and was instantly killed. Because of the intensity of the enemy
attack and fire, the recon team had to leave Green's remains behind.

Later aerial searches were made of the area, but Green's body was not seen.
Because of enemy control of the area, no ground search was possible. Green is
one of nearly 600 Americans lost in Laos. Although the communist government of
Laos stated publicly that they held American prisoners, they insisted the POWs
would be released only from Laos. The U.S. would not negotiate with the
communist faction, a "government" they did not officially recognize, and as a
result, not one American held in Laos was ever released.

For every insertion like Green's that were detected and stopped, dozens of
other commando teams safely slipped past NVA lines to strike a wide range of
targets and collect vital information. The number of MACV-SOG missions
conducted with Special Forces reconnaissance teams into Laos and Cambodia was
452 in 1969. It was the most sustained American campaign of raiding, sabotage
and intelligence-gathering waged on foreign soil in U.S. military history.
MACV-SOG's teams earned a global reputation as one of the most combat effective
deep-penetration forces ever raised.

The missions Green and others were assigned were exceedingly dangerous and of
strategic importance. The men who were put into such situations knew the
chances of their recovery if captured was slim to none. They quite naturally
assumed that their freedom would come by the end of the war. For 591 Americans,
freedom did come at the end of the war. For another nearly 600 lost in Laos,
however, freedom has never come.

Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports relating to missing Americans in
Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S., convincing many authorities that
hundreds remain alive in captivity. While Green may not be among them, one can
imagine his pride in mounting one more mission to help them to freedom. What
are we doing to bring these men home?


GREEN, GERALD

Name: Gerald Green
Rank/Branch: O2/US Navy
Unit:
Date of Birth: 09 July 1939
Home City of Record: Ft. Morgan CO
Date of Loss: 12 September 1965
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water ** (See text)
Loss Coordinates: 200459N 1054959E (BL300500) ** (See text)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
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: CRASH O/W - SAR FAILED - J

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.JG Gerald Green was the pilot of an F8E assigned a mission over North
Vietnam on September 12, 1965. At a point in Thanh Hoa Province, about 15 miles
west of the city of Phat Diem, Green's aircraft was shot down. The aircraft
crashed. Rescue efforts failed to recover Green, and little hope was held out
for his survival. Green was declared Killed/Body Not Recovered.

(NOTE: Grid coordinates (BL30050) do not correlate with coordinates given above
(200459N 1054959E). Coordinates place the loss in Thanh Hoa province some 10
miles inland, while other records indicate that Green ditched over water. The BL
grids support an over/water loss, but not off the coast of North Vietnam. BL
grids are located off the coast of South Vietnam in the South China Sea. It is
impossible for the aircraft to have gotten from one point to another, and it is
assumed that the BL grids are incorrect. Therefore, since Defense Department
records indicate an over/water loss, it is assumed that the aircraft was hit and
turned out to sea to facilitate an easier rescue, and probably went down near
the coast of North Vietnam in the Thanh Hoa region.)

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.

GREEN, JAMES ARVIL

Name: James Arvil Green
Rank/Branch: E3/US Army
Unit: Company D, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division
Date of Birth: 14 August 1949 (Keota OK)
Home City of Record: Boynton OK
Date of Loss: 18 June 1970
Country of Loss: Cambodia
Loss Coordinates: 121306N 1064535E (XU914512)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On June 18, 1970, PRC James A. Green was a rifleman with his unit on
a protective reaction mission which engaged a hostile force in Cambodia. The
unit was operating in Mondol Kiri Province near the city of Sre Khtum. The unit
was under heavy enemy fire when Green received bullet wounds to the face and
arm. The point man came back to Green's position and attempted to pull him to
cover, but was unsuccessful. The point man reported that Green had lost a large
amount of blood, his breathing had stopped, and no heartbeat could be detected.

Efforts to recover his body were conducted from June 18-22, without success. On
June 22, his body was seenabout 75 meters from where it had been left on June
18, but enemy resistance in the area made it impossible to recover Green's
body. The platoon was extracted on June 23, leaving Green behind.

For James A. Green's family, his fate seems clear. Unlike the families of other
missing men, they do not have to endure the agony of uncertainty. Even though
they have never received his body, they are assured that he is dead.

Many other missing Americans were alive and well the last they were seen. Some
were in radio contact with would-be rescuers. Still others were photographed in
captivity, or seen to be prisoners, and then disappeared from the prison
system. Tragically, reports continue to flow in relating to these missing men,
convincing many experts that hundreds of them are still alive.

For the honor of those who died, and the honor of our country, we must bring
these men home - alive.
GREEN, LARRY EDWARD

Name: Larry Edward Green
Rank/Branch: E4/US Marine Corps
Unit: HMM 363, Marine Air Group 16
Date of Birth: 10 February 1947
Home City of Record: Mt. Morris MI
Date of Loss: 26 March 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 161408N 1080740E (AU930130)
Status (in 1973): Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: UH34D

Other Personnel In Incident: Glenn W. Mowrey; Frankie E. Allgood; Richard
Evancho; Ernest C. Kerr (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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: PIL/COP RES - ALL SEARCH FAIL - J

SYNOPSIS: The Sikorsky UH34D Seahorse was a vital aircraft in Vietnam, serving
as transport of both personnel and materiel. The Seahorse and its pilots
particularly distinguished themselves throughout the spring of 1968 during one
of the most crucial and bitterly contested struggles of the Vietnam War -- the
Tet Offensive.

On March 26, 1968, a UH34D was serving as a medevac helicopter in South Vietnam.
The crew consisted of the pilot and co-pilot, as well as CPL Larry E. Green,
crew chief; and LCPL Ernest C. Kerr Jr., gunner. They were transported wounded
Marines for medical treatment.

LTC Frankie E. Allgood had been wounded in the temple by shrapnel; LCPL Richard
Evancho and CPL Glenn W. Mowrey were also injured. These three were being
medevaced onboard the UH34D. The helicopter crossed a stretch of the South China
Sea during adverse weather conditions. The helicopter crashed into the sea about
three miles from its destination, Da Nang, South Vietnam.

Search teams were dispatched at once, and the pilot and co-pilot were rescued.
Crew members Kerr and Green were not rescued, nor were the other occupants of
the helicopter, including the badly wounded Frankie Allgood. All were presumed
drowned and were classified Killed, Body Not Recovered. Because the medevac was
apparently not struck by hostile fire, the incident was deemed non-battle
related.

For the men aboard the Seahorse lost on March 26, 1968, death seems a certainty.
For hundreds of others, however, simple answers are not possible. Adding to the
torment of nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asia
is the certain knowledge that some Americans who were known to be prisoners of
war were not released at the end of the war. Others were suspected to be
prisoners, and still others were in radio contact with would-be rescuers when
last seen alive. Many were known to have survived their loss incidents, only to
disappear without a trace.

The problem of Americans still missing torments not only the families of those
who are missing, but the men who fought by their sides, and those in the general
public who realize the full implication of leaving men unaccounted for at the
end of a war.

Tragically, many authorities believe there are hundreds of Americans still alive
in captivity in Southeast Asia today. What must they be thinking of us? What
will our next generation say if called to fight if we are unable to bring these
men home from Southeast Asia?



GREEN, NORMAN MORGAN

Name: Norman Morgan Green
Rank/Branch: O5/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 16 July 1923
Home City of Record: Washington DC
Date of Loss: 09 January 1968
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 164500N 1060800E (XD234537)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D
Others In Incident: Wayne C. Irsch (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 15 March 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Lt.Col. Norman M. Green was a pilot of an F4 Phantom in Vietnam. The
Phantom was one of the most sought after assignments for a pilot, as the
aircraft represented the ultimate fighter plane - a highly maneuverable jet
carrying the newest of sophisticated equipment which allowed bombing and
navigation to be directed by computer.

On January 9, 1968, Green was assigned a combat mission which took him over
Laos. His bombardier/navigator on the mission was 1Lt. Wayne C. Irsch. It was
his job to operate much of the high-tech equipment on the aircraft. When they
were near the city of Sepone in Savannakhet Province, Laos, their aircraft was
hit by enemy fire and crashed. Their loss location is listed as 40 miles
south-southeast of the Ban Karai Pass. Both men were classified Missing In
Action.

A September 13, 1968 statement by Soth Pethrasi was monitored from Puerto Rico
in which the names of several Americans were mentioned. The report stated that
"Smith, Christiano, Jeffords, and Mauterer" were part of "several dozen captured
Airmen" whom the Pathet Lao were "treating correctly and who were still in Laos.
Another name, Norman Morgan, captured January 9, 1968, was mentioned but is not
on lists of missing. This is believed to possibly correlate to Norman Green.

The Ban Karai Pass, on the border of Vietnam and Laos, is an area which claimed
many pilots during the war in Indochina. Many of the pilots were able to safely
reach the ground, but were not released at the end of the war. Although the
Pathet Lao stated publicly many times that they held prisoners that would be
released only from Laos, the U.S. did not include Laos in the agreement ending
American involvement in the war. Not a single American military prisoner of war
held in Laos has been released.

Tragically, nearly 1000 eyewitness reports of Americans held in captivity in
Southeast Asia have been received. They present a compelling case that Americans
are still being held today. Irsch and Green could be among them. If so, what
must they be thinking of us?

Wayne C. Irsch was promoted to the rank of Captain and Norman M. Green to the
rank of Colonel during the period they were maintained Missing in Action.


GREEN, TERANCE C.

Name: Terance C. Green
Rank/Branch: Civilian
Unit: Glomar Java Sea
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record:
Date of Loss: 25 October 1983
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates:
Status (in 1973):
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground:

Personnel in Incident: Herman Arms; Jerald T. Battiste; Sebe M. Bracey; Patrick
B. Cates; Wei Chen; Xiong Chen; Shu Guo Cheng; Jacob K. J. Chong; David P.
Clifton; James F. Cusick; Thomas J. Dixon; Shao Jien Feng; Jerald J. Flanagan;
Nigel Furness; Leonard E. Ganzinotti; La Juan A. Gilmore; Henry M. Gittings;
James K. Gittings; Terance C. Green; Jun Tian Guan; David Higgins, Jr.; Tyronne
Higgins; Hong Xi Huang; Rui Wen Huang; Yong Liang Huang; Timothy Jarvis; John W.
Jennings Jr.; Thomas J. Kofahl; Fan Xiang Kong; Guo Zhen Lai; John W. Lawrence;
Tong L. T. Lee; Chong Chang Li; Xuan Qiu Li; Zhan Jun Liang; Jie Feng Lin; Bing
Guang Liu; Edgar S. Lim; Gary Looke; Robert M. McCurry; Jerry L. Manfrida;
Raymond D. Miller; Xie Yi Mo; Tian Xue Mo; Kenneth W. Myers; Larry K. Myers;
Donald J. Ouellet; John D. Pierce; Peter Popiel; Clarence Reed; Jewell J.
Reynolds; E.J. Russell Reynolds; Walter T. Robinson; Kenneth B. Rogers; Lawrence
M. Salzwedel; William R. Schug; Richard E. Shoff; Christopher J. Sleeman; Delmar
A. Spencer; George G. Sullivan; Chong Jian Sun; Gustaf F. Swanson; Kevin C.
Swanson; Guo Dong Tang; Michael W. Thomas; Jiang Wang; Yu Fang Wang; Dong Cai
Wang; Guo Rong Wu; jing Sheng Xia; Xing Xing; Hui Xu; Ming Rui Xu; Mua Guang
Yuan; Xing Zhen Zhang; Yi Hua Zhang; Ji Chang Zhen; Shu Rong Zhou; Yao Wu Zhou;
Jie Fang Zhou; Da Huai Zhu.

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 10 December 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 5,930-ton American drilling ship, "Glomar Java Sea" was owned by
Global Marine of Houston, Texas, and leased to Atlantic Richfield Company
(ARCO). In the fall of 1983, the vessel was on duty about 200 miles east of the
Vietnamese coast. The ship was drilling for oil in the South China Sea in a
joint venture of ARCO and China Naitonal Offshore Oil Corporation, a state-owned
concern.

The "Glomar Java Sea" is a sister ship of the "Glomar Explorer," which, under
the guise of being utilized by the late Howard Hughes in a deep sea mining
operation in the Paficic, was really being used by the CIA and Navy in a $350
million project to retrieve a sunken Soviet Golf-class submarine. A large part
of the submarine was in fact recovered in 1974 before details of the project
were publicly revealed.

The Glomar Java Sea, with its crew of 81, began drilling operations on January
9, 1983 and was the first American wildcat operaton off the Chinese coast. On
October 25, 1983, the vessel was sunk during Typhoon Lex.

Documents removed from the ship by a crewman before the disaster indicate that
the vessel was being shadowed by armed Vietnamese naval craft and that there
were submarine mines beneath the "Glomar Java Sea," placed there and retrievable
by its crew. Another document indicates that the ship was damaged prior ot the
typhoon when a Chinese supply boat rammed into its side, causing some $320,000
damage to the vessel. The Glomar Java Sea did not leave its post for repairs.

Communications between ARCO and Global Marine, as well as telegraphic and radio
communications of the U.S. Western Pacific Rescue Coordination Center (WESTPAC)
reveal information about the search for the crew of the Glomar Java Sea.

The documents indicate that a number of survivors from the stricken vessel were
floundering in the water off the coast of Vietnam for hours after the disaster.
There is also indication that the men were picked up by Vietnamese coastal
patrols and are held captive of the Hanoi regime.

The crew of the Glomar Java Sea included 37 Americans, 35 Chinese, four British,
two Singaporeans, one Filipino, one Australian, and one Canadian.

From a transcript of a radio communicaton between WESTPAC and Global Marine on
October 28, three days after the sinking, WESTPAC was told:  "We are informed
that the SOS transmission could not have been transmitted except by human
operators..." There were two 64-man lifeboats aboard the drilling ship, plus
smaller lifeboats.

In an October 29 communicaton from WESTPAC to Global Marine, it is clearly
stated that five strobe lights were sighted by rescue aircraft in the vicinity
of 17-30 North 107-45 East. The aircraft were dispatched to the area because
strobe lights had been previously sighted. Lifejackets from the Glomar Java Sea
were equipped with strobe lights to signal rescuers.

Another October 29 communication between ARCO and Global Marine states that
ARCO's search aircraft had spotted survivors in the water at 17.27 North 107.54
East, and had attempted to divert surface vessels to this location. The
communication expressed the urgency to rescue the men before dark.

At 8:01 a.m. on October 29, ARCO had dropped a rescue raft to survivors.  Pickup
would be delayed for several hours, but the "Salvanquish," a Singapore-based
salvage ship, was within one half-mile of the site.

At 8:38 a.m search aircraft reported pinpointing the survivors' positions by dye
markers released by the survivors into the water. Two survivors were confirmed
with a possible third some distance away. Plans were also made to return to the
downed vessell to offlift survivors.

Another document shows that on nine different occasions radio transmissions were
picked up from a lifeboat. They ranged from "very strong" to "weak" with most
being described as "strong."

Inexplicably, despite the successful search, no rescue was made of the
survivors. Later that day, the Chinese Navy picked up a Vietnamese broadcast
reporting that the Vietnamese had sighted a lifeboat near their coast. The
location of the lifeboat was not confirmed by friendly search parties.

ARCO-Global Marine determined that this sighting was in the vicinity of Hon Gio
Island, located about 80 miles up the Vietnamese coast from the old U.S. base at
Da Nang and about 14 miles offshore, which placed it in Vietnamese territorial
waters. It appears that rescue craft were hampered in fully investigating the
report due to its location and the hint of possible interference by the
Vietnamese military.

It is likely that survivors would have been picked up by the Vietnamese if they
had in fact drifted within Vietnam's territory.

In the years following the loss of the Glomar Java Sea, a number of reports, all
unconfirmed by the U.S., indicate that survivors were seen in captivity in
Vietnam. It is known that the Vietnamese had shown a hostile interest in the
vessel, and the Glomar Java Sea had standing orders to be alert for Vietnamese
vessels in the area. The Chinese Navy served as protection for the vessel and
stood ready to take action should Vietnamese craft wander too close. The waters
below the vessel were mined.

A month after the Glomar Java Sea went down, Chinese divers went down to the
wreckage and went through the ship with a video cameras.

In March 1984, American divers were able to retrieve 31 bodies from the sunken
vessel. Fifteen of the bodies were identified as Americans. In addition, three
British and one Singaporean were identified. The bodies of another American and
two Chinese were tentatively identified. Divers photographed two bodies they
were unable to retrieve. They also found one of the Chinese divers that had
explored the wreckage in November 1983, lashed to the deck of the ship.

The American divers determined that one of the ship's large lifeboats was
launched and that an attempt had been made to launch another. Their film was
seen by the mother of one of the lost crewmen. She reported that the crack in
the hull of the ship at one point was a hole 48 inches across, which was
punctured inward, "as though the rig had been hit by something that exploded."
This fueled additional speculation that the vessel had, in fact, been attacked
rather that simply mortally damaged by the typhoon.

The National Transportaton Safety Board officially determined in November 1984
that an "unexplained crack" in the hull of the Glomar Java Sea was responsible
for its sinking during the typhoon. Apparently, the crack in the hull allowed
two storage tanks to fill with water, causing the vessel to become off-balanced,
making it vulnerable to the forces of the typhoon. Officials believed it was
possible that survivors may have been able to abandon the ship before it sank.
It was determined that the ship had been improperly prepared for the storm.

During 1984, there were reports from Southeast Asia that between six and twelve
survivors of the Glomar Java Sea were being held in prisoner of war camps in
Vietnam. One of the survivors was identified by a Vietnamese refugee as American
crewman John Pierce.

Douglas F. Pierce, father of John Pierce, reported that the refugee had seen his
son, five other Americans and eight Chinese when they were brought into a prison
in Da Nang, where the refugee was being held. John Pierce gave the refugee his
father's business card and two sticks of gum.

Mr. Pierce gave the information to Defense Intelligence Agency who determined
that the refugee had not been in the camp at all, but had received the business
card by mail from a friend, not directly from Pierce. DIA further determined
that the incident had occurred in late October 1983 (shortly after the Glomar
Java Sea went down). The refugee gave Mr. Pierce the original letter, which
contained the names and addresses of two mutual Vietnamese friends.

No followup was conducted on the two names in the letter by DIA, and DIA
discounted the information provided by the refugee. It was not until 1990 that
it became apparent that the Defense Department felt no responsibility for the
Americans lost on the Glomar Java Sea. At that time, DIA reported that the
responsibility for these civilians belonged to the U.S. State Department.

Mr. Pierce did not stop there. He uncovered a U.S. State Department document
that revealed that Cheng Quihong, the secretary and wife of the Director of
China's Visa Office, was overheard telling her companion at a Hong Kong dinner
that survivors from the Glomar had been picked up and were held by the
Vietnamese.

Pierce also learned that a JCRC report sent to DIA dated November 6, 1984,
reported that a former prisoner from Pleiku prison had been held with a Chinese
man who claimed to have been off the Glomar. The man said he was one of three
men who were captured, and that the other two were Americans.

Pierce adds that to his knowledge, neither of these reports were followed up by
U.S. officials, and Pierce has received no reply to his queries regarding them.

In 1989 a Japanese monk named Yoshida was released from prison after being held
for years by the Vietnamese. Yoshida was shown a photograph of John Pierce and
stated that Pierce looked very familiar, and that he had either seen him or
someone who looked very much like him.

In November, 1990, Vietamese Foreign Minister Nguyen Co Thach traveled to the
U.S. and spoke with U.S. officials on a variety of matters. At this time, he
announced that there was a black American named Walter T. Robinson living
illegally in Vietnam, and invited U.S. representatives to come and help find
him. Thach provided a social security number and two photographs.

The Pentagon told "The Washington Times" that the two photographs of Robinson
provided by Thach are of a black man. However, the Pentagon has since admitted
that the photos "are not very well developed" and appear to be of either a black
man or a dark Asian. Photocopies of old newspaper articles concerning Robinson,
obtained by Homecoming II, show a dark-haired man of relatively dark complexion.

The Pentagon has not released the photographs to the press.

The Defense Department determined that Walter T. Robinson had never been listed
as missing in Vietnam. Thach had provided a social security number, and
according to DOD, this information correlated to a white American living in the
Midwest. They concluded that the Thach information, therefore, was in error.

Later information indicated that a Walter T. Robinson was listed on the crew
roster of the Glomar Java Sea. When queried, the Defense Department reported
that they were aware of this Robinson, but that civilians were the
responsibility of the State Department.

It seems apparent that the U.S. is not vigorously looking for the men missing
from the Glomar Java Sea, and that like the missing and prisoners who served in
military and civilian capacities during the Vietnam war, they have been
abandoned.


GREEN, THOMAS FREDRICK

Name: Thomas Fredrick Green
Rank/Branch: E2/US Army
Unit: 68th Aviation Company, 52nd Aviation Battalion, 17th Aviation Group, 1st
Aviation Brigade, Camp Holloway, Pleiku RV
Date of Birth: 10 September 1952 (Escondido CA)
Home City of Record: Ramona CA
Date of Loss: 26 October 1971
Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 121301N 1091847E (CP165510)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Other Personnel In Incident: Michael Lautzenheiser; Mickey Eveland; Albert
Trudeau; Sanford I. Finger; Robert A. Nickol (all missing); Leonard Maquiling
(aircraft commander-remains recovered); three other non-crew aboard-bodies
recovered.

REMARKS: CRASHES-4 REMS FND-NOT SUBJS

SYNOPSIS: Before dawn on the morning of October 26, 1971, Mickey Eveland was
awakened by his assistant platoon leader, G.J. Curry and told that he was
needed as crew chief for a resupply flight from Camp Holloway at Pleiku to Cha
Rang Valley and An Son.  SP4 Walia, the crew's usual crew chief had to be
present at a promotion board that day, so Mickey Eveland was selected to fill
in for him. Pvt. Green, gunner; WO Albert Trudeau, pilot; CWO Leonard
Maquiling, aircraft commander; SP5 Michael Lautzenheiser, the flight engineer;
were also awakened. The crew flew from the 52nd Aviation Battalion, "Flying
Dragons". Mickey had a hard time waking up, and Curry had to return to reawaken
him. Maquiling, the oldest of the crew, had just turned 23; Trudeau had just
turned 22. Eveland and Green were barely 19. Mike was 20.

The CH47B, serial #66-19143, call sign Warrior 143, departed Camp Holloway at
0750 that morning and arrived at An Son at 0900 hours after a stop at Cha Rang
Valley. While at An Son, the aircraft received further orders to fly to Cam
Ranh Bay with a stop at Tuy Hoa. The helicopter arrived at Tuy Hoa at 1115
hours and departed there at 1350 hours. Shortly after departure from Tuy Hoa,
Trudeau radioed that he had 10 people aboard and expected to arrive at Cam Ranh
Bay at 1420 hours. He had taken on 6 passengers for the flight, Finger, Nickol,
and three others. The weather was expected to worsen south of Tuy Hoa, and the
pilot was cautioned to contact Coastal Center for weather conditions.

The last time anyone saw Warrior 143, it was near Nha Trang, headed south into
bad weather. Search and Rescue was initiated at 1555 hours. Between October 27
and November 1, debris identified as being from 143 was found washed ashore on
Hon Tre island, just offshore from Nha Trang. The condition of the debris
recovered indicated that the aircraft had struck the water at high speed. In
all, four crew members' remains were found during the search period. However,
there was no sign of Eveland, Trudeau, Nickol, Green, Finger or Lautzenheiser.
An extensive search continued through November 9, without success. In 1972, the
missing crew members were declared Killed in Action, Body Not Recovered.

An additional recovery attempt was made based on the possible sighting of the
wreckage of the aircraft on October 9, 1974. Two South Vietnamese scuba divers
spent 1 hour and 30 minutes each in an underwater search, but did not locate
the wreckage.

Hon Tre island was definitely Viet Cong territory and their junks plyed the
waters surrounding it at night. Veteran fighter pilots told the Lautzenheiser
family that, in spite of the seemingly dismal facts surrounding the loss of
123, the presence of so many Viet Cong made it possible that the crew of the
helicopter could have been taken captive.

As the years passed, anguish for the families of the men missing on Warrior 143
only grew as thousands of reports flowed in relating to Americans still held
captive in Southeast Asia. The Vietnamese appear, to many authorities, to be
holding the men against the day the U.S. will pay their promised reconstruction
aid. The U.S. firmly holds that it will not pay. Meanwhile, nearly 2500
American families wait in limbo, and American heroes die in the hands of a
long-ago enemy, victims of a political war that, for them, will not end.







GREENE, CHARLES EDWARD JR.

Name: Charles Edward Greene, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: (probably) 355th Combat Support Group, Takhli AB TH
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Schenectady NY
Date of Loss: 11 March 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 213300N 1054000E (WJ724829)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F105D

Other Personnel in Incident: James E. Hiteshew (released POW); Joseph J. Karins
Jr. (missing) (both at close proximity on same day)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS: 730304 RELSD BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: The F105 Thunderchief ("Thud"), in its various versions, flew more
missions against North Vietnam than any other U.S. aircraft. It also suffered
more losses, partially due to its vulnerability, which was constantly under
revision. Between 1965 and 1971, the aircraft was equipped with armor plate, a
secondary flight control system, an improved pilot ejection seat, a more precise
navigation system, better blind bombing capability and ECM pods for the wings.
The D version was a single-place aircraft.

Capt. Charles E. Greene, Jr., Capt. Joseph J. Karins, Jr., and Major James E.
Hiteshew were all pilots of F105D Thunderchiefs. On March 11, 1967, they were
all dispatched on strike mission over North Vietnam. At a target area near the
city of Thai Nguyen in Vinh Phu Province, all three were shot down and declared
Missing in Action. Greene and Hiteshew ultimately landed in Vinh Phu Province.
Greene was about 5 miles southwest of the city of Thai Nguyen; Hiteshew was
about 8 miles southeast. Karins landed on the border of Vinh Phu and Ha Bac
Provinces, about 8 miles east-southeast of Thai Nguyen.

It was later learned that Greene and Hiteshew had been captured by the North
Vietnamese. Hiteshew's emergency beepers had been heard, and parachute was
observed, but rescue in this hostile territory proved impossible. Other
information indicates that Karins was in radio contact with rescuers, but was
seen to be captured.

On March 4, 1973, 591 Americans were released from communist prisons in North
Vietnam. Greene and Hiteshew were among them. Karins was not. He remained
Missing in Action. According to intelligence received by the Defense Department,
Karins died, but public information does not indicate how or when. Whether this
information was confirmed seems unlikely, as Karin's status was not changed to
Killed in Action, Body Not Recovered. In fact, it was several years before he
was found presumptively dead.

Since American involvement in Vietnam ended in 1975, nearly 10,000 reports
relating to Americans missing, prisoner, or otherwise unaccounted for in
Indochina have been received by the U.S. Government. Many officials, having
examined this largely classified information, have reluctantly concluded that
many Americans are still alive today, held captive by our long-ago enemy.

Karins is one of over 2,300 Americans who remain missing in Southeast Asia.
Whether he survived the crash of his aircraft to be captured seems unlikely, in
light of the DIA intelligence report. What is certain, however, is that we owe
these men our every effort to bring them to freedom. Hiteshew and Greene were
imprisoned nearly six years. For Karins, dead or alive, it will soon be 23
years. It's time we brought our men home.

Karins, who was promoted to the rank of Major during the period he was missing
is now accounted for. His remains were returned to the U.S. on April 6, 1988.

GREENLEAF, JOSEPH GALES

Name: Joseph Gales Greenleaf
Rank/Branch: O3/US Navy
Unit: Fighter Squadron 114, USS KITTY HAWK (CVA-63)
Date of Birth: 16 November 1944 (Boston MA)
Home City of Record: West Newton MA
Date of Loss: 14 April 1972
Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 164856N 1065956E
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4E

Other Personnel In Incident: Clemie McKinney (remains returned)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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: Lieutenants Joseph Greenleaf and Clemie McKinney were pilots assigned
to Fighter Squadron 114 onboard the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk. On April
14, 1972, they launched in their F4E fighter jet for a bombing mission at the
Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). On the flight, Greenleaf was the pilot and McKinney
was the Radar Intercept Officer.

During their bombing run, the F4 was hit by anti-aircraft fire andd was observed
to continue its dive until impact. No ejections were observed. The crash
occurred 1 mile south of Cam Lo village, South Vietnam. Reports at that time
indicated that because the aircraft had taken a direct hit into the cockpit was
involved in a low-level bombing dive as well, that successful ejection would
have been virtually impossible.

On August 14, 1985, the Vietnamese government returned remains proported to be
those of Lt. Clemie McKinney. Although McKinney's family disputed the finding,
the Navy determined the remains to be those of McKinney's in February 1988. The
delay, according to the Navy, was due to an error in documenting correct
biographical and physical information. One of the objections of the family is
the apparent descrepancy of having received a direct hit in the cockpit,
precluding the possibility of recovering any identifiable remains. Other
problems involving the configuration of the feet bones were questioned.

The difficulty in successfully identifying remains that have withstood the
wearing effects of trauma and years of exposure is recognized, as are scientific
achievements making the near-impossible possible. However, military errors in
identification have had to be reversed in court, and it is the desire of most
POW/MIA family members that a private professional opinion be obtained before
they are able to lay their loved one to rest.

Under the circumstances, it is not clear whether the identification of Clemie
McKinney is accurate. Greenleaf, at least, is still among the missing.
Tragically, reports continue to pour in relating to Americans prisoner, missing
or otherwise unaccounted for in Southeast Asia. Many officials who have reviewed
this largely classified information have reluctantly concluded that hundreds of
Americans are still alive in captivity today.

When the military confirms an identificaton of remains, that case is closed. No
one is looking for Clemie McKinney. Should a report that he is alive be
received, it will be discounted because he has been proven to be dead.

If there are Americans still alive in captivity in Southeast Asia, no books
should be closed until they are all home. We cannot afford the abandonment of
even one of these men, America's finest sons.

GREENWOOD, ROBERT ROY JR.

Name: Robert Roy Greenwood, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit: 421st Tactical Fighter Squadron, Takhli ABTH
Date of Birth: 17 October 1936
Home City of Record: Portsmouth VA
Date of Loss: 02 September 1972
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 192500N 1030600E (TG996488)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4E

Other Personnel in Incident: William C. Wood; Richard W. Herold (missing from an
O1 at same location)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 31 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 Steve Canyon program was a highly classified FAC (forward air
control) operation covering the military regions of Laos. U.S. military
operations in Laos were severely restricted during the Vietnam War era because
Laos had been declared neutral by the Geneva Accords.

The non-communist forces in Laos, however, had a critical need for military
support in order to defend territory used by Lao and North Vietnamese communist
forces. The U.S., in conjunction with non-communist forces in Laos, devised a
system whereby U.S. military personnel could be "in the black" or "sheep-dipped"
(clandestine; mustered out of the military to perform military duties as a
civilian) to operate in Laos under supervision of the U.S. Ambassador to Laos.

RAVEN was the radio call sign which identified the flyers of the Steve Canyon
Program. Men recruited for the program were rated Air Force officers with at
least six months experience in Vietnam. They tended to be the very best of
pilots, but by definition, this meant that they were also mavericks, and
considered a bit wild by the mainstream military establishment.

The Ravens came under the formal command of CINCPAC and the 7/13th Air Force
56th Special Operations Wing at Nakhon Phanom, but their pay records were
maintained at Udorn with Detachment 1. Officially, they were on loan to the U.S.
Air Attache at Vientiane. Unofficially, they were sent to outposts like Long
Tieng, where their field commanders were the CIA, the Meo (Hmong) Generals, and
the U.S. Ambassador. Once on duty, they flew FAC missions which controlled all
U.S. air strikes over Laos.

All tactical strike aircraft had to be under the control of a FAC, who was
intimately familiar with the locale, the populous, and the tactical situation.
The FAC would find the target, order up U.S. fighter/bombers from an airborne
command and control center, mark the target accurately with white phosphorus
(Willy Pete) rockets, and control the operation throughout the time the planes
remained on station. After the fighters had departed, the FAC stayed over the
target to make a bomb damage assessment (BDA).

The FAC also had to ensure that there were no attacks on civilians, a complex
problem in a war where there were no front lines and any hamlet could suddenly
become part of the combat zone. A FAC needed a fighter pilot's mentality, but
but was obliged to fly slow and low in such unarmed and vulnerable aircraft as
the Cessna O1 Bird Dog, and the Cessna O2. Consequently, aircraft used by the
Ravens were continually peppered with ground fire. A strong fabric tape was
simply slapped over the bullet holes until the aircraft could no longer fly.

Ravens were hopelessly overworked by the war. The need for secrecy kept their
numbers low (never more than 22 at one time), and the critical need of the Meo
sometimes demanded each pilot fly 10 and 12 hour days. Some Ravens completed
their tour of approximately 6 months with a total of over 500 combat missions.

The Ravens in at Long Tieng in Military Region II, had, for several years, the
most difficult area in Laos. The base, just on the southern edge of the Plain of
Jars, was also the headquarters for the CIA-funded Meo army commanded by General
Vang Pao. An interesting account of this group can be read in Christopher
Robbins' book, "The Ravens".

On the morning of September 2, 1972 at approximately 0900 hours, a flight of two
F4E Phantom jets took off from Takhli airbase in Thailand for a combat mission
in Military Region II, Laos. Their target was about 5 miles east of the city of
Ban Na Mai in the Plain of Jars region of Xiangkhoang Province. Flying the
number 2 aircraft was Captain William Wood, and his Weapons Systems Officer
Major Robert Greenwood. The enemy's defense in the area was reported to be light
to moderate.

On approaching the target area, the flight made contact with the FAC, Raven 23,
flown by Capt. Richard W. Herold, already in the target area. Capt. Wood's
aircraft, TUFA 2, made two passes and was rolling out of his third when TUFA 1
observed the aircraft burst into flames. TUFA 2 remained intact but stayed on a
ground impacting course. It was later confirmed that Raven 23 had also crashed.
No radio contact was made after this point with either aircraft.

TUFA 1 observed one parachute deployed and what seemed to be a second, but his
visibility was limited by clouds. It was unclear whether the two aircraft had
collided or both been hit by hostile fire. Two ejection seats were seen, and one
personal parachute was seen, and possibly a second. Several parachutes were
observed on the ground at the sites, but it could not be determined if they were
personal parachutes or flare parachutes. The enemy was active in the area and
had moved the tail section of the O1 aircraft. No ground search was possible,
and no radio contact was ever made with possible survivors. Wood and Greenwood
were listed Missing in Action; Herold's records state that he was killed in
captivity.

Herold, Wood, and Greenwood are among nearly 600 Americans lost in Laos. Even
though the Pathet Lao stated publicly that they held "tens of tens" of American
prisoners, not one American held in Laos was ever released -- or negotiated for.

Since U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War ended, nearly 10,000 reports have been
received by the U.S. Government relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asia.
Many authorities have reluctantly concluded that hundreds are still alive in
captivity today.

The Ravens were extremely dedicated to the freedom-loving people of Laos and put
their very lives on the line for them. They believed in America and the job it
was trying to do in Southeast Asia. They were also quite insistant that each of
their own were accounted for, dead or alive.

If Richard W. Herold was killed by the enemy, then someone has information they
are not giving us. There is ample reason to believe Wood and Greenwood could be
accounted for as well. Any of the three could be among those thought to be still
alive. What can they be thinking of their country? It's time we brought our men
home.


William C. Wood, Jr. was promoted to the rank of Major and Robert R. Greenwood,
Jr. was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel during the period they were
maintained missing.
GREER, ROBERT LEE

Name: Robert Lee Greer
Rank/Branch: E2/US Marine Corps
Unit:  Marine Airbase Squadron 16, Marine Aircraft Group 16, 1st Marine
Air Wing, Da Nang
Date of Birth: 28 April 1944
Home City of Record: Pleasant Hill CA
Date of Loss: 07 June 1964
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 155634N 1081200E (BT003645)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Cycle

Other Personnel in Incident: Fred T. Schreckengost (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: MOTORBIKES FOUND BT 003 646

SYNOPSIS: Robert Greer and Fred Schreckengost became friends while they
were stationed with the 1st Marine Air Wing at Da Nang. The two often went
motorbiking together to photograph the countryside and people in the area.
It was on such an outing Sunday, June 7, 1964 that the two disappeared
near La Chau hamlet in Quang Nam Province, southwest of Da Nang.

On July 15, 1964, the two were reported to be at Dong Nghe Viet Cong
Training Center, and might be released because of their "progress." On
July 29, an Army report said they were "studying" at the Provincial Agency
Reeducation Center. On August 4, an Army report stated the two tried to
escape while being moved to another location, but were recaptured. On
August 19, a North Vietnam Air Force intelligence report stated that the
pair was moved to Hanoi, arriving there August 20.

April 9, 1965, an Army report stated that Schreckengost was sighted in the
custody of the Viet Cong. A Bright Light Project CIA list of names from a
POW camp positively identified Fred as a prisoner.

July 31, 1974 a DIA report linked Fred to an alleged collaborator, "Salt,"
one member of a "Salt and Pepper" team (one white and one black man)
working with a Viet Cong element. Fred was identified as "Salt".

November 6, 1980, a Jack Anderson column reported that Greer and
Schreckengost had been returned to the United States, threatened with
imprisonment if they revealed their whereabouts and had been given new
identities.

Later, a man named Liam Adkins related to an astonished group of POW/MIA
family members a detailed account of the return of "Salt and Pepper" (whom
he said were Robert and Fred although both men are caucasian). Former CIA
employee and returned prisoner of war, Rosemary Conway, confirmed the
story and told the Greer family that the men had been returned after
escaping to a communist bloc country, but their return could not be
publicly acknowledged because "the Government did not want the country to
know live Americans were still being held in Southeast Asia."

Since that meeting, the Greer family has unsuccessfully sought information
from the Marine Corps and the Defense Intelligence Agency. Two men,
claiming to be Robert and Fred contacted several people in 1987. Two
photographs of Robert and Fred were mailed to the men's families - with no
explanation. The families of Robert Greer and Fred Schreckengost still
want to know where they are, and what is being done to return them to
their families.


GREGORY, ROBERT RAYMOND
Remains Returned 02 March 1988, ID'd 09 June 1988

Name: Robert Raymond Gregory
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: Udorn Airbase, Thailand
Date of Birth: 22 March 1932
Home City of Record: Cape Girardeau, MO
Date of Loss: 02 December 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 210124N 1055059E (XJ034923)
Status (in 1973): Prisoner of War
Category: 1
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: RF4C
Other Personnel in Incident: Leroy W. Stutz (released POW)

REMARKS: POSS DIC

SYNOPSIS: Robert Gregory was born to a poor family in Cape Girardeau, Missouri,
and had little time for the games of children. When "Greg" (or "Bobby") did act
more like a youth, his idea of fun was sometimes a bit ambitious for his
buddies.

"He liked to swim across the Mississippi River, rest and swim back," recalls a
neighbor. "He was sort of a modern-day Huckleberry Finn." Another friend
verifies the story and adds, "...he was kind of the leader of our group."
Gregory and a friend lied about their age to join the National Guard.

Despite lacking a college career behind him, Gregory ultimately achieved his
goal of becoming an Air Force officer. On leave in 1958, he eloped with
Marjorie Fisher, a 14-year old girl from a large family in Bell City, Missouri.
Marjorie followed Gregory to assignments in England and Germany. They had two
children, and, as Marjorie says, "We were a pretty happy family. We had a lot
of plans."

Gregory volunteered for Vietnam, and shipped out in July 1966. There, he was
based at Udorn Airfield, Thailand, assigned to fly a reconnaissance version of
the Phantom F4 fighter/bomber, the RF4C. It was in Vietnam that Gregory met his
backseater, Leroy W. Stutz, a native of Effingham, Kansas.

Stutz spent his boyhood years on a farm in northeast Kansas, and, following
high school, farmed with his brother-in-law for two years. Stutz joined the
Kansas National Guard, and attended Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas.
Stutz was subsequently appointed to the U.S. Air Force Academy, where "Elroot"
graduated in 1964. After flight training and reconnaissance photo training,
Stutz was promoted to First Lieutenant and shipped to Vietnam.

On December 2, 1966, Gregory and Stutz were assigned a 55 minute photo
reconnaissance mission over Hanoi, North Vietnam. During a pass over their
target, their aircraft was hit, and the two ejected as their aircraft crashed
in the outskirts of Hanoi. After landing, the two established voice contact
with each other, and both were captured.

Stutz and Gregory were reunited the same day, but Stutz found that his pilot
was seriously injured and bleeding badly. Both men were transported to the Hoa
Lo detention facility ("Hanoi Hilton") in Hanoi in the same truck and arrived
on the same day they were shot down. Stutz never saw Gregory again.

Stutz' wife Karen and their young son waited for his return. Marjorie and her
son and daughter also waited. The Air Force showed Marjorie blurred, blown-up
photos they thought was her husband in captivity.

In March 1973, LeRoy Stutz was released from Hanoi, one of almost 600 Americans
who were freed at the time. Military experts expressed their dismay that
"hundreds" thought to be prisoners were not released, and were named on no list
provided by the Vietnamese. Reports soon began to flow into the U.S.
intelligence community relating to these men. A significant number of them
indicated that Americans could still be alive in captivity.

Marjorie did the best she could with her life and her children. She never gave
up hope that one day, her "doorbell would ring one of these days. He wouldn't
mark me off if I were missing."

In 1987, Robert Gregory's photo and story was published in Life Magazine. By
then, Gregory had been promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. The Kansas City Times
ran an extensive article on Gregory and his family in late November 1987. In
both articles, Gregory was identified as a captive by his back-seater.

Just over 3 months later, the Vietnamese "discovered" the remains of LtCol.
Robert R. Gregory and returned them to U.S. control. The pain that Marjorie and
her children had experienced for 22 years could finally be laid to rest with
her husband. But the questions will never end. They may never how - or when -
he died.

The Stutz family had a joyful homecoming. The Gregory family's homecoming was
quite different. Over 2000 other families still wait for word of their loved
one, haunted by the still-flowing reports that Americans are still alive in
captivity in Southeast Asia.


(Robert R. Gregory was buried at Cape County Memorial Park attended by an honor
guard from the Roth-Gregory Air Force ROTC unit from Southeast Missouri State
University, which had been named in his honor and that of a World War II pilot.
A Missing Man formation was flown by four RF4C fighter jets.)


(LeRoy William Stutz graduated from the United States Air Force Academy in
1964.)


Prepared by Homecoming II Project 01 December 1989

GREILING, DAVID SCOTT

Name: David Scott Greiling
Rank/Branch: O4/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 82, USS AMERICA (CVA-66)
Date of Birth: 25 March 1935 (Cleveland OH)
Home City of Record: Hillsdale MI
Date of Loss: 24 July 1968
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 180200N 1061500E (XE429850)
Status (in 1973): Prisoner of War
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: A7A
Other Personnel In Incident: (none missing)
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1990 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.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: After he graduated from Purdue University in 1957 with a degree in
engineering, Scotty Greiling enlisted in the Navy. Scotty Greiling had an
exemplary Navy career. He received his master's degree in nuclear science from
the Navy post-graduate school at Monterey, California, and went on to be an
instructor at the Naval Academy. When he shipped out to Vietnam, he took with
him his determination and idealism. He wanted to serve his country.

David Greiling was the pilot of an A7 low-level attack plane flying as fight
leader of a section of two aircraft on a night armed reconnaissance mission over
Mui Ron, mountainous, hook-shaped peninsula in the Bay of Tonkin, on July 24,
1968. Mountain peaks in the area reached approximately 3500 feet. The night was
overcast with multiple cloud layers.

After sighting a target of moving lights at about 2100 hours which Greiling
believed to be trucks heading towards the mountains, he radioed, "I'm rolling in
now," which proved to be the last word received from his aircraft. His aircraft
turned to photograph a ground explosion, dropped altitude, released its bombs
and ejected the cabin into the air. A large fireball was seen by the wingman on
his run. The wingman believed the fire emanated from the explosion of gasoline
or oil trucks as a result of his flight leader's attack. After completing his
attack on the same target area, the wingman attempted to contact
Greiling, but without success. The burning area was then assumed the crash sight
of this aircraft.

An immediate search from the air was undertaken with lighting of flares dropped
from other aircraft. The large fire which had been observed was still burning,
with numerous small, brightly burning fires in the immediate area. The crash
site was located approximately 1500 feet up the eastern side of a ridge about
500 feet from the crest. The burning area was heavily wooded. Further attempts
to make radio contact with Greiling were negative and no emergency radio
transmissions were heard. Search and rescue efforts failed to locate any trace
of the aircraft or Greiling. Greiling was placed in a casualty status of Missing
In Action (MIA).

Greiling was classified Missing In Action until July 17, 1969 when he was
reclassified Prisoner of War as a result of an intelligence report indicating
that he had been captured. A Polish seaman was shown the identification cards of
30 Americans in a Haiphong bar. He apparently understood the importance of what
he was shown as he wrote down the names and gave them to the U.S. Navy when he
returned to Poland. Twenty-eight of the 30 men were released from Vietnam in
1973 in exchange for timed withdrawal of U.S. troops. But the Vietnamese never
acknowledged Greiling's captivity or confirmed that they had his identification
card. (Note: some versions of this report state that Greiling's photograph was
on "a bulletin board in northern Vietnam".) No new information came in on the
case and in 1973 after the prisoner release in "Operation Homecoming", the
debriefings of returned POWs added no reference to Greiling.

Nearly 2500 Americans did not return from the war in Vietnam. Nearly 10,000
reports have been received convincing many authorities that hundreds remain
alive in captivity. Whether Greiling is alive is not known. What is certain,
however, is that Vietnam and her communist allies can tell us what happened to
our men.
GRELLA, DONALD CARROLL

Name: Donald Carroll Grella
Rank/Branch: E5/US 7th Army Special Forces Group
Unit: Aviation Company, (Assault Helicopter) 299th Attack Helicopter Battalion,
assigned to 1st Cavalry Division
Date of Birth: 01 December 1940 (Coleridge NE)
Home City of Record: Laurel NE
Date of Loss: 28 December 1965
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 135702N 1084955E (BR570450)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1D

Other Personnel In Incident: Jesse D. Phelps; Thomas Rice Jr.; Kenneth L.
Stancil (all 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: OVERDUE ON 10-15 MIN FLIGHT - J

SYNOPSIS: The large influx of American combat and support battalions arriving in
Vietnam in the mid-1960's afforded the Army Special Forces a wealth of potential
military backup and engineer support. Airmobile infantry promised quick and
decisive response to CIDG patrolling opportunities or adverse camp situations.
The availability of engineers assured required camp construction and defensive
strengthening of existing sites.

In exchange, the Special Forces provided support, regional intelligence and area
indoctrination for the arriving Army formations. In mid to late December 1965,
Special Forces Major Brewington's B-22 Detachment helped the 1st Cavalry
Division to settle into the An Khe area. Assisting, was the 299th Attack
Helicopter Battalion of the Aviation Company of 7th Special Forces Group
(Assault Helicopter).

On December 28, 1965 a UH1D helicopter from the Aviation Company departed An Khe
on a supply mission to a combat unit in the early hours. Radio transmissions
revealed that flight was difficult because of weather and darkness. The pilot,
WO2 Jesse Phelps, radioed for weather reports. The other crew of the aircraft
consisted of SP5 Donald Grella, crewchief; WO3 Kenneth Stancil, co-pilot; and
SP4 Thomas Rice, door gunner.

When the aircraft was about 10 minutes' flying time from An Khe, radio contact
was suspended, and no further word was received from the aircraft. When the UH1D
failed to return, an intensive search was conducted, with no sign of either the
lost aircraft or its crew. The crew was believed to be all killed.

The crew of the UH1D are among nearly 2500 Americans missing in Southeast Asia.
In the 1950's Henry Kissinger predicted that "limited political engagements"
would result in nonrecoverable prisoners of war. This prediction was fulfilled
in Korea and Vietnam, where thousands of men and women remain missing when ample
evidence exists that many of them survived (from both wars) and are alive today.
For Americans, and particularly the families of those who are missing, this
abandonment of military personnel is unacceptable and the policy that allows it
must be changed before another generation is left behind in some future war.


GREWELL, LARRY IRWIN

Name: Larry Irwin Grewell
Rank/Branch: E5/US Air Force
Unit: 41st Tactical Airlift Squadron, Ubon Airfield, Thailand
Date of Birth: 06 July 1945
Home City of Record: Tacoma WA
Date of Loss: 24 November 1969
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 154900N 1064600E (YC902495)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: C130A
Other Personnel in Incident: Michael D. Balamonti; Earl C. Brown; Rexford J.
Dewispelaere; Charles R. Fellenz; Richard O. Ganley; Peter R. Matthes; Donald
L. Wright (all missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On November 24, 1969, a C130A departed Ubon Airfield, Thailand on an
operational mission over Laos. The crew aboard the aircraft included Maj.
Michael D. Balamonti (the navigator); Capt. Earl C. Brown; Capt. Richard O.
Ganley; 1Lt. Peter R. Matthes (the copilot); and Sgts. Donald L. Wright; Larry
I. Grewell; Charles R. Fellenz; and Rexford J. DeWispelaere.

While on the mission, near Ban Bac, Savannakhet Province, Laos, the C130 was
observed to be struck by several rounds of 37mm anti-aircraft fire, burst into
flames, crash to the ground, and explode on impact. All the crew was declared
Missing in Action, but due to enemy presence in the area, it was strongly felt
that the enemy could account for them. It was not determined whether the crew
died or survived the crash of the aircraft.

The crew of the C130 are among nearly 600 Americans who were lost in Laos. When
Dr. Henry Kissinger negotiated President Nixon's Peace Agreements in Paris in
1973, ending American involvement in the Vietnam War, the Americans lost in
Laos were forgotten. Kissinger did not negotiate for them, even though several
were known to be Prisoners of War, and some 125 of them were known to have
survived their loss incidents. Furthermore, the Pathet Lao stated on several
occasions that they held "tens of tens" of American prisoners.

The nearly 600 Americans lost in Laos have never been negotiated for, and not
one American held in Laos was released at the end of the war.

Since the end of the war, nearly 10,000 reports have been received by the U.S.
relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asia. Many authorities believe that
hundreds remain alive today, held captive. Whether the crew of the C130 could
be among them is not known, but it seems certain that there are compelling
questions that need answers. Among them - why did we abandon the men who served
our country? What are we doing to bring them home?


Prepared by Homecoming II Project 01 December 1989.



GRIFFEY, TERRANCE HASTINGS

Name: Terrance Hastings Griffey
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit: (Unknown per USAF)
Date of Birth: 05 November 1940
Home City of Record: Fort Dodge IA
Date of Loss: 26 May 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 135342N 1991442E (CR104367)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4C

Other Personnel in Incident: Gary A. Glandon (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 September 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: 1Lt. Terrance H. Griffey was the pilot and 1Lt. Gary A. Glandon his
weapons systems officer on an F4C Phantom sent on a bombing mission on May 26,
1966. The aircraft was number two in a flight of three. After making the bombing
run over the target, Griffey's aircraft was observed to burst into flames and
explode. The aircraft burned in the air, impacted the ground and disintegrated
into small pieces. The location of the crash was on the coast of South Vietnam
about 10 miles northeast of the city of Qui Nhon in Binh Dinh Province. Both men
were thought to have been killed and to have gone down with the aircraft.

These two young officers were among the nearly 3000 Americans who were missing,
prisoner, or otherwise unaccounted for at the end of the Vietnam war. Griffey,
25, who had excelled at football at the Air Force Academy was just beginning an
Air Force career. Glandon, a native Tennessean, had just turned 26. They are
among roughly 58,000 men who died in Vietnam -- men who become statistics from
the sheer enormity of the numbers.

Since American involvement in Vietnam ended in 1975, nearly 10,000 reports
relating to Americans missing, prisoner, or otherwise unaccounted for in
Indochina have been received by the U.S. Government. Many officials, having
examined this largely classified information, have reluctantly concluded that
many Americans are still alive today, held captive by our long-ago enemy.

Griffey and Glandon apparently did not survive the crash of their aircraft to be
captured, and cannot be among those thought to be still alive today. What is
certain, however, is that as long as even one American remains alive, held
against his will, we owe him our very best efforts to bring him to freedom.

Terrance H. Griffey graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1962.



GRIFFIN, RODNEY LYNN

Name: Rodney Lynn Griffin
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: HHC, 2nd Battalion, 34th Armor, 25th Infantry Division
Date of Birth: 01 August 1948 (Mexico MO)
Home City of Record: Centralia MO
Date of Loss: 02 May 1970
Country of Loss: Cambodia
Loss Coordinates: 114512N 1060827E (XU243013)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H
Other Personnel In Incident: Michael Varnado; Robert M. Young; Bunyan D. Price;
Dale W. Richardson (all missing);  Frederick H. Crowson; Daniel F. Maslowski
(returned POWs); - Tommy Karreci (evaded and escaped)

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: 01 January 1990

REMARKS: HELO FOUND, NO TRACE OF SUBJ

SYNOPSIS: On May 2, 1970 a UH1H helicopter from Company B, 229th Aviation
Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division flown by WO1 Michael B. Varnado was hit by
ground fire and forced to land just over the border of South Vietnam near the
city of Memot, Cambodia. The aircraft was transporting members of HHC, 34th
Armor, 25th Infantry Division, SP4 Rodney L. Griffin; SP4 Bunyan D. Price, Jr.;
WO1 Daniel F. Maslowski; Capt. Dale W. Richardson; and Capt. Robert M. Young.
Also aboard were Tommy Karreci, SP4 Frederick H. Crowson, and CW2 Daniel F.
Maslowski, crew members of the aircraft.

The men were part of an attempt to stop North Vietnamese forces from gaining
strongholds in Cambodia. President Nixon announced the request by Cambodia for
American assistance on April 30. Had we not assisted, the North Vietnamese, in
addition to having an effective sanctuary to which they could retreat without
retaliation, would also have South Vietnam completely outflanked.

The crew all survived the crash, and had only 30-40 seconds on the ground to
decide what to do. They all attempted to evade, each in different directions.
Only 18-year-old Karreci managed to make it back to U.S. lines in 2 or 3 days.
Crowson, Maslowski, Varnado and Young went in one direction and were all
captured by North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces. Price, according to Defense
Department records, was also captured. Griffin and Richardson took off in
another direction and were never seen again.

Crowson and Maslowski were released in 1973 and in their debriefings stated
that WO1 Varnado and Capt. Young had died in captivity, while detained in
Cambodia. The Provisional Revolutionary Government of South Vietnam (PRG)
officially acknowledged their deaths, listing Varnado's death as 21 September
1970, and Young's death as 17 November 1972.

According to Dan Maslowski, Bob Young died of illness in Dan's arms in the fall
of 1972. Maslowski saw Varnado about two months after capture. "Vito" had been
shot in the leg and in the side when he was captured, and according to Dan,
"looked like hell". His side wound had healed, but the wound in his leg, in the
kneecap, was badly infected. He could not walk, and told Maslowski that the
Viet Cong had been transporting him in a hammock. The Viet Cong had told
Varnado that he was to be taken to a hospital to have his leg taken care of.
The Vietnamese state that he died two months after Dan saw him in camp (about 4
months after capture).

On August 1, 1989, it was announced that the Vietnamese had "discovered" the
remains of Michael Varnado, returned them to the U.S. His remains were
positively identified, much to the relief of family and surviving comrades, and
Michael Varnado could finally be buried with the honor he deserved. The remains
identification did not contradict that Vietnamese' statement that Varnado died
four months after capture.

The fate of Price is uncertain. Maslowski always believed Price had been
captured, but never saw him in camps he was held in. One report from escaped
ARVN POWs stated that he was captured by the Khmer and because the ethnic
groups normally did not cooperate, the Khmer would not likely have given Price
over to the Vietnamese, who had captured the other four.

Since 1973, nearly 10,000 reports have been given to the U.S. Government
regarding Americans still missing in Southeast Asia. Some, according to U.S.
State Department sources, have withstood the "closest scrutiny" possible, and
cannot be disputed. There is very strong reason to believe that Americans are
still held captive in Southeast Asia today, yet President after President has
failed to would bring them home.
GRIFFITH, JOHN GARY

Name: John Gary Griffith
Rank/Branch: O3/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 35, USS ENTERPRISE
Date of Birth: 10 January 1936
Home City of Record: Kansas City MO
Date of Loss: 12 March 1968
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 181258N 1074800E (YF961162)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A6A

Other Personnel in Incident: Glenn E. Kollmann (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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: When nuclear powered USS ENTERPRISE arrived on Yankee Station on
December 2, 1965, she was the largest warship ever built. She brought with her
not only an imposing physical presence, but also an impressive component of
warplanes and the newest technology. By the end of her first week of combat
operations, the ENTERPRISE had set a record of 165 combat sorties in a single
day, surpassing the KITTY HAWK's 131. By the end of her first combat cruise, her
air wing had flown over 13,000 combat sorties. The record had not been achieved
without cost.

One of the aircraft that launched from the decks of the ENTERPRISE was the
Grumman A6 Intruder, a two-man all-weather, low-altitude, attack plane. The A6A
primarily flew close-air-support, all-weather and night attacks on enemy troop
concentrations, and night interdiction missions. Its advanced navigation and
attack system, known as DIANE (Digital Integrated Attack navigation Equipment)
allowed small precision targets, such as bridges, barracks and fuel depots to be
located and attacked in all weather conditions, day or night. The planes were
credited with some of the most difficult single-plane strikes in the war,
including the destruction of the Hai Duong bridge between Hanoi and Haiphong by
a single A6. Their missions were tough, but their crews among the most talented
and most courageous to serve the United States.

During the ENTERPRISE's 1968 tour, Attack Squadron 35 lost a number of Intruder
aircraft. The aircraft was doing a lot of the heavy work, flying daily at night
into a lot of missiles and flak. The North Vietnamese had become, in a matter of
a few years, expert missile operators. It made evasion for U.S. aircraft
tougher. VA 35 flew over 50 percent of the night missions the A6 community made
into Hanoi. That's substantial for one squadron, and over half the squadron was
lost, including the commanding officer and the executive officer.

CDR Glenn E. Kollmann was an A6A pilot and the commanding officer of VA 35. He
was very popular in the squadron and regarded as a capable man with a wealth of
aviation experience. On March 12, 1968, he was lost to malfunction, not an enemy
missile. He and his Bombardier Navigator, LT John G. Griffith, launched from the
carrier.  The weather was terrible, but perfect for A6 missions. There were four
planes launched for a mission over North Vietnam.

On the catapult launch, squadron mates listened by radio as a malfunction caused
Kollmann's aircraft to ditch right off the catapult. The other aircraft
continued on their mission and onboard search and rescue tried to recover the
downed crew.

Kollmann and Griffith were never located, due to a large degree to the weather
conditions. The two were listed as killed, and because their bodies were never
found, they are listed among the missing in Southeast Asia.

Despite their deep personal loss, the squadron never skipped a beat. As soon as
the flight Kollmann was to accompany returned to the ship, another left, and
continued their regular schedule of flying 12 hours on, 12 hours off.

For the Kollmann and Griffith, death seems a certainty. For hundreds of others,
however, simple answers are not possible. Adding to the torment of nearly 10,000
reports relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asia is the certain knowledge
that some Americans who were known to be prisoners of war were not released at
the end of the war. Others were suspected to be prisoners, and still others were
in radio contact with would-be rescuers when last seen alive. Many were known to
have survived their loss incidents, only to disappear without a trace.

The problem of Americans still missing torments not only the families of those
who are missing, but the men who fought by their sides, and those in the general
public who realize the full implication of leaving men unaccounted for at the
end of a war.

Tragically, many authorities believe there are hundreds of Americans still alive
in captivity in Southeast Asia today.  What must they be thinking of us? What
will our next generation say if called to fight if we are unable to bring these
men home from Southeast Asia?



GRIFFITH, ROBERT SMITH

Name:  Robert Smith Griffith
Rank/Branch: E5/US Army
Unit: 57th Aviation Co., 17th Aviation Group, 1st Aviation Brigade
Date of Birth: 26 December 1942
Home City of Record: Hapeville GA
Date of Loss: 19 February 1968
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 145430N 1072800E (YB665498)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H

Other Personnel In Incident: Douglas J. Glover; Melvin C. Dye (still missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: SSgt. Melvin C. Dye was the engineer and SSgt. Robert S. Griffith the
door gunner onboard a UH1H helicopter performing an emergency extraction mission
in Laos on February 19, 1968. They were extracting a reconnaissance patrol team
consisting of three U.S. Army Special Forces and 3 indigenous personnel. The
aircraft carried a crew of four. SFC Douglas Glover was one of the Special
Forces personnel aboard.

As the helicopter picked up the team 4 miles inside Laos west of Dak Sut, it
received a heavy volume of small arms fire. It is not known whether the aircraft
was hit by hostile fire or hit a tree, but it nosed over, impacted the ground
and exploded, bursting into flames.

The pilot, co-pilot and one passenger managed to leave the aircraft. Because of
the fire and exploding small arms ammunition, rescue attempts for the others
were futile.

There were six U.S. and 3 indigenous personnel aboard the helicopter. When
search teams reached the site the same day, they could not account for the other
U.S. personnel. Five were accounted for, but could not be recovered because of
intense heat.

Dye, Glover and Griffith were classified as Missing In Action. They did not
return when the general prisoner release occurred in 1973. Since the war ended,
evidence mounts that Americans were left behind in enemy prison camps and that
hundreds of them could be alive today. They deserve better than the abandonment
they received from the country they proudly served.


GRISSETT, EDWIN RUSSELL JR.
Remains Returned - ID Announced 23 June 1989

Name: Edwin Russell "Russ" Grissett, Jr.
Rank/Branch: E4/US Marine Corps
Unit: Recon/3rd Recon Battalion, 3rd Marine Division
Date of Birth: 19 September 1943
Home City of Record: San Juan TX
Date of Loss: 22 January 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 144606N 1084427E (BS528365)
Status (in 1973): Prisoner/Killed in Captivity
Category: 1
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: ground
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

REMARKS: 691202 DIC - KUSHNER

SYNOPSIS: For Americans captured in South Vietnam, daily life could be expected
to be brutally difficult. Primarily, these men suffered from disease induced by
an unfamiliar and inadequate diet - dysentery, edema, skin fungus and eczema.
The inadequate diet coupled with inadequate medical care led to the deaths of
many. Besides dietary problems, these POWs had other problems as well. They
were moved regularly to avoid being in areas that would be detected by U.S.
troops, and occasionally found themselves in the midst of U.S. bombing strikes.
Supply lines to the camps were frequently cut off, and when they were, POWs and
guards alike suffered. Unless they were able to remain in one location long
enough to grow vegetable crops and tend small animals, their diet was limited
to rice and what they could gather from the jungle.

In addition to the primitive lifestyle imposed on these men, their Viet Cong
guards could be particularly brutal in their treatment. For any minor
infraction, including conversation with other POWs, the Americans were
psychologically and physically tortured. American POWs brought back stories of
having been buried; held for days in a cage with no protection from insects and
the environment; having had water and food withheld; being shackled and beaten.
The effects of starvation and torture frequently resulted in hallucinations and
extreme disorientation. Men were reduced to animals, relying on the basic
instinct of survival as their guide. After months in this psychological
condition, many POWs, lucky to survive, discovered that they were infinitely
better treated if they became docile and helpful prisoners. Unlike in the
North, the POWs in the south did not as naturally assume a military order among
themselves - perhaps because the preponderance of POWs in the North were
officers as opposed to a larger community of enlisted men in the South - and
frequently, there was no strong leader to encourage resistance and to bring
the comfort of order to a chaotic existance.

From the camps in the South came the group of American POWs ultimately charged
with collaboration with the enemy. These charges were later dropped, but are
indicative of the strong survival instinct inherent in man, and the need for
strong leadership. It is common knowledge that nearly all POWs "violated" the
Military Code of Conduct in one way or another; some to greater degrees than
others. Those who resisted utterly, the record shows, were executed or killed
in more horrible ways.

Americans tended to be moved from camp to camp in groups. One of the groups in
South Vietnam contained a number of Americans whose fates are varied.

Capt. William "Ike" Eisenbraun was attached to the 17th Infantry regiment of
the Seventh Division ("Buffalos") when he fought in Korea. He was awarded a
Purple Heart for wounds received in Korea. In 1961, Capt. Eisenbraun
volunteered for duty in Vietnam because he believed in what we were trying to
accomplish there. He was one of the earliest to go to Southeast Asia as an
advisor to the Royal Lao and South Vietnamese Armies.

On his fourth tour of duty, Eisenbraun served as Senior Advisor, Headquarters
MACV, SQ5891, U.S. Army Special Forces. He was at jungle outpost Ba Gia near
Quang Ngai in South Vietnam when the post was overrun by an estimated 1000-1500
Viet Cong force. Newspapers described it as "one of the bloodiest battles of
the war to date". A survivor told newsmen the Viet Cong attacked in "human
waves and couldn't be stopped." There were only 180 men defending the outpost.
Captain Eisenbraun was initially reported killed in action.

Later, two Vietnamese who had been captured and escaped reported that Capt.
Eisenbraun had been captured, was being held prisoner, and was in good health.
Through the debriefings of returned POWs held with Eisenbraun, it was learned
that he died as a POW. One returned POW said that on about September 1, 1967,
Eisenbraun fell out of his hammock (which was about five feet above a pile of
logs) and landed on his right side. For about 5 days after the fall, Eisenbraun
continued his daily activites, but complained of a severe pain in his side.
After that period he stayed in bed and at about 0100 hours on September 8,
LCpl. Grissett awakened PFC Ortiz-Rivera and told him that Eisenbraun had
stopped breathing.

Another POW said Ike had died as a result of torture after an escape attempt in
1967. Robert Garwood added that Ike had provided leadership for the prisoners
at the camp, and was an obstacle to the Viet Cong in interrogating the other
prisoners. He also spoke fluent Vietnamese, which made him a definite problem.
Garwood and Eisenbraun had been held alone together at one point in their
captivity, and Ike taught Bobby the secrets of survival he had learned in SF
training, and in his years in the jungle. Bobby states that Ike knew and taught
him which insects could be eaten to fend off common jungle diseases, and that
he and Ike jokingly planned to write a cookbook called "100 ways to cook a
rat". Garwood said that Ike had been severely beaten following the escape
attempt, and that one night he was taken from his cage and not returned. The
next morning, Garwood was told that Ike had fallen from his hammock and died.

Ike Eisenbraun was buried at the camp in Quang Nam Province along with other
POWs who had died of torture and starvation. His grave was marked with a rock
inscribed by Garwood. A map has been provided to the U.S. showing the precise
location of the little cemetery and grave, yet Ike's remains have not been
returned.

Bobby Garwood had been captured on September 28, 1965 as he was driving a jeep
in Quang Nam Province. Garwood made international headlines when he created an
international incident by smuggling a note out revealing his existance. The
note resulted in his release in March 1979, after having been a prisoner of war
for 14 years. The Marine Corps immediately charged him with collaboration and
assault on a fellow POW, and he was ultimately charged and dishonorably
discharged. He is the only serviceman to be charged with these crimes from the
Vietnam War, and many feel he was singled out to discredit the stories he has
told regarding other Americans held long after the war was over in Vietnam.

Several American POWs were held at a camp in Quang Nam Province numbered ST18,
including Eisenbraun, Garwood, Grissett, LCpl. Jose Agosto-Santos, PFC Luis
Antonio Ortiz-Rivera, Marine LCpl. Robert C. Sherman, Capt. Floyd H. Kushner,
W2 Francis G. Anton, SP4 Robert Lewis, PFC James F. Pfister, PFC Earl C.
Weatherman, Cpl. Dennis W. Hammond and Sgt. Joseph S. Zawtocki.

Agosto-Santos was captured when his unit was overrun in Quang Nam Province on
May 12, 1967. Cpl. Carlos Ashlock had been killed in the same action, and he
and Agosto-Santos had been left for dead. Agosto-Santos had been wounded in the
stomach and back. For about a month, he had been cared for in a cave by the
Viet Cong. Jose felt he owed his life to the Viet Cong. He was released in a
propaganda move by the Vietnamese on January 23, 1968. Ashlock was never seen
again.

Ortiz-Rivera was a Puerto Rican who barely spoke English. His Army unit was
overrun in Binh Dinh Province several miles north of the city of Phu Cat on
December 17, 1966, and Ortiz-Rivera was captured. Ortiz-Rivera was not a
problem prisoner, according to other returnees. He was released with
Agosto-Santos January 23, 1968.

Cpl. Bobby Sherman told fellow POWs that he had been on picket duty with ARVNs
on June 24, 1967 when he decided to go to a nearby village to "get laid".
The Vietnamese girl he met there led him to the Viet Cong instead. Sherman had
been on his second tour of Vietnam. During his first tour, he had suffered
psychological problems because of the grisly job assigned to him of handling
corpses of his comrades killed in action. In the spring of 1968, Sherman,
Hammond, Weatherman, Daly, and Zawtocki, with the help of other POWs, attempted
to escape. Sherman beat a guard in the attempt and was recaptured and punished.
He was held in stocks for many days and fellow POWs said he "got crazy and
never recovered." They said he spent months as a "zombie" and "never was there"
after that. According to Harold Kushner, Bobby Sherman died on November 23,
1968. The POWs buried him in the little cemetery with Ike Eisenbraun. In March
1985, the remains of Bobby Sherman were returned during a period that
Eisenbraun's daughter was publicly asking the President to bring her father
home. A map had been published of the cemetery, and many wondered if there was
a connection.

Capt. Harold Kushner had been the sole survivor of the crash of his UH1D
helicopter on a mountainside in Quang Nam Province on November 30, 1967.
Kushner was a Army Medical Corps Flight Surgeon and had broken a tooth and
sustained a wound to his shoulder when the helicopter crashed. He was
subsequently captured by the Viet Cong. During his captivity, his wife,
Valerie, became active in the effort to end the war, believing that was the
only hope her husband had of returning home. Kushner became ambivilent about
the war himself, and when held in North Vietnam, made propaganda tapes until
informed by the more organized prisoners captured and held in the North that it
was prohibited. Kushner was released March 16, 1973 from North Vietnam.

(Note: a number of other Americans were held with this group including PFC
David N. Harker; James A. Daly; Richard R. Rehe; Willie A. Watkins; Francis E.
Cannon; Richard F. Williams; and James H. Strickland. One detailed account of
the captivity of these men can be found in "The Survivors" by Zalen Grant.
Another can be read in "Conversations With The Enemy", written by Winston Groom
and Duncan Spencer. Homecoming II Project - 2408 Hull Rd. - Kinston NC 28501
-also maintains synopsis accounts of these men.)

W2 Francis Gene "Bones" Anton was the pilot of a UH1C helicopter, code name
"Firebird". On January 5, 1968, his crewchief was SP4 Robert Lewis III, and
door gunner was PFC James F. Pfister. The crew, flying out of the 71st Assault
Helicopter Company, was shot down as they were trying to assist C Company,
under heavy mortar attack at Happy Valley in Quang Nam Province. Their co-pilot
had escaped capture. Anton is one of the few POWs who believed that Garwood,
although clearly a collaborator, was still a loyal American, helpful to his
fellow POWs. Anton, according to other POWs was "always cussing the
Vietnamese". He was released from North Vietnam on March 16, 1973. When Cannon,
Williams, Harker and McMillan were brought to the POW camp at Happy Valley,
they found Anton, Pfister and Lewis well fed and clean. Pfister later made
propaganda tapes at the Plantation in Hanoi in April 1971. Garwood called him
the "head snitch" in one of the camps along the Rock River and White River in
South Vietnam. Both Pfister and Lewis were released on March 5, 1973. None of
the three were considered by superior officers to be among those who criminally
collaborated with the enemy.

Russ Grissett was on a search mission for a missing USMC officer when he became
separated from his unit on January 22, 1966. He was with the elite 1st Force
Recon, and was captured by the Viet Cong in Quang Ngai Province. Russ was
several inches over 6' tall and carried a normal weight of around 190 pounds.
After 2 years in captivity, however, his weight had dropped to around 125
pounds. Grissett suffered particularly from dysentery and malaria, and in his
weakened condition begged his fellow POWs not to tell him any secrets. He had
already been accused of sabotaging an escape plan by Kushner. He found it
difficult to resist, and willingly made propaganda tapes about "lenient
treatment". When Ortiz-Rivera and Agosto-Santos were released, he had "behaved"
enough that he was tremendously disappointed that he was not released with
them. During one period of near-starvation, in late November 1969, Grissett
caught and killed the camp's kitchen cat. It was a dangerous move, and fellow
POWs watched helplessly and innocently as guards beat Grissett for the crime
and he never recovered. Grissett was buried in the camp's cemetery by his
fellow POWs. Harold Kushner stated that Grissett died on December 2, 1969.
David Harker, another returned POW, stated that he had died at 3:30 a.m. on
November 23, 1968. On June 23, 1989, the U.S. announced that the Vietnamese had
"discovered" the remains of Russ Grissett and returned them to the U.S. (Note:
the "cat" incident spawned the assault charges against Garwood. Garwood,
enraged that others had stood by while Grisset was mortally beaten, back-handed
one of the bystanders in the stomach and asked, "How could you let them do this
to Russ?" Some witnesses stated that the blow was not a hard one intended to
injure, but seemingly for emphasis.)

Dennis Wayne "Denny" Hammond and Joseph S. Zawtocki were Marines who were
part of a pacification team when captured during the Tet offensive on February
8, 1968. Denny was a tall, lean, good-looking man thought to be part American
Indian. He attempted escape with the other POWs in the spring of 1968 and was
shot in the leg by Montagnards in a nearby village Denny had beaten a guard to
escape. Part of the "duties" of those POWs healthy enough was to harvest
oranges in nearby Montagnard orchards. The POWs were happy to do this because
it meant badly needed exercise and the opportunity for additional food. Daly
was once accused by guards of stealing oranges that Hammond had stolen. It was
on one of these workdays that the POWs effected their ill-fated escape. After
the escape attempt and recapture, Sherman remained relatively healthy for a
time, but in early March, 1970, died. He was buried near the camp and his grave
marked by a bamboo cross. (Hammond died on 7 or 8 of March, depending on the
source.)

Joe Zawtocki was a stocky, powerful, fair-haired man of Polish descent. He and
Garwood formed a close friendship and exchanged rings. Each promised the other
that if released alone, they would contact the other's family. Joe died on
December 24, 1968 of starvation and was buried near the POW camp. Davis, a
returnee, says that Garwood lost Joe's ring. Garwood states that, upon his
return, he gave Joe's ring to the Defense Intelligence Agency. Several years
later, he learned that DIA had never returned the ring to Joe's family. Joe
Zawtocki's remains were returned to the U.S. on August 15, 1985.

Perhaps one of the strangest cases involved in this group of POWs is that of
Pvt. Earl Clyde Weatherman. Weatherman was in the Marine brig at Da Nang where
he had been confined for slugging an officer in 1967. On November 8, 1967, he
escaped the brig (which constitutes desertion). Intelligence indicates that he
paid a Vietnamese driver to take him to his Vietnamese girlfriend's house, but
the driver instead delivered him to the Viet Cong. A tall, muscular young man
of about 20 years old with reddish-blond hair and blue eyes, Weatherman was
detained in the POW camps in Quang Nam Province, and was party to the ill-fated
escape attempt in the spring of 1968. Opinion was divided among the POWs
regarding the political loyalties of Earl Weatherman. Harker felt his alliance
to the Viet Cong was only an act. Weatherman had once said to him, "Don't
believe everything you hear about me." Others felt he was clearly a turncoat.
Perhaps Garwood stated it most accurately when he said, "Weatherman's only
crime was falling in love with the wrong person - a communist."

It was widely told that during the April 1, 1968 escape attempt, Weatherman was
killed. However, Garwood states that he heard of and saw Weatherman after 1973
when other U.S. POWs were returned, and years after his supposed death in South
Vietnam. Intelligence indicates that Weatherman continued to work for the
communists, and lived with a Vietnamese wife and family. One position said to
have been held by his was with the Vietnamese government's department of
construction - the Cong Tyxay Dung. Garwood last knew him to be at Bavi, living
with a Vietnamese woman.

In 1986, several national news articles revealed that intelligence documents
showed at least 7 missing Americans had been seen alive in Vietnam in the last
dozen years, including Weatherman. Some accounts added that Weatherman had
smuggled a note out of Vietnam that he wished to come home and bring with him
his wife and children. Weatherman's father was allegedly notified of this.

The POW/MIA groups reverberated with anticipation, knowing that if Weatherman
came home, a new source of information on those men still missing would be
available. Several activists questioned a Congressional aide regarding
Weatherman. They asked, "When will Weatherman be able to come home? We
understand the holdup is visas for his wife and children."  The aide, with a
caring and sympathetic look on his face, replied, "I don't know. I just don't
know."

Of this group of prisoners and missing, only Weatherman, Hammond, Ashlock and
Eisenbraun have not returned home, alive or dead. Ashlock was left for dead on
the battlefield. Hammond and Eisenbraun are dead, but still in enemy hands.
Weatherman, for whatever reason, chose love of a woman over love of his country
and remained behind. Can America close its doors to a man who may have a wealth
of information on Americans still alive in Vietnam? If he now wishes to return
to his homeland, can we be less forgiving to him that we were to those
Americans who fled to Canada to avoid the war?




         CASE SYNOPSIS:  GROSSE, CHRISTOPHER A. JR.

  ============================================================================

Name:                Christopher A. Grosse, Jr.
Rank/Branch:            E5/US Army
Unit:                Company A, 1st Btn, 7th Cavalry
                1st Cavalry Division
Date of Birth:            06 January 1945
Home City of Record:        Harlingen TX
Date of Loss:            28 March 1968
Country of Loss:        South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates:        162756N 1071859E
Status (in 1973):        Missing In Action
Category:            2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground:    Ground
Other Personnel
In Incident:            none missing

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS:  On March 28, 1968, PFC Grosse was a rifleman assigned to Company A,
1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division on a search and destroy
mission in Thua Thien Province, Republic of Vietnam.  While his platoon was
moving in file down a trail, with Grosse as the second man, the platoon was
ambushed by an enemy force.

The point man, PFC Johnson, who was 8-9 meters ahead of Grosse, observed him
fall, wounded, with blood on his head and neck. Due to the situation, Johnson
did not have time to double back to see if PFC Grosse was alive.  Johnson said,
however, that Grosse lay completely still and appeared to be dead.

The intense enemy fire forced the patrol to withdraw from the area without PFC
Grosse.  Efforts to reach him later that day were unsuccessful, due to hostile
fire in the area.  A search of the area the next day failed to locate Grosse.

It was not uncommon for the Viet Cong to bury American casualties, and in doing
so bury them in places so hidden that they could not be found.    Since Grosse
was wounded, it is possible that this occurred.  However, since his death is
not certain, it is also quite reasonable to expect that he could have been
captured as his platoon withdrew.

Since the war ended, thousands of reports of Americans still alive in the hands
of the governments of Southeast Asia have been received, convincing many
authorities that hundreds of men are still captive, waiting for the country
they proudly served to bring them home.  One of them could be PFC Grosse.
CASE SYNOPSIS: GROTH, WADE LAWRENCE

Name: Wade Lawrence Groth
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: 50th Medical Detachment, 43rd Medical Group, 44th Medical Brigade
Date of Birth: 14 May 1947
Home City of Record: Greenville MI (joined Army in Cleveland OH)
Date of Loss: 12 February 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 121721N 1074713E (ZU030600)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H
Other Personnel In Incident: Harry W. Brown, Alan W. Gunn, Jerry L. Roe (all
missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On February 12, 1968, SP5 Harry Brown, medic; 1Lt. Jerry Roe, aircraft
commander; WO Alan Gunn, pilot; and SP4 Wade Groth, crewchief, were flying a
UH1H (tail #66-17027) dispatched on a night medical evacuation mission
(dustoff). Dustoff 90 departed Ban Me Thuot, South Vietnam for Gia Nghai
Special Forces camp.

As U.S. Air Force Tactical Control Radar operators at Ban Me Thuot tracked the
flight, the blip that was the UH1H dustoff chopper disappeared from the screen
at 2019 hours. The helicopter apparently went down 20 minutes outbound from its
base in a mountainous region of Quang Duc Province.

An Army Infantry unit searched the apparent crash site near the Cambodian
border for 36 hours, but found neither the helicopter nor its crew. Snipers
were not known to be in the area, and it is not believed the helicopter was
shot down, according to an Army report, indicating possible mechanical trouble.

In April 1969, CIA was asked to analyze the positive identifications made by a
rallier of a number of photographs of missing Americans. The rallier selected
the photos of both Harry Brown and Jerry Roe as two men he believed to have
been prisoners of war. CIA could not determine why the source selected them.

In 1979, Sean O'Toolis, an Irish-American, was touring Bong Song Camp, 40 miles
south of Hanoi, on an IRA gun-buying mission, when he alleges he met and spoke
with American prisoners, Brendon Foley and Wade Groth, a prison workmate of
Foley's. He also claims to have talked to men named MacDonald, Jenning and an
O'Hare or O'Hara. He brought a message to Foley's brother and fingerprints of
Foley and O'Hara. He identified old photos of Groth, and gave believable
descriptions of Foley and Groth. Neither family knows whether or not to believe
O'Toolis, as much of his account of his travels seems incorrect.

Whether the four men aboard the dustoff lost on February 12, 1968 survived to
be captured is unknown. The coincidence of two separate sources identifying
three members of the crew seems to strong to ignore. The U.S. Government does
not believe there is any substance to these reports. Based on thousands of
still-classified sighting reports, many experts believe hundreds of Americans
did survive, and are still alive, waiting to be brought home. If even one is
alive, he must be brought home.













GRUBB, WILMER NEWLIN
Remains Returned 13 March 1974

Name: Wilmer Newlin "Newk" Grubb
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: Unknown, per USAF
Date of Birth: 14 August 1932
Home City of Record: Aldan PA
Date of Loss: 26 January 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 173400N 1061600E (XE344425)
Status (in 1973): Killed in Captivity
Category: 1
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: RF101C

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: 740313 REMS RETD

SYNOPSIS: On January 26, 1966, Capt. Newk Grubb was the pilot of an RF101C
Voodoo reconnaissance aircraft sent on an unarmed photo reconnaissance mission
over Quang Binh Province, North Vietnam. The flight occurred during a Christmas
bombing halt.

As Grubb's aircraft was about twenty miles southwest of the city of Quang Khe,
it experienced difficulty in gaining altitude and crashed into a hillside.

The next day the communist New China News Agency began publicizing the capture
of Newk Grubb, followed closely by the Hanoi propaganda machine. Hanoi
conveniently obscured the true (unarmed photo reconnaissance) nature of Grubb's
mission. On February 3, Radio Hanoi broadcast a statement attributed to him. On
February 7, there was another broadcast, this time in Grubb's voice. Beginning
on February 10, photographs of him appeared in communist countries around the
world. He appeared health except for a wound in the leg.

But four years later, Hanoi announced that he died nine days after capture, "as
a result of injuries in crash" -- before the pictures were published anywhere.

Evelyn Grubb wrote her husband often, usually stapling a photo of their four
sons to the letter. Newk Grubb had never seen their youngest son, who was born
about 6 months after his shootdown. But she never received any reply at all.

In 1973, when 591 Americans were released from POW camps in Hanoi, Grubb was not
among them. A year later, the Vietnamese returned his remains, saying he had
died in captivity as a result of wounds received in the crash.

The U.S. gratefully accepted the remains without question.

Some ninety Americans were acknowledged by the Vietnamese to have died in
captivity, yet all their remains have not been returned. Others were known
prisoners, but the Vietnamese deny knowledge of them.

Since the war ended, over 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing, prisoner
or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. Government,
yet it maintains there is not sufficient proof to act.

Wilmer Grubb was killed in captivity. That alone is sufficient proof to act, yet
we have done nothing to hold the Vietnamese accountable for their atrocities.

Many authorities who have reviewed the largely-classified information received
by the government are convinced that Americans are still being held alive today.
But we do nothing to free them.

Newk Grubb was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel during the period he
was maintained Prisoner of War.
GRZYB, ROBERT H.

Name: Robert H. Grzyb
Rank/Branch: U.S. Civilian
Unit:
Date of Birth: 22 October 1946
Home City of Record:
Date of Loss: 10 December 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 141211N 1075700E (ZA184721)
Status (in 1973): Prisoner of War
Category: 1
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Truck
Other Personnel In Incident: (none mssing)

REMARKS: 680900 DIC; ON PRG LIST

SYNOPSIS: On December 10, 1967, Robert H. Grzyb, an American civilian, was
captured while riding in a jeep in Pleiku Province, South Vietnam. He was
detained with other American prisoners at a camp just over the border in
Cambodia.

When 591 Americans were released in 1973 in exchange for scheduled U.S.
military withdrawal from Vietnam, Robert Grzyb was not among them. Returned
POWs who were held with Grzyb reported that he died in September 1968, and was
buried near the camp in Cambodia. The Provisional Revolutionary Government
confirmed Gryzb's capture and stated that he died while in captivity.

This Cambodia/Vietnam border region was the detention area of several U.S. POWs
who returned, and some who did not. Life in the South in the hands of the Viet
Cong was very difficult and primitive. Medical treatment was inadequate, if
available at all, and food supplies inconsistent. The POWs as well as their
guards suffered when warfare forced them to move from camp to camp, and
successful American bombing prevented food supplies from reaching them. Many
died of starvation-related complications, as well as malaria and dysentery.

Although both the U.S. and the Vietnamese know the location of Grzyb's grave,
tragically, the U.S. has been powerless in returning the remains to Grzyb's
family for burial in his homeland.

In 1987, the U.S. sent information to the Vietnamese through Gen. John Vessey
in hopes that they would provide information concerning him, but no further
information has been learned.

Even more tragically, the U.S. has been powerless to secure the freedom of the
hundreds of Americans experts now believe are being held captive by the
governments of Southeast Asia.
GUAN, JUN TIAN

Name: Jun Tian Guan
Rank/Branch: Civilian
Unit: Glomar Java Sea
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record:
Date of Loss: 25 October 1983
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates:
Status (in 1973):
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground:

Personnel in Incident: Herman Arms; Jerald T. Battiste; Sebe M. Bracey; Patrick
B. Cates; Wei Chen; Xiong Chen; Shu Guo Cheng; Jacob K. J. Chong; David P.
Clifton; James F. Cusick; Thomas J. Dixon; Shao Jien Feng; Jerald J. Flanagan;
Nigel Furness; Leonard E. Ganzinotti; La Juan A. Gilmore; Henry M. Gittings;
James K. Gittings; Terance C. Green; Jun Tian Guan; David Higgins, Jr.; Tyronne
Higgins; Hong Xi Huang; Rui Wen Huang; Yong Liang Huang; Timothy Jarvis; John W.
Jennings Jr.; Thomas J. Kofahl; Fan Xiang Kong; Guo Zhen Lai; John W. Lawrence;
Tong L. T. Lee; Chong Chang Li; Xuan Qiu Li; Zhan Jun Liang; Jie Feng Lin; Bing
Guang Liu; Edgar S. Lim; Gary Looke; Robert M. McCurry; Jerry L. Manfrida;
Raymond D. Miller; Xie Yi Mo; Tian Xue Mo; Kenneth W. Myers; Larry K. Myers;
Donald J. Ouellet; John D. Pierce; Peter Popiel; Clarence Reed; Jewell J.
Reynolds; E.J. Russell Reynolds; Walter T. Robinson; Kenneth B. Rogers; Lawrence
M. Salzwedel; William R. Schug; Richard E. Shoff; Christopher J. Sleeman; Delmar
A. Spencer; George G. Sullivan; Chong Jian Sun; Gustaf F. Swanson; Kevin C.
Swanson; Guo Dong Tang; Michael W. Thomas; Jiang Wang; Yu Fang Wang; Dong Cai
Wang; Guo Rong Wu; jing Sheng Xia; Xing Xing; Hui Xu; Ming Rui Xu; Mua Guang
Yuan; Xing Zhen Zhang; Yi Hua Zhang; Ji Chang Zhen; Shu Rong Zhou; Yao Wu Zhou;
Jie Fang Zhou; Da Huai Zhu.

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 10 December 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 5,930-ton American drilling ship, "Glomar Java Sea" was owned by
Global Marine of Houston, Texas, and leased to Atlantic Richfield Company
(ARCO). In the fall of 1983, the vessel was on duty about 200 miles east of the
Vietnamese coast. The ship was drilling for oil in the South China Sea in a
joint venture of ARCO and China Naitonal Offshore Oil Corporation, a state-owned
concern.

The "Glomar Java Sea" is a sister ship of the "Glomar Explorer," which, under
the guise of being utilized by the late Howard Hughes in a deep sea mining
operation in the Paficic, was really being used by the CIA and Navy in a $350
million project to retrieve a sunken Soviet Golf-class submarine. A large part
of the submarine was in fact recovered in 1974 before details of the project
were publicly revealed.

The Glomar Java Sea, with its crew of 81, began drilling operations on January
9, 1983 and was the first American wildcat operaton off the Chinese coast. On
October 25, 1983, the vessel was sunk during Typhoon Lex.

Documents removed from the ship by a crewman before the disaster indicate that
the vessel was being shadowed by armed Vietnamese naval craft and that there
were submarine mines beneath the "Glomar Java Sea," placed there and retrievable
by its crew. Another document indicates that the ship was damaged prior ot the
typhoon when a Chinese supply boat rammed into its side, causing some $320,000
damage to the vessel. The Glomar Java Sea did not leave its post for repairs.

Communications between ARCO and Global Marine, as well as telegraphic and radio
communications of the U.S. Western Pacific Rescue Coordination Center (WESTPAC)
reveal information about the search for the crew of the Glomar Java Sea.

The documents indicate that a number of survivors from the stricken vessel were
floundering in the water off the coast of Vietnam for hours after the disaster.
There is also indication that the men were picked up by Vietnamese coastal
patrols and are held captive of the Hanoi regime.

The crew of the Glomar Java Sea included 37 Americans, 35 Chinese, four British,
two Singaporeans, one Filipino, one Australian, and one Canadian.

From a transcript of a radio communicaton between WESTPAC and Global Marine on
October 28, three days after the sinking, WESTPAC was told:  "We are informed
that the SOS transmission could not have been transmitted except by human
operators..." There were two 64-man lifeboats aboard the drilling ship, plus
smaller lifeboats.

In an October 29 communicaton from WESTPAC to Global Marine, it is clearly
stated that five strobe lights were sighted by rescue aircraft in the vicinity
of 17-30 North 107-45 East. The aircraft were dispatched to the area because
strobe lights had been previously sighted. Lifejackets from the Glomar Java Sea
were equipped with strobe lights to signal rescuers.

Another October 29 communication between ARCO and Global Marine states that
ARCO's search aircraft had spotted survivors in the water at 17.27 North 107.54
East, and had attempted to divert surface vessels to this location. The
communication expressed the urgency to rescue the men before dark.

At 8:01 a.m. on October 29, ARCO had dropped a rescue raft to survivors.  Pickup
would be delayed for several hours, but the "Salvanquish," a Singapore-based
salvage ship, was within one half-mile of the site.

At 8:38 a.m search aircraft reported pinpointing the survivors' positions by dye
markers released by the survivors into the water. Two survivors were confirmed
with a possible third some distance away. Plans were also made to return to the
downed vessell to offlift survivors.

Another document shows that on nine different occasions radio transmissions were
picked up from a lifeboat. They ranged from "very strong" to "weak" with most
being described as "strong."

Inexplicably, despite the successful search, no rescue was made of the
survivors. Later that day, the Chinese Navy picked up a Vietnamese broadcast
reporting that the Vietnamese had sighted a lifeboat near their coast. The
location of the lifeboat was not confirmed by friendly search parties.

ARCO-Global Marine determined that this sighting was in the vicinity of Hon Gio
Island, located about 80 miles up the Vietnamese coast from the old U.S. base at
Da Nang and about 14 miles offshore, which placed it in Vietnamese territorial
waters. It appears that rescue craft were hampered in fully investigating the
report due to its location and the hint of possible interference by the
Vietnamese military.

It is likely that survivors would have been picked up by the Vietnamese if they
had in fact drifted within Vietnam's territory.

In the years following the loss of the Glomar Java Sea, a number of reports, all
unconfirmed by the U.S., indicate that survivors were seen in captivity in
Vietnam. It is known that the Vietnamese had shown a hostile interest in the
vessel, and the Glomar Java Sea had standing orders to be alert for Vietnamese
vessels in the area. The Chinese Navy served as protection for the vessel and
stood ready to take action should Vietnamese craft wander too close. The waters
below the vessel were mined.

A month after the Glomar Java Sea went down, Chinese divers went down to the
wreckage and went through the ship with a video cameras.

In March 1984, American divers were able to retrieve 31 bodies from the sunken
vessel. Fifteen of the bodies were identified as Americans. In addition, three
British and one Singaporean were identified. The bodies of another American and
two Chinese were tentatively identified. Divers photographed two bodies they
were unable to retrieve. They also found one of the Chinese divers that had
explored the wreckage in November 1983, lashed to the deck of the ship.

The American divers determined that one of the ship's large lifeboats was
launched and that an attempt had been made to launch another. Their film was
seen by the mother of one of the lost crewmen. She reported that the crack in
the hull of the ship at one point was a hole 48 inches across, which was
punctured inward, "as though the rig had been hit by something that exploded."
This fueled additional speculation that the vessel had, in fact, been attacked
rather that simply mortally damaged by the typhoon.

The National Transportaton Safety Board officially determined in November 1984
that an "unexplained crack" in the hull of the Glomar Java Sea was responsible
for its sinking during the typhoon. Apparently, the crack in the hull allowed
two storage tanks to fill with water, causing the vessel to become off-balanced,
making it vulnerable to the forces of the typhoon. Officials believed it was
possible that survivors may have been able to abandon the ship before it sank.
It was determined that the ship had been improperly prepared for the storm.

During 1984, there were reports from Southeast Asia that between six and twelve
survivors of the Glomar Java Sea were being held in prisoner of war camps in
Vietnam. One of the survivors was identified by a Vietnamese refugee as American
crewman John Pierce.

Douglas F. Pierce, father of John Pierce, reported that the refugee had seen his
son, five other Americans and eight Chinese when they were brought into a prison
in Da Nang, where the refugee was being held. John Pierce gave the refugee his
father's business card and two sticks of gum.

Mr. Pierce gave the information to Defense Intelligence Agency who determined
that the refugee had not been in the camp at all, but had received the business
card by mail from a friend, not directly from Pierce. DIA further determined
that the incident had occurred in late October 1983 (shortly after the Glomar
Java Sea went down). The refugee gave Mr. Pierce the original letter, which
contained the names and addresses of two mutual Vietnamese friends.

No followup was conducted on the two names in the letter by DIA, and DIA
discounted the information provided by the refugee. It was not until 1990 that
it became apparent that the Defense Department felt no responsibility for the
Americans lost on the Glomar Java Sea. At that time, DIA reported that the
responsibility for these civilians belonged to the U.S. State Department.

Mr. Pierce did not stop there. He uncovered a U.S. State Department document
that revealed that Cheng Quihong, the secretary and wife of the Director of
China's Visa Office, was overheard telling her companion at a Hong Kong dinner
that survivors from the Glomar had been picked up and were held by the
Vietnamese.

Pierce also learned that a JCRC report sent to DIA dated November 6, 1984,
reported that a former prisoner from Pleiku prison had been held with a Chinese
man who claimed to have been off the Glomar. The man said he was one of three
men who were captured, and that the other two were Americans.

Pierce adds that to his knowledge, neither of these reports were followed up by
U.S. officials, and Pierce has received no reply to his queries regarding them.

In 1989 a Japanese monk named Yoshida was released from prison after being held
for years by the Vietnamese. Yoshida was shown a photograph of John Pierce and
stated that Pierce looked very familiar, and that he had either seen him or
someone who looked very much like him.

In November, 1990, Vietamese Foreign Minister Nguyen Co Thach traveled to the
U.S. and spoke with U.S. officials on a variety of matters. At this time, he
announced that there was a black American named Walter T. Robinson living
illegally in Vietnam, and invited U.S. representatives to come and help find
him. Thach provided a social security number and two photographs.

The Pentagon told "The Washington Times" that the two photographs of Robinson
provided by Thach are of a black man. However, the Pentagon has since admitted
that the photos "are not very well developed" and appear to be of either a black
man or a dark Asian. Photocopies of old newspaper articles concerning Robinson,
obtained by Homecoming II, show a dark-haired man of relatively dark complexion.

The Pentagon has not released the photographs to the press.

The Defense Department determined that Walter T. Robinson had never been listed
as missing in Vietnam. Thach had provided a social security number, and
according to DOD, this information correlated to a white American living in the
Midwest. They concluded that the Thach information, therefore, was in error.

Later information indicated that a Walter T. Robinson was listed on the crew
roster of the Glomar Java Sea. When queried, the Defense Department reported
that they were aware of this Robinson, but that civilians were the
responsibility of the State Department.

It seems apparent that the U.S. is not vigorously looking for the men missing
from the Glomar Java Sea, and that like the missing and prisoners who served in
military and civilian capacities during the Vietnam war, they have been
abandoned.


GUERRA, RAUL ANTONIO

Name: Raul Antonio Guerra
Rank/Branch: E3/US Navy
Unit: Early Warning Squadron 111, Detachment 34, USS ORISKANY (CVA34)
Date of Birth: 18 December 1942 (Baja Mexico)
Home City of Record: Los Angeles CA
Date of Loss: 08 October 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 160935N 1080322E (AT875905)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: E1B
Other Personnel in Incident: Roland R. Pineau; Norman L. Roggow; Donald F.
Wolfe; Andrew G. Zissu (all missing)

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: CRASH SIT CNFM - NO RECOV POSS - J

SYNOPSIS: The USS ORISKANY was one of several U.S. aircraft carriers to be
semi-permanently stationed on Yankee Station in Vietnam. Its attack wings flew
against varied targets in North Vietnam including bridges, ammunitions stores,
highways, and railroads. 1967 was a particularly active year for all carriers,
and the ORISKANY was no exception.

On October 8, 1967, LtJg. Andrew G. Zissu was the pilot of an E1B aircraft which
launched from the ORISKANY on a morning combat mission in support of a major
strike over North Vietnam. Zissu's crew that day included LtJg. Donald F. Wolfe,
LtJg. Norman L. Roggow, and ATC Roland R. Pineau. Also on board was one
passenger, Seaman Raul A. Guerra, listed as a Journalist Petty Officer, Third
Class.

The E1 aircraft was a propeller aircraft that was generally used by the Navy for
Early Warning operations, or for flight assistance in bombing missions.
Typically, the slower moving E1, unable to keep up with faster moving jet
aircraft, would be used in a standoff position for radar jamming while the jet
aircraft executed their mission.

At the completion of the combat mission, the aircraft was sent to Chu Lai, South
Vietnam for refueling before the next mission. The aircraft landed at Chu Lai,
refueled and took off again for another mission on the back to the USS ORISKANY.
Immediately after takeoff radio contact with the ship was made and the crew
reported that their flight was airborne and would be ready for its mission upon
arrival. In addition, radio contact was established immediately after takeoff
with DaNang Radar who was to keep them under observation during their trip north
to the ship. They planned to fly directly over DaNang and then proceed to the
ship. As they approached DaNang radar on a northwesterly course, radar contact
was lost, however, radio contact was maintained with the aircraft. After
overflying DaNang, radar contact was again established at a point approximately
10 miles northwest of DaNang in mountainous terrain. An immediate right turn was
recommended by the radar controller to a northeasterly course. The pilot
acknowledged that he was turning, right before he could complete his turn, radar
and radio contact was lost simultaneously and an alert issued by DaNang radar
immediately.

An aggressive search and rescue and operation was conducted, however, efforts
were hampered because of adverse weather, low visibility, and rain. The weather
improved and the aircraft wreckage was sighted, scattered over a wide area on a
sheer face of Monkey Mountain near Da Nang. A fellow detachment officer flew
over the crash site in an Air Force Helicopter and positively identified the
wreckage as that of the missing E1B. Because of the hazardous terrain, the crash
site was inaccessible by helicopter and too dangerous for ground parties to be
sent in. Due to the terrain characteristics at the crash site, the force of the
impact into the face of the ridge, and the obvious complete destruction of the
aircraft, it was not believed that there were survivors.

No sign of survivors was noted. It was not possible to recover remains, and all
personnel aboard the aircraft were declared Killed/Body Not Recovered. The Navy
did not rule out the possibility of hostile interference, although the general
feeling was that inclement weather was the cause of the crash.

The Defense Intelligence Agency further expanded the men's classification to
include an enemy knowledge ranking of 3. Category 3 indicates "doubtful
knowledge" and includes personnel whose loss incident is such that it is
doubtful that the enemy wound have knowledge of the specific individuals (e.g.
aircrews lost over water or remote areas).

The Navy men on board the E1B lost on October 8, 1967 were listed as killed,
body not recovered. They are among nearly 2500 Americans who remain unaccounted
for from the Vietnam war. The cases of some, like the E1B, seem clear - that
they perished and cannot be recovered. Unfortunately, mounting evidence
indicates that hundreds of Americans are still captive, waiting for the country
they proudly served to secure their freedom.

In our haste to leave an unpopular war, it now appears we abandoned some of our
best men. In our haste to heal the wounds of this same war, will we sign their
death warrants? Or will we do what we can to bring them home?
         CASE SYNOPSIS: GUILLERMIN, LOUIS FULDA

     ==============================================================


Name:            Louis Fulda Guillermin
Rank/Branch:        Major USAF
Unit:

Date of Birth:        06 January 1943
Home City of Record:    Westchester PA
Loss Date:        30 April 1968
Country of Loss:    Laos
Loss Coordinates:    165605N 1055925E
Status (in 1973):    Missing In Action
Category:        2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground:    A26A
Other Personnel In
Incident:        Robert E. Pietsch (missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Maj. Luis Guillermin and Lt.Colonel Robert Pietsch were flying
an A26A aircraft over Laos when their plane was downed in Savannakhet
Province, Laos.  Their last known location was about 10 miles east of
the city of Ban Muong Sen.

The A26A was redesignated B-26 following World War II and then given its
original classification as an attack plane.  After some resesigning for
counterinsurgency warfare and changes in armament, the craft was rechris-
tened A-26A.  The aircraft could remain on station for a long time,
patiently searching ot and attacking an enemy concealed by jungle in night
or bad weather.

The fates of Guillermin and Pietsch are unknown.  There are among nearly
600 Americans who disappeared in America's "secret war" in Laos who never
returned.  There is ample reason to believe that the Vietnamese and/or the
Communist Lao know what happened to Guillermin and Pietsch on April 30, 1968.

There have been over 5000 reports given to the U.S. Government relating to
Americans held captive in Southeast Asia.  The U.S. has, thus far, been
unable to find the formula to bring them home.    One of them could be Louis
Guillermin.
GUILLET, ANDRE ROLAND

Name: Andre Roland Guillet
Rank/Branch: E3/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 17 December 1943
Home City of Record: Waterbury CT
Date of Loss: 18 May 1966
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 171500N 1061000E (XE256083)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: O1E

Other Personnel In Incident: Lee D. Harley (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: Airman First Class Lee D. Harley was the pilot and Capt. Andre Guillet
was serving as observer aboard an O1E aircraft which departed on May 18, 1966
for a mission over Laos. While in Laos, west of the demilitarized zone and just
south of the famed Ban Karai Pass, the little spotter plane was shot down. Air
Force officials told the families that the plane burst into flames on impact and
the crew could not be recovered.

If this were all there was to the story, critics wonder, why did the Air Force
not declare the two men Killed/Body Not Recovered? A reasonable assumption is
that there exists no certainty that the two men were killed when their plane
went down, and the possibility exists that they could have successfully bailed
out before impact. Regardless, it is strongly suspected that the Lao or the
North Vietnamese know the fates of the crew of the O1E.

Guillet and Harley are two of nearly 600 Americans who were lost in Laos during
American involvement in the Vietnam War. U.S. presence in Laos was in violation
of Laos' neutrality guaranteed at Geneva by agreement of several nations. But
because the Vietnamese (and also the Chinese) were operating in Laos as well, it
was convenient for all parties concerned to "look the other way." As a
consequence, it would not have been appropriate to recognize the communist
government of Laos, the Pathet Lao, in a treaty to end the war - since we were
not at war with Laos - and the American prisoners the Pathet Lao stated they
held were abandoned.

As reports continue mount concerning Americans still missing in Southeast Asia,
many authorities are convinced that hundreds of them are still alive today. One
must wonder, are Guillet and Harley among them? If so, what must they be
thinking of the country they proudly served?

Andre R. Guillet was promoted to the rank of Senior Master Sergeant and Lee D.
Harley to the rank of Major during the period they were maintained missing.
GUILLORY, EDWARD JOSEPH

Name: Edward Joseph Guillory
Rank/Branch: E7/US Army
Unit: Battery A, 3rd Battalion, 16th Artillery, 54th Artillery Group, II Field
Force, Chu Lai
Date of Birth: 08 January 1932 (Iowa LA)
Home City of Record: DeRidder LA
Date of Loss: 18 June 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 143303N 1083012E (BT275115)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: OH23

Other Personnel In Incident: James C. McKittrick; William Lemmons (both 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: SFC Edward Guillory, Lt. William Lemmons and Maj. James McKittrick
were aboard an OH23 Raven helicopter on a visual recon mission operating in
Quang Tin Province on June 18, 1967. They were to spot artillery targets for the
Artillary Battery that McKitrick and Guillory were attached to.

At 1845 hours, the helicopter was declared missing. Extensive searches were
conducted that night aided by artillery flares and aircraft mounted
searchlights, but no trace of the aircraft or crew was found. In the next few
days several crash sites were reported and searches made, but all efforts were
fruitless.

Guillory, Lemmons and McKittrick were classified Missing In Action. There is
reason to believe the enemy knows their fates. They are among nearly 2500
Americans still missing in Southeast Asia.

When the war ended, and 591 Americans were released in Operation Homecoming in
1973, military experts expressed their dismay that "some hundreds" of POWs did
not come home with them. Since that time, thousands of reports have been
received, indicating that many Americans are still being held against their will
in Southeast Asia. Whether the crew of the OH23 is among them is not known. What
is certain, however, is that if only one American remains alive in enemy hands,
we owe him our best effort to bring him home.

William E. Lemmons and James C. McKittrick were promoted to the rank of Major
and Edward J. Guillory was promoted to ther rank of Sergeant Major during the
period they were maintained missing.




            CASE SYNOPSIS:    GUILLORY, HUBIA JUDE

  ============================================================================

Name:                Hubia Jude Guillory
Rank/Branch:            E3/US Army
Unit:                Company D, 5th Btn, 7th Cavalry
                1st Cavalry Division
Date of Birth:            17 November 1947
Home City of Record:        New Orleans LA
Date of Loss:            25 April 1968
Country of Loss:        South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates:        162133N 1070641E
Status (in 1973):        Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category:            2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground:    Ground
Other Personnel
In Incident:            Daniel M. Kelley; David L. Scott (missing)

REMARKS: KIA AMBUSH - REM LEFT BEHIND - J

SYNOPSIS:  On April 28, 1968, SP4 Kelley, PFC Guillory and SP4 Scott were on a
search and clear mission in the vicinity of Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam.
They were riflemen in Company D, 5th Battalion, 7th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry
Division.  The unit was ambushed by an enemy force.

Kelley was shot in the neck and died.  Scott was shot in the chest, and
Guillory was shot and then hand grenades were thrown within 3-4 feet of him.
The three were observed for a minimum of two hours, and no signs of life were
detected.

Because of heavy fire, the unit broke into small groups in order to escape and
evade, and had to leave their casualties behind.  A search of the area was
attempted three times, but could not be completed because of hostile action.

In 1985, a private citizen obtained a lengthy document describing in great
detail a prison camp near Hue, South Vietnam, and identified a number of
Americans he had seen held their by their photographs.    Some of them he
positively identified, and another list he considered "possible".  A number of
the Americans he identified had already been released from Vietnam in 1973.
Daniel M. Kelley was one of the names on the "possible" list.

Guillory, Kelley and Scott are listed with honor among the missing because no
remains were recovered.  Despite the possible identification of the Vietnamese
source of Kelley's photo, their cases seem quite clear.  For others who are
listed missing, resolution is not as simple.  Thousands of reports such as the
one received in 1985 have surfaced since the end of the war, convincing many
authorities that hundreds of Americans were left behind alive.    There can be no
"Peace With Honor" as long as our men are held in enemy hands.


GUMBERT, ROBERT WILLIAM JR.

Name: Robert William Gumbert, Jr.
Rank/Branch: E3/US Army
Unit: Company B, 4th Battalion, 21st Infantry, 23rd Infantry Division (Americal)
Date of Birth: 12 December 1949 (Cincinnati OH)
Home City of Record: New Richmond OH
Date of Loss: 22 June 1970
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 144848N 1090024E (BS850380)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: At 0700 hours on June 22, 1970, PFC Robert W. Gumbert was walking
point for his squad on a combat mission in South Vietnam. The unit was
operating in Quang Ngai Province near the border of Binh Dinh Province, near
the coastline of South Vietnam about 10 miles south of the city of Mo Duc, and
about 3 miles east of Duc Pho.

While Gumbert was moving through a hedgerow area, an explosive device detonated
along the southern edge of the hedgerow at Gumbert's position. The explosion
created a crater 4 1/2' deep and 12 feet wide. The two men, SP4 Gary L. Peat
and SP4 Joseph M. Turowski Jr., were killed, with SP4 Peat, who was just behind
PFC Gumbert, being dismembered.

An extensive search of the area was conducted. PFC Gumbert's wallet, with black
powder residue and numerous tears and some letters belonging to him were found.
Also found were small pieces of a rucksack. However, no evidence of PFC Gumbert
could be located.

On April 16, 1974 a Vietnamese source reported a grave site alleged to contain
American remains. This information was tentatively correlated to this case and
a search and recovery mission was performed during the period of May 21-26,
1974. A small amount of human, mongoloid remains were recovered, but were
insufficient to identify as a specific individual.

A source observed the body of an American soldier and heard that two other
Americans were buried near Pho Yuan village in 1979. This report was thought to
possibly correlate with PFC Gumbert.

It is apparent Gumbert was killed the day he moved through the hedgerow in
Quang Ngai Province, South Vietnam. Under the circumstances, his body will
probably never be recovered. He is listed with honor among the missing because
he is an American fighting man who is still in enemy hands - alive or dead.

Gumbert's is one of relatively few cases of missing Americans that probably
cannot be resolved by the return of remains. Unlike "MIAs" in other wars, most
of the missing in Southeast Asia can be accounted for. Although the Vietnamese
pledged in 1973 to release all POWs and account for American missing, they have
been less than forthcoming with information and remains the U.S. is certain
that they possess.

Since the last American soldiers left Vietnam in 1975, nearly 10,000 reports
relating to the missing have been received by the U.S. government. Most
authorities now believe there are hundreds of Americans still alive, being held
against their will. While PFC Gumbert may not be among those said to be alive,
as long as there is even one American alive in enemy hands, we must do
everything possible to secure his freedom.
CASE SYNOPSIS: GUNN, ALAN WENDELL

Name: Alan Wendell Gunn
Rank/Branch: W2/US Army
Unit: 50th Medical Detachment, 43rd Medical Group, 44th Medical Brigade
Date of Birth: 28 May 1948 (Watt OK)
Home City of Record: San Antonio TX
Date of Loss: 12 February 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 121721N 1074713E (ZU030600)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H
Other Personnel In Incident: Wade L. Groth, Harry Brown, Jerry L. Roe (all
missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On February 12, 1968, SP5 Harry Brown, medic; 1Lt. Jerry Roe, aircraft
commander; WO Alan Gunn, pilot; and SP4 Wade Groth, crewchief, were flying a
UH1H (tail #66-17027) dispatched on a night medical evacuation mission
(dustoff). Dustoff 90 departed Ban Me Thuot, South Vietnam for Gia Nghai
Special Forces camp.

As U.S. Air Force Tactical Control Radar operators at Ban Me Thuot tracked the
flight, the blip that was the UH1H dustoff chopper disappeared from the screen
at 2019 hours. The helicopter apparently went down 20 minutes outbound from its
base in a mountainous region of Quang Duc Province.

An Army Infantry unit searched the apparent crash site near the Cambodian
border for 36 hours, but found neither the helicopter nor its crew. Snipers
were not known to be in the area, and it is not believed the helicopter was
shot down, according to an Army report, indicating possible mechanical trouble.

In April 1969, CIA was asked to analyze the positive identifications made by a
rallier of a number of photographs of missing Americans. The rallier selected
the photos of both Harry Brown and Jerry Roe as two men he believed to have
been prisoners of war. CIA could not determine why the source selected them.

In 1979, Sean O'Toolis, an Irish-American, was touring Bong Song Camp, 40 miles
south of Hanoi, on an IRA gun-buying mission, when he alleges he met and spoke
with American prisoners, Brendon Foley and Wade Groth, a prison workmate of
Foley's. He also claims to have talked to men named MacDonald, Jenning and an
O'Hare or O'Hara. He brought a message to Foley's brother and fingerprints of
Foley and O'Hara. He identified old photos of Groth, and gave believable
descriptions of Foley and Groth. Neither family knows whether or not to believe
O'Toolis, as much of his account of his travels seems incorrect.

Whether the four men aboard the dustoff lost on February 12, 1968 survived to
be captured is unknown. The coincidence of two separate sources identifying
three members of the crew seems to strong to ignore. The U.S. Government does
not believe there is any substance to these reports. Based on thousands of
still-classified sighting reports, many experts believe hundreds of Americans
did survive, and are still alive, waiting to be brought home. If even one is
alive, he must be brought home.












GUTTERSEN, LAIRD

Name: Laird Guttersen
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 04 July 1925
Home City of Record: Culver City CA
Date of Loss: 23 February 1968
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 212400N 1071500E (XJ848654)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D

Other Personnel in Incident: Myron L. Donald (released POW)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 March 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II
Project.

REMARKS: 730314 RELSD BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: Laird Guttersen was born in White Bear Lake, Minnesota, on July 4,
1925. Following two years of college at Syracuse University and Arizona State
University, he entered the Army Air Corps in August, 1943 to pursue a dream -
flying. During World War II he flew B-52s and in Korea flew F-51s and F-86s.

Following the Korean War, Guttersen was an Air University lecturer at Maxwell
Air Force Base where his specialty was POW Affairs and, in addition, he helped
write the manual on teaching the Code of Conduct. He served on all levels of
command from the Air Staff to the Pentagon.

On Guttersen's first tour of Vietnam (1965-1966), he flew C130s. During his
second, he was shot down twice, the first a night mission on December 15, 1967,
when he and his "guy in back" were rescued from the Gulf of Tonkin by the
combined efforts of the Air Force, Army, and Navy. On February 23, 1968, during
a mission close to Hanoi, Guttersen's aircraft was hit by a missile from a MiG
21. He crash landed near Haiphong and evaded the enemy for 10 hours. His
backseater, Myron L. Donald was also captured. While imprisoned, he was held in
solitary confinement for 27 months and he and Donald were released in March 1973
with other American POWs.

Guttersen's research at the Air University into the treatment of war prisoners,
and the psychological torture and manipulaton they must face, served him well
after he was shot down in February 1968. Although he understood what was being
done to him through torture and deprivation, Guttersen frankly states, "It's not
a matter of IF you can be broken...it's only a matter of how long it takes."

But his understanding of the tactics used by the Vietnamese helped him to
survive and maintain a positive attitude - that and a message he saw scratched
on the wall while lying on the prison floor in agony with a broken back. The
message said, "Keep the faith, baby." Guttersen says that message helped him get
through "that minute, that hour, that day" and days following. When pilots began
arriving later in the war speaking of POW bracelets and U.S. public support,
Guttersen knew America would do everything it could to free him. He remembers
that support and tries to promote it today.

Upon his return to the U.S., Guttersen was directed not to become involved with
POW/MIA organizations. Guttersen, however, believed Americans were still being
held, and persisted in speaking out on their behalf. He voluntarily retired from
the Air Force in 1974 and has been an outspoken advocate for Americans he
believes are still held captive in Southeast Asia since that time.

Among other awards and medals, Guttersen received four Purple Hearts. He retired
from the Air Force with the rank of Colonel and currently lives in Tuscon,
Arizona. Guttersen lost his first wife to cancer in 1978 and has three children
from that marriage. He later remarried a widow with three children.
GUY, THEODORE WILSON

Name: Theodore Wilson "Ted" Guy
Rank/Branch: O5/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: ca 1929
Home City of Record: Elmhurst IL (family in Tuscon AZ)
Date of Loss: 22 March 1968
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 163904N 1062857E (XD581414)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4C

Other Personnel In Incident: Donavan L. Lyon (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

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.
Most pilots considered it one of the "hottest" planes around.

Maj. Donavan L. Lyon was the pilot and Col. Theodore W. Guy his weapons/systems
officer on an F4C Phantom fighter jet which was sent on a combat mission over
Laos on March 22, 1968. Their mission, meant to knock out an enemy gun on the Ho
Chi Minh Trail, took them near the Aideo Pass through the mountainous border of
South Vietnam and Laos a few miles southwest of the demilitarized zone.

During the mission, their aircraft was shot down, and Guy and Lyon ejected to
land 120 yards apart in rugged terrain. The aircraft either malfunctioned or was
hit, and it blew up and in the process ejected Guy. At the time, he did not
believe Lyon made it out. Guy was subsequently captured by the North Vietnamese,
whose activities in Laos his mission was meant to thwart. However, information
was given the Lyon family that Lyon survived the incident as well. Although Lyon
survived, his fate after landing on the ground is unknown.

Guy went on to assume command of the POWs in July 1968. He made tough standards
for the 44 airmen he was held with at "Plantation Gardens" and expected them to
live by them, as he did. Guy, a Korean war veteran, suffered the same torture
and deprivation as pilots captured in the early years of the war. His hair,
normally brown, turned completely white on one side of his head, but later fell
out and returned to its normal color.

Ted Guy was released with 591 Americans in 1973. When Guy was released, he
brought charges against eight fellow POWs whom many considered to be traitors.
The charges, in the wake of the hero's welcome which greeted returned POWs, were
dropped by Guy at the behest of the U.S. Government.

Guy and Lyon's case is not unusual. In several incidents of loss, pilot and
backseater are separated (partly because they eject at separate times, thus
increasing the distance possible between them), not to be reunited. In Laos,
both the North Vietnamese and the Pathet Lao forces were apt to be on the scene
to apprehend downed pilots, and neither was prone to hand their capture over to
the other force.

The Pathet Lao stated publicly that they held "tens of tens" of American
captives, but the U.S. did not include them in the agreements that ended the war
in Vietnam. Therefore, these men were not released, and were not negotiated for.
They were abandoned.

If Don Lyon was captured by the Pathet Lao, he could be among the hundreds that
experts believe are alive today. If so, he was betrayed by the country he so
proudly served.



HAAS, LEON FREDERICK

Name: Leon Frederick Haas
Rank/Branch: O3/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 155, USS ORISKANY (CVA 34)
Date of Birth: 03 April 1943
Home City of Record: Newton NJ
Date of Loss: 17 July 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 184759N 1954757E (WF890860)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A7B

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 USS ORISKANY was a World War II-era carrier on duty in Vietnam as
early as 1964. The ORISKANY at one time carried the RF8A (number 144608) flown
by Maj. John H. Glenn, the famous Marine astronaut (and later Senator) flew in
his 1957 transcontinental flight. In October, 1966 the ORISKANY endured a tragic
fire which killed 44 men onboard, but was soon back on station. In 1972, the
ORISKANY had an at-sea accident which resulted in the loss of one of its
aircraft elevators, and later lost a screw that put the carrier into drydock in
Yokosuka, Japan for major repairs, thus delaying its involvement until the late
months of the war.

The Vought A7 Corsair II was a single-seat attack jet utilized by both the Navy
and Air Force in Vietnam. The aircraft was designed to meet the Navy's need for
a subsonic attack plane able to carry a greater load of non-nuclear weapons that
the A4 Skyhawk. The aircraft's unique design completely freed the wingspace for
bomb loading; the Pratt and Whitney jet engine was beneath the fuselage of the
aircraft. The Corsair was used primarily for close air support and interdiction,
although it was also used for reconnaissance. A Corsair is credited with flying
the last official combat mission in the war - bombing a target in Cambodia on 15
August 1973.

Lieutenant Leon F. Haas was a pilot assigned to Attack Squadron 155 on board the
USS ORISKANY. On July 17, 1972, Haas was assigned a night surveillance mission
near the city of Vinh in Nghe An Province, North Vietnam.

During the mission, Haas flew his aircraft into the water about 5 miles off the
coast of North Vietnam in an attempt to evade hostile fire or possible mid-air
collision with another aircraft. He was not recovered, and was thought to have
died when the aircraft crashed. He was initially listed Missing in Action, but
his status was later changed to Killed in Action.

Haas is listed among the missing because his remains were never found to send
home to the country he served. But, for his family, the case seems clear that he
died on that day. The fact that they have no body to bury with honor is not of
great significance.

For other who are missing, however, the evidence leads not to death, but to
survival. Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports received relating to
Americans still held captive in Indochina have convinced experts that hundreds
of men are still alive, waiting for their country to rescue them. The notion
that Americans are dying without hope in the hands of a long-ago enemy belies
the idea that we left Vietnam with honor. It also signals that tens of thousands
of lost lives were a frivolous waste of our best men.
HACKETT, HARLEY BENJAMIN III

Name: Harley Benjamin Hackett III
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 497th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Ubon AF TH
Date of Birth: 23 October 1942
Home City of Record: Florence SC
Date of Loss: 24 July 1968
Country of Loss: North Vietnam - Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 174400N 1064400E (XE747760)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D

Other Personnel In Incident: John R. Bush (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 31 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: Capt. Harley B. Hackett III and 1Lt. John R. Bush were pilots assigned
to the 497th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Ubon Airfield, Thailand. On July 24,
1968, they comprised the crew of an F4D Phantom fighter jet sent on an armed
reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam. Hackett was the pilot of the aircraft
and Bush was his backseater. Their aircraft was number two in a flight of two.

During the mission, the lead aircraft was struck by enemy fire, and Hackett
vectored the lead aircraft over water where the crew of the lead aircraft
ejected and were recovered. The crew of a naval aircraft in the vicinity saw a
second aircraft crash which was believed to be the number two aircraft (with
Hackett and Bush onboard). No parachutes were seen and no emergency radio beeper
signals were heard. Still, there was the possibility that the crew safely
ejected.

The incident was off the coast of North Vietnam in the Gulf of Tonkin, about 20
miles east of the city of Ba Don. The two were declared Missing In Action, and
it was felt that there was a good chance that the enemy forces knew their fate.

Nearly 2500 Americans were lost in Southeast Asia during our military
involvement there. Since the war in Southeast Asia ended in 1973, thousands of
reports of Americans still in captivity have been received by the U.S.
Government. The official policy is that no conclusive proof has been obtained
that is current enough to act upon. Detractors of this policy say conclusive
proof is in hand, but that the willingness or ability to rescue these prisoners
does not exist.

John Bush and Harley Hackett, if among the hundreds said to be still alive and
in captivity, must be wondering, "Where ARE you, America?" Where are we,
America, when the life of even one American is not worth the effort of recovery?
When the next war comes, and it is our sons lost, will we then care enough to do
everything we can to bring our prisoners home?


Harley B. Hackett III graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1965.
John R. Bush graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1966.

HACKETT, JAMES EDWARD

Name: James Edward Hackett
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: F Troop, 8th Cavalry, 11th Aviation Group, 1st Aviation Battalion
Date of Birth: 19 November 1952 (Attleboro MA)
Home City of Record: Bradenton FL
Date of Loss: 11 June 1972
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 162336N 1072357E (YD562138)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: OH6A
Other Personnel In Incident: Wayne Bibbs; Arnold E. Holm; Robin R. Yeakley
(missing from one OH6A); James R. McQuade, Richard D. Wiley (missing from
second OH6A).

REMARKS: EXPLODE - NO PARABEEPERS - J

SYNOPSIS: By December 1971, U.S. troops in-country had declined dramatically -
from the 1968 peak of nearly 55,000 to less than 30,000. The enemy, temporarily
on the defensive by the moves into Cambodia in 1970 and Laos in 1971, began
deploying new NVA forces southward in preparation for another major offensive.

In March 1972, the Vietnamese launched a three-pronged invasion of the South.
One NVA force swept south across the DMZ, its goal apparently the conquest of
the northern provinces and the seizure of Hue. A second NVA force drove from
Laos into the Central Highlands, and a third effort involved a drive from
Cambodia into provinces northwest of Saigon.

Fierce fighting ensued on all three fronts, with NVA success the greatest in
the northern provinces. Fighting continued until by June, the North Vietnamese
began withdrawing from some of their advance positions, still holding
considerable amounts of South Vietnamese territory in the northern provinces.

On June 11, 1972, Capt. Arnold Holm, pilot, PFC Wayne Bibbs, gunner, and SP4
Robin Yeakley, passenger, were aboard an OH6A observation helicopter flying
from Camp Eagle to the Northern Provinces of South Vietnam on a visual
reconnaissance mission. The function of their "Loach" chopper was searching out
signs of the enemy around two landing zones (LZ's). The OH6 joined with the
AH1G Cobra gunship as "Pink Teams" to screen the deployment of air cavalry
troops. On this day, Holm's aircraft was monitoring an ARVN team insertion.

During the mission, Holm reported that he saw enemy living quarters, bunkers,
and numerous trails. On his second pass over a ridge, at about 25' altitude,
the aircraft exploded and burned. It was reported that before the aircraft
crashed that smoke and white phosphorous grenades began exploding. After the
aircraft impacted with the ground, it exploded again. Other aircraft in the
area received heavy anti-aircraft fire. No one was seen to exit the downed
helicopter, nor were emergency radio beepers detected.

In another OH6A (tail #67-16275), 1Lt. James R. McQuade, pilot, and SP4 James
E. Hackett, gunner, tried to enter the area of the crashed OH6A, but
encountered heavy fire and their aircraft was also shot down. McQuade's
aircraft was hit, and the intensity of the resulting fire caused white
phosphorous and smoke grenades carried aboard the aircraft to explode prior to
hitting the ground. The aircraft continued to burn after impact and no crewmen
left the ship before or after the crash.

No ground search was made for survivors or remains of either aircraft because
of hostile fire in the area.

There are unanswered questions remaining from Vietnam. Of the nearly 2500
Americans who did not return alive or dead, experts venture that hundreds may
still be alive. Thousands of reports have been received concerning them.
Whether the two OH6A crews are among those seems unlikely. But one can imagine
their willingness to deploy on one more combat team to bring those who are
alive home to freedom.


HAGEN, CRAIG LOUIS

Name: Craig Louis Hagen
Rank/Branch: E5/US Army
Unit: 118th Aviation Company, 145th Aviation Battalion, 1st Aviation Brigade
Date of Birth: 12 September 1940
Home City of Record: Sacramento CA
Date of Loss: 10 June 1965
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 113521N 1065309E (YT056817)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 1
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1B

Other Personnel In Incident: Joseph J. Compa; Robert L. Curlee; Walter L. Hall;
Bruce G.Johnson; Fred M. Owens; Donald R. Saegaert (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS: J010 ON GND SED ALL DED - J

SYNOPSIS: On May 25, 1965, Special Forces Detachment A-342 was airlanded at
Dong Xoai, a district capital of Phuoc Long Province, through which the Viet
Cong supply lifeline from Cambodia into War Zone D tracked. The Special Forces
Detachment, together with Navy Seabees, built a camp and among other duties,
assumed the MACV subsector role for Don Luan district.

Intermittent Viet Cong mortar rounds lobbed into the new camp, and were
considered only the usual harassment, but sightings of large VC formations
nearing the town increased.

At 2310 hours on the night of June 9, CIDG teams around the camp's perimeter
were silenced by the 762nd and 763rd VC Regiments. There was no opportunity to
warn the camp, and only a few survived. At 2330, the camp was heavily mortared,
and came under a heavy ground assault. The camp was overrun, and most of the
CIDG and LLDB withdrew.

At the camp, 2Lt. Charles Q. Williams, seriously wounded, was directing the
defense of the compound with singular valor and would later be awarded the
Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions at Dong Xoai.

Before South Vietnamese relief forces could arrive, a team of advisors was sent
in from Than Son Nhut, where MACV was headquartered. The team was aboard a
UH1B helicopter from the 188th Aviation Company flown by Lt. Walter L. Hall.
The crew consisted of Sgt. Craig L. Hagen, gunner; SSgt. Joseph J. Compa, crew
chief; and WO Donald Saegaert, co-pilot. The advisors from MACV Special
Detachment 5891 were SSgt. Robert L. Curlee, the medic; and Capt. Bruce G.
Johnson and SFC Fred M. Owens, advisors.

When the helicopter was disembarking troops on a plantation landing zone, it
came under heavy mortar and small arms fire. The helicopter took off and
started a climbing turn. Upon clearing some buildings left of the landing zone,
the helicopter went into uncontrolled flight and in crashing, skidded into some
parked vehicles and burst into flames.

A circling pilot immediately established radio contact with Johnson, who stated
that he was standing by the downed helicopter, and that the crew and other two
advisors with him were dead. He reported that the situation was very bad - not
to send anyone else in. Johnson stated that he was under heavy fire, and two
mortar shells were subsequently seen to land in his vicinity.

A subsequent search of the crash site was conducted when the area was resecured
(on June 15), but no American remains were found, nor was Johnson seen.
Villagers in the area reported that an American had been captured on that day,
but no verifiable information has surfaced since that time. Villagers also
stated that the Viet Cong had carried away the bodies of 7 Americans and had
buried them.

A captured Viet Cong film entitled "Dong Xoai in Flames" pictured the bodies of
five or six Americans as well as several crashed helicopters. One of these
helicopters bore the serial number 38557. The name tag "Owens" and the last two
letters of another name tag, "ll" (possibly Hall's) are shown in the film,
lending some more credence to the report that the Viet Cong took possession of
the aircraft and that all aboard were killed.

There is no real reason to suspect that any of the seven men aboard the UH1B
shot down at Dong Xoai are, indeed, alive. But there is no question that the
communists know the fate of these men. All of these men can be easily accounted
for. It appears that Johnson, at least, may have been captured. Mounting
evidence indicates that Americans are still being held prisoner in Southeast
Asia today. As long as even one American remains alive, held unjustly, we owe
him our best effort to bring him home.


HAIGHT, STEPHEN HAROLD

Name: Stephen Harold Haight
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: 191st Aviation Company, 13th Aviation Battalion, 164th Aviation Group,
1st Aviation Brigade
Date of Birth: 22 May 1949 (Syracuse NY)
Home City of Record: Cazenovia NY
Date of Loss: 09 May 1970
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 095238N 1061215E (XR320920)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1C
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On May 9, 1970, SP4 Stephen H. Haight was aboard a UH1C helicopter
(serial #66-15148) which crashed and exploded about 5 miles southwest of the
city of Phy Vinh in Vinh Binh Province, South Vietnam.

Personnel in the area were on hand immediately to inspect the site of the
crash, and all personnel aboard the helicopter are accounted for except Haight.
On May 17, 1973, JCRC searched the site of the crash, aided by metal detectors,
encompassing an area 450 by 850 meters centered on the coordinates of the
crash. SP4 Haight's remains were not found.

On August 4, 1973, JCRC concluded that if the coordinates were accurate, all
traces of the crash had been obliterated. It was located in a rice paddy that
may have been tilled. It was also thought that the area may have been pilfered,
leaving no probable reason for further searches.

SP4 Haight was listed Killed in Action, Body Not Recovered. He is listed with
honor among the missing because his remains remain on enemy soil. He is one of
a relative few who will probably never be accounted for from the Vietnam War.
Unlike "MIAs" from other wars, most of the missing from Southeast Asia can be
accounted for, and a high percentage of their remains could be found.

Tragically, nearly 10,000 reports have been received by the U.S. Government
relating to Amercians missing in Southeast Asia since 1975. Most authorities
believe that there are still hundreds of Americans still captive.

Although SP4 Haight may not be among those thought to be still alive, his death
and those of roughly 58,000 other Americans cannot fully be honored until this
war is brought to honorable end - with the return of all living Americans and
the fullest possible accounting of the dead.

HAINES, COLLINS HENRY

Name: Collins Henry Haines
Rank/Branch: O4/US Navy
Unit:
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Moorestown NJ
Date of Loss: 05 June 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 195200N 1054000E (WG837967)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Veicle/Ground: RF8G

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: 730304 RELSD BY DRV

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-A models were equipped for photo reconnaissance. The RF-G
were also photographic versions, but with additional cameras and navigational
equipment.

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. In addition, there were 16
pilots who went down on photographic versions of the aircraft. Of these 16,
seven were captured (six were released, one died in captivity).

Lt.Cdr. Collins H. Haines was the pilot of an RF8A on a combat mission in Thanh
Hoa Province, North Vietnam on June 5, 1967. As he was about 10 miles northwest
of the city of Thanh Hoa, his aircraft was hit by enemy fire and crashed. Haines
was captured by the Vietnamese, and held prisoner until his return in Operation
Homecoming in the spring of 1973.

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. These reports are the source of serious distress to many returned
American prisoners. They had a code that no one could honorably return unless
all of the prisoners returned. Not only that code of honor, but the honor of our
country is at stake as long as even one man remains unjustly held. It's time we
brought our men home.

HALE, JOHN DOUGLAS

Name: John Douglas Hale
Rank/Branch: O2/US Army
Unit: Troop B, 2nd Squadron, 17th Cavalry, 101st Airborne Division
Date of Birth: 07 December 1942 (Louisville KY)
Home City of Record: Brandenburg KY
Date of Loss: 08 March 1971
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 162319N 1070333E (YD199129)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: OH6A
Other Personnel in Incident: Robert E. Grantham (missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On March 8, 1971, 1Lt. John D. Hale, pilot, and Cpl. Robert E.
Grantham, observer, were on board an OH6A helicopter (serial #67-16645) on an
armed reconnaissance mission with an AH1G Cobra gunship and a UH1A helicopter
as a control ship. The OH6A aircraft was attempting to start a fire on a
hilltop by dropping incinerary grenades.

When 1Lt. Hale's aircraft later made a pass over the area to see if the fire
had started, it began receiving ground fire.  The crew of the AH1G gunship saw
the ground fire and engaged a target while instructing Hale to break away. Lt.
Hale called after he broke away, "I'm taking fire from 3 o'clock."  The AH1G
gunship then broke away from the first source of gunfire to engage the second.
At that time both the OH6A and AH1G pilots reported taking fire.

In the next radio transmission, Hale's OH6A reported that he was hit and was
going down, and asked if he was in sight. The AH1G gunship did see him and
called the UH1H control ship to confirm the sighting, but the control ship
could not spot Hale's aircraft. The gunship began dropping white phosphorous
grenades to help illuminate the area of Hale's aircraft.

At the time Hale called that he was going down, his aircraft seemed to come
apart and begin spinning, as if it had a tail rotor failure. Numerous objects
were flying out of the aircraft while it was spinning. The spinning slowed at
about 500 feet above the ground, but increased again prior to impact. The
aircraft exploded upon impact with the ground.

The chase control ship went over the crash site and hovered there, looking for
survivors, but due to the intense enemy fire, it had to leave the area. The
control ship returned, but saw no survivors on either hover. The largest part
of the aircraft that could be seen was what appeared to be the left engine
door. An electronic search was unsuccessful. No ground search was possible
because of the intense enemy activity.

Hale and Grantham went down in an area so hot that no one could go in for them.
Because of this, the U.S. believes there is a strong probability that the
Vietnamese know exactly what happened to them and to their aircraft. By 1973,
aerial photographs revealed no sign of the aircraft;  presumably, the aircraft
parts had been salvaged by villagers or soldiers. What of the crew?

Thousands of reports have been received concerning Americans still alive in
Southeast Asia. Clearly, the Vietnamese have a lot of information they are not
revealing. Hale and Grantham are prisoners of war - dead or alive.



HALL, DONALD JOE

Name: Donald Joe Hall
Rank/Branch: E5/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 26 March 1937
Home City of Record: Stroud OK
Date of Loss: 06 February 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 174600N 1054800E (WE847643)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: HH3E
Other Personnel in Incident: Patrick H. Wood; Richard A. Kibbey; Lucius L.
Heiskell (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II
Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On February 6, 1967, Capt. Lucius L. Heiskell was a pilot and was
flying an O1F aircraft on a visual reconnaissance mission with another O1F when
his aircraft was struck by enemy fire forcing him to bail out. His parachute was
followed to the ground and voice contact with him indicated that immediate
rescue was not feasible due to enemy troops in the area.

Beeper signals continued and later an HH3E helicopter flown by Maj. Patrick H.
Wood was dispatched to recover Heiskell. He was at this time located near the
border of Laos and North Vietnam about 5 miles from the Mu Gia Pass. Wood's crew
that day included Capt. Richard A. Kibbey and SSgt. Donald J. Hall.

Heiskell was hoisted aboard, but as the helicopter was departing the area, it
was hit by ground fire causing it to explode and crash. The helicopter
pararescueman survived and was treated for burns. The remainder of the crew,
Hall, Kibbey and Wood, as well as Heiskell, were not located.

When 591 Americans were released in 1973, the crew of the HH3E was not among
them. They were numbered with nearly 3000 Americans who remained missing,
prisoner, or unaccounted for at the end of the war.

Since American involvement in Vietnam ended in 1975, over 10,000 reports
relating to Americans missing, prisoner, or otherwise unaccounted for in
Indochina have been received by the U.S. Government. Many officials, having
examined this largely classified information, have reluctantly concluded that
many Americans are still alive today, held captive by our long-ago enemy.

Whether Hall and the crew of the HH3E survived the crash of their aircraft to be
captured is not known. It is not known if they might be among those thought to
be still alive today. What is certain, however, is that as long as even one
American remains alive, held against his will, we owe him our very best efforts
to bring him to freedom.

Donald J. Hall was promoted to the rank of Chief Master Sergeant during the
period he was maintained Missing in Action.

HALL, FREDERICK MERVYN

Name: Frederick Mervyn Hall
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 06 June 1943
Home City of Record: Waynesville NC
Date of Loss: 12 April 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 152820N 1073715E
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 3
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D

Other Personnel In Incident: Ernest L. DeSoto (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS: DISAP IN CLOUD BANK

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.
Most pilots considered it one of the "hottest" planes around.

Maj. Ernest L. DeSoto was the pilot and 1Lt. Frederick M. Hall the navigator and
systems operator of an F4D sent on a combat mission on April 12, 1969. DeSoto's
aircraft was one in a flight of three which departed Da Nang airbase for a
bombing mission in an unstated area.

During the mission, other pilots report that DeSoto and Hall's aircraft
disappeared into a cloud bank, and was not seen again. The last location logged
for the aircraft was in Quang Nam Province, South Vietnam, a few miles north of
the tri-border area of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

Three weeks later, an aviator who had been recommended for the Congressional
Medal of Honor was put on report. It had been decided it would be "unwise" to
award the Medal because it might remind the Vietnamese that American troops were
active near the DMZ and upset the Paris peace talks.

The Paris Peace talks, finally culminating in peace accords in 1973, signaled
the end of U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia. One of the stipulations agreed to
by Vietnam was the return all Prisoners of War and the fullest possible
accounting of the missing. However, known prisoners of war did not return, nor
did several known to have died in captivity. Precise locations of crash sites
were known in many cases, but access to them was denied.

DeSoto and Hall are among nearly 2500 Americans who were lost in Southeast Asia
and never returned. Reports continue to mount that some of them are alive, being
held prisoner. Contrary to policy statements, the return of these men does not
seem to be a high priority of the U.S. Government.

Americans like Hall and DeSoto went to Vietnam prepared to be wounded or taken
prisoner, even prepared to die. They did not go prepared to be abandoned. They
must be brought home.

HALL, GARY LEE

Name: Gary Lee Hall
Rank/Branch: E2/US Marine Corps
Unit: E BLT/2nd Battalion, 9th Marines, 3rd Marine Division
Date of Birth: 26 July 1956
Home City of Record: Covington KY
Date of Loss: 15 May 1975
Country of Loss: Cambodia/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 101800N 1030830E (TS960400)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel in Incident: Daniel A. Benedett; Lynn Blessing; Walter Boyd;
Gregory S. Copenhaver; Andres Garcia; Bernard Gause Jr., James J. Jacques;
Ronald J. Manning; James R. Maxwell; Richard W. Rivenburgh; Antonio R.
Sandoval; Kelton R. Turner; Richard Van de Geer (all missing on CH53A); Joseph
N. Hargrove; Danny G. Marshall (missing on Koah Tang Island); Elwood E.
Rumbaugh (missing from a CH53A)

REMARKS: 750515 MAYAGUEZ INCIDENT LOSS

SYNOPSIS: When U.S. troops were pulled out of Southeast Asia in early 1975,
Vietnamese communist troops began capturing one city after another, with Hue,
Da Nang and Ban Me Thuot in March, Xuan Loc in April, and finally on April 30,
Saigon. In Cambodia, communist Khmer Rouge had captured the capital city of
Phnom Penh on April 17. The last Americans were evacuated from Saigon during
"Option IV", with U.S. Ambassador Martin departing on April 29. The war,
according to President Ford, "was finished."

2Lt. Richard Van de Geer, assigned to the 21st Special Ops Squadron at NKP, had
participated in the evacuation of Saigon, where helicopter pilots were required
to fly from the decks of the 7th Fleet carriers stationed some 500 miles
offshore, fly over armed enemy-held territory, collect American and allied
personnel and return to the carriers via the same hazardous route, heavily
loaded with passengers. Van de Geer wrote to a friend, "We pulled out close to
2,000 people. We couldn't pull out any more because it was beyond human
endurance to go any more..."

At 11:21 a.m. on May 12, the U.S. merchant ship MAYAGUEZ was seized by the
Khmer Rouge in the Gulf of Siam about 60 miles from the Cambodian coastline and
eight miles from Poulo Wai island. The ship, owned by Sea-Land Corporation, was
en route to Sattahip, Thailand from Hong Kong, carrying a non-arms cargo for
military bases in Thailand.

Capt. Charles T. Miller, a veteran of more than 40 years at sea, was on the
bridge. He had steered the ship within the boundaries of international waters,
but the Cambodians had recently claimed territorial waters 90 miles from the
coast of Cambodia. The thirty-nine seamen aboard were taken prisoner.

President Ford ordered the aircraft carrier USS CORAL SEA, the guided missile
destroyer USS HENRY B. WILSON and the USS HOLT to the area of seizure. By
night, a U.S. reconnaissance aircraft located the MAYAGUEZ at anchor off Poulo
WaI island. Plans were made to rescue the crew.  A battalion landing team of
1,100 Marines was ordered flown from bases in Okinawa and the Philippines to
assemblE at Utapao, Thailand in preparation for the assault.

The first casualties of the effort to free the MAYAGUEZ are recorded on May 13
when a helicopter carrying Air Force security team personnel crashed en route
to Utapao, killing all 23 aboard.

Early in the morning of May 13, the Mayaguez was ordered to head for Koh Tang
island. Its crew was loaded aboard a Thai fishing boat and taken first to Koh
Tang, then to the mainland city of Kompong Song, then to Rong San Lem island.
U.S. intelligence had observed a cove with considerable activity on the island
of Koh Tang, a small five-mile long island about 35 miles off the coast of
Cambodia southwest of the city of Sihanoukville (Kampong Saom), and believed
that some of the crew might be held there. They also knew of the Thai fishing
boat, and had observed what appeared to be caucasians aboard it, but it could
not be determined if some or all of the crew was aboard.

The USS HOLT was ordered to seize and secure the MAYAGUEZ, still anchored off
Koh Tang. Marines were to land on the island and rescue any of the crew. Navy
jets from the USS CORAL SEA were to make four strikes on military installments
on the Cambodian mainland.

On May 15, the first wave of 179 Marines headed for the island aboard eight Air
Force "Jolly Green Giant" helicopters. Three Air Force helicopters unloaded
Marines from the 1st Battalion, 4th Marines onto the landing pad of the USS
HOLT and then headed back to Utapao to pick up the second wave of Marines.
Planes dropped tear gas on the MAYAGUEZ, and the USS HOLT pulled up along side
the vessel and the Marines stormed aboard. The MAYAGUEZ was deserted.

Simultaneously, the Marines of the 2/9 were making their landings on two other
areas of the island. The eastern landing zone was on the cove side where the
Cambodian compound was located. The western landing zone was a narrow spit of
beach about 500 feet behind the compound on the other side of the island. The
Marines hoped to surround the compound.

As the first troops began to unload on both beaches, the Cambodians opened
fire. On the western beach, one helicopter was hit and flew off crippled, to
ditch in the ocean about 1 mile away. The pilot had just disembarked his
passengers, and he was rescued at sea.

Meanwhile, the eastern landing zone had become a disaster. The first two
helicopters landing were met by enemy fire. Ground commander, (now) Col.
Randall W. Austin had been told to expect between 20 and 40 Khmer Rouge
soldiers on the island. Instead, between 150 and 200 were encountered. First,
Lt. John Shramm's helicopter tore apart and crashed into the surf after the
rotor system was hit. All aboard made a dash for the tree line on the beach.

One CH53A helicopter was flown by U.S. Air Force Major Howard Corson and 2Lt.
Richard Van de Geer and carrying 23 U.S. Marines and 2 U.S. Navy corpsmen, all
from the 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines. As the helicopter approached the island,
it was caught in a cross fire and hit by a rocket. The severely damaged
helicopter crashed into the sea just off the coast of the island and exploded.
To avoid enemy fire, survivors were forced to swim out to sea for rescue.
Twelve aboard, including Maj. Corson, were rescued. Those missing from the
helicopter were 2Lt. Richard Van de Geer, PFC Daniel A. Benedett, PFC Lynn
Blessing, PFC Walter Boyd, Lcpl. Gregory S. Copenhaver, Lcpl. Andres Garcia,
PFC James J. Jacques, PFC James R. Maxwell, PFC Richard W. Rivenburgh, PFC
Antonio R. Sandoval, PFC Kelton R. Turner, all U.S. Marines. Also missing were
HM1 Bernard Gause, Jr. and HM Ronald J. Manning, the two corpsmen.

Other helicopters were more successful in landing their passengers. One CH53A,
however was not. SSgt. Elwood E. Rumbaugh's aircraft was near the coastline
when it was shot down. Rumbaugh is the only missing man from the aircraft. The
passengers were safely extracted. (It is not known whether the passengers went
down with the aircraft or whether they were rescued from the island.)

By midmorning, when the Cambodians on the mainland began receiving reports of
the assault, they ordered the crew of the MAYAGUEZ on a Thai boat, and then
left. The MAYAGUEZ crew was recovered by the USS WILSON before the second wave
of Marines was deployed, but the second wave was ordered to attack anyway.

Late in the afternoon, the assault force had consolidated its position on the
western landing zone and the eastern landing zone was evacuated at 6:00 p.m. By
the end of the 14-hour operation, most of the Marines were extracted from the
island safely, with 50 wounded. Lcpl. Ashton Loney had been killed by enemy
fire, but his body could not be recovered.

Protecting the perimeter during the final evacuation was the machine gun squad
of PFC Gary L. Hall, Lcpl. Joseph N. Hargrove and Pvt. Danny G. Marshall. They
had run out of ammunition and were ordered to evacuate on the last helicopter.
It was their last contact. Maj. McNemar and Maj. James H. Davis made a final
sweep of the beach before boarding the helicopter and were unable to locate
them. They were declared Missing in Action.

The eighteen men missing from the MAYAGUEZ incident are listed among the
missing from the Vietnam war. Although authorities believe that there are
perhaps hundreds of American prisoners still alive in Southeast Asia from the
war, most are pessimistic about the fates of those captured by the Khmer Rouge.

In 1988, the communist government of Kampuchea (Cambodia) announced that it
wished to return the remains of several dozen Americans to the United States.
(In fact, the number was higher than the official number of Americans missing
in Cambodia.) Because the U.S. does not officially recognize the Cambodian
government, it has refused to respond directly to the Cambodians regarding the
remains. Cambodia, wishing a direct acknowledgment from the U.S. Government,
still holds the remains.




HALL, HARLEY HUBERT

Name: Harley Hubert Hall
Rank/Branch: O5/US Navy
Unit: Fighter Squadron 143, USS ENTERPRISE (CV-65)
Date of Birth: 23 December 1937 (Broken Bow NE)
Home City of Record: Vancouver WA
Date of Loss: 27 January 1973
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 165129N 1071023E (YO345650)
Status (in 1973): Prisoner of War
Category: 1
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4J

Other Personnel In Incident: Phillip A. Kientzler (released 1973)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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: KIENTZLER TOLD HALL KILLED

SYNOPSIS: CDR Harley H. Hall was the commanding officer of Fighter Squadron 143
onboard the aircraft carrier USS ENTERPRISE. On January 27, 1973 he and his
Radar Intercept Officer (RIO), LTCDR Philip A. Kientzler, launched in their F4J
Phantom fighter aircraft on an attack mission against North Vietnamese supplies
and logistic vehicles 15 miles northwest of Quang Tri, South Vietnam. Hall and
Kientzler were under the direction of an OV10 Forward Air Controller (FAC).

CDR Hall's aircraft came under intense anti-aircraft fire while attacking
several trucks and was hit. He made an attempt to fly back out to the safety of
the sea, but minutes later the aircraft caught fire on the port wing and
fuselage.

Both Hall and his co-pilot, LCDR Philip A. Kintzler ejected at 4,000 feet and
were seen to land 100 feet apart near a village on an island in the Dam Cho Chua
and Cua Viet Rivers. CDR Hall was seen moving about on the ground, discarding
his parachute. No voice contact was made with the men, and the probability of
immediate capture was considered very high.

Numerous aircraft made several passes over the area for the next several hours
and were unsuccessful in observing either of the downed crewmen. Several
emergency beepers were heard intermittently the remainder of the afternoon and
throughout the night, however, no voice contact was established. Active,
organized search and rescue efforts were subsequently terminated.

Only Kientzler was released at Operation Homecoming in 1973. He reported that
during parachute descent they received heavy ground fire, at which time he was
hit in the leg. He last saw CDR Hall as they touched the ground. When he asked
his guards about his pilot, he was told that he was killed by another.

No other returned POW reported having knowledge of Harley Hall, yet the Pentagon
maintained him in POW status for over 6 years, and documents were obtained that
indicated that he was indeed captured. The Hanoi government claims to have no
knowledge of CDR Harley Hall. This former member of the famed Blue Angels flight
team remains missing.


Harley Hall was shot down on the last day of the war and was the last Navy air
casualty of the Vietnam War. He was the last American to be classified Prisoner
of War in the Vietnam War.


Harley H. Hall was promoted to the rank of Captain during the period he was
maintained as a prisoner.
HALL, JAMES SHREVE
Remains Returned March 1988

Name: James Shreve Hall
Rank/Branch: E5/US Air Force
Unit: 388th Combat Support Group, Udorn Airbase, Thailand
Date of Birth: 05 October 1935
Home City of Record: Greensboro NC
Date of Loss: 29 July 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 204300N 10454953E (VH998943)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: RC47D
Other Personnel in Incident: Robert Hoskinson; Robert DiTommaso; Galileo F.
Bossio (still missing) Bernard Conklin; John Mamiya; Herbert E. Smith; Vincent
Chiarello (remains returned)

REMARKS: DEAD/FIR 317-09130 74

SYNOPSIS: On July 19, 1966, an RC47D aircraft departed Udorn Airfield in
Thailand en route to Sam Neua, Laos. The crew abord the aircraft included Capt.
Robert E. Hoskinson, pilot; Maj. Galileo F. Bossio, 1Lt. Vincent A. Chiarello,
Capt. Bernard Conklin, 1Lt. Robert J. Di Tommaso, SSgt. James S. Hall, TSgt.
John M. Mamiya and TSgt. Herbert E. Smith, crewmen. The aircraft was an unarmed
RC47D Command and Control airship (Dogpatch 2).

When the aircraft was 10-20 miles south of Sam Neua, it was attacked by enemy
fighters. Radio contact was lost and the families were initially told there was
no further word of the plane or crew - that they had all been lost on an
operational mission in North Vietnam.

It was later learned, however, that at least one, possibly two parachutes were
observed in the air from persons on the ground, and the loss had occurred not
in North Vietnam, but at 201200N 1041700E, which is in Laos.

Primary objective of the C-47 in Laos at that point in the war was visual
reconnaissance. American forces worked closely with CAS (CIA) primarily to
weaken the communist supply link to South Vietnam via the "Ho Chi Minh Trail".
This particular plane, however, was working in support of the CIA's secret
indigenous army which was attempting to prevent a communist takeover in Laos.

The crewmembers on these missions were normally highly trained in electronic
surveillance techniques as well as versed in codes and languages. Accordingly,
and as "there was no war in Laos", certain details of the mission, such as the
precise location of loss, were originally distorted. Later reports indicate
that some of the crew survived the attack on July 29, 1966. According to a
March, 1974 list published by the National League of Families of POW/MIAs,
Bossio survived the incident and was missing in Laos. One 1971 report states
that as many as 5 of the crew were captured. Chiarello and Di Tommaso were
identified as survivors by Capt. Adair of Project Dogpatch. U.S. Air Force
records still reflect the loss as having occurred in North Vietnam.

In 1988, the remains of Conklin, Chiarello, Hall, Mamiya and Smith were
returned to U.S. control. They were positively identified and returned to their
families for burial. The Di Tommaso family was also notified, and Mafalda Di
Tommaso rushed to Hawaii to sadly welcome her son home. She was shocked to
learn that no body had returned - only information which added nothing to the
mystery surrounding her son's loss.

The families of Bossio, Hoskinson and Di Tommaso have the right to know what
happened on July 29, 1966. The communist governments of Southeast Asia can
account for the large majority of the nearly 2500 Americans still missing
there. The weight of the evidence shows that some of them are still being held
captive. It's time the veil of secrecy was lifted on these men and the others.
It's time they came home.











HALL, JAMES WAYNE

Name: James Wayne Hall
Rank/Branch: O4/US Navy
Unit:
Date of Birth: 18 May 1934
Home City of Record: Los Angeles CA
Date of Loss: 28 October 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 194400N 1053900E (WG682819)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A7C

Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 April 1990 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.

REMARKS: PROB DEAD - HANOI RADIO

SYNOPSIS: The Vought A7 Corsair II was a single-seat attack jet utilized by both
the Navy and Air Force in Vietnam. The aircraft was designed to meet the Navy's
need for a subsonic attack plane able to carry a greater load of non-nuclear
weapons that the A4 Skyhawk. The aircraft's unique design completely freed the
wingspace for bomb loading; the Pratt and Whitney jet engine was beneath the
fuselage of the aircraft. The Corsair was used primarily for close air support
and interdiction, although it was also used for reconnaissance. A Corsair is
credited with flying the last official combat mission in the war - bombing a
target in Cambodia on 15 August 1973.

LtCdr. James W. Hall was the pilot of an A7A which launched on a mission over
North Vietnam on October 28, 1972. His target took him near the city of Thanh
Hoa, in Thanh Hoa Province. This area, specifically the Thanh Hoa Bridge, had
been the subject of several years of joint-service bombing attacks. The area
had always been populous and heavily defended.

At a point about 5 miles west of Thanh Hoa, Hall's aircraft was shot down. A
later Hanoi radio announcement regarding a dead American pilot was thought to
relate to Hall, but the information was not specific enough to definitely
correlate to his loss. Hall was listed Missing in Action.

The Defense Intelligence Agency further expanded the Missing in Action
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.

Since the war ended in 1973, nearly 10,000 reports have been received by the
U.S. relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asia. Many authorities have
reluctantly concluded that hundreds of them remain alive today in captivity. The
United States Government, although involved in talks with the Vietnamese since
the end of the war, has been unable to bring home a single live prisoner. The
Vietnamese, on the other hand, refuse to let the issue die, with the ultimate
hope of normalizing relations with the west.

The Americans who may still be alive have been reduced to bargaining pawns
between two nations. For their sakes, everything possible must be done to bring
them home. For the sake of future fighting men and those who have given their
lives in the defense of their country, we must see to it that we never again
abandon our soldiers to enemy hands. We must bring our men home.

HALL, KEITH NORMAN

Name: Keith Norman Hall
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 13th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Udorn AB TH
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Grand Forks ND
Date of Loss: 10 January 1968
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 202500N 1050800E (VH774777)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D

Other Personnel In Incident: Earl P. Hopper Jr. (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 October 1990 from information
provided by Col. Earl P. Hopper, Sr. (USA, ret.) and Patty Skelly of Task Force
Omega, Inc., as well as information from a December, 1984 article by Larry J.
O'Daniel. Other information from one more of the following: raw data from U.S.
Government agency sources, published sources, interviews.

REMARKS: 730314 RELSD BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: Capt. Keith N. Hall and 1Lt. Earl P. Hopper, Jr. were pilots assigned
to the 13th Tactical Fighter Squadron based at Udorn Airbase, Thailand. On
January 10, 1968 the two flew their first mission together on an "aircap"
mission over Hanoi. Hall was the pilot, and Hopper flew as Bombardier/Navigator
on the flight. During the mission, the aircraft was damaged by a SAM missile
exploding 100 feet below and to the right of the aircraft, knocking out the
hydraulic system. Neither Hall nor Hopper was injured by the blast.

After some initial ejection problems, Capt. Hall, was able to bail out. [Note:
Normal ejection sequence calls for the backseater to bail out first, followed a
few seconds later by the pilot.] Other pilots in the flight marked Hall's
position, then continued with Hopper as he headed for Laos.

Hopper was about 15 miles north of Muong Min in Hoa Binh Province and nearly to
the border of Laos when he ejected. Hall had ejected about 20 miles to the east.
The accompanying pilots observed the canopy of the aircraft and Hopper's
ejection seat leave the aircraft as the aircraft was about to enter a 5,000 foot
overcast. The pilots also picked up two emergency radio signals, one very strong
and the other rather weak, indicating that both men reached the ground.

Hall was captured about 40 minutes after he bailed out. Hopper's radio signal
was tracked for three consecutive days in the rugged, mountainous area where
the aircraft went down. On the second or third day, a pilot monitoring the
beeper gave Hopper's recognition code and said, "Lt. Hopper, if that's you, give
me 15-second intervals (in his radio signal)." The pilot received six 15-second
intervals in a positive response. This information was released to the family in
a February 8, 1968 communique. On about the third day, a ground search team was
inserted into the area, and recovered Hopper's radio, but no trace of Hopper was
found.

Hall was captured by the North Vietnamese and released in 1973. Hall was closely
interrogated regarding personal information about Hopper, but knew little. The
Vietnamese guard was noncommittal when Hall asked if Hopper was also a prisoner.

On July 14, 1982, "due to the length of time missing and with no information to
prove he is alive," Hopper's official status, Missing In Action, was changed to
Presumed Killed In Action. Only two months later, a three-man judiciary
committee from the U.S. Justice Department, Foreign Claims Settlement
Commission, found officially that Hopper should have been classified Prisoner of
War, not Missing In Action.

During the first few months of 1984, the Hopper family learned that CIA had
always listed Hopper as a POW. Further, CIA files revealed that the agency had
tracked Hopper as he headed for a "safe" area in Laos, that there were heavy
concentrations of NVA and Pathet Lao troops in the area searching for the downed
pilot, and that the CIA sent a free Lao team to extract him. When Hopper knew he
was in imminent danger of being captured, he locked the transmission key on his
radio in the "on" position, extended the antenna, and hid it, thus marking his
location of capture for the search team.

From 1981 to 1984, Major Mark A. Smith (a returned POW from Vietnam) and SFC
Melvin McIntyre, both attached to Special Forces Detachment, Korea (SFDK) were
pursuing DIA instructions to gather intelligence on American POWs who remained
in captivity in Southeast Asia. Smith and McIntyre, who did not believe
Americans were held, obtained specific information which convinced them that
Americans were still alive at that time, held captive. Among other evidence
presented to the U.S. was a list of some 26 Americans by name and captivity
location. Earl Hopper's name was on the list.

In 1984, Maj. Smith received word that on 11 May three U.S. POWs would be
brought to a given location on the Lao/Thai border. The only prerequisite was
that the POWs be received by an American. Smith's request to stand on the border
and wait for delivery was refused, and he and his team were commanded to remain
in Korea. If the three Americans were brought to the border, no one was there to
receive them. Smith and McIntyre believed Hopper to be one of the three men.

The information obtained by Smith and McIntyre was provided under oath to the
Senate Veterans Affairs Committee on January 28, 1986, and included in a lawsuit
the two initiated against the U.S. Government for its failure to protect the
rights of live American POWs in Southeast Asia.

Parents Earl and Betty Hopper have diligently sought information on their son
and others who disappeared in Southeast Asia. They believe there is actionable
evidence that some are still alive in captivity. Until that evidence is acted
upon, and proof is obtained to the contrary, they will not give up hope that
their son is alive.

1Lt. Earl Hopper graduated from the Air Force Academy in 1965 and was promoted
to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel during the period he was maintained missing.

HALL, THOMAS RENWICK

Name: Thomas Renwick Hall
Rank/Branch: O2/US Navy
Unit:
Date of Birth: (ca 1942)
Home City of Record: Carrollton VA
Date of Loss: 10 June 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 205800N 1054000E (WJ692184)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
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: 730304 RELSD BY DRV

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. Thomas R. Hall was the pilot of an F8C sent on a combat mission over North
Vietnam on June 10, 1967. His flight route took him to Ha Tay Province, North
Vietnam, where his aircraft was shot down about 5 miles southwest of Hanoi. Hall
successfully ejected from his crippled aircraft and was captured by the North
Vietnamese.

For the next 6 years, Hall was held in various prisoner of war camps, including
the infamous "Hanoi Hilton" complex in Hanoi. He was released in the general
prisoner release in 1973.

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. These reports are the source of serious distress to many returned
American prisoners. They had a code that no one could honorably return unless
all of the prisoners returned. Not only that code of honor, but the honor of our
country is at stake as long as even one man remains unjustly held. It's time we
brought our men home.




HALL, WALTER LOUIS

Name: Walter Louis Hall
Rank/Branch: O2/US Army
Unit: 118th Aviation Company, 145th Aviation Battalion, 1st Aviation Brigade
Date of Birth: 25 February 1940 (Bangor ME)
Home City of Record: Old Town ME
Loss Date: 10 June 1965
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 113521N 1065309E (YT056817)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 1
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1B
Other Personnel In Incident: Joseph J. Compa; Robert L. Curlee; Craig L. Hagen;
Bruce G.Johnson; Fred M. Owens; Donald R. Saegaert (all missing)

REMARKS: J010 ON GND SED ALL DED - J

SYNOPSIS: On May 25, 1965, Special Forces Detachment A-342 was airlanded at
Dong Xoai, a district capital of Phuoc Long Province, through which the Viet
Cong supply lifeline from Cambodia into War Zone D tracked. The Special Forces
Detachment, together with Navy Seabees, built a camp and among other duties,
assumed the MACV subsector role for Don Luan district.

Intermittent Viet Cong mortar rounds lobbed into the new camp, and were
considered only the usual harassment, but sightings of large VC formations
nearing the town increased.

At 2310 hours on the night of June 9, CIDG teams around the camp's perimeter
were silenced by the 762nd and 763rd VC Regiments. There was no opportunity to
warn the camp, and only a few survived. At 2330, the camp was heavily mortared,
and came under a heavy ground assault. The camp was overrun, and most of the
CIDG and LLDB withdrew.

At the camp, 2Lt. Charles Q. Williams, seriously wounded, was directing the
defense of the compound with singular valor and would later be awarded the
Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions at Dong Xoai.

Before South Vietnamese relief forces could arrive, a team of advisors was sent
in from Than Son Nhut, where MACV was headquartered. The team was aboard a
UH1B helicopter from the 188th Aviation Company flown by Lt. Walter L. Hall.
The crew consisted of Sgt. Craig L. Hagen, gunner; SSgt. Joseph J. Compa, crew
chief; and WO Donald Saegaert, co-pilot. The advisors from MACV Special
Detachment 5891 were SSgt. Robert L. Curlee, the medic; and Capt. Bruce G.
Johnson and SFC Fred M. Owens, advisors.

When the helicopter was disembarking troops on a plantation landing zone, it
came under heavy mortar and small arms fire. The helicopter took off and
started a climbing turn. Upon clearing some buildings left of the landing zone,
the helicopter went into uncontrolled flight and in crashing, skidded into some
parked vehicles and burst into flames.

A circling pilot immediately established radio contact with Johnson, who stated
that he was standing by the downed helicopter, and that the crew and other two
advisors with him were dead. He reported that the situation was very bad - not
to send anyone else in. Johnson stated that he was under heavy fire, and two
mortar shells were subsequently seen to land in his vicinity.

A subsequent search of the crash site was conducted when the area was resecured
(on June 15), but no American remains were found, nor was Johnson seen.
Villagers in the area reported that an American had been captured on that day,
but no verifiable information has surfaced since that time. Villagers also
stated that the Viet Cong had carried away the bodies of 7 Americans and had
buried them.

A captured Viet Cong film entitled "Dong Xoai in Flames" pictured the bodies of
five or six Americans as well as several crashed helicopters. One of these
helicopters bore the serial number 38557. The name tag "Owens" and the last two
letters of another name tag, "ll" (possibly Hall's) are shown in the film,
lending some more credence to the report that the Viet Cong took possession of
the aircraft and that all aboard were killed.

There is no real reason to suspect that any of the seven men aboard the UH1B
shot down at Dong Xoai are, indeed, alive. But there is no question that the
communists know the fate of these men. All of these men can be easily accounted
for. It appears that Johnson, at least, may have been captured. Mounting
evidence indicates that Americans are still being held prisoner in Southeast
Asia today. As long as even one American remains alive, held unjustly, we owe
him our best effort to bring him home.

CASE SYNOPSIS: HALL, WALTER RAY

Name: Walter Ray Hall
Rank/Branch: W1/US Army
Unit:176th Aviation Company, 14th Aviation Battalion, 16th Aviation Group, 23rd
Infantry Division (Americal)
Date of Birth: 07 March 1950 (San Diego CA)
Home City of Record: Los Angeles CA
Date of Loss: 22 March 1971
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 163623N 1063343E (XD666365)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H
Other Personnel In Incident: Reginald D. Cleve; Donald P. Knutsen; John G.
Traver (all missing)

REMARKS:  CRASH - N EXITS OBS - NO SEARCH -J

SYNOPSIS: The families of the men aboard the UH1H aircraft lost on March 22,
1971 were given the following account: On March 22, 1971, W1 Reginald Cleve,
aircraft commander; W1 John G. Traver, pilot; SP4 Donald P. Knutsen, crew
chief; and Walter R. Hall, door gunner, comprised the crew of a UH1H helicopter
in a flight of five helicopters conducting an emergency resupply mission when
the helicopter burst into flames and crashed.

The aircraft was flying at an altitude of about 5000 feet above sea level in
Savannakhet Province, Laos, when it was fired upon by a hostile ground force
and an explosion occurred in the cargo compartment. The helicopter impacted
essentially in one piece and again exploded and continued to burn. No one was
observed to exit the aircraft, and it was the opinion of the investigating
committee that no one could have survived. No rescue attempts were made due to
the heavy concentration of enemy troops and the aircraft fire in the area.

A family member of one of the crew states, "one reason for our feeling that he
may still be alive is that his craft was hit, and he radioed to the leader of
the mission that he would be forced to land. The remainder of the aircraft went
on to deliver their cargoes, and as they returned to their base, they
reportedly passed over this site. They saw (the downed helicopter) on the
ground, but there was NOT any fire, nor did they see any of the men around it."

Because thousands of reports have been received that Americans are still alive
in Indochina, and because distorted stories were given many family members,
particularly relatives of those men missing in Laos (where we were "not at
war"), it is understandable that many family members have lost faith in what
they are told about the fates of their men.

Experts believe that hundreds of Americans may be alive today in Southeast Asia
as captives. The crew aboard the UH1H lost that day in May 1971 could be among
them. Surely they expected that they might be injured or killed. The thought
that they might be abandoned probably never crossed their minds.

What are we doing to bring these men home?
HALL, WILLIS ROZELLE

Name: Willis Rozelle Hall
Rank/Branch: E6/US Air Force
Unit: TDY-Civilian/Lockheed; Lima Site 85-Phou Pha Thi, Laos
Date of Birth: 09 August 1927 (Rose KS)
Home City of Record: Bellevue NE
Date of Loss: 11 March 1968
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 202600N 1034400E (UH680600)
Status (in 1973): Killed In Action/Body Not Recovered
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Others In Incident: Clarence Blanton; James Calfee; James Davis; Henry Gish;
Melvin Holland; Herbert Kirk; David Price; Patrick Shannon; Donald
Springsteadah; Don Worley (all missing from Lima 85); Donald Westbrook (missing
from SAR 13 March)

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

SYNOPSIS: When Willis Hall volunteered for a sensitive assignment called Project
Heavy Green, his wife had to sign a secrecy agreement too. Hall, an Air Force
man, was to be temporarily relieved of duty to take a civilian job with Lockheed
Aircraft. He would be operating cryptographic equipment at Lima 85, a radar base
in Laos, whose neutrality prohibited U.S. military presence. No one was to know.

Lima 85 was on a peak in the Annam Highlands near the village of Sam Neua on a
5860 ft. mountain called Phou Pha Thi. The mountain was protected by sheer
cliffs on three sides, and guarded by 300 tribesmen working for CIA. Unarmed US
"civilians" operated the radar which swept across the Tonkin Delta to Hanoi.

For three months in early 1968, a steady stream of intelligence was received
which indicated that communist troops were about to launch a major attack on
Lima 85. Intelligence watched as enemy troops even built a road to the area to
facilitate moving heavy weapons, but the site was so important that William H.
Sullivan, U.S. Ambassador to Laos, made the decision to leave the men in place.
When the attack came March 11, some were rescued by helicopter, but eleven men
were missing. The President announced a halt in the bombing of North Vietnam.

Donald Westbrook was flying one of 4 A1E's orbiting on stand-by to search for
survivors of the attack at Phou Pha Thi when his plane was shot down March 13.
Westbrook was never found. Finding no survivors, the Air Force destroyed Lima 85
to prevent the equipment from falling into the hands of the enemy.

In mid March, Mary Hall was notified that Lima Site 85 had been overrun by enemy
forces, and that her husband and the others who had not escaped had been killed.
Many years later, she learned that was not the whole truth.

Reports indicate that all the men missing at Phou Pha Thi did not die. One
report suggests that at least one of the 11 was captured; another indicates that
3 were captured; and another indicates 6 were captured. Information has been
hard to get. The fact that Lima Site 85 existed was only declassified in 1983,
and finally the wives could be believed when they said their husbands were
missing in Laos. Some of the men's files were shown to their families for the
first time in 1985.

Mary Hall and the other wives have talked and compared notes. Mary still wears
her wedding band and lives in a small Kansas town on the same street with two of
Willis' sisters. A black POW/MIA flag flutters over her doorstep. She
continually seeks information from a government she no longer trusts, believing
there is a lot of information still to be had.

Mary and the other wives of the men abandoned at Phou Pha Thi think someone
survived the attack on Lima Site 85 that day in March 1968. They wonder if their
country will bring their men home.
HALLBERG, ROGER COBB

Name: Roger Cobb Hallberg
Rank/Branch: E6/US Army Special Forces
Unit: Detachment A-302 5th Special Forces Group
Date of Birth: 18 September 1944 (Visalia CA)
Home City of Record: Palo Alto CA
Loss Date: 24 March 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 120148N 1065547E (YU100305)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Other Personnel In Incident: Jack T. Stewart (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On March 24, 1967, Capt. Jack Stewart and SSgt. Roger Hallberg were
advisors to a mobile strike force company on a combat operation in South
Vietnam.

The Mike Force company was conducting a heliborne assault on March 24, 1967, 7
miles east of Bu Dop in Phuoc Long Province, South Vietnam, near the Cambodian
border. Shortly after landing, the company proceeded about 800 meters north
where the point element began receiving automatic weapons fire. SSgt. Hallberg
who was part of the point element, came back to the command group to report on
the situation because he had no radio.

Capt. Stewart, after assessing the situation, tried to maneuver the recon
platoon to flank the enemy, but it also ran into heavy automatic weapons fire.
The second platoon then started to pull out. It was determined that the unit had
been ambushed by two heavily armed NVA battalions. The remaining platoons fell
back to the command group and took up positions.

Stewart and Hallberg's attempts to consolidate positions around the landing zone
supported by airstrikes failed. Hallberg was wounded slightly, and his
commanding officer was wounded more seriously in the battle. When last seen,
they were fighting while providing cover for the safe withdrawal of their
companions who moved toward Bu Dop until they were picked up by friendly
helicopters. Another group was sent immediately to aid them, but when they
arrived at the site of the ambush they found no trace of Hallberg or Stewart.

Since the war ended in Southeast Asia, thousands of reports of Americans alive
in captivity have been received by the U.S. Government. Whether or not Hallberg
and Stewart are among those still held and alive is not known. What seems
certain, however, is that the Vietnamese know what happened to them.

Many years have passed since the end of the Vietnam War. The final chapter
cannot be written, and the final battle brought to an end until the men like
Stewart and Hallberg are brought home.


HALPIN, DAVID PAUL

Name: David Paul Halpin
Rank/Branch: E3/US Navy
Unit: Naval Support Activity Da Nang, Support Detachment, Cua Viet, South
Vietnam
Date of Birth: 05 June 1948
Home City of Record: Watertown NY
Date of Loss: 28 September 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 165340N 1071042E (YD320690)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: LCM006

Other Personnel in Incident: David L. Dixon (killed)

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: Machinist's Mate Petty Officer Third Class David L. Dixon and Fireman
David P. Halpin were assigned to the Naval Support Activity Da Nang, Support
Detachment, Cua Viet, South Vietnam.

On September 28, 1968 at approximately 2:00 p.m., at the Naval Support Activity
Detachment, Cua Viet, South Vietnam, Dixon and Halpin were working on a boat
which was tied up to a barge from which contaminated fuel was being pumped.

Fireman Halpin was working onboard the boat. Petty Officer Dixon and two other
crewmembers were working in the engine room. A shipfitter, unaware of the fuel
being pumped, came to complete a welding job which had been started earlier that
day on another boat. Almost instantly after the shipfitter struck an arc with
his welder, the fuel fumes near where the fuel was being pumped into the water
ignited. Flames engulfed the entire waterfront.

One sailor in the engine room on LCM006 escaped, stating later that after he
left the boat, he returned to the engine room to see if anyone might still be
there. At the moment he returned, there was no fire in the engine room, however,
it was filled with heavy smoke. He attempted to search for anyone who might be
there, but was forced to leave due to the smoke and heat.

The fire on the water spread quickly and the escaping sailor received burns on
his face and shoulders while swimming ashore. Halpin attempted to get clear of
the boat and was last seen in the vicinity of the fire.

Fire on the water extended far out into the channel, rising to heights of two
hundred feet. Explosions from the boats' ammuniton and fuel tanks saturated the
entire width with burning debris. Due to the intense heat and flame, the fire
raged for over ten minutes before fire-fighting equipment could be put into
effective use. The boat itself was totally engulfed in flames.

Boats were dispatched to check for possible survivors in the ara. An extensive
search of the entire area was conducted with negative results. Due to the
circumstances, little hope for survival was held for Dixon and Halpin. Both men
were initially placed in a casualty status of Missing, but Dixon's status was
changed that same day to Killed in Action. Halpin was maintained in Missing
status until late November, when a Casualty Status Review Board changed his
status to Determined Dead/Body Not Recovered.

There is little hope that Dixon and Halpin could have survived. For some of
their comrades, however, there is ample reason for hope. Mounting evidence
indicates that hundreds of Americans were abandoned as prisoners of war at the
end of the war and remain in captivity today. For the honor of those who died in
Southeast Asia as well as the honor of our country itself, those live Americans
must be brought home.


HALPIN, RICHARD CONROY
Remains Returned 01 March 1986

Name: Richard Conroy Halpin
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 16th Special Operations Squadron, Ubon Airfield, Thailand
Date of Birth: 23 July 1946
Home City of Record: San Diego CA
Date of Loss: 29 March 1972
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 163900N 1060600E (XD165414)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: AC130A
Other Personnel In Incident: Barclay Young; Howard Stephenson; James Caniford;
Curtis Miller; Robert Simmons; Edwin Pearce; Henry Brauner (all missing);
Edward Smith; Irving Ramsower; Richard Castillo; Charles Wanzel; Merlyn
Paulson; William Todd; (remains returned)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II
Project.

REMARKS: NO PARA - NO RAD CNTCT - SAR NEGA

SYNOPSIS: On the night of March 29, 1972, an AC130A Hercules "Spectre" gunship
departed Ubon Airfield, Thailand on a night reconnaissance mission over supply
routes used by North Vietnamese forces in Laos. The crew of the aircraft
consisted of pilots Maj. Irving B. Ramsower II and 1Lt. Charles J. Wanzel III,
the navigator, Maj. Henry P. Brauner, and crew members Maj. Howard D.
Stephenson, Capt. Curtis D. Miller, Capt. Barclay B. Young, Capt. Richard
Castillo, Capt. Richard C. Halpin, SSgt. Merlyn L. Paulson, SSgt. Edwin J.
Pearce, SSgt. Edward D. Smith Jr., SSgt. James K. Caniford; and Airmen First
Class William A. Todd and Robert E. Simmons.

As the aircraft was in the jungle foothills 56 miles east of Savannakhet in
southern Laos, it was shot down by a Russian Surface to Air Missile (SAM). U.S.
government sources stated in February 1986 that a fighter escort plane reported
that the aircraft crashed in a fireball, no parachutes were seen, nor was radio
contact made with the AC130 or any of its crew. In 1972, however, the Pearce
family was told that an F4 support plane traveling with the AC130 heard "so many
beepers they couldn't count them" and that the emergency beeper type carried by
the crew could only be activated manually. The Pearce family took this as strong
proof that a number of the crew survived. The support aircraft plane left the
area to refuel. When it returned, there were no signs of life.

The inscribed wedding band of Curtis Miller was recovered by a reporter and
returned to Miller's family. The existence of the ring suggests to Miller's
mother that the plane did not burn, and gives her hope that he survived.

A May 1985 article appearing in a Thai newspaper stated that the bodies of
Simmons and Wanzel were among 5 bodies brought to the base camp of Lao
Liberation forces. The same article reported a group of 21 Americans still
alive, held prisoner at a camp in Khammouane Province, Laos. At about this same
time, Simmons' dog tag was mailed anonymously to the U.S. Embassy in Laos. FBI
tests failed to show fire residue on the tag, proving to the Simmons family that
Skeeter did not die in the explosion and go down in the fiery crash.

The U.S. and Laos excavated this aircraft's crash site in February 1986. The
teams recovered a limited number of human bone fragments, personal effects and
large pieces of plane wreckage. It was later announced by the U.S. Government
that the remains of Castillo, Halpin, Ramsower, Simmons, Todd, Paulson, Pearce,
Wanzel and Smith had been positively identified from these bone fragments.

In a previous excavation at Pakse, Laos in 1985, remains recovered were
positively identified as the 13 crew members, although independent examiners
later proved that only 2 of those identifications were scientifically possible.
The U.S. Government has acknowledged the errors made in identification on two of
the men, but these two individuals are still considered "accounted for".

Because of the identification problems of the first excavation, the families of
the Savannakhet AC130 have carefully considered the information given them about
their loved ones. The families of Robert Simmons and Edwin Pearce have actively
resisted the U.S. Government's identification, which is in both cases based on a
single tooth. These families do not know if their men are alive or dead, but
will insist that the books are kept open until proof dictates that there is no
longer any hope for their survival.

In January 1991, a federal judge ruled that when the Simmons family collected
death benefits for Skeeter, they lost the right to question whether he was dead.
They have continued to fight a positive identification based on a single tooth.
The Assistant U.S. Attorney, William H. Pease, added that the court has no
jurisdiction over military identification of remains.

Nearly 600 Americans were lost in Laos during the Vietnam war, and many were
known to have survived their loss incident. However, the U.S. did not negotiate
with Laos for these men, and consequently, not one American held in Laos has
ever been released.





HALYBURTON, PORTER ALEXANDER

Name: Porter Alexander Halyburton
Rank/Branch: O2/US Navy
Unit: Fighter Squadron 84, USS INDEPENDENCE (CVA 62)
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Davidson NC
Date of Loss: 17 October 1965
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 213500N 1063300E (XJ605872)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4B

Other Personnel In Incident: Stanley E. Olmstead (missing); At nearby
coordinates, all F4 aircraft from USS Independence and US Navy personnel; Rodney
A. Knutson and Ralph E. Gaither (both released POWs); Roderick L. Mayer
(missing) and David R. Wheat (released POW)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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: 730212 RLSD BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: LT Roderick Mayer was a pilot assigned to the aircraft carrier USS
INDEPENDENCE (CVA-62). On October 17, 1965 he and his Radar Intercept Officer
(RIO), LTJG David Wheat launched in their F4B Phantom fighter jet for a day
strike mission on the Thai Nguyen bridge northeast of Hanoi.

On the same day, a second Phantom flown by LCDR Stanley E. Olmstead, with LTJG
Porter A. Halyburton as his RIO, and a third Phantom flown by LTJG Ralph Gaither
and LTJG Rodney A/ Knutson also launched from the USS INDEPENCENCE. These four
pilots were part of Fighter Squadron 84, the "Jolly Rogers". Mayer and Wheat
were part of the carriers Fighter Squadron 41. All were dispatched to the same
general mission area near the city of Thai Nguyen.

The three Phantoms were all shot down within a few miles of each other. Knutson
and Gaither were shot down in Long Song Province, North Vietnam, near the border
of China, or about 75 miles northeast of the city of Thai Nguyen. Olmstead and
Halyburton were shot down in Long Son Province about 40 miles east of the city
of Thai Nguyen. Mayer and Wheat were shot down about 55 miles east-northeast of
the city of Thai Nguyen, in Long Son Province.

Mayer and Wheat's aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire. Both men were seen to
eject from the aircraft. Search and rescue (SAR) efforts were hampered due to
enemy small arms fire. Lt. Mayer was observed over a period of two hours in a
prone position, still in his parachute. Before rescue helicopters could reach
the scene, both Mayer and Wheat had disappeared from sight and enemy troops were
seen in the area. David R. Wheat was confirmed to be a prisoner of war, and when
released in 1973, made statements which suggest that Mayer was killed during the
ejection or that he died later of injuries resulting from the ejection. He
stated that Lt. Mayer did not move, even when he was found by ground troops.
Mayer was classified Prisoner of War.

LCDR Olmstead's aircraft was hit by hostile fire and crashed while on a bombing
mission. No transmissions were heard, nor was there any sign of ejection by
either crewmember. Other U.S. aircraft passed over the crash site and deterimed
that there was no possibility of survival. However, it was later learned that
Halyburton had survived, and was captured. Being the RIO, Halyburton would eject
first. It was believed that Olmstead had probably died in the crash of the
aircraft, but there was no proof of this theory. Olmstead was classified Missing
in Action.

Gaither and Knutson were captured by the North Vietnamese, spent nearly 8 years
as prisoners and were both released on February 12, 1973 in Operation
Homecoming. Knutson had been injured, and was not fully recovered at the time of
his release.

The fates of these six men from the USS INDEPENDENCE was not clear at the time
they were shot down. Their status changed from Reported Dead to Prisoner of War
or Missing in Action. At the end of the war, only Olmstead and Mayer remained
missing. Ultimately, they were declared dead for lack of evidence that they were
still alive.

When the war ended, refugees from the communist-overrun countries of Southeast
Asia began to flood the world, bringing with them stories of live GI's still in
captivity in their homelands. Since 1975, nearly 10,000 reports relating to
Americans missing in Southeast Asia have been received. Many authorities believe
that hundreds of Americans are still held in the countries in Southeast Asia.

The U.S. Government operates on the "assumption" that one or more men are being
held, but that it cannot "prove" that this is the case, allowing action to be
taken. Meanwhile, low-level talks between the U.S. and Vietnam proceed, yielding
a few sets of remains when it seems politically expedient to return them, but as
yet, no living American has returned.


Roderick L. Mayer was promoted to the rank of Commander during the period he was
maintained missing and David R. Wheat was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant
Commander.

Rodney A. Knutson and Ralph E. Gaither were promoted to the rank of Lieutenant
Commander during the period they were maintained as prisoner of war.

Stanley E. Olmstead was promoted to the rank of Commander during the period he
was maintained missing. Porter A. Halyburton was promoted to the rank of
Lieutenant Commander during the period he was maintained as a prisoner of war.



HAMILTON, DENNIS CLARK

Name: Dennis Clark Hamilton
Rank/Branch: WO/US Army
Unit: 176th Aviation Company, 14th Aviation Battalion, 23rd Infantry Division
(Americal)
Date of Birth: 04 May 1946 (Oscaloosa AL)
Home City of Record: Barnes City IA
Date of Loss: 05 January 1968
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 161907N 1063445E (XD701021)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1D
Other Personnel In Incident: James Williamson; John T. Gallagher; Ernest F.
Briggs; Sheldon D. Schultz (all missing); (indigenous team members, names,
numbers, fates unknown)

REMARKS: NO SIGN OF CREW

SYNOPSIS: On January 5, 1968, WO Dennis C. Hamilton, aircraft commander; WO
Sheldon D. Schultz, pilot; SP5 Ernest F. Briggs, Jr., crew chief; SP4 James P.
Williamson, crewman, and SSgt. John T. Gallagher, passenger; were aboard a UH1D
helicopter (tail # 66-1172) on a mission to infiltrate an indigenous
reconnaissance patrol into Laos.

The reconnaissance patrol and SSgt. Gallagher were operating under orders to
Command & Control North, MACV-SOG (Military Assistance Command, Vietnam Studies
and Observation Group). MACV-SOG was a joint service high command
unconventional warfare task force engaged in highly classified operations
throughout Southeast Asia. The 5th Special Forces channeled personnel into
MACV-SOG (although it was not a Special Forces group) through Special
Operations Augmentation (SOA), which provided their "cover" while under secret
orders to MACV-SOG. The teams performed deep penetration missions of strategic
reconnaissance and interdiction which were called, depending on the time frame,
"Shining Brass" or "Prairie Fire" missions.

As the aircraft approached the landing zone about 20 miles inside Laos south of
Lao Bao, it came under heavy 37mm anti-aircraft fire while at an altitude of
about 300 feet above ground level. The aircraft immediately entered a nose-low
vertical dive and crashed.

Upon impact with the ground, the aircraft burst into flames which were 10 to 20
feet high. No radio transmissions were heard during the helicopter's descent,
nor were radio or beeper signals heard after impact. Four attempts to get into
the area of the downed helicopter failed due to intense ground fire.

During the next two days more attempts to get to the wreckage failed. The pilot
of one search helicopter maneuvered to within 75 feet of the crash site before
being forced out by enemy fire. The pilot who saw the wreckage stated that the
crashed helicopter was a mass of burned metal and that there was no part of the
aircraft that could be recognized. No signs of life were seen in the crash area.

Weather delayed further search attempts for a couple of days. After the weather
improved, the successful insertion of a ground team was made east of the crash
site to avoid enemy fire. The team was extracted after the second day, finding
nothing. The crash site was located near the city of Muong Nong in Savannakhet
Province, Laos.

Nearly 600 Americans were lost in Laos. The Pathet Lao insisted that the "tens
of tens" of Americans they held would only be released from Laos, but the U.S.
did not officially recognize the communist faction in Laos and did not
negotiate for American prisoners being held by them. Not one American held by
the Lao was ever released.

Alarmingly, evidence continues to mount that Americans were left as prisoners
in Southeast Asia and continue to be held today. Unlike "MIAs" from other wars,
most of the nearly 2500 men and women who remain missing in Southeast Asia can
be accounted for. Perhaps the crew of the helicopter did not survive the crash,
but until there is positive proof of their deaths, we cannot forget them. If
even one was left behind at the end of the war, alive, (and many authorities
estimate the numbers to be in the hundreds), we have failed as a nation until
and unless we do everything possible to secure his freedom and bring him home.

HAMILTON, JOHN S.

Name: John S. Hamilton
Rank/Branch: USAF, O4
Unit:
Date of Birth: 03 September 26
Home City of Record: Silver City, NM
Date of Loss: 19 April 67
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 204200N 1053200E
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: A1E

Remarks: No chute seen or beeper heard.

Other Personnel In Incident:

Source: Compiled by THE P.O.W. NETWORK 02 February 1993 from the
following published sources - POW/MIA's -- Report of the Select Committee
on POW/MIA Affairs United States Senate -- January 13, 1993. "The Senate
Select Committee staff has prepared case summaries for the priority cases
that the Administration is now investigating. These provide the facts about
each case, describe the circumstances under which the individual was lost,
and detail the information learned since the date of loss.  Information in
the case summaries is limited to information from casualty files, does not
include any judgments by Committee staff, and attempts to relate essential
facts. The Committee acknowledges that POW/MIAs' primary next-of- kin know
their family members' cases in more comprehensive detail than summarized
here and recognizes the limitations that the report format imposes on these
summaries."

On April 19, 1967, Major Hamilton was the pilot of an A-1E, one in a flight
of two aircraft searching for two pilots downed over North Vietnam.  While
over Hoa Binh Province, Hamilton was attacked by four hostile MIG-17
aircraft, and his wingman observed pieces of his aircraft's outer wing fly
off after it was hit by cannon fire. His aircraft crashed 24 kilometers
southeast of Hoa Binh City. Major Hamilton was not seen ejecting from his
aircraft and there was no electronic beeper heard.  He was declared missing
in action.

On April 19th, that same day, Hanoi radio reported the shoot down of an
American rescue aircraft over Hoa Binh Province.  This report, while not
mentioning the fate of the pilot, was believed to correlate to Major
Hamilton's incident of loss.

In September 1970, a People's Army of Vietnam soldier reported two caucasian
pilots captured in Lac Thuy District in April 1968 after being shot down in
aerial combat with MIG jet aircraft.  The soldier identified a photograph of
Major Hamilton as similar to one of those captured, and the report was
placed in Major Hamilton's file as possibly relating to his capture.  After
Operation Homecoming, a reevaluation of this report led to a reversal of the
wartime evaluation.  It was determined that this incident actually
correlated to Major Thomas Madison and Major Thomas Sterling who had been
lost as described and who returned alive during Operation Homecoming.

Returning U.S. POWs had no information on Hamilton's precise fate. In March
1979, he was declared killed in action/body not recovered based on a
presumptive finding of death.

In January 1991, a report was received about a grave with the remains of a
U.S. pilot in the area where Major Hamilton was lost. Then, in May 1991, a
source provided the rubbing of a dog-tag associated with Major Hamilton and
a bone fragment and claimed that remains were recovered from an area near
Vinh City, Nghe Tinh Province.  This is a considerable distance away from
his known crash site.  In October 1991, another source visited the Joint
Task Force office in Hanoi and turned over a bone fragment and identifying
information about Major Hamilton.  The source claimed his friend found Major
Hamilton's remains at another location, this time in Quang Binh Province.

HAMM, JAMES EDWARD

Name: James Edward Hamm
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit: 390th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Da Nang Airbase
Date of Birth: 04 May 1943
Home City of Record: Longmont CO
Date of Loss: 14 March 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 161800N 1072200E (YD547037)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D
Other Personnel in Incident: (backseater rescued)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Jim Hamm was always finding room for another model airplane to hang
from the ceiling of his room as a kid. When he went to college, he studied
aeronautics and joined the Air Force ROTC. Eventually, he received his wings
and trained to fly the most exciting fighter jet of the day -- the F4 Phantom.

When Jim was shipped to Vietnam, he was assigned to the 390th Tactical Fighter
Squadron at Da Nang airbase in South Vietnam. On March 14, 1968, Jim and his
aircraft commander were sent on a close-air support mission to assist in
diversionary fire for a helicopter evacuation about 18 miles southwest of the
city of Hue where the 304th North Vietnamese regiment was active.

Hamm made three low altitude runs over the hostile forces that morning. On his
fourth run, his plane was hit and caught fire. His backseater ejected and
landed in a valley with an injured leg, and Hamm landed some distance away.
Radio contact was established and rescue attempts made in spite of heavy ground
fire. One rescue helicopter crashed and another was called away. The crew of
the crashed helicopter was safely recovered. The injured backseater was finally
rescued and hospitalized for treatment.

During this period, Jim directed air strikes against the enemy in an attempt to
secure the area, although the enemy was extremely close. For this action he was
awarded the Silver Star. Later in the day, radio contact was lost, and no
further information was received from Jim.

Later analysis indicated that, because of Hamm's isolated position in the
center of enemy activity, he may have been captured. Certainly the enemy knows
his fate. Like nearly 2500 other Americans, his fate is uncertain. Reports
received since the war ended indicate that many are still captive, waiting for
their country to bring them home. One of them could be Jim.

Near Jim Hamm's home town of Longmont, Colorado, there is a peaceful place
where friends and family sometimes go to think and wonder about that day in
March 1968, when Jim was last seen. The pond there has a plaque to let all who
wander there know it's Jim's Pond. One day, maybe he'll see it.


HAMMOND, DENNIS WAYNE "DENNY"

Name: Dennis Wayne "Denny Hammond
Rank/Branch: E4/US Marine Corps
Unit: 2D, CAG III, MAF
Date of Birth: 26 April 1946
Home City of Record: Detroit MI
Date of Loss: 08 February 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 155900N 1081200E (BT023703)
Status (in 1973): Prisoner/Killed in Captivity
Category: 1
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: ground
Other Personnel in Incident: Joseph S. Zawtocki (remains returned)

REMARKS: 700308 DIC - KUSHNER

SYNOPSIS: For Americans captured in South Vietnam, daily life could be expected
to be brutally difficult. Primarily, these men suffered from disease induced by
an unfamiliar and inadequate diet - dysentery, edema, skin fungus and eczema.
The inadequate diet coupled with inadequate medical care led to the deaths of
many. Besides dietary problems, these POWs had other problems as well. They
were moved regularly to avoid being in areas that would be detected by U.S.
troops, and occasionally found themselves in the midst of U.S. bombing strikes.
Supply lines to the camps were frequently cut off, and when they were, POWs and
guards alike suffered. Unless they were able to remain in one location long
enough to grow vegetable crops and tend small animals, their diet was limited
to rice and what they could gather from the jungle.

In addition to the primitive lifestyle imposed on these men, their Viet Cong
guards could be particularly brutal in their treatment. For any minor
infraction, including conversation with other POWs, the Americans were
psychologically and physically tortured. American POWs brought back stories of
having been buried; held for days in a cage with no protection from insects and
the environment; having had water and food withheld; being shackled and beaten.
The effects of starvation and torture frequently resulted in hallucinations and
extreme disorientation. Men were reduced to animals, relying on the basic
instinct of survival as their guide. After months in this psychological
condition, many POWs, lucky to survive, discovered that they were infinitely
better treated if they became docile and helpful prisoners. Unlike in the
North, the POWs in the south did not as naturally assume a military order among
themselves - perhaps because the preponderance of POWs in the North were
officers as opposed to a larger community of enlisted men in the South - and
frequently, there was no strong leader to encourage resistance and to bring
the comfort of order to a chaotic existance.

From the camps in the South came the group of American POWs ultimately charged
with collaboration with the enemy. These charges were later dropped, but are
indicative of the strong survival instinct inherent in man, and the need for
strong leadership. It is common knowledge that nearly all POWs "violated" the
Military Code of Conduct in one way or another; some to greater degrees than
others. Those who resisted utterly, the record shows, were executed or killed
in more horrible ways.

Americans tended to be moved from camp to camp in groups. One of the groups in
South Vietnam contained a number of Americans whose fates are varied.

Capt. William "Ike" Eisenbraun was attached to the 17th Infantry regiment of
the Seventh Division ("Buffalos") when he fought in Korea. He was awarded a
Purple Heart for wounds received in Korea. In 1961, Capt. Eisenbraun
volunteered for duty in Vietnam because he believed in what we were trying to
accomplish there. He was one of the earliest to go to Southeast Asia as an
advisor to the Royal Lao and South Vietnamese Armies.

On his fourth tour of duty, Eisenbraun served as Senior Advisor, Headquarters
MACV, SQ5891, U.S. Army Special Forces. He was at jungle outpost Ba Gia near
Quang Ngai in South Vietnam when the post was overrun by an estimated 1000-1500
Viet Cong force. Newspapers described it as "one of the bloodiest battles of
the war to date". A survivor told newsmen the Viet Cong attacked in "human
waves and couldn't be stopped." There were only 180 men defending the outpost.
Captain Eisenbraun was initially reported killed in action.

Later, two Vietnamese who had been captured and escaped reported that Capt.
Eisenbraun had been captured, was being held prisoner, and was in good health.
Through the debriefings of returned POWs held with Eisenbraun, it was learned
that he died as a POW. One returned POW said that on about September 1, 1967,
Eisenbraun fell out of his hammock (which was about five feet above a pile of
logs) and landed on his right side. For about 5 days after the fall, Eisenbraun
continued his daily activites, but complained of a severe pain in his side.
After that period he stayed in bed and at about 0100 hours on September 8,
LCpl. Grissett awakened PFC Ortiz-Rivera and told him that Eisenbraun had
stopped breathing.

Another POW said Ike had died as a result of torture after an escape attempt in
1967. Robert Garwood added that Ike had provided leadership for the prisoners
at the camp, and was an obstacle to the Viet Cong in interrogating the other
prisoners. He also spoke fluent Vietnamese, which made him a definite problem.
Garwood and Eisenbraun had been held alone together at one point in their
captivity, and Ike taught Bobby the secrets of survival he had learned in SF
training, and in his years in the jungle. Bobby states that Ike knew and taught
him which insects could be eaten to fend off common jungle diseases, and that
he and Ike jokingly planned to write a cookbook called "100 ways to cook a
rat". Garwood said that Ike had been severely beaten following the escape
attempt, and that one night he was taken from his cage and not returned. The
next morning, Garwood was told that Ike had fallen from his hammock and died.

Ike Eisenbraun was buried at the camp in Quang Nam Province along with other
POWs who had died of torture and starvation. His grave was marked with a rock
inscribed by Garwood. A map has been provided to the U.S. showing the precise
location of the little cemetery and grave, yet Ike's remains have not been
returned.

Bobby Garwood had been captured on September 28, 1965 as he was driving a jeep
in Quang Nam Province. Garwood made international headlines when he created an
international incident by smuggling a note out revealing his existance. The
note resulted in his release in March 1979, after having been a prisoner of war
for 14 years. The Marine Corps immediately charged him with collaboration and
assault on a fellow POW, and he was ultimately charged and dishonorably
discharged. He is the only serviceman to be charged with these crimes from the
Vietnam War, and many feel he was singled out to discredit the stories he has
told regarding other Americans held long after the war was over in Vietnam.

Several American POWs were held at a camp in Quang Nam Province numbered ST18,
including Eisenbraun, Garwood, Grissett, LCpl. Jose Agosto-Santos, PFC Luis
Antonio Ortiz-Rivera, Marine LCpl. Robert C. Sherman, Capt. Floyd H. Kushner,
W2 Francis G. Anton, SP4 Robert Lewis, PFC James F. Pfister, PFC Earl C.
Weatherman, Cpl. Dennis W. Hammond and Sgt. Joseph S. Zawtocki.

Agosto-Santos was captured when his unit was overrun in Quang Nam Province on
May 12, 1967. Cpl. Carlos Ashlock had been killed in the same action, and he
and Agosto-Santos had been left for dead. Agosto-Santos had been wounded in the
stomach and back. For about a month, he had been cared for in a cave by the
Viet Cong. Jose felt he owed his life to the Viet Cong. He was released in a
propaganda move by the Vietnamese on January 23, 1968. Ashlock was never seen
again.

Ortiz-Rivera was a Puerto Rican who barely spoke English. His Army unit was
overrun in Binh Dinh Province several miles north of the city of Phu Cat on
December 17, 1966, and Ortiz-Rivera was captured. Ortiz-Rivera was not a
problem prisoner, according to other returnees. He was released with
Agosto-Santos January 23, 1968.

Cpl. Bobby Sherman told fellow POWs that he had been on picket duty with ARVNs
on June 24, 1967 when he decided to go to a nearby village to "get laid".
The Vietnamese girl he met there led him to the Viet Cong instead. Sherman had
been on his second tour of Vietnam. During his first tour, he had suffered
psychological problems because of the grisly job assigned to him of handling
corpses of his comrades killed in action. In the spring of 1968, Sherman,
Hammond, Weatherman, Daly, and Zawtocki, with the help of other POWs, attempted
to escape. Sherman beat a guard in the attempt and was recaptured and punished.
He was held in stocks for many days and fellow POWs said he "got crazy and
never recovered." They said he spent months as a "zombie" and "never was there"
after that. According to Harold Kushner, Bobby Sherman died on November 23,
1968. The POWs buried him in the little cemetery with Ike Eisenbraun. In March
1985, the remains of Bobby Sherman were returned during a period that
Eisenbraun's daughter was publicly asking the President to bring her father
home. A map had been published of the cemetery, and many wondered if there was
a connection.

Capt. Harold Kushner had been the sole survivor of the crash of his UH1D
helicopter on a mountainside in Quang Nam Province on November 30, 1967.
Kushner was a Army Medical Corps Flight Surgeon and had broken a tooth and
sustained a wound to his shoulder when the helicopter crashed. He was
subsequently captured by the Viet Cong. During his captivity, his wife,
Valerie, became active in the effort to end the war, believing that was the
only hope her husband had of returning home. Kushner became ambivilent about
the war himself, and when held in North Vietnam, made propaganda tapes until
informed by the more organized prisoners captured and held in the North that it
was prohibited. Kushner was released March 16, 1973 from North Vietnam.

(Note: a number of other Americans were held with this group including PFC
David N. Harker; James A. Daly; Richard R. Rehe; Willie A. Watkins; Francis E.
Cannon; Richard F. Williams; and James H. Strickland. One detailed account of
the captivity of these men can be found in "The Survivors" by Zalen Grant.
Another can be read in "Conversations With The Enemy", written by Winston Groom
and Duncan Spencer. Homecoming II Project - 2408 Hull Rd. - Kinston NC 28501
-also maintains synopsis accounts of these men.)

W2 Francis Gene "Bones" Anton was the pilot of a UH1C helicopter, code name
"Firebird". On January 5, 1968, his crewchief was SP4 Robert Lewis III, and
door gunner was PFC James F. Pfister. The crew, flying out of the 71st Assault
Helicopter Company, was shot down as they were trying to assist C Company,
under heavy mortar attack at Happy Valley in Quang Nam Province. Their co-pilot
had escaped capture. Anton is one of the few POWs who believed that Garwood,
although clearly a collaborator, was still a loyal American, helpful to his
fellow POWs. Anton, according to other POWs was "always cussing the
Vietnamese". He was released from North Vietnam on March 16, 1973. When Cannon,
Williams, Harker and McMillan were brought to the POW camp at Happy Valley,
they found Anton, Pfister and Lewis well fed and clean. Pfister later made
propaganda tapes at the Plantation in Hanoi in April 1971. Garwood called him
the "head snitch" in one of the camps along the Rock River and White River in
South Vietnam. Both Pfister and Lewis were released on March 5, 1973. None of
the three were considered by superior officers to be among those who criminally
collaborated with the enemy.

Russ Grissett was on a search mission for a missing USMC officer when he became
separated from his unit on January 22, 1966. He was with the elite 1st Force
Recon, and was captured by the Viet Cong in Quang Ngai Province. Russ was
several inches over 6' tall and carried a normal weight of around 190 pounds.
After 2 years in captivity, however, his weight had dropped to around 125
pounds. Grissett suffered particularly from dysentery and malaria, and in his
weakened condition begged his fellow POWs not to tell him any secrets. He had
already been accused of sabotaging an escape plan by Kushner. He found it
difficult to resist, and willingly made propaganda tapes about "lenient
treatment". When Ortiz-Rivera and Agosto-Santos were released, he had "behaved"
enough that he was tremendously disappointed that he was not released with
them. During one period of near-starvation, in late November 1969, Grissett
caught and killed the camp's kitchen cat. It was a dangerous move, and fellow
POWs watched helplessly and innocently as guards beat Grissett for the crime
and he never recovered. Grissett was buried in the camp's cemetery by his
fellow POWs. Harold Kushner stated that Grissett died on December 2, 1969.
David Harker, another returned POW, stated that he had died at 3:30 a.m. on
November 23, 1968. On June 23, 1989, the U.S. announced that the Vietnamese had
"discovered" the remains of Russ Grissett and returned them to the U.S. (Note:
the "cat" incident spawned the assault charges against Garwood. Garwood,
enraged that others had stood by while Grisset was mortally beaten, back-handed
one of the bystanders in the stomach and asked, "How could you let them do this
to Russ?" Some witnesses stated that the blow was not a hard one intended to
injure, but seemingly for emphasis.)

Dennis Wayne "Denny" Hammond and Joseph S. Zawtocki were Marines who were
part of a pacification team when captured during the Tet offensive on February
8, 1968. Denny was a tall, lean, good-looking man thought to be part American
Indian. He attempted escape with the other POWs in the spring of 1968 and was
shot in the leg by Montagnards in a nearby village Denny had beaten a guard to
escape. Part of the "duties" of those POWs healthy enough was to harvest
oranges in nearby Montagnard orchards. The POWs were happy to do this because
it meant badly needed exercise and the opportunity for additional food. Daly
was once accused by guards of stealing oranges that Hammond had stolen. It was
on one of these workdays that the POWs effected their ill-fated escape. After
the escape attempt and recapture, Sherman remained relatively healthy for a
time, but in early March, 1970, died. He was buried near the camp and his grave
marked by a bamboo cross. (Hammond died on 7 or 8 of March, depending on the
source.)

Joe Zawtocki was a stocky, powerful, fair-haired man of Polish descent. He and
Garwood formed a close friendship and exchanged rings. Each promised the other
that if released alone, they would contact the other's family. Joe died on
December 24, 1968 of starvation and was buried near the POW camp. Davis, a
returnee, says that Garwood lost Joe's ring. Garwood states that, upon his
return, he gave Joe's ring to the Defense Intelligence Agency. Several years
later, he learned that DIA had never returned the ring to Joe's family. Joe
Zawtocki's remains were returned to the U.S. on August 15, 1985.

Perhaps one of the strangest cases involved in this group of POWs is that of
Pvt. Earl Clyde Weatherman. Weatherman was in the Marine brig at Da Nang where
he had been confined for slugging an officer in 1967. On November 8, 1967, he
escaped the brig (which constitutes desertion). Intelligence indicates that he
paid a Vietnamese driver to take him to his Vietnamese girlfriend's house, but
the driver instead delivered him to the Viet Cong. A tall, muscular young man
of about 20 years old with reddish-blond hair and blue eyes, Weatherman was
detained in the POW camps in Quang Nam Province, and was party to the ill-fated
escape attempt in the spring of 1968. Opinion was divided among the POWs
regarding the political loyalties of Earl Weatherman. Harker felt his alliance
to the Viet Cong was only an act. Weatherman had once said to him, "Don't
believe everything you hear about me." Others felt he was clearly a turncoat.
Perhaps Garwood stated it most accurately when he said, "Weatherman's only
crime was falling in love with the wrong person - a communist."

It was widely told that during the April 1, 1968 escape attempt, Weatherman was
killed. However, Garwood states that he heard of and saw Weatherman after 1973
when other U.S. POWs were returned, and years after his supposed death in South
Vietnam. Intelligence indicates that Weatherman continued to work for the
communists, and lived with a Vietnamese wife and family. One position said to
have been held by his was with the Vietnamese government's department of
construction - the Cong Tyxay Dung. Garwood last knew him to be at Bavi, living
with a Vietnamese woman.

In 1986, several national news articles revealed that intelligence documents
showed at least 7 missing Americans had been seen alive in Vietnam in the last
dozen years, including Weatherman. Some accounts added that Weatherman had
smuggled a note out of Vietnam that he wished to come home and bring with him
his wife and children. Weatherman's father was allegedly notified of this.

The POW/MIA groups reverberated with anticipation, knowing that if Weatherman
came home, a new source of information on those men still missing would be
available. Several activists questioned a Congressional aide regarding
Weatherman. They asked, "When will Weatherman be able to come home? We
understand the holdup is visas for his wife and children."  The aide, with a
caring and sympathetic look on his face, replied, "I don't know. I just don't
know."

Of this group of prisoners and missing, only Weatherman, Hammond, Ashlock and
Eisenbraun have not returned home, alive or dead. Ashlock was left for dead on
the battlefield. Hammond and Eisenbraun are dead, but still in enemy hands.
Weatherman, for whatever reason, chose love of a woman over love of his country
and remained behind. Can America close its doors to a man who may have a wealth
of information on Americans still alive in Vietnam? If he now wishes to return
to his homeland, can we be less forgiving to him that we were to those
Americans who fled to Canada to avoid the war?




HANDRAHAN, EUGENE ALLEN

Name: Eugene Allen Handrahan
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: Company A, 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry, 25th Infantry Division
Date of Birth: 30 July 1947
Home City of Record: St. Paul MN
Date of Loss: 10 October 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 110314N 1062420E (XT535222)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel In Incident: (none missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Eugene Handrahan was drafted in November, 1967. He considered going
to Canada, but that just wasn't the way things were done in his midwestern
family. After boot camp, he returned home to be married, and shipped out to
Vietnam on April 25, 1968.

Gene was a foot soldier and carried a grenade launcher for Company A, 2nd
Battalion, 12th Infantry. On October 10, SP4 Handrahan and his squad were
setting up an ambush on an enemy position about 50 miles northwest of Saigon
and two miles from the Cambodian border. Company A was about to enter a hedge
row when a machine gun opened up on the squad. Gene was the left point
flank man. During the initial burst of fire, Gene yelled that he had been hit,
but after one buddy was killed trying to reach him, the squad was ordered back
while the area was bombed. Two other men had also been hit in the initial fire.
The other two men were under constant observation by command and control
helicopters, although nothing could be seen of SP4 Handrahan. Enemy fire
prevented the three from being evacuated, although repeated attempts were made
to do so.

Late in the day, the officer in command determined that all three men were dead
and called in an air strike and artillery fire on the enemy position in the
hedge row. The next day, the bodies of the other two men were recovered, but
SP4 Handrahan was not located.

At Handrahan's last known location, a large bomb crater was found. Digging into
the edges of the crater failed to reveal any evidence of remains. No leads were
ever found on his fate from area residents.

A later report indicated that the bodies of American soldiers had been placed
in a well in the vicinity. This report was thought to possibly correlate with
the Handrahan incident.

Gene's family was told by other team members that they could hear Gene yelling
for help throughout the night, that he was wounded and could not move. The team
members found a "spider hole" close to where he was, and believed it was
probable that he had been pulled into the hole.

For many years, the Vietnamese have developed complex tunnel systems in many
parts of the country. The tunnels served them well in war with the French, and
again when the U.S. was involved in the Vietnam war. Veterans speak of
concealed entrances over tunnel complexes so vast that entire hospitals and
larges supply stores were found. It was possible to exist indefinitely in the
system and travel for fairly lengthy distances without ever leaving the
underground. It was not uncommon for Americans to occupy the topside, only to
later discover that the enemy was numerous beneath them.

It is hard to imagine the agony felt by both Gene and his listening team
members through the night. It is impossible to imagine how difficult it must
have been for the officer in command to call in air strikes on this position.
When a man is sent to war he anticipates being wounded or even killed; and
perhaps being captured. The thought that he might be abandoned, wounded and
alone, probably never occurred to Gene Handrahan.

Nearly 10,000 reports have been received by the U.S. Government concerning
Americans still missing in Southeast Asia. Many authorities believe there are
hundreds still alive. Gene Handrahan's family believes many are alive, waiting
for their country to rescue them. They don't know whether to pray Gene is one
of them, or that he died without ever having to learn that the country he so
proudly served had abandoned him.
HANGEN, WELLES

Name: Welles Hangen
Rank/Branch: Civilian
Unit: NBC News Correspondent
Date of Birth: 22 March 1930
Home City of Record:
Date of Loss: 31 May 1970
Country of Loss: Cambodia
Loss Coordinates: 110519N 1044119E (VT660257)
Status (in 1973): Prisoner of War
Category: 1
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Auto

Other Personnel In Incident: Roger Colne (French); Kojiro Sakai; Yoshihiko
Waku; Tomohara Ishii (all Japanese correspondents); 2 other foreign
correspondents (remains recovered)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS: PROB EXECUTED AFTER CAPTURE

SYNOPSIS: Welles Hangen, an NBC News correspondent, Roger Colne, a sound
technician for NBC, Kojiro Sakai, a sound technician for CBS, Yoshihiko Waku, a
cameraman for NBC, and Tomohara Ishii, a cameraman for CBS, and three other
foreign correspondents comprised a group of NBC, CBS and foreign newsmen when
the group was ambushed about 32 miles south of Phnom Penh near Angtassom, in
Kampot Province, Cambodia, on May 31, 1970. The newsmen were heading for the
front lines of fighting in Cambodia, looking for a story as military action in
Cambodia had stepped up considerably at this time.

One of the automobiles was hit by a B-40 rocket, killing all three occupants.
This group was reported to contain a CBS crew, including one individual named
Syvertsen.

The group's Cambodian driver, who escaped capture, said that Hangen and two
foreign journalists riding in the same car were taken alive to a house about
three miles from the site of the attack. Other reports describe the three and
"Hangen and his crew," which presumably include Hangen, Colne, and Waku, all NBC
employees.

CIA located a Cambodian peasant in early 1971 who had been held overnight with
and could identify photos of Colne, Hangen, Sakai, Ishii and Waku. The peasant
stated that they had been held 3 miles from capture then moved the next morning
to a pagoda called Wat Po. The Cambodian knew personal details about each of the
five journalists.

Information obtained by a Khmer Rouge rallier, and substantiated by reports from
villagers, indicated that Hangen and three others were held in the house for
three days before being taken out and executed. The bodies of two newsmen were
recovered from a gravesite near the ambush location, but Hangen, Colne, Ishii,
Sakai and Waku are still missing and were listed as Prisoners of War.

Author Zalin Grant interviewed returned ARVN POWs in early 1973 and released the
following data supporting other stories indicating journalists could still be
alive. "Returned ARVN POWs sighted the (unnamed) journalists on Route #7, 17
miles south of Snoul in Eastern Cambodia 7-72 in ox-carts pulled by Hondas;
another said a VC captain near Minot, eastern Cambodia (where military American
POWs were released from in 1973) reported the (unnamed) journalists held in 7-72
had cameras; Cambodian national saw (unnamed) journalists in 6-72 at Prince
Sihanouk's FUNK camp south of Route #13 in Kratie Province; returned ARVN POWs
said a guard told them in 3073 that the journalists were still alive and held in
their area." Walter Cronkite reported a sighting of (unnamed) journalists in
January, 1974.

Whether Grant's and Cronkite's information relates to the journalists missing
from May 31, 1970, is not known. The five are among 22 international journalists
still missing in Southeast Asia, most known to have been captured. For several
years during the war, the correspondents community rallied and publicized the
fates of fellow journalists. After a while, they tired of the effort, and today
these men are forgotten by all but families and friends.

Tragically, nearly the whole world turns its head while thousands of reports
continue to flow in that prisoners are still held in Southeast Asia. Cambodia
offered to return a substantial number of remains of men it says are Americans
missing in Cambodia (in fact the number offered exceeded the number of those
officially missing). But the U.S. has no formal diplomatic relations with the
communist government of Cambodia, and refused to directly respond to this offer.
Although several U.S. Congressmen offered to travel to Cambodia to receive the
remains, they have not been permitted to do so by the U.S.

By 1991, well over 10,000 reports regarding missing Americans have been received
which convince many experts that hundreds of Americans are still alive in
Southeast Asia. Whether the newsmen ambushed in Cambodia on May 31, 1970 are
among them is unknown. Whatever their identities or nationality, they deserve
the basic human right of freedom.





HANLEY, TERRENCE HIGGINS

Name: Terrence Higgins Hanley
Rank/Branch: O2/US Navy
Unit: Heavy Photographic Squadron 61, USS ORISKANY (CVA-34)
Date of Birth: 16 March 1942
City of Record: Gardiner ME
Date of Loss: 01 January 1968
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 0174000N 1071000E (YE298544)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 5
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: RA3B

Others in Incident: James Dennison; Henry H. Herrin (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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: LOST AT SEA

SYNOPSIS: The A3 Skywarrior is a three-place light bomber, reconnaisance plane,
electronic warfare craft or aerial tanker, depending upon its outfitting. The
RA3B was a more powerful version of the original A3 and outfitted for
reconnaisance missions. Its armament usually consisted of a pair of 20mm cannons
in a remotely controlled tail turret.

Chief Petty Officer Henry H. Herrin was a photographer's mate aboard an RA3B
aircraft flown by LTCDR James R. Dennison and co-pilot LTJG Terrence H. Hanley
assigned a mission over North Vietnam. Their plan was to fly from the U.S. Naval
Air Station, Cubi Point, Philippines to their target area and then recover at Da
Nang Air Base, South Vietnam for refueling and return trip. The mission was for
surveillance of the enemy lines of communication to determine truck traffic. The
mission was flown under radio silence, but was under surveillance by an airborne
radar control aircraft.

Emergency egress is accomplished by sliding down a chute in the bottom of the
aircraft. All crewmembers were equipped with survival radios and survival kits
containing flare pencils. The aircraft flew out to sea approximately 20 miles
and turned southeast. No further contact was made with the aircraft.

An intensive search and rescue operation was called in consisting of surface
units, helicopter and fixed wing aircraft. It was terminated with negative
results. The area in which the aircraft was lost was one heavily traveled by
aircraft, fishing junks and coastal shipping.

All three men were placed in Missing In Action status, which was maintained
until after the war ended.

The crew of the RA3B downed that day in January 1968 may not have survived, but
evidence continues to mount that some of their comrades did - and are currently
being held prisoner in Southeast Asia.

The ultimate sacrifice of our nation's youth - their lives - is tainted so long
as even one American fighting man is held against his will. For the sake of the
living, and the honor of the dead, these men must be brought home.

CASE SYNOPSIS: HANNA, KENNETH

Name: Kenneth Hanna
Rank/Branch: E7/US Army Special Forces
Unit: Company C, Detachment A-101, 5th Special Forces Group
Date of Birth: 28 April 1933
Home City of Record: Scranton SC
Loss Date: 07 February 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 163602N 1064058E (XD795360)
Status (In 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 1
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Personnel In Incident: Dennis L. Thompson; William G. McMurry; Harvey G.
Brande; (all released 1973). Kenneth Hanna; Daniel R. Phillips; James W. Holt;
James Moreland; Charles Lindewald; (all missing); Eugene Ashley Jr. (killed)

REMARKS: OVERRUN AT SF CAMP

SYNOPSIS: The Lang Vei Special Forces camp in the northwestern corner of South
Vietnam along Route 9, a mile and a half from the Laotian border.had been
established in late December 1966 as a result of the Special Forces Detachment
A101 having been moved out of its former Khe Sanh location. It seemed ill fated
from the beginning.

In March 1967, one of the worst tragedies to befall the Special Forces CIDG
program during the war occurred. U.S. Air Force released napalm ordnance on the
nearby village which spewed exploding fire over the camp, landing zone,
minefield and village. 135 CIDG and native civilians were killed, and 213 were
horribly wounded, burned or disfigured.

Only two months later, on May 4, a Viet Cong night attack on the camp wiped out
the Special Forces command group, all in one bunker, and killed the detachment
commander and his executive officer, as well as seriously wounding the team
sergeant. This attack was a prelude to the larger siege of Khe Sanh, and was a
grim reminder of the dangerous neighborhood Special Forces had moved into.

By January 1968, several North Vietnamese Army divisions had encircled the
Marine combat base at Khe Sanh, placing the more westerly Lang Vei Special
Forces frontier surveillance camp in imminent danger. The camp was occupied by
Detachment A101 commanded by Capt. Frank C. Willoughby. Willoughby was
rebuilding and reinforcing the camp at the time, while soldiers and dependants
from the Kha tribal 33rd Laotian Volunteer Battalion streamed into the camp
after being overrun by NVA tanks across the border.

On the evening of January 24, the camp was pounded by mortars in conjunction
with a heavy shelling of the Marine Khe Sanh base, which prevented any
effective artillery support for Lang Vei. 1Lt. Paul R. Longgrear had only
recently arrived with his Hre tribal 12th Mobile Strike Force Company to help
shore up defensive firepower.

The influx of the Laotians caused some problems. For example, the Lao battalion
commander refused to take orders from the American captain, forcing the Company
C commander, LtCol. Daniel F. Schungel, to come to Lang Vei on his first
Special Forces assignment on February 6 to provide an officer of equal rank.

Camp strength on February 6 totalled 24 Special Forces, 14 LLDB, 161 mobile
strike force, 282 CIDG (Bru and Vietnamese), 6 interpreters and 520 Laotian
soldiers, plus a number of civilians.

Shortly after midnight on February 7, 1968, a combined NVA infantry-tank
assault drove into Lang Vei. Two PT-76 tanks threatened the outer perimeter of
the camp as infantry rushed behind them. SFC James W. Holt destroyed both tanks
with shots from his 106mm recoilless rifle. More tanks came around the burning
hulks of the first two tanks and began to roll over the 104th CIDG Company's
defensive positions. SSgt. Peter Tiroch, the assistant intelligence sergeant,
ran over to Holt's position and helped load the weapon. Holt quickly lined up a
third tank in his sights and destroyed it with a direct hit. After a second
shot at the tank, Holt and Tiroch left the weapons pit just before it was
demolished by return cannon fire. Tiroch watched Holt run over to the
ammunition bunker to look for some hand-held Light Anti-tank Weapons (LAWs). It
was the last time Holt was ever seen.

LtCol. Schungel, 1Lt. Longgrear, SSgt. Arthur Brooks, Sgt. Nikolas Fragos, SP4
William G. McMurry, Jr., and LLDB Lt. Quy desperately tried to stop the tanks
with LAWs and grenades. They even climbed on the plated engine decks, trying to
pry open hatches to blast out the crews. NVA infantrymen followed the vehicles
closely, dusting their sides with automatic rifle fire. One tank was stopped by
five direct hits, and the crew killed as they tried to abandon the vehicle. 1Lt.
Miles R. Wilkins, the detachment executive officer, left the mortar pit with
several LAWs and fought a running engagement with one tank beside the team
house without much success.

Along the outer perimeters, the mobile strike force outpost was receiving fire.
Both Kenneth Hanna, a heavy weapons specialist, and Charles W. Lindewald, 12th
Mobile Strike Force platoon leader, were wounded. Hanna, wounded in the scalp,
left shoulder and arm tried to administer first aid to Lindewald. The two were
last seen just before their position was overrun. Harvey Brande spoke with them
by radio and Hanna indicated that Lindewald was then dead, and that he himself
was badly wounded. Daniel R. Phillips, a demolitions specialist, was wounded in
the face and was last seen trying to evade North Vietnamese armor by going
through the northern perimeter wire.
.
NVA sappers armed with satchel charges, tear gas grenades and flamethrowers
fought through the 101st, 102nd and 103rd CIDG perimeter trenches and captured
both ends of the compound by 2:30 a.m. Spearheaded by tanks, they stormed the
inner compound. LtCol. Schungel and his tank-killer personnel moved back to the
command bunker for more LAWs. They were pinned behind a row of dirt and rock
filled drums by a tank that had just destroyed one of the mortar pits. A LAW
was fired against the tank with no effect. The cannon swung around and blasted
the barrels in front of the bunker entrance. The explosion temporarily blinded
McMurry and mangled his hands, pitched a heavy drum on top of Lt. Wilkins and
knocked Schungel flat. Lt. Quy managed to escape to another section of the
camp, but the approach of yet another tank prevented Schungel and Wilkins from
following. At some point during this period, McMurry, a radioman, disappeared.

The tank, which was shooting at the camp observation post, was destroyed with a
LAW. Schungel helped Wilkins over to the team house, where he left both doors
ajar and watched for approaching NVA soldiers. Wilkins was incapacitated and
weaponless, and Schungel had only two grenades and two magazines of ammunition
left. He used one magazine to kill a closely huddled five-man sapper squad
coming toward the building. He fed his last magazine into his rifle as the team
house was rocked with explosions and bullets. The two limped over to the
dispensary, which was occupied by NVA soldiers, and hid underneath it, behind a
wall of sandbags.

At some point, Brande, Thompson and at least one Vietnamese interpreter were
captured by the North Vietnamese. Thompson was uninjured, but Brande had taken
shrapnel in his leg. Brande and Thompson were held separately for a week, then
rejoined in Laos. Joined with them was McMurry, who had also been captured
from the camp. The three were moved up the Ho Chi Minh trail to North Vietnam
and held until 1973. The U.S. did not immediately realize they had been
captured, and carried them in Missing in Action status thoughout the rest of
the war, although Brande's photo was positively identified by a defector in
April 1969 as being a Prisoner of War. A Vietnamese interpreter captured from
the camp told Brande later that he had seen both Lindewald and Hanna, and that
they both were dead.

Several personnel, including Capt. Willoughby, SP4 James L. Moreland, the medic
for the mobile strike force, and Lt. Quan, the LLDB camp commander, were
trapped in the underground level of the command bunker. Lt. Longgrear had also
retreated to the command bunker. Satchel charges, thermite grenades and gas
grenades were shoved down the bunker air vents, and breathing was very
difficult. Some soldiers had gas masks, but others had only handkerchiefs or
gauze from their first aid packets.

The NVA announced they were going to blow up the bunker, and the LLDB personnel
walked up the stairs to surrender, and were summarily executed. At dawn, two
large charges were put down the vent shaft and detonated, partially demolishing
the north wall and creating a large hole through which grenades were pitched.
The bunker defenders used upturned furniture and debris to shield themselves.
Willoughby was badly wounded by grenade fragments and passed out at 8:30 a.m.
Moreland had been wounded and became delirious after receiving a head injury in
the final bunker explosion. Incredibly, the battle was still going on in other
parts of the camp.

Aircraft had been strafing the ravines and roads since 1:00 a.m. Throughout the
battle, the Laotians refused to participate, saying they would attack at first
light. Sfc. Eugene Ashley, Jr., the intelligence sergeant, led two assistant
medical specialists, Sgt. Richard H. Allen and SP4 Joel Johnson as they
mustered 60 of the Laotian soldiers and counterattacked into Lang Vei. The
Laotians bolted when a NVA machine gun crew opened fire on them, forcing the
three Americans to withdraw.

Team Sfc. William T. Craig and SSgt. Tiroch had chased tanks throughout the
night with everything from M-79 grenade launchers to a .50 caliber machine gun.
After it had become apparent that the camp had been overrun, they escaped
outside the wire and took temporary refuge in a creek bed. After daylight, they
saw Ashley's counterattack force and joined him. The Special Forces sergeants
persuaded more defenders fleeing down Route 9 to assist them and tried second,
third and fourth assaults. Between each assault, Ashley directed airstrikes on
the NVA defensive line, while the other Special Forces soldiers gathered tribal
warriors for yet another attempt. On the fifth counterattack, Ashley was
mortally wounded only thirty yards from the command bunker.

Capt. Willoughby had regained consciousness in the bunker about 10:00 a.m. and
established radio contact with the counterattacking Americans. The continual
American airstrikes had forced the North Vietnamese to begin withdrawing from
the camp. Col. Schungel and Lt. Wilkins emerged from under the dispensary after
it was vacated by the North Vietnamese and hobbled out of the camp.

The personnel in the bunker also left in response to orders to immediately
evacuate the camp. They carried Sgt. John D. Early, who had been badly wounded
by shrapnel while manning the tower, but were forced to leave SP4 Moreland
inside the bunker. 1Lt. Thomas D. Todd, an engineer officer in charge of
upgrading Lang Vei's airstrip, held out in the medical bunker throughout the
battle. That afternoon, he was the last American to pass through the ruined
command bunker. He saw Moreland, who appeared to be dead, covered with debris.

Maj. George Quamo gathered a few dozen Special Forces commando volunteers from
the MACV-SOG base at Khe Sanh (FOB #3) and led a heroic reinforcing mission
into Lang Vei. His arrival enabled the Lang Vei defenders to evacuate the area,
many by Marine helicopters in the late afternoon.

Sgt. Richard H. Allen - Survivor
Sfc Eugene Ashley, Jr. - Awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for Lang Vei
Harvey Gordon Brande - Captured - released POW in 1973
SSgt. Arthur Brooks - Survivor
Sfc. William T. Craig - Survivor
Sgt. John D. Early - Survivor
Sgt. Nikolas Fragos - Survivor
Kenneth Hanna - Missing In Action
James William Holt - Missing In Action
SP4 Joel Johnson - Survivor
Charles Wesley Lindewald, Jr. - Missing In Action
1Lt. Paul R. Longgrear - Survivor
SP4 William G. McMurry - Captured - released POW in 1973
James Leslie Moreland - Missing In Action
Daniel Raymond Phillips - Missing In Action
Maj. George Quamo - Killed in Action April 14, 1968
Lt. Quy - Survivor
LtCol. Daniel F. Schungel - appointed deputy commander of the 5th Special Forces
Dennis L. Thompson - Captured - released POW in 1973
SSgt. Peter Tiroch - Survivor
1Lt. Thomas D. Todd - Survivor
1Lt. Miles R. Wilkins - Survivor
Capt. Frank C. Willoughby - Survivor






HANNOTEAUX, GUY

Name: Guy Hannoteaux
Rank/Branch: Civilian
Unit: L'Express
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: France
Date of Loss: 05 April 1970
Country of Loss: Cambodia
Loss Coordinates: XT171290
Status (in 1973): Prisoner of War
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Other Personnel in Incident: Gilles Caron; Michel Visot (both captured)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: French photo/journalist Gilles Caron, L'Express correspondent Guy
Hannoteaux, and French journalist Michel Visot left Phnom Penh on April 5, 1970.
The newsmen were heading for the front lines of fighting in Cambodia, looking
for a story as military action in Cambodia had stepped up considerably at this
time. Caron was on assignment for the Gamma Agency of Paris at the time.

Traveling southeast on Route One in eastern Cambodia, the three men were
captured 6 kilometers west of Chi Phu on Route 2 at grid coordinates XT171290.
UPI reported their capture.

Author Zalin Grant interviewed returned ARVN POWs in early 1973 and released the
following data supporting other stories indicating journalists could still be
alive. "Returned ARVN POWs sighted the (unnamed) journalists on Route #7, 17
miles south of Snoul in Eastern Cambodia 7-72 in ox-carts pulled by Hondas;
another said a VC captain near Minot, eastern Cambodia (where military American
POWs were released from in 1973) reported the (unnamed) journalists held in 7-72
had cameras; Cambodian national saw (unnamed) journalists in 6-72 at Prince
Sihanouk's FUNK camp south of Route #13 in Kratie Province; returned ARVN POWs
said a guard told them in 3073 that the journalists were still alive and held in
their area." Walter Cronkite reported a sighting of (unnamed) journalists in
January, 1974.

Whether Grant's and Cronkite's information relates to Caron, Hannoteaux and
Visot is not known. The three are among 22 international journalists still
missing in Southeast Asia, most known to have been captured. For several years
during the war, the correspondents community rallied and publicized the fates of
fellow journalists. After a while, they tired of the effort, and today these men
are forgotten by all but families and friends.

Tragically, nearly the whole world turns its head while thousands of reports
continue to flow in that prisoners are still held in Southeast Asia. Cambodia
offered to return a substantial number of remains of men it says are Americans
missing in Cambodia (in fact the number offered exceeded the number of those
officially missing). But the U.S. has no formal diplomatic relations with the
communist government of Cambodia, and refused to directly respond to this offer.
Although several U.S. Congressmen offered to travel to Cambodia to receive the
remains, they have not been permitted to do so by the U.S.





HANRATTY, THOMAS MICHAEL

Name: Thomas Michael Hanratty
Rank/Branch: E2/US Marine Corps
Unit: HMM 265, Marine Air Group 16
Date of Birth: 19 June 1946
Home City of Record: Beulah CO
Date of Loss: 11 June 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 165454N 1065530E (YD048689)
Status (in 1973): Killed In Action/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: CH46A

Other Personnel In Incident: Dennis R. Christie, Charles D. Chomel; John J.
Foley; Jose J. Gonzales; Curtis R. Bohlscheid; Michael W. Havranek; James W.
Kooi, Jim E. Moshier; John S. Oldham; James E. Widener (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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: A/C CRASH-EXPLODED-NO SURVS OBS-J

SYNOPSIS: On 11 June 1967, 1LT Curtis Bohlscheid was the pilot of a CH46A
helicopter inserting a seven-man Marine Force Recon team into a predesignated
area 11 1/2 nautical miles northwest of Dong Ha, South Vietnam -- right on the
Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). A total of four aircraft were involved in the mission,
two CH46's and two UH1E helicopter gunships. Bohlscheid flew the lead aircraft.
His crew included MAJ John S. Oldham, LCPL Jose J. Gonzales (crew chief), and
PFC Thomas M. Hanratty (crew chief).

Members of the 3rd Recon Company, 3rd Recon Battalion, 3rd Marine Division who
were being inserted were CPL Jim E. Moshier, LCPL Dennis R. Christie, LCPL John
J. Foley III, LCPL Michael W. Havranek, LCPL James W. Kooi, PFC Charles D.
Chomel, and PFC James E. Widener.

The flight departed Dong Ha at about 11:15 a.m. and proceeded to the insertion
location. The gunships made low strafing runs over the landing zone to clear
booby traps and to locate any enemy troops in the area. No enemy fire was
received and no activity was observed. The lead aircraft then began its approach
to the landing zone. At an estimated altitude of 400-600 feet, the helicopter
was observed to climb erratically, similar to an aircraft commencing a loop.
Machinegunmen had been waiting for the opportune time to fire on the aircraft.
Portions of the rear blades were seen to separate from the aircraft and a radio
transmission was received from the aircraft indicating that it had been hit. The
helicopter became inverted and continued out of control until it was seen to
crash by a stream in a steep ravine.

Subsequent efforts by ground units to reach the crash area failed due to a heavy
bunker complex surrounding the site. The ground units inspected the site from
within 500 meters through binoculars and observed no survivors. All eleven
personnel aboard the helicopter were therefore classified Killed In Action, Body
Not Recovered. Other USMC records indicate that the helicopter also burst into
flames just prior to impacting the ground.

For the crew of the CH46A lost on June 11, 1967, death seems a certainty. For
hundreds of others, however, simple answers are not possible. Adding to the
torment of nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asia
is the certain knowledge that some Americans who were known to be prisoners of
war were not released at the end of the war. Others were suspected to be
prisoners, and still others were in radio contact with would-be rescuers when
last seen alive. Many were known to have survived their loss incidents, only to
disappear without a trace.

The problem of Americans still missing torments not only the families of those
who are missing, but the men who fought by their sides, and those in the general
public who realize the full implication of leaving men unaccounted for at the
end of a war.

Tragically, many authorities believe there are hundreds of Americans still alive
in captivity in Southeast Asia today.  What must they be thinking of us? What
will our next generation say if called to fight if we are unable to bring these
men home from Southeast Asia?

HANSEN, LESTER ALAN

Name: Lester Alan Hansen
Rank/Branch: W2/US Army
Unit: 170th Aviation Company, 17th Aviation Group, 1st Aviation Brigade
Date of Birth: 01 July 1942 (Durango CO)
Home City of Record: Pueblo CO
Date of Loss: 13 August 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 141512N 1074200E (YA912773)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1C
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: CW2 Hansen was the pilot of a UH1C on a reconnaissance team insertion
mission on August 13 1969. The team was to be inserted at a LZ in southern
Kontum Province, South Vietnam at a point where the Sang Sung River turns
sharply to the east.

As the helicopter approached the landing zone in the lead position, it was
struck with small arms fire and crashed. Another helicopter in the flight
immediately responded and began extracting the crew. Small arms fire caused the
rescue helicopter to take off early, and CW2 Hansen was not able to get aboard.
However, he did grab the skid, but as the aircraft gained altitude, CW2 Hanson
was unable to maintain his grip and fell about 100-500 feet.

Extensive air and ground searches were conducted for the next 4 days without
revealing any trace of CW2 Hansen. He was listed Missing In Action. Hansen's
family knew there was a possibility that he had survived to be captured, and
waited for the war to end.

When the war ended, and 591 Americans were released from communist prison
camps, Lester A. Hansen was not among them. He was one of roughly 3000
Americans who were not accounted for.

Twenty years after he fell from the helicopter skids, the number of missing has
decreased due to the return of remains and resolution of cases, to under 2500.
Hansen has never been found.

While the "number" of men missing has decreased, an alarming increase in
reports has escaped Vietnam of Americans still alive and captive there. Many
authorities believe that there are hundreds of Americans still prisoner.
Whether Lester A. Hansen is among them is unknown. What is certain, however, is
that as long as there is even one American being held against his will, we owe
him our best efforts to bring him home.

HANSON, ROBERT TAFT
Remains Returned November 3, 1988

Name: Robert Taft Hanson
Rank/Branch: O2/US Navy
Unit: USS Kitty Hawk
Date of Birth: 28 December 1942
Home City of Record: Toledo OH
Date of Loss: 03 February 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 191158N 1054458E (WG788229)
Status (in 1973): Prisoner of War
Category: 1
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: RA5C
Other Personnel In Incident: Gerald L. Coffee (released POW)

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: PROB RECOV BY VN BOAT

SYNOPSIS: Lt. Gerald L. Coffee was the pilot of an RA5C Vigilante reconnaissance
aircraft assigned to Reconnaissance Squadron 13 on board the USS KITTY HAWK (CVA
63). On February 3, 1966, he and navigator Lt. Robert T. Hanson were on an
intelligence gathering mission against a heavily defended portion of North
Vietnam. Their aircraft was hit by enemy fire and was observed to explode and
hit the water near the coast of North Vietnam east of Nghe An Province. No
parachutes were seen, however an emergency survival radio beeper was heard.

Both Coffee and Hanson successfully ejected and parachuted into the gulf.
Several vessels were put out from the shore to capture the crewmen. Coffee was
recovered by militiamen in one of the boats, and was held prisoner until his
release in 1973.  He stated that he had seen his navigator (Hanson) alive in
the water about 12 meters away and thought that he had been picked up in one of
the other boats. Lt. Coffee also reported that, shortly after his capture, a
guard indicated by gestures that Lt. Hanson was dead and had been buried on the
beach. Coffee was shown his identification card.

An article in the February 1, 1973 Quan Doi Nhan Dan (a daily Vietnamese
paper), in describing the February 3, 1966 shootdown, stated that, "The militia
...managed to bring the two enemy pilots to shore." Hanson and Coffee's plane
was the only aircraft lost within 45 miles of the Gulf of Tonkin that day.

Intelligence reports surfacing over the years during the war and following
build a strong case for a well-organized second prison system, and a well
orchestrated plan to keep prisoners within systems from intermingling. As it is
widely believed that the Vietnamese withheld the release of many prisoners
until peace agreement terms were met (specifically reconstruction aid), it is
logical to assume that one prison system's inmates were released while another
were held back for possible release at a later date. It is also logical to
assume that the scenario might be played to its fullest, including convincing
each man in a two man crew that had been separated, that the other was dead.

Whether Robert Hanson survived to be captured is not known. Experts now
believe, based on thousands of reports received, that hundreds of Americans are
still held prisoner in Southeast Asia. Robert Hanson could be one of them. He
deserves much better than the abandonment he has received by the country he
proudly served.

On November 3, 1988, the Vietnamese, who had previously denied knowledge of Lt.
Hanson, "discovered" and returned his remains to U.S. control. When and how he
died only the Vietnamese can say.


Commander Coffee's last duty station was Commander, Pacific Fleet, Pearl Harbor
Hawaii before he retired.
CASE SYNOPSIS: HANSON, STEPHEN PAUL

Name: Stephen Paul Hanson
Rank/Branch: O3/US Marine Corps
Unit: HMM 165, Marine Air Group 36
Date of Birth: 04 January 1940
Home City of Record: Burbank CA
Loss Date: 03 June 1967
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 161914N 1064049E (XD795050)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: CH46A Helicopter
Other Personnel In Incident: Frank E. Cius (returned POW 1973); Timothy R.
Bodden; Ronald J. Dexter; John G. Gardner; Billy Laney; (all missing); Mr. Ky
(Nung Cdr. - wounded and rescued); Charles F. Wilklow (rescued)

REMARKS: LAST SEEN IN CRASHED AIRCRAFT

SYNOPSIS: On June 3, 1967, Capt. Steven P. Hanson, pilot; 1Lt. John G. Gardner,
co-pilot; Sgt. Timothy R. Bodden, crew chief/door gunner; LCpl. Frank E. Cius,
doorgunner; SFC Billy R. Laney, SFC Ronald J. Dexter, SFC Charles F. Wilklow
and an unknown number of ARVN personnel, all passengers, were aboard a CH46A
helicopter (serial #150955) on an extraction mission in Laos.

The USMC aircraft picked up a U.S. Army Special Forces team attached to
MACV-SOG, Command and Control, and the ARVN troops they were working with.
Military Assistance Command Vietnam Studies and Observation Group (MACV-SOG)
was a joint service high command unconventional warfare task force engaged in
highly classified operations throughout Southeast Asia. The 5th Special Forces
channeled personnel into MACV-SOG (not a Special Forces group) through Special
Operations Augmentation (SOA) which provided their "cover" while under secret
orders to MACV-SOG. These teams performed deep penetration missions of
strategic reconnaissance and interdiction which were called, depending on the
time frame, "Shining Brass" or "Prairie Fire" missions.

The aircraft received extensive automatic small arms fire upon takeoff from the
Landing Zone, took numerous hits and crashed 350 meters from the LZ, located
about 15 miles inside Laos west of the A Shau Valley. The helicopter did not
burn on impact, and continued to receive fire. Three ARVN troops were able to
return to the LZ where the troops remaining at the LZ were extracted the
following day.

The troops waiting at the LZ could not search because of the hostile threat in
the area. Air searches located the survivors of the crash, but they could not
be evacuated. The only America found to be in a position to be safely evacuated
was SFC Wilklow. He gave the following account of what happened to the crew and
passengers aboard the CH46:

SFC Dexter appeared uninjured and left the wreckage with a large number of ARVN
troops. Capt. Hanson was wounded and outside the helicopter, but stated that he
had to return to get his carbine. The Marine Corps believes he died of the
wounds he received when the aircraft was overrun, although Hanson's wife later
identified her husband in a widely distributed Vietnamese propaganda photograph
of a pilot being captured. When last seen, all the other Americans were still
in the wreckage, and enemy troops (the U.S. Army says they were Viet Cong; the
U.S. Marines say they were North Vietnamese Army - possibly a joint force of
both) were tossing grenades toward the aircraft with no attempt to capture the
personnel inside. Wilklow left the crash site, and noted that gunfire suddenly
stopped. He continued to evade the enemy and was picked up 3 days later.

When Mr. Ky, the Nung Commander was being evacuated by the last helicopter out,
he noted several men (undoubtedly Dexter and the ARVN) in a large bomb crater
firing red star clusters from a flare gun. Frank Cius was taken prisoner and
released from Hanoi in 1973. He was one of the dozen or so captured by the
Vietnamese and taken immediately to Hanoi claimed to be the "Laos" prisoners.
In reality, none of the dozen had been held in Laos. Ronald Dexter, according
to Frank Cius, was captured, and died in captivity on July 29, 1967. John
Gardner, according to the USMC, died on the ground after the crash of the
aircraft due to intense enemy fire. Billy Laney was last seen lying wounded on
the floor of the aircraft between a crewmember with a broken back and the door
gunner with a head wound.

NOTE: the USMC states that Bodden, crewchief/door gunner was shot in the back
and never left the aircraft, but reports received by the National League of
Families indicate that he was definitely alive after the aircraft crashed. The
U.S. did not know Cius was captured until he was released, evidently believing
he never exited the aircraft, and Wilklow had indicated that the Vietnamese
were not trying to capture the occupants of the aircraft. Therefore, as door
gunner, he must have been the "door gunner with the head wound", and Bodden the
"crewmember with a broken back".)

Since 1975, the U.S. Government has received thousands of reports relating to
Americans still alive in Southeast Asia. Many of them cannot be dismissed as
untrue. Officially, the U.S. says it is operating under the assumption that men
are being held, and that the matter is of "highest national priority". Yet, we
seem unable to resolve the mystery. Nor have they ever negotiated for the "tens
of tens" of American prisoners the Lao stated they held.

There can be no question that the communists know the fate of those who were
last seen on the ill-fated CH 46A that day. The men aboard this craft were
inserted into Laos for exceedingly dangerous and important missions. They
deserve no less than America's very best efforts to determine their fates. If
any of them are alive, they must be brought home.
HANSON, THOMAS PATTERSON

Name: Thomas Patterson Hanson
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 18 April 1941
Home City of Record: Miami FL
Date of Loss: 05 September 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 171300N 1064500E (XE869042)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4C

Other Personnel in Incident: Carl D. Miller; on another F4C nearby: Donald W.
Downing; Paul D. Raymond (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 September 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.
Most pilots considered it one of the "hottest" planes around.

1Lt. Paul D. Raymond and Maj. Carl D. Miller were F4 pilots who were sent on a
combat mission over Quang Binh Province, North Vietnam on September 5, 1967.
Raymond's bombardier/navigator on the flight was Capt. Donald W. Downing, while
Miller's was 1Lt. Thomas P. Hanson.

Both aircraft crashed on their missions near the coast of Vietnam. Raymond and
Downing went down about 10 miles north of the city of Vinh Linh, while Miller
and Hanson went down about 20 miles north of Vinh Linh. All four were classified
Missing in Action, and it is believed the Vietnamese could account for them,
alive or dead.

591 American Prisoners of War were released in 1973, but nearly 2500 were not.
Thousands of reports have been received by the U.S. Government that indicate
hundreds of Americans are still alive and held captive in Southeast Asia, yet
the government seems unable or unwilling to successfully achieve their release.
Policy statements indicate that "conclusive proof" is not available, but when it
is, the government will act. Detractors state that proof is in hand, but the
will to act does not exist.

Whether the four airmen missing on September 5, 1967 survived to be captured is
not known. Whether they are among those believed to be still alive today is
uncertain. What cannot be questioned, however, is that America has a moral and
legal obligation to secure the freedom of those who may still be illegally held
by the communist governments of Southeast Asia. It's time we brought our men
home.

During the period they were maintained missing, Miller was promoted to the rank
of Colonel, Downing to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, Hanson to the rank of
Major and Raymond to the rank of Captain.

Paul D. Raymond graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1965.
HARBER, STEPHEN JAMES

Name: Stephen James Harber
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: Company E, 2nd Battalion, 506th Infantry, 101st Infantry Division
Date of Birth: 08 May 1948
Home City of Record: Fairmont MN
Date of Loss: 02 July 1970
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 162525N 1071140E (YD335172)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel In Incident: (Lee N. Lenz, Roger D. Sumrall, both killed)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: At 0400 hours on July 2, 1970, SP4 Steven J. Harber, rifleman, was a
member of a unit set up in a night defensive position in Thua Thien Province,
South Vietnam about 25 miles WSW of the city of Hue, when an unknown sized
enemy force attacked.

SP4 Harber occupied a position with Sgt. Lee Newlun Lenz and SP4 Roger Dale
Sumrall. Their position was hit by numerous rocket propelled grenades (RPG),
satchell charges, mortars and small arms fire. After the attack, at daybreak, a
search was made for the unaccounted for personnel.

The remains of Sgt. Lenz and SP4 Sumrall were found, but there was no trace of
SP4 Harber. He was listed Missing in Action.

Harber's family waited until the end of the war with no word of Stephen. But
when 591 Americans were released from Vietnam in 1973, Harber was not among
them, and the Vietnamese denied any knowledge of his fate.

Examination of intelligence reports indicate that there was more than one
prison "system" in Vietnam. Those prisoners who were released were maintained
in the same systems. If Harber was captured and kept in another system, the
POWs who returned did not know it.

Now, nearly 20 years later, men like Harber are all but forgotten except by
friends, family and fellow veterans. The U.S. "priority" placed on determining
their fates pales in comparison to the results it has achieved. Since Harber
went missing, nearly 10,000 reports have been received by the U.S. concerning
Americans still missing in Southeast Asia. Many authorities are convinced that
there are still hundreds of them alive in captivity.

Whether Harber survived to be captured, or is still alive, is not known. What
is certain, however, is that we as a nation, are guilty of the abandonment of
nearly 2500 of our best and most courageous men. We cannot forget, and must do
everything in our power to bring these men home.
HARDIE, CHARLES DAVID

Name: Charles David Hardie
Rank/Branch: E5/US Navy
Unit:
Date of Birth: 21 September 1940
Home City of Record: Houston TX
Date of Loss: 27 July 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 165459N 1103657E (DU591702)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: KA3H

Other Personnel in Incident: Bruce M. Patterson (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 April 1990 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.

REMARKS: ALL PARAD - PILOT RES - NOT SUBJ - J

SYNOPSIS:  The A3 Skywarrior is a three-place light bomber, reconnaissance plane,
electronic warfare craft or aerial tanker, depending upon its outfitting. The
KA3H was outfitted as an aerial tanker. Its function was to stand by at a safe
distance from target areas to be ready to refuel fighter aircraft.

ENS Bruce M. Patterson and AE2 Charles D. Hardie were part of the crew of a
U.S. Navy KA3H. On July 27, 1967, their aircraft was airborne about 200 miles
due east from the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) when it encountered difficulties
requiring the three crewmen to parachute from the crippled aircraft. The crew
safely parachuted from the plane, but only the pilot was rescued. Patterson and
Hardie were never found. It was assumed they drowned. Both were classified
Killed, Body Not Recovered.

The Defense Intelligence Agency further expanded the classification to include
an enemy knowledge ranking of 5. Category 5 includes personnel who are
considered to be dead, and whose remains have been declared non-recoverable.

Since the war ended in Vietnam, refugees have flooded the world, bringing with
them stories of American soldiers still held prisoner in their homeland. Many
authorities now believe that hundreds were left behind as living hostages, and
that substantial numbers of these are still alive today.

Hardie and Patterson apparently did not survive the events of July 27, 1967.
Their families have accepted that they is dead and they no longer expect them to
come home. But hundreds of families wait expectantly and in the special agony
only uncertainty can bring. Hundreds of men may wait in caves, cages and
prisons. How much longer will we allow the abandonment of our best men? It's
time we brought them home.

HARDMAN, WILLIAM MORGAN

Name: William Morgan Hardman
Rank/Branch: O4/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 196, USS CONSTELLATION
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: St. Albans WV
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: Leo T. Profilet (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.



HARDY WILLIAM HENRY

Name: William Henry Hardy
Rank/Branch: O3/US Army
Unit:
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record:
Date of Loss: 29 June 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 105405N 1064218E (XT863055)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Truck

Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 October 1990 from: raw data from
U.S. Government agency sources, published sources including "Civilian POW:
Terror and Torture in South Vietnam" by Norman J. Brookens.

REMARKS: 730212 RELSD BY PRG

SYNOPSIS: On January 17, 1966, U.S. State Department Foreign Service Officer
Douglas K. Ramsey was driving a truck northwest of Saigon when he was captured
by Viet Cong forces. For Ramsey and for all Americans captured in South Vietnam,
life would be brutally difficult. These men suffered from disease induced by an
unfamiliar and inadequate diet - dysentery, edema, skin fungus and eczema as
well as particularly brutal treatment from guards.

Douglas K. Ramsey was the first to be captured of a group of about 30 Americans
who would be held along the Cambodian border. The was the only group of POWs who
were not released from Hanoi in Operation Homecoming in 1973.

In 1967, the Viet Cong captured another prisoner of war -- Army Capt. William H.
Hardy, who was captured on June 29, 1967 as he drove a truck near Saigon.

Around the time of the Tet Offensive in early 1968, the Viet Cong northwest of
Saigon captured still more Americans: State Department employees, Norman
Brookens and Richard Utecht; U.S. civilians Michael Kjome and James Rollins;
Army Cpl. Thomas Van Putten and Australian businessman, Charles K. Hyland.

On April 22, 1968, four POWs who were held together -- Brookens, Utecht, Hyland
and Rollins -- dared an escape. They had secretly learned to remove their
chains, and on this rainy night they made their break. Within seconds of their
freedom, they were soaked. It was impossible to walk in the thick jungle, so
they crawled on hands and knees. They immediately became separated, and had
barely reached the camp border when they were surrounded and recaptured.

For the next ten days, they were given only several spoons of rice and a pinch
of salt. They were chained and bound with ropes so tight their arms and legs
went completely numb. The ropes were removed after a month, but the chains
remained. The four were rotated between a cage and a pit. Brookens remained in
the pit for several months, lying in his own body waste.

Throughout the spring and summer of 1968, others were captured: Capt. John Dunn
and Pvt. James M. Ray captured on March 18; Pvt. Ferdinand Rodriguez on April
14; Maj. Raymond Schrump on May 23; SSgt. Felix Neco-Quinones on July 16, SSgt.
Bobby Johnson, SP4 Thomas Jones and SSgt. Kenneth Gregory on August 25.

The POWs were kept on the move; some held in groups, and some held alone. It was
a mental challenge to try to keep track of their location, and the POWs report
that they believed they were in Cambodia some of the time, and at other times
near the Ho Chi Minh Trail. During rest periods on the journey they were held in
cages or in deep holes, or chained to trees.

In mid-July, Brookens, Utecht and Rollins were moved to another camp, but Hyland
was left behind. He was released on November 26, 1968. For the first time, State
Department learned that Brookens and Utecht had definitely been captured.

During 1969 and 1970, the Americans were moved frequently as U.S. air and
artillery strikes came closer. The journeys were pure torture, and the POWs
often lived chained to trees while cages were were built for them. They were
sometimes held in swampy areas thick with snakes and mosquitoes. Some of the
marches occurred during monsoon season, and the prisoners, still wearing leg
chains, walked in neck-deep water. During bomb strikes, some from thundering B52
and artillery, the men hid in bunkers.

The POWs' health began to reach its limits. They were suffering from dysentery,
beriberi and jungle rot; some had festering wounds from their captures. In
April, 1969, they moved again, living in the jungle until a new camp was built
in Cambodia.

In early April 1969, an American prisoner escaped. Army Cpl. Thomas H. Van
Putten had been captured near Tay Ninh as he operated a road grader on February
11, 1968. After making his way to friendly forces, Van Putten identified the
POWs held by the  Viet Cong in his camp.

In July 1969, a POW committed a minor offense for which the entire camp was
severely punished for 30 days. The prisoner who caused the commotion was later
taken from the camp. Some POWs reported that they last saw the man, who was only
21 years old, laying on the ground near his cage covered by a piece of plastic.
They believed he was dead and he had died of torture, starvation and lack of
medicine for his ailments. [NOTE: Brookens does not give the name of this POW
who apparently died in July 1969. Although the incident does not match
information found in James M. Ray's personnel file, and Jimmy Ray was not know
to be dead, this account may refer to him.]

In late spring, 1969, the prisoners began to be put together, and they
eventually reached a new camp with above-ground cages, which they believed was
northwest of Tay Ninh near the Cambodian border. Brookens and Utecht were put in
the same cage, and it was the first time Brookens had talked to another American
since the aborted escape attempt two years before.

By June 1969, encroaching artillery forced the POWs westward into Cambodia, but
on July 14, they returned to the border camp where they remained until December
1970. At this time, they were moved deep into Cambodia. Again they were chained
while cages were built. The POWs remained here until April 1972, when they were
moved to a new, and final camp.

In 1969, 1970, and 1971, more Americans were captured: SP4 Gary Guggenberger on
January 14 1969; U.S. Civilians John Fritz, Jr., James Newingham and Tanos Kalil
on February 8; in 1970: SP4 Frederick Crowson and WO Daniel Maslowski on May 2;
SP4 Keith Albert on May 21; SP4 Richard Springman on May 25; in 1971: WO James
Hestand, captured March 17; American civilian Richard Waldhaus on August 4.

The POWs were in terrible condition -- painfully thin, with all manner of skin
ailments, dysentery, and malaria. Brookens was so physically depleted that he
could barely walk without the aid of walking sticks.

In 1972, more POWs arrived: MSgt. Kenneth Wallingford, Maj. Albert Carlson and
Capt. Mark A. Smith, captured April 7; Capt. George Wanat, Jr. and Capt. Johnnie
Ray, captured April 8; Air Force Capt. David Baker, captured June 27; and Marine
Capt. James Walsh, Jr., captured September 26.

Then on the morning of February 12, 1973, the men were told they were going
home. By this time, there were 27 in all, five of them civilians. The group was
taken to a small airport outside Loc Ninh, and after 11 hours of waiting, they
were finally allowed to board the helicopters and start for home.

Norm Brookens had lost 55 pounds since his capture, and was treated for a
ruptured colon, a heart condition, jungle rot, malaria and beriberi.

Thomas H. Van Putten resides in Michigan and had a leg amputated in September
1990 as a result of complications stemming from injuries during his captivity.

James M. Ray and Tanos E. Kalil remained missing in action and were not returned
in 1973. Kalil's name was on the PRG list as having died in captivity. Ray's
fate is unknown.



HARDY, ARTHUR HANS
Remains Returned 830920

Name: Arthur Hans Hardy
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 07 November 1948
Home City of Record: Ipswich MA
Date of Loss: 14 March 1972
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 160100N 106200E (XC410655)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category:2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: OV10A

Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: The OV10 Bronco was among the aircraft most feared by the Viet Cong
and NVA forces, because whenever the Bronco appeared overhead, an air strike
seemed certain to follow. Although the glassed-in cabin could become
uncomfortably warm, it provided splendid visibility. The two-man crew had armor
protection and could use machine guns and bombs to attack, as well as rockets to
mark targets for fighter bombers. This versatility enabled the plane to fly
armed reconnaissance missions, in addition to serving as vehicle for forward air
controllers.

1Lt. Arthur H. Hardy was the pilot of an OV10A sent on a forward air control
mission over the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos on March 14, 1972. The "Trail," a
road system in Laos near the Vietnam border,  was used by the North Vietnamese
and Viet Cong for transporting weapons, supplies and troops. Hardy's aircraft
was hit during the mission, and he bailed out of the aircraft. He radioed to
rescuers that he was going down Routes #23 and #233, and his parachute was seen
on the trail. He was believed to be uninjured at that time. Search and Rescue
never found Arthur H. Hardy. He was declared Missing in Action, even though he
was alive on the ground in close proximity to enemy troops.

Records on American military personnel were maintained in various government
agencies. Raw intelligence data from Southeast Asia freqently first found its
way into the files of the organization which came to be known as Joint Casualty
Resolution Center (JCRC). Many analysts believed JCRC records were the most
complete and authoritative, since they contained largely raw data without
benefit of analytical "muddling".

In November 1973, JCRC received a cable from Defense Intelligence Agency which
was copied to various high stations, including CIA, the Secretary of State and
the White House. The cable stated JCRC should "take necessary action to delete
any references pertaining to PW [Prisoner of War] status and place members in a
new MIA code" the files of Arthur Hardy and several others. Whether JCRC had
intelligence that indicated Hardy had been captured is unknown.

Since American involvement in Vietnam ended in 1975, nearly 10,000 reports
relating to Americans missing, prisoner, or otherwise unaccounted for in
Indochina have been received by the U.S. Government. Many officials, having
examined this largely classified information, have reluctantly concluded that
many Americans are still alive today, held captive by our long-ago enemy.

Whether Hardy was captured by the enemy is certain not known. It is not known if
he might be among those thought to be still alive today. What is certain,
however, is that as long as even one American remains alive, held against his
will, we owe him our very best efforts to bring him to freedom.

Hardy graduated from the Air Force Academy in 1970. He was promoted to the rank
of Captain during the period he was maintained missing. His 's remains were
recovered and returned by a Lao citizen on 20 September 1983.





Hundreds of
American pilots were shot down trying to stop this communist traffic to South
Vietnam. Fortunately, search and rescue teams in Vietnam were extremely
successful and the recovery rate was high.

Still there were nearly 600 who were not rescued. Many of them went down along
the Ho Chi Minh Trail and the passes through the border mountains between Laos
and Vietnam. Many were alive on the ground and in radio contact with search and
rescue and other planes; some were known to have been captured. Hanoi's
communist allies in Laos, the Pathet Lao, publicly spoke of American prisoners
they held, but when peace agreements were negotiated, Laos was not included, and
not a single American was released that had been held in Laos.

(account)

Were it not for the thousands of reports concerning Americans still held captive
in Southeast Asia, the _______ family might be able to close this tragic chapter
of their lives. But as long as Americans are alive, being held captive, one of
them could be _____. It's time we brought these men home.



HARDY, JOHN KAY JR.

Name: John Kay Hardy, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit: 557th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Cam Ranh Bay ABSV
Date of Birth: 13 January 1942
Home City of Record: Los Angeles CA
Date of Loss: 12 October 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 171600N 1064100E (XE795087)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4C

Other Personnel in Incident: Thomas G. Derrickson (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 31 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 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.

Capt. Thomas G. Derrickson II and 1Lt. John K. Hardy Jr. comprised the crew of
an F4C Phantom jet assigned an armed reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam
on October 12, 1967. Derrickson and Hardy were in the lead aircraft in a flight
of two. Over Quang Binh Province, they sighted ground targets and radioed to
their wingman that they were "rolling in." Shortly thereafter, the wingman saw a
flash of yellow light followed by a fire and a cloud of black smoke. Attempts to
contact Derrickson and Hardy were unsuccessful.

Derrickson had graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1959, so was a
seasoned pilot. Hardy, who had begun training after graduation from the
University of Southern California, was a less experienced pilot, but both were
trained in the Phantom.

According to the Hardy family, many efforts were made to obtain information
concerning what happened to Hardy and Derrickson that day with no success. It is
known that their last known location was about 15 miles south of the city of
Dong Hoi, some 25 miles north of the Demilitarized Zone in North Vietnam.
Anti-aircraft resistance was heavy in this region.

Both men were declared Missing in Action, and the U.S. believed the enemy
probably knew their fates. When the war ended, and 591 Americans were released
in Operation Homecoming in 1973, military experts expressed their dismay that
"some hundreds" of POWs did not come home with them. Since that time, thousands
of reports have been received by the U.S. Government, forcing many authorities
to conclude that many Americans are still being held against their will in
Southeast Asia. Whether Derrickson and Hardy are among them is not known. What
is certain, however, is that if only one American remains alive in enemy hands,
we owe him our best effort to bring him home.


HARGROVE, JOSEPH NELSON

Name: Joseph Nelson Hargrove
Rank/Branch: E3/US Marine Corps
Unit: F BLT/2nd Battalion, 9th Marines, 3rd Marine Division
Date of Birth: 15 May 1951
Home City of Record: Mt. Olive NC
Date of Loss: 15 May 1975
Country of Loss: Cambodia/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 101800N 1030830E (TS960400)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel in Incident: Daniel A. Benedett; Lynn Blessing; Walter Boyd;
Gregory S. Copenhaver; Andres Garcia; Bernard Gause Jr., James J. Jacques;
Ronald J. Manning; James R. Maxwell; Richard W. Rivenburgh; Antonio R.
Sandoval; Kelton R. Turner; Richard Van de Geer (all missing on CH53A); Danny
G. Marshall (missing on Koah Tang Island); Elwood E. Rumbaugh (missing from a
CH53A)

REMARKS: 750515 MAYAGUEZ INCIDENT LOSS

SYNOPSIS: When U.S. troops were pulled out of Southeast Asia in early 1975,
Vietnamese communist troops began capturing one city after another, with Hue,
Da Nang and Ban Me Thuot in March, Xuan Loc in April, and finally on April 30,
Saigon. In Cambodia, communist Khmer Rouge had captured the capital city of
Phnom Penh on April 17. The last Americans were evacuated from Saigon during
"Option IV", with U.S. Ambassador Martin departing on April 29. The war,
according to President Ford, "was finished."

2Lt. Richard Van de Geer, assigned to the 21st Special Ops Squadron at NKP, had
participated in the evacuation of Saigon, where helicopter pilots were required
to fly from the decks of the 7th Fleet carriers stationed some 500 miles
offshore, fly over armed enemy-held territory, collect American and allied
personnel and return to the carriers via the same hazardous route, heavily
loaded with passengers. Van de Geer wrote to a friend, "We pulled out close to
2,000 people. We couldn't pull out any more because it was beyond human
endurance to go any more..."

At 11:21 a.m. on May 12, the U.S. merchant ship MAYAGUEZ was seized by the
Khmer Rouge in the Gulf of Siam about 60 miles from the Cambodian coastline and
eight miles from Poulo Wai island. The ship, owned by Sea-Land Corporation, was
en route to Sattahip, Thailand from Hong Kong, carrying a non-arms cargo for
military bases in Thailand.

Capt. Charles T. Miller, a veteran of more than 40 years at sea, was on the
bridge. He had steered the ship within the boundaries of international waters,
but the Cambodians had recently claimed territorial waters 90 miles from the
coast of Cambodia. The thirty-nine seamen aboard were taken prisoner.

President Ford ordered the aircraft carrier USS CORAL SEA, the guided missile
destroyer USS HENRY B. WILSON and the USS HOLT to the area of seizure. By
night, a U.S. reconnaissance aircraft located the MAYAGUEZ at anchor off Poulo
WaI island. Plans were made to rescue the crew.  A battalion landing team of
1,100 Marines was ordered flown from bases in Okinawa and the Philippines to
assemblE at Utapao, Thailand in preparation for the assault.

The first casualties of the effort to free the MAYAGUEZ are recorded on May 13
when a helicopter carrying Air Force security team personnel crashed en route
to Utapao, killing all 23 aboard.

Early in the morning of May 13, the Mayaguez was ordered to head for Koh Tang
island. Its crew was loaded aboard a Thai fishing boat and taken first to Koh
Tang, then to the mainland city of Kompong Song, then to Rong San Lem island.
U.S. intelligence had observed a cove with considerable activity on the island
of Koh Tang, a small five-mile long island about 35 miles off the coast of
Cambodia southwest of the city of Sihanoukville (Kampong Saom), and believed
that some of the crew might be held there. They also knew of the Thai fishing
boat, and had observed what appeared to be caucasians aboard it, but it could
not be determined if some or all of the crew was aboard.

The USS HOLT was ordered to seize and secure the MAYAGUEZ, still anchored off
Koh Tang. Marines were to land on the island and rescue any of the crew. Navy
jets from the USS CORAL SEA were to make four strikes on military installments
on the Cambodian mainland.

On May 15, the first wave of 179 Marines headed for the island aboard eight Air
Force "Jolly Green Giant" helicopters. Three Air Force helicopters unloaded
Marines from the 1st Battalion, 4th Marines onto the landing pad of the USS
HOLT and then headed back to Utapao to pick up the second wave of Marines.
Planes dropped tear gas on the MAYAGUEZ, and the USS HOLT pulled up along side
the vessel and the Marines stormed aboard. The MAYAGUEZ was deserted.

Simultaneously, the Marines of the 2/9 were making their landings on two other
areas of the island. The eastern landing zone was on the cove side where the
Cambodian compound was located. The western landing zone was a narrow spit of
beach about 500 feet behind the compound on the other side of the island. The
Marines hoped to surround the compound.

As the first troops began to unload on both beaches, the Cambodians opened
fire. On the western beach, one helicopter was hit and flew off crippled, to
ditch in the ocean about 1 mile away. The pilot had just disembarked his
passengers, and he was rescued at sea.

Meanwhile, the eastern landing zone had become a disaster. The first two
helicopters landing were met by enemy fire. Ground commander, (now) Col.
Randall W. Austin had been told to expect between 20 and 40 Khmer Rouge
soldiers on the island. Instead, between 150 and 200 were encountered. First,
Lt. John Shramm's helicopter tore apart and crashed into the surf after the
rotor system was hit. All aboard made a dash for the tree line on the beach.

One CH53A helicopter was flown by U.S. Air Force Major Howard Corson and 2Lt.
Richard Van de Geer and carrying 23 U.S. Marines and 2 U.S. Navy corpsmen, all
from the 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines. As the helicopter approached the island,
it was caught in a cross fire and hit by a rocket. The severely damaged
helicopter crashed into the sea just off the coast of the island and exploded.
To avoid enemy fire, survivors were forced to swim out to sea for rescue.
Twelve aboard, including Maj. Corson, were rescued. Those missing from the
helicopter were 2Lt. Richard Van de Geer, PFC Daniel A. Benedett, PFC Lynn
Blessing, PFC Walter Boyd, Lcpl. Gregory S. Copenhaver, Lcpl. Andres Garcia,
PFC James J. Jacques, PFC James R. Maxwell, PFC Richard W. Rivenburgh, PFC
Antonio R. Sandoval, PFC Kelton R. Turner, all U.S. Marines. Also missing were
HM1 Bernard Gause, Jr. and HM Ronald J. Manning, the two corpsmen.

Other helicopters were more successful in landing their passengers. One CH53A,
however was not. SSgt. Elwood E. Rumbaugh's aircraft was near the coastline
when it was shot down. Rumbaugh is the only missing man from the aircraft. The
passengers were safely extracted. (It is not known whether the passengers went
down with the aircraft or whether they were rescued from the island.)

By midmorning, when the Cambodians on the mainland began receiving reports of
the assault, they ordered the crew of the MAYAGUEZ on a Thai boat, and then
left. The MAYAGUEZ crew was recovered by the USS WILSON before the second wave
of Marines was deployed, but the second wave was ordered to attack anyway.

Late in the afternoon, the assault force had consolidated its position on the
western landing zone and the eastern landing zone was evacuated at 6:00 p.m. By
the end of the 14-hour operation, most of the Marines were extracted from the
island safely, with 50 wounded. Lcpl. Ashton Loney had been killed by enemy
fire, but his body could not be recovered.

Protecting the perimeter during the final evacuation was the machine gun squad
of PFC Gary L. Hall, Lcpl. Joseph N. Hargrove and Pvt. Danny G. Marshall. They
had run out of ammunition and were ordered to evacuate on the last helicopter.
It was their last contact. Maj. McNemar and Maj. James H. Davis made a final
sweep of the beach before boarding the helicopter and were unable to locate
them. They were declared Missing in Action.

The eighteen men missing from the MAYAGUEZ incident are listed among the
missing from the Vietnam war. Although authorities believe that there are
perhaps hundreds of American prisoners still alive in Southeast Asia from the
war, most are pessimistic about the fates of those captured by the Khmer Rouge.

In 1988, the communist government of Kampuchea (Cambodia) announced that it
wished to return the remains of several dozen Americans to the United States.
(In fact, the number was higher than the official number of Americans missing
in Cambodia.) Because the U.S. does not officially recognize the Cambodian
government, it has refused to respond directly to the Cambodians regarding the
remains. Cambodia, wishing a direct acknowledgment from the U.S. Government,
still holds the remains.





HARGROVE, OLIN JR.

Name: Olin Hargrove Jr.
Rank/Branch: E3/US Army
Unit: A Company, 2nd Battalion, 28th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division
Date of Birth: 21 January 1949
Home City of Record: Birmingham AL
Date of Loss: 17 October 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 112220N 1063239E (XT685575)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Other Personnel In Incident: Paul L. Fitzgerald (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: On October 17, 1967, SP4 Fitzgerald and PFC Hargrove were riflemen on
a search and destroy mission in South Vietnam. Their unit became engaged in
close, heavy contact and suffered heavy losses. Contact was broken and their
unit withdrew to set up a hasty defense in order to secure their dead and
wounded. At this time, SP4 Fitzgerald and PFC Hargrove were located on the south
side of the perimeter, between the main body and the enemy.

It is believed that Fitzgerald and Hargrove became disoriented and moved in the
wrong direction, as they were not seen to board the helicopters. One witness
stated that PFC Hargrove had already been wounded in the back. On October 18 and
19, a company-sized unit searched the entire area, however, no trace of the two
was ever found.

Paul Fitzgerald and Olin Hargrove were classified missing in action. They are
among nearly 2500 Americans who disappeared in Southeast Asia. Since the war
ended, thousands of reports have been received which indicate that hundreds of
these missing men are actually still alive, captives of a long-ago enemy. If
Fitzgerald and Hargrove are among them, what must they think of us?

Paul L. Fitzgerald, Jr. and Olin Hargrove, Jr. were both promoted to the rank of
Staff Sergeant during the period they were maintained Missing in Action.

CASE SYNOPSIS: HARKER, DAVID NORTHRUP

Name: David Northrup Harker
Rank/Branch: E3/US Army
Unit: Company D, 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry 196th Light Infantry Brigade
(Americal) Chu Lai, South Vietnam
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Lynchburg VA
Loss Date: 08 January 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 153551N 1081006E (AT964263)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel in Incident: Company A: James A.Daly (released POW - 1973);
Richard R. Rehe; Willie A. Watkins (released POW 1969); Derri Sykes (missing);
Company D: Francis E. Cannon (POW - remains returned 1985); Richard F. Williams
(POW - remains returned 1985); James H. Strickland (released POW - 1969);
Thomas A. Booker (killed); "Coglin" (an unknown person whom Cannon said died)

REMARKS: RELEASED 730305 BY PRG

SYNOPSIS: On January 8, 1968, PFC Richard Rehe, PFC Derri Sykes, PFC James A.
Daly and Cpl. Willie A. Watkins, members of A Company, 3rd Battalion, 21st
Infantry, 196th Light Infantry Brigade (Americal) were ordered to move down to
Happy Valley in Quang Tin Province, South Vietnam. "Charlie" and "Delta"
Companies had been sustaining heavy losses in previous days.

PFC David N. Harker, James H. Strickland, 1Sgt. Richard F. Williams, Sgt.
Thomas A. Booker, PFC Francis E. Cannon and "Coglin" were part of Delta
Company. During the fight, a mortar shell exploded near Cannon, the radioman,
killing Sgt. Booker and "Coglin". Harker, a rifleman, was stabbed in the side
with a bayonette. Strickland, a rifleman, was not seriously wounded. Cannon had
a large hole in his upper back and a smaller hole near his neck. The Company's
first sergeant, "Top" Williams, was shot through the right hand and injured an
arm. Harker, Strickland, Williams and Cannon were captured that day.

The next day, under heavy attack, Daly, Rhe, Watkins and Sykes were injured and
captured. Sykes, a rifleman, was hit 3 times as he and Watkins had jumped for
cover just when a grenade hit. Watkins was captured immediately, but thought
that Sykes was left behind, as the enemy rushed him (Watkins) from the area.
During his departure from the area, Watkins saw Daly, whom he thought dead,
lying in a rice paddy. Daly then moved and drew attention to himself and was
captured. Watkins later saw Sykes, bandaged and  calling for water. Watkins and
Daly carried him along the trail after their capture, but were ordered to leave him
under a shed at a house on the trail on the first day. They never saw Derri
Sykes again.

Watkins said that Richard Rehe, a grenadier, had also been taken prisoner that
day, but died in captivity from wounds sustained in the battle. Daly stated
that both Rehe and Sykes had been captured but had died the same day.

Cannon, Williams, Harker, Strickland, Watkins and Daly eventually were held
together in prison camps in Quang Nam Province, South Vietnam. For Americans as
well as Viet Cong, life in these camps was extremely difficult. The living
conditions were primitive, food scarce at times, and disease and dysentary
common, adequate medical treatment uncommon. It was not uncommon for POWs held
in the south to die of starvation or disease. It is also resonable to expect
that in such circumstances, one cannot predict behavior or its abberation.
While superhuman efforts were made to maintain the esprit de corps and military
order and honor, it was sometimes impossible not to revert to a basic, more
primitive nature for self preservation.

Top Williams, a veteran of World War II, and a big grey haired man, was
described as being a real professional. His injured hand became gangrenous, but
he survived this injury. He was receiving treatment and still probing for bone
splinters in his injured arm when he contracted dysentery and ultimately died,
September 27, 1968. Death from malnutrition and dysentery is extremely
unpleasant, and the victim suffers not only from the discomfort of dysentery,
but also from severe edema, and many times from halucinations. Williams'
remains were returned in 1985, after 17 years.

Frank Cannon, a handsome 6" tall man of 24 with deep set eyes, suffered from
the wounds he received by the exploding mortar shell. These wounds became
gangrenous, and although the wounds gradually improved by summer 1968, Cannon
grew continually weaker. By August, Cannon weighed only 90 pounds and slipped
into a coma. In early September 1968, Frank Cannon died. 17 years later, the
Vietnamese returned his remains to his country.

Willie Watkins, described as just over 6" tall, good-looking, lanky, very dark
skin, penetrating eyes, wiry and hard as a rock remained one of the strongest
prisoners and at times was a leader among his fellow POWs. According to some of
them, he "always had a Bible and a machete". He was never sick.

James H. Strickland, a rather short, blue-eyed, boyish looking man was known to
be a hard worker and to be as strong as a bull. He was also pointed out by the
Vietnamese as an example of a "progressive" prisoner, as was Willie Watkins.
The two were released from Cambodia on November 5, 1969.

James A. Daly, a conscientious objector, never felt he should have been in
combat. He had been waiting for notice to leave Vietnam, following a lengthy
process of appeal on the basis of his beliefs. Daly, a big man, "coffee and
cream color" was only slightly wounded when he was captured. His sense of self
preservation ensured that he lost a minimum of weight. He joined the "Peace
Committee" comprised of a number of other military men who opposed the war, and
official charges were brought against him upon his 1973 release by fellow POW
Col. Theodore Guy. In the wake of the POW release, charges were officially
dismissed.

David Harker also felt some anti-war sentiments, but it was said that he slowly
turned "reactionary" against the Vietnamese after he was moved to North Vietnam
after three years in the jungle.

Perhaps it is important to note that no returned POW would deny "collaborating"
with the enemy at some point in time. Technically, if a POW was ordered to work
or to perform any function whatever, the execution of this function would be
considered collaboration. Sometimes the abberation in conduct was a group
decision, made for the welfare of the unit. At other times, the desision to
cooperate was made for purely self-serving reasons - such as starvation,
reluctance to be tortured, loss of will to resist. It cannot be possible for
any person to judge this behavior not having experienced the horror that caused
it.

Richard Rehe and Derri Sykes alone remain unaccounted for from the battle in
Quang Tin Province. Although it seems certain that they are both dead, the
Vietnamese deny any knowledge of them.

For many others who are missing, simple and certain death did not occur. Some
just vanished, others were known captives and never were returned. Still others
were alive and well and in radio contact with would-be rescuers describing the
approach of the enemy.

Tragically, thousands of reports have been received indicating that some
hundreds of Americans are still alive and in captivity in Southeast Asia. We
cannot forget them, we cannot write them off. They must be brought home.






HARLEY, LEE DUFFORD

Name: Lee Dufford Harley
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 21 January 1940
Home City of Record: Danville VA
Date of Loss: 18 May 1966
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 171500N 1061000E (XE256083)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: O1E

Other Personnel In Incident: Andre R. Guillet (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: Airman First Class Lee D. Harley was the pilot and Capt. Andre Guillet
was serving as observer aboard an O1E aircraft which departed on May 18, 1966
for a mission over Laos. While in Laos, west of the demilitarized zone and just
south of the famed Ban Karai Pass, the little spotter plane was shot down. Air
Force officials told the families that the plane burst into flames on impact and
the crew could not be recovered.

If this were all there was to the story, critics wonder, why did the Air Force
not declare the two men Killed/Body Not Recovered? A reasonable assumption is
that there exists no certainty that the two men were killed when their plane
went down, and the possibility exists that they could have successfully bailed
out before impact. Regardless, it is strongly suspected that the Lao or the
North Vietnamese know the fates of the crew of the O1E.

Guillet and Harley are two of nearly 600 Americans who were lost in Laos during
American involvement in the Vietnam War. U.S. presence in Laos was in violation
of Laos' neutrality guaranteed at Geneva by agreement of several nations. But
because the Vietnamese (and also the Chinese) were operating in Laos as well, it
was convenient for all parties concerned to "look the other way." As a
consequence, it would not have been appropriate to recognize the communist
government of Laos, the Pathet Lao, in a treaty to end the war - since we were
not at war with Laos - and the American prisoners the Pathet Lao stated they
held were abandoned.

As reports continue mount concerning Americans still missing in Southeast Asia,
many authorities are convinced that hundreds of them are still alive today. One
must wonder, are Guillet and Harley among them? If so, what must they be
thinking of the country they proudly served?

Andre R. Guillet was promoted to the rank of Senior Master Sergeant and Lee D.
Harley to the rank of Major during the period they were maintained missing.
HARNED, GARY ALAN

Name: Gary Alan Harned
Rank/Branch: E5/US Army Special Forces
Unit: SOA (MACV-SOG), CCN, 5th Special Forces Group
Date of Birth: 05 July 1950 (Meadsville PA)
Home City of Record: Springboro PA
Date of Loss: 24 March 1970
Country of Loss: Cambodia
Loss Coordinates: 142750N 1071816E (YB484003)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 3
Acft/Venicle/Ground: UH1H

Other Personnel in Incident: Berman Ganoe; John C. Hosken; Rudy M. Becerra;
Michael O'Donnell; John Boronski, Jerry L. Pool (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 July 1990 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, including James E. Lake's account found in
"Life on the Line" by Philip D. Chinnery, interviews.

REMARKS: SURVIVAL UNLIKELY - PER SAR

SYNOPSIS: Kontum, South Vietnam was in the heart of "Charlie country" -- hostile
enemy territory. The little town is along the Ia Drang River, some forty miles
north of the city of Pleiku. U.S. forces never had much control over the area.
In fact, the area to the north and east of Kontum was freefire zone where
anything and anyone was free game. The Kontum area was home base to what was
known as FOB2 (Forward Observation Base 2), a classified, long-term operations
of the Special Operations Group (SOG) that involved daily operations into Laos
and Cambodia. SOG teams operated out of Kontum, but staged out of Dak To.

The mission of the 170th Assault Helicopter Company ("Bikinis") was to perform
the insertion, support, and extraction of these SOG teams deep in the forest on
"the other side of the fence" (a term meaning Laos or Cambodia, where U.S.
forces were not allowed to be based). Normally, the teams consisted of two
"slicks" (UH1 general purpose helicopters), two Cobras (AH1 assault helicopters)
and other fighter aircraft which served as standby support.

On March 24, 1970, helicopters from the 170th were sent to extract a MACV-SOG
long-range reconnaissance patrol (LRRP) team which was in contact with the enemy
about fourteen miles inside Cambodia in Ratanokiri Province. The flight leader,
RED LEAD, serving as one of two extraction helicopters was commanded by James E.
Lake. Capt. Michael D. O'Donnell was the aircraft commander of one of the two
cover aircraft (serial #68-15262, RED THREE). His crew consisted of WO John C.
Hoskins, pilot; SP4 Rudy M. Beccera, crew chief; and SP4 Berman Ganoe, gunner.

The MACV-SOG team included 1LT Jerry L. Pool, team leader and team members SSGT
John A. Boronsky and SGT Gary A. Harned as well as five indigenous team members.
The team had been in contact with the enemy all night and had been running and
ambusing, but the hunter team pursuing them was relentless and they were
exhausted and couldn't continue to run much longer. when Lake and O'Donnell
arrived at the team's location, there was no landing zone (LZ) nearby and they
were unable to extract them immeidately. The two helicopters waited in a high
orbit over the area until the team could move to a more suitable extraction
point.

While the helicopters were waiting, they were in radio contact with the team.
After about 45 minutes in orbit, Lake received word from LT Pool that the NVA
hunter team was right behind them. RED LEAD and RED THREE made a quick trip to
Dak To for refueling. RED THREE was left on station in case of an emergency.

When Lake returned to the site, Pool came over the radio and said that if the
team wasn't extracted then, it would be too late. Capt. O'Donnell evaluated the
situation and decided to pick them up. He landed on the LZ and was on the ground
for about 4 minutes, and then transmitted that he had the entire team of eight
on board. The aircraft was beginning its ascent when it was hit by enemy fire,
and an explosion in the aircraft was seen. The helicopter continued in flight
for about 300 meters, then another explosion occurred, causing the aircraft to
crash in the jungle. According to Lake, bodies were blown out the doors and fell
into the jungle. [NOTE: According to the U.S. Army account of the incident, no
one was observed to have been thrown from the aircraft during either explosion.]

The other helicopter crewmen were stunned. One of the Cobras, Panther 13,
radioed "I don't think a piece bigger than my head hit the ground." The second
explosion was followed by a yellow flash and a cloud of black smoke billowing
from the jungle. Panther 13 made a second high-speed pass over the site and came
under fire, but made it away unscathed.

Lake decided to go down and see if there was a way to get to the crash site. As
he neared the ground, he was met with intense ground fire from the entire area.
He could not see the crash site sice it was under heavy tree cover. There was no
place to land, and the ground fire was withering. He elected to return the
extract team to Dak To before more aircraft was lost. Lake has carried the
burden of guilt with him for all these years, and has never forgiven himself for
leaving his good friend O'Donnell and his crew behind.

The Army account concludes stating that O'Donnell's aircraft began to burn
immediately upon impact. Aerial search and rescue efforts began immediately;
however, no signs of life could be seen around the crash site. Because of the
enemy situation, attempts to insert search teams into the area were futile. SAR
efforts were discontinued on April 18. Search and rescue teams who surveyed the
site reported that they did not hold much hope for survival for the men aboard,
but lacking proof that they were dead, the Army declared all 7 missing in
action.


For every patrol like that of the MACV-SOG LRRP team that was detected and
stopped, dozens of other commando teams safely slipped past NVA lines to strike
a wide range of targets and collect vital information. The number of MACV-SOG
missions conducted with Special Forces reconnaissance teams into Laos and
Cambodia was 452 in 1969. It was the most sustained American campaign of
raiding, sabotage and intelligence gathering waged on foreign soil in U.S.
military history. MACV-SOG's teams earned a global reputation as one of the most
combat effective deep penetration forces ever raised.

By 1990 over 10,000 reports have been received by the U.S. Government concerning
men missing in Southeast Asia. The government of Cambodia has stated that it
would like to return a number of American remains to the U.S. (in fact, the
number of remains mentioned is more than are officially listed missing in that
country), but the U.S., having no diplomatic relations with Cambodia, refuses to
respond officially to that offer.

Most authorities believe there are hundreds of Americans still alive in
Southeast Asia today, waiting for their country to come for them. Whether the
LRRP team and helicopter crew is among them doesn't seem likely, but if there is
even one American alive, he deserves our ultimate efforts to bring him home.


Michael O'Donnell was recommended for the Congressional Medal of Honor for his
actions on March 24, 1970. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the
Air Medal, the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart as well as promoted to the rank
of Major following his loss incident. O'Donnell was highly regarded by his
friends in the "Bikinis." They knew him as a talented singer, guitar player and
poet. One of his poems has been widely distributed, but few understand that the
author remains missing.

If you are able,
save them a place
inside of you
and save one backward glance
when you are leaving
for the places they can
no longer go.
Be not ashamed to say
you loved them,
though you may
or may not have always.
Take what they have left
and what they have taught you
with their dying
and keep it with your own.
And in that time
when men decide and feel safe
to call the war insane,
take one moment to embrace
those gentle heroes
you left behind.

Major Michael Davis O'Donnell
1 January 1970
Dak To, Vietnam



HARPER, RICHARD K.

Name: Richard K. Harper
Rank/Branch: W3/US Army
Unit: Headquarters, MACV
Date of Birth: 02 October 1941 (Norwood MA)
Home City of Record: Burlington MA
Date of Loss: 19 May 1965
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 141745N 1084450E (BR570815)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: O1F

Other Personnel In Incident: Leroy M. Donovan (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: ACFT OVERDUE-JF815-J

SYNOPSIS: The O1 "Bird Dog" was used extensively in the early years of the war
in Vietnam by forward air controllers and provided low, close visual
reconnaissance and target marking which enabled armed aircraft or ground troops
to close in on a target. The Bird Dog was feared by the enemy, because he knew
that opening fire would expose his location and invite attack by fighter planes
controlled by the slowly circling Bird Dog. The Vietnamese became bold, however,
when they felt their position was compromised and attacked the little Bird Dog
with a vengeance in order to lessen the accuracy of the impending air strike.

On May 19, 1965, O1 pilot CWO Rickard K. Harper was assigned an aerial
reconnaissance mission over South Vietnam. His observer was SFC Leroy M.
Donovan. The aircraft, assigned to Headquarters, MACV, departed Holloway
Airfield at about 1300 hours.

At 1700 hours the aircraft was an hour overdue. A check was made with airfields
where the plane could have landed along its flight path, with negative results.
A search was initiated in and around Camp Holloway, and along the route the
aircraft was to take. Searches continued until May 25, but no sign of the
aircraft or crew was found. Loss location is estimated to be in Binh Dinh
Province, near the border of Kontum Province.

Radio Hanoi broadcast on May 28 that the Viet Cong had shot down an O1F aircraft
on May 18, which may or may not correlate to this aircraft because of the date
discrepancy. Nothing was ever found of the crew or plane, and no further
indication that the crew had been captured was ever found.

Donovan and Harper are among nearly 2500 Americans who disappeared in Southeast
Asia. Experts now believe, based on thousands of reports received, that there
may be hundreds of Americans still alive, captives of a long-ago enemy, today.
Whether the crew of the O1F lost on May 19, 1965 is among them is not certain.
What is clear, however, is that we must do everything it takes to bring these
men home. Our honor depends upon it.

HARRIS, BOBBY GLENN

Name: Bobby Glenn Harris
Rank/Branch: W2/US Army
Unit:
Date of Birth: 27 February 1952 (McKinney TX)
Home City of Record: Mission TX
Date of Loss: 17 March 1971
Country of Loss: Cambodia
Loss Coordinates: 121005N 1062140E (XU480455)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 1
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H

Other Personnel in Incident: On UH1H: Craig M. Dix; Richard L. Bauman (all
missing); James H. Hestand (released POW). From AH1G: Capt. David P. Schweitzer
(rescued); 1Lt. Lawrence E. Lilly (missing).

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II
Project.

REMARKS: DEAD/IR 6 918 6247 74

SYNOPSIS: On March 17, 1971, Capt. David P. Schweitzer, pilot and 1Lt. Lawrence
E. Lilly, co-pilot, comprised the crew of an AH1G helicopter (serial #69-17935)
conducting a visual reconnaissance mission. As the aircraft was near a landing
zone at grid coordinates XU488458, it was hit by enemy fire of the F-21B
Infantry Regiment, 5th Viet Cong Division and forced to the ground. The LZ was
deep inside Cambodia in the Snuol District of Kracheh (Kratie) Province, near
Seang Village.

Rescue efforts were successful in extracting Capt. Schweitzer, but due to heavy
enemy fire, they were forced to leave the area before Lilly could be extracted.
Lt. Lilly was last seen by U.S. personnel lying on his back with his shirt
partially open and blood on his chest and neck. He was observed being fired
upon by Viet Cong forces.

In mid-April 1971, a report described two U.S. personnel onboard a helicopter
shot down in this region getting out of the helicopter and climbing a tree, and
firing upon enemy forces. One of the crewmen was shot to death, and the other
was captured by Viet Cong soldiers of the 6th Company, 2nd Battalion, F21B
Infantry Regiment. The report continued that both crewmen were caucasian and
had light complexions. The source described the POW and said that he was later
told that the dead airman had been cremated by Cambodian villagers who had come
to salvage parts from the aircraft. Joint Casualty Resolution Center (JCRC)
evaluated the report and concluded that it could possibly relate either to
Lilly's incident or another the same day at the same location.

The other incident related to a UH1H helicopter flown by WO1 James H. Hestand
and carrying CW2 Richard L. Bauman; SP4 Craig M. Dix; and SP4 Bobby G. Harris.
The aircraft was shot down near Snuol. A medivac chopper lowered a jungle
penetrator to men seen on the ground through triple canopy jungle, but was
forced to leave the area due to enemy fire and low fuel.

Five ARVN were captured in the same operation and were told by Viet Cong guards
that three chopper crew members had just been captured. One was killed in the
crash, one was shot in the leg (ankle) trying to escape. The wounded crewmember
and two others were finally captured.

James Hestand was captured and was released in 1973. In his debriefing, he
reported that Craig Dix was the one who had been shot in the upper right ankle.
Hestand stated that Dix was ambulatory and evading capture at the time of his
own capture. Hestand also stated that, when last seen, CW2 Bauman was alive, in
good condition, and was hiding with Dix. Hestand said that he had seen the body
of Harris, whom he believed to be dead because of throat lacerations and a
discoloration of his body. Harris had been thrown from the aircraft. Hestand
was separated from the others when he was captured, and had no further
information on Dix, Bauman or Harris. Defense Department notes indicate that
Harris was killed in the crash. Defense Department notes indicate that some
intelligence say that Bauman, Dix and Harris are dead, yet other intelligence
reports placed Dix in a Cambodian hospital after having been captured, and
according to Hestand, the two were alive and well the last time he saw them.

An ARVN ground unit entered the battle area to try to rescue Lilly, but found
him dead. The unit came under heavy fire, and in the course of the battle, the
body was lost to the enemy. Lilly's remains were never recovered.

A report was received by the U.S. Government which indicated that Harris may
have been alive as late as 1974. In November 1974, a report was received from a
covert source concerning two U.S. prisoners being held in Cambodia. The source
allegedly saw a telegram from Khieu Samphan, the Deputy Prime Minister of the
Royal Government of National Union (GRUNK), to the "Bureau Politique" in Peking
stating that "Sergeant Glenn Harris" had been captured and was being held by
communist forces in Kratie Province as of July 1974. The report was debunked
because of other information indicating Harris was dead.

In 1988, the Cambodian government announced that it had the remains of a number
of American servicemen it wished to return to the United States. The U.S. did
not respond officially, however, because there are no diplomatic ties between
Cambodia and the U.S. Several U.S. Congressmen have attempted to intervene and
recover the remains on behalf of American family members, but Cambodia wishes
an official overture. Meanwhile, the bodies of Americans remain in the hands of
our former enemy.

Even more tragically, evidence mounts that many Americans are still alive in
Southeast Asia, still prisoners from a war many have long forgotten. It is a
matter of pride in the armed forces that one's comrades are never left behind.
One can imagine any of the men lost in Cambodia on March 17, 1971, being
willing to go on one more mission for the freedom of those heroes we left
behind.





HARRIS, CARLYLE SMITH "SMITTY"

Name: Carlyle Smith "Smitty" Harris
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Preston MD
Date of Loss: 04 April 1965
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 194800N 1054200E (WG733893)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F105D
Personnel In Incident: April 3 1965: Herschel S. Morgan; Raymond A. Vohden
(released POWs); George C. Smith (missing). April 4, 1965: Walter F. Draeger;
James A. Magnusson (missing); Carlyle S. Harris (released POW); September 16,
1965: J. Robinson Risner (released POW); May 31, 1966: Bobbie J. Alberton;
William R. Edmondson; Emmett McDonald; Armon Shingledecker; Philip J. Stickney;
(missing from the C-130E); Thomas Case; Harold J. Zook; Elroy Harworth (remains
returned from the C130E). Dayton Ragland; Ned Herrold (missing on an F-4C)

REMARKS: 730214 RELSD BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: The Thanh Hoa Railroad and Highway Bridge, spanning the Song Ma
River, is located three miles north of Thanh Hoa, the capital of Annam
Province, North Vietnam. It is a replacement for the original French-built
bridge destroyed by the Viet Minh in 1945 - they simply loaded two locomotives
with explosives and ran them together in the middle of the bridge.

In 1957, the North Vietnamese rebuilt the bridge. The new bridge, completed in
1964, was 540 feet long, 56 feet wide, and about 50 feet above the river. The
Vietnamese called it Ham Rong (the Dragon's Jaw), and Ho Chi Minh himself
attended its dedication. The bridge had two steel thru-truss spans which rested
in the center on a massive reinforced concrete pier 16 feet in diameter, and on
concrete abutments at the other ends. Hills on both sides of the river provided
solid bracing for the structure. Between 1965 and 1972, eight concrete piers
were added near the approaches to give additional resistance to bomb damage. A
one-meter guage single railway track ran down the 12 foot wide center and 22
foot wide concrete highways were cantilevered on each side. This giant would
prove to be one of the single most challenging targets for American air power
in Veitnam. 104 American pilots were shot down over a 75 square mile area
around the Dragon during the war. (Only the accounts of those specifically
known to be involved in major strikes against the bridge are given here. Some
losses were aircraft involved in operations against other targets. Note also,
that because aircraft came in on this target from a wide geographic area, some
personnel lost outside the 75 mile range may have been inadvertently overlooked
in this study.)

In March 1965 the decision to interdict the North Vietnamese rail system south
of the 20th parallel led immediately to the April 3, 1965 strike against the
Thanh Hoa Bridge. Lt.Col. Robinson Risner was designated overall mission
coordinator for the attack. He assembled a force consisting of 79 aircraft - 46
F105's, 21 F100's, 2 RF101's and 10 KC135 tankers. The F100's came from bases
in South Vietnam, while the rest of the aircraft were from squadrons TDY at
various Thailand bases.

Sixteen of the 46 "Thuds" (F105) were loaded with pairs of Bullpup missiles,
and each of the remaining 30 carried eight 750 lb. general purpose bombs. The
aircraft that carried the missiles and half of the bombers were scheduled to
strike the bridge; the remaining 15 would provide flak suppression. The plan
called for individual flights of four F105's from Koran and Takhli which would
be air refueled over the Mekong River before tracking across Laos to an initial
point (IP) three minutes south of the bridge. After weapon release, the plan
called for all aircraft to continue east until over the Gulf of Tonkin where
rejoin would take place and a Navy destroyer would be available to recover
anyone who had to eject due to battle damage or other causes. After rejoin, all
aircraft would return to their bases, hopefully to the tune of "The Ham Rong
Bridge if falling down."

Shortly after noon on April 3, aircraft of Rolling Thunder Mission 9-Alpha
climbed into Southeast Asia skies on their journey to the Thanh Hoa Bridge. The
sun glinting through the haze was making the target somewhat difficult to
acquire, but Risner led the way "down the chute" and 250 pound missiles were
soon exploding on the target. Since only one Bullpup missile could be fired at
a time, each pilot had to make two firing passes.

On his second pass, LtCol. Risner's aircraft took a hit just as the Bullpup hit
the bridge. Fighting a serious fuel leak and a smoke-filled cockpit in addition
to anti-aircraft fire from the enemy, he nursed his crippled aircraft to Da
Nang and to safety. The Dragon would not be so kind on another day.

The first two flights had already left the target when Capt. Bill Meyerholt,
number three man in the third flight, rolled his Thunderchief into a dive and
sqeezed off a Bullpup. The missile streaked toward the bridge, and as smoke
cleared from the previous attacks, Capt. Meyerholt was shocked to see no
visible damage to the bridge. The Bullpups were merely charring the heavy steel
and concrete structure. The remaining missile attacks confirmed that firing
Bullpups at the Dragon was about as effective as shooting BB pellets at a
Sherman tank.

The bombers, undaunted, came in for their attack, only to see their payload
drift to the far bank because of a very strong southwest wind. 1Lt. George C.
Smith's F100D was shot down near the target point as he suppressed flak. The
anti-aircraft resistance was much stronger than anticipated. No radio contact
could be made with Smith, nor could other aircraft locate him. 1Lt. Smith was
listed Missing In Action, and no further word has been heard of him.

The last flight of the day, led by Capt. Carlyle S. "Smitty" Harris, adjusted
their aiming points and scored several good hits on the roadway and super
structure. Smitty tried to assess bomb damage, but could not because of the
smoke coming from the Dragon's Jaw. The smoke would prove to be an ominous
warning of things to come.

LtCdr. Raymond A. Vohden was north of the Dragon when his A4C bomber was shot
down. Ray was captured by the North Vietnamese and held in various POW camps in
and near Hanoi until his release in February 1973. (It is not entirely clear
that this U.S. Navy Lt.Cdr. had a direct role in the attack on the bridge, but
was probably "knocked out" by the same anti-aircraft fire.)

Capt. Herschel S. Morgan's RF101 was hit and went down some 75 miles southwest
of the target area, seriously injuring the pilot. Capt. Morgan was captured and
held in and around Hanoi until his release in February 1973.

When the smoke cleared, observer aircraft found that the bridge still spanned
the river. Thirty-two Bullpups and ten dozen 750 pound bombs had been aimed at
the bridge and numerous hits had charred every part of the structure, yet it
showed no sign of going down. A restrike was ordered for the next day.

The following day, flights with call signs "Steel", "Iron", "Copper", "Moon",
"Carbon", "Zinc", "Argon", "Graphite", "Esso", "Mobil", "Shell", "Petrol", and
the "Cadillac" BDA (bomb damage assessment) flight, assembled at IP to try once
again to knock out the Dragon. On this day, Capt. Carlyle "Smitty" Harris was
flying as call sign "Steel 3". Steel 3 took the lead and oriented himself for
his run on a 300 degree heading. He reported that his bombs had impacted on the
target on the eastern end of the bridge. Steel 3 was on fire as soon as he left
the target. Radio contact was garbled, and Steel Lead, Steel 2 and Steel 4
watched helplessly as Smitty's aircraft, emitting flame for 20 feet behind,
headed due west of the target. All flight members had him in sight until the
fire died out, but observed no parachute, nor did they see the aircraft impact
the ground. Smitty's aircraft had been hit by a MiG whose pilot later recounted
the incident in "Vietnam Courier" on April 15, 1965. It was not until much
later that it would be learned that Smitty had been captured by the North
Vietnamese. Smitty was held prisoner for 8 years and released in 1973. Fellow
POWs credit Smitty with introducing the "tap code" which enabled them to
communicate with each other.

MiG's had been seen on previous missions, but for the first time in the war,
the Russian-made MiGs attacked American aircraft. Zinc 2, an F105D flown by
Capt. James A. Magnusson, had its flight bounced by MiG 17's. As Zinc Lead was
breaking to shake a MiG on his tail, Zinc 2 was hit and radioed that he was
heading for the Gulf if he could maintain control of his aircraft. The other
aircraft were busy evading the MiGs, and Magnusson radioed several times before
Steel Lead responded and instructed him to tune his radio to rescue frequency.
Magnusson's aircraft finally ditched over the Gulf of Tonkin near the island of
Hon Me, and he was not seen or heard from again. He was listed Missing In
Action.

Capt. Walter F. Draeger's A1H (probably an escort for rescue teams) was shot
down over the Gulf of Tonkin just northeast of the Dragon that day. Draeger's
aircraft was seen to crash in flames, but no parachute was observed. Draeger
was listed Missing In Action.

The remaining aircraft returned to their bases, discouraged. Although over 300
bombs scored hits on this second strike, the bridge still stood.

From April to September 1965, 19 more pilots were shot down in the general
vicinity of the Dragon, including many who were captured and released,
including Howie Rutledge, Gerald Coffee, Paul Galanti, Jeremiah Denton, Bill
Tschudy and James Stockdale. Then on September 16, 1965, Col. Robbie Risner's
F105D was shot down a few miles north of the bridge he had tried to destroy the
previous April. As he landed, Risner tore his knee painfully, a condition which
contributed to his ultimate capture by the North Vietnamese. Risner was held in
and around Hanoi until his release in 1973, but while a POW, he was held in
solitary confinement for 4 1/2 years. Besides the normal malaise and illnesses
common to POWs, Risner also suffered from kidney stones, which severely
debilitated him in the spring and summer of 1967.

By September 1965, an innovative concept had taken shape - mass-focusing the
energy of certain high explosive weapons. The Air Force quickly saw its
application against the old Dragon and devised a plan to destroy the bridge
using the new weapon. They would call the operation "Carolina Moon".

The plan necessitated two C130 aircraft dropping the weapon, a rather large
pancake-shaped affair 8 feet in diameter and 2 1/2 feet thick and weighing
5,000 pounds. The C130's would fly below 500 feet to evade radar along a 43
mile route (which meant the C130 would be vulnerable to enemy attack for about
17 minutes), and drop the bombs, which would float down the Song Ma River where
it would pass under the Dragon's Jaw, and detonate when sensors in the bomb
detected the metal of the bridge structure.

Because the slow-moving C130's would need protection, F4 Phantoms would fly
diversionary attack to the south, using flares and bombs on the highway just
before the C130 was to drop its ordnance. The F4s were to enter their target
area at 300', attack at 50' and pull off the target back to 300' for subsequent
attacks. Additionally, an EB66 was tasked to jam the radar in the area during
the attack period. Since Risner had been shot down in September, 15 more pilots
had been downed in the bridge region. Everyone knew it was hot.

The first C130 was to be flown by Maj. Richard T. Remers and the second by Maj.
Thomas F. Case, both of whom had been through extensive training for this
mission at Elgin AFB, Florida and had been deployed to Vietnam only 2 weeks
before. Ten mass-focus weapons were provided, allowing for a second mission
should the first fail to accomplish the desired results.

Last minute changes to coincide with up-to-date intelligence included one that
would be very significant in the next days. Maj. Remers felt that the aircraft
was tough enough to survive moderate anti-aircraft artillery hits and gain
enough altitude should bail-out be necessary. Maj. Case agreed that the
aircraft could take the hits, but the low-level flight would preclude a
controlled bail-out situation. With these conflicting philosophies, and the
fact that either parachutes or flak vests could be worn - but not both - Maj.
Remers decided that his crew would wear parachutes and stack their flak vests
on the floor of the aircraft. Maj. Case decided that his crew would wear only
flak vests and store the parachutes.

On the night of May 30, Maj. Remers and his crew, including navigators Capt.
Norman G. Clanton and 1Lt. William "Rocky" Edmondson, departed Da Nang at 25
minutes past midnight and headed north under radio silence. Although the
"Herky-bird" encountered no resistance at the beginning of its approach, heavy,
(although luckily, inaccurate) ground fire was encountered after it was too
late to turn back. The 5 weapons were dropped successfully in the river and
Maj. Remers made for the safety of the Gulf of Tonkin. The operation had gone
flawlessly, and the C130 was safe. Although the diversionary attack had drawn
fire, both F-4's returned to Thailand unscathed.

Unfortunately, the excitement of the crew was shortlived, because recon photos
taken at dawn showed that there was no noticeable damage to the bridge, nor was
any trace of the bombs found. A second mission was planned for the night of May
31. The plan for Maj. Case's crew was basically the same with the exception of
a minor time change and slight modification to the flight route. A crew change
was made when Maj. Case asked 1Lt. Edmondson, the navigator from the previous
night's mission, to go along on this one because of his experience from the
night before. The rest of the crew included Capt. Emmett R. McDonald, 1Lt.
Armon D. Shingledecker, 1Lt. Harold J. Zook, SSgt. Bobby J. Alberton, AM1 Elroy
E. Harworth and AM1 Philip J. Stickney. The C130 departed DaNang at 1:10 a.m.

The crew aboard one of the F4's to fly diversionary included Col. Dayton
Ragland. Ragland was no stranger to conflict when he went to Vietnam. He had
been shot down over Korea in November 1951 and had served two years as a
prisoner of war. Having flown 97 combat missions on his tour in Vietnam,
Ragland was packed and ready to go home. He would fly as "backseater" to 1Lt.
Ned R. Herrold on the mission to give the younger man more combat flight time
while he operated the sophisticated technical navigational and bombing
equipment. The F4's left Thailand and headed for the area south of the Dragon.

At about two minutes prior to the scheduled C130 drop time, the F4's were
making their diversionary attack when crew members saw anti-aircraft fire and a
large ground flash in the bridge vicinity. Maj. Case and his crew were never
seen or heard from again. During the F4 attack, Herrold and Ragland's aircraft
was hit. On its final pass, the aircraft did not pull up, but went out to sea,
and reported that the aircraft had taken heavy weapons fire. A ball of fire was
seen as the plane went into the sea.

Reconnaissance crews and search and rescue scoured the target area and the Gulf
of Tonkin the next morning, finding no sign at all of the C130 or its crew.
Rescue planes spotted a dinghy in the area in which Herrold and Ragland's
aircraft had gone down, but saw no signs of life. The dinghy was sunk to
prevent it falling into enemy hands. The bridge still stood.

In March 1967, the U.S. Navy attacked the Thanh Hoa Bridge using the new
"Walleye" missiles, but failed to knock out the bridge. Before the war ended,
54 more Americans fell in the Dragon's Jaw area.

In late 1986 the remains of Harworth, Zook and Case were returned and buried
with the honor befitting an American fighting man who has died for his country.
Ragland, Herrold, Alberton, McDonald, Edmondson, Shingledecker, Stickney,
Smith, Draeger and Magnussen are still Missing in Action.







HARRIS, CLEVELAND SCOTT
Remains Returned April 1985

Name: Cleveland Scott Harris
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 11 May 1941
Home City of Record: Birmingham AL
Date of Loss: 29 February 1969
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 205500N 1054600E (WJ797129)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F105F

Other Personnel in Incident: Crosley J. Fitton (remains returned)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS: CREW MEMBER'S BODY RETURNED

SYNOPSIS: The F105 Thunderchief (or "Thud") performed yoeman service on many
diversified missions in Southeast Asia. F105s flew more combat missions over
North Vietnam than any other USAF aircraft and consequently suffered the
heaviest losses in action.

Maj. Crosley J. Fitton, Jr. was the pilot and Capt. Cleveland S. Harris was the
co-pilot of an F105F which was one in a flight of four F105s sent on a combat
mission on the outskirts of Hanoi on February 29, 1969.

During the mission, the aircraft was hit by a surface-to-air missile (SAM).
Others in the flight observed both Fitton and Harris bail out with good
parachutes. The flight leader tracked both on radar and picked up both emergency
radio beeper signals. The beepers, which must be manually shut off, stopped
shortly after the crewmen landed on the ground.

Although Fitton and Harris landed safely on the ground, it was not certain what
happened to them after that. Both were declared Missing in Action. Their
families resigned themselves to the long wait.

In the spring of 1973, 591 American POWs were released by the Vietnamese, but
Harris and Fitton were not among them. Military officials expressed their dismay
at the time that hundreds of men known or suspected to be prisoners were not
released.

In 1975, the Vietnamese discovered and returned the remains of Crosley J.
Fitton. It was another ten years before Harris was to return. His remains were
turned over to U.S. control in April of 1985.

Nearly 2500 Americans did not return from the war in Vietnam. Thousands of
reports have been received indicating that some hundreds remain alive in
captivity. As in the case of Fitton and Harris, Vietnam and her communist allies
can account for most of them. Current "negotiations" between the U.S. and
Vietnam have yielded the remains of nearly 300 Americans. The families of these
men at last have the peace of knowing whether their loved one is alive or dead.

In the total view of the issue of the missing, however, the return of remains
signals no progress. In the early 1980's the very credible Congressional
testimony of a Vietnamese mortician indicated that the Vietnamese are in
possession of over 400 sets of remains. In 15 years, they have returned barely
half of them. More importantly, the same credible witness, whose testimony is
believed throughout Congress, stated that he had seen live Americans held at the
same location where the remains were stored.

As long as even one American remains alive in captivity in Solutheast Asia, the
only issue is that one living man. We must bring them home before there are only
remains to negotiate for.




HARRIS, GREGORY JOHN

Name: Gregory John Harris
Rank/Branch:  E4/US Marine Corps
Unit: H/3/11 1st Marine Division
Date of Birth: 01 October 1945
Home City of Record: Toledo OH (or Syracuse NY)
Date of Loss: 12 June 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 145800N 1084900E (BS670578)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Other Personnel In Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 July 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: Gregory J. Harris was a radioman with a South Vietnamese company
operating in Quang Ngai Province, South Vietnam. On June 12, 1966, the 5th
Vietnamese Marine Battalion Headquarters was overrun by Viet Cong forces, and
according to the U.S. Marine Corps, Harris was captured.

Two officers with Harris were killed, but the South Vietnamese saw Harris
captured alive and apparently unhurt. According to Marine Corps records, Harris
died in captivity.

The Defense Department has never classified Gregory Harris as a prisoner of war
eventhough the Marine Corps believes he was captured and died in captivity. He
was placed in a casualty status of Missing in Action.

In the summer of 1973, after Harris did not return with the released prisoners
of war, his mother, Catherine Helwig, did something quite remarkable to tell the
world that all the men did not return. She walked 450 miles in one month from
Buffalo, New York to New York City. When asked why she did this, she responded,
"If your child was lost in the forest you would not stop the search at the end
of twenty-four hours. I can't look for my boy...it's better than staying awake
night after night."

At the same time Mrs. Helwig was walking, then-President Nixon was declaring the
task of accounting for the remaining missing, "Highest priority". President
after President termed the accounting "highest national priority". Not too much
has changed. The men are still in Southeast Asia. Their sons, daughters and
grandchildren are marching and protesting because mounting evidence indicates
that many of them are still alive.

It's time America insisted that "highest priority" meant just that...and that
the U.S. Government get very serious about bringing Americans home from
Southeast Asian prisons.

Gregory J. Harris was promoted to the rank of Master Sergeant during the period
he was a prisoner of war. Marine Corps records list his home city as Syracuse,
New York.
HARRIS, HAROLD LEE

Name: Harold Lee Harris
Rank/Branch: E3/US Army
Unit: Company C, 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division
Date of Birth: 29 November 1946
Home City of Record: Durham NC
Date of Loss: 22 October 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 141354N 1080044E (BR778750)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 4
Aircraft/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: PFC Harris was a rifleman on a combat mission with his unit in Binh
Dinh region of South Vietnam on October 22, 1966. While attempting to cross a
stream, Harris and another member of the unit were swept away by swift current,
and last seen being tossed over and over by the current of the stream.

A thorough search of the area was made, and the body of the other member of the
team was recovered four days later, but not that of PFC Harris. The search
continued another day, and was then terminated. PFC Harold Harris was a month
shy of his 20th birthday.

Harris is listed with honor among the missing because his remains were not
recovered. His case seems quite clear. For others who are listed missing,
resolution is not as simple. Many were known to have survived their loss
incident. Quite a few were in radio contact with search teams and describing an
advancing enemy. Some were photographed or recorded in captivity. Others simply
vanished without a trace.

Reports continue to mount that we abandoned hundreds of Americans to the enemy
when we left Southeast Asia. While Harris may not be among them, he serves as a
reminder of those who still await our action to bring them home.



HARRIS, JEFFREY LYNDOL

Name: Jeffrey Lyndol Harris
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 28 May 1943
Home City of Record: Clinton MD
Date of Loss: 10 May 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 214100N 1050700E (WJ120975)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4E

Other Personnel in Incident: Dennis E. Wilkinson (remains returned)

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 the spring of 1972, the U.S. formulated the LINEBACKER offensive.
Its objective was to keep the weapons of war out of North Vietnam. At this time,
the North Vietnamese had one of the best air defense systems in the world, with
excellent radar integration of SA-2 SAMs, MiGs, and antiaircraft artillery. The
NVN defense system could counter our forces from ground level up to nineteen
miles in the air. MiG fighters were on ready alert, and after takeoff, were
vectored by ground-control radar. Soviet advisors devised attack strategies,
manned a number of the SAM sites, and also trained North Vietnamese crews.

On the first strike day, the entire force encountered heavy concentrations of
anti-aircraft fire and 16 MiGs were seen. Three of the MiGs were downed, but the
Air Force lost an air crew. An F4E flown by Capt. Jeffrey L. Harris and Weapons
Systems Officer Capt. Dennis E. Wilkinson exploded and crashed. The Air Force
believed there was reason to believe the two escaped the crippled plane, and
declared them both Missing in Action.

In 1973, 591 Americans were released from prisons in Hanoi. Harris and Wilkinson
were not among them. Military officials were dismayed that hundreds of known or
suspected prisoners were not released.

In 1978, Congressman "Sonny" Montgomery led a much-maligned delegation to Hanoi
to determine whether any American POWs remained in Vietnam. The Vietnamese told
him there were none, and gave the delegation a few sets of American remains. Mr.
Montgomery returned with the report that all Americans were dead.

One of the sets of remains given to Montgomery was subsequently identified as
Dennis E. Wilkinson. If the Vietnamese could account for him, it seems unlikely
that they are unable to account for Harris as well.

LINEBACKER and LINEBACKER II offensives were the most effective strikes against
enemy defenses in the war. By the end of these surgical strikes, according to
pilots who flew the missions, the North Vietnamese had "nothing left to shoot at
us as we flew over. It was like flying over New York City."

Nearly 2500 Americans did not return from the war in Vietnam. Thousands of
reports have been received indicating that some hundreds remain alive in
captivity. As in the case of Wilkinson, Vietnam and her communist allies can
account for most of them.

In the total view of the issue of the missing, however, the return of remains
signals no progress. In the early 1980's the very credible Congressional
testimony of a Vietnamese mortician indicated that the Vietnamese possess over
400 sets of remains. In 15 years, they have returned barely half of them. More
importantly, the same credible witness, whose testimony is believed throughout
Congress, stated that he had seen live Americans held at the same location where
the remains were stored.

As long as even one American remains alive in captivity in Southeast Asia, the
only issue is that one living man. We must bring them home before there are only
remains to negotiate for.



HARRIS, REUBEN BEAUMONT

Name: Reuben Beaumont Harris
Rank/Branch: E2/US Navy
Unit: Heavy Attack Squadron 4, Detachment C, USS KITTY HAWK
Date of Birth: 12 April 1938
Home City of Record: Columbus OH
Date of Loss: 12 April 1966
Country of Loss: China/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 210800N 1111700E (DN080420)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: KA3B
Other Personnel in Incident: William A. Glasson; Larry M. Jordan (missing);
Kenneth W. Pugh (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:

SYNOPSIS: On April 12, 1966, at 1134 hours, LtCdr. William A. Glasson, pilot;
and LtJG Larry M. Jordan, ATCS Reuben B. Harris and PRCS Kenneth W. Pugh,
crewmembers, were flying a KA3B aerial tanker from Naval Air Station Cubi Point,
Republic of the Philippines for a return flight to their base carrier. The crew
were all assigned to Heavy Attack Squadron 4, Detachment Charlie on board the
USS Kitty HAWK. The aircraft had just undergone repair of minor skin damage in
the nosewheel area. When the aircraft did not arrive at the ship at the planned
recovery time, a search and rescue effort was initiated with the assistance of
the USS ENTERPRISE (CVN-65) and units from the 3rd ARRG/13th Air Force.

A diplomatic incident occurred on April 19th when twenty-four aircraft from the
KITTY HAWK hit a harbor town 35 miles from the Chinese border. No aircraft were
lost over the town, Cam Pha, but a Polish merchant ship in the harbor claimed
to have been nearly struck by a bomb. Messages flew between Washington D.C. and
the fleet regarding details of the incident.

Hitting so close to Communist China's borders was dangerous. Soon the Chinese
began claiming numerous violations of their airspace by "United States
Imperialists". The Chinese claimed the destruction of the KA3B aircraft lost on
April 12, saying the aircraft had flown into Chinese territory and was shot down
near Hainan Island, which roughly correlated in both time and approximate
locationwith the missing KA3B aircraft. Protests were lodged by the State
Department, but the Communists maintained that the plane was attacking Chinese
fishermen on the high seas of the Gulf of Tonkin.

It was later determined after search and rescue efforts were terminated that the
A-3B aircraft was in fact shot down in the vicinity of the Luichow Peninsula,
Kuangtung Province, China. It was the opinion of a casualty review board that
the crew most likely was killed in the crash.

Normally, tankers are unarmed, but they still retained their weapons bay, and
the United States never denied outright that the Skywarrior was armed. This is
not the first time such a situation had occurred. From time to time, there were
claims and counterclaims of shootdowns and harassment. (It is probably true
also that American pilots in hot pursuit of escaping MiGs may have
inadvertently - or intentionally - chased their quarry into Red China.)

On December 16, 1975, the People's Republic of China returned ashes it said
were those of Kenneth Pugh, but gave no word of the rest of the crew. The three
are among less than a dozen Americans missing in China from the Vietnam war.

There is mounting evidence that China retained (and retains today) many
Americans from the Korean conflict, while denying knowledge of there
whereabouts. While the circumstances of the loss of the KA3B does not seem to
indicate that any of the crew survived, it would seem that if China could
account for Pugh, it could also account for Glasson, Jordan and Harris.

HARRIS, STEPHEN WARREN

Name: Stephen Warren Harris
Rank/Branch: E5/US Air Force
Unit: 16th Special Operations Squadron, Ubon Airbase, Thailand
Date of Birth: 25 July 1949
Home City of Record: Springfield MO
Date of Loss: 22 April 1970
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 154400N 1065100E (XC990410)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: AC130A
Other Personnel in Incident: Ronnie Hensley; Robert Ireland; Thomas Adachi;
Donald Lint; William Brooks; Charles B.Davis; Donald G. Fisher; John C. Towle;
Charles Rowley (all missing); Eugene L. Fields (rescued).

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: In the early hours of April 22, 1970, an AC130 gunship flown by
veteran pilot Major William Brooks departed Ubon Airbase with a crew of ten for
a Commando Hunt mission over the Ho Chi Minh Trail in southern Laos. The
aircraft, code named "Ad Lib", was joined near its destination by two jet
escort fighter bombers, code named "Killer 1" and "Killer 2", and immediately
began air strikes against enemy traffic below. The crew of the aircraft
included Brooks, the pilot; SSgt. Thomas Y. Adachi, the aerial gunner; LtCol.
Charlie B. Davis, a navigator; Maj. Donald G. Fisher, a navigator; SSgt.
Stephen W. Harris; SSgt. Ronnie L. Hensley; Master Sgt. Robert N. Ireland;
Airman Donald M. Lint; LtCol. Charles S. Rowley; and 1Lt. John C. Towle.

During its fourth strike, the gunship was hit by anti-aircraft fire and began
burning. Brooks radioed, "I've been hit, babe". Fisher, the navigator, reported
that his position was OK. Fields and Hensley, battling the blaze in the rear of
the aircraft, lost contact with each other in the smoke. Fields inched his way
to Adachi's position, and found Adachi gone and the left scanner window open.
Fields used an auxiliary parachute to abandon the aircraft.

Killer 1 reported seeing no parachutes, although Killer 2 reported the crew was
bailing out. Just before Killer 1 departed the area for refueling, it received
one emergency beeper signal from the ground. Killer 2 established voice contact
with a member of the crew identifying himself as Ad-Lib 12 (Fisher), who
reported that he had burns on his face and hands. Killer 2 also left for
refueling, while other aircraft monitored the downed craft and waited for
morning to attempt rescue of the survivors.

The following morning, Ad-Lib 11 (Fields) was rescued, but due to hostile
ground forces, no ground search or photographs were made at the time. The Air
Force assumed at the time that Fields had incorrectly identified himself, and
announced that 6 of the crew had been killed and four were missing.

The rest of the story is confusing. The family of one of the crew was told that
a ground crew had been inserted and that partial remains of one crew member had
been recovered. Another family was advised that photographs of the crashsite
existed. A photograph of a captive airman having burn bandages on his hands was
identified as being Fisher by his family. Rowley's family was informed of a
secret intelligence report indicating that 8 of the crew had been captured, and
that a controlled American source had witnessed them being tortured to death
for their "crimes".

A returned POW reported seeing Rowley in a propaganda film. Another returned
POW stated that Fisher had been a POW. Although the Air Force would not allow
family members to contact the only survivor, Fields, Fisher's son located him
after 18 years. Fisher denied ever being in contact with any of the Killer jet
escorts. It was not he who identified himself by radio to rescue forces.

Apparently, at least some of the crew of Ad Lib survived to be captured in
Laos, often called the "Black Hole" of the POW issue because of nearly 600 lost
there, not a SINGLE man was released that had been held in Laos. The Pathet Lao
stated on several occasions that they held prisoners, yet we never negotiated
their freedom, and reports continue to be received that some of these men are
still alive. The surviving crew members lost that day were abandoned by the
country for which they bravely fought.

HARRISON, DONALD LEE

Name: Donald Lee Harrison
Rank/Branch: O3/US Army
Unit: HHB, 2nd Btn, 94th Artillery, 108th Artillery Group
Date of Birth: 24 July 1946 (Macon GA)
Home City of Record: Chamblee GA
Date of Loss: 29 October 1968
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 165627N 1065614E (YD063739)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: O1G

Other Personnel In Incident: Steven N. Bezold (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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: On the afternoon of October 29, 1968, 1LT Donald L. Harrison, pilot,
and 1LT Steven N. Bezold, observer, were flying in a Cessna O1G Bird Dog
observation plane (tail #57-6027), with another O1G on an artillery adjustment
mission over the DMZ.

As the two planes entered the mission area, they were briefed by departing
aircraft who had been receiving anti-aircraft flak from the northern edge of the
mission area. Lt. Harrison worked the southern end of the Demilitarized Zone
(DMZ) while the other aircraft went north to try to find the source of the
anti-aircraft fire.

The northern aircraft, while observing for a pair of fighter aircraft on a gun
position, had a malfunction and could not mark the target, so the observer
pilots agreed to trade area locations. During the change, as the aircraft
passed each other, 1LT Harrison's plane was hit in the left rear cockpit area,
between the pilot and the observer. The aircraft continued straight for a few
seconds, and then started a slow descending right turn. The turn became tighter
as the descent rate increased until impact. There were no radio transmissions
from Harrison's plane after it was hit.

Due to approaching darkness, and the difficulty in locating the crash site, only
an electronic search could be made that night. The next day, the downed plane's
wing and fuselage were located and vehicle tracks around the wreckage were seen.
It appeared that the wreckage had been moved to a more visible location in order
to draw rescue aircraft into a trap. As aircraft went near the wing, intense
anti-aircraft fire was received. No contact was ever made with the crew. The
area was never searched because of intense hostility in the area.

When 591 Americans were released from Vietnamese prisons at the end of the war,
Bezold and Harrison were not among them. They are among nearly 2400 who are
still missing in Southeast Asia.

Tragically, over 10,000 reports relating to Americans prisoner, missing, or
unaccounted for in Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. Government,
convincing many experts that hundreds of Americans are still alive, waiting for
their country to come for them. Steven Bezold and Donald Harrison could be among
them. It's time we brought our men home.


Donald Harrison was promoted to the rank of Major and Steven Bezold to the rank
of Captain during the period they were maintained missing.
HARRISON, LARRY GENE

Name: Larry Gene Harrison
Rank/Branch: E6/US Army
Unit: Troop B, 1st Battalion, 9th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division
Date of Birth: 03 January 1948
Home City of Record: Williamston NC
Date of Loss: 26 February 1971
Country of Loss: Cambodia
Loss Coordinates: 115938N 1055053E (WU923259)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: OH6A
Other Personnel in Incident: Jon E. Swanson (missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Jon Swanson was the pilot of an OH6A with Larry Harrison as observer
on a visual reconnaissance mission, while providing close air support to an
ambushed ARVN convoy in Kampong Cham Province, Cambodia.

When the aircraft was flying at a low altitude marking enemy positions, it came
under fire from two machine guns and was seen to burst into flames and crash.
Another helicopter landed near the site, but was forced to take off when it
came under heavy enemy fire. Repeated attempts by both ARVN ground troops and
U.S. helicopters to reach the downed helicopter were thwarted by enemy fire.

On February 27, U.S. helicopters returned to the area and saw what they
believed to be two remains near the crash site. As late as March 7, the remains
were observed near the crash site, but could not be recovered due to enemy fire.

It was a common practice for communist troops to leave "bait" to lure other
aircraft hoping to rescue downed aircrews into a hostile area. Because of the
enemy presence in the area of the downed aircraft, it is possible that the
bodies of Swanson and Harrison were used in this manner. Regardless, the U.S.
Government believes that the enemy knows the fate of the two.

Fifteen years after the war ended, the Cambodian government let it be known
that they had the remains of nearly 100 Americans. Unfortunately, the U.S. has
no diplomatic relations with Cambodia and would not officially respond.
Although several U.S. Congressmen have attempted to recover the remains of
these Americans, the government of Cambodia clearly wishes an official request
from the U.S. Government, which it is unwilling to give.

It is not thought that Americans captured by the Cambodian communists were
allowed to survive, but were instead executed. As Vietnamese troops also
coursed through Cambodia, as in Laos, however, a significant number of these
downed pilots and crew might have been captured by the Vietnamese, thus
escaping the post-war holocost caused by the Pol Pot regime in Cambodia.

The governments of Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam have been less than forthcoming
in response to reports that they still hold American prisoners. The U.S. has
been unwilling or unable to obtain the freedom of any living prisoners since
the war ended.

HARRISON, ROBERT HEERMAN

Name: Robert Heerman Harrison
Rank/Branch: O4/USAF
Unit: 16th SOS (PAF), Ubon, Thailand
Date of Birth: 08 April 1939
Home City of Record: Massapequa Park NY
Date of Loss: 18 June 1972
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 161500N 1071200E (YC343978)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: AC130A

Other Personnel in Incident: Jacob Mercer; Richard Nyhof; Robert Wilson; Leon A.
Hunt; Larry J. Newman; Paul F. Gilbert; Stanley Lehrke; Gerald F. Ayres; Donald
H. Klinke; Richard M. Cole; Mark G. Danielson (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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: Lockheed's versatile C130 aircraft filled many roles in Vietnam,
including transport, tanker, gunship, drone controller, airborne battlefield
command and control center, weather reconnaissance, electronic reconnaissance,
and search, rescue and recovery.

The AC130, outfitted as a gunship, was the most spectacular of the modified
C130's. These ships pierced the darkness using searchlights, flares, night
observation devices that intensified natural light, and a variety of electronic
sensors such as radar, infared equipment and even low-level television. On some
models, a computer automatically translated sensor data into instructions for
the pilot, who kept his fixed, side-firing guns trained on target by adjusting
the angle of bank as he circled. The crew of these planes were, therefore,
highly trained and capable. They were highly desirable "captures" for the enemy
because of their technical knowledge.

1LT Paul F. Gilbert was the pilot of an AC130A gunship assigned a mission near
the A Shau Valley in the Republic of Vietnam on June 18, 1972. The crew,
totaling 15 men included MAJ Gerald F. Ayres, MAJ Robert H. Harrison, CAPT
Robert A. Wilson, CAPT Mark G. Danielson, TSGT Richard M. Cole Jr., SSGT Donald
H. Klinke, SSGT Richard E. Nyhof, SSGT Larry J. Newman, SGT Leon A. Hunt, and
SGT Stanley L. "Larry" Lehrke.

During the mission, the aircraft was hit by a surface-to-air missile (SAM) and
went down near the border of Laos and Vietnam. In fact, the first location
coordinates given to the families were indeed Laos, but were quickly changed to
reflect a loss just inside South Vietnam.

Three survivors of the crash were rescued the next day. After several years of
effort, some of the family members of the other crewmembers were able to review
part of their debriefings, which revealed that a bail-out order was given, and
that at least one unexplained parachute was observed, indicating that at least
one other airman may have safely escaped the crippled aircraft.

In early 1985, resistance forces surfaced information which indicated that SGT
Mercer had survived the crash and was currently held prisoner. Parents of
another crew member, Mark G. Danielson, discovered a photograph of an
unidentified POW printed about 6 months after the crash, in their local
newspaper whom they were CONVINCED was Mark. It was several years, however,
before the U.S. Government allowed the Danielsons to view the film from which
the photo was taken. When they viewed the film, their certainty diminished.

The hope that some of the twelve missing from the AC130A gunship has not
diminished, however. Since the war ended, over 10,000 reports relating to
Americans missing, prisoner or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia have been
received by the U.S. Government, including over 1,000 first-hand live sighting
reports.

Families who might be able to lay their anguish and uncertainty to rest are
taunted by these reports, wondering if their loved one is still alive, abandoned
and alone. Since a large portion of the information is classified, it is
impossible for the families to come to their own conclusions as to the accuracy
of the reports.

The fate of the twelve missing men from the gunship lost on June 18, 1972 is
unknown. What is certain is that the governments of Southeast Asia possess far
more knowledge than they have admitted to date. A large percentage of the nearly
2500 missing Americans CAN be accounted for. There can be no question that if
even one American remains alive in captivity today, we have a moral and legal
obligation to do everything possible to bring him home.

HARROLD, PATRICK KENDAL

Name: Patrick Kendal Harrold
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 17 December 1944
Home City of Record: Leavenworth KS
Date of Loss: 05 February 1969
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 193600N 1034800E (UG745675)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4E
Other Personnel in Incident: John C. Clark (missing)
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1990 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.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: In violation of the neutrality of Laos accorded at Geneva in a
14-nation protocol conference July 23, 1962, the North Vietnamese and supporting
communist insurgent group, the Pathet Lao, lost no time in building strategic
strongholds of defense in Northern Laos and establishing a steady flow of
manpower and material to their revolutionary forces in South Vietnam via the Ho
Chi Minh Trail on the eastern border of the Laotian panhandle.

As a result, the Royal Lao sought help from the U.S. In turn, U.S. involvement
in Laos was justified by an expected quick victory in Vietnam. Every initiative
had to be cleared through the U.S. Ambassador at Vientiane, so that the delicate
balance of "look-the-other-way-neutrality" engaged in by the nations involved
(including China) could be preserved. Before many years passed, however, it
became clear that the U.S. would have no "quick victory" in Vietnam, and the
secret war in Laos grew more difficult to contain.

Defense of non-communist activity in Laos generally fell into three categories:
1) U.S. Army and CIA's bolstering of the Meo (Hmong) army led by General Vang
Pao;  2) Strategic U.S. Air Force bombing initiatives on the Ho Chi Minh Trail
(Operations Commando Hunt, Steel Tiger, etc.);  3) U.S. Air Force bombing
initiatives in northern Laos (Operation Barrell Roll, etc.) both against
communist strongholds there, and in support of the Royal Lao and Gen. Vang Pao's
army.

1Lt. Patrick K. Harrold and Capt. John C. Clark II were pilots assigned to an
F4E Phantom fighter jet dispatched on an operational mission over Laos on
February 5, 1969. Their mission would take them to the northeast edge of the
Plain of Jars in Xiangkhoang Province in Military Region II.

At a point about 10 miles northwest of the city of Nong Het, the Phantom was
shot down and both crew members declared Missing in Action. The Air Force told
the Harrold and Clark families that there was every reason to believe the enemy
knew the fate of both men; that perhaps they had been captured. It was too soon
to tell.

When the war finally ended for the U.S. in Southeast Asia, families of the
nearly 600 men lost in Laos were horrified to learn that no negotiations had
been struck that would free Americans held in Laos. The Pathet Lao had stated
publicly that they held "tens of tens" of American prisoners, but they wished to
be negotiated with. The U.S. was not willing to negotiate with the communist
faction, even at the cost of abandoning some of their best men.

Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing in
Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. Government. Many authorities have
reluctantly concluded that there are hundreds of them who remain alive today,
held captive by a long-ago enemy.

Whether Clark and Harrold are among those thought to be still alive is not
known. What is clear, however, is that we owe these men our very best efforts to
bring them home. What must they be thinking of the country they proudly served?

HART, THOMAS TRAMMELL III
Remains Recovered in Crash Site Excavation - Positive ID Rescinded

Name: Thomas Trammell Hart, III
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 16th Special Operations Squadron, Ubon AB, Thailand
Date of Birth: 25 March 1940
Home City of Record: Orlando FL
Date of Loss: 21 December 1972
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 152712N 1060048E (XC087086)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: AC130A gunship

Other Personnel In Incident: Rollie Reaid; George D. MacDonald; John Winningham;
Francis Walsh; James R. Fuller; Robert T. Elliott; Robert L. Liles; Harry
Lagerwall; Paul Meder; Delma Dickens; Stanley Kroboth; Charles Fenter (all
missing/remains returned --see text); Joel R. Birch (remains returned); Richard
Williams, Carl E. Stevens (rescued).

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1990 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.

REMARKS: I.R. #22370432 73 - DEAD

SYNOPSIS: An AC130A gunship, "Spectre 17", flown by Capt. Harry R. Lagerwall,
departed Ubon Airbase, Thailand on an interdiction mission to interrupt enemy
cargo movements along the Ho Chi Minh Trail on December 21, 1972. The crew
onboard numbered 16. During the flight to the target, the aircraft was hit by
ground fire and after 10 minutes of level flight, the fuel exploded. Two of the
crew, Richard Williams and Carl E. Stevens, bailed out safely and were
subsequently rescued hours later. The partial body of Joel Birch (an arm) was
later recovered some distance away from the crash site.

Heat-sensitive equipment which would pinpoint the location of human beings in
the jungles was used to search for the rest of the crew with no success. It was
assumed that the missing crewmen were either dead or were no longer in the area.

According to intelligence reports, several piles of bloody bandages and 5
deployed parachutes were seen and photographed at the crash site. Also, later
requests through the Freedom of Information Act revealed a photo of what
appeared to be the initials "TH" stomped in the tall elephant grass near the
crash site. A number of reports have been received which indicate Tom Hart, if
not others, was still alive as late as 1988.

In the early 1980's a delegation comprised in part of several POW/MIA family
members visited the site of the aircraft crash in Laos. Mrs. Anne Hart found
material on the ground in the area which she believed to be bone fragment. She
photographed the material and turned it over to the U.S. Government.

In February, 1985, a joint excavation of the crash site was done by the U.S. and
Laos from which a large number of small bone fragments were found. Analysis by
the U.S. Army's Central Identification Laboratory (CIL) in Hawaii reported the
positive identification of all 13 missing crewmembers. Some critics dubbed this
identificatin "Voodoo Forensics."

Mrs. Hart was immediately skeptical.  She was concerned that the positive
identification of all 13 missing men onboard the aircraft had seemed too
convenient. She was further concerned that among the remains said to be those of
her husband, she found the bone fragment which she had herself found at the
crash site location several years before. She believed this was too much of a
coincidence.

Anne Hart had an independent analysis of the seven tiny fragments of bone which
the government said constituted the remains of her husband. Dr. Michael Charney
of Colorado State University, an internationally respected Board Certified
Forensic Anthropologist with nearly 50 years of experience in anthropology,
conducted the study.

"It is impossible," Charney wrote in his report, "to determine whether these
fragments are from LTC Hart or any other individual, whether they are from one
individual or several, or whether they are even from any of the crew members of
the aircraft in study."

Mrs. Hart refused to accept the remains and sued the government, challenging its
identification procedures. Her challenge produced additional criticism of CIL
and the techniques it uses in identifying remains. Some scientists, including
Charney, charged that CIL deliberately misinterpreted evidence in order to
identify remains. They said the Army consistently drew unwarranted conclusions
about height, weight, sex and age from tiny bone fragments. Eleven of the
"positive" identifications made on the AC130 crew were determined to be
scientifically impossible.

"These are conclusions just totally beyond the means of normal identification,
our normal limits and even our abnormal limits," said Dr. William Maples,
curator of physical anthropology at Florida State Museum.

Among the egregious errors cited by Charney was a piece of pelvic bone that the
laboratory mistakenly said was a part of a skull bone and was used to identify
Chief Master Sgt. James R. Fuller. The Reaid ID had been made based on bits of
upper arm and leg bones and a mangled POW bracelet said to be like one Reaid
wore. The MacDonald ID had been made based on the dental records for a single
tooth.

Mrs. Hart won her suit against the government. Her husband's identification, as
well as that of George MacDonald, was rescinded. The Government no longer
claimed that the identifications were positive. However, these two men were
listed as "accounted for."

Mrs. Hart's suit on behalf of her husband made it U.S. Government policy for a
family to be given the opportunity to seek outside confirmation of any
identification of remains said to be their loved ones. Mrs. Hart also believed
that the suit was successful in keeping her husband's file open. Reports were
still being received related to him.

In 1988, the Air Force forwarded a live sighting report of Tom Hart to Mrs.
Hart. The Air Force had concluded the report was false or irrelevant because
Tom Hart was "accounted for." Mrs. Hart again went to court to try and ensure
that her husband was not abandoned if, indeed, he is still alive. She wanted him
put back on the "unaccounted for" list.

In early March, 1990, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the lower
court decision that had ruled the U.S. Government erred in identifying bone
fragments as being the remains of Thomas Hart. The appellate court ruled that
the government is free to use "its discretion" in handling the identification of
victims of war and that courts should not second-guess government decisions on
when to stop searching for soldiers believed to be killed in action.

The court also denied Mrs. Hart's request to have her husband returned to the
"unaccounted for" list. "The government must make a practical decision at some
point regarding when to discontinue the search for personnel," the court said in
its ruling.

Most Americans would make the practical decision to serve their country in war,
if asked to do so. Even though there is evidence that some of this crew did not
die in the crash of the aircraft, the U.S. Government has made the "practical
decision," and obtained the support of the Justice system, to quit looking for
them.

How can we allow our government to close the books on men who have not been
proven dead whose biggest crime is serving their country? If one or more of them
are among the hundreds many believe are still alive in captivity, what must they
be thinking of us?

Knowing one could be so callously abandoned, how many will serve when next asked
to do so?
HARTMAN, RICHARD DANNER
Remains Returned March 6, 1974

Name: Richard Danner Hartman
Rank/Branch: O4/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 164, USS ORISKANY (CVA-34)
Date of Birth: 01 May 1935
Home City of Record: Clark NY
Date of Loss: 18 July 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: WH886687
Status (in 1973): Killed in Captivity
Category: 1
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A4E

Other Personnel In Incident: Dennis W. Peterson (missing); Donald P. Frye;
William B. Jackson; Donald P. McGrane (all remains recovered.

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 including "Alpha Strike Vietnam" by Jeffrey
L. Levinson, personal interviews.

REMARKS: REMS RETD 740306

SYNOPSIS: The USS ORISKANY was a World War II-era carrier on duty in Vietnam as
early as 1964. The ORISKANY at one time carried the RF8A (number 144608) that
Maj. John H. Glenn, the famous Marine astronaut (and later Senator), flew in his
1957 transcontinental flight. In October, 1966 the ORISKANY endured a tragic
fire which killed 44 men onboard, but was soon back on station. In 1972, the
ORISKANY had an at-sea accident which resulted in the loss of one of its
aircraft elevators, and later lost a screw that put the carrier into drydock in
Yokosuka, Japan for major repairs, thus delaying its involvement until the late
months of the war.

The ORISKANY's 1966 tour was undoubtedly one of the most tragic deployments of
the Vietnam conflict. This cruise saw eight VA 164 "Ghostriders" lost; four in
the onboard fire, one in an aerial refueling mishap, and another three in the
operational arena. However, the 1967 deployment, which began in June and ended
on a chilly January morning as the ORISKANY anchored in San Francisco Bay,
earned near legendary status by virtue of extensive losses suffered in the
ship's squadrons, including among the Ghostriders of VA 164, and Saints of VA
163. One reason may have been that Navy aviators were, at this time, still
forbidden to strike surface-to-air missile (SAM) sites which were increasing in
number in North Vietnam.

On July 18, 1967, LCDR Richard D. Hartman's aircraft fell victim to
anti-aircraft fire near Phu Ly in Nam Ha Province, North Vietnam. Hartman, from
VA 164, ejected safely, but could not be rescued due to the hostile threat in
the area. Others in the flight were in radio contact with him and resupplied him
for about three days. He was on a karst hill in a difficult recovery area.
Eventually the North Vietnamese moved in a lot of troops and AAA guns, making
rescue almost impossible.

One of the rescue helicopters attempting to recover LCDR Hartman on the 19th was
a Sikorsky SH3A helicopter flown by Navy LT Dennis W. Peterson. The crew onboard
the aircraft included ENS Donald P. Frye and AX2 William B. Jackson and AX2
Donald P. McGrane. While attempting to rescue LCDR Hartman, this aircraft was
hit by enemy fire and crashed killing all onboard. The remains of all but the
pilot, Peterson, were returned by the Vietnamese on October 14, 1982. Peterson
remains missing.

The decision was made to leave Hartman before more men were killed trying to
rescue him. It was not an easy decision, and one squadron mate said, "To this
day, I can remember his voice pleading, 'Please don't leave me.' We had to, and
it was a heartbreaker." Hartman was captured and news returned home that he was
in a POW camp. However, he was not released in 1973. The Vietnamese finally
returned his remains on March 5, 1974. Hartman had died in captivity from
unknown causes.

In July 1967, LCDR Donald V. Davis was one of the Saints of VA 163 onboard the
ORISKANY. Davis was an aggressive pilot. On the night of July 25, 1967, Davis
was assigned a mission over North Vietnam. The procedure for these night attacks
was to drop flares over a suspected target and then fly beneath them to attack
the target in the light of the flares. Davis and another pilot were conducting
the mission about 10 miles south of Ha Tinh when Davis radioed that he had
spotted a couple of trucks. He dropped the flares and went in. On his strafing
run, he drove his Skyhawk straight into the ground and was killed immediately.
Davis is listed among the missing because his remains were never recovered.

LTJG Ralph C. Bisz was also assigned to Attack Squadron 163. On August 4, 1967,
Bisz launched on a strike mission against a petroleum storage area near
Haiphong. Approximately a minute and a half from the target area, four
surface-to-air missiles (SAM) were observed lifting from the area northeast of
Haiphong. The flight maneuvered to avoid the SAMs, however, Bisz' aircraft was
observed as it was hit by a SAM by a wingman. Bisz' aircraft exploded, burst
into flames, and spun downward in a large ball of fire. Remnants of the aircraft
were observed falling down in the large ball of fire until reaching an altitude
estimated to be 5,000 feet and then appeared to almost completely burn out prior
to reaching the ground. No parachute or ejection was observed. No emergency
beeper or voice communications were received.

Bisz' aircraft went down in a heavily populated area in Hai Duong Province,
Vietnam. Information from an indigenous source which closely parallels his
incident indicated that his remains were recovered from the wreckage and taken
to Hanoi for burial. The U.S. Government listed Ralph Bisz as a Prisoner of War
with certain knowledge that the Vietnamese know his fate. Bisz was placed in a
casualty status of Captured on August 4, 1967.

The Navy now says that the possibility of Bisz ejecting was slim. If he had
ejected, his capture would have taken place in a matter of seconds due to the
heavy population concentration in the area and that due to the lack of
additional information it is believed that Bisz did not eject from his aircraft
and that he was killed on impact of the SAM.

Classified information on Bisz' case was presented to the Vietnamese by General
Vessey in the fall of 1987 in hopes that the Vietnamese would be able to resolve
the mystery of Bisz' fate. His case is one of what are called "discrepancy"
cases, which should be readily resolved. The Vietnamese have not been
forthcoming with information on Ralph Bisz.

On August 31, three pilots from the ORISKANY were shot down on a particularly
wild raid over Haiphong. The Air Wing had been conducting strikes on Haiphong
for two consecutive days. On this, the third day, ten aircraft launched in three
flights; four from VA 164 (call sign Ghostrider), four from VA 163 (call sign
Old Salt) and two from VA 163. As the flight turned to go into Haiphong, one of
the section leaders spotted two SAMs lifting off from north of Haiphong. They
were headed towards the Saints section leader and the Ghostrider section leader,
LCDR Richard C. Perry.

The Saints section leader and his wingman pitched up and to the right, while Old
Salt 3 (LCDR Hugh A. Stafford) turned down, his wingman, LTJG David J. Carey
close behind him. Carey, an Air Force Academy graduate, was on his first
operational mission. The missile detonated right in front of them and aircraft
pieces went everywhere.

The other SAM headed towards Perry's section, and he had frozen in the cockpit.
All three planes in the division pulled away, and he continued straight and
level. His helpless flightmates watched as the missile came right up and hit the
aircraft. The aircraft was generally whole and heading for open water.

Old Salt Three and Old Salt Four, Stafford and Carey, had by that time ejected
from their ruined planes and were heading towards the ground. Both were okay,
but Stafford had landed in a tree near a village, making rescue impossible.
Stafford and Carey were captured and held in various prisoner of war camps until
their release in Operation Homecoming on March 14, 1973.

Richard Perry had also ejected and was over open water. But as Perry entered the
water, his parachute went flat and he did not come up. A helicopter was on scene
within minutes, and a crewman went into the water after Perry. He had suffered
massive chest wounds, either in the aircraft or during descent in his parachute
and was dead. To recover his body was too dangerous because the North Vietnamese
were mortaring the helicopter. The helicopter left the area. Richard Perry's
remains were recovered by the Vietnamese and held until February 1987, at which
time they were returned to U.S. control.

Flight members were outraged that they had lost three pilots to SAMs that they
were forbidden to attack. Policy was soon changed to allow the pilots to strike
the sites, although never to the extent that they were disabled completely.

On October 7, 1967, VA 164 pilot LT David L. Hodges was killed when his Skyhawk
was hit by a SAM about twelve miles southwest of Hanoi. His remains were never
recovered and he is listed among those missing in Vietnam.

On October 18, 1967, VA 164 pilot LCDR John F. Barr was killed when his Skyhawk
was hit by enemy fire and slammed into the ground while on a strike mission at
Haiphong. Barr's remains were not recovered.

On November 2, 1967, VA 164 pilot LTJG Frederic Knapp launched as the lead of a
flight of two aircraft on an armed reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam.
The wingman reported that during an attack run, the aircraft appeared to have
been hit by anti-aircraft fire. The wingman saw Knapp's aircraft impact the
ground and did not see the canopy separate from the aircraft. There was no
parachute sighted or emergency radio beeper heard. The aircraft crashed about 9
kilometers west-southwest of Cho Giat, near route 116, in Nghe An Province.

A source later reported that people from his village had removed the remains of
a dead pilot from his aircraft and buried the remains nearby. These remains are
believed to be those of Knapp. On October 14, 1982, Vietnamese officials turned
over to U.S. authorities a Geneva Convention card belonging to Ltjg. Knapp. To
date, no remains have been repatriated.

Six of the thirteen pilots and crewmen lost in 1967 off the decks of the
ORISKANY remain prisoner, missing, or otherwise unaccounted for in Vietnam.
Disturbing testimony was given to Congress in 1980 that the Vietnamese
"stockpiled" the remains of Americans to return at politically advantageous
times. Could any of these six be in a casket, awaiting 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. Could any of these six be
among them?

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.


            CASE SYNOPSIS:    HARTNESS, GREGG

  ============================================================================

Name:                Gregg Hartness
Rank/Branch:            O3/US Air Force
Unit:

Date of Birth:            18 April 1937
Home City of Record:        Dallas TX
                (born Detroit MI)
Date of Loss:            26 November 1968
Country of Loss:        Laos
Loss Coordinates:        160129N 1064201E
Status (in 1973):        Missing In Action
Category:            2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground:    O2A
Other Personnel
In Incident:            (co-pilot rescued)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS:  Maj. Gregg Hartness and his co-pilot departed Da Nang airbase, South
Vietnam in their O2A aircraft for a night visual reconnaissance mission over
southern Laos at 0300 hours on November 26, 1968.

At 0413, as they flew over the rugged, jungle-covered mountainous area, the
aircraft suddenly received a hit from an unknown source in the aft section.
Hartness issued the order to bail out as the aircraft began to spin
uncontrollably.  The co-pilot successfully bailed out at 6000 feet and was
rescued a few hours later.  Although he saw no parachute, the co-pilot believes
that Hartness could have ejected without his seeing him in the darkness.

At 0700 hours, an emergency signal was picked up from a point 28 miles
northeast of Saravane, Laos.  Search and rescue located the downed co-pilot and
rescued him.  Recovery was difficult because of the heavy jungle growth on the
steep hill he was on.  No attempt was made to approach the aircraft because it
was still smoldering and had unexploded ordnance aboard, and there were hostile
forces in the area.  No further emergency transmissions were detected, and the
search was terminated.

Hartness is among nearly 600 Americans who were lost in Laos.  Many survived to
reach the ground and radio that they were being surrounded.  A few were
photographed in captivity.  Countless others have been described in rallier and
refugee reports.

The Pathet Lao stated on several occasions that they held "tens of tens" of
American prisoners, yet not a single man held in Laos was ever released - or
negotiated for.  If Hartness is alive, what must he think of the country he
proudly served, and the careless manner in which he has been abandoned?
HARTNEY, JAMES CUTHBERT
Remains Returned - ID Announced 891120

Name: James Cuthbert Hartney
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit: 357th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Takhli
Date of Birth: 04 October 1925
Home City of Record: Ft. Lauderdale FL
Date of Loss: 05 January 1968
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 213300N 1060327E (XJ061841)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F105F

Other Personnel in Incident: Samuel Fantle III (remains returned)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II
Project.

REMARKS: CHUTES BEEPERS - 1 SEEN ON GRND

SYNOPSIS: The F105 Thunderchief ("Thud"), in its various versions, flew more
missions against North Vietnam than any other U.S. aircraft. It also suffered
more losses, partially due to its vulnerability, which was constantly under
revision. Between 1965 and 1971, the aircraft was equipped with armor plate, a
secondary flight control system, an improved pilot ejection seat, a more precise
navigation system, better blind bombing capability and ECM pods for the wings.
While the D version was a single-place aircraft, the F model carried a second
crewman which made it well suited for the role of suppressing North Vietnam's
missile defenses.

Eighty-six F-105Ds fitted with radar homing and warning gear formed the backbone
of the Wild Weasel program, initiated in 1965 to improve the Air Force's
electronic warfare capability. Upon pinpointing the radar at a missile site, the
Wild Weasel attacked with Shrike missiles that homed on radar emissions. The
versatile aircraft was also credited with downing 25 Russian MiGs. Thirteen of
these modified F's were sent to Southeast Asia in 1966.

Major James C. Hartney, pilot, and Capt. Samuel Fantle III, co-pilot, were
dispatched in their F105F on a combat mission over North Vietnam on January 5,
1968. They were the lead plane in a flight of four, and their mission took them
over the Hanoi region.

At a point about 35 miles northeast of Hanoi, near the Kep Airfield, (at about
the border of Lang Son, Ha Bac and Vinh Phu Provinces), Maj. Hartney's aircraft
was struck in the left wing by hostile fire from a MiG17, causing the plane to
go out of control and forcing the crew to eject. Aircrew in the area picked up
the beeper signals from two emergency radios. (Note: Some accounts say that only
one beeper was heard.) The wingman saw Fantle landing on the ground, and Hartney
about to land, but no voice contact was made with them. Intense hostilities
prevented rescue.

In July 1969, Sam Fantle's parents requested George McGovern meet with North
Vietnam's Xuan Oanlt in Paris. Word came back to them from the Vietnamese that
Sam had hit a rock on bailout, but no word was given on Jim Hartney, who had
landed right beside Jim. The North Vietnamese gave Sam's parents the aircraft ID
number, Jim's serial number, and the time and date of shootdown.

Samuel Fantle, the first to eject from the aircraft, was classified Prisoner of
War, then later Killed in Captivity. Hartney, for unknown reasons, was not
declared prisoner of war, but Missing in Action. It cannot be determined why two
individuals landing side by side were not classified the same.

When the war ended, neither Fantle nor Hartney were released as prisoners. It
was over four years later when the Vietnamese "discovered" the remains of Samuel
Fantle III and returned them to U.S. control. It was at this time that U.S.
agencies initiated a "Special Change" notation on Hartney's records with no
further explanation. (NOTE: As most POW/MIA cases contain classified portions or
are entirely classified, and ALL are unavailable to the public in any detail, it
cannot be determined what the "Special Change" notation means in this incident.)

Since the war ended, reports continued to mount related to Americans prisoner,
missing, or otherwise unaccounted for in Southeast Asia. By 1989, nearly 10,000
reports had accumulated, convincing many authorities that hundreds of Americans
were still alive in captivity in Southeast Asia.

Eleven years after his backseater's remains were returned, Hartney's remains
also were returned by the Vietnamese. On November 20, 1989, the U.S. announced
that a positive identification had been made of these remains. At last Hartney's
family could begin their grieving process, no longer were tortured by the
thought that he could be among those thought to be still alive.

For thousands of other families, however, the wait continues. It's long past
time we brought all our men home from Vietnam.


HARTZHEIM, JOHN FRANCIS

Name: John Francis Hartzheim
Rank/Branch: E5/US Navy
Unit: Observation Squadron 67, Nakhon Phanom, Thailand
Date of Birth: 25 November 1945
Home City of Record: Appleton WI
Date of Loss: 27 February 1968
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 170458N 1060758E (XD116889)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: OP2E

Other Personnel in Incident: Paul L. Milius (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project October 15, 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 Lockheed P2 "Neptune" was originally designed for submarine
searching, using magnetic detection gear or acoustic buoys. Besides flying
maritime reconnaissance, the aircraft served as an experimental night attack
craft in the attempt to interdict the movement of enemy truck convoys. Another
model, the OP2E, dropped electronic sensors to detect truck movements along the
supply route through Laos known as the "Ho Chi Minh Trail."

The Ho Chi Minh Trail was used by the North Vietnamese for transporting weapons,
supplies and troops. Hundreds of American pilots were shot down trying to stop
this communist traffic to South Vietnam. Fortunately, search and rescue teams in
Vietnam were extremely successful and the recovery rate was high.

Still there were nearly 600 who were not rescued. Many of them went down along
the Ho Chi Minh Trail and the passes through the border mountains between Laos
and Vietnam. Many were alive on the ground and in radio contact with search and
rescue and other planes; some were known to have been captured. Hanoi's
communist allies in Laos, the Pathet Lao, publicly spoke of American prisoners
they held, but when peace agreements were negotiated, Laos was not included, and
not a single American was released that had been held in Laos.

On February 27, 1968, Navy Capt. Paul L. Milius departed his base at Nakhon
Phanom, Thailand (NKP) in an OP2E Neptune on an armed reconnaissance mission
over Laos. Aboard were eight crew members assigned to Observation Squadron 67,
plus Milius, the pilot.

The Neptune had precise navigational equipment and accurate optical bombsight.
Radar was housed in a well on the nose underside of the aircraft, and radar
technicians felt especially vulnerable working in this "glass bubble" nosed
aircraft. It was believed that the aircraft could place the seismic or acoustic
device within a few yards of the desired point, but to do this, the OP2E had to
fly low and level, making it an easy target for the enemy's anti-aircraft guns
that were increasing in number along the Trail.

Milius was over his assigned target in Khammouane Province, Laos, about 15 miles
southwest of the Ban Karai Pass, and was delivering ordnance on the target when
the aircraft was struck by suspected anti-aircraft artillery. A projectile
struck the underside of the aircraft and exploded in the radar well. Petty
Officer John F. Hartzheim, an Avionics Technician assigned to the aircraft, was
struck by fragments of the projectile and began bleeding profusely. The radar
well burst into flames, filling the flight deck area of the aircraft with dense,
acrid smoke.

The aircraft commander ordered the crew to bail out. Hartzheim was carried to
the after station by the Tactical Coordinator. Upon arriving in the after
station, Hartzheim stated that he could not go any farther, and collapsed. Other
crew members later stated they believed Hartzheim died at this time, as his eyes
were wide open and rolled to an upwards position and there was no movement.
Milius was at this time still seated at the controls of the aircraft.

Seven crewmembers safely exited the aircraft, and were subsequently rescued by
Search and Rescue forces. The area of the crashed aircraft was observed, and it
was felt that no identifiable remains would be found. Hartzheim was not believed
to exit the aircraft, and was believed to be dead. He was listed Killed, Body
Not Recovered. It cannot be determined whether the enemy had knowledge of his
ultimate fate.

The pilot, Paul Milius was not rescued. The Bombardier/Third Pilot, who was
rescued, indicated that Milius was sitting at the after-station hatch and bailed
out just prior to his own departure to the aircraft, but SAR efforts had failed
to located and rescue him. Milius was listed Missing in Action.

The Defense Intelligence Agency further expanded Milius' classification to
include an enemy knowledge ranking of 2. Category 2 indicates "suspect
knowledge" and includes personnel who may have been lost in areas or under
conditions that they may reasonably be expected to be known by the enemy.

The family of John Hartzheim has little doubt that he died the day his aircraft
went down. They can take pride in his service, although they have to grave to
visit. For the Milius family, as well as thousands of others, however, solutions
are not so easy. Were it not for the thousands of reports concerning Americans
still held captive in Southeast Asia, these families might be able to close this
tragic chapter of their lives. But as long as Americans are alive, being held
captive, one of them could be Paul Milius. It's time we brought these men home.

CASE SYNOPSIS: HARVEY, JACK ROCKWOOD

Name: Jack Rockwood Harvey
Rank/Branch: O2/USAF
Unit: Udorn Airfield, Thailand
Date of Birth: 14 September 1947
Home City of Record: Gardner ME
Loss Date: 28 November 1972
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 161500N 1080000E (ZC065915)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D
Other Personnel In Incident: Bobby M. Jones (missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On November 28, 1972, Jack Harvey and Bobby Jones were flying an F4D
Phantom jet on a non-combat flight from their base at Udorn, Thailand to Da
Nang, South Vietnam. The purpose of the mission was to log flight hours for
Jones to maintain his Flight Surgeon status.

Shortly before arriving at Da Nang, when the aircraft was about 18 miles
northwest of its destination, it disappeared from the radar screen without any
voice contact. A few hours later, emergency signals were heard, but rescue
efforts were hampered by monsoon rains and enemy held territory. When search
teams were able to enter the area three days later, they did not locate the
crew of the F4D. No further word has surfaced on either Harvey or Jones.

Examination of intelligence reports indicate that there was more than one
prison "system" in Vietnam. Those prisoners who were released in 1973 were
maintained in the same systems. If Harvey was captured and kept in another
system, the POWs who returned did not know it.

Now, nearly 20 years later, men like Harvey are all but forgotten except by
friends, family and fellow veterans.  The U.S. "priority" placed on determining
their fates pales in comparison to the results it has achieved.

Since Harvey went missing, over 6000 reports have been received by the U.S.
that Americans are still being held captive in Southeast Asia. Whether Harvey
is among them is not known. What is certain, however, is that we, as a nation,
are guilty of the abandonment of nearly 2500 of our best and most courageous
men. We cannot forget, and must do everything in our power to bring these men
home.
HARWOOD, JAMES ARTHUR

Name: James Arthur Harwood
Rank/Branch: E5/US Army Special Forces
Unit: Company A, Detachment B-43, 5th Special Forces Group
Date of Birth: 10 March 1950 (Omaha NE)
Home City of Record: Dallax TX
Date of Loss: 15 January 1971
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 103415N 1045652E (VS943684)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel In Incident: Gerald F. Kinsman (missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Sgt. James Harwood and 1Lt. Gerald Kinsman were part of the 5th
Special Forces Group Detachment B-43 based at the Special Forces camp at Chi
Lang, South Vietnam. The two were assisting in the training of the
Reconnaissance Platoon, 2nd Company, 1st (later the 6th) Cambodian Mobile
Operations Battalion as part of Capt. Harry Purdy's instruction team.

Chi Lang was situated in a dangerous, contested border zone. Any training
venture away from camp was subject to becoming a frightening battlefield
between Cambodian trainees and hardened Viet Cong regulars, with predictable
results, although the Special Forces had considerably more faith in the
abilities of the Khmer troops than they had had in the Vietnamese CIDG unit
they had formerly trained. The situation was worsened by the serious friction
between Detachment B-43 and the former CIDG Vietnamese troops at the camp. The
Special Forces made no secret of the fact that they felt the Khmer troops were
superior to the ARVN border rangers, whom they considered hoods and thieves.
The Vietnamese officer, Maj. Hoa countered by refusing to punish any Vietnamese
caught stealing from the Americans.

In January 1971, Capt. Purdy's team and the Khmer battalion-in-training
conducted a field exercise at Nui Ta Bec, five miles northwest of Chi Lang.
1Lt. Gerald F. Kinsman, the tactics committee instructor, accompanied the
was then lost and McCarty's shouts to him received no response.
battalion's 3rd Company cadre, Lt. James J. McCarty and Sgt. James A. Harwood.
On 15 January, the three Special Forces troops were escorting the company's
24-man reconnaissance platoon, which was awaiting the arrival of the 8th Khmer
Infantry Battalion, coming to replace them in the field.

The platoon was moving downhill through thick bamboo on the slope of Hill 282
(Nui Ta Bec) northwest of Chi Lang and 2 miles from the Cambodian border, after
searching several large rock outcroppings of Nui Ta Bec. Sgt. Harwood was in
the lead, 1Lt. Kinsman was in the middle, and McCarty to the rear of the
platoon. At this time, the platoon was moving in column formation. Suddenly the
pointman came under automatic weapons fire, engaging the platoon in a firefight.

Harwood radioed 1st Lt. James J. McCarty that he was crawling up toward the
point, and was receiving direct fire from the front. Communications were then
lost with Harwood, and McCarty's shouts to him met with no response. McCarty
then approached Kinsman's position at the front, and saw Lt. Kinsman standing
in an open area saying he had been hit in the stomach. When he reached Kinsman,
McCarty found him lying on his back in a bamboo thicket. He had been shot in
the stomach, just to the side of the navel with an exit wound in the back, and
was lying in a large pool of blood. McCarty tried to administer aid, but his
weapon was shot away, and he was wounded himself. He tried to drag the
unconscious 1Lt. Kinsman from the area, but enemy troops were approaching and
he had to hide. McCarty did not see Harwood.

McCarty's radioman was wounded in the leg as he frantically radioed Sgt.
Stamper at the base of the hill. Maj. Leary, the Detachment B-43 commander, was
overhead in an O-1 aircraft and relayed the request for immediate assistance to
Maj. Hoa at Chi Lang. Hoa claimed all of his units were "busy" and no response
was possible. Leary summoned a battalion from the 9th ARVN Division next, but
by the time they arrived, the fighting was over. In addition to the Cambodian
casualties, both Lt. Kinsman and Sgt. Harwood were missing.

McCarty was later evacuated. Harwood was classified Missing In Action, and
Kinsman, because of his severe wounds was classified as Killed/Body Not
Recovered. Every detail of their loss is classified, and unavailable to the
public after nearly 20 years.

In August 1974, a Vietnamese source reported the following information which he
received second hand from another Vietnamese, "The enemy (Viet Cong) ambushed a
Government of Vietnam team, killed one American and captured one American, one
officer and one NCO in that vicinity. The live American was ordered to pull the
body into the forest. In the forest, the American was ordered to dig a hole and
bury his friend. As soon as he finished his work, a VC cadre stood beside him
and fired at his head with a K .54 pistol. The two bodies were rushed into the
hole, and it was filled with earth." The source also assumed that the grave
site might have been in a valley.

The fates of Harwood and Kinsman are unknown. They are two of nearly 2500
Americans who are still missing from Southeast Asia. As reports flow in that
hundreds of Americans are still alive in Vietnam and Laos, one wonders if
Harwood or Kinsman are among them. If the 1974 report is true, why have their
bodies not been returned? If it is not, and they are alive, what must they be
thinking of us?

HARWORTH, ELROY EDWIN
Remains Returned 10 April 1986

Name: Elroy Edwin Harworth
Rank/Branch: E3/US Air Force
Unit: 61st Troop Carrier Squadron, DaNang Airbase
Date of Birth: 10 January 1942
Home City of Record: Elizabeth MN
Date of Loss: 31 May 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 194857N 1052924E (WG510910)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: C130E
Personnel In Incident: April 3 1965: Herschel S. Morgan; Raymond A. Vohden
(released POWs); George C. Smith (missing). April 4, 1965: Walter F. Draeger;
James A. Magnusson (missing); Carlyle S. Harris (released POW); September 16,
1965: J. Robinson Risner (released POW); May 31, 1966: Bobbie J. Alberton;
William R. Edmondson; Emmett McDonald; Armon Shingledecker; Philip J. Stickney;
(missing from the C-130E); Thomas Case; Harold J. Zook; Elroy Harworth (remains
returned from the C130E). Dayton Ragland; Ned Herrold (missing on an F-4C)

REMARKS: ALL CREW DEAD/FBIS

SYNOPSIS: The Thanh Hoa Railroad and Highway Bridge, spanning the Song Ma
River, is located three miles north of Thanh Hoa, the capital of Annam
Province, North Vietnam. It is a replacement for the original French-built
bridge destroyed by the Viet Minh in 1945 - they simply loaded two locomotives
with explosives and ran them together in the middle of the bridge.

In 1957, the North Vietnamese rebuilt the bridge. The new bridge, completed in
1964, was 540 feet long, 56 feet wide, and about 50 feet above the river. The
Vietnamese called it Ham Rong (the Dragon's Jaw), and Ho Chi Minh himself
attended its dedication. The bridge had two steel thru-truss spans which rested
in the center on a massive reinforced concrete pier 16 feet in diameter, and on
concrete abutments at the other ends. Hills on both sides of the river provided
solid bracing for the structure. Between 1965 and 1972, eight concrete piers
were added near the approaches to give additional resistance to bomb damage. A
one-meter guage single railway track ran down the 12 foot wide center and 22
foot wide concrete highways were cantilevered on each side. This giant would
prove to be one of the single most challenging targets for American air power
in Veitnam. 104 American pilots were shot down over a 75 square mile area
around the Dragon during the war. (Only the accounts of those specifically
known to be involved in major strikes against the bridge are given here. Some
losses were aircraft involved in operations against other targets. Note also,
that because aircraft came in on this target from a wide geographic area, some
personnel lost outside the 75 mile range may have been inadvertently overlooked
in this study.)

In March 1965 the decision to interdict the North Vietnamese rail system south
of the 20th parallel led immediately to the April 3, 1965 strike against the
Thanh Hoa Bridge. Lt.Col. Robinson Risner was designated overall mission
coordinator for the attack. He assembled a force consisting of 79 aircraft - 46
F105's, 21 F100's, 2 RF101's and 10 KC135 tankers. The F100's came from bases
in South Vietnam, while the rest of the aircraft were from squadrons TDY at
various Thailand bases.

Sixteen of the 46 "Thuds" (F105) were loaded with pairs of Bullpup missiles,
and each of the remaining 30 carried eight 750 lb. general purpose bombs. The
aircraft that carried the missiles and half of the bombers were scheduled to
strike the bridge; the remaining 15 would provide flak suppression. The plan
called for individual flights of four F105's from Koran and Takhli which would
be air refueled over the Mekong River before tracking across Laos to an initial
point (IP) three minutes south of the bridge. After weapon release, the plan
called for all aircraft to continue east until over the Gulf of Tonkin where
rejoin would take place and a Navy destroyer would be available to recover
anyone who had to eject due to battle damage or other causes. After rejoin, all
aircraft would return to their bases, hopefully to the tune of "The Ham Rong
Bridge if falling down."

Shortly after noon on April 3, aircraft of Rolling Thunder Mission 9-Alpha
climbed into Southeast Asia skies on their journey to the Thanh Hoa Bridge. The
sun glinting through the haze was making the target somewhat difficult to
acquire, but Risner led the way "down the chute" and 250 pound missiles were
soon exploding on the target. Since only one Bullpup missile could be fired at
a time, each pilot had to make two firing passes.

On his second pass, LtCol. Risner's aircraft took a hit just as the Bullpup hit
the bridge. Fighting a serious fuel leak and a smoke-filled cockpit in addition
to anti-aircraft fire from the enemy, he nursed his crippled aircraft to Da
Nang and to safety. The Dragon would not be so kind on another day.

The first two flights had already left the target when Capt. Bill Meyerholt,
number three man in the third flight, rolled his Thunderchief into a dive and
sqeezed off a Bullpup. The missile streaked toward the bridge, and as smoke
cleared from the previous attacks, Capt. Meyerholt was shocked to see no
visible damage to the bridge. The Bullpups were merely charring the heavy steel
and concrete structure. The remaining missile attacks confirmed that firing
Bullpups at the Dragon was about as effective as shooting BB pellets at a
Sherman tank.

The bombers, undaunted, came in for their attack, only to see their payload
drift to the far bank because of a very strong southwest wind. 1Lt. George C.
Smith's F100D was shot down near the target point as he suppressed flak. The
anti-aircraft resistance was much stronger than anticipated. No radio contact
could be made with Smith, nor could other aircraft locate him. 1Lt. Smith was
listed Missing In Action, and no further word has been heard of him.

The last flight of the day, led by Capt. Carlyle S. "Smitty" Harris, adjusted
their aiming points and scored several good hits on the roadway and super
structure. Smitty tried to assess bomb damage, but could not because of the
smoke coming from the Dragon's Jaw. The smoke would prove to be an ominous
warning of things to come.

LtCdr. Raymond A. Vohden was north of the Dragon when his A4C bomber was shot
down. Ray was captured by the North Vietnamese and held in various POW camps in
and near Hanoi until his release in February 1973. (It is not entirely clear
that this U.S. Navy Lt.Cdr. had a direct role in the attack on the bridge, but
was probably "knocked out" by the same anti-aircraft fire.)

Capt. Herschel S. Morgan's RF101 was hit and went down some 75 miles southwest
of the target area, seriously injuring the pilot. Capt. Morgan was captured and
held in and around Hanoi until his release in February 1973.

When the smoke cleared, observer aircraft found that the bridge still spanned
the river. Thirty-two Bullpups and ten dozen 750 pound bombs had been aimed at
the bridge and numerous hits had charred every part of the structure, yet it
showed no sign of going down. A restrike was ordered for the next day.

The following day, flights with call signs "Steel", "Iron", "Copper", "Moon",
"Carbon", "Zinc", "Argon", "Graphite", "Esso", "Mobil", "Shell", "Petrol", and
the "Cadillac" BDA (bomb damage assessment) flight, assembled at IP to try once
again to knock out the Dragon. On this day, Capt. Carlyle "Smitty" Harris was
flying as call sign "Steel 3". Steel 3 took the lead and oriented himself for
his run on a 300 degree heading. He reported that his bombs had impacted on the
target on the eastern end of the bridge. Steel 3 was on fire as soon as he left
the target. Radio contact was garbled, and Steel Lead, Steel 2 and Steel 4
watched helplessly as Smitty's aircraft, emitting flame for 20 feet behind,
headed due west of the target. All flight members had him in sight until the
fire died out, but observed no parachute, nor did they see the aircraft impact
the ground. Smitty's aircraft had been hit by a MiG whose pilot later recounted
the incident in "Vietnam Courier" on April 15, 1965. It was not until much
later that it would be learned that Smitty had been captured by the North
Vietnamese. Smitty was held prisoner for 8 years and released in 1973. Fellow
POWs credit Smitty with introducing the "tap code" which enabled them to
communicate with each other.

MiG's had been seen on previous missions, but for the first time in the war,
the Russian-made MiGs attacked American aircraft. Zinc 2, an F105D flown by
Capt. James A. Magnusson, had its flight bounced by MiG 17's. As Zinc Lead was
breaking to shake a MiG on his tail, Zinc 2 was hit and radioed that he was
heading for the Gulf if he could maintain control of his aircraft. The other
aircraft were busy evading the MiGs, and Magnusson radioed several times before
Steel Lead responded and instructed him to tune his radio to rescue frequency.
Magnusson's aircraft finally ditched over the Gulf of Tonkin near the island of
Hon Me, and he was not seen or heard from again. He was listed Missing In
Action.

Capt. Walter F. Draeger's A1H (probably an escort for rescue teams) was shot
down over the Gulf of Tonkin just northeast of the Dragon that day. Draeger's
aircraft was seen to crash in flames, but no parachute was observed. Draeger
was listed Missing In Action.

The remaining aircraft returned to their bases, discouraged. Although over 300
bombs scored hits on this second strike, the bridge still stood.

From April to September 1965, 19 more pilots were shot down in the general
vicinity of the Dragon, including many who were captured and released,
including Howie Rutledge, Gerald Coffee, Paul Galanti, Jeremiah Denton, Bill
Tschudy and James Stockdale. Then on September 16, 1965, Col. Robbie Risner's
F105D was shot down a few miles north of the bridge he had tried to destroy the
previous April. As he landed, Risner tore his knee painfully, a condition which
contributed to his ultimate capture by the North Vietnamese. Risner was held in
and around Hanoi until his release in 1973, but while a POW, he was held in
solitary confinement for 4 1/2 years. Besides the normal malaise and illnesses
common to POWs, Risner also suffered from kidney stones, which severely
debilitated him in the spring and summer of 1967.

By September 1965, an innovative concept had taken shape - mass-focusing the
energy of certain high explosive weapons. The Air Force quickly saw its
application against the old Dragon and devised a plan to destroy the bridge
using the new weapon. They would call the operation "Carolina Moon".

The plan necessitated two C130 aircraft dropping the weapon, a rather large
pancake-shaped affair 8 feet in diameter and 2 1/2 feet thick and weighing
5,000 pounds. The C130's would fly below 500 feet to evade radar along a 43
mile route (which meant the C130 would be vulnerable to enemy attack for about
17 minutes), and drop the bombs, which would float down the Song Ma River where
it would pass under the Dragon's Jaw, and detonate when sensors in the bomb
detected the metal of the bridge structure.

Because the slow-moving C130's would need protection, F4 Phantoms would fly
diversionary attack to the south, using flares and bombs on the highway just
before the C130 was to drop its ordnance. The F4s were to enter their target
area at 300', attack at 50' and pull off the target back to 300' for subsequent
attacks. Additionally, an EB66 was tasked to jam the radar in the area during
the attack period. Since Risner had been shot down in September, 15 more pilots
had been downed in the bridge region. Everyone knew it was hot.

The first C130 was to be flown by Maj. Richard T. Remers and the second by Maj.
Thomas F. Case, both of whom had been through extensive training for this
mission at Elgin AFB, Florida and had been deployed to Vietnam only 2 weeks
before. Ten mass-focus weapons were provided, allowing for a second mission
should the first fail to accomplish the desired results.

Last minute changes to coincide with up-to-date intelligence included one that
would be very significant in the next days. Maj. Remers felt that the aircraft
was tough enough to survive moderate anti-aircraft artillery hits and gain
enough altitude should bail-out be necessary. Maj. Case agreed that the
aircraft could take the hits, but the low-level flight would preclude a
controlled bail-out situation. With these conflicting philosophies, and the
fact that either parachutes or flak vests could be worn - but not both - Maj.
Remers decided that his crew would wear parachutes and stack their flak vests
on the floor of the aircraft. Maj. Case decided that his crew would wear only
flak vests and store the parachutes.

On the night of May 30, Maj. Remers and his crew, including navigators Capt.
Norman G. Clanton and 1Lt. William "Rocky" Edmondson, departed Da Nang at 25
minutes past midnight and headed north under radio silence. Although the
"Herky-bird" encountered no resistance at the beginning of its approach, heavy,
(although luckily, inaccurate) ground fire was encountered after it was too
late to turn back. The 5 weapons were dropped successfully in the river and
Maj. Remers made for the safety of the Gulf of Tonkin. The operation had gone
flawlessly, and the C130 was safe. Although the diversionary attack had drawn
fire, both F-4's returned to Thailand unscathed.

Unfortunately, the excitement of the crew was shortlived, because recon photos
taken at dawn showed that there was no noticeable damage to the bridge, nor was
any trace of the bombs found. A second mission was planned for the night of May
31. The plan for Maj. Case's crew was basically the same with the exception of
a minor time change and slight modification to the flight route. A crew change
was made when Maj. Case asked 1Lt. Edmondson, the navigator from the previous
night's mission, to go along on this one because of his experience from the
night before. The rest of the crew included Capt. Emmett R. McDonald, 1Lt.
Armon D. Shingledecker, 1Lt. Harold J. Zook, SSgt. Bobby J. Alberton, AM1 Elroy
E. Harworth and AM1 Philip J. Stickney. The C130 departed DaNang at 1:10 a.m.

The crew aboard one of the F4's to fly diversionary included Col. Dayton
Ragland. Ragland was no stranger to conflict when he went to Vietnam. He had
been shot down over Korea in November 1951 and had served two years as a
prisoner of war. Having flown 97 combat missions on his tour in Vietnam,
Ragland was packed and ready to go home. He would fly as "backseater" to 1Lt.
Ned R. Herrold on the mission to give the younger man more combat flight time
while he operated the sophisticated technical navigational and bombing
equipment. The F4's left Thailand and headed for the area south of the Dragon.

At about two minutes prior to the scheduled C130 drop time, the F4's were
making their diversionary attack when crew members saw anti-aircraft fire and a
large ground flash in the bridge vicinity. Maj. Case and his crew were never
seen or heard from again. During the F4 attack, Herrold and Ragland's aircraft
was hit. On its final pass, the aircraft did not pull up, but went out to sea,
and reported that the aircraft had taken heavy weapons fire. A ball of fire was
seen as the plane went into the sea.

Reconnaissance crews and search and rescue scoured the target area and the Gulf
of Tonkin the next morning, finding no sign at all of the C130 or its crew.
Rescue planes spotted a dinghy in the area in which Herrold and Ragland's
aircraft had gone down, but saw no signs of life. The dinghy was sunk to
prevent it falling into enemy hands. The bridge still stood.

In March 1967, the U.S. Navy attacked the Thanh Hoa Bridge using the new
"Walleye" missiles, but failed to knock out the bridge. Before the war ended,
54 more Americans fell in the Dragon's Jaw area.

In late 1986 the remains of Harworth, Zook and Case were returned and buried
with the honor befitting an American fighting man who has died for his country.
Ragland, Herrold, Alberton, McDonald, Edmondson, Shingledecker, Stickney,
Smith, Draeger and Magnussen are still Missing in Action.






CASE SYNOPSIS: HASENBACK, PAUL ALFRED

Name: Paul Alfred Hasenback
Rank/Branch: E3/US Army
Unit: Company D, 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry, 196th Light Infantry Brigade
Date of Birth: 11 May 1947
Home City of Record: Freeburg MO
Loss Date: 21 April 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 152118N 1084704E (BS622987)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Sampan
Other Personnel In Incident: David M. Winters; Daniel R. Nidds; Thomas A.
Mangino; (all missing)

REMARKS: DISAPPEARED ON SAMPAN

SYNOPSIS: On April 21, 1967, SP4 Thomas A. Mangino, squad leader; PFC Paul
Hasenback, PFC David M. Winters and PFC Daniel R. Nidds, riflemen; were
returning from a combat patrol in the second of two sampans 100 meters apart
near Chu Lai, Quang Ngai Province, South Vietnam.

Just before arriving at their destination, a Vietnamese civilian was seen
moving in his sampan toward the sampan carrying SP4 Mangino's squad. Another
sampan with 3 Vietnamese women was moving toward the first sampan, in which the
platoon leader rode. The first sampan started to leak, so proceeded faster
around and headed toward the beach. The Vietnamese women were still following
the first sampan. The distance between the two sampans carrying the Americans
was 200-250 meters.

The last time the platoon leader saw Mangino's sampan, the Vientamese civilian
was talking with SP4 Mangino's squad. The platoon leader's sampan arrived at
the beach 45 minutes later, and waited 20 minutes, then reported to the command
post that Mangino's sampan had not yet arrived.

Two hours after the platoon leader's sampan beached, SP4 Mangino's sampan had
still not arrived, so search efforts were begun. Two platoons searched the
area, and a helicopter searched from the air using a loud speaker. All efforts
were unsuccessful in locating Mangino and his squad.

Navy divers searched the river area without success. All aboard Mangino's
sampan knew how to swim. The Army strongly suspects that the enemy knows what
happened to Mangino and his squad.

Although returned POWs did not report having seen the men lost on the sampan,
Nidd's photo was identified by a refugee as having been a prisoner of war. The
circumstances surrounding their loss indicates the strong possibility, at
least, that the enemy forces knew their fates.

Mangino and his squad are among nearly 2500 in Southeast Asia who did not
return from the war. Unlike "MIAs" from other wars, most of these men can be
accounted for. Further, and even more significant, mounting evidence indicates
that there are hundreds of them still alive in captivity.

Refugees fleeing Southeast Asia have come with reports of Americans still held
in captivity. There are many such reports that withstand the closest scrutiny
the U.S. Government can give, yet official policy admits only to the
"possibility" that Americans remain as captives in Southeast Asia.

Until serious negotiations begin on Americans held in Southeast Asia, the
families of nearly 2500 Americans will wonder, "Where are they?" And the
families of many, many more future fighting men will wonder, "Will our sons be
abandoned, too?"
HASSENGER, ARDEN KEITH

Name: Arden Keith Hassenger
Rank/Branch: E5/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 15 September 1936
Home City of Record: Lebanon OR
Date of Loss: 24 December 1965
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 154800N 1064400E (XC856474)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: AC47D
Other Personnel In Incident: Joseph Christiano; W. Kevin Colwell; Dennis L.
Eilers; Larry C. Thornton; Derrell B. Jeffords (all missing)

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: 01 January 1990

REMARKS: MAYDAY HEARD - SEARCH NEG - J

SYNOPSIS: On December 24, 1965, President Lyndon Johnson announced a week-long
bombing halt on North Vietnam. That same day, an AC47D "Spooky" gunship was
shot down during an armed reconnaissance flight just south of the city of Ban
Bac in Saravane Province, Laos. Planes in the area of the loss of the plane
heard mayday signals, but were unable to establish contact with the crew.

The Spooky had evolved from the famed "Puff the Magic Dragon" versions of the
Douglas C47. Puff introduced a new principle to air attack in Vietnam. Troubled
by difficulties in conducting nighttime defense, Capt. Ronald Terry of the U.S.
Air Force Aeronautical Systems Division remembered reading about flying
missionaries in Latin America who lowered baskets of supplies on a rope from a
tightly circling airplane. Throughout the series of pylon turns, the basket
remained suspended over a selected point on the ground. Could this principle be
applied to fire from automatic weapons? Tests proved it could, and could be
extremely successful.

Puff's "flare kicker" illuminated the target, then the pilot used a mark on the
window to his left as a gun sight and circled slowly as three multibarrel
7-62mm machine guns fired 18,000 rounds per minute from the door and two
windows in the port side of the passenger compartment. The aircraft was called
"Puff" after a popular song of the day, and because it resembled a dragon
overhead with flames billowing from its guns. Men on the ground welcomed the
presence of Puff and the later Spooky version, which was essentially the same
as the Puff, because of its ability to concentrate a heavy dose of defensive
fire in a surgically determined area. These aircraft were extremely successful
defending positions in South Vietnam, but proved unable to survive against the
anti-aircraft defenses in Laos.

The Spooky lost in Laos on December 24, 1965 was flown by Col. Derrel B.
Jeffords and Capt. Dennis L. Eilers. The crew aboard the aircraft was Maj.
Joseph Christiano, MSgt. Larry C. Thornton, TSgt. W. Kevin Colwell, and SSgt.
Arden K. Hassenger.

When 591 Americans were released from Vietnam in 1973, the Spooky crew was not
among them. As a matter of fact, no American held in Laos was (or has been)
released. The Lao were not included in negotiations ending American involvement
in the war in Southeast Asia.

In June 1989, Arden Hassenger's wife was informed that a report had been
received saying her husband had been sighted alive in Laos. This report is one
of nearly 10,000 relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asia received by
the U.S. Government since the war ended. Mrs. Hassenger was unable to sleep to
sleep at night wondering and worrying, yet Arden Hassenger is still missing.

Henry Kissinger predicted in the 50's that future "limited political
engagements" would result, unfortunately, in nonrecoverable prisoners of war.
We have seen this prediction fulfilled in Korea and Vietnam, where thousands of
men and women remain missing, and where ample evidence exists that many of them
(from BOTH wars) are still alive today. The U.S. Government seems unable (or
unwilling) to negotiate their freedom. For Americans, the "unfortunate"
abandonment of military personnel is not acceptable, and the policy that allows
it must be changed before another generation is left behind in some faraway war.

HASTINGS, STEVEN MORRIS

Name: Steven Morris Hastings
Rank/Branch: E5/US Army
Unit: 240th Assault Helicopter Co, 214th Aviation Btn., 12th Aviation Group
Date of Birth: 11 October 1948
Home City of Record: Baldwin Park CA
Date of Loss: 01 August 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 114856N 1071107E
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1C

Other Personnel In Incident: Donald R. Fowler; Peter J. Russell (both missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II
Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: SP4 Donald Fowler, gunner; Sgt. Steven Hastings, crewchief; WO Fernam,
aircraft commander and 1Lt. Peter J. Russell, pilot, comprised the crew of one
UH1C helicopter in a flight of two on a combat mission. Due to inclement weather
and poor visibility, the mission was aborted. The aircraft became separated
while attempting to return to the Song Be airstrip. One aircraft crashed into
the trees and crewmembers were extracted the following morning. Radio contact
was lost with 1Lt. Russell's aircraft after the last contact at 2025 hours on
August 1. At that time, the aircraft commander indicated that he was diverting
to Binh Hoa airbase rather than returning to Song Be.

When the aircraft failed to arrive at either Binh Hoa or Song Be, search efforts
were begun at daylight, and continued for 3 days. On August 6, wreckage of the
helicopter was discovered. On August 21, a recovery effort was conducted in the
area of the aircraft and it was determined that the helicopter had crashed but
not burned. During the recovery effort, portions of remains were found that were
associated with WO Fernam, along with some personal effects that belonged to
him. Only flight helmets were found for the other 3 individuals. No trace was
found of the other 3 in subsequent searches.

In 1985, a private citizen obtained a previously classified document through the
Freedom of Information Act which described in great detail a POW camp in South
Vietnam. Together with the drawings and maps of the compound were lists of
guards and their backgrounds, and a list of Americans the source had positively
identified from photographs. On the list of positive id's was the name of Steven
Hastings. Returned POWs have verified the accuracy of the drawings and much of
the information. (Some on the positive list were POWs who returned in 1973)

Although the Defense Department has stated that the source was a liar, there
appears to be some question as to whether Hastings, at least, perished in the
crash of his helicopter or survived to be captured. And if there is question on
Hastings, what of the other 2?

Nearly 2500 Americans are missing in Southeast Asia. Over 10,000 reports have
been received indicating that there are hundreds of Americans still alive as
captives there. It's long past time we got to the bottom of the issue and
brought our men home - alive.

HATLEY, JOEL CLINTON
Crash Site Excavated (see text)

Name: Joel Clinton Hatley
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: Company C, 158th Aviation Battalion, 101st Airborne Brigade
Date of Birth: 24 October 1948 (Conrad KY)
Home City of Record: Albemarle NC
Date of Loss: 05 March 1971
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 163850N 1061544E (XD425405)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H

Other Personnel In Incident: Michael E. King; Ralph A. Moreira; David L. Nelson
(all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 September 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: EXPLOD - N RAD C - N SEARCH - J

SYNOPSIS: Lam Son 719 was a large-scale offensive against enemy communications
lines which was conducted in that part of Laos adjacent to the two northern
provinces of South Vietnam. The South Vietnamese would provide and command
ground forces, while U.S. forces would furnish airlift and supporting fire.

Phase I, renamed Operation Dewey Canyon II, involved an armored attack by the
U.S. from Vandegrift base camp toward Khe Sanh, while the ARVN moved into
position for the attack across the Laotian border. Phase II began with an ARVN
helicopter assault and armored brigade thrust along Route 9 into Laos. ARVN
ground troops were transported by American helicopters, while U.S. Air Force
provided cover strikes around the landing zones.

On March 5, 1971, during one of these maneuvers, a UH1H helicopter (tail
#67-17341) was in a flight of ten aircraft on a combat assault mission in
Savannakhet Province, Laos. The crew of the aircraft consisted of WO Ralph A.
Moreira Jr., pilot; Capt. David L. Nelson, aircraft commander; SP4 Michael E.
King, door gunner; and SP4 Joel C. Hatley, crew chief.

While on its final approach to Landing Zone Sophia, and at the time the pilot
should have been making his final turn, Nelson radioed that the aircraft had
been hit in the fuel cell and that the door gunner had been wounded in the head.
He then said they would attempt to return to the fire support base on the same
flight path as previously briefed.

After the other aircraft had disembarked their troops and were on their way back
to the fire support base, some of the other crewmen said they saw a chopper
believed to be that commanded by Nelson burst into flames, crash and explode. As
soon as the ball of flame was observed, attempts to make radio contact were made
with no success. No formal air to ground search was attempted because of enemy
anti-aircraft fire and ground activity in the area. All aboard the aircraft were
declared Killed in Action, Body Not Recovered.

In 1988 a former officer in the Royal Lao Army, Somdee Phommachanh, stated on
national television that he was held captive along with two Americans at a
prison camp in northern Laos. The Americans had been brought to the camp at
Houay Ling in 1978. One day Somdee found one of the prisoners dead in his cell.
Somdee identified the American very positively from a photo. His name, he said,
was David Nelson. Nelson was Somdee's friend and he would not forget him. Somdee
buried his friend with all the care he would a cherished loved one, given his
limited ability as a prisoner of war. Although Somdee has been threatened, he
has stuck to his story. Nelson's family is grateful to know his fate, but
outraged that David Nelson died over FIVE YEARS after American troops left
Southeast Asia and the President of the United States had announced that "all
American prisoners of war had been released." The U.S. Government did not inform
the other families of this development.

January 5-10, 1990, a joint US/Lao team excavated the site of the crash of the
helicopter lost on March 5, 1971. Not one piece of aircraft material was
recovered, although an unspecified number of teeth and a ring were found.
No remains whatever were found that could be attributed to David Nelson, but on
September 17, 1990, the Defense Department announced that all four men onboard
the aircraft had been positively identified and that the remains would be buried
in a "group" grave. When asked about the Somdee report, Ms. Shari Lawrence, a
civilian working with U.S. Army Public Affairs Office said, "We are not
concerned with that."

The books on Nelson, Moreira, Hatley and King are now officially closed. The
U.S. Government is no longer looking for them. Even though live sighting reports
may come in relating to them, the reports will be discounted as untrue because
the four men are "dead." The books are closed despite the fact that remains that
could be forensically matched to David Nelson were not found at the site.

Did David Nelson survive? What of the others? If David Nelson was abandoned by
the country he served, how many more were also abandoned? Not a single American
held by the Lao (and there were nearly 600 lost there) was ever released or
negotiated for.

If it were not for over 10,000 reports relating to the men missing in Southeast
Asia, most Americans could forget. But as long as even one man could be still
alive, unjustly held, we must do everything possible to bring him home.

HATTON, WILTON NEIL
Remains Returned (see text)

Name: Wilton Neil Hatton
Rank/Branch: E7/US Air Force
Unit: 6994th Security Squadron
Date of Birth: 07 December 1932
Home City of Record: Ft. Worth TX
Date of Loss: 05 February 1969
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 152600N 1064700E (approx)
Status (in 1973): Killed In Action
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: EC47

Other Personnel in Incident: Hugh L. Sherburn; Robert E. Olson; Louis J. Clever;
Harry T. Niggle; Clarence L. McNeill; Homer M. Lynn; Walter F. Burke; James V.
Dorsey Jr.; Rodney H. Gott (all reported KIA)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 September 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: ** NOT ON MISSING LISTS **

SYNOPSIS: The Douglas C47 was designed as a transport, gunship, and electronic
or regular reconnaissance aircraft, depending on the configuration. The aircraft
served in World War II and served French forces in Indochina in the 1950's, and
returned to Vietnam at the outset of American involvement there.

On February 5, 1969, an EC47 (electronic surveillance) departed Pleiku Airbase,
Republic of Vietnam on a tactical reconnaissance mission over Laos. The aircraft
crew included LtCol. Harry T. Niggle, Capt. Walter F. Burke, Major Robert E.
Olson, Major Homer M. Lynn Jr., MSgt. Wilton N. Hatton, SSgt. Rodney H. Gott,
TSgt. Louis J. Clever, SSgt. James V. Dorsey Jr., SSgt. Hugh L. Sherburn (radio
operator on the aircraft), and Sgt. Clarence L. McNeill. The last radio contact
with the aircraft was at 8:10 a.m. at which time it was located about 21 miles
west-northwest of the city of Chavane in Saravane Province, Laos.

When the aircraft failed to make a scheduled stop at Phu Bai Airport near Hue
shortly before noon, search efforts were initiated to locate the aircraft.
During the remainder of the day and for six succeeding days, extensive
communication and ramp checks were made, as well as a visual search of the area
from the last known position of the aircraft through its intended flight path.
Because no information was forthcoming which would reveal the whereabouts of the
missing aircraft and crew, the search was then terminated.

In the fall of 1969, the wreckage of an EC47 was located in a jungle-covered
mountainous area in the approximate last known location of Sherburn's aircraft.
The wreckage site was searched, and remains and a number of items were
recovered. These items were later correlated to Sherburn's aircraft.

The Department of the Air Force believes that the aircraft was faced with a
sudden airborne emergency since the right wing of the aircraft was found some
500 meters from the main wreckage site. It was believed that the engine caught
fire causing the wing to separate from the fuselage while the aircraft was still
in the air. Further, the Air Force states that although the crew members had
parachutes, it is unlikely that the apparent suddenness of the emergency would
have permitted anyone to abandon the aircraft. The absence of emergency radio
signals further diminished the hope that any of the crew members could have
survived.

At this time, the Air Force declared the ten men onboard the aircraft to be
dead, and so notified the families. The remains found at the crash site were
interred in a single grave at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St. Louis.
Military officials told eight of the families that the remains of only two
individuals had been identified, but would not reveal those identities to them.
(It is assumed that the families of the two individuals identified were
informed.)

In February 1970, the Sherburn family was informed that the remains found at the
crash site were skeletal and commingled, and that Air Force identification
specialists were unable to determine that they had a composite of ten
individuals -- and were unable to establish the identity of any of the remains.

About the same time the crew of the EC47 was being interred in St. Louis,
another mass burial was conducted, containing 18 USMC and Navy personnel. On
January 28, 1973, PFC Ronald Ridgeway, one of those 18 "dead and buried"
servicemen, was released alive from a POW camp in Hanoi. The U.S. had not known
that he was a prisoner of war.

Although the relatives found little hope in Ridgeway's return, some thought
it entirely possible that others might have escaped with Ridgeway. How many
others, some family members wondered, had been captured without the U.S. finding
out?

If such a thing could happen to the Marine and Navy group, what about the EC47
lost in Laos? Unfortunately, when the war ended, no American held in Laos was
released. The U.S. has not negotiated the freedom of a single man the Pathet Lao
asserted they held prisoner in Laos.

The U.S. Government has never changed its position on the Marines, Navy and Air
Force personnel interred in mass graves in St. Louis, and has continued to state
unequivocally that they were killed in action because the families could not
produce proof otherwise. Although the government lacked positive evidence that
most of these men were dead, its assumption that they were dead overruled any
assumption that they might be alive. The Marine Corps has admitted that some of
those "buried" men could have been captured, but that it is doubtful. Even
though considerable doubt surrounds the identification of the men buried in St.
Louis, and, indeed, some of them might have survived, official status change has
been denied.

Since the war ended, over 10,000 reports of Americans prisoner, missing or
unaccounted for in Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. Government. It
would not be erroneous to speculate that if the U.S. received a first-hand, live
sighting report on the men "buried" in St. Louis, that report would be debunked
because they are all "dead."

Although many experts who have reviewed the largely-classified information
relating to Americans still missing in Southeast Asia have concluded that
hundreds of them are still alive in captivity, the USG cannot seem to make up
its mind. Meanwhile, how many wait for their country to come for them? Who will
look for these men?











HATTORI, MASAKI

Name: Masaki Hattori
Rank/Branch: O4/US Army
Unit: 224th Aviation Co., 164th Aviation Group, 1st Aviation Brigade
Date of Birth: 21 November 1936
Home City of Record: Stockton CA
Date of Loss: 23 March 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 100245N 1054752E (WS874105)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: OV1C

Other Personnel In Incident: Ian J. Franks (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On March 23, 1968 Major Masaki Hattori, the pilot, and SP4 Ian Franks,
observer, were flying an OV1C (tail #603756) when their aircraft, in an effort
to avoid a mid-air collision with two U.S. Navy helicopters, crashed into the
Hau Giang River near Can Tho, South Vietnam.

Eyewitnesses to the crash confirmed that neither crewmember bailed out. After a
extensive 4-day search, some aircraft wreckage was found, along with 2 shattered
flight helmets with bits of hair and tissue attached. A medical analyst examined
the helmets and concluded that no one could have survived the crash.

Leaflets were distributed along the river banks, but no additional leads or
information was forthcoming. Franks and Hattori were classified as killed, but
as their remains were not found, they are listed among the missing.

Nearly 2500 Americans are missing in Southeast Asia. Franks and Hattori are two
of the few whose cases seem clear. For many families, the memory that their
man's photo appeared in a communist paper shortly after capture emotes bitter
resentment and great sadness. Other men were in radio contact with search and
rescue teams who were trying to get to them before the enemy did. Some simply
vanished.

In recent years, evidence has poured in regarding Americans still alive in
Southeast Asia, held captive by a long-ago enemy. One can only guess what they
must be thinking of the country they went to serve.

HAUER, LESLIE JOHN
Remains Returned 11 September 1990

Name: Leslie John Hauer
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 30 January 1924
Home City of Record: Detroit MI
Date of Loss: 18 November 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 212157N 1053758E (WJ656626)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F105D

Other Personnel in Incident: From nearby F105s: Edward W. Lehnhoff; Edward B.
Burdett; Oscar M. Dardeau, Jr. (all remains returned)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS: 770609 SRV SED WOULD RET REMS SEP

SYNOPSIS: The F105 Thunderchief (or "Thud") performed yoeman service on many
diversified missions in Southeast Asia. F105s flew more combat missions over
North Vietnam than any other USAF aircraft and consequently suffered the
heaviest losses in action. They dropped bombs by day and occasionally by night
from high or low altitude and some later versions (F105D in Wild Weasel guise)
attacked SAM sites with their radar tracking air-to-ground missiles. This
versatile aircraft was also credited with downing 25 Russian MiGs.

On November 18, 1967, three F105s were shot down over Vinh Phu Province. It is
likely that the three were part of a multi-plane strike on military targets
around Hanoi.

The first F105 to be shot down, a D model, was flown by Col. Edward Burke
Burdett. The aircraft was shot down about 20 miles from Hanoi. Burdett was
captured by the Vietnamese, but, according to a list provided by the Vietnamese,
died in captivity the same day he was shot down. Whether Burdett was so severely
injured in the bail-out or was tortured to death is unknown. His remains were
not returned until March 6, 1974.

The second F105 was an F model and was flown by Maj. Oscar M. Dardeau, Jr. His
co-pilot on the flight was Capt. Edward W. Lehnhoff, Jr. Their aircraft was shot
down about 10 miles north of the city of Phy Tho. The fate of these two remains
uncertain, but they were classified Missing in Action, and there were
indications that the Vietnamese knew their fates. The Vietnamese "discovered"
and returned their remains on November 25, 1987.

Maj. Leslie J. Hauer was the pilot of the third F105 to be shot down at Vinh
Yen. Maj. Hauer was declared Missing in Action. In June, 1977, the Vietnamese
told U.S. officials they would return Maj. Hauer's remains in September. In
September, thirteen years later, they did just that.

Whether all the four airmen shot down on November 18, 1967 survived to be
captured is uncertain, but the notion is not unreasonable. Although the
Vietnamese have conducted site excavations in an effort to show "good will" in
recovering U.S. remains, they are known to have stockpiled hundreds of American
bodies awaiting politically expedient moments to return them, a few at a time.

Mounting evidence indicates that some Americans are still alive being held
prisoner of war in Southeast Asia. The Vietnamese pledged to return all
prisoners of war and provide the fullest possible accounting of the missing in
the peace accords signed in 1973. They have done neither, and the U.S. has not
compelled them to do so.

The United States government pledged that the POW/MIA issue is of "highest
national priority" but has not achieved results indicative of a priority.
Mitchell and the nearly 2500 Americans who remain unaccounted for in Southeast
Asia deserve our best efforts to bring them home, not empty rhetoric.

Edward W. Lehnhoff, Jr. was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, Oscar M.
Dardeau, Jr. and Leslie J. Hauer were promoted to the rank of Colonel, during
the period they were maintained Missing in Action.


HAUER, ROBERT DOUGLAS

Name: Robert Douglas Hauer
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 29 November 1946
Home City of Record: Brookline MA
Date of Loss: 05 September 1970
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 122300 N 1085200E (BP680697)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: O2A

Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 April 1990 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.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: The Cessna O2 served as a stopgap replacement for the O1 until the
North American AV10A arrived in Vietnam. The Bird Dog had lacked adequate
armor, and so did the O2. The O2, however, had greater range and double the
number of target marking rockets as the Bird Dog, making it more desirable for
its intended missions.

The O2A served a number of forward air controllers in Southeast Asia. Either
flying along or carrying a second crewman, these pilots searched out targets,
marked them, determined the location of friendly troops, and directed air
strikes. Their missions frequently brought them over enemy troops at low
altitude and slow speeds, making them vulnerable to ground fire.

1Lt. Robert D. Hauer was the pilot of an O2A on a mission over South Vietnam on
September 5, 1970. At a point about 25 miles west of the city of Nha Trang in
Khanh Hoa Province, Hauer's aircraft went down and he was listed Missing in
Action.

The Defense Intelligence Agency further expanded Hauer's Missing in Action
classification to include an enemy knowledge ranking of 4. Category 4 indicates
"unknown knowledge" and includes individuals whose time and place of loss
incident are unknown (e.g. aircrew members downed at unknown locations or ground
personnel separated from their unit at an unknown time or place), and those
individuals who do not meet the criteria of Categories 1 and 2 ("confirmed" and
"suspect" knowledge).

Hauer is one of nearly 3000 Americans who remained unaccounted for at the end
of the Vietnam War. Of this number, many remains have been returned, and others
have been otherwise accounted for. In early 1990, 2309 remained unaccounted for.

Since American involvement in Vietnam ended in 1975, nearly 10,000 reports
relating to Americans missing, prisoner, or otherwise unaccounted for in
Indochina have been received by the U.S. Government. Many officials, having
examined this largely classified information, have reluctantly concluded that
many Americans are still alive today, held captive by our long-ago enemy.

Whether Hauer survived the crash of his aircraft to be captured by the enemy is
not known. It is not known if he might be among those thought to be still alive
today. What is certain, however, is that as long as even one American remains
alive, held against his will, we owe him our very best efforts to bring him to
freedom.

HAUKNESS, STEVEN ANDREW
Remains Returned 740816, ID'd 750323

Name: Steven Andrew Haukness
Rank/Branch: Civilian
Unit: FSS-4, U.S. State Department
Date of Birth: ca 1941
Home City of Record:
Date of Loss: 01 February 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 162721N 1973540E (YD770210)
Status (in 1973): Prisoner of  War
Category: 1
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS: 740816 REMS RECOV - 750323 ID'D

SYNOPSIS: On the second night of Tet, 1968, thousands of Viet Cong and North
Vietnamese troops poured out of the jungles and rice paddies in an all-out
assault on the cities of South Vietnam. By dawn, Hue, the ancient imperial
capital, was in communist hands.

Several Americans and other civilians were captured in the early hours of the
assault, including Steven A. Haukness, who worked for the U.S. State Department
at Hue. Haukness was captured with a man named Miller (no further information
available), who was later killed and his body recovered. Haukness was thought to
be seen later with another group believed to be four Germans who were also later
murdered (no names available).

When 591 Americans were released as part of the agreements ending U.S.
hostilities in Vietnam, several of those captured at Hue were released. However,
Haukness was not among them. Then in 1975, remains were recovered at an
unspecified location which were subsequently identified March 23, 1975, as being
those of Steven A. Haukness.

Nearly 2500 Americans remain missing or otherwise unaccounted for in Vietnam.
Since the war ended, over 10,000 reports concerning missing Americans in
Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. Government. Many experts are
completely convinced that hundreds of Americans are still held captive.

One set of critics say that the U.S. has done little to address the issue of
live POWs, preferring the politically safer issue of remains return. Others
place the blame on the Vietnamese, for using the issue of POW/MIA to their
political advantage. Regardless of blame, no living American has returned
through the efforts of negotiations between the countries, and the reports
continue to pour in. Are we doing enough to bring these men home?

HAVRANEK, MICHAEL WILLIAM

Name: Michael William Havranek
Rank/Branch: E3/US Marine Corps
Unit: 3rd Recon Company, 3rd Recon Battalion, 3rd Marine Division
Date of Birth: 30 May 1948
Home City of Record: Missoula MT
Date of Loss: 11 June 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 165454N 1065530E (YD048689)
Status (in 1973): Killed In Action/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: CH46A

Other Personnel In Incident: Dennis R. Christie, Curtis R. Bohlscheid; John J.
Foley; Jose J. Gonzales; Thomas M. Hanratty; Charles D. Chomel; James W. Kooi,
Jim E. Moshier; John S. Oldham; James E. Widener (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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: A/C CRASH-EXPLODED-NO SURVS OBS-J

SYNOPSIS: On 11 June 1967, 1LT Curtis Bohlscheid was the pilot of a CH46A
helicopter inserting a seven-man Marine Force Recon team into a predesignated
area 11 1/2 nautical miles northwest of Dong Ha, South Vietnam -- right on the
Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). A total of four aircraft were involved in the mission,
two CH46's and two UH1E helicopter gunships. Bohlscheid flew the lead aircraft.
His crew included MAJ John S. Oldham, LCPL Jose J. Gonzales (crew chief), and
PFC Thomas M. Hanratty (crew chief).

Members of the 3rd Recon Company, 3rd Recon Battalion, 3rd Marine Division who
were being inserted were CPL Jim E. Moshier, LCPL Dennis R. Christie, LCPL John
J. Foley III, LCPL Michael W. Havranek, LCPL James W. Kooi, PFC Charles D.
Chomel, and PFC James E. Widener.

The flight departed Dong Ha at about 11:15 a.m. and proceeded to the insertion
location. The gunships made low strafing runs over the landing zone to clear
booby traps and to locate any enemy troops in the area. No enemy fire was
received and no activity was observed. The lead aircraft then began its approach
to the landing zone. At an estimated altitude of 400-600 feet, the helicopter
was observed to climb erratically, similar to an aircraft commencing a loop.
Machinegunmen had been waiting for the opportune time to fire on the aircraft.
Portions of the rear blades were seen to separate from the aircraft and a radio
transmission was received from the aircraft indicating that it had been hit. The
helicopter became inverted and continued out of control until it was seen to
crash by a stream in a steep ravine.

Subsequent efforts by ground units to reach the crash area failed due to a heavy
bunker complex surrounding the site. The ground units inspected the site from
within 500 meters through binoculars and observed no survivors. All eleven
personnel aboard the helicopter were therefore classified Killed In Action, Body
Not Recovered. Other USMC records indicate that the helicopter also burst into
flames just prior to impacting the ground.

For the crew of the CH46A lost on June 11, 1967, death seems a certainty. For
hundreds of others, however, simple answers are not possible. Adding to the
torment of nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asia
is the certain knowledge that some Americans who were known to be prisoners of
war were not released at the end of the war. Others were suspected to be
prisoners, and still others were in radio contact with would-be rescuers when
last seen alive. Many were known to have survived their loss incidents, only to
disappear without a trace.

The problem of Americans still missing torments not only the families of those
who are missing, but the men who fought by their sides, and those in the general
public who realize the full implication of leaving men unaccounted for at the
end of a war.

Tragically, many authorities believe there are hundreds of Americans still alive
in captivity in Southeast Asia today.  What must they be thinking of us? What
will our next generation say if called to fight if we are unable to bring these
men home from Southeast Asia?


HAWLEY, EDWIN ALEXANDER JR.

Name: Edwin Alexander Hawley, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Birmingham AL
Date of Loss: 17 February 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 170915N 1064940E (XD944974)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D

Other Personnel in Incident: Robert H. Irwin (remains returned)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 April 1990 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.

REMARKS: 730214 RELEASED BY DRV/INJURED

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.

Major Robert H. Irwin, pilot, and Capt. Edwin A. Hawley Jr., weapons/systems
operator, were dispatched on a combat mission in their F4D aircraft over North
Vietnam on February 17, 1972. At a point about 15 miles west of the city of
Vinh in Quang Binh Province, their aircraft was shot down.

Capt. Hawley, being the rear-seater, ejected from the aircraft first. It was
standard procedure for the pilot to eject second. Therefore, it was not
uncommon for the crewmembers to be separated on the ground. Capt. Hawley was
captured by the North Vietnamese and spent the next year in prison camps in and
around Hanoi. On February 14, 1973, he was released, still showing signs of the
injuries he received when he ejected from his aircraft.

Capt. Hawley, in his debriefing stated that he believed his pilot was dead. No
details of this briefing is publicly available, as much of it is still
classified. Maj. Robert H. Irwin remained Missing in Action.

The Defense Intelligence Agency further expanded Irwin'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.

Throughout years following the war, reports continued to accumulate relating to
Americans missing or prisoner in Southeast Asia. By 1989, there were nearly
10,000 such reports (largely classified), and many authorities became convinced
that hundreds of Americans remained alive, prisoners of war. The U.S. continued
to ask for information on missing Americans at each visit to Hanoi, but the
Vietnamese either ignored their questions, or denied knowledge of Major Irwin.

In late November, 1989, it was announced that remains had been returned to U.S.
control by the Vietnamese, and these remains had been positively identified as
being those of Major Robert H. Irwin. For over 17 years, he had been a prisoner
of war - alive or dead.

For Major Irwin's family, the wait is over. They can finally grieve and heal.
They no longer wonder if he is one of the hundreds thought to be still alive.
For thousands of other families, however, the wait continues. It's long past
time we brought all our men home from Southeast Asia.

HAYDEN, GLENN MILLER

Name: Glenn Miller Hayden
Rank/Branch: O5/US Navy
Unit: Observation Squadron 67
Date of Birth: 01 May 1927
Home City of Record: Long Beach CA
Date of Loss: 17 February 1968
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 164959N 1055858E (XD030612)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: OP2E
Other Personnel In Incident: Chester Coons, Frank Dawson; Paul Donato; Clayborn
Ashby; James Kravitz; James Martin; Curtis Thurman; James Wonn (all missing)

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: 1 March 1990

REMARKS: CRASH FND - NO PARBEEP - NO PERS - J

SYNOPSIS: The Lockheed P2 "Neptune" was originally designed for submarine
searching, using magnetic detection gear or acoustic buoys. Besides flying
maritime reconnaissance, the aircraft served as an experimental night attack
craft in the attempt to interdict the movement of enemy truck convoys. Another
model, the OP2E, dropped electronic sensors to detect truck movements along the
supply route through Laos known as the "Ho Chi Minh Trail".

The Ho Chi Minh Trail was used by the North Vietnamese for transporting weapons,
supplies and troops. Hundreds of American pilots were shot down trying to stop
this communist traffic to South Vietnam. Fortunately, search and rescue teams in
Vietnam were extremely successful and the recovery rate was high.

Still there were nearly 600 who were not rescued. Many of them went down along
the Ho Chi Minh Trail and the passes through the border mountains between Laos
and Vietnam. Many were alive on the ground and in radio contact with search
and rescue and other planes; some were known to have been captured. Hanoi's
communist allies in Laos, the Pathet Lao, publicly spoke of American prisoners
they held, but when peace agreements were negotiated, Laos was not included,
and not a single American was released that had been held in Laos.

The Neptune had precise navigational equipment and accurate optical bombsight.
Radar was housed in a well on the nose underside of the aircraft, and radar
technicians felt especially vulnerable working in this "glass bubble" nosed
aircraft. It was believed that the aircraft could place the seismic or acoustic
device within a few yards of the desired point. To do so, however, the OP2E had
to fly low and level, making it an easy target for the enemy's anti-aircraft
guns that were increasing in number along the Trail.

On February 17, 1968, an OP2E from Observation Squadron 67 departed Thailand in
a flight of four aircraft on an operational mission over Laos. The crew of the
aircraft included Commander Glenn M. Hayden; Lt.Jg. James S. Kravitz; Lt. Curtis
F. Thurman; Ensign James C. Wonn; AO2 Clayborn W. Ashby, Jr.; ADJ2 Chester L.
Coons; AN Frank A. Dawson; ATN1 Paul N. Donato; and AN James E. Martin.

After completion of the first target run, the aircraft reported to its fighter
escort and forward air control aircraft that it had been hit by small arms fire
but would continue with the second target run.

During the second run, the fighter escort reported the starboard engine of the
OP2 on fire. The OP acknowledged the report and aborted the rest of their
mission to return to home base. The last radio transmission from the aircraft
was, "we're beat up pretty bad."

The fighter escort climbed to the top of the overcast to await the OP2
rendezvous, but the aircraft never emerged from the cloud base. The fighter
dropped below the clouds to search for the OP2 and found burning wreckage. No
parachutes were seen, nor were any emergency radio beepers heard. Search and
rescue efforts were negative. Investigation of the crash site was not feasible
because of enemy presence in the area. The aircraft crashed about 34 kilometers
northwest of Xepone in Savannakhet Province, Laos. The crash site was situated
2,800 meters south of route 91 in rugged terrain on the side of a 550 meter
ridge, approximately 4 kilometers northwest of Muang Phin. The aircraft was on
a reconnaissance mission and carried no ordnance.

Because there was no direct witness to the crash of the OP2, it is not known
whether any of the crew of nine survived, but assumed that they did not. All
nine aboard were classified Killed, Body Not Recovered. Although this aircraft
went down in a relatively populous area, it is not known whether the enemy
knows the fates of the crewmembers.

Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing in
Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. Government. Many authorities have
reluctantly concluded that hundreds of them are still alive in captivity.
Whether the crew of the Neptune that went down on February 17, 1968 is among
them is not known. What seems certain, however, is that we must do everything
possible to bring our men home.

HEFEL, DANIEL HENRY

Name: Daniel Henry Hefel
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: HHC, 2nd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Guttenberg IA
Date of Loss: 05 February 1970
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 163045N 1072824E (YD494093)
Status (in 1973): Returned POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H
Other Personnel in Incident: Tom Y. Kobashigawa, John W. Parsels (returned
POWs); James M. Lyon (missing)

REMARKS: 730327 RELSD BY PRG

SYNOPSIS: At 1530 hours on February 5, 1970, Capt. James M. Lyon, pilot, Capt.
John W. Parsels, copilot, SP5 Tom Y. Kobashigawa, crew chief, and SP4 Daniel
Hefel, door gunner, were flying a UH1H helicopter (serial #68-16441) on a
maintenance mission from Hue to Phy Bai, South Vietnam.

When the aircraft was about 18 miles northwest of Hue City, the helicopter
caught fire and crashed (due to a malfunction). Capt. Lyon was thrown clear of
the aircraft and was burned extensively over his body and part of his right
leg. His leg was severed four inches below the knee. The other crew members
were also injured and could not take evasie action. They were captured at 1630
hours by NVA troops and spent the night near the crash site.

Throughout the night, the crew members heard their pilot yelling and moaning in
pain. At 0600 hours, Capt. Lyon moaned and then a shot was heard from his
position about 30 feet from the aircraft wreckage. No other outcry from Capt.
Lyon was heard, and the others believed that he had been killed by the guard.

Two weeks later, Capt. Parsels was told by 1Lt. Lee Van Mac (an NVA commander
at "Camp Farnsworth") that Capt. Lyon died from his wounds and was buried at
the crash site. 1Lt. Lee Van Mac gave Capt. Parsels the personal effects of
Capt. Lyon, including his ID card and several photos which appeared to be of
Lyon's wife.

In late March, 1973, Parsels, Hefel and Kobashigawa were released from prisons
in North Vietnam. In their debriefings, all three concurred on the story that
Lyon had apparently been shot. They considered it a mercy killing, because
their pilot had been so seriously injured that they doubted that he could
survive.

Curiously, the Vietamese have not returned the body of Capt. James M. Lyon, nor
have they been forthcoming with information concerning him. Tragically, Capt.
Lyon has been a prisoner of war for nearly 20 years - alive or dead.

Even more tragic are the thousands of reports that continue to flow in
indicating that some hundreds of Americans are still prisoner in Indochina.
It's long past time we brought our men home.





HEGGEN, KEITH RUSSELL
Remains Returned March 13, 1974

Name: Keith Russell Heggen
Rank/Branch: O5/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 01 September 1931
Home City of Record: Renwick IA
Date of Loss: 21 December 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 210200N 1054500E (WJ779258)
Status (in 1973): Killed in Captivity
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: B52G
Other Personnel In Incident: Charles J. Bebus; Donovan Walters; Robert R. Lynn;
Edward Johnson (remains returned October 1988); Lynn R. R. Beens; James Y.
Nagahiro (both returned POWs)

REMARKS: 740313 REMS RETD

SYNOPSIS: Frustrated by problems in negotiating a peace settlement, and
pressured by a Congress and public wanting an immediate end to American
involvement in Vietnam, President Nixon ordered the most concentrated ait
offensive of the war - known as Linebacker II - in December 1972. During the
offensive, sometimes called the "Christmas bombings", 40,000 tons of bombs were
dropped, primarily over the area between Hanoi and Haiphong. White House Press
Secretary Ronald Ziegler said that the bombing would end only when all U.S.
POWs were released and an internationally recognized cease-fire was in force.

The Christmas Bombings, despite press accounts to the contrary, were of the
most precise the world had seen. Pilots involved in the immense series of
strikes generally agree that the strikes against anti-aircraft and strategic
targets was so successfull that the U.S., had it desired, "could have taken the
entire country of Vietnam by inserting an average Boy Scout troop in Hanoi and
marching them southward."

The B52 bomber saw heavy duty in Vietnam. From June 1965 to August 1973 no
fewer than 126,615 B52 sorties were flown. Of these, 125,479 reached their
targets, and 124,532 dropped their bombs. Six percent of these sorties were
flown in North Vietnam, and 17 B52s were lost to hostile fire in North Vietnam.
During the month of December 1972, 62 crewmembers of B52 aircraft were shot
down and captured or went missing over North Vietnam. Of these 62, 33 men were
released in 1973. The remains of 14 more have been returned over the years, and
15 are still missing. At least 10 those missing survived to eject safely. Where
are they? Where have they been?

On December 21, 1972, a B52G bomber stationed on Guam was ordered to take part
in the Christmas bombings. The crew of this B52 consisted of James Y. Nagahiro,
pilot; Donovan K. Walters, co-pilot; Robert R. Lynn, electronic warfare
officer; Charles J. Bebus, gunner; and crewmembers Lynn R. Beens; Keith R.
Heggen and Edward H. Johnson.

The B52G was outfitted more or less as were the other B52 models, equipped with
50-callibre M-3 guns and around 60,000 poundd of bombload, but with the
additional capacity to carry aerial mines.

LtCol. Nagahiro's aircraft successfully completed its mission, but was hit by a
surface to air missile (SAM) in the tail section shortly after turning toward
the safety of Thailand. Nagahiro gave the order for the crew to eject.

The fate of the crew is varied. Nagahiro, Beens and Heggen were captured, and
Heggen died in captivity. Until his release, the U.S. did not know Nagahiro had
been captured. After their release in 1973, Nagahiro and Beens were able to
fill in further information on the missing crew members.

Nagahiro relates that he saw Donovan Walters eject from the plane and heard
four others, Lynn, Bebus, Heggen and Beens, go out from behind him. Beens
states that he saw Walter's identification card in a stack of cards on a desk
at Hoa Lo (Hanoi Hilton) prison in Hanoi. Nagahiro saw Johnson's name written
on a pad at the prison. Hegger was captured alive, but died in captivity.

Although the Vietnamese returned the remains of Keith Heggen in March 1974,
they have consistently denied knowledge of any of the rest of the crew.

In October 1988, the Vietnamese "discovered" the remains of Bebus, Johnson,
Lynn and Walters and returned them to U.S. control. For 16 years, they were
political prisoners - alive or dead - of a communist nation.

Mounting evidence indicates that hundreds of Americans are still alive in
captivity in Southeast Asia. The U.S. Government has regular "talks" with the
Vietnamese and has negotiated the excavation of a crash site and the return of
about 200 remains, but has failed to successfully negotiate for the return of
those Americans still held captive.

If the U.S. had negotiated more aggressively, would Bebus, Johnson, Lynn and
Walters come home dead? Or alive?

HEILIG, JOHN

Name: John Heilig
Rank/Branch: O3/US Navy
Unit:
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Miami FL
Date of Loss: 05 May 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 184700N 1052600E (WF456767)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Veicle/Ground: RF8A

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: 730212 RELSD BY DRV

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-A models were equipped for photo reconnaissance. The RF-G
were also photographic versions, but with additional cameras and navigational
equipment.

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. In addition, there were 16
pilots who went down on photographic versions of the aircraft. Of these 16,
seven were captured (six were released, one died in captivity).

Lt. John Heilig was the pilot of an RF8A on a combat mission in Nghe An
Province, North Vietnam on May 5, 1966. As he was about 20 miles northwest of
the city of Vinh, his aircraft was hit by enemy fire and crashed. Heilig was
captured by the Vietnamese, and held prisoner until his return in Operation
Homecoming in the spring of 1973.

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. These reports are the source of serious distress to many returned
American prisoners. They had a code that no one could honorably return unless
all of the prisoners returned. Not only that code of honor, but the honor of our
country is at stake as long as even one man remains unjustly held. It's time we
brought our men home.





HEISKELL, LUCIUS LAMAR

Name: Lucius Lamar Heiskell
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 03 February 1940
Home City of Record: Memphis TN
Date of Loss: 06 February 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 174600N 1054800E (WE847643)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: HH3E

Other Personnel in Incident: Donald J. Hall; Richard A. Kibbey; Patrick H. Wood
(all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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: On February 6, 1967, Capt. Lucius L. Heiskell was a pilot and was
flying an O1F aircraft on a visual reconnaissance mission with another O1F when
his aircraft was struck by enemy fire forcing him to bail out. His parachute was
followed to the ground and voice contact with him indicated that immediate
rescue was not feasible due to enemy troops in the area.

Beeper signals continued and later an HH3E helicopter flown by Maj. Patrick H.
Wood was dispatched to recover Heiskell. He was at this time located near the
border of Laos and North Vietnam about 5 miles from the Mu Gia Pass. Wood's crew
that day included Capt. Richard A. Kibbey and SSgt. Donald J. Hall.

Heiskell was hoisted aboard, but as the helicopter was departing the area, it
was hit by ground fire causing it to explode and crash. The helicopter
pararescueman survived and was treated for burns. The remainder of the crew,
Hall, Kibbey and Wood, as well as Heiskell, were not located.

When 591 Americans were released in 1973, Heiskell and the crew of the HH3E was
not among them. They were numbered with nearly 3000 Americans who remained
missing, prisoner, or unaccounted for at the end of the war.

Since American involvement in Vietnam ended in 1975, over 10,000 reports
relating to Americans missing, prisoner, or otherwise unaccounted for in
Indochina have been received by the U.S. Government. Many officials, having
examined this largely classified information, have reluctantly concluded that
many Americans are still alive today, held captive by our long-ago enemy.

Whether Heiskell and the crew of the HH3E survived the crash of their aircraft
to be captured is not known. It is not known if they might be among those
thought to be still alive today. What is certain, however, is that as long as
even one American remains alive, held against his will, we owe him our very best
efforts to bring him to freedom.


HEITMAN, STEVEN WAYNE

Name: Steven Wayne Heitman
Rank/Branch: E5/US Army
Unit: H & H Troop; 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry; 1st Cavalry Division
Date of Birth: 23 April 1943
Home City of Record: Indianapolis IN
Date of Loss: 13 March 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 163650N 1072618E (YD601383)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1B

Other Personnel In Incident: Cleveland Evans; Jimmy L. Watson (both missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On March 13, 1968, SP5 Heitman, Sgt. Evans, passengers, WO Jimmy
Watson, pilot, SFC Eugene Gubbins, PFC Larry Moore and Lt. Purda, crewmembers
and 4 unidentified passengers of the 101st Airborne Division were aboard a UH1H
helicopter (tail #67-17254) which proceeded north from Phu Bai airfield on a
logistics mission to Camp Evans, Republic of Vietnam.

About 3-5 miles southeast of Camp Evans, the helicopter was hit by enemy fire
and was forced to land. All 10 persons exited the aircraft and split into two
5-man teams in an attempt to evade to friendly lines.

Lt. Purda and the four 101st Airborne personnel walked into Camp Evans at 2000
hours. An intensive search was initiated, but failed to reveal any trace of the
aircraft or the 5 missing. On March 28, elements of the 1st Cavalry Division
found 2 bodies in a shallow grave in the area of the crash site. They were later
identified as those of SFC Gubbins and PFC Moore. The fates of the other 3
remained a mystery and the three were classified Missing in Action.

Since the war ended, thousands of reports have convinced many authorities that
hundreds of Americans are still held captive in Southeast Asia. The three
survivors of the helicopter crash on March 13, 1968 could be among them. They
also could be dead. Until the U.S. seriously pursues his fate, we may not know
with certainty what happened to Steve Heitman.


HELBER, LAWRENCE NEAL

Name: Lawrence Neal Helber
Rank/Branch: O1/US Marine Corps
Unit: VMFA 315, MAG 11
Date of Birth: 05 February 1934
Home City of Record: Logan OH
Date of Loss: 24 January 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 161900N 1073900E (YD830065)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4B
Other Personnel in Incident: Albert Sprick (missing); on another F4B same
date, same coordinates: Doyle R. Sprick; Delmar G. Booze (both missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Capt. Doyle R. Sprick was the pilot and 2Lt. Delmar G. Booze his
navigator/bombadier on board an F4B Phantom fighter jet flying out of Da Nang
Airbase, South Vietnam on January 24, 1966. Sprick and Booze were part of a
multi-aircraft strike mission during a Christmas moratorium. At some point
during their mission, while over Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam and about
10 miles south of the city of Hue, the aircraft flown by Sprick and Booze went
down. Both men were declared Missing in Action.

Another F4B, apparently on the same strike mission, was downed at the same
location on that day. This aircraft was also flying out of VMFA 314, 11th
Marine Air Group, and presumably departed Da Nang as well. The second Phantom
was flown by Capt. Albert Pitt, accompanied by navigator 2Lt. Lawrence N.
Helber. This aircraft disappeared after striking a target. The last contact
with the aircraft was a report that their strike on the target had been
successful. Helber and Pitt were declared Missing in Action.

All four Marines lost that day were also given a clarifying code indicating the
degree of enemy knowledge of their fates. These four were all classified
Category 4, which means U.S. Intelligence has no information to indicate that
the Vietnamese know their fates.

According to Doyle Sprick's twin brother, Duane, searches were conducted for
the aircraft which were extensive and thorough for the time and condition. The
Da Nang area, according to Duane, was unfriendly, so the search and rescue was
fairly restricted since the area was "owned by the Viet Cong at the time."

In 1969, the Central Intelligence Agency received a rather extensive and
detailed report relating to a POW camp near the city of Hue in which scores of
Americans had been held. When asked to review photographs of Americans still
missing, the source giving the information positively identified Albert Pitt as
having been detained in this camp. This identification was made on April 11,
1969. The source also listed the Viet Cong Huong Thuy District Committee
members and provided sketches of the committee's headquarters and POW camp.

The U.S. intelligence community determined that it could not "be determined why
the source selected (Pitt's) photograph" as he "was never seen by other US PWs
following his loss incident". The source was summarily dismissed, and his
information discounted. The report was classified.

Over 15 years later, this report was unearthed by a concerned citizen through
the Freedom of Information Act. He immediately contacted the family of one of
the men on the "positive ID" list, and was shocked to learn that they had never
been told of the report's existence, nor did they have any clue that their son
could possibly have been captured.

Since that time, the lengthy report was distributed widely, and came into the
hands of two of the men whose name appeared on the "Positive ID" list who had
been fortunate enough to be released in 1973 by the North Vietnamese. These
returned POWs verified the accuracy of the report insofar as the compound was
concerned and added that it was a "way station", or temporary holding center in
which POWs were held only for brief periods of time. Thus, they were not
surprised to see many names on the list of men they had not seen at this
facility.

Since American involvement in the Vietnam war ended in 1975, nearly 10,000
reports concerning Americans missing in Southeast Asia have been received by the
U.S. Government. Less than 200 of them have been determined to be false, or
fabricated reports. Many have been correlated to individuals who returned to
the U.S. in 1973. In late 1989 about 125 cases were still under investigation,
undergoing the "closest scrutiny" the U.S. intelligence community could give
them. Thus far, according to the U.S. Government, it has not been possible to
resolve these cases as false or true. Many authorities are convinced that
hundreds of Americans are still being held prisoner in Southeast Asia.

If Albert Pitt was accurately identified by the Vietnamese source in 1969, he
has been criminally abandoned by the country he proudly served. If Albert Pitt
could be forgotten and be held unseen by other American POWs, why not Sprick?
Booze? Helber? Why not several hundred of the nearly 2500 still missing? If
they are alive, why are they not home? Are we doing enough to learn the fates
of our heroes?


Prepared by Homecoming II Project 01 December 1989.


HELD, JOHN WAYNE

Name: John Wayne Held
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 08 July 1936
Home City of Record: Indianapolis IN
Date of Loss: 17 April 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 120140N 1070130E (YU313213)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: A37A

Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Cessna's A37 "Dragonfly" was a two-seat light strike aircraft.
Although the B version was equipped for aerial refueling, the earlier A model
was restricted to its fully-armed range of about 450 miles. The easily
maintained jet was flown by both the U.S. and South Vietnamese Air Force, and
remained on station in Vietnam until the fall of Saigon in 1975.

Capt. John W. Held was the pilot of an A37A operating on a combat mission in
Phuoc Long Province, South Vietnam on April 17, 1968. About 10 miles east of the
city of Bo Duc, Held's aircraft was hit by ground fire and he was forced to
eject.

According to Held's father, Held's wingman reported good chutes and John reached
the ground safely. The second seater, if there was one, is unknown. Held is the
only man missing on April 17. It is possible that the second seater was rescued,
or that he was an ARVN and not maintained on U.S. casualty lists.

When search and rescue arrived 20 minutes later, they could see Held's empty
parachute and his his emergency radio beeper. However, heavy enemy ground fire
prevented rescue. A later search indicated no blood in the area where the chute
was seen.

Because there was no clear evidence that Held was captured or killed, he was
listed Missing in Action. Since that day, there has been no word of his fate.
The Vietnamese deny any knowledge of him.

Held was not among the prisoners of war that were released in 1973. High-ranking
U.S. officials admit their dismay that "hundreds" of Americans known or
suspected to be prisoners of war did not return.

Alarmingly, evidence continues to mount that Americans were left as prisoners in
Southeast Asia and continue to be held today. Unlike "MIAs" from other wars,
most of the nearly 2500 men and women who remain missing in Southeast Asia can
be accounted for. Held could be one of them. Isn't it time we brought our men
home?

John W. Held was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel during the period he
was maintained missing.
HELLBACH, HAROLD JAMES

Name: Harold James Hellbach
Rank/Branch: O3/US Marine Corps
Unit: VFMA 232, MAG 11
Date of Birth: 21 September 1942
Home City of Record: New Orleans LA
Date of Loss: 19 May 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 170403N 1070255E (YD180880)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
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.

Capt. Harold J. Hellbach was the pilot of an F8E. On May 19, 1967, Hellbach's
aircraft crashed near the city of Vinh Linh in Quang Binh Province in South
Vietnam. Little hope was held that Hellbach survived, and he was declared
Killed/Body Not Recovered. Defense Department records list Hellbach's loss as
hostile, so it is presumed that it was related to a combat mission.

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.



HELWIG, ROGER DANNY

Name: Roger Danny Helwig
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 17 May 1943
Home City of Record: Colorado Springs CO
Date of Loss: 11 September 1969
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 163920N 1062250E (XD472415)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D

Other Personnel in Incident: Roger H. Stearns (remains returned)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: When North Vietnam began to increase their military strength in South
Vietnam, NVA and Viet Cong troops again intruded on neutral Laos for sanctuary,
as the Viet Minh had done during the war with the French some years before. The
border road, termed the "Ho Chi Minh Trail" was used for transporting weapons,
supplies and troops. Hundreds of American pilots were shot down trying to stop
this communist traffic to South Vietnam. Fortunately, search and rescue teams in
Vietnam were extremely successful and the recovery rate was high.

Still there were nearly 600 who were not rescued, including Stearns and Helwig.
Many were alive on the ground and in radio contact with search and rescue and
other planes; some were known to have been captured. Hanoi's communist allies in
Laos, the Pathet Lao, publicly spoke of American prisoners they held, but when
peace agreements were negotiated, Laos was not included, and not a single
American was released that had been held in Laos.

One of the aircraft used the Trail was the F4 Phantom, used by Air Force, Marine
and Navy air wings. The Phantom 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. Most pilots considered it one of the
"hottest" planes around.

Capt. Roger D. Helwig and Capt. Roger H. Stearns are both listed as pilots by
the Department of Defense. They comprised the aircrew of an F4D fighter/bomber
sent on a combat mission over Laos on September 11, 1969. During the mission,
the aircraft was shot down about 5 miles southeast of Sepone in Savannakhet
Province. This location is about 10 miles west of the Vietnam border a few miles
south of the Demilitarized Zone. It is on the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

The fates of Helwig and Stearns are not known, but circumstances surrounding the
crash of the aircraft indicated to the Air Force that both died in the crash,
and that the enemy probably knew their fate.

On May 22, 1990, the Vietnamese, having denied knowledge of Helwig and Stearns
for many years, "discovered" and returned to U.S. control the remains of Roger
H. Stearns. The fate of Helwig remains unclear.

Were it not for the thousands of reports concerning Americans still held captive
in Southeast Asia, the Helwig family might be able to close this tragic chapter
of their lives. But as long as Americans are alive, being held captive, one of
them could be Helwig. No one realloy knew the Vietnamese had control of Stearns'
body. Helwig could have fallen into the hands of either the Lao or Vietnamese.
It's time we brought all our men home.




HEMMEL, CLARENCE JOSEPH

Name: Clarence Joseph Hemmel
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 30 November 1941
Home City of Record: Jefferson City MO
Date of Loss: 21 October 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 153705N 1083010E (BT430280)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F100D

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: At the Air Force Academy, Clarence J. Hemmel was known as "Boo Boo."
He was well liked and expected to have a fine Air Force career following his
1963 graduation.

After training on the F100 Super Sabre fighter/bomber, Hemmel was sent to
Vietnam. There, on October 21, 1967, his plane was kit by enemy fire, crashed,
and Hemmel was presumed to be dead. His last known location was due east of the
city of Tam Ky near the coastline of South Vietnam.

Hemmel probably did not survive that day in October, so it was disappointment
his family felt, not shock, when he did not miraculously return with 591
released American prisoners in 1973. But military officials were shocked that
hundreds of Americans known or suspected to be prisoners were not released.

Since the war ended, thousands of reports have been received by the U.S.
Government that relate to Americans still held captive in Southeast Asia. The
Government maintains that it cannot verify any single report, but the official
"assumption" is that at least some men are there. Experts maintain there are
hundreds, but the U.S. has not found the formula to bring them home.

Clarence Hemmel may not have survived, but some of the men he flew with did. One
can imagine that "Boo Boo" would gladly fly one more mission for them. It's time
we brought them home.

HEMPEL, BARRY LEE

Name: Barry Lee Hempel
Rank/Branch: E2/US Marine Corps
Unit: Battery D, 2nd Battalion, 13th Marines, 1st Marine Division
Date of Birth: 26 July 1947
Home City of Record: Garden Grove CA
Date of Loss: 10 May 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 152208N 1074540E (YC965009)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Personnel in Incident: Ngok Tavak: Horace H. Fleming; Thomas J. Blackman; Joseph
F. Cook; Paul S. Czerwonka; Thomas W. Fritsch; Barry L. Hempel; Raymond T.
Heyne; Gerald E. King; Robert C. Lopez; William D. McGonigle; Donald W.
Mitchell; James R. Sargent (members of USMC search team - all missing); Glenn E.
Miller; Thomas H. Perry (USSF teammembers - missing); Kham Duc: Richard E. Sands
(missing from CH47); Bernard L. Bucher; Frank M. Hepler; George W. Long; John L.
McElroy; Stephan C. Moreland (USAF crew of C130 - all missing); Warren R. Orr
(USSF on C130 - missing); Harry B. Coen; Andrew J. Craven; Juan M. Jimenez;
Frederick J. Ransbottom; Maurice H. Moore; Joseph L. Simpson; William E.
Skivington; John C. Stuller; Imlay S. Widdison; Danny L. Widner; Roy C. Williams
(all missing); Julius W. Long (released POW).

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Kham Duc Special Forces camp (A-105), was located on the western
fringes of Quang Tin ("Great Faith") Province, South Vietnam. In the spring of
1968, it was the only remaining border camp in Military Region I. Backup
responsibility for the camp fell on the 23rd Infantry Division (Americal), based
at Chu Lai on the far side of the province.

The camp had originally been built for President Diem, who enjoyed hunting in
the area. The 1st Special Forces detachment (A-727B) arrived in September 1963
and found the outpost to be an ideal border surveillance site with an existing
airfield. The camp was located on a narrow grassy plain surrounded by rugged,
virtually uninhabited jungle. The only village in the area, located across the
airstrip, was occupied by post dependents, camp followers and merchants. The
camp and airstrip were bordered by the Ngok Peng Bum ridge to the west and Ngok
Pe Xar mountain, looming over Kham Duc to the east. Steep banked streams full of
rapids and waterfalls cut through the tropical wilderness. The Dak Mi River
flowed past the camp over a mile distant, under the shadow of the Ngok Pe Xar.

Five miles downriver was the small forward operating base of Ngok Tavak,
defended by the 113-man 11th Mobile Strike Force Company with its 8 Special
Forces and 3 Australian advisors. Since Ngok Tavak was outside friendly
artillery range, 33 Marine artillerymen of Battery D, 2nd Battalion, 13th
Marines, with two 105mm howitzers were located at the outpost.

Capt. Christopher J. Silva, commander of Detachment A-105 helicoptered into Ngok
Tavak on May 9, 1968 in response to growing signs of NVA presence in the area.
Foul weather prevented his scheduled evening departure. A Kham Duc CIDG platoon
fleeing a local ambush also arrived and was posted to the outer perimeter. It
was later learned that the CIDG force contained VC infiltrators.

Ngok Tavak was attacked by an NVA infantry battalion at 0315 hours on May 10.
The base was pounded by mortars and direct rocket fire. As the frontal assault
began, the Kham Duc CIDG soldiers moved toward the Marines in the fort yelling,
"Don't shoot, don't shoot! Friendly, friendly!" Suddenly they lobbed grenades
into the Marine howitzer positions and ran into the fort, where they shot
several Marines with carbines and sliced claymore mine and communication wires.

The defenders suffered heavy casualties but stopped the main assault and killed
the infiltrators. The NVA dug in along the hill slopes and grenaded the trenches
where the mobile strike force soldiers were pinned by machine gun and rocket
fire. An NVA flamethrower set the ammunition ablaze, banishing the murky flare-
lighted darkness for the rest of the night. SFC Harold M. Swicegood and the USMC
platoon leader, Lt. Adams, were badly wounded and moved to the command bunker.
Medical Spec4 Blomgren reported that the CIDG mortar crews had abandoned their
weapons. Silva tried to operate the main 4.2 inch mortar but was wounded. At
about 0500 hours, Sgt. Glenn Miller, an A-105 communications specialist, was
shot through the head as he ran over to join the Marine howitzer crews.

The NVA advanced across the eastern side of Ngok Tavak and brought forward more
automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenade launchers. In desperation, the
defenders called on USAF AC-47 "Spooky" gunships to strafe the perimeter and the
howitzers, despite the possible presence of friendly wounded in the gun pits.
The NVA countered with tear gas, but the wind kept drifting the gas over their
own lines. After three attempts, they stopped. A grenade fight between the two
forces lasted until dawn.

At daybreak Australian Warrant Officers Cameron and Lucas, joined by Blomgren,
led a CIDG counterattack. The North Vietnamese pulled back under covering fire,
and the howitzers were retaken. The Marines fired the last nine shells and
spiked the tubes. Later that morning medical evacuation helicopters supported by
covering airstrikes took out the seriously wounded, including Silva and
Swicegood. Two CH46's were able to land 45 replacements from the 12th Mobile
Strike Force Company, accompanied by Capt. Euge E. Makowski (who related much of
this account to Shelby Stanton, author of "Green Berets at War"), but one
helicopter was hit in the fuel line and forced down. Another helicopter was hit
by a rocket and burst into flames, wrecking the small helipad. The remaining
wounded were placed aboard a hovering helicopter. As it lifted off, two Mike
Force soldiers and 1Lt. Horace Fleming, one of the stranded aviation crewmen,
grabbed the helicopter skids. All three fell to their deaths after the
helicopter had reached an altitude of over one hundred feet.

The mobile strike force soldiers were exhausted and nervous. Ammunition and
water were nearly exhausted, and Ngok Tavak was still being pounded by sporadic
mortar fire. They asked permission to evacuate their positions, but were told to
"hold on" as "reinforcements were on the way". By noon the defenders decided
that aerial reinforcement or evacuation was increasingly unlikely, and night
would bring certain destruction. An hour later, they abandoned Ngok Tavak.

Thomas Perry, a medic from C Company, arrived at the camp at 0530 hours the
morning of the 10th. He cared for the wounded and was assisting in an attempt to
establish a defensive perimeter when the decision was made to evacuate the camp.
As survivors were leaving, Perry was seen by Sgt. Cordell J. Matheney, Jr.,
standing 20 feet away, as Australian Army Capt. John White formed the withdrawal
column at the outer perimeter wire on the eastern Ngok Tavak hillside. It was
believed that Perry was going to join the end of the column.

All the weapons, equipment and munitions that could not be carried were hastily
piled into the command bunker and set afire. The helicopter that had been
grounded by a ruptured fuel line was destroyed with a LAW. Sgt. Miller's body
was abandoned.

After survivors had gone about 1 kilometer, it was discovered that Perry was
missing. Efforts were conducted to locate both Perry and Miller, including a
search by a group from Battery D. They were searching along the perimeter when
they were hit by enemy grenades and arms fire. Neither the men on the team nor
Perry was ever found. Included in this team were PFC Thomas Blackman; LCpl.
Joseph Cook; PFC Paul Czerwonka; LCpl. Thomas Fritsch; PFC Barry Hempel; LCpl.
Raymond Heyne; Cpl. Gerald King; PFC Robert Lopez; PFC William McGonigle; LCpl.
Donald Mitchell; and LCpl. James Sargent. The remaining survivors evaded through
dense jungle to a helicopter pickup point midway to Kham Duc. Their extraction
was completed shortly before 1900 hours on the evening of May 10.

In concert with the Ngok Tavak assault, the Kham Duc was blasted by a heavy
mortar and recoilless rifle attack at 0245 hours that same morning. Periodic
mortar barrages ripped into Kham Duc throughout the rest of the day, while the
Americal Division airmobiled a reinforced battalion of the 196th Infantry
Brigade into the compound. A Special Forces command party also landed, but the
situation deteriorated too rapidly for their presence to have positive effect.

The mortar attack on fog-shrouded Kham Duc resumed on the morning of May 11. The
bombardment caused heavy losses among the frightened CIDG soldiers, who fled
from their trenches across open ground, seeking shelter in the bunkers. The LLDB
commander remained hidden. CIDG soldiers refused orders to check the rear of the
camp for possible North Vietnamese intruders. That evening the 11th and 12th
Mobile Strike Force companies were airlifted to Da Nang, and half of the 137th
CIDG Company from Camp Ha Thanh was airlanded in exchange.

The 1st VC Regiment, 2nd NVA Division, began closing the ring around Kham Duc
during the early morning darkness of 12 May. At about 0415 to 0430 hours, the
camp and outlying positions came under heavy enemy attack. Outpost #7 was
assaulted and fell within a few minutes. Outposts #5, #1 and #3 had been
reinforced by Americal troops but were in North Vietnamese hands by 0930 hours.

OP1 was manned by PFC Harry Coen, PFC Andrew Craven, Sgt. Joseph Simpson, and
SP4 Julius Long from Company E, 2nd of the 1st Infantry. At about 0415 hours,
when OP1 came under heavy enemy attack, PFC Coen and SP4 Long were seen trying
to man a 106 millimeter recoilless rifle. Survivors reported that in the initial
enemy fire, they were knocked off their bunker. Both men again tried to man the
gun, but were knocked down again by RPG fire.

PFC Craven, along with two other men, departed the OP at 0830 hours on May 12.
They moved out 50 yards and could hear the enemy in their last position. At
about 1100 hours, as they were withdrawing to the battalion perimeter, they
encountered an enemy position. PFC Craven was the pointman and opened fire. The
enemy returned fire, and PFC Craven was seen to fall, with multiple chest
wounds. The other two men were unable to recover him, and hastily departed the
area. PFC Craven was last seen lying on his back, wounded, near the camp.

OP2 was being manned by 1Lt. Frederick Ransbottom, SP4 Maurice Moore, PFC Roy
Williams, PFC Danny Widner, PFC William Skivington, PFC Imlay Widdison, and SP5
John Stuller, from the 2nd of the 3rd Infantry when it came under attack.
Informal questioning of survivors of this position indicated that PFC Widdison
and SP5 Stuller may have been killed in action. However, the questioning was not
sufficiently thorough to produce enough evidence to confirm their deaths.

The only information available concerning 1Lt. Ransbottom, SP4 Moore, PFC Lloyd
and PFC Skivington that Lt. Ransbottom allegedly radioed PFC Widner and PFC
Williams, who were in the third bunker, and told them that he was shooting at
the enemy as they entered his bunker.

SP4 Juan Jimenez, a rifleman assigned to Company A, 2nd of the 1st Infantry, was
occupying a defensive position when he was severely wounded in the back by enemy
mortar fire. SP4 Jimenez was declared dead by the Battalion Surgeon in the early
morning hours of May 12. He was then carried to the helipad for evacuation.
However, due to the situation, space was available in the helicopter for only
the wounded, and SP4 Jimenez'remains were left behind.

At noon a massive NVA attack was launched against the main compound. The charge
was stopped by planes hurling napalm, cluster bomb units and 750 pound bombs
into the final wire barriers. The decision was made by the Americal Division
officers to call for immediate extraction.

The evacuation was disorderly, and at times, on the verge of complete panic. One
of the first extraction helicopters to land was exploded by enemy fire, blocking
the airstrip. Engineers of Company A, 70th Engineer Battalion, frantically
reassembled one of their dozers (previously torn apart to prevent capture) to
clear the runway. Eight more aircraft were blown out of the sky.

PFC Richard E. Sands was a member of Company A, 1st Battalion, 46th Infantry,
198th Light Infantry Brigade being extracted on a CH47 helicopter (serial
#67-18475). The helicopter was hit by 50 calliber machine gun fire at an
altitude of 1500-1600 feet shortly after takeoff.

Sands, who was sitting near the door gunner, was hit in the head by an incoming
rounds. The helicopter made a controlled landing and caught fire. During the
evacuation from the burning helicopter, four personnel and a medic checked PFC
Sands and indicated that he had been killed instantly. Because of the danger of
incoming mortar rounds and the fire, personnel attempting to remove PFC Sands
from the helicopter were ordered to abandon their attempt. The remaining
personnel were evacuated from the area later by another helicopter.

Intense antiaircraft fire from the captured outposts caused grave problems.
Control over the indigenous forces was difficult. One group of CIDG soldiers had
to be held in trenches at gunpoint to prevent them from mobbing the runway.

As evacuation was in progress, members of Company A, 1/46, who insisted on
boarding the aircraft first, shoved Vietnamese dependents out of the way. As
more Americal infantry tried to clamber into the outbound planes, the outraged
Special Forces staff convinced the Air Force to start loading civilians onboard
a C130, then watched as the civilians pushed children and weaker adults aside.

The crew of the U.S. Air Force C130 aircraft (serial #60-0297) consisted of Maj.
Bernard Bucher, pilot; SSgt. Frank Hepler, flight engineer; Maj. John McElroy,
navigator; 1Lt. Steven Moreland, co-pilot; George Long, load master; Capt.
Warren Orr, passenger, and an undetermined number of Vietnamese civilians.

The aircraft reported receiving ground fire on takeoff. The Forward Air Control
(FAC) in the area reported that the aircraft exploded in mid-air and crashed in
a fire ball about one mile from camp. All crew and passengers were believed
dead, as the plane burned quickly and was completely destroyed except for the
tail boom. No remains were recovered from the aircraft.

Capt. Orr was not positively identified by U.S. personnel as being aboard the
aircraft. He was last seen near the aircraft helping the civilians to board.
However, a Vietnamese stated that he had seen Capt. Orr board the aircraft and
later positively identified him from a photograph. Rescue efforts were
impossible because of the hostile threat in the area.

At the time the order was given to escape and evade, SP4 Julius Long was was
with Coen and Simpson. All three had been wounded, and were trying to make their
way back to the airfield about 350 yards away. As they reached the airfield,
they saw the last C130 departing. PFC Coen, who was shot in the stomach,
panicked and started running and shooting his weapon at random. SP4 Long tried
to catch him, but could not, and did not see PFC Coen again. Long then carried
Sgt. Simpson to a nearby hill, where they spent the night.

During the night, the airfield was strafed and bombed by U.S. aircraft. SP4 Long
was hit twice in the back by fragments, and Sgt. Simpson died during the night.
SP4 Long left him lying on the hill near the Cam Duc airfield and started his
escape and evasion toward Chu Lai, South Vietnam. SP4 Long was captured and was
released in 1973 from North Vietnam.

The Special Forces command group was the last organized group out of the camp.
As their helicopter soared into the clouds, Kham Duc was abandoned to advancing
NVA infantry at 4:33 p.m. on May 12, 1968. The last Special Forces camp on the
northwestern frontier of South Vietnam had been destroyed.

Two search and recovery operations were conducted in the vicinity of OP1 and OP2
and the Cam Duc airfield on July 18, 1970 and August 17, 1970. In these
operations, remains of personnel previously reported missing from this incident
were recovered and subsequently identified. (SP4 Bowers, PFC Lloyd, Sgt. Sisk,
PFC Guzman-Rios and SSgt. Carter). However, extensive search and excavation
could not be completed at OP1 and OP2 because of the tactical situation.

It was assumed that all the missing at Kham Duc were killed in action until
about 1983, when the father of one of the men missing discovered a Marine Corps
document which indicated that four of the men had been taken prisoner. The
document listed the four by name. Until then, the families had not been advised
of the possibility there were any American prisoners taken other than Julius
Long. A Vietnamese rallier identified the photograph of Roy C. Williams as
positively having been a POW.

Until proof is obtained that the rest of the men lost at Ngok Tavak and Kham Duc
are dead, their families will always wonder if they are among those said to
still be alive in Southeast Asia.


CASE SYNOPSIS: HENDERSON, WILLIAM JOSEPH

Name: William Joseph Henderson
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Milwaukee WI
Loss Date: 03 April 1972
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 165022N 1070455E (YD175602)
Status (in 1973): Returned POW
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: OV10A
Personnel in Incident: April 2: Robin F. Gatwood; Wayne L. Bolte; Anthony
Giannangeli; Charles A. Levis; Henry M. Serex; (all missing from the EB66).
LtCol. Iceal Hambleton (rescued after 12 days from EB66). Ronald P. Paschall;
Byron K. Kulland; John W. Frink (all missing from UH1H rescue helicopter), Jose
M. Astorga (captured and released in 1973 from UH1H). April 3: William J.
Henderson (captured and released in 1973 from OV10A rescue craft); Mark Clark
(rescued after 12 days from OV10A rescue craft).  April 6: James H. Alley;
Allen J. Avery; Peter H. Chapman; John H. Call; William R. Pearson; Roy D.
Prater (all KIA/BNR from HH53C "Jolly 52" rescue chopper). Also in very close
proximity to "Bat 21"on April 3: Allen D. Christensen; Douglas L. O'Neil;
Edward W. Williams; Larry A. Zich (all missing from UH1H).  April 7: Bruce
Charles Walker (evaded 11 days); Larry F. Potts (captured & died in POW camp)
(both missing from OV10A).

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On the afternoon of April 2, 1972, two Thailand-based EB66 aircraft
(Bat 21 and Bat 22), from the 30th Air Division, were flying pathfinder escort
for a cell of B52s bombing near the DMZ. Bat 21 took a direct SAM hit and the
plane went down. A single beeper signal was heard, that of navigator Col. Iceal
Hambleton. At this time it was assumed the rest of the crew died in the crash.
The crew included Maj. Wayne L. Bolte, pilot; 1Lt. Robin F. Gatwood, LtCol.
Anthony R. Giannangeli, LtCol. Charles A. Levis, and Maj. Henry M. Serex, all
crew members. It should be noted that the lowest ranking man aboard this plane
was Gatwood, a First Lieutenant. This was not an ordinary crew, and its
members, particularly Hambleton, would be a prize capture for the enemy because
of military knowledge they possessed.

It became critical, therefore, that the U.S. locate Hambleton, and any other
surviving crew members before the Vietnamese did - and the Vietnamese were
trying hard to find them first.

An Army search and rescue team was nearby and dispatched two UH1H "slicks" and
two UH1B "Cobras". When they approached Hambleton's position just before dark,
at about 50 feet off the ground, with one of the AH1G Cobra gunships flying at
300 feet for cover, two of the helicopters were shot down. One, the Cobra (Blue
Ghost 28) reached safety and the crew was picked up, without having seen the
other downed helicopter. The other, a UH1H from F Troop, 8th Cavalry, 196th
Brigade, had just flown over some huts into a clearing when they encountered
ground fire, and the helicopter exploded. Jose Astorga, the gunner, was injured
in the chest and knee by the gunfire. Astorga became unconscious, and when he
recovered, the helicopter was on the ground. He found the pilot, 1Lt. Byron K.
Kulland, lying outside the helicopter. WO John W. Frink, the co-pilot, was
strapped in his seat and conscious. The crew chief, SP5 Ronald P. Paschall, was
pinned by his leg in the helicopter, but alive. WO Franks urged Astorga to
leave them, and Astorga was captured. He soon observed the aircraft to be hit
by automatic weapons fire, and to explode with the rest of the crew inside. He
never saw the rest of the crew again. Astorga was relesed by the North
Vietnamese in 1973.

The following day, Nail 38, an OV10A equipped with electronic rescue gear
enabling its crew to get a rapid "fix" on its rescue target entered Hambleton's
area and was shot down. The crew, William J. Henderson and Mark Clark, both
parachuted out safely. Henderson was captured and released in 1973. Clark
evaded for 12 days and was subsequently rescued.

On April 3, the day Nail 38 was shot down, a UH1H "slick" went down in the same
area carrying a crew of four enlisted Army personnel. They had no direct
connection to the rescue of Bat 21, but were very probably shot down by the
same SAM installations that downed Bat 21. The helicopter, from H/HQ, 37th
Signal Battalion, 1st Signal Brigade, had left Marble Mountain Airfield, Da
Nang, on a standard resupply mission to signal units in and around Quang Tri
City. The crew, consisting of WO Douglas L. O'Neil, pilot; CW2 Larry A. Zich,
co-pilot; SP5 Allen D. Christensen, crew chief; and SP4 Edward W. Williams,
gunner; remain missing in action.

On April 6, an attempt was made to pick up Clark and Hambleton which resulted
in an HH53C helicopter being shot down. The chopper was badly hit. The
helicopter landed on its side and continued to burn, consuming the entire craft,
and presumably, all 6 men aboard. The crew of this aircraft consisted of James
H. Alley; Allen J. Avery, John H. Call III, Peter H. Chapman, William R.
Pearson, and Roy D. Prater. Search and rescue noted no signs of survivors, but
it is felt that the Vientamese probably know the fate of this crew because of
the close proximity of the downed aircraft to enemy locations.

On April 7 another Air Force OV10A went down in the area with Larry Potts and
Bruce Walker aboard. Walker, the Air Force pilot of the aircraft, evaded
capture 11 days, while it is reported that Potts was captured and died in Quang
Binh prison. Potts, the observer, was a Marine Corps officer. Walker's last
radio transmission to search and rescue was for SAR not to make an attempt to
rescue, the enemy was closing in. Both men remain unaccounted for.

Hambleton and Clark were rescued after 12 incredible days. Hambleton
continually changed positions and reported on enemy activity as he went, even
to the extent of calling in close air strikes near his position. He was tracked
by a code he devised relating to the length and lie direction of various golf
holes he knew well. Another 20 or so Americans were not so fortunate.

In July 1986, the daughter of Henry Serex learned that, one week after all
search and rescue had been "called off" for Bat 21, another mission was mounted
to recover "another downed crewmember" from Bat 21. She doesn't know whether or
not it is her father or another man on the EB66 aircraft. No additional
information has been released. When the movie "Bat 21" was released, she was
horrified to learn that virtually no mention of the rest of the crew, including
her father, was made.

In Vietnam, to most fighting men, the man that fought beside them, whether in
the air or on the ground, was worth dying for. Each understood that the other
would die for him if necessary. Thus, also considering the critical knowledge
possessed by Col. Hambleton and some of the others, the seemingly uncanny means
taken to recover Clark and Hambleton are not so unusual at all.

What defies logic and explaination, however, is that the government that sent
these men to battle can distort or withold information to their families, and
knowingly abandon hundreds of men known or strongly suspected to be in enemy
hands.

Thousands of reports have been received by the U.S. Government indicating that
Americans are still alive, in captivity in Southeast Asia. It has been 17 years
for those who may have survived the 1972 Easter crashes and rescue attempts.
How much longer must they wait for their country to bring "peace with honor" to
them and bring them home?



HENDERSON, WILLIAM ROY
Remains Returned 27 January 1969, ID'd 23 February 1976

Name: William Roy Henderson
Rank/Branch: E5/US Army
Unit:
Date of Birth: 18 February 1943
Home City of Record: Cincinnati OH
Date of Loss: 23 January 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 141911N 1074330E (YA940681)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 3
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H

Other Personnel in Incident: Robert L. Luster, Frank D. Moorman (both missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS: REMS REC 690127, IDD 760223

SYNOPSIS: MACV-SOG (Military Assistance Command, Vietnam Studies and Observation
Group) was a joint-service unconventional warfare task force engaged in highly
classified operations throughout Southeast Asia. The 5th Special Forces
channeled personnel into MACV-SOG (although it was not a Special Forces group)
through Special Operations Augmentation (SOA), which provided their "cover"
while under secret orders to MACV-SOG. The teams performed deep penetration
missions of strategic reconnaissance and interdiction into Laos and Cambodia
which were called, depending on the time frame, "Shining Brass" or "Prairie
Fire" missions.

On December 19, 1968, PFC Robert F. Scherdin was the assistant team leader of a
MACV-SOG reconnaissance patrol in Rotanokiri Province, Cambodia, near the border
of Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. The team leader, suspecting enemy activity, had
taken four members of the team to check out the area. The rear element, with
Scherdin in charge, came under heavy automatic weapon fire as they were moving
up to the leader's position. Montagnard soldier Nguang in this element, saw
Scherdin fall on his right side and tried to help him stand up, but Scherdin
only groaned and would not get up. Nguang was then wounded himself and realized
that he had been left by the other three Vietnamese of the rear element,
whereupon he left Scherdin and joined the rest of the unit.

The team leader and his element were extracted a short time later, then the rear
element was extracted, except for Scherdin. The team leader had been informed
that Scherdin had been wounded and because of the tactical situation, had to be
left behind. Scherdin was not seen again.

On December 30, a platoon was inserted into the area to search for Scherdin, but
had to be extracted because of heavy enemy activity. In January, 1969, the rear
element of the original team was also reinserted and remained four days. They
died in a helicopter crash shortly after their extraction. They had not been
questioned by the investigation board, and it is not known if they located
information concerning Scherdin.

There are only three Americans missing who are associated with the loss of a
helicopter in January 1969. Lost January 23, 1969, in the general vicinity of
the Scherdin loss, they are SGT. William R. Henderson, SP4 Frank D. Moorman and
PFC Robert L. Luster. These three were lost in the Tri-border area in South
Vietnam. Their remains were recovered on January 27, 1969 and positive
identifications confirmed February 23, 1976.

According to Luster's wife, the remains were subsequently buried in a mass
grave. She does not accept the identification of her husband. Further, Mrs.
Luster states that one of the team "walked off the plane in 1973" (was a
released POW). According to all available public records, only Luster, Moorman
and Henderson were classified missing from this incident, and no released POW
went missing that day.

It is believed that these three may have comprised the flight crew of the
helicopter extracting the Special Forces search party. [As the remainder of the
rear element was probably completely indigenous, U.S. records would not contain
reference to them. The individual released may have been an indigenous.]

Nearly 2500 Americans were lost in Southeast Asia during our miltary involvement
there. Since the war in Southeast Asia ended in 1973, thousands of reports
relating to Americans prisoner, missing or unaccounted for have been received by
the U.S. Government. The official policy is that no conclusive proof has been
obtained that is current enough to act upon. Detractors of this policy say
conclusive proof is in hand, but that the willingness or ability to rescue these
prisoners does not exist.

Robert F. Scherdin, if one of those hundreds said to be still alive and in
captivity, must be wondering if and when his country will return for him. In
America, we say that life is precious, but isn't the life of even one American
worth the effort of recovery? When the next war comes, and it is our sons lost,
will we then care enough to do everything we can to bring our prisoners home?






HENDRIX, JERRY WAYNE

Name: Jerry Wayne Hendrix
Rank/Branch: E6/US Marine Corps
Unit: HMM 165, MAG 36, 1 MAW
Date of Birth: 27 December 1942
Home City of Record: Wichita KS
Date of Loss: 11 July 1972
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 163433N 1072250E (YD345644)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: CH53D

Other Personnel in Incident: Kenneth L. Crody (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II
Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On the morning of July 11, 1972, the helicopter to which Hendrix was
assigned launched from the USS TRIPOLI to participate in combat operations in
support of operation LAM SON 72 (Phase II) in Vietnam.

LAM SON 719 had been a large offensive operation against NVA communications
lines in Laos in the region adjacent to the two northern provinces of South
Vietnam. The operation was a raid in which ARVN troops drove west from Khe Sanh
on Route 9, cut the Ho Chi Minh Trail, seized Tchepone, some 25 miles away, and
then returned to Vietnam. The ARVN provided and commanded the ground forces,
while U.S. Army and Air Force furnished aviation airlift and supporting
firepower.

Losses were heavy. The ARVN suffered some 9,000 casualties, almost 50% of their
force. U.S. forces incurred some 1,462 casualties. Aviation units lost 168
helicopters and another 618 were damaged. Fifty-five aircrewmen were killed in
action, 178 were wounded and 34 were missing in action. There were 19,360 known
enemy casualties for the entire operation lasting until April 6, 1971.

Phase II of LAM SON included inserting South Vietnamese marines behind enemy
lines near communist-occupied Quang Tri City, Republic of Vietnam. This was the
mission of Hendrix' helicopter.

While approaching the drop zone, the helicopter was struck by a heat-seeking
SA-7 missile in the starboard engine. The aircraft immediately burst into flames
and crashlanded moments later. Several aboard received injuries and were taken
back to the TRIPOLI for treatment. The bodies of Hendrix and the gunner, CPL
Kenneth L. Crody, could not be recovered because of the intense heat of the
burning aircraft.

Crody and Hendrix are listed with honor among the missing because their remains
were not returned home. Witnesses believed they were both dead in the aircraft.
For many others of the missing, however, clear-cut answers cannot be had. Many
were alive and in radio contact with would-be rescuers when they were last heard
from. Others were photographed in captivity, only to disappear.

Since the war ended, the Defense Department has received over 10,000 reports
relating to the men still unaccounted for in Southeast Asia, yet concludes that
no actionable evidence has been received that would indicate Americans are still
alive in Southeast Asia. A recent Senate investigation indicates that most of
these reports were dismissed without just cause, and that there is every
indication that Americans remained in captivity far after the war ended, and may
be alive today.

It's time we learned the truth about our missing and brought them home.




HENN, JOHN ROBERT JR.

Name: John Robert Henn, Jr.
Rank/Branch: W2/US Army
Unit: F Battery, 79th Artillery, 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division
Date of Birth: 11 February 1948 (Worchester MA)
Home City of Record: Sutton MA
Date of Loss: 24 May 1972
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 113345N 1063717E (XT768786)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: AH1G
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On May 24, 1972, WO2 Isaac Y. Hosaka, pilot, and WO2 John R. Henn,
aircraft commander, were flying an AH1G Cobra helicopter (tail #67-15836) which
was participating in a medivac operation about 8 kilometers south of An Loc,
South Vietnam. WO2 Henn's helicopter was in a flight of three Cobras at 4800
feet when the helicopter appeared to break in half.

The aircraft then went into a flat spin, exploded and burst into flames upon
impact. The other helicopter pilots concluded that the Cobra had been hit by a
SAM (surface to air missile), as they had seen a trail of white smoke from the
ground to the aircraft.

The other two Cobras remained over the site, but observed no one leaving the
crash. An immediate search in the area was not possible because of the enemy
situation, but on June 2 and June 5, brief surface searches were conducted and
remains were found which were identified as those of WO2 Hosaka.

A refugee reported that he had witnessed a Cobra helicopter crash and burn near
Tan Khai village. Fifteen days later, he saw the bodies of two individuals who
had apparently died in the crash. The U.S. Army believes this report may
correlate ot Henn and Hosaka.

 There was at least some chance that Henn survived the crash of the helicopter
 to be captured, as the U.S. Army classified him Missing in Action rather than
 Killed/Body Not Recovered. Whether reports have come in concerning Henn is not
 information which is included in public record.

As the years have passed since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports relating to
Americans missing in Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. Many
authorities are convinced that Americans are still alive in captivity in
Southeast Asia, and that they number in the hundreds. Whether Henn is among
them is unknown, but certainly there can be no other honorable end to the
Vietnam war than to bring our men home.
HENNINGER, HOWARD WILLIAM

Name: Howard William Henninger
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 4th Air Commando Squadron, Da Nang AB, South Vietnam
Date of Birth: 03 May 1933
Home City of Record: Hanford CA
Date of Loss: 13 March 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 154000N 1073000E (YC550450)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: AC47D
Other Personnel in Incident: Dean A. Duvall; Gene E. Davis; Edwin E. Morgan;
Gerald E. Olson; Robert E. Pasekoff; Marshall I. Pauley (all missing)

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: 01 January 1990

REMARKS: NO RAD CNTCT - SRCH NEG - J

SYNOPSIS: Capt. Howard W. Henninger was the pilot of an AC47D "Spooky" gunship.
The Spooky had evolved from the famed "Puff the Magic Dragon" versions of the
Douglas C47.

Puff introduced a new principle to air attack in Vietnam. Troubled by
difficulties in conducting nighttime defense, Capt. Ronald Terry of the U.S.
Air Force Aeronautical Systems Division remembered reading about flying
missionaries in Latin America who lowered baskets of supplies on a rope from a
tightly circling airplane. Throughout the series of pylon turns, the basket
remained suspended over a selected point on the ground. Could this principle be
applied to fire from automatic weapons? Tests proved it could, and could be
extremely successful.

Puff's "flare kicker" illuminated the target, then the pilot used a mark on the
window to his left as a gun sight and circled slowly as three multibarrel
7-62mm machine guns fired 18,000 rounds per minute from the door and two
windows in the port side of the passenger compartment. The aircraft was called
"Puff" after a popular song of the day, and because it resembled a dragon
overhead with flames billowing from its guns. Men on the ground welcomed the
presence of Puff and the later Spooky version, which was essentially the same
as the Puff, because of its ability to concentrate a heavy dose of defensive
fire in a surgically determined area.

Capt. Henninger's Spooky was assigned a mission which took it over Quang Nam
Province, South Vietnam on March 13, 1966. His crew that day included Capt.
Gerald E. Olson, Capt. Robert E. Pasekoff, Sgt. Dean A. Duvall, SSgt. Gene E.
Davis, SSgt. Marshall I. Pauley, and TSgt. Edwin E. Morgan.  Duvall and Pauley
were aerial gunners on the aircraft.

Shortly after takeoff from Da Nang, the aircraft was contacted by radio, and
this was the last contact had with Capt. Henninger's aircraft. The area of loss
is indicated as being about 10 miles from the border of Laos in Quang Nam
Province. All crew members aboard were declared Missing in Action. There is no
way to determine whether the enemy knows the fates of these men because the
U.S. Air Force is unsure of its area of loss.

Da Nang Regional Intelligence received a rallier's report in 1969 which
described a POW camp near Hue. The report included a very detailed description
of the camp and two lists of Americans held there. The lists were compiled by
the source viewing photographs of missing Americans, and were classified
"possible" and "positive". The source selected Gerald E. Olson's photograph as
possibly being a man held at the camp near Hue. This report was obtained from
the U.S. government in the mid-1980's by an interested citizen through the
Freedom of Information Act.

Although this report was later debunked by U.S. intelligence analysts, and not
distributed to the families of the men named on the lists, at least one former
POW who was held at this camp was shown the report and he confirmed some of the
names on the list and verified the accuracy of the camp description.

Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports have been received by the U.S.
related to Americans still missing in Southeast Asia. Some are as detailed as
the one received at Da Nang in 1969, and relate to many individuals. Although
most have been proven accurate, the public attitude in the U.S. intelligence
circles is that the reports are meaningless. Yet, many of these reports remain
classified.

Was Gerald E. Olson captured? What of the rest of the crew members? While the
Vietnamese may have the answers to these questions, we may never know the
extent of the knowledge of our own government so long as information regarding
these men is allowed to remain classified.

Tragically, many who have seen this classified information believe there are
hundreds of Americans still alive in captivity. Any of the men aboard the
Spooky lost on March 13, 1966 could be among them. It's time we brought our men
home. It's time we knew the truth.
HENRY, NATHAN BARNEY

Name: Nathan Barney Henry
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: Company B, 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry, 4th Infantry Division
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Franklin NC
Date of Loss: 12 Jul 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 134026N 1073809E (YA850131)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel In Incident: Martin S. Frank; Cordine McMurray; Stanley A.
Newell; Richard R. Perricone (all released); James F. Schiele; James L. Van
Bendegom (both missing). Held with men from at least two other incidents
including: Incident on 18 May 1967: Joe L. DeLong (missing); Incident on 17 Feb
1967: David W. Sooter (released).

REMARKS: 730305 RELSD BY PRG

SYNOPSIS: In the spring of 1973, 591 American Prisoners of War were released
from prisons and camps in Vietnam. Among them were six of a group of nine U.S.
Army 4th Infantry Division personnel captured in and near Pleiku Province,
South Vietnam during the year of 1967 whose lives had been intertwined for the
past six years. All had belonged to that part of the "Ivy Division" which was
assigned to Task Force Oregon conducting border operations called Operation Sam
Houston (1 Jan - 5 Apr 67) and Operation Francis Marion (5 Apr - 12 Oct 67).

On February 17, 1967, W1 David W. Sooter was the only man captured from a
OH23 helicopter downed at the southeastern edge of Kontum Province near the
edge of Pleiku Province, and near the Cambodian border.

PFC Joe Lynn DeLong was the machine gunner for his company, on a company-sized
patrol in Rotanokiri Province, Cambodia on May 18, 1967. (Note: most records
list this loss as in South Vietnam, and coordinates place it in the Ia Drang
Valley, Pleiku Province, South Vietnam near the border of Cambodia, but U.S.
Army casualty reports state that the loss was in Kotanokiri Province,
Cambodia.) While on patrol, his unit was hit by a Viet Cong force of unknown
size and cut off from the rest of the company. DeLong's platoon formed a
defensive perimeter and attempted to hold their position. Later that day, at
about 1830 hours, DeLong's platoon position was overrun. The next morning,
another unit reached his position, and was able to account for all platoon
members except for DeLong. It was later learned that DeLong had been captured.

Nearly two months later, on July 12, 1967, SP4 Martin S. Frank, PFC Nathan B.
Henry, Sgt. Cordine McMurray, PFC Stanley A. Newell, PFC Richard R. Perricone,
SP4 James F. Schiele and PFC James L. Van Bendegom, all members of Company B,
1st Battalion, 12th Infantry, 4th Infantry Division, were conducting a search
and destroy mission along the Cambodian border when their position was overrun
by the Viet Cong. With the execption of Schiele, all the men were captured. The
U.S. Army notes that Schiele and Van Bendegom were captured by the North
Vietnamese, while the others, apparently, were captured by Viet Cong.

PFC Schiele was seen by his platoon leader as his unit was forced to withdraw,
leaving him behind. He had been hit a number of times by automatic weapons fire
in the legs and chest and was thought to be dead. PFC Perricone stated in his
debrief upon return to the U.S. that the enemy camp commander of Camp 102 told
him that SP4 Schiele had died of wounds received in the fire fight. However,
since there was no positive proof of death, the U.S. government placed Schiele
in a Missing in Action category. Classified information given to the Vietnamese
by Gen. John Vessey in 1987, however, states that both Schiele and Van Bendegom
were captured by the North Vietnamese.

PFC Vanbendegom was also wounded in the engagement, and was seen alive by other
Americans captured in the same battle about one week after his capture at a
communist field hospital in Cambodia, not far from his capture location. One of
the released Americans was later told by the commanding North Vietnamese
officer at his prison camp in Cambodia that SP4 Vanbendegom had died of his
wounds. Vanbendegom was categorized as a Prisoner of War.

The other seven Americans were held in prison camps on the Vietnam/Cambodia
border for several months. According to the debriefs of releasees Sooter and
Perricone, they and DeLong had attempted to escape from a border camp in
Cambodia on November 6, 1967, but were recaptured the same day. Two days later,
Sooter and Perricone were shown DeLong's bullet-ridden and blood-soaked
trousers and were told that DeLong had been killed resisting recapture. The
Vietnamese included DeLong's name on a list of prisoners who had died in
captivity (saying he died in November 1967), did not return his remains, and
did not offer any explaination.

Sooter, Frank, Henry, Perricone, McMurray and Newell were all released by the
PRG in 1973. Frank was never known to be a prisoner by the U.S. Henry was
injured, and maintains a permanent disability today. The U.S. is certain the
Vietnamese also know the fates of DeLong, Schiele and Vanbendegom, but the
Vietnamese continue to remain silent.

Since the end of the war, only a few score of the many remains the Vietnamese
could provide have been returned to U.S. control. Each return of remains
signals some political move by the Vietnamese. Strong moves towards
normalization of relations began in the mid-80's, which most Americans would
not oppose. As evidence mounts that hundreds of Americans are still held
captive by these same governments the U.S. is rushing to befriend, many
concerned Americans believe that in our rush to leave Indochina, we abandoned
our best men. And that in our rush to return, we will sign their death warrants.

HENSLEY, RONNIE LEE

Name: Ronnie Lee Hensley
Rank/Branch: E5/US Air Force
Unit: 16th Special Operations Squadron, Ubon Airbase, Thailand
Date of Birth: 08 June 1948
Home City of Record: Richwood WV
Date of Loss: 22 April 1970
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 154400N 1065100E (XC990410)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: AC130A
Other Personnel in Incident: Thomas Adachi; Robert Ireland;Stephen Harris;
Donald Lint; William Brooks; Charles B.Davis; Donald G. Fisher; John C. Towle;
Charles Rowley (all missing); Eugene L. Fields (rescued).

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: In the early hours of April 22, 1970, an AC130 gunship flown by
veteran pilot Major William Brooks departed Ubon Airbase with a crew of ten for
a Commando Hunt mission over the Ho Chi Minh Trail in southern Laos. The
aircraft, code named "Ad Lib", was joined near its destination by two jet
escort fighter bombers, code named "Killer 1" and "Killer 2", and immediately
began air strikes against enemy traffic below. The crew of the aircraft
included Brooks, the pilot; SSgt. Thomas Y. Adachi, the aerial gunner; LtCol.
Charlie B. Davis, a navigator; Maj. Donald G. Fisher, a navigator; SSgt.
Stephen W. Harris; SSgt. Ronnie L. Hensley; Master Sgt. Robert N. Ireland;
Airman Donald M. Lint; LtCol. Charles S. Rowley; and 1Lt. John C. Towle.

During its fourth strike, the gunship was hit by anti-aircraft fire and began
burning. Brooks radioed, "I've been hit, babe". Fisher, the navigator, reported
that his position was OK. Fields and Hensley, battling the blaze in the rear of
the aircraft, lost contact with each other in the smoke. Fields inched his way
to Adachi's position, and found Adachi gone and the left scanner window open.
Fields used an auxiliary parachute to abandon the aircraft.

Killer 1 reported seeing no parachutes, although Killer 2 reported the crew was
bailing out. Just before Killer 1 departed the area for refueling, it received
one emergency beeper signal from the ground. Killer 2 established voice contact
with a member of the crew identifying himself as Ad-Lib 12 (Fisher), who
reported that he had burns on his face and hands. Killer 2 also left for
refueling, while other aircraft monitored the downed craft and waited for
morning to attempt rescue of the survivors.

The following morning, Ad-Lib 11 (Fields) was rescued, but due to hostile
ground forces, no ground search or photographs were made at the time. The Air
Force assumed at the time that Fields had incorrectly identified himself, and
announced that 6 of the crew had been killed and four were missing.

The rest of the story is confusing. The family of one of the crew was told that
a ground crew had been inserted and that partial remains of one crew member had
been recovered. Another family was advised that photographs of the crashsite
existed. A photograph of a captive airman having burn bandages on his hands was
identified as being Fisher by his family. Rowley's family was informed of a
secret intelligence report indicating that 8 of the crew had been captured, and
that a controlled American source had witnessed them being tortured to death
for their "crimes".

A returned POW reported seeing Rowley in a propaganda film. Another returned
POW stated that Fisher had been a POW. Although the Air Force would not allow
family members to contact the only survivor, Fields, Fisher's son located him
after 18 years. Fisher denied ever being in contact with any of the Killer jet
escorts. It was not he who identified himself by radio to rescue forces.

Apparently, at least some of the crew of Ad Lib survived to be captured in
Laos, often called the "Black Hole" of the POW issue because of nearly 600 lost
there, not a SINGLE man was released that had been held in Laos. The Pathet Lao
stated on several occasions that they held prisoners, yet we never negotiated
their freedom, and reports continue to be received that some of these men are
still alive. The surviving crew members lost that day were abandoned by the
country for which they bravely fought.

HENTZ, RICHARD JAY

Name: Richard Jay Hentz
Rank/Branch: E5/US Army
Unit: Cover designation: 138th Aviation Company, 224th "Aviation" Battalion,
509th RR Group (Actual unit designation: 138th ASA Company, 224th ASA Battalion
(Aviation), U.S. Army Security Agency Group, Vietnam)
Date of Birth: 07 November 1947
Home City of Record: Oshkosk WI
Date of Loss: 04 March 1971
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 165809N 1065407E (YD025770)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 3
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: JU21A
Other Personnel in Incident: Rodney D. Osborne; Michael W. Marker; Harold L.
Algaard; John T. Strawn (all missing)

REMARKS: RAD CONT LOST-SAR NEG-J

SYNOPSIS: On March 4, 1971 Capt. Michael W. Marker, pilot of a JU21-A twin
engine turbo prop (serial number 18065, call sign Vanguard 216) departed Phu
Bai, Republic of Vietnam on an early morning combat support mission in the
vicinity of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). His crew that morning consisted of
WO1 Harold L. Algaard, co-pilot; SP5 Rodney D. Osborne, technical observer; SP5
Richard J. Hentz, crewman; and SP6 John T. Strawn, crewman. The pilot and crew
were assigned to the 138th Aviation Company, 224th Aviation Battalion, 509th RR
(Radio Research) Group, a cover designation for their real unit in USASA.

"Radio Research" was actually a secret cover designation for certain units
operating under the direction of the U.S. Army Security Agency Group, Vietnam.
All missions of this agency were highly classified. The 224th Aviation
Battalion was referred to as an aviation battalion in Vietnam for security
reasons only. The JU21A aircrew's actual unit designation was 138th ASA
Company, 224th ASA Battalion (Aviation), U.S. Army Security Agency Group,
Vietnam.

Two hours into the mission, at 0840 hours, radio and radar communication was
lost. When the aircraft failed to return from the mission at the appointed
time, search efforts were initiated and continued for 2 days over a 300 mile
area, but proved negative. A reliable source indicated that an aerial
detonation in the vicinity of the DMZ occurred on March 4, 1971 at the same
flight altitude and pattern flown by Vanguard 216. Hostile threat in the area
precluded any visits to the suspected area of the crash. No trace was ever
found of the aircraft or the crew.

While the missing crew members were initially listed as Missing In Action, a
change in status to Killed In Action, Body Not Recovered (KIA/BNR) occurred
within 90 days of the incident. Regarding the status change, the families were
told that all information pertinent to the incident was classified and would
remain classified for ten years.

Since that date, the families have been told that the aircraft was involved in
electronic surveillance, and their mission was top secret. The aircraft was hit
by enemy artillery and was downed over North Vietnam. A "classified source"
stated that the crew was killed. The rest is classified.

Efforts through numerous inquiries, including a Congressional inquiry in 1982,
to reveal what information was contained in the "classified source" have been
fruitless. Through the Congressional inquiry, it was learned that information
regarding the loss of Vanguard 216 would be classified until the year 2010 A.D.

Since American involvement in Southeast Asia ended in 1975, nearly 10,000
reports relating to Americans missing in Vietnam have been received by the U.S.
Government. Most non-government authorities believe there are hundreds of
Americans still alive in the communist prisons of Southeast Asia. The U.S.
Government remains nebulous in their statements, saying only that the
"possibility" exists, but cannot be confirmed.

The crew of Vanguard 216 has been missing for nearly 20 years. The families of
the men aboard hold little hope that they are still alive. But they would like
to know - and deserve to know - what happened on that day. If, as the U.S.
Government seems to believe, all the men are now dead, why the cover of secrecy
regarding their fates? It's time we got answers, and it's time those who remain
alive are brought home.

HEPLER, FRANK MONROE

Name: Frank Monroe Hepler
Rank/Branch: E5/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 11 June 1938
Home City of Record: Glenside PA
Date of Loss: 12 May 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 152601N 1074801E (ZC031110)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: C130B
Personnel in Incident: Ngok Tavak: Horace H. Fleming; Thomas J. Blackman;
Joseph F. Cook; Paul S. Czerwonka; Thomas W. Fritsch; Barry L. Hempel; Raymond
T. Heyne; Gerald E. King; Robert C. Lopez; William D. McGonigle; Donald W.
Mitchell; James R. Sargent (members of USMC search team - all missing); Glenn
E. Miller; Thomas H. Perry (USSF teammembers - missing); Kham Duc: Richard E.
Sands (missing from CH47); Bernard L. Bucher; Frank M. Hepler; George W. Long;
John L. McElroy; Stephan C. Moreland (USAF crew of C130 - all missing); Warren
R. Orr (USSF on C130 - missing); Harry B. Coen; Andrew J. Craven; Juan M.
Jimenez; Frederick J. Ransbottom; Maurice H. Moore; Joseph L. Simpson; William
E. Skivington; John C. Stuller; Imlay S. Widdison; Danny L. Widner; Roy C.
Williams (all missing); Julius W. Long (released POW).

REMARKS: EXPLODE - N RESC - HOSTIL AR - J

SYNOPSIS: Kham Duc Special Forces camp (A-105), was located on the western
fringes of Quang Tin ("Great Faith") Province, South Vietnam. In the spring of
1968, it was the only remaining border camp in Military Region I. Backup
responsibility for the camp fell on the 23rd Infantry Division (Americal),
based at Chu Lai on the far side of the province.

The camp had originally been built for President Diem, who enjoyed hunting in
the area. The 1st Special Forces detachment (A-727B) arrived in September 1963
and found the outpost to be an ideal border surveillance site with an existing
airfield. The camp was located on a narrow grassy plain surrounded by rugged,
virtually uninhabited jungle. The only village in the area, located across the
airstrip, was occupied by post dependents, camp followers and merchants. The
camp and airstrip were bordered by the Ngok Peng Bum ridge to the west and Ngok
Pe Xar mountain, looming over Kham Duc to the east. Steep banked streams full
of rapids and waterfalls cut through the tropical wilderness. The Dak Mi River
flowed past the camp over a mile distant, under the shadow of the Ngok Pe Xar.

Five miles downriver was the small forward operating base of Ngok Tavak,
defended by the 113-man 11th Mobile Strike Force Company with its 8 Special
Forces and 3 Australian advisors. Since Ngok Tavak was outside friendly
artillery range, 33 Marine artillerymen of Battery D, 2nd Battalion, 13th
Marines, with two 105mm howitzers were located at the outpost.

Capt. Christopher J. Silva, commander of Detachment A-105 helicoptered into
Ngok Tavak on May 9, 1968 in response to growing signs of NVA presence in the
area. Foul weather prevented his scheduled evening departure. A Kham Duc CIDG
platoon fleeing a local ambush also arrived and was posted to the outer
perimeter. It was later learned that the CIDG force contained VC infiltrators.

Ngok Tavak was attacked by an NVA infantry battalion at 0315 hours on May 10.
The base was pounded by mortars and direct rocket fire. As the frontal assault
began, the Kham Duc CIDG soldiers moved toward the Marines in the fort yelling,
"Don't shoot, don't shoot! Friendly, friendly!" Suddenly they lobbed grenades
into the Marine howitzer positions and ran into the fort, where they shot
several Marines with carbines and sliced claymore mine and communication wires.

The defenders suffered heavy casualties but stopped the main assault and killed
the infiltrators. The NVA dug in along the hill slopes and grenaded the trenches
where the mobile strike force soldiers were pinned by machine gun and rocket
fire. An NVA flamethrower set the ammunition ablaze, banishing the murky flare-
lighted darkness for the rest of the night. SFC Harold M. Swicegood and the
USMC platoon leader, Lt. Adams, were badly wounded and moved to the command
bunker. Medical Spec4 Blomgren reported that the CIDG mortar crews had abandoned
their weapons. Silva tried to operate the main 4.2 inch mortar but was wounded.
At about 0500 hours, Sgt. Glenn Miller, an A-105 communications specialist, was
shot through the head as he ran over to join the Marine howitzer crews.

The NVA advanced across the eastern side of Ngok Tavak and brought forward more
automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenade launchers. In desperation, the
defenders called on USAF AC-47 "Spooky" gunships to strafe the perimeter and
the howitzers, despite the possible presence of friendly wounded in the gun
pits. The NVA countered with tear gas, but the wind kept drifting the gas over
their own lines. After three attempts, they stopped. A grenade fight between
the two forces lasted until dawn.

At daybreak Australian Warrant Officers Cameron and Lucas, joined by Blomgren,
led a CIDG counterattack. The North Vietnamese pulled back under covering fire,
and the howitzers were retaken. The Marines fired the last nine shells and
spiked the tubes. Later that morning medical evacuation helicopters supported
by covering airstrikes took out the seriously wounded, including Silva and
Swicegood. Two CH46's were able to land 45 replacements from the 12th Mobile
Strike Force Company, accompanied by Capt. Euge E. Makowski (who related much
of this account to Shelby Stanton, author of "Green Berets at War"), but one
helicopter was hit in the fuel line and forced down. Another helicopter was hit
by a rocket and burst into flames, wrecking the small helipad. The remaining
wounded were placed aboard a hovering helicopter. As it lifted off, two Mike
Force soldiers and 1Lt. Horace Fleming, one of the stranded aviation crewmen,
grabbed the helicopter skids. All three fell to their deaths after the
helicopter had reached an altitude of over one hundred feet.

The mobile strike force soldiers were exhausted and nervous. Ammunition and
water were nearly exhausted, and Ngok Tavak was still being pounded by sporadic
mortar fire. They asked permission to evacuate their positions, but were told
to "hold on" as "reinforcements were on the way". By noon the defenders decided
that aerial reinforcement or evacuation was increasingly unlikely, and night
would bring certain destruction. An hour later, they abandoned Ngok Tavak.

Thomas Perry, a medic from C Company, arrived at the camp at 0530 hours the
morning of the 10th. He cared for the wounded and was assisting in an attempt
to establish a defensive perimeter when the decision was made to evacuate the
camp. As survivors were leaving, Perry was seen by Sgt. Cordell J. Matheney,
Jr., standing 20 feet away, as Australian Army Capt. John White formed the
withdrawal column at the outer perimeter wire on the eastern Ngok Tavak
hillside. It was believed that Perry was going to join the end of the column.

All the weapons, equipment and munitions that could not be carried were hastily
piled into the command bunker and set afire. The helicopter that had been
grounded by a ruptured fuel line was destroyed with a LAW. Sgt. Miller's body
was abandoned.

After survivors had gone about 1 kilometer, it was discovered that Perry was
missing. Efforts were conducted to locate both Perry and Miller, including a
search by a group from Battery D. They were searching along the perimeter when
they were hit by enemy grenades and arms fire. Neither the men on the team nor
Perry was ever found. Included in this team were PFC Thomas Blackman; LCpl.
Joseph Cook; PFC Paul Czerwonka; LCpl. Thomas Fritsch; PFC Barry Hempel; LCpl.
Raymond Heyne; Cpl. Gerald King; PFC Robert Lopez; PFC William McGonigle; LCpl.
Donald Mitchell; and LCpl. James Sargent. The remaining survivors evaded
through dense jungle to a helicopter pickup point midway to Kham Duc. Their
extraction was completed shortly before 1900 hours on the evening of May 10.

In concert with the Ngok Tavak assault, the Kham Duc was blasted by a heavy
mortar and recoilless rifle attack at 0245 hours that same morning. Periodic
mortar barrages ripped into Kham Duc throughout the rest of the day, while the
Americal Division airmobiled a reinforced battalion of the 196th Infantry
Brigade into the compound. A Special Forces command party also landed, but the
situation deteriorated too rapidly for their presence to have positive effect.

The mortar attack on fog-shrouded Kham Duc resumed on the morning of May 11.
The bombardment caused heavy losses among the frightened CIDG soldiers, who
fled from their trenches across open ground, seeking shelter in the bunkers.
The LLDB commander remained hidden. CIDG soldiers refused orders to check the
rear of the camp for possible North Vietnamese intruders. That evening the 11th
and 12th Mobile Strike Force companies were airlifted to Da Nang, and half of
the 137th CIDG Company from Camp Ha Thanh was airlanded in exchange.

The 1st VC Regiment, 2nd NVA Division, began closing the ring around Kham Duc
during the early morning darkness of 12 May. At about 0415 to 0430 hours, the
camp and outlying positions came under heavy enemy attack. Outpost #7 was
assaulted and fell within a few minutes. Outposts #5, #1 and #3 had been
reinforced by Americal troops but were in North Vietnamese hands by 0930 hours.

OP1 was manned by PFC Harry Coen, PFC Andrew Craven, Sgt. Joseph Simpson, and
SP4 Julius Long from Company E, 2nd of the 1st Infantry. At about 0415 hours,
when OP1 came under heavy enemy attack, PFC Coen and SP4 Long were seen trying
to man a 106 millimeter recoilless rifle. Survivors reported that in the
initial enemy fire, they were knocked off their bunker. Both men again tried to
man the gun, but were knocked down again by RPG fire.

PFC Craven, along with two other men, departed the OP at 0830 hours on May 12.
They moved out 50 yards and could hear the enemy in their last position. At
about 1100 hours, as they were withdrawing to the battalion perimeter, they
encountered an enemy position. PFC Craven was the pointman and opened fire. The
enemy returned fire, and PFC Craven was seen to fall, with multiple chest
wounds. The other two men were unable to recover him, and hastily departed the
area. PFC Craven was last seen lying on his back, wounded, near the camp.

OP2 was being manned by 1Lt. Frederick Ransbottom, SP4 Maurice Moore, PFC Roy
Williams, PFC Danny Widner, PFC William Skivington, PFC Imlay Widdison, and SP5
John Stuller, from the 2nd of the 3rd Infantry when it came under attack.
Informal questioning of survivors of this position indicated that PFC Widdison
and SP5 Stuller may have been killed in action. However, the questioning was
not sufficiently thorough to produce enough evidence to confirm their deaths.

The only information available concerning 1Lt. Ransbottom, SP4 Moore, PFC Lloyd
and PFC Skivington that Lt. Ransbottom allegedly radioed PFC Widner and PFC
Williams, who were in the third bunker, and told them that he was shooting at
the enemy as they entered his bunker.

SP4 Juan Jimenez, a rifleman assigned to Company A, 2nd of the 1st Infantry,
was occupying a defensive position when he was severely wounded in the back by
enemy mortar fire. SP4 Jimenez was declared dead by the Battalion Surgeon in
the early morning hours of May 12. He was then carried to the helipad for
evacuation. However, due to the situation, space was available in the
helicopter for only the wounded, and SP4 Jimenez'remains were left behind.

At noon a massive NVA attack was launched against the main compound. The charge
was stopped by planes hurling napalm, cluster bomb units and 750 pound bombs
into the final wire barriers. The decision was made by the Americal Division
officers to call for immediate extraction.

The evacuation was disorderly, and at times, on the verge of complete panic.
One of the first extraction helicopters to land was exploded by enemy fire,
blocking the airstrip. Engineers of Company A, 70th Engineer Battalion,
frantically reassembled one of their dozers (previously torn apart to prevent
capture) to clear the runway. Eight more aircraft were blown out of the sky.

PFC Richard E. Sands was a member of Company A, 1st Battalion, 46th Infantry,
198th Light Infantry Brigade being extracted on a CH47 helicopter (serial
#67-18475). The helicopter was hit by 50 calliber machine gun fire at an
altitude of 1500-1600 feet shortly after takeoff.

Sands, who was sitting near the door gunner, was hit in the head by an incoming
rounds. The helicopter made a controlled landing and caught fire. During the
evacuation from the burning helicopter, four personnel and a medic checked PFC
Sands and indicated that he had been killed instantly. Because of the danger of
incoming mortar rounds and the fire, personnel attempting to remove PFC Sands
from the helicopter were ordered to abandon their attempt. The remaining
personnel were evacuated from the area later by another helicopter.

Intense antiaircraft fire from the captured outposts caused grave problems.
Control over the indigenous forces was difficult. One group of CIDG soldiers
had to be held in trenches at gunpoint to prevent them from mobbing the runway.

As evacuation was in progress, members of Company A, 1/46, who insisted on
boarding the aircraft first, shoved Vietnamese dependents out of the way. As
more Americal infantry tried to clamber into the outbound planes, the outraged
Special Forces staff convinced the Air Force to start loading civilians onboard
a C130, then watched as the civilians pushed children and weaker adults aside.

The crew of the U.S. Air Force C130 aircraft (serial #60-0297) consisted of
Maj. Bernard Bucher, pilot; SSgt. Frank Hepler, flight engineer; Maj. John
McElroy, navigator; 1Lt. Steven Moreland, co-pilot; George Long, load master;
Capt. Warren Orr, passenger, and an undetermined number of Vietnamese civilians.

The aircraft reported receiving ground fire on takeoff. The Forward Air Control
(FAC) in the area reported that the aircraft exploded in mid-air and crashed in
a fire ball about one mile from camp. All crew and passengers were believed
dead, as the plane burned quickly and was completely destroyed except for the
tail boom. No remains were recovered from the aircraft.

Capt. Orr was not positively identified by U.S. personnel as being aboard the
aircraft. He was last seen near the aircraft helping the civilians to board.
However, a Vietnamese stated that he had seen Capt. Orr board the aircraft and
later positively identified him from a photograph. Rescue efforts were
impossible because of the hostile threat in the area.

At the time the order was given to escape and evade, SP4 Julius Long was was
with Coen and Simpson. All three had been wounded, and were trying to make
their way back to the airfield about 350 yards away. As they reached the
airfield, they saw the last C130 departing. PFC Coen, who was shot in the
stomach, panicked and started running and shooting his weapon at random. SP4
Long tried to catch him, but could not, and did not see PFC Coen again. Long
then carried Sgt. Simpson to a nearby hill, where they spent the night.

During the night, the airfield was strafed and bombed by U.S. aircraft. SP4
Long was hit twice in the back by fragments, and Sgt. Simpson died during the
night. SP4 Long left him lying on the hill near the Cam Duc airfield and
started his escape and evasion toward Chu Lai, South Vietnam. SP4 Long was
captured and was released in 1973 from North Vietnam.

The Special Forces command group was the last organized group out of the camp.
As their helicopter soared into the clouds, Kham Duc was abandoned to advancing
NVA infantry at 4:33 p.m. on May 12, 1968. The last Special Forces camp on the
northwestern frontier of South Vietnam had been destroyed.

Two search and recovery operations were conducted in the vicinity of OP1 and
OP2 and the Cam Duc airfield on July 18, 1970 and August 17, 1970. In these
operations, remains of personnel previously reported missing from this incident
were recovered and subsequently identified. (SP4 Bowers, PFC Lloyd, Sgt. Sisk,
PFC Guzman-Rios and SSgt. Carter). However, extensive search and excavation
could not be completed at OP1 and OP2 because of the tactical situation.

It was assumed that all the missing at Kham Duc were killed in action until
about 1983, when the father of one of the men missing discovered a Marine Corps
document which indicated that four of the men had been taken prisoner. The
document listed the four by name. Until then, the families had not been advised
of the possibility there were any American prisoners taken other than Julius
Long. A Vietnamese rallier identified the photograph of Roy C. Williams as
positively having been a POW.

Until proof is obtained that the rest of the men lost at Ngok Tavak and Kham
Duc are dead, their families will always wonder if they are among those said to
still be alive in Southeast Asia.







HERBERT, MICHAEL PATRICK

Name: Michael Patrick Herbert
Rank/Branch: O3/RAAF
Unit: 2nd Squadron, Australin Royal Air Force, Phan Rang
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Australia
Date of Loss: 03 November 1970
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: YC857430
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: B57

Other Personnel in Incident: Robert C. Carver (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. Two of the five are Capt. Robert C. Carver and Capt. Michael P. Herbert,
lost on November 3, 1970.

Carver and Herbert were stationed at Phan Rang, South Vietnam. On November 3,
1970, they were sent on a bombing mission over Da Nang. About 8:22 p.m. Carver
radioed "Magpie" base that he had dropped the bomb load from their B57 Canberra
bomber from 7,000 meters altitude.

At 10:15, radio contact was lost with the aircraft, and it failed to return to
base. There is varied opinion as to their fate. One popular theory is that a
Viet Cong heat-seeking missile tracked them down and sent the No. 2 Squadron
bomber down in dense jungle.

Search teams tried to locate Carver and Herbert, but were unsuccessful. It was
never learned for sure if they survived the crash of the aircraft. Both men were
classified Missing in Action.

Carver and Herbert do not appear on most U.S. lists since they were not U.S.
citizens. 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.


Name:             Herman Arms
Rank/Branch:         Civilian
Unit:             Glomar Java Sea
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record:
Date of Loss:         25 October 1983
Country of Loss:     South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates:
Status (in 1973):
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground:
Personnel in Incident: Herman Arms; Jerald T. Battiste; Sebe M. Bracey;
               Patrick B. Cates; Wei Chen; Xiong Chen; Shu Guo Cheng;
               Jacob K. J. Chong; David P. Clifton; James F. Cusick;
               Thomas J. Dixon; Shao Jien Feng; Jerald J. Flanagan;
               Nigel Furness; Leonard E. Ganzinotti;
               La Juan A. Gilmore; Henry M. Gittings;
               James K. Gittings; Terance C. Green; Jun Tian Guan;
               David Higgins, Jr.; Tyronne Higgins; Hong Xi Huang;
               Rui Wen Huang; Yong Liang Huang; Timothy Jarvis;
               John W. Jennings Jr.; Thomas J. Kofahl; Fan Xiang Kong;
               Guo Zhen Lai; John W. Lawrence; Tong L. T. Lee;
               Chong Chang Li; Xuan Qiu Li; Zhan Jun Liang;
               Jie Feng Lin; Bing Guang Liu; Edgar S. Lim; Gary Looke;
               Robert M. McCurry; Jerry L. Manfrida; Raymond D. Miller;
               Xie Yi Mo; Tian Xue Mo; Kenneth W. Myers;
               Larry K. Myers; Donald J. Ouellet; John D. Pierce;
               Peter Popiel; Clarence Reed; Jewell J. Reynolds;
               E.J. Russell Reynolds; Walter T. Robinson;
               Kenneth B. Rogers; Lawrence M. Salzwedel;
               William R. Schug; Richard E. Shoff;
               Christopher J. Sleeman; Delmar A. Spencer;
               George G. Sullivan; Chong Jian Sun; Gustaf F. Swanson;
               Kevin C. Swanson; Guo Dong Tang; Michael W. Thomas;
               Jiang Wang; Yu Fang Wang; Dong Cai Wang; Guo Rong Wu;
               Jing Sheng Xia; Xing Xing; Hui Xu; Ming Rui Xu;
               Mua Guang Yuan; Xing Zhen Zhang; Yi Hua Zhang;
               Ji Chang Zhen; Shu Rong Zhou; Yao Wu Zhou;
               Jie Fang Zhou; Da Huai Zhu.

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 10 December 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 5,930-ton American drilling ship, "Glomar Java Sea" was
owned by Global Marine of Houston, Texas, and leased to Atlantic
Richfield Company (ARCO). In the fall of 1983, the vessel was on duty
about 200 miles east of the Vietnamese coast. The ship was drilling for
oil in the South China Sea in a joint venture of ARCO and China Naitonal
Offshore Oil Corporation, a state-owned concern.

The "Glomar Java Sea" is a sister ship of the "Glomar Explorer," which,
under the guise of being utilized by the late Howard Hughes in a deep
sea mining operation in the Paficic, was really being used by the CIA
and Navy in a $350 million project to retrieve a sunken Soviet
Golf-class submarine. A large part of the submarine was in fact
recovered in 1974 before details of the project were publicly revealed.

The Glomar Java Sea, with its crew of 81, began drilling operations on
January 9, 1983 and was the first American wildcat operaton off the
Chinese coast. On October 25, 1983, the vessel was sunk during Typhoon
Lex.

Documents removed from the ship by a crewman before the disaster
indicate that the vessel was being shadowed by armed Vietnamese naval
craft and that there were submarine mines beneath the "Glomar Java Sea,"
placed there and retrievable by its crew. Another document indicates
that the ship was damaged prior ot the typhoon when a Chinese supply
boat rammed into its side, causing some $320,000 damage to the vessel.
The Glomar Java Sea did not leave its post for repairs.

Communications between ARCO and Global Marine, as well as telegraphic
and radio communications of the U.S. Western Pacific Rescue Coordination
Center (WESTPAC) reveal information about the search for the crew of the
Glomar Java Sea.

The documents indicate that a number of survivors from the stricken
vessel were floundering in the water off the coast of Vietnam for hours
after the disaster. There is also indication that the men were picked up
by Vietnamese coastal patrols and are held captive of the Hanoi regime.

The crew of the Glomar Java Sea included 37 Americans, 35 Chinese, four
British, two Singaporeans, one Filipino, one Australian, and one
Canadian.

From a transcript of a radio communicaton between WESTPAC and Global
Marine on October 28, three days after the sinking, WESTPAC was told:
"We are informed that the SOS transmission could not have been
transmitted except by human operators..." There were two 64-man
lifeboats aboard the drilling ship, plus smaller lifeboats.

In an October 29 communicaton from WESTPAC to Global Marine, it is
clearly stated that five strobe lights were sighted by rescue aircraft
in the vicinity of 17-30 North 107-45 East. The aircraft were dispatched
to the area because strobe lights had been previously sighted.
Lifejackets from the Glomar Java Sea were equipped with strobe lights to
signal rescuers.

Another October 29 communication between ARCO and Global Marine states
that ARCO's search aircraft had spotted survivors in the water at 17.27
North 107.54 East, and had attempted to divert surface vessels to this
location. The communication expressed the urgency to rescue the men
before dark.

At 8:01 a.m. on October 29, ARCO had dropped a rescue raft to survivors.
Pickup would be delayed for several hours, but the "Salvanquish," a
Singapore-based salvage ship, was within one half-mile of the site.

At 8:38 a.m search aircraft reported pinpointing the survivors'
positions by dye markers released by the survivors into the water. Two
survivors were confirmed with a possible third some distance away. Plans
were also made to return to the downed vessell to offlift survivors.

Another document shows that on nine different occasions radio
transmissions were picked up from a lifeboat. They ranged from "very
strong" to "weak" with most being described as "strong."

Inexplicably, despite the successful search, no rescue was made of the
survivors. Later that day, the Chinese Navy picked up a Vietnamese
broadcast reporting that the Vietnamese had sighted a lifeboat near
their coast. The location of the lifeboat was not confirmed by friendly
search parties.

ARCO-Global Marine determined that this sighting was in the vicinity of
Hon Gio Island, located about 80 miles up the Vietnamese coast from the
old U.S. base at Da Nang and about 14 miles offshore, which placed it in
Vietnamese territorial waters. It appears that rescue craft were
hampered in fully investigating the report due to its location and the
hint of possible interference by the Vietnamese military.

It is likely that survivors would have been picked up by the Vietnamese
if they had in fact drifted within Vietnam's territory.

In the years following the loss of the Glomar Java Sea, a number of
reports, all unconfirmed by the U.S., indicate that survivors were seen
in captivity in Vietnam. It is known that the Vietnamese had shown a
hostile interest in the vessel, and the Glomar Java Sea had standing
orders to be alert for Vietnamese vessels in the area. The Chinese Navy
served as protection for the vessel and stood ready to take action
should Vietnamese craft wander too close. The waters below the vessel
were mined.

A month after the Glomar Java Sea went down, Chinese divers went down to
the wreckage and went through the ship with a video cameras.

In March 1984, American divers were able to retrieve 31 bodies from the
sunken vessel. Fifteen of the bodies were identified as Americans. In
addition, three British and one Singaporean were identified. The bodies
of another American and two Chinese were tentatively identified. Divers
photographed two bodies they were unable to retrieve. They also found
one of the Chinese divers that had explored the wreckage in November
1983, lashed to the deck of the ship.

The American divers determined that one of the ship's large lifeboats
was launched and that an attempt had been made to launch another. Their
film was seen by the mother of one of the lost crewmen. She reported
that the crack in the hull of the ship at one point was a hole 48 inches
across, which was punctured inward, "as though the rig had been hit by
something that exploded." This fueled additional speculation that the
vessel had, in fact, been attacked rather that simply mortally damaged
by the typhoon.

The National Transportaton Safety Board officially determined in
November 1984 that an "unexplained crack" in the hull of the Glomar Java
Sea was responsible for its sinking during the typhoon. Apparently, the
crack in the hull allowed two storage tanks to fill with water, causing
the vessel to become off-balanced, making it vulnerable to the forces of
the typhoon. Officials believed it was possible that survivors may have
been able to abandon the ship before it sank. It was determined that the
ship had been improperly prepared for the storm.

During 1984, there were reports from Southeast Asia that between six and
twelve survivors of the Glomar Java Sea were being held in prisoner of
war camps in Vietnam. One of the survivors was identified by a
Vietnamese refugee as American crewman John Pierce.

Douglas F. Pierce, father of John Pierce, reported that the refugee had
seen his son, five other Americans and eight Chinese when they were
brought into a prison in Da Nang, where the refugee was being held. John
Pierce gave the refugee his father's business card and two sticks of
gum.

Mr. Pierce gave the information to Defense Intelligence Agency who
determined that the refugee had not been in the camp at all, but had
received the business card by mail from a friend, not directly from
Pierce. DIA further determined that the incident had occurred in late
October 1983 (shortly after the Glomar Java Sea went down). The refugee
gave Mr. Pierce the original letter, which contained the names and
addresses of two mutual Vietnamese friends.

No followup was conducted on the two names in the letter by DIA, and DIA
discounted the information provided by the refugee. It was not until
1990 that it became apparent that the Defense Department felt no
responsibility for the Americans lost on the Glomar Java Sea. At that
time, DIA reported that the responsibility for these civilians belonged
to the U.S. State Department.

Mr. Pierce did not stop there. He uncovered a U.S. State Department
document that revealed that Cheng Quihong, the secretary and wife of the
Director of China's Visa Office, was overheard telling her companion at
a Hong Kong dinner that survivors from the Glomar had been picked up and
were held by the Vietnamese.

Pierce also learned that a JCRC report sent to DIA dated November 6,
1984, reported that a former prisoner from Pleiku prison had been held
with a Chinese man who claimed to have been off the Glomar. The man said
he was one of three men who were captured, and that the other two were
Americans.

Pierce adds that to his knowledge, neither of these reports were
followed up by U.S. officials, and Pierce has received no reply to his
queries regarding them.

In 1989 a Japanese monk named Yoshida was released from prison after
being held for years by the Vietnamese. Yoshida was shown a photograph
of John Pierce and stated that Pierce looked very familiar, and that he
had either seen him or someone who looked very much like him.

In November, 1990, Vietamese Foreign Minister Nguyen Co Thach traveled
to the U.S. and spoke with U.S. officials on a variety of matters. At
this time, he announced that there was a black American named Walter T.
Robinson living illegally in Vietnam, and invited U.S. representatives
to come and help find him. Thach provided a social security number and
two photographs.

The Pentagon told "The Washington Times" that the two photographs of
Robinson provided by Thach are of a black man. However, the Pentagon has
since admitted that the photos "are not very well developed" and appear
to be of either a black man or a dark Asian. Photocopies of old
newspaper articles concerning Robinson, obtained by Homecoming II, show
a dark-haired man of relatively dark complexion.

The Pentagon has not released the photographs to the press.

The Defense Department determined that Walter T. Robinson had never been
listed as missing in Vietnam. Thach had provided a social security
number, and according to DOD, this information correlated to a white
American living in the Midwest. They concluded that the Thach
information, therefore, was in error.

Later information indicated that a Walter T. Robinson was listed on the
crew roster of the Glomar Java Sea. When queried, the Defense Department
reported that they were aware of this Robinson, but that civilians were
the responsibility of the State Department.

It seems apparent that the U.S. is not vigorously looking for the men
missing from the Glomar Java Sea, and that like the missing and
prisoners who served in military and civilian capacities during the
Vietnam war, they have been abandoned.
HERNANDEZ, FRANK SANCHEZ

Name: Frank Sanchez Hernandez
Rank/Branch: E5/US Army
Unit: Company B, 158th Aviation Battalion, 160th Aviation Group, 101st Airborne
Division
Date of Birth: 02 December 1947 (Sangor CA)
Home City of Record: Fresno CA
Date of Loss: 06 May 1970
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 1647043N 1065043E (XD968382)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H
Other Personnel in Incident: Richard C. Worthington (missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On May 6, 1970, CW2 Richard C. Worthington, pilot; WO1 Robert L.
Kirk, co-pilot; SP4 William C. Weiss Jr., crew chief; and SP4 Frank S.
Hernandez, gunner; were the crew of a UH1H helicopter (serial #68-15663) which
was in a flight of several other helicopters laying a smoke screen on a landing
zone near enemy positions in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam.

During the mission this helicopter had a mid-air collision with another
helicopter and crashed. A survivor from the other helicopter stated that
Worthington's helicopter skid had struck the main rotor of his helicopter. He
indicated that he had not seen any hostile fire.

A search team was sent to the site on the same day (May 6) and found 2 bodies
which were identified as the remains of WO Kirk and SP4 Weiss. There were no
signs of anyone having left the crash site area. It was believed that there was
no survivors of the crash.

(NOTE: the crew and occupants of the second helicopter apparently survived the
crash. While damage to a rotor blade generally means a subsequent crash, the
aircraft may have been flying at a low enough altitude to lessen the impact.)

Hernandez and Worthington were classified Killed/Body Not Recovered. They are
listed with honor among the missing because their bodies remain on enemy soil.
Unlike most Americans missing in Southeast Asia, it is unlikely that the cases
of Hernandez and Worthington can be resolved by the return of remains.

Since American involvement in Indochina ended in 1975, nearly 10,000 reports
relating to Americans still missing in Southeast Asia have been received by the
U.S. Government. Most authorities now believe that there are still hundreds of
these fighting men alive in communist prisons.

For the deaths of Hernandez and Worthington, as well as over 58,000 other
Americans to have an honorable meaning, the war must have an honorable end -
the return of all living Americans and the fullest possible accounting of the
missing.

HEROLD, RICHARD WALTER

Name: Richard Walter Herold
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 56th Special Operations Wing, Udorn AF TH (RAVENS)
Date of Birth: 03 December 1944
Home City of Record: Plattsburgh, NY
Date of Loss: 02 September 1972
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 192500N 1030600E (UG005488)
Status (in 1973): Killed in Captivity
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: O1

Other Personnel in Incident: William C. Wood; Robert R. Greenwood (both missing
from an F4 at same location)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 31 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 Steve Canyon program was a highly classified FAC (forward air
control) operation covering the military regions of Laos. U.S. military
operations in Laos were severely restricted during the Vietnam War era because
Laos had been declared neutral by the Geneva Accords.

The non-communist forces in Laos, however, had a critical need for military
support in order to defend territory used by Lao and North Vietnamese communist
forces. The U.S., in conjunction with non-communist forces in Laos, devised a
system whereby U.S. military personnel could be "in the black" or "sheep-dipped"
(clandestine; mustered out of the military to perform military duties as a
civilian) to operate in Laos under supervision of the U.S. Ambassador to Laos.

RAVEN was the radio call sign which identified the flyers of the Steve Canyon
Program. Men recruited for the program were rated Air Force officers with at
least six months experience in Vietnam. They tended to be the very best of
pilots, but by definition, this meant that they were also mavericks, and
considered a bit wild by the mainstream military establishment.

The Ravens came under the formal command of CINCPAC and the 7/13th Air Force
56th Special Operations Wing at Nakhon Phanom, but their pay records were
maintained at Udorn with Detachment 1. Officially, they were on loan to the U.S.
Air Attache at Vientiane. Unofficially, they were sent to outposts like Long
Tieng, where their field commanders were the CIA, the Meo (Hmong) Generals, and
the U.S. Ambassador. Once on duty, they flew FAC missions which controlled all
U.S. air strikes over Laos.

All tactical strike aircraft had to be under the control of a FAC, who was
intimately familiar with the locale, the populous, and the tactical situation.
The FAC would find the target, order up U.S. fighter/bombers from an airborne
command and control center, mark the target accurately with white phosphorus
(Willy Pete) rockets, and control the operation throughout the time the planes
remained on station. After the fighters had departed, the FAC stayed over the
target to make a bomb damage assessment (BDA).

The FAC also had to ensure that there were no attacks on civilians, a complex
problem in a war where there were no front lines and any hamlet could suddenly
become part of the combat zone. A FAC needed a fighter pilot's mentality, but
but was obliged to fly slow and low in such unarmed and vulnerable aircraft as
the Cessna O1 Bird Dog, and the Cessna O2. Consequently, aircraft used by the
Ravens were continually peppered with ground fire. A strong fabric tape was
simply slapped over the bullet holes until the aircraft could no longer fly.

Ravens were hopelessly overworked by the war. The need for secrecy kept their
numbers low (never more than 22 at one time), and the critical need of the Meo
sometimes demanded each pilot fly 10 and 12 hour days. Some Ravens completed
their tour of approximately 6 months with a total of over 500 combat missions.

The Ravens in at Long Tieng in Military Region II, had, for several years, the
most difficult area in Laos. The base, just on the southern edge of the Plain of
Jars, was also the headquarters for the CIA-funded Meo army commanded by General
Vang Pao. An interesting account of this group can be read in Christopher
Robbins' book, "The Ravens".

On the morning of September 2, 1972 at approximately 0900 hours, a flight of two
F4E Phantom jets took off from Takhli airbase in Thailand for a combat mission
in Military Region II, Laos. Their target was about 5 miles east of the city of
Ban Na Mai in the Plain of Jars region of Xiangkhoang Province. Flying the
number 2 aircraft was Captain William Wood, and his Weapons Systems Officer
Major Robert Greenwood. The enemy's defense in the area was reported to be light
to moderate.

On approaching the target area, the flight made contact with the FAC, Raven 23,
flown by Capt. Richard W. Herold, already in the target area. Capt. Wood's
aircraft, TUFA 2, made two passes and was rolling out of his third when TUFA 1
observed the aircraft burst into flames. TUFA 2 remained intact but stayed on a
ground impacting course. It was later confirmed that Raven 23 had also crashed.
No radio contact was made after this point with either aircraft.

TUFA 1 observed one parachute deployed and what seemed to be a second, but his
visibility was limited by clouds. It was unclear whether the two aircraft had
collided or both been hit by hostile fire. Two ejection seats were seen, and one
personal parachute was seen, and possibly a second. Several parachutes were
observed on the ground at the sites, but it could not be determined if they were
personal parachutes or flare parachutes. The enemy was active in the area and
had moved the tail section of the O1 aircraft. No ground search was possible,
and no radio contact was ever made with possible survivors. Wood and Greenwood
were listed Missing in Action; Herold's records state that he was killed in
captivity.

Herold, Wood, and Greenwood are among nearly 600 Americans lost in Laos. Even
though the Pathet Lao stated publicly that they held "tens of tens" of American
prisoners, not one American held in Laos was ever released -- or negotiated for.

Since U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War ended, nearly 10,000 reports have been
received by the U.S. Government relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asia.
Many authorities have reluctantly concluded that hundreds are still alive in
captivity today.

The Ravens were extremely dedicated to the freedom-loving people of Laos and put
their very lives on the line for them. They believed in America and the job it
was trying to do in Southeast Asia. They were also quite insistant that each of
their own were accounted for, dead or alive.

If Richard W. Herold was killed by the enemy, then someone has information they
are not giving us. There is ample reason to believe Wood and Greenwood could be
accounted for as well. Any of the three could be among those thought to be still
alive. What can they be thinking of their country? It's time we brought our men
home.
HERREID, ROBERT DALE

Name: Robert Dale Herreid
Rank/Branch: E5/US Army Special Forces
Unit: Detachment A-402, Company D, 5th Special Forces Group
Date of Birth: 13 June 1946 (Williston ND)
Home City of Record: Aurora IL
Date of Loss: 10 October 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 102247N 1045857E (VS975478)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel In Incident: (none missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On October 12, 1968, demolitions specialist SP5 Robert Herreid was an
advisor to the 47th Mobile Strike Force Company during an operation on the Nui
Coto mountain area in Chau Doc Province, South Vietnam. When the unit was
advancing up the mountain, the unit was blasted by heavy bunker fire and
withdrew to a pagoda, where they set up a defensive perimeter.

During the initial fire fight, Herreid's Cambodian radio operator stated that
he had seen Herreid get hit in the chest and fall to the ground dead, and he
gave Herreid's weapon to the commanding officer. Nguyen Van Liet and other
soldiers said Herreid was shot in the left temple and was last seen lying by a
leafless mangrove tree. Other operations in and through the area failed to
locate him.

In 1974, while trying to locate the site, an inhabitant of the area claimed
that he had been with Herreid when he fell. He took U.S. officials to the spot
in question, which was searched several times, but a gravesite was never found.

When the war ended, refugees from the communist-overrun countries of Southeast
Asia began to flood the world, bringing with them information about live GI's
still in captivity in their homelands and other information on the missing in
Southeast Asia. Since 1975, nearly 10,000 such stories have been received. Many
authorities believe that hundreds of Americans are still held in the countries
in Southeast Asia.

The U.S. Government operates on the "assumption" that one or more men are being
held, but that it cannot "prove" that this is the case, allowing action to be
taken. Meanwhile, low-level talks between the U.S. and Vietnam proceed,
yielding a few sets of remains when it seems politically expedient to return
them, but as yet, no living American has returned - nor has Herreid - alive or
dead.
HERRERA, FREDERICK DANIEL

Name: Frederick Daniel Herrera
Rank/Branch: E3/US Army
Unit: Company B, 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry, 4th Infantry Division
Date of Birth: 07 August 1949
Home City of Record: Albuquerque NM
Date of Loss: 25 March 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 144018N 1073621E (YB805235)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel In Incident: Prentice Hicks; Richard Roberts (both missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On March 25, 1969, PFC Prentice W. Hicks, PFC Frederick D. Herrera
and PFC Richard D. Roberts were riflemen on a road interdiction mission
northwest of the city of Kontum, South Vietnam. On March 24, their unit had
been in contact with an unknown sized enemy force, and at that time, PFC Hicks
had been wounded several times. The unit was ordered to pull back, and PFC
Hicks was placed on a litter and carried out of the area for evacuation.

As the unit was moving toward high ground, they again came in contact with the
enemy. At that time, PFC Roberts was the point man. During the contact, the
unit began to move in a disorderly fashion back down the hill, and during that
period, PFC Hicks, Herrera and Roberts were separated from the main element.

It is believed that PFC Herrera and Roberts had stayed behind with PFC Hicks.
This was the last time they were seen. At that time, neither Herrera or Roberts
were injured.

During a search of the area on April 5, a reconnaissance team found some
letters belonging to PFC Hicks, along with the cover from a Bible belonging to
PFC Herrera, but there was no sign of the three missing men. The three men had
disappeared, and, given the enemy situation in the area, it is entirely
possible that they were captured. They were declared Missing In Action. Later
hearings were held to declare them dead, although no evidence was ever received
that the three died.

Americans captured by the Viet Cong had a terrible and grueling ordeal ahead.
The Viet Cong themselves were often deprived of adequate food, and the need to
be constantly moving only made life more difficult to sustain. Americans were
ill-equipped to cope with jungle diseases and drastic change in diet. Torture
was commonplace and cruel. Many were mentally and physically depleted to the
point of starvation and death. Towards the end of the war, prisoners captured
in the south were routinely taken north for detention by the North Vietnamese,
and although torture was a daily threat, few died of starvation during those
late years.

Whether Herrera and the others were captured is not known. The chances of their
having survived the second attack are good. Alive or dead, however, the
Vietnamese certainly know their fate. Someone knows where they were taken that
day.

Tragically, reports of Americans still held captive in Indochina continue to be
received, creating a large body of evidence difficult to ignore. It seems clear
that some of our military are still held prisoner in Southeast Asia. Herrera,
Hicks and Roberts could be among them. Isn't it time we brought our men home?

HERRICK, JAMES WAYNE JR.

Name: James Wayne Herrick, Jr.
Rank/Branch: 1LT/U S Air Force
Unit: 602nd Special Operations Squadron, NKP
Date of Birth: 28 October 1944
Home City of Record: Panora IA
Date of Loss: 27 October 1969
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 193100N 1035000E (UG796608)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 3
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: A1H
Other Personnel In Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II
Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Jim Herrick was born on a farm in Guthrie Co. Iowa, the oldest son of
the Herricks. He had paralytic polio at the age of 7, but by the summer of his
8th year was completely recovered with no trace of paralysis. He had a normal,
active youth.

In school at Iowa State College, Jim was in the Air Force ROTC, and went to
flight school following college. He volunteered for overseas duty and was sent
to Southeast Asia in May 1969.

On October 27, 1969, Jim was flying an A1H aircraft on a reconnaissance mission
when his plane went down in Xiangkhouang Province, Laos. His last known location
was one mile north-northwest of Ban Khang Pha Nien and 19 miles north-northeast
of Xieng Khouang. This is near the famed Plaine des Jarres region of Laos.

In the prisoner of war release following the signing of the Paris Peace
agreements, no prisoners held by the Lao were released. Only those prisoners
held by the Vietnamese were freed. Jim Herrick, along with nearly 600 other
Americans, disappeared in Laos and were left behind, forgotten.

Thousands of reports of Americans held in captivity have been received by the
United States Government. Many sources have been polygraphed and indicate no
deception, yet the government states there is no "proof" Americans are being
held. Yet, the reports persist, and increase in number as the years pass.

As the years pass, what must those men be thinking of us?

James W. Herrick was promoted to the rank of Captain during the period he was
maintained Missing in Action. He was presumptively declared killed in action 21
November 1977, based on no new information to prove he was alive.
HERRIN, HENRY HOWARD, JR.

Name: Henry Howard Herrin, Jr.
Rank/Branch: E7/US Navy
Unit: Heavy Photographic Squadron 61, USS ORISKANY (CVA-34)
Date of Birth: 18 March 1933
City of Record: West Springfield MA
Date of Loss: 01 January 1968
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 0174000N 1071000E (YE298544)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 5
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: RA3B

Others in Incident: James Dennison; Terrence Hanley (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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: LOST AT SEA

SYNOPSIS: The A3 Skywarrior is a three-place light bomber, reconnaisance plane,
electronic warfare craft or aerial tanker, depending upon its outfitting. The
RA3B was a more powerful version of the original A3 and outfitted for
reconnaisance missions. Its armament usually consisted of a pair of 20mm cannons
in a remotely controlled tail turret.

Chief Petty Officer Henry H. Herrin was a photographer's mate aboard an RA3B
aircraft flown by LTCDR James R. Dennison and co-pilot LTJG Terrence H. Hanley
assigned a mission over North Vietnam. Their plan was to fly from the U.S. Naval
Air Station, Cubi Point, Philippines to their target area and then recover at Da
Nang Air Base, South Vietnam for refueling and return trip. The mission was for
surveillance of the enemy lines of communication to determine truck traffic. The
mission was flown under radio silence, but was under surveillance by an airborne
radar control aircraft.

Emergency egress is accomplished by sliding down a chute in the bottom of the
aircraft. All crewmembers were equipped with survival radios and survival kits
containing flare pencils. The aircraft flew out to sea approximately 20 miles
and turned southeast. No further contact was made with the aircraft.

An intensive search and rescue operation was called in consisting of surface
units, helicopter and fixed wing aircraft. It was terminated with negative
results. The area in which the aircraft was lost was one heavily traveled by
aircraft, fishing junks and coastal shipping.

All three men were placed in Missing In Action status, which was maintained
until after the war ended.

The crew of the RA3B downed that day in January 1968 may not have survived, but
evidence continues to mount that some of their comrades did - and are currently
being held prisoner in Southeast Asia.

The ultimate sacrifice of our nation's youth - their lives - is tainted so long
as even one American fighting man is held against his will. For the sake of the
living, and the honor of the dead, these men must be brought home.
HERROLD, NED RAYMOND

Name: Ned Raymond Herrold
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 08 January 1941
Home City of Record: New Brunswick NJ
Date of Loss: 31 May 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 193400N 1055000E (WG892415)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 5
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4C
Personnel In Incident: April 3 1965: Herschel S. Morgan; Raymond A. Vohden
(released POWs); George C. Smith (missing). April 4, 1965: Walter F. Draeger;
James A. Magnusson (missing); Carlyle S. Harris (released POW); September 16,
1965: J. Robinson Risner (released POW); May 31, 1966: Bobbie J. Alberton;
William R. Edmondson; Emmett McDonald; Armon Shingledecker; Philip J. Stickney;
(missing from the C-130E); Thomas Case; Harold J. Zook; Elroy Harworth (remains
returned from the C130E). Dayton Ragland; Ned Herrold (missing on an F-4C)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: The Thanh Hoa Railroad and Highway Bridge, spanning the Song Ma
River, is located three miles north of Thanh Hoa, the capital of Annam
Province, North Vietnam. It is a replacement for the original French-built
bridge destroyed by the Viet Minh in 1945 - they simply loaded two locomotives
with explosives and ran them together in the middle of the bridge.

In 1957, the North Vietnamese rebuilt the bridge. The new bridge, completed in
1964, was 540 feet long, 56 feet wide, and about 50 feet above the river. The
Vietnamese called it Ham Rong (the Dragon's Jaw), and Ho Chi Minh himself
attended its dedication. The bridge had two steel thru-truss spans which rested
in the center on a massive reinforced concrete pier 16 feet in diameter, and on
concrete abutments at the other ends. Hills on both sides of the river provided
solid bracing for the structure. Between 1965 and 1972, eight concrete piers
were added near the approaches to give additional resistance to bomb damage. A
one-meter guage single railway track ran down the 12 foot wide center and 22
foot wide concrete highways were cantilevered on each side. This giant would
prove to be one of the single most challenging targets for American air power
in Veitnam. 104 American pilots were shot down over a 75 square mile area
around the Dragon during the war. (Only the accounts of those specifically
known to be involved in major strikes against the bridge are given here. Some
losses were aircraft involved in operations against other targets. Note also,
that because aircraft came in on this target from a wide geographic area, some
personnel lost outside the 75 mile range may have been inadvertently overlooked
in this study.)

In March 1965 the decision to interdict the North Vietnamese rail system south
of the 20th parallel led immediately to the April 3, 1965 strike against the
Thanh Hoa Bridge. Lt.Col. Robinson Risner was designated overall mission
coordinator for the attack. He assembled a force consisting of 79 aircraft - 46
F105's, 21 F100's, 2 RF101's and 10 KC135 tankers. The F100's came from bases
in South Vietnam, while the rest of the aircraft were from squadrons TDY at
various Thailand bases.

Sixteen of the 46 "Thuds" (F105) were loaded with pairs of Bullpup missiles,
and each of the remaining 30 carried eight 750 lb. general purpose bombs. The
aircraft that carried the missiles and half of the bombers were scheduled to
strike the bridge; the remaining 15 would provide flak suppression. The plan
called for individual flights of four F105's from Koran and Takhli which would
be air refueled over the Mekong River before tracking across Laos to an initial
point (IP) three minutes south of the bridge. After weapon release, the plan
called for all aircraft to continue east until over the Gulf of Tonkin where
rejoin would take place and a Navy destroyer would be available to recover
anyone who had to eject due to battle damage or other causes. After rejoin, all
aircraft would return to their bases, hopefully to the tune of "The Ham Rong
Bridge if falling down."

Shortly after noon on April 3, aircraft of Rolling Thunder Mission 9-Alpha
climbed into Southeast Asia skies on their journey to the Thanh Hoa Bridge. The
sun glinting through the haze was making the target somewhat difficult to
acquire, but Risner led the way "down the chute" and 250 pound missiles were
soon exploding on the target. Since only one Bullpup missile could be fired at
a time, each pilot had to make two firing passes.

On his second pass, LtCol. Risner's aircraft took a hit just as the Bullpup hit
the bridge. Fighting a serious fuel leak and a smoke-filled cockpit in addition
to anti-aircraft fire from the enemy, he nursed his crippled aircraft to Da
Nang and to safety. The Dragon would not be so kind on another day.

The first two flights had already left the target when Capt. Bill Meyerholt,
number three man in the third flight, rolled his Thunderchief into a dive and
sqeezed off a Bullpup. The missile streaked toward the bridge, and as smoke
cleared from the previous attacks, Capt. Meyerholt was shocked to see no
visible damage to the bridge. The Bullpups were merely charring the heavy steel
and concrete structure. The remaining missile attacks confirmed that firing
Bullpups at the Dragon was about as effective as shooting BB pellets at a
Sherman tank.

The bombers, undaunted, came in for their attack, only to see their payload
drift to the far bank because of a very strong southwest wind. 1Lt. George C.
Smith's F100D was shot down near the target point as he suppressed flak. The
anti-aircraft resistance was much stronger than anticipated. No radio contact
could be made with Smith, nor could other aircraft locate him. 1Lt. Smith was
listed Missing In Action, and no further word has been heard of him.

The last flight of the day, led by Capt. Carlyle S. "Smitty" Harris, adjusted
their aiming points and scored several good hits on the roadway and super
structure. Smitty tried to assess bomb damage, but could not because of the
smoke coming from the Dragon's Jaw. The smoke would prove to be an ominous
warning of things to come.

LtCdr. Raymond A. Vohden was north of the Dragon when his A4C bomber was shot
down. Ray was captured by the North Vietnamese and held in various POW camps in
and near Hanoi until his release in February 1973. (It is not entirely clear
that this U.S. Navy Lt.Cdr. had a direct role in the attack on the bridge, but
was probably "knocked out" by the same anti-aircraft fire.)

Capt. Herschel S. Morgan's RF101 was hit and went down some 75 miles southwest
of the target area, seriously injuring the pilot. Capt. Morgan was captured and
held in and around Hanoi until his release in February 1973.

When the smoke cleared, observer aircraft found that the bridge still spanned
the river. Thirty-two Bullpups and ten dozen 750 pound bombs had been aimed at
the bridge and numerous hits had charred every part of the structure, yet it
showed no sign of going down. A restrike was ordered for the next day.

The following day, flights with call signs "Steel", "Iron", "Copper", "Moon",
"Carbon", "Zinc", "Argon", "Graphite", "Esso", "Mobil", "Shell", "Petrol", and
the "Cadillac" BDA (bomb damage assessment) flight, assembled at IP to try once
again to knock out the Dragon. On this day, Capt. Carlyle "Smitty" Harris was
flying as call sign "Steel 3". Steel 3 took the lead and oriented himself for
his run on a 300 degree heading. He reported that his bombs had impacted on the
target on the eastern end of the bridge. Steel 3 was on fire as soon as he left
the target. Radio contact was garbled, and Steel Lead, Steel 2 and Steel 4
watched helplessly as Smitty's aircraft, emitting flame for 20 feet behind,
headed due west of the target. All flight members had him in sight until the
fire died out, but observed no parachute, nor did they see the aircraft impact
the ground. Smitty's aircraft had been hit by a MiG whose pilot later recounted
the incident in "Vietnam Courier" on April 15, 1965. It was not until much
later that it would be learned that Smitty had been captured by the North
Vietnamese. Smitty was held prisoner for 8 years and released in 1973. Fellow
POWs credit Smitty with introducing the "tap code" which enabled them to
communicate with each other.

MiG's had been seen on previous missions, but for the first time in the war,
the Russian-made MiGs attacked American aircraft. Zinc 2, an F105D flown by
Capt. James A. Magnusson, had its flight bounced by MiG 17's. As Zinc Lead was
breaking to shake a MiG on his tail, Zinc 2 was hit and radioed that he was
heading for the Gulf if he could maintain control of his aircraft. The other
aircraft were busy evading the MiGs, and Magnusson radioed several times before
Steel Lead responded and instructed him to tune his radio to rescue frequency.
Magnusson's aircraft finally ditched over the Gulf of Tonkin near the island of
Hon Me, and he was not seen or heard from again. He was listed Missing In
Action.

Capt. Walter F. Draeger's A1H (probably an escort for rescue teams) was shot
down over the Gulf of Tonkin just northeast of the Dragon that day. Draeger's
aircraft was seen to crash in flames, but no parachute was observed. Draeger
was listed Missing In Action.

The remaining aircraft returned to their bases, discouraged. Although over 300
bombs scored hits on this second strike, the bridge still stood.

From April to September 1965, 19 more pilots were shot down in the general
vicinity of the Dragon, including many who were captured and released,
including Howie Rutledge, Gerald Coffee, Paul Galanti, Jeremiah Denton, Bill
Tschudy and James Stockdale. Then on September 16, 1965, Col. Robbie Risner's
F105D was shot down a few miles north of the bridge he had tried to destroy the
previous April. As he landed, Risner tore his knee painfully, a condition which
contributed to his ultimate capture by the North Vietnamese. Risner was held in
and around Hanoi until his release in 1973, but while a POW, he was held in
solitary confinement for 4 1/2 years. Besides the normal malaise and illnesses
common to POWs, Risner also suffered from kidney stones, which severely
debilitated him in the spring and summer of 1967.

By September 1965, an innovative concept had taken shape - mass-focusing the
energy of certain high explosive weapons. The Air Force quickly saw its
application against the old Dragon and devised a plan to destroy the bridge
using the new weapon. They would call the operation "Carolina Moon".

The plan necessitated two C130 aircraft dropping the weapon, a rather large
pancake-shaped affair 8 feet in diameter and 2 1/2 feet thick and weighing
5,000 pounds. The C130's would fly below 500 feet to evade radar along a 43
mile route (which meant the C130 would be vulnerable to enemy attack for about
17 minutes), and drop the bombs, which would float down the Song Ma River where
it would pass under the Dragon's Jaw, and detonate when sensors in the bomb
detected the metal of the bridge structure.

Because the slow-moving C130's would need protection, F4 Phantoms would fly
diversionary attack to the south, using flares and bombs on the highway just
before the C130 was to drop its ordnance. The F4s were to enter their target
area at 300', attack at 50' and pull off the target back to 300' for subsequent
attacks. Additionally, an EB66 was tasked to jam the radar in the area during
the attack period. Since Risner had been shot down in September, 15 more pilots
had been downed in the bridge region. Everyone knew it was hot.

The first C130 was to be flown by Maj. Richard T. Remers and the second by Maj.
Thomas F. Case, both of whom had been through extensive training for this
mission at Elgin AFB, Florida and had been deployed to Vietnam only 2 weeks
before. Ten mass-focus weapons were provided, allowing for a second mission
should the first fail to accomplish the desired results.

Last minute changes to coincide with up-to-date intelligence included one that
would be very significant in the next days. Maj. Remers felt that the aircraft
was tough enough to survive moderate anti-aircraft artillery hits and gain
enough altitude should bail-out be necessary. Maj. Case agreed that the
aircraft could take the hits, but the low-level flight would preclude a
controlled bail-out situation. With these conflicting philosophies, and the
fact that either parachutes or flak vests could be worn - but not both - Maj.
Remers decided that his crew would wear parachutes and stack their flak vests
on the floor of the aircraft. Maj. Case decided that his crew would wear only
flak vests and store the parachutes.

On the night of May 30, Maj. Remers and his crew, including navigators Capt.
Norman G. Clanton and 1Lt. William "Rocky" Edmondson, departed Da Nang at 25
minutes past midnight and headed north under radio silence. Although the
"Herky-bird" encountered no resistance at the beginning of its approach, heavy,
(although luckily, inaccurate) ground fire was encountered after it was too
late to turn back. The 5 weapons were dropped successfully in the river and
Maj. Remers made for the safety of the Gulf of Tonkin. The operation had gone
flawlessly, and the C130 was safe. Although the diversionary attack had drawn
fire, both F-4's returned to Thailand unscathed.

Unfortunately, the excitement of the crew was shortlived, because recon photos
taken at dawn showed that there was no noticeable damage to the bridge, nor was
any trace of the bombs found. A second mission was planned for the night of May
31. The plan for Maj. Case's crew was basically the same with the exception of
a minor time change and slight modification to the flight route. A crew change
was made when Maj. Case asked 1Lt. Edmondson, the navigator from the previous
night's mission, to go along on this one because of his experience from the
night before. The rest of the crew included Capt. Emmett R. McDonald, 1Lt.
Armon D. Shingledecker, 1Lt. Harold J. Zook, SSgt. Bobby J. Alberton, AM1 Elroy
E. Harworth and AM1 Philip J. Stickney. The C130 departed DaNang at 1:10 a.m.

The crew aboard one of the F4's to fly diversionary included Col. Dayton
Ragland. Ragland was no stranger to conflict when he went to Vietnam. He had
been shot down over Korea in November 1951 and had served two years as a
prisoner of war. Having flown 97 combat missions on his tour in Vietnam,
Ragland was packed and ready to go home. He would fly as "backseater" to 1Lt.
Ned R. Herrold on the mission to give the younger man more combat flight time
while he operated the sophisticated technical navigational and bombing
equipment. The F4's left Thailand and headed for the area south of the Dragon.

At about two minutes prior to the scheduled C130 drop time, the F4's were
making their diversionary attack when crew members saw anti-aircraft fire and a
large ground flash in the bridge vicinity. Maj. Case and his crew were never
seen or heard from again. During the F4 attack, Herrold and Ragland's aircraft
was hit. On its final pass, the aircraft did not pull up, but went out to sea,
and reported that the aircraft had taken heavy weapons fire. A ball of fire was
seen as the plane went into the sea.

Reconnaissance crews and search and rescue scoured the target area and the Gulf
of Tonkin the next morning, finding no sign at all of the C130 or its crew.
Rescue planes spotted a dinghy in the area in which Herrold and Ragland's
aircraft had gone down, but saw no signs of life. The dinghy was sunk to
prevent it falling into enemy hands. The bridge still stood.

In March 1967, the U.S. Navy attacked the Thanh Hoa Bridge using the new
"Walleye" missiles, but failed to knock out the bridge. Before the war ended,
54 more Americans fell in the Dragon's Jaw area.

In late 1986 the remains of Harworth, Zook and Case were returned and buried
with the honor befitting an American fighting man who has died for his country.
Ragland, Herrold, Alberton, McDonald, Edmondson, Shingledecker, Stickney,
Smith, Draeger and Magnussen are still Missing in Action.





HERTZ, GUSTAV GRANE

Name: Gustav Grane Hertz
Rank/Branch: U.S. Civilian
Unit:
Date of Birth: 10 May 1918
Home City of Record:
Date of Loss: 02 February 1965
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 105051N 1064631E (XS940996)
Status (in 1973): Killed in Captivity
Category: 1
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Honda

Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 April 1990 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.

REMARKS: 670924 DIC - ON PRG LIST

SYNOPSIS: Gustav G. Hertz was a U.S. civilian working in Southeast Asia. On
February 2, 1965, Hertz was riding a Honda motorbike about 5 miles northeast of
Saigon near Thu Duc when he was captured by the Viet Cong. Hertz spent the next
2 1/2 years as a prisoner of war.

On June 15, 1967, the Viet Cong Liberation Radio, broadcasting from Hanoi,
announced that Gustav Hertz had paid his "blood debt to the Vietnamese people."
Hertz, according to the report, had been executed.

When 591 American prisoners were released by the Vietnamese in the spring of
1973, the Vietnamese supplied a list to the U.S. of those captives who had died
in captivity. Gustav Hertz name was on the list, and the Viet Cong stated that
he had died on September 24, 1967. (Note the unexplained date-of-death
descrepancy.)

Through the years following the war, the U.S. has held tentative talks and
meetings with the Vietnamese on many issues, including that of resolving the
POW/MIA issue. In the face of nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans
missing in Southeast Asia to date, it doubtless has been difficult to keep a
politely diplomatic attitude in these dealings. The result of recent series of
talks has yielded over 300 sets of American remains. Few of these have been
identified thus far.

Critics of U.S. Government efforts complain that U.S. efforts are not adequate.
They fear normalization with Vietnam before the POW/MIA issue is fully
resolved. Most of all, they fear that hundreds of Americans are still alive in
Southeast Asian prisons, and that these men will be abandoned in diplomatic
expediency.

Gustav Hertz was not a soldier ordered to Southeast Asia by the military.
Indeed, public records do not state his occupation or reason for being in
Vietnam at all. Information on civilians is difficult to get. But Gustav Hertz
is an American citizen, and his government has an obligation to him to see that
he is returned -- dead or alive. It's time we brought our men home.

HESFORD, PETER DEAN

Name: Peter Dean Hesford
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force Force
Unit: 390th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Ubon AF TH
Date of Birth: 02 December 1942
Home City of Record: Mystic CT
Loss Date: 21 March 1968
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 164900N 1060500E (XD160590)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D

Others in Incident: Aubrey E. Stowers (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 31 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: When the North Vietnamese intensified their attempt to take over South
Vietnam, and the war spread throughout that country, Vietnam's neutral neighbor,
Laos, became a place of sanctuary for the communists, as well as an almost
barrier-free route by which to transfer troops and supplies to the South.
American planes began to reconnoitre and bomb those sanctuaries and routes used
by the Vietnamese communists, the most notable of those routes being the Ho Chi
Minh Trail.

1Lt. Peter D. Hesford was the pilot of an F4D Phantom fighter jet, one of the
most sought after jobs for an Air Force pilot at that time. The Phantom was used
for reconnaissance and air combat missions. The D model of the aircraft was
equipped with high tech equipment allowing the use of Walleye television-guided
missiles and laser-guided bombs. Its central air data computer automatically
determined the weapon release point for all bombing modes-dive or level, at
night or in bad weather, as well as controlled navigation.

On March 21, 1968, 1Lt. Hesford and his "guy in back", 1Lt. Aubrey E. Stowers
Jr., were called on to fly a combat mission in Laos. Their aircraft was number
two in a flight of two aircraft on the mission. Their aircraft was struck by
enemy fire and crashed on the side of a hill about 20 miles southwest of the Ban
Karai Pass in an area where many pilots went down and radioed they had safely
reached the ground. Although search and rescue teams were highly successful,
Hesford and Stowers were not rescued. No parachutes had been seen, and no
emergency radio beeper signals were detected. Still, it was thought that Hesford
and Stowers might have ejected safely. They were classified Missing in Action,
rather that reported killed.

Americans held prisoner in Laos were not included in the Paris Peace Agreements
which ended American involvement in Southeast Asia. Not one of them was released
in 1973 when 591 lucky Americans were returned home. Although the Pathet Lao
publicly stated that they held many prisoners, the U.S. has never successfully
negotiated their release.

There have been thousands of reports related to Americans missing in Southeast
Asia. Most of the which have been "resolved" or "correlated" have proven true
because they relate to men who have returned. Over 100 cases are still under
review, and in the words of a State Department official testifying before
Congress, "pass the closest scrutiny" the U.S. can give them.

Whether Hesford and Stowers survived the crash of their aircraft is not known.
Tragically, the evidence indicates that many ARE, and as long as that is the
case, their families must continue to hope and wonder when they will be brought
home.


Peter D. Hesford graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1965. Both Hesford
and Stowers were promoted to the rank of Major during the period they were
maintained missing.
HESS, FREDERICK WILLIAM

Name: Frederick William Hess
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit: 390th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Da Nang
Date of Birth: 20 November 1943
Home City of Record: Kansas City MO
Date of Loss: 29 March 1969
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 170900N 1060500E
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D
Other Personnel In Incident: (pilot rescued)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II
Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Frederick William Hess was a crack Bridge and Chess player as a young
man at the Air Force Academy. Following his 1966 graduation, he went to train on
the F4 Phantom and was shipped to Vietnam.

On March 29, 1969, Fred and his pilot were sent on a defoliation mission in Laos
near the Ban Karai Pass. There was a North Vietnamese training school for
anti-aircraft gunners near the Pass, and their plane was hit. Hess was ordered
to eject and did so. The pilot ejected and was subsequently rescued. The plane
crashed into a hillside. The area of the Pass was heavy with enemy forces, and
search was tricky.Hess was not found.

Frederick Hess is one of nearly 600 Americans who were lost in Laos.Only a
handful were acknowledged as prisoners by name by either government, although
the Pathet Lao publicly stated they held "tens of tens" of American prisoners.
They said the Americans were captured in Laos, and they would be released from
Laos when treaties were signed.

In negotiating the Peace Agreement for which he accepted the Nobel Prize,
Secretary of State Henry Kissinger did not deal with the Lao, the Cambodians or
the Chinese for the prisoners they held, but only with the North Vietnamese. No
American held by the Lao was released in 1973 at the end of American involvement
in Southeast Asia, and none have been released since.

Since the war's end, over 10,000 thousand reports concerning Americans missing,
prisoner or otherwise unaccounted for have been received by the U.S. Government.
Many authorities who have examined this largely classified information believe
there are hundreds of American still alive and captive in Southeast Asia today.
One of them could be Freddie Hess.

Fred's daughter was one year old when her dad was shot down. She was cheated of
knowing her father. Our nation has cheated itself by abandoning some of our best
men. It's time we brought them home.

Frederick Hess was promoted to the rank of Major during the period he was
maintained missing. He was presumptively declared killed in action on May 22,
1979, based on no new information to prove he was alive.

HESS, GENE KARL

Name: Gene Karl Hess
Rank/Branch: E5/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 18 August 1933
Home City of Record: Townsend DE
Date of Loss: 17 June 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 125336N 1093123E (CQ398257)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: C130E
Other Personnel in Incident: Ralph B. Cobbs; Jack I. Dempsey; Stanley J. Freng;
Edward L. Romig; M.J. Savoy; Donald E. Siegwarth; Curtis D. Collette; Robert A.
Cairns; Connie M. Gravitte; Oley N. Adams; Larry E. Washburn (all missing)

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: EXPLODE AIR & IMPACT SEA - J

SYNOPSIS: On June 17, 1966, a C130E "Hercules" aircraft departed Cam Ranh Bay,
South Vietnam en route to Kadena Air Base, Okinawa on an operational airlift
support mission. Aboard the flight were the crew, consisting of LtCdr. Ralph B.
Cobbs; ADJ2 Curtis D. Collette; YN2 Jack I. Dempsey; ADR2 Stanley J. Freng;
Ltjg. Edward L. Romig; AN M.J. Savoy; and Ltjg. Donald E. Siegwarth. All were
assigned to the 7th Air Transport Squadron. Also aboard the aircraft were U.S.
Air Force personnel SSgt. Robert A. Cairns; SSgt. Gene K. Hess; Capt. Connie M.
Gravitte; SSgt. Oley N. Adams; and A1 Larry E. Washburn, and one other
individual.

About 30 minutes into the flight, when the aircraft was 43 miles northeast of
Nha Trang, the crew of a naval gunboat cruising off the South Vietnam coast
observed the C130 explode and crash into the South China Sea. No hostile fire
was observed, and the exact cause of the crash could not be determined. The
vessell arrived at the crash scene only minutes after the impact and began an
immediate search. The accident took place so swiftly that it must be assumed
all aboard perished instantly. Some debris and wreckage have been recovered
including parts of the aircraft and personal belongings. Only one body was
recovered from the crash site. The others are listed as "Dead/Body Not
Recovered."

Cobbs and Siegworth were pilots, and probably the co-pilots of the aircraft,
although this information is not included in public data relating to the loss.
Crew positions of the remaining crew members are not available.

Inexplicably, Cobbs' loss coordinates place him on the coast of South Vietnam a
few miles northeast of Tuy Hoa, while the others aboard are listed as lost
northeast of Na Trang. (This is a difference of about 55 miles.) Also, the
entire crew of the aircraft has been assigned "Knowledge Category 4", while the
passengers are in "Knowledge Category 5". Category 5 includes those individuals
whose remains have been determined to be non-recoverable. Category 4 includes
individuals whose loss details, such as location and time, are unknown and who
do not fit into any of the varying degrees of knowledge other than category 5.
No reason for this discrepancy can be determined.

The Americans aboard the C130E are listed among the missing because their
remains were never found to be returned to their homeland. They are among
nearly 2500 Americans who remain unaccounted for from the Vietnam war. The
cases of some, like the C130E crew, seem clear - that they perished and cannot
be recovered, Unfortunately, many others who are missing do not have such clear
cut cases. Some were known captives; some were photographed as they were led by
their guards. Some were in radio contact with search teams, while others simply
disappeared.

Since the war ended, over 250,000 interviews have been conducted with those who
claim to know about Americans still alive in Southeast Asia, and several
million documents have been studied. U.S. Government experts cannot seem to
agree whether Americans are there alive or not. Distractors say it would be far
too politically difficult to bring the men they believe to be alive home, and
the U.S. is content to negotiate for remains.

Over 1000 eye-witness reports of living American prisoners were received by
1989. Most of them are still classified. If, as the U.S. seems to believe, the
men are all dead, why the secrecy after so many years? If the men are alive,
why are they not home?

In our haste to leave an unpopular war, it now appears we abandoned some of our
best men. In our haste to heal the wounds of this same war, will we sign their
death warrants? Or will we do what we can to bring them home?



HESTAND, JAMES HARDY

Name: James Hardy Hestand
Rank/Branch: W1/US Army
Unit:
Date of Birth: (ca 1950)
Home City of Record: Oklahoma City OK
Date of Loss: 17 March 1971
Country of Loss: Cambodia
Loss Coordinates: 121005N 1062140E (XU480455)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H
Other Personnel in Incident: On UH1H: Richard L. Bauman; Craig M. Dix; Bobby G.
Harris (all missing); From AH1G: Capt. David P. Schweitzer (rescued); 1Lt.
Lawrence E. Lilly (missing).

REMARKS: 730212 RELEASED BY PRG

SYNOPSIS: On March 17, 1971, Capt. David P. Schweitzer, pilot and 1Lt. Lawrence
E. Lilly, co-pilot, comprised the crew of an AH1G helicopter (serial #69-17935)
conducting a visual reconnaissance mission. As the aircraft was near a landing
zone at grid coordinates XU488458, it was hit by enemy fire of the F-21B
Infantry Regiment, 5th Viet Cong Division and forced to the ground. The LZ was
deep inside Cambodia in the Snuol District of Kracheh (Kratie) Province, near
Seang Village.

Rescue efforts were successful in extracting Capt. Schweitzer, but due to heavy
enemy fire, they were forced to leave the area before Lilly could be extracted.
Lt. Lilly was last seen by U.S. personnel lying on his back wth his shirt
partially open and blood on his chest and neck. He was observed being fired
upon by Viet Cong forces.

In mid-April 1971, a report described two U.S. personnel onboard a helicopter
shot down in this region getting out of the helicopter and climbing a tree, and
firing upon enemy forces. One of the crewmen was shot to death, and the other
was captured by Viet Cong soldiers of the 6th Company, 2nd Battalion, F21B
Infantry Regiment. The report continued that both crewmen were caucasian and
had light complexions. The source described the POW and said that he was later
told that the dead airman had been cremated by Cambodian villagers who had come
to salvage parts from the aircraft. Joint Casualty Resolution Center (JCRC)
evaluated the report and concluded that it could possibly relate either to
Lilly's incident or another the same day at the same location.

The other incident related to a UH1H helicopter flown by WO1 James H. Hestand
and carrying CW2 Richard L. Bauman; SP4 Craig M. Dix; and SP4 Bobby G. Harris.
The aircraft was shot down near Snuol. A medivac chopper lowered a jungle
penetrator to men seen on the ground through triple canopy jungle, but was
forced to leave the area due to enemy fire and low fuel.

Five ARVN were captured in the same operation and were told by Viet Cong guards
that three chopper crew members had just been captured. One was killed in the
crash, one was shot in the leg (ankle) trying to escape. The wounded crewmember
and two others were finally captured.

James Hestand was captured and was released in 1973. In his debriefing, he
reported that Craig Dix was the one who had been shot in the upper right ankle.
Hestand stated that Dix was ambulatory and evading capture at the time of his
own capture. Hestand also stated that, when last seen, CW2 Bauman was alive, in
good condition, and was hiding with Dix. Hestand said that he had seen the body
of Harris, whom he believed to be dead because of throat lacerations and a
discoloration of his body. Harris had been thrown from the aircraft. Hestand
was separated from the others when he was captured, and had no further
information on Dix, Bauman or Harris. Defense Department notes indicate that
Harris was killed in the crash. Defense Department notes indicate that some
intelligence say that Bauman, Dix and Harris are dead, yet other intelligence
reports placed Dix in a Cambodian hospital after having been captured, and
according to Hestand, the two were alive and well the last time he saw them.

An ARVN ground unit entered the battle area to try to rescue Lilly, but found
him dead. The unit came under heavy fire, and in the course of the battle, the
body was lost to the enemy. Lilly's remains were never recovered.

In 1988, the Cambodian government announced that it had the remains of a number
of American servicemen it wished to return to the United States. The U.S. did
not respond officially, however, because there are no diplomatic ties between
Cambodia and the U.S. Several U.S. Congressmen have attempted to intervene and
recover the remains on behalf of American family members, but Cambodia wishes
an official overture. Meanwhile, the bodies of Americans remain in the hands of
our former enemy.

Even more tragically, evidence mounts that many Americans are still alive in
Southeast Asia, still prisoners from a war many have long forgotten. It is a
matter of pride in the armed forces that one's comrades are never left behind.
One can imagine any of the men lost in Cambodia on March 17, 1971, being
willing to go on one more mission for the freedom of those heroes we left
behind.




HESTLE, ROOSEVELT L. JR.

Name: Roosevelt L. Hestle, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O4/USAF
Unit:
Date of Birth: 02 March 1928
Home City of Record: Orlando FL
Date of Loss: 06 July 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 212957N 1054437E (WJ776774)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F105F

Other Personnel in Incident: Charles E. Morgan (remains returned)

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:  NO CHUTE-BEEPER OR SAR

SYNOPSIS: The F105 Thunderchief ("Thud"), in its various versions, flew more
missions against North Vietnam than any other U.S. aircraft. It also suffered
more losses, partially due to its vulnerability, which was constantly under
revision. The F model carried a second crewman which made it well suited for the
role of suppressing North Vietnam's missile defenses.

Maj. Roosevelt L. Hestle, Jr. was the pilot and Capt. Charles E. Morgan the
backseater onboard an F105F sent on a mission over North Vietnam on July 6,
1966. The aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire about 35 miles north-northwest
of Hanoi, and evidently hit the side of a mountain. No parachutes were observed,
and no emergency beepers were detected. Search and Rescue was not initiated.
Although the outlook was grim, neither man was declared Killed/Body Not
Recovered, but instead, both were classified Missing In Action.

One night NBC evening news aired footage from a press conference held in Hanoi.
Hestle's wife recognized her husband in the footage as the camera panned across
a group of American POWs and lingered on him. Hestle, a black man, had a bad
case of chicken pox as an adult, and his scarred face was quite recognizable.
Mrs. Hestle went to the NBC studios in Burbank, California and had them rerun
the film on a big screen so she could make doubly sure that it was indeed her
husband. She was convinced.

Mrs. Hestle waited, confident that her husband would return at the end of the
war. When the general prisoner release occurred in 1973, however, the U.S.
received some surprises. Some men whom intelligence analysts were certain had
perished with their planes had survived to be released. Of greater surprise,
perhaps, was that hundreds of Americans expected to return had not. Morgan and
Hestle had never been declared prisoners, but it was thought the Vietnamese
could account for both of them.

The biggest surprise came when Vietnam was overrun by communist forces, and
Vietnamese refugees began to flood the world. These refugees brought with them
thousands of reports of Americans still in captivity in their homeland. In early
1990, the numbers of such reports amassed to "millions of documents" and
resulted in thousands of interviews. Still, no solution has been found to secure
the freedom of any who may be still alive.

Mrs. Hestle kept looking for information. Seven released POWs called her to say
they had seen her husband in camp, and to rest assured he would come home soon.
Still, he didn't show up.

When the prisoner release was over, Mrs. Hestle approached the Defense
Department and inquired about her husband. She was told that she was mistaken,
that she must have seen one of the other two black airmen shot down, Cherry or
McDaniel. After all, DOD said, all blacks look alike. When Mrs. Hestle told them
seven POWs had seen her husband, they said they weould look into the matter.

When DOD recontacted her, they told Mrs. Hestle the witnesses had changed their
stories and now said they were mistaken. Mrs. Hestle checked with the seven as
well as the other two black airmen, Cherry and McDaniel. The seven POWs said
they had done no such thing; they maintained Hestle had been held with them.
Cherry and McDaniel said they had not been present when the newsfilm was shot.
Besides, Hestle was a full six inches taller than Cherry or McDaniel. His pock
marks made him very distinctive and he did not closely resemble anyone else.

On July 31, 1989, the Vietnamse returned remains to U.S. control which were
subsequently positively identified as being those of Capt. Charles E. Morgan.
For nearly 25 years, Morgan was a prisoner of war - dead or alive.

Many authorities who have examined the evidence now believe there are hundreds
of Americans still alive in Southeast Asia, captives of our long-ago enemy.
Certainly, there are hundreds of Americans the Vietnamese can account for --
including several score known to have been prisoners but never returned.

The Defense Department never acknowledged that Hestle was captured in spite of
seven eye-witness reports from American POWs and Mrs. Hestle's identification.
Hestle, a talented engineer, would be a very useful captive to the Vietnamese.

As long as even one American is unjustly held, we owe him our very best efforts
to secure his freedom. Roosevelt Hestle could still be alive, wondering why his
country has abandoned him.

Charles E. Morgan was promoted to the rank of Major and Roosevelt L. Hestle, Jr.
to the rank of Colonel during the period they were maintained Missing in Action.
HETRICK, RAYMOND HARRY

Name: Raymond Harry Hetrick
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 1st Air Commando Squadron
Date of Birth: 11 September 1936
Home City of Record: Brookville PA
Date of Loss: 24 February 1966
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 164058N 1061958E (XD431448)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A1E

Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 September 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 Douglas A1 Skyraider ("Spad") is a highly maneuverable, propeller
driven aircraft designed as a multipurpose attack bomber or utility aircraft.
The A1 was first used by the Air Force in its Tactical Air Command to equip the
first Air Commando Group engaged in counterinsurgency operations in South
Vietnam.

Capt. Raymond H. Hetrick was the pilot of an A1E aircraft and assigned to the
1st Air Commando Squadron. On February 24, 1966, he was assigned a bombing
mission which took him over Savannakhet Province, Laos.

During the mission, Hetrick's aircraft was struck by enemy fire, crashed and
exploded on impact. Other pilots in the flight reported that Hetrick was killed
in action. His aircraft went down about five miles south of the city of Sepone.

The Air Force believes Raymond Hetrick did not survive. He is listed among the
missing because his remains were never found. He is among nearly 600 Americans
who were lost in Laos. Since the U.S. did not recognize the communist government
faction which captured and held Americans in Laos, no negotiations were
conducted to secure their freedom. Consequently, not a single American held by
the Lao was ever released.

Tragically, many authorities believe there are hundreds of Americans still alive
in captivity in Southeast Asia today. What must they be thinking of us? What
will our next generation say if called to fight if we are unable to bring these
men home from Southeast Asia?




HEYNE, RAYMOND THOMAS

Name: Raymond Thomas Heyne
Rank/Branch: E3/US Marine Corps
Unit: Battery D, 2nd Battalion, 13th Marines, 1st Marine Division
Date of Birth: 15 July 1947
Home City of Record: Mason WI
Date of Loss: 10 May 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 152208N 1074540E (YC965009)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Personnel in Incident: Ngok Tavak: Horace H. Fleming; Thomas J. Blackman;
Joseph F. Cook; Paul S. Czerwonka; Thomas W. Fritsch; Barry L. Hempel; Raymond
T. Heyne; Gerald E. King; Robert C. Lopez; William D. McGonigle; Donald W.
Mitchell; James R. Sargent (members of USMC search team - all missing); Glenn
E. Miller; Thomas H. Perry (USSF teammembers - missing); Kham Duc: Richard E.
Sands (missing from CH47); Bernard L. Bucher; Frank M. Hepler; George W. Long;
John L. McElroy; Stephan C. Moreland (USAF crew of C130 - all missing); Warren
R. Orr (USSF on C130 - missing); Harry B. Coen; Andrew J. Craven; Juan M.
Jimenez; Frederick J. Ransbottom; Maurice H. Moore; Joseph L. Simpson; William
E. Skivington; John C. Stuller; Imlay S. Widdison; Danny L. Widner; Roy C.
Williams (all missing); Julius W. Long (released POW).

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Kham Duc Special Forces camp (A-105), was located on the western
fringes of Quang Tin ("Great Faith") Province, South Vietnam. In the spring of
1968, it was the only remaining border camp in Military Region I. Backup
responsibility for the camp fell on the 23rd Infantry Division (Americal),
based at Chu Lai on the far side of the province.

The camp had originally been built for President Diem, who enjoyed hunting in
the area. The 1st Special Forces detachment (A-727B) arrived in September 1963
and found the outpost to be an ideal border surveillance site with an existing
airfield. The camp was located on a narrow grassy plain surrounded by rugged,
virtually uninhabited jungle. The only village in the area, located across the
airstrip, was occupied by post dependents, camp followers and merchants. The
camp and airstrip were bordered by the Ngok Peng Bum ridge to the west and Ngok
Pe Xar mountain, looming over Kham Duc to the east. Steep banked streams full
of rapids and waterfalls cut through the tropical wilderness. The Dak Mi River
flowed past the camp over a mile distant, under the shadow of the Ngok Pe Xar.

Five miles downriver was the small forward operating base of Ngok Tavak,
defended by the 113-man 11th Mobile Strike Force Company with its 8 Special
Forces and 3 Australian advisors. Since Ngok Tavak was outside friendly
artillery range, 33 Marine artillerymen of Battery D, 2nd Battalion, 13th
Marines, with two 105mm howitzers were located at the outpost.

Capt. Christopher J. Silva, commander of Detachment A-105 helicoptered into
Ngok Tavak on May 9, 1968 in response to growing signs of NVA presence in the
area. Foul weather prevented his scheduled evening departure. A Kham Duc CIDG
platoon fleeing a local ambush also arrived and was posted to the outer
perimeter. It was later learned that the CIDG force contained VC infiltrators.

Ngok Tavak was attacked by an NVA infantry battalion at 0315 hours on May 10.
The base was pounded by mortars and direct rocket fire. As the frontal assault
began, the Kham Duc CIDG soldiers moved toward the Marines in the fort yelling,
"Don't shoot, don't shoot! Friendly, friendly!" Suddenly they lobbed grenades
into the Marine howitzer positions and ran into the fort, where they shot
several Marines with carbines and sliced claymore mine and communication wires.

The defenders suffered heavy casualties but stopped the main assault and killed
the infiltrators. The NVA dug in along the hill slopes and grenaded the trenches
where the mobile strike force soldiers were pinned by machine gun and rocket
fire. An NVA flamethrower set the ammunition ablaze, banishing the murky flare-
lighted darkness for the rest of the night. SFC Harold M. Swicegood and the
USMC platoon leader, Lt. Adams, were badly wounded and moved to the command
bunker. Medical Spec4 Blomgren reported that the CIDG mortar crews had abandoned
their weapons. Silva tried to operate the main 4.2 inch mortar but was wounded.
At about 0500 hours, Sgt. Glenn Miller, an A-105 communications specialist, was
shot through the head as he ran over to join the Marine howitzer crews.

The NVA advanced across the eastern side of Ngok Tavak and brought forward more
automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenade launchers. In desperation, the
defenders called on USAF AC-47 "Spooky" gunships to strafe the perimeter and
the howitzers, despite the possible presence of friendly wounded in the gun
pits. The NVA countered with tear gas, but the wind kept drifting the gas over
their own lines. After three attempts, they stopped. A grenade fight between
the two forces lasted until dawn.

At daybreak Australian Warrant Officers Cameron and Lucas, joined by Blomgren,
led a CIDG counterattack. The North Vietnamese pulled back under covering fire,
and the howitzers were retaken. The Marines fired the last nine shells and
spiked the tubes. Later that morning medical evacuation helicopters supported
by covering airstrikes took out the seriously wounded, including Silva and
Swicegood. Two CH46's were able to land 45 replacements from the 12th Mobile
Strike Force Company, accompanied by Capt. Euge E. Makowski (who related much
of this account to Shelby Stanton, author of "Green Berets at War"), but one
helicopter was hit in the fuel line and forced down. Another helicopter was hit
by a rocket and burst into flames, wrecking the small helipad. The remaining
wounded were placed aboard a hovering helicopter. As it lifted off, two Mike
Force soldiers and 1Lt. Horace Fleming, one of the stranded aviation crewmen,
grabbed the helicopter skids. All three fell to their deaths after the
helicopter had reached an altitude of over one hundred feet.

The mobile strike force soldiers were exhausted and nervous. Ammunition and
water were nearly exhausted, and Ngok Tavak was still being pounded by sporadic
mortar fire. They asked permission to evacuate their positions, but were told
to "hold on" as "reinforcements were on the way". By noon the defenders decided
that aerial reinforcement or evacuation was increasingly unlikely, and night
would bring certain destruction. An hour later, they abandoned Ngok Tavak.

Thomas Perry, a medic from C Company, arrived at the camp at 0530 hours the
morning of the 10th. He cared for the wounded and was assisting in an attempt
to establish a defensive perimeter when the decision was made to evacuate the
camp. As survivors were leaving, Perry was seen by Sgt. Cordell J. Matheney,
Jr., standing 20 feet away, as Australian Army Capt. John White formed the
withdrawal column at the outer perimeter wire on the eastern Ngok Tavak
hillside. It was believed that Perry was going to join the end of the column.

All the weapons, equipment and munitions that could not be carried were hastily
piled into the command bunker and set afire. The helicopter that had been
grounded by a ruptured fuel line was destroyed with a LAW. Sgt. Miller's body
was abandoned.

After survivors had gone about 1 kilometer, it was discovered that Perry was
missing. Efforts were conducted to locate both Perry and Miller, including a
search by a group from Battery D. They were searching along the perimeter when
they were hit by enemy grenades and arms fire. Neither the men on the team nor
Perry was ever found. Included in this team were PFC Thomas Blackman; LCpl.
Joseph Cook; PFC Paul Czerwonka; LCpl. Thomas Fritsch; PFC Barry Hempel; LCpl.
Raymond Heyne; Cpl. Gerald King; PFC Robert Lopez; PFC William McGonigle; LCpl.
Donald Mitchell; and LCpl. James Sargent. The remaining survivors evaded
through dense jungle to a helicopter pickup point midway to Kham Duc. Their
extraction was completed shortly before 1900 hours on the evening of May 10.

In concert with the Ngok Tavak assault, the Kham Duc was blasted by a heavy
mortar and recoilless rifle attack at 0245 hours that same morning. Periodic
mortar barrages ripped into Kham Duc throughout the rest of the day, while the
Americal Division airmobiled a reinforced battalion of the 196th Infantry
Brigade into the compound. A Special Forces command party also landed, but the
situation deteriorated too rapidly for their presence to have positive effect.

The mortar attack on fog-shrouded Kham Duc resumed on the morning of May 11.
The bombardment caused heavy losses among the frightened CIDG soldiers, who
fled from their trenches across open ground, seeking shelter in the bunkers.
The LLDB commander remained hidden. CIDG soldiers refused orders to check the
rear of the camp for possible North Vietnamese intruders. That evening the 11th
and 12th Mobile Strike Force companies were airlifted to Da Nang, and half of
the 137th CIDG Company from Camp Ha Thanh was airlanded in exchange.

The 1st VC Regiment, 2nd NVA Division, began closing the ring around Kham Duc
during the early morning darkness of 12 May. At about 0415 to 0430 hours, the
camp and outlying positions came under heavy enemy attack. Outpost #7 was
assaulted and fell within a few minutes. Outposts #5, #1 and #3 had been
reinforced by Americal troops but were in North Vietnamese hands by 0930 hours.

OP1 was manned by PFC Harry Coen, PFC Andrew Craven, Sgt. Joseph Simpson, and
SP4 Julius Long from Company E, 2nd of the 1st Infantry. At about 0415 hours,
when OP1 came under heavy enemy attack, PFC Coen and SP4 Long were seen trying
to man a 106 millimeter recoilless rifle. Survivors reported that in the
initial enemy fire, they were knocked off their bunker. Both men again tried to
man the gun, but were knocked down again by RPG fire.

PFC Craven, along with two other men, departed the OP at 0830 hours on May 12.
They moved out 50 yards and could hear the enemy in their last position. At
about 1100 hours, as they were withdrawing to the battalion perimeter, they
encountered an enemy position. PFC Craven was the pointman and opened fire. The
enemy returned fire, and PFC Craven was seen to fall, with multiple chest
wounds. The other two men were unable to recover him, and hastily departed the
area. PFC Craven was last seen lying on his back, wounded, near the camp.

OP2 was being manned by 1Lt. Frederick Ransbottom, SP4 Maurice Moore, PFC Roy
Williams, PFC Danny Widner, PFC William Skivington, PFC Imlay Widdison, and SP5
John Stuller, from the 2nd of the 3rd Infantry when it came under attack.
Informal questioning of survivors of this position indicated that PFC Widdison
and SP5 Stuller may have been killed in action. However, the questioning was
not sufficiently thorough to produce enough evidence to confirm their deaths.

The only information available concerning 1Lt. Ransbottom, SP4 Moore, PFC Lloyd
and PFC Skivington that Lt. Ransbottom allegedly radioed PFC Widner and PFC
Williams, who were in the third bunker, and told them that he was shooting at
the enemy as they entered his bunker.

SP4 Juan Jimenez, a rifleman assigned to Company A, 2nd of the 1st Infantry,
was occupying a defensive position when he was severely wounded in the back by
enemy mortar fire. SP4 Jimenez was declared dead by the Battalion Surgeon in
the early morning hours of May 12. He was then carried to the helipad for
evacuation. However, due to the situation, space was available in the
helicopter for only the wounded, and SP4 Jimenez'remains were left behind.

At noon a massive NVA attack was launched against the main compound. The charge
was stopped by planes hurling napalm, cluster bomb units and 750 pound bombs
into the final wire barriers. The decision was made by the Americal Division
officers to call for immediate extraction.

The evacuation was disorderly, and at times, on the verge of complete panic.
One of the first extraction helicopters to land was exploded by enemy fire,
blocking the airstrip. Engineers of Company A, 70th Engineer Battalion,
frantically reassembled one of their dozers (previously torn apart to prevent
capture) to clear the runway. Eight more aircraft were blown out of the sky.

PFC Richard E. Sands was a member of Company A, 1st Battalion, 46th Infantry,
198th Light Infantry Brigade being extracted on a CH47 helicopter (serial
#67-18475). The helicopter was hit by 50 calliber machine gun fire at an
altitude of 1500-1600 feet shortly after takeoff.

Sands, who was sitting near the door gunner, was hit in the head by an incoming
rounds. The helicopter made a controlled landing and caught fire. During the
evacuation from the burning helicopter, four personnel and a medic checked PFC
Sands and indicated that he had been killed instantly. Because of the danger of
incoming mortar rounds and the fire, personnel attempting to remove PFC Sands
from the helicopter were ordered to abandon their attempt. The remaining
personnel were evacuated from the area later by another helicopter.

Intense antiaircraft fire from the captured outposts caused grave problems.
Control over the indigenous forces was difficult. One group of CIDG soldiers
had to be held in trenches at gunpoint to prevent them from mobbing the runway.

As evacuation was in progress, members of Company A, 1/46, who insisted on
boarding the aircraft first, shoved Vietnamese dependents out of the way. As
more Americal infantry tried to clamber into the outbound planes, the outraged
Special Forces staff convinced the Air Force to start loading civilians onboard
a C130, then watched as the civilians pushed children and weaker adults aside.

The crew of the U.S. Air Force C130 aircraft (serial #60-0297) consisted of
Maj. Bernard Bucher, pilot; SSgt. Frank Hepler, flight engineer; Maj. John
McElroy, navigator; 1Lt. Steven Moreland, co-pilot; George Long, load master;
Capt. Warren Orr, passenger, and an undetermined number of Vietnamese civilians.

The aircraft reported receiving ground fire on takeoff. The Forward Air Control
(FAC) in the area reported that the aircraft exploded in mid-air and crashed in
a fire ball about one mile from camp. All crew and passengers were believed
dead, as the plane burned quickly and was completely destroyed except for the
tail boom. No remains were recovered from the aircraft.

Capt. Orr was not positively identified by U.S. personnel as being aboard the
aircraft. He was last seen near the aircraft helping the civilians to board.
However, a Vietnamese stated that he had seen Capt. Orr board the aircraft and
later positively identified him from a photograph. Rescue efforts were
impossible because of the hostile threat in the area.

At the time the order was given to escape and evade, SP4 Julius Long was was
with Coen and Simpson. All three had been wounded, and were trying to make
their way back to the airfield about 350 yards away. As they reached the
airfield, they saw the last C130 departing. PFC Coen, who was shot in the
stomach, panicked and started running and shooting his weapon at random. SP4
Long tried to catch him, but could not, and did not see PFC Coen again. Long
then carried Sgt. Simpson to a nearby hill, where they spent the night.

During the night, the airfield was strafed and bombed by U.S. aircraft. SP4
Long was hit twice in the back by fragments, and Sgt. Simpson died during the
night. SP4 Long left him lying on the hill near the Cam Duc airfield and
started his escape and evasion toward Chu Lai, South Vietnam. SP4 Long was
captured and was released in 1973 from North Vietnam.

The Special Forces command group was the last organized group out of the camp.
As their helicopter soared into the clouds, Kham Duc was abandoned to advancing
NVA infantry at 4:33 p.m. on May 12, 1968. The last Special Forces camp on the
northwestern frontier of South Vietnam had been destroyed.

Two search and recovery operations were conducted in the vicinity of OP1 and
OP2 and the Cam Duc airfield on July 18, 1970 and August 17, 1970. In these
operations, remains of personnel previously reported missing from this incident
were recovered and subsequently identified. (SP4 Bowers, PFC Lloyd, Sgt. Sisk,
PFC Guzman-Rios and SSgt. Carter). However, extensive search and excavation
could not be completed at OP1 and OP2 because of the tactical situation.

It was assumed that all the missing at Kham Duc were killed in action until
about 1983, when the father of one of the men missing discovered a Marine Corps
document which indicated that four of the men had been taken prisoner. The
document listed the four by name. Until then, the families had not been advised
of the possibility there were any American prisoners taken other than Julius
Long. A Vietnamese rallier identified the photograph of Roy C. Williams as
positively having been a POW.

Until proof is obtained that the rest of the men lost at Ngok Tavak and Kham
Duc are dead, their families will always wonder if they are among those said to
still be alive in Southeast Asia.





HICKERSON, JAMES MARTIN

Name: James Martin Hickerson
Rank/Branch: O4/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 147, USS RANGER
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Atlanta GA
Date of Loss: 22 December 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 204200N 1064600E (XH839897)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A7A

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: 730314 RELSD BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: The USS RANGER was a seasoned combat veteran, having been deployed to
Vietnam for Flaming Dart I operations. The carrier played a steady role
throughout American involvement in the war. The first fighter jets to bomb
Haiphong in Operation Rolling Thunder came from her decks.

In early December 1967, Carrier Air Wing 2 and the USS RANGER arrived in the
Gulf of Tonkin bringing the all-new A7A LTV Corsair to combat. Designed to
replace the workhorse A4 as the Navy's primary light attack aircraft, the
Corsair was flown by the Argonauts of Attack Squadron 147.

According to pilots, forward air controllers (FAC) loved the A7, especially in
North Vietnam. Whenever A7s were around, they'd try to get them because of their
ability to put the ordnance right where it was supposed to be. The accuracy had
little to do with pilot technique, it was the bombing computers onboard the
aircraft at the time. The Corsair manufacturer had as many technical reps
onboard the ship as there were pilots, and they reps had the airplanes tuned to
perfection. A7s were also good on fuel, with an exceptionally long range over
700 miles.

The first A7 loss occurred on December 22 near Haiphong in North Vietnam. LTCDR
James M. Hickerson was a section leader in a flight of several aircraft from VA
147. Hickerson was about 10 mile south of Haiphong when his aircraft was hit by
surface-to-air missile (SAM) and he was forced to eject.

Approximately one out of six Americans shot down in the Iron Triangle (Haiphong,
Hanoi, Thanh Hoa) region of North Vietnam who were known to be alive on the
ground were recovered by search and rescue units. At best, a pilot could expect
an extended stay in the Hanoi prison system. On the other end of the spectrum,
stories circulated about pilots who were literally clubbed and beaten to death
in villages.

Hickerson might be considered one of the luckier ones. Although the next five
years were spent in the torture and deprivation of the North Vietnamese prisoner
of war facilities, he survived to come home in Operation Homecoming in 1973.

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. These reports are the source of serious distress to many returned
American prisoners. They had a code that no one could honorably return unless
all of the prisoners returned. Not only that code of honor, but the honor of our
country is at stake as long as even one man remains unjustly held. It's time we
brought our men home.

HICKS, PRENTICE WAYNE

Name: Prentice Wayne Hicks
Rank/Branch: E3/US Army
Unit: Company B, 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry, 4th Infantry Division
Date of Birth: 11 November 1947 (Milian TN)
Home City of Record: Huntsville AL
Date of Loss: 25 March 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 144018N 1073621E (YB805235)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel In Incident: Frederick Herrera; Richard Roberts (both missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On March 25, 1969, PFC Prentice W. Hicks, PFC Frederick D. Herrera
and PFC Richard D. Roberts were riflemen on a road interdiction mission
northwest of the city of Kontum, South Vietnam. On March 24, their unit had
been in contact with an unknown sized enemy force, and at that time, PFC Hicks
had been wounded several times. The unit was ordered to pull back, and PFC
Hicks was placed on a litter and carried out of the area for evacuation.

As the unit was moving toward high ground, they again came in contact with the
enemy. At that time, PFC Roberts was the point man. During the contact, the
unit began to move in a disorderly fashion back down the hill, and during that
period, PFC Hicks, Herrera and Roberts were separated from the main element.

It is believed that PFC Herrera and Roberts had stayed behind with PFC Hicks.
This was the last time they were seen. At that time, neither Herrera or Roberts
were injured.

During a search of the area on April 5, a reconnaissance team found some
letters belonging to PFC Hicks, along with the cover from a Bible belonging to
PFC Herrera, but there was no sign of the three missing men. The three men had
disappeared, and, given the enemy situation in the area, it is entirely
possible that they were captured. They were declared Missing In Action. Later
hearings were held to declare them dead, although no evidence was ever received
that the three died.

Americans captured by the Viet Cong had a terrible and grueling ordeal ahead.
The Viet Cong themselves were often deprived of adequate food, and the need to
be constantly moving only made life more difficult to sustain. Americans were
ill-equipped to cope with jungle diseases and drastic change in diet. Torture
was commonplace and cruel. Many were mentally and physically depleted to the
point of starvation and death. Towards the end of the war, prisoners captured
in the south were routinely taken north for detention by the North Vietnamese,
and although torture was a daily threat, few died of starvation during those
late years.

Whether Herrera and the others were captured is not known. The chances of their
having survived the second attack are good. Alive or dead, however, the
Vietnamese certainly know their fate. Someone knows where they were taken that
day.

Tragically, reports of Americans still held captive in Indochina continue to be
received, creating a large body of evidence difficult to ignore. It seems clear
that some of our military are still held prisoner in Southeast Asia. Herrera,
Hicks and Roberts could be among them. Isn't it time we brought our men home?


HICKS, TERRIN DINSMORE

Name: Terrin Dinsmore Hicks
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 01 November 1936
Home City of Record: Silver Springs MD
Date of Loss: 15 August 1968
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 174858N 1062058E (XE450450)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: RF4C

Other Personnel in Incident: Joseph F. Shanahan (released POW)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS: DEAD/CS-317/09141-72

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.
Most pilots considered it one of the "hottest" planes around.

Capt. Terrin D. Hicks was the pilot and Capt. Joseph F. Shanahan the navigator
on a reconnaissance version of the Phantom conducting a recon mission over North
Vietnam on August 15, 1968. During the mission, the aircraft was shot down and
crashed about 5 miles east of the city of Ron in Quang Binh Province. Hicks and
Shanahan ejected from the aircraft and talked during the descent. They landed
about a mile apart with a hill between them. Shanahan was captured immediately
and thought he heard a gun battle in Terry's direction. When Shanahan asked
about Hicks in camp, he was told that Terry had been shot in the leg and was in
Dong Hoi hospital.

Hanoi media reported the capture of Hicks, but not Shanahan. On the 1969 list
provided to international agencies, Shanahan's name appeared, but not Hicks'.
The U.S. apparently received intelligence that Hicks was dead, but the nature of
this information is not publicly known.

In 1973, Shanahan was released by the Vietnamese, but Hicks was not. Vietnam
denies any knowledge of him. Hicks was never officially declared a Prisoner of
War, but was maintained in Missing in Action status.

When the last American troops left Southeast Asia in 1975, some 2500 Americans
were unaccounted for. Reports received by the U.S. Government since that time
build a strong case for belief that hundreds of these "unaccounted for"
Americans are still alive and in captivity.

"Unaccounted for" is a term that should apply to numbers, not men. We, as a
nation, owe these men our best effort to find them and bring them home. Until
the fates of men like Hicks are known, their families will wonder if they are
dead or alive - and why they were deserted.

Terrin D. Hicks was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and Joseph F.
Shanahan to the rank of Major during the period they were maintained Missing and
Prisoner of War.



HIEMER, JERRY ALLEN

Name: Jerry Allen Hiemer
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: Company A, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division
Date of Birth: 22 September 1941 (Louisville KY)
Home City of Record: Memphis TN
Date of Loss: 17 November 1965
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 133620N 1075525E (ZA160060)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/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: On November 17, 1965, SP4 Hiemer was a gunner on a combat operation
with elements of Company A while en route to a landing zone in Pleiku Province,
Republic of Vietnam. Once on the operation, the unit was heavily engaged in a
fire fight.

During the fight, Hiemer was reported to have been shot several times and to be
dead. Following the battle, the entire area was searched, but there was no sign
of his remains.

SP4 Jerry Hiemer is listed with honor among the missing because no remains were
found. His case seems quite clear. For others who are listed missing, however,
simple answers are just not there. Many were known to have survived their loss
incident. Quite a few were in radio contact with search teams and describing an
advancing enemy. Some were photographed or recorded in captivity, or even wrote
letters home. Others simply vanished without a trace.

Reports continue to mount that we abandoned hundreds of Americans to the enemy
when we left Southeast Asia. While Hiemer may not be among them, one can imagine
his proud willingness to go on one more mission to help bring them to freedom.



HIGGINS, DAVID JR.

Name: David Higgins, Jr.
Rank/Branch: Civilian
Unit: Glomar Java Sea
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record:
Date of Loss: 25 October 1983
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates:
Status (in 1973):
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground:

Personnel in Incident: Herman Arms; Jerald T. Battiste; Sebe M. Bracey; Patrick
B. Cates; Wei Chen; Xiong Chen; Shu Guo Cheng; Jacob K. J. Chong; David P.
Clifton; James F. Cusick; Thomas J. Dixon; Shao Jien Feng; Jerald J. Flanagan;
Nigel Furness; Leonard E. Ganzinotti; La Juan A. Gilmore; Henry M. Gittings;
James K. Gittings; Terance C. Green; Jun Tian Guan; David Higgins, Jr.; Tyronne
Higgins; Hong Xi Huang; Rui Wen Huang; Yong Liang Huang; Timothy Jarvis; John W.
Jennings Jr.; Thomas J. Kofahl; Fan Xiang Kong; Guo Zhen Lai; John W. Lawrence;
Tong L. T. Lee; Chong Chang Li; Xuan Qiu Li; Zhan Jun Liang; Jie Feng Lin; Bing
Guang Liu; Edgar S. Lim; Gary Looke; Robert M. McCurry; Jerry L. Manfrida;
Raymond D. Miller; Xie Yi Mo; Tian Xue Mo; Kenneth W. Myers; Larry K. Myers;
Donald J. Ouellet; John D. Pierce; Peter Popiel; Clarence Reed; Jewell J.
Reynolds; E.J. Russell Reynolds; Walter T. Robinson; Kenneth B. Rogers; Lawrence
M. Salzwedel; William R. Schug; Richard E. Shoff; Christopher J. Sleeman; Delmar
A. Spencer; George G. Sullivan; Chong Jian Sun; Gustaf F. Swanson; Kevin C.
Swanson; Guo Dong Tang; Michael W. Thomas; Jiang Wang; Yu Fang Wang; Dong Cai
Wang; Guo Rong Wu; jing Sheng Xia; Xing Xing; Hui Xu; Ming Rui Xu; Mua Guang
Yuan; Xing Zhen Zhang; Yi Hua Zhang; Ji Chang Zhen; Shu Rong Zhou; Yao Wu Zhou;
Jie Fang Zhou; Da Huai Zhu.

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 10 December 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 5,930-ton American drilling ship, "Glomar Java Sea" was owned by
Global Marine of Houston, Texas, and leased to Atlantic Richfield Company
(ARCO). In the fall of 1983, the vessel was on duty about 200 miles east of the
Vietnamese coast. The ship was drilling for oil in the South China Sea in a
joint venture of ARCO and China Naitonal Offshore Oil Corporation, a state-owned
concern.

The "Glomar Java Sea" is a sister ship of the "Glomar Explorer," which, under
the guise of being utilized by the late Howard Hughes in a deep sea mining
operation in the Paficic, was really being used by the CIA and Navy in a $350
million project to retrieve a sunken Soviet Golf-class submarine. A large part
of the submarine was in fact recovered in 1974 before details of the project
were publicly revealed.

The Glomar Java Sea, with its crew of 81, began drilling operations on January
9, 1983 and was the first American wildcat operaton off the Chinese coast. On
October 25, 1983, the vessel was sunk during Typhoon Lex.

Documents removed from the ship by a crewman before the disaster indicate that
the vessel was being shadowed by armed Vietnamese naval craft and that there
were submarine mines beneath the "Glomar Java Sea," placed there and retrievable
by its crew. Another document indicates that the ship was damaged prior ot the
typhoon when a Chinese supply boat rammed into its side, causing some $320,000
damage to the vessel. The Glomar Java Sea did not leave its post for repairs.

Communications between ARCO and Global Marine, as well as telegraphic and radio
communications of the U.S. Western Pacific Rescue Coordination Center (WESTPAC)
reveal information about the search for the crew of the Glomar Java Sea.

The documents indicate that a number of survivors from the stricken vessel were
floundering in the water off the coast of Vietnam for hours after the disaster.
There is also indication that the men were picked up by Vietnamese coastal
patrols and are held captive of the Hanoi regime.

The crew of the Glomar Java Sea included 37 Americans, 35 Chinese, four British,
two Singaporeans, one Filipino, one Australian, and one Canadian.

From a transcript of a radio communicaton between WESTPAC and Global Marine on
October 28, three days after the sinking, WESTPAC was told:  "We are informed
that the SOS transmission could not have been transmitted except by human
operators..." There were two 64-man lifeboats aboard the drilling ship, plus
smaller lifeboats.

In an October 29 communicaton from WESTPAC to Global Marine, it is clearly
stated that five strobe lights were sighted by rescue aircraft in the vicinity
of 17-30 North 107-45 East. The aircraft were dispatched to the area because
strobe lights had been previously sighted. Lifejackets from the Glomar Java Sea
were equipped with strobe lights to signal rescuers.

Another October 29 communication between ARCO and Global Marine states that
ARCO's search aircraft had spotted survivors in the water at 17.27 North 107.54
East, and had attempted to divert surface vessels to this location. The
communication expressed the urgency to rescue the men before dark.

At 8:01 a.m. on October 29, ARCO had dropped a rescue raft to survivors.  Pickup
would be delayed for several hours, but the "Salvanquish," a Singapore-based
salvage ship, was within one half-mile of the site.

At 8:38 a.m search aircraft reported pinpointing the survivors' positions by dye
markers released by the survivors into the water. Two survivors were confirmed
with a possible third some distance away. Plans were also made to return to the
downed vessell to offlift survivors.

Another document shows that on nine different occasions radio transmissions were
picked up from a lifeboat. They ranged from "very strong" to "weak" with most
being described as "strong."

Inexplicably, despite the successful search, no rescue was made of the
survivors. Later that day, the Chinese Navy picked up a Vietnamese broadcast
reporting that the Vietnamese had sighted a lifeboat near their coast. The
location of the lifeboat was not confirmed by friendly search parties.

ARCO-Global Marine determined that this sighting was in the vicinity of Hon Gio
Island, located about 80 miles up the Vietnamese coast from the old U.S. base at
Da Nang and about 14 miles offshore, which placed it in Vietnamese territorial
waters. It appears that rescue craft were hampered in fully investigating the
report due to its location and the hint of possible interference by the
Vietnamese military.

It is likely that survivors would have been picked up by the Vietnamese if they
had in fact drifted within Vietnam's territory.

In the years following the loss of the Glomar Java Sea, a number of reports, all
unconfirmed by the U.S., indicate that survivors were seen in captivity in
Vietnam. It is known that the Vietnamese had shown a hostile interest in the
vessel, and the Glomar Java Sea had standing orders to be alert for Vietnamese
vessels in the area. The Chinese Navy served as protection for the vessel and
stood ready to take action should Vietnamese craft wander too close. The waters
below the vessel were mined.

A month after the Glomar Java Sea went down, Chinese divers went down to the
wreckage and went through the ship with a video cameras.

In March 1984, American divers were able to retrieve 31 bodies from the sunken
vessel. Fifteen of the bodies were identified as Americans. In addition, three
British and one Singaporean were identified. The bodies of another American and
two Chinese were tentatively identified. Divers photographed two bodies they
were unable to retrieve. They also found one of the Chinese divers that had
explored the wreckage in November 1983, lashed to the deck of the ship.

The American divers determined that one of the ship's large lifeboats was
launched and that an attempt had been made to launch another. Their film was
seen by the mother of one of the lost crewmen. She reported that the crack in
the hull of the ship at one point was a hole 48 inches across, which was
punctured inward, "as though the rig had been hit by something that exploded."
This fueled additional speculation that the vessel had, in fact, been attacked
rather that simply mortally damaged by the typhoon.

The National Transportaton Safety Board officially determined in November 1984
that an "unexplained crack" in the hull of the Glomar Java Sea was responsible
for its sinking during the typhoon. Apparently, the crack in the hull allowed
two storage tanks to fill with water, causing the vessel to become off-balanced,
making it vulnerable to the forces of the typhoon. Officials believed it was
possible that survivors may have been able to abandon the ship before it sank.
It was determined that the ship had been improperly prepared for the storm.

During 1984, there were reports from Southeast Asia that between six and twelve
survivors of the Glomar Java Sea were being held in prisoner of war camps in
Vietnam. One of the survivors was identified by a Vietnamese refugee as American
crewman John Pierce.

Douglas F. Pierce, father of John Pierce, reported that the refugee had seen his
son, five other Americans and eight Chinese when they were brought into a prison
in Da Nang, where the refugee was being held. John Pierce gave the refugee his
father's business card and two sticks of gum.

Mr. Pierce gave the information to Defense Intelligence Agency who determined
that the refugee had not been in the camp at all, but had received the business
card by mail from a friend, not directly from Pierce. DIA further determined
that the incident had occurred in late October 1983 (shortly after the Glomar
Java Sea went down). The refugee gave Mr. Pierce the original letter, which
contained the names and addresses of two mutual Vietnamese friends.

No followup was conducted on the two names in the letter by DIA, and DIA
discounted the information provided by the refugee. It was not until 1990 that
it became apparent that the Defense Department felt no responsibility for the
Americans lost on the Glomar Java Sea. At that time, DIA reported that the
responsibility for these civilians belonged to the U.S. State Department.

Mr. Pierce did not stop there. He uncovered a U.S. State Department document
that revealed that Cheng Quihong, the secretary and wife of the Director of
China's Visa Office, was overheard telling her companion at a Hong Kong dinner
that survivors from the Glomar had been picked up and were held by the
Vietnamese.

Pierce also learned that a JCRC report sent to DIA dated November 6, 1984,
reported that a former prisoner from Pleiku prison had been held with a Chinese
man who claimed to have been off the Glomar. The man said he was one of three
men who were captured, and that the other two were Americans.

Pierce adds that to his knowledge, neither of these reports were followed up by
U.S. officials, and Pierce has received no reply to his queries regarding them.

In 1989 a Japanese monk named Yoshida was released from prison after being held
for years by the Vietnamese. Yoshida was shown a photograph of John Pierce and
stated that Pierce looked very familiar, and that he had either seen him or
someone who looked very much like him.

In November, 1990, Vietamese Foreign Minister Nguyen Co Thach traveled to the
U.S. and spoke with U.S. officials on a variety of matters. At this time, he
announced that there was a black American named Walter T. Robinson living
illegally in Vietnam, and invited U.S. representatives to come and help find
him. Thach provided a social security number and two photographs.

The Pentagon told "The Washington Times" that the two photographs of Robinson
provided by Thach are of a black man. However, the Pentagon has since admitted
that the photos "are not very well developed" and appear to be of either a black
man or a dark Asian. Photocopies of old newspaper articles concerning Robinson,
obtained by Homecoming II, show a dark-haired man of relatively dark complexion.

The Pentagon has not released the photographs to the press.

The Defense Department determined that Walter T. Robinson had never been listed
as missing in Vietnam. Thach had provided a social security number, and
according to DOD, this information correlated to a white American living in the
Midwest. They concluded that the Thach information, therefore, was in error.

Later information indicated that a Walter T. Robinson was listed on the crew
roster of the Glomar Java Sea. When queried, the Defense Department reported
that they were aware of this Robinson, but that civilians were the
responsibility of the State Department.

It seems apparent that the U.S. is not vigorously looking for the men missing
from the Glomar Java Sea, and that like the missing and prisoners who served in
military and civilian capacities during the Vietnam war, they have been
abandoned.


HIGGINS, TYRONNE

Name: Tyronne Higgins
Rank/Branch: Civilian
Unit: Glomar Java Sea
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record:
Date of Loss: 25 October 1983
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates:
Status (in 1973):
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground:

Personnel in Incident: Herman Arms; Jerald T. Battiste; Sebe M. Bracey; Patrick
B. Cates; Wei Chen; Xiong Chen; Shu Guo Cheng; Jacob K. J. Chong; David P.
Clifton; James F. Cusick; Thomas J. Dixon; Shao Jien Feng; Jerald J. Flanagan;
Nigel Furness; Leonard E. Ganzinotti; La Juan A. Gilmore; Henry M. Gittings;
James K. Gittings; Terance C. Green; Jun Tian Guan; David Higgins, Jr.; Tyronne
Higgins; Hong Xi Huang; Rui Wen Huang; Yong Liang Huang; Timothy Jarvis; John W.
Jennings Jr.; Thomas J. Kofahl; Fan Xiang Kong; Guo Zhen Lai; John W. Lawrence;
Tong L. T. Lee; Chong Chang Li; Xuan Qiu Li; Zhan Jun Liang; Jie Feng Lin; Bing
Guang Liu; Edgar S. Lim; Gary Looke; Robert M. McCurry; Jerry L. Manfrida;
Raymond D. Miller; Xie Yi Mo; Tian Xue Mo; Kenneth W. Myers; Larry K. Myers;
Donald J. Ouellet; John D. Pierce; Peter Popiel; Clarence Reed; Jewell J.
Reynolds; E.J. Russell Reynolds; Walter T. Robinson; Kenneth B. Rogers; Lawrence
M. Salzwedel; William R. Schug; Richard E. Shoff; Christopher J. Sleeman; Delmar
A. Spencer; George G. Sullivan; Chong Jian Sun; Gustaf F. Swanson; Kevin C.
Swanson; Guo Dong Tang; Michael W. Thomas; Jiang Wang; Yu Fang Wang; Dong Cai
Wang; Guo Rong Wu; jing Sheng Xia; Xing Xing; Hui Xu; Ming Rui Xu; Mua Guang
Yuan; Xing Zhen Zhang; Yi Hua Zhang; Ji Chang Zhen; Shu Rong Zhou; Yao Wu Zhou;
Jie Fang Zhou; Da Huai Zhu.

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 10 December 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 5,930-ton American drilling ship, "Glomar Java Sea" was owned by
Global Marine of Houston, Texas, and leased to Atlantic Richfield Company
(ARCO). In the fall of 1983, the vessel was on duty about 200 miles east of the
Vietnamese coast. The ship was drilling for oil in the South China Sea in a
joint venture of ARCO and China Naitonal Offshore Oil Corporation, a state-owned
concern.

The "Glomar Java Sea" is a sister ship of the "Glomar Explorer," which, under
the guise of being utilized by the late Howard Hughes in a deep sea mining
operation in the Paficic, was really being used by the CIA and Navy in a $350
million project to retrieve a sunken Soviet Golf-class submarine. A large part
of the submarine was in fact recovered in 1974 before details of the project
were publicly revealed.

The Glomar Java Sea, with its crew of 81, began drilling operations on January
9, 1983 and was the first American wildcat operaton off the Chinese coast. On
October 25, 1983, the vessel was sunk during Typhoon Lex.

Documents removed from the ship by a crewman before the disaster indicate that
the vessel was being shadowed by armed Vietnamese naval craft and that there
were submarine mines beneath the "Glomar Java Sea," placed there and retrievable
by its crew. Another document indicates that the ship was damaged prior ot the
typhoon when a Chinese supply boat rammed into its side, causing some $320,000
damage to the vessel. The Glomar Java Sea did not leave its post for repairs.

Communications between ARCO and Global Marine, as well as telegraphic and radio
communications of the U.S. Western Pacific Rescue Coordination Center (WESTPAC)
reveal information about the search for the crew of the Glomar Java Sea.

The documents indicate that a number of survivors from the stricken vessel were
floundering in the water off the coast of Vietnam for hours after the disaster.
There is also indication that the men were picked up by Vietnamese coastal
patrols and are held captive of the Hanoi regime.

The crew of the Glomar Java Sea included 37 Americans, 35 Chinese, four British,
two Singaporeans, one Filipino, one Australian, and one Canadian.

From a transcript of a radio communicaton between WESTPAC and Global Marine on
October 28, three days after the sinking, WESTPAC was told:  "We are informed
that the SOS transmission could not have been transmitted except by human
operators..." There were two 64-man lifeboats aboard the drilling ship, plus
smaller lifeboats.

In an October 29 communicaton from WESTPAC to Global Marine, it is clearly
stated that five strobe lights were sighted by rescue aircraft in the vicinity
of 17-30 North 107-45 East. The aircraft were dispatched to the area because
strobe lights had been previously sighted. Lifejackets from the Glomar Java Sea
were equipped with strobe lights to signal rescuers.

Another October 29 communication between ARCO and Global Marine states that
ARCO's search aircraft had spotted survivors in the water at 17.27 North 107.54
East, and had attempted to divert surface vessels to this location. The
communication expressed the urgency to rescue the men before dark.

At 8:01 a.m. on October 29, ARCO had dropped a rescue raft to survivors.  Pickup
would be delayed for several hours, but the "Salvanquish," a Singapore-based
salvage ship, was within one half-mile of the site.

At 8:38 a.m search aircraft reported pinpointing the survivors' positions by dye
markers released by the survivors into the water. Two survivors were confirmed
with a possible third some distance away. Plans were also made to return to the
downed vessell to offlift survivors.

Another document shows that on nine different occasions radio transmissions were
picked up from a lifeboat. They ranged from "very strong" to "weak" with most
being described as "strong."

Inexplicably, despite the successful search, no rescue was made of the
survivors. Later that day, the Chinese Navy picked up a Vietnamese broadcast
reporting that the Vietnamese had sighted a lifeboat near their coast. The
location of the lifeboat was not confirmed by friendly search parties.

ARCO-Global Marine determined that this sighting was in the vicinity of Hon Gio
Island, located about 80 miles up the Vietnamese coast from the old U.S. base at
Da Nang and about 14 miles offshore, which placed it in Vietnamese territorial
waters. It appears that rescue craft were hampered in fully investigating the
report due to its location and the hint of possible interference by the
Vietnamese military.

It is likely that survivors would have been picked up by the Vietnamese if they
had in fact drifted within Vietnam's territory.

In the years following the loss of the Glomar Java Sea, a number of reports, all
unconfirmed by the U.S., indicate that survivors were seen in captivity in
Vietnam. It is known that the Vietnamese had shown a hostile interest in the
vessel, and the Glomar Java Sea had standing orders to be alert for Vietnamese
vessels in the area. The Chinese Navy served as protection for the vessel and
stood ready to take action should Vietnamese craft wander too close. The waters
below the vessel were mined.

A month after the Glomar Java Sea went down, Chinese divers went down to the
wreckage and went through the ship with a video cameras.

In March 1984, American divers were able to retrieve 31 bodies from the sunken
vessel. Fifteen of the bodies were identified as Americans. In addition, three
British and one Singaporean were identified. The bodies of another American and
two Chinese were tentatively identified. Divers photographed two bodies they
were unable to retrieve. They also found one of the Chinese divers that had
explored the wreckage in November 1983, lashed to the deck of the ship.

The American divers determined that one of the ship's large lifeboats was
launched and that an attempt had been made to launch another. Their film was
seen by the mother of one of the lost crewmen. She reported that the crack in
the hull of the ship at one point was a hole 48 inches across, which was
punctured inward, "as though the rig had been hit by something that exploded."
This fueled additional speculation that the vessel had, in fact, been attacked
rather that simply mortally damaged by the typhoon.

The National Transportaton Safety Board officially determined in November 1984
that an "unexplained crack" in the hull of the Glomar Java Sea was responsible
for its sinking during the typhoon. Apparently, the crack in the hull allowed
two storage tanks to fill with water, causing the vessel to become off-balanced,
making it vulnerable to the forces of the typhoon. Officials believed it was
possible that survivors may have been able to abandon the ship before it sank.
It was determined that the ship had been improperly prepared for the storm.

During 1984, there were reports from Southeast Asia that between six and twelve
survivors of the Glomar Java Sea were being held in prisoner of war camps in
Vietnam. One of the survivors was identified by a Vietnamese refugee as American
crewman John Pierce.

Douglas F. Pierce, father of John Pierce, reported that the refugee had seen his
son, five other Americans and eight Chinese when they were brought into a prison
in Da Nang, where the refugee was being held. John Pierce gave the refugee his
father's business card and two sticks of gum.

Mr. Pierce gave the information to Defense Intelligence Agency who determined
that the refugee had not been in the camp at all, but had received the business
card by mail from a friend, not directly from Pierce. DIA further determined
that the incident had occurred in late October 1983 (shortly after the Glomar
Java Sea went down). The refugee gave Mr. Pierce the original letter, which
contained the names and addresses of two mutual Vietnamese friends.

No followup was conducted on the two names in the letter by DIA, and DIA
discounted the information provided by the refugee. It was not until 1990 that
it became apparent that the Defense Department felt no responsibility for the
Americans lost on the Glomar Java Sea. At that time, DIA reported that the
responsibility for these civilians belonged to the U.S. State Department.

Mr. Pierce did not stop there. He uncovered a U.S. State Department document
that revealed that Cheng Quihong, the secretary and wife of the Director of
China's Visa Office, was overheard telling her companion at a Hong Kong dinner
that survivors from the Glomar had been picked up and were held by the
Vietnamese.

Pierce also learned that a JCRC report sent to DIA dated November 6, 1984,
reported that a former prisoner from Pleiku prison had been held with a Chinese
man who claimed to have been off the Glomar. The man said he was one of three
men who were captured, and that the other two were Americans.

Pierce adds that to his knowledge, neither of these reports were followed up by
U.S. officials, and Pierce has received no reply to his queries regarding them.

In 1989 a Japanese monk named Yoshida was released from prison after being held
for years by the Vietnamese. Yoshida was shown a photograph of John Pierce and
stated that Pierce looked very familiar, and that he had either seen him or
someone who looked very much like him.

In November, 1990, Vietamese Foreign Minister Nguyen Co Thach traveled to the
U.S. and spoke with U.S. officials on a variety of matters. At this time, he
announced that there was a black American named Walter T. Robinson living
illegally in Vietnam, and invited U.S. representatives to come and help find
him. Thach provided a social security number and two photographs.

The Pentagon told "The Washington Times" that the two photographs of Robinson
provided by Thach are of a black man. However, the Pentagon has since admitted
that the photos "are not very well developed" and appear to be of either a black
man or a dark Asian. Photocopies of old newspaper articles concerning Robinson,
obtained by Homecoming II, show a dark-haired man of relatively dark complexion.

The Pentagon has not released the photographs to the press.

The Defense Department determined that Walter T. Robinson had never been listed
as missing in Vietnam. Thach had provided a social security number, and
according to DOD, this information correlated to a white American living in the
Midwest. They concluded that the Thach information, therefore, was in error.

Later information indicated that a Walter T. Robinson was listed on the crew
roster of the Glomar Java Sea. When queried, the Defense Department reported
that they were aware of this Robinson, but that civilians were the
responsibility of the State Department.

It seems apparent that the U.S. is not vigorously looking for the men missing
from the Glomar Java Sea, and that like the missing and prisoners who served in
military and civilian capacities during the Vietnam war, they have been
abandoned.


HILBRICH, BARRY WAYNE

Name: Barry Wayne Hilbrich
Rank/Branch: O3/US Army Special Forces
Unit: Company B, S3, 5th Special Forces
Date of Birth: 25 June 1947 (Duere DeWitt TX)
Home City of Record: Corpus Christi TX
Date of Loss: 09 June 1970
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 1043419N 1074243E (YB785205)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: O1F
Other Personnel In Incident: John L. Ryder (missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Air Force 1Lt. John L. Ryder was the pilot of an O1F spotter aircraft
on which Special Forces Operations Officer Capt. Barry W. Hilbrich was serving
as observer. The two departed Pleiku Airbase on a visual reconnaissance mission
on June 9, 1970 south of Ben Het in South Vietnam with an ultimate destination
of Camp Dak Saeng.

The aircraft was located just north of Pleiku and was in radio contact with
the tactical air control center. Their next scheduled radio contact was at 1327
hours, but no further communication was established. Ryder and Hilbrich were
reported missing.

No immediate visual search could be initiated because of incliment weather, and
an electronic search conducted produced no trace of the aircraft of the crew.
During the period of June 10-19 an extensive search was carried out extending
from Pleiku north to the I Corps boundary and west of the Cambodian border,
with no sightings of either aircraft or its two officers. The two were
officially classified Missing In Action. It cannot be determined whether the
enemy knew their fates.

It was thought by the families of most of the men missing that even though they
got no word of their loved one, there every chance they had been captured. When
the war ended in 1973, and 591 Americans were released in Operation Homecoming,
military experts expressed their dismay that "some hundreds" of POWs did not
come home with them. Many families were devastated.

John Ryder's mother went to see the Vietnamese in England in 1976. While they
were very cordial to her, she says, "they repeated over and over again, they
will give out no information on the missing men until the U.S.A. has rebuilt
Vietnam."

Reconstruction aid promised by Nixon and Kissinger to Vietnam in 1973 has not
been appropriated by Congress, and no aid has been given. Since 1973, the
Vietnamese continue to link the issue of aid to that of the American POWs,
although the U.S. continues to insist it is a separate, humanitarian issue.

Tragically, thousands of reports continue to flow in regarding the Americans
still prisoner, missing or unaccounted for. Some of them specifically refer to
an American by name and location, yet no solution for bringing these men home
has been found.

Those of us who remember that talks between nations can be tied up indefinitely
over the shape of the negotiating table wonder how long our captive servicemen
will be able to endure.
HILL, ARTHUR SINCLAIR JR.

Name: Arthur Sinclair Hill, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O3/US Navy
Unit: USS Enterprise
Date of Birth: 20 August 1937
Home City of Record: Rancho Santa Fe CA
Date of Loss: 29 December 1965
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 173512N 1053652E (WE652444)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4B

Other Personnel in Incident: Edgar A. Rawsthorne (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 September 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: When nuclear powered USS ENTERPRISE arrived on Yankee Station on
December 2, 1965, she was the largest warship ever built. She brought not only
an imposing physical presence, but also an impressive component of warplanes and
the newest technology. By the end of her first week of combat operations, the
ENTERPRISE had set a record of 165 combat sorties in a single day. By the end of
her first combat cruise, her air wing had flown over 13,000 combat sorties. The
record had not been achieved without cost.

One of the aircraft launched from the ENTERPRISE was the F4 Phantom. This
versatile aircraft served as fighter/bomber as well as photo and electronic
surveillance. The two-man aircraft was extremely fast (Mach 2), and had a long
range (900 - 2300 miles). The F4 was also very maneuverable and handled well at
all altitudes. Most pilots considered it one of the "hottest" planes around.

Cdr. Edgar A. Rawsthorne was the pilot of an F4 which flew from the air wing
onboard the ENTERPRISE, and on December 29, 1965, he was assigned a combat
mission which would take him through the Mu Gia Pass into Laos. His
bombardier/navigator on the aircraft that day was Lt. Arthur S. Hill, Jr.

The Mu Gia Pass was one of several passageways through the mountainous border of
Vietnam and Laos. U.S. aircraft flew through them regularly, and many were lost.
The return ratio of men lost in and around the passes is far lower than that of
those men lost in more populous areas, even though both were shot down by the
same enemy and the same weapons. This is partly due to the extremely rugged
terrain and resulting difficulty in recovery.

Just west of the pass, Rawsthorne's aircraft was hit by enemy fire and crashed.
It was not believed that either of the men onboard survived the crash of the
plane. Both were declared Killed in Action, Body Not Recovered.

Rawsthorne and Hill are two of nearly 600 Americans who are missing in Laos.
Unlike in Vietnam, no negotiations were held with the communist Pathet Lao to
achieve the release of prisoners held in Laos. As a result, not one American
held by the Lao was ever released.

Tragically, over 10,000 reports concerning Americans prisoner, missing or
unaccounted for in Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. since the end
of the war. Experts say that the evidence is overwhelming that Americans were
left behind in enemy hands.




HILL, BILLY DAVID

Name: Billy David Hill
Rank/Branch: E6/US Army
Unit: 282nd Aviation Company, 14th Aviation Battalion
Date of Birth: 17 December 1946 (Wichita KS)
Home City of Record: Fallon NV
Date of Loss: 21 January 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 163722N 1064434E (XD860385)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1D

Other Personnel In Incident: Jerry W. Elliott (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 March 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II
Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On January 21, 1968, Captain Tommy C. Stiner, pilot; WO Gerald L.
McKensey Jr., co-pilot; SSgt. Billy D. Hill, doorgunner; and SP5 David H.
Harrington, crewchief; were aboard the lead UH1D helicopter on a troop insertion
mission. PVT Jerry W. Elliott was the doorgunner on the UH1D following the lead
ship. The two choppers were inserting ARVN troops at an old French fort
approximately 1200 meters east of Khe Sanh. Also in the lead aircraft was LtCol.
Semyo, senior advisor to the ARVN unit being inserted.

As WO McKensey's aircraft touched down on the landing zone, NVA troops stood up
all around the aircraft and began firing at the aircraft at almost point blank
range. As soon as all the ARVN troops were off-loaded, the aircraft lifted off.
At approximately 8-10 feet off the ground, the aircraft was hit by either a 57mm
recoilless rifle or a direct hit mortar fire, burst into flames and crashed. PVT
Elliott's UH1D landed approximately 50-60 feet from the crashed aircraft.

LtCol. Semyo died while pinned under the aircraft. His body was subsequently
recovered. The pilot, Stiner, exited the aircraft successfully, evaded capture
and returned to friendly lines. Harrington was able to board a rescue aircraft
that had landed in the LZ. Before leaving the vicinity, Capt. Stiner was in a
defensive position with WO McKensey. Stiner later reported that he witnessed
McKensey being shot in the back of the head and killed.

PVT Elliott and his crewchief exited their aircraft to assist survivors of the
downed helicopter. In a matter of seconds, the crewchief returned to his
aircraft and advised the pilot to take off immediately because of the highly
intense hostile fire. The aircraft lifted off, leaving Elliott on the ground,
circled and returned to the LZ, but could not locate PVT Elliott.

Three days after the incident, a helicopter searched the area and observed a
body in the tall elephant grass and small trees. By process of elimination, the
pilot determined that the body was that of PVT Elliott.

Two sets of remains were recovered from the crash site by an unidentified unit.
The remains were later positively identified as those of Semyo and McKensey.
Hill was last seen by Capt. Stiner, just prior to the aircraft being hit in the
compartment in which Hill was manning his machine gun. Stiner stated that Hill
was probably struck by the same volley of rounds that downed the aircraft as his
machine gun was observed blown to pieces. Stiner searched the area before taking
evasive action, but Hill could not be located.

Hill and Elliot were declared Missing in Action. Although it is believed that
both men were injured, perhaps mortally, there is no proof that they died. The
proximity of enemy troops allows for the possibility that the two were captured.
They are among nearly 2500 Americans who remain missing from the Vietnam war.

Although over 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing, prisoner or
unaccounted for in Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. Government, its
official policy is that no conclusive proof has been obtained that is current
enough to act upon. Detractors of this policy say conclusive proof is in hand,
but that the willingness or ability to rescue these prisoners does not exist.

Hill and Elliot, if among those hundreds said to be still alive and in
captivity, must be wondering if and when their country will return for them. In
America, we say that life is precious, but isn't the life of even one American
worth the effort of recovery? When the next war comes, and it is our sons lost,
will we then care enough to do everything we can to bring our prisoners home?

Billy D. Hill was promoted to the rank of Master Sergeant and Jerry W. Elliott
was promoted to the rank of Staff Sergeant during the period they were
maintained Missing in Action.

HILL, JOHN RICHARD

Name: John Richard Hill
Rank/Branch: O3/US Army
Unit: Medivac, 237th Medical Detachment, 67th Medical Group, 44th Medical
Brigade
Date of Birth: 05 August 1940
Home City of Record: Waynesburg PA
Date of Loss: 27 April 1970
Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 161830N 1080237E (AU972003)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H
Other Personnel In Incident: (None missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: John R. Hill never considered another person as an enemy. That is why
he chose to pilot Medical Evacuation helicopters and the reason he did not
hesitate to pick up anyone who was injured, regardless of nationality, civilian
or military.

On April 27, 1970, Capt. Hill, pilot; WO Donald G. Study, co-pilot; SP4 Zettie
J.C. Dulin, crew chief; and PFC Randall W. Love were the crew of a UH1H
helicopter (serial #66-17626, call sign Dustoff 712) conducting a medivac
mission when the aircarft crashed into the sea.

The helicopter was returning to Quang Tri when it went down. All occupants
exited the aircraft safely, although PFC Love went under and was not seen to
surface. No one aboard the aircraft was wearing life jackets. The three
remaining crewmen began swimming toward flares on the beach. Capt. Hill fell
behind and became separated from the other two. Later, during the night, SP4
Dulin and WO Study were separated. WO Study was rescued by a Korean LST in the
mouth of Da Nang Bay.

On May 3, the bodies of SP4 Dulin and PFC Love were recovered. An extensive
search was conducted from April 28, through May 12 for Capt. Hill, but no trace
was ever found. He was listed as killed and it was considered that his remains
would never be found.

John Hill is one of only a small number of the men missing in Southeast Asia who
cannot be accounted for. Unlike MIA's from other wars, the men missing in
Southeast Asia were lost over a small geographical area, and primarily on or
near land. Further, unlike in other wars, The Vietnamese and her communist
allies expended great efforts recovering both remains and aircraft which had
been downed. They also kept very detailed records.

Since the war ended, refugees have flooded the world, bringing with them
stories of American prisoners still held in their country. Rather than decrease
in number over the years, these reports have increased. Many authorities
believe that hundreds of Americans are captive in Southeast Asia today, waiting
for their country to come for them.

John Hill is almost certainly dead, but he was not the kind of man to ignore
any man's misfortune if there was anything he could do to help. How much are we
doing to bring these men home?
HILL, JOSEPH ARNOLD

Name: Joseph Arnold Hill
Rank/Branch: E3/US Marine Corps
Unit: Company B, 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division
Date of Birth: 22 December 1947
Home City of Record: Taylorville IL
Date of Loss: 28 May 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 154700N 1075444E (YC988430)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On 28 May 1968, LCpl. Joseph A. Hill was on patrol with his unit near
the Song Buong river in Quang Nam Province, South Vietnam, when the unit came
under enemy attack. Hill suffered fragmentation wounds from a grenade and was
killed. Due to the tactical situation, the unit was forced to withdraw, leaving
Hill behind. The reconnaissance patrol had been operating some 20 miles
southwest of the city of Da Nang.

Hill, according to teammembers, is dead. His name is listed with honor among
the missing because no remains were ever recovered to send home. For others who
are missing, however, resolution is not as simple. Some were known to have been
captured, only to disappear from the prison systems. Others were alive and well
and in radio contact with would-be rescuers, describing an approaching enemy.
Still others simply disappeared.

Since American involvement in Southeast Asia ended, the U.S. Government has
reviewed "several million documents" and conducted over 250,000 interviews
related to Americans still missing in Indochina. The weight of this and
privately collected reports has convinced many authorities that hundreds of
Americans remain alive in captivity in Southeast Asia.

Although Joseph Hill may not be among those thought to be still alive, one can
imagine his gladly taking part in one more mission to help bring his comrades
to freedom. What are we doing to bring our men home?

HILL, RAYFORD JEROME

Name: Rayford Jerome Hill
Rank/Branch: E4/USN
Unit: Fleet Support Squadron 50, Atsugi NAS, Japan
Date of Birth: 16 October 1947
Home City of Record: Houston TX
Date of Loss: 02 October 1969
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 175402N 1073602E (YE754810)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: C2A

Personnel In Incident: Terry L. Beck; Richard W. Bell; Michael L. Bowman; Frank
Bytheway; Rolando C. Dayao; Donald C. Dean; Herbert H. Dilger; Carl J. Ellerd;
James J. Fowler; Roy G. Fowler; Leonardo M. Gan; Paul E. Gore; William D.
Gorsuch; Rayford J. Hill; Delvin L. Kohler; Howard M. Koslosky; Robert B.
Leonard; Richard A. Livingston; Ronald W. Montgomery; William R. Moore; Paul K.
Moser; Kenneth M. Prentice; Fidel G. Salazar; Keavin L. Terrell; Michael J. Tye;
Reynaldo R. Viado (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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: On October 2, 1969, a C2A "Greyhound" cargo aircraft from Reserve
Cargo Squadron 50 departed Cubi Point Naval Air Station, Republic of the
Philippines on a shuttle flight to various aircraft carriers in the Gulf of
Tonkin in Vietnam, including the USS CONSTELLATION, the USS WALKER, the USS
HAMMER, and the USS LONG BEACH.

The flight crew onboard the aircraft, assigned to Fleet Support Squadron 50
based in Atsugi Naval Air Station, Japan, included the pilot, Lt. Herbert H.
Dilger; co-pilot, Lt. Richard A. Livingston; air crewman, Petty Officer 3rd
Class Paul K. Moser; aircraft captain, Petty Officer 3rd Class Michael J. Tye;
and loadmaster-trainee, Petty Officer 3rd Class Rayford J. Hill. Most of the
twenty passengers appear to be bound for the USS CONSTELLATION, but one was
bound for the USS LONG BEACH, one of the four Philippine citizens onboard was
headed for the USS HAMMER, and two to the USS WALKER.

The aircraft was inbound to the CONSTITUTION and made communication at about
0600 hours, reporting that operations were normal. When communicatons were
established with the Carrier Air Control, control was passed to the Marshall
controller (Approach Control). The carrier's radar continued tracking the
aircraft until approximately 0655, at which time radar contact was lost at about
10 nautical miles from the CONSTELLATION.

Helicopter search and rescue efforts were immediately initiated from the ship.
The helicopter began sighting an oil slick and debris. A few pieces of aircraft
were recovered, and analysis of this debris indicated that the aircraft was in a
relatively high speed nose down, right wing down impact with the water or had a
possible right wing failure before impact. There was no sign of survivors, nor
were any bodies recovered.

The crew and passengers onboard the C2 which went down on October 2, 1969 were
all declared Killed/Body Not Recovered. There is very little hope that they will
ever be found. They are listed with honor among the missing because no remains
were ever located to repatriate to their homeland.

For many of the missing, however, solutions are not so simple. Several were
photographed in captivity, but never returned. Others were alive and well the
last they were seen awaiting rescue. Still others described their imminent
captures. For the families of these men, the years have passed heartbreakingly
slow.

Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing in
Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. Government. Many officials who
have reviewed this largely classified information are convinced that hundreds of
Americans are still alive as captives in Southeast Asia. It's time we brought
our men home.


HILL, RICHARD DALE

Name: Richard Dale Hill
Rank/Branch: E3/US Air Force
Unit: 21st Armament & Electronics Maintenance Squadron
Date of Birth: 03 December 1942
Home City of Record: Houston TX
Date of Loss: 06 December 1963
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 101411N 1064617E (XS940320)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: B26B

Other Personnel in Incident: Thomas F. Gorton (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 September 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 Douglas B26 was a twin-engine attack bomber with World War II
service. In Vietnam, it served the French in the 1950's and also the U.S. in the
early years of American involvement in Southeast Asia. As the legend goes, the
B26 was renamed "A26" in the early years of because the U.S. did not want to
admit using bombers in Southeast Asia.

Capt. Thomas F. Gorton and Airman 2nd Class Richard D. Hill were crewmembers
onboard a B26B which went down in South Vietnam in the early years. The aircraft
had been on a photo reconnaissance mission near the coast of Kien Hoa Province.
Hill was an aerial photographer while Gorton was part of the flight crew.

The aircraft crash site was located about 40 miles south-southeast of Saigon
near the mouth of the Mekong River in about five feet of water. No personnel
were aboard. The remains of the pilot and navigator were subsequently located
which indicated that these men had tried to swim away after the crash. Hill and
Gorton could not be found. The two were first classified Missing in Action but
their status was later changed to Killed in Action/Body Not Recovered.

Gorton and Hill are listed among the missing because their remains were never
found to send home to the country he served. For other who are missing, however,
the evidence leads not to death, but to survival. Since the war ended, nearly
10,000 reports received relating to Americans still held captive in Indochina
have convinced experts that hundreds of men are still alive, waiting for their
country to rescue them. The notion that Americans are dying without hope in the
hands of a long-ago enemy belies the idea that we left Vietnam with honor. It
also signals that tens of thousands of lost lives were a frivolous waste of our
best men.



HILL, ROBERT LAVERNE

Name: Robert Laverne Hill
Rank/Branch: E6/USAF
Unit: 33rd Air Rescue/Recovery Squadron
Date of Birth: 25 September 1931
Home City of Record: Detroit MI
Date of Loss: 18 October 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam (Tonkin Gulf)
Loss Coordinates: 175500N 1070900E (YE278821)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: HU16

Other Personnel In Incident: Inzar W. Rackley; John H.S. Long; Steven H. Adams;
John R.Shoneck; Lawrence Clark; Ralph H. Angstadt (all 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: RADIO CONTACT LOST

SYNOPSIS: At 11:01 a.m. on October 18, 1966, a HU16 Albatross (serial #51-7145)
departed Da Nang Airbase, Republic of Vietnam, to rescue a downed pilot in the
Gulf of Tonkin off the coast of North Vietnam.

The crew of the aircraft consisted of Maj. Ralph H. Angstadt, rescue commander
and pilot; 1Lt. John H.S. Long, co-pilot; SSgt. John R. Shoneck and TSgt. Robert
L. Hill, flight mechanics; SSgt. Lawrence Clark, radio operator; and Capt. Inzar
W. Rackley, Jr., navigator. Also onboard the aircraft was A2C Steven H. Adams, a
parajumper/frogman and a member of an elite pararescue team ("PJs").

The aircraft headed to the pilot's location, which was approximately 80 miles
off the China coast in the northern sector of the Gulf of Tonkin. Two A1E
Skyhawks escorting the rescue aircraft remained on station until the mission was
completed, then the Skyhawks returned to the base. The last contact with the
HU16 was at 5:45 p.m., and at that time, there was no indication of any trouble.
The Albatross was returning to base, and last contact was in the vicinity of
coordinates YE278821, approximately 35 miles off the coast of North Vietnam.

All contact was lost with the amphibious aircraft in marginal weather
conditions, and although an extensive search for the aircraft was conducted,
there were no sightings of the crew or the aircraft. Even though the HU16 was
believed lost over water, the men on board were not declared killed, but Missing
In Action. The possibility exists that they were captured by one of the numerous
enemy vessels that were present offshore from North Vietnam.

Curiously, the DIA enemy knowledge categories assigned to the men onboard the
Albatross are not the same. Five of them were assigned Category 4 which
indicates "unknown knowledge" and includes individuals whose time and place of
loss incident are unknown. Angstadt was assigned Category 3 which indicates
"doubtful knowledge" and includes personnel whose loss incident is such that it
is doubtful that the enemy would have knowledge. Clark was assigned Category 2
which indicates "suspect knowledge" and includes personnel who were lost in
areas or under conditions that they may reasonably be expected to be known by
the enemy. No reason for the different categories can be determined.

About one year after the incident, Adams' family received a call from an
International Red Cross representative who had just come from a "closed door"
meeting during which Steven Adams was discussed. She stated that Steve was
"alive, well and presumed to be in a hospital in Southeast Asia," and that "upon
exiting the aircraft, his left side had been severely injured." A family friend
and member of the intelligence community located the Red Cross worker and
confirmed the information.

Shortly after the call, two Air Force casualty officers cautioned the family
strongly "not to listen to outsiders" and that only "government sources" could
be trusted.

In August 1987, a Department of Defense official was contacted by a U.S. citizen
who said he was relaying information from a man in London. According to the
American, 17 U.S. prisoners of war could be released through the office of a
Western European embassy in Bangkok, Thailand. The POWs would be released C.O.D.
upon the delivery of seven U.S. passports and a million dollars. If the money
were placed at the Embassy, an unidentified Vietnamese general would take the 17
Americans to the Philippines for release, and provide information on how to
secure the release of over 1,400 other Americans upon payment of another million
dollars. Steve Adams was mentioned as one of the 17 POWs.

U.S. government officials refused to place the money at the Embassy. They said
they had investigated the offer and that it was "a clumsy, amateur attempt to
extort money and arms from the U.S. Government."

Although the U.S. Government called the offer a "scam," they refused to give the
Adams family the names of those involved, citing "national security" as the
reason.

Steve's brother, Bruce, was outraged. A non-government offered POW reward fund
had been established for just such a offer and the government was aware of it,
yet did not inform Bruce of the COD offer for several months. By that time, it
was too late to do anything about it from the private sector.

"This was a pay on delivery offer, not extortion," said Adams. "It would have
cost the Government nothing to comply. If the general did not appear with 17
American POWs the money would still be intact, in neutral hands. But to deny me
the opportunity to enact the privately offered reward is inexcusable."

Bruce Adams says the evidence is clear that there ARE Americans still held
captive in Southeast Asia. "I really don't know if Steve is one of them, but
SOMEONE'S brother is. We as a nation owe those men our best efforts to secure
their release and return. I could not face myself if I did not do everything in
my power to help bring them home."

The crew of the UH16 received promotions during the period they were maintained
Missing in Action:  Angstadt and Rackley were promoted to the rank of Lieutenant
Colonel; Long to the rank of Captain; Clark and Hill to the rank of Chief Master
Sergeant; Shoneck to the rank of Senior Master Sergeant; and Adams to the rank
of Master Sergeant.

There is no available information on the downed crewman the Albatross was sent
to rescue.

HILLS, JOHN RUSSELL

Name: John Russell Hills
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit: Unknown (per Air Force)
Date of Birth: 25 November 1925
Home City of Record: South Bend IN
Date of Loss: 14 February 1966
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 152701N 1070048E (YC164071)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A1E

Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 April 1990 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.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: The Douglas A1 Skyraider ("Spad") is a highly maneuverable,
propeller-driven aircraft designed as a multipurpose attack bomber or utility
aircraft. The H and J models were single seat aircraft, whereas the E model
generally carried two crewmen. The A1 was first used by the Air Force in its
Tactical Air Command to equip the first Air Commando Group engaged in
counterinsurgency operations in South Vietnam, and later used the aircraft as
escort for rescue units.

Maj. John R. Hills was the pilot of an A1E aircraft on an operational mission
in Laos when his aircraft crashed into the top of a hill in Saravane Province
about 5 miles northeast of the city of Chavane. The aircraft exploded on
impact, and Maj. Hills was believed to have died at that time. No mention is
made of a second crewman on this aircraft, although the E model generally
carried a co-pilot.

John Hills was declared Killed in Action, Body Not Recovered. He is among
over 2300 Americans still prisoner, missing or unaccounted for in Southeast
Asia.

According to witnesses, John Hills is almost certainly dead. Tragically, his
family has no grave holding his body to visit. His remains are on enemy soil,
and not buried in his homeland. Even more tragically, evidence mounts that
hundreds of Americans are still alive, held captive in Southeast Asia. What must
they be thinking of us? What would John Hills think of us?

HILTON, ROBERT LARIE

Name: Robert Larie Hilton
Rank/Branch: E4/US Air Force
Unit: 33rd Aerospace Rescue & Recovery Service Squadron
Date of Birth: 13 January 1936
Home City of Record: Baltimore MD
Date of Loss: 14 March 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 191958N 1054959E (WG875377)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: HU16B

Other Personnel in Incident: James E. Pleiman (remains recovered)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 July 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 HU16 was commonly used as a rescue aircraft over the Gulf of
Tonkin, being equipped to land at sea. Besides recovering crews from coastal
waters, the Albatross was equipped to function as a radio relay station during
rescue operations. The HU16 was later replaced in rescue operations by the HH3
helicopter which could refuel from the HC130 rescue control aircraft, and remain
on station as long as the Albatross and recover a downed fler while hovering
above him, without risking a landing and takeoff in the open sea.

Robert Hilton and James E. Pleiman were crewmembers onboard a HU16B
"Albatross" aircraft. On March 14, 1966 the aircraft was struck by hostile fire
while conducting a rescue mission for two F4C crew members. The aircraft went
down over the Gulf of Tonkin east of Nghe An Province, North Vietnam, and the
two men were lost. (It is assumed that the rest of the crew either was recovered
safely or their bodies recovered. Their names are not included in Air Force
accounts of this incident.) The F4C Phantom crew, fortunately, was rescued.

In December 1988, the Vietnamese "discovered" the remains of James E. Pleiman
and returned them to U.S. control. Since their recovery from a watery grave
would be highly unlikely after 22 years, one can only draw one of two
conclusions - that Pleiman's body was recovered by the Vietnamese after having
washed ashore or was picked up by a Vietnamese boat in the area - or that
Pleiman escaped death and was captured. When and how Pleiman died, and when and
how the Vietnamese "discovered" his remains may have a direct effect on the
fate of Robert L. Hilton.

Since the war ended, thousands of reports have been received by the U.S.
government relating to missing Americans in Southeast Asia. Many authorities
believe that there are hundreds of Americans still captive, waiting for their
country to secure their freedom. Where is Robert Hilton? Where was James
Pleiman? Isn't it time all our men came home?

HINES, VAUGHN MAURICE

Name: Vaughn Maurice Hines
Rank/Branch: E3/US Army
Unit: 244th Aviation Company, 1st Aviation Brigade
Date of Birth: 16 February 1947 (Klamath Falls OR)
Home City of Record: Arcadia CA
Date of Loss: 08 November 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 083929N 1051727E (WQ320570)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: OV1C

Other Personnel In Incident: Lawrence C. Suttleman (remains recovered)

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: On November 8, 1967, Maj. Lawrence C. Suttleman, pilot, and PFC Vaughn
M. Hines, observer, were in an OV1C (tail #603746, call sign Delta Hawk 5) on an
aerial reconnaissance mission off the southern coast of Vietnam.

There were numerous naval craft offshore in the area, and the aircraft was
observed to make several low level passes over some of them. On one low level
pass, the aircraft was seen to start a climb and roll to the left engine in an
inverted position. A recovery back to the right was attempted, but the left wing
struck the water and the aircraft crashed and disintegrated.

One of the naval craft was on the scene of the crash within 2 minutes, but the
aircraft had already disappeared beneath the water. There was some floating
wreckage and debris which the crew off the boat retrieved. The debris identified
the crew of the aircraft as being Suttleman and Hines. Some remains were also
recovered and identified as those of Maj. Suttleman.

A search for Hines was continued, but proved unsuccessful. An over water/at sea
casualty resolution operation was conducted during the period of July -
September 1973 to determine the feasability or desirability of expanding such
operations to be used in cases such as this. Based on the combined factors of
cost and lack of any positive results whatsoever, the at sea operations were
terminated. It was determined that there was no hope of recovering Hines' body.

Vaughn Hines is listed with honor among the missing because no remains were
found. His case seems quite clear. For others who are listed missing, resolution
is not as simple. Many were known to have survived their loss incident. Quite a
few were in radio contact with search teams and describing an advancing enemy.
Some were photographed or recorded in captivity. Others simply vanished without
a trace.

Reports continue to mount that we abandoned hundreds of Americans to the enemy
when we left Southeast Asia. While Hines may not be among them, one can imagine
his willingness to fly one more mission to gather the intelligence needed to
secure their rescue and flight to freedom.

HIRONS, ALAN

Name: Alan Hirons
Rank/Branch: Civilian
Unit: UPI Photographer
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Australia
Date of Loss: 26 April 1972
Country of Loss: Cambodia
Loss Coordinates: 112250N 1051451E (WT270580)
Status (in 1973): Prisoner of War
Category: 1
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Peugot automobile

Other Personnel In Incident: Terry Reynolds (captured)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On April 26, 1972, American reporter Terry Reynolds and Australian
photographer Alan Hirons were driving on Route 1 in Prey Veng Province,
Cambodia, when their car was stopped and they were captured by communist troops
active in the area. Their captured by 3 Viet Cong soldiers was witnessed by FANK
soldiers. The two were on assignment to UPI at the time.

Their auto was found at a road block with all movie and still photo equipment
left inside. Villagers reported that both had been led away by the communists.
The following month, a Viet Cong rallier stated that he had seen two caucasians
equating to Reynolds and Hirons. Another report said that Reynolds was being
held in Sampan Loeu Hamlet, about 40 kilometers southeast of Phnom Penh in June
1972.

In August 1972, Reynolds and Hirons were seen as POWs northeast of Phnom Penh;
Reynolds was in good health, Hirons was ill at the time. In February 1973, a
junior ARVN officer was released by the Viet Cong 75 miles north of Saigon and
reported that the journalists were alive.

Author Zalin Grant interviewed returned ARVN POWs in early 1973 and released the
following data supporting other stories indicating journalists could still be
alive. "Returned ARVN POWs sighted the (unnamed) journalists on Route #7, 17
miles south of Snoul in Eastern Cambodia 7-72 in ox-carts pulled by Hondas;
another said a VC captain near Minot, eastern Cambodia (where military American
POWs were released from in 1973) reported the (unnamed) journalists held in 7-72
had cameras; Cambodian national saw (unnamed) journalists in 6-72 at Prince
Sihanouk's FUNK camp south of Route #13 in Kratie Province; returned ARVN POWs
said a guard told them in 3073 that the journalists were still alive and held in
their area." Walter Cronkite reported a sighting of (unnamed) journalists in
January, 1974.

Whether Grant's and Cronkite's information relates to the journalists missing
from April 26, 1972, is not known. The two are among 22 international
journalists still missing in Southeast Asia, most known to have been captured.
For several years during the war, the correspondents community rallied and
publicized the fates of fellow journalists. After a while, they tired of the
effort, and today these men are forgotten by all but families and friends.

Tragically, nearly the whole world turns its head while thousands of reports
continue to flow in that prisoners are still held in Southeast Asia. Cambodia
offered to return a substantial number of remains of men it says are Americans
missing in Cambodia (in fact the number offered exceeded the number of those
officially missing). But the U.S. has no formal diplomatic relations with the
communist government of Cambodia, and refused to directly respond to this offer.
Although several U.S. Congressmen offered to travel to Cambodia to receive the
remains, they have not been permitted to do so by the U.S.

By 1991, well over 10,000 reports regarding missing Americans have been received
which convince many experts that hundreds of Americans are still alive in
Southeast Asia. Whether the newsmen ambushed in Cambodia on April 26, 1972 are
among them is unknown. Whatever their identities or nationality, they deserve
the basic human right of freedom.




HISE, JAMES HAMILTON

Name: James Hamilton Hise
Rank/Branch: O2/US Navy
Unit:
Date of Birth: 29 April 1941
Home City of Record: Des Moines IA
Date of Loss: 25 March 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: (none given)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
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.JG James H. Hise was the pilot of an F8E conducting a non-combat flight off
the coast of South Vietnam on March 25, 1967. At an unspecified point, Hise's
aircraft crashed at sea. No further details have been made publicly available.

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.




HITESHEW, JAMES EDWARD

Name: James Edward Hiteshew
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit: 355th Combat Support Group, Takhli AB TH
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Weston WV
Date of Loss: 11 March 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 213000N 1055000E (WJ863775)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F105D

Other Personnel in Incident: Charles E. Greene (released POW); Joseph J. Karins
Jr. (missing) (both at close proximity on same day)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS: 730304 RELSD BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: The F105 Thunderchief ("Thud"), in its various versions, flew more
missions against North Vietnam than any other U.S. aircraft. It also suffered
more losses, partially due to its vulnerability, which was constantly under
revision. Between 1965 and 1971, the aircraft was equipped with armor plate, a
secondary flight control system, an improved pilot ejection seat, a more precise
navigation system, better blind bombing capability and ECM pods for the wings.
The D version was a single-place aircraft.

Capt. Charles E. Greene, Jr., Capt. Joseph J. Karins, Jr., and Major James E.
Hiteshew were all pilots of F105D Thunderchiefs. On March 11, 1967, they were
all dispatched on strike mission over North Vietnam. At a target area near the
city of Thai Nguyen in Vinh Phu Province, all three were shot down and declared
Missing in Action. Greene and Hiteshew ultimately landed in Vinh Phu Province.
Greene was about 5 miles southwest of the city of Thai Nguyen; Hiteshew was
about 8 miles southeast. Karins landed on the border of Vinh Phu and Ha Bac
Provinces, about 8 miles east-southeast of Thai Nguyen.

It was later learned that Greene and Hiteshew had been captured by the North
Vietnamese. Hiteshew's emergency beepers had been heard, and parachute was
observed, but rescue in this hostile territory proved impossible. Other
information indicates that Karins was in radio contact with rescuers, but was
seen to be captured.

On March 4, 1973, 591 Americans were released from communist prisons in North
Vietnam. Greene and Hiteshew were among them. Karins was not. He remained
Missing in Action. According to intelligence received by the Defense Department,
Karins died, but public information does not indicate how or when. Whether this
information was confirmed seems unlikely, as Karin's status was not changed to
Killed in Action, Body Not Recovered. In fact, it was several years before he
was found presumptively dead.

Since American involvement in Vietnam ended in 1975, nearly 10,000 reports
relating to Americans missing, prisoner, or otherwise unaccounted for in
Indochina have been received by the U.S. Government. Many officials, having
examined this largely classified information, have reluctantly concluded that
many Americans are still alive today, held captive by our long-ago enemy.

Karins is one of over 2,300 Americans who remain missing in Southeast Asia.
Whether he survived the crash of his aircraft to be captured seems unlikely, in
light of the DIA intelligence report. What is certain, however, is that we owe
these men our every effort to bring them to freedom. Hiteshew and Greene were
imprisoned nearly six years. For Karins, dead or alive, it will soon be 23
years. It's time we brought our men home.

Karins, who was promoted to the rank of Major during the period he was missing
is now accounted for. His remains were returned to the U.S. on April 6, 1988.

HIVNER, JAMES OTIS

Name: James Otis Hivner
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Elizabethtown PA
Date of Loss: 05 October 1965
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 213200N 1062100E (XJ397815)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4C

Other Personnel in Incident: (From F4 with Hivner:) Thomas J. Barrett (released
POW); From F105D nearby: Bruce G. Seeber (released POW); From F105D nearby: Dean
A. Pogreba; Phillip E. Smith (captured from an F104C downed over Chinese
territory on September 20)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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: 730212 RELSD BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: On September 20, 1965 an American pilot named Capt. Phillip E. Smith
was shot down over the Chinese island of Hai Nan Tao. The case of Capt. Smith
ultimately became entwined with those of other American pilots lost in North
Vietnam the following month. Capt. Smith was flying an Air Force F104C and his
loss over Hai Nan island is perplexing.

The Lockheed F104 Starfighter was an unusual aircraft created in the mid-1950's
to fill a need for a more maneuverable, faster fighter aircraft. The result was
a Mach 2-speed aircraft thrust into a combat-aircraft world of Mach 1 and below.
The aircraft itself is spared looking like a rocket by its thin and extremely
short wings set far back on the long fuselage, and a comparatively large
tailplane carried almost at the top of an equally enormous fin. One less
apparent peculiarity was an ejection seat which shot the pilot out downwards
from under the fuselage rather than out the canopy of the cockpit. The
Starfighter was primarily a low-level attack aircraft capable of flying
all-weather electronically-guided missions at supersonic speed.

Why Capt. Smith was flying a strike aircraft over 40 miles inland in Chinese
territory is a matter for speculation. While the flight path to certain Pacific
points from Vietnam may take a pilot in the general vicinity of the island,
China was denied territory. According to one pilot, "Hai Nan was on the way to
nowhere we were supposed to be, and on the way back from the same place." Either
Smith was unbelievably lost or was on a mission whose purpose will never see the
light of day. Capt. Smith was captured by the Chinese.

Lieutenant Colonel Dean A. Pogreba was an F105D pilot attached to the 49th
Tactical Fighter Squadron at Yakota, Japan. In the fall of 1965, Pogreba was
given a temporary duty assignment to fly combat missions out of Takhli (Ta Khli)
Airbase, Thailand.

The aircraft flown by Pogreba, the F105 Thunderchief ("Thud") flew more missions
against North Vietnam than any other U.S. aircraft. It also suffered more
losses, partially due to its vulnerability, which caused the aircraft to be
constantly under revision.

On October 5, 1965, Pogreba departed Takhli as part of a five-plane combat
section on a bridge strike mission north of Hanoi in North Vietnam. Capt. Bruce
G. Seeber was Pogreba's wingman on the mission. At a point near the borders of
Lang Son and Ha Bac provinces, both Seeber's and Pogreba's aircraft were hit by
enemy fire and crashed. The location of loss given by the Defense Department is
approximately 40 miles southwest of the city of Dong Dang, which sits on the
border of North Vietnam and China. The area was "hot" with MiGs, surface-to-air
missiles (SAM) and anti-aircraft fire.

On the same day, an Air Force F4C Phantom fighter/bomber was shot down
approximately 5 miles from the city of Kep, and about 10 miles south of the
official loss location of Pogreba and Seeber. The crew of this aircraft
consisted of Major James O. Hivner and 1Lt. Thomas J. Barrett.

Curiously, Radio Peking announced the capture of an American pilot that day,
giving the pilot's name and serial number. It was Dean Pogreba that had been
captured. The U.S. never received separate confirmation of the capture, however,
and Pogreba was listed Missing in Action.

Gradually, it became known that the crew of the F4, Barrett and Hivner had been
captured by the North Vietnamese. Likewise, Bruce Seeber was also identified as
a prisoner of war of the Vietnamese. Dean Pogreba's fate was still unknown.

When American involvement in Vietnam ended, 591 Americans were released from
prisoner of war camps in Southeast Asia. Among them were Hivner, Barrett, Seeber
and Smith. Smith was released by the Chinese. Pogreba was still missing. None of
the returnees had any information regarding his fate, and all believed he had
died in the crash of his plane.

Reports of an American POW held in China that had fueled hopes for the Pogreba
family were correlated to Phillip Smith upon his release. The Pogreba family
thought this was hastily and summarily done. According to others in the flight
with Pogreba, Dean's plane had actually strayed into Chinese territory. Although
no information at all was forthcoming from the Chinese, the Pogrebas still
believed there was a good chance Dean had been captured.

Years passed, and no word of Pogreba was heard. Under the Carter Administration,
most of the men still listed prisoner, missing or unaccounted for were
administratively declared dead because of the lack of specific information that
they were alive. The Pogrebas, although haunted by the mystery of Dean's
disappearance, finally resigned themselves to the fact that he was most probably
dead, and went on with their lives. Dean's wife, Maxine, with children to raise
alone, ultimately remarried.

Then in 1989, Maxine Pogreba Barrell received some shocking news. Through an
acquaintance, she learned of a "high-ranking friend" of Dean's who claimed to
have visited Vietnam and spoken with her former husband. When she contacted this
retired Air Force Brigadier General, he told her a story quite different from
the official account given to Dean's family.

According to the General, Dean had indeed been shot down in China, but had been
brought back across the border into North Vietnam in 1965 by "friendlies."
Several attempts to rescue him had failed; two helicopters had crashed in the
effort. Then food and supplies were dropped to Dean and his rescuers; recovery
efforts were deemed impractical because of the hostile environment.

The General stated that he had never given up on Dean, and had made it his
mission to find the "gray-haired colonel" which he claimed he did in 1988 and
1989, traveling to Vietnam on a diplomatic passport. He told Dean's family that
Dean was alive and well and had adjusted to his "situation," which was a
solitary life in a village. Dean, he said, leaves the village daily to work.

Mrs. Barrell does not know how much credence to give the story. On one hand, she
says, the General asked nothing from them. He did not seek them out. On the
contrary, she and her family sought him out. Shortly after they spoke, the man
told her that he was in "trouble" with the U.S. Government and would not speak
with her again.

On the other hand, there is absolutely no way Dean's family can verify or
discount the General's story. A family, at relative peace for over a decade, is
once again suffering the uncertainty that comes with not knowing. The U.S.
Government simply isn't talking to them about it. One cannot simply fly to Hanoi
and beg permission to visit one's relative when Hanoi denies he even exists.

Unfortunately, the Pogreba story is not an aberration. Many cases of Americans
missing in Southeast Asia are fraught with inconsistencies, some to the point of
outright deception. Still others are hidden under the cloak of "national
security" classification; some cannot be revealed until after the year 2000.
These families will have to wait almost half a century to know the truth about
what happened to their men.

Since the war ended, U.S. intelligence agencies have conducted over 250,000
interviews and perused "several million documents" related to Americans still
missing, prisoner or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia. Many authorities,
including a former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, having reviewed this
largely classified information, have concluded that scores of Americans are
still alive in captivity today.

As long as even one American remains held against his will, we must do
everything in our power to bring him home. How can we afford to abandon our best
men?


HOCKRIDGE, JAMES ALAN
Remains Returned September 30, 1977

Name: James Alan Hockridge
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 12 March 1944
Home City of Record: Rochester NY
Date of Loss: 17 October 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 211526N 1054135E (WJ719506)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 1
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F111A

Other Personnel In Incident: Allen U. Graham (remains returned)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS: 770930 REMS RETD BY SRV

SYNOPSIS: The F111 was first used in Southeast Asia in March 1968 during
Operation Combat Lancer and flew nearly 3,000 missions during the war despite
frequent periods of grounding. From 1968 to 1973, the F111 was grounded several
months because of excess losses of aircraft. By 1969, there had been 15 F111's
downed by malfunction or enemy fire. The major malfunctions involved engine
problems and problems with the terrain following radar (TFR) which reads the
terrain ahead and flies over any obstructions.

Eight of the F111's downed during the war were flown by crews that were captured
or declared missing. The first was one of two F111's downed during Operation
Combat Lancer, during which the F111 crews conducted night and all-weather
attacks against targets in North Vietnam. On March 28, the F111A flown by Maj.
Henry E. MacCann and Capt. Dennis L. Graham was downed near the airfield at Phu
Xa, about 5 miles northwest of the city of Dong Hoi in Quang Binh Province,
North Vietnam. Both MacCann and Graham were declared Missing in Action. Graham
had been a graduate of Texas A & M in 1963. The crew of the second F111 downed
during March 1968 was recovered.

On April 22, 1968 at about 7:30 p.m., Navy LCdr. David L. Cooley and Air Force
LtCol. Edwin D. Palmgren departed the 428th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Ubon
Air Base, Thailand to fly an attack mission against the Mi Le Highway Ferry over
Dai Giang along Route 101. They were to pass over very heavily defended areas of
Laos at rather low altitude. Although searches continued for four days, no
wreckage was ever found. The loss coordinates are located near Quang Bien, in
Laos, although the two men are listed as Missing in Action in North Vietnam.

As a result of the loss of the Cooley/Palmgren F111A, the Air Force suspended
use of the aircraft for a limited period to investigate the cause of the losses
and make any necessary modifications. After the aircraft returned to the air,
the crashes resumed. When the 15th F111 went down in late 1969 because of
mechanical failure, all F111's were grounded and the plane did not return to
Vietnam service for several months.

In September 1972 F111A's were returned to Southeast Asia. On September 29,
1972, the F111A flown by Maj. William C. Coltman and commanded by 1Lt. Robert A.
Brett, Jr. went down in North Vietnam on the Red River about 10 miles southwest
of the city of Yen Bai. Inexplicably, the National League of Families published
a list in 1974 that indicated that Robert A. Brett had survived the downing of
his aircraft, and that the loss location was in Laos, not North Vietnam. Both
men remain Missing in Action.

On October 17, 1972, Capt. James A. Hockridge and 1Lt. Allen U. Graham were
flying an F111A near the city of Cho Moi in Bac Thai Province, North Vietnam,
when their aircraft was shot down. Later, Hanoi released a photo showing the ID
cards of both men, and other military papers from the crash. Both Hockridge and
Graham were mentioned in the story, which featured photos of the totally burned
wreckage of the aircraft, even though the military papers and ID cards showed no
fire damage. Radio Hanoi claimed both pilots died in the crash and that this was
the 4,000th aircraft downed over North Vietnam. A later broadcast reported some
remains were recovered and buried along the Ca Lo River. Both men were listed as
Missing in Action, until their remains were returned by the Vietnamese September
30, 1977.

On November 7, 1972, Maj. Robert M. Brown and Maj. Robert D. Morrissey flew an
F111A on a mission over North Vietnam. Morrissey, on his second tour of Vietnam,
was a 20 year veteran of the Air Force. The aircraft was first reported lost
over North Vietnam, but loss coordinates released later indicated that the
aircraft was lost in Khammouane Province, Laos near the city of Ban Phaphilang.
Both Brown and Morrissey remain missing.

On November 21, 1972, the F111A flown by Capt. Ronald D. Stafford and Capt.
Charles J. Caffarelli went down about halfway between Hue and Da Nang in South
Vietnam. Both the pilot and backseater were thought to have died in the crash
into the South China Sea, but no remains were ever found.

On December 18, 1972, LtCol. Ronald J. Ward and Maj. James R. McElvain were
flying an F111 on a combat mission over North Vietnam when their aircraft was
forced to ditch in the Gulf of Tonkin near the coastline at Hoanh Dong. It was
suspected that these two airmen may have ejected. They remain Missing in Action.

The last missing F111A team to be shot down was Capt. Robert D. Sponeyberger and
1Lt. William W. Wilson. Sponeyberger and Wilson were flying a typical F111
tactical mission when they were hit - flying at supersonic speed only a few
hundred feet altitude. They were declared Missing in Action.

In 1973, however, Sponeyberger and Wilson were released by the North Vietnamese,
who had held them prisoner since the day their aircraft was shot down. Their
story revealed another possibility as to why so many F111's had been lost.

Air Force officials had suspected mechanical problems, but really had no idea
why the planes were lost because they fly singly and out of radio contact. Capt.
Sponeyberger and 1Lt. Wilson had ruled out mechanical problems. "It seems
logical that we were hit by small arms," Wilson said, "By what you would
classify as a 'Golden BB' - just a lucky shot." Sponeyberger added that small
arms at low level were the most feared weapons by F111 pilots. The SAM-25 used
in North Vietnam was ineffective at the low altitudes flown by the F111, and
anti-aircraft cannot sweep the sky fast enough to keep up with the aircraft.

That a 91,000 pound aircraft flying at supersonic speeds could be knocked out of
the air by an ordinary bullet from a hand-held rifle or machine gun is a David
and Goliath-type story the Vietnamese must love to tell and retell.

As reports continue to be received by the U.S.Government build a strong case for
belief that hundreds of these missing Americans are still alive and in
captivity, one must wonder if their retention provides yet another David and
Goliath story for Vietnamese propaganda. The F111 missions were hazardous and
the pilots who flew them brave and skilled. Fourteen Americans remain missing
from F111 aircrafts downed in Southeast Asia. If any of them are among those
said to be still missing, what must they be thinking of us?


HODGES, DAVID LAWTON

Name: David Lawton Hodges
Rank/Branch: O3/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 164, USS ORISKANY (CVA 43)
Date of Birth: 21 November 1937
Home City of Record: Chevy Chase MD
Date of Loss: 07 October 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 204400N 1054158E (WH728926)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A4E

Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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 USS ORISKANY was a World War II-era carrier on duty in Vietnam as
early as 1964. The ORISKANY at one time carried the RF8A (number 144608) that
Maj. John H. Glenn, the famous Marine astronaut (and later Senator), flew in his
1957 transcontinental flight. In October, 1966 the ORISKANY endured a tragic
fire which killed 44 men onboard, but was soon back on station. In 1972, the
ORISKANY had an at-sea accident which resulted in the loss of one of its
aircraft elevators, and later lost a screw that put the carrier into drydock in
Yokosuka, Japan for major repairs, thus delaying its involvement until the late
months of the war.

The ORISKANY's 1966 tour was undoubtedly one of the most tragic deployments of
the Vietnam conflict. This cruise saw eight VA 164 "Ghostriders" lost; four in
the onboard fire, one in an aerial refueling mishap, and another three in the
operational arena. However, the 1967 deployment, which began in June and ended
on a chilly January morning as the ORISKANY anchored in San Francisco Bay,
earned near legendary status by virtue of extensive losses suffered in the
ship's squadrons, including among the Ghostriders of VA 164, and Saints of VA
163. One reason may have been that Navy aviators were, at this time, still
forbidden to strike surface-to-air missile (SAM) sites which were increasing in
number in North Vietnam.

On July 18, 1967, LCDR Richard D. Hartman's aircraft fell victim to
anti-aircraft fire near Phu Ly in Nam Ha Province, North Vietnam. Hartman, from
VA 164, ejected safely, but could not be rescued due to the hostile threat in
the area. Others in the flight were in radio contact with him and resupplied him
for about three days. He was on a karst hill in a difficult recovery area.
Eventually the North Vietnamese moved in a lot of troops and AAA guns, making
rescue almost impossible.

One of the rescue helicopters attempting to recover LCDR Hartman on the 19th was
a Sikorsky SH3A helicopter flown by Navy LT Dennis W. Peterson. The crew onboard
the aircraft included ENS Donald P. Frye and AX2 William B. Jackson and AX2
Donald P. McGrane. While attempting to rescue LCDR Hartman, this aircraft was
hit by enemy fire and crashed killing all onboard. The remains of all but the
pilot, Peterson, were returned by the Vietnamese on October 14, 1982. Peterson
remains missing.

The decision was made to leave Hartman before more men were killed trying to
rescue him. It was not an easy decision, and one squadron mate said, "To this
day, I can remember his voice pleading, 'Please don't leave me.' We had to, and
it was a heartbreaker." Hartman was captured and news returned home that he was
in a POW camp. However, he was not released in 1973. The Vietnamese finally
returned his remains on March 5, 1974. Hartman had died in captivity from
unknown causes.

In July 1967, LCDR Donald V. Davis was one of the Saints of VA 163 onboard the
ORISKANY. Davis was an aggressive pilot. On the night of July 25, 1967, Davis
was assigned a mission over North Vietnam. The procedure for these night attacks
was to drop flares over a suspected target and then fly beneath them to attack
the target in the light of the flares. Davis and another pilot were conducting
the mission about 10 miles south of Ha Tinh when Davis radioed that he had
spotted a couple of trucks. He dropped the flares and went in. On his strafing
run, he drove his Skyhawk straight into the ground and was killed immediately.
Davis is listed among the missing because his remains were never recovered.

LTJG Ralph C. Bisz was also assigned to Attack Squadron 163. On August 4, 1967,
Bisz launched on a strike mission against a petroleum storage area near
Haiphong. Approximately a minute and a half from the target area, four
surface-to-air missiles (SAM) were observed lifting from the area northeast of
Haiphong. The flight maneuvered to avoid the SAMs, however, Bisz' aircraft was
observed as it was hit by a SAM by a wingman. Bisz' aircraft exploded, burst
into flames, and spun downward in a large ball of fire. Remnants of the aircraft
were observed falling down in the large ball of fire until reaching an altitude
estimated to be 5,000 feet and then appeared to almost completely burn out prior
to reaching the ground. No parachute or ejection was observed. No emergency
beeper or voice communications were received.

Bisz' aircraft went down in a heavily populated area in Hai Duong Province,
Vietnam. Information from an indigenous source which closely parallels his
incident indicated that his remains were recovered from the wreckage and taken
to Hanoi for burial. The U.S. Government listed Ralph Bisz as a Prisoner of War
with certain knowledge that the Vietnamese know his fate. Bisz was placed in a
casualty status of Captured on August 4, 1967.

The Navy now says that the possibility of Bisz ejecting was slim. If he had
ejected, his capture would have taken place in a matter of seconds due to the
heavy population concentration in the area and that due to the lack of
additional information it is believed that Bisz did not eject from his aircraft
and that he was killed on impact of the SAM.

Classified information on Bisz' case was presented to the Vietnamese by General
Vessey in the fall of 1987 in hopes that the Vietnamese would be able to resolve
the mystery of Bisz' fate. His case is one of what are called "discrepancy"
cases, which should be readily resolved. The Vietnamese have not been
forthcoming with information on Ralph Bisz.

On August 31, three pilots from the ORISKANY were shot down on a particularly
wild raid over Haiphong. The Air Wing had been conducting strikes on Haiphong
for two consecutive days. On this, the third day, ten aircraft launched in three
flights; four from VA 164 (call sign Ghostrider), four from VA 163 (call sign
Old Salt) and two from VA 163. As the flight turned to go into Haiphong, one of
the section leaders spotted two SAMs lifting off from north of Haiphong. They
were headed towards the Saints section leader and the Ghostrider section leader,
LCDR Richard C. Perry.

The Saints section leader and his wingman pitched up and to the right, while Old
Salt 3 (LCDR Hugh A. Stafford) turned down, his wingman, LTJG David J. Carey
close behind him. Carey, an Air Force Academy graduate, was on his first
operational mission. The missile detonated right in front of them and aircraft
pieces went everywhere.

The other SAM headed towards Perry's section, and he had frozen in the cockpit.
All three planes in the division pulled away, and he continued straight and
level. His helpless flightmates watched as the missile came right up and hit the
aircraft. The aircraft was generally whole and heading for open water.

Old Salt Three and Old Salt Four, Stafford and Carey, had by that time ejected
from their ruined planes and were heading towards the ground from an altitude of
3,000 to 4,000 feet. Both were okay, but Stafford had landed in a tree near a
village, making rescue impossible. Carey had landed about a mile away near a
small village. Stafford and Carey were captured and held in various prisoner of
war camps until their release in Operation Homecoming on March 14, 1973.

Richard Perry had also ejected and was over open water. But as Perry entered the
water, his parachute went flat and he did not come up. A helicopter was on scene
within minutes, and a crewman went into the water after Perry. He had suffered
massive chest wounds, either in the aircraft or during descent in his parachute
and was dead. To recover his body was too dangerous because the North Vietnamese
were mortaring the helicopter. The helicopter left the area. Richard Perry's
remains were recovered by the Vietnamese and held until February 1987, at which
time they were returned to U.S. control.

Flight members were outraged that they had lost three pilots to SAMs that they
were forbidden to attack. Policy was soon changed to allow the pilots to strike
the sites, although never to the extent that they were disabled completely.

On October 7, 1967, VA 164 pilot LT David L. Hodges was killed when his Skyhawk
was hit by a SAM about twelve miles southwest of Hanoi. His remains were never
recovered and he is listed among those missing in Vietnam.

On October 18, 1967, VA 164 pilot LCDR John F. Barr was killed when his Skyhawk
was hit by enemy fire and slammed into the ground while on a strike mission at
Haiphong. Barr's remains were not recovered.

On November 2, 1967, VA 164 pilot LTJG Frederic Knapp launched as the lead of a
flight of two aircraft on an armed reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam.
The wingman reported that during an attack run, the aircraft appeared to have
been hit by anti-aircraft fire. The wingman saw Knapp's aircraft impact the
ground and did not see the canopy separate from the aircraft. There was no
parachute sighted or emergency radio beeper heard. The aircraft crashed about 9
kilometers west-southwest of Cho Giat, near route 116, in Nghe An Province.

A source later reported that people from his village had removed the remains of
a dead pilot from his aircraft and buried the remains nearby. These remains are
believed to be those of Knapp. On October 14, 1982, Vietnamese officials turned
over to U.S. authorities a Geneva Convention card belonging to Ltjg. Knapp. To
date, no remains have been repatriated.

Six of the thirteen pilots and crewmen lost in 1967 off the decks of the
ORISKANY remain prisoner, missing, or otherwise unaccounted for in Vietnam.
Disturbing testimony was given to Congress in 1980 that the Vietnamese
"stockpiled" the remains of Americans to return at politically advantageous
times. Could any of these six be in a casket, awaiting 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. Could any of these six be
among them?

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.



HODGSON, CECIL JOE

Name: Cecil Joe Hodgson
Rank/Branch: E7/US Army Special Forces
Unit: B-52 Delta, 5th Special Forces Group
Date of Birth: 28 July 1937 (Campbell TX)
Home City of Record: Greenville TX
Date of Loss: 29 January 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 143704N 1085242E (BS719172)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Other Personnel In Incident: Frank N. Badolati; Ronald T. Terry (both missing);
Wiley W. Grey (survived) (other survivors)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 30 June 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: LEFT AMBD PATSD RECOV 1 - J

SYNOPSIS: Frank N. Badaloti and Ronald T. Terry were riflemen on a Special
Forces reconnaissance team operating in An Lao Valley of Binh Dinh Province 12
miles west of Tam Quan in South Vietnam when his team was split during a
firefight. The patrol came under enemy fire on the afternoon of 28 January 1966
during which time Badolati was hit. Cecil Hodgson, the patrol leader, from
Detachment B52 Delta, was apparently treating Badolati's wounds as the patrol
traveled in small groups from the location where Badolati was hit. Badolati was
with two other individuals who survived, and as he was too badly wounded to
continue, the three remained for about two hours in their position.

Badolati's condition worsened, and when the two survivors left the area, they
reported that Badolati was dead. They had no choice but to leave his body
behind.

Hodgson and Terry evaded for the rest of the day. On January 29, they moved at
first light into a defensive position, whereupon they encountered enemy forces
and another firefight ensued. Terry indicated that he had been hit, and others
thought he had been killed. When they looked for Hodgson, he was gone. Survivors
heard additional shots, which they believed were shots fired at Hodgson, and
they believed he also had been killed.

The team could not search for Hodgson because of the heavy enemy activity, and
were forced to move to a rallying point. They evaded capture for the remainder
of the day, and were ultimately picked up by helicopter.

Searches for all three missing were conducted for the next 4 days with no
results. Hodgson was classified Missing In Action. Badolati and Terry were
classified Killed/Body Not Recovered.

Since the end of the war, over 10,000 reports relating to Americans prisoner,
missing or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S
Government. Many authorities who have reviewed this intelligence material,
including a former Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, believe that
hundreds of Americans are still alive, held captive. Hodgson could be among
them. If alive, what must he be thinking of us?


Cecil J. Hodgson was promoted to the rank of Master Sergeant during the period
he was maintained missing.

HOEFFS, JOHN HARVEY

Name: John Harvey Hoeffs
Rank/Branch:  E4/US Army
Unit: Company A, 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry, 4th Infantry Division
Date of Birth: 25 February 1946
Home City of Record: Oceanside CA
Date of Loss: 28 November 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 131622N 1091848E (CQ173678)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: water

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: SP4 John H. Hoeffs was a rifleman with Company A, 1st Battalion, 8th
Infantry, 4th Infantry division. On November 28, 1966, Hoeffs was swimming with
members of his unit in the vicinity of grid CQ 173 678 (about 10 miles north of
the city of Tuy Hoa in Phy Yen Province, South Vietnam), when a large wave came
in and swept several individuals out to sea.

All the individuals were able to get back to shore except for SP4 Hoeffs. A
helicopter was used to search off shore and along the shoreline for him, but he
was never found, nor were any remains recovered.

Hoeffs' is one of the unfortunate accidental deaths that occur wherever people
are. The fact that he died an accidental death in the midst of war is tragically
ironic. He is listed among the missing with honor, because his body was never
found to be returned to the country he served.

Others who are missing do not have such clear cut cases. Some were known
captives; some were photographed as they were led by their guards. Some were in
radio contact with search teams, while others simply disappeared.

Since the war ended, over 250,000 interviews have been conducted with those who
claim to know about Americans still alive in Southeast Asia, and several million
documents have been studied. U.S. Government experts cannot seem to agree
whether Americans are there alive or not. Detractors say it would be far too
politically difficult to bring the men they believe to be alive home, and the
U.S. is content to negotiate for remains.

Over 1000 eye-witness reports of living American prisoners were received by
1990. Most of them are still classified. If, as the U.S. seems to believe, the
men are all dead, why the secrecy after so many years? If the men are alive, why
are they not home?

HOFF, MICHAEL GEORGE

Name: Michael George Hoff
Rank/Branch: O4/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 86 "Sidewinders", USS CORAL SEA
Date of Birth: 11 September 1936 (Baker OR)
Home City of Record: LaGrande OR (resided in Orange Park FL
Date of Loss: 07 January 1970
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 164300N 1055100E (XD158627)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A7A

Other Personnel In Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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: On January 7, 1970, LtCdr. Michael Hoff was launched from the USS
Coral Sea as the pilot of a Sidewinder A7A Corsair aircraft. His mission was to
perform armed reconnaissance over Laos.

The weather in the area was clear and visibility was about 10 miles. Hoff's
aircraft was completing a strafing run near the city of Sepone when Commander
Hoff radioed that he had a fire warning light and was going to have to bail out.
The flight leader could not see the aircraft at that time. The leader did sight
the aircraft just as it impacted in an area which was flat with dense vegetation
and high trees.

The pilot of another aircraft reported sighting Hoff's aircraft below him, when
it was approximately 2,000 feet above the ground. The aircraft at that time
commenced a roll and, prior to reaching an inverted position, a flash was
observed which was initially thought to be the ejection seat leaving the
aircraft. Immediately afterwards, the aircraft impacted and exploded. No
parachute was seen, nor were emergency transmissions received.

During ensuing search operations, aircraft reported that they received heavy
enemy automatic weapons fire. Two aircraft were able to make repeated low passes
in the crash area looking for a parachute or survivor, but the results were
negative.

Nearly 600 Americans were lost in the country of Laos during the war with
Vietnam. Although the numbers of men actually termed "prisoner of war" are quite
low, this can be explained in understanding the blanket of security surrounding
the "secret war" the U.S. waged in Laos. Only a handful of publicly exposed
cases were ever acknowledged POW, even though scores of pilots and ground
personnel were known to have been alive and well at last contact (thus
increasing the chance they were captured alive).

The Lao communist faction, the Pathet Lao, stated on several occasions that they
held "tens of tens" of American prisoners, but the Pathet Lao were not included
in the Paris Peace agreements ending American involvement in the war. As a
consequence, no American POWs held in Laos were negotiated for. Not one American
held in Laos has ever been released. Reports continue to be received that
Americans are alive today, being held captive. They deserve better than the
abandonment they received by the country they proudly served.


Michael G. Hoff was promoted to the rank of Commander during the period he was
maintained missing.
HOFF, SAMMIE DON
Remains Returned

Name: Sammie Don Hoff
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 24 September 1941
Home City of Record: Kennedy TX
Date of Loss: 30 August 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 173700N 1062000E (XE414481)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category:2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4C
Other Personnel in Incident: Kenneth D. Robinson (remains returned)

REMARKS: EJECT - BRIEF RAD CTC

SYNOPSIS: Captain Kenneth D. Robinson, pilot, and 1Lt. Sammie D. Hoff,
bomber/navigator, were the crew of an F4C Phantom fighter/bomber sent on a
mission over North Vietnam on August 30, 1966.

When the aircraft was over Quang Binh Province, it was shot down, and the pilot
gave the order to eject. Hoff, the backseater ejected first, and other aircraft
in the area had brief radio contact with him. It is assumed that Robinson also
safely ejected.

The Hoff and Robinson families waited for seven years for the war to end and
for their men to come home, but Hoff and Robinson were not released in 1973
when 591 American prisoners of war returned. The Vietnamese denied any
knowledge of Hoff, Robinson, or the nearly 2500 others still missing, prisoner
or unaccounted for.

Since the war ended, both the Hoff and Robinson families have been haunted by
uncertainty. Although nearly 10,000 reports concerning missing Americans in
Southeast Asia were received, and many experts believed hundreds were still
alive, they did not know whether to wish their men alive or dead.

In early 1989, the U.S. announced that remains previously turned over to them
by the Vietnamese had been positively identified as 1Lt. Hoff and Capt.
Robinson. The question is, when did they die - and why has it taken so long for
them to come home? And, of course, where are the others?
HOFFSON, ARTHUR THOMAS

Name: Arthur Thomas Hoffson
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Cameron TX
Date of Loss: 17 August 1968
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 173400N 1061700E (XE361443)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D

Other Personnel in Incident: William E. Powell (remains returned)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 30 June 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: 730314 RELSD BY DRV

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.

1LT William E. Powell was the pilot of an F4D assigned a combat mission over
North Vietnam on August 17, 1968. His Bombardier/Navigator on the flight was 1LT
Arthur T. Hoffson.

During the mission, the aircraft was struck by enemy fire and the crew was
forced to eject from the plane. Hoffson, as backseater, ejected first, according
to procedure, and was captured by the Vietnamese. The fate of William E. Powell
was uncertain. He was declared Missing in Action.

(NOTE: The Defense Department gives specific loss coordinates for William E.
Powell, indicating that his loss location is known precisely. Since he was
declared Missing rather than Killed, it can be logically assumed that he did not
go down with the aircraft, but rather ejected safely.)

When Arthur T. Hoffson was released with 590 other Americans in Operation
Homecoming in the spring of 1973, Powell was not with him. The Vietnamese denied
any knowledge of William E. Powell.

Then in late 1985, the Vietnamese "discovered" and returned to U.S. control the
remains of William E. Powell. Two years later, the U.S. announced that the
identity of these remains had been authenticated and they were turned over to
the Powell family for burial.

Nearly 2500 Americans did not return from the war in Vietnam. Thousands of
reports have been received indicating that some hundreds remain alive in
captivity. As in the case of William E. Powell, Vietnam and her communist allies
can account for most of them. Current "negotiations" between the U.S. and
Vietnam have yielded increasing numbers of American remains, although most of
these remains are yet to be positively identified. The families of some of these
men at least have the peace of knowing whether their loved one is alive or dead.

In the total view of the issue of the missing, however, the return of remains
signals no progress. In the early 1980's the very credible Congressional
testimony of a Vietnamese mortician indicated that the Vietnamese "stockpile"
over 400 sets of American remains, which they release at politically-dictated
intervals. More importantly, the same credible witness, whose testimony
regarding the remains is believed throughout Congress, stated that he had seen
live Americans held at the same location where the remains were stored--after
the war was over and "all American prisoners had been released."

As long as even one American remains alive in captivity in Solutheast Asia, the
only issue is that one living man. We must bring our men home before there are
only remains to negotiate for.


During the period William E. Powell was maintained missing and Arthur T. Hoffson
was a prisoner, both were promoted to the rank of Captain.

HOLGUIN, LUIS GALLEGOS

Name: Luis Gallegos Holguin
Rank/Branch: W1/US Army
Unit: 61st Assault Helicopter Company "Lucky Stars", 268th Aviation Battalion,
17th Aviation Group, 1st Aviation Brigade
Date of Birth: 19 May 1950 (Casa Grande AZ)
Home City of Record: Oxnard CA
Date of Loss: 03 January 1971
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 134700N 1090630E (BR960250)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: U6 "Beaver"
Other Personnel In Incident: Thomas R. Okerlund; Dennis W. Omelia; Patrick
Magee; Carl Palen; Ferris Rhodes; Michael Parsons (all missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On January 3, 1971, Capt. Ferris A. Rhodes, Jr. was the pilot of a U6
"Beaver" (serial #52-25884), carrying six passengers: 1Lt. Michaeld D. Parsons,
WO1 Thomas R. Okerland, WO1 Dennis W. Omelia; WO1 Luis G. Holguin; SP6 Patrick
J. Magee; and SP5 Carl A. Palen. This was an administrative support flight from
Qui Nhon to Ban Me Thuot, South Vietnam, to collect replacement helicopters for
the company. Some of the men aboard were helicopter pilots, and would fly the
choppers back to the base at Qui Nhon.

The U6 "Beaver" is an older, fixed wing aircraft of reasonable size (bigger
than a "Bird Dog", for instance), rather short and squatty with a somewhat wide
body. The aircraft departed Qui Nhon at about 0900 hours on January 3 without
filing a proper flight plan, nor was the weather briefing obtained prior to
takeoff. About 14 miles southeast of Phu Cat, at 1120 hours, radio and radar
contact was lost with the plane.

Because Capt. Rhodes had announced plans to remain overnight at Ban Me Thuot,
no immediate searches were made. By January 9, when Rhodes and his passengers
still had not returned, search efforts were begun at 0900 hours, and continued
throughout the day with no sign of the aircraft or its personnel.

The area of takeoff was tricky and the weather conditions were not good. Other
pilots said that if planes taking off did not reach a safe altitude fast
enough, they would crash into a mountain. Cruising speed for the "Beaver"
was a mere 106 mph making it a prime target for flak. Conditions in the area
indicated that the aircraft was shot down, and several years passed before the
crew was finally declared dead.

Evidence mounts that Americans are still alive in Southeast Asia. It is not
known for sure if any of the crew of the U6 survived and are among them, but
there is no evidence that they are dead. If they survived, they could still be
alive. If not, then someone else's brother, son, husband, father is alive. We
owe them our very best effort to bring them home.
HOLLAND, LAWRENCE THOMAS

Name: Lawrence Thomas Holland
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit: Unknown (per Air Force)
Date of Birth: 15 May 1934
Home City of Record: Alhambra CA
Date of Loss: 12 June 1965
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 113431N 1065341E (YT088795)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 1
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F100D

Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 April 1990 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.

REMARKS: EJECTED - KILLED IN SHOOTOUT

SYNOPSIS: The North American F100 "Super Sabre" first saw action in Southeast
Asia in northwest Laos in May 1962. F100 operations in Vietnam began in 1965,
and took part in Operation Flaming Dart, the first U.S. Air Force strike against
North Vietnam in February of that year. Further deployments of the aircraft to
the area left just five F100 squadrons in the United States.

Various modifications were made to the aircraft affectionately called "Hun" or
"Lead Sled" by its pilots and mechanics over the early years, gradually
improving night bombing capability, firing systems and target-marking systems.
The single seat models D and F were good at top cover and low attack, and could
carry a heavy load of munitions.

Major Lawrence T. Holland was the pilot of an F100D dispatched on a tactical
mission over South Vietnam. His aircraft was the lead in a flight of two
F100's. After making passes on a target near Don Luan in Phuoc Long Province,
Maj. Holland radiod his aircraft had been hit by hostile fire. A parachute was
observed to alnd in 100 foot trees.

A rescue helicopter ladned in the nearest clearing and the helicopter crew
proceeded on foot into the woods. They were fired upon by Viet Cong and they
saw the enemy drag the limp body of Maj. Holland into a ditch. The helicopter
crew were unable to rescue Maj. Holland.

In late August, 1971, the Department of the Air Force received information which
they believed sufficient to determine that Holland had died at the time of the
incident. It was determined Holland had been shot and killed by Viet Cong
soldiers after he opened fire on them. Maj. Holland was reportedly buried in
the immediate vicinity of the incident. At this time, his status was changed to
Killed in Action/Body Not Recovered.

Holland is one of many who were almost in the grasp of rescue teams when they
were last seen. Holland appears to have been dead at that time, but many others
were alive. Some of the Americans who remain missing were actually photographed
in captivity, only to disappear.

Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports have been received relating to
Americans missing in Southeast Asia. Some authorities have reluctantly
concluded that hundreds of Americans are still alive in captivity today. It
would not appear that Lawrence T. Holland is one of them. But if there is even
one American still alive, this government, which sent him, has a moral and
legal obligation to bring him home.

HOLLAND, MELVIN ARNOLD

Name: Melvin Arnold Holland
Rank/Branch: E6/US Air Force
Unit: (See text)
Date of Birth: 06 January 1936
Home City of Record: Toledo WA
Date of Loss: 11 March 1968
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 202600N 1034400E (UH680600)
Status (in 1973): Killed In Action/Body Not Recovered
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Other Personnel In Incident: Clarence Blanton; James Calfee; James Davis; Henry
Gish; Willis Hall; Herbert Kirk; David Price; Patrick Shannon; Donald
Springsteadah; Don Worley (all missing from Lima 85); Donald Westbrook (missing
from SAR 13 March)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 31 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: When Melvin Holland volunteered for a sensitive assignment called
Project Heavy Green, his wife had to sign a secrecy agreement too. Holland, an
Air Force man, was to be temporarily relieved of duty to take a civilian job
with Lockheed Aircraft. He would be on the team running Lima 85, a radar base in
Laos, whose neutrality prohibited U.S. military presence, so it was necessary
for Holland to work as a civilian. No one was to know.

Lima 85 was on a peak in the Annam Highlands near the village of Sam Neua on a
5860 ft. mountain called Phou Pha Thi. The mountain was protected by sheer
cliffs on three sides, and guarded by 300 tribesmen working for CIA. Unarmed
U.S. "civilians" operated the radar which swept across the Tonkin Delta to
Hanoi, guiding U.S. aircraft to their targets in North Vietnam.

For three months in early 1968, a steady stream of intelligence was received
which indicated that communist troops were about to launch a major attack on
Lima 85. Intelligence watched as enemy troops even built a road to the area to
facilitate moving heavy weapons, but the site was so important that William H.
Sullivan, U.S. Ambassador to Laos, made the decision to leave the men in place.
When the attack came March 11, some were rescued by helicopter, but eleven men
were missing. The President announced a halt in the bombing of North Vietnam.

Donald Westbrook was flying one of four A1E's orbiting on stand-by to search for
survivors of the attack at Phou Pha Thi when his plane was shot down March 13.
Westbrook was never found. Finding no survivors, the Air Force destroyed Lima 85
to prevent the equipment from falling into the hands of the enemy.

In mid-March, Ann Holland was notified that Lima Site 85 had been overrun by
enemy forces, and that her husband and the others who had not escaped had been
killed. Many years later, she learned that was not the whole truth.

Two separate reports indicate that all the men missing at Phou Pha Thi did not
die. One report suggests that at least one of the 11 was captured, and another
indicates that 6 were captured. Information has been hard to get. The fact that
Lima Site 85 existed was only declassified in 1983, and finally the wives could
be believed when they said their husbands were missing in Laos. Some of the
men's files were shown to their families for the first time in 1985. Officially,
the U.S. Air Force "civilians" were assigned to the 1043rd Radar Evaluation
Squadron at Bolling AFB in Washington D.C.

Ann Holland and the other wives have talked and compared notes. They still feel
there is a lot of information to be had. They think someone survived the attack
on Lima Site 85 that day in March 1968. They wonder if their country will bring
those men home.
HOLLEY, TILDEN STEWART

Name: Tilden Stewart Holley
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 389th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Da Nang
Date of Birth: 04 June 1935
Home City of Record: Cameron TX
Date of Loss: 20 January 1968
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 174000N 1062900E (XE573537)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4C

Other Personnel in Incident: James A. Ketterer (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 April 1990 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.

REMARKS: EJECTED; KILLED IN SHOOTOUT

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.

Capt. Tilden S. Holley was the pilot of an F4C in a flight of two aircraft
dispatched from Da Nang on a night armed reconnaissance mission over North
Vietnam. An armed reconnaissance mission's purpose was to seek out enemy
targets and strike them. Holley's backseater on the mission was 1Lt. James A.
Ketterer, whose responsibility was to operate the bombing equipment and other
technical equipment onboard the aircraft.

While striking a target near the city of Quang Khe in Quang Binh Province, North
Vietnam, flight members observed an orange streak of light through the clouds
while Holley's aircraft was making passes over the target. A brief beeper was
heard after the light was seen, but no radio transmissions were received and no
parachutes were observed. Evidently, the aircraft had been hit by enemy fire.

Even though the Air Force states that no parachutes were seen, and no emergency
radio beepers were heard, subsequent information is included in the Defense
Department raw data which may reveal the fates of Ketterer and Holley. The DIA
notation on Holley's incident indicates that he successfully ejected from the
aircraft, but was killed in a shootout with enemy troops in the area.
Ketterer's DIA remarks simply state he is dead, and list the report code
numbers.

Because these men were not found presumptively dead until 1978, it must be
concluded that the DIA reports relating to the two were not confirmed. If they
had been confirmed reports, these two men would have had timely status changes
to Killed in Action, Body Not Recovered. The possibility exists, therefore, that
the two did not die at the point they reached the ground. The possibility
exists, also, that the two were captured alive.

Since American involvement in Vietnam ended in 1975, nearly 10,000 reports
relating to Americans missing, prisoner, or otherwise unaccounted for in
Indochina have been received by the U.S. Government. Many officials, having
examined this largely classified information, have reluctantly concluded that
many Americans are still alive today, held captive by our long-ago enemy.

All the information on Holley, Ketterer, and hundreds of other Americans is not
yet in. As long as reports continue to be received, the hope that some of them
are still alive will persist. Until Vietnam is totally forthcoming with
information -- or live prisoners -- and until the U.S. makes the return of
these men a priority item, there can be no end to the war. It's time we brought
our men home.

HOLLINGER, GREGG NEYMAN

Name: Gregg Neyman Hollinger
Rank/Branch: O3/US Army
Unit: Quartermaster School (QMC), Training Advance Detachment, Training
Directorate, MACV
Date of Birth: 09 May 1942 (Boise ID)
Home City of Record: Paul ID
Date of Loss: 14 December 1971
Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 151835N 1081635E (BU090050)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: U21A
Other Personnel in Incident: Dwight A. Bremmer; Floyd D. Caldwell; John G.
Boyanowski; Cecil C. Perkins Jr.; Otha L. Perry (all missing)

REMARKS: R/R CONT LOST - SEARCH NEG - J

SYNOPSIS: On December 14, 1971, CW2 Otha L. Perry, pilot; Capt. Cecil C.
Perkins, co-pilot; LtCol. John Boyanowski, Capt. Gregg N. Hollinger, SP4 Dwight
A. Bremmer and SSgt. Floyd D. Caldwell, passengers; were aboard a U21A aircraft
(tail #18041), call sign "Long Trip 041, which was lost while flying an
administrative mission from Phu Bai to Da Nang, South Vietnam.

During the flight, about 15 miles northeast of Da Nang, the aircraft
experienced an inflight emergency. The pilot reported that he had lost his
number 2 engine, and had a fire. Within minutes after the emergency, both radio
and radar contact was lost. The aircraft was never seen or heard from again.

Search aircraft proceeded to the last known location of Long Trip 041, but
inclement weather and poor visibility curtailed the search. Extensive searches
were conducted for the next three days, but no trace of the aircraft or
personnel was ever found. The personnel aboard the aircraft were declared dead,
bodies not recoverable.

Sixty days of case study was conducted before declaring these men dead. Early
along in the war, pilots and crew members had been declared dead because
circumstances seemed to dictate that was the case. Later, however, some of
these "dead" pilots turned up in POW camps in North Vietnam, causing a serious
effort to commence NOT to declare a man dead if there was a reasonable chance
(with or without evidence) that he survived.

It is pretty clear that Long Trip ditched. What is not clear from public
record, however, is that the crew died. With no proof of death, no proof of
life, their families are suspended in tortured uncertainty. Jessie Edwards,
mother of Otha Lee Perry says, "He told me if anything happened not to give up
looking for him...no matter how long it's been, I cannot." Perry had been a
former Green Beret who was a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division at Ft.
Bragg. He had received 15 major decorations for Vietnam Service, and had served
in both South Korea and the Dominican Republic. Like the families of all the
crew of Long Trip 041, Jessie Edwards will never give up hope.

Many authorities have examined the thousands of reports relating to Americans
still missing in Southeast Asia, and have come away with the conviction that
hundreds are still captive in communist prisons there.

It would be kindest to hope that the crew of Long Trip 041 died on December 14,
1971. If they didn't, what must they be enduring? What must they think of their
country?



HOLLINGSWORTH, HAL "T"

Name: Hal T Hollingsworth
Rank/Branch: O1/US Navy
Unit: Recon/Attack Squadron 9, USS RANGER (CVA-61)
Date of Birth: 29 June 1942
Home City of Record: Grace ID
Date of Loss: 16 January 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 085446N 1072406E (YQ640860)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: RA5C

Other Personnel In Incident: Charles D. Schoonover (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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: LtCdr. Charles Schoonover was a pilot and Ensign Hal Hollingsworth a
co-pilot of an RA5C Vigilante aircraft assigned to Reconnaissance/Attack
Squadron 9 onboard the aircraft carrier USS Ranger (CVA-61). On January 16,
1966, the two were launched from the carrier on a routine mission.

While the aircraft was airborne, it had mechanical difficulties and crashed at
sea. The accident is listed as having been non-battle related. The USS Ranger
was stationed about 75-100 miles off the coast of South Vietnam, south southeast
of Saigon in the South China Sea.

Hollingsworth and Schoonover are listed with honor among the missing because no
remains were found. Their cases seem quite clear. For others who are listed
missing, resolution is not as simple. Many were known to have survived their
loss incident. Quite a few were in radio contact with search teams and descri-
bing an advancing enemy. Some were photographed or recorded in captivity. Others
simply vanished without a trace.

Reports continue to mount that we abandoned hundreds of Americans to the enemy
when we left Southeast Asia. While Hollingsworth and Schoonover may not be among
them, one can imagine their proud willingness to fly one more mission to bring
in the intelligence needed to secure their rescue and flight to freedom.


LTCDR Charles D. Schoonover graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1954.

HOLM, ARNOLD EDWARD JR.

Name: Arnold Edward Holm, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O3/US Army
Unit:
Date of Birth: 05 March 1944 (New London CT)
Home City of Record: Waterford CT
Date of Loss: 11 June 1972
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 162326N 1072407E (YD565135)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: OH6A
Other Personnel In Incident: Wayne Bibbs; Robin R. Yeakley (missing from one
OH6A); James E. Hackett; James R. McQuade, Richard D. Wiley (missing from
second OH6A).

REMARKS: EXPLODE - NO PARABEEPERS - J

SYNOPSIS: By December 1971, U.S. troops in-country had declined dramatically -
from the 1968 peak of nearly 55,000 to less than 30,000. The enemy, temporarily
on the defensive by the moves into Cambodia in 1970 and Laos in 1971, began
deploying new NVA forces southward in preparation for another major offensive.

In March 1972, the Vietnamese launched a three-pronged invasion of the South.
One NVA force swept south across the DMZ, its goal apparently the conquest of
the northern provinces and the seizure of Hue. A second NVA force drove from
Laos into the Central Highlands, and a third effort involved a drive from
Cambodia into provinces northwest of Saigon.

Fierce fighting ensued on all three fronts, with NVA success the greatest in
the northern provinces. Fighting continued until by June, the North Vietnamese
began withdrawing from some of their advance positions, still holding
considerable amounts of South Vietnamese territory in the northern provinces.

On June 11, 1972, Capt. Arnold Holm, pilot, PFC Wayne Bibbs, gunner, and SP4
Robin Yeakley, passenger, were aboard an OH6A observation helicopter flying
from Camp Eagle to the Northern Provinces of South Vietnam on a visual
reconnaissance mission. The function of their "Loach" chopper was searching out
signs of the enemy around two landing zones (LZ's). The OH6 joined with the
AH1G Cobra gunship as "Pink Teams" to screen the deployment of air cavalry
troops. On this day, Holm's aircraft was monitoring an ARVN team insertion.

During the mission, Holm reported that he saw enemy living quarters, bunkers,
and numerous trails. On his second pass over a ridge, at about 25' altitude,
the aircraft exploded and burned. It was reported that before the aircraft
crashed that smoke and white phosphorous grenades began exploding. After the
aircraft impacted with the ground, it exploded again. Other aircraft in the
area received heavy anti-aircraft fire. No one was seen to exit the downed
helicopter, nor were emergency radio beepers detected.

In another OH6A (tail #67-16275), 1Lt. James R. McQuade, pilot, and SP4 James
E. Hackett, gunner, tried to enter the area of the crashed OH6A, but
encountered heavy fire and their aircraft was also shot down. McQuade's
aircraft was hit, and the intensity of the resulting fire caused white
phosphorous and smoke grenades carried aboard the aircraft to explode prior to
hitting the ground. The aircraft continued to burn after impact and no crewmen
left the ship before or after the crash.

No ground search was made for survivors or remains of either aircraft because
of hostile fire in the area.

There are unanswered questions remaining from Vietnam. Of the nearly 2500
Americans who did not return alive or dead, experts venture that hundreds may
still be alive. Thousands of reports have been received concerning them.
Whether the two OH6A crews are among those seems unlikely. But one can imagine
their willingness to deploy on one more combat team to bring those who are
alive home to freedom.


HOLMAN, GERALD ALLAN

Name: Gerald Allan Holman
Rank/Branch: O2/US Navy
Unit: Carrier Air Early Warning Squadron 12, Detachment 42, USS FRANKLIN D.
ROOSEVELT
Date of Birth: 10 October 1939
Home City of Record: Northville MI
Date of Loss: 14 December 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: (none)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: E1B

Other Personnel In Incident: Edwin Koenig; Richard Mowrey (missing); 2 other
crewmen who were rescued.

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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: AC DITCH - 2 SURV RESC, NT SUBJ - J

SYNOPSIS: The USS FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT was to end its second tour of Vietnam to
leave the battle area by Christmas, 1966. On board was the carrier's early
warning squadron of four aircraft, for which LTJG Gerald A. Holman was
administrative officer. On December 14, Holman was launched from the carrier as
the pilot of an E1B propeller-driven warning plane carrying a crew of five. The
"Willie Fudd" departed on a routine mission, when one of the engines failed.
Holman was forced to ditch into the South China Sea.

Two of the crewmembers survived the crash and were subsequently rescued. Holman,
LTCDR Edwin L. Koenig, and LTJG Richard L. Mowrey were not found. The three were
listed as Killed/Body Not Recovered. The accident was not battle related.

The crewmen of the Willie Fudd are listed with honor among the missing because
no remains were found. Their cases seem quite clear. For others who are listed
missing, resolution is not as simple. Many were known to have survived their
loss incident. Quite a few were in radio contact with search teams and
describing an advancing enemy. Some were photographed or recorded in captivity.
Others simply vanished without a trace.

Reports continue to mount that we abandoned hundreds of Americans to the enemy
when we left Southeast Asia. While the Willie Fudd's crew may not be among them,
one can imagine their proud willingness to fly one more mission to help secure
their rescue.
CASE SYNOPSIS: HOLMES, DAVID HUGH

Name: David Hugh Holmes
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 26 March 1938
Home City of Record: Belmont MA (family in Billings MT)
Loss Date: 15 March 1966
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 164548N 1060821E (XD214536)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: O1E Cessna
Other Personnel In Incident: John Michel Nash; Glenn McElroy (both missing on
OV-1)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Captain David Holmes was flying FAC (Forward Air Control) on an O1E
"Bird Dog" aircraft in Laos on March 15, 1966. His radio call sign was "Hound
Dog 54: on this "Tiger Hound" operation. Holmes was flying over a large
concentration of NVA toops maintaining a truck park along the Ho Chi Minh Trail
when his plane was struck by anti-aircraft fire from at least one of the 6 gun
emplacements and crashed into the foliage on the east side of the Se Nam Kok
River valley about 300 meters from the village of Ban Keng Khan Kao.

Another O1E, call sign "Hound Dog 50" was dispatched immediately and observed
Holmes, apparently unconscious, sitting in the cockpit of his plane. At this
time (2:35 p.m.), Hound Dog 50 also observed the OV-1 Mohawk flown by Michel
Nash and Glenn McElroy enter the line of enemy fire on the west side of the
valley.  The OV-1 was shot down with Nash and McElroy aboard.

Because of the plane losses and the discovery of the troops and gun
emplacements, F-4's (call sign Oxwood 95) and A1E Skyraiders were called in and the
ensuing battle raged for 4-5 hours that afternoon in the operational area known
as "ECHO".

On March 16, a search and rescue team flew to the crash site of David Holmes'
O1E and found the plane empty. Their report states that he was either removed
from the plane or left under his own power. URC-10 emergency radio signals were
heard four times in the next 6 days, but it was thought that the signals were
initiated by the enemy as voice contact was never made. Holmes, Nash and
McElroy all had URC-10 radios.

Just over 20 years from the day the two aircraft went down, U.S. teams had the
opportunity to examine and excavate the crash site of Nash and McElroy's OV1A.
There was no shred of evidence that anyone died in the aircraft. No human
remains or bone fragments were found.

In 1973, 591 Americans were released from prisons in Vietnam. Holmes, Nash
McElroy were not among them, nor were nearly 2500 other Americans who went
missing in Southeast Asia. Of this 2500, nearly 600 are missing in Laos. No
prisoners held in Laos were released in 1973, nor has there ever been any
agreement reached which would free them.

Were there not thousands of reports indicating hundreds of Americans are still
held captive in Southeast Asia, America might be able to close this chapter of
the Vietnam war. But if there is even ONE American prisoner, we cannot forget.
We must bring them home.

NOTE: The 20th Aviation Detachment existed until December 1966, at which time
it was reassigned as the 131st Aviation Company, 223rd Aviation Battalion
(Combat Support). The 131st Aviation Company had been assigned to I Corps
Aviation Battalion since June 1966, when it arrived in Vietnam. In August 1967,
the 131st Aviation Company was reassigned to the 212th Aviation Battalion where
it remained until July 1971, whereupon it transferred out of Vietnam.

There were a large number of pilots lost from this unit, including Thaddeus E.
Williams and James P. Schimberg (January 9, 1966); John M. Nash and Glenn D.
McElroy (March 15, 1966); James W. Gates and John W. Lafayette (April 6, 1966);
Robert G. Nopp and Marshall Kipina (July 14, 1966); Jimmy M. Brasher and Robert
E. Pittman (September 28, 1966); James M. Johnstone and James L. Whited
(November 19, 1966); Larry F. Lucas (December 20, 1966); and Jack W. Brunson
and Clinton A. Musil (May 31, 1971). Missing OV1 aircraft crew from the
20th/131st represent well over half of those lost on OV1 aircraft during the
war.

U.S. Army records list both Nopp and Kipina as part of the "131st Aviation
Company, 14th Aviation Battalion", yet according to "Order of Battle" by Shelby
Stanton, a widely recognized military source, this company was never assigned
to the 14th Aviation Battalion. The 131st was known as "Nighthawks", and was a
surveillance aircraft company.

HOLMES, FREDERICK L.

Name: Frederick L. Holmes
Rank/Branch: USN, O4
Unit:
Date of Birth: 19 December 36
Home City of Record: Morgan Hill, CA
Date of Loss: 30 December 71
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 184500N 1055000E
Status (in 1973): Missing
Category: 3
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: A6A

Other Personnel In Incident: Lt. Burton (rescued)

Source: Compiled by THE P.O.W. NETWORK 02 February 93 from the following
published sources - POW/MIA's -- Report of the Select Committee on POW/MIA
Affairs United States Senate -- January 13, 1993. "The Senate Select
Committee staff has prepared case summaries for the priority cases that the
Administration is now investigating. These provide the facts about each
case, describe the circumstances under which the individual was lost, and
detail the information learned since the date of loss.  Information in the
case summaries is limited to information from casualty files, does not
include any judgments by Committee staff, and attempts to relate essential
facts. The Committee acknowledges that POW/MIAs' primary next-of- kin know
their family members' cases in more comprehensive detail than summarized
here and recognizes the limitations that the report format imposes on these
summaries."

On December 30, 1971, Lieutenant Commander Holmes and his co-pilot,
Lieutenant Burton, were the lead A-6 aircraft in a strike mission over North
Vietnam.  Their aircraft was observed to take a direct hit from a surface to
air missile.  Lieutenant Burton was wounded, blown clear of the aircraft and
his parachute deployed successfully.  Another aircraft on the scene reported
seeing two good chutes deploy, but this report was later viewed as not
confirmed.  A search and rescue aircraft then reported both pilots in sight
and in the water off Hon Nieu Island.  Lieutenant Burton was rescued by U.S.
forces.  SAR forces located a pilot's ejection seat and life raft possibly
belonging to Lieutenant Commander Holmes but were unable to locate either
him or his chute in an area with a large number of North Vietnamese sampans.

A Radio Hanoi broadcast referenced this incident, one of several U.S.
aircraft losses on the same date in the southern part of North Vietnam.
While some pilots were reported captured alive, Lieutenant Commander Holmes'
name was not identified among those captured.  One returning POW recognized
Lieutenant Commander Holmes' name but no returning POWs ever reported him
alive in the northern Vietnamese prison system.

In April 1975 Lieutenant Commander Holmes case was submitted for a casualty
review at the request of his next of kin.  He was declared dead/body not
recovered.

CASE SYNOPSIS: HOLT, JAMES WILLIAM

Name: James William Holt
Rank/Branch: E7/US Army Special Forces
Unit: Company C, Detachment A-101, 5th Special Forces Group
Date of Birth: 19 September 1941 (Hope AR)
Home City of Record: Hot Springs AR
Loss Date: 07 February 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 163602N 1064058E (XD795360)
Status (In 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 1
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Personnel In Incident: Dennis L. Thompson; William G. McMurry; Harvey G.
Brande; (all released 1973). Kenneth Hanna; Daniel R. Phillips; James W. Holt;
James Moreland; Charles Lindewald; (all missing); Eugene Ashley Jr. (killed)

REMARKS: OVERRUN AT SF CAMP

SYNOPSIS: The Lang Vei Special Forces camp in the northwestern corner of South
Vietnam along Route 9, a mile and a half from the Laotian border.had been
established in late December 1966 as a result of the Special Forces Detachment
A101 having been moved out of its former Khe Sanh location. It seemed ill fated
from the beginning.

In March 1967, one of the worst tragedies to befall the Special Forces CIDG
program during the war occurred. U.S. Air Force released napalm ordnance on the
nearby village which spewed exploding fire over the camp, landing zone,
minefield and village. 135 CIDG and native civilians were killed, and 213 were
horribly wounded, burned or disfigured.

Only two months later, on May 4, a Viet Cong night attack on the camp wiped out
the Special Forces command group, all in one bunker, and killed the detachment
commander and his executive officer, as well as seriously wounding the team
sergeant. This attack was a prelude to the larger siege of Khe Sanh, and was a
grim reminder of the dangerous neighborhood Special Forces had moved into.

By January 1968, several North Vietnamese Army divisions had encircled the
Marine combat base at Khe Sanh, placing the more westerly Lang Vei Special
Forces frontier surveillance camp in imminent danger. The camp was occupied by
Detachment A101 commanded by Capt. Frank C. Willoughby. Willoughby was
rebuilding and reinforcing the camp at the time, while soldiers and dependants
from the Kha tribal 33rd Laotian Volunteer Battalion streamed into the camp
after being overrun by NVA tanks across the border.

On the evening of January 24, the camp was pounded by mortars in conjunction
with a heavy shelling of the Marine Khe Sanh base, which prevented any
effective artillery support for Lang Vei. 1Lt. Paul R. Longgrear had only
recently arrived with his Hre tribal 12th Mobile Strike Force Company to help
shore up defensive firepower.

The influx of the Laotians caused some problems. For example, the Lao battalion
commander refused to take orders from the American captain, forcing the Company
C commander, LtCol. Daniel F. Schungel, to come to Lang Vei on his first
Special Forces assignment on February 6 to provide an officer of equal rank.

Camp strength on February 6 totalled 24 Special Forces, 14 LLDB, 161 mobile
strike force, 282 CIDG (Bru and Vietnamese), 6 interpreters and 520 Laotian
soldiers, plus a number of civilians.

Shortly after midnight on February 7, 1968, a combined NVA infantry-tank
assault drove into Lang Vei. Two PT-76 tanks threatened the outer perimeter of
the camp as infantry rushed behind them. SFC James W. Holt destroyed both tanks
with shots from his 106mm recoilless rifle. More tanks came around the burning
hulks of the first two tanks and began to roll over the 104th CIDG Company's
defensive positions. SSgt. Peter Tiroch, the assistant intelligence sergeant,
ran over to Holt's position and helped load the weapon. Holt quickly lined up a
third tank in his sights and destroyed it with a direct hit. After a second
shot at the tank, Holt and Tiroch left the weapons pit just before it was
demolished by return cannon fire. Tiroch watched Holt run over to the
ammunition bunker to look for some hand-held Light Anti-tank Weapons (LAWs). It
was the last time Holt was ever seen.

LtCol. Schungel, 1Lt. Longgrear, SSgt. Arthur Brooks, Sgt. Nikolas Fragos, SP4
William G. McMurry, Jr., and LLDB Lt. Quy desperately tried to stop the tanks
with LAWs and grenades. They even climbed on the plated engine decks, trying to
pry open hatches to blast out the crews. NVA infantrymen followed the vehicles
closely, dusting their sides with automatic rifle fire. One tank was stopped by
five direct hits, and the crew killed as they tried to abandon the vehicle. 1Lt.
Miles R. Wilkins, the detachment executive officer, left the mortar pit with
several LAWs and fought a running engagement with one tank beside the team
house without much success.

Along the outer perimeters, the mobile strike force outpost was receiving fire.
Both Kenneth Hanna, a heavy weapons specialist, and Charles W. Lindewald, 12th
Mobile Strike Force platoon leader, were wounded. Hanna, wounded in the scalp,
left shoulder and arm tried to administer first aid to Lindewald. The two were
last seen just before their position was overrun. Harvey Brande spoke with them
by radio and Hanna indicated that Lindewald was then dead, and that he himself
was badly wounded. Daniel R. Phillips, a demolitions specialist, was wounded in
the face and was last seen trying to evade North Vietnamese armor by going
through the northern perimeter wire.
.
NVA sappers armed with satchel charges, tear gas grenades and flamethrowers
fought through the 101st, 102nd and 103rd CIDG perimeter trenches and captured
both ends of the compound by 2:30 a.m. Spearheaded by tanks, they stormed the
inner compound. LtCol. Schungel and his tank-killer personnel moved back to the
command bunker for more LAWs. They were pinned behind a row of dirt and rock
filled drums by a tank that had just destroyed one of the mortar pits. A LAW
was fired against the tank with no effect. The cannon swung around and blasted
the barrels in front of the bunker entrance. The explosion temporarily blinded
McMurry and mangled his hands, pitched a heavy drum on top of Lt. Wilkins and
knocked Schungel flat. Lt. Quy managed to escape to another section of the
camp, but the approach of yet another tank prevented Schungel and Wilkins from
following. At some point during this period, McMurry, a radioman, disappeared.

The tank, which was shooting at the camp observation post, was destroyed with a
LAW. Schungel helped Wilkins over to the team house, where he left both doors
ajar and watched for approaching NVA soldiers. Wilkins was incapacitated and
weaponless, and Schungel had only two grenades and two magazines of ammunition
left. He used one magazine to kill a closely huddled five-man sapper squad
coming toward the building. He fed his last magazine into his rifle as the team
house was rocked with explosions and bullets. The two limped over to the
dispensary, which was occupied by NVA soldiers, and hid underneath it, behind a
wall of sandbags.

At some point, Brande, Thompson and at least one Vietnamese interpreter were
captured by the North Vietnamese. Thompson was uninjured, but Brande had taken
shrapnel in his leg. Brande and Thompson were held separately for a week, then
rejoined in Laos. Joined with them was McMurry, who had also been captured
from the camp. The three were moved up the Ho Chi Minh trail to North Vietnam
and held until 1973. The U.S. did not immediately realize they had been
captured, and carried them in Missing in Action status thoughout the rest of
the war, although Brande's photo was positively identified by a defector in
April 1969 as being a Prisoner of War. A Vietnamese interpreter captured from
the camp told Brande later that he had seen both Lindewald and Hanna, and that
they both were dead.

Several personnel, including Capt. Willoughby, SP4 James L. Moreland, the medic
for the mobile strike force, and Lt. Quan, the LLDB camp commander, were
trapped in the underground level of the command bunker. Lt. Longgrear had also
retreated to the command bunker. Satchel charges, thermite grenades and gas
grenades were shoved down the bunker air vents, and breathing was very
difficult. Some soldiers had gas masks, but others had only handkerchiefs or
gauze from their first aid packets.

The NVA announced they were going to blow up the bunker, and the LLDB personnel
walked up the stairs to surrender, and were summarily executed. At dawn, two
large charges were put down the vent shaft and detonated, partially demolishing
the north wall and creating a large hole through which grenades were pitched.
The bunker defenders used upturned furniture and debris to shield themselves.
Willoughby was badly wounded by grenade fragments and passed out at 8:30 a.m.
Moreland had been wounded and became delirious after receiving a head injury in
the final bunker explosion. Incredibly, the battle was still going on in other
parts of the camp.

Aircraft had been strafing the ravines and roads since 1:00 a.m. Throughout the
battle, the Laotians refused to participate, saying they would attack at first
light. Sfc. Eugene Ashley, Jr., the intelligence sergeant, led two assistant
medical specialists, Sgt. Richard H. Allen and SP4 Joel Johnson as they
mustered 60 of the Laotian soldiers and counterattacked into Lang Vei. The
Laotians bolted when a NVA machine gun crew opened fire on them, forcing the
three Americans to withdraw.

Team Sfc. William T. Craig and SSgt. Tiroch had chased tanks throughout the
night with everything from M-79 grenade launchers to a .50 caliber machine gun.
After it had become apparent that the camp had been overrun, they escaped
outside the wire and took temporary refuge in a creek bed. After daylight, they
saw Ashley's counterattack force and joined him. The Special Forces sergeants
persuaded more defenders fleeing down Route 9 to assist them and tried second,
third and fourth assaults. Between each assault, Ashley directed airstrikes on
the NVA defensive line, while the other Special Forces soldiers gathered tribal
warriors for yet another attempt. On the fifth counterattack, Ashley was
mortally wounded only thirty yards from the command bunker.

Capt. Willoughby had regained consciousness in the bunker about 10:00 a.m. and
established radio contact with the counterattacking Americans. The continual
American airstrikes had forced the North Vietnamese to begin withdrawing from
the camp. Col. Schungel and Lt. Wilkins emerged from under the dispensary after
it was vacated by the North Vietnamese and hobbled out of the camp.

The personnel in the bunker also left in response to orders to immediately
evacuate the camp. They carried Sgt. John D. Early, who had been badly wounded
by shrapnel while manning the tower, but were forced to leave SP4 Moreland
inside the bunker. 1Lt. Thomas D. Todd, an engineer officer in charge of
upgrading Lang Vei's airstrip, held out in the medical bunker throughout the
battle. That afternoon, he was the last American to pass through the ruined
command bunker. He saw Moreland, who appeared to be dead, covered with debris.

Maj. George Quamo gathered a few dozen Special Forces commando volunteers from
the MACV-SOG base at Khe Sanh (FOB #3) and led a heroic reinforcing mission
into Lang Vei. His arrival enabled the Lang Vei defenders to evacuate the area,
many by Marine helicopters in the late afternoon.

Sgt. Richard H. Allen - Survivor
Sfc Eugene Ashley, Jr. - Awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for Lang Vei
Harvey Gordon Brande - Captured - released POW in 1973
SSgt. Arthur Brooks - Survivor
Sfc. William T. Craig - Survivor
Sgt. John D. Early - Survivor
Sgt. Nikolas Fragos - Survivor
Kenneth Hanna - Missing In Action
James William Holt - Missing In Action
SP4 Joel Johnson - Survivor
Charles Wesley Lindewald, Jr. - Missing In Action
1Lt. Paul R. Longgrear - Survivor
SP4 William G. McMurry - Captured - released POW in 1973
James Leslie Moreland - Missing In Action
Daniel Raymond Phillips - Missing In Action
Maj. George Quamo - Killed in Action April 14, 1968
Lt. Quy - Survivor
LtCol. Daniel F. Schungel - appointed deputy commander of the 5th Special Forces
Dennis L. Thompson - Captured - released POW in 1973
SSgt. Peter Tiroch - Survivor
1Lt. Thomas D. Todd - Survivor
1Lt. Miles R. Wilkins - Survivor
Capt. Frank C. Willoughby - Survivor







HOLTON, ROBERT EDWIN

Name: Robert Edwin Holton
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 08 April 1941
Home City of Record: Butte MT
Date of Loss: 29 January 1969
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 173230N 1054500E (WE807399)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D

Other Personnel In Incident: William E. Campbell (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 30 June 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 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.

Major William E. Campbell was a Phantom pilot assigned a combat mission over
Laos on January 29, 1969. His bombardier/navigator on the mission was Capt.
Robert E. Holton. Their mission would take them to the Mu Gia Pass area of Laos.

The Mu Gia Pass was one of several passageways through the mountainous border of
Vietnam and Laos. American aircraft flying from Thailand to missions over North
Vietnam flew through them regularly, and many aircraft were lost. On the Laos
side of the border coursed the "Ho Chi Minh Trail," a road system heavily
traveled by North Vietnamese troops moving materiel and personnel to their
destinations through the relative safety of neutral Laos, coursing into Laos
through the Mu Gia Pass and traveling south. The return ratio of men lost in and
around the passes is far lower than that of those men lost in more populous
areas, even though both were shot down by the same enemy and the same weapons.
This is partly due to the extremely rugged terrain and resulting difficulty in
recovery.

During the mission, Campbell's aircraft was hit by enemy fire and crashed. Both
Campbell and Holton were listed Missing in Action since the distinct possibility
existed that they both survived to be captured.

Campbell and Holton are among nearly 600 Americans who are missing in Laos. The
prisoners held by the Lao were not dealt for in the peace agreements that ended
American involvement in Southeast Asia. When 591 American prisoners were
released from Vietnam in 1973, no Lao-held American prisoners were among them.
Even though the Lao publicly referred to the prisoners they held, no agreement
has ever been made for their release.

Since the end of the war, over 10,000 reports of Americans alive and held in
captivity have been received by our government. The evidence suggests that
hundreds are still waiting to come home. Detractors say that the U.S. is
ignoring good information on POWs for political expediency; the U.S. Government
says that actionable evidence is not available.

There are nearly 2500 Americans missing in Southeast Asia. Unlike "MIAs" from
other wars, most of these men and women can be accounted for. The overwhelming
priority, however, must be for those who are alive. Every effort must be made to
free them and bring them home.


William E. Campbell, who graduated from Texas A & M in 1952, was promoted to the
rank of Colonel during the period he was maintained missing.

HOLTZMAN, RONALD LEE

Name: Ronald Lee Holtzman
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: 119th Aviation Company, 52nd Aviation Battalion, 17th Aviation Group, 1st
Aviation Brigade
Date of Birth: 19 January 1946 (Winchester VA)
Home City of Record: Whitepoint VA
Loss Date: 24 August 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 141813N 1075140E (ZA087831)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H
Other Personnel in Incident: Richard M. Allard; Kenneth B. Goff; Richard Schell
(all missing); Dayton Witherall; Richard N. Morrison; John R. Ulp; Cynthia
Colburn (all rescued); Sterling A. Wall (died, body recovered)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On August 24, 1967, WO Dayton Witherall, pilot; WO Richard N.
Morrison, aircraft commander; SP4 Richard L. Holtzman, gunner; SP4 Richard M.
Allard, crewchief; 2Lt. Kenneth B. Goff, 2Lt. Richard J. Schell, Sgt. Major
John R. Ulp, 1Lt. Sterling A. Wall, and Miss Cynthia Colburn, passengers; were
aboard a UH1C helicopter (serial #66-12526) which departed Polei Kleng, South
Vietnam to Plei Krong, South Vietnam on a combat support liaison mission.

The 4th Infantry, with the assistance of the 25th Infantry Division and 1st
Cavalry (Airmobile), was at that time conducting an operation called Paul
Revere IV, a continuing effort near the Cambodian border of Pleiku Province.
The UH1H flying over Pleiku Province that day in August 1966 was flying out of
Pleiku, where its crew and passengers were stationed.

(NOTE: While the U.S. Army and describes the flight mission as combat-related,
it also acknowledges that Ms. Colburn was on the aircraft, a situation which
was "illegal", as women serving in Vietnam were not supposed to be placed in
combat situations. It is not clear in public record why she was on the
aircraft, although Phyllis Allard, Richard Allard's mother, has said that the
aircraft was carrying passengers enroute from a hospital and that Colburn was a
Red Cross worker.)

During the flight, the pilot elected to fly low-level along the Dak Bla River.
While attempting a 180 degree turn, the aircraft failed to recover and was
caught in a severe downdraft and crashed into the Krong Bo Lah River in about
10 feet of water at a point where the current was swift and the water was deep.
(NOTE: loss coordinates place the site of loss unquestionably on the Se San
River about 15 miles southwest of the city of Kontum, and about 28 miles due
south of the city of Dak To. Just south of Dak To is the juncture of the Se San
and another river. Whether at this juncture the two rivers have other names
cannot be determined with materials on hand at the time of this writing.
Information provided by family members states that the aircraft landed in the
"bottomless, rapid Boc River called Dak Bla".)

Rescue helicopters arrived 10 - 45 minutes after the crash and rescued WO
Morrison, WO Witherall, Ms Colburn and Sgt. Major Ulp, after their having been
swept several hundred feet downstream. 2Lt. Goff, SP4 Allard and 2Lt. Schell
were not seen by any of the survivors after the crash. SP4 Holtzman was seen by
WO Morrison, who stated that Holtzman was wearing a flight jacket, armor plate,
and a flak jacket, and called out to Morrison that he could not swim. WO
Morrison stated that Holtzman drifted away in the swift current before he could
help him.

Later searches of the area revealed several pieces of debris, but the aircraft
itself was not found. In September, Lt. Wall's body was retrieved from the
river. Searches were conducted through December 26, but neither the aircraft
nor the four missing men aboard it were found.

Richard Allard's mother received a collect call from Cambodia a few days after
the crash by someone she believed was Richard. She subsequently had the call
checked by Illinois Bell and states that the results "produced evidence that
they [the crew] were in the hands of the enemy". In 1970 she saw a prisoner on
television in a Viet Cong film which she believed was Richard. The Army was
elusive in its conclusions on both events, so Mrs. Allard borrowed money from
friends to go to Cambodia in January of 1972.

Through a series of events which belong in a spy novel, Mrs. Allard said that
she found herself in a cave where she was blindfolded and led into a bare room.
An official and a soldier came in with her son. In the moments he was allowed
to stay, he said, "Shame on you for coming." He apparently was afraid for his
mother's safety. The Army later said they couldn't believe Mrs. Allard's
account unless the Communists corroborated it in writing. Mrs. Allard has
worked continually for 22 years for information about her son.

In 1969, a communist defector was shown a number of photographs of missing men.
One of the photos he identified positively as being a prisoner of war was
Richard Schell. The U.S. could not determine why the photo was selected.

Clearly, all the evidence is not in on the events of August 24, 1967. Whether
Mrs. Allard's story is true is unknown. Whether Allard and Schell were truly
prisoners can only be known by the communists, and of course, Allard and Schell
themselves. The Vietnamese deny any knowledge of any of the four missing.


HOPPER, EARL PEARSON JR.

Name: Earl Pearson Hopper, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit: 13th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Udorn AB TH
Date of Birth: 21 July 1943
Home City of Record: Glendale AZ
Date of Loss: 10 January 1968
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 202559N 1044659E (VH774777)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D

Other Personnel In Incident: Keith N. Hall (released POW)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 October 1990 from information
provided by Col. Earl P. Hopper, Sr. (USA, ret.) and Patty Skelly of Task Force
Omega, Inc., as well as information from a December, 1984 article by Larry J.
O'Daniel. Other information from one more of the following: raw data from U.S.
Government agency sources, published sources, interviews.

REMARKS: EJECTION PROBS/DWN/CRASH

SYNOPSIS: Capt. Keith N. Hall and 1Lt. Earl P. Hopper, Jr. were pilots assigned
to the 13th Tactical Fighter Squadron based at Udorn Airbase, Thailand. On
January 10, 1968 the two flew their first mission together on an "aircap"
mission over Hanoi. Hall was the pilot, and Hopper flew as Bombardier/Navigator
on the flight. During the mission, the aircraft was damaged by a SAM missile
exploding 100 feet below and to the right of the aircraft, knocking out the
hydraulic system. Neither Hall nor Hopper was injured by the blast.

After some initial ejection problems, Capt. Hall, was able to bail out. [Note:
Normal ejection sequence calls for the backseater to bail out first, followed a
few seconds later by the pilot.] Other pilots in the flight marked Hall's
position, then continued with Hopper as he headed for Laos.

Hopper was about 15 miles north of Muong Min in Hoa Binh Province and nearly to
the border of Laos when he ejected. Hall had ejected about 20 miles to the east.
The accompanying pilots observed the canopy of the aircraft and Hopper's
ejection seat leave the aircraft as the aircraft was about to enter a 5,000 foot
overcast. The pilots also picked up two emergency radio signals, one very strong
and the other rather weak, indicating that both men reached the ground.

Hall was captured about 40 minutes after he bailed out. Hopper's radio signal
was tracked for three consecutive days in the rugged, mountainous area where
the aircraft went down. On the second or third day, a pilot monitoring the
beeper gave Hopper's recognition code and said, "Lt. Hopper, if that's you, give
me 15-second intervals (in his radio signal)." The pilot received six 15-second
intervals in a positive response. This information was released to the family in
a February 8, 1968 communique. On about the third day, a ground search team was
inserted into the area, and recovered Hopper's radio, but no trace of Hopper was
found.

Hall was captured by the North Vietnamese and released in 1973. Hall was closely
interrogated regarding personal information about Hopper, but knew little. The
Vietnamese guard was noncommittal when Hall asked if Hopper was also a prisoner.

On July 14, 1982, "due to the length of time missing and with no information to
prove he is alive," Hopper's official status, Missing In Action, was changed to
Presumed Killed In Action. Only two months later, a three-man judiciary
committee from the U.S. Justice Department, Foreign Claims Settlement
Commission, found officially that Hopper should have been classified Prisoner of
War, not Missing In Action.

During the first few months of 1984, the Hopper family learned that CIA had
always listed Hopper as a POW. Further, CIA files revealed that the agency had
tracked Hopper as he headed for a "safe" area in Laos, that there were heavy
concentrations of NVA and Pathet Lao troops in the area searching for the downed
pilot, and that the CIA sent a free Lao team to extract him. When Hopper knew he
was in imminent danger of being captured, he locked the transmission key on his
radio in the "on" position, extended the antenna, and hid it, thus marking his
location of capture for the search team.

From 1981 to 1984, Major Mark A. Smith (a returned POW from Vietnam) and SFC
Melvin McIntyre, both attached to Special Forces Detachment, Korea (SFDK) were
pursuing DIA instructions to gather intelligence on American POWs who remained
in captivity in Southeast Asia. Smith and McIntyre, who did not believe
Americans were held, obtained specific information which convinced them that
Americans were still alive at that time, held captive. Among other evidence
presented to the U.S. was a list of some 26 Americans by name and captivity
location. Earl Hopper's name was on the list.

In 1984, Maj. Smith received word that on 11 May three U.S. POWs would be
brought to a given location on the Lao/Thai border. The only prerequisite was
that the POWs be received by an American. Smith's request to stand on the border
and wait for delivery was refused, and he and his team were commanded to remain
in Korea. If the three Americans were brought to the border, no one was there to
receive them. Smith and McIntyre believed Hopper to be one of the three men.

The information obtained by Smith and McIntyre was provided under oath to the
Senate Veterans Affairs Committee on January 28, 1986, and included in a lawsuit
the two initiated against the U.S. Government for its failure to protect the
rights of live American POWs in Southeast Asia.

Parents Earl and Betty Hopper have diligently sought information on their son
and others who disappeared in Southeast Asia. They believe there is actionable
evidence that some are still alive in captivity. Until that evidence is acted
upon, and proof is obtained to the contrary, they will not give up hope that
their son is alive.

1Lt. Earl Hopper graduated from the Air Force Academy in 1965 and was promoted
to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel during the period he was maintained missing.
HORCHAR, ANDREW ANTHONY JR.

Name: Andrew Anthony Horchar, Jr.
Rank/Branch: E3/US Navy
Unit: Carrier Early Warning Squadron 116, US CORAL SEA (CVA 43)
Date of Birth: 13 February 1947
Home City of Record: Indiana PA
Date of Loss: 09 April 1970
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 174757N 1074659E (YE950700)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: E2A

Other Personnel in Incident: Larry C. Knight; Brian L. Bushnell; Charles B.
Pfaffmann (all 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: DWN AT SEA - NO SURV OBS - J

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.

One of the aircraft that launched from the decks of the CORAL SEA was the
Grumman E2A Hawkeye was a strange-looking aircraft, with twin turboprop engines,
four vertical stabilizers (three of which were actually necessary for controlled
flight, the remaining surface being added for appearance's sake), and a large,
24-foot diameter radome which rotated at six revolutions per minute, on a pylon
directly above the fuselage. The E2A mission was airborne early warning,
vectoring fighters and strike bombers to and from targets on the ground, as well
as airborne threats of MiG interceptors. The Hawkeye was literally the aerial
nerve center of the fleet, controlling bomber strikes and MiG-killing missions
with equal facility.

LTJG Charles B. Pfaffmann was an E2A pilot assigned to Carrier Early Warning
Squadron 116 onboard the USS CORAL SEA. On April 9, 1970, he and his co-pilot LT
Larry C. Knight and technicians Seamen Brian L. Bushnell and Andrew A. Horchar
Jr. were launched in their E2A Hawkeye on a routine mission over Vietnam.
Immediately after launch, the aircraft crew reported a fire and their intention
to return to the ship. LT Pfaffmann's aircraft impacted the water about three
miles ahead of the CORAL SEA. A rescue helicopter and escort destroyer were on
the scene within minutes. No survivors were seen, and no remains were recovered.

The crew of the Hawkeye is listed among the missing because their remains were
never found to send home to the country they served. They died a tragically
ironic death in the midst of war. But, for their families, the case seems clear
that the men died on that day. The fact that they have no bodies to bury with
honor is not of great significance.

For other who are missing, however, the evidence leads not to death, but to
survival. Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports received relating to
Americans still held captive in Indochina have convinced experts that hundreds
of men are still alive, waiting for their country to rescue them. The notion
that Americans are dying without hope in the hands of a long-ago enemy belies
the idea that we left Vietnam with honor. It also signals that tens of thousands
of lost lives were a frivolous waste of our best men.


HORNE, STANLEY HENRY
Remains Returned 08 April 1990 - ID Announced 14 November 1990

Name: Stanley Henry Horne
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 19 May 1926
Home City of Record: Los Angeles CA
Date of Loss: 14 January 1968
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 214300N 1045100E (WK078059)
Status (in 1973): Prisoner of War
Category: 1
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F105D

Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 February 1991 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 F105 Thunderchief ("Thud"), in its various versions, flew more
missions against North Vietnam than any other U.S. aircraft. It also suffered
more losses, partially due to its vulnerability, which was constantly under
revision. Between 1965 and 1971, the aircraft was equipped with armor plate, a
secondary flight control system, an improved pilot ejection seat, a more precise
navigation system, better blind bombing capability and ECM pods for the wings.
The D version was a single-place aircraft.

Maj. Stanley H. Horne was the pilot of an F105D Thunderchief dispatched on a
mission over North Vietnam on January 14, 1968. At a point on the Red River
near the city of Yen Bai in Nhgia Lo Province, Horne's aircraft was shot down
and he was never seen again. Horne was declared Missing in Action. The U.S.
Government believed the enemy knew his fate, but had no evidence to confirm
this.

Records on American military personnel were maintained in various government
agencies. Raw intelligence data from Southeast Asia freqently first found its
way into the files of the organization which came to be known as Joint Casualty
Resolution Center (JCRC). Many analysts believed JCRC records were the most
complete and authoritative, since they contained largely raw data without
benefit of analytical "muddling".

In November 1973, JCRC received a cable from Defense Intelligence Agency which
was copied to various high stations, including CIA, the Secretary of State and
the White House. The cable stated JCRC should "take necessary action to delete
any references pertaining to PW [Prisoner of War] status and place members in a
new MIA code" the files of Stanley Horne and several others. Whether JCRC had
intelligence that indicated Stanley Horne had been captured is unknown.
Ironically, Horne went down very near one of the prison locations (at Yen Bai)
which was determined to have held U.S. prisoners.

Since American involvement in Vietnam ended in 1975, nearly 10,000 reports
relating to Americans missing, prisoner, or otherwise unaccounted for in
Indochina have been received by the U.S. Government. Many officials, having
examined this largely classified information, have reluctantly concluded that
many Americans are still alive today, held captive by our long-ago enemy.

Whether Horne survived the crash of his aircraft to be captured by the enemy is
certain not known. It is not known if he might be among those thought to be
still alive today. What is certain, however, is that as long as even one
American remains alive, held against his will, we owe him our very best efforts
to bring him to freedom.

In April 1990, remains were recovered which were subsequently identified as
being those of Stanley Henry Horne. In November of the same year, the U.S.
officially announced his return home after 22 years.

HOSKEN, JOHN CHARLES

Name: John Charles Hosken
Rank/Branch: W1/US Army
Unit: 170th Aviation Company, 17th Aviation Group, 52nd Aviation Battalion, 1st
Aviation Brigade
Date of Birth: 23 August 1947 (Cleveland OH)
Home City of Record: Chagrin Falls OH
Date of Loss: 24 March 1970
Country of Loss: Cambodia
Loss Coordinates: 142750N 1071816E (YB484003)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 3
Acft/Venicle/Ground: UH1H

Other Personnel in Incident: Berman Ganoe; Rudy M. Becerra; Michael O'Donnell;
John Boronski; Gary A. Harned, Jerry L. Pool (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 July 1990 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, including James E. Lake's account found in
"Life on the Line" by Philip D. Chinnery, interviews.

REMARKS: SURVIVAL UNLIKELY - PER SAR

SYNOPSIS: Kontum, South Vietnam was in the heart of "Charlie country" -- hostile
enemy territory. The little town is along the Ia Drang River, some forty miles
north of the city of Pleiku. U.S. forces never had much control over the area.
In fact, the area to the north and east of Kontum was freefire zone where
anything and anyone was free game. The Kontum area was home base to what was
known as FOB2 (Forward Observation Base 2), a classified, long-term operations
of the Special Operations Group (SOG) that involved daily operations into Laos
and Cambodia. SOG teams operated out of Kontum, but staged out of Dak To.

The mission of the 170th Assault Helicopter Company ("Bikinis") was to perform
the insertion, support, and extraction of these SOG teams deep in the forest on
"the other side of the fence" (a term meaning Laos or Cambodia, where U.S.
forces were not allowed to be based). Normally, the teams consisted of two
"slicks" (UH1 general purpose helicopters), two Cobras (AH1 assault helicopters)
and other fighter aircraft which served as standby support.

On March 24, 1970, helicopters from the 170th were sent to extract a MACV-SOG
long-range reconnaissance patrol (LRRP) team which was in contact with the enemy
about fourteen miles inside Cambodia in Ratanokiri Province. The flight leader,
RED LEAD, serving as one of two extraction helicopters was commanded by James E.
Lake. Capt. Michael D. O'Donnell was the aircraft commander of one of the two
cover aircraft (serial #68-15262, RED THREE). His crew consisted of WO John C.
Hoskins, pilot; SP4 Rudy M. Beccera, crew chief; and SP4 Berman Ganoe, gunner.

The MACV-SOG team included 1LT Jerry L. Pool, team leader and team members SSGT
John A. Boronsky and SGT Gary A. Harned as well as five indigenous team members.
The team had been in contact with the enemy all night and had been running and
ambusing, but the hunter team pursuing them was relentless and they were
exhausted and couldn't continue to run much longer. when Lake and O'Donnell
arrived at the team's location, there was no landing zone (LZ) nearby and they
were unable to extract them immeidately. The two helicopters waited in a high
orbit over the area until the team could move to a more suitable extraction
point.

While the helicopters were waiting, they were in radio contact with the team.
After about 45 minutes in orbit, Lake received word from LT Pool that the NVA
hunter team was right behind them. RED LEAD and RED THREE made a quick trip to
Dak To for refueling. RED THREE was left on station in case of an emergency.

When Lake returned to the site, Pool came over the radio and said that if the
team wasn't extracted then, it would be too late. Capt. O'Donnell evaluated the
situation and decided to pick them up. He landed on the LZ and was on the ground
for about 4 minutes, and then transmitted that he had the entire team of eight
on board. The aircraft was beginning its ascent when it was hit by enemy fire,
and an explosion in the aircraft was seen. The helicopter continued in flight
for about 300 meters, then another explosion occurred, causing the aircraft to
crash in the jungle. According to Lake, bodies were blown out the doors and fell
into the jungle. [NOTE: According to the U.S. Army account of the incident, no
one was observed to have been thrown from the aircraft during either explosion.]

The other helicopter crewmen were stunned. One of the Cobras, Panther 13,
radioed "I don't think a piece bigger than my head hit the ground." The second
explosion was followed by a yellow flash and a cloud of black smoke billowing
from the jungle. Panther 13 made a second high-speed pass over the site and came
under fire, but made it away unscathed.

Lake decided to go down and see if there was a way to get to the crash site. As
he neared the ground, he was met with intense ground fire from the entire area.
He could not see the crash site sice it was under heavy tree cover. There was no
place to land, and the ground fire was withering. He elected to return the
extract team to Dak To before more aircraft was lost. Lake has carried the
burden of guilt with him for all these years, and has never forgiven himself for
leaving his good friend O'Donnell and his crew behind.

The Army account concludes stating that O'Donnell's aircraft began to burn
immediately upon impact. Aerial search and rescue efforts began immediately;
however, no signs of life could be seen around the crash site. Because of the
enemy situation, attempts to insert search teams into the area were futile. SAR
efforts were discontinued on April 18. Search and rescue teams who surveyed the
site reported that they did not hold much hope for survival for the men aboard,
but lacking proof that they were dead, the Army declared all 7 missing in
action.


For every patrol like that of the MACV-SOG LRRP team that was detected and
stopped, dozens of other commando teams safely slipped past NVA lines to strike
a wide range of targets and collect vital information. The number of MACV-SOG
missions conducted with Special Forces reconnaissance teams into Laos and
Cambodia was 452 in 1969. It was the most sustained American campaign of
raiding, sabotage and intelligence gathering waged on foreign soil in U.S.
military history. MACV-SOG's teams earned a global reputation as one of the most
combat effective deep penetration forces ever raised.

By 1990 over 10,000 reports have been received by the U.S. Government concerning
men missing in Southeast Asia. The government of Cambodia has stated that it
would like to return a number of American remains to the U.S. (in fact, the
number of remains mentioned is more than are officially listed missing in that
country), but the U.S., having no diplomatic relations with Cambodia, refuses to
respond officially to that offer.

Most authorities believe there are hundreds of Americans still alive in
Southeast Asia today, waiting for their country to come for them. Whether the
LRRP team and helicopter crew is among them doesn't seem likely, but if there is
even one American alive, he deserves our ultimate efforts to bring him home.


Michael O'Donnell was recommended for the Congressional Medal of Honor for his
actions on March 24, 1970. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the
Air Medal, the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart as well as promoted to the rank
of Major following his loss incident. O'Donnell was highly regarded by his
friends in the "Bikinis." They knew him as a talented singer, guitar player and
poet. One of his poems has been widely distributed, but few understand that the
author remains missing.

If you are able,
save them a place
inside of you
and save one backward glance
when you are leaving
for the places they can
no longer go.
Be not ashamed to say
you loved them,
though you may
or may not have always.
Take what they have left
and what they have taught you
with their dying
and keep it with your own.
And in that time
when men decide and feel safe
to call the war insane,
take one moment to embrace
those gentle heroes
you left behind.

Major Michael Davis O'Donnell
1 January 1970
Dak To, Vietnam



HOSKINS, CHARLES LEE

Name: Charles Lee Hoskins
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit: 497th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Ubon AB Thailand
Date of Birth: 05 August 1944
Home City of Record: Mission KS
Date of Loss: 16 February 1971
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 150500N 1070700E (YB279869)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D

Other Personnel In Incident: Ralph N. Pattillo (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

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.
Most pilots considered it one of the "hottest" planes around.

Maj. Ralph N. Pattillo was the pilot and 1Lt. Charles L. Hoskins the
weapons/systems officer of an F4D fighter bomber from the 497th Tactical Fighter
Squadron based at Ubon Airbase, Thailand. At 1930 hours on February 16, 1971,
the two were sent on a combat mission over Laos.

During the mission, the aircraft was shot down less than a mile from Ban Dakyon,
Laos, an area which was then under control of North Vietnamese forces. Because
of heavy enemy forces on the ground, ground search was impossible. Air search
efforts failed to produce evidence of the downed plane or the two officers, and
the search was terminated.

A report given to his parents stated that it was possible that either Hoskins or
Pattillo may have been able to successfully eject from the plane in the
darkness, and that it was possible that one or both could have been captured.

Hoskins' parents, Charles and Margaret say, "We as parents cannot and will not
give up hope. To do so we must have some definite and tangible evidence to the
contrary. We strongly believe there are LIVE men over there in captivity and
urge our government to concentrate on pursuing the release of each and every one
of them and on the repatriation of all remains. Please help bring Capt. Hoskins
home as well as all those still listed as POW and MIA."

Charles Hoskins was promoted to the rank of Captain and Ralph Pattillo to the
rank of Lieutenant Colonel during the period they were maintained missing.

HOSKINS, DONALD RUSSELL

Name: Donald Russell Hoskins
Rank/Branch: E6/US Air Force
Unit: CCK Air Force Base, Taiwan - TDY to 345th Tactical Airlift Squadron, Tan
Son Nhut ABSV
Date of Birth: 05 January 1929
Home City of Record: Madison IN
Date of Loss: 26 April 1972
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 113803N 1063547E (XT745866)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: C130E

Other Personnel In Incident: Harry Amesbury; Calvin E. Cooke; Richard E. Dunn;
Richard L. Russell (all missing); Kurt F. Weisman (remains returned 1975)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 31 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: CRASH - 1 REM RCV - N SIGN SUBJ - J

SYNOPSIS: From the CCK Air Force Base base in Taiwan, C-130 crews flew to
different locations, including Korea, Borneo, Indonesia, Japan, Africa, etc. But
most trips were to various bases in Vietnam for 3 week stays. Then the men would
return to the base in Taiwan for 3 days. On one such Vietnam tour, one C130E had
a crew consisting of Harry A. Amesbury, pilot; Richard L. Russell, navigator,
Richard E. Dunn, loadmaster, Calvin C. Cooke, Donald R. Hoskins, and Kurt F.
Weisman, crew members. This crew was TDY to 345th Tactical Airlift Squadron at
Tan Son Nhut Airbase, South Vietnam.

On April 26, 1972, Amesbury's aircraft and crew were making a night drop of
supplies to South Vietnamese forces trapped in An Loc, South Vietnam (about 65
miles from Saigon). The provincial capitol had been under seige by North
Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces off and on since early April. Supply drops and
air support were critically needed and often hampered by hostile forces outside
the city. Upon approach to the drop site at a very low level, the aircraft was
hit by enemy fire and was reported to be down. The men onboard the aircraft were
declared Missing in Action.

Supply drops were generally accomplished in one of two ways, both requiring that
the plane be airborne, and flying at very low altitudes. Using one method,
parachutes attached to the supply pallets were deployed. As the plane flew over,
the parachutes pulled the cargo from the plane. Using another method, a hook
attached to the cargo was dropped from the plane, affixed to some firm fixture
on the ground. As the plane departed the area, the cargo was pulled out of the
plane. Both required considerable skill under the best of circumstances.

According to the Department of the Air Force, it received unspecified
information that contained evidence of death for the crew members on May 5,
1972. The status of the missing men was changed to Killed in Action/Body Not
Recovered.

In February, 1975, non-American friendly forces recovered and returned the
remains of Kurt Weisman. No information surfaced on the rest of the crew. All
onboard had been assumed killed in the downing of the plane. If this is the
case, why weren't the other remains recovered as well?

Of the nearly 2500 Americans still missing in Southeast Asia, most can be
accounted for one way or another. The U.S. Government has received nearly 10,000
reports of Americans still held prisoner in Southeast Asia, yet has not been
able to find a way to free them, or to obtain information on a significant
number of other Americans who may have perished.

HOSKINSON, ROBERT EUGENE

Name: Robert Eugene Hoskinson
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 388th Combat Support Group, Udorn Airbase, Thailand
Date of Birth: 26 July 1929
Home City of Record: Muro OR
Date of Loss: 29 July 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 204300N 10454953E (VH998943)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: RC47D
Other Personnel in Incident: Galileo F. Bossio; Robert DiTommaso; (still
missing) Bernard Conklin; James S. Hall; John Mamiya; Herbert E. Smith; Vincent
Chiarello (remains returned)

REMARKS: DEAD/FIR 317-09130 74

SYNOPSIS: On July 19, 1966, an RC47D aircraft departed Udorn Airfield in
Thailand en route to Sam Neua, Laos. The crew abord the aircraft included Capt.
Robert E. Hoskinson, pilot; Maj. Galileo F. Bossio, 1Lt. Vincent A. Chiarello,
Capt. Bernard Conklin, 1Lt. Robert J. Di Tommaso, SSgt. James S. Hall, TSgt.
John M. Mamiya and TSgt. Herbert E. Smith, crewmen. The aircraft was an unarmed
RC47D Command and Control airship (Dogpatch 2).

When the aircraft was 10-20 miles south of Sam Neua, it was attacked by enemy
fighters. Radio contact was lost and the families were initially told there was
no further word of the plane or crew - that they had all been lost on an
operational mission in North Vietnam.

It was later learned, however, that at least one, possibly two parachutes were
observed in the air from persons on the ground, and the loss had occurred not
in North Vietnam, but at 201200N 1041700E, which is in Laos.

Primary objective of the C-47 in Laos at that point in the war was visual
reconnaissance. American forces worked closely with CAS (CIA) primarily to
weaken the communist supply link to South Vietnam via the "Ho Chi Minh Trail".
This particular plane, however, was working in support of the CIA's secret
indigenous army which was attempting to prevent a communist takeover in Laos.

The crewmembers on these missions were normally highly trained in electronic
surveillance techniques as well as versed in codes and languages. Accordingly,
and as "there was no war in Laos", certain details of the mission, such as the
precise location of loss, were originally distorted. Later reports indicate
that some of the crew survived the attack on July 29, 1966. According to a
March, 1974 list published by the National League of Families of POW/MIAs,
Bossio survived the incident and was missing in Laos. One 1971 report states
that as many as 5 of the crew were captured. Chiarello and Di Tommaso were
identified as survivors by Capt. Adair of Project Dogpatch. U.S. Air Force
records still reflect the loss as having occurred in North Vietnam.

In 1988, the remains of Conklin, Chiarello, Hall, Mamiya and Smith were
returned to U.S. control. They were positively identified and returned to their
families for burial. The Di Tommaso family was also notified, and Mafalda Di
Tommaso rushed to Hawaii to sadly welcome her son home. She was shocked to
learn that no body had returned - only information which added nothing to the
mystery surrounding her son's loss.

The families of Bossio, Hoskinson and Di Tommaso have the right to know what
happened on July 29, 1966. The communist governments of Southeast Asia can
account for the large majority of the nearly 2500 Americans still missing
there. The weight of the evidence shows that some of them are still being held
captive. It's time the veil of secrecy was lifted on these men and the others.
It's time they came home.











HOUSE, JOHN ALEXANDER II

Name: John Alexander House II
Rank/Branch: O3/USMC
Unit: A Company, 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion, 3rd Marine Division
Date of Birth: 16 April 1939
Home City of Record: Pelham NY
Date of Loss: 30 June 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 161349N 1074301E (YC896956)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: CH46A

Other Personnel In Incident: Merlin Allen; Michael Judd; John Killen; Glyn
Runnels (all still missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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: DED/CRSH BRN/SOM RECOV/NT SUBJ

SYNOPSIS: Capt. John A. House was the pilot of an CH46A helicopter carrying
personnel assigned to Company A, 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion, 3rd Marine
Division near the city of Phu Bai, South Vietnam on June 30, 1967.

Among the passengers onboard the aircraft were members of Company A, LCpl.
Merlin R. Allen, LCpl. John D. Killen, and Cpl. Glyn L. Runnels. Also onboard
was the company's hospital corpsman, Petty Officer Third Class Michael B. Judd.

The aircraft was hit by small arms fire, exploded and crashed. Although some of
the personnel aboard survived, House, Allen, Judd, and Killen were never found,
nor were remains recovered that could be identified as theirs. The four men were
listed as killed in action, body not recovered.

Nearly 2500 Americans did not return from Southeast Asia at the end of the war.
Some, like the pilot and passengers of the CH46, are probably dead and will
never come home. Since the end of the war, however, thousands of refugee reports
have been received that indicate hundreds of Americans are still alive, held
captive.

It is a matter of pride in the Marine Corps that one's comrades are never left
on the field of battle to fall into the hands of the enemy. One can imagine that
these men, had they survived, would willingly go one more mission for the return
of those who still await rescue.
Although
some of the personnel aboard survived, House was never found, nor
were remains recovered that could be identified as his. He was
listed as killed in action, body not recovered.




CASE SYNOPSIS: HOUSH, ANTHONY FRANK

Name: Anthony Frank Housh
Rank/Branch: E6/US Army
Unit: B Company, 228th Aviation Battalion (Assault Support Helicopter), 11th
Aviation Group, 1st Cavalry Division
Date of Birth: 26 June 1946 (Decatur IL)
Home City of Record: Newton IL
Date of Loss: 19 April 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 161918N 1070921E (YD291087)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: CH47
Other Personnel In Incident: Michael Wallace; (missing from CH47, coordinates
YD291087-LZ Tiger; pilot, co-pilot and gunner survived); Douglas R. Blodgett;
William Dennis; Jesus Gonzales (missing from CH47A, coordinates YD290105; pilot
and co-pilot survived); Arthur J. Lord; Charles W. Millard; Philip R. Shafer;
Michael R. Werdehoff (missing on CH54, coordinates YD255095-LZ Tiger)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On April 19, 1968 three Army helicopters were shot down in the A Shau
Valley of South Vietnam. All three were making supply runs to Landing Zone
Tiger in Quang Tri Province. Five men survived the three crashes, and nine men
remain missing.

The CH47A on which Douglas Blodgett was a crewman, William Dennis was flight
engineer, and Jesus Gonzales was crewchief was resupplying ammunition at the LZ
when it received small arms fire from the ground and crashed. The pilot and
co-pilot were able to crawl away, but the rest of the crew was never found.
They were declared Missing In Action.

The CH47 on which Anthony Housh was flight engineer and Michael Wallace was
crewchief was hit by 50 calibre and 37 mm ground fire on its approach to the
LZ. Housh and Wallace jumped from the aircraft from an altitude of 50-100 feet
above the jungle canopy. The others were rescued. No trace of Housh and Wallace
was ever found. They were declared Missing In Action.

The CH54 "Flying Crane" on which Arthur Lord was aircraft commander, Charles
Millard pilot, Arthur J. Lord co-pilot, Michael Werdehoff flight engineer, and
Philip Shafer crewchief was carrying a bulldozer into the recently resecured LZ
Tiger when the aircraft was hit and crashed. All the crew were classified
Missing In Action.

Thorough searches for the 3 helicopters were not immediately possible because
of the enemy situation. A refugee later reported that he had found the wreckage
of two U.S. helicopters, one with 3 sets of skeletal remains, in Quang Tri
Province. The U.S. Army believes this could correlate with any of the three
helicopters lost on April 19, 1968, but no firm evidence has been secured that
would reveal the fate of the nine missing servicemen.

Some 250,000 interviews and "millions of documents" have been analyzed relating
to Americans who may still be alive, captive, in Southeast Asia. Many experts
believe there are hundreds of men still alive, waiting for their country to
rescue them. Whether any of the nine missing from near LZ Tiger is among them is
unknown, but it is clearly past time for us to bring our men home.




















HOWARD, LEWIS JR.

Name: Lewis Howard, Jr.
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: Company D, 2nd Battalion, 506th Infantry, 101st Airborne Division
Date of Birth: 03 October 1949
Home City of Record: Macon GA
Date of Loss: 07 July 1970
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 162643N 107114E (YD335193)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel in Incident: Charles E. Beals (missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On July 7, 1970, SP4 Lewis Howard, point man, and PFC Charles E.
Beals, assistant machine gunner, were members of Company D, 2nd Battalion,
506th Infantry when their platoon was engaged in a fire fight in South Vietnam.
Their position at that time was in Thua Thien Province, near the border of
Quang Tri Province to the north.

As the platoon was advancing uphill on a suspected enemy location, an unknown
enemy force fired at least 3 rocket-propelled grenades (RPG) at the point
element. The platoon leader saw that Howard was hit by the first round. Beals
was wounded in the leg when the enemy first opened fire, however, before he
could be moved to cover, he was hit by at least 3 rounds of machine gun fire in
the back and the neck.

Attempts to maneuver up to the point position to retrieve Beals and Howard met
with heavy enemy attack, and the rest of the platoon were forced to withdraw,
leaving the two men behind.

After 6 hours, the enemy was still firing machine gun and rifle fire over the
area. The intense enemy fire made any further attempts to recover Beals and
Howard impossible, and the platoon withdrew from the area.

Beals was thought to be dead because of the number of rounds that hit him. He
was classified Killed in Action, Body Not Recovered. The extent of Howard's
wounds were unknown, and he was classified Missing In Action. There is a strong
probability that the enemy knows the fate of both men. If they survived, it is
very likely that they were captured.

Nearly 2500 Americans remain missing, prisoner or unaccounted for from the
Vietnam war. Since American involvement in the war ended in 1975, almost 10,000
reports have been received by the U.S. Government relating to the missing. Most
authorities believe there are hundreds of them still alive.

Whether Beals and Howard survived to be captured that day in July 1970 is not
known. What seems certain, however, is that we must bring home any Americans
being held against their will.


HOWARD, LUTHER HARRIS

Name: Luther Harris Howard
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: Battery A, 2nd Battalion, 35th Artillery, 5th Artillery Group
Date of Birth: 25 September 1947 (Mount Croghan NC)
Home City of Record: Hamlet NC
Date of Loss: 30 June 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 103025N 1064358E (XS896619)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 4
Aircraft/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: On June 30, 1967, SP4 Luther Howard was swimming with a group some 25
miles south of Saigon in Long An Province, South Vietnam in the vicinity of grid
coordinates XC 896 619.

SP4 Howard was seen to go under the water, and never resurfaced. A search was
launched immediately, but was unsuccessful. Efforts to locate him or his body
were continued both on land and sea, but no remains were located.

For those units assigned to shore areas, swimming was a great recreation.
Unfortunately, there were a number of accidental drownings - deaths that were
tragically ironic amidst a war. SP4 Howard is listed with honor among the
missing because no remains were found. His case seems quite clear. For others
who are listed missing, resolution is not as simple. Many were known to have
survived their loss incident. Quite a few were in radio contact with search
teams and describing an advancing enemy. Some were photographed or recorded in
captivity. Others simply vanished without a trace.

Reports continue to mount that we abandoned hundreds of living Americans to the
enemy when we left Southeast Asia. While Howard is almost certainly not among
them, his death is a symbol of a war ended without honor - until all who fought
it come home.

HOWELL, CARTER AVERY

Name: Carter Avery Howell
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit: 4th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Da Nang
Date of Birth: 08 April 1947
Home City of Record: Fayetteville NC
Date of Loss: 07 March 1972
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 160100N 1063500E (XC720744)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4E
Other Personnel In Incident: Stephen A. Rusch (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II
Project.

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.
Most pilots considered it one of the "hottest" planes around.

1Lt. Carter A. Howell was the pilot and 1Lt. Stephen A. Rusch the co-pilot of an
F4E Phantom from the 4th Tactical Fighter Squadron based at Da Nang, Republic of
Vietnam. On March 7, 1972, the two were sent on an operational mission over
Laos. During the mission their aircraft was seen to impact the ground while
making a run on a target. No parachutes were seen and no emergency beepers were
heard to indicate the crew was safe. However, the opportunity existed for the
two to safely eject, and they were not declared dead, but missing in action. The
loss occurred about 25 miles east of the town of Ban Toumlan in Saravane
Province, Laos.

When American involvement in Southeast Asia ended with the signing of the Paris
Peace agreements, prisoners of war, it was agreed, would be released. The
country of Laos, meanwhile, not having been included in the peace talks,
announced publicly that prisoners of war held in Laos would be released from
Laos. The U.S. never negotiated for the release of these men. Not one American
serviceman held in Laos was released, although nearly 600 went down there, and
many survived their crashes and were known to have been captured.

Over the years since the war, reports have amassed indicating that many
Americans are still held prisoner. As of July 1987, nearly 6000 such reports had
been received by the U.S. Government, yet the U.S. seems unable to secure the
freedom of those men who were left behind.

Men like Rusch and Howell served in Vietnam because their country asked them to.
They went to war prepared to be injured, killed or even taken prisoner. They
were not prepared to be abandoned. They must be brought home.


HOWES, GEORGE ANDREWS

Name: George Andrews Howes
Rank/Branch: W1/US Army
Unit: 71st Aviation Company, 14th Aviation Battalion, 16th Aviation Group, 23rd
Infantry Division (Americal), Chu Lai, South Vietnam
Date of Birth: 16 June 1950 (Little Rock AR)
Home City of Record: Knox IN
Date of Loss: 10 January 1970
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 152927N 1081808E (BT239141)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1C

Other Personnel In Incident: Wayne C. Allen; Herbert C. Crosby; Francis G.
Graziosi (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On January 19, 1970, Capt. Herbert C. Crosby, pilot; WO George A.
Howes, co-pilot; SP5 Wayne C. Allen, crew chief; and SP4 Francis G. Graziosi,
door gunner; were flying a UH1C helicopter (serial #66-739) as the flight lead
in a flight of three helicopters returning from Tien Phuoc to the unit base at
Chu Lai, South Vietnam.

(Note: Records differs as to the aircraft type on this incident. Some records
show the aircraft type this crew was flying as UH1H, and some show it as a
UH1C. Herbert Crosby flew Charlie models every day from at least July 1969 to
January 1970. The serial number, #66-739 correlates to a C model, the first two
numbers indicating that the aircraft had been made in 1966, and the H model
only had come out a few months before this time. Although C models were
gunships, and usually flew more or less independently, while this aircraft was
flying in tight formation as flight lead, which would correlate with the H
model, it has been confirmed that the ship on which this crew was flying was
definitely a Charlie model.)

At 1300 hours, the three helicopters departed Tien Phuoc. Five to ten minutes
later, due to instrument flight rules, Capt. Crosby directed the flight to
change to a different flight heading. When the helicopters changed frequencies
to contact Chu Lai ground control approach, radio contact was lost with Capt.
Crosby and was not regained.

The other two aircraft reached Chu Lai heliport, and at 1400 hours, serach
efforts were begun for the missing aircraft, although the crew was not found.

According to a 1974 National League of Families report, George Howes survived
the crash of this helicopter. The report further maintains that the loss
occurred in Laos, although the coordinates place it some 40-odd miles from that
country.

A North Vietnamese prisoner released later reported that he had seen Howes in
captivity the same month the helicopter went down. A second sighting by a
villager in Phuoc Chouc (or Phouc Chau) village reported Howes and two other
POWs stopped for water at his house in February, 1970, en route to Laos.
Whether these reports also relate to Allen, Crosby and Graziosi, is unknown.

When the last American troops left Southeast Asia in 1975, some 2500 Americans
were unaccounted for. Reports received by the U.S.Government since that time
build a strong case for belief that hundreds of these "unaccounted for"
Americans are still alive and in captivity.

"Unaccounted for" is a term that should apply to numbers, not men. We, as a
nation, owe these men our best effort to find them and bring them home. Until
the fates of the men like the UH1C crew are known, their families will wonder
if they are dead or alive .. and why they were deserted.


HRDLICKA, DAVID LOUIS

Name: David Louis Hrdlicka
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 563rd Tactical Fighter Squadron, Takhli AB, Thailand
Date of Birth: 30 December 1931
Home City of Record: Littleton CO
Date of Loss: 18 May 1965
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 202240N 1041250E (VH160480)
Status (In 1973): Prisoner of War
Category: 1
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F105
Other Personnel In Incident: (none missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On May 18, 1965, Captain David L. Hrdlicka was the pilot of the lead
F105 aircraft in a four-aircraft flight over Houa Phan Province, Laos when his
aircraft was hit by ground fire. Capt. Hrdlicka radioed that he had a fire
light, and other members of the flight confirmed his aricraft was on fire.

Capt. Hrdlicka successfully ejected and parachuted to the ground, landing in a
small valley beside a village in the Sam Neua area. His parachute was seen
opening and he was seen on the ground being led away by natives. Natives were
observed rolling up Hrdlicka's parachute. A helicopter pilot landed at a nearby
village and was told that the Pathet Lao picked him up.

On July 22, 1966, the Vietnamese newspaper, Quan Nhan Dan featured a story on
his capture. On July 26, 1966, a tape recorded broadcast was made by Capt.
Hrdlicka in which he read from a personal letter to Prince Souphanouvang. In
this broadcast, a letter which attributed to Hrdlicka was read expressing his
eagerness to see his wife and children. Radio Peking also broadcast a statement
quoting Lao sources that Hrdlicka was their prisoner.

In August, 1966, the Russian news service, PRAVDA, ran a photograph of
Hrdlicka, still in his flight suit, head bowed, and an armed guard behind him.
Photos of Capt. Hrdlicka were received from several sources.

U.S. Intelligence reported that he was held in a cave near Sam Neua, Laos, and
reports were monitored for several years believed to pertain to him. David
Hrdlicka was photographed in captivity as late as 1968 or 1969.

The caves at Sam Neua have been said to be extensive and house a compound,
including facilities for prisoners, rivaling a small city. The number of
Americans held in these caves, hidden from surveillance, has been estimated by
some to be in the hundreds.

When 591 Americans were released in 1973, David Hrdlicka was not among them.
The Vietnamese claimed that the Pathet Lao had no facilities for holding
prisoners, although there is ample intelligence to indicate otherwise. And,
although the Lao publicly stated they held "tens of tens" of American
prisoners, the U.S. has never negotiated for these prisoners. Consequently, not
one of the nearly 600 Americans lost in Laos has ever been released.

According to the official Air Force account of the loss of David Hrdlicka, "no
information was ever received regarding his fate". He remains on the rolls of
the missing because "his remains have not been recovered and returned."

Hrdlicka is among nearly 2500 Americans still missing, prisoner or unaccounted
for in Southeast Asia. Perhaps Vietnam and her puppet state, Laos, hoped that
the photographs and tapes would be forgotten. David Hrdlicka is not forgotten,
and will not be forgotten until the communist governments of Southeast Asia
release all Prisoners of War and account for the missing.

Prepared by Homecoming II Project 01 December 1989

HUANG, HONG XI

Name: Hong Xi Huang
Rank/Branch: Civilian
Unit: Glomar Java Sea
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record:
Date of Loss: 25 October 1983
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates:
Status (in 1973):
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground:

Personnel in Incident: Herman Arms; Jerald T. Battiste; Sebe M. Bracey; Patrick
B. Cates; Wei Chen; Xiong Chen; Shu Guo Cheng; Jacob K. J. Chong; David P.
Clifton; James F. Cusick; Thomas J. Dixon; Shao Jien Feng; Jerald J. Flanagan;
Nigel Furness; Leonard E. Ganzinotti; La Juan A. Gilmore; Henry M. Gittings;
James K. Gittings; Terance C. Green; Jun Tian Guan; David Higgins, Jr.; Tyronne
Higgins; Hong Xi Huang; Rui Wen Huang; Yong Liang Huang; Timothy Jarvis; John W.
Jennings Jr.; Thomas J. Kofahl; Fan Xiang Kong; Guo Zhen Lai; John W. Lawrence;
Tong L. T. Lee; Chong Chang Li; Xuan Qiu Li; Zhan Jun Liang; Jie Feng Lin; Bing
Guang Liu; Edgar S. Lim; Gary Looke; Robert M. McCurry; Jerry L. Manfrida;
Raymond D. Miller; Xie Yi Mo; Tian Xue Mo; Kenneth W. Myers; Larry K. Myers;
Donald J. Ouellet; John D. Pierce; Peter Popiel; Clarence Reed; Jewell J.
Reynolds; E.J. Russell Reynolds; Walter T. Robinson; Kenneth B. Rogers; Lawrence
M. Salzwedel; William R. Schug; Richard E. Shoff; Christopher J. Sleeman; Delmar
A. Spencer; George G. Sullivan; Chong Jian Sun; Gustaf F. Swanson; Kevin C.
Swanson; Guo Dong Tang; Michael W. Thomas; Jiang Wang; Yu Fang Wang; Dong Cai
Wang; Guo Rong Wu; jing Sheng Xia; Xing Xing; Hui Xu; Ming Rui Xu; Mua Guang
Yuan; Xing Zhen Zhang; Yi Hua Zhang; Ji Chang Zhen; Shu Rong Zhou; Yao Wu Zhou;
Jie Fang Zhou; Da Huai Zhu.

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 10 December 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 5,930-ton American drilling ship, "Glomar Java Sea" was owned by
Global Marine of Houston, Texas, and leased to Atlantic Richfield Company
(ARCO). In the fall of 1983, the vessel was on duty about 200 miles east of the
Vietnamese coast. The ship was drilling for oil in the South China Sea in a
joint venture of ARCO and China Naitonal Offshore Oil Corporation, a state-owned
concern.

The "Glomar Java Sea" is a sister ship of the "Glomar Explorer," which, under
the guise of being utilized by the late Howard Hughes in a deep sea mining
operation in the Paficic, was really being used by the CIA and Navy in a $350
million project to retrieve a sunken Soviet Golf-class submarine. A large part
of the submarine was in fact recovered in 1974 before details of the project
were publicly revealed.

The Glomar Java Sea, with its crew of 81, began drilling operations on January
9, 1983 and was the first American wildcat operaton off the Chinese coast. On
October 25, 1983, the vessel was sunk during Typhoon Lex.

Documents removed from the ship by a crewman before the disaster indicate that
the vessel was being shadowed by armed Vietnamese naval craft and that there
were submarine mines beneath the "Glomar Java Sea," placed there and retrievable
by its crew. Another document indicates that the ship was damaged prior ot the
typhoon when a Chinese supply boat rammed into its side, causing some $320,000
damage to the vessel. The Glomar Java Sea did not leave its post for repairs.

Communications between ARCO and Global Marine, as well as telegraphic and radio
communications of the U.S. Western Pacific Rescue Coordination Center (WESTPAC)
reveal information about the search for the crew of the Glomar Java Sea.

The documents indicate that a number of survivors from the stricken vessel were
floundering in the water off the coast of Vietnam for hours after the disaster.
There is also indication that the men were picked up by Vietnamese coastal
patrols and are held captive of the Hanoi regime.

The crew of the Glomar Java Sea included 37 Americans, 35 Chinese, four British,
two Singaporeans, one Filipino, one Australian, and one Canadian.

From a transcript of a radio communicaton between WESTPAC and Global Marine on
October 28, three days after the sinking, WESTPAC was told:  "We are informed
that the SOS transmission could not have been transmitted except by human
operators..." There were two 64-man lifeboats aboard the drilling ship, plus
smaller lifeboats.

In an October 29 communicaton from WESTPAC to Global Marine, it is clearly
stated that five strobe lights were sighted by rescue aircraft in the vicinity
of 17-30 North 107-45 East. The aircraft were dispatched to the area because
strobe lights had been previously sighted. Lifejackets from the Glomar Java Sea
were equipped with strobe lights to signal rescuers.

Another October 29 communication between ARCO and Global Marine states that
ARCO's search aircraft had spotted survivors in the water at 17.27 North 107.54
East, and had attempted to divert surface vessels to this location. The
communication expressed the urgency to rescue the men before dark.

At 8:01 a.m. on October 29, ARCO had dropped a rescue raft to survivors.  Pickup
would be delayed for several hours, but the "Salvanquish," a Singapore-based
salvage ship, was within one half-mile of the site.

At 8:38 a.m search aircraft reported pinpointing the survivors' positions by dye
markers released by the survivors into the water. Two survivors were confirmed
with a possible third some distance away. Plans were also made to return to the
downed vessell to offlift survivors.

Another document shows that on nine different occasions radio transmissions were
picked up from a lifeboat. They ranged from "very strong" to "weak" with most
being described as "strong."

Inexplicably, despite the successful search, no rescue was made of the
survivors. Later that day, the Chinese Navy picked up a Vietnamese broadcast
reporting that the Vietnamese had sighted a lifeboat near their coast. The
location of the lifeboat was not confirmed by friendly search parties.

ARCO-Global Marine determined that this sighting was in the vicinity of Hon Gio
Island, located about 80 miles up the Vietnamese coast from the old U.S. base at
Da Nang and about 14 miles offshore, which placed it in Vietnamese territorial
waters. It appears that rescue craft were hampered in fully investigating the
report due to its location and the hint of possible interference by the
Vietnamese military.

It is likely that survivors would have been picked up by the Vietnamese if they
had in fact drifted within Vietnam's territory.

In the years following the loss of the Glomar Java Sea, a number of reports, all
unconfirmed by the U.S., indicate that survivors were seen in captivity in
Vietnam. It is known that the Vietnamese had shown a hostile interest in the
vessel, and the Glomar Java Sea had standing orders to be alert for Vietnamese
vessels in the area. The Chinese Navy served as protection for the vessel and
stood ready to take action should Vietnamese craft wander too close. The waters
below the vessel were mined.

A month after the Glomar Java Sea went down, Chinese divers went down to the
wreckage and went through the ship with a video cameras.

In March 1984, American divers were able to retrieve 31 bodies from the sunken
vessel. Fifteen of the bodies were identified as Americans. In addition, three
British and one Singaporean were identified. The bodies of another American and
two Chinese were tentatively identified. Divers photographed two bodies they
were unable to retrieve. They also found one of the Chinese divers that had
explored the wreckage in November 1983, lashed to the deck of the ship.

The American divers determined that one of the ship's large lifeboats was
launched and that an attempt had been made to launch another. Their film was
seen by the mother of one of the lost crewmen. She reported that the crack in
the hull of the ship at one point was a hole 48 inches across, which was
punctured inward, "as though the rig had been hit by something that exploded."
This fueled additional speculation that the vessel had, in fact, been attacked
rather that simply mortally damaged by the typhoon.

The National Transportaton Safety Board officially determined in November 1984
that an "unexplained crack" in the hull of the Glomar Java Sea was responsible
for its sinking during the typhoon. Apparently, the crack in the hull allowed
two storage tanks to fill with water, causing the vessel to become off-balanced,
making it vulnerable to the forces of the typhoon. Officials believed it was
possible that survivors may have been able to abandon the ship before it sank.
It was determined that the ship had been improperly prepared for the storm.

During 1984, there were reports from Southeast Asia that between six and twelve
survivors of the Glomar Java Sea were being held in prisoner of war camps in
Vietnam. One of the survivors was identified by a Vietnamese refugee as American
crewman John Pierce.

Douglas F. Pierce, father of John Pierce, reported that the refugee had seen his
son, five other Americans and eight Chinese when they were brought into a prison
in Da Nang, where the refugee was being held. John Pierce gave the refugee his
father's business card and two sticks of gum.

Mr. Pierce gave the information to Defense Intelligence Agency who determined
that the refugee had not been in the camp at all, but had received the business
card by mail from a friend, not directly from Pierce. DIA further determined
that the incident had occurred in late October 1983 (shortly after the Glomar
Java Sea went down). The refugee gave Mr. Pierce the original letter, which
contained the names and addresses of two mutual Vietnamese friends.

No followup was conducted on the two names in the letter by DIA, and DIA
discounted the information provided by the refugee. It was not until 1990 that
it became apparent that the Defense Department felt no responsibility for the
Americans lost on the Glomar Java Sea. At that time, DIA reported that the
responsibility for these civilians belonged to the U.S. State Department.

Mr. Pierce did not stop there. He uncovered a U.S. State Department document
that revealed that Cheng Quihong, the secretary and wife of the Director of
China's Visa Office, was overheard telling her companion at a Hong Kong dinner
that survivors from the Glomar had been picked up and were held by the
Vietnamese.

Pierce also learned that a JCRC report sent to DIA dated November 6, 1984,
reported that a former prisoner from Pleiku prison had been held with a Chinese
man who claimed to have been off the Glomar. The man said he was one of three
men who were captured, and that the other two were Americans.

Pierce adds that to his knowledge, neither of these reports were followed up by
U.S. officials, and Pierce has received no reply to his queries regarding them.

In 1989 a Japanese monk named Yoshida was released from prison after being held
for years by the Vietnamese. Yoshida was shown a photograph of John Pierce and
stated that Pierce looked very familiar, and that he had either seen him or
someone who looked very much like him.

In November, 1990, Vietamese Foreign Minister Nguyen Co Thach traveled to the
U.S. and spoke with U.S. officials on a variety of matters. At this time, he
announced that there was a black American named Walter T. Robinson living
illegally in Vietnam, and invited U.S. representatives to come and help find
him. Thach provided a social security number and two photographs.

The Pentagon told "The Washington Times" that the two photographs of Robinson
provided by Thach are of a black man. However, the Pentagon has since admitted
that the photos "are not very well developed" and appear to be of either a black
man or a dark Asian. Photocopies of old newspaper articles concerning Robinson,
obtained by Homecoming II, show a dark-haired man of relatively dark complexion.

The Pentagon has not released the photographs to the press.

The Defense Department determined that Walter T. Robinson had never been listed
as missing in Vietnam. Thach had provided a social security number, and
according to DOD, this information correlated to a white American living in the
Midwest. They concluded that the Thach information, therefore, was in error.

Later information indicated that a Walter T. Robinson was listed on the crew
roster of the Glomar Java Sea. When queried, the Defense Department reported
that they were aware of this Robinson, but that civilians were the
responsibility of the State Department.

It seems apparent that the U.S. is not vigorously looking for the men missing
from the Glomar Java Sea, and that like the missing and prisoners who served in
military and civilian capacities during the Vietnam war, they have been
abandoned.


HUANG, RUI WEN

Name: Rui Wen Huang
Rank/Branch: Civilian
Unit: Glomar Java Sea
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record:
Date of Loss: 25 October 1983
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates:
Status (in 1973):
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground:

Personnel in Incident: Herman Arms; Jerald T. Battiste; Sebe M. Bracey; Patrick
B. Cates; Wei Chen; Xiong Chen; Shu Guo Cheng; Jacob K. J. Chong; David P.
Clifton; James F. Cusick; Thomas J. Dixon; Shao Jien Feng; Jerald J. Flanagan;
Nigel Furness; Leonard E. Ganzinotti; La Juan A. Gilmore; Henry M. Gittings;
James K. Gittings; Terance C. Green; Jun Tian Guan; David Higgins, Jr.; Tyronne
Higgins; Hong Xi Huang; Rui Wen Huang; Yong Liang Huang; Timothy Jarvis; John W.
Jennings Jr.; Thomas J. Kofahl; Fan Xiang Kong; Guo Zhen Lai; John W. Lawrence;
Tong L. T. Lee; Chong Chang Li; Xuan Qiu Li; Zhan Jun Liang; Jie Feng Lin; Bing
Guang Liu; Edgar S. Lim; Gary Looke; Robert M. McCurry; Jerry L. Manfrida;
Raymond D. Miller; Xie Yi Mo; Tian Xue Mo; Kenneth W. Myers; Larry K. Myers;
Donald J. Ouellet; John D. Pierce; Peter Popiel; Clarence Reed; Jewell J.
Reynolds; E.J. Russell Reynolds; Walter T. Robinson; Kenneth B. Rogers; Lawrence
M. Salzwedel; William R. Schug; Richard E. Shoff; Christopher J. Sleeman; Delmar
A. Spencer; George G. Sullivan; Chong Jian Sun; Gustaf F. Swanson; Kevin C.
Swanson; Guo Dong Tang; Michael W. Thomas; Jiang Wang; Yu Fang Wang; Dong Cai
Wang; Guo Rong Wu; jing Sheng Xia; Xing Xing; Hui Xu; Ming Rui Xu; Mua Guang
Yuan; Xing Zhen Zhang; Yi Hua Zhang; Ji Chang Zhen; Shu Rong Zhou; Yao Wu Zhou;
Jie Fang Zhou; Da Huai Zhu.

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 10 December 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 5,930-ton American drilling ship, "Glomar Java Sea" was owned by
Global Marine of Houston, Texas, and leased to Atlantic Richfield Company
(ARCO). In the fall of 1983, the vessel was on duty about 200 miles east of the
Vietnamese coast. The ship was drilling for oil in the South China Sea in a
joint venture of ARCO and China Naitonal Offshore Oil Corporation, a state-owned
concern.

The "Glomar Java Sea" is a sister ship of the "Glomar Explorer," which, under
the guise of being utilized by the late Howard Hughes in a deep sea mining
operation in the Paficic, was really being used by the CIA and Navy in a $350
million project to retrieve a sunken Soviet Golf-class submarine. A large part
of the submarine was in fact recovered in 1974 before details of the project
were publicly revealed.

The Glomar Java Sea, with its crew of 81, began drilling operations on January
9, 1983 and was the first American wildcat operaton off the Chinese coast. On
October 25, 1983, the vessel was sunk during Typhoon Lex.

Documents removed from the ship by a crewman before the disaster indicate that
the vessel was being shadowed by armed Vietnamese naval craft and that there
were submarine mines beneath the "Glomar Java Sea," placed there and retrievable
by its crew. Another document indicates that the ship was damaged prior ot the
typhoon when a Chinese supply boat rammed into its side, causing some $320,000
damage to the vessel. The Glomar Java Sea did not leave its post for repairs.

Communications between ARCO and Global Marine, as well as telegraphic and radio
communications of the U.S. Western Pacific Rescue Coordination Center (WESTPAC)
reveal information about the search for the crew of the Glomar Java Sea.

The documents indicate that a number of survivors from the stricken vessel were
floundering in the water off the coast of Vietnam for hours after the disaster.
There is also indication that the men were picked up by Vietnamese coastal
patrols and are held captive of the Hanoi regime.

The crew of the Glomar Java Sea included 37 Americans, 35 Chinese, four British,
two Singaporeans, one Filipino, one Australian, and one Canadian.

From a transcript of a radio communicaton between WESTPAC and Global Marine on
October 28, three days after the sinking, WESTPAC was told:  "We are informed
that the SOS transmission could not have been transmitted except by human
operators..." There were two 64-man lifeboats aboard the drilling ship, plus
smaller lifeboats.

In an October 29 communicaton from WESTPAC to Global Marine, it is clearly
stated that five strobe lights were sighted by rescue aircraft in the vicinity
of 17-30 North 107-45 East. The aircraft were dispatched to the area because
strobe lights had been previously sighted. Lifejackets from the Glomar Java Sea
were equipped with strobe lights to signal rescuers.

Another October 29 communication between ARCO and Global Marine states that
ARCO's search aircraft had spotted survivors in the water at 17.27 North 107.54
East, and had attempted to divert surface vessels to this location. The
communication expressed the urgency to rescue the men before dark.

At 8:01 a.m. on October 29, ARCO had dropped a rescue raft to survivors.  Pickup
would be delayed for several hours, but the "Salvanquish," a Singapore-based
salvage ship, was within one half-mile of the site.

At 8:38 a.m search aircraft reported pinpointing the survivors' positions by dye
markers released by the survivors into the water. Two survivors were confirmed
with a possible third some distance away. Plans were also made to return to the
downed vessell to offlift survivors.

Another document shows that on nine different occasions radio transmissions were
picked up from a lifeboat. They ranged from "very strong" to "weak" with most
being described as "strong."

Inexplicably, despite the successful search, no rescue was made of the
survivors. Later that day, the Chinese Navy picked up a Vietnamese broadcast
reporting that the Vietnamese had sighted a lifeboat near their coast. The
location of the lifeboat was not confirmed by friendly search parties.

ARCO-Global Marine determined that this sighting was in the vicinity of Hon Gio
Island, located about 80 miles up the Vietnamese coast from the old U.S. base at
Da Nang and about 14 miles offshore, which placed it in Vietnamese territorial
waters. It appears that rescue craft were hampered in fully investigating the
report due to its location and the hint of possible interference by the
Vietnamese military.

It is likely that survivors would have been picked up by the Vietnamese if they
had in fact drifted within Vietnam's territory.

In the years following the loss of the Glomar Java Sea, a number of reports, all
unconfirmed by the U.S., indicate that survivors were seen in captivity in
Vietnam. It is known that the Vietnamese had shown a hostile interest in the
vessel, and the Glomar Java Sea had standing orders to be alert for Vietnamese
vessels in the area. The Chinese Navy served as protection for the vessel and
stood ready to take action should Vietnamese craft wander too close. The waters
below the vessel were mined.

A month after the Glomar Java Sea went down, Chinese divers went down to the
wreckage and went through the ship with a video cameras.

In March 1984, American divers were able to retrieve 31 bodies from the sunken
vessel. Fifteen of the bodies were identified as Americans. In addition, three
British and one Singaporean were identified. The bodies of another American and
two Chinese were tentatively identified. Divers photographed two bodies they
were unable to retrieve. They also found one of the Chinese divers that had
explored the wreckage in November 1983, lashed to the deck of the ship.

The American divers determined that one of the ship's large lifeboats was
launched and that an attempt had been made to launch another. Their film was
seen by the mother of one of the lost crewmen. She reported that the crack in
the hull of the ship at one point was a hole 48 inches across, which was
punctured inward, "as though the rig had been hit by something that exploded."
This fueled additional speculation that the vessel had, in fact, been attacked
rather that simply mortally damaged by the typhoon.

The National Transportaton Safety Board officially determined in November 1984
that an "unexplained crack" in the hull of the Glomar Java Sea was responsible
for its sinking during the typhoon. Apparently, the crack in the hull allowed
two storage tanks to fill with water, causing the vessel to become off-balanced,
making it vulnerable to the forces of the typhoon. Officials believed it was
possible that survivors may have been able to abandon the ship before it sank.
It was determined that the ship had been improperly prepared for the storm.

During 1984, there were reports from Southeast Asia that between six and twelve
survivors of the Glomar Java Sea were being held in prisoner of war camps in
Vietnam. One of the survivors was identified by a Vietnamese refugee as American
crewman John Pierce.

Douglas F. Pierce, father of John Pierce, reported that the refugee had seen his
son, five other Americans and eight Chinese when they were brought into a prison
in Da Nang, where the refugee was being held. John Pierce gave the refugee his
father's business card and two sticks of gum.

Mr. Pierce gave the information to Defense Intelligence Agency who determined
that the refugee had not been in the camp at all, but had received the business
card by mail from a friend, not directly from Pierce. DIA further determined
that the incident had occurred in late October 1983 (shortly after the Glomar
Java Sea went down). The refugee gave Mr. Pierce the original letter, which
contained the names and addresses of two mutual Vietnamese friends.

No followup was conducted on the two names in the letter by DIA, and DIA
discounted the information provided by the refugee. It was not until 1990 that
it became apparent that the Defense Department felt no responsibility for the
Americans lost on the Glomar Java Sea. At that time, DIA reported that the
responsibility for these civilians belonged to the U.S. State Department.

Mr. Pierce did not stop there. He uncovered a U.S. State Department document
that revealed that Cheng Quihong, the secretary and wife of the Director of
China's Visa Office, was overheard telling her companion at a Hong Kong dinner
that survivors from the Glomar had been picked up and were held by the
Vietnamese.

Pierce also learned that a JCRC report sent to DIA dated November 6, 1984,
reported that a former prisoner from Pleiku prison had been held with a Chinese
man who claimed to have been off the Glomar. The man said he was one of three
men who were captured, and that the other two were Americans.

Pierce adds that to his knowledge, neither of these reports were followed up by
U.S. officials, and Pierce has received no reply to his queries regarding them.

In 1989 a Japanese monk named Yoshida was released from prison after being held
for years by the Vietnamese. Yoshida was shown a photograph of John Pierce and
stated that Pierce looked very familiar, and that he had either seen him or
someone who looked very much like him.

In November, 1990, Vietamese Foreign Minister Nguyen Co Thach traveled to the
U.S. and spoke with U.S. officials on a variety of matters. At this time, he
announced that there was a black American named Walter T. Robinson living
illegally in Vietnam, and invited U.S. representatives to come and help find
him. Thach provided a social security number and two photographs.

The Pentagon told "The Washington Times" that the two photographs of Robinson
provided by Thach are of a black man. However, the Pentagon has since admitted
that the photos "are not very well developed" and appear to be of either a black
man or a dark Asian. Photocopies of old newspaper articles concerning Robinson,
obtained by Homecoming II, show a dark-haired man of relatively dark complexion.

The Pentagon has not released the photographs to the press.

The Defense Department determined that Walter T. Robinson had never been listed
as missing in Vietnam. Thach had provided a social security number, and
according to DOD, this information correlated to a white American living in the
Midwest. They concluded that the Thach information, therefore, was in error.

Later information indicated that a Walter T. Robinson was listed on the crew
roster of the Glomar Java Sea. When queried, the Defense Department reported
that they were aware of this Robinson, but that civilians were the
responsibility of the State Department.

It seems apparent that the U.S. is not vigorously looking for the men missing
from the Glomar Java Sea, and that like the missing and prisoners who served in
military and civilian capacities during the Vietnam war, they have been
abandoned.


HUANG, YONG LIANG

Name: Yong Liang Huang
Rank/Branch: Civilian
Unit: Glomar Java Sea
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record:
Date of Loss: 25 October 1983
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates:
Status (in 1973):
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground:

Personnel in Incident: Herman Arms; Jerald T. Battiste; Sebe M. Bracey; Patrick
B. Cates; Wei Chen; Xiong Chen; Shu Guo Cheng; Jacob K. J. Chong; David P.
Clifton; James F. Cusick; Thomas J. Dixon; Shao Jien Feng; Jerald J. Flanagan;
Nigel Furness; Leonard E. Ganzinotti; La Juan A. Gilmore; Henry M. Gittings;
James K. Gittings; Terance C. Green; Jun Tian Guan; David Higgins, Jr.; Tyronne
Higgins; Hong Xi Huang; Rui Wen Huang; Yong Liang Huang; Timothy Jarvis; John W.
Jennings Jr.; Thomas J. Kofahl; Fan Xiang Kong; Guo Zhen Lai; John W. Lawrence;
Tong L. T. Lee; Chong Chang Li; Xuan Qiu Li; Zhan Jun Liang; Jie Feng Lin; Bing
Guang Liu; Edgar S. Lim; Gary Looke; Robert M. McCurry; Jerry L. Manfrida;
Raymond D. Miller; Xie Yi Mo; Tian Xue Mo; Kenneth W. Myers; Larry K. Myers;
Donald J. Ouellet; John D. Pierce; Peter Popiel; Clarence Reed; Jewell J.
Reynolds; E.J. Russell Reynolds; Walter T. Robinson; Kenneth B. Rogers; Lawrence
M. Salzwedel; William R. Schug; Richard E. Shoff; Christopher J. Sleeman; Delmar
A. Spencer; George G. Sullivan; Chong Jian Sun; Gustaf F. Swanson; Kevin C.
Swanson; Guo Dong Tang; Michael W. Thomas; Jiang Wang; Yu Fang Wang; Dong Cai
Wang; Guo Rong Wu; jing Sheng Xia; Xing Xing; Hui Xu; Ming Rui Xu; Mua Guang
Yuan; Xing Zhen Zhang; Yi Hua Zhang; Ji Chang Zhen; Shu Rong Zhou; Yao Wu Zhou;
Jie Fang Zhou; Da Huai Zhu.

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 10 December 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 5,930-ton American drilling ship, "Glomar Java Sea" was owned by
Global Marine of Houston, Texas, and leased to Atlantic Richfield Company
(ARCO). In the fall of 1983, the vessel was on duty about 200 miles east of the
Vietnamese coast. The ship was drilling for oil in the South China Sea in a
joint venture of ARCO and China Naitonal Offshore Oil Corporation, a state-owned
concern.

The "Glomar Java Sea" is a sister ship of the "Glomar Explorer," which, under
the guise of being utilized by the late Howard Hughes in a deep sea mining
operation in the Paficic, was really being used by the CIA and Navy in a $350
million project to retrieve a sunken Soviet Golf-class submarine. A large part
of the submarine was in fact recovered in 1974 before details of the project
were publicly revealed.

The Glomar Java Sea, with its crew of 81, began drilling operations on January
9, 1983 and was the first American wildcat operaton off the Chinese coast. On
October 25, 1983, the vessel was sunk during Typhoon Lex.

Documents removed from the ship by a crewman before the disaster indicate that
the vessel was being shadowed by armed Vietnamese naval craft and that there
were submarine mines beneath the "Glomar Java Sea," placed there and retrievable
by its crew. Another document indicates that the ship was damaged prior ot the
typhoon when a Chinese supply boat rammed into its side, causing some $320,000
damage to the vessel. The Glomar Java Sea did not leave its post for repairs.

Communications between ARCO and Global Marine, as well as telegraphic and radio
communications of the U.S. Western Pacific Rescue Coordination Center (WESTPAC)
reveal information about the search for the crew of the Glomar Java Sea.

The documents indicate that a number of survivors from the stricken vessel were
floundering in the water off the coast of Vietnam for hours after the disaster.
There is also indication that the men were picked up by Vietnamese coastal
patrols and are held captive of the Hanoi regime.

The crew of the Glomar Java Sea included 37 Americans, 35 Chinese, four British,
two Singaporeans, one Filipino, one Australian, and one Canadian.

From a transcript of a radio communicaton between WESTPAC and Global Marine on
October 28, three days after the sinking, WESTPAC was told:  "We are informed
that the SOS transmission could not have been transmitted except by human
operators..." There were two 64-man lifeboats aboard the drilling ship, plus
smaller lifeboats.

In an October 29 communicaton from WESTPAC to Global Marine, it is clearly
stated that five strobe lights were sighted by rescue aircraft in the vicinity
of 17-30 North 107-45 East. The aircraft were dispatched to the area because
strobe lights had been previously sighted. Lifejackets from the Glomar Java Sea
were equipped with strobe lights to signal rescuers.

Another October 29 communication between ARCO and Global Marine states that
ARCO's search aircraft had spotted survivors in the water at 17.27 North 107.54
East, and had attempted to divert surface vessels to this location. The
communication expressed the urgency to rescue the men before dark.

At 8:01 a.m. on October 29, ARCO had dropped a rescue raft to survivors.  Pickup
would be delayed for several hours, but the "Salvanquish," a Singapore-based
salvage ship, was within one half-mile of the site.

At 8:38 a.m search aircraft reported pinpointing the survivors' positions by dye
markers released by the survivors into the water. Two survivors were confirmed
with a possible third some distance away. Plans were also made to return to the
downed vessell to offlift survivors.

Another document shows that on nine different occasions radio transmissions were
picked up from a lifeboat. They ranged from "very strong" to "weak" with most
being described as "strong."

Inexplicably, despite the successful search, no rescue was made of the
survivors. Later that day, the Chinese Navy picked up a Vietnamese broadcast
reporting that the Vietnamese had sighted a lifeboat near their coast. The
location of the lifeboat was not confirmed by friendly search parties.

ARCO-Global Marine determined that this sighting was in the vicinity of Hon Gio
Island, located about 80 miles up the Vietnamese coast from the old U.S. base at
Da Nang and about 14 miles offshore, which placed it in Vietnamese territorial
waters. It appears that rescue craft were hampered in fully investigating the
report due to its location and the hint of possible interference by the
Vietnamese military.

It is likely that survivors would have been picked up by the Vietnamese if they
had in fact drifted within Vietnam's territory.

In the years following the loss of the Glomar Java Sea, a number of reports, all
unconfirmed by the U.S., indicate that survivors were seen in captivity in
Vietnam. It is known that the Vietnamese had shown a hostile interest in the
vessel, and the Glomar Java Sea had standing orders to be alert for Vietnamese
vessels in the area. The Chinese Navy served as protection for the vessel and
stood ready to take action should Vietnamese craft wander too close. The waters
below the vessel were mined.

A month after the Glomar Java Sea went down, Chinese divers went down to the
wreckage and went through the ship with a video cameras.

In March 1984, American divers were able to retrieve 31 bodies from the sunken
vessel. Fifteen of the bodies were identified as Americans. In addition, three
British and one Singaporean were identified. The bodies of another American and
two Chinese were tentatively identified. Divers photographed two bodies they
were unable to retrieve. They also found one of the Chinese divers that had
explored the wreckage in November 1983, lashed to the deck of the ship.

The American divers determined that one of the ship's large lifeboats was
launched and that an attempt had been made to launch another. Their film was
seen by the mother of one of the lost crewmen. She reported that the crack in
the hull of the ship at one point was a hole 48 inches across, which was
punctured inward, "as though the rig had been hit by something that exploded."
This fueled additional speculation that the vessel had, in fact, been attacked
rather that simply mortally damaged by the typhoon.

The National Transportaton Safety Board officially determined in November 1984
that an "unexplained crack" in the hull of the Glomar Java Sea was responsible
for its sinking during the typhoon. Apparently, the crack in the hull allowed
two storage tanks to fill with water, causing the vessel to become off-balanced,
making it vulnerable to the forces of the typhoon. Officials believed it was
possible that survivors may have been able to abandon the ship before it sank.
It was determined that the ship had been improperly prepared for the storm.

During 1984, there were reports from Southeast Asia that between six and twelve
survivors of the Glomar Java Sea were being held in prisoner of war camps in
Vietnam. One of the survivors was identified by a Vietnamese refugee as American
crewman John Pierce.

Douglas F. Pierce, father of John Pierce, reported that the refugee had seen his
son, five other Americans and eight Chinese when they were brought into a prison
in Da Nang, where the refugee was being held. John Pierce gave the refugee his
father's business card and two sticks of gum.

Mr. Pierce gave the information to Defense Intelligence Agency who determined
that the refugee had not been in the camp at all, but had received the business
card by mail from a friend, not directly from Pierce. DIA further determined
that the incident had occurred in late October 1983 (shortly after the Glomar
Java Sea went down). The refugee gave Mr. Pierce the original letter, which
contained the names and addresses of two mutual Vietnamese friends.

No followup was conducted on the two names in the letter by DIA, and DIA
discounted the information provided by the refugee. It was not until 1990 that
it became apparent that the Defense Department felt no responsibility for the
Americans lost on the Glomar Java Sea. At that time, DIA reported that the
responsibility for these civilians belonged to the U.S. State Department.

Mr. Pierce did not stop there. He uncovered a U.S. State Department document
that revealed that Cheng Quihong, the secretary and wife of the Director of
China's Visa Office, was overheard telling her companion at a Hong Kong dinner
that survivors from the Glomar had been picked up and were held by the
Vietnamese.

Pierce also learned that a JCRC report sent to DIA dated November 6, 1984,
reported that a former prisoner from Pleiku prison had been held with a Chinese
man who claimed to have been off the Glomar. The man said he was one of three
men who were captured, and that the other two were Americans.

Pierce adds that to his knowledge, neither of these reports were followed up by
U.S. officials, and Pierce has received no reply to his queries regarding them.

In 1989 a Japanese monk named Yoshida was released from prison after being held
for years by the Vietnamese. Yoshida was shown a photograph of John Pierce and
stated that Pierce looked very familiar, and that he had either seen him or
someone who looked very much like him.

In November, 1990, Vietamese Foreign Minister Nguyen Co Thach traveled to the
U.S. and spoke with U.S. officials on a variety of matters. At this time, he
announced that there was a black American named Walter T. Robinson living
illegally in Vietnam, and invited U.S. representatives to come and help find
him. Thach provided a social security number and two photographs.

The Pentagon told "The Washington Times" that the two photographs of Robinson
provided by Thach are of a black man. However, the Pentagon has since admitted
that the photos "are not very well developed" and appear to be of either a black
man or a dark Asian. Photocopies of old newspaper articles concerning Robinson,
obtained by Homecoming II, show a dark-haired man of relatively dark complexion.

The Pentagon has not released the photographs to the press.

The Defense Department determined that Walter T. Robinson had never been listed
as missing in Vietnam. Thach had provided a social security number, and
according to DOD, this information correlated to a white American living in the
Midwest. They concluded that the Thach information, therefore, was in error.

Later information indicated that a Walter T. Robinson was listed on the crew
roster of the Glomar Java Sea. When queried, the Defense Department reported
that they were aware of this Robinson, but that civilians were the
responsibility of the State Department.

It seems apparent that the U.S. is not vigorously looking for the men missing
from the Glomar Java Sea, and that like the missing and prisoners who served in
military and civilian capacities during the Vietnam war, they have been
abandoned.


HUARD, JAMES LINTON

Name: James Linton Huard
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit: Ubon AFB, Thailand
Date of Birth: 17 March 1946
Home City of Record: Dearborn MI
Date of Loss: 12 July 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 174300N 1062900E (XE573593)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4E

Other Personnel In Incident: Samuel O'Donnell (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

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.
Most pilots considered it one of the "hottest" planes around.

1lT. James l. Huard was the pilot and aircraft commander of an F4 aircraft on a
solo tactical mission when it was lost on July 12, 1972. His Weapons Systems
Operator on the flight was Capt. Samuel O'Donnell, Jr.. When the plane was about
17 miles NNW of Dong Hoi, it failed to make a progress check. During subsequent
search and rescue, two Forward Air Controllers (FAC) reported hearing a faint
but definite emergency signal, but no radio contact could be established or
ground search initiated because of heavy enemy force concentration in the area.
Search continued until July 14, 1972.

Later information showed that the plane went down in a reservoir. When it was
drained, the wreckage of the plane was found, but there was no sign of either
crewman, nor any evidence to indicate that they perished with the plane. The two
were classified missing in action.

Nearly 2500 Americans did not return from the war in Vietnam. Thousands of
reports have been received indicating that some hundreds remain alive in
captivity. Whether Huard and McDonnell are alive is not known. What is certain,
however, is that Vietnam and her communist allies can tell us what happened to
most of our men. and return those who are alive.

James L. Huard was promoted to the rank of Captain during the period he was
maintained Missing in Action.

HUBBARD, EDWARD LEE

Name: Edward Lee Hubbard
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit: 41st Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, Takhli AB TH
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Shawnee Mission KS
Date of Loss: 20 July 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 215058N 1051657E (WK292160)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: EB66C

Other Personnel in Incident: Norman A. McDaniel; Lawrence Barbay; William H.
Means Jr.; Glendon W. Perkins (all released POWs); Craig R. Nobert (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: 730304 RELSD BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: The Douglas EB66C Skywarrior was outfitted as an electronic warfare
aircraft which carried roughly 5 tons of electronic gear in addition to its
flight crew of three and technical personnel. The EB66C featured a pressurized
capsule installed in the bomb bay, that accommodated four technicians whose
responsibility was to operate electronic reconnaissance gear.

On July 20, 1966, an EB66C was dispatched from the 41st Tactical Reconnaissance
Squadron at Takhli Airbase in Thailand on an electronic countermeasure mission
over North Vietnam. The crew and technicians that day included Capt. Lawrence
Barbay, Capt. Glendon W. Perkins, Capt. Norman A. McDaniel, Capt. William H.
Means Jr., 1Lt. Edward L. Hubbard, and 1Lt. Craig R. Nobert. Nobert served as
the electronics warfare officer on the flight.

The flight was normal to the target area near Tuyen Quang, Quang Bac Thai
Province, North Vietnam. At this point, the aircraft was orbited east/west.
During this maneuver, the aircraft was hit by hostile fire. Two parachutes were
seen to eject the aircraft, after which the aircraft descended and
disintegrated.

In the spring of 1973, 591 Americans were released from prison camps in Vietnam,
including most of the crew of the Skywarrior lost on July 20, 1966. They had
been held in various POW camps in and around Hanoi for nearly seven years. Only
Nobert remained Missing in Action.

For 24 years, the Vietnamese have denied knowledge of the fate of Craig R.
Nobert, even though the U.S. believes there is a good possibility he was
captured and died in captivity. On January 18, 1978, the Department of the Air
Force declared Craig Nobert dead, based on no specific information he was still
alive.

Disturbing testimony was given to Congress in 1980 that the Vietnamese
"stockpiled" the remains of Americans to return at politically advantageous
times. Could Nobert be waiting, 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. Could Nobert be among these?

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.


During their captivity, Perkins, Barbay and McDaniel were promoted to the rank
of Major. Hubbard was promoted to the rank of Captain. Means was promoted to the
rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

Craig R. Nobert was promoted to the rank of Major during the period he was
maintained missing.

Norman A. McDaniel resided in Camp Springs, Maryland in early 1990.

William H. Means, Jr. died in 1986 as a result of illness stemming from his
incarceraton in Vietnam.



HUBBS, DONALD RICHARD

Name: Donald Richard Hubbs
Rank/Branch: O5/US Navy
Unit: Air Antisubmarine Squadron 23, USS Yorktown
Date of Birth: 19 February 1926 (Riverton NJ)
Home City of Record: Palmyra NJ
Date of Loss: 17 March 1968
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 191759N 1062269E (XG453344)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: S2E

Other Personnel in Incident: Lee D. Benson; Thomas D. Barber; Randall J.
Nightingale (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS: LOST O/W - SEARCH FAILED - J

SYNOPSIS: Cdr. Donald R. Hubbs (pilot); LtJg. Lee D. Benson (co-pilot); AX2
Randall J. Nightingale (Antisubmarine Warfare Technician 2nd Class); and ADR
Thomas D. Barber (crewman) comprised the crew of an S2E aircraft assigned to Air
Antisubmarine Squadron 23 aboard the USS YORKTOWN.

As submarine action in Vietnam was virtually (if not completely) unknown, a wide
variety of activities were conducted by Anti-submarine units in Vietnam. Because
Anti-submarine warfare involves the use of magnetic detection gear or acoustic
buoys in conjunction with "listening" devices, anti-submarine aircraft and their
crews' training proved especially adaptable to reconnaissance and tracking
missions.

On March 17, 1968, Hubbs and his crew launched from the YORKTOWN on a night
surveillance mission over the North Vietnam coast in the area of Vinh. Weather
was bad with zero visibility. Approximately one hour after launch, the aircraft
reported radar problems. No other transmissions were heard, and the aircraft
disappeared from the ship's radar scope. All efforts to make contact were
unsuccessful. However, five hours after the last contact, radio signals were
heard, and North Vietnamese fishing boats were spotted in the area the next day.
The last point of contact occurred about 30 miles off the shore of North Vietnam
about 25 miles east southeast of the island of Hon Me.

On July 2O, 1968 a section of the starboard wing was found. During the period of
July through September 1973 an overwater/at-sea casualty resolution operation
was conducted to determine the feasibility and desirability of such water loses.
These operations were terminated when it was determined to be unfeasible and
nonproductive in such cases. Commander Hubbs and the rest of his crew are still
carried in the status of Presumed Dead/Remains nonrecoverable.

When considering a personnel loss at sea, the criteria for survival involves
both the location and the cause of the loss. In the case of the S2E, no reason
for loss was ever determined. Therefore, it was either shot down or went down
due to mechanical or weather difficulties.

If mechanical difficulties resulted in the downing of the S2E, in an entirely
non-hostile environment, then there can be little chance of survival for the
crew of the S2E unless they managed to cross 25 miles of ocean. If enemy
activity was present, however, there can be ample room for speculation that the
crew might have been captured by one of the fishing boats in the area.

The crew of the S2E is among nearly 3000 Americans who remained prisoner,
missing, or otherwise unaccounted for at the end of the Vietnam war. Since that
time, cases have been resolved by the return of remains and by other means.
Since the end of the war, over 10,000 reports relating to these Americans have
been received by the U.S. Government, convincing many authorities that hundreds
of Americans remain alive in enemy hands today.

Whether the crew of the S2E survived to be captured can only be speculated. It
would be kinder to them and to their families if they died on March 17, 1968.
It is impossible to imagine the agony they must feel to have been abandoned by
their country. It is heartbreaking to consider that Americans still await
rescue by the country they proudly served.


HUBERTH, ERIC JAMES

Name: Eric James Huberth
Rank/Branch: 02/U.S. Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 20 January 1945
City of Record: Thousand Oaks CA
Date of Loss: 13 May 1970
Country of Loss: Cambodia
Loss Coordinates: 142400N 1071900E (YA646995)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D
Other Personnel In Incident: Alan R. Trent (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 15 March 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

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.
Most pilots considered it one of the "hottest" planes around.

On May 13, 1970 Al Trent and Eric J. Hubert were flying a mission on an F4D when
their aircraft was shot down near the tri-border region of Laos, Cambodia and
South Vietnam. They went down in Rotanokiri Province, Cambodia. They were both
classified Missing In Action.

Huberth's family reported in 1973 that the U.S. Government had given them
conflicting information concerning the indident. First, they gave the family the
wrong location for the crash, then later said that enemy activity had made it
impossible to reach the crash site to investigate. Still later, the Government
said that a thorough crash-site investigation had been made. Huberth's and
Trent's families were left with many questions.

Eric's family made many inquiries, contacting anyone they could think of. In
October 1970, while his sister Nancy was working "galley" on a short commercial
airline flight, a passenger pulled out a notebook and read to her the names of
the people she had recently called, and the places she had been. He showed her
F.B.I. credentials. "Little girl," he said, "you're getting in way over your
head." Nancy wasn't impressed. She kept asking questions.

When the war ended and 591 American prisoners were released, Al and Eric were
not among them. Since that time, over 10,000 reports have been received
concerning Americans still held in captivity. Eric Huberth and Al Trent could be
among them. Isnt' it time we brought these men home?

Eric Huberth was promoted to the rank of Captain during the period he was
maintained missing. Alan R. Trent graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in
1964.
HUBLER, GEORGE LAWRENCE

Name: George Lawrence Hubler
Rank/Branch: O3/US Marine Corps
Unit: VMFA 235, MAG 11
Date of Birth: 06 September 1942
Home City of Record: Moab VT
Date of Loss: 23 February 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 155908N 1082227E (BT190690)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
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.

Capt. George L. Hubler was the pilot of an F8E conducting a non-combat flight off
the coast of South Vietnam's Quang Nam province near Da Nang on February 23,
1968. According to U.S. Marine Corps records, Hubler's aircraft was involved in
a mid-air collision and crashed at sea. There are no other individuals missing
at this location on February 23, 1968, so it is assumed that all others were
rescued or recovered.

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.



CASE SYNOPSIS: HUDDLESTON, LYNN RAGLE

Name: Lynn Ragle Huddleston
Rank/Branch: O2/US Army
Unit: 74th Aviation Company, 145th Aviation Battalion
Date of Birth: 21 December 1941 (La Mesa TX)
Home City of Record: Ralls TX
Loss Date: 26 September 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 113115N 1062952E (XT633739)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: O1D (pilot)
Other Personnel In Incident: Stephen J. Geist (missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: At 0910 hours on September 26, 1967, 1Lt. Lynn R. Huddleston was the
pilot of an O1D reconnaissance aircraft on which Geist was the observer.
Huddleston was from the 74th Aviation Company "Aloft", a recon aircraft company
from the 145th Aviation Battalion. Geist was from Detachment A-332, 5th Special
Forces Group. The aircraft left on a visual reconnasaince mission of the Minh
Than area.

A radio call was received by Detachment A-332 at 0930 hours from Lt.
Huddleston. No coordinates were given. Again at 1030 hours, a call from Lt.
Huddleston was monitored by Hon Quan Radar, and Huddleston gave his position as
the vicinity of grid coordinates XT633739, or a few miles from the border of
Cambodia just north of Minh Thanh. This was the last radio communication with
the personnel aboard the O1D. The plane never reached its destination. Search
and rescue was initiated at 1310 hours, but was terminated 3 days later without
any sightings of either the aircraft or its crew. There has been no word of the
two since.

Reports continue to mount that Americans are held prisoner in Southeast Asia.
Nearly 2500 Americans remain missing. Until serious effort is made to find
them, their famlies will wonder whether their men are alive or dead.
HUDSON, ROBERT MARKHAM

Name: Robert Markham Hudson
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Shawnee Mission KS
Date of Loss: 26 December 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 210200N 1055000E (WJ918166)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: B52D

Other Personnel in Incident: James R. Cook; Michael H. LaBeau; Duane P. Vavroch
(all released POWs); Robert J. Morris Jr.; Nutter J. Wimbrow III (both remains
returned)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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: 730212 RELSD BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: Frustrated by problems in negotiating a peace settlement, and
pressured by a Congress and public wanting an immediate end to American
involvement in Vietnam, President Nixon ordered the most concentrated air
offensive of the war - known as Linebacker II - in December 1972. During the
offensive, sometimes called the "Christmas bombings", 40,000 tons of bombs were
dropped, primarily over the area between Hanoi and Haiphong. White House Press
Secretary Ronald Ziegler said that the bombing would end only when all U.S. POWs
were released and an internationally recognized cease-fire was in force.

The Christmas Bombings, despite press accounts to the contrary, were of the most
precise the world had seen. Pilots involved in the immense series of strikes
generally agree that the strikes against anti-aircraft and strategic targets was
so successful that the U.S., had it desired, "could have taken the entire
country of Vietnam by inserting an average Boy Scout troop in Hanoi and marching
them southward."

To achieve this precision bombing, the Pentagon deemed it necessary to stick to
a regular flight path. For many missions, the predictible B52 strikes were
anticipated and prepared for by the North Vietnamese. Later, however, flight
paths were altered and attrition all but eliminated any hostile threat from the
ground.

However, the bombings were not conducted without exceedingly high loss of
aircraft and personnel. During the month of December 1972, 62 crewmembers of B52
aircraft were shot down and captured or went missing. Of these 62, 33 men were
released in 1973. The others remained missing at the end of the war. Over half
of these survived to eject safely. What happened to them?

One B52D aircraft flown by Capt. Robert J. Morris, Jr. was shot down near Hanoi
on December 26, 1972. The crew onboard included Capt. Michael H. LaBeau; Capt.
Nutter J. Wimbrow III; 1LT Robert M. Hudson; 1LT Duane P. Vavroch; and SGT James
R. Cook. The pilot gave the bail-out order and the crew of the aircraft
parachuted to safety.

LaBeau, Vavroch, Hudson and Cook were captured by the North Vietnamese almost
immediately. Cook had been badly injured. These four spent the next six weeks as
"guests" in the Hanoi prison system. Ultimately, they were released in Operation
Homecoming on February 12, 1973 -- four very lucky airmen.

Hanoi denied any knowledge of the pilot, Robert J. Morris or his crew member,
Nutter J. Wimbrow III. Then, in late September 1977, the Vietnamese "discovered"
the remains of Morris and Wimbrow and returned them to U.S. control. For four
years, the Vietnamese denied knowledge of the fate of Morris and Wimbrow, even
though the U.S. believed there was a good possibility the two were captured.

Disturbing testimony was given to Congress in 1980 that the Vietnamese
"stockpiled" the remains of Americans to return at politically advantageous
times. Were Morris and Wimbrow waiting 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 Morris and Wimbrow among
these?

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.


HUIE, LITCHFIELD PATTERSON

Name: Litchfield Patterson Huie
Rank/Branch: O3/US Navy
Unit: Helicopter Support Squadron 1, Detachment Lima, USS BON HOMME RICHARD (CVA
31)
Date of Birth: 31 October 1939
Home City of Record: Warsaw NC
Date of Loss: 27 February 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 171708N 1074109E (YE855130)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH2B

Other Personnel in Incident: Edward N. Letchworth; Bernard J. Sause; Ronald L.
Zempel (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 30 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: BLOWN OFF CV - SANK - NORECV - J

SYNOPSIS: The USS BON HOMME RICHARD (CVA 31) saw early Vietnam war action. A
World War II Essex-class carrier, she was on station participating in combat
action against the Communists as early as August 1964. Her aircraft carried the
first Walleye missiles when they were introduced in 1967. In November 1970, the
BON HOMME RICHARD completed its sixth combat deployment and was scheduled for
decommissioning by mid-1971.

LT Litchfield P. Huie was a pilot assigned to Helicopter Support Squadron 1,
Detachment LIMA onboard the aircraft carrier USS BON HOMME RICHARD in 1967. On
February 27 of that year, Huie launched from the aircraft carrier with his crew:
LTJG Edward N. Letchworth, Airman Ronald L. Zempel, and Airman Bernard J. Sause,
Jr. Airman Zempel was an aircrew survival equipmentman, and it is assumed that
this crew normally conducted pilot rescue operations.

As the UH2B flown by Huie was launched from the carrier, it lifted tail high,
flipped and partially recovered just prior to striking the water. Upon striking
the water the helicopter broke apart on impact. A search helicopter was
immediately over the scene and was later aided by two Navy destroyers. The
search was terminated with negative results.

Huie, Zempel, Sause and Letchworth were declared Killed/Body Not Recovered. They
are listed among the missing because no bodies were found to return home. Their
accident is listed as non-combat related.

Since the war ended in Vietnam, refugees have flooded the world, bringing with
them stories of American soldiers still held prisoner in their homeland.  Many
authorities now believe that hundreds were left behind as living hostages.

The Uh2B crew did not survive the accident on February 27, 1967. Their families
have accepted that they are dead. They no longer expect them to come home
someday. But hundreds of families wait expectantly and in the special agony only
uncertainty can bring. Hundreds of men wait in caves, cages and prisons. How
much longer will we allow the abandonment of our best men? It's time we brought
them home.

HUME, KENNETH EDWARD

Name: Kenneth Edward Hume
Rank/Branch: O4/US Navy
Unit:
Date of Birth: 22 July 1931
Home City of Record: Cincinnati OH
Date of Loss: 29 March 1965
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 200359N 1073659E (YH736208)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F8D

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: CRASH AT SEA - NO PARA/SEAT - J

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.Cdr. Kenneth E. Hume was the pilot of an F8D. On March 29, 1965, Hume's
aircraft crashed at sea at a point near Dao Bach Long Vi island in the Gulf of
Tonkin. No parachute was observed, nor was an ejection seat seen. Hume was
declared Killed/Body Not Recovered. As Defense Department records list Hume's
loss as hostile loss, it is presumed that he was either launching or returning
from a combat mission when he crashed.

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.


HUMMEL, JOHN FLOYD

Name: John Floyd Hummel
Rank/Branch: W1/US Army
Unit: Troop B, 7th Squadron, 1st Cavalry, 164th Aviation Group
Date of Birth: 10 August 1948 (Pecos TX)
Home City of Record: Barstow TX
Date of Loss: 06 March 1971
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 164204N 1063359E (XD670470)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 1
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: AH1G
Other Personnel in Incident: William P. Milliner (missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On March 6, 1971, WO John F. Hummel, pilot, and WO William P.
Milliner, co-pilot, were flying an AH1G Cobra helicopter gunship (serial
#67-15464) as the wingman in a flight of two helicopters returning from a
combat support mission over Laos. While in route, the weather turned hazy. At
about 2000 hours, the wingman notified his troop's forward operation at Khe
Sanh, South Vietnam, that both gunships were planning to use a ground control
approach (GCA). That was the last radio contact with WO Hummel's aircraft.

The lead gunship contacted the Khe Sanh GCA and was told to climb to 5000 feet
and make a left 360 degree turn to a heading of 020 degrees. The wingman was
still with the lead aircraft at this time, but no radio contact could be
established with him.

Shortly after, the GCA control informed the lead aircraft to turn to a heading
of 070 degrees at 4000 feet. After a descending turn was initiated, WO Hummel's
aircraft passed over the top of the lead aircraft. This separation occurred in
the clear, and then the flight leader entered the cloud layer so no further
visual sighting of WO Hummel's aircraft occurred. The lead aircraft landed
safely.

Search and rescue efforts were begun for Hummel and Milliner, but had negative
results. Hummel and Milliner were listed Missing in Action. Some years later,
the Defense Intelligence Agency "rated" missing persons in Southeast Asia
according to the degree of suspected enemy knowledge, using a scale of 1 to 5.
Hummel and Milliner were classified "Category 1", meaning the U.S. had reliable
information that the enemy knew the fate of Hummel and Milliner. Category 1
does not suggest whether an individual was alive or dead at the time this
knowledge was obtained.

Another confusing aspect of the records of Hummel and Milliner is that the
Defense Department classifies their loss as "non-hostile". This information
does not seem to correlate with known enemy knowledge of their fates, unless
reports were received that the two survived the crash of their aircraft only to
stumble into enemy hands at a later time. Clarifying information is not
available in public records.

Nearly 600 Americans were lost in Laos during the war in Vietnam. Although the
Pathet Lao stated on several occasions that they held "tens of tens" of
American prisoners, Laos was not included in the negotiations ending American
involvement in the war, and the U.S. has never negotiated for the freedom of
these men since that time. Consequently, not one American held in Laos has ever
been released.

No one saw Hummel and Milliner die after their aircraft disappeared into the
clouds. As participants in missions over Laos, which were often classified and
dangerous, they were undoubtedly warned that they could be killed or captured.
They may not have dreamed they would be abandoned.
HUMPHREY, GALEN FRANCIS

Name: Galen Francis Humphrey
Rank/Branch: E7/US Marine Corps
Unit: VMGR 152, 1st Marine Air Wing
Date of Birth: 28 August 1927
Home City of Record: St. Joseph MO
Date of Loss: 01 February 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 172038N 1072217E (YE520190)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: KC130F

Other Personnel In Incident: Peter Vlahakos; Albert M. Prevost; Russell B.
Luker; Richard A. Alm; Donald L. Coates (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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 Lockheed C130 Hercules was one of the most important aircraft used
in Vietnam. It served many purposes, among them transport, tanker, gunship,
drone controller, airborne battlefield command and control center, weather
reconnaissance craft, electronic reconnaissance platform, search, rescue and
recovery.

The U.S. Marines employed the KC130F version which served primarily as a
probe-and-drogue refueling plane, although when the rubber fuel bladders were
removed from the cargo compartment, the plane also served as a transport. The
KC130F was capable of refueling two aircraft simultaneously.

On February 1, 1966, a U.S. Marine Hercules tanker was operating in the Gulf of
Tonkin near the coast of North Vietnam, about 10 miles north of the island of
Hon Co. During a refueling operation, the tanker was hit by ground fire and
crashed into the ocean. All crew onboard the aircraft were considered to have
died in the crash of the plane.

The pilot of the aircraft was 1LT Albert M. Prevost; crew chief SSGT Peter G.
Vlahakos; other crew members included Maj. Richard A. Alm; SSGT Donald L.
Coates; GYSGT Galen F. Humphrey, navigator; and SSGT Russell B. Luker. All were
declared Killed in Action, Bodies Not Recovered.

According to family members of the crew, however, it was reported that there was
not a single piece of wreckage to be found. This seems improbable for an
aircraft weighing in excess of 60,000 pounds involved in a crash - especially
one carrying a jet fuel cargo. Some family members are suspicious of the
reported circumstances of the crash and believe it may have occurred elsewhere,
thus explaining the lack of wreckage found.

Regardless, if the Marine Corps crash site location is accurate, there can be no
question someone was aiming the gun that shot the aircraft down. Someone knows
the fate of the aircraft and crew. Beyond those on the ground, the shoreline of
Vietnam was heavily trafficked by fishermen and patrol boats. There is no doubt
that the Vietnamese could account for the men onboard the KC130 lost near Ho Co
Island on February 1, 1966.

Since American involvement in the war in Southeast Asia ended, over 10,000
reports relating to Americans prisoner, missing, or unaccounted for in Southeast
Asia have been received by the U.S. Government. Many authorities, having
reviewed this largely-classified information have concluded that hundreds of
Americans are still alive in captivity today.

Perhaps the entire crew of seven perished on February 1, 1966. But, perhaps they
are among those experts believe are still alive, still held prisoner. We cannot
forget a single man, lest he be left behind. They must all be brought home.
HUMPHREY, LARRY D.

Name: Larry D. Humphrey
Rank/Branch: Rank Unknown/US Army
Unit:
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record:
Date of Loss: 04 November 1970
Country of Loss: Cambodia
Loss Coordinates: 113450N 1044900E
Status (in 1973): AWOL
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: ground
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 15 March 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS: ESCAPED CUSTODY TO JOIN THE KC

SYNOPSIS: In Vietnam, military experts devised a system to try to relieve the
battle fatigue experienced in earlier wars by those who served long tours with
their units intact. In Vietnam, soldiers were rotated after roughly one-year
tours. The practice had noble intent, but it served to isolate the soldier and
interrupt continuity. Virtually as soon as a man learned the ropes, he was
shipped home and a green replacement arrived to fill the gap. Some were quite
literally in the jungles one day and at home the next. The emotional impact was
terrific and thousands of veterans are dealing with it two decades later.

Vietnam was also a limited political war, and had peculiar problems: a vague
enemy, restrictive rules of engagement, an uncertain objective, non-military
State Department minds directing many aspects of the war. In certain periods of
the war, military morale was lower than perhaps any other time in our history.

Adding to these factors was the extremely young age of the average soldier
shipped to Vietnam. For example, the average combatant's age in World War II was
25 years, while Vietnam soldiers were 19. The young fighters became jaded -- or
old -- or died -- long before their time.

For various reasons, some soldiers deserted or even defected to the enemy. Their
counterparts in the U.S. fled to Canada, manufactured physical or mental
problems, or extended college careers to escape the draft.

There are only a handful of American deserters or AWOL (Absent Without Leave)
maintained on missing lists, and in most cases, that AWOL status is doubtful,
there being other factors involved. At least one of these was known to have
fallen in love with a woman whom he later learned was a communist. Another fled
because he had scrapped with a superior and feared the consequences. This man
was ultimately declared dead, and his AWOL record expunged.

There is little information regarding those listed as AWOL on the missing lists.
For instance, the Army does not maintain a complete file of Larry D. Humphrey
who was reported AWOL on November 4, 1970 in Cambodia. According to Defense
Intelligence Agency remarks, Humphrey escaped custody (presumably U.S. custody)
to join the communist Khmer Rouge. He was last seen about five miles southwest
of the Cambodian capilol city of Phnom Penh. His fate is unknown.

A few of the reports among the over 10,000 received relating to Americans
missing or prisoner in Southeast Asia have to do with so-called deserters,
although there is no evidence they have been asked if they want to come home. In
light of the amnesty granted draft dodgers by the United States Government, can
we be less forgiving of them?

HUNEYCUTT, CHARLES JEROME JR.
Remains Returned 10 November 1988, ID Announced 28 September 1989

Name: Charles Jerome Huneycutt, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 20 August 1943
Home City of Record: Charlotte NC
Date of Loss: 10 November 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 171909N 1064629E (XE886156)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4C

Other Personnel in Incident: James S. Morgan (missing); from other F4C: James
A. Crew; Kelly F. Cook (both missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS: NO CONTACT

SYNOPSIS: On November 10, 1967, Lt.Col. Kelly F. Cook, pilot, and 1Lt. James A.
Crew, bombadier/navigator were the crew of one F4C in a flight of two which
departed Da Nang Airbase, South Vietnam on an operational mission. The crew of
the second aircraft was the pilot, Maj. James S. Morgan, and the rear-seater,
1Lt. Charles J. Huneycutt.

Both F4's were tracked to their target area of Dong Hoa in North Vietnam, but
because of incliment weather, were directed to an alternate target nearby.
Positive radar and radio contact was maintained with the aircrafts until the
point when their bombing dives were to begin. All contact was then lost.

Electronic searches were negative. Ground search was not conducted since the
incident occurred over heavily defended territory about 14 miles southeast of
Dong Hoi on the coast of North Vietnam. All four men aboard were classified
Missing in Action.

A North Vietnamese general was quoted in an article saying a women's militia
shot down two F4C recon planes that same day and captured "both bandits" alive.
As four, not two, individuals are concerned in this incident, it is unclear
which of the four the article could relate to. However, according to a 1974
publication from a POW organization named FACK, the Defense Department
acknowledged at one time that James A. Crew was, indeed, a prisoner of war. His
status was hot, however, changed from Missing in Action. According to a 1974
list published by the National League of Families, Charles J. Huneycutt survived
his loss incident.

In the Peace agreements signed in Paris in 1973, the Vietnamese pledged to
release all American prisoners of war and account for the missing. They have
done neither. The U.S. Government has named the return and full accounting of
Americans "highest national priority", yet has dealt with the issue with less
than high priority.

In 1988, the Vietnamese "discovered" and returned to U.S. control the remains of
1Lt. Charles J. Huneycutt, Jr.  The other three pilots lost on November 10, 1967
remain missing, and the Vietnamese deny knowledge of their fates. For 21 years,
Huneycutt was a Prisoner of War - whether he was alive or dead.

Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing in
Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. Many authorities are convinced
that there are still hundreds of Americans alive, held captive. Cook, Crew, and
Morgan could be among them. They and the others who remain missing deserve the
full effort of their country to bring them home.

Kelly F. Cook was an instructor at the U.S. Air Force Academy prior to
volunteering for Vietnam service.

James A. Crew graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1965.

James S. Morgan's wife, Eleanor died of cancer in 1985, not knowing the fate
of her husband.









HUNSICKER, JAMES EDWARD

Name: James Edward Hunsicker
Rank/Branch: O2/US Army
Unit: 57th Aviation Company, 52nd Aviation Battalion, 17th Aviation Group, 1st
Aviation Brigade
Date of Birth: 29 November 1946 (Ephrata PA)
Home City of Record: Denver PA
Date of Loss: 24 April 1972
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 143918N 1074711E (ZB001219)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel in Incident: Robert W. Brownlee; George W. Carter; Wade L.
Ellen; Johnny M. Jones; Kenneth J. Yonan; Franklin Zollicoffer (all missing);
Charles M. Lea; Ricky B. Bogle (helicopter crew, rescued); Julius G. Warmath;
John P. Keller; Walter H. Ward (helicopter passengers, rescued); Charles W.
Gordon, Cao Ky Chi (evaded capture near Dak To)

REMARKS: KIA ON ISLE - 5 RCV - NT SUBJ - J

SYNOPSIS: On the evening of April 23, 1972, Capt. Kenneth J. Yonan accompanied
his ARVN counterpart to a water tower located on the northwestern edge of the
Tanh Canh base camp compound near Dak To, Kontum Province, South Vietnam. Yonan
was an advisor assigned to Advisory Team 22, MACV, and was assisting the ARVN
42nd Regiment based there.

At about 0530 hours on April 24, Capt. Yonan was still in the water tower when
Viet Cong attacked the camp perimeter. Although tanks fired at and hit the
water tower, two other advisors spoke to Capt. Yonan after the firing and Yonan
reported that he was not hit and planned to join the other advisors when it was
safe to do so. Radio contact was maintained with Yonan until 0730 hours. The
other U.S. advisors began escape and evasion operations from the beleaguered
compound.

Team 22 Advisors Maj. George W. Carter, Maj. Julius G. Warmath, and Capt. John
P. Keller, were extracted by helicopter. The aircraft was a UH1H from the 52nd
Aviation Battalion, 17th Aviation Group, (serial #69-15715) and was flown by
Lt. James E. Hunsicker. WO Wade L. Ellen was the co-pilot of the chopper, and
SP4 Charles M. Lea, and SP5 Ricky B. Bogle were crewmen. Other persons
extracted included 1Lt. Johnny M. Jones, from the 52nd Aviation Battalion; SP4
Franklin Zollicoffer, from the U.S. Army Installation at Pleiku, and Sgt.
Walter H. Ward, unit not specified.

The helicopter departed to the northwest from Dak To, but was apparently hit by
enemy fire, as it crashed and burned on a small island in the Dak Poko River
about 500 meters from the end of the dock to the runway. Because of the rolling
terrain, personnel at the airfield did not see the aircraft impact. A pilot
flying over the wreckage reported that the helicopter was burning, but they
could see no survivors. It was later discovered that five people did survive
the crash - Warmath, Keller, Bogle, Ward and Lea. According to their
statements, Hunsicker, Ellen, Zollicoffer, Jones and Carter were all dead.

Two other Team 22, MACV Advisors, LtCol. Robert W. Brownlee and Capt. Charles
W. Gordon, and their ARVN interpreter, Sgt. Cao Ky Chi, were in a bunker near
the airstrip approximately 4 kilometers to the west of the base camp when they
were forced to withdraw under heavy enemy attack. They proceeded south of the
compound across the Dak Poko River, but LtCol. Brownlee became separated from
the others as they were advancing up a hill. Sgt. Chi and Capt. Gordon called
out to him, but received no response. From the top of the hill, Sgt. Chi heard
the enemy call out to someone in Vietnamese to halt and raise their hands. Sgt.
Chi believed the Viet Cong were speaking to LtCol. Brownlee. Gordon and Chi
evaded capture and eventually made their way to safety.

A Vietnamese who was captured and subsequently released reported that he had
talked to another prisoner who had witnessed LtCol.Brownlee's death. He was
told that LtCol. Brownlee had killed himself with his own pistol when communist
soldiers told him to raise his hands in an attempt to capture him. Additional
hearsay reports of his suicide were reported by another ARVN source.

Yonan never caught up with the others. For three days, helicopter searches were
made of the area with no success. Ground search, because of the hostile threat
in the area, was not practical.

In April 1988, the Vietnamese "discovered" the remains of Capt. Kenneth J.
Yonan and returned them to the U.S. in a spirit of stepped-up cooperation on
the POW/MIA issue. For nearly 20 years, this 1969 West Point graduate was a
prisoner of war - alive or dead. His family now knows with certainty that he is
dead, but may never learn how - or when - he died.

In addition to the reports regarding Brownlee's death, a South Vietnamese
soldier reported that he observed the capture of one "big" American from the
camp. Another report described the capture of a U.S. Captain stationed at the
camp.

Since the war ended, reports and refugee testimony have convinced many
authorities that not only do the Vietnamese possess several hundred sets of
Americans' remains, more startlingly, they also control hundreds of living
American prisoners.

As long as they are allowed to do so, the Vietnamese will return remains at
politically expedient intervals. As long as they are allowed to do so, they
will hold our men prisoner.


HUNT, JAMES "D"

Name: James D Hunt
Rank/Branch: O3/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 52, USS CORAL SEA (CVA 43)
Date of Birth: 01 December 1936
Home City of Record: Missoula MT
Date of Loss: 13 October 1968
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 182600N 1055600E (WF985381)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: A6A

Other Personnel In Incident: Quinlen R. Orell (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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: Commander Quinlen R. Orell was a pilot assigned to Attack Squadron 52
onboard the aircraft carrier USS CORAL SEA. On December 13, 1968, he launched
in his A6A Intruder attack aircraft with his Bombardier/Navigator, Lt. James D.
Hunt, on an armed reconnaissaince mission over North Vietnam.

During their egress from the target area the aircraft passed through an area of
reported anti-aircraft fire. Orell's aircraft was successfully tracked by U.S.
surface ship radar as having crossed the coast and back out to sea. Immediately
thereafter, radar and IFF contact was lost and no further radio transmissions
were received. Search and rescue efforts were unsuccessful.

The last known location of the plane was near the coast of North Vietnam about
25 miles southwest of the city of Vinh and about 10 miles north of the city of
Ha Tinh. The plane is listed as an over/water loss.

Hunt and Orell were classified Missing in Action, a status which was maintained
for the next ten years. Finally, in 1978, both were declared Presumed Killed in
Action, based on no proof that they were any longer alive.

Thousands of reports of Americans still held in captivity in Southeast Asia have
been received by our government since the war ended in Vietnam. The evidence
suggests that hundreds are still waiting to come home. Detractors say that the
U.S. is ignoring good information on POWs for political expediency. The U.S.
states that proof is not available.

Vice Admiral William F. Bringle, Commander Seventh Fleet once said that the A6A
squadrons contained an abundance of talent, courage and aggressive leadership.
In light of this, the low priority afforded the accounting of men like Orell and
Hunt is an appalling signal of American indifference.

There are nearly 2500 Americans missing in Southeast Asia. Unlike "MIAs" from
other wars, most of these men and women can be accounted for. It is not known if
Hunt and Orell have a chance of surviving their crash and the years since. The
overwhelming priority must be for those who are alive. Every effort must be made
to free them and bring them home.


During the period they were maintained missing, Quinley R. Orell was promoted to
the rank of Captain, and James D. Hunt was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant
Commander.

HUNT, LEON ANDREW

Name: Leon Andrew Hunt
Rank/Branch: E4/USAF
Unit: 16th SOS (PAF), Ubon, Thailand
Date of Birth: 07 August 1949
Home City of Record: Pleasure Ridge Park KY
Date of Loss: 18 June 1972
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 161500N 1071200E (YC343978)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: AC130A

Other Personnel in Incident: Jacob Mercer; Richard Nyhof; Robert Wilson; Gerald
F. Ayres; Larry J. Newman; Paul F. Gilbert; Stanley Lehrke; Robert Harrison;
Donald H. Klinke; Richard M. Cole; Mark G. Danielson (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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: Lockheed's versatile C130 aircraft filled many roles in Vietnam,
including transport, tanker, gunship, drone controller, airborne battlefield
command and control center, weather reconnaissance, electronic reconnaissance,
and search, rescue and recovery.

The AC130, outfitted as a gunship, was the most spectacular of the modified
C130's. These ships pierced the darkness using searchlights, flares, night
observation devices that intensified natural light, and a variety of electronic
sensors such as radar, infared equipment and even low-level television. On some
models, a computer automatically translated sensor data into instructions for
the pilot, who kept his fixed, side-firing guns trained on target by adjusting
the angle of bank as he circled. The crew of these planes were, therefore,
highly trained and capable. They were highly desirable "captures" for the enemy
because of their technical knowledge.

1LT Paul F. Gilbert was the pilot of an AC130A gunship assigned a mission near
the A Shau Valley in the Republic of Vietnam on June 18, 1972. The crew,
totaling 15 men included MAJ Gerald F. Ayres, MAJ Robert H. Harrison, CAPT
Robert A. Wilson, CAPT Mark G. Danielson, TSGT Richard M. Cole Jr., SSGT Donald
H. Klinke, SSGT Richard E. Nyhof, SSGT Larry J. Newman, SGT Leon A. Hunt, and
SGT Stanley L. "Larry" Lehrke.

During the mission, the aircraft was hit by a surface-to-air missile (SAM) and
went down near the border of Laos and Vietnam. In fact, the first location
coordinates given to the families were indeed Laos, but were quickly changed to
reflect a loss just inside South Vietnam.

Three survivors of the crash were rescued the next day. After several years of
effort, some of the family members of the other crewmembers were able to review
part of their debriefings, which revealed that a bail-out order was given, and
that at least one unexplained parachute was observed, indicating that at least
one other airman may have safely escaped the crippled aircraft.

In early 1985, resistance forces surfaced information which indicated that SGT
Mercer had survived the crash and was currently held prisoner. Parents of
another crew member, Mark G. Danielson, discovered a photograph of an
unidentified POW printed about 6 months after the crash, in their local
newspaper whom they were CONVINCED was Mark. It was several years, however,
before the U.S. Government allowed the Danielsons to view the film from which
the photo was taken. When they viewed the film, their certainty diminished.

The hope that some of the twelve missing from the AC130A gunship has not
diminished, however. Since the war ended, over 10,000 reports relating to
Americans missing, prisoner or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia have been
received by the U.S. Government, including over 1,000 first-hand live sighting
reports.

Families who might be able to lay their anguish and uncertainty to rest are
taunted by these reports, wondering if their loved one is still alive, abandoned
and alone. Since a large portion of the information is classified, it is
impossible for the families to come to their own conclusions as to the accuracy
of the reports.

The fate of the twelve missing men from the gunship lost on June 18, 1972 is
unknown. What is certain is that the governments of Southeast Asia possess far
more knowledge than they have admitted to date. A large percentage of the nearly
2500 missing Americans CAN be accounted for. There can be no question that if
even one American remains alive in captivity today, we have a moral and legal
obligation to do everything possible to bring him home.

HUNT, ROBERT WILLIAM

Name: Robert William Hunt
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: Troop C, 3rd Squadron, 4th Cavalry, 25th Infantry Division
Date of Birth: 16 August 1939
Home City of Record: Beckley WV
Date of Loss: 28 February 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 105203N 1063538E (XT742017)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 1
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: M113 (tank)

Other Personnel In Incident: James J. Scuitier (not on current lists)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 September 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: POSS CAPT'D = POSS DIC SCUITIER

SYNOPSIS: Robert W. Hunt was a gunner on an M41 Tank assigned to Troop C,
3rd Squadron, 4th Cavalry, 25th Infantry Division. On February 28, 1968,
his unit was engaged in a reconnaissance in force mission just north of
Saigon in South Vietnam.

The enemy launched an attack with rocket propelled grenades and heavy
automatic weapons fire just after the tank commander had stopped to check
the ID of an indigenous person. During the assault, the tank received two
direct RPG hits.

Hunt was seen standing in the rear of the tank just prior to the assault.
Because of heavy fighting, the area was not secured until the next day,
and the tank could not be immediately checked for survivors. When search
teams went into the area the following day, Hunt could not be found.

Lost the same day at the same coordinates on ground was James J. Scuitier.
His name disappeared from the lists of missing by September 1978, but
there is reference to his name in Hunt's files from Joint Casualty
Resolution Center (JCRC). JCRC files indicate that both Hunt and Scuitier
were captured, but the Army has nothing on file to indicate that Hunt was
captured.

The Vietnamese stated that Scuitier died in captivity, and although his
name is no longer on the lists of missing, no record can be found of
remains being returned that can be identified as his. According to the
Army, Scuitier was captured in March 1968 and died in March 1968. Other
casualty records show that Scuitier died in February 1968 while on board
the tank. Other files indicate that remains identified as those of
Scuitier were returned in February 1968. Finally, a cryptic data remark
states "730127 PRG SAYS DIC" which could either mean that the Vietnamese
stated on January 27, 1973 that Scuitier had died in captivity, or that
the Vietnamese stated that he died on January 27, 1973.

Like many of the POW/MIA cases, there are frustrating discrepancies in
those of Hunt and Scuitier. It is little wonder that many POW/MIA family
members have learned to suspect information given to them by the
government about their missing man.

The U.S. Government seems to believe that all Americans left behind in
Indochina are now dead. Critics wonder if that is the case, why are the
over 10,000 sighting reports still classified? Why are the complete files
of the men who are still missing denied to their families? What happened
to Robert Hunt and James Scuitier? Are they dead - or alive?


HUNT, WILLIAM BALT

Name: William Balt Hunt
Rank/Branch: E6/US Army 5th Special Forces
Unit: Detachment A-302
Date of Birth: 31 July 1935
Home City of Record: Sand Point ID
Date of Loss: 04 November 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 106203N 1063538E (XT418657)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
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: William B. Hunt was a replacement platoon leader III CTZ Mike Force
(Detachment A-302), 5th Special Forces Group. On November 4, 1966, he was a
passenger on a helicopter on an assigned mission in Tay Ninh Province, South
Vietnam (grid coordinates XT 418 657) when the helicopter diverted to conduct a
medevac for an American lead company that had suffered heavy losses.

At a landing zone northeast of Soui Da, 10 miles from Dau Tieng, Hunt was lifted
into battle to help evacuate the wounded. He voluntarily left the aircraft to
help reinforce the remaining troops on the ground, and the helicopter left with
the wounded.

The Viet Cong again attacked the position the unit was maintaining that evening.
After two days of heavy fighting, and numerous casualties, the Mike Force was
overrun by numerically superior forces on November 6. As Hunt carried the
wounded company commander, SFC George H. Heaps, out of danger, Hunt was gravely
wounded by a bullet that hit him in the shoulder, penetrated his upper back, and
exited his side, but Hunt still succeeded in moving Heaps to a covered position
where both passed out from loss of blood.

Both Heaps and Hunt later regained consciousness and crawled toward the landing
zone for extraction, with two ARVN. Progress was very slow because of their
wounds, and finally Hunt told Heaps he could not go farther, and for Heaps to
continue on and leave him there. A Nung soldier stayed behind with Hunt, and
Heaps and the two ARVN were evacuated. The Nung later reported that Hunt had
died, but when searches were made to recover his body, it was not found.

In 1985 a private citizen obtained a lengthy report through the Freedom of
Information Act in which a Vietnamese defector described in great detail a
Prisoner of War camp near Hue, South Vietnam. Together with the report was a
list of Americans the source positively identified as being held at the camp.
William Hunt's name is on the list. Although the report has been substantiated
by returned POWs who were held there, the U.S. Defense Department has declared
that the defector is a liar, and has discounted his report.

The defector's report is one of over 10,000 received by the U.S. that has
convinced many experts that hundreds of Americans are still alive as prisoners
in Indochina. As long as the mindset exists to term these reports "lies," we
cannot expect to learn the truth of the matter. Until we learn the truth, we
cannot expect anyone who is alive to come home.

            CASE SYNOPSIS:    HUNTER, JAMES D.

  ============================================================================

Name:                James D. Hunter
Rank/Branch:            E3/US Army
Unit:                Company A, 1st Btn
                506th Infantry, 101st Airborne Division
Date of Birth:            20 February 1949
Home City of Record:        Portland TN
Date of Loss:            29 October 1968
Country of Loss:        South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates:        163329N 1073955E
Status (in 1973):        Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category:            4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground:    Boat
Other Personnel
In Incident:            (none missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS:  PFC James Hunter was a rifleman assigned to Company A, 1st
Battalion, 506th Infantry, 101st Airborne Division.  On October 29, 1968,
he and members of his unit were swimming in Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam.

Hunter was on an air mattress and was last seen when a wave swept him from it,
and he disappeared under the water.  A search was conducted for him or for his
body, but was unsuccessful.

For the units assigned on coastal areas, swimming was a great recreation.  The
beaches in many parts of Vietnam rival any others in the world.  Unfortunately,
there occurred a number of accidental drownings - deaths that are tragically
ironic in the midst of a war.

James Hunter listed with honor among the missing because no remains were found.
His case is quite clear.  For others who are listed missing, resolution is not
as simple.  Many were known to have survived their loss incident.  Quite a few
were in radio contact with search teams and describing an advancing enemy.
Some were photographed or recorded in captivity.  Others simply vanished
without a trace.

As reports mount that have convinced experts that hundreds of Americans are
still alive as captives in Southeast Asia, one must think of the frivolity of
tens of thousands of lives spent, and question whether our national honor can
remain intact until and unless all our men are brought home.
HUNTER, RUSSELL PALMER, JR.

Name: Russell Palmer Hunter, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 13th Bombing Squadron, Da Nang AFB SV
Date of Birth: 23 May 1935
Home City of Record: Glastonbury CT
Date of Loss: 10 February 1966
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 164200N 1062100E (XD413458)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: B57B

Other Personnel In Incident: Ernest P. Kiefel (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 31 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 B57 Canberra bomber was dispatched to Vietnam in response to the
Tonkin Gulf incident in the summer of 1964. Although the upgrading of Vietnamese
anti-aircraft and ground attacks made the B57 vulnerable after a time, it still
proved valuable as a light bomber, and in interdiction missions over Laos.

Capt. Russell P. Hunter Jr. was the pilot of a B57B Canberra sent on an night
strike mission over Laos on February 10, 1966. His navigator/co-pilot was Capt.
Ernest P. Kiefel Jr., an Air Force officer with 16 years service. The two men
were assigned to the 13th Bombing Squadron based at Da Nang, South Vietnam.

(NOTE: Some records indicate that these two men were based in the Philippines.
It is possible that they were on a short-duty tour from a unit in the
Philippines and working with the 13th Bombing Squadron.)

Hunter's aircraft was on its second pass over a target on the Ho Chi Minh Trail
when Hunter reported he was having difficulty with the aircraft and the crew
members were bailing out. Neither Hunter nor Kiefel were found after the
aircraft went down. Their last known location was about 5 miles east of the city
of Sepone in Savannakhet Province.

(NOTE: Air Force records state "the crew members were bailing out," which can be
misinterpreted unless one understands that the Canberra was a two-man aircraft.
The crew, in this case, consisted of Hunter and Kiefel only.)

What happened to Hunter and Kiefel is not known. They are among nearly 600
Americans who disappeared in the "secret war" in Laos and never returned. When
591 Americans were released from prisons in Vietnam in 1973 at the end of the
war, not one American held by the Lao was among them. No treaty or agreement has
been signed to secure their release since that day, although the Lao stated
publicly that they held prisoners and would release them only from Laos. There
is ample reason to believe that the Vietnamese and/or the Communist Lao know
what happened to Hunter and Kiefel on December 29, 1967.

There have been nearly 10,000 reports given to the U.S. Government relating to
Americans prisoner, missing, or otherwise unaccounted for in Southeast Asia.
Many officials who have seen this largely classified information have
reluctantly concluded that hundreds of Americans are still alive in captivity
today. Whether Hunter and Kiefel might be among them is unknown. What is
certain, however, is that as long as even one man remains held against his will
in Indochina, we must do everything possible to bring him home.



Both Hunter and Kiefel were promoted to the rank of Lieutenent Colonel during
the period they were maintainted missing.
HUNTLEY, JOHN NORMAN

Name: John Norman Huntley
Rank/Branch: E3/US Army
Unit: 57th Aviation Company, 17th Aviation Group, 1st Aviation Brigade
Date of Birth: 01 March 1951 (Spencer MA)
Home City of Record: Portland ME
Date of Loss: 27 September 1969
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 144351N 1073316E (YB458318)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: PFC John N. Huntley was the door gunner aboard a UH1H helicopter from
the 57th Aviation Company, 17th Aviation Group on an extraction mission in
Laos. The helicopter was to extract a Special Forces Long Range Reconnaissance
Patrol (LRRP) in Attopeu Province.

As the helicopter was lifting from the extraction zone with four men attached
by McGuire rigs, they were receiving heavy volumes of enemy fire. When the
helicopter reached an altitude of 400 feet, gunfire hit the engine and the
helicopter began falling. The pilots were able to slow the descent somewhat by
autorotation, but survivors of the incident reported that after the helicopter
was hit, it bounced, twisted and came to rest burning on its right side.

The crew members lost consciousness and regain consciousness just as the pilot
and copilot were dragging the apparently lifeless body of Huntley from beneath
the helicopter. While they were doing this, they were knocked down by the
explosion of the helicopter and had to stop their attempts to rescue the door
gunner.

Because of intense enemy activity, no further attempts were made to recover
Huntley, and it was assumed that his body was consumed by the blazing aircraft.
He was listed as Killed, Body not Recovered, with a strong probability that the
enemy knows his fate.

Huntley is one of nearly 600 Americans lost in Laos. Although his case seems
clear, others cannot be resolved so easily. Many of the pilots and men on the
ground lost in Laos were alive the last time they were seen. Some were in radio
contact with would-be rescuers. A few were photographed in captivity.

Although the Pathet Lao stated publicly that they held "tens of tens" of
American prisoners, the U.S. refused to negotiate with a "government" they did
not officially recognize. Consequently, no American held in Laos was ever
released.

Although the young door gunner lost on September 27, 1969 is apparently never
going to come home, one can imagine him eagerly providing covering fire in an
attempt to bring his comrades to freedom.


HUSS, ROY ARTHUR

Name: Roy Arthur Huss
Rank/Branch: O2/US Navy
Unit: Patrol Squadron 26, U Tapao Airbase, Thailand
Date of Birth: 29 July 1943
Home City of Record: Eau Claire WI
Date of Loss: 06 February 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 093050N 1040730E (VR040520)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: P3B
Other Personnel in Incident: Armando Chapa, Jr.; William F. Farris; Donald L.
Gallagher;  Donald F. Burnett; Thomas P. Jones; Homer E. McKay; James C.
Newman, Jr.; Melvin C. Thompson; Lynn M. Travis (all missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: At 0900 hours on February 5, 1968, a P3 "Orion" aircraft assigned to
Patrol Squadron 26 at U Tapao Airbase, Thailand, left on a "Market Time"
mission over the Gulf of Thailand (Gulf of Siam). They were scheduled to return
to their base at about 0900 hours the following morning.

The crew on board the aircraft included Lt. Thomas P. Jones; LtJg. Lynn M.
Travis; LtJg. Roy A. Huss; AXCS Donald F. Burnett; AX3 Armando
Chapa Jr.; AX3 William F. Farris (AX designates Antisubmarine warfare
technicians and related duties); AOC Donald L. Gallagher; AMH2 Homer E. McKay;
ADR1 James C. Newman Jr.; AE1 Melvin C. Thompson (A designates in many cases,
aviation personnel, i.e. AE1 is Aviation Electrician's Mate First Class).

As antisubmarine warfare was all but unknown in Vietnam, there were a variety
of duties handled by those trained in antisubmarine warfare. As marking
submarines, and/or destroying them involved the use of marking buoys,
electronic "ears" and other technical equipment suited for target marking,
antisubmarine teams were frequently used for search missions. They also
sometimes assisted in attacks on small enemy water craft.

Shortly after midnight on February 6, the Orion reported a surface contact.
Some two hours later it reported another contact somewhat further east. The
last report received from the Orion was after 0300 hours. No subsequent
communication was received.

An emergency communication alert for the aircraft was declared shortly after
daybreak and a full search and rescue (SAR) was declared. In the late
afternoon of February 6, wreckage and debris were sighted and identified.

On February 7 search and rescue operations were terminated at sundown. Salvage
operations were conducted from February 11 through March 21. The investigating
officer concluded that the Orion had impacted with the water, and that the
aircraft had been completely destroyed, and that all of the crewmembers had
died instantly.

The Orion went down about 50 miles off the shores of South Vietnam's An Xuyen
Province in the Gulf of Thailand. Presumably, all the crew aboard are "buried"
at sea - an honorable burial for a naval man. This crew is listed with honor
among the missing because no remains were ever found.

For the crew of the Orion, death seems a certainty. For hundreds of others,
however, simple answers are not possible. Adding to the torment of nearly
10,000 reports relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asia is the certain
knowledge that some Americans who were known to be prisoners of war were not
released at the end of the war. Others were suspected to be prisoners, and
still others were in radio contact with would-be rescuers when last seen alive.
Many were known to have survived their loss incidents, only to disappear
without a trace.

The problem of Americans still missing torments not only the families of those
who are missing, but the men who fought by their sides, and those in the
general public who realize the full implication of leaving men unaccounted for
at the end of a war.

Tragically, many authorities believe there are hundreds of Americans still
alive in captivity in Southeast Asia today.  What must they be thinking of us?
What will our next generation say if called to fight if we are unable to bring
these men home from Southeast Asia?


Prepared by Homecoming II Project 01 December 1989.

HUSTON, CHARLES GREGORY

Name: Charles Gregory Huston
Rank/Branch: E5/US Army Special Forces
Unit: C & C Detachment, Drawer 22 (MACV-SOG), 5th Special Forces Group
Date of Birth: 29 September 1945
Home City of Record: Sidney OH
Date of Loss: 28 March 1968
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 164730N 1062000E (XD434574)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Other Personnel In Incident: Alan L. Boyer; George R. Brown (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 30 June 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: MACV-SOG (Military Assistance Command, Vietnam Studies and Observation
Group). MACV-SOG was a joint service high command unconventional warfare task
force engaged in highly classified operations throughout Southeast Asia. The 5th
Special Forces channeled personnel into MACV-SOG (although it was not a Special
Forces group) through Special Operations Augmentation (SOA), which provided
their "cover" while under secret orders to MACV-SOG. The teams performed deep
penetration missions of strategic reconnaissance and interdiction which were
called, depending on the time frame, "Shining Brass" or "Prairie Fire" missions.

On March 28, 1968, Sgt. Alan L. Boyer, Sgt. Charles G. Huston, both riflemen,
and SFC George R. Brown, intelligence sergeant, were conducting a reconnaissance
patrol in Laos, along with 7 Vietnamese personnel. The men were attached to
Command and Control Detachment, MACV-SOG. About 15 miles inside Laos, northeast
of Tchepone, the patrol made contact with an unknown enemy force and requested
exfiltration by helicopter.

Because of the terrain in the area, the helicopter could not land, and a rope
ladder was dropped in for the team to climb up to board the aircraft. Six of the
Vietnamese had already climbed to the aircraft, when, as the 7th climbed aboard,
the helicopter began receiving heavy automatic weapons fire. This forced the
helicopter to leave the area.

Simultaneous to these events, Sgt. Boyer began to climb the ladder when seconds
later, the ladder broke. When last seen during the extraction, the other 2
sergeants (Huston and Brown) still on the ground were alive and appeared
unwounded. On April 1, a search team was inserted into the area and searched 6
hours, but failed to locate any evidence of the three men.

Boyer, Huston and Brown are among the nearly 600 Americans missing in Laos. When
the war ended, agreements were signed releasing American Prisoners of War from
Vietnam. Laos was not part of the peace agreement, and although the Pathet Lao
stated publicly that they held "tens of tens" of prisoners, not a single
American held in Laos has ever been released.

Any of the three members of the reconnaissance team operating that day in March
1968 could be among the hundreds of Americans experts believe to be alive today.
The last they saw of America, it was flying away, abandoning them to the jungle
and the enemy. What must they be thinking of us now?

HYLAND, CHARLES KEITH

Name: Charles Keith Hyland
Rank/Branch: Civilian
Unit: Businessman
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Australia
Date of Loss: 06 February 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: XS800862
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Auto

Other Personnel in Incident: Norman J. Brookens; held with: James U. Rollins;
Charles K. Hyland; Thomas H. Van Putten (all released POWs)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 October 1990 from: raw data from
U.S. Government agency sources, published sources including "Civilian POW:
Terror and Torture in South Vietnam" by Norman J. Brookens.

REMARKS: 681126 RELSD BY PRG

SYNOPSIS: In the early morning of January 31, 1968, a 15-man Viet Cong suicide
squad blew a hole in the tall masonry wall surrounding the U.S. embassy
compound. Within seconds, the VC were inside the walls. After hours of fighting,
five Americans, five South Vietnamese, and 15 Viet Cong were dead.

Saigon was not the only city struck by the Viet Cong. The communists had
launched the Tet Offensive. The Viet Cong penetrated 13 cities including Saigon,
Da Nang and Hue; the latter being the longest and bloodiest of the battles.

Five days after the attack on Saigon -- on February 4 -- Richard Utecht, a
maintenance officer for General Service, USAID, left to pick up a tire from a
nearby U.S. Army compound to deliver to one an AID bus that had gone out of
service. It was 11:30 on a bright Sunday morning, and a maintenance employee,
Norman J. Brookens accompanied him.

Brookens and Utecht left the apartment and took a side street to the compound.
They stopped when their way was blocked by a cyclo (a small motorcycle with a
seat mounted on the front for passengers). Within seconds, three Viet Cong armed
with U.S. carbines moved in on Utecht's Jeep.

Assuming that their vehicle was being confiscated, Utecht followed VC orders
directing them out of the city limits to a small village. It was here that the
two men were bound with dynamite wire and they knew they were in trouble.

Brookens and Utecht were marched to Cambodia, a 50-mile trip. The Americans
endured taunts from villagers and were hidden from U.S. military. They were
bound so tightly that their arms swelled twice their normal size.

Two days after Brookens and Utecht were captured, an Australian businessman
named Keith Hyland was also captured very near the village where the two USAID
employees were captured. He also was marched northwest, and shortly joined with
an American civilian, James U. Rollins, who had been captured on February 4 at
Cholon near Saigon.

Around mid-March, they arrived at a camp with a group of grass huts in the
middle of a field. Outside the huts, 14 VC guards were watching over 10 captured
ARVN soldiers. They were allowed to wash in a shallow, dirty water hole, and
given plain rice to cook. After several days at this camp, two more civilian
prisoners were brought to their hut -- Rollins and Hyland, who had been captured
the month before.

The punishment for speaking to one another was buffalo iron shackles and
starvation. The men began to lose weight fast. They dreamed of food and escape,
but with shackles on their ankles 24 hours a day, it seemed impossible.

Before long, the prisoners were moved again. It was a mental challenge to try to
keep track of their location, and at this time, they believed they were in
Cambodia. They later they walked to a trail which they believed to be the Ho Chi
Minh Trail. During the journey they were held in cages or in deep holes.

On April 22, the four POWs dared an escape. They had secretly learned to remove
their chains, and on this rainy night they made their break. Within seconds of
their freedom, they were soaked. It was impossible to walk in the thick jungle,
so they crawled on hands and knees. They immediately became separated, and had
had barely reached the camp border when they were surrounded and recaptured.

For the next ten days, they were given only several spoons of rice and a pinch
of salt. They were chained and bound with ropes so tight their arms and legs
went completely numb. The ropes were removed after a month, but the chains
remained. The four were rotated between a cage and a pit. Brookens remained in
the pit for several months, lying in his own body waste.

In mid-July, the prisoners were moved to another camp, but Keith Hyland was left
behind. Hyland was released on November 26, 1968. For the first time, State
Department learned that Brookens and Utecht had definitely been captured.

For the next three years, the Americans were moved frequently as U.S. air and
artillery strikes came closer. The journeys were pure torture, and the POWs were
often chained to trees while cages were were built for them. They were sometimes
held in swampy areas teeming with snakes and malaria-carrying mosquitoes. Some
of the marches occurred during monsoon season, and the prisoners, still wearing
leg chains, walked in neck-deep water. During the frequent U.S. strikes, some of
them thundering B52 and artillery strikes, the men hid in bunkers. During one
such raid, a camp was completely destroyed.

The POWs' health began to reach its limits. Brookens was suffering from
dysentery and beriberi from which he never completely recovered. In April, they
moved again, living in the jungle until a new camp was built in Cambodia.

In early April 1969, an American prisoner escaped. Army Cpl. Thomas H. Van
Putten had been captured near Tay Ninh as he operated a road grader on February
11, 1968. After making his way to friendly forces, Van Putten tentatively
identified Brookens as one of the POWs held by the  Viet Cong in his camp.

In July 1969, a POW committed a minor offense for which the entire camp was
severely punished for 30 days. The prisoner who caused the commotion was later
taken from the camp. Some POWs reported that they last saw the man, who was only
21 years old, laying on the ground near his cage covered by a piece of plastic.
They believed he was dead. The other prisoners said that the man had died of
torture, starvation and lack of medicine for his ailments. [NOTE: Brookens does
not give the name of this POW who apparently died in July 1969.]

On April 29, four new prisoners [unnamed in Brookens' account] joined the group.
They eventually reached a nearly-completed camp with above-ground cages, which
they believed was northwest of Tay Ninh near the Cambodian border. Brookens and
Utecht were put in the same cage, and it was the first time Brookens had had a
chance to talk to an American since the aborted escape attempt two years before.

By June, encroaching artillery forced the POWs westward into Cambodia, but on
July 14, they returned to the border camp where they remained until December
1970. At this time, they were moved deep into Cambodia. Again they were chained
while cages were built. The POWs remained here until April 1972, when they were
moved to a new, and final camp.

The POWs were in terrible condition -- painfully thin, with all manner of skin
ailments, dysentery, and malaria. Brookens was so physically depleted that he
could barely walk without the aid of walking sticks. Then on the morning of
February 12, 1973, the men were told they were going home. There were 27 in all,
five of them civilians. The group was taken to a small airport outside Loc Ninh,
and after 11 hours of waiting, finally started for home.

Norm Brookens had lost 55 pounds since his capture, and was treated for a
ruptured colon, a heart condition, jungle rot, malaria and beriberi.

Thomas H. Van Putten resides in Michigan and had a leg amputated in September
1990 as a result of complications stemming from injuries during his captivity.




HYNDS, WALLACE GOURLEY JR.

Name: Wallace Gourley Hynds Jr.
Rank/Branch: O6/US Air Force
Unit: 10th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron
Date of Birth: 28 May 1925
Home City of Record: Sumter SC
Date of Loss: 02 August 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 183115N 1052451E (WF405462)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: RF4C

Other Personnel in Incident: Carey A. Cunningham (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 September 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: Col. Wallace G. Hynds was the pilot and Capt. Carey A. Cunningham the
radar navigator of an RF4C reconnaissance version of the Phantom fighter/bomber.
The two were assigned to the 10th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron.

On August 2, 1967, Hynds and Cunningham were flying the lead plane in a flight
of two aircraft on a reconnaissance mission near the city of Vinh in North
Vietnam. The number two aircraft observed Hynds' aircraft to crash to the ground
and explode. No parachutes were heard, and no emergency beeper signals were
heard. Based on their visual observation, the two men were declared killed.

The U.S. Government believes the Vietnamese could account for Hynds and
Cunningham, primarily because the area was relatively heavily populated and
there were enemy forces present. However, the Vietnamese have denied any
knowledge of either Hynds or Cunningham.

Hynds and Cunningham are listed among the missing because their bodies were
never recovered. Others who are missing do not have such clear-cut cases. Some
were known captives; some were photographed as they were led by their guards.
Some were in radio contact with search teams, while others simply disappeared.

Since the war ended, over 250,000 interviews have been conducted with those who
claim to know about Americans still alive in Southeast Asia, and several million
documents have been studied. U.S. Government experts cannot seem to agree
whether Americans are there alive or not. Detractors say it would be far too
politically difficult to bring the men they believe to be alive home, and the
U.S. is content to negotiate for remains.

Well over 1000 first-hand, eye-witness reports of American prisoners still alive
in Southeast Asia have been received by 1990. Most of them are still classified.
If, as the U.S. seems to believe, the men are all dead, why the secrecy after so
many years? If the men are alive, why are they not home?


IANDOLI, DONALD

Name: Donald Iandoli
Rank/Branch: E5/US Army
Unit: C Company, 503rd Infantry, 173rd Infantry Brigade
Date of Birth: 19 September 1946
Home City of Record: Patterson NJ
Date of Loss: 19 November 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 143500N 1073547E (YB797137)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Other Personnel In Incident: Benjamin D. DeHerrera; Jack L. Croxdale (both
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: REMS TAG'D - NOT IN MORTY

SYNOPSIS: On November 19, 1967, SP4 Croxdale, radio operator, PFC Benjamin D.
DeHerrera, squad leader and Sgt. Donald Iandoli, squad leader were members of
Company C, 503rd Infantry on a Search and Destroy mission in South Vietnam.

At 1435 hours, Companies A, C and D, all part of the 503rd Infantry, were in
heavy contact with an unknown sized North Vietnamese force and were surrounded.
During the operation, Sgt. Iandoli was wounded and was seen in the Company C
command post area, along with SP4 Croxdale and PFC DeHerrera. At 1850 hours, a
U.S. Marine bomber dropped a 500 pound bomb which hit the command post area in
error, resulting in additional casualties. No remains were recovered that day
because of intense enemy activity.

The following day, a search of the area was conducted. The remains of Croxdale,
DeHerrera and Iandoli were identified and tagged. However, only the remains of
DeHerrera and Croxdale were reported to have been placed on a helicopter en
route to Dak To. Following the attack, a 3-day search of the battle area was
conducted without success in locating Iandoli. However, as of January 4, 1968,
the U.S. Army Mortuary at Than San Ut, South Vietnam, had not processed or
identified any remains of DeHerrera, Croxdale or Iandoli, and the location of
those remains is unknown.

Croxdale, DeHerrera and Iandoli died the day their command post received fire
and are listed among the dead. They are also listed among the missing because no
remains have been returned to their families for burial. The cases of many of
the other nearly 2500 missing are not so clear. Many were known to have been
alive at the time they disappeared. Some were photographed in captivity.

Experts now believe hundreds of Americans are held captive in Indochina. While
the members of Company C may not be among them, one can imagine their proudly
defending one more firebase for their comrades safe return.

IBANEZ, DI REYES

Name: Di Reyes Ibanez
Rank/Branch:USMC, E2
Unit: 3rd Marine Division 3rd Recon Bn.
Date of Birth: 19 June 41
Home City of Record: San Diego, CA
Date of Loss: 05 June 67
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 163800N 1064700E
Status (in 1973): Missing
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Other Personnel In Incident:

Source: Compiled by THE P.O.W. NETWORK 02 February 1993 from the following
published sources - POW/MIA's -- Report of the Select Committee on POW/MIA
Affairs United States Senate -- January 13, 1993. "The Senate Select
Committee staff has prepared case summaries for the priority cases that the
Administration is now investigating. These provide the facts about each
case, describe the circumstances under which the individual was lost, and
detail the information learned since the date of loss.  Information in the
case summaries is limited to information from casualty files, does not
include any judgments by Committee staff, and attempts to relate essential
facts. The Committee acknowledges that POW/MIAs' primary next-of- kin know
their family members' cases in more comprehensive detail than summarized
here and recognizes the limitations that the report format imposes on these
summaries."

On June 5, 1967, Sergeant Ibanez was a member of a 3rd Marine Division
reconnaissance patrol in Quang Tri Province.  Shortly after midnight, a
guard heard a moan and the sound of brush breaking from the area where
Sergeant Ibanez was sleeping.  A later search party recovered his rifle and
pack.  In the morning a patrol located a partial dental plate and blood
trail.  The blood trail led along a path from his last known location to a
nearby village. A search of the area turned up freshly dug foxholes with
evidence of recent occupancy and signs that something had been dragged along
the trail.  The partial plate was described by the unit's dental surgeon as
identical to the teeth artificially replaced.  Sergeant Ibanez was never
found.

Sergeant Ibanez was initially declared missing.  In March 1978, he was
declared dead/body not recovered.  He was not reported alive in the
Vietnamese prison system by returning U.S. POWs.

INNES, ROGER BURNS

Name: Roger Burns Innes
Rank/Branch: O2/US Navy
Unit: Fighter Squadron 114, USS KITTY HAWK (CVA 63)
Date of Birth: 23 March 1943
Home City of Record: Chicago IL
Date of Loss: 27 December 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 10600N 1054400E
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 3
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4B

Others In Incident: Leonard Lee (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 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: DEAD/IR 1516 0461 71

SYNOPSIS: LtCdr. Leonard Lee had one of the most sought jobs for a pilot. He
flew aboard the F4 Phantom fighter jet. The aircraft saw so much combat in
Vietnam that during the two year period of 1965 and 1966, 54 F4C's were lost.
The C, D and E versions also downed 107 enemy MiGs. The Phantom's combat radius
exceeded 900 miles and featured a maximum level speed of over Mach 2. Its
navigation system was comprehensive and could guide the aircraft at a wide
variety of levels and speeds.

The navigation and bombing equipment was mostly operated by the "guy in back",
the second man aboard. When Lee flew on an armed reconnaissance mission two days
after Christmas 1967, his backseater was LTJG Roger B. Innes.

Lee and Innes were to fly the lead aircraft in a section of two at Cap Falaise,
North Vietnam. Lee reported a target, but had to position himself for a better
strike angle due to poor weather. At this time his wingman was able to release
his ordnance on the target. Radio communications with Lee's aircraft confirmed
the strike.

Lee began his bombing run immediately behind his wingman and was lost from the
radar scope of the E2A radar control aircraft. No further contact was made with
his aircraft. The wingman was unable to observe Lee due to his relative position
and the overcast weather in the area, and proceeded out to sea in accordance
with their mission briefing in case of emergency. A search and rescue effort was
initiated but to no avail. No wreckage was sighted, and no emergency radio
beacons were heard in the strike area. No anti-aircraft fire had been seen in
the target area.

Lee and Inne's aircraft went down about 50 miles west and slightly south of the
city of Thanh Hoa in Nghe An Province, North Vietnam. Both men were classified
Missing In Action. No one knew for sure if they bailed out successfully or died
when their plane went down. A later intelligence report indicated that they were
dead, but that information was never substantiated. The two remained missing,
and their fates uncertain.

Nearly 2500 Americans remain missing from American involvement in Indochina.
Evidence continues to mount that some of them are alive and held captive. The
tragedy is that these men who willingly served their country were abandoned -
and know it. Isn't it time we brought them home?


Leonard M. Lee was promoted to the rank of Captain, and Roger B. Innes was
promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Commander during the period they were
maintained missing.
IRELAND, ROBERT NEWELL

Name: Robert Newell Ireland
Rank/Branch: E7/US Air Force
Unit: 16th Special Operations Squadron, Ubon Airbase, Thailand
Date of Birth: 11 July 1935 (childhood in Olathe KS)
Home City of Record: San Bernardino CA (family in MO)
Date of Loss: 22 April 1970
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 154400N 1065100E (XC990410)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: AC130A
Other Personnel in Incident: Ronnie Hensley; Thomas Adachi; Stephen Harris;
Donald Lint; William Brooks; Charles B. Davis; Donald G. Fisher; John C. Towle;
Charles Rowley (all missing); Eugene L. Fields (rescued).

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: In the early hours of April 22, 1970, an AC130 gunship flown by
veteran pilot Major William Brooks departed Ubon Airbase with a crew of ten for
a Commando Hunt mission over the Ho Chi Minh Trail in southern Laos. The
aircraft, code named "Ad Lib", was joined near its destination by two jet
escort fighter bombers, code named "Killer 1" and "Killer 2", and immediately
began air strikes against enemy traffic below. The crew of the aircraft
included Brooks, the pilot; SSgt. Thomas Y. Adachi, the aerial gunner; LtCol.
Charlie B. Davis, a navigator; Maj. Donald G. Fisher, a navigator; SSgt.
Stephen W. Harris; SSgt. Ronnie L. Hensley; Master Sgt. Robert N. Ireland;
Airman Donald M. Lint; LtCol. Charles S. Rowley; and 1Lt. John C. Towle.

During its fourth strike, the gunship was hit by anti-aircraft fire and began
burning. Brooks radioed, "I've been hit, babe". Fisher, the navigator, reported
that his position was OK. Fields and Hensley, battling the blaze in the rear of
the aircraft, lost contact with each other in the smoke. Fields inched his way
to Adachi's position, and found Adachi gone and the left scanner window open.
Fields used an auxiliary parachute to abandon the aircraft.

Killer 1 reported seeing no parachutes, although Killer 2 reported the crew was
bailing out. Just before Killer 1 departed the area for refueling, it received
one emergency beeper signal from the ground. Killer 2 established voice contact
with a member of the crew identifying himself as Ad-Lib 12 (Fisher), who
reported that he had burns on his face and hands. Killer 2 also left for
refueling, while other aircraft monitored the downed craft and waited for
morning to attempt rescue of the survivors.

The following morning, Ad-Lib 11 (Fields) was rescued, but due to hostile
ground forces, no ground search or photographs were made at the time. The Air
Force assumed at the time that Fields had incorrectly identified himself, and
announced that 6 of the crew had been killed and four were missing.

The rest of the story is confusing. The family of one of the crew was told that
a ground crew had been inserted and that partial remains of one crew member had
been recovered. Another family was advised that photographs of the crashsite
existed. A photograph of a captive airman having burn bandages on his hands was
identified as being Fisher by his family. Rowley's family was informed of a
secret intelligence report indicating that 8 of the crew had been captured, and
that a controlled American source had witnessed them being tortured to death
for their "crimes".

A returned POW reported seeing Rowley in a propaganda film. Another returned
POW stated that Fisher had been a POW. Although the Air Force would not allow
family members to contact the only survivor, Fields, Fisher's son located him
after 18 years. Fisher denied ever being in contact with any of the Killer jet
escorts. It was not he who identified himself by radio to rescue forces.

Apparently, at least some of the crew of Ad Lib survived to be captured in
Laos, often called the "Black Hole" of the POW issue because of nearly 600 lost
there, not a SINGLE man was released that had been held in Laos. The Pathet Lao
stated on several occasions that they held prisoners, yet we never negotiated
their freedom, and reports continue to be received that some of these men are
still alive. The surviving crew members lost that day were abandoned by the
country for which they bravely fought.

IRSCH, WAYNE CHARLES

Name: Wayne Charles Irsch
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 25 April 1942
Home City of Record: Tulsa OK
Date of Loss: 09 January 1968
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 164500N 1060800E (XD234537)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D

Others In Incident: Norman M. Green (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 15 March 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Lt.Col. Norman M. Green was a pilot of an F4 Phantom in Vietnam. The
Phantom was one of the most sought after assignments for a pilot, as the
aircraft represented the ultimate fighter plane - a highly maneuverable jet
carrying the newest of sophisticated equipment which allowed bombing and
navigation to be directed by computer.

On January 9, 1968, Green was assigned a combat mission which took him over
Laos. His bombardier/navigator on the mission was 1Lt. Wayne C. Irsch. It was
his job to operate much of the high-tech equipment on the aircraft. When they
were near the city of Sepone in Savannakhet Province, Laos, their aircraft was
hit by enemy fire and crashed. Their loss location is listed as 40 miles
south-southeast of the Ban Karai Pass. Both men were classified Missing In
Action.

A September 13, 1968 statement by Soth Pethrasi was monitored from Puerto Rico
in which the names of several Americans were mentioned. The report stated that
"Smith, Christiano, Jeffords, and Mauterer" were part of "several dozen captured
Airmen" whom the Pathet Lao were "treating correctly and who were still in Laos.
Another name, Norman Morgan, captured January 9, 1968, was mentioned but is not
on lists of missing. This is believed to possibly correlate to Norman Green.

The Ban Karai Pass, on the border of Vietnam and Laos, is an area which claimed
many pilots during the war in Indochina. Many of the pilots were able to safely
reach the ground, but were not released at the end of the war. Although the
Pathet Lao stated publicly many times that they held prisoners that would be
released only from Laos, the U.S. did not include Laos in the agreement ending
American involvement in the war. Not a single American military prisoner of war
held in Laos has been released.

Tragically, nearly 1000 eyewitness reports of Americans held in captivity in
Southeast Asia have been received. They present a compelling case that Americans
are still being held today. Irsch and Green could be among them. If so, what
must they be thinking of us?

Wayne C. Irsch was promoted to the rank of Captain and Norman M. Green to the
rank of Colonel during the period they were maintained Missing in Action.



IRWIN, ROBERT HARRY
Remains Returned - ID Announced 891120

Name: Robert Harry Irwin
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 09 December 1938
Home City of Record: Peekskill NY
Date of Loss: 17 February 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 170915N 1064940E (XD944974)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D

Other Personnel in Incident: Edwin A. Hawley Jr. (Released POW)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 April 1990 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.

REMARKS: DEAD/CREWMAN SAID IN HANOI

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.

Major Robert H. Irwin, pilot, and Capt. Edwin A. Hawley Jr., weapons/systems
operator, were dispatched on a combat mission in their F4D aircraft over North
Vietnam on February 17, 1972. At a point about 15 miles west of the city of
Vinh in Quang Binh Province, their aircraft was shot down.

Capt. Hawley, being the rear-seater, ejected from the aircraft first. It was
standard procedure for the pilot to eject second. Therefore, it was not
uncommon for the crewmembers to be separated on the ground. Capt. Hawley was
captured by the North Vietnamese and spent the next year in prison camps in and
around Hanoi. On February 14, 1973, he was released, still showing signs of the
injuries he suffered when he ejected from his aircraft.

Capt. Hawley, in his debriefing stated that he believed his pilot was dead. No
details of this briefing is publicly available, as much of it is still
classified. Maj. Robert H. Irwin remained Missing in Action.

The Defense Intelligence Agency further expanded Irwin'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.

Throughout years following the war, reports continued to accumulate relating to
Americans missing or prisoner in Southeast Asia. By 1989, there were nearly
10,000 such reports (largely classified), and many authorities became convinced
that hundreds of Americans remained alive, prisoners of war. The U.S. continued
to ask for information on missing Americans at each visit to Hanoi, but the
Vietnamese either ignored their questions, or denied knowledge of Major Irwin.

In late November, 1989, it was announced that remains had been returned to U.S.
control by the Vietnamese, and these remains had been positively identified as
being those of Major Robert H. Irwin. For over 17 years, he had been a prisoner
of war - alive or dead.

For Major Irwin's family, the wait is over. They can finally grieve and heal.
They no longer wonder if he is one of the hundreds thought to be still alive.
For thousands of other families, however, the wait continues. It's long past
time we brought all our men home from Southeast Asia.

ISHII, TOMOHARA

Name: Tomohara Ishii
Rank/Branch: Civilian
Unit: CBS News
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Japan
Date of Loss: 31 May 1970
Country of Loss: Cambodia
Loss Coordinates: 110519N 1044119E (VT660257)
Status (in 1973): Prisoner of War
Category: 1
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Auto

Other Personnel In Incident: Welles Hangen (American); Roger Colne (French);
Kojiro Sakai; Yoshihiko Waku; (all Japanese correspondents); 2 other foreign
correspondents (remains recovered)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Welles Hangen, an NBC News correspondent, Roger Colne, a sound
technician for NBC, Kojiro Sakai, a sound technician for CBS, Yoshihiko Waku, a
cameraman for NBC, and Tomohara Ishii, a cameraman for CBS, and three other
foreign correspondents comprised a group of NBC, CBS and foreign newsmen when
the group was ambushed about 32 miles south of Phnom Penh near Angtassom, in
Kampot Province, Cambodia, on May 31, 1970. The newsmen were heading for the
front lines of fighting in Cambodia, looking for a story as military action in
Cambodia had stepped up considerably at this time.

One of the automobiles was hit by a B-40 rocket, killing all three occupants.
This group was reported to contain a CBS crew, including one individual named
Syvertsen.

The group's Cambodian driver, who escaped capture, said that Hangen and two
foreign journalists riding in the same car were taken alive to a house about
three miles from the site of the attack. Other reports describe the three and
"Hangen and his crew," which presumably include Hangen, Colne, and Waku, all NBC
employees.

CIA located a Cambodian peasant in early 1971 who had been held overnight with
and could identify photos of Colne, Hangen, Sakai, Ishii and Waku. The peasant
stated that they had been held 3 miles from capture then moved the next morning
to a pagoda called Wat Po. The Cambodian knew personal details about each of the
five journalists.

Information obtained by a Khmer Rouge rallier, and substantiated by reports from
villagers, indicated that Hangen and three others were held in the house for
three days before being taken out and executed. The bodies of two newsmen were
recovered from a gravesite near the ambush location, but Hangen, Colne, Ishii,
Sakai and Waku are still missing and were listed as Prisoners of War.

Author Zalin Grant interviewed returned ARVN POWs in early 1973 and released the
following data supporting other stories indicating journalists could still be
alive. "Returned ARVN POWs sighted the (unnamed) journalists on Route #7, 17
miles south of Snoul in Eastern Cambodia 7-72 in ox-carts pulled by Hondas;
another said a VC captain near Minot, eastern Cambodia (where military American
POWs were released from in 1973) reported the (unnamed) journalists held in 7-72
had cameras; Cambodian national saw (unnamed) journalists in 6-72 at Prince
Sihanouk's FUNK camp south of Route #13 in Kratie Province; returned ARVN POWs
said a guard told them in 3073 that the journalists were still alive and held in
their area." Walter Cronkite reported a sighting of (unnamed) journalists in
January, 1974.

Whether Grant's and Cronkite's information relates to the journalists missing
from May 31, 1970, is not known. The five are among 22 international journalists
still missing in Southeast Asia, most known to have been captured. For several
years during the war, the correspondents community rallied and publicized the
fates of fellow journalists. After a while, they tired of the effort, and today
these men are forgotten by all but families and friends.

Tragically, nearly the whole world turns its head while thousands of reports
continue to flow in that prisoners are still held in Southeast Asia. Cambodia
offered to return a substantial number of remains of men it says are Americans
missing in Cambodia (in fact the number offered exceeded the number of those
officially missing). But the U.S. has no formal diplomatic relations with the
communist government of Cambodia, and refused to directly respond to this offer.
Although several U.S. Congressmen offered to travel to Cambodia to receive the
remains, they have not been permitted to do so by the U.S.

By 1991, well over 10,000 reports regarding missing Americans have been received
which convince many experts that hundreds of Americans are still alive in
Southeast Asia. Whether the newsmen ambushed in Cambodia on May 31, 1970 are
among them is unknown. Whatever their identities or nationality, they deserve
the basic human right of freedom.



IVAN, ANDREW JR.

Name: Andrew Ivan, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 13th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Udorn Airbase Thailand
Date of Birth: 23 September 1944
Home City of Record: South River NJ
Date of Loss: 10 September 1971
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 192900N 1032800E (UG391653)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D
Other Personnel In Incident: Leroy J. Cornwell III (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 September 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: Capt. Leroy J. Cornwell was the radar intercept officer aboard an F4D
Phantom fighter bomber flown by Capt. Andrew Ivan, Jr. when it was sent on a
forward air control mission which took them over the Plaine des Jarres in Laos
on September 19, 1971.

When the Phantom and its crew failed to return to Udorn, an intensive air search
was initiated. A crash site was located near the village of Ban Ban in
Xiangkhoang Province, Laos, and air photos showed what appeared to be the main
carriage of an F4 aircraft. No sign was found of either crewmember.

The Plain of Jars region of Laos had only two months prior been taken over by
Lao tribesmen from the communists. The area had long been controlled by the
communist Pathet Lao and a continual effort had been made by the secret
CIA-directed force of some 30,000 indigenous tribesmen to strengthen
anti-communist strongholds there. The U.S. had to date committed over $284
million to the war effort in Laos. Details of this secret operation had been
released only the previous month.

Because Laos was "neutral", and because the U.S. continued to state they were
not at war with Laos (although we were regularly bombing North Vietnamese
traffic along the border and conducted assaults against communist strongholds
thoughout the country at the behest of the anti-communist government of Laos),
and did not recognize the Pathet Lao as a government entity, the nearly 600
Americans lost in Laos were never recovered.

The Pathet Lao stated that they would release the "tens of tens" of American
prisoners they held only from Laos. At war's end, no American held in Laos was
released - or negotiated for.

Mounting evidence indicates that hundreds of Americans are still alive in
captivity in Southeast Asia. Among them could be Leroy Cornwell and Andrew Ivan.
They proudly served their country. They deserve better than abandonment.



JABLONSKI, MICHAEL JAMES

Name: Michael James Jablonski
Rank/Branch: E3/US Army
Unit: Company D, 3rd Battalion, 47th Infantry, 9th Infantry Division
Date of Birth: 20 October 1949
Home City of Record: Chicago IL
Date of Loss: 27 June 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 101006N 1062825E (XS614246)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Boat (some lists say Ground)
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

REMARKS: DROWNED IN RIVER

SYNOPSIS: At 1650 hours on June 27, 1969, PFC Michael J. Jablonski's unit was
on a combat mission in Kien Hoa Province in the Delta region of South Vietnam,
and attempting to cross a stream 30 meters wide and 20 feet deep.

Jablonski reached the middle of the stream and could no longer hold on to the
single rope bridge. The swift current of the stream pulled him downstream.
Realizing that Jablonski was in trouble, one member of the company untied the
rope at the west bank and attempted to get the rope to him, however, he had
drifted too far downstream. Members of the company watched him submerge
completely under the ater twice and resurface twice. By the time one menmber
was able to swim to him, it was too late. Jablonski's last known position was
150 meters downstream from the point of loss.

Extensive searches were conducted 300 meters downstream by men on the ground
and with 2 helicopters, but no sign of Jablonski was ever found.

War is hell. Men are killed by other men whom they call their enemy. But men
are also killed by "misadventure" - by senseless drowning, falls, and by being
in the wrong place at the wrong time.

At ninetee, Mike Jablonski had just begun to live.

Because no trace of Jablonski's remains were found, his name is maintained
among those who are missing and captured in Southeast Asia. Experts believe
that hundreds of these Americans are still alive, captive, and want to come
home. One can imagine that Jablonski would gladly serve on one more mission to
help bring them home.

JACKSON, CARL EDWIN

Name: Carl Edwin Jackson
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 37th Consolodated Aircraft Maintenance Squadron
Date of Birth: 28 January 1930
Home City of Record: Natchitoches LA
Date of Loss: 27 June 1965
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 101307N 1064405E (XT990095)
Status (in 1973): Killed In Action/Body Not Recovered
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: C123
Other Personnel In Incident: Billie L. Roth (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II
Project.

REMARKS: MID-AIR EXPLODE NE SAIGON-J

SYNOPSIS: The Fairchild C123 "Provider" was a night attack system/transport
aircraft based on an all-metal glider designed by Chase Aircraft. The airplane's
C123B prototype first flew on September 1, 1954. The C123B, in the hands of a
group of airmen who called themselves "The Mule Train" became the first
transport to see Vietnam service. The C123B transports were soon joined by
UC123Bs of the now-controversial Project Ranch Hand which sprayed pesticides and
herbicides over Vietnam, including Agent Orange.

The Provider, particularly in camouflage paint with mottled topside and light
bottomside, resembled an arched-back whale suspended from the bottom midpoint of
huge dorsal wings. Like other transports, the Provider proved its versatility
during the Vietnam war. The C123 also dispensed flares to illuminate targets for
fighters or tactical bombers, and were dubbed "Candlestick" when they served in
this capacity.

Capt. Carl E. Jackson flew C123 Providers in Vietnam. He was a good pilot. The
first time Carl Jackson's family was notified that something was wrong, they
were told that the C123 he and co-pilot SSgt. Billie L. "Sam" Roth were flying
was missing in flight on June 27, 1965.

A later telegram stated that the aircraft had crashed when it was returning from
a bombing raid. Another report stated that Jackson and Roth were evacuating
civilians. Another report stated that the plane exploded in mid-air near Saigon.
Another report stated that all bodies on the plane were burned beyond
identification. Still another report stated that the fingerprints of those
aboard were being processed by the FBI. Inquiries on the identities of the rest
of the crew (the C123 has a crew of four) met with the answer that the names of
the rest of the crew were unknown. Yet another report stated that the remains
were not found. Another placed the crash in an entirely different location.

The case of the C123 lost on June 27, 1965, is full of inconsistencies. Clearly,
all the reports given to the families cannot be accurate. The Jackson and Roth
children are comparing notes. They want to know what happened to their fathers.
They want the truth, if they can't have their dads.

Jackson and Roth are among nearly 2500 Americans who were left behind in
Southeast Asia. Evidence mounts that many of them are still alive, being held
captive. The children of Jackson and Roth wonder if their dads are held
prisoner. Without the truth, they cannot know for sure.



JACKSON, CHARLES A.

Name: Charles A. Jackson
Rank/Branch: USAF, O2
Unit:
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Charleston, WV
Date of Loss: 24 June 72
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 205000N 1050000E
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D

Other Personnel In Incident: James. L. McCarty (still missing)

REMARKS: 02/12/73 Released by DRV injured

Source: Compiled by THE P.O.W. NETWORK 02 February 93 from the following
published sources - POW/MIA's -- Report of the Select Committee on POW/MIA
Affairs United States Senate -- January 13, 1993. "The Senate Select
Committee staff has prepared case summaries for the priority cases that the
Administration is now investigating. These provide the facts about each
case, describe the circumstances under which the individual was lost, and
detail the information learned since the date of loss.  Information in the
case summaries is limited to information from casualty files, does not
include any judgments by Committee staff, and attempts to relate essential
facts. The Committee acknowledges that POW/MIAs' primary next-of- kin know
their family members' cases in more comprehensive detail than summarized
here and recognizes the limitations that the report format imposes on these
summaries."

On June 24, 1972, First Lieutenants McCarty and Charles A. Jackson were the
crew of an F-4D which was engaged by six MIGs over Nghia Lo Province and
shot down by an air to air missile.   Lieutenant Jackson was captured on the
ground.  The second aircraft in their flight with another two man crew,
Grant and Beekman, was also attacked by MIGs and shot down over Vinh Phu
Province.  The crews of both aircraft were declared missing in action.

There were conflicting reports of contact with the crew of this aircraft. It
was later concluded that the reference to contact with those in incident
1882 was incorrect and in fact referred to contact on the ground with the
aircrew of those in incident 1881. First Lieutenant Jackson was captured,
taught English to Vietnamese prison system cadre in late 1972, and upon his
release from captivity during Operation Homecoming stated he did not believe
that Lieutenant McCarty had been able to eject from their aircraft.

Following the shoot down, a People's Army of Vietnam unit radioed that its
MIG-21 aircraft had downed two aircraft.  U.S. intelligence analysts later
concluded that this report correctly pertained to the shoot down of those
involved in incident 1882 on June 24th and the two crewmen from case 1882
also shot down on June 24th and captured on June 25th.  On June 29, 1972,
the Vietnam News Agency reported First Lieutenant Jackson had been captured
alive in Nghia Lo Province.

Lt. McCarty was not confirmed alive in captivity.  After Operation
Homecoming he was declared killed in action, body not recovered.

In December 1990, a joint U.S./Vietnamese team conducted a search of the
crash site and recovered a data plate confirmed to be from one of the F-4D's
jet engines associated with this loss incident. In the spring of 1991, a
U.S. resident turned over a bone fragment and dog tag type information said
to come from a resident of Vietnam and pertaining to three purported MIAs
said to be associated with an incident on Dong Dang District, Cao Bang
Province, an area bordering the People's Republic of China.  One of the
names was James L. McCarty.  A July 5, 1991 DIA analysis concluded the
report was not true and "...part of a Vietnamese government managed
intelligence operation..."

In November 1991, a joint U.S./Vietnamese investigation gained access to an
apparent archival document describing the shoot down of a U.S. aircraft by
the People's Air Force on June 24, 1972 in Phu Yen District, Nghia Lo
Province.  Charles Allen Jackson was identified by name as captured and
partial body parts were also found.  Material evidence of the air loss was
recovered and turned over to Nghia Lo Province military.   Lieutenant
Jackson escaped from custody that night but was recaptured in the morning.


JACKSON, JAMES ELEX JR.

Name: James Elex Jackson, Jr.
Rank/Branch: E7/US Army 5th Special Forces
Unit: (Detachment A-21?)
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: New York NY
Loss Date: 5 July 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 085110N 1045000E (VQ820780)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
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: 671111 RELEASED IN CAMBODIA

SYNOPSIS: The U.S. Army Special Forces, Vietnam (Provisional) was formed in 1962
to assist the South Vietnamese government in organizing, training and equipping
the Civilian Irregular Defense Group (CIDG) forces. USSF Provisional was given
complete charge of the CIDG program, formerly handled by the CIA, in July 1963.

The USSF Provisional/CIDG network consisted of fortified, strategically located
camps, each one with an airstrip. The development programs soon evolved into
combat operations, and by the end of October 1963, the network also conducted
border surveillance. Two of the camps were at Hiep Hoa (Detachment A-21) and Tan
Phu (Detachment A-23). Their isolated locations made them vulnerable to attack.

On October 29, 1963, "Rocky" Versace, 1Lt. "Nick" Rowe, and Sgt. Daniel Pitzer
were accompanying a CIDG company on an operation along a canal when they were
ambushed and captured by the Viet Cong. The three were photographed together in
a staged setting in the U Minh forest in their early days of captivity.

The camp at Hiep Hoa was located in the Plain of Reeds between Saigon and the
Cambodian border. On November 24, Hiep Hoa was overrun by an estimated 400-500
Viet Cong just after midnight. It was the first Special Forces camp to be
overrun in the Vietnam War. The Viet Cong captured four Americans: SFC Issac
"Ike" Camacho, SFC Kenneth M. Roraback (the radio operator), Sgt. George E.
"Smitty" Smith and SP5 Claude D. McClure. The early days of their captivity were
spent in the Plain of Reeds, southwest of Hiep Hoa, and they were later held in
the U Minh forest, where they were held with Pitzer, Versace and Rowe.

The following summer, they were joined by Special Forces MSgt. Edward R.
Johnson. Johnson had been captured near Hiep Hoa on July 21, 1964. The Viet Cong
called him "da den" (black skin).

Camacho continually looked for a way to escape, and was successful in July 1965.
His and Smith's chains had been removed for use on two new American prisoners,
and in the cover of a violent night storm, Camacho escaped and made his way to
the village of Minh Thanh. He was the first American serviceman to escape from
the Viet Cong in the Second Indochina War. McClure and Smith were released from
Cambodia in November 1965.

In in the summer of 1966, another American joined the camp. A Special Forces
medic, SFC James E. Jackson, Jr. had been captured on July 5, 1966 in the same
vicinity as the others. Jackson was a 20-year Army veteran on his second tour of
Vietnam.

In a propaganda move, Jackson and Johnson, who are both black, and Pitzer (who
is caucasian) were released from Cambodia in on November 11, 1967. At the time,
racial tension was high in the U.S. and the Vietnamese seized the opportunity to
show their "humane and lenient" treatment of Americans, especially black
Americans. "Humane and lenient" when Jackson had at one point suffered
simultaneously from malaria, beri-beri, hepatitis and amoebic dysentery.

Jackson, Pitzer and Johnson were released to the custody of Tom Hayden (whom
Jackson had not heard of before). Hayden took the men to Lebanon where they were
met by U.S. officials. Jackson later became friends with Hayden and his wife,
Jane Fonda, and although he frequently disagreed with the pair politically, he
respected them for their intelligence and living what they believe.

Rocky Versace had been isolated in an attempt to break him. Versace had proven
to be quite a problem for the Viet Cong, refusing to accept their indoctrination
and arguing philisophical points better than the Viet Cong could do. This
humiliated them. Rowe and Pitzer saw Rocky at interludes during their first
months of captivity, and saw that he had not broken. Indeed, although he became
very thin, he still attempted to escape. By January 1965, Versace's steel-grey
hair had turned completely white.

On Sunday, September 26, 1965, "Liberation Radio" announced the execution of
Rocky Versace and Kenneth Roraback in retaliation for the deaths of 3 terrorists
in Da Nang. A later news article stated that the executions were faked, but the
Army did not reopen an investigation. In the late 1970's information regarding
this "execution" became classified, and is no longer part of public record.

Rowe was scheduled to be executed in late December 1968. But while away from the
camp, Rowe took advantage of a sudden flight of American helicopters, struck
down his guards, and ran into a clearing where the helicopters noticed him and
rescued him, still clad in black prisoner pajamas.

Rowe remained in the Army, and in 1987, Lt.Col. Rowe was assigned to the
Philippines, where he assisted in training anti-communists. On April 21, 1989, a
machine gun sniper attacked Rowe in his car, killing him instantly.

Of the nine U.S. Army Special Forces personnel captured near Hiep Hoa and Tan
Phu, the fates of only Versace and Roraback remain unknown. The execution was
never fully documented; it is not known with certainty that these two men died.
Although the Vietnamese claim credit for their deaths, they did not return their
remains. From the accounts of those who knew them, if these men were not
executed, they are still fighting for their country.


JACKSON, JAMES TERRY

Name: James Terry Jackson
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 25th Tactical Fighter Squadron
Date of Birth: 28 September 1939
Home City of Record: Hialeah FL
Date of Loss: 23 March 1972
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 160958N 1064659E (XC818886)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D

Other Personnel in Incident: James E. Whitt (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 September 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.
Most pilots considered it one of the "hottest" planes around.

Maj. James E. Whitt was the pilot and Capt. James T. Jackson the
bombardier/navigator on an F4D attached to the 25th Tactical Fighter Squadron at
Ubon Airfield, Thailand. On March 23, 1972, the two were assigned an operational
mission that would take them over Savannakhet Province, Laos.

Other pilots in the flight observed Whitt's aircraft crash in an inverted
position upon egress from the target, about 25 miles southeast of the city of
Muong Nong. Both men were briefly classified Missing in Action, during which
time Jackson was promoted to the rank of Major. On March 24, however, it was
determined that both men had died in the incident, based on the receipt of
unspecified evidence of death received by the Department of the Air Force.

Jackson and Whitt are listed among the missing because their remains were never
recovered.  They are among nearly 600 Americans who disappeared in Laos. Many
of these 600 are known to have been alive on the ground following their shoot
downs. Although the Pathet Lao publicly stated on several occasions that they
held "tens of tens" of American prisoners, not one American held in Laos has
ever been released.

Laos did not participate in the Paris Peace accords ending American involvement
in the war in 1973, and no treaty has ever been signed that would free the
Americans held in Laos. Over 10,000 reports relating to Americans prisoner,
missing, or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S.
since the end of the war, convincing many authorities that hundreds are still
alive. It's time we brought our men home.






JACKSON, JAMES WESLEY JR.

Name: James Wesley Jackson, Jr.
Rank/Branch: E3/US Marine Corps
Unit: L/3/4, 1st Marine Division
Date of Birth: 26 February 1948
Home City of Record: Atlanta GA
Date of Loss: 21 September 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 164310N 1071200E (YD340510)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Others Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 October 1990 from the following:
raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, Atlanta Constitution article
written by Ron Martz, Stars & Stripes.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On September 21, 1969, LCpl. James W. Jackson, Jr. was slightly
wounded in an accidental explosion at a remote hilltop fire support base near
the Demilitarized Zone, called Fire Support Base Russell. Jackson suffered minor
fragmentation wounds and was quickly medevaced with others in his unit to the
Naval hospital at Quang Tri, South Vietnam.

There is no record that indicates that Jackson ever arrived at the hospital, but
a friend saw him getting off the helicopter and a Navy corpsman remembers
treating his wounds.

Jackson walked into the hospital, was treated by a 3rd Medical Battalion
corpsman in triage, and then disappeared. A thorough search by CID and FBI and
the Marine Corps revealed nothing. Jackson's honor was not questioned. He was
classified Missing In Action and was never removed from that status until a
review board declared him dead during the Reagan Administration. No one saw
Jackson again.

The possibilities of what may have happened to Jackson are endless, and of
course, include the possibility of capture or death. His family waits with that
special agony that comes from uncertainty.

With over 10,000 reports received by the U.S. concerning Americans still
missing, prisoner or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia, Jackson's parents
understand their son could be one of them.

It's time we brought our men home.

JACKSON, PAUL VERNON "SKIP" III

Name: Paul Vernon "Skip" Jackson III
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 56th Special Operations Wing, Udorn AF TH (RAVENS)
Date of Birth: 03 September 1946
Home City of Record: Hampton VA
Date of Loss: 24 December 1972
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 191950N 1030708E (UG024383)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: O1D

Other Personnel in Incident: Charles F. Riess (released POW)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 April 1990 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.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: The Steve Canyon program was a highly classified FAC (forward air
control) operation covering the military regions of Laos. U.S. military
operations in Laos were severely restricted during the Vietnam War era because
Laos had been declared neutral by the Geneva Accords.

The non-communist forces in Laos, however, had a critical need for military
support in order to defend territory used by Lao and North Vietnamese communist
forces. The U.S., in conjunction with non-communist forces in Laos, devised a
system whereby U.S. military personnel could be "in the black" or "sheep-dipped"
(clandestine; mustered out of the military to perform military duties as a
civilian) to operate in Laos under supervision of the U.S. Ambassador to Laos.

RAVEN was the radio call sign which identified the flyers of the Steve Canyon
Program. Men recruited for the program were rated Air Force officers with at
least six months experience in Vietnam. They tended to be the very best of
pilots, but by definition, this meant that they were also mavericks, and
considered a bit wild by the mainstream military establishment.

The Ravens came under the formal command of CINCPAC and the 7/13th Air Force
56th Special Operations Wing at Nakhon Phanom, but their pay records were
maintained at Udorn with Detachment 1. Officially, they were on loan to the
U.S. Air Attache at Vientiane. Unofficially, they were sent to outposts like
Long Tieng, where their field commanders were the CIA, the Meo (Hmong) Generals,
and the U.S. Ambassador. Once on duty, they flew FAC missions which controlled
all U.S. air strikes over Laos.

All tactical strike aircraft had to be under the control of a FAC, who was
intimately familiar with the locale, the populous, and the tactical situation.
The FAC would find the target, order up U.S. fighter/bombers from an airborne
command and control center, mark the target accurately with white phosphorus
(Willy Pete) rockets, and control the operation throughout the time the planes
remained on station. After the fighters had departed, the FAC stayed over the
target to make a bomb damage assessment (BDA).

The FAC also had to ensure that there were no attacks on civilians, a complex
problem in a war where there were no front lines and any hamlet could suddenly
become part of the combat zone. A FAC needed a fighter pilot's mentality, but
but was obliged to fly slow and low in such unarmed and vulnerable aircraft as
the Cessna O1 Bird Dog, and the Cessna O2. Consequently, aircraft used by the
Ravens were continually peppered with ground fire. A strong fabric tape was
simply slapped over the bullet holes until the aircraft could no longer fly.

Ravens were hopelessly overworked by the war. The need for secrecy kept their
numbers low (never more than 22 at one time), and the critical need of the Meo
sometimes demanded each pilot fly 10 and 12 hour days. Some Ravens completed
their tour of approximately 6 months with a total of over 500 combat missions.

The Ravens in at Long Tieng in Military Region II, had, for several years, the
most difficult area in Laos. The base, just on the southern edge of the Plain of
Jars, was also the headquarters for the CIA-funded Meo army commanded by General
Vang Pao. An interesting account of this group can be read in Christopher
Robbins' book, "The Ravens".

Skip Jackson was a Raven stationed at Long Tieng. On December 24, 1972, he was
on station in the Plain of Jars region when his aircraft crashed and he was
believed dead. According to "The Ravens," Skip Jackson "had been run over by a
Navy jet. He had been directing a set of A-7's over the Plain of Jars when one
of the fighters had clipped a strut under the wing of the O01. It plummeted to
the ground and pancaked. The pilot of the A-7 remembered a flash, then suddenly
his plane became unstable and he punched out--only to be captured and
imprisoned by the enemy."

There was only one A7 pilot on the rolls of the missing in Laos on December
24--Charles F. Riess. Although U.S. Government raw data codes this loss in
Xiangkhoang Province (the PDJ area), loss coordinates place him some 50 miles
north of the PDJ in Louangphrabang Province. Reiss is also an Air Force
officer, not a Navy officer. These inconsistancies do not necessarily rule out
the possibility that Riess was the A7 pilot involved in the loss of Jackson.

Charles F. Riess was not known to be a Prisoner of War. The U.S. carried him as
missing even though he was held in Hanoi with other American POWs. The
Vietnamese kept Riess and several others captured by the Vietnamese in Laos
completely separate from other American POWs. In the spring of 1973, when 591
Americans were freed, Riess' release came as a complete surprise. Riess had not
been held in Laos.

Skip Jackson is one of nearly 600 Americans lost in Laos. Even though the Pathet
Lao stated publicly that they held "tens of tens" of American prisoners, not one
American held in Laos was ever released -- or negotiated for.

Since U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War ended, nearly 10,000 reports have
been received by the U.S. Government relating to Americans missing in Southeast
Asia. Many authorities have reluctantly concluded that hundreds are still alive
in captivity today.

Someone knows what happened to Skip Jackson on December 24, 1972. If he died,
the enemy was all around him; they probably know where his body lies. If, on
the other hand, is is by some chance one of the hundreds thought to be still
alive, what must he be thinking of the country he proudly served?

JACKSON, WILLIAM BRAXTON
Remains Returned 14 October 1982

Name: William Braxton Jackson
Rank/Branch: E5/US Navy
Unit: USS ORISKANY (CVA-34)
Date of Birth: 27 December 1934
Home City of Record: Stockdale TX
Date of Loss: 19 July 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 203057N 1054859E (WH814646)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: SH3A

Other Personnel In Incident: Dennis W. Peterson (missing); Donald P. Frye;
Donald P. McGrane; Richard D. Hartman (all remains recovered)

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 including "Alpha Strike Vietnam" by Jeffrey
L. Levinson, personal interviews.

REMARKS: CRSH - N SURV OBS - FBIS SEZ DED - J

SYNOPSIS: The USS ORISKANY was a World War II-era carrier on duty in Vietnam as
early as 1964. The ORISKANY at one time carried the RF8A (number 144608) that
Maj. John H. Glenn, the famous Marine astronaut (and later Senator), flew in his
1957 transcontinental flight. In October, 1966 the ORISKANY endured a tragic
fire which killed 44 men onboard, but was soon back on station. In 1972, the
ORISKANY had an at-sea accident which resulted in the loss of one of its
aircraft elevators, and later lost a screw that put the carrier into drydock in
Yokosuka, Japan for major repairs, thus delaying its involvement until the late
months of the war.

The ORISKANY's 1966 tour was undoubtedly one of the most tragic deployments of
the Vietnam conflict. This cruise saw eight VA 164 "Ghostriders" lost; four in
the onboard fire, one in an aerial refueling mishap, and another three in the
operational arena. However, the 1967 deployment, which began in June and ended
on a chilly January morning as the ORISKANY anchored in San Francisco Bay,
earned near legendary status by virtue of extensive losses suffered in the
ship's squadrons, including among the Ghostriders of VA 164, and Saints of VA
163. One reason may have been that Navy aviators were, at this time, still
forbidden to strike surface-to-air missile (SAM) sites which were increasing in
number in North Vietnam.

On July 18, 1967, LCDR Richard D. Hartman's aircraft fell victim to
anti-aircraft fire near Phu Ly in Nam Ha Province, North Vietnam. Hartman, from
VA 164, ejected safely, but could not be rescued due to the hostile threat in
the area. Others in the flight were in radio contact with him and resupplied him
for about three days. He was on a karst hill in a difficult recovery area.
Eventually the North Vietnamese moved in a lot of troops and AAA guns, making
rescue almost impossible.

One of the rescue helicopters attempting to recover LCDR Hartman on the 19th was
a Sikorsky SH3A helicopter flown by Navy LT Dennis W. Peterson. The crew onboard
the aircraft included ENS Donald P. Frye and AX2 William B. Jackson and AX2
Donald P. McGrane. While attempting to rescue LCDR Hartman, this aircraft was
hit by enemy fire and crashed killing all onboard. The remains of all but the
pilot, Peterson, were returned by the Vietnamese on October 14, 1982. Peterson
remains missing.

The decision was made to leave Hartman before more men were killed trying to
rescue him. It was not an easy decision, and one squadron mate said, "To this
day, I can remember his voice pleading, 'Please don't leave me.' We had to, and
it was a heartbreaker." Hartman was captured and news returned home that he was
in a POW camp. However, he was not released in 1973. The Vietnamese finally
returned his remains on March 5, 1974. Hartman had died in captivity from
unknown causes.

In July 1967, LCDR Donald V. Davis was one of the Saints of VA 163 onboard the
ORISKANY. Davis was an aggressive pilot. On the night of July 25, 1967, Davis
was assigned a mission over North Vietnam. The procedure for these night attacks
was to drop flares over a suspected target and then fly beneath them to attack
the target in the light of the flares. Davis and another pilot were conducting
the mission about 10 miles south of Ha Tinh when Davis radioed that he had
spotted a couple of trucks. He dropped the flares and went in. On his strafing
run, he drove his Skyhawk straight into the ground and was killed immediately.
Davis is listed among the missing because his remains were never recovered.

LTJG Ralph C. Bisz was also assigned to Attack Squadron 163. On August 4, 1967,
Bisz launched on a strike mission against a petroleum storage area near
Haiphong. Approximately a minute and a half from the target area, four
surface-to-air missiles (SAM) were observed lifting from the area northeast of
Haiphong. The flight maneuvered to avoid the SAMs, however, Bisz' aircraft was
observed as it was hit by a SAM by a wingman. Bisz' aircraft exploded, burst
into flames, and spun downward in a large ball of fire. Remnants of the aircraft
were observed falling down in the large ball of fire until reaching an altitude
estimated to be 5,000 feet and then appeared to almost completely burn out prior
to reaching the ground. No parachute or ejection was observed. No emergency
beeper or voice communications were received.

Bisz' aircraft went down in a heavily populated area in Hai Duong Province,
Vietnam. Information from an indigenous source which closely parallels his
incident indicated that his remains were recovered from the wreckage and taken
to Hanoi for burial. The U.S. Government listed Ralph Bisz as a Prisoner of War
with certain knowledge that the Vietnamese know his fate. Bisz was placed in a
casualty status of Captured on August 4, 1967.

The Navy now says that the possibility of Bisz ejecting was slim. If he had
ejected, his capture would have taken place in a matter of seconds due to the
heavy population concentration in the area and that due to the lack of
additional information it is believed that Bisz did not eject from his aircraft
and that he was killed on impact of the SAM.

Classified information on Bisz' case was presented to the Vietnamese by General
Vessey in the fall of 1987 in hopes that the Vietnamese would be able to resolve
the mystery of Bisz' fate. His case is one of what are called "discrepancy"
cases, which should be readily resolved. The Vietnamese have not been
forthcoming with information on Ralph Bisz.

On August 31, three pilots from the ORISKANY were shot down on a particularly
wild raid over Haiphong. The Air Wing had been conducting strikes on Haiphong
for two consecutive days. On this, the third day, ten aircraft launched in three
flights; four from VA 164 (call sign Ghostrider), four from VA 163 (call sign
Old Salt) and two from VA 163. As the flight turned to go into Haiphong, one of
the section leaders spotted two SAMs lifting off from north of Haiphong. They
were headed towards the Saints section leader and the Ghostrider section leader,
LCDR Richard C. Perry.

The Saints section leader and his wingman pitched up and to the right, while Old
Salt 3 (LCDR Hugh A. Stafford) turned down, his wingman, LTJG David J. Carey
close behind him. Carey, an Air Force Academy graduate, was on his first
operational mission. The missile detonated right in front of them and aircraft
pieces went everywhere.

The other SAM headed towards Perry's section, and he had frozen in the cockpit.
All three planes in the division pulled away, and he continued straight and
level. His helpless flightmates watched as the missile came right up and hit the
aircraft. The aircraft was generally whole and heading for open water.

Old Salt Three and Old Salt Four, Stafford and Carey, had by that time ejected
from their ruined planes and were heading towards the ground. Both were okay,
but Stafford had landed in a tree near a village, making rescue impossible.
Stafford and Carey were captured and held in various prisoner of war camps until
their release in Operation Homecoming on March 14, 1973.

Richard Perry had also ejected and was over open water. But as Perry entered the
water, his parachute went flat and he did not come up. A helicopter was on scene
within minutes, and a crewman went into the water after Perry. He had suffered
massive chest wounds, either in the aircraft or during descent in his parachute
and was dead. To recover his body was too dangerous because the North Vietnamese
were mortaring the helicopter. The helicopter left the area. Richard Perry's
remains were recovered by the Vietnamese and held until February 1987, at which
time they were returned to U.S. control.

Flight members were outraged that they had lost three pilots to SAMs that they
were forbidden to attack. Policy was soon changed to allow the pilots to strike
the sites, although never to the extent that they were disabled completely.

On October 7, 1967, VA 164 pilot LT David L. Hodges was killed when his Skyhawk
was hit by a SAM about twelve miles southwest of Hanoi. His remains were never
recovered and he is listed among those missing in Vietnam.

On October 18, 1967, VA 164 pilot LCDR John F. Barr was killed when his Skyhawk
was hit by enemy fire and slammed into the ground while on a strike mission at
Haiphong. Barr's remains were not recovered.

On November 2, 1967, VA 164 pilot LTJG Frederic Knapp launched as the lead of a
flight of two aircraft on an armed reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam.
The wingman reported that during an attack run, the aircraft appeared to have
been hit by anti-aircraft fire. The wingman saw Knapp's aircraft impact the
ground and did not see the canopy separate from the aircraft. There was no
parachute sighted or emergency radio beeper heard. The aircraft crashed about 9
kilometers west-southwest of Cho Giat, near route 116, in Nghe An Province.

A source later reported that people from his village had removed the remains of
a dead pilot from his aircraft and buried the remains nearby. These remains are
believed to be those of Knapp. On October 14, 1982, Vietnamese officials turned
over to U.S. authorities a Geneva Convention card belonging to Ltjg. Knapp. To
date, no remains have been repatriated.

Six of the thirteen pilots and crewmen lost in 1967 off the decks of the
ORISKANY remain prisoner, missing, or otherwise unaccounted for in Vietnam.
Disturbing testimony was given to Congress in 1980 that the Vietnamese
"stockpiled" the remains of Americans to return at politically advantageous
times. Could any of these six be in a casket, awaiting 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. Could any of these six be
among them?

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.





JACOBSEN, TIMOTHY JOHN

Name: Timothy John Jacobsen
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: Company A, 101st Aviation Battalion, 101st Airborne Division
Date of Birth: 19 February 1950 (Eureka CA)
Home City of Record: Oakland CA
Date of Loss: 16 May 1971
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 161527N 1072019E (YC499987)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H
Other Personnel in Incident: Craig L. Farlow; Elliott Crook; Joseph P. Nolan
(all missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On May 16, 1971, Lt. Joseph P. Nolan, pilot; W1 Craig L. Farlow,
aircraft commander; SP4 Elliott Crook, crew chief; SP4 Timothy J. Jacobsen,
door gunner; comprised the crew of a UH1H helicopter conducting a combat
assault insertion of ARVN Marines into a landing zone (LZ) in the vicinity of
Hue, Thua Thin Province, South Vietnam.

Lt. Nolan's helicopter was the seventh to land on the LZ. On departing the LZ,
pilots of the fifts and sixth helicopters stated that they were taking enemy
fire. Lt. Nolan radioed after touchdown that he was taking heavy ground fire,
that his crew chief was wounded. Lt. Nolan immediately took off and at 250
feet, witnesses saw his aircraft rapidly lose rotor RPM and crash into the tree
tops, bursting into flames. No survivors were seen to exit the aircraft.

On May 24, a search and recovery team made a ground search and found 2 partial
skulls and one partial right foot, all badly burned. It was also noted that
there were four more possible remains that were trapped under the heavy
wreckage. The partial skulls were later determined to be Vietnamese. The other
remains were not recovered because of hostile fire.

The crew of the UH1H was presumed to be dead, and their bodies were never
recovered. They are listed with honor among the nearly 2500 Americans still
missing in Southeast Asia until such time as their remains can be returned home
for an honorable burial.

Others missing in Southeast Asia do not have such certain fates. Many were
alive and well the last they were seen. Some described their imminent capture
over radio to would-be rescuers. Still others were known to be captives, but
disappeared from the prison system and were not released.

Unfortunately, mounting evidence indicates that hundreds of Americans are still
captive, waiting for the country they proudly served to secure their freedom.
In our haste to leave an unpopular war, it now appears that we abandoned some
of our best men. In our haste to heal the wounds of this same war, will we sign
their death warrants, or will we do what is necessary to bring them home?

JACQUES, JAMES JOSEPH

Name: James Joseph Jacques
Rank/Branch: E2/US Marine Corps
Unit: G/2nd Battalion, 9th Marines, 3rd Marine Division
Date of Birth: 09 October 1956
Home City of Record: Denver CO
Date of Loss: 15 May 1975
Country of Loss: Cambodia/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 101800N 1030830E (TS965400)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: CH53A
Other Personnel in Incident: Lynn Blessing; Walter Boyd; Gregory S. Copenhaver;
Andres Garcia; Bernard Gause Jr., Daniel A. Benedett; Ronald J. Manning; James
R. Maxwell; Richard W. Rivenburgh; Antonio R. Sandoval; Kelton R. Turner;
Richard Van de Geer (all missing on CH53A); Gary L. Hall; Joseph N. Hargrove;
Danny G. Marshall (missing on Koah Tang Island); Ashton N. Loney (missing from
Koah Tang Island); Elwood E. Rumbaugh (missing from a CH53A)

REMARKS: 750515 MAYAGUEZ INCIDENT LOSS

SYNOPSIS: When U.S. troops were pulled out of Southeast Asia in early 1975,
Vietnamese communist troops began capturing one city after another, with Hue,
Da Nang and Ban Me Thuot in March, Xuan Loc in April, and finally on April 30,
Saigon. In Cambodia, communist Khmer Rouge had captured the capital city of
Phnom Penh on April 17. The last Americans were evacuated from Saigon during
"Option IV", with U.S. Ambassador Martin departing on April 29. The war,
according to President Ford, "was finished."

2Lt. Richard Van de Geer, assigned to the 21st Special Ops Squadron at NKP, had
participated in the evacuation of Saigon, where helicopter pilots were required
to fly from the decks of the 7th Fleet carriers stationed some 500 miles
offshore, fly over armed enemy-held territory, collect American and allied
personnel and return to the carriers via the same hazardous route, heavily
loaded with passengers. Van de Geer wrote to a friend, "We pulled out close to
2,000 people. We couldn't pull out any more because it was beyond human
endurance to go any more..."

At 11:21 a.m. on May 12, the U.S. merchant ship MAYAGUEZ was seized by the
Khmer Rouge in the Gulf of Siam about 60 miles from the Cambodian coastline and
eight miles from Poulo Wai island. The ship, owned by Sea-Land Corporation, was
en route to Sattahip, Thailand from Hong Kong, carrying a non-arms cargo for
military bases in Thailand.

Capt. Charles T. Miller, a veteran of more than 40 years at sea, was on the
bridge. He had steered the ship within the boundaries of international waters,
but the Cambodians had recently claimed territorial waters 90 miles from the
coast of Cambodia. The thirty-nine seamen aboard were taken prisoner.

President Ford ordered the aircraft carrier USS CORAL SEA, the guided missile
destroyer USS HENRY B. WILSON and the USS HOLT to the area of seizure. By
night, a U.S. reconnaissance aircraft located the MAYAGUEZ at anchor off Poulo
WaI island. Plans were made to rescue the crew.  A battalion landing team of
1,100 Marines was ordered flown from bases in Okinawa and the Philippines to
assemblE at Utapao, Thailand in preparation for the assault.

The first casualties of the effort to free the MAYAGUEZ are recorded on May 13
when a helicopter carrying Air Force security team personnel crashed en route
to Utapao, killing all 23 aboard.

Early in the morning of May 13, the Mayaguez was ordered to head for Koh Tang
island. Its crew was loaded aboard a Thai fishing boat and taken first to Koh
Tang, then to the mainland city of Kompong Song, then to Rong San Lem island.
U.S. intelligence had observed a cove with considerable activity on the island
of Koh Tang, a small five-mile long island about 35 miles off the coast of
Cambodia southwest of the city of Sihanoukville (Kampong Saom), and believed
that some of the crew might be held there. They also knew of the Thai fishing
boat, and had observed what appeared to be caucasians aboard it, but it could
not be determined if some or all of the crew was aboard.

The USS HOLT was ordered to seize and secure the MAYAGUEZ, still anchored off
Koh Tang. Marines were to land on the island and rescue any of the crew. Navy
jets from the USS CORAL SEA were to make four strikes on military installments
on the Cambodian mainland.

On May 15, the first wave of 179 Marines headed for the island aboard eight Air
Force "Jolly Green Giant" helicopters. Three Air Force helicopters unloaded
Marines from the 1st Battalion, 4th Marines onto the landing pad of the USS
HOLT and then headed back to Utapao to pick up the second wave of Marines.
Planes dropped tear gas on the MAYAGUEZ, and the USS HOLT pulled up along side
the vessel and the Marines stormed aboard. The MAYAGUEZ was deserted.

Simultaneously, the Marines of the 2/9 were making their landings on two other
areas of the island. The eastern landing zone was on the cove side where the
Cambodian compound was located. The western landing zone was a narrow spit of
beach about 500 feet behind the compound on the other side of the island. The
Marines hoped to surround the compound.

As the first troops began to unload on both beaches, the Cambodians opened
fire. On the western beach, one helicopter was hit and flew off crippled, to
ditch in the ocean about 1 mile away. The pilot had just disembarked his
passengers, and he was rescued at sea.

Meanwhile, the eastern landing zone had become a disaster. The first two
helicopters landing were met by enemy fire. Ground commander, (now) Col.
Randall W. Austin had been told to expect between 20 and 40 Khmer Rouge
soldiers on the island. Instead, between 150 and 200 were encountered. First,
Lt. John Shramm's helicopter tore apart and crashed into the surf after the
rotor system was hit. All aboard made a dash for the tree line on the beach.

One CH53A helicopter was flown by U.S. Air Force Major Howard Corson and 2Lt.
Richard Van de Geer and carrying 23 U.S. Marines and 2 U.S. Navy corpsmen, all
from the 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines. As the helicopter approached the island,
it was caught in a cross fire and hit by a rocket. The severely damaged
helicopter crashed into the sea just off the coast of the island and exploded.
To avoid enemy fire, survivors were forced to swim out to sea for rescue.
Twelve aboard, including Maj. Corson, were rescued. Those missing from the
helicopter were 2Lt. Richard Van de Geer, PFC Daniel A. Benedett, PFC Lynn
Blessing, PFC Walter Boyd, Lcpl. Gregory S. Copenhaver, Lcpl. Andres Garcia,
PFC James J. Jacques, PFC James R. Maxwell, PFC Richard W. Rivenburgh, PFC
Antonio R. Sandoval, PFC Kelton R. Turner, all U.S. Marines. Also missing were
HM1 Bernard Gause, Jr. and HM Ronald J. Manning, the two corpsmen.

Other helicopters were more successful in landing their passengers. One CH53A,
however was not. SSgt. Elwood E. Rumbaugh's aircraft was near the coastline
when it was shot down. Rumbaugh is the only missing man from the aircraft. The
passengers were safely extracted. (It is not known whether the passengers went
down with the aircraft or whether they were rescued from the island.)

By midmorning, when the Cambodians on the mainland began receiving reports of
the assault, they ordered the crew of the MAYAGUEZ on a Thai boat, and then
left. The MAYAGUEZ crew was recovered by the USS WILSON before the second wave
of Marines was deployed, but the second wave was ordered to attack anyway.

Late in the afternoon, the assault force had consolidated its position on the
western landing zone and the eastern landing zone was evacuated at 6:00 p.m. By
the end of the 14-hour operation, most of the Marines were extracted from the
island safely, with 50 wounded. Lcpl. Ashton Loney had been killed by enemy
fire, but his body could not be recovered.

Protecting the perimeter during the final evacuation was the machine gun squad
of PFC Gary L. Hall, Lcpl. Joseph N. Hargrove and Pvt. Danny G. Marshall. They
had run out of ammunition and were ordered to evacuate on the last helicopter.
It was their last contact. Maj. McNemar and Maj. James H. Davis made a final
sweep of the beach before boarding the helicopter and were unable to locate
them. They were declared Missing in Action.

The eighteen men missing from the MAYAGUEZ incident are listed among the
missing from the Vietnam war. Although authorities believe that there are
perhaps hundreds of American prisoners still alive in Southeast Asia from the
war, most are pessimistic about the fates of those captured by the Khmer Rouge.

In 1988, the communist government of Kampuchea (Cambodia) announced that it
wished to return the remains of several dozen Americans to the United States.
(In fact, the number was higher than the official number of Americans missing
in Cambodia.) Because the U.S. does not officially recognize the Cambodian
government, it has refused to respond directly to the Cambodians regarding the
remains. Cambodia, wishing a direct acknowledgment from the U.S. Government,
still holds the remains.



CASE SYNOPSIS: JAKOVAC, JOHN ANDREW

Name: John Andrew Jakovac
Rank/Branch: E5/US Army
Unit: HHC, 3rd Brigade Task Force, 25th Infantry Division (see note in text)
Date of Birth: 10 April 1947 (Ontanogan MI)
Home City of Record: Detroit MI
Loss Date: 31 May 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 145215N 1085242E (BS718450)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel In Incident: Joseph E. Fitzgerald; Brian K. McGar (both missing)

SYNOPSIS: On May 31, 1967, PFC Brian K. McGar, PFC Joseph E. Fitzgerald,
riflemen; Sgt. John A. Jakovac, ammo bearer; Cpl. Charles G. Rogerson, and SP4
Carl D. Flowers were members of a Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol (LRRP)
deployed in Quang Ngai Province, South Vietnam.

The LRRP unit was inserted to move to the base of Hill 310 and to check out an
area long a hedge row where several Viet Cong had been seen and fired upon by
gunships earlier that day. Then, at night, the patrol was to move to the top of
Hill 310 to establish an observation point. Early that afternoon, a report was
received that the patrol had established a position and reported everything was
normal.

At 2030 hours, the patrol reported that they were going to proceed to the top
of the hill to establish the observation point as briefed. Radio contact with
the patrol was lost after that, as the patrol failed to made a scheduled report
at 2145 hours.

On the morning of June 1, search elements began sweeping the area. During the
search, bodies of Rogerson and Flowers were discovered in fresh graves. The
search element also found an extended NAK-47, 5.56 and 7.62 millimeter brass as
well as hand grenade fragments. Blood trails were discovered leading from the
area. Searches conducted from June 2 through July 12 proved unsuccessful.

There is very good reason to believe the communist government of Vietnam knows
what happened to these young men, but as yet, no word has surfaced on them.
They are among 2500 Americans who did not come home from the war in Vietnam.
As evidence continues to mount that hundreds of Americans are still captive in
Southeast Asia, the Fitzgerald, McGar and Jakovac families must wonder if their
sons are among those said to be still alive, and wonder why they were abandoned
by the country they loved.

NOTE: In April 1967 elements of the 196th Infantry Brigade, the 1st Brigade,
101st Airborne Division, and the 3rd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division were
selected to form a provisional division-sized unit called Task Force OREGON and
then moved to the I Corps Tactical Zone where it operated in Quang Ngai and the
southern part of Quang Tin Provinces. When OREGON was replaced by 23rd Infantry
Division (AMERICAL) 25 September 1967, only the 196th remained in its
descendant division. The other units were returned.

While U.S. Army records place Fitzgerald, Jakovac and McGar in 3rd Brigade,
25th Infantry Division, this unit was operating in the other end of the
country. The three therefore, must have been among the element chosen to
comprise Task Force OREGON.
JAMERSON, LARRY CARL

Name: Larry Carl Jamerson
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: 17th Assault Helicopter Company, 10th Aviation Battalion, 16th Aviation
Group, 1st Aviation Brigade
Date of Birth: 11 February 1943
Home City of Record: Rosman NC
Date of Loss: 21 April 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 161810N 1071956E (YD481033)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H
Other Personnel In Incident: James E. Creamer; Robert C. Link; Floyd W. Olsen,
Lyle MacKedanz, Frankie B. Johnson (all missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On April 21, 1968, Capt. Floyd W. Olsen, aircraft commander; WO1
Robert C. Link, pilot; SP5 Frankie B. Johnson, Jr., crew chief; SP4 Larry C.
Jamerson, door gunner; SSgt. Lyle E. MacKendanz and SP4 James E. Creamer,
passengers; were aboard a UH1H helicopter (serial #66-16209) which was flying a
combat mission with other aircraft in South Vietnam.

The aircraft remained with the assault aircraft during most of the operation
until it was required to depart from Phu Bai, South Vietnam with rigging
equipment for a recovery from LZ Zeghel. During the flight, Capt. Olsen
acknowledged a radio transmission which stated the aircraft's secondary
mission, the recovery operation at LZ Zeghel, had been cancelled because of the
tactical situation and inclement weather conditions. Following acknowledgement
of the cancelled mission, the aircraft was lost. Although there were several
unsuccessful attempts to contact him, and ramp checks of all airfields and
camps in the area were conducted, no further contact was made with Capt. Olsen.

On April 22, an extensive, though unsuccessful air search was conducted from
dawn until 1830 hours. On May 8, elements of the 8th ARVN Airborne Division
found the ID tags of SP5 Johnson in a 3/4-ton truck, non-U.S.  On May 25, a
UH1C gunship of the 101st Airborne Division sighted a tail boom of a crashed
helicopter. On May 26, the downed aircraft was positively identified by its
tail number by a gunship of the 17th Armored Calvary Armored Helicopter Company.

On May 27, an on-ground inspection was conducted by Company A, 1st Battalion,
327th Airborne Infantry. The Company found the main rotor blades of the missing
helicopter in a river bed 200 meters west of the tail boom. The area became
insecure, and a search team came under enemy fire, curtailing search efforts
prior to finding the main cabin section of the UH1H. Further investigation
revealed that the helicopter was downed due to anti-aircraft artillery fire.
Although the cabin section was not located, and no remains were found, the
families of the men were informed that all aboard had been killed. No
explanation was given as to why Johnson's dog tags had been found in a non-U.S.
truck.

In the fall of 1985, a CIA document was declassified which contained drawings
of a Viet Cong detention center which held U.S. servicemen in 1969 prior to
their being sent north to Hanoi. It was located just 20 miles southwest of Camp
Eagle, a major American base near Hue, South Vietnam. In the document were
greatly detailed drawings, lists of personnel and lists of U.S. servicemen
identified from photographs. Lyle MacKedanz' name was on a list of positively
identified prisoners. Along with MacKedanz were the names of several POWs who
were released in 1973. One of them has verified the authenticity of the report
as far as the camp itself is concerned.

The MacKedanz family was given the document by a private citizen who had
obtained it through the Freedom of Information Act. They had never been told
there was even the remotest possibility that Lyle had been captured. The
Defense Department maintains that the report was a fabrication, even though
much of it has been verified by returned POWs who were held there.

The families of the men lost on the UH1H that went down that day in April 1968
want the truth. If their man is dead, they would like to know. They can accept
that. If he is one of the hundreds whom experts now say are alive, they want
him home. What they cannot accept is having the truth withheld from them. And
they cannot accept the abandonment of America's finest sons.

JAMES ROBERT KLIMO

Name: James Robert Klimo
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: 281st Aviation Company, 17th Aviation Group, 1st Aviation Brigade
Date of Birth: 28 December 1949
Home City of Record: Muskegon MI
Date of Loss: 04 November 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 123327N 1085304E (BP702890)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H
Other Personnel In Incident: John A. Ware; Terry L. Alford; Jim R. Cavender
(all missing)

REMARKS: REMS OF OTHER CREW RECOV - J

SYNOPSIS: On November 4, 1969, WO Terry L. Alford, aircraft commander; WO1 Jim
R. Cavender, pilot; SP4 John A. Ware, crew chief; and SP4 James R. Klimo, door
gunner; were flying a series of combat support missions in a UH1H helicopter
(serial #67-19512) in South Vietnam.

WO Alford was returning to his base at Nha Trang from Duc Lap at about 1920
hours when he made his last known radio contact with the 48th Aviation Company
Operations at Ninh Hoa. Either the pilot or aircraft commander gave his
approximate location as Duc My Pass, and stated he was in the clouds and
instrument meteorological conditions (IMC). Shortly afterwards, the controller
at Ninh Hoa heard a radio transmission that WO1 Alford was in trouble. The
pilot reported, inexplicably, that the helicopter was flying upside down.

The Defense Department has told family members that the helicopter was on a
secondary mission heading toward a buffer zone between Cambodia and South
Vietnam, an area in the Central Highlands the helicopter was in by mistake. The
helicopter is not believed to have been shot at. Search efforts were conducted
for six consecutive days, but nothing was found.

According to the Defense Department, one crewmember's body was recovered at a
later time, but no remains were ever found that could be identified as Alford,
Klimo, Ware or Cavender. The four crew memberw were not among the prisoners of
war that were released in 1973. High ranking officials admit their dismay that
"hundreds" of suspected American prisoners of war did not return. Klimo's
sister has identified her brother as one of the prisoners of war pictured in a
Vietnamese propaganda leaflet.

Alarmingly, evidence continues to mount that Americans were left as prisoners
in Southeast Asia and continue to be held today. Unlike "MIAs" from other wars,
most of the nearly 2500 men and women who remain missing in Southeast Asia can
be accounted for. The crew of the UH1H could be among them. Isn't it time we
brought our men home?


JAMES, CHARLIE NEGUS JR.

Name: Charlie Negus James, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O5/US Navy
Unit: Reconnaissance/Attack Squadron 11, USS KITTY HAWK (CVA 63)
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Glendale CA
Date of Loss: 18 May 1968
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 185800N 1051800E (WF316970)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: RA5C

Other Personnel in Incident: Vincent D. Monroe (remains returned)

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: 730314 RELSD BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: Commander Charlie N. James, Jr. was a pilot assigned to Reconnaissance
Attack Squadron 11 onboard the USS KITTY HAWK. On May 18, 1968, he launched in
his RA5C Vigilante on a multi-aircraft reconnaissance mission over North
Vietnam. His Radar/Navigator that day was Lt.Cdr. Vincent D. Monroe.

The Vigilante commenced its run and crossed the North Vietnam coastline as
planned, proceeding toward Vinh Son, which was the primary target. James' and
Monroe's aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire and started to spout flames
burning uncontrollably. The pilot of one of the other aircraft on the mission
transmitted to Monroe that his aircraft was hit, and he responded with, "I
know." This was the last transmission received from James and Monroe.

The aircraft decelerated rapidly and plunged toward the ground. Other pilots
momentarily lost sight of the crippled craft, and when again observed,
approximately 10 seconds later, it impacted the ground. Intensive automatic
weapons fire was in the area from many sites. Two parachutes were observed and
emergency radio beepers heard. Search and rescue efforts were initiated.
However, failure to establish voice contact with either flight member and the
intensity of the anti-aircraft fire in the area necessitated terminaton of the
effort. Electronic surveillance continued, but to no avail.

Radio Hanoi broadcast the capture of two American pilots on May 18, 1968 in the
general area of the loss of James and Monroe. Both men were classified Prisoner
of War.

In 1973, 591 lucky American POWs were released from Vietnam. James was among
them; Monroe was not. Military officials at the time were shocked that hundreds
of servicemen suspected or known to be prisoners of war were not released.

Since American involvement in Southeast Asia ended, thousands of reports have
been received by the U.S. relating to Americans still prisoner, missing, or
otherwise unaccounted for from the Vietnam War. Many authorities believe there
are hundreds still alive, waiting for their country to come for them.

Vincent D. Monroe was maintained in Prisoner of War status until January 10,
1978, at which time his status was changed to Presumed Killed in Action. Later
that year, a delegation led by Congressman "Sonny" Montgomery visited Hanoi and
was given the remains of Vincent D. Monroe. Monroe was buried with full military
honors at Arlington National Cemetery.


During the period they were maintained as Prisoner of War, Charlie N. James and
Vincent D. Monroe were promoted to the rank of Captain.

JAMES, GOBEL DALE

Name: Gobel Dale James
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Fairland OK
Date of Loss: 15 Jul 1968
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 173208N 1063030E (XE601393)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F105F

Other Personnel in Incident: Larry E. Martin (remains returned)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 April 1990 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.

REMARKS: 730314 RELEASED BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: The F105 Thunderchief ("Thud"), in its various versions, flew more
missions against North Vietnam than any other U.S. aircraft. It also suffered
more losses, partially due to its vulnerability, which was constantly under
revision. Between 1965 and 1971, the aircraft was equipped with armor plate, a
secondary flight control system, an improved pilot ejection seat, a more precise
navigation system, better blind bombing capability and ECM pods for the wings.
While the D version was a single-place aircraft, the F model carried a second
crewman which made it well suited for the role of suppressing North Vietnam's
missile defenses.

On July 15, 1968, Major Gobel D. James, pilot; and Capt. Larry E. Martin,
co-pilot; were assigned a mission over North Vietnam in their F105F
Thunderchief. At a point about 5 miles northwest of the city of Dong Hoi in
Quang Binh Province, North Vietnam, the aircraft was shot down. Major James, at
least, successfully ejected from the aircraft and was captured. The fate of
Capt. Martin was unknown.

On March 14, 1973, Major James was released from prison camps in Hanoi. He was
one of 591 Americans to be released that spring. At the time, military
officials were horrified that "hundreds" of Americans suspected to be prisoner
of war were not released -- and Vietnam denied knowledge of them. Larry E.
Martin was one who did not come home.

Since American involvement in the war ended in 1975, nearly 10,000 reports have
been received by the U.S. Government relating to Americans missing, prisoner,
or otherwise unaccounted for in Southeast Asia. A Pentagon panel determined in
1986 that at least 100 were still alive at that time. Their report remains
classified.

Through the years, the U.S. has requested information on Capt. Larry E. Martin,
as well as others whose fates should be known to the Vietnamese. They have
consistently denied knowledge of them, or worse -- ignored the request.

On November 8, 1989, it was announced that remains returned to U.S. control by
the Vietnamese had been positively identified as being those of Capt. Larry E.
Martin. His family at last knows that he is dead -- and not one of the hundreds
thought to still be alive. For them, peace, mourning, and healing can begin.

For thousands of other families, however, the war continues. They wait. It's
past time all our men were home.

JAMES, SAMUEL LARRY

Name: Samuel Larry James
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 13th Tactical Fighter Squadron
Date of Birth: 24 July 1945
Home City of Record: Chattanooga TN
Date of Loss: 18 April 1973
Country of Loss: Cambodia
Loss Coordinates: 134200N 1065900E (YA153151)
Status (in 1973): (none)
Category: 3
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4E

Other Personnel in Incident: Douglas K. Martin (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project and the P.O.W. NETWORK - updated
January 30, 1992 using one or more of the following: raw data from U.S.
Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published
sources, interviews with Barbara White, POW sister of Samuel James.

REMARKS: DEAD-CHARRED BODIES-FBIS

SYNOPSIS: Capt. Douglas K. Martin was the pilot, and Capt. Samuel L. James the
weapons system officer on an F4E "Phantom" jet assigned the task of marking a
target in Cambodia with a smoke rocket on April 18, 1973. Radar contact was lost
with the aircraft during the mission and no radio contact was made with the
crew. Wingmen observed no explosion or parachutes, and no emergency radio signal
"beepers" were heard. The wingmen did not see the plane go down, but they did
observe a new swath cut through dense jungle nearby.

A subsequent 700-square-mile search was conducted for the aircraft. During the
search for Martin and James, aerial photographs were taken of a probable crash
site which revealed an ejection seat, wing debris and one main landing gear. The
Air Force stated that James "is probably a POW according to our intelligence."

A July 8, 1973 report from a South Vietnamese agent who spoke with a refugee
described three American prisoners wearing one-piece flight suits who arrived in
Kompong Barey Hamlet in Prey Veng Province in southern Cambodia, en route to an
unnamed location near Loc Ninh in South Vietnam. The agent contacted a Viet Cong
cadre who stated that they would be held at Loc Ninh for future exchange. U.S.
officials later denied that the July 8, 1973 sighting report existed, although
James' father saw it himself in James' file when in Thailand in October, 1973.
Mr. James also spoke with the wingmen. They all agreed that the crew could have
survived.

A Cambodian broadcast report stating that the bodies of Martin and James were
found "charred" in the plane wreckage, was dismissed in 1973 by the Defense
Department as "propaganda," and the family was told not to regard it seriously.
The documentation provided the family dated 18 APR 73 ended with "these
statements are considered propaganda in nature, Your brother is still
officially listed as missing in action. Yet, as late as 1980, the "charred
bodies" remark remain as data identifiers in Defense Department records, with
no further explanation given to the family.

A former government official (who had access to MIA/POW classified information)
provided Sam's mother and sisiter an unsolicited summary of another sighting
report. A hand-picked, controlled agent was sent back to check out the
first sighting report. The villagers in the area said that the pilots had
"popped out" (ejected) and were captured.

James' family has never given up hope that he is still alive, waiting for his
country to secure his freedom. His family has worked tirelessly since the day he
was shot down to bring him home.

Both Douglas K. Martin and Samuel L. James attended the U.S. Air Force Academy.
When shot down, James was wearing a POW bracelet bearing the name of a missing
Academy friend, Dennis Pugh.
JANOUSEK, RONALD JAMES

Name: Ronald James Janousek
Rank/Branch: O2/US Marine Corps
Unit: HML 367; MAG 36
Date of Birth: 21 July 1945
Home City of Record: Posen IL
Date of Loss: 09 August 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 163819N 1064643E (XD960180)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1E
Other Personnel in Incident: Bruce E. Kane (missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: When U.S. military personnel were in Vietnam, they were frequently
asked to participate in classified missions. Some of these missions were secret
because wide-spread knowledge of them might possibly give the enemy information
we did not wish them to have. Others were classified to conceal the fact that
the U.S. was conducting warfare in denied areas.

The most notorious denied area was, of course, Laos. Prevented by Geneva
Accords from having a large military presence in Laos, the U.S. first
established a CIA cover for anti-communist covert actions. One activity, begun
in 1958, used Meo tribesmen for a small pilot guerrilla program, which grew to
over 40,000 guerrillas within 10 years. The CIA's covert airline, known as "Air
America" supported the Meo as well as numerous other CIA-backed clandestine
guerrilla armies.

When ground operations were indicated or intelligence needed, the U.S. used the
CIA-directed armies, sent U.S. troops in covert MACV-SOG teams, or airlifted in
indigenous troops, often using the air capabilities of the U.S. Army and Marine
Corps. Pilots were asked to alter flight records to reflect a mission in
allowed territory. If they were lost, families were misinformed about the
location of loss. As a result, several case files of men missing are a tangle
of inconsistencies - some records reflecting the "doctored" loss information,
while other records are accurate.

1Lt. Ronald J. Janousek and Cpl. Bruce E. Kane were U.S. Marines attached to
units of the 36th and 11th Marine Aircraft Groups, respectively. On August 9,
1969, the two were killed in the crash of a UH1E helicopter. Theirs is one of
the cases in which reliable factual public information ends with this data.

Defense Department records indicate that Janousek and Kane were lost at Khe
Sanh, in Quang Tri Province. The U.S. Marines state that Janousek's helicopter
was hit by heavy enemy fire and crashed and burned. The U.S. Marines state that
Kane's helicopter disappeared on a night reconnaissance mission. Joint Casualty
Resolution Center records (considered by some analysts to be the most accurate
of all records), indicate that the loss occurred in central South Vietnam.

Information obtained from family and other sources indicate that Kane and
Janousek's aircraft crashed and burned in the Se Kong River near the border of
Laos and South Vietnam north of the A Shau Valley, and that they had been on a
secret mission in Laos. The U.S. State Department lists both men as killed in a
hostile action, and further lists Kane as drowned and Janousek as a crew member
of the aircraft. No public records indicate the fates of the rest of the crew,
including the pilot and any passengers aboard.

Given the inconsistencies of the information available, it is impossible to
determine exactly what happened to Kane and Janousek. All sources indicate that
they were killed in the crash. As thousands of reports mount that Americans are
still alive in captivity, families of men like Kane and Janousek are asking for
the complete truth about what happened to their men. Unfortunately, many cases
are still classified, and will be for decades.

The official U.S. position regarding Americans still missing is that there is
no "actionable evidence" to suggest that any are alive. If there are no
soldiers' lives to protect by secrecy, why can the truth not be told? If any
are alive, why are they not home?
JARVIS, JEREMY MICHAEL

Name: Jeremy Michael Jarvis
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 05 November 1941
Home City of Record: Warren MI
Date of Loss: 25 July 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 172000N 1064700E (XE895171)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4C

Other Personnel in Incident: Herbert L. Lunsford (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 April 1990 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.

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.

Major Herbert L. Lunsford and 1Lt. Jeremy M. Jarvis comprised the flight crew
of an F4C Phantom which was assigned a mission over North Vietnam on July 25,
1967. Maj. Lunsford was the pilot, and 1Lt. Jarvis his backseater. Jarvis was
responsible for operating the weapons/systems and navigational equipment.

Lunsford's aircraft was shot down and crashed at a point on the coast of North
Vietnam about 10 miles south of Dong Hoi in Quang Binh Province. Both Lunsford
and Jarvis were declared Missing in Action.

The Defense Intelligence Agency further expanded the Missing in Action
classification to include an enemy knowledge ranking of 3. Category 3 indicates
"doubtful knowledge" and includes personnel whose loss incident is such that it
is doubtful that the enemy wound have knowledge of the specific individuals
(e.g. aircrews lost over water or remote areas).

Since American involvement in Vietnam ended in 1975, nearly 10,000 reports
relating to Americans missing, prisoner, or otherwise unaccounted for in
Indochina have been received by the U.S. Government. Many officials, having
examined this largely classified information, have reluctantly concluded that
many Americans are still alive today, held captive by our long-ago enemy.

Whether Lunsford and Jarvis survived the over-water crash of their aircraft to
be captured by the multitude of enemy fishing and military vessels often found
along the coastline is certain not known. It is not known if they might be among
those thought to be still alive today. What is certain, however, is that as long
as even one American remains alive, held against his will, we owe him our very
best efforts to bring him to freedom.

JARVIS, TIMOTHY

Name: Timothy Jarvis
Rank/Branch: Civilian
Unit: Glomar Java Sea
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record:
Date of Loss: 25 October 1983
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates:
Status (in 1973):
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground:

Personnel in Incident: Herman Arms; Jerald T. Battiste; Sebe M. Bracey; Patrick
B. Cates; Wei Chen; Xiong Chen; Shu Guo Cheng; Jacob K. J. Chong; David P.
Clifton; James F. Cusick; Thomas J. Dixon; Shao Jien Feng; Jerald J. Flanagan;
Nigel Furness; Leonard E. Ganzinotti; La Juan A. Gilmore; Henry M. Gittings;
James K. Gittings; Terance C. Green; Jun Tian Guan; David Higgins, Jr.; Tyronne
Higgins; Hong Xi Huang; Rui Wen Huang; Yong Liang Huang; Timothy Jarvis; John W.
Jennings Jr.; Thomas J. Kofahl; Fan Xiang Kong; Guo Zhen Lai; John W. Lawrence;
Tong L. T. Lee; Chong Chang Li; Xuan Qiu Li; Zhan Jun Liang; Jie Feng Lin; Bing
Guang Liu; Edgar S. Lim; Gary Looke; Robert M. McCurry; Jerry L. Manfrida;
Raymond D. Miller; Xie Yi Mo; Tian Xue Mo; Kenneth W. Myers; Larry K. Myers;
Donald J. Ouellet; John D. Pierce; Peter Popiel; Clarence Reed; Jewell J.
Reynolds; E.J. Russell Reynolds; Walter T. Robinson; Kenneth B. Rogers; Lawrence
M. Salzwedel; William R. Schug; Richard E. Shoff; Christopher J. Sleeman; Delmar
A. Spencer; George G. Sullivan; Chong Jian Sun; Gustaf F. Swanson; Kevin C.
Swanson; Guo Dong Tang; Michael W. Thomas; Jiang Wang; Yu Fang Wang; Dong Cai
Wang; Guo Rong Wu; jing Sheng Xia; Xing Xing; Hui Xu; Ming Rui Xu; Mua Guang
Yuan; Xing Zhen Zhang; Yi Hua Zhang; Ji Chang Zhen; Shu Rong Zhou; Yao Wu Zhou;
Jie Fang Zhou; Da Huai Zhu.

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 10 December 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 5,930-ton American drilling ship, "Glomar Java Sea" was owned by
Global Marine of Houston, Texas, and leased to Atlantic Richfield Company
(ARCO). In the fall of 1983, the vessel was on duty about 200 miles east of the
Vietnamese coast. The ship was drilling for oil in the South China Sea in a
joint venture of ARCO and China Naitonal Offshore Oil Corporation, a state-owned
concern.

The "Glomar Java Sea" is a sister ship of the "Glomar Explorer," which, under
the guise of being utilized by the late Howard Hughes in a deep sea mining
operation in the Paficic, was really being used by the CIA and Navy in a $350
million project to retrieve a sunken Soviet Golf-class submarine. A large part
of the submarine was in fact recovered in 1974 before details of the project
were publicly revealed.

The Glomar Java Sea, with its crew of 81, began drilling operations on January
9, 1983 and was the first American wildcat operaton off the Chinese coast. On
October 25, 1983, the vessel was sunk during Typhoon Lex.

Documents removed from the ship by a crewman before the disaster indicate that
the vessel was being shadowed by armed Vietnamese naval craft and that there
were submarine mines beneath the "Glomar Java Sea," placed there and retrievable
by its crew. Another document indicates that the ship was damaged prior ot the
typhoon when a Chinese supply boat rammed into its side, causing some $320,000
damage to the vessel. The Glomar Java Sea did not leave its post for repairs.

Communications between ARCO and Global Marine, as well as telegraphic and radio
communications of the U.S. Western Pacific Rescue Coordination Center (WESTPAC)
reveal information about the search for the crew of the Glomar Java Sea.

The documents indicate that a number of survivors from the stricken vessel were
floundering in the water off the coast of Vietnam for hours after the disaster.
There is also indication that the men were picked up by Vietnamese coastal
patrols and are held captive of the Hanoi regime.

The crew of the Glomar Java Sea included 37 Americans, 35 Chinese, four British,
two Singaporeans, one Filipino, one Australian, and one Canadian.

From a transcript of a radio communicaton between WESTPAC and Global Marine on
October 28, three days after the sinking, WESTPAC was told:  "We are informed
that the SOS transmission could not have been transmitted except by human
operators..." There were two 64-man lifeboats aboard the drilling ship, plus
smaller lifeboats.

In an October 29 communicaton from WESTPAC to Global Marine, it is clearly
stated that five strobe lights were sighted by rescue aircraft in the vicinity
of 17-30 North 107-45 East. The aircraft were dispatched to the area because
strobe lights had been previously sighted. Lifejackets from the Glomar Java Sea
were equipped with strobe lights to signal rescuers.

Another October 29 communication between ARCO and Global Marine states that
ARCO's search aircraft had spotted survivors in the water at 17.27 North 107.54
East, and had attempted to divert surface vessels to this location. The
communication expressed the urgency to rescue the men before dark.

At 8:01 a.m. on October 29, ARCO had dropped a rescue raft to survivors.  Pickup
would be delayed for several hours, but the "Salvanquish," a Singapore-based
salvage ship, was within one half-mile of the site.

At 8:38 a.m search aircraft reported pinpointing the survivors' positions by dye
markers released by the survivors into the water. Two survivors were confirmed
with a possible third some distance away. Plans were also made to return to the
downed vessell to offlift survivors.

Another document shows that on nine different occasions radio transmissions were
picked up from a lifeboat. They ranged from "very strong" to "weak" with most
being described as "strong."

Inexplicably, despite the successful search, no rescue was made of the
survivors. Later that day, the Chinese Navy picked up a Vietnamese broadcast
reporting that the Vietnamese had sighted a lifeboat near their coast. The
location of the lifeboat was not confirmed by friendly search parties.

ARCO-Global Marine determined that this sighting was in the vicinity of Hon Gio
Island, located about 80 miles up the Vietnamese coast from the old U.S. base at
Da Nang and about 14 miles offshore, which placed it in Vietnamese territorial
waters. It appears that rescue craft were hampered in fully investigating the
report due to its location and the hint of possible interference by the
Vietnamese military.

It is likely that survivors would have been picked up by the Vietnamese if they
had in fact drifted within Vietnam's territory.

In the years following the loss of the Glomar Java Sea, a number of reports, all
unconfirmed by the U.S., indicate that survivors were seen in captivity in
Vietnam. It is known that the Vietnamese had shown a hostile interest in the
vessel, and the Glomar Java Sea had standing orders to be alert for Vietnamese
vessels in the area. The Chinese Navy served as protection for the vessel and
stood ready to take action should Vietnamese craft wander too close. The waters
below the vessel were mined.

A month after the Glomar Java Sea went down, Chinese divers went down to the
wreckage and went through the ship with a video cameras.

In March 1984, American divers were able to retrieve 31 bodies from the sunken
vessel. Fifteen of the bodies were identified as Americans. In addition, three
British and one Singaporean were identified. The bodies of another American and
two Chinese were tentatively identified. Divers photographed two bodies they
were unable to retrieve. They also found one of the Chinese divers that had
explored the wreckage in November 1983, lashed to the deck of the ship.

The American divers determined that one of the ship's large lifeboats was
launched and that an attempt had been made to launch another. Their film was
seen by the mother of one of the lost crewmen. She reported that the crack in
the hull of the ship at one point was a hole 48 inches across, which was
punctured inward, "as though the rig had been hit by something that exploded."
This fueled additional speculation that the vessel had, in fact, been attacked
rather that simply mortally damaged by the typhoon.

The National Transportaton Safety Board officially determined in November 1984
that an "unexplained crack" in the hull of the Glomar Java Sea was responsible
for its sinking during the typhoon. Apparently, the crack in the hull allowed
two storage tanks to fill with water, causing the vessel to become off-balanced,
making it vulnerable to the forces of the typhoon. Officials believed it was
possible that survivors may have been able to abandon the ship before it sank.
It was determined that the ship had been improperly prepared for the storm.

During 1984, there were reports from Southeast Asia that between six and twelve
survivors of the Glomar Java Sea were being held in prisoner of war camps in
Vietnam. One of the survivors was identified by a Vietnamese refugee as American
crewman John Pierce.

Douglas F. Pierce, father of John Pierce, reported that the refugee had seen his
son, five other Americans and eight Chinese when they were brought into a prison
in Da Nang, where the refugee was being held. John Pierce gave the refugee his
father's business card and two sticks of gum.

Mr. Pierce gave the information to Defense Intelligence Agency who determined
that the refugee had not been in the camp at all, but had received the business
card by mail from a friend, not directly from Pierce. DIA further determined
that the incident had occurred in late October 1983 (shortly after the Glomar
Java Sea went down). The refugee gave Mr. Pierce the original letter, which
contained the names and addresses of two mutual Vietnamese friends.

No followup was conducted on the two names in the letter by DIA, and DIA
discounted the information provided by the refugee. It was not until 1990 that
it became apparent that the Defense Department felt no responsibility for the
Americans lost on the Glomar Java Sea. At that time, DIA reported that the
responsibility for these civilians belonged to the U.S. State Department.

Mr. Pierce did not stop there. He uncovered a U.S. State Department document
that revealed that Cheng Quihong, the secretary and wife of the Director of
China's Visa Office, was overheard telling her companion at a Hong Kong dinner
that survivors from the Glomar had been picked up and were held by the
Vietnamese.

Pierce also learned that a JCRC report sent to DIA dated November 6, 1984,
reported that a former prisoner from Pleiku prison had been held with a Chinese
man who claimed to have been off the Glomar. The man said he was one of three
men who were captured, and that the other two were Americans.

Pierce adds that to his knowledge, neither of these reports were followed up by
U.S. officials, and Pierce has received no reply to his queries regarding them.

In 1989 a Japanese monk named Yoshida was released from prison after being held
for years by the Vietnamese. Yoshida was shown a photograph of John Pierce and
stated that Pierce looked very familiar, and that he had either seen him or
someone who looked very much like him.

In November, 1990, Vietamese Foreign Minister Nguyen Co Thach traveled to the
U.S. and spoke with U.S. officials on a variety of matters. At this time, he
announced that there was a black American named Walter T. Robinson living
illegally in Vietnam, and invited U.S. representatives to come and help find
him. Thach provided a social security number and two photographs.

The Pentagon told "The Washington Times" that the two photographs of Robinson
provided by Thach are of a black man. However, the Pentagon has since admitted
that the photos "are not very well developed" and appear to be of either a black
man or a dark Asian. Photocopies of old newspaper articles concerning Robinson,
obtained by Homecoming II, show a dark-haired man of relatively dark complexion.

The Pentagon has not released the photographs to the press.

The Defense Department determined that Walter T. Robinson had never been listed
as missing in Vietnam. Thach had provided a social security number, and
according to DOD, this information correlated to a white American living in the
Midwest. They concluded that the Thach information, therefore, was in error.

Later information indicated that a Walter T. Robinson was listed on the crew
roster of the Glomar Java Sea. When queried, the Defense Department reported
that they were aware of this Robinson, but that civilians were the
responsibility of the State Department.

It seems apparent that the U.S. is not vigorously looking for the men missing
from the Glomar Java Sea, and that like the missing and prisoners who served in
military and civilian capacities during the Vietnam war, they have been
abandoned.


JEFFERSON, JAMES MILTON

Name: James Milton Jefferson
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 11 July 1941 (FL)
Home City of Record: San Diego CA
Date of Loss: 12 May 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 205856N 2053022E (WJ526201)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4C

Other Personnel In Incident: Norman C. Gaddis (released POW)

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: POSS DEAD - IR 6918550273

SYNOPSIS: James M. Jefferson left sunny Florida to attend the United States Air
Force Academy, where his brother had graduated in 1959. In 1964, Jefferson
graduated and embarked on what seemed to be a promising career with the Air
Force. After being trained on the F4 Phantom fighter jet, he was sent to
Vietnam.

On May 12, 1967, Col. Normal C. Gaddis, with 1Lt. Jefferson serving as his
bombardier/navigator, were sent on a mission over North Vietnam. When the flight
was near the border of Ha Tay and Hoa Binh Provinces, North Vietnam, it was hit
by enemy fire and crashed. Jefferson, as backseater, ejected first. Gaddis
ejected second and was immediately captured by the North Vietnamese.

While Gaddis was a prisoner, he was shown a name tag and other items belonging
to his crewman, which were in good condition. He believed that Jefferson had
also been captured, although he never found him in the prison system in which he
was being held. As the years passed, he began to lose hope of finding Jefferson
alive.

In 1973, Gaddis was released with 590 other Americans. James M. Jefferson was
not released, nor have the Vietnamese accounted for him since that day. His fate
is unknown, like nearly 2500 other Americans still missing from Southeast Asia.
Although the Vietnamese clearly know what happened to James Jefferson, the U.S.
has been helpless to extract that information from them.

Since 1973, over 10,000 reports have been received, convincing many experts that
hundreds of Americans are still alive in the hands of the governments of
Southeast Asia. One of them could be James M. Jefferson. What are we doing to
bring him home?

James M. Jefferson was promoted to the rank of Major during the period he was
maintained Missing in Action.
JEFFERSON, PERRY HENRY

Name: Perry Henry Jefferson
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 120th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 35th Tactical Fighter Wing
Date of Birth: 18 August 1931
Home City of Record: Denver CO
Date of Loss: 03 April 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 114300N 1091200E (BP750005)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: O1G

Other Personnel in Incident: Arthur G. Ecklund (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 July 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: On April 3, 1969, U.S. Army 1Lt. Arthur G. Ecklund and his U.S. Air
Force observer, Capt. Perry H. Jefferson, were flying a visual reconnaissance
mission out of Phan Rang airbase. They left the base at 0700 hours in an O1G
aircraft (serial #51-12078) and reported in by radio at 0730 hours giving their
location, destination and information concerning a convoy they were going to
check out. No further communication was heard, except for a signal "beeper".

Extensive search efforts began at 0950 hours with all available aircraft, and
continued for three days without success. The aircraft is believed to have
occurred in an area occupied by enemy forces, thus preventing a ground search.

On April 15, 1969, a Vietnamese source reported that he had been in contact
with a communist Montagnard who claimed the Viet Cong had shot down an aircraft
with two Americans in it, and the Americans had been wounded, but were alive,
and being held in captivity. He said the aircraft was shot down between Phan
Rang and Cam Ranh City. A later report indicated that two men fitting the
description of Ecklund and Jefferson were seen on a trail being guarded by Viet
Cong, and that they appeared to be in good health.

The U.S. Defense Department list Jefferson's loss coordinates near the coastline
of Vietnam, about 20 miles south of Cam Ranh, while Ecklund's loss coordinates
are listed about 10 miles southwest of Cam Ranh and about 15 miles northwest of
those of Jefferson. Both men are listed as lost in Ninh Thuan Province, South
Vietnam.

The presence of the reports of captivity and the emergency radio "beeper" lends
weight to the fact that the two men were captured. There can be no question that
the Vietnamese know the fate of two men. As reports concerning Americans still
alive in Southeast Asia continue to flow in, it becomes increasingly more
important to find out what happened to the men we left behind.


JEFFORDS, DERRELL BLACKBURN

Name: Derrell Blackburn Jeffords
Rank/Branch: O5/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 10 August 1925
Home City of Record: Phoenix AZ
Date of Loss: 24 December 1965
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 154800N 1064400E (XC856474)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: AC47D
Other Personnel In Incident: Arden K. Hassenger; W. Kevin Colwell; Dennis L.
Eilers; Larry C. Thornton; Joseph Christiano (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 15 March 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS: MAYDAY HEARD - SEARCH NEG - J

SYNOPSIS: On December 24, 1965, President Lyndon Johnson announced a week-long
bombing halt on North Vietnam. That same day, an AC47D "Spooky" gunship was
shot down during an armed reconnaissance flight just south of the city of Ban
Bac in Saravane Province, Laos. Planes in the area of the loss of the plane
heard mayday signals, but were unable to establish contact with the crew.

The Spooky had evolved from the famed "Puff the Magic Dragon" versions of the
Douglas C47. Puff introduced a new principle to air attack in Vietnam. Troubled
by difficulties in conducting nighttime defense, Capt. Ronald Terry of the U.S.
Air Force Aeronautical Systems Division remembered reading about flying
missionaries in Latin America who lowered baskets of supplies on a rope from a
tightly circling airplane. Throughout the series of pylon turns, the basket
remained suspended over a selected point on the ground. Could this principle be
applied to fire from automatic weapons? Tests proved it could, and could be
extremely successful.

Puff's "flare kicker" illuminated the target, then the pilot used a mark on the
window to his left as a gun sight and circled slowly as three multibarrel 7-62mm
machine guns fired 18,000 rounds per minute from the door and two windows in the
port side of the passenger compartment. The aircraft was called "Puff" after a
popular song of the day, and because it resembled a dragon overhead with flames
billowing from its guns. Men on the ground welcomed the presence of Puff and the
later Spooky version, which was essentially the same as the Puff, because of its
ability to concentrate a heavy dose of defensive fire in a surgically determined
area. These aircraft were very successful defending positions in South Vietnam,
but proved unable to survive against the anti-aircraft defenses in Laos.

The Spooky lost in Laos on December 24, 1965 was flown by Col. Derrel B.
Jeffords and Capt. Dennis L. Eilers. The crew aboard the aircraft was Maj.
Joseph Christiano, MSgt. Larry C. Thornton, TSgt. W. Kevin Colwell, and SSgt.
Arden K. Hassenger.

When 591 Americans were released from Vietnam in 1973, the Spooky crew was not
among them. As a matter of fact, no American held in Laos was (or has been)
released. The Lao were not included in negotiations ending American involvement
in the war in Southeast Asia.

In June 1989, Arden Hassenger's wife was informed that a report had been
received saying her husband had been sighted alive in Laos. This report is one
of nearly 10,000 relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asia received by the
U.S. Government since the war ended. Mrs. Hassenger was unable to sleep to sleep
at night wondering and worrying, yet Arden Hassenger is still missing.

According to a National League of POW/MIA families list, Christiano also
survived the incident.

A September 13, 1968 statement by Soth Pethrasi was monitored from Puerto Rico
in which Christiano and Jeffords were mentioned. The report stated that "Smith,
Christiano, Jeffords, and Mauterer" were part of "several dozen captured Airmen"
whom the Pathet Lao were "treating correctly and who were still in Laos. Another
name, Norman Morgan, captured January 9, 1968, was mentioned but is not on lists
of missing. This is believed to correlate to Norman Green, lost on January 9,
1968 in Laos.

Christiano and Jeffords were never classified Prisoner of War. Few lost in Laos
ever were. Like Christiano and Jeffords, many were suspected to be alive on the
ground and in radio contact with search and rescue and other planes; some were
known to have been captured. Hanoi's communist allies in Laos, the Pathet Lao,
publicly spoke of American prisoners they held, but when peace agreements were
negotiated, Laos was not included, and not a single American was released that
had been held in Laos.

Were it not for the thousands of reports concerning Americans still held captive
in Southeast Asia, the Christiano and Jeffords families might be able to close
this tragic chapter of their lives. But as long as Americans are alive, being
held captive, Joseph Christiano and Derrell Jeffords could be among them. It's
time we brought these men home.

During the period he was maintained missing, Joseph Christiano was promoted to
the rank of Colonel.




JEFFREY, ROBERT DUNCAN "BOB"

Name: Robert Duncan "Bob" Jeffrey
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 433rd Tactical Fighter Squadron, Ubon AF TH
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Los Angeles CA
Date of Loss: 20 December 1965
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 212500N 1063700E
Status (in 1973):
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4C

Other Personnel In Incident: George I. Mims, Jr. (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: 730212 RELSD BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: 1Lt. George I. Mims was the pilot of an F4C Phantom jet which was one
of four F4Cs flying "MIG cover" for F105's bombing a bridge on the northeast
railroad out of Hanoi into China. Capt. Robert D. "Bob" Jeffrey was his
bombardier/navigator on the mission.

During the flight, Mims' aircraft took what appeared to be a direct hit and
other flight members felt sure that there was no chance of survival for either.
Only small pieces of the airplane were seen to emerge from the fireball. George
Mims had been married only a month, and Bob Jeffrey had a baby son.

When 591 Americans were released from Vietnam in 1973, George Mims was not among
them, but his backseater, Bob Jeffrey was. No substantial information has
surfaced on Mims since his plane went down. The Vietnamese deny any knowledge of
his fate.

Since the war's end, the U.S. Government has received thousands of reports of
Americans still in captivity in Southeast Asia. This large volume of evidence
suggests that hundreds are still being held.

Henry Kissinger predicted, in the 50's, that future "limited political
engagements" would result, unfortunately, in nonrecoverable prisoners of war.
This prediction has been fulfilled in Korea and Vietnam, where thousands of men
and women remain missing, and where ample evidence exists that many of them
(from BOTH wars) are still alive today. The U.S. Government seems unable (or
unwilling) to negotiate their freedom. The "unfortunate" abandonment of military
personnel is not acceptable, and the policy that allows it must be changed
before another generation is left behind in some faraway war.

George I. Mims, Jr. was promoted to the rank of Captain during the period he was
maintained missing.
JEFFS, CLIVE GARTH

Name: Clive Garth Jeffs
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 21 October 1943
Home City of Record: Salt Lake City UT
Date of Loss: 12 March 1971
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 121900N 1083500E (BP170949)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F100D

Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 April 1990 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.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: The North American F100 "Super Sabre" first saw action in Southeast
Asia in northwest Laos in May 1962. F100 operations in Vietnam began in 1965,
and took part in Operation Flaming Dart, the first U.S. Air Force strike
against North Vietnam in February of that year. Further deployments of the
aircraft to the area left just five F100 squadrons in the United States.

Various modifications were made to the aircraft affectionately called "Hun" or
"Lead Sled" by its pilots and mechanics over the early years, gradually
improving night bombing capability, firing systems and target-marking systems.
The single seat models D and F were good at top cover and low attack, and could
carry a heavy load of munitions.

1Lt. Clive G. Jeffs was the pilot of an F100D Super Sabre dispatched on a
mission over Vietnam on March 12, 1971. At a point on the border of Tuyen Duc
and Khanh Hoa Provinces in South Vietnam, Jeffs' aircraft went down and he was
never seen again. Jeffs was declared Missing in Action. The U.S. Government
believed the enemy knew his fate, but had no evidence to confirm this.

Records on American military personnel were maintained in various government
agencies. Raw intelligence data from Southeast Asia freqently first found its
way into the files of the organization which came to be known as Joint Casualty
Resolution Center (JCRC). Many analysts believed JCRC records were the most
complete and authoritative, since they contained largely raw data without
benefit of analytical "muddling".

In November 1973, JCRC received a cable from Defense Intelligence Agency which
was copied to various high stations, including CIA, the Secretary of State and
the White House. The cable stated JCRC should "take necessary action to delete
any references pertaining to PW [Prisoner of War] status and place members in a
new MIA code" the files of Clive G. Jeffs and several others. Whether JCRC had
intelligence that indicated Clive Jeffs was captured is unknown.

Since American involvement in Vietnam ended in 1975, nearly 10,000 reports
relating to Americans missing, prisoner, or otherwise unaccounted for in
Indochina have been received by the U.S. Government. Many officials, having
examined this largely classified information, have reluctantly concluded that
many Americans are still alive today, held captive by our long-ago enemy.

Whether Jeffs survived the crash of his aircraft to be captured by the enemy is
certain not known. It is not known if he might be among those thought to be
still alive today. What is certain, however, is that as long as even one
American remains alive, held against his will, we owe him our very best efforts
to bring him to freedom.

JENKINS, HARRY TARLETON JR.

Name: Harry Tarleton Jenkins, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O5/US Navy
Unit: Squadron Commander, Attack Squadron 163, Attack Air Wing 16, USS ORISKANY
(CVA 34)
Date of Birth: 24 July 1927
Home City of Record: Washington D.C.
Date of Loss: 13 November 1965
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 171500N 1064400E (XE842078)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category: Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A4E

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: 730212 RELSD BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: CDR Harry T. Jenkins, Jr. was a pilot assigned to Attack Air Wing 16
onboard the USS ORISKANY. Jenkins was a respected seventeen-year aviation
veteran. Jenkins had grown up in Washington D.C. and graduated from high school
in 1945. In 1948, he earned his wings and reached the pinnacle of operational
success, command of a carrier-based squadron, the Saints of Attack Squadron 163,
on December 30, 1964. He flew many combat missions from the ORISKANY.

One such mission was flown September 9, 1965. A major strike had been scheduled
against the Thanh Hoa ("Dragon Jaw") bridge, and the weather was so critical
there was a question whether to launch. Finally the decision was to launch.
Halfway through, weather reconnaissance reported the weather in the target area
was zero, and the CAG, CDR James B. Stockdale, had no choice but to send the
aircraft on secondary targets. Stockdale and his wingman, CDR Wynn Foster,
circled the Gulf of Tonkin while CDR Harry Jenkins took his strike element to
look for a SAM site at their secondary target. Had anything been found, Wynn and
Stockdale were to join Jenkins' group.

After fifteen minutes or so, Jenkins' group came up empty. The group made the
decision to hit a secondary target, a railroad facility near the city of Thanh
Hoa. It was here that CDR Stockdale's aircraft was hit by flak. Stockdale
ejected, landing in a village and was captured. The villagers brutally beat
Stockdale as they took him captive, all within sight of the aircraft above.
Stockdale was held captive for seven and one-half years, and he was to see
Jenkins again before he was released, and CDR Wynn Foster would eventually assume
Jenkins' position as squadron commander of VA-163.

Jenkins carried a Bible with him on the ship, letting in fall open somewhere to
read, and one night the passage said something about, "and he shall fall into
his enemies." Jenkins wondered at the time if that was a premonition. He also
dreamed about becoming a prisoner. He was worried about losing his men and
agonized over planning, of finding the best way to a target. He confided to
another fellow officer that he was tired, not only physically, but emotionally
as well.

On one particular mission Jenkins had narrowly escaped death when an
anti-aircraft shell hit his aircraft, blowing off the canopy and destroying the
instrument panel. Jenkins guided the crippled aircraft safely back to the
ORISKANY, and when he landed on the deck of the ORISKANY, he discovered that
shrapnel had penetrated his G-suit, but hadn't reached the inner lining. These
sorts of missions sapped the strength of the best of pilots.

On November 12, 1965, Jenkins launched in his A4E Skyhawk fighter aircraft on
his 133rd combat mission on a reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam. He was
two weeks short of leaving Vietnam for home. Then on November 13, 1965, Jenkins
and his wingman launched in their A4E aircraft on Jenkins' 133rd combat mission.
The target area was Dong Hoi, a quiet area where nothing much happened, because
of reports that the river southwest of the city was passing traffic. The two
pilots went around the river but determined it was not navigable. On their
return, they decided to crater a road junction in case traffic was going through
there at night. They planned to slow down the traffic then return at night and
check traffic again.

On the way to the junction, about ten miles from the coast, they passed a clump
of trees where it appeared that a lot of traffic had driven, possibly a truck
park. The wingman orbited while Jenkins went down to investigate. He flew very
low, ten to twelve feet off the ground, and at fairly slow speed, looking under
the trees. Nothing was around, and the area was quiet.

Pulling off and heading toward the coast, Jenkins heard a gun start firing. He
looked back and could see two streams of tracers from a 37-millimeter enemy
anti-aircraft gun, a twin mount, nearly dead astern from him. He quickly pulled
back on the stick of his Skyhawk and sought the safety of cloud cover overhead.
But the aircraft had been hit dead astern, in "the hell hole" just aft and under
the seat where the control junctions, electrical busses are. The controls of the
aircraft were immediately disconnected, the stick wouldn't function, and all
electrical gear was down.

A second explosion followed. Jenkins continued to climb and headed toward water,
still some six to eight miles away. The aircraft started rolling very rapidly
and began to drop, so Jenkins was forced to eject below twenty-five hundred
feet.

The wingman circled above, and below, the Vietnamese were all around howling and
yelling. Jenkins landed on a rise approximately 12 miles south of Dong Hoi,
North Vietnam. The rise was covered with short brush and no place to hide. He
had no time to assemble his emergency radio and ran up the hill and slid under
the brush. His ejection and progress were intermittently monitored by his
wingman as low clouds allowed. The Vietnamese approached him, swinging a sickle
on a stick and slashing through the brush. Another came right to his feet,
poking with a stick. Jenkins gave himself up.

In Jenkins' words, "...if that had been one of my earlier missions, there is no
way that gunner would have gotten me. I'd just seen so much flak, and had been
hit several times. I was just tired, I guess, and not thinking."

Meanwhile, Jenkins' wingman had been joined by nine other aircraft within five
minutes of the initial bailout. A1s circled overhead looking for Jenkins. The
Vietnamese were all armed and began shooting at the A1s, evidently for Jenkins'
benefit, as with each shot came a glance towards Jenkins. Search and rescue
aircraft reported observing over 100 troops and other personnel in Jenkins'
vicinity. They remained on station looking for Jenkins for about two hours, but
the Vietnamese successfully hid him from view.

A Radio Hanoi broadcast on November 14th indicated that an American pilot was
shot down and captured on November 13th in the Dong Hoi District.

Jenkins was moved toward Hanoi, traveling at night. During the trip, Jenkins was
amazed by the large numbers of trucks that moved through the night in North
Vietnam. While he had seen only a few trucks from the air at night and never in
daylight as a pilot, he was astounded to see the tremendous numbers of trucks
moving under low light, guiding by reflective painted stripes or plastic strips
on the road about every thirty feet.

Jenkins arrived at the Hoa Loa Prison in Hanoi in the early morning hours of
November 23. He was taken first to the "Meathook Room" for interrogation, then
later to a cell where his ankles were manacled and locked together by a long
steel bar topped by a heavy piece of lumber. His wrists were tied behind him,
upper arms laced tightly together from elbows to shoulders. Jenkins was the
fifty-fifth American POW and the first senior officer to be tortured upon
arrival in Hanoi. For two years and one month, from late 1967 through most of
1969, CDR Jenkins, the third ranking senior naval officer in a North Vietnamese
prison camp, was put into leg irons at five o'clock each evening and stayed in
irons until seven the next morning. As special punishment for communicating with
another prisoner on one occasion, Jenkins spend eighty-five consecutive days in
irons.

In early 1969, Jenkins became ill and was in great pain at a camp known as
Alcatraz, located some ten blocks from the Hanoi Hilton. He was receiving no
medical care, and fellow prisoners, led by Jenkins' former wing commander, Jim
Stockdale, put the pressure on. What ensued might be called a prison riot. The
effort did bring a doctor to Jenkins' cell, although the doctor did nothing to