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| Senator SMITH's 324 Compelling Cases NORTH VIETNAM Edward A. Dickson On February 7, 1965, Lieutenant Dickson was the pilot of an A-4 on a combat mission over Bo Trach District, Quang Binh Province. His aircraft was hit by hostile ground fire and he headed out to sea. He was observed by other U.S. aircraft crew to eject from his aircraft but his parachute was not seen to deploy. He was declared dead/body not recovered, based on a presumptive finding of death. On March 17, 1968, an issue of the Vietnam Courier carried a photograph of a beach grave site reportedly containing the remains of Lieutenant Dickson. A wartime Associated Press wirephoto depicted a body reportedly of Lieutenant Dickson and listed personal artifacts of his which had been recovered. A number of U.S. POWs returning from captivity in North Vietnam described a North Vietnamese movie they had been shown which contained a sequence reportedly showing the recovery of Lieutenant Dickson's remains from the water and the grave site where his remains were interred. In August 1985, Vietnam turned over Lieutenant Dickson's Geneva Convention Card and Identity Card. In January 1991, a U.S. team in Vietnam examined a document listing the wartime combat operations in Bo Trach District which referred to the downing of a U.S. aircraft with one airman on February 7, 1965. In January and July 1991, a U.S. team obtained substantially similar information from the People's Army of Vietnam Military Region IV museum. Walter Kosko On July 27, 1965, Captain Kosko was the pilot of an F-105D, one in a flight of four aircraft from Takhli Air Base, Thailand, on a bombing mission over Phu Tho Province, North Vietnam. There was intense anti-aircraft fire directed at the flight. Following an explosion near his aircraft, Captain Kosko reported he was hit and there was smoke in his cockpit. He later ejected and other flight members observed a fully deployed chute and survival gear. There was no beeper or voice contact with him after his ejection. Captain Kosko was seen to land in the Black River. A search of the river disclosed an inflated life raft which was empty and no evidence of the pilot. On July 27th and 28th, Radio Hanoi reported eight U.S. aircraft shot down on July 27, 1965 and stated that pilots had been taken into custody from shoot downs in Ha Tay Province. Captain Kosko landed on the border of Ha Tay and Vinh Phu. Captain Kosko was initially declared missing. Returning U.S. POWs were unable to provide any information concerning his fate. In November 1977 he was declared dead/body not recovered, based on a presumptive finding of death. U.S. investigators in Vietnam in 1988 and 1990 visited the area of Captain Kosko's loss. Vietnamese officials stated that Captain Kosko's life raft was recovered during the war. One witness stated it was used as a fishing boat in the local river until it deteriorated and was discarded. U.S. investigators were told Captain Kosko had indeed landed in the Black River, had never reappeared after going under water, and they believed he drowned in the river. Fredric M. Mellor On August 13, 1965, Captain Mellor was the pilot of an RF-101 and the flight leader in a flight of two aircraft over Son La Province. His aircraft was hit by hostile ground fire, his radio became inoperative and the second aircraft could see a fire in the nose of Captain Mellor's aircraft but he maintained control of it. With the second aircraft now in the lead, Captain Mellor suddenly disappeared from sight. Another aircraft arrived on the scene, an RF-101, and the new aircraft was able to establish radio and beeper contact with Captain Mellor who had parachuted out and was alive on the ground. Rescue helicopters were called but when they arrived later they were unable to establish contact with and locate Captain Mellor. Captain Mellor was reported missing and in December 1977 was declared dead/body not recovered. Returning U.S. POWs were unable to provide any information on his precise fate. In February 1991, U.S. investigators in Vietnam interviewed witnesses to the downing of a U.S. aircraft corresponding to the loss incident of Captain Mellor. The witnesses stated that the pilot ejected safely and was able to evade for half a day. Late on the afternoon he was located by local militia. The pilot opened fire on them and they returned the fire, wounding the pilot. He was captured but later died, apparently of blood loss. No remains could be located by the U.S. investigators. James Branch On September 4, 1965 Captain Branch and First Lieutenant Jewell were the crew in an F-4C aircraft on a strafing mission in Nghe An Province. They had just completed a strike on the target when another air crew observed a secondary explosion but later determined it was Captain Branch's aircraft which had crashed. No survivors were seen, no parachutes were seen and no beepers were heard. Returning U.S. POWs heard the pilot was killed when he flew into a hill. His wingman believed no possibility of survival. Both airmen were initially declared missing. After Operation Homecoming they were declared dead/body not recovered. Charles J. Scharf On October 1, 1965, First Lieutenant Massucci and Captain Scharfwere the crew of an F-4C, one in a flight of three aircraft on astrike mission over Son La Province, North Vietnam. Their aircraftwas hit by hostile fire. After jettisoning their external tanks,one member of the flight reported seeing one fully deployed chutewith the jettisoned material. There was no electronic contact withthe crew. Both crewmen were declared missing. Returning U.S. POWs were unable to provide any information on theirprecise fate. Lieutenant Massucci was declared dead/body notrecovered in February 1978. Captain Scharf was declared dead/bodynot recovered in January 1978. In January 1991, U.S. investigators in Vietnam interviewed severalwitnesses to the crash of a U.S. aircraft which closelycorresponded to this loss incident. Several witnesses stated thatthey observed two bodies at the crash site and had no informationthat one might have survived the crash. Information from witnessesconflicts with information from U.S. personnel at the time of theirloss who reported observing one fully deployed parachute. Dean A. Pogreba On October 5, 1965, Major Pogreba was the pilot of an F-105D, the lead in a flight of four aircraft on a strike mission over North Vietnam. There was heavy anti-aircraft fire over the target area in Lang Son Province and rain showers in the target area intermittently obscured it. After completing his bombing mission through dense cloud cover, Major Pogreba was last seen rolling off the target, still an area of heavy anti-aircraft fire and from which three surface to air missiles were launched. He radioed he was departing the area on the prebriefed exit route. The members of the flight also used the prebriefed exit route and maintained radio silence until reaching the coast. Major Pogreba never arrived and was declared missing. Visual and electronic search failed to disclose any evidence of either him or his aircraft. Returning U.S. POWs were unable to provide any information on Major Pogreba's precise fate. However, one returnee offered his view that while in prison in North Vietnam, "it was thought that Major Pogreba was down in China" but no one knew the origin of this story. Major Pogreba was not identified alive in captivity by any returning U.S. POW and in November 1977 he was declared killed in action, body not recovered, based on a presumptive finding of death. In February 1991, retired U.S. General Tom Lacy told Major Pogreba's next of kin that he had spoken with Major Pogreba and knew where he was. General Lacy said Major Pogreba was downed over China and he, General Lacy, had made two failed attempts to rescue him. According to a next of kin, the People's Republic of China stated that an F-105 had strayed into Chinese air space. The available record documents that on October 6, 1965, Radios Hanoi and Beijing reported U.S. aircraft were shot down in certain areas of North Vietnam and pilots captured on October 5th. No names of any captured pilots were given and the areas in which aircraft were reported shot down did not correlate to an area where Major Pogreba was operating when declared missing. On October 5, 1965, the People's Republic of China announced that four U.S. aircraft had intruded into Chinese air space over Kwangsi Province on that date and one had been shot down. There was no mention of the type of aircraft involved. Although Pogreba was last known to be approximately 40 nautical miles from Kwangsi Province and was lost on that date, two other aircraft were also shot down on October 5th, crashed inside North Vietnam and approximately 30 miles from China, and in the general area where Pogreba was lost which was not known to be in Chinese air space. In 1985, China acknowledged it had deployed over 300,000 of its forces in northern Vietnam during the war years, many of whom were in the northern tier of provinces which included the area where Pogreba was lost. Chinese units included various anti-aircraft forces. George C. McCleary On November 5, 1965, Lieutenant Colonel McCleary was the pilot of an F-105, the flight leader of a flight of four aircraft on a SAM suppression mission over North Vietnam. A surface to air missile was launched and exploded approximately 20 feet from his aircraft. His aircraft burst into flames, pitched nose up, and began shedding pieces. The canopy was observed to separate before the aircraft disappeared into overcast tail first but his wingman couldn't determine if he was able to eject from the aircraft. No search and rescue mission was possible due to the extremely hostile ground environment and Colonel McCleary was declared missing in action. In 1968 a People's Army of Vietnam soldier provided information on U.S. POWs at a Hanoi prison correlating to Hoa Lo Prison, also called the Hanoi Hilton. He identified a photograph of Colonel McCleary as similar to that of an American at Hoa Lo Prison. In 1977 the Defense Intelligence Agency reversed its previous correlation and concluded the soldier's report was erroneous. In August 1972, DIA received a report about an F-105 shot down by a MIG-17 circa October 1966. One good parachute was seen. This report was placed in Colonel McCleary's file. Two returnees identified LTC McCleary as one of the men in a photograph of U.S. POWs at the 1969 Christmas event staged for U.S. POWs. DIA later positively identified everyone at the event and concluded the returnee's initial conclusions were a case of misidentification. In November 1973, Colonel McCleary was declared dead/body not recovered, based on a presumptive finding of death. In July 1988, Vietnam turned over remains at Hanoi which it stated were those of Colonel McCleary. In May 1991 they were identified as his. George I. Mims, Jr. On December 20, 1965, First Lieutenant Mims and Captain Robert D.Jeffery were the crewmen of an F-4C in a flight of four F-4 on acombat mission over North Vietnam. While over Ha Bac Province,their aircraft was hit by antiaircraft fire, turned into a fireballand fell apart. Captain Jeffery bailed out, landed safely, wascaptured and was repatriated during Operation Homecoming. Duringhis post-release interviews, Captain Jeffery stated he never saw orheard anything about Lieutenant Mims from the time he, Jeffery, wascaptured until he was released;however, based on their lossincident he believed Lieutenant Mims may have been killed afterejecting at a low altitude. Lieutenant Mims was initially declared missing in action. He waslater declared dead/body not recovered. The Joint Casualty Resolution Center has investigated this incidentand determined that Lieutenant Mims's aircraft crashed in Huu LungDistrict, Lang Son Province, and not Ha Bac Province as initiallybelieved. Witnesses interviewed to date have stated that onecrewman was killed in the crash of an aircraft which correlates tothis incident. The case is still undergoing field investigation inVietnam. On December 20, 1965, First Lieutenant Mims and Captain Robert D.Jeffery were the crewmen of an F-4C in a flight of four F-4 on acombat mission over North Vietnam. While over Ha Bac Province,their aircraft was hit by antiaircraft fire, turned into a fireballand fell apart. Captain Jeffery bailed out, landed safely, wascaptured and was repatriated during Operation Homecoming. Duringhis post-release interviews, Captain Jeffery stated he never saw orheard anything about Lieutenant Mims from the time he, Jeffery, wascaptured until he was released;however, based on their lossincident he believed Lieutenant Mims may have been killed afterejecting at a low altitude. Lieutenant Mims was initially declared missing in action. He waslater declared dead/body not recovered. The Joint Casualty Resolution Center has investigated this incidentand determined that Lieutenant Mims's aircraft crashed in Huu LungDistrict, Lang Son Province, and not Ha Bac Province as initiallybelieved. Witnesses interviewed to date have stated that onecrewman was killed in the crash of an aircraft which correlates tothis incident. The case is still undergoing field investigation inVietnam. Peter J. Stewart On March 15, 1966, Lieutenant Colonel Stewart and Captain Scott were the crew in an F-4C, one in a flight of two over Lai Chau Province. Approaching the target area, their flight leader spotted two trucks. Fifteen seconds later there was a large orange explosion on the ground and their was no response from Colonel Stewart's aircraft. An aerial search of the area failed to locate any survivors and there were no parachute or beepers. However, a red double star flare was seen approximately two minutes after the crash but the wingman was unable to investigate it thoroughly due to extremely hostile ground fire. No SAR mission was possible due to the extremely hostile conditions in the crash site area. Both airmen were declared missing in action. Returning U.S. POWs had no information on the precise fate of the two airmen. Colonel Stewart and Captain Scott were declared killed in action, body not recovered, based on a presumptive finding of death in January 1980 and January 1979, respectively. Everett A. McPherson 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. William R. Tromp On April 17, 1966, Lieutenant JG Tromp was the pilot of an A-1E from the U.S.S. Kitty Hawk on a night armed reconnaissance mission over the coastal area of southern North Vietnam. A surface-to-air missile was launched at their flight of two aircraft while over Ha Tinh Province. Tromp's aircraft was last reported crossing the coastline heading out to sea and descending in altitude. His last transmission was, "I have some kind of energ...," ending in mid- sentence. An air and sea search proved negative. He was declared missing in action. Radio Hanoi later announced the shoot down of several aircraft on April 17th and stated that several pilots were captured in Quang Binh and Ha Tinh Provinces. Tromp's aircraft was the only one lost that day. July through September 1973, Lieutenant Tromp's under water crash site was searched by U.S. forces testing the recoverability of remains of U.S. airmen lost on over water losses. No remains could be located at his crash site. In July 1974, he was declared dead, remains unrecoverable. On December 8, 1988, U.S. investigators in Vietnam met with witnesses from the area Lieutenant Tromp had been last seen crossing the coast. They described the shoot down of one of two aircraft which corresponded to the circumstances of Tromp's loss. They stated that the aircraft crashed in the sea off the coast, there was no visible wreckage and no indication anyone had survived. In July 1989, U.S. investigators received additional hearsay information about the same shoot down associated with Cam Xuyen District, Ha Tinh Province. A refugee source in Hong Kong reported that an aircraft had been hit by groundfire as it was descending in altitude and that it soon burst into flames. The underwater crash site was reportedly surveyed by Vietnamese salvage officials in1987, but the wreck was not salvaged. Lee A. Adams On April 19, 1966, First Lieutenant Adams was the pilot of an F- 105D, one in a flight of four on a combat mission over Quang Binh Province. Lieutenant Adams was cleared to attack two trucks on a road and made a strafing pass in a 25 degree dive angle as he fired on the target. His aircraft was observed by other flight members to crash in the area and the aircraft was completely destroyed on impact. There was no chute or beeper and no search effort was launched. In June 1966, Lieutenant Adams was declared killed in action, body not recovered. Returning U.S. POWs had no information on his precise fate. U.S. investigators recently in Vietnam obtained access to records listing wartime air defense operations in Quang Binh Province. The records of Bo Trach District recorded the reported shoot down of an F-105 in the Nam Trach area on April 18, 1966. There were no aircraft losses in the area on this date but this report was believed related to another entry on April 19th where neighboring Cu Nam militia also claimed shooting down an F-105 aircraft. These reports were believed to correlate to this loss incident. In November 1992, U.S. investigators obtained access to wartime photographs relating to U.S. air operations in Vietnam. Including in the photographs is one identified by Vietnam as a photograph of a body identified as that of Lieutenant Adams together withaircraft wreckage. Martin W. Steen On May 31, 1966, Captain Steen was the pilot of an F-105D, one ina flight of four aircraft on an armed reconnaissance mission overVan Chan District, Nghia Lo Province. He radioed he'd been hit byhostile fire while over the target, was unable to control hisaircraft and was going to eject. Other flight members observed hiscanopy separate, saw him eject, there was a good chute, and heapparently landed in mountainous terrain along a 3000 foot ridgeline. Search and rescue forces were alerted and a pararescue specialistlowered to the area where Captain Steen's aircraft had toucheddown, found it snagged in the trees with the harness approximately30 feet off the ground, with no trace of Captain Steen, and withthe pararescue specialist unable to determine if the parachutereached the ground. Captain Steen was declared missing in action. In December 1969, a People's Army of Vietnam soldier reported aU.S. pilot had been captured near Highway 6 in Son La Province andthe soldier had escorted the pilot to Son La City. This reportrelated to an incident which occurred in a neighboring province butwas thought to possibly correlate to Steen for reasons which areunclear. In February 1973, a returning U.S. POW described how, after his owncapture, he'd been shown an ejection sheet and a sketch of a pilotwith the name "Pheebee" followed by a five digit number. TheVietnamese captor indicated through sign language the pilot hadbeen killed on impact. Since the eyes in the drawing were open,the returnee speculated the individual might be alive and thepicture resembled Captain Steen. No returning POWs had any information on Captain Steen's precisefate. In January 1974 he was declared dead/body not recovered,based on a presumptive finding of death. In December 1983, Vietnamese officials returned the militaryidentity card of Captain Steen. Later, a next of kin became awarethat a pistol and watch was available for purchase through privatechannels and these were believed to have belonged to Captain Steen. In December 1990, a joint U.S./Vietnamese team visited Yen Bai Townand gained access to a Nghia Lo Province document which criticizedlocal militia for not capturing the pilot of a downed aircraft. The location and date of the incident correlated to the lossincident of Captain Steen. Investigators interviewed witnesses whostated that two aircraft were downed on May 31st over Van ChanDistrict and described one incident which correlated to the loss ofCaptain Steen. The witnesses stated that the pilot had died on May31, 1966, but it was not until four days later that they found adecomposing body which was covered up with a parachute. The bodywas buried in a remote forested area and the remains were laterconsumed by animals. George H. Wilkins On July 11, 1966, Lieutenant Commander Wilkins was the pilot of anA-4 and flight leader in a flight of two aircraft from the U.S.S.Constellation on a mission over Nghe An Province. His wingmanlater reported Commander Wilkins had fired 20mm cannon fire duringhis target run beneath flares and in an area of heavy 37mm anti-aircraft fire. His aircraft crashed into an area 25 kilometersnorth of the port city of Vinh, exploding into a large fireball. There was no evidence of any survivor and no electronic beeper. Hewas declared killed in action, body not recovered, in July 1966. Returning U.S. POWs had no information on his precise fate. In December 1988, Vietnamese officials acknowledged having someknowledge about Commander Wilkins. In December 1992, U.S.investigators in Vietnam reviewed a list of air defense operationsin the People's Army of Vietnam Military Region 4. Entry 300recorded the shoot down of an AD-4 on July 11, 1966 by elements ofthe 15th and 21st Battalions. One crewman died. The Joint TaskForce concluded this entry may correlate to Commander Wilkins'sloss incident. Bernard Conklin On July 29, 1966, an RC-47D with seven men on board and associatedwith the 630th Combat Support Group at Udorn Air Base, Thailand,was on an operational mission under the code name Project Dogpatch. The aircrew radioed that it was under attack by hostile aircraftand was being forced down. It was believed last located 10-20miles south of Sam Neua City, Sam Neua Province, Laos. An airbornesearch effort to locate the missing aircraft and crew provednegative and they were declared missing in action. At the direction of the U.S. Ambassador in Vientiane, Laos, therewas no report made of the full details on this mission and theevidence it was shot down by hostile MIG aircraft. At thedirection of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (InternationalSecurity Affairs), basic mission information was declassified inApril 1972. In January 1976 the loss location of the aircraft waschanged from Laos to North Vietnam based on a reanalysis of theaircraft's flight path and all available intelligence information. In February 1971, a former member of the Vietnam People's Armyreported that MIG jet aircraft had shot down a U.S. aircraft overMai Chau District, Hoa Binh Province, in June or July 1967. Hedescribed seeing two good parachutes and saw the pilots whom helater heard had committed suicide. U.S intelligence concluded thisreport might correlate to the missing RC-47D and its crew. In alater intelligence report, a source reported MIG-17 jet aircraftshot down an unidentified jet aircraft in Moc Chau District, Son LaProvince. One crew member, the pilot, reportedly bailed out anddied the next day. Bodies of five others were located and buried. This report was placed in the file of those associated with thisloss incident. Returning U.S. POWs had no information on the eventual fate of thecrew. After Operation Homecoming, they were declared dead body notrecovered based on a presumptive finding of death. On March 2, 1988, Vietnam turned over identity cards of five of themissing crewmen; Bossio, Hoskinson, Conklin, DiTomasso, andChiarello. Remains were also turned over and Vietnam linked theremains to the those whose identity cards were turned over. U.S.pathologists examined the remains and confirmed the remainsreturned were those of James S. Hall, Bernard Conklin, Vincent A.Chiarello, John M. Mamiya, and Herbert A. Smith. In November 1988,a joint U.S./Vietnamese team visited the area of the crash sitenear Route 6 in Thanh Hoa Province. Witnesses testified aboutbodies found in the area after the incident. One survivorsuffering second degree burns was reportedly located and taken toMai Chau district hospital where he died the following day. Noevidence could be located of the crash site itself. One witnessalso stated five bodies of crewmen from this incident had beenrecovered by the Ministry of Defense five years earlier. David J. Allinson On August 12, 1966, Captain Allinson was the pilot of the lead F-105D in a flight of four aircraft on an armed reconnaissancemission over Yen Bai Province. After striking a petroleum storagearea the flight leader led the flight against ground targets ofopportunity on a road in the area of the strike target. Duringthis mission Captain Allinson's aircraft was hit by hostile groundfire. He ejected from his damaged aircraft and his wingman saw himland in trees. However, there was no beeper and no voice contactwith him and a 40 minute search of the area failed to locate him. Captain Allinson was initially declared missing in action. Returning U.S. POWs had no information that he was seen alive incaptivity and were unable to describe his precise fate. InNovember 1974 he was declared killed in action, body not recovered,based on a presumptive finding of death. In November 1969, a People's Army of Vietnam defector selected aphotograph of Captain Allinson as one of four individuals whoresembled one of two American POWs brought to the Hanoi anti-aircraft headquarters. One of the individuals he identified wascorrelated by DIA to an American POW who returned alive. This ledto identification of the second individual as an American POW whowas also repatriated and neither individual was Captain Allinson. In November 1985, Vietnam provided evidence about Captain Allinson. During an April 1991 Congressional delegation to Vietnam headed bySenator John Kerry, the delegation received information about awartime shoot down which might correlate to Captain Allinson's lossincident. Hubert C. Nichols,Jr. On September 1, 1966, Nichols was scrambled from Thailand on asearch and rescue mission over Bo Trach District, Quang Binh, theflight leader in a flight of two aircraft. While over the targetarea he began to receive hostile antiaircraft fire. His wingmanwas hit and turned back. He never saw Nichols after that point. A Navy pilot later reported observing a crashed and burningaircraft in the area Nichols was believed lost. A search andrescue mission was launched but was unable to locate any signs oflife or any beeper. There was heavy antiaircraft in the area.On September 6, 1966, Radio Hanoi announced the shoot down of anumber of aircraft on September 1, 1966. Only two aircraft werelost on that date, Major Nichols' aircraft and Major NormanSchmidt's aircraft. Major Schmidt was captured and died incaptivity. His remains were repatriated in March 1974. MajorSchmidt had been the object of Major Nichols search and rescuemission.Major Nichols was initially declared missing in action. In March1978 he was declared dead/body not recovered. He was not confirmedalive in the northern Vietnamese prison system.A U.S. team in Vietnam recently reviewed documents which recordedthe shoot down of an aircraft and the apparent death of the pilot. The date and location appear to correlate to this incident. John L. Robertson On September 16, 1966, Major Robertson and First Lieutenant HubertF. Buchanan were in one in a flight of four F-4C aircraft on amission over North Vietnam. They were engaged by hostile MIGaircraft while en route to their target. Major Robertson'saircraft was last seen in an aerial engagement with a MIG by otheraircraft in their flight. First Lieutenant Buchanan was captured alive and released in March1973. During his post-release debriefing he described how theiraircraft was attacked by a MIG-17 and that he was forced to eject. He did not have contact with Major Robertson during, or after, hisejection. Other U.S. POWs reported being questioned about MajorRobertson on September 17th and having been told Major Robertsonwas dead. Major Robertson was in MIA status as of Operation Homecoming. InJune 1978, he was declared dead/body not recovered based on apresumptive finding of death. In January 1987, U.S. intelligence received a report about thewartime crash of an F-4 aircraft which appeared to correlate tothis incident. One crewman was reportedly captured, and one diedin the crash. From February through April 1990, U.S. fieldinvestigators in Vietnam visited Hai Hung Province and interviewedwitnesses who described an aerial encounter between a U.S. jet anda MIG aircraft. One crewman ejected and was captured. The teamvisited the crash site and determined the aircraft's wreckage hadbeen dug up and removed to a nearby warehouse. The team wasprovided a small packet of remains, allegedly from the crash site,which were determined to be non-human. Also during April 1990,Vietnam repatriated remains it identified as Major Robertson whichwere later determined to be the skeletal remains of a large animal(possibly a horse or cow) and a piece of non-bone material,possibly a rock. During November and December 1991, the site was excavated andpersonal property of an individual, probably American, wasrecovered and sent for analysis. Parts of the aircraft wererecovered, including a data plate, as well as possible bonematerial. This case continues to undergo investigation. Clifton E. Cushman On September 25, 1966, Captain Cushman was the pilot of an F-105 ina flight of three aircraft on a mission over North Vietnam. Hisaircraft was hit by hostile fire and broke into pieces. Hisejection seat appeared to come out of the debris and a beeper washeard but no chute was seen. In April 1972 a U.S. Air Force interrogator debriefed a formermember of the Vietnam People's Army who stated that he saw a pilotland in the area where Cushman was reported to have landed. Theairman was bleeding heavily from a head wound. He later died andhis body was buried by villagers. This report was initiallycorrelated by the Defense Intelligence Agency to a differentincident but in August 1981 was reevaluated and correlated to asighting of Captain Cushman. Information was received by the U.S.Government that a French news agency had specifically referencedCushman by name as having been killed but no news article with suchinformation could ever be located. Captain Cushman was initially reported missing in action and laterdeclared dead/body not recovered. He was not seen alive in thenorthern Vietnamese prison system by returning U.S. POWs. In November 1989 Vietnamese officials stated that Cushman died inthe crash of his aircraft. In April 1992 the Joint CasualtyResolution Center heard from witnesses in Lang Son Province thatCushman died of a bullet wound after landing. His remains wereburied and the burial site was later washed away. William R. Andrews On October 5, 1966, Major Andrews and First Lieutenant Edward W.Garland were the crew of an F-4C, one in a flight of four F-4providing escort to two RB-66. Their flight received warning ofhostile MIG aircraft. Thirty seconds after a second such alerttheir aircraft was hit by hostile fire, there was a violentexplosion in their tail, and their fire warning lights lit. Bothcrewmen ejected and two good chutes were seen prior to theaircraft's crash in Muong La District, Son La Province. Search and rescue forces located Major Andrews standing beside hisparachute on their first pass over the area. On a later pass byanother aircraft he could not be located. Major Garlandestablished radio contact with the search and rescue forces but hislast transmission was "I'm hit, I'm losing consciousness." The search and rescue forces located Lieutenant Garland and he wasrescued. During his post-recovery debriefing he stated he was incontact on the ground with Major Andrews but didn't know hisprecise location. At one point he heard voices and the sound ofsmall arms fire but didn't see anyone. Following the shoot down, a People's Army of Vietnam unit reportedtwo crewmen had bailed one and one more had been captured. In alater report, a unit stated that the captured pilot had not yetrecovered and in a later report a unit stated "the pilot died." Another report on October 9th apparently referred to U.S. aircraftattacked but there was seeming confusion about how many had beencaptured and the condition of their health. In July 1972, Secretary of Defense Laird referred to the case ofCaptain Andrews as of one 14 cases where the Defense Departmentknew he had been captured and North Vietnam had refused to provideany information about him. U.S. POWs repatriated during Operation Homecoming were unable toprovide any information about his precise fate. After OperationHomecoming he was declared dead/body not recovered, based on apresumptive finding of death. In August 1985, Vietnamese officials turned over Major Andrews'identity card to U.S. officials in Vietnam. In March 1990, a jointU.S./Vietnamese team in Son La Province investigated Major Andrewsloss incident. They received information that the pilot was killedduring a rescue attempt and documents about the incident were atthe Son La Museum. In December 1990, Vietnam repatriated remainssaid to be of Major Andrews. They were returned to the U.S. andidentified as his remains. Harry S. Edwards On October 29, 1966, Lieutenant JG Edwards was the pilot of an A-4Cwhen he was hit by hostile antiaircraft fire and his aircraftcrashed southwest of Nam Dinh City, Ha Nam Ninh Province. Therewas no chute sighted and no beeper heard. He was initiallydeclared missing in action. He was declared dead/body notrecovered, in April 1974. Wartime information was received about a crash in this area fromwhich remains were removed to Vu Ban District. A Vietnam People'sArmy defector reported hearing from a woman with an antiaircraftunit at the Chuoi Bridge. She described that in February 1967 aU.S. aircraft was shot down and crashed. They were only able tofind the pilot's legs. This report was believed to be extremelysimilar to the loss of Lieutenant Edwards. In November 1988, Vietnam repatriated remains that it asserted werethose of Lieutenant Edwards. In February 1989, those remains wereproven to be those of Commander Charles E. Barrett. Burris N. Begley On December 5, 1966, Major Begley was the pilot of an F-105, one ina flight of four aircraft on a combat mission over North Vietnam. Their flight was attacked by hostile MIG-17 aircraft while en routeto the targets and Major Begley's aircraft was hit by hostile fire. Another flight member observed his aircraft apparently hit in thetail: debris and his drag chute were seen falling away from his F-105. Major Begley reported he was losing power and altitude and would beheading across the Red River. He later reported he would beejecting, but aerial combat between the F-105 and MIG-17 aircraftprevented U.S pilots from tracking Major Begley. His aircraftcrashed in Phu Tho Province, south of the Red River, andapproximately 15 miles from the river town of Yen Bai. There wasno chute observed and no radio or beeper signals. Major Begley was declared missing in action. Returning U.S. POWshad no information on his precise fate. In April 1978 he wasdeclared killed in action, body not recovered, based on apresumptive finding of death. In November 1974, U.S. intelligence received a report from aPeople's Army of Vietnam defector describing the shoot down of aU.S. aircraft and the landing and capture of a pilot in Phu NinhDistrict circa January 1967. DIA concluded that this report mightcorrelate to one of three U.S. airmen lost in this area, one ofwhom was Major Begley. Another report from a former People's Armysoldier described the downing of a U.S. jet in Phu Tho Provincecirca November 1966 and the source reported human remains at thecrash site. This report was also placed on Major Begley's file. In November 1986, Vietnam repatriated remains it asserted werethose of Major Begley. U.S. officials determined that there wereinsufficient remains for biological identification and they couldnot be correlated to Major Begley. Allan P. Collamore On the night of February 4, 1967, Lieutenants Collamore andThompson were the crew of an F-4B launched from the U.S.S. KittyHawk on a pitch black night assigned a mission against coastaltargets of opportunity in Nam Ha Province, North Vietnam. Whileover the coastal strip, the other F-4B aircraft in their flightdropped flares over moving light on a road but the flares failed toignite. The F-4B turned, made another flare drop, reported "flaresaway," and this was acknowledged by Lieutenant Collamore's crew. These flares also failed to ignite as the F-4B turned east and outover the coast. Approximately one minute later came an explosionon the ground in the area of the moving ground lights and effortsto raise Lieutenant's Collamore and Thompson were unsuccessful. Noparachutes were seen due to the darkness, and no electronic beeperswere detected during the search and rescue effort over the lossarea. Both airmen were initially reported missing in action. ReturningU.S. POWs had no information on their precise fate. Several yearsafter Operation Homecoming they were declared dead/body notrecovered. In February 1973 a People's Army of Vietnam soldier reported thatin February 1967 he saw an aircraft crash in his native village inHai Hau District and close to the coast. Remains of two crewmenwere reportedly buried at the crash site. In October 1977 theDefense Intelligence Agency reevaluated this report to be apossible correlation to this loss incident. After 1975 a refugeefrom Vietnam reported being told by a People's Army soldier in 1977of two graves with U.S. remains in Ninh Province. This report wasplaced in the files of those involved in this loss incident. Another refugee from Vietnam reported being told of a remainsburial side in Phat Diem District, Ham Ha Province, associated witha June 1967 loss incident and this report was also placed in thoseinvolved in loss incidents in this general area. James E. Plowman On March 24, 1967, Commander Ellison and Lieutenant JG plowman werethe number three aircraft in a flight of four on a combat strikemission against the Bac Giang Thermal Power Plant.Nothing further was heard from them after they reported "bombsaway." Two hostile surface to air missile launches were reportedin the area before radio and radar contact was lost while they wereexiting the strike area and flying low between the mountains. Bothcrewmen were declared missing in action when they failed to rejointheir flight. On March 26, 1967, Radio Beijing reported in its English languageprogram with a March 26th Hanoi dateline that one American aircrafthad been shot down on March 24th over Ha Bac Province. U.S. Navalintelligence received a report believed associated with this lossincident in which it placed "low confidence" that one or two werekilled. In May 1968, another report was received which referencedtwo Americans seen outside Tran Phu Prison in Hai Phong City inmid-1967. The similarity in the physical description of the twocaptives and that of the two airmen lost in this incident led tothis report being placed in both their file for reference purposes. One of Lieutenant Plowman's next of kin believed Plowman was one ofthose seen near Tran Phu Prison. After Operation Homecoming DIAdetermined this report correlated to U.S. POWs who were repatriatedalive. Neither crewman was accounted for during Operation Homecoming. However, one returnee reported having been shown a picture of 10 or12 U.S. POWs being paraded and was positive that LieutenantCommander Ellison was in the front row of the U.S. POWs. DIA laterdetermined the scene described by the U.S. POW returnee referred toa notorious July 6, 1966, public exhibition of U.S. POWs marchedthrough Hanoi streets, an incident which occurred prior to the lossof Commander Ellison, and those forced to march in this spectaclewere all identified. During the war, Commander Ellison's next-of-kin reviewed then as yet unidentified photographs of U.S. POWs andbelieved one was of her husband. It was later confirmed to be aphotograph of Major Berg who returned alive. An early releaseealso reported learning of the name Buzz Ellison while in the NorthVietnamese prison system but returnees during Operation Homecominghad no knowledge he was alive in captivity. This was one ofapproximately 350 names the early releasee provided based on nameswritten on toilet paper without any context for these names. Inanother report, a returnee stated he had seen Commander Ellison'sname etched into a tree near a wartime prison referred to by U.S.POWs as Dogpatch. In March 1992, Commander Ellison's personal effects and metal itemswere repatriated by Vietnam. John F. O'Grady On April 10, 1967, Major O'Grady was the pilot of an F-105D, one ina flight of four F-105s on an armed reconnaissance mission over theMu Gia Pass, North Vietnam. He was apparently hit by hostileground fire and radioed he was preparing to exit the aircraft. Hisparachute was seen in the air and on the ground. There was nobeeper and no radio contact after ejection. His aircraft impactpoint was not observed. Major O'Grady was initially declaredmissing in action. On April 11, 1967, Radio Hanoi broadcast a reference to the shootdown of a U.S. aircraft in Quang Binh Province on April 10, 1967. Major O'Grady's aircraft was the only one lost on that day. Mrs.O'Grady later traveled to Paris and spoke with North Vietnameserepresentatives who informed her that her husband was not aprisoner of war. In January 1991 a U.S. field team examined Vietnamese archiveswhich indicated an American F-105 was shot down on April 10, 1967,by elements of the 280th Air Defense Regiment in the area whereMajor O'Grady was downed. The information provided stated the bodyof the pilot was recovered and buried along Route 12. The U.S.field team interviewed five witnesses, three of whom providedhearsay information concerning the shoot down and the death of thepilot shortly after capture. Two other witnesses provided firsthand accounts of his capture in Tuyen Hoa District, Quang BinhProvince, his turnover to a Vietnam People's Army engineer unit andhearsay that he later died. His death was said to have occurred onApril 11th which was at variance with the documents which saiddeath occurred on April 10th. An examination of a possible burialsite proved negative. In February 1992, U.S. investigators located the identity card,Geneva Convention Card and Restricted Area Access Badge belongingto Major O'Grady. They were also able to interview a former seniorofficer from the 280th Air Defense Regiment. From availableinformation Major O'Grady was wounded when captured by localvillage militia and died four hours later. John S. Hamilton On April 19, 1967, Major Hamilton was the pilot of an A-1E, one ina flight of two aircraft searching for two pilots downed over NorthVietnam. While over Hoa Binh Province, Hamilton was attacked byfour hostile MIG-17 aircraft, and his wingman observed pieces ofhis 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 therewas no electronic beeper heard. He was declared missing in action. On April 19th, that same day, Hanoi radio reported the shoot downof an American rescue aircraft over Hoa Binh Province. Thisreport, while not mentioning the fate of the pilot, was believed tocorrelate to Major Hamilton's incident of loss. In September 1970, a People's Army of Vietnam soldier reported twocaucasian pilots captured in Lac Thuy District in April 1968 afterbeing shot down in aerial combat with MIG jet aircraft. Thesoldier identified a photograph of Major Hamilton as similar to oneof those captured, and the report was placed in Major Hamilton'sfile as possibly relating to his capture. After OperationHomecoming, a reevaluation of this report led to a reversal of thewartime evaluation. It was determined that this incident actuallycorrelated to Major Thomas Madison and Major Thomas Sterling whohad been lost as described and who returned alive during OperationHomecoming. Returning U.S. POWs had no information on Hamilton's precise fate. In March 1979, he was declared killed in action/body not recoveredbased on a presumptive finding of death. In January 1991, a report was received about a grave with theremains 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-tagassociated with Major Hamilton and a bone fragment and claimed thatremains were recovered from an area near Vinh City, Nghe TinhProvince. This is a considerable distance away from his knowncrash site. In October 1991, another source visited the Joint TaskForce office in Hanoi and turned over a bone fragment andidentifying information about Major Hamilton. The source claimedhis friend found Major Hamilton's remains at another location, thistime in Quang Binh Province. Michael J. Estocin On April 26, 1967, Lieutenant Commander Estocin was the pilot of anA-4E on a SAM suppression mission over North Vietnam. His aircraftwas hit by a surface-to-air missile and went out of control, but helater regained control of it. Defense Department records state hewas last seen entering overcast at 3,500 feet and crashed intocoastal waters off Cat Ba Island. A search and rescue effort wassuspended April 27, 1967. On that date, Radio Hanoi broadcast areference to a shoot down and capture of a U.S. pilot possiblycorrelating to Commander Estocin's shoot down. On April 29th, a People's Army newspaper article referred to theshoot down of an aircraft and a rescue helicopter coming to rescuethe downed pilot. This report was placed in Commander Estocin'sfile as a possible correlation. Commander Estocin was initially declared missing. His casualtystatus was later changed to POW based on sensitive sourceinformation. He was not reported alive during OperationHomecoming, and, in November 1977, he was declared dead/body notrecovered. A returning U.S. POW reported that another U.S. POW, whom he met inprison in North Vietnam, relayed a discussion he had had with Mrs.Estocin prior to his own shoot down. Allegedly, the U.S. POW,Commander Stratton, had written that Commander Estocin was aliveand a POW. In January 1974, the Defense Department confirmed thatCommander Estocin had been misidentified as a POW in sensitivesource material. In July 1990, U.S. intelligence received information from anorthern Vietnamese refugee about an aircraft shoot down whichoccurred in 1967 near Cat Ba Island. Remains were reportedly foundin the water near the crash site. Also, skeletal remains werereportedly seized by Vietnamese officials from a refugee boatcaptured near Cat Ba Island in February 1989. In March 1991, U.S.investigators in Vietnam visited Cat Ba Island but were unable todevelop any information regarding this loss incident. They weretold by Vietnamese officials that Commander Estocin was believed tohave drowned twenty nautical miles off Cat Ba Island. Otherreports were received of a body washing up along the shore to thenorth of Cat Ba Island. Commander John B. Nichols, retired, recently wrote of his ownwartime combat experiences, published by the Naval Institute Press,entitled On Yankee Station. Commander Nichols was on the scenewhen Commander Estocin was hit and crashed. Commander Nicholsdescribed seeing Commander Estocin's aircraft invert, his tank blowoff and his missiles fire. He followed him to the ocean and sawhim impact, still inverted, but did not see a parachute come fromthe aircraft. Roger M. Netherland On May 10, 1967, Commander Netherland was launched in an A-4C fromthe U.S.S. Hancock as the leader of a flight of aircraft on amission against Kien An Airfield near the port city of Hai Phong. Three surface-to-air missiles were launched at his flight, and thethird missile exploded below his aircraft. His wingman reportedobserving him drop his external tanks and begin a left turnstreaming fuel. His aircraft then did an inverted roll andcrashed. There was no ejection seen. A search for sign of him wasnegative. He was initially declared missing in action. After theend of hostilities he was declared dead/body not recovered. Returning U.S. POWs were unable to provide any information that hewas alive in the northern Vietnamese prison system. In December 1982, a Vietnamese refugee reported the downing of aU.S. aircraft and described the recovery and burial of remains fromthe crash site. The incident appeared to correlate to that ofCommander Netherland. In September 1989, Vietnam returned the alleged remains ofCommander Netherland together with his identity card and wallet.Forensic examination of the remains concluded they belonged to anadult male but a board decided that they could neither rule out norrecommend identification of the remains. A U.S. team in Vietnam during July 1990 conducted a survey of thecrash site associated with Commander Netherland. The site locationand information concerning the circumstances of the crash wereconsistent with the known facts surrounding Commander Netherland'sloss. A return to the site in December 1991 resulted in witnessinterviews who provided their knowledge of the crash, including adescription of human remains located in a position consistent withthe results of a high angle high speed dive into the ground. James K. Patterson On May 19, 1967, Lieutenant Patterson and Lieutenant CommanderEugene B. McDaniel were the crew of an A-6A, one in a flight of sixaircraft on a combat mission against the Van Dien repair facilityfive miles south of Hanoi. There was a warning of a missile launchand an explosion near their aircraft. Both crewmen ejected and twogood chutes were seen. Voice contact was established with both onthe ground and Lieutenant Patterson reported he had a badly brokenleg. A rescue mission was not possible due to the high hostilethreat in the area. Contact with those on the ground continued until May 22nd when itwas lost. Both were believed to have been captured. CommanderMcDaniel returned alive during Operation Homecoming. Commander McDaniel believed that Lieutenant Patterson had beencaptured. He heard from an interrogator that Patterson had beeninjured but was all right. Patterson's name was heard in theprison communications system according to one returnee but he wasnot confirmed alive in the prison system. His identity card wasreported in a newspaper in 1967. Lieutenant Patterson was not accounted for during OperationHomecoming. In April 1974 he was declared dead/body not recovered. In December 1985 Vietnam returned the identity and GenevaConvention cards of Lieutenant Patterson. In December 1990, a U.S.field team in Vietnam located documents and interviewed witnessesassociated with this loss. One pilot was described captured themorning after their aircraft was shot down. That accuratelydescribes the time of capture of Commander McDaniel. The team wasalso told that the second airman was shot to death by militia onthe fourth day after the shoot down and was buried nearby. Hisremains were said to have been dug up by animals. The team did not excavate any purported grave site. Kenneth F. Backus On May 22, 1967, Captain Perrine and First Lieutenant Backus werethe crew of an F-4C, one of two aircraft in a flight against theKep railroad yard. The second aircraft observed Captain Perrine'saircraft make a bomb run on the target and, five seconds later,observed a large explosion three miles east of the target in LangSon Province. There were no chute and no beacon signals. Therewas 37mm and 57mm anti-aircraft fire in the area. However, theother aircrew could not confirm that Captain Perrine's aircraft washit by hostile fire, and they could not pinpoint the crash site'sprecise location. On May 24th, the New China News Agency reported the downing of aU.S. aircraft over Lang Son Province on May 22nd and stated thatthe pilots were captured. This aircraft was the only aircraft lostin the area on that date. Both crewmen were initially reportedmissing in action. Returning U.S. POWs were unable to provide any information on thecrew's fate. In February 1979, each was declared dead/body notrecovered based on a presumptive finding of death. Ronald N. Sittner On August 23, 1967, First Lieutenant Lane and his aircraftcommander, Captain Larry E. Corrigan (Case 0805), were the crewmenof an F-4 aircraft on a strike mission against the Yen Vienrailroad yard. Their aircraft was hit by an air-to-air missilefired by a MIG-21 making it one of two aircraft in their flightdowned by MIG-21 missiles. Their aircraft was believed to havecrashed in Thai Nguyen Province, North Vietnam. Captain Corriganwas captured alive and was repatriated during Operation Homecoming. Other members of their flight reported seeing three parachutes fromthe crewmen of the two downed aircraft. Three clear beepers wereheard as well as one weak beeper which was believed to beassociated with Lieutenant Lane. Captain Corrigan was the onlyindividual shot down who was able to establish voice contact withthose overhead. Upon his release, Captain Corrigan reported seeing anotherindividual moving around in his parachute, and he believed thatindividual to be Lieutenant Lane. Ha Noi press reported theaircraft downing but did not specify the number of crewmencaptured. In August 1968, U.S. intelligence believed LieutenantLane had been captured alive and that he was in enemy custody,although his casualty status remained as missing in action. The other aircraft's crew included Major Charles R. Tyler andCaptain Ronald N. Sittner (0804). Major Tyler landed and was takenprisoner. He, too, was released alive during Operation Homecoming. In October 1973, Lieutenant Lane's case was reviewed by theDepartment of Defense at the request of his next of kin, and hiscasualty status was changed to dead/body not recovered. CaptainSittner's case was reviewed at a later date, and he was alsodetermined to be dead/body not recovered. Returning U.S. POWs wereunable to confirm either individual alive in captivity in thenorthern Vietnamese prison system. In November 1991, the Joint Task Force interviewed witnesses to thedowning of the two F-4 aircraft and the reported sighting of either3 or 4 parachutes. The location of their downing was determined tobe in Tuyen Quang Province, not in Thai Nguyen Province. Witnessesreported the capture of two airmen and stated that they were unableto locate the other two crewmen until 1970 when the partial remainsof one of the two was located. Local witnesses also stated that anearby People's Republic of China military unit arrived at one ofthe crash sites and recovered the wreckage of one of the downedaircraft. They provided no other details about the incident. TheJoint Task Force concluded that the reported partial remains mayhave correlated to the remains of Lieutenant Lane, who was notconfirmed to have ejected from his aircraft but could have done so. In April 1992, a U.S. team interviewed additional witnesses andrecovered personal artifacts from both grave sites that did notcorrelate to the two airmen. William G. Bennett On September 2, 1967, Major Bennett was the pilot of an F-105Daircraft in a flight of four F-105 aircraft on a combat missionover Quang Binh Province. He crashed while pulling up from astrafing run and his aircraft exploded upon impact. The crash siteis in a remote area approximately 40 kilometers west of Dong Hoi inBo Trach District. His aircraft was seen to impact onto theeastern slope of a steep karst in a pocket between two suchformations. Other flight members observing the crash made severalpasses over the crash site without seeing any survivor. There wasno chute seen and an extensive electronic search failed to detectany electronic beeper. Major Bennett was initially declared missing in action. He wasdeclared dead/body not recovered, in May 1973. Returning U.S. POWsdid not report observing him alive in the Vietnamese prison systemand had no information on his fate. Donald W. Downing On September 5, 1967, Captain Downing and First Lieutenant Raymondwere the crew in an F-4C, one of a flight of two aircraft on anight armed reconnaissance mission. The other aircraft observed afireball descending toward the ground into an area 45 kilometerssouth-southeast of Dong Hoi, Quang Binh Province. There was noresponse to radio calls. An orbit of the area failed to discloseany parachutes or beepers. The crew was declared missing inaction. U.S. intelligence received a report from an ethnic Khmer inDecember 1971 of the sighting of a U.S. POW in November 1970 at aprison on the northern edge of Ha Dong City, Ha Dong Province, alsodescribed as near Ba Vi Mountain. He identified one of the POWs assimilar to Captain Downing. Captain Downing was declared dead/body not recovered, in November1973. Neither airman was reported alive by returning U.S. POWs. James E. Dooley On October 22, 1967, Dooley was the pilot of an A-4E on a combatmission over Hai Phong. He was hit by hostile fire while pullingoff from an attack on the Hai Phong railroad yard. Witnessesobserved the aircraft begin a gradual descent and crash into thewater about a mile offshore. Search and rescue aircraft could notlocate any sign of a survivor. He was initially reported missingin action. After Operation Homecoming he was declared dead,remains not recoverable. Returning U.S. POWs reported either seeing Dooley's name on a wallor heard he was a prisoner. Returning U.S. POWs were unable toreport having seen him alive in prison. Richard C. Clark On October 24, 1967, Lieutenant JG Clark, radar intercept operator,and the pilot, Commander Charles R. Gillespie, were the crew in anF-4B from the U.S.S. Coral Sea on a MIGCAP mission over NorthVietnam. Their aircraft was hit by an SA-2 surface to air missilewhile approximately 15 miles west of Hanoi, both aircraft engineswere set on fire and there was a fire below the radar interceptoroperator's cockpit. Commander Gillespie ejected and was captured. He was repatriated during Operation Homecoming and stated that henever saw Lieutenant Clark eject and had no knowledge that Clarksurvived their shoot down. One beeper was heard and one individual was seen on the ground bySAR aircraft in the area. However, two Americans reached theground alive, Commander Gillespie and Lieutenant Frishman, a crewmember of another aircraft downed and whom Commander Gillespiebelieved he saw coming down in a parachute at the same time he waslanding. On October 24, 1967, the Vietnam News Agency reported that eightU.S. aircraft were shot down that day in the Hanoi, Hai Phong, VinhPhuc area. The report did not say which specific aircraft wereshot down and whether anyone had been captured. Returning U.S. POWs were unable to provide any information aboutLieutenant Clark's precise fate. In November 1973 he was declaredkilled in action, body not recovered based on a presumptive findingof death. In September 1988, a U.S. team in Vietnam traveled to Tam Daomountain and interviewed witnesses concerning this loss incidentand the capture of an unidentified pilot. Information provided tothe team, including the presence of People's Republic of Chinatroops in the area, correlated to the capture of Major Gillespie. In December 1990 another team visited the area and located an F-4crash site probably associated with this incident. In January 1991Vietnam repatriated remains it identified as those of LieutenantClark, together with fragments of parachute rigging and aircraftparts. The bone fragment could not be correlated to him. James S, Morgan On November 10, 1967, Major Morgan and First Lieutenant Charles J.Honeycutt were the lead aircraft in a flight of two F-4 striking atarget in Quang Binh Province. A forward air controller lost radioand radar contact with them at the point of their bomb release. Contact was also lost with the other F-4 crew, Lieutenant ColonelCook and First Lieutenant Crew. On November 10, 1967, Radio Hanoireported two F-4s were shot down on that date in Quang BinhProvince. All four airmen were initially reported missing in action. Returning U.S. POWs were unable to provide any sightings of any ofthem alive. However, one returning POW reported hearing a RadioHanoi broadcast naming Lieutenant Honeycutt as one of the U.S. POWsheld alive in captivity by North Vietnam. After the end ofhostilities, the four pilots were declared dead/body not recoveredbased on a presumptive finding of death. In May 1987, U.S. intelligence received information concerning therecovery of identification media and remains associated withLieutenant Honeycutt. In December 1988, JCRC staff interviewedwitnesses in Vietnam concerning Case 0903. They were taken to thealleged crash site and shown two purported graves which wereexcavated in April 1990. No remains were found. U.S. investigators in Vietnam during March 1991 visited Le NinhDistrict and received information regarding the shoot down of MajorMorgan's aircraft. Vietnam turned over the identity card ofLieutenant Honeycutt together with his remains. Based on intensive investigation in Vietnam, information inVietnamese archival records and witness statements, it appears thatone crewman in each aircraft died in the shoot downs. Availableinformation also indicates the likelihood that Major Morgan andLieutenant Crew both perished in their aircraft, but bothLieutenant Honeycutt and Lieutenant Colonel Cook parachuted alivefrom their aircraft and reached the ground seriously wounded. Bothwere later reported to have died. Herbert O. Brennan On November 26, 1967, Colonel Brennan and First Lieutenant Conditwere the crew in one of two F-4C jet aircraft on a strike missionover North Vietnam. During their first pass over the target, theiraircraft exploded causing the wreckage to land in the area of theirtarget. There was no hostile fire noted at the time of theircrash. There were no chutes or voice contact with the crewmen. Search and rescue aircraft arrived and drew hostile fire from thecrash site area. In addition, it appeared their signaling deviceshad been captured and were being used in an attempt to lure SARaircraft into a trap. Both crewmen were initially declared missing. During OperationHomecoming, neither was accounted-for as alive. Moreover,returning U.S. POWs were unable to confirm that Brennan and Conditwere alive in captivity. Both were later declared dead/body notrecovered. U.S. investigators in Vietnam during November 1988 interviewedwitnesses in Bo Trach District, Quang Binh Province. The team alsolocated a crash site within 500 meters of Colonel Brennan's losslocation and confirmed the wreckage as that of an F-4. The teamwas unable to locate any information regarding the crew. The teamdid learn that the aircraft was shot down while attacking aPeople's Army of Vietnam anti-aircraft unit that was providingsecurity for an engineer road building unit. One witness statedVietnamese officials had already recovered seven skeletal remainsassociated with U.S. aircraft lost in the area. Roger B. Innes On December 27, 1967, Lieutenant Commander Lee and Lieutenant JGInnes were crewmen of an F-4B on a strike mission over Nghe AnProvince. Their aircraft was seen on radar as it started its bombrun on target, but other flight members were unable to actuallyobserve the aircraft during its bomb run. The aircraft disappearedand could not be located during a subsequent search. There were nochutes and no beepers. In May 1972, a People's Army of Vietnam soldier described thedowning of two U.S. aircraft in Quynh Luu District, Nghe AnProvince. He heard that one airman was killed and one wascaptured. The captured pilot was last seen being escorted north onHighway 1. This report was believed to be a possible correlationto this aircrew because it was the only loss in the area at thattime. Both crewmen were initially declared missing and, in April 1977,were declared dead/body not recovered. Neither airman was reportedalive in the Vietnamese prison system by returning U.S. POWs. Edwin N. Osborne In the early morning hours of December 29, 1967, a camouflaged C-130E departed on a single aircraft flight for a classifiedoperational mission over North Vietnam. The last contact with theaircraft was at 0430 hours when the aircraft was in extremenorthwestern North Vietnam over a mountainous an densely forestedarea 13 miles northwest of the town of Lai Chau. The aircraft didnot return from its mission and bad weather in the area hamperedsearch efforts. A two week search over the aircraft's flight pathfailed to disclose any evidence of the crew of the aircraft and thecrew was declared missing. In November 1970, the co-chair of a private group, Cora Weiss,passed a letter to State Department officials from Vietnam whichstated that Osborne, McCrary and Darcy had never been detained inthe Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Returning U.S. POWs had no information on the precise fate of anyof the 11 crewmen missing from the C-130E. After OperationHomecoming they were declared killed in action, body not recovered,based on a presumptive finding of death. Ralph E. Foulks, Jr. On January 5, 1968, Lieutenant Foulks was in one of two aircraft ina flight on a night strike mission over Ninh Binh Province, NorthVietnam. His aircraft disappeared while on this mission and therewas no known crash site, no radio transmission, no beeper and noparachute. He was initially reported missing in action and inNovember 1973 was declared dead/body not recovered. During the war there were various reports of U.S. aircraft downedin this area, often with reports of multiple crews or reports ofsightings correlated to other known incidents. Lieutenant Foulks remains were repatriated by Vietnam on December15, 1988. According to Vietnam, Lieutenant Foulks died on January5, 1968 when his aircraft was hit over Ninh Binh Province. Thepilot disintegrated with his aircraft. His Geneva Convention cardwas recovered but it was later lost. James A. Ketterer On January 20, 1968, Captain Holley and First Lieutenant Kettererwere the crew in an F-4C, one of a flight of two aircraft overQuang Khe, Quang Binh Province. Their aircraft was hit by hostileantiaircraft fire and crashed. The crew was not seen to eject buta weak electronic beacon was heard for several seconds after thecrash. Both crewmen were initially declared missing in action. One returning U.S. POW reported hearing the name "Holley" on HanoiRadio while at the Hanoi Hilton. Another returning U.S. POW statedhe saw the name "Holley" or "Holly" on a list of people confined atthe prison in late 1972 or early 1973. There was no reference tothe name Ketterer. No returning U.S. POW reported seeing eitheralive in the Vietnamese prison system. Captain Holley was declared dead/body not recovered in June 1978. Michael Dunn On January 26, 1968, First Lieutenant Dunn and Lieutenant CommanderEidsmoe were on a solo mission against Vinh Airfield. Theiraircraft disappeared from radar contact approximately tenkilometers north of Vinh City, and both airmen were declaredmissing. In April 1972, a former People's Army of Vietnam soldier reportedobserving an American POW in Nghe An Province in January 1968. Thereport was placed in the case files of those involved in theincident as only a possible correlation to Commander Eidsmoe.Several returning U.S. POWs reported hearing a name similar to hiswhile in Son Tay Prison in November 1968, but it was neverconfirmed that he was alive. Lieutenant Dunn was declared dead/body not recovered in November1973. Commander Eidsmoe was declared dead in January 1978. Robert M. Elliott On February 14, 1968, Captain Elliott's aircraft was hit by anenemy surface to surface missile while conducting a bombing missionagainst a railroad bridge in the area of Hanoi Municipality. Therewas no beeper and there was the sighting of a possible parachute. However, there was haze in the target area and visibility was poor. During the war a People's Army of Vietnam soldier described theshoot down of an American aircraft over Ha Tay, a suburb of Hanoi. The shoot down location compared favorably to the loss incident ofCaptain Elliott. One airman was reportedly captured. CaptainElliott was initially reported as missing in action. In June 1979he was declared dead/body not recovered. Captain Elliott's identity card was turned over to U.S. officialson April 6, 1988 together with a small quantity of skeletalremains, also reportedly belonging to Captain Elliott. The remainswere insufficient for positive identification and correlation toCaptain Elliott. Gilbert S. Palmer, Jr. On February 27, 1968, Major Palmer and Captain Wright were the crewin an RF-4C launched from Udorn Air Base, Thailand, on a singleaircraft photo mission over Quang Binh Province, North Vietnam. There were routine communications in route and the last contactwith them was when they were given target clearance. There was nofurther contact with the two crewmen and they were declared missingin action. In 1970, DIA received a report about the sighting of an American ina jeep at the Hanoi Public Security Office. This report was placedin Captain Wright's file. In July 1971, a report was received froma People's Army of Vietnam defector describing the sighting of anAmerican POW. The report pertained to four U.S. POWs in Nghe AnProvince in July 1970 reportedly shot down during 1965-1967. Theindividual was given a polygraph test, and the examiner offered hisview that he believed the story. DIA felt at the time that thereport might correlate to Captain Wright. DIA reevaluated thereport in 1978 and based on information then available concludedthe report did not pertain to Captain Wright. One returneereported seeing a black American in jungle fatigues at a temporaryprison camp in Quang Binh Province in late May or early June 1968. His sighting of the individual was for approximately 30 seconds. The returnee selected a photograph of Captain Wright as one ofseveral possible correlations. Returning U.S. POWs were unable to describe the final fate of thetwo missing crewmen and after Operation Homecoming they weredeclared killed in action, body not recovered, based on apresumptive finding of death. Jeffrey L. Harris On April 24, 1968, Lieutenant Colonel Vinson and First LieutenantParker were the crewmen in an F-4D, one of two F-4 on a combatmission over Bo Trach District, Quang Binh Province. They werepreparing to drop flares while the other aircraft remained abovethem. They were last known descending to a lower altitude when alarge fireball was observed on the ground. There were noparachutes seen and neither beepers or other communications fromthe crew. Both crewmen were initially reported as missing inaction. In December 1972 a former member of the Vietnam People's Armyreported an American F-4, one of two dropping flares over QuangBinh Province, was hit by anti-aircraft fire and crashed. Bothcrewmen were reportedly killed in their aircraft. Their bodieswere recovered from the crash site and buried nearby. A JCRC field investigation in Vietnam during April 1990 locatedwitnesses who described the crash of a U.S. jet aircraft and therecovery of human remains from the crash site which appeared tocorrelate to this case. A document provided by Vietnameseofficials to the Joint Casualty Resolution Center during a fieldinvestigation in Vietnam during January-February 1991 described theshoot down of an aircraft and death of the crewmen which appearedto correlate to this loss incident. Robert D. Avery On May 3, 1968, Avery and Clem were the crew in an A-6A on an armedreconnaissance mission over North Vietnam providing support to U.S.Air Force operations along Route Package 1. Radar contact was lostwith the aircraft when it was approximately 10 kilometers northwestof the coastal town of Dong Hoi and six kilometers southeast of thedistrict seat of Bo Trach in Quang Binh Province. SAR forces wereunable to locate any sign of the crew which was declared missing. Returning U.S. POWs were unable to provide any information on theeventual fate of the crew. After Operation Homecoming they weredeclared killed in action, body not recovered, based on apresumptive finding of death. In January 1991, a U.S. team in Vietnam visited Bo Trach Districtand reviewed archival documents. One document listed the downingof an A-6A on May 3, 1968 in which both crewmen died. In July1991, U.S. researchers at the Military Region IV museum in VinhCity obtained access to an archival list of gravesites of Americanswho died there during the war. One entry listed Robert D. Avery asburied in Quang Ninh District from an F-105 downed on April 15,1968. In January 1992, a Region IV air defense record listed an A-6A downed on May 3, 1968 with both crewmen dead. In December 1992,a copy of the list of burial sites was turned over by Vietnam toSenator John Kerry, Chairman of the Senate Select Committee onPOW/MIA Affairs. Joseph E. Davies On May 19, 1968, Captain Davies and First Lieutenant McCubbin werethe crew in an F-4B from Ubon Air Base, Thailand and leader of aflight of two aircraft on a night armed reconnaissance mission overBo Trach District, Quang Binh Province. The number two aircraft inthe flight expended its ordnance and departed to return to Ubon. The number two aircraft's crew reported seeing three explosions onthe ground and believed Captain Davies' aircraft had dropped itsordnance and would be joining them on the return flight to Ubon. Captain Davies' aircraft never returned from the mission and thecrew was declared missing in action. A beeper and voicetransmission from the general area of a search for them was laterdetermine not to be either Captain Davies or Lieutenant McCubbinbut someone else. Returning U.S. POWs were unable to provide any informationconcerning the specific fate of Captain Davies and LieutenantMcCubbin. After Operation Homecoming both crewmen were declareddead/body not recovered, based on a presumptive finding of death. In December 1988, a joint U.S./Vietnamese team visited Bo TrachDistrict and interviewed witnesses concerning this incident. Witnesses described the crash of an aircraft correlating to thisincident which included the wartime recovery of human remains fromthe crash site. One witness described the recovery of two dog tagsof Davies. In August 1991 the crash site was excavated and biologic evidencewas recovered and returned to the U.S. for Analysis. In October1991, U.S. investigators forwarded information from Bo TrachDistrict combat records recording the downing of an F-4C on May 18,1968, and the death of two crewmen. This record was believedassociated with this loss incident. Edward R. Silver On July 5, 1968, Major Silver and First Lieutenant Lawrence werethe crew of an F-4C on a night armed reconnaissance mission overNorth Vietnam. Their aircraft was hit by hostile anti-aircraftfire. Their wingman observed their aircraft turn into a largefireball with streaks of fire trailing out of the bottom, followedby a second smaller explosion. There were no parachutes observedand no beepers heard. Intense hostile fire prevented a daylightsearch of the area. Both airmen were declared missing in action.During Operation Homecoming, a returning POW reported seeing apropaganda film which included the showing of a body in a flightsuit. The returnee was "almost positive" the name strip on thesuit was "Silver." No returning U.S. POW was able to report either of the missingcrewmen in captivity. Both were later declared killed in action,body not recovered, based on a presumptive finding of death. David S. Greiling On July 24, 1968, Lieutenant Commander Greiling was the pilot of anA-7A on a night combat mission over North Vietnam. His wingmanobserved him fly into a mountain and saw his aircraft explode onimpact. There was no parachute seen. Other aircraft in themission bombed the site of the crash, thinking it was the target. Villagers reported finding disintegrated remains several dayslater. During the war, a photograph of Commander Greiling's identity cardwas located in the Seaman's Club in Hai Phong in July 1969. Thisled to his eventual reclassification from missing to POW. Returning U.S. POWs were unable to provide any information onCommander Greiling's eventual fate. In September 1973 he wasdeclared killed in action, body not recovered, based on apresumptive finding of death. A recent joint U.S/Vietnamese investigation of Major Greiling'scrash site led to the recovery of evidence of an A-7A crash. Therecovered material, including parts of the ejection seat, indicatedthe pilot did not eject prior to the crash. William J. Thompson On August 1, 1968, Major Thompson and First Lieutenant Ross werethe crew of an F-4D, one in a flight of two aircraft from Da NangAir Base, South Vietnam. Their wingman observed the flight leaderdrop flares which illuminated a group of trucks on the ground andMajor Thompson rolled in on the target. The wingman next observedan explosion on the ground within 100 feet of the target and it wasevident that Major Thompson's aircraft had impacted and exploded inan area approximately 47 kilometers southwest of the coastal cityof Dong Hoi and 1500 meters northeast of the village of Ban Katoi. There were no chutes or beepers noted in the ten minutes thewingman orbited the burning wreckage. Both crewmen were declaredmissing in action. On March 30, 1973, a returning U.S. POW reported he saw the name"Ross" written on a wall at the "Heartbreak" POW camp in Hanoi. In1978, a U.S. Air Force compendium of names providing by returningU.S. POWs correlated the name "Ross" to First Lieutenant Joseph S.Ross. However, the source of the names and its meaning was neverdetermined, no returning U.S. POWs had any knowledge of the fate ofthe two crewmen, and they were never reported alive in the northernVietnamese prison system. After Operation Homecoming, both airmenwere declared dead/body not recovered, based on a presumptivefinding of death. In January 1992, the Defense Department provided a preliminaryanalysis of Vietnamese list of combat air defense operations inQuang Binh Province. Included in the list was a reference to theshoot down on August 1, 1968, of an F-4 aircraft. Terrin D. Hicks On August 15, 1968, Captains Terrin D. Hicks and Joseph F. Shanahandeparted Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base in an RF-4C on a solophoto reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam. About 0805 hours,the last radar contact was made with Capt Hicks' aircraft. Theplane was hit by enemy ground fire and lost in an areaapproximately 12 kilometers southwest of Quang Khe, Quang BinhProvince. Captains Hicks and Shanahan ejected successfully anddescended by parachute but were not recovered. Both airmen weredeclared missing in action. Captain Shanahan was captured and incarcerated in North Vietnam. During his Homecoming debriefing, he related he saw Captain Hicks'parachute on the ground and heard Captain Hicks make a "Mayday"call on his survival radio. Captain Hicks was alive on the groundat this time. Captain Shanahan landed in the backyard of a villagehut and was immediately captured. As Captain Shanahan was ledaway, he heard continuous small arms fire from the direction whereCaptain Hicks had landed. Approximately 10 minutes later, CaptainShanahan was given Captain Hicks' boots to wears as his boots hadbeen taken from him after his capture. Later, an interrogator toldCaptain Shanahan that Captain Hicks was alive and being treated inthe Dong Hoi hospital for a broken leg. Captain Shanahan said hehad personal reservations about the truthfulness of this statement. During the November 1985 JCRC technical meeting in Hanoi,Vietnamese officials passed Captain Hicks military identificationcard and Geneva Convention card to U.S. officials. The Vietnamesestated that Captain Hicks' remains were no longer recoverable. On December 4, 1985, Vietnam released seven sets of remains to UScustody. Vietnamese officials associated one set of remains withCaptain Hicks but none of the seven sets of remains could beidentified as his. On June 17 and 21, 1989, a joint U.S./Vietnamese investigation teamconducted an investigation of the reported crash of an Americanaircraft in Cu Nam village, Bo Trach District, Binh Tri Thien(formerly Quang Binh) Province. According to the witnessinterviewed, an RF-4C aircraft was shot down over the village inthe fifth Lunar month of 1968. Both pilots ejected; one wascaptured immediately, the other was shot to death when he resistedcapture, and he was buried near where he fell. The team surveyedthe burial location and used a metal detector to attempt to locatethe specific burial site, but was not successful. On 5 May 1990 asecond Joint team travelled to Cu Nam village to discussexcavation of Capt Hicks burial site. The village officialsclaimed not to know if the repatriated remains which could not beidentified as those of Captain Hicks had been taken from thereported burial site and they were unable to locate the site. Three other possible burial locations were suggested from QuangBinh Province records. Domenick A. Spinelli On 30 September 1968, Lieutenant JG Larry J. VanRenselaar andLieutenant Domenick A. Spinelli were the crew of an A-6A aircraftwhich departed the U.S.S Constellation in a flight of threeaircraft. The flight was assigned to acquire and destroy movingtargets just south of 19 degrees North Latitude over North Vietnam. Two hostile surface to air missiles, one high and one law, wereobserved by other flight members to explode near Spinelli'saircraft. About 20 seconds later a third explosion was observedand it lit up the horizon. At this point the flight wasapproximately nine kilometers southwest of Phu Dien Chau, Nghe Tinh(Formerly Nghe An) Province. No parachutes were sighted and no distress beepers were heard. Allsubsequent search and rescue efforts were futile. A Radio Hanoibroadcast on October 1, 1968, stated than an A-6 aircraft had beenshot down over Nghe An Province. Lieutenant Spinelli's A-6Aaircraft was the only one shot down on September 10, 1968, overNghe An Province. Both airmen were declared missing in action. During Operation Homecoming, a returnee, Lieutenant Tangeman,stated that he knew the name Spinelli but he did not know him as aPOW. In the late 1970s, Tangeman was visited by Spinelli's next ofkin. During that visit, he finally recalled why he recognized thename;both he and Lieutenant Spinelli had been at the same naval airtraining facility before going to Vietnam. Lieutenant Spinelli'sfamily alleged the existence of a photo depicting Spinelli incaptivity. The Defense Intelligence Agency has no knowledge ofsuch a photo but did provide the family a photo of a POW, MajorGideon, shown riding in an ox cart. This photo is on sale at themilitary museum in Hanoi and may have been confused by familymembers with being a photograph of Lieutenant Spinelli. Returning U.S. POWs were unable to provide any information oneither crewman's eventual fate. After Operation Homecoming bothwere declared killed in action, body not recovered, based on apresumptive finding of death. On July 31, 1989, Vietnam repatriated remains it identified asthose of Lieutenant VanRenselaar. On June 22, 1990 the ArmedForces Identification Review Board approved the identification ofthese remains as Lieutenant VanRenselaar. Bradley G. Cuthbert On November 23, 1968, Captains Cuthbert and Ruhling were in an RF-4C on a reconnaissance mission of a surface-to-air missile site inNorth Vietnam. While over Bo Trach District, Quang Binh Province,Captain Cuthbert's wingman observed their aircraft hit, break apartand burst into flames. No chutes were observed. Two to three minutes later, Captain Ruhling was safely on theground and in contact with his wingman. He was later capturedalive by North Vietnamese ground forces. During his debriefing hereported seeing Captain Cuthbert alive in his chute with his handsup in the risers. Captain Cuthbert was not seen alive in thenorthern Vietnamese prison system. On November 23, 1968 NorthVietnam reported the shoot down of an RF-4C and the death of one ofthe aircraft's crewmen. In August 1989, Joint Casualty Resolution Center personnelinterviewed witnesses in Quang Binh Province concerning this case. They recovered the dog-tag of Captain Cuthbert from localvillagers. They also received hearsay information that afterlanding safely on the ground, Captain Cuthbert was beaten to deathby local wood cutters. JCRC was taken to the purported grave sitewhich appeared to relate to an entirely separate air loss incident. Captain Cuthbert was initially declared missing in action. In May1975, he was declared dead/body not recovered. His remains havenot yet been repatriated. San D. Francisco On November 25, 1968, Major Morrison and First Lieutenant Franciscowere the crewmen in an F-4D on an reconnaissance escort missionover Quang Binh Province, North Vietnam. Their aircraft was hit byhostile fire while over the target. The crash site location wasnot observed, but there was a beeper. Search and rescue personnelzeroing in on the beeper were driven off by small arms fire. SARpersonnel continued with a good beeper and voice communicationswith Major Morrison until contact was lost on the 26th. SAR forcesreported two badly garbled communications which appeared to comefrom Lieutenant Francisco. On November 26, 1968 the Vietnam People's Army published news whichreferenced the shoot down of U.S. aircraft and the capture of twoU.S. pilots, although it did not specifically mention of eithercrewman by name. Both crewmen were initially reported as missing in action. Lieutenant Francisco was declared dead/body not recovered in June1978. Returning U.S. POWs did not report either one being alive inthe northern Vietnamese prison system. A Joint Casualty Resolution Center investigation in Quang BinhProvince on August 9, 1989 located the crash site of theiraircraft. They also received hearsay information that one or twocrewmen were buried in the area. In July and August 1991, JCRC was provided documents from Bo TrachDistrict, Quang Binh Province which identified both crewmen ascasualties. There was also an indication that U.S. wartime remainshad already been recovered from the area. The JCRC also visitedthe museum of the 280th Air Defense Regiment which containedwartime memorabilia. This included Major Morrison's U.S. Air Forceissued revolver and a data plate from their aircraft which creditedthe 105th Air Defense Battalion, 280th Regiment, with the shootdown. John M. Brucher Captain Brucher was the pilot of an F-105, one in a flight of twoaircraft under the control of a forward air controller in Laos andin the area of the Ban Karai Pass. Captain Brucher's aircraftrolled in on the target and released his ordnance. On pull outfrom the attack, two fireballs came from the rear of his aircraft. His bombs hit the target area, exploded, and approximately twoseconds later his own aircraft impacted in the ground and exploded. Fifteen seconds later a forward air controller observed a goodparachute, heard a good beeper, and established radio contact withCaptain Brucher who had a dislocated shoulder and was suspended ina tree unable to free himself. His location was plotted to be inBo Trach District, Quang Binh Province. Hostile ground fire and darkness suspended the search and rescueeffort until the next day, February 19th. His parachute waslocated, but it appeared slack, and no radio contact was made. Captain Brucher was declared missing in action. On February 19th,a Vietnam People's Army unit reported this incident which occurredin the area of Commo-Liaison Station T-6, Route 20, and Binh Tram14, Group 559 to Military Region 4. In 1972, Secretary of DefenseLaird referenced Captain Brucher's case as one of 14 cases whichthe U.S. called on the Democratic Republic of Vietnam to accountfor because it was known he had been captured. In fact, there wasno hard evidence confirming him alive in captivity. Returning U.S. POWs were unable to account for Captain Brucher. InJanuary 1974, he was declared killed in action/body not recoveredbased on a presumptive finding of death. In August 1989, a joint team of U.S. and Vietnamese investigatorsvisited the area of Captain Brucher's loss but were neither able tolocate his crash site nor witnesses to his incident of loss. During a January 1991 visit, a joint team was told that Vietnameseofficials had recovered seven sets of U.S. remains from the BanKarai Pass area during the 1970s. Roosevelt Hestle, Jr. On July 6, 1966, Major Hestle and Captain Morgan were crewmen in anF-105 in a flight of four aircraft over Bac Thai Province. MajorHestle's aircraft was hit by hostile ground fire and crashedapproximately 15 kilometers southwest of Thai Nguyen. Otheraircraft on the scene neither saw chutes nor heard beepers. Wartime intelligence information from a People's Army prisonerdescribing the capture of an African-American from an aircraft shotdown over Tam Dao Mountain was tentatively correlated to thecapture of one crewman from this crew. Both individuals were initially reported missing in action and werelater changed to dead/bodies not recovered. In November 1970, U.S.military intelligence received information that Major Hestle andtwo other U.S. POWs were alive at a POW camp near Vinh. DIAbelieved this report was not true but was the product of a highlypublicized visit by three POW wives to Vietnam early in 1970. Returning U.S. POWs reported hearsay information that Major Hestlewas seen alive on a stretcher in a prison in Hanoi. He was notreported alive as of 1973. U.S. investigators in Vietnam in January 1989 located a possiblecrash site associated with this incident and received hearsayinformation one pilot was buried at that site. Captain Morgan'sremains were repatriated in July 1989. Vietnam turned over theidentity card of Major Hestle in October 1982, but his remains havenot been recovered. Holly G. Bell On January 28, 1970, an HH-53B with six crewmen on board was in aholding pattern while engaged in a search and rescue mission overHa Tinh Province. There was a MIG alert on the radio after whicha MIG-21 aircraft fired an air to air missile which hit the HH-53B. There was a fireball explosion which turned the aircraft intohundreds of pieces. There was one two second beeper after theexplosion but there were no parachutes seen by other SAR aircrewscovering the SAR effort. The crew of the helicopter was declaredkilled in action, body not recovered, in April 1970. ReturningU.S. POWs had no information on their precise fate. In December 1988, Vietnam returned William Sutton's identity cardand remains from Huong Khe District, Nghe Tinh Province itidentified as those of William Sutton. The remains were determinedto be of Holly G. Bell. David I. Wright On November 13, 1970, Lieutenant Bancroft and his pilot, MajorDavid I. Wright, were on an aerial reconnaissance mission over HaTinh Province, North Vietnam. Their wingman reported antiaircraftfire in the area as Lieutenant Bancroft's aircraft made a low levelpass. Their aircraft suddenly exploded while approximately 500feet above the ground, crashing tail first into the ground,followed by an all consuming explosion. There were no chutes orbeepers. Lieutenant Bancroft and Major Wright were initially reportedmissing and their status changed to killed in action, body notrecovered, prior to Operation Homecoming. Returning U.S. POWs didnot report them alive with other U.S. POWs in the northernVietnamese prison system. Lawrence G. Stolz On December 26, 1971, Captain Stolz and First Lieutenant Koonsdeparted Ubon Air Base, Thailand, the number three F-4D in a flightof four on a strike mission against the Thanh Hoa storage complexin the area of Thanh Hoa City, Thanh Hoa Province. The flightbecame separated in the target area and Captain Stolz aircraft waslast seen pulling up into the overcast approximately 1-2 miles fromtheir target. They did not rejoin the flight. An aerial searchfor the aircraft and its crew failed to locate them and the crewwas declared missing. On December 27, 1971, the Vietnam News Agency reported that an F-4had been shot down over Thanh Hoa on December 27th. The articleimplied that both crewmen had become casualties and both theirnames and pictures of their burned identity cards. In November1972, photographs of their identity cards appeared in the NorthVietnamese published English language "Vietnam" magazine. During the Operation Homecoming debriefing of repatriated POWs, tworeturnees described having seen their burned identity cards in aNorth Vietnamese magazine and read that Captain Stolz was dead. Several returnees also reported hearing the name "Koons" and sawthe name "Koons, Dale" scratched into the wall at their POW camp. DIA investigation determined the source of this was an Americancivilian, Bobby Joe Keese, for reasons which were unclear. After Operation Homecoming they were declared killed in action,body not recovered, based on a presumptive finding of death. In March 1973, a former member of the People's Army of Vietnamdescribed two graves he'd seen in February 1972 in Thanh HoaProvince. The pilots were reportedly shot down and died inDecember 1971. The graves were in the general area of this lossincident. The remains of Dale F. Koons were repatriated by Vietnam in April1988. Thomas E. Dunlop On April 6, 1972, Commander Dunlop was flying an A-7E, one in aflight of two aircraft. His wingman observed Dunlop's aircraftbeing hit by a surface-to-air missile and breaking apart, thewreckage landing in an area approximately 14 kilometers south ofthe coastal town of Dong Hoi, Quang Binh Province. There was nochute or beeper. His seat was found two days later. In 1975, a member of the Vietnam People's Army reported that onApril 6, 1972 he observed an American airman being captured afterlanding in Quang Binh Province. The location and the date closelycorrelated to Commander Dunlop's shoot down and was the onlyaircraft downed that day in Quang Binh Province. Commander Dunlop was initially declared missing and, in April 1973,was declared dead/body not recovered. He was not reported alive inthe northern Vietnamese prison system. Joseph W. McDonald On May 3, 1972, Lieutenant McDonald and Captain David Williams werethe crewmen in the second A-6A aircraft in a flight of two on amission over Dong Hoi, Quang Binh Province. Their lasttransmission was that they expected to be over water in twominutes. This was after they had already finished attacking theirtarget. Their IFF beacon transponder was located well out to seaafter an extensive search. The search was terminated on May 5,1972. There was no sighting of either the aircraft or crew. Bothindividuals were initially declared missing. Both were declareddead/body not recovered, after Operation Homecoming. In June 1989 Vietnam repatriated the remains which were approved asthose of David Williams. A U.S. team in Vietnam located archival documents reporting theshoot down of a U.S. aircraft on May 3, 1972 in which the "airpirates were torn apart." This incident is the only aircraft lossin the area on that date. Dennis E. Wilkinson On May 10, 1972, Harris and Wilkinson were the crewmen of an F-4Een route to Yen Bai Airfield. They were engaged by hostile MIGaircraft. Eye witnesses reported their aircraft wing and left fueltank was hit by cannon fire, and they did not acknowledge radiotransmissions to them. After being hit their aircraft made noevasive maneuver, went into a steep dive and twenty seconds laterimpacted in an area of rolling hills. They were initially reported missing in action and both weredeclared dead/body not recovered, in May 1973. Neither wasreported by U.S. returning POWs to have been alive in the northernVietnamese prison system. Wilkinson's remains were repatriated inAugust 1978. William W. Bancroft, Jr. On November 13, 1970, Lieutenant Bancroft and his pilot, MajorDavid I. Wright, were on an aerial reconnaissance mission over HaTinh Province, North Vietnam. Their wingman reported antiaircraftfire in the area as Lieutenant Bancroft's aircraft made a low levelpass. His aircraft suddenly exploded while approximately 500 feetabove the grown. His aircraft crashed tail first and then therewas an all consuming explosion. There were no chutes or beepers. Lieutenant Bancroft was initially reported missing and his statuswas changed to killed in action, body not recovered, on November21, 1970. Returning U.S. POWs did not report him alive with otherU.S. POWs in the northern Vietnamese prison system. James L. McCarty On June 24, 1972, First Lieutenants McCarty and Charles A. Jacksonwere the crew of an F-4D which was engaged by six MIGs over NghiaLo Province and shot down by an air to air missile. LieutenantJackson was captured on the ground. The second aircraft in theirflight with another two man crew, Grant and Beekman, was alsoattacked by MIGs and shot down over Vinh Phu Province. The crewsof both aircraft were declared missing in action. There were conflicting reports of contact with the crew of thisaircraft. It was later concluded that the reference to contact withthose in incident 1882 was incorrect and in fact referred tocontact on the ground with the aircrew of those in incident 1881.First Lieutenant Jackson was captured, taught English to Vietnameseprison system cadre in late 1972, and upon his release fromcaptivity during Operation Homecoming stated he did not believethat Lieutenant McCarty had been able to eject from their aircraft. Following the shoot down, a People's Army of Vietnam unit radioedthat its MIG-21 aircraft had downed two aircraft. U.S.intelligence analysts later concluded that this report correctlypertained to the shoot down of those involved in incident 1882 onJune 24th and the two crewmen from case 1882 also shot down on June24th and captured on June 25th. On June 29, 1972, the Vietnam NewsAgency reported First Lieutenant Jackson had been captured alive inNghia Lo Province. Lt. McCarty was not confirmed alive in captivity. After OperationHomecoming he was declared killed in action, body not recovered. In December 1990, a joint U.S./Vietnamese team conducted a searchof the crash site and recovered a data plate confirmed to be fromone 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 fragmentand dog tag type information said to come from a resident ofVietnam and pertaining to three purported MIAs said to beassociated with an incident on Dong Dang District, Cao BangProvince, an area bordering the People's Republic of China. One ofthe names was James L. McCarty. A July 5, 1991 DIA analysisconcluded the report was not true and "...part of a Vietnamesegovernment managed intelligence operation..." In November 1991, a joint U.S./Vietnamese investigation gainedaccess to an apparent archival document describing the shoot downof a U.S. aircraft by the People's Air Force on June 24, 1972 inPhu Yen District, Nghia Lo Province. Charles Allen Jackson wasidentified by name as captured and partial body parts were alsofound. Material evidence of the air loss was recovered and turnedover to Nghia Lo Province military. Lieutenant Jackson escapedfrom custody that night but was recaptured in the morning. Frank C. Green, Jr. On July 10, 1972, an A-4F piloted by Commander Green was the leadaircraft in a flight of two on an armed reconnaissance mission overThanh Hoa Province. Commander Green "rolled in on his assignedtarget and his wingman saw his aircraft crash into the ground anderupt into a large fire. Diving under overhead flare illumination,the wingman located the crash site with a large sustained fire onthe ground. There was no evidence that anyone had survived thecrash. Commander Green was declared missing in action. During Operation Homecoming, a returning U.S. POW stated he wastold by a guard that the guard had Commander Green. However,Commander Green was not observed in captivity by any U.S. POWs.In October 1978, Commander Green was declared killed in action,body not recovered, based on a presumptive finding of death. In November 1985, Vietnam provided the U.S. side with informationon Commander Green but did not provide any remains. John R. Pitzen On August 17, 1972, Commander Pitzen and Lieutenant Pender were thecrew in an F-4J from the U.S.S. Kitty Hawk providing protectionagainst MIG aircraft for a flight of A-6 aircraft over Kep AirField. During their mission and while last known in the area ofthe town of Uong Bi, Quang Ninh Province, the A-6 reported thatfour surface to air missile had been fired. Commander Pitzen'saircraft disappeared from radar at 1910 hours at about the time ofan explosion at an altitude of 11,000 feet. There was no furthertrace of either crewman or their aircraft. Returning U.S. POWs had no information on their precise fate. After Operation Homecoming they were declared killed in action,body not recovered, based on a presumptive finding of death. During 1983 the Joint Casualty Resolution Center received reportsabout the wartime crash of an aircraft in the area where CaptainPitzen and Lieutenant Pender were lost. In December 1991, a jointU.S./Vietnamese team in Vietnam visited the crash site area. Witnesses stated that the site was associated with a 1972 shootdown of a U.S. aircraft by a surface to air missile. Human remainsand one skeleton were found after the crash. The remains wereturned over to a local team but were later stolen. Harry S. Mossman On August 20, 1972, Lieutenant Mossman and Lieutenant Lester werethe crew on board an A-6A on a night low level armed reconnaissancemission in the area of Route 183 and near the coastal town of CamPha, east-northeast of the major port of Hai Phong. Their lastradio transmission was "Let's get the hell out of here." Thismessage was believed to refer to the crew aborting its flight planbecause of heavy hostile fire and did not indicate they wereejecting from their aircraft at that time. Another aircrew in thevicinity later reported observing a flash under the thunderstormsand overcast in the vicinity of the A-6A's flight path. Theaircrew was soon determined to be missing, and a search missiondiscovered an oil slick approximately 12 miles from the last plotand below ceiling flash. The crew's last radar fix was over theGulf of Tonkin after exiting over the North Vietnam coast and in anarea east of Hai Phong. Electronic search failed to locate anyevidence of the missing crew. During Operation Homecoming, a returning POW reporting observing aheavily bandaged and seriously injured person brought into Hoa Loprison after the loss incident of this aircrew. There was evidenceof the individual at Hoa Lo from September 1972 onward and it wasspeculated that the wounded individual might be one of the missingairmen from this incident. Available records fail to disclose theidentity of the wounded person. In the late 1970s the two missing airmen were declared dead/bodynot recovered, based on a presumptive finding of death. Other U.S.POWs who returned from North Vietnam were unable to provide anyinformation on the precise fate of the two airmen. In late 1989, a photograph was provided the Defense IntelligenceAgency by the parents of Lieutenant Lester who were told thewounded individual in the photograph was a possible candidate forLieutenant Lester. DIA confirmed the individual in the photographwas Major Lawrence R. Bailey, lost in Laos in 1961 and repatriatedalive in August 1962. Robert D. Anderson On October 6, 1972, Lieutenant Colonel Anderson, pilot, and hisweapons systems officer, First Lieutenant Latella, were the crew ofan F-4E, one in a flight of four aircraft on a mission over NorthVietnam. A surface-to-air missile explosion in their area led toa decision to depart the area. Contact with the aircraft was lostand later reestablished with both crew members who were descendingin their parachutes. Lieutenant Latella was injured but ColonelAnderson was not and reported no hostile ground forces below him. On October 6, 1972, a Hanoi news release claimed six aircraft wereshot down on October 6th and a number of airmen were captured. There were no names given but one of the areas mentioned correlatedto this aircraft downing, in fact, the only aircraft lost overNorth Vietnam on October 6th. Lieutenant Latella was captured and repatriated during OperationHomecoming. He reported being captured immediately after landingand had no contact with Colonel Anderson after the pilot began theejection sequence to bail out of their crippled aircraft. Colonel Anderson was initially declared missing in action and wasnot accounted for during Operation Homecoming. Returning POWs wereunable to confirm him alive in the northern Vietnamese prisonsystem. He was later declared dead/body not recovered. A U.S. field team in Vietnam on December 10, 1990, investigatedthis loss incident in Van Luong Village, Tam Thanh District. Witnesses reported an aircraft shoot down in the area in late 1972,the capture of one of the crew, and the sighting of human remainsin wreckage at the crash site. The U.S. team recovered artifactsreportedly recovered from the crash site which, if valid, wouldindicate that at least one person was in the aircraft when itcrashed. The case remains under investigation. Robert D. Morrissey In the early morning hours of November 7, 1972, Majors Morrisseyand Brown took off in a camouflaged F-111 from Takhli Air Base,Thailand, for a mission against the Luat Son highway ferry in NorthVietnam. The last contact with the aircraft was at 0306 hours andan attempt to establish contact with them at 0400 hours wasunsuccessful. A search effort was launched and continued untilNovember 20th without locating any evidence of the crew or theaircraft. On November 8, 1972, the Vietnam News Agency reported thataccording to the Reuters News Service, an F-111 was downed in NgheAn Province and two airmen were missing. Another report on thatdate stated this was the third F-111 lost over North Vietnam andthe F-111 was downed over Nghe An at 0400 hours. On November 9, 1972, a People's Army of Vietnam unit reported theshoot down of an F-111 which was said to have been downed in NgheAn Province but actually had crashed in Quang Binh Province. Another report transmitting information about the reported downingof an F-4 on November 7th stated the pilot had been captured andthey were to "conceal the accomplishment." This F-4 related reportwas placed in the files of these two missing airmen. A furtherreport on November 14th stated a special team was being sent torecover the F-111A in Quang Binh and oversee movement of its hulk. Both airmen were initially reported missing. Returning U.S. POWshad no information on their precise fate. After OperationHomecoming they were declared dead/body not recovered, based on apresumptive finding of death. Major Brown's name was recently thesubject of a dog tag type report which reached DIA. In January 1992 U.S. investigators in Vietnam reviewed a People'sArmy report of air defense operations in Military Region 4. Oneitem dated November 7, 1972, listed the shoot down of a low flyingF-111 downed by the 359th Company, Quang Binh forces, with two(crewmen) killed. In July 1992 U.S. investigators in Le ThuyDistrict, Quang Binh located an F-111 strut used as a fence post,part of one ton of aircraft wreckage in the possession of a localresident near the crash site associated with this incident. Thesuspected crash site was near a mountain peak on a 45 degree slope. A photo of Major Brown's identity card was located in the QuangBinh Provincial museum together with an F-111A data plate. Thematerial referred to a "Major Robert" as "dead" in an F-111A shootdown over Quang Binh Province. In October 1992 Major Brown's son visited Moscow and was told byRussian officials of KGB officials who apparently had knowledge ofan F-111 transfer to the USSR in November 1972. James R. McElvain On December 18, 1972, Major McElvain and Colonel Ronald Warddeparted Takhli Air Base, Thailand, in an F-111A for a single shipstrike mission over North Vietnam. At 2100 hours they radioed theJoint Rescue Control Center that they'd attacked their assignedtarget. At this point they were plotted to be approximately 26miles east-southeast of the town of Nam Dinh and at the mouth of ariver along the Thai Binh/Nam Ha Province boundary and advised theyhad passed over the coastline. There was no further transmissionfrom them and their intended course was to be out over the Gulf ofTonkin. At 2129 hours they did not make a communications check. An extensive search along their intended flight path failed todisclose any evidence of either the aircraft or its crew and thecrew was declared missing in action. On December 19, 1972, the People's Army reported it had shot downa B-52 the previous night and captured seven airmen. In anotherreport, the seven captured were described as coming two B-52 andanother aircraft not further identified, from which they'd captureda Lieutenant Colonel and a Major from a two man aircrew. On thesame day another unit radioed that three of those captured werefrom a downed B-52 crew. No names of any Americans were in thesereports. These reports were placed in the files of the thesemissing airmen. One returnee stated he might have heard McElvain's name on a radiobroadcast. No other returnees heard the name and no regularmonitoring service reported his name on any domestic of foreignbroadcasts. A next of kin of one of the crewmen received a rumortheir aircraft had been shot down by a U.S. Navy aircraft. Returning U.S. POWs had no information on the fate of the twocrewmen. After Operation homecoming they were declared killed inaction, body not recovered. Arthur V. McLaughlin On December 20, 1972, a B-52 with a six man crew departed UtapaoAir Base, Thailand, one in a cell of three B-52s who were part ofa larger bombing force on a nighttime ARC LIGHT bombing missionover North Vietnam. At 2030 hours and prior to reaching theirtarget, the B-52 was hit by a surface to air missile. Attempts tocontact the crew were unsuccessful and darkness prevented thesighting of any parachutes. Beepers were heard but could not becorrelated to any specific crewmen from this aircraft due tomultiple aircraft losses and beepers from other downed crewmen. After the shoot down, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV)announced the capture of one crewman, Captain Paul L. Granger anda second crewman, Captain Thomas J. Klomann, was listed as a POW tobe repatriated on the DRV list provided the U.S. in Paris onJanuary 27, 1973. After his release from captivity, Captain Granger stated that hisaircraft was attacked by a MIG aircraft when they wereapproximately 70 kilometers from Hanoi. Then, surface to airmissiles were launched; one struck the right wing of their aircraftand a second SAM exploded in front of the B-52's cockpit. Therewas a noticeable thump which was either another exploding SAM orthe navigator, Captain Klomann, ejecting. Captain Granger ejectedat an altitude of 28,000 feet when ordered to do so by MajorStuart, the aircraft commander. Neither Captain Granger norCaptain Klomann had any information on the eventual fate of othercrewmen. The remaining crewmen, all declared missing in action, atthe time, were declared killed in action, body not recovered, by1982. |