Missing in Action Returned

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Fred Lohr (D Troop 68-69)

6 June 1968 Khe Sanh air loss 4 Mia's Recovered

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Welcome Home Marines
Marines Missing From Vietnam War Are Identified


The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of four U.S. servicemen, missing from the Vietnam War, have been identified and will be returned to their families for burial with full military honors.

They are Lance Cpl. Kurt E. La Plant, of Lenexa, Kan., and Lance Cpl. Luis F. Palacios, of Los Angeles, Calif. Remains that could not be individually identified are included in a group. Among the group remains are Lance Cpl. Ralph L. Harper, of Indianapolis, Ind., and Pfc. Jose R. Sanchez, of Brooklyn, N.Y. All men were U.S. Marine Corps. Palacios will be buried Friday in Bellflower, Calif., and the other Marines will be buried as a group in the spring in Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C.

On June 6, 1968, these men were aboard a CH-46A Sea Knight helicopter that was attempting an emergency extraction of elements of the 1st Battalion, 4th Regiment, 3rd Marine Division then engaged against hostile forces in the mountains southwest of Khe Sanh, Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam. The helicopter was struck by enemy ground fire and crashed, killing 12 of the 23 crewmen and passengers on board. All but four of the men who died were subsequently recovered and identified.

Between 1993 and 2005, joint U.S./Socialist Republic of Vietnam (S.R.V.) teams, led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), investigated the incident in Quang Tri Province, interviewed witnesses and surveyed the crash site three times. The team found a U.S. military boot fragment and wreckage consistent with that of a CH-46 helicopter.

In 2006, a team began excavating the site and recovered human remains and non-biological material evidence including La Plant's identification tag. While at the site, a Vietnamese citizen turned over to the team human remains the he claimed to have found amid the wreckage. In 2007, another team completed the excavation and recovered additional human remains, life support material and aircraft wreckage.

Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from JPAC and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory also used mitochondrial DNA and dental comparisons in the identification of the remains.

For additional information on the Defense Department's mission to account for missing Americans, visit the DPMO web site at http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo/ or call (703) 699-1420
RVN 68-69  72-73

Fred Lohr

http://www.fredlohr.com

Fred Lohr (D Troop 68-69)

Navy Pilot Missing In Action From the Vietnam War is Identified
DOD ^ | 6/20/08 | DOD

Posted on Friday, June 20, 2008 12:27:38 PM by Dubya

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from the Vietnam War, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

He is Lt. Cmdr. Ralph C. Bisz, U.S. Navy, of Miami Shores, Fla. His funeral arrangements are being set by his family.

On Aug. 4, 1967, Bisz took off in an A-4E Skyhawk from the USS Oriskany to bomb an enemy petroleum depot near Haiphong, Vietnam. As he neared the target, his aircraft was struck by an enemy surface-to-air missile and crashed near the town of Hai Duong in Hai Hung Province. No parachute was observed and no emergency beeper signal was received.

In 1988, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (S.R.V.) repatriated to the United States human remains from Hai Hung Province, which they attributed to Bisz on the basis of their historical records of the shootdown as well as documentation of his burial.

Between 1988 and 2004, joint U.S./S.R.V. teams, led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), conducted several investigations of the incident and surveyed the crash site. A team found aircraft wreckage at the site which was consistent with an A-4E Skyhawk. Teams also interviewed witnesses who recalled the crash and burial of the pilot in a nearby cemetery. Additionally, one witness indicated that he oversaw the exhumation of the American's remains from the cemetery, and their turnover to district officials.

Between 1993 and 2004, 25 samples from the remains turned over in 1988 were submitted to several laboratories for mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis, but yielded inconclusive results. In 2007, the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory used refined DNA collection techniques and succeeded in obtaining verifiable mtDNA.

Using forensic identification tools, circumstantial evidence, mtDNA analysis and dental comparisons, scientists from JPAC identified the remains as those of Bisz.

For additional information on the Defense Department's mission to account for missing Americans, visit the DPMO Web site at http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo or call (703) 509-1905 or (703) 699-1420.


RVN 68-69  72-73

Fred Lohr

http://www.fredlohr.com

Fred Lohr (D Troop 68-69)

Thirty-nine years ago, an Australian soldier plunged to his death from a rope dangling beneath a helicopter as his Special Air Service Regiment patrol desperately sought to escape from North Vietnamese forces closing in.

Today, the remains of 23-year-old Private David Fisher finally were repatriated, the last of four Australian soldiers missing in action from the Vietnam War.

In the intervening years, his body lay in a shallow grave, hastily interred in a shell crater by a young Viet Cong soldier.

He was located eventually by an Australian Army History Unit search team in August.

Body accompanied by family

His remains were returned to Australia aboard a RAAF C-130 Hercules transport aircraft, accompanied by family members, including three sisters.

Also aboard were two members of his final patrol, Mick Van Drofelaar and John Cuzens, and his former commanding officer Reg Beesley.

Among those meeting the aircraft was retired governor-general Major General Michael Jeffrey, a former SASR commander.

Defence personnel minister Warren Snowdon described the return as a painful, yet joyous day.

"We welcome one of Australia's truly brave and courageous sons home, a volunteer, full of vitality, guts and determination, who paid the ultimate price doing what our nation demanded of him," he said.

Private funeral next week

A private military funeral will be held next Tuesday at Macquarie Park Cemetery, in North Ryde, in Sydney's north-west.

Pte Fisher was a member of a five-man patrol operating in an enemy dominated area of South Vietnam's Phuoc Tuy province on September 27, 1969.

Confronted by an enemy force some 30-strong, his patrol leader called in helicopters.

A hovering RAAF Iroquois helicopter dropped ropes for the soldiers to attach themselves to in what's called a "hot extraction" under enemy fire.

But as the helicopter flew away, Pte Fisher fell some 60 metres into dense jungle. Just why has never been determined.

An inquiry at the time speculated that he may have incorrectly fastened his carabiner to the rope.

Despite two helicopter searches and subsequent ground patrols over a 10-day period, no trace of him was found.

But recent research by the Army History Unit, recreating the helicopter's flight path, indicated searchers in 1969 missed the precise area where Pte Fisher fell to earth.

Remains found in August

A former enemy soldier also revealed he had buried the body of a man he believed to be an American in the same area around that time.

In August, a search team succeeded in locating his remains, confirmed by the discovery of his identification disc.

That followed the recovery of other Vietnam missing, Lance Corporal Richard Parker, Private Peter Gillson and Lance Corporal John Gillespie last year.

Two men remain missing, both RAAF members. Flying Officer Michael Herbert and Pilot Officer Robert Carver, were lost in the crash of their Canberra bomber in November 1970.

Jim Bourke, who founded the organisation Operation Aussies Home, started lobbying the government in 2002 to fully account for the six servicemen left behind in Vietnam.

"We didn't really get all that much cooperation initially," he told ABC Radio.

"And using our research and some contacts that the Americans had provided to us we went over there and were successful in locating their remains in April 2007.

"After that, (the) army decided it would probably be a good idea if they took a more active interest in these matters and they have done an excellent job on recovering Fisher."

RVN 68-69  72-73

Fred Lohr

http://www.fredlohr.com

Fred Lohr (D Troop 68-69)

A Nevada soldier missing for more than three decades will finally return to American soil.   

A team of military experts recently recovered remains and personal items believed to belong to Pfc. William Skip Skivington, a 19-year-old Las Vegan who disappeared in battle during the Vietnam War.

A ceremony at the Hickman Airforce Base in Honolulu, Hawaii, marks the beginning of the end of a decades-old mystery: The whereabouts of an army private listed missing in action since 1968. The soldier's dad William Skivington Sr., a decorated World War II veteran in his own right, landed in Vegas with his son's remains.

At 85 and not in the best of health, Bill Sr. packed his clothes, photos and prayers into a small suitcase checked out for Honolulu. He says he made sure to leave room for his son's stuff, just in case. Along with the remains, the recovery team found his son's class ring, wallet and Vietnam dog tags.

The piece of history, a tree, came into focus when talk began to demolish a parole and probation sergeant's office in Honolulu.

"Sometimes we miss things standing right in front of us," Sgt. Merritt Carlton said. "I'd seen it before. We generally use the back door when coming to work or during the occasional break." When Carlton and his co-worker looked around before demolition, they realized that the tree was dedicated to somebody. A plaque at its trunk provided the answer. It mentioned a 19-year-old Western High School grad, nicknamed Skip, who enlisted to avoid the draft.

Skip's tour of duty in Vietnam ended on Mother's Day in 1968. The army listed him missing in action following a battle that killed 17 of his friends.

"He and I would've been about the same age," Carlton said. An Internet search on Skip Skivington Jr. led Carlton to Skivington Sr., a World War II veteran who lost his two sons to the conflict in southeast Asia.

"It brings back memories," Skivington Sr. said. "I think of all of our sons."

"We're still losing people that are fighting for our freedom and the tree has much, much more meaning for me now."

Carlton said his whole building is scheduled to be torn down and he was trying to save the landmark.

"Saving the tree means moving it and convincing a community that this symbol rooted in sacrifice and should stand for all to see," he said.

RVN 68-69  72-73

Fred Lohr

http://www.fredlohr.com

Fred Lohr (D Troop 68-69)

SERVICEMEMBERS MISSING IN ACTION RETURNED


The remains of two U.S. Navy officers, missing in action from the Vietnam War, have been accounted for and are being returned to their families for burial in the U.S. One has been identified as Lt. Cmdr. Roger B. Innes of Chicago. The other officer's name will not be released at the request of his family.

On Dec. 27, 1967, Innes and the other U.S. aviator were aboard an F-4B Phantom as the lead aircraft in a flight of two from the carrier, the U.S.S. Kitty Hawk. The flight was an armed reconnaissance mission along the coast of North Vietnam. Innes' aircraft was observed on radar as it started its attack on an enemy target, but contact was abruptly lost in the vicinity of the target. Repeated radio calls were unsuccessful, and an extensive visual and electronic search conducted throughout the day failed to locate the aircraft. Low flight ceilings and poor visibility in the target area prevented additional search efforts.

In August 1992, teams of U.S. and Vietnamese investigators, led by Joint Task Force-Full Accounting, interviewed villagers and reviewed documentation which indicated an aircraft crashed in 1967 about 300 meters off the coast. The information was a close match to the circumstances of Innes' loss. In 1995, investigators interviewed local fishermen who pointed out a general area where their fishing nets had snagged on aircraft wreckage.

In February and March 1998, U.S. and Vietnamese divers surveyed the underwater site and recommended a full excavation. Then in May and June 1999, U.S. Navy divers operating from a Vietnamese barge, conducted the first underwater recovery operation in Vietnam in waters approximately 10-15 meters deep. The divers were able to recover remains, personal effects of the crew, and aircraft debris.

Analysis of the remains and other evidence by the U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory, Hawaii established the identity of these servicemen.

The U.S. government welcomes and appreciates the cooperation demonstrated by the Socialist Republic of Vietnam that resulted in the identification of these officers. We hope that such cooperation will bring more significant results in the future. Achieving the fullest possible accounting of Americans missing in action is one of the nations highest priorities.

RVN 68-69  72-73

Fred Lohr

http://www.fredlohr.com

Fred Lohr (D Troop 68-69)

Pilot Missing In Action From The Vietnam War Is Identified


            The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from the Vietnam War, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

            He is Col. David H. Zook, Jr., U.S. Air Force, of West Liberty, Ohio. He will be buried Oct. 4 in West Liberty.

            On Oct. 4, 1967, Zook was on a psychological warfare operation over Song Be Province, South Vietnam, when his U-10B Super Courier aircraft collided in mid-air with a C-7A Caribou. The C-7 pilot said he saw the other aircraft hit the ground and explode. Several search and rescue attempts failed to locate Zook's remains.

            In 1992, a joint U.S./Socialist Republic of Vietnam (S.R.V.) team, led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), investigated the incident in Song Be Province. The team interviewed Vietnamese citizens who witnessed the crash and saw remains amid the wreckage. The team surveyed the site and found evidence consistent with Zook's crash. While later examining the evidence recovered from the site, a small fragment of bone was found.

            In 1993, another joint team excavated the crash site and recovered a bone fragment and non-biological material including small pieces of military clothing. In March 2008, a final excavation was conducted and more human remains were recovered.

            Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from JPAC and also used dental comparisons in the identification of Zook's remains.
RVN 68-69  72-73

Fred Lohr

http://www.fredlohr.com

Fred Lohr (D Troop 68-69)

Air Force Officer Missing In Action From Vietnam War Is Identified


            The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from the Vietnam War, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

            He is Maj. Perry H. Jefferson, U.S. Air Force, of Denver, Colo. He will be buried April 3, 2008 in Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C.
           
            On April 3, 1969, Jefferson was an aerial observer on board an O-1G Bird Dog aircraft on a visual reconnaissance mission over a mountainous region in Ninh Thuan Province, Vietnam. The pilot of the aircraft, then U.S. Army 1st Lt. Arthur G. Ecklund, radioed Phan Rang airbase to report his location, but contact was lost soon after. An extensive, three-day search and rescue effort began, but no evidence of a crash was found. Hostile threats in the area precluded further search efforts.               

            In 1984, a former member of the Vietnamese Air Force turned over to a U.S. official human remains that he said represented one of two U.S. pilots whose aircraft was shot down.

In 1994 a joint U.S./Socialist Republic of Vietnam (S.R.V.) team, led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), interviewed two Vietnamese citizens regarding the incident. The witnesses said the aircraft crashed on a mountainside, the pilots died and were buried at the site. They said two other men were sent to the site a few days later to bury the pilots. The team excavated the crash site described by the witnesses and found aircraft wreckage. No human remains were found.

In 2000, the remains turned over in 1984 were identified as Ecklund's.

In 2001, a Vietnamese national living in California turned over to U.S. officials human remains that he said were recovered at a site where two U.S. pilots crashed. These remains were identified in 2007 as Jefferson's.

            Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from JPAC and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory also used mitochondrial DNA and dental comparisons in identifying Jefferson's remains.

            For additional information on the Defense Department's mission to account for missing Americans, visit the DPMO Web site at http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo or call (703) 699-1169.
RVN 68-69  72-73

Fred Lohr

http://www.fredlohr.com

Fred Lohr (D Troop 68-69)

40-Year Tour' Comes to End
Remains of 1965 Madison grad found in Vietnam, returned to family.
By Mirza Kurspahic
Courtesy of The Connection
Monday, July 21, 2008
Forty years ago an Army Chaplain visited Hugh Chaney's office in the Pentagon, informing him that his son Arthur, a pilot in the Army, had been shot down in a mission over Vietnam.

"I was busy at work when the front secretary approached me saying I was wanted in the front office," wrote Hugh Chaney, a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force, in a correspondence to The Connection. "I noticed a Lieutenant Colonel there and didn't pay any attention to his insignia. When he faced me and I saw he was a chaplain, I felt a chill and my heart sank as I immediately knew something was wrong."

Warrant Officer Arthur Fletcher Chaney of Vienna, member of the 1st Cavalry Division, flew an AH-1G Cobra gunship supporting a reconnaissance mission in South Vietnam on May 3, 1968. The helicopter came under heavy anti-aircraft fire, exploded in mid-air and crashed near the Laos-Vietnam border. According to the Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DMOP), U.S. aircraft flying over the area immediately after the crash reported no survivors.

After praying with the chaplain for a few minutes, Hugh Chaney left his office, stopping at the flight surgeon's office to pick up some Valium. He knew his wife, Lillian, would not take the news well. The entire drive home to Dogwood Street in Vienna, Hugh Chaney worried about how to break the news to Lillian and Arthur's younger brother Mark.

"Finally, to her I said, 'I fear we have lost Art,'" wrote Hugh Chaney. "Hard to believe but after all these years mentioning this brings tears to my eyes."

The devastating news kicked off a search for Art Chaney's remains. According to the DMOP, in 1985, an American citizen with ties to Southeast Asian refugees turned over to U.S. officials remains from a supposed aircraft crash in Laos. Analysis disproved the association of the remains to Chaney's crash site. Between 1989 and 2003, Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) investigative teams working in Laos and Vietnam made five attempts to locate the crash site and the remains, all of them unsuccessful.

The conflicting reports about the remains, after years of search, brought Chaneys pain and anguish. On a memorial page dedicated to their son, Hugh and Lillian wrote in April 2004 that it had been 36 years since the day of the chaplain's visit to Hugh's Pentagon office. "Your Mother and I have felt the sorrow and anguish every day. The confusion and conflicting reports about your accident and recovery hasn't helped us," they wrote on the virtual memorial page. "We attended a POW/MIA briefing, this just added more pain, but they are working hard and it is our fervent hope your body will be recovered and a proper burial can be scheduled."

Years of hope are now materializing into burial plans. Recent information led investigators to a site not previously searched. On Friday, July 18, 2008, DPMO announced that the remains of two U.S. servicemen, missing from the Vietnam War, have been identified and will be returned to their families for burial with full military honors. McKain will be buried on August 11, 2008, and Chaney on Sepember 16, 2008, in Arlington National Cemetery.

"We are profoundly grateful for the dedication and relentless efforts by the JPAC recovery teams. The Army's edict 'No one left behind' resulted in the opportunity for us to be able to put Art to rest and offer prayers and hope to others still searching for loved ones," Chaney's parents — who now reside in Henderson, Nevada — told the Vienna and Oakton Connection in the correspondence over the weekend.

Hugh Chaney and Mark Chaney, Art's brother who also served as a member of the 1st Cavalry Division, left a message on the 1st Cavalry Division Association Guestbook about the recent find. "I hope friends and comrades from the [division] will see this posting and know he will soon rest in Arlington after completing his 40-year tour."

The Chaneys elected to bury Art at Arlington, even though there is a Veterans Cemetery in Boulder City, near their current home. One of the reasons they chose Arlington is to bury Art close to those he served his country with. "The perpetual care was another factor. He had so many friends in the area. In fact, he was engaged to a local girl and planned on marriage on his return from Nam," wrote Hugh Chaney.

Art Chaney was a 1965 graduate of Vienna's James Madison High School, the fourth high school he attended. He also attended high schools in New Mexico, California and Alabama prior to Madison, following his father's Air Force career. "How he coped with this is testimony of what an understanding and talented individual he was," wrote Hugh Chaney to the Connection.

Hugh Chaney served in the Air Force for more than 30 years, before retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel. Arthur's brother, Mark, retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Army. According to Hugh Chaney, for a brief time, all three served in Vietnam at the same time.

The Chaneys are proud of Arthur's service. "We are proud to say in your short time you certainly left your mark, son, the remembrances and memorials in your name are numerous. You will not be forgotten," they wrote on his memorial page.

"He was only 20 years of age when he gave the supreme sacrifice," wrote Hugh Chaney in his correspondence with The Connection.

RVN 68-69  72-73

Fred Lohr

http://www.fredlohr.com

Fred Lohr (D Troop 68-69)

Posted on Monday, December 15, 2008 3:28:22 PM by Stonewall Jackson

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the group remains of six U.S. servicemen, missing from the Vietnam War, are soon to be buried with full military honors.

They are Maj. Bernard L. Bucher, of Eureka, Ill.; Maj. John L. McElroy, of Eminence, Ky.; 1st Lt. Stephen C. Moreland, of Los Angeles, Calif.; and Staff Sgt. Frank M. Hepler, of Glenside, Pa., all U.S. Air Force. These men will be buried as a group on Dec. 18 in Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C.

Two other servicemen, who were individually identified in October 2007, are also represented in this group. They are Capt. Warren R. Orr, Jr., U.S. Army, of Kewanee, Ill., and Airman 1st Class George W. Long, U.S. Air Force, of Medicine, Kan.

Representatives from the Air Force and the Army Mortuary Offices met with the next-of-kin of these men to explain the recovery and identification process and to coordinate interment with military honors on behalf of the Secretary of the Air Force and the Secretary of the Army.

On May 12, 1968, these men were on board a C-130 Hercules evacuating Vietnamese citizens from the Kham Duc Special Forces Camp near Da Nang, South Vietnam. While taking off, the crew reported taking heavy enemy ground fire. A Forward Air Controller flying in the area reported seeing the plane explode in mid-air soon after leaving the runway.

In 1986 and 1991, U.S. officials received remains and identification tags from sources claiming they belonged to men from this incident. Scientific analysis revealed they were not American remains, but it was believed the Vietnamese sources knew where the crash site was located.

In 1993, a joint/U.S.-Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV) team, led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), traveled to Kham Duc and interviewed four local citizens concerning the incident. They led the team to the crash site and turned over remains and identification tags they had recovered in 1983 while looking for scrap metal. During this visit, the team recovered human remains and aircraft wreckage at the site. In 1994, another joint team excavated the crash site and recovered remains, pieces of life-support equipment, crew-related gear and personal effects.

JPAC scientists used forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence in the identification of the remains.

RVN 68-69  72-73

Fred Lohr

http://www.fredlohr.com

Fred Lohr (D Troop 68-69)

Check out this link for some interesting info on the missing in action.



http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/bomber/mias.html
RVN 68-69  72-73

Fred Lohr

http://www.fredlohr.com

Fred Lohr (D Troop 68-69)

#10
Vanished Soldiers: American Heroes Come Home

Friday, 10 April 2009 22:23

By Joseph L. Galloway
McClatchy Newspapers

As with so much in life and in death, there was news this week that was joyous and sad and bittersweet all at once for the small community of the Vietnam War's band of brothers of the Ia Drang Valley.

Early in the morning of December 28, 1965, a U.S. Army Huey helicopter, tail number 63-08808, lifted off from the huge grassy airfield at the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) base at An Khe in the Central Highlands of South Vietnam.

Two experienced pilots, CWO Jesse Phelps of Boise, Idaho, and CWO Kenneth Stancil of Chattanooga, Tenn., were at the controls. Behind them in the doors were crew chief Donald Grella of Laurel, Neb., and door gunner Thomas Rice Jr. of Spartanburg, S.C. All four were already veterans of the fiercest air assault battle of the war, fought the previous month in the Ia Drang.

Huey 808 was one of 10 birds in a platoon of A Company, 229th Assault Helicopter Battalion, led by Capt. Ed (Too Tall to Fly) Freeman. It was bound on a short, routine flight down Route 19 to an infantry field position just over the high pass between An Khe and the port city of Qui Nhon.

It was what Army aviators called an "ash and trash mission," hauling cases of C-rations, ammunition and other essential supplies to a company of grunts preparing for an air assault mission.

Normally, all missions were flown by at least two helicopters, but this one was so brief and so routine and along a route so well known and marked by the center white line of a familiar highway that Capt. Freeman and his boss, Maj. Bruce (Ol' Snake) Crandall, already at the Landing Zone with the rest of A Company's 20 helicopters, agreed to waive that requirement and let 808 fly alone.

With that, 808 flew off the face of the earth. It disappeared without a word on the radio of distress or trouble. The helicopter was gone, and a massive search effort began almost immediately and continued for months, both as an organized and methodical search and by individual Huey pilots who flew anywhere near that route.

For weeks, they combed the rugged jungle hills on both sides of the road and on both sides of the mountain pass. Choppers hovered over every break in the tree cover peering down if they could see or sending crewmen rappelling down ropes to look around clearings that were not easily checked from the air.

They found nothing. The Huey and its four crewmen had vanished.

The families of the crewmen joined the ranks of those who wait for news, for hope, for some closure of an open wound. More than 1,600 American servicemen are still listed as missing in action in Vietnam.

This week, the Department of Defense liaison officers who work with MIA families called Ol' Snake Crandall and surviving family members of the four missing crewmen to confirm that after 43 years, search teams following one of thousands of leads had found and positively identified the wreckage of Huey 808.

In what amounts to almost an archaeological dig the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC-MIA) team assigned to this lead also recovered dog tags, other personal artifacts and some human remains. 
After so long a time in the acid soil of Vietnam, that usually means bone fragments and maybe a tooth or two. Often that adds up to no more than will fill a small handkerchief.

The remains will now be flown to the Central Identification Library in Hawaii and every effort will be made through DNA testing to identify them and attach a name to them.

"They told us it could take several months to complete that process," 
said Shirley Haase of Omaha, Neb., the sister of crew chief Don Grella. "I only wish my mother was here for this news. She waited for so long."

The men of Huey 808 will be coming home at last. Grieving mothers and fathers have died waiting for news that never came. Siblings have grown old. Their buddies have never forgotten and never rested in pressing for a resolution to this case.

Too Tall Ed Freeman and Ol' Snake Crandall, his wingman and boss, never missed an opportunity to ask questions or get a little pushy with a government official, even a president of the United States or a North Vietnamese Army general, in seeking an answer to the mystery.

Too Tall Ed died last summer in a Boise, Idaho, hospital. In their final farewell visit, he and Crandall, both Medal of Honor recipients, talked about Huey 808, and Bruce promised Ed that he'd keep pushing the search as long as he lived.

A week ago, the Ia Drang fraternity buried Doc Randy Lose at the National Cemetery in Biloxi, Miss. Doc was the medic of the Lost Platoon of Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 7th U.S. Cavalry at Landing Zone X-Ray in November 1965.

Doc's old company commander, Col. (ret.) John Herren, was there. So was Sgt. Earnie Savage, who inherited command of the Lost Platoon after Lt. Henry Herrick and three more-senior sergeants were killed in the first 10 minutes of battle after the 30-man platoon was cut off and surrounded by hundreds of North Vietnamese soldiers.

In all, nine men were killed and 13 were wounded in the opening minutes of a struggle for survival that lasted 27 hours for the cut- off Americans. Doc Lose used up all the bandages and kept plugging wounds with small rolls of C-Ration toilet paper. He crawled from man to man under intense enemy fire, was wounded twice himself and kept every one of the 13 wounded alive during the longest day and night of their lives.

Doc earned a Distinguished Service Cross for his actions, and his battalion commander, Lt. Gen. (ret) Hal Moore, and I did everything we could to get that upgraded to the Medal of Honor we think he deserved.

Doc Lose died last month, killed by the Vietnam War just as certainly as if he'd been shot in the head by a sniper during those 27 hours with the Lost Platoon. You see, my friend Doc Lose came home from Vietnam a different man. He carried wounds no one but other combat veterans could see. Doc carried the battlefield memories of suffering and death and killing, and they never let him rest.

All that's over now. Doc has crossed the river to be with some other great soldiers. The rest of us will be along soon enough, Doc, so pop smoke when you hear us inbound. The goofy grape (purple smoke) will work just fine.


RVN 68-69  72-73

Fred Lohr

http://www.fredlohr.com

Fred Lohr (D Troop 68-69)

Air Force Maj. Curtis Daniel Miller of Palacios, Texas, will be buried on March 29 in the Dallas-Ft. Worth National Cemetery. Miller was part of a 14-man aircrew, all of which are now accounted-for. Remains that could not be individually identified are included in a group that will be buried together in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, VA.

On March 29, 1972, 14 men were aboard an AC-130A Spectre gunship that took off from Ubon Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand, on an armed reconnaissance mission over southern Laos. The aircraft was struck by an enemy surface-to-air missile and crashed. Search and rescue efforts were stopped after a few days due to heavy enemy activity in the area.

In 1986, joint U.S.- Lao People's Democratic Republic teams, lead by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), surveyed and excavated the crash site in Savannakhet Province, Laos. The team recovered human remains and other evidence including two identification tags, life support items and aircraft wreckage. From 1986 to 1988, the remains were identified as those of nine men from this crew.

Between 2005 and 2006, joint teams resurveyed the crash site and excavated it twice. The teams found more human remains, personal effects and crew-related equipment. As a result, JPAC identified the other crewmen using forensic identification tools, circumstantial evidence, DNA and dental comparisons.
RVN 68-69  72-73

Fred Lohr

http://www.fredlohr.com

Fred Lohr (D Troop 68-69)

Soldiers Missing in Action from Vietnam War Identified


                The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of two U.S. servicemen, missing in action from the Vietnam War, have been identified and will be returned to their families for burial with full military honors. 

                U.S. Army 1st Lt. Paul G. Magers of Sidney, Neb., will be buried on Aug. 27 in Laurel, Mont., and Army Chief Warrant Officer Donald L. Wann of Shawnee, Okla., will be buried on Aug. 21 in Fort Gibson, Okla. 
                 
                On June 1, 1971, both men were flying aboard an AH-1 Cobra gunship in support of an emergency extraction of an Army ranger team in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam.  After the rangers were extracted, helicopters were ordered to destroy claymore mines which had been left behind in the landing zone.  During this mission their helicopter was hit by ground fire, crashed and exploded.  Pilots who witnessed the explosions concluded that no one could have survived the crash and explosions.  Enemy activity in the area precluded a ground search.

                In 1990, analysts from DPMO, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) and their predecessor organizations interviewed both American and Vietnamese witnesses and produced leads for field investigations. In 1993 and 1998, two U.S.-Socialist Republic of Vietnam teams, led by JPAC, surveyed the suspected crash site and found artifacts and debris consistent with a Cobra gunship.  In mid-1999, another joint team excavated the site, but it stopped for safety reasons when the weather deteriorated.  No remains were recovered, but the team did find wreckage associated with the specific crash they were investigating.

                The Vietnamese government subsequently declared the region within Quang Tri Province where the aircraft crashed as off-limits to U.S. personnel, citing national security concerns. As part of an agreement with JPAC, a Vietnamese team unilaterally excavated the site and recovered human remains and other artifacts in 2008.  The Vietnamese returned to the site in 2009, expanded the excavation area and discovered more remains and additional evidence.

                Forensic analysis, circumstantial evidence and the mitochondrial DNA match to the Magers and Wann families by the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory confirmed the identification of the remains.
RVN 68-69  72-73

Fred Lohr

http://www.fredlohr.com

Fred Lohr (D Troop 68-69)

On October 18th 2010, the Department of Defense POW/MissingPersonnel Office (DPMO) announced the remains of three servicemen, missing in action from the Vietnam War, since February 18th, 1968, have been identified and will be returned to their families for burial with full military honors.   They are 57th AHC members from UH 1D66-16282 , crew chief SSG Melvin Dye and gunner  Staff Sgt. Robert S. Griffith .  Also returned was Reconnaissance Team (RT) Maine member from Studies and Observation Group (SOG) Command and Control Central (CCC)  Sgt. 1st Class Douglas J. Glover.  These ranks reflect the ranks they would have had when Missing In Action (MIA) status was changed to Body Not Returned (BNR)  Probably 1978.

The UH 1D was performing an emergency extraction mission in Laos. They were extracting a reconnaissance patrol team consisting of three U.S. Army Special Forces personnel and three indigenous personnel. The aircraft carried a crew of four. Glover was one of the Special Forces personnel aboard. As the helicopter picked up the team four miles inside Laos west of Dak Sut, it hit by an RPG, exploded, bursting into flames.   Synopsis follows:

"Special Forces Staff Sergeant Fred W. Zabitosky was at the end of a normal six-month active mission cycle with FOB 2 based at Kontum. He was the One-Zero, team leader, of RT Maine but on this mission was helping SSG Glover become the new team leader, so 'Zab' was the One-One, assistant team leader. On 18 Feb., RT Maine was inserted into 'The Bra,' the river curve where Highway 110 split eastward from Highway 96, the Ho Chi Minh Trail's major north-south route. Their mission was to learn whether the NVA were pulling back, reinforcing or resupplying their Tet offensive activities in the Central Highlands. Not long after their insertion, they made and broke contact. There were at least two other RTs active in this same area, so they had to wait their turn for airstrikes and worked their way back to the LZ. The NVA had set up 12.7mm guns around the LZ and the USAF Covey FAC could see at least four NVA companies converging on the LZ. The NVA launched two assaults on the nine-man team's position but were stopped by napalm, cannon fire, and the team's weapons. Covey had the team run 150 yards to an alternate LZ. The first slick lifted out one SF and two Yards which left Zab, Glover and four Yards still on the ground. The NVA then struck in four successive waves which were all stopped but the team was almost out of ammo. The second slick went in as gunships and jets blasted the area. Both the NVA and Maine seemed to be racing for the helicopter. The door gunners and the SOG men were shooting like mad. Zab recalls that the NVA were so close that blood from one he shot splatted the Huey. They were 75 feet up and almost clear of the LZ when an RPG blast rocked the Huey, spinning the tail boom into the main blades. Zab came to about 20 feet from the Huey and rolled clumsily on the ground to extinguish his burning clothes. The Huey had snapped in two just behind the pilots' section and burned furiously. The troop compartment lay on its side and Zab heard the final cries from the three Americans and four Yards in the burning wreckage. Zab moved away from the wreckage then looked back to see the pilots still strapped in the burning nose section. He returned, opened the door and grabbed the semiconscious WO Cook and pulled him out. Everything was burned off the man except his leather gun belt. The pilot was still inside. Zab could feel his flesh burning as he undid the pilot's harness. The fuel cells exploded in the other section and blew both Zab and the pilot clear. Overhead SF medic Luke Nance had watched these events in horror but had seen Zab. The pilot made a couple of passes and confirmed there were survivors. This ship landed. Together Nance and Zab carried and dragged the two burned pilots, CPT Griffith and WO Cook to the Huey and they escaped. SSG Fred Zabitosky received the Medal of Honor for his actions that saved the lives of two 57th AHC pilots. Sadly, WO Cook passed away ten days later in Japan due to burn related injuries."  (Data provided from synopsis of the event from a historical association.)

J. Howard, 57th AHC, Cougar 19
RVN 68-69  72-73

Fred Lohr

http://www.fredlohr.com

Fred Lohr (D Troop 68-69)

68 Years Later, WWII Airman's Body Found on South Pacific Island
Apr 14, 2011 – 7:18 AM
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Lauren FrayerContributor
Nearly 68 years after a Massachusetts airman took off on a reconnaissance flight over the South Pacific during World War II, his remains have been found and are en route home to America for burial with full military honors.

U.S. Army Air Force 2nd Lt. Martin Murray was piloting a B-24D Liberator plane that took off from an airfield on the island of New Guinea on Oct. 27, 1943, with 11 other crewmen aboard. He was flying a reconnaissance mission over shipping lanes in the Bismarck Sea, ahead of an attack on Japanese forces nearby. But the mission was scrapped midflight because of bad weather, and flight controllers instructed Murray to land the plane at a friendly airstrip on an island nearby.

The plane never landed, and the crew's fate -- until now -- was unknown.

Wikipedia
The remains of a Massachusetts airman, whose B-24 Liberator plane, like the one above, disappeared in the South Pacific during World War II, were found in New Guinea and are headed home to America for burial with full military honors.
After World War II, the U.S. military searched for the missing plane and crew, but no wreckage was found. In 1949, the U.S. government concluded they were presumed dead, and unrecoverable. New Guinea remains one of the world's most remote, rural and untouched places.

But 60 years after Murray's ill-fated mission, the military got a tip about his whereabouts. A villager in Papua New Guinea, came upon what looked like a decades-old crash site and retrieved an ID card belonging to one of the crew members, the Pentagon announced Wednesday. A team from the military's joint POW/MIA Accounting Command went to investigate.
It took until 2007 for U.S. military teams to reach the site, deep in the jungle. Between January and March 2007, they scoured the site and found human remains, along with ID tags from the B-24D crew. Forensic scientists used dental records and DNA testing to identify Murray's remains. So far, Murray is the only positive ID.

Murray, originally from Lowell, Mass., was 21 at the time of his death. He was survived by his parents and three sisters, all of whom have since died. But several of Murray's cousins are still living, and they plan to give hima proper burial in Marshfield, Mass., this Saturday, with full military honors -- nearly 68 years late.

Nearly 75,000 Americans still remain missing, unrecovered or unidentified from World War II, the Pentagon said.
RVN 68-69  72-73

Fred Lohr

http://www.fredlohr.com