Text File

South Vietnam Earl E. Shark (1277)

On 12 September 1968, Sergeant Shark was serving as the point man for the 1st Squad, 3rd Platoon, C Company, 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division. As the platoon advanced up a hill approximately 6 kilometers northeast of the town of Loc Ninh, Song Be (formerly Binh Long) Province, his unit came under intense enemy fire. The radio operator with Sergeant Shark radioed that they had both been hit. The platoon leader and his radio operator crawled to within 5-10 meters of Sergeant Shark. They could see no movement,heard no noise, and saw no visible sign of life. As the contact continued, the Platoon leader through a hand grenade at an enemy soldier in a bunker in front of Sergeant Shark. The grenade fell short and exploded closer to Sergeant Shark than the enemy. The fragmentation from the platoon leader's grenade was close enough to Sergeant Shark to set off the smoke grenades attached to Sergeant Shark's web gear but Sergeant Shark still made no voluntary movement. Due to heavy enemy fire, the platoon leader and his radio operator were forced to withdraw without retrieving Sergeant Shark.

On September 15, 1968, the unit was able to reach the area where Sgt Shark was last seen. However, he could not be located by ground or air search.

Although seriously wounded, Sergeant Shark apparently was alive and survived for several days. His name and date of death appeared on the Died in Captivity list provided by the Provisional Revolutionary government of South Vietnam on January 27, 1973. Sergeant Shark's date of death was given as September 1968.

Intelligence reports that have been correlated to Sergeant Shark indicate that Sergeant Shark died of his wounds and complications following the amputation of one of his legs about five days after his capture. He apparently died at K101 Dispensary in Cambodia and was reportedly buried west of the hospital. His remains have not yet been recovered and repatriated.

Laos Leighton L. Paul Edgar F. Davis (1279)

On September 17, 1968, Paul and Davis were the crew in an RF-4C which took off from Udorn Air Base, Thailand on a single aircraft reconnaissance mission over Laos. Their aircraft was hit by hostile anti-aircraft fire in an area southeast of Tchepone, Savannakhet Province. Their aircraft began to break up and Paul, the pilot, ordered Davis to eject, then ejecting himself. The type of ejection system employed on the aircraft automatically ejected the navigator after the pilot's ejection.

Paul, the aircraft's pilot, ejected safely. He made contact with SAR forces and was rescued. There was no contact with Captain Davis and he was declared missing in action. A second electronic beeper heard at the time could not be pinpointed due to the overriding beeper signal from the pilot

Returning U.S. POWs has no information on Captain Davis's fate. In March 1979 he was declared killed in action, body not recovered, based on a presumptive finding of death.

In December 1984, the Joint Casualty Resolution Center staff in Thailand interviewed a Lao source who had been incarcerated at the Tchepone reeducation camp after 1975. The source reported wreckage of a U.S. jet aircraft in the area which was said to have been shot down in 1967. There were two crewmen who bailed out from the aircraft and one was rescued. People's Army of Vietnam forces killed the other airman whose body was buried in the area by local civilians. JCRC concluded this report possibly correlated to this loss incident.

North Vietnam Domenick A. Spinelli (1294)

On 30 September 1968, Lieutenant JG Larry J. VanRenselaar and Lieutenant Domenick A. Spinelli were the crew of an A-6A aircraft which departed the U.S.S Constellation in a flight of three aircraft. The flight was assigned to acquire and destroy moving targets just south of 19 degrees North Latitude over North Vietnam.

Two hostile surface to air missiles, one high and one law, were observed by other flight members to explode near Spinelli's aircraft. About 20 seconds later a third explosion was observed and it lit up the horizon. At this point the flight was approximately nine kilometers southwest of Phu Dien Chau, Nghe Tinh (Formerly Nghe An) Province.

No parachutes were sighted and no distress beepers were heard. All subsequent search and rescue efforts were futile. A Radio Hanoi broadcast on October 1, 1968, stated than an A-6 aircraft had been shot down over Nghe An Province. Lieutenant Spinelli's A-6A aircraft was the only one shot down on September 10, 1968, over Nghe 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 a POW. In the late 1970s, Tangeman was visited by Spinelli's next of kin. During that visit, he finally recalled why he recognized the name;both he and Lieutenant Spinelli had been at the same naval air training facility before going to Vietnam. Lieutenant Spinelli's family alleged the existence of a photo depicting Spinelli in captivity. The Defense Intelligence Agency has no knowledge of such a photo but did provide the family a photo of a POW, Major Gideon, shown riding in an ox cart. This photo is on sale at the military museum in Hanoi and may have been confused by family members with being a photograph of Lieutenant Spinelli.

Returning U.S. POWs were unable to provide any information on either crewman's eventual fate. After Operation Homecoming both were declared killed in action, body not recovered, based on a presumptive finding of death.

On July 31, 1989, Vietnam repatriated remains it identified as those of Lieutenant VanRenselaar. On June 22, 1990 the Armed Forces Identification Review Board approved the identification of these remains as Lieutenant VanRenselaar.

South Vietnam Dickie F. Finley (1308)

See Vessey 135 Discrepancy Cases for case summary.

South Vietnam Donald L. Harrison Steven N. Bezold (1314)

On October 29, 1968, Lieutenants Donald L. Harrison and Steven N. Bezold were flying in an O-1G observation aircraft in a flight of two aircraft. The aircraft was hit by antiaircraft fire and crashed in an area approximately 34 kilometers northwest of Quang Tri City and six kilometers northwest of Con Thien, Quang Tri Province. No parachute was seen and no electronic beacon signals were heard.

The next morning, search and rescue personnel located the crash site but received intense anti-aircraft file from the surrounding area. At one point, weak electronic beacon signals were heard, but could not be pinpointed. Search and rescue forced noted that the plane hit flat. The left wind was twisted back and up at an 90 degree angle. The right wing was ripped off of the fuselage near the tail section. Horizonal and vertical stabilizers were intact and the fuselage was intact. No bodies were observed in or near the wreckage. Anti-aircraft fire, brush, and trees precluded a closer look. However, the searchers noted that the wreckage had been moved and saw vehicle tracks leading from the aircraft.

Both flyers were declared missing in action. Returning U.S. POWs were unable to provide any information on their precise fate. After Operation Homecoming they were declared killed in action, body not recovered, based on a presumptive finding of death.

North Vietnam Bradley G. Cuthbert Mark J. Ruhling (1327)

See Vessey 135 Discrepancy Cases for case summary.

North Vietnam San D. Francisco Joseph C. Morrison (1329)

See Vessey 135 Discrepancy Cases for case summary.

Laos Russell D. Galbraith (1339)

On December 11, 1968, Captains Galbraith and Harlan J. Drewry were the crew of an RF-4C on a reconnaissance mission over Savannakhet Province. Captain Galbraith later described feeling a thump and losing control of the aircraft. Captain Drewry ejected safely and was rescued but reported he did not see Captain Galbraith exit the aircraft. The aircraft crashed into an area approximately 65 kilometers northwest of Tchepone.

Captain Drewry was declared missing in action. Returning U.S. POWs had no information on his precise fate. In August 1978 he was declared dead/body not recovered, based on a presumptive finding of death.

Laos Francis J. McGouldrick Thomas W. Dugan (1341)

John S. Albright, II Joseph P. Fanning Fred L. Clarke Morgan J. Donahue Samuel F. Walker, Jr. (1340)

On December 13, 1968, a C-123K (Case 1340) collided in mid-air with a B-57E (Case 1341). The aircraft wreckage crashed into an area approximately 47 kilometers northwest of the town of Tchepone, Savannakhet Province, three kilometers east of Route 411 and in the area of Ban Kok Nak. The C-123 pilot, First Lieutenant Thomas H. Turner, exited through the cockpit window after finding the co- pilot's seat empty and fire coming into the cockpit from the fuselage. He later reported that there had been an explosion in the aft section of the aircraft and the C-123K had gone out of control. After parachuting from the cockpit window, Lieutenant Turner noted that there was another parachute below his and he believed it might have belonged to a member of the two-man B-57E crew. Lieutenant Turner was rescued on December 13th and all other crewmen from the two aircrews were declared missing.

Returning U.S. POWs had no information on the fate of the two aircrews. After Operation Homecoming they were eventually declared killed, body not recovered, based on a presumptive finding of death.

From 1968 through 1971, the next of kin of Lieutenant Donahue tried unsuccessfully to obtain information about him from Lao communist officials. Reward notices were circulated in Thailand in the late 1970s which promised money and resettlement into the U.S. for information about Lieutenant Donahue. During 1980, information attributed to former Royal Lao Army Region II Commander, General Vang Pao, asserted that U.S. POWs had been moved from North Vietnam to Sam Neua, Laos, and then to the area of Kham Keut, Khammouane Province. These and other reports in a similar vein, eventually leading to assertions that Morgan Jefferson Donahue was still alive and simultaneously a prisoner in either Khammouane Province or Houa Phan Province, Laos and Binh Tri Thien Province, Vietnam, were determined by DIA to be fabrications.

In 1980 the DIA Director, Lieutenant General Eugene Tighe, initiated an effort which prevented the release of all POW/MIA intelligence reports received at that agency after August 1979. While due in part to a concern that the release of such reports might hazzard any U.S. POWs still alive in Southeast, this policy coincided with efforts by some next of kin to have POW/MIA reports released so they could be entered into military service casualty board case reviews underway, including that of Captain Donahue. The Defense Department agreed to permit DIA to act as both initial and appellate review authority over such reports, effectively denying their release. Lieutenant Donahue was declared killed in action, body not recovered, in February 1981.

However, these earliest accounts led by 1981 to either funding by the U.S. Army's Intelligence and Security Command and National League of Families senior officials for, or involvement by senior Defense Department officials in, covert cross border forays by elements of the so-called Lao resistance operating from Thailand into Laos and may also have involved the so-called Vietnamese resistance. Such reports of live Americans in Khammouane and elsewhere were determined by DIA by 1987 to have been the result of an active measures disinformation program by the state security apparatus of Laos and Vietnam which achieved various objectives, including manipulation of the POW/MIA issue. Such hostile intelligence efforts had directly targeted the Lao neutralist faction as a conduit for the disinformation. DIA determined it was the neutralist groups and others in Thailand who had been, and still continue to be, conduits for hostile intelligence managed disinformation which eventually reaches private POW/MIA hunters and next of kin.

In 1982, a source reported information about a wartime crash of a C-130 in the area of this loss incident. Human remains were reportedly recovered and buried during the war. In 1986 the wreckage was located and the tail number determined to be that of the C-123K (Case 1340). In March 1990, Lao officials reported that civilians had recovered human remains from a B-57/C-123 crash site located on a karst in the area of this loss incident.

Laos Michael Bouchard (1345)

On December 19, 1968, Lieutenant Commander Bouchard and Lieutenant Robert W. Colyar were the crew in an A-6A launched from the U.S.S. Constellation for a night visual bombing run in Laos and under the control of a forward air controller. Their aircraft received a direct hit from anti-aircraft fire while flying at an altitude of 7000 feet. An explosion and flash of fire swept the cockpit area and the aircraft crashed, several small explosions occurring on board prior to its impact in an area approximately 600 meters west of Route 92 and 55 kilometers southeast of Tchepone, Savannakhet Province.

Flares dropped in the area disclosed one good parachute and beepers were heard. However, Lieutenant Colyar's beeper signal overrode the second probable beeper signal. The last information from Commander Bouchard was that he was injured and had second degree burns. Contact was established with Lieutenant Colyar who was all right on the ground and was later rescued but did not know if Commander Bouchard had ejected.

The suspected crash site was surveyed in May 1990 and personal artifacts and aircraft parts were located. A witness described having seen skeletal remains at the sight some years ago. In September 1990 the aircraft parts were confirmed to have come from an A-6. A July 1991 crash site survey failed to locate any remains. However witnesses were located who described the crash, the aircraft braking in half with half of it falling into a river. One body was found at the time and reportedly buried. Although the survey led to a conclusion that they had located the wreckage of an A-6, it was not possible to determine if the crash site pertained to this incident or that of another aircraft lost in this same area.

During Operation Homecoming, a returnee, CW2 Miller, reported having learned through POW notes that Michael Boucher was a Navy Lieutenant at Hoa Lo Prison as late as March 1, 1973. This was the only such report with this name and there was no U.S. POW or MIA by that name. However, a U.S. Air Force analysis in 1978 asserted this correlated to Michael Bouchard being alive in Hoa Lo Prison on that date. A DIA review of the Air Force report concluded the Air Force incorrectly correlated the name Michael Boucher to Michael Bouchard when it correctly correlated to Lieutenant Jack M. Butcher who was at Hoa Prison from December 1972 until released in March 1973.

Laos Charles D. King (1348) Charles R. Brownlee (1347)

On December 24, 1968, Major Brownlee was the pilot of an F-105D, one in a flight of four on a strike mission near the Mu Gia Pass between Khammouane Province and North Vietnam. His aircraft was hit by hostile fire during a strike on a truck and Major Brownlee reported "fire and smoke in cockpit...bad..." followed by a garbled transmission. The SAR force described seeing "junk in the air" when Major Brownlee's aircraft apparently suffered an explosion at about the time he ejected from his aircraft. His parachute landed in trees within 200 meters of his aircraft's crash site in double canopy dense jungle and aircraft on the scene began receiving hostile ground fire. There was no radio contact with or beeper from Major Brownlee after his ejection.

On the morning of December 25th, rotor wash from a SAR helicopter attempting to recover Major Brownlee from the trees caused his parachute to dislodge and fall 70 feet to the ground. Paramedic Airman First Class King was lowered from a SAR helicopter and he reported back he'd found the pilot inert in the parachute. Airman King cut the pilot loose from his parachute harness and hooked his body to a cable which was intended to drag him through brush and under a fallen tree for a distance of over 20 feet to reach an open area from which to lift Major Brownlee's body from the crash site. With the body of Major Brownlee ready to be hoisted from the ground, Airman King reported receiving enemy fire, then radioed he had been hit by hostile fire and directed the SAR helicopter to pull up with enemy forces within 30 feet of him. While being hoisted up, the penetrator cable and hoist broke loose and Airman King and Major Brownlee fell ten feet to the ground below as the SAR aircraft was receiving hostile automatic weapons fire from the ground below. There was a two second emergency beeper ten minutes later but its precise location could not be fixed. Further efforts to locate both individuals were not successful.

On December 24th a Vietnam People's Army unit radioed it had shot down an aircraft and the pilot had bailed out. Ground forces later reported seeing the pilot bailing out of a reconnaissance aircraft.

In another report, a People's Army unit described a rescue attempt on December 25th in which a helicopter with someone on a ladder was also shot down and there was a report that an attempt would be made to capture the pilot with no indication if he'd been captured. These reports, associated with Khammouane Province, were placed in the MIAs files.

Both individuals were declared missing. Returning U.S. POWs were not aware of their precise fate. Several years after Operation Homecoming both were declared dead/body not recovered, based on a presumptive finding of death.

Laos Robert F. Coady (1363)

Mid-morning on January 18, 1967, Captain Coady was the pilot of an A-1H, the number two aircraft in a flight of four on a combat support mission approximately five miles south-southeast of Tchepone, Savannakhet Province. His aircraft made a shallow dive on a target, was hit by hostile fire during the dive, and crashed with wings level into a wooded hillside within ten meters of the source of the ground fire, exploding on impact. He was not observed to parachute from the aircraft and no beeper was heard. A SAR effort located no evidence of him.

In 1971, Captain Coady's sister viewed a film depicting U.S. POWs in North Vietnam during Christmas 1969. She also believed she'd seen his picture in a photo album the U.S. Navy had provided her. DIA has determined that all those in the 1969 film have been positively identified and Captain Coady is not in either the film or photos prepared of individuals depicted in the movie.

Upon his early release from prison in 1969, one U.S. POW reported having heard of a POW named either Bill Cody or Cote but never saw an individual with that name and could provide no other information about the individual. In 1978 the U.S. Air Force correlated this to Robert T. Coady but there is no basis for such a correlation and no other returnee from North Vietnam ever provided such a name. In July 1974 he was declared dead/body not recovered, based on a presumptive finding of death.

In July 1992 Captain Coady's crash site was investigated by a joint U.S./Vietnamese team and the team interviewed witnesses concerning the circumstances of the crash. One source described having recovered Coady's dog tag and other personal artifacts in 1990 while scavenging for metal at the crash site. During July 1992 personal artifacts and surface wreckage recovered permitted a tentative correlation of the site to Captain Coady's aircraft crash site. The recovered material also suggested Captain Coady did not exit his aircraft before it crashed.

Laos Russell K. Utley Daniel E. Singleton (1366)

On January 26, 1969, Major Utley and First Lieutenant Singleton were the crew in an F-4E, the lead aircraft in a flight of four on a strike mission over Savannakhet Province. At 0017 hours,there was an explosion on the ground during a strike on ground targets and it was evident that Major Utley's aircraft had crashed. There were no parachutes or beepers, and efforts to contact the crew by radio were unsuccessful. Both airmen were declared missing.

Shortly after the crash, a People's Army of Vietnam unit reported that an aircraft had been shot down on January 26th and a pilot captured. Later, a People's Army unit became more specific when it reported that it one of its elements had hit an F-4 on the night of the 25th. They found the pilot's collar (sic), the pilot was dead, and the aircraft had burned completely. Major Utley's loss incident was the only incident on January 26th and both People's Army of Vietnam reports appeared to describe the same incident. Returning U.S> POWs did not report the missing airmen in captivity.

After Operation Homecoming, they were declared dead/body not recovered.

Laos Larry J. Stevens (1383)

On February 14, 1969, Lieutenant JG Stevens was the pilot of an A- 4C on a night strike mission over Laos. His aircraft was hit by hostile anti-aircraft fire at an altitude of 10,000 feet. His wingman's aircraft was also damaged but he managed to fly his aircraft out over the coast, eject, and was rescued.

U.S. aircrews reported two explosions at the time Lieutenant Steven's aircraft was hit and a forwarded air controller observed his aircraft impact with no parachute observed and no beeper.

Returning U.S. POWs were unable to provide any information on the eventual fate of Lieutenant Stevens who was declared killed in action, body not recovered, based on a presumptive finding of death.

In 1991, information was provided to next of kin through private POW/MIA activist channels asserting that Lieutenant Stevens was alive and in Cambodia. A photograph allegedly showing Lieutenant Stevens with two other American MIAs, Lundy and Robertson, was produced together with opinions of a pathologist and next of kin that the three in the photograph were indeed the missing American servicemen. The photograph was later determined by DIA to be a hoax.

North Vietnam John M. Brucher (1388)

See Vessey Discrepancy Cases for case summary.

Laos Cristos C. Bogiages, Jr. (1397)

On March 2, 1969, Major Bogiages was the pilot of an F-105D, one in a flight of two on a strike mission over Laos. Enroute to the target area he was diverted to work with a forward air controller on another target. After dropping his bombs on storage buildings and wooden crates outside them in Xieng Khouang Province, Major Bogiages made strafing passes on the same target. Major Bogiages made a normal recovery from his second strafing pass but then entered into a steep right hand turn and crashed on a small ridge approximately one kilometers south of the target. The burning wreckage was widely spread over a 500 meter area and the aircraft's drag chute was located 600 feet from the wreckage. Those on the scene did not believe the pilot had survived the crash. Major Bogiages was not seen to eject prior to the crash and there was no beeper. The forward air controller was hit by hostile ground fire while flying over the area.

On October 27, 1969, a ground search party entered the site and recovered a piece of material and left boot but no remains or survival gear. The material showed evidence of being subjected to high temperature based on fused portions of nylon which was also cut in several places. The boot was cut in the back, all laces were gone and the boot tongue was cut full length by a sharp object. It was believed the items were removed from a badly injured aviator. The material was initially believed to be a portion of the pilot's G-suit but was later found to be a portion of a deployment bag.

Major Bogiages name was passed to North Vietnamese officials late 1970 and U.S. officials were told through a private activist group, COLIAFAM, that Major Bogiages had never been detained in Vietnam. He was initially listed as missing in action. After Operation Homecoming he was declared dead/body not recovered, based on a presumptive finding of death.

In November 1982 a hearsay report was received about a F-105 crash near Phone Savan in which the pilot was killed and buried nearby. In April 1986 another report was received about a June 1969 crash of an F-105. The Pathet Lao ordered local villagers to bury the badly burned body of an American who fell out of the aircraft before it crashed. In August 1988, a report was received about a May 1969 crash of an F-105, one of two bombing a target. The aircraft crashed while pulling off the target. One badly burned body was seen in the wreckage. In January 1989, additional hearsay information about a wartime crash in which two crewmen reportedly died. These reports might have pertained to one of several incidents and were placed in the files of each loss. In April 1991 a U.S. citizen faxed a list of MIA to JCRC which had been originated by a resident of Thailand. Major Bogiages name was on the list but the meaning of the list was unclear.

South Vietnam John T. McDonnell (1402)

See Vessey 135 Discrepancy Cases for case summary.

Laos Carter P. Luna (1405)

On March 10, 1969, Lieutenant Colonel Luna and Captain Aldis P. Rutyna were in one of a flight of two F-4D aircraft on a combat mission over Laos. Their aircraft was hit by hostile ground fire while over the Route 9112/9116 road junction. The JCRC currently carries them as lost over Savannakhet Province and the Defense Intelligence Agency carries them as lost over Khammouane Province.

Both crewmen ejected and landed safely. Both were in voice contact with search and rescue aircraft and reporting enemy ground fire close to their position. Communications was lost with Lieutenant Colonel Luna one hour later. The two crewmen landed on top of enemy forces and for the next two hours, Captain Rutyna served as a forward air controller calling in airstrikes on surrounding hostile forces. Captain Rutyna was rescued at that point, three hours after his shoot down.

Lieutenant Colonel Luna was not seen alive in the northern Vietnamese prison system. He was initially declared missing and in August 1975 was declared dead/body not recovered.

Laos David Dinan (1408)

On March 17, 1969, First Lieutenant Dinan was the pilot of an F- 105, one of two aircraft in a flight on a strike mission over Xieng Khouang Province in northern Laos. On his second staffing run over the target, Lieutenant Dinan radioed he believed he was hit and his cockpit was filling with smoke. He was able to eject from his aircraft and the crewman of another aircraft on the scene reported Lieutenant Dinan had waved to him from his parachute. A forward air controller observed his parachute enter the jungle and heard a beeper but was unable to establish either voice contact or a visual sighting of him once he had landed.

Approximately one hour later his parachute was located in tall trees. A pararescue specialist was lowered and reported Lieutenant Dinan was killed;the parachute had shredded when it went into the tall trees on a hillside slope and the pilot's body had been dismembered. Lieutenant Dinan's body could not be recovered due to darkness and the hazardous location of his landing area. In March 1969 Lieutenant Dinan was declared dead/body not recovered.

In May 1983, the Joint Casualty Resolution Center received a report about the 1969 crash of a U.S. aircraft in the area where Lieutenant Dinan was lost. The pilot was reportedly captured after landing. This report was placed in Lieutenant Dinan's file due to the coincidence of time and location in the report.

Laos Frederick W. Hess (1418)

On March 29, 1969, First Lieutenant Hess and Captain William J. Popendorf were the crew in an F-4D on an herbicidal spray mission in the Ban Laboy area of Khammouane Province. At an altitude of 200 feet and at a possible air speed of 500 knots there was an explosion in the left rear of the aircraft. Their aircraft went into a shallow climb and at 500-600 feet it began to roll to the left and then crashed in the area of Route 915. There were no chute or beepers. However, Captain Popendorf then radioed that he was alive on the ground with a broken arm and right leg. He was subsequently rescued.

Captain Popendorf reported that he heard Lieutenant Hess eject prior to his own ejection from the aircraft. Captain Popendorf's parachute was not fully deployed when he landed but had been snagged in a tree. Lieutenant Hess was declared missing in action.

In 1972 the Defense Attache Office in Vientiane, Laos, forwarded the results of the Exploitation Team (Project 5310-03-E) interrogation of a People's Army of Vietnam soldier describing the April or May 1970 shoot down of an F-4H aircraft over the Binh Tram 31 area of operation. There was a parachute and seat and in the aircraft's wreckage. This report was placed in Lieutenant Hess' file due to the similarity in loss location.

Returning U.S. POWs had no information on Lieutenant Hess' precise fate. In May 1979 he was declared killed in action, body not recovered, based on a presumptive finding of death.

In February 1984, the Joint Casualty Resolution Center in Thailand reported information from a private U.S. citizen in Thailand. The source asserted that the Lao "resistance" had recovered artifacts from Seno District, Savannakhet Province, including a skull and ring and associated this material with Lieutenant Hess.