Text File

Laos Joseph L. Chestnut (1666)

On October 13, 1970, Major Chestnut was the pilot of a T-28 propeller aircraft on an orientation flight which originated from Luang Prabang, the royal capital of Laos. The flight leader saw smoking coming from Major Chestnut's T-28 wings but there were no flames. His T-28 began a shallow straight ahead climb and then went over the crest of a hill and exploded on the other side of the crest. Major Chestnut was not seen to parachute from the aircraft and there was no beeper. He was declared missing.

On October 14, 1970, a ground search team entered the area of Major Chestnut's crash. They located the aircraft's wreckage and Major Chestnut's seat but there was no evidence of Major Chestnut. They searched the area again on October 23rd and located more wreckage, but there was still no evidence of Major Chestnut.

Returning U.S. POWs were unable to provide any information concerning Major Chestnut. In July 1978 he was declared dead/body not recovered, based on a presumptive finding of death.

In July 1990, a source provided information on a T-28 crash near Luang Prabang in 1971. The aircraft was said to have been shot down and the pilot buried. Another initially claimed he had witnessed the incident, later acknowledged his information came from what he'd learned as a member of the ground search party, and later introduced a source with hearsay information about the crash.

South Vietnam Douglas F. Strait (1668)

See Vessey 135 Discrepancy Cases for case summary.

North Vietnam David I. Wright William W. Bancroft, Jr. (1675)

On November 13, 1970, Lieutenant Bancroft and his pilot, Major David I. Wright, were on an aerial reconnaissance mission over Ha Tinh Province, North Vietnam. Their wingman reported antiaircraft fire in the area as Lieutenant Bancroft's aircraft made a low level pass. Their aircraft suddenly exploded while approximately 500 feet above the ground, crashing tail first into the ground, followed by an all consuming explosion. There were no chutes or beepers.

Lieutenant Bancroft and Major Wright were initially reported missing and their status changed to killed in action, body not recovered, prior to Operation Homecoming. Returning U.S. POWs did not report them alive with other U.S. POWs in the northern Vietnamese prison system.

Laos Owen G. Skinner Thomas Allen Duckett (1683)

On December 12, 1970, Skinner and Duckett departed Thailand in an 0-2 to provide forward air control support to a B-57 aircraft engaged in an air strike on trucks in an area nine kilometers southeast of Tchepone in Savannakhet Province, Laos. The aircraft did not return from its mission and its wreckage was located in the target area and approximately 500 meters south of Route 9. Both airmen were declared missing.

The crew of the B-57G was also downed during this mission but the crewmen were rescued. The crew of the B-57G reported it had sustained a mid-air collision with an 0-2. An Air Force inquiry found case 1683 to have been a hostile loss due to it being a high threat area and nothing substantive in the B-57G crew statements to confirm that a mid-air collision had occurred even though the B-57G crash side was near the O-2 crash site.

A search and rescue aircraft located the O-2 wreckage on December 13 and observed a parachute hanging from a tree near the crash site. An emergency beeper was also heard in the area on December 14. The area was characterized as full of hostile ground forces. The rescue aircraft made radio contact with someone but was unable to determine who or where.

Returning U.S. POWs were unable to confirm the crew survived into captivity. After Operation Homecoming, they were declared dead/body not recovered.

In September 1989 the area of the 0-2 crash site was surveyed by the Joint Casualty Resolution Center and there was no evidence of the wreckage of the aircraft. The area was described as a well established farming community.

Laos Albro L. Lundy, Jr. (1685)

On December 24, 1970, Major Lundy was the lead A-1E aircraft in a flight of two escorting a flight of three medical evacuation helicopters. The medevac Air America helicopters had made a pick up from the Ban Ban Valley in eastern Xieng Khouang Province. During the flight over Xieng Khouang Province, Major Lundy reported his engine was running rough, then reported his engine backfiring and he was ejecting. His seat rocket was seen to fire and there was an apparently normal parachute deployment. One Air America pilot reported someone was in the parachute when it first opened but that could not be confirmed by others. However, at an altitude of 1000 feet the parachute harness was found to be empty and the leg straps dangling with no one in the harness. A helicopter followed the parachute to the ground and confirmed it to be empty.

Major Lundy's aircraft exploded on impact and burned with its ordnance detonating. There was no radio, beeper, or beacon from him. Ground forces attempted to enter the crash site that day but were driven off by hostile fire in the area. Major Lundy was declared killed in action, body not recovered, in December 1970.

Over the past two years there have been over 20 reports asserting Major Lundy was alive and held at various locations in different countries to include Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and with no location specified. No hard evidence has surfaced that Major Lundy survived his downing and was alive after that point. A photograph allegedly depicting Major Lundy with two other purported POWs alive in Cambodia in 1990 was determined by DIA to be a hoax.

Laos Park G. Bunker (1686)

On December 30, 1970, Captain Bunker was the pilot of an O-1 aircraft on a visual reconnaissance mission over Xieng Khouang Province. His aircraft was hit by hostile ground fire and crashed.

Captain Bunker contacted his forward air controller and advised he was on the ground approximately five kilometers west of a lake and did not know the location of his observer. His last radio transmission was "I'm hit at least five times, for all practical purposes I am dead." Beeper signals continued for approximately three minutes after his last transmission before going silent.

Airborne search and rescue forces arrived and located a body face down approximately 10 meters from Captain Bunker's aircraft. It appeared to be the body of Captain Bunker and had suffered a head wound with the body riddled with wounds from the waist up. Heavy hostile ground fire drove off the SAR force. In December 1970 Captain Bunker was declared killed in action, body not recovered.

In 1972, the Army Attache Office's Exploitation Team (Project 5310- 03-E) reported information from a source about a December 1971 crash site in Xieng Khouang Province. The source reported a charred body and arm were at the crash site. This report was placed in Captain Bunker's file due to the proximity of his crash site to the crash site reported by the source. In 1975, the Exploitation Team forwarded information from a source describing wreckage and two skeletons in this same area. Another source described having been told by the Pathet Lao that one American and one Thai were killed. The remains were still lying on the ground in July 1974.

In 1982, the Joint Casualty Resolution Center forward information from sources about the crash of U.S. aircraft in Xieng Khouang Province during either 1968 or 1969. These reports were also placed in Captain Bunker's file due to the coincidence in crash site. The last report received in 1988 offered hearsay information about a shoot down in 1968 or 1969 in which an American and a Hmong had died and were buried nearby.

Over water Donald M. Cramer (1689)

On January 5, 1971, Chief Warrant Officer Cramer and Specialist Fourth Class Ronnie V. Rogers departed from the Hue/Phu Bai Air Field to conduct a test of CWO Cramer's AH-1G Cobra helicopter aircraft armament system. He had been cleared to test his weapons in a free fire zone south southeast of Fire Support Base Normandy. He was last reported in a coastal area of Thua Thien Province approximately 20 kilometers east of the air field. Flying weather at the time was judged to be poor and there was no radio communications with him after takeoff. He did not return from the weapon's system test and both crewmen were declared missing.

On January 8, 1971, the body of Specialist Rogers were located on the beach in the general area where the AH-1G was last known to be operating. An autopsy determined the cause of his death was due to drowning.

Returning U.S. POWs had no information about the fate of CW2 Cramer. In June 1973 he was declared dead/body not recovered, based on a presumptive finding of death.

South Vietnam John T. Strawn Rodney D. Osborne Harold L. Algaard Richard J. Hentz Michael W. Marker (1715)

On March 4, 1971, a JU-21A with a crew of five departed South Vietnam on an intelligence gathering mission in the area of the Demilitarized Zone separating North and South Vietnam. Contact was lost with the aircraft, it did not return from its mission, and the crew was initially declared missing. A search effort to locate the missing aircraft and crew failed to locate them along its known flight path and the aircrew was declared missing.

On March 4, 1971, a People's Army of Vietnam unit in the area of the Demilitarized Zone radioed it had launched one of its surface to air missiles and had shot down an unidentified aircraft it had been tracking. It also reported that the aircraft had crashed and the five crewmen on board were dead. U.S. intelligence analysis of the North Vietnamese reports about the aircraft's flight path and crash location indicated the aircraft crashed approximately two miles inside the DMZ in Quang Tri Province. Further analysis indicated the aircraft was shot down after the JU-21A's last radio transmission. Based on the flight path and circumstances of the North Vietnamese report, it was correlated to the loss of this air crew and its aircraft.

Following the loss, the Vietnam News Agency reported that a U.S. aircraft had been downed in Quang Binh Province killing many of the men on board. This report was believed also associated with this air loss. In addition, U.S. intelligence obtained a wire photo disseminated by the Vietnam News Agency showing aircraft wreckage in Quang Tri Province on March 4, 1971. U.S. analysis in conjunction with the aircraft's manufacturer determined the wreckage was of a U-21 and probably related to the wreckage of the missing flight. Unidentified notes in the files indicate this photograph may not have been provided to the next of kin because it wasn't asked for and because of indecision about how to declassify a 21 year old wirephoto. After the Vietnamese reports of their shoot down of an aircraft and the death of its crew, the U.S. Army declared the crew had been killed in action, body not recovered.

In late June and early July 1992, a joint U.S./Vietnamese team visited the area of the reported JU-21A crash site in Gio Linh District. Witnesses were interviewed who claimed to have visited the crash site during the war and reported seeing 4-5 remains at the site. The remains were reportedly placed in a nearby bomb crater and covered. Aircraft wreckage was located at the crash site as well as items of personal equipment. There were differences in first hand and hearsay accounts of the locations of the bodies but the sum of the information was that the individuals had died and their remains buried in the area. Joint Task Force Full Accounting has recommended the site for excavation.

Laos Randolph J. Ard Sheldon J. Burnett (1719)

On March 7, 1971, Warrant Officer Ard and Lieutenant Colonel Burnett were with two other U.S. soldiers on an H-58 ostensively on a transport mission over South Vietnam. The aircraft was hit by hostile machine gun fire while at an altitude of 250-300 feet and crashed three kilometers from Ban Houay San Airfield, Savannakhet Province, Laos. After action reports indicate the aircraft was attempting to recover U.S. wounded in Laos when it was hit by groundfire.

The two Army crew members who escaped the crash site reported that prior to leaving the site, Warrant Officer Ard had both legs broken, several bullet wounds and possibly a crushed hip. Lieutenant Colonel Burnett was bleeding from the head, neck, arms and was speaking incoherently. The site was taking incoming 155mm artillery fire, shrapnel from exploding rounds was hitting the aircraft after it crash landed, there was incoming rocket fire onto their position and People's Army of Vietnam forces were approaching their crashed aircraft.

On March 18, 1971, South Vietnamese Army forces recaptured the area and were unable to locate any sign of the two U.S. officers. They reported the entire area showed clear evidence of the extremely heavy fighting which had taken place in the area which was within the Operation Lamson 719 area of tactical operations. North Vietnamese prisoners later interviewed in South Vietnam reported sightings of U.S. POWs being escorted north along the Ho Chi Minh Trail but none could be correlated to these two missing officers.

Neither officer was ever reported alive in the northern Vietnamese prison system. Both individuals were reported missing and in May 1979 were declared dead/body not recovered.

South Vietnam Clive G. Jeffs (1723)

See Vessey 135 Discrepancy Cases for case summary.

Laos Barton S. Creed (1724)

On March 13, 1971, Lieutenant Creed was leading a flight of A-7E aircraft on a strike mission in Tchepone District of southern Savannakhet Province, Laos, along road segment 99B. Pulling out of a strafing run on a truck his aircraft was hit in the mid- section by hostile ground fire and Lieutenant Creed ejected. A forward air controller saw a parachute deploy and soon established radio contact with Lieutenant Creed on the ground from whom he learned Creed had a broken arm, broken leg and was losing consciousness. Creed last reported that "they are here" and his radio beeper went silent twenty seconds later. The FAC, receiving small arms fire from the ground, heard no further transmission from Lieutenant Creed. Four SAR attempts were unsuccessful and SAR personnel observed someone had moved Lieutenant Creed's parachute to a new location. U.S. forces were aware this was a common practice by hostile forces attempting to lure search and rescue forces into a trap.

Lieutenant Creed was initially reported missing and later declared dead/body not recovered. He was not seen alive in the northern Vietnamese prison system. One returning POW reported being shown the identity card of someone with a one syllable name which had "EE" in the name and which may have been the ID card of Lieutenant Creed.

Laos John M. Sparks Richard M. Garcia Frederick L. Cristman (1730)

On March 19, 1971, Chief Warrant Officer Cristman and his crew were in an armed helicopter on a mission to provide fire support during the pick up of South Vietnamese airborne troops at Fire Support Base Alpha in Savannakhet Province, Laos. Their helicopter was hit by heavy automatic weapons fire and was forced to make an emergency landing. One of the crewmen, Specialist 4th Class Langenour, was pushed out of the aircraft by Sp5 Garcia and he was able to reach a group of nearby South Vietnamese troops. He was told by one of the troops that the other crewmen had exited the aircraft and headed away from the front of it into the path of advancing North Vietnamese forces. Specialist Langenour later walked out of Laos with the South Vietnamese soldiers. U.S. aircrews flying overhead after the crash landing did not see the three missing airmen escape from the aircraft.

In September 1973 a People's Army of Vietnam defector reported his battalion engaged South Vietnamese Army forces in Laos conducting Operation Lamson 719. They captured an injured helicopter pilot who was taken to nearby field hospital B-7 where he later died. Other crewmen from the downed helicopter were found dead and buried. The defector identified a photograph of CW2 Christmas as resembling the individual captured alive by his battalion.

In March 1987 a private American POW hunter reported a live American in Laos. The background of the purported American correlates to a crewman from this incident.

None of the three crewmen from this incident were reported alive in the northern Vietnamese prison system. All were initially reported missing in action and in October 1978 were declared dead/body not recovered.

South Vietnam Manuel R. Puentes R D McDonnell Richard J. Rossano (1736)

On March 25, 1971, Private First Class Puentes, Staff Sergeant McDonell, and Private First Class Rossano were members of a twelve man patrol from the 23rd Infantry Division operating in Quang Tri Province. They had gone to check an area of hostile bunkers when they were ambushed. PFC Rossano was reportedly the first hit by an exploding grenade and he fell to the ground covered with blood. PFC Puentes was also wounded and when last seen was attempting to seek cover. Sergeant McDonell was apparently killed instantly when a grenade exploded in his hand.

Following the ambush the three men were not located and they were initially declared missing in action. In June 1971, Sergeant McDonell and PFC Rossano were declared killed in action, body not recovered. In August 1978, PFC Puentes was declared killed in action, body not recovered, based on a presumptive finding of death. Returning U.S. POWs had no information on their precise fate.

South Vietnam Isaako F. Malo James A. Champion (1742)

On April 23, 1971, a six man radio relay team was inserted into a landing zone in the area of the village of A Luoi in western Thua Thien Province. The team came under intense hostile ground fire and efforts were made to extract the team. Two helicopters were shot down by hostile ground fire during the extraction attempt. The helicopter crewmen and radio relay team members all came under extremely heavy hostile ground fire and became widely dispersed. On board one of the helicopters were members of L Company, 75th Ranger Battalion, 101st Airborne Division, including PFC Malo and PFC Champion.

PFC Malo was last seen by survivors on April 24th and was wounded that day after a close-in air strike by a U.S. Cobra helicopter which apparently wounded two of the survivors. PFC Champion was last seen on the morning of April 25th when he left to look for water. One of the survivors later heard small arms fire from the area where PFC Champion had first gone. A ground search of the area during April 25-30, 1971, failed to locate either of the missing soldiers. This included a psychological warfare operations aircraft which conducted broadcasts over the early during April 25- 28, calling on PFC's Malo and Champion to go to the landing zone for pick-up. Neither soldier came to the landing zone.

PFC Malo was captured by Vietnam People's Army forces and taken to North Vietnam. He was repatriated during Operation Homecoming in March 1973. During his debriefing he stated he never saw PFC Champion in captivity.

PFC Champion was declared missing in action at the time of his loss incident. In 1978 he was declared killed in action, body not recovered, based on a presumptive finding of death.

Laos Walter H. Sigafoos, III Jeffrey C. Lemon (1743)

On April 25, 1971, Captain Lemon and First Lieutenant Sigafoos were the crew in an F-4D on an operational mission over Saravan Province, Laos. Their escort marked a truck target for them and their aircraft went in to attack the target. Crew in another aircraft on the scene observed a large explosion of their apparent crash but due to darkness were unable to observe any parachutes. They flew over the area of the crash which was a large fire and several smaller ones with flames shooting several hundred feet into the sky and smoking reaching 8500 feet. A search of a 15 mile radius of their crash site failed to disclose any evidence of either beepers or survivors. Both airmen were declared missing in action.

After this loss incident, a North Vietnamese unit reported two aircraft may have been shot down, an OV-10 and an F-4. These shoot downs were believed to pertain to the Ban Karai Pass area in Khammouane Province which is well to the north of this loss incident. A pilot was reportedly captured. A report from an North Vietnamese Army unit on May 8, 1972, reported that 37mm anti- aircraft guns had fired on an F-4, the pilot had been shot at while coming down on a white parachute, and the pilot was dead. The F-4 portion of these two reports were placed in the intelligence files of those associated with this loss incident.

Early in 1972, a North Vietnamese Army soldier assigned to a People's Army of Vietnam logistical element in Saravan Province reported to a U.S. Army Attache Exploitation Team in Vientiane, Laos that a U.S. jet had been shot down near the village of Ban Bac in 1971. Two pilots on board the aircraft had been reportedly killed and People's Army of Vietnam soldiers said they recovered the watches from the two bodies. This report was believed to possibly correlate to this loss incident. U.S. POWs who returned during Operation Homecoming were unable to provide any information on the precise fate of this air crew. After Operation Homecoming the two crewmen were declared dead/body not recovered, based on a presumptive finding of death.

In December 1982, the Defense Intelligence Agency received information from an American citizen claiming to know about live U.S. POWs in Vietnam. The individual was interviewed by the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations. The individual stated he knew of 19 American POWs alive in Vietnam. He provided the names of seven of the 19, one of whom was Captain Jeffrey C. Lemon, and described a recent visit to Vietnam. U.S. investigators noted that the seven names provided were the last seven U.S. servicemen declared dead in 1982 and believed the names he provided was taken from publicly available information for reasons which were unclear.

The source provided no other POW/MIA information.

South Vietnam Lewis C. Walton Klaus Y. Bingham James M. Luttrell (1745)

On May 3, 1971, Team Asp, a long range reconnaissance patrol from the 5th Special Forces Group, was landed in Quang Nam Province, South Vietnam. The team included three American Staff Sergeants and five Vietnamese from the U.S. Army Vietnam Training Advisory Group. Fifteen minutes after landing the team keyed its transmitter once but, in keeping with established procedures, did not establish voice contact with friendly forces.

On May 5, 1971, two pilots saw mirror and panel signals and later observed two individuals in green fatigue uniforms move the panels.

Efforts to enter the area on May 7th were met by hostile fire and the search team found enemy bunkers just off the team's landing zone. Another rescue team landed in the area on May 14th but was unable to locate a members of the team.

One American POW returned alive during Operation Homecoming reported intercepting a radio broadcast that "Walton and Entrican" were captured. This comment was equated to a possible reference to Sergeant Walton. No returning POWs were able to provide any information about the presence of either individual in the northern Vietnamese prisons.

The three servicemen were initially declared missing and in the late 1970s were declared dead/body not recovered.

In August 1991 Joint Task Force Full Accounting team members interviewed witnesses in Vietnam in an attempt to learn the fate of this team. The Team was told about a firefight in the area of the team's last known location on approximately July 7, 1971 during which six "enemy" were reported killed. The Task Force included this information in the casualty files of those involved in this incident.

South Vietnam David P. Soyland (1747)

See Vessey 135 Discrepancy Cases for case summary.

South Vietnam Danny D. Entrican (1748)

See Vessey 135 Discrepancy Cases for case summary.

South Vietnam Madison A. Strohlein (1756)

See Vessey 135 Discrepancy Cases for case summary.

Laos Daniel W. Thomas Donald G. Carr (1758)

On July 6, 1971, First Lieutenant Thomas was the pilot of an OV-10 on a forward air control mission over Attopeu Province. On board with him was Captain Carr, deputy commander of the Military Assistance Command Studies and Observation Group element at Nakhon Phanom, Thailand, a passenger on the OV-10 for an orientation flight. They did not make radio contact at 1700 hours, did not return from their mission, and were declared missing.

Their flight coincided with an area of ground operations of Team Hoang Loi, a Vietnamese led cross-border operations team from MACSOG's base at Kontum, South Vietnam, which had been inserted into the J-9 target area in Laos and in the vicinity of enemy Base Area 613. The team was extracted from its operating area and returned safely at approximately 1630 hours. Upon its return it reported hearing an explosion or impact northeast of their location at about 1600 hours. This coincided with the time and general area where the OV-10 was last believed to be located. A search of the area failed to disclose any evidence of the aircraft or its crew.

Returning U.S. POWs were unable to provide any information on either Captain Carr or Lieutenant Thomas. After Operation Homecoming they were declared dead/body not recovered, based on a presumptive finding of death.

During 1991, photographs of a German national were correlated by various individuals to be Captain Donald Carr. Defense Department analysis of the information led to a conclusion that the photograph and report that Captain Carr was alive was a hoax.

South Vietnam John W. Kennedy (1768)

On August 16, 1971, Second Lieutenant Kennedy was the pilot of an O-2 light observation aircraft which took off from Chu Lai Air Base for a visual reconnaissance over Tien Phuoc District, Quang Tin Province. He never returned from his mission and was declared missing. A search and rescue effort failed to locate either him or his aircraft. The area over which Lieutenant Kennedy was flying was an area of known heavy enemy presence.

U.S. POWs who returned during Operation Homecoming had no information on his precise fate.

In July 1974, a U.S. Army officer formerly assigned to Advisory Team 16 in the area of Lieutenant Kennedy's disappearance wrote after the fact to report having received an intelligence report about the existence of a U.S. POW in Tien Phuoc District at the time Lieutenant Kennedy disappeared. He also recalled that the People's Army of Vietnam 31st Regiment was operating in the area where, and at the time, Lieutenant Kennedy was lost. In July 1978, Lieutenant Kennedy was declared dead/body not recovered, based on a presumptive finding of death.

In December 1989, U.S. intelligence received a report about an American POW named "Jack Kennedy" and "Bunkquee." The name "Bunkquee" appeared to be a corruption for the name "Bunkqueer," the name of a non-existent individual associated with fraudulent dog tag reporting emanating from Vietnam. This report was placed in Lieutenant Kennedy's file due to the last name correlation to the name "Jack Kennedy."

In April 1992, a joint U.S./Vietnamese team traveled to the area of a reported crash site in Tien Phuoc District where a light observation aircraft had reportedly landed in 1970 or 1971. The pilot reportedly died in the incident and his remains were buried nearby but had been dug up by private persons in November 1991. The team surveyed the crash site and a purported original burial site. The team was later told the remains had disappeared from the individual who possessed the recovered remains.

In September 1992, another joint team revisited the area and received hearsay information about a crash site in the area of Lieutenant Kennedy's loss. The aircraft pilot had reportedly died in the crash and his body had been recovered and buried.

Laos Leroy J. Cornwell Andrew Ivan, Jr. (1771)

On September 10, 1971, Captains Cornwell and Ivan were the crew of an F-4D which crashed in Xieng Khouang Province while on an operational mission in the Barrel Roll operating area. One parachute and probable F-4 aircraft wreckage was located in an area approximately 29 kilometers northeast of Phone Savan and four kilometers east of Route 7. Their wingman established communications with Captain Cornwell but neither crewman was recovered and both were declared missing in action.

Color photography of the crash site suggested the wreckage was burning over a widely spread area. A 37mm anti-aircraft gun position was within 300 meters of the crash site and weapons three positions fired on SAR forces.

Returning U.S. POWs had no information on the precise fate of the two crewmen. After Operation Homecoming both were declared killed in action, body not recovered, based on a presumptive finding of death.

Laos Scott W. McIntire (1782)

On December 10, 1971, Lieutenant Colonel McIntire and his aircraft commander, Major Robert E. Belli, were in one of two F-105G aircraft on a mission over the Mu Gia Pass in support of a B-52 strike. They expended two AGM-45 missiles against enemy Fan Song radar which had acquired their aircraft. Their aircraft was then hit by a surface to air missile, the explosion coming to the rear of LTC McIntire and of sufficient force that it rendered Major Belli, in front of LTC McIntire, initially unconscious. Major Belli ejected both himself and LTC McIntire. Major Belli was rescued by search and rescue aircraft but LTC McIntire could not be located. Major Belli's rescue, because of the extreme difficulty in rescuing someone from this high threat area, became a feature article in the Stars & Stripes military newspaper.

On December 11, 1971, a search and rescue helicopter located LTC McIntire handing limp in his parachute in a tall tree. A flight surgeon on the aircraft stated LTC McIntire appeared lifeless and stated his professional view that the conditions of weather and the position of the body after hanging suspended for 20 hours indicated LTC McIntire would have died of hypothermia within six hours and was probably dead on December 11th. Heavy groundfire drove off the SAR aircraft before LTC McIntire could be recovered.

LTC McIntire was not reported alive in the northern Vietnamese prison system and his remains have not been recovered. He was initially declared missing and in May 1972 was declared dead/body not recovered.

North Vietnam Lawrence G. Stolz Dale F. Koons (1789)

On December 26, 1971, Captain Stolz and First Lieutenant Koons departed Ubon Air Base, Thailand, the number three F-4D in a flight of four on a strike mission against the Thanh Hoa storage complex in the area of Thanh Hoa City, Thanh Hoa Province. The flight became separated in the target area and Captain Stolz aircraft was last seen pulling up into the overcast approximately 1-2 miles from their target. They did not rejoin the flight. An aerial search for the aircraft and its crew failed to locate them and the crew was declared missing.

On December 27, 1971, the Vietnam News Agency reported that an F-4 had been shot down over Thanh Hoa on December 27th. The article implied that both crewmen had become casualties and both their names and pictures of their burned identity cards. In November 1972, photographs of their identity cards appeared in the North Vietnamese published English language "Vietnam" magazine.

During the Operation Homecoming debriefing of repatriated POWs, two returnees described having seen their burned identity cards in a North Vietnamese magazine and read that Captain Stolz was dead. Several returnees also reported hearing the name "Koons" and saw the name "Koons, Dale" scratched into the wall at their POW camp. DIA investigation determined the source of this was an American civilian, 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 Vietnam described two graves he'd seen in February 1972 in Thanh Hoa Province. The pilots were reportedly shot down and died in December 1971. The graves were in the general area of this loss incident.

The remains of Dale F. Koons were repatriated by Vietnam in April 1988.