Name: Ralph Jim Chipman
Rank/Branch: O3/US Marine Corps
Unit: VMA 533, MAG 15, 1st Marine Air Wing
Date of Birth: 15 August 1943
Home City of Record: Orem UT
Date of Loss: 27 December 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 171500N 1064500E (XD985800)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: A6A
Other Personnel in Incident:
Ronald W. Forrester (missing)
Source:
Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 October 1990 from one or more of
the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews.
REMARKS:
DEAD/QUAN DOI NHAN DAN
SYNOPSIS:
The Grumman A6 Intruder is an all weather, low-altitude, carrier-based
attack plane. The A6A primarily flew close air support, all-weather and night
attacks on enemy troop concentrations, and night interdiction missions. Its
advanced navigation and attack system, known as DIANE (Digital Integrated Attack
navigation Equipment) allowed small precision targets, such as bridges, barracks
and fuel depots to be located and attacked in all weather conditions, day or
night. The planes were credited with some of the most difficult single-plane
strikes in the war, including the destruction of the Hai Duong bridge between
Hanoi and Haiphong by a single A6. Their missions were tough, but their crews
among the most talented and most courageous to serve the United States.
Capt. Ralph J. Chipman was the pilot of an Intruder assigned a mission over North Vietnam on December 27, 1972. His co-pilot on the flight was 1Lt. Ronald W. Forrester. The aircraft did not return from the mission, and last contact was made with the crew over the target area.
A subsequent article in Quan Doi Nhan Dan, a daily Vietnamese newspaper described an aircraft downed by the Vietnamese. Apparently the pilot was reported to be dead, and possibly the co-pilot as well. Although this article was thought to possibly relate to Chipman and Forrester, it was not definite enough for proof of death. Both men were classified Missing in Action. It is believed that the Vietnamese could account for them.
Forrester and Chipman are among nearly 2500 Americans who remained missing from the Vietnam war. Many experts, having seen the "several million" documents relating to Americans prisoner, missing or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia, believe that hundreds of these men are still alive in captivity today.
In our haste to leave Southeast Asia, we abandoned some of our best men. Surprisingly, in 1990, overtures by many U.S. government officials hint at normalization of relations with Vietnam, yet no agreements have been reached which would free those Americans still held in Southeast Asia. In our haste to return to Indochina will we again abandon our men?
Ronald W. Forrester graduated from Texas A & M in 1969. He was promoted to the rank of Captain during the period he was maintained missing.
