Name: Cecil J. Clack
Rank/Branch: E3/US Army
Unit: 1st Battalion, 35th Infantry, 4th Infantry Division
Date of Birth: 12 August 1947
Home City of Record: Chester SC
Date of Loss: 01 January 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 140031N 1073133E (YA728500)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel In Incident:
(none missing)
Source:
Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.
REMARKS:
SYNOPSIS:
On January 1, 1969, PFC Cecil Clack was taking part in a river
crossing operation with his unit when he let go of the safety line and
disappeared under the water about 200 meters downstream. Search efforts were
conducted, but Clack was never located. He was listed as presumed dead, body not
recovered.
Clack is one of nearly 60,000 men and women who lost their lives in Vietnam. Because his body was not recovered, he is listed along with the dead, and also along with the missing. Although Clack, it seems clear, perished in the river crossing, many of the missing were alive and in good health when they disappeared. Many were in radio contact with would-be rescuers and informed them that they were about to be captured. Others were photographed in captivity, only to vanish from the prison system.
Since the war ended in Vietnam, refugees have flooded the world, bringing with them stories of American soldiers still held prisoner in their homeland. Many authorities now believe that hundreds were left behind as living hostages.
Clack apparently did not survive the events of January 1, 1969. His family has accepted that he is dead. They no longer expect him to come home someday. But hundreds of families wait expectantly and in the special agony only uncertainty can bring. Hundreds of men wait in caves, cages and prisons. How much longer will we allow the abandonment of our best men? It's time we brought them home.
