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Missing In Action
04/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 85, USS Kitty Hawk
Born: January 06,1922
Home: Vermontville, MI
Missing Since: April 21,1966
Loss Coordinates: 184900N 1054200E (WF754824)
North Vietnam
Status: Missing In Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A6A
Refno: 0309
Other Personnel In Incident: Jack E. Keller (Missing)
On April 22,1966, a two-plane flight of A6A aircraft left the aircragt carrier USS Kittyhawk to strike a coastal target near the mouth of an inland waterway in North Vietnam. The target, an enemy supply area, was heavily defended by anti-aircraft artillary, automatic weapons and small arms.
During the flight, the wingman broke away to investigate a barge, and notified Cdr. Jack E. Keller, the pilot of the other A6A, that he was having an ordinance malfunction and was proceeding to Hon Mat Island, less than 15 miles away, so that he could dump the remainder of his bomblead safely. While the wingman was discharging his bombload, he heard a missile warning, but had no knowledge that a missile had been fired. Keller conducted a radio check with both his wingman and the E2Command and Control aircraft to confirm that the E2 held them on radar. The wingman advised Keller that he would hold clear of the target and wait for Keller to finish his bombing run. Keller acknowledged. Keller and his backseater, Ellis Austin, continued on their run.
That was the last anyone heard from Keller and Austin. The wingman later stated that he saw a bright flash as he was heading away from the beach which he assumed to be a bomb explosion. Both he and the E2 tried to contact Keller and his backseater, but were unsuccessful. The E2 had lost Keller from radar.
An aerial search was conducted immediately with no visual or radio signals received by any of the search aircraft. Both men were carried in MIA status until June 1974, whe their status was changed to killed under a presumptive finding of death.
Austin was a 25-year career Navy officer, and had only two weeks left before he was scheduled to return home to his wife and three children.
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Larry Edward Green
E4/US Marine Corps
Unit: HMM 363, Marine Air Group 16
Born: February 10,1947
Home: Mt. Morris, MI
Missing Since: March 26,1968
Loss Coordinates: 161408N 1080740E (AU930130)
South Vietnam/ Over Water
Status: Body Not Recovered(1973)
Category: 5
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: UH34D
Refno: 1103
Other Personnel In Incident: Glenn W. Mowrey; Frankie E. Allgood; Richard Evancho; Ernest C. Kerr (all missing)
The Sikorsky UH34D Seahorse was a vital aircraft in Vietnam, serving as transport of both personnel and materiel. The Seahorse and its pilots particularly distinguished themselves throught the spring of 1968 during one of the most crucial and bitterly contested struggles of the Vietnam War--the Tet Offensive.
On March 26, 1968, a UH34D was serving as a nedevac helicopter in South Vietnam. The crew consisted of the pilot and co-pilot, as well as CPL Larry E. Green, crew chief; and LCPL Ernest C. Kerr Jr., gunner. They were transported wounded Marines for medical treatment.
LTC Frankie E. Allgood had been wounded in the temple by shrapnel; LCPL Richard Evancho and CPL Glenn W. Mowrey were also injured. These three were being medevaced onboard the UH34D. The helicopter crossed a stretch of the South China Sea during adverse weather conditions. The helicopter crashed into the sea about three miles from its destination, Da Nang, South Vietnam.
Search teams were dispatched at once, and the pilot and co-pilot were rescued. Crew members Kerr and Green were not rescued, nor were the other occupants of the helicopter, including the badly wounded Frankie Allgood. All were presumed drowned and were classidied Killed, Body Not Recovered. Because the medevac was apparently not struck by hostile fire, the incident was deemed non-battle related.
For the men aboard the Seahorse lost on March 26,1968, death seems a certainty. For hundreds of other, however, simple answers are not possible.
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Michael John Wallace
E5/US Army
Unit: B Company, 228th Aviation Battalion (Assault Support Helicopter), 11th Aviation Group, 1st Cavalry Division
Born: November 21,1939
Home: Ann Arbor, MI
Missing Since: Aril 19,1968
Loss Coordinates: 161918N 1070923E (YD291087)
South Vietnam
Status: Missing In Action
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: CH47A
Refno: 1135
Other Personnel In Incident: Anthony F. Housh; (missing from CH47, Coordinates YD291087-LZ Tiger; pilot, co-pilot and gunner survived); Douglas R. Blodgett; William Dennis; Jesus Gonzales (missing from CH47A, coordinates YD290105; pilot and co-pilot survived); Arthur J. Lord; Charles W. Millard; Philip R. Shafer; Michael R. Werdenhoff (missing on CH54, coordinates YD255095-LZ Tiger)
The CH47A on which Douglas Blodgett was a crewman, William Dennis was flight engineer, and Jesus Gonzales was crewchief was resupplying ammunition at the LZ when it received small arms fire from the ground and crashed. The pilot and co-pilot were able to crawl away, but the rest of the crew was never found. They were declared Missing In Action.
The CH47 on which Anthony Housh was flight engineer and Michael Wallace was crewcheif was hit by 50 caibre and 37mm ground fire on its approach to the LZ. Housh and Wallace jumped from the aircraft from an altitude of 50-100 feet above the jungle canopy. The others were rescued. No trace of Housh and Wallace was ever found. They were declared Missing In Action.
The CH54 "Flying Crane" on which Arthur Lord was aircraft commander, Charles Millard pilot, Arthur J. Lord co-pilot, Michael Werdehoff flight engineer, and Philip Shafer crewchief was carrying a bulldozer into the recently resecurd LZ Tiger when the aircraft was hit and crashed. All the crew were classified Missing In Action.
Through searches for the 3 helicopters were not immediately possible because of the enemy situation. A refugee later reported that he had found the wreckage of two U.S. helicopters, one with 3 sets of skeletal remains, in Quang Tri Province. The U.A. Army believe this could correlate with any of the three helicopters lost on April 19,1968, but no firm evidence has been secured that would reveal the fate of the nine missing servicemen.
Some 250,000 interviews and "million of document" have been analyzed relating to Americans who may still be alive, captive, in Southeast Asia. Many experts believe there are hundreds of men still alive, waiting for their country to rescue them. Whether any of the nine missing from near LZ Tiger is among them is unknown, but it is clearly past time for us to bring our men home.
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U.S. Airforce E/5
Unit:
Born: June 29,1943
Home: Augusta, MI
Missing Since: November 27,1968
Loss Coordinates: 134415N 1072940E
Cambodia
Status: Killed In Action/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1F #7942
Refno: 1332
Other Personnel in Incident: Earl Gurnesey (releasee)
During the existence of JCRC, the hostile threat in the area precluded any visits to or ground inspections of the site involved in this case. SSGT Stuifbergen's name and identifying Data were turned over to the Four-pary joint military team with a request for any information available. No response was fourthcoming. SSGT Stuifbergen is currently carried in the presumptive status of Dead, Body Not Revovered.
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Dennis Wayne "Denny" Hammond
E4/US Marine Corps
Unit: 2D, CAG III, MAF
Born April 26,1946
Home: Detroit, MI
Missing Since: February 8,1968
Loss Coordinates: 155900N 1081200E (BT023703)
South Vietnam
Status: Prisoner/Killed in Captivity
Category: 1
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Refno: 1042
Other personnel in Incident: Joesph S. Azwtocki (remains returned August 14,1985)
In addition to the primitave lefestyles imposed ton these men, thir Viet Cong guards sould be particularly brutal in their treatment. For any minor infraction, including conversation with other POWs, the Americans were psychologically and physically tortured. American POWs brought back stories of having been buried; held for days in a cage with no protection from insects and the environment; having had water and food withheld; being shackled and beaten. The effects of starvation and torture frequently resulted in hallucinations and extreme disorientation. Men were reduced to animals, relying on the basic instinct of survival as their guede. After months in this psychological condition, many POWs, sucky to survive, discovered that they were infinitely better treated if they became docile and helpful prisoners. Unlike in the North, the POWs in the south did not as naturally assume a military order among themselves-perhaps because the preponderance of POWs in the North were officers as opposed to a larger community of enlisted men in the south-and frequently, there was no strong leader to encourage resistance and to bring the comfort of order to a chaotic existance.
Dennis Wayne "Denny" Hammond and Joseph S Zawtocki were Marines who were part of a pacification team when captured during the Tet offensive on February 8,1968. Denny was a tall, lean, good-looking man thought to be part American Indian. He attemped escape with the other POWs in the spring of 1968 and was shot in the let by Montagnards in a nearby village Denny had beaten a guard to escape. Part of the "duties" of those POWs healthy enough was to harvest oranges in nearby Montagnard orchards. The POWs were happy to do this because it ment badly needed exercise and the opportunity for additional food. Daly was once accused by guards of stealing oranges that Hammond had stolen. It was on one of thse workdays that the POWs effected their ill-fated escpe. After the escape attempt and recaptured, Sherman remained relatively healthy for a time, but in early March,1970, died. He was buried near the camp and his grave marked by a bamboo cross. (Hammond died on 7 or 8th of March, depending on the source.)
Joe Zawtocki was a stocky, powerful, fair-haired man of Polish descent. He and Grawood formed a close friendship and exchanged rings. Each promised the other that if released alone, they would contact the other's family. Joe died on December 24,1968 of starvation and was buried near the POW camp. Davis, a returnee, says that Garwwd lost Joe's ring. Garwood states that, upon his return, he gave Joe's ring to the Defense Intelligence Agency. Several years later, he learned that DIA had never returned the ring to Joe's family. Joe Zawtocki's remains were returned to the U.S. on August 15,1985.
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Milton James Vescelius, Jr.
04/US Navy
Unit:
Born: November 16,1934
Home: Milford, MI
Missing Since: September 21,1967
Loss Coordinates: 205600N 1064300E (XJ784155)
North Vietnam
Status: Prisoner Of War
Category: 1
Aircraft/Veichle/Ground: RF8G
The most frequently used fighter versions of the Crusader in Vietnam were the C, D, and E models although the H and J were also used. The Charlie carried only sidwinders on fuselag racks, and were assigned such missions as CAP (Combat Air Patrol), flying at higher altitudes. The Echo model had a heavier reinforced wing able to carry extra Sidewinders or bombs, and were used to attack ground targets, giving it increased vulnerability. The Echo version launched with less fuel, to accomodate the larger bomb store, and frequently arrived back at ship low on fuel. The RF-A models were equipped for photo reconnaissance. The RF-G were also photographic versions, but with additional cameras and navigational equipment.
The combat attrition rate of the Crusader w3as comparable to similar fighters. Between 1964 to 1972, eighty-three Crusaders were either lost or destroyed by enemy fire. Another 109 required major rebuilding. 145 Crusaders pilots were recovered; 57 were not. Twenty of these pilots were captured and released. The other 43 remained missing at the end of the war. In addition, there were 16 pilots who went down on photographic versions of the aircraft. Of these 16, seven were captured (six were released, one died in captivity).
Lt. Cdr. Milton J. Vescelius was the pilot of an RF8A on a combat mission over North Vietnam on September 21, 1967. As he was about 5 miles west-southwest of the city of Quang Yen, and near the borders of Thai Binh and Quang Ninh Provinces, his aircraft was hit by enemy fire and crashed. Vescelius was seen to eject, and other pilots in the area reported that when he reached the ground he was surrounded by Vietnamese. The following day, a Radio Hanoi broadcast described the incident and stated that the pilot had been captured. The U.S. classidied Milton Vescelius as a Prisoner Of War.
For the next 6 years, Vescelius' family waited for the war to end. In 1973, when 591 Americans were released from POW camps in Vietnam, Vescelius was not among them. The Vietnamese denied any knowledge of him.
Then in August 1985, the Vietnamese "discovered" the remains of Milton Vescelius and returned them to U.S. control. For 28 years, he had been a Prisoner Of War--alive or dead. The U.S. gratefully accepted the "gift" of the remains of Milton Vescelius, and others which should have been returned decades ago. We allowed the Vietnamese to politically choose the moment it complied with that section of the agreements which ended American involvement in the war in Vietnam.
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Home: Cedar Falls, IA
Born: June 9, 1929
Caucasian
Married
U.S. Airforce
Col.
Serial Number: 721104739
Pomponent: Regular
Pay grade: 06
MOS: 1115B
Start of Tour: November 2, 1962
Casualty Type: (A3) Hostile, died while missing
Reason: Air loss-Crashed on land (Pilot-Fixed wing aircraft)
Laos
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The VietNam Veterans' Memorial Wall Page
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