Name: Keith Russell Heggen
Rank/Branch: O5/US Air Force
Unit: Not Reported
Date of Birth: 01 September 1931
Home City of Record: Renwick IA
Date of Loss: 21 December 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 210200N 1054500E (WJ779258)
Status (in 1973): Killed in Captivity
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: B52G
Other Personnel In Incident: Charles J. Bebus; Donovan Walters; Robert R. Lynn;
Edward Johnson (remains returned October 1988); Lynn R. R. Beens; James Y.
Nagahiro (both returned POWs)
REMARKS: 740313 REMS RETD
SYNOPSIS: Frustrated by problems in negotiating a peace settlement, and pressured by a Congress and public wanting an immediate end to American involvement in Vietnam, President Nixon ordered the most concentrated ait offensive of the war - known as Linebacker II - in December 1972. During the offensive, sometimes called the "Christmas bombings", 40,000 tons of bombs were dropped, primarily over the area between Hanoi and Haiphong. White House Press Secretary Ronald Ziegler said that the bombing would end only when all U.S. POWs were released and an internationally recognized cease-fire was in force.
The Christmas Bombings, despite press accounts to the contrary, were of the most precise the world had seen. Pilots involved in the immense series of strikes generally agree that the strikes against anti-aircraft and strategic targets was so successfull that the U.S., had it desired, "could have taken the entire country of Vietnam by inserting an average Boy Scout troop in Hanoi and marching them southward."
The B52 bomber saw heavy duty in Vietnam. From June 1965 to August 1973 no fewer than 126,615 B52 sorties were flown. Of these, 125,479 reached their targets, and 124,532 dropped their bombs. Six percent of these sorties were flown in North Vietnam, and 17 B52s were lost to hostile fire in North Vietnam. During the month of December 1972, 62 crewmembers of B52 aircraft were shot down and captured or went missing over North Vietnam. Of these 62, 33 men were released in 1973. The remains of 14 more have been returned over the years, and 15 are still missing. At least 10 those missing survived to eject safely. Where are they? Where have they been?
On December 21, 1972, a B52G bomber stationed on Guam was ordered to take part in the Christmas bombings. The crew of this B52 consisted of James Y. Nagahiro, pilot; Donovan K. Walters, co-pilot; Robert R. Lynn, electronic warfare officer; Charles J. Bebus, gunner; and crewmembers Lynn R. Beens; Keith R. Heggen and Edward H. Johnson.
The B52G was outfitted more or less as were the other B52 models, equipped with 50-callibre M-3 guns and around 60,000 poundd of bombload, but with the additional capacity to carry aerial mines.
LtCol. Nagahiro's aircraft successfully completed its mission, but was hit by a surface to air missile (SAM) in the tail section shortly after turning toward the safety of Thailand. Nagahiro gave the order for the crew to eject.
The fate of the crew is varied. Nagahiro, Beens and Heggen were captured, and Heggen died in captivity. Until his release, the U.S. did not know Nagahiro had been captured. After their release in 1973, Nagahiro and Beens were able to fill in further information on the missing crew members.
Nagahiro relates that he saw Donovan Walters eject from the plane and heard four others, Lynn, Bebus, Heggen and Beens, go out from behind him. Beens states that he saw Walter's identification card in a stack of cards on a desk at Hoa Lo (Hanoi Hilton) prison in Hanoi. Nagahiro saw Johnson's name written on a pad at the prison. Hegger was captured alive, but died in captivity.
Although the Vietnamese returned the remains of Keith Heggen in March 1974, they have consistently denied knowledge of any of the rest of the crew.
In October 1988, the Vietnamese "discovered" the remains of Bebus, Johnson, Lynn and Walters and returned them to U.S. control. For 16 years, they were political prisoners - alive or dead - of a communist nation.
Mounting evidence indicates that hundreds of Americans are still alive in captivity in Southeast Asia. The U.S. Government has regular "talks" with the Vietnamese and has negotiated the excavation of a crash site and the return of about 200 remains, but has failed to successfully negotiate for the return of those Americans still held captive.
If the U.S. had negotiated more aggressively, would Bebus, Johnson, Lynn and Walters come home dead? Or alive?
