Name: Gary Bernard Scull
Rank/Branch: O1/US Army
Unit: Advance Team 3, MACV
Date of Birth: 26 September 1940 (Washington DC)
Home City of Record: Harlan IA
Date of Loss: 12 March 1970
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 164656N 1065415E (YD029563)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)
REMARKS:
SYNOPSIS: On March 12, 1970 2Lt. Gary B. Scull was serving as assistant battalion advisor to the ARVN 2nd Battalion, 2nd Regiment. On March 11, 2Lt. Scull had been assigned to an ARVN outpost which was responsible for guarding the Khe Gio Bridge south of Khe Sanh nar the Laos border. The outpost was protected by 1 U.S. manned M42 self-propelled anti-aircraft vehicles.
At about 0125 hours, the outpost came under enemy attack with Scull's bunker being hit and catching fire. After the attack started, no one saw Scull, although an ARVN officer and one of the U.S. crewmen attempted to locate him on separate occasions. At 0415 hours, the surviving U.S. soldiers evacuated the outpost.
At 0700 hours, an ARVN company with U.S. advisors retook the outpost and made a search of the area for survivors and remains, but no sign of Scull was found.
In December 1974, a NVA rallier reported that in June 1971 he saw a U.S. POW in the vicinity of the outpost. The rallier's description of the POW and the circumstances of capture of the POW match the incident involving Scull and the attack on the outpost.
Although intelligence analysts believe this report "matches" Scull's loss information, he is not classified as a Prisoner of War, but as Missing In Action.
Since 1975, nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing, prisoner or unaccounted for in Vietnam have reached U.S. authorities. Based on the information in these reports, most experts believe that Americans are still alive today, held against their will in Indochina.
Scull's fate remains unclear. If he was captured that day, he could be alive still, wondering why his country has abandoned him.
