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RALSTON, FRANK DELZELL III

The type of Plane Frank was flying that fateful Night.

Name: Frank Delzell Ralston III

Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force

Unit: 43rd Tactical Fighter, Squadron (Satan's Angels)

Date of Birth: 02 March 1941

Home City of Record: Denver CO

Date of Loss: 14 May 1966

Country of Loss: North Vietnam

Loss Coordinates: 172900N 1062300E (XE504390)

Status (in 1973): Missing In Action

Category: 4

Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4C

Refno: 0338

Other Personnel In Incident: Donald L. King (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. Updated by the P.O.W. NETWORK 1998.

REMARKS: NO SUB INTEL INFO

SYNOPSIS: Donald King had been in the Air Force 13 years when he went to Vietnam to fly with "Satan's Angels" out of Ubon, Thailand. His 43rd Tactical Fighter Squadron was among the first fighter squadrons sent to Vietnam. His wife and four children were accustomed to his frequent absences, but eagerly awaited his return. King was regarded as a top pilot and had been invited to join the Air Force aerial performance team, the Thunderbirds. He was a former test pilot, and had learned Russian in a Naval intelligence school.

Frank Dalzell Ralston III had a promising career in the Air Force. A 1963 graduate of the Air Force Academy whom classmates called "Brank", Frank was well liked and excelled in athletics. When he shipped out to Vietnam and a young officer, he joined "Satan's Angels" fighter squadron.

On May 14, 1966 King was the wing commander and the pilot of an F4C aircraft sent on a night mission over North Vietnam. He and backseater Frank Ralston were about 10 miles behind another F4 Phantom when a flash of light streaked across the predawn sky and the aircraft vanished.

A garbled radio message from King's aircraft prompted one jet pilot in the formation to change course over the Gulf. Heading back, he spotted the intense light shooting 20 degrees above the horizon. King's plane, carrying a full load of bombs, was last tracked in the air 20 miles west of the coastal city of Dong Hoi North Vietnam.

King and Ralston are among nearly 2500 Americans who did not return from Southeast Asia at the end of the war. Some were known to have been taken prisoner. Most can be accounted for by the communist governments of the region.

The Vietnamese have continually raised the issue of accountability in the context of aid and/or diplomatic and trade relations, but the U.S. Government has been reluctant to negotiate on this basis, preferring instead to maintain a strict "humanitarian" level of discussion, which has resulted in the return of a few remains, but no American prisoners of war.

Our American soldiers go to war prepared to be wounded, taken prisoner, even prepared to die. They do not go prepared to be abandoned. If there is even ONE American alive, we must do everything possible to bring him home.

Donald L. King was promoted to the rank of Colonel and Frank D. Ralston III to the rank of Major during the period they were maintained Missing in Action.

Images at the Wall

On a beautiful and sunny day, a small boy reaches toward the Wall, scanning the endless list of names, yet, too young to comprehend it all.

His dad stares into the black granite... His thoughts turn to friends he misses. Then, the small boy on his shoulders leans over to plant two small kisses.

The Viet Nam vet sitting beneath a tree with that familiar "thousand yard stare," Remembers his friends who fought and died for a country that didn't seem to care.

One star-lit night, a mother visits... Tears in her eyes...a rose in her hand. She gently traces the name of her son, killed at eighteen, in that place, Viet Nam.

If the war-makers saw these images... If they'd just take a little time... Maybe they'd think twice before sending off young boys to die before their prime.

CeCe (Upson) Corvera

Ramona's POW/MIA Index

SSG.Batt || SSG. Puggi|| Captain Ralston|| SFC Jerry Shriver|| WO1 Milliner|| Captain Morgan Donahue|| Major O'Donnell||Desert Storm MIA or KIA Michael Scott Speicher||

Ramona's Interesting Pages

Code of Conduct|| Government Links|| E-mail's||Hero's || Letter to the President|| 1LT Sharon Ann Lane. She gave her all|| When I come Home.Letters from Bobby ( a must read!)|| A Letter from President Richard Nixon|| General Colin Powell's an american GI|| Tribute to the soldiers from Operation Restore Hope|| The Marine and the Princess|| "The Veterans" Miss America Heather Renee French

Ramona's Extra's

My Awards|| Freebies|| Poems|| Banners|| Webrings||

Please take some time and visit this Site.It will truly move you,and teach you the true meaning of love.

Letters Home from Vietnam
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