Other Personnel in Incident:
Robert E. Brinckmann (remains returned)
SYNOPSIS:
The F105 Thunderchief ("Thud"), in its various versions, flew more missions
against North Vietnam than any other U.S. aircraft. It also suffered more
losses, partially due to its vulnerability, which was constantly under
revision. Between 1965 and 1971, the aircraft was equipped with armor plate,
a secondary flight control system, an improved pilot ejection seat, a more
precise navigation system, better blind bombing capability and ECM pods
for the wings. The F model carried a second crewman which made it well
suited for the role of suppressing North Vietnam's missile defenses.
Major Robert E. Brinckmann was an F105F Air Force pilot
assigned a combat mission over North Vietnam on November 4, 1966. His copilot
that day was Capt. Vincent A. Scungio. When the aircraft was about 60 miles
northeast of Hanoi in Ha Bac Province, North Vietnam, it was hit by enemy
fire and crashed. Scungio and Brinckmann were declared Missing In Action.
When 591 Americans were released from Vietnam in 1973,
Scungio and Brinckmann were not among them. Military officials were shocked
to learn that hundreds of Americans known or suspected to be prisoners
of war were not released.
In an attempt to determine those cases for which the
Vietnamese should be able to make an accounting, the Defense Intelligence
Agency expanded Brinckmann and Scungio's classification to include an enemy
knowledge ranking of 2. Category 2 indicates "suspect knowledge" and includes
personnel who may have been involved in loss incidents with individuals
reported in Category 1 (confirmed knowledge), or who were lost in areas
or under conditions that they may reasonably be expected to be known by
the enemy; who were connected with an incident which was discussed but
not identified by names in enemy news media; or identified (by elimination,
but not 100% positively) through analysis of all-source intelligence. Still,
the Vietnamese denied any knowledge of the two missing Americans.
Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 5000 reports have
been received by the U.S. Government regarding Americans missing, prisoner
or unaccounted for in Vietnam. Some, in the words of one State Department
official, have withstood the closest scrutiny possible, and cannot be disputed.
There is very strong reason to believe that Americans are still held captive
in Southeast Asia today.
In late July, 1989 remains were returned to the United
States by the Vietnamese which were subsequently identified as being those
of Robert E. Brinckmann. Brinckmann had been -- dead or alive -- a prisoner
of war for 23 years. The obvious question is how and when did he die? And,
of course, where is Vincent Scungio?
Nearly 2500 Americans did not return from the war in
Vietnam. Thousands of reports have been received indicating that some hundreds
remain alive in captivity. Vietnam and her communist allies can account
for most of them. Current "negotiations" between the U.S. and Vietnam have
yielded the remains of nearly 300 Americans. The families of these men
at last have the peace of knowing whether their loved one is alive or dead.
In the total view of the issue of the missing, however,
the return of remains signals no progress. In the early 1980's the very
credible Congressional testimony of a Vietnamese mortician indicated that
the Vietnamese are in possession of over 400 sets of remains. In 15 years,
they have returned barely half of them. More importantly, the same credible
witness, whose testimony is believed throughout Congress, stated that he
had seen live Americans held at the same location where the remains were
stored.
As long as even one American remains alive in captivity
in Southeast Asia, the only issue is that one living man. We must bring
them home before there are only remains to negotiate for.
Rank/Branch:
O3/US Air Force
Date of Birth:
27 October 1934
Home City of Record:
New Castle PA (family in AZ, CA, FL, MI, PA)
Loss Date:
04 November 1966
Country of Loss:
North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates:
212400N 1061100E
Status (in 1973):
Missing In Action
Category:
2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground:
F105F
No One Is Free When Others Are Oppressed
It is the Soldier, not the press, that has given
us
freedom of the press.
It is the Soldier, not the poet, who has given us
freedom of speech.
It is the Soldier, not the campus organizer, who
has given us
the freedom to demonstrate.
It is the Soldier, not the lawyer, who has given
us
the right to a fair trial.
It is the Soldier who salutes the flag,
serves under the flag,
and whose coffin is draped by the flag,
who allows the protester to burn the flag.
Until
They're All Home . . .
Then I'll Leave It Alone . . .
Big Lou's Other Adopted POW/MIAs
Victor
J. Apodaca, Jr.
(Native American Brother)
Edward
J. Rykoskey
Operation Just Cause & POW/MIA Web
Rings Here
Henry
M. Serex
Michael S.
Speicher
The Hurt of One is the Hurt of All . . .
The Honor of One is the Honor
of All . . .
When One American
is not worth the effort to be found,
then we as Americans
have lost our National Honor . . .
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Returned Alive
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Remains Returned
"All Biographical and loss information on POWs provided
by Operation Just Cause have been supplied by Chuck and Mary Schantag of
POWNET. Please check with POWNET
regularly for updates."
Questions Or Comments
Last Update 06/08/2000