Chief Master Sgt. Thomas E. K Knebel : Vietnam

Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Thomas E. K Knebel

September 21, 2009
Crash site yields evidence of Mountain Home airman's fate

FRANK WALLIS
Bulletin Staff Writer
The discovery and excavation of a Vietnam-era USAF C-130 crash site in Laos has yielded the remains of five known crewmates of USAF Chief Master Sgt. Thomas E. Knebel of Mountain Home and some peace of mind for the fallen sergeant's mother and two sisters.
Sgt. Knebel's mother, Randi Knebel, 83, recently received two large bound volumes from the Department of Defense's Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command containing written and photographic documents that show and describe work at the crash site.
Although no human remains were found to positively identify Sgt. Knebel and three other crewmates believed among the dead, the crash site and a single marble taken from it are the clearest evidence yet of Sgt. Knebel's likely fate on May 22, 1968. That and the promise of a memorial service honoring the plane's crew in Washington, D.C., next year is enough to give Mrs. Knebel a sense of resolution regarding the son she has missed for more than 40 years.
"I never believed he was dead," Mrs. Knebel said. "I always expected him to walk in the door someday."
Sgt. Knebel's sister, Mona, was in the fifth grade in 1968 when an USAF car rolled up to the Knebel home and truck farm near Lakeview.
The news that Thomas was missing in action was difficult for the sergeant's father, the late Leo Knebel, who died in 1993.
"Mom was at work at the lab (Baxter Healthcare). I remember Dad asked them if they would come back and tell mother because he didn't think he could," Mona said.
That day began long, difficult days for the Knebels, days that turned into weeks and months and years with no word about Tommy.
"I saw mom's heart broken over and over again as POWs came home and Tommy wasn't with them," Mona said.
Sister Carol Eberhardt was a high school junior when news of her brother's MIA status came. She says she had been relatively certain for years that her brother was dead. Thursday she said she had hoped for clear evidence that her brother had been on the plane. The single marble was an important find, she said.
As a boy, Tommy Knebel enjoyed marbles. Mona said he played with marbles and carried them like many boys did in the 1950s and '60s, and his affinity for marbles continued as he became an airman.
Mona said she was still at an age to romp and play and ride on her big brother's back when he came home on leave from the Air Force. She recalled that the 20-year-old sergeant carried marbles in his pockets when he was home at leave for Christmas, 1967.
Losing a brother at such a young age to a war that Carol would not discuss on Thursday has created some lingering philosophical issues for the elder sister.
"When I look back on it, it seemed like Tommy was so old," Carol said. "He was 20."
"I wonder how many young people's lives were cut short; the brilliant young people we lost and what they might have become?" Carol asks. "He loved airplanes. He could have been a pilot. Maybe he could have landed that plane on the Hudson and saved all those passengers."
Since the conclusion of the excavation and subsequent news stories, Mona and her mother have received correspondence from strangers that has touched them in ways they did not anticipate.
Soon after the first news accounts of the investigation's findings were published, Mrs. Knebel received a letter from Liz Barone of Sherwood, the wife of a C-130 pilot.
"Thanks for your bravery, service and sacrifice of your son, Thomas," Barone wrote. "I will never begin to fully understand the depth of your loss. As a mother and wife of a C-130 pilot who has just returned from Afganistan, I hope and pray this in some way brings you peace."
In a letter to Mona, retired USAF Msgt. William Bradley of Little Rock writes:
"I have worn an MIA bracelet for a lot of years with your brother's name on it: CMS Thomas E. Knebel.
"I did not know your brother, but I was stationed in Okinawa at the time in a C-130 Hercules wing. My hope is this will let his family find closure. May God rest his soul.
"Please find enclosed the MIA bracelet.
"We know where he is now."
Signed: William G. Bradley.
Said Mona: "America is full of good people of kindred spirit. It means a lot."

Bio, Knebel, Thomas E.