Nine US Airmen Remains Return : Vietnam

Biak · Jun 30, 2010

Airmen Missing From Vietnam War Identified

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office announced today (June 10, 2010), that the remains of nine U.S. servicemen, missing in action from the Vietnam War, have been accounted-for and returned to their families for burial with full military honors.
Air Force Col. William H. Mason, Camden, Ark.; Lt. Col. Jerry L. Chambers, Muskogee, Okla.; Maj. William T. McPhail, Chattanooga, Tenn.; Maj. Thomas B. Mitchell, Littleton, Colo.; Chief Master Sgt. John Q. Adam, Bethel, Kan.; Chief Master Sgt. Calvin C. Glover, Steubenville, Ohio; Chief Master Sgt. Thomas E. Knebel, Midway, Ark.; Chief Master Sgt. Melvin D. Rash, Yorktown, Va.; and Master Sgt. Gary Pate, Brooks, Ga., were buried as a group today in Arlington National Cemetery. The individually identified remains of each airman were previously returned to their families for burial.
On May 22, 1968, these men were aboard a C-130A Hercules on an evening flare mission over northern Salavan Province, Laos. Fifteen minutes after the aircraft made a radio call, the crew of another U.S. aircraft observed a large ground fire near the last known location of Mason’s aircraft. Search and rescue attempts were not initiated due to heavy antiaircraft fire in the area.
Analysts from DPMO developed case leads with information spanning more than 40 years. Through interviews with eyewitnesses and research in the National Archives, several locations in Laos and South Vietnam were pinpointed as potential crash sites. Between 1989 and 2008, teams from Laos People’s Democratic Republic and the Vietnam, led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, pursued leads, interviewed villagers, and conducted 10 field investigations and four excavations in Quang Tri Province, Vietnam. They recovered aircraft wreckage, human remains, crew-related equipment and personal effects.
Scientists from JPAC and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory also used mitochondrial DNA – which matched that of the crewmembers’ families – as well as dental comparisons in the identification of the remains.
Since late 1973, the remains of 927 Americans killed in the Vietnam War have been accounted-for and returned to their families. With the accounting of these airmen, 1,719 service members still remain missing from the conflict.

Air Force Col. William H. Mason, Camden, Arkansas
born October 12th, 1924
Air Force Lt. Col. Jerry L. Chambers, Muskogee, Oklahoma
born October 12th, 1932
Air Force Maj. William T. McPhail, Chattanooga, Tennessee
born June 5th, 1939
Air Force Maj. Thomas B. Mitchell, Littleton, Colorado
born March 31st, 1941
Air Force Chief Master Sgt. John Q. Adam, Bethel, Kansas
born December 22nd, 1947
Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Calvin C. Glover, Steubenville, Ohio
born January 7th, 1938
Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Thomas E. Knebel, Midway, Arkansas
born June 11th, 1947
Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Melvin D. Rash, Yorktown, Virginia
born June 8th, 1946
Air Force Master Sgt. Gary Pate, Brooks, Georgia
born June 3rd, 1946

http://m.dailykos.com/stories/2010/6/14/875481/-.html

(As time allows I'll post each in their own thread)