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Crew of C-130A Hercules Downed on May 22, 1968 Finally at Rest In Arlington
By unitedweroll on Jun 11, 2010 | In Military News and Support
I was one of the lucky daughters. My Dad came home. But too many of my friends' Dads did not make their final trip home to family. Many of my school mates who signed up to serve immediately after high school graduation did not make it to their 19th or 20th birthdays. Each time I read about Heroes of Freedom finally coming home after so many years of being lost to combat, my heart feels heavy. Heavy with feelings for the family who has waited so many years. Heavy because we are not seeing the acknowledgements in our press and on our TV's that Heroes have returned home after giving the ultimate sacrifice for their families, your families and mine.
To Col William Mason and his 8 crew members who were buried in Arlington on June 10th, we offer a long overdue, Welcome Home! Only 1,719 more missing Heroes are left to bring home from the Viet Nam "conflict" (I thought it was a war). Thank You - You will NOT be forgotten!
Release No. 06-05-10
June 11, 2010
Airmen missing from Vietnam War identified
WASHINGTON (AFRNS) -- The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office announced June 8 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 June 10 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 Colonel Mason's aircraft. Search and rescue attempts were not initiated because of 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 Socialist Republic of 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 servicemembers still remain missing from the conflict.
For additional information on the Defense Department's mission to account for missing Americans, visit the DPMO Web site at www.dtic.mil/dpmo or call 703-699-1169.
