Remains Found Of 6 U.S. Service Members Who Died In Vietnam War Plane Crash

[News_Editor]

Remains found of 6 U.S. service members who died in Vietnam War plane crash < br />

2012-07-06 22:40:55 GMT+7 (ICT)

WASHINGTON, D.C. (BNO NEWS) -- The remains of six U.S. service members who went missing when their plane disappeared in southern Laos during the Vietnam War in 1965 have been recovered, the U.S. Department of Defense announced on late Thursday. They will be buried together next week.

The six service members went missing on December 24, 1965, during a combat strike mission in southern Laos. The men were aboard a Douglas AC-47 Spooky aircraft which disappeared after a mayday signal was sent out, and two days of search-and-rescue operations were unsuccessful.

Nearly three decades later, in 1995, a joint U.S.-Laos team investigated a site in Savannakhet Province where local villagers had reported seeing a two-propeller aircraft crash in December 1965. A local man found aircraft wreckage similar to that of an AC-47D in a nearby field while farming, and led the team to that location. The team recovered small pieces of aircraft wreckage and recommended further investigative visits.

The investigation resumed in 1999 when a joint U.S.-Laos team returned to the site, and three additional visits took place in 2000 and 2001. The team conducted additional interviews with local villagers, recovered military equipment, and began an excavation. But because no human remains could be found, the excavation was eventually suspended.

In 2010, joint U.S.-Laos teams again visited the site and continued the excavation, which led to the recovery of human remains, personal items, and military equipment. Three additional excavations in 2011 recovered additional human remains and evidence, which were taken to the United States for further investigation.

Scientists from America's Joint Prisoners of War (POW)/Missing In Action (MIA) Command have since been able to identify the remains using dental records and circumstantial evidence. The six victims were identified as U.S. Air Force Col. Joseph Christiano of Rochester, N.Y.; Col. Derrell B. Jeffords of Florence, S.C.; Lt. Col. Dennis L. Eilers of Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Chief Master Sgt. William K. Colwell of Glen Cove, N.Y.; Chief Master Sgt. Arden K. Hassenger of Lebanon, Ore.; and Chief Master Sgt. Larry C. Thornton of Idaho Falls, Idaho.

The remains of the six men have now been returned to their families, military officials said on Thursday, but the cause of the crash is unlikely to ever be determined. The victims will be buried on Monday as a group in a single casket representing the entire crew at the Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia with full military honors.

Since late 1973, the remains of 988 Americans killed in the Vietnam War have been accounted-for and returned to their families. With the accounting of the six men, 1,658 Americans remain missing from the conflict, which ended in April 1975 and left more than 315,000 people killed.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2012-07-06

[GentlemanJim]

Wonderful for the families to be able to draw some closure to the terrible loss of a loved one simply MIA. Rest well fellas, your duty is done, home at last!

[MrMuddle]

Hopefully the families of the servicemen involved can now find some peace. There must be nothing worse than to have loved ones missing and unaccounted for.

Rest In Peace.

[BarnicaleBob]

Not enough can be said about the people who do this good work to recover our missing military members from the Vietnam war. I'm sure this will bring some comfort to the families of these men and wish them well.

I wonder now just what kind of a mission a C-47 flying over Laos would have been on in 1965 that would have a crew of so many high ranking officers and high ranking enlisted men. Sounds very interesting.

[geriatrickid]

In death, these servicemen may do more for peace than their initial warlike acts. The recovery missions allow former hostile nations to work together, to see the good in each other and to discover that each side has compassion. One aspect of these recovery missions that must impress the Laotions, Vietnamese and Cambodians, is that the USA does genuinely take the loss of its personnel seriously and is not the war mongors that some would have us believe. (Excluding Robert McNamara, ok.) I can only think of 2 countries that invest so much in recovering their war dead and POWs.

[GentlemanJim]

GK

Out of interest what is the other country? I can't think of an answer.

[coma]

Amen to that !

[Galong]

Dead is dead. 47 years later there are still living Vietnam vets who should be taken care of. The time and money spent doing this should be spent on them. And, yes, if this was one of my relatives I would have let go a long time ago and assumed they were dead.

[Credo]

Dead is dead, but missing is not the same as dead.

It is not quite so easy to let go if you don't know what your letting go of.

[brianP]

The gratitude and thanks of a Nation is long overdue for these fine Men, Soldiers.

[OZEMADE]

Not enough can be said about the people who do this good work to recover our missing military members from the Vietnam war. I'm sure this will bring some comfort to the families of these men and wish them well.

I wonder now just what kind of a mission a C-47 flying over Laos would have been on in 1965 that would have a crew of so many high ranking officers and high ranking enlisted men. Sounds very interesting.

An AC47 was used for ground troop support and originally it had two or three electric miniguns/gatlingguns mounted in the doors of the plane.

The crews were all specially trained and the weapons were loaded and serviced by the Gunnery Sergeants.

If you go to the link below you will get the full story and a photo of the plane.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_AC-47_Spooky

GentlemanJim asked what the other country was? To my knowledge it was Australia, they spent millions on finding all of their war dead and it was only last year or earlier this year that they returned the last Australian MIA from Vietnam. They still continue to spend millions on finding and returning service men and women to their families from all wars and conflicts.

[softgeorge]

GK

Out of interest what is the other country? I can't think of an answer.

Australia.

[rubl]

the conflict, which ended in April 1975 and left more than 315,000 people killed.

No offence meant, none at all. I only feel the need to mention that the number of 315,000 seems incorrect. Wiki mentions various numbers, but the lowest seems to get to 600,000 already.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_war

[OZEMADE]

the conflict, which ended in April 1975 and left more than 315,000 people killed.

No offence meant, none at all. I only feel the need to mention that the number of 315,000 seems incorrect. Wiki mentions various numbers, but the lowest seems to get to 600,000 already.

http://en.wikipedia....iki/Vietnam_war

Answer

U.S. 58,000 troops were killed

the North vietnamese army 1.1 million deaths

1,170,000 people were injured

Also, estimates for civilian deaths range from .5 to 2 million. There is difficulty in nailing down this number, because of several factors:

1. distinguishing between VC and Civilians was often difficult
   
2. poor census numbers, leading to inability to accurately count deaths
   
3. reluctance on the part of all parties to accurately count civilian deaths (propensity to over-inflate or under-count, depending on the entity)
   
4. debate over including executed civilians not specifically related to combat (significant number of both North and South Vietnamese were killed by government forces of both sides in politically-motivated actions not remotely related to actual combat).
   

Note, most death counts cover 1959 - 1975.

Also, all of the numbers above EXCLUDE any deaths in Laos and Cambodia. A ballpark number for the entire regional death toll is 5+ million.

Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_people_died_in_the_Vietnam_War#ixzz212lnfyks

The second link gives you a breakdown of the victims.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_War_casualties

[bendejo]

Lao doesn't make the international news very often. Seems kind of odd that this comes up a week after the US Secretary of State (aka Mrs Clinton) visited Vientiane.

[sunshine51]

Wonderful for the families to be able to draw some closure to the terrible loss of a loved one simply MIA. Rest well fellas, your duty is done, home at last!

I can't say it better myself being a Vietnam Vet.

For those who don't know...the AC-47 was also named "Puff the Magic Dragon"..

[GiHadOrange]

GK

Out of interest what is the other country? I can't think of an answer.

The list of countries that send their sons to fight wars on the other of the globe is pretty short.

[GiHadOrange]

the conflict, which ended in April 1975 and left more than 315,000 people killed.

No offence meant, none at all. I only feel the need to mention that the number of 315,000 seems incorrect. Wiki mentions various numbers, but the lowest seems to get to 600,000 already.

http://en.wikipedia....iki/Vietnam_war

Its because Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia are not on the list of that only 2 countries that care so much about their war dead.

See, they don't even count them probably.