Remains Identified and Returned
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Remains Identified and Returned
The remains of six American servicemen previously unaccounted-for from
the war in Southeast Asia have been identified and are being returned
to their families for burial in the United States.
They are identified as Air Force Capt. Dean A. Wadsworth, Clarendon,
Texas; Marine SSgt. Harold E. Reid, Salt Lake City, Utah; Navy Lt.
David L. Hodges, Chevy Chase, Md.; Air Force Lt. Col. Lewis M.
Robinson, Saginaw, Mich.; Air Force Capt. Douglas K. Martin, Tyler,
Texas; and Air Force Capt. Samuel L. James, Chattanooga, Tenn.
On Oct. 8, 1963, Wadsworth and his South Vietnamese crewman were
flying their T-28B Trojan on a combat support mission approximately 50
miles southwest of Da Nang, South Vietnam. As he completed his bombing
run over the target, his aircraft broke apart in mid air, crashed and
exploded, as reported by another pilot on the mission. A massive
search and rescue operation was initiated that day by two Marine
helicopters but they disappeared during the mission. At dawn on the
following day, Marine helicopters airlifted two companies of South
Vietnamese infantrymen to the area of the downed aircraft. As the
helicopters landed, enemy troops fired on them, wounding three Marine
crewmen and killing a Vietnamese soldier.
Two T-28s, B-26s and a South Vietnamese A-1 aircraft responded by
strafing enemy positions. An American L-19 light observation aircraft
directing the strike was hit, the Vietnamese observer was wounded, and
the aircraft made a forced landing. Meanwhile, the Vietnamese ground
troops found both Marine helicopters that had disappeared on the first
day. Ten bodies were recovered, but two remain missing in action to
this day. In the days during the search and rescue operations, 207
missions were flown, three aircraft were lost and four others damaged.
Fifteen South Vietnamese soldiers were killed and seven were wounded.
In late 1993, a Vietnamese local turned over remains he said were
recovered near the crash site. In May of the following year, a joint
U.S./Vietnamese team, led by the Joint Task Force-Full Accounting,
visited the area of the crash, interviewed villagers and obtained some
aircraft debris and pilot-related equipment. In September, another
joint team examined the crash site and found more debris, but no
remains. Then in May 1995, another team excavated the site where they
found remains, as well as two identification tags of Wadsworth.
On Sept. 13, 1967, Reid completed his tour guarding an observation
post near a river in Quang Nam Province, South Vietnam. Before dawn,
he crossed the bridge to visit a friend on the south side of the
river. He was never seen again.
A joint U.S./Vietnamese team in August 1993 interviewed local
informants who claimed to have buried an American Marine who had been
shot by the Vietcong near the river. The informants stated that the
body had been moved and re-buried at another location, but the team
could not locate it. In September 1995, another team interviewed other
informants, but obtained little information.
Then in April 1996, a third team excavated the reported burial site
about 1,000 meters from the southern end of the bridge where they
found remains as well as material evidence and personal equipment.
On Oct. 7, 1967, Hodges was leading a strike mission near Hanoi, North
Vietnam when his A-4E Skyhawk was struck by an enemy surface-to-air
missile. His wingman reported receiving a radio transmission from the
lieutenant that his engine had flamed out. As the wingman watched,
Hodges' burning aircraft rolled to the right, entered a steep dive,
and crashed. No parachute was sighted and no emergency beeper signals
were heard. Because of enemy control of the area, there was no search
and rescue mission mounted.
Acting on information obtained from Vietnamese wartime documents, a
joint U.S./Vietnamese team interviewed villagers in July 1995 who
claimed to have visited the site shortly after the crash and buried
the pilot. But the crash crater had been filled with dirt to allow
farming, so the team found no evidence of a crash. But the following
April, another team mounted an excavation at the site where they did
recover remains, a wristwatch fragment, pilot-related items and
aircraft wreckage. Later, in September 1996, a third team continued
the excavation and found additional remains among the wreckage.
Robinson was flying his A-1E Skyraider on a close air support mission
over Saravane Province, Laos, on June 4, 1967, when he was struck by
enemy ground fire. His aircraft pitched up abruptly, struck the wing
of another aircraft, went into an inverted spin and crashed amid an
explosion. None of the other pilots in the flight reported seeing a
parachute nor hearing emergency beeper signals. Hostile threats in the
area prevented air or ground searches of the crash site.
In early 1988, representatives of the Laotian government turned over
remains to the U. S. Joint Casualty Resolution Center, the unit
leading joint recovery operations in Southeast Asia at the time. A
joint U.S./Lao team traveled to the area of the crash site in November
1993, interviewed villagers, surveyed the area and recovered skeletal
fragments, aircraft wreckage and pilot-related equipment. Then in
January 1998, a second joint team excavated the site and recovered
more remains and personal equipment.
Martin and James were flying a forward air control mission over
Cambodia on April 18, 1973, when they descended below a 6,000-foot
layer of haze in their F-4E Phantom. They radioed they had the target
in sight, but their wingman was unable to maintain visual contact. He
asked Martin and James to give him an automatic direction-finder
signal but there was no response. On several passes over the target,
the wingman noted fires and explosions near the target area. There
were no parachutes sighted, nor emergency beeper signals. Enemy
activity in the area prevented a ground search, but aerial
reconnaissance the following day noted aircraft debris at the site.
In 1993, 1995 and 1997, three joint U.S./Cambodian teams developed
leads through interviews with local villagers and surveys of the crash
site. The informants noted that the crash site had been heavily
scavenged and that remains had been present at one time. Then in
January 1998, a joint team excavated the site where they found remains
amid numerous pieces of aircraft wreckage.
Anthropological analysis of the remains and other evidence by the U.S.
Army Central Identification Laboratory, Hawaii confirmed the
identification of all six of these servicemen. With the accounting of
these six, there are now 2,063 Americans unaccounted-for from the
Vietnam War. Since the release of American POWs in 1973, 520 MIAs from
Southeast Asia have been accounted-for and returned to their families
for burial with full military honors.
The U.S. government welcomes and appreciates the cooperation of the
governments of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, the Lao People's
Democratic Republic, and the Kingdom of Cambodia that resulted in the
accounting of these servicemen. We hope that such cooperation will
bring increased results in the future. Achieving the fullest possible
accounting for these Americans is of the highest national priority.
Edward Gentry, Correspondent
POW/MIA Coordinator
National POW/MIA Stamp Email Icon Campaign
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Operation Close Encounters
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