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February 15, 2006
Until They All Come Home ~ 4 MIA's from Vietnam War Are Coming Home
The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of four U.S. servicemen, missing in action since the Vietnam War, have been identified. They will be returned to their families for burial with full military honors.
Maj. Jack L. Barker
MAJ - O4 - Army - Reserve
101st Airborne Division
31 year old Married, Caucasian, Male
Born on Mar 22, 1939
From WAYCROSS, GEORGIA
His tour of duty began on Mar 20, 1971
Casualty was on Mar 20, 1971
LAOS
Hostile, died while missing
HELICOPTER - PILOT
AIR LOSS, CRASH ON LAND
Body was not recovered
Religion
BAPTIST
Capt. John F. Dugan
CAPT - O3 - Army - Reserve
101st Airborne Division
23 year old Single, Caucasian, Male
Born on Nov 10, 1947
From ROSELLE, NEW JERSEY
His tour of duty began on Mar 20, 1971
Casualty was on Mar 20, 1971
LAOS
Hostile, died while missing
HELICOPTER - CREW
AIR LOSS, CRASH ON LAND
Body was not recovered
Religion
ROMAN CATHOLIC
Sgt. William E. Dillender
SGT - E5 - Army - Regular
19 year old Single, Caucasian, Male
Born on Oct 06, 1951
From NAPLES, FLORIDA
His tour of duty began on Mar 20, 1971
Casualty was on Mar 20, 1971
LAOS
Hostile, died while missing
HELICOPTER - CREW
AIR LOSS, CRASH ON LAND
Body was not recovered
Religion
BAPTIST
Pfc. John J. Chubb
PFC - E3 - Army - Regular
101st Airborne Division
20 year old Single, Caucasian, Male
Born on Dec 09, 1950
From GARDENA, CALIFORNIA
His tour of duty began on Mar 20, 1971
Casualty was on Mar 20, 1971
LAOS
Hostile, died while missing
HELICOPTER - CREW
AIR LOSS, CRASH ON LAND
Body was not recovered
On March 20, 1971, Barker and Dugan were piloting a UH-1H Huey helicopter with Dillender and Chubb on board. The aircraft was participating in a troop extraction mission in the Savannakhet Province of Laos. As the helicopter approached the landing zone, it was hit by heavy enemy ground fire. It exploded in the air and there were no survivors. Continued enemy activity in the area prevented any recovery attempts.A refugee in Nakhon Phanom, Thailand, showed an identification tag of Pfc. Chubb and a medallion to a U.S. interviewer in 1986. The medallion was reportedly recovered near the same general location from an F-105 crash site. However, the location and the aircraft type did not correlate with the missing aircraft and soldiers.
Between 1988 and 2001, joint U.S.-Lao People’s Democratic Republic teams, led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), conducted four investigations and three excavations for these soldiers without positive results. An investigation team surveyed three crash sites in 2002 after interviewing local villagers from the province. The team recovered a fragment of human tooth and some crew-related artifacts from one of the crash sites.
In October and November 2004, another joint investigation team excavated the crash site and recovered additional human remains and crew-related evidence. The wreckage was of a UH-1H helicopter, and contained insignia worn by members of the 101st Airborne Division.
The remains included nine fragments of teeth that the forensic anthropologists at JPAC were able to match with detailed information from medical and dental records.
From the Vietnam War, 1,807 Americans are still unaccounted-for with 364 of those from Laos. Another 839 have been accounted-for in Southeast Asia with 208 of those from losses in Laos.
.
.
We watch and wait
Young and old, black and white
So far away, they're sent to fight
Until they all come home
We wear our ribbons to show our pride
And let them know we are on their side
Until they all come home
We pray for peace
Throughout the land
Protect them all, on sea and sand
Until they all come home
By James Withrow
Rolling Thunder
Please feel free to visit my POW MIA page's
Posted by Wild Thing at February 15, 2006 12:07 AM
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Comments
Thank you, WT, for all of us and those who aren't back yet.
Posted by: Rhod at February 15, 2006 04:52 PM