A Christmas Bleg

The man that I know as my father-in-law, the second husband of my wife's mother served in Vietnam from March 1969 - March 1970 at Pleiku (Camp Holloway) with the 179th ASH, as a flght engineer.

The one item that he "left behind" i.e: lost, in Vietnam that he would like back is his flight jacket with their distinctive Captain Hook unit patch. He lost this jacket on his re-deployment home, when it was "forgotten" hanging on the post of his bunk at the transit billets when his flight for home was called for immediate boarding.

I think what he really wants is one of the unit patches from 69-70 when Walt Disney had been added to the patch after the unit received authorization from the Walt Disney Company to use their Captain Hook Figure. A little about this authorization can be found by clicking on this line drawing from the Walt Disney Company:


A similar version of this patch can be seen below:


On the rare chance that the extensive network here on the internet could put me in touch with the person who found his jacket, I'd be forever in your debt, if however, I can find someone who has one of the Walt Disney patches they'd be willing to sell me, I would be most grateful.

Pfc. Wayne Bibbs, Spc. Robin R. Yeakley, Capt. Arnold E. Holm Jr., Finally Come Home from Vietnam

Soldiers Missing from Vietnam War Identified

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of three servicemen, missing in action from the Vietnam War, have been identified and are being returned to their families for burial with full military honors.

Army Capt. Arnold E. Holm Jr. of Waterford, Conn.; Spc. Robin R. Yeakley of South Bend, Ind.; and Pfc. Wayne Bibbs of Chicago, will be buried as a group, in a single casket representing the entire crew, on Nov. 9, in Arlington National Cemetery. On June 11, 1972, Holm was the pilot of an OH-6A Cayuse helicopter flying a reconnaissance mission in Thua Thien-Hue Province, South Vietnam. Also on board were his observer, Yeakley, and his door gunner, Bibbs. The aircraft made a second pass over a ridge, where enemy bunkers had been sighted, exploded and crashed, exploding again upon impact. Crews of other U.S. aircraft, involved in the mission, reported receiving enemy ground fire as they overflew the crash site looking for survivors.

Between 1993 and 2008, joint U.S./Socialist Republic of Vietnam (S.R.V.) teams, led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), interviewed witnesses, investigated, surveyed and excavated possible crash sites several times. They recovered human remains, OH-6A helicopter wreckage and crew-related equipment—including two identification tags bearing Yeakley’s name.

Scientists from the JPAC used forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence to identify the crew.

Today more than 1,600 American remain un-accounted for from the Vietnam War. More than 900 servicemen have been accounted for from that conflict, and returned to their families for burial with military honors since 1973. The U.S. government continues to work closely with the governments of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia to recover all Americans lost in the Vietnam War.

For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for missing Americans, visit the DPMO website at http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo or call 703-699-1169.

Missing Since Dec 1, 1965 Air Force Major Thomas E. Reitmann Finally Comes Home...

Air Force Pilot Missing From Vietnam War Identified

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of a serviceman, missing in action from the Vietnam War, have been identified and returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

Air Force Major Thomas E. Reitmann of Red Wing, Minn., will be buried on Sept. 8 in Arlington National Cemetery. In 1965, Reitmann was assigned to the 334th Tactical Fighter Squadron deployed out of Seymour-Johnson Air Force Base, N.C., to Takhli Air Base, Thailand. On Dec 1, 1965, he was flying a strike mission as the number three aircraft in a flight of four F-105D Thunderchiefs as part of Operation Rolling Thunder. His target was a railroad bridge located about 45 nautical miles northeast of Hanoi. As the aircrew approached the target area, they encountered extremely heavy and accurate anti-aircraft artillery (AAA). While attempting to acquire his target and release his ordnance, Reitmann received a direct AAA hit and crashed in Lang Son Province, North Vietnam. Other pilots in the flight observed no parachute, and no signals or emergency beepers were heard. Due to the intense enemy fire in the area a search-and-rescue team was not able to survey the site and a two-day electronic search found no sign of the aircraft or Reitmann.

In 1988, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (S.R.V.) repatriated remains to the United States believed to be those of Reitmann. The remains were later identified as those of another American pilot who went missing in the area on the same day as Reitmann.

Between 1991 and 2009, joint U.S.-S.R.V. teams, led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), analyzed numerous leads, interviewed villagers, and attempted to locate the aircraft. Although no evidence of the crash site was found, in 2009 and 2011 a local farmer turned over remains and a metal button he claimed to have found in his corn field.

Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory also used mitochondrial DNA – which matched that of his brother -- in the identification of Reitmann’s remains.

For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for missing Americans, visit the DPMO web site at http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo or call 571-422-9059.

Soldier Missing from Vietnam War Identified

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office announced today that the remains of a serviceman, missing in action from the Vietnam War, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

Army Chief Warrant Officer George A. Howes, of Knox, Ind., will be buried Aug. 5 in Arlington National Cemetery. On Jan. 10, 1970, Howes and three aircrew members were returning to their base at Chu Lai, South Vietnam aboard a UH-1C Huey helicopter. Due to bad weather, their helicopter went down over Quang Nam Province, Socialist Republic of Vietnam (S.R.V.). A search was initiated for the crew, but no sign of the helicopter or crew was spotted.

In 1989, the S.R.V. gave to U.S. specialists 25 boxes that reportedly contained the remains of U.S. servicemen related to this incident. Later that year, additional remains and a military identification tag from one of the other missing servicemen were obtained from a Vietnamese refugee.

Between 1993 and 1999, joint U.S./S.R.V. teams, led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), conducted three investigations in Ho Chi Minh City and two investigations in Quang Nam-Da Nang Province (formerly Quang Nam Province). A Vietnamese citizen in Ho Chi Minh City turned over a military identification tag bearing Howes’ name and told the team he knew where the remains of as many as nine American servicemen were buried. He agreed to lead the team to the burial site. In 1994, the team excavated the site and recovered a metal box and several bags containing human remains. In 2006, the remains of three of the four men were identified and buried. No remains could be attributed to Howes given the technology of the time. In 2008, given advances in DNA technology, the remains were reanalyzed.

Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from JPAC and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory also used dental comparisons and mitochondrial DNA – which matched that of Howes’ sister and brother—in the identification of the remains.

For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for missing Americans, call (703) 699-1169 or visit the DPMO website at http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo .

Welcome Home Maj. Richard G. Elzinga

Air Force Pilot Missing from Vietnam War Identified

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of a serviceman, missing in action from the Vietnam War, have been identified and returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

Air Force Maj. Richard G. Elzinga of Shedd, Ore., will be buried on July 8 in Arlington National Cemetery. On March 26, 1970, Elzinga and his co-pilot went missing when their O-1G Birddog aircraft failed to return to base from a familiarization flight over Laos. Fifteen minutes after the last radio contact, a communication and visual search showed no sign of the men or their aircraft. Search and rescue missions continued for two days with no results.

Between 1994 and 2009, joint U.S.-Lao People’s Democratic Republic teams led by Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, analyzed leads, interviewed villagers and surveyed possible crash site locations. During several joint field surveys, teams recovered human remains, aircraft wreckage, and crew-related equipment.

Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory also used mitochondrial DNA -- which matched that of his aunt and cousin -- in the identification of Elzinga’s remains.

For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for missing Americans, visit the DPMO website at http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo or call 703-699-1169.

Airmen Missing From Vietnam War Identified

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of two servicemen, missing in action from the Vietnam War, have been identified and returned to their families for burial with full military honors.

Air Force Col. James E. Dennany, 34, of Kalamazoo, Mich., and Maj. Robert L. Tucci, 27, of Detroit, will be buried as a group Jan. 14, in the Dallas-Ft. Worth National Cemetery.

On Nov. 12, 1969, Dennany and Tucci were flying the number three aircraft of three F-4Ds escorting an AC-130 gunship on a night strike mission over Laos. After the gunship attacked six trucks and set two of them on fire, the AC-130 crew’s night vision equipment was impacted by the glow from the fires. They requested that Tucci attack the remaining trucks. During the attack, gunship crew members observed anti-aircraft artillery gunfire directed at Tucci’s plane followed by a large explosion. No radio transmissions were heard from the F-4D following the attack and no parachutes were seen in the area. An immediate electronic search revealed nothing and no formal search was initiated due to heavy anti-aircraft fire in the area.

Beginning in the mid-1990s analysts at DPMO and the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) developed case leads they collected from wartime reporting and archival research.

In 1994, a joint U.S.-Lao People’s Democratic Republic (L.P.D.R.) team led by JPAC analyzed leads, interviewed villagers, and surveyed five reported crash sites near the record loss location with negative results.

In 1999, during another joint survey, officials in Ban Soppeng, Laos, turned over remains later determined to be human, two .38 caliber pistols and other crew-related equipment that villagers had recovered from a nearby crash site. Between 1999 and 2009, other joint U.S.-L.P.D.R. teams pursued leads, interviewed villagers, and conducted three excavations. They recovered aircraft wreckage, human remains, crew-related equipment and personal effects.

JPAC scientists used forensic tools and circumstantial evidence in the identification of the remains.

With the accounting of these airmen, 1,702 service members still remain missing from the conflict.

For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for missing Americans, visit the DPMO website at http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo/ or call 703-699-1169.

That Far Away Look in His Eyes

Thanksgiving 2009 – Baltimore County, MD

“I think about her often and always wonder what happened to her…”

That was the phrase that brought the far away look to the eyes of my “father-in-law”. He’s not really my father-in-law but my wife’s father died long before I ever met her, and even though he married my mother-in-law after I married her daughter he is the only man I’ve ever known in that house, it wouldn’t seem right not calling him my father-in-law.

Anyway, back to that far away look.

I couldn’t remember where he had been stationed in Vietnam and when talking to my Scoutmaster - who was a loach pilot at the same time - about him, all I could offer was “up north in a hook unit.” So on Thanksgiving, yesterday, I ventured to ask more.

“I know you were in a hook unit up north but where was that? “

“Pleiku; Camp Holloway. Had the Montagnards there with us, couldn’t believe that they would run around with crossbows. I did 11 months straight and then out. I was afraid that if I took leave, I wouldn’t want to go back. My CO wanted to give me another stripe and make me a Staff Sergeant to stay there another 3 months, nothing doing, I had been pretty lucky and I didn’t want to risk it.”

“Do you ever think about going back now?”

“I’ve thought about it, I hear that it has been helpful to those that have gone back.”

And then it happened. He turnned and looked out the window and got that look in his eyes that you just knew meant that he wasn’t sitting in that chair anymore but was somewhere else.

“I think about her often and always wonder what happened to her. We had hooch mates (I think that was the term he used – we was speaking softly now so it as hard to tell.) She would do your laundry and clean up for you. I remember how happy she would get if you bought her something from the PX. But what a shy girl she was, only 16 years old and if you teased or complimented her she would turn bright red and hide her face.

Her name was Ling…”

He continued to look out the window for a bit and you knew that there was nothing else coming.

There is a story there...maybe one day he will be ready to tell it all.

[Ed Note: I found a web page dedicated to Camp Holloway]

Reflections

My Last War

SFC Grist writes:

Friends:

I am pleased to announce that my book, “My Last War: A Vietnam Veteran’s Tour in Iraq ,” is now available (see the cover photo below). My new website for the book can be found at http://www.mylastwar.com/ where you can learn about the book, view the book trailer, and find links to online booksellers. As additional outlets become available, the website will be updated.

As I'm sure you can imagine, my tours in Vietnam and Iraq are almost like bookends on a large part of my life. It was an honor to serve with my fellow warriors in Vietnam , and it was a pleasure to serve in Iraq with their sons and daughters.

I hope that other Vietnam and Operation Iraqi Freedom veterans will enjoy the story of the C.O.B.R.A. Team as told by this old Vietnam vet.

Charles M. Grist
http://www.mylastwar.com/
http://www.thecobrateam.com/
http://www.americanranger.blogspot.com/

Asking a Special Favor, Please......

A very special Vietnam Veteran who lives not far from me is in need of some serious cheer & encouragement. So yes, I'm asking all of you to send cards to me, for him. Let's really surround him with love and prayers, OK? Here's some info:

He was Army...101st Airborne, Ranger, was at "Hamburger Hill" in VietNam. Got exposed to agent orange. This is what they think caused his kidneys to go bad. Two years ago, went into a coma and when he finally cameout of it he was [permanently] paralyzed from the waist down. Now he is on dialysis either two or three days a week.

Then, I learned yesterday that this dear man had a stroke Friday night and is currently in the hospital!!! It appears to be a mild stroke, but they are not sure yet what long-term damage there may be. We are waiting for more information.

Please send a note or two to perk up this Hero's day... it would just mean so much to him and his wife!!! Cards may be sent to me at:

Mama Kat Orr
"FOR VETERAN N.C."
Post Office Box 1660
Loganville GA 30052

I'll forward them on to him. This is a project I'd like to see on-going for a while, not necessarily a one-time shot. You can send individual cards, or if you'd like to have your kids color pictures or get a whole bunch together, that's cool also. But just one card from each person is fine, too. Know that ANYTHING you send for him will be GREATLY appreciated. Lord knows they need plenty of TLC right now....

Thank you in advance, and God bless you.

MamaKat & Family