MY TRIBUTE & RECOGNITION OF:
                  TSgt W. Kevin Colwell
 
 
 
 
                            Help make a difference!  Adopt A POW/MIA!!
 
                       The only hope they have................is You & Me
 
 
 
 My Adopted MIA
Name:  William Kevin Colwell
  Rank/Branch:  E6/US Air Force
Date of Birth:  01 August 1921
          Home City of Record:  Glencove, NY
    Date of Loss:  24 December 1965
Country of Loss:  Laos
                 Loss Coordinates:  154800N  1064400E (XC856474)
         Status (in 1973) :  Missing in Action
Category:  4
     Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground:  AC47D
                               Other Personnel in Incident:  Arden K. Hassenger;
                                  Joseph Christiano; Dennis L. Eilers; Larry  C.
                    Thornton; Derrell B. Jeffords (all missing)
 
                       SOURCE:  Compiled by Homecoming II Project with the
                        assistance of one or more of the following: raw data from
                  U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
                 POW/MIA families, published sources and interviews.
               Date compiled: 01 January 1990
               REMARKS:  MAYDAY HEARD - SEARCH NEG - J
SYNOPSIS:
                      On December 24, 1965, President Lyndon Johnson announced
                      a week-long bombing halt on North Vietnam.  That same day,
                      an AC47D "Spooky" gunship was shot down during an armed
             reconnaissance flight just south of the city of Ban Bac in
                      Saravane Province, Laos. Planes in the area of the downed
                      plane heard mayday signals, but were unable to establish
contact with the crew.
 
                  The "Spooky" had evolved from the famed "Puff the Magic
                    Dragon" versions of the Douglas C47.  Puff introduced a new
                principle to air attack in Vietnam.  Troubled by  difficulties
                        in conducting nighttime defense, Capt. Ronald Terry of  the U.S.
                    Air Force Aeronautical Systems Division remembered reading
                       about flying missionaries in Latin America who lowered baskets
                       of supplies on a rope from a tightly circling airplane.
                   Throughout the series of pylon turns, the basket remained      suspended  over a selected point on the ground.
                       Could this principle be applied to fire from automatic weapons?
          Tests proved it could, and could be extremely successful.
 
                       Puff's "flare kicker" illuminated the target, then the pilot used a
            mark on the window to his left as a gun sight and circled
             slowly as three multibarrel 7-62mm maachine guns fired
                        18,000 rounds per minute from the door and two windows in the
                 in the port side of the passenger compartment.  The aircraft
                      was called "Puff" after a popular song of the day, and because
                      it resembled a dragon overhead with flames billowing from it's
                      guns.  Men on the ground welcomed the presence of Puff and
                      the later "Spooky" version, which was essentially the same as the
                     Puff, because of it's ability to concentrate a heavy dose of
                     defensive  fire in a surgically determined area.  These aircraft
             were extremely successful defending positions in South
                      Vietnam, but proved unable to survive against the anti-aircraft
                    defenses in Laos.
 
                       The Spooky lost on Laos on December 24,  1965 was flown by
        Col. Derrell B. Jeffords and Capt. Dennis L. Eilers.
               The crew aboard the aircraft was Maj. Joseph Christiano,
      MSgt. Larry C. Thornton, TSgt. W. Kevin Colwell,
and SSgt. Arden K. Hassenger.
                      When 591 Americans were released from Vietnam in 1973, the
                Spooky crew was not among them.  As a matter of fact, no
                  American held in Laos was (or has been) released.  The Lao
                       were not included in negotiations ending American involvement
in the war in Southeast Asia.
                In June, 1989, Arden Hassenger's wife was informed that
             a report had been received saying her husband had been
              sighted alive in Laos.  This report is one of nearly 10,000
                 relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asia received by
the U.S. Government since the war ended.
             Mrs. Hassenger  was unable to sleep at night wondering
      and worrying, yet Arden Hassenger is still missing.
              Henry Kissinger predicted in the 50's that future "limited
            political engagements" would result, unfortunately, in
nonrecoverable prisoners of war.
 
                  We have seen this prediction fulfilled in Korea and Vietnam,
                where thousands of men and women remain missing, and
                       where ample evidence exists that many of them (from both wars)
are still alive today.
 
                      The U.S. Government seems unable (or unwilling) to negotiate
                        their freedom.  For Americans, the "unfortunate" abandonment
                      of military personnel is not acceptable, and the policy that
                    allows it MUST BE CHANGED , before another generation
is left behind in some faraway war.
 
                        I can not emphasis enough how important it is to keep pushing
this issue inside the Beltway........
                      The need to get specific answers is more important now than
                     ever before.  If still alive, some MIA's are now in their 70's...
              They don't have much time left.  We have to demand the
                        answers from the bureaucrats and keep standing on their necks
                      (figuratively speaking) until they get the message that THEY
                     work for US and that we are serious about getting these long
               overdue responses. Diplomatic considerations aside..........
                    We can no longer allow questionable protocols established by
               pseudo-aristocratic armchair strategists, to determine or
                   influence the fate of the men who were in the trenches while
                   the diplomats were sharing sherry aand canapes and talking
about "Their Plans" for the future of SE Asia.
 
 
                       If you'd like to see what others are doing in addition to writing
                         their congreeman, senators and the Whitehouse, check out some of these sites:
http://hawk.nji.com/~mred/mialist.htm
 
                        Another FANTASTIC, REMARKABLE site is by an 11 YR OLD
          ANGEL, who never even set foot on American soil... \
                        She not only put up a page... she started a major project for an
                        organization of Kids on the Net called "KeyPals International"
         Don't miss her "Bring Grandpa Home" page at
                  http://www.worldkids.net/clubs/kci/projects/Bring.html
                         If you come away from that site without a lump in your             throat then you just weren't paying attention!!
 
  POW's Prayer
                                                                            By Jean Ray and L. Vancil
 
                         Father,
                             Your own Son was a prisoner.
                         Condemned, he died for us.
                                    Victorious, He returned to bring us the gift of life everlasting.
                                  Comfort us now in our longing for the return of the Prisoners Of War and those Missing In Action.
                       Help Us Father;
                             Inspire us to remove the obstacles.
                          Give courage to those who know the truth to speak out.
                            Grant wisdom to the negotiators, and compassion to the jailors.
                             Inspire the media to speak out as loudly as they have in the past.
                           Protect those who seek in secret and help them to succeed.
                            Show us the tools to do Your will.
                            Guard and bless those in captivity, their families,
                           and those who work for their release.
                           Let them come home soon.
                           Thank you Father.
                          Amen.