Name: Victor John Pirker
Rank/Branch: E4/US Marine Corps
Unit: HMM 362, MAG 36
Date of Birth: 27 June 1940
Home City of Record: Trout Creek MT
Date of Loss: 22 November 1965
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 151605N 1085022E (BT720060)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: UH34D

Other Personnel In Incident: Thomas E. Douglas; Richard A. Miller; Francis E. Visconti (all missing)



Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 October 1990 from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews.



SYNOPSIS: On November 22, 1965, Capt. Francis E. Visconti was the pilot of a UH34D helicopter flying with other aircraft on a combat mission in South Vietnam. Bad weather forced Visconti's aircraft out to sea about halfway between Chu Lai and Quang Ngai, and he was separated from the rest of the group.
Also onboard the aircraft were Capt. Richard A. Miller, Cpl. Thomas E. Douglas, and Cpl. Victor J. Pirker, all from the same unit. The helicopter went down and all four Marines were classified Missing in Action. The casualty is listed as battle related, which means the aircraft was probably hit by enemy fire.

The U.S. believes that the Vietnamese could account for the four men. There has been no word of any of the crew of that ill-fated chopper since that day. The Vietnamese have denied any knowledge of them. Evidence mounts that Americans are still alive in Southeast Asia. There have been hundreds of eye-witnesses who have said they personally saw them. It is not known whether any of the crew of the UH34 helicopter survived and are among those said to be alive and still held prisoner, but someone's brother, son, husband, or father is alive. We owe them our very best effort to bring them home.

Richard A. Miller and Francis E. Visconti were promoted to the rank of Major, Thomas E. Douglas and Edward C. Upner to the rank of Staff Sergeant during the period they were maintained missing.

You may be sitting there thinking.. what can I do? For starters you can adopt your own POW/MIA by clicking on this braclet. Take the time to write to your congressman and senate. We have a right to know what has become of all the missing soldiers and what they are doing to bring them home. Listed below you will find the pages to locate your congressman or senator by state. I will also list the ones I have for North Carolina.




Congress

Senators

President and Vice President




North Carolina Congressman Mike McIntyre be sure to include your mailing address in your letter.

North Carolina Senators Launch Faircloth and/or Jesse Helms be sure to include your mailing address here as well..



Please read My Country 'Tis of Thee.


Make sure you stop in and visit the following pages for more information on adopting a hero.
A Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall Page
Operations Just Cause Yellow Ribbon Campaign
The Meadow Years
POW/MIA Forum



"As an American asked to serve, I was prepared to fight, to be wounded, to be captured and even prepared to die, but I was not prepared to be abandoned." (Former POW Eugene "Red" McDaniel - Source: VVnW POW/MIA Page)

This is the letter I sent to my congressman, and my senator.

Dear Congressman and Senator,
    I am curious as to what is being done to locate Cpl Victor John Pirker-USMC who has been assumed MIA since November 22, 1965. It is my understanding that he was on board Captain Francis E. Visconti's UH34D helicopter flying along with Captain Visconti, Captain Richard A. Miller, Corporal Thomas E. Douglas and when Captain Visconti's was forced out to sea about halfway between Chu Lai and Quang Ngai. Due to this he was separated from the rest of the group. The helicopter went down all four of the Marines are classified as MIA. The casualty is listed as battle related, which means the aircraft was probably hit by enemy fire. Also from my understanding there has been no word of these men especially Cpl Victor John Pirker.

    What efforts are being made to find this hero of ours and return him home where he belongs? What is being done to determine his fate so his loved ones can have some peace? How long does his family have to wait to find where he is and if he is still alive? How long does it take for them to have him home? This has gone on long enough.. he has been missing for 33 years now! Can you imagine what it must be like to live for 33 years without knowing if your loved one was alive or dead? Could you sleep at night not knowing if he was okay? I know that I wouldn't be able to.

    Evidence mounts that Americans are still alive in Southeast Asia. There have been hundreds of eye-witnesses who have said they personally saw them. It is not known whether any of the crew of the UH34 helicopter survived and are among those said to be alive and still held prisoner, but someone's brother, son, husband, or father is alive. We owe them our very best effort to bring them home.  I can only hope that someday soon we will have all of the soldiers home with their loved ones... that is the right thing to do. So why isn't the goverment doing anything about that.. and if they are, then what are they doing?

    Any information as to what rescue/recovery efforts being made to locate Cpl Victor John Pirker would be appreciated. You may have been getting alot of requests on behalf of Cpl Pirker,  that is due to the fact that we are ready for him  to be brought home. We want him where he belongs... On American Soil. The Pirker family deserves the chance to say good bye to their loved one. Don't you think it is time we let them do that? I certainly do. It is distressing to me as an American, that the country he served so faithfully has taken a cavalier attitude toward determining what happened to him. You may also be wondering why all the sudden interest in our POW/MIA soldiers. For years, the majority of Americans lay silent on this issue and the government must have assumed that we just did not care. The truth is, most Americans were never made aware of the number of POW/MIA discrepancies or live sighting reports. We believed all the POWs had come home and none of our loyal men were left unaccounted for. Now we know.. We are learning much more about this situation and the way it was handled and why it has been handled in such a disturbing manner. At this point in time the "why" is not important. Getting the answers however is important. It is vital to the morale and to the future of the nation. We need your help!

Please advise me of any action that is being taken by you or any other elected or appointed official to determine his fate. We already know the stock answers that the Defense POW/MIA Office is forced by circumstance to provide. Please tell us something we don't already know. In the event there is nothing being done, please help us to understand why not, and tell me how you personally plan to correct this and prevent it from happening to another generation of American Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and Airmen ever again. We need to get these forgotten soldiers home where they belong.
  Sincerely,
Mrs. Brandy Schmidt

I am awaiting my response now. As soon as I get that I will post it for all to see! Let's keep fighting to get them home!
As sad as it seems I never received a response to my letter. I will now send the same letter to my senator and congressman in Pennsylvania. Hopefully they will at least acknowledge my letter of concern.

Last updated on April 15, 1999


This page is hosted by Geocities.

This Operation Just Cause Web Ring site is owned by Brandy. [Prev] [Random] [Next] [Skip Next] [Next 5] [Members] [Join]

I have replaced the drop down menu's with this menu due to the fact that some people couldn't use the other one. Hope it helps.

Home Page	Contents Page	Family Page	Diabetes Page	My Miracle
Brandon's Page	Life's Struggles	Diabetes Poem	Breast Cancer	My Poetry
POW/MIA	POW/MIA Poem	Missing Children	Online Card Sites	Animations, Backgrounds,etc
Rush	Green Bay Packers	My Awards	Military Wife