Name: John Garrett Gardner
Rank/Branch: O3/US Marine Corps
Unit: HHM 165, Marine Air Group 36
Date of Birth: 20 July 1940
Home City of Record: Hot Springs NC
Loss Date: 03 June 1967
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 161914N 1064049E (XD795050)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: CH46A
Other Personnel In Incident: Frank E. Cius (returned
POW 1973); Timothy R.
Bodden; Ronald J. Dexter; Stephen P. Hanson; Billy
Laney; (all missing); Mr. Ky
(Nung Cdr. - wounded and rescued); Charles F. Wilklow
(rescued)
REMARKS: LAST SEEN IN CRASHED ACFT
SYNOPSIS: On June 3, 1967, Capt. Steven P. Hanson, pilot; 1Lt. John
G. Gardner,
co-pilot; Sgt. Timothy R. Bodden, crew chief/door gunner; LCpl.
Frank E. Cius,
doorgunner; SFC Billy R. Laney, SFC Ronald J. Dexter, SFC Charles
F. Wilklow
and an unknown number of ARVN personnel, all passengers, were aboard
a CH46A
helicopter (serial #150955) on an extraction mission in Laos.
The USMC aircraft picked up a U.S. Army Special Forces team attached
to
MACV-SOG, Command and Control, and the ARVN troops they were working
with.
Military Assistance Command Vietnam Studies and Observation Group
(MACV-SOG)
was a joint service high command unconventional warfare task force
engaged in
highly classified operations throughout Southeast Asia. The 5th
Special Forces
channeled personnel into MACV-SOG (not a Special Forces group) through
Special
Operations Augmentation (SOA) which provided their "cover" while
under secret
orders to MACV-SOG. These teams performed deep penetration missions
of
strategic reconnaissance and interdiction which were called, depending
on the
time frame, "Shining Brass" or "Prairie Fire" missions.
The aircraft received extensive automatic small arms fire upon takeoff
from the
Landing Zone, took numerous hits and crashed 350 meters from the
LZ, located
about 15 miles inside Laos west of the A Shau Valley. The helicopter
did not
burn on impact, and continued to receive fire. Three ARVN troops
were able to
return to the LZ where the troops remaining at the LZ were extracted
the
following day.
The troops waiting at the LZ could not search because of the hostile
threat in
the area. Air searches located the survivors of the crash, but they
could not
be evacuated. The only America found to be in a position to be safely
evacuated
was SFC Wilklow. He gave the following account of what happened
to the crew and
passengers aboard the CH46:
SFC Dexter appeared uninjured and left the wreckage with a large
number of ARVN
troops. Capt. Hanson was wounded and outside the helicopter, but
stated that he
had to return to get his carbine. The Marine Corps believes he died
of the
wounds he received when the aircraft was overrun, although Hanson's
wife later
identified her husband in a widely distributed Vietnamese propaganda
photograph
of a pilot being captured. When last seen, all the other Americans
were still
in the wreckage, and enemy troops (the U.S. Army says they were
Viet Cong; the
U.S. Marines say they were North Vietnamese Army - possibly a joint
force of
both) were tossing grenades toward the aircraft with no attempt
to capture the
personnel inside. Wilklow left the crash site, and noted that gunfire
suddenly
stopped. He continued to evade the enemy and was picked up 3 days
later.
When Mr. Ky, the Nung Commander was being evacuated by the last helicopter
out,
he noted several men (undoubtedly Dexter and the ARVN) in a large
bomb crater
firing red star clusters from a flare gun. Frank Cius was taken
prisoner and
released from Hanoi in 1973. He was one of the dozen or so captured
by the
Vietnamese and taken immediately to Hanoi claimed to be the "Laos"
prisoners.
In reality, none of the dozen had been held in Laos. Ronald Dexter,
according
to Frank Cius, was captured, and died in captivity on July 29, 1967.
John
Gardner, according to the USMC, died on the ground after the crash
of the
aircraft due to intense enemy fire. Billy Laney was last seen lying
wounded on
the floor of the aircraft between a crewmember with a broken back
and the door
gunner with a head wound.
NOTE: the USMC states that Bodden, crewchief/door gunner was shot
in the back
and never left the aircraft, but reports received by the National
League of
Families indicate that he was definitely alive after the aircraft
crashed. The
U.S. did not know Cius was captured until he was released, evidently
believing
he never exited the aircraft, and Wilklow had indicated that the
Vietnamese
were not trying to capture the occupants of the aircraft. Therefore,
as door
gunner, he must have been the "door gunner with the head wound",
and Bodden the
"crewmember with a broken back".)
I still have the MIA Braclet for this man
I got this when I was a Senior on HighSchool 1966
CUSHMAN, CLIFTON EMMET
Name: Clifton Emmet Cushman
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: Date of Birth: 02 June 1938
Home City of Record: Grand Forks ND
Date of Loss: 25 September 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 213800N 1062600E (XJ501927)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F105D
Refno: 0471
Others in Incident: (none 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.
Updated
by the P.O.W. NETWORK 1998.
REMARKS:
SYNOPSIS: The F105 Thunderchief (or "Thud") performed yoeman service
on many
diversified missions in Southeast Asia. F105s flew more combat missions
over
North Vietnam than any other USAF aircraft and consequently suffered
the
heaviest losses in action. They dropped bombs by day and occasionally
by
night from high or low altitude and some later versions (F105D in Wild
Weasel guise) attacked SAM sites with their radar tracking air-to-ground
missiles. This versatile aircraft was also credited with downing 25
Russian
MiGs.
Capt. Clifton E. Cushman was the pilot of an F105D which embarked on
a
bombing mission over the Haiphong area of North Vietnam on September
25,
1966. He never returned from the mission, but was downed about 45 miles
southwest of the harbor. Although the U.S. believes that the Vietnamese
could account for Cushman, they have denied knowledge of his fate.
When 591 American prisoners of war were released from Hanoi in the spring
of
1973, Clifton Cushman was not among them. He, like nearly 2500 others,
remain missing. The majority of these men, unlike "MIA's" from other
wars,
can be accounted for.
Since the end of American involvement in Indochina, over 10,000 reports
have
been received concerning Americans held captive. Over 100 of the cases
are
still actively researched today. Collectively, the reports make a compelling
case that Americans are still held prisoner in Southeast Asia, yet
the U.S.
has been unable to secure their freedom.
Whether Clifton Cushman died the day his plane went down or survived
to be
held prisoner today is not known. What seems certain, however, is that
someone knows his fate. It's time we got answers.
Clifton E. Cushman was promoted to the rank of Major during the period
he
was maintained Missing in Action.
This Name was on the Braclet that My Husband wore during his tenure
in
the USAF from 1964 - 1968
PATTON, KENNETH JAMES
Name: Kenneth James Patton
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: B Troop, 1st Squad, 9th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division
Date of Birth: 13 May 1943 (Stowe Township PA)
Home City of Record: McKee's Rock PA
Date of Loss: 02 February 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 161209N 1081006E (AT960937)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H
Refno: 1024
Other Personnel In Incident: Charles L. Adkins; Joe H. Pringle; Joseph
Puggi; Donald Burnham (all missing)
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 1990 from one or more
of
the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence
with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Updated by the
P.O.W.
NETWORK 1998.
REMARKS:CRASHSITE/PRINGLE ID FOUND
SYNOPSIS: Donald Burnham was the pilot of a UH1H helicopter (#66-16442)
that
departed Camp Evans, Quang Tri, Republic of Vietnam for Chu Lai, Republic
of
Vietnam on February 2, 1968. Also aboard were SP4 Charles Adkins, SFC
Joe
Pringle, SSgt Joseph Puggi, passengers; and SP4 Kenneth Patton, crewchief.
The personnel aboard the aircraft were all members of B Troop, 1st
Squad,
9th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division.
During a ground radar-controlled approach to Da Nang Airbase, the controller
lost radio contact with the helicopter and subsequently lost radar
contact.
The last positive position of the aircraft was 12 miles north of Da
Nang.
After attempts to contact Captain Burnham by radio failed, ramp checks
were
conducted by another pilot from his unit. Search of the area to the
north of
Da Nang failed to locate the missing aircraft.
On May 28, 1968, a crashed and burned UH1H helicopter (tail #6442) was
located in the appropriate vicinity and a search party recovered an
ID tag
belonging to SFC Pringle, several weapons, and some human bones. The
ID tag
and weapons were given to an unidentified major; subsequent attempts
to
trace the weapons have been unsuccessful.
All human remains were given to the U.S. Army Mortuary at Da Nang, and
were
subsequently determined unidentifiable. Search attempts terminated
on
November 16, 1972. Because of the density of the underbrush, no attempt
to
recover further remains was made. The crash site was photographed in
July
1974, at which time it became known that parts of the aircraft had
been
recovered by a Vietnamese woodcutter. No evidence of human remains
were
found in the area.
Donald Burnham's photograph was identified by a Vietnamese rallier as
having
been a prisoner of war. CIA analysis failed to determine why Burnham's
photo
was selected, as neither he nor the other crew were seen by returned
POWs.
If it were not for over 10,000 reports of Americans still held captive
in
Southeast Asia, the families of the men aboard UH1H #6442 might be
able to
give up hope of seeing their sons and brothers again. But as long as
there
is evidence that even one is alive, the possibility exists that any
of the
crew of the UH1H lost on February 2, 1968 could be alive.
Please Vist my Memorial to Tom