Unit: Marine Fighter Attack Sqadron 212, 1st Brigade, MAG24
Date of Birth: 8 January 1944
Home City of Record: Ft. Belvoir, VA
Date of Loss: 07 May 1972
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 164800N 1065700E (YD10555)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4J BuNo #155576
Refno: 1845
Other Personnel in Incident: James J. Castonguay, successfully ejected from aircraft.
Consolvo radioed that the aircraft was incapacitated and ordered his radar intercept officer, CWO James J. Castonguay, to eject. The officer successfully reached the ground, was rescued after 19 hours and returned to Da Nang.
The F4 crashed 3-4 miles from the location the RIO landed, in enemy territory (probably just inside Laos). Although the RIO did not see his pilot eject, he believed he could have easily ejected and probably did. The wingman and forward air controller on the mission did not see him eject, but they had been unable to keep the plane constantly in sight.
John Consolvo flew over 150 combat missions on his first tour of Vietnam. He was into his second tour when he was shot down on May 7, 1972. He had been in the Marine Corps since 1966.
If John Consolvo was unfortunate enough to be apprehended by the Pathet Lao, he is among nearly 600 Americans who disappeared without trace. The Pathet Lao stated on several occasions that they held "tens of tens" of American prisoners, yet not one man held in Laos was ever released - or negotiated for. Circumstances surrounding his crash indicate that the Vietnamese or Lao could account for his fate - alive or dead. John Consolvo does not deserve the abandonment he has received by the country he proudly served.
John W. Consolvo, Jr. graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1966.
Now, in the words of Paul Harvey, "here's the rest of the story".
John Consolvo, Jr. was a real man - he lived and he has probably died. He was 26 years old when he disappeared (and probably died), nobody knows what happened to him. One thing's for sure though, the U.S. Government has abandoned this fine American. Of course, in these days when a Presidential candidate can attempt to steal votes and tamper with ballots - after denying the servicemen and women their vote and at the same time trying to count civilian votes multiple times (see my vote protest page: http://www.oocities.org/dwwsmw51/vote_protest.html), why should we be surprised that they'd abandon just one man.
Of course, John wasn't the only ONE man. He was one of thousands that have been left to their fate by the government they trusted.
We need to bring this man, and all the others like him, home - where they belong. Alive or dead, he's an American and needs to come home.
It makes me sick!
| WAR MEMORIAL DIRECTORY |
| My Adopted POW/MIA's |