A very special thanks to John Sweet of the TLC Brotherhood for the above patches.

Name: Thomas Allen Duckett Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force Unit: 23rd Tactical Air Support Squadron, Nakhon Phanom Airport,Thailand Date of Birth: 12 November 1946 Home City of Record: La Grange GA Date of Loss: 12 December 1970 Country of Loss: Laos Loss Coordinates: 163900N 1061900E (XD410417) Status (in 1973): Missing In Action Category: 2 Acft/Vehicle/Ground: O2A Other Personnel In Incident: Maj.Owen G. Skinner (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 1991 from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/
MIA families, published sources, interviews.

Copyright 1991 Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: 1Lt. Thomas A. Duckett and Maj. Owen G. Skinner comprised the crew of an O2A spotter aircraft which departed NKP Airport on December 12, 1970 on a Forward Air Control (FAC) mission over Laos. (NOTE: While Defense Department records indicate that Duckett was the observer, and Skinner the pilot, U.S. Air Force records indicate that Duckett was the pilot. The military occupational specialties (MOS) of both men are classified, and it cannot be determined which was the pilot and which was the observer.) The Cessna O2 was a stopgap replacement aircraft for the O1 until the North American OV10 arrived in Vietnam. The Air Force operated 346 of the aircraft.The A model flown by Duckett and Skinner served the function of marking targets with marking rockets. It was a small, poorly armored aircraft which normally flew unarmed. While the aircraft was over Savannakhet Province, Laos, about 6 miles east southeast of the city of Sepone, it was shot down. After the aircraft crashed, radio contact was made with 1Lt. Duckett. The limited information available publicly does not reveal whether Skinner also survived the crash of the aircraft, nor does it indicate that any efforts were made to recover the crew. Family members report, however, that the following day, search aircraft located the aircraft intact on the ground in a small clearing. There was no sign of fire damage to the aircraft, and parachutes were seen in the area of the crash. For the following two days electronic emergency radio beepers were heard, but could never be pinpointed as they were shifting frequently. Hostile ground fire and activity prevented a ground search. Both men were declared Missing in Action.

Perhaps because the war in Laos was "secret", little information was available to the families of Skinner and Duckett regarding their crash and fates. Most of the information was classified and unavailable to them. Like many POW/MIA families, they resorted to filing numerous requests of Government agencies through the Freedom of Information Act. One such classified report received by the Duckett family described an American prisoner fitting Duckett's description who was identified in Laos in February 1974.

Like Duckett and Skinner, many Americans downed in Laos were known to be alive after the crash of their aircraft, or when they were last seen on the ground. In all, there are nearly 600 Americans lost in Laos. Even though the Pathet Lao stated they held "tens of tens" of American prisoners, they maintained that, after the war, they would be released only from Laos.

The U.S. Government, in negotiating the end of American involvement in the second Indochina War, did not negotiate with the communist Pathet Lao, a governmental faction they did not officially recognize. As a result, not one of the nearly 600 Americans lost in Laos was ever released.

Intelligence and refugee reports from the region continue to mount that there are still Americans in captivity in Southeast Asia. Americans who fought for their country. Americans who should be home. If there is only ONE remaining, we owe him our very best efforts to bring him home.

Thomas A. Duckett was promoted to the rank of Major and Owen G. Skinner to the rank of Colonel during the period they were maintained Missing in Action. I cannot emphasize 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 MIAs are now in their 70s...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 and canapes and talking about "Their Plans" for the future of SE Asia.


The Quang1205 Document

YOU CAN help to make a difference. YOU CAN help let our government officials know that we remember and still care about the fate of our MIA/POW's. You CAN do this by taking a moment and emailing these people.... and asking them what they are doing NOW to facilitate the return of our people to the land that they loved enough to give their all for without question...


Preident/Vice President


Congressman


Senators

I want to take a moment for a VERY SPECIAL THANK YOU to John Sweet and Shadow of the TLC BROTHERHOOD for the pics, graphics and encouragement to really make Lt. Duckett's site what it has become. PLEASE visit the site of this very special and worthwhile group who came home...but are STILL serving.

1 Lt.Duckett's MIA/POW bracelet is still being worn by Stan Eldridge who is a Retired USAF Security Police MSgt.

Read about another Government Coverup and Shame...






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