|  MADSEN, MARLOW ERLING Name: Marlow Erling Madsen Rank/Branch: O2/US Navy Reserves Unit: Attack Squadron 52, USS TICONDEROGA (CVA 14) Date of Birth: 24 May 1939 (Sioux City IA) Home City of Record: Minneapolis MN Date of Loss: 18 January 1967 Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water Loss Coordinates: 182023N 1073227E (YF685295) Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered Category: 5 Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A1H Refno: 0573 Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing) Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 May 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 USS TICONDEROGA had first been in Vietnam waters in late 1944 when fighter planes from the TICONDEROGA and the USS HANCOCK flew strike missions against enemy vessels in Saigon Harbor. The TICONDEROGA, the fourteenth U.S. aircraft carrier to be built, was on station during the very early years of the Vietnam war and remained throughout most of the duration of the war. The Douglas A1 Skyraider ("Spad") is a highly maneuverable, propeller driven aircraft designed as a multipurpose attack bomber or utility aircraft. The H model was a single-seat aircraft. The A1 was first used by the Air Force in its Tactical Air Command to equip the first Air Commando Group engaged in counterinsurgency operations in South Vietnam, and later used the aircraft as escort for rescue units. LTJG Marlow E. Madsen was a pilot assigned to Attack Squadron 52 onboard the aircraft carrier USS TICONDEROGA. On January 18, 1967 LTJG Madsen was returning from a combat flight during which his aircraft sustained no damage. The aircraft broke off and commenced turning down wind for a straight-in approach. LTJG Madsen was unable to slow the aircraft to landing speed, even though he had extended landing gear and side dive brakes. Madsen's aircraft passed from starboard to port just aft of the fantail and commenced a steep degree angle of bank to port to continue the approach. After the turn, the side brakes were closed and the aircraft appeared to steepen its angle of bank. Afterward, the aircraft appeared to stall with the nose dropping below the horizon, the wings began to level and the pilot raised the gear and attempted to recover. At about 100 feet the aircraft appeared to nose down again. Personnel onboard the TICONDEROGA watched helplessly as the left wing dropped and the aircraft entered the water. The canopy on the aircraft was closed. There was no evidence that the pilot added power or that engine or flight control was a factor, although it was felt that the stall spin was pilot-induced. The plane guard destroyer and ship's helicopter were on the scene within one minute and found no trace of the pilot. Weather at the time of attempted recovery was clear and visibility unlimited. Since the war ended in Vietnam, refugees have flooded the world, bringing with them stories of American soldiers still held prisoner in their homeland. Many authorities now believe that hundreds were left behind as living hostages. Madsen did not survive the events of January 18, 1967. His family has accepted that he is dead. They no longer expect him to come home someday. But hundreds of families wait expectantly and in the special agony only uncertainty can bring. Hundreds of men wait in caves, cages and prisons. How much longer will we allow the abandonment of our best men? It's time we brought them home.
 
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