In Support of
Ralph
Carol Balcom, Jr.
Name: Ralph Carol Balcom, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 24 December 1933
Home City of Record: Seattle WA
Date of Loss: 15 May 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam (see text)
Loss Coordinates: 171200N 1064000E (XE100100)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 1
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F105D
Other Personnel In Incident: None Missing
REMARKS: NEG SAR CONT
SYNOPSIS: Ralph Balcom Jr. was shot down over North Vietnam about
20
miles north of the Demilitarized Zone in Quang Binh Province. A
radio signal
indicated that Major Balcom had parachuted to the ground, but because
of zero
visibility at the time, search planes were not able to locate and
rescue him.
Two months later a propaganda film appeared with a man Ralph's
parents
immediately recognized as their son being paraded down the streets
of
Hanoi. The U.S. Government later identified the man as a returned
POW Kyle Berg,
also from the state of Washington.
In November 1973, the Air Force discovered that Joint Casualty
Resolution Center (JCRC) in Nakhon Phanom was carrying Balcom as
a Prisoner of War while
Defense Intelligence Agency carried him as Missing In Action. The
Air Force directed
JCRC to delete any reference pertaining to POW status in Balcom's
files.
Balcom's status was changed from Prisoner of War to Missing in
Action, although
analysts say today that JCRC records were the most accurate and
complete
because of their close proximity to the region.
JCRC also lists Balcom as being lost in Laos, not North Vietnam.
The loss
coordinates, 171200N 1064000E are in North Vietnam about 20 miles
north of the
DMZ. Grid coordinates XE100100 are located a few miles northwest
of the Ban
Karai Pass in Laos. It cannot be determined why there is a descrepancy
in loss
locations between agencies.
Today, over 20 years have passed since Ralph Balcom's last flight
over Vietnam.
His family is still not sure whether he is alive or dead. Over
10,000 reports of
Americans still held captive have been received by the U.S. Balcom
could be one
of the hundreds experts believe are still alive. Isn't it time
we brought these men home?
Ralph C. Balcom was promoted to the rank of Colonel during the
period he was
maintained a Prisoner of War and Missing in Action.
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079)
15 March 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.
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