I have adopted two MIA/POW's from my home state of Kentucky; below are their stories. Please take a moment to make a difference!
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Name: Hugh McNeil Byrd, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O3/US Army
Unit: 220th Aviation Company, 212th Aviation Battalion, 1st Aviation Brigade
Date of Birth: 22 October 1943 (Pueblo CO)
Home City of Record: Berea KY
Date of Loss: 09 January 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 162816N 1070200E (YD170220)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: O1G
Other Personnel In Incident: Kevin O'Brien (missing)
REMARKS:
SYNOPSIS: On January 9, 1969, Capt. Hugh Byrd, pilot, and 1Lt. Kevin O'Brien,
observer, were on a visual reconnaissance mission over the Khe Sanh area of
South Vietnam in an O1G Bird Dog aircraft, tail #51-5059. Byrd's aircraft flew
from the 200th Aviation Company, 212th Aviation Battalion, 1st Aviation
Brigade. O'Brian's job as observer from HHC, 2nd Battalion, 94th Artillery, was
to identify artillery targets. The plane diverted to assist a reconnaissance
team that was in enemy contact in the Khe Sanh area.
After aiding the team and being relieved by another aircraft, Byrd headed his
plane back to Phu Bai. The weather was bad and the pilot reported at 1940 hours
that that he was lost and the weather was worsening. The aircraft was not
equipped to fly instrument in meterological conditions. Dong Ha and other radar
controllers tried to get a fix on the Bird Dog, and were able to maintain
constant radio contact, but were able only to get an imprecise location. Based
on the direction the aircraft told them it was flying, the radar station
advised it to climb because of mountains in the area. No further transmissions
were heard.
Numerous searches were initiated following the disappearance of the aircraft,
but were broken off after a few days due to weather conditions. When searches
were resumed when the weather cleared, they failed to locate any wreckage. Byrd
and O'Brien were declared Missing In Action.
In August 1975, in the presumed crash area, a refugee reported seeing 2 downed
U.S. aircraft which he described as one F5 jet and one L19. He was told that 2
Americans on the L19 were killed and buried 1 kilometer from the crash. The
Army feels this report could possibly relate to Byrd and O'Brien. (The O1 was
formerly known as L19.)
Many authorities believe, based on thousands of refugee reports, that hundreds
of Americans are still alive, held captive in Southeast Asia. If Byrd and
O'Brien are among them is unknown. Dead or alive, they are in enemy hands. It's
time to bring these men home.
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Name: William Louis Madison
Rank/Branch: E5/US Air Force
Unit: 4th Air Commando Squadron, DaNang Airbase, South Vietnam
Date of Birth: 03 November 1935
Home City of Record: Lexington KY
Date of Loss: 15 May 1966
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 165800N 1060400E
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: AC47
Other Personnel In Incident: George W. Jensen;
Kenneth D. McKenney;
James A. Preston;
Lavern G. Reilly; Marshall L. Tapp;
George W. Thompson; James E. Williams (all missing)
REMARKS: NO RAD CNTCT - POS DED FBIS - J
SYNOPSIS: Maj. George W. Jensen was the pilot of an AC47 aircraft which
departed Ubon Air Base, Thailand on an armed visual reconnaissance mission over
Laos on May 15, 1966. His crew that day consisted of Maj. Lavern G. Reilly,
spare pilot; Capt. Marshall L. Tapp, co-pilot; 1Lt. George W. Thompson,
navigator; SSgt. James A. Preston, load master; Sgt. James E. Williams, flight
engineer; Airman 1st Class Kenneth D. McKenney and Sgt. William L. Madison,
gunners.
At 1745 hours, Jensen radioed his position, and again at 2100 hours, Jensen
radioed situation normal, with no position given, nor was the target area
specified. The aircraft's last location was over the Laotian panhandle about 15
miles due east of the city of Ban Muong Sen in Savannakhet Province.
When the aircraft failed to return to the base as scheduled, an aerial search
was conducted during the daylight hours of May 16, with negative results. The
aircraft was not found, and no evidence of the crew surfaced.
The crew of the AC47 is among nearly 600 Americans lost in Laos during the war
with Vietnam. Although the numbers of men actually termed "prisoner of war" are
quite low, this can be explained in understanding the blanket of security
surrounding the "secret war" the U.S. waged in Laos. To protect the public
perception that we "were not in Laos", details of many loss incidents were
"rearranged" to show a loss or casualty in South Vietnam. Only a handful of
publicly exposed cases were ever acknowledged POW, even though scores of pilots
and ground personnel were known to have been alive and well at last contact
(thus increasing the chance they were captured alive).
The Lao communist faction, the Pathet Lao, stated on several occasions that
they held "tens of tens" of American prisoners, but the Pathet Lao were not
included in the Paris Peace agreements ending American involvement in the war.
As a consequence, no American POWs held in Laos were negotiated for. Not one
American held in Laos has ever been released. As thousands of reports continue
to flow in regarding Americans still captive in Southeast Asia, the fates of
the crew of the AC47 become more intriguing. It is entirely possible, with no
evidence to the contrary, that they survived to be captured. Whether they
survived or not, they were abandoned to the enemy.
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Thank you for taking the time to make a difference. If you would like to join us in our mission, the bracelet below will take you there.
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