powmia.html

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Graphic byRon Fleischer

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Rank/Branch: E5/US Army Special Forces

Unit: C & C Detachment, Drawer 22 (MACV-SOG), 5th

Special Forces Group

Date of Birth: 29 September 1945

Home City of Record: Sidney OH

Date of Loss: 28 March 1968

Country of Loss: Laos

Loss Coordinates: 164730N 1062000E (XD434574)

Status (in 1973): Missing In Action

Category: 4

Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Other Personnel In Incident: Alan L. Boyer; George R. Brown (missing)

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Those Who Fought In Vietnam Came Home To A Country In Turmoil,

We Did Not Properly Thank Them For Their Service To The Country

They Fought & Died For. Honor The Veterans Of Vietnam, And Of

All Foreign Wars.We Live In Freedom Because Of Their Sacrifice.

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Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 30 June 1990 from one or more

of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,

correspondence with POW/MIA families, published

agency sources, interviews.

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SYNOPSIS: MACV-SOG (Military Assistance Command,

Vietnam Studies and Observation Group). MACV-SOG

was a joint service high command unconventional warfare

task force engaged in highly classified operations throughout

Southeast Asia.

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The 5th Special Forces channeled personnel into MACV-SOG

(although it was not a Special Forces group) through Special

Operations Augmentation (SOA), which provided their "cover"

while under secret orders to MACV-SOG. The teams performed

deep penetration missions of strategic reconnaissance and

interdiction which were called, depending on the time

frame, "Shining Brass" or "Prairie Fire"missions.

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On March 28, 1968, Sgt. Alan L. Boyer, Sgt. Charles G. Huston,

both riflemen, and SFC George R. Brown, intelligence sergeant,

were conducting a reconnaissance patrol in Laos, along with 7

Vietnamese personnel. The men were attached to Command and

Control Command and Control Detachment, MACV-SOG. About

15 miles inside Laos,northeast of Tchepone, the patrol made

contact with an unknown enemy force and requested

exfiltration by helicopter.

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Because of the terrain in the area, the helicopter could not

land, and a rope ladder was dropped in for the team to climb

up to board the aircraft.

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When the war ended, agreements were signed releasing American

Prisoners of War from Vietnam. Laos was not part of the peace

agreement, and although the Pathet Lao stated publicly that

they held "tens of tens" of prisoners, not a single American

held in Laos has ever been released.

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Any of the three members of the reconnaissance team operating

that day in March 1968 could be among the hundreds of Americans

experts believe to be alive today. The last they saw of America,

it was flying away, abandoning them to the jungle and the enemy.

What must they be thinking of us now?

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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...

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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.

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If you create an MIA page, it must include the letter you sent

to your elected officials before it will be recognized as an

Official MIA page for Operation Just Cause.

Not Sure Where To Send Your Letter?

House Email Addresses: http://www.rnc.org/post/house-email.html

Senate Email Addresses: http://www.rnc.org/post/senate-email.html

Whitehouse Email Addresses: http://www.whitehouse.gov/WH/EOP/html/principals.html

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