AIR FORCE PILOT MIA FROM VIETNAM WAR IS IDENTIFIED

[325X1]

The following was posted yesterday (16 Mar 2010):

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from the Vietnam War, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

He is Air Force Major Curtis Daniel Miller of Palacios, Texas. He will be buried on March 29 in the Dallas-Ft. Worth National Cemetery.

Miller was part of a 14-man aircrew, all of which are now accounted-for. Remains that could not be individually identified are included in a group which will be buried together in Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C.

On March 29, 1972, 14 men were aboard an AC-130A Spectre gunship that took off from Ubon Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand, on an armed reconnaissance mission over southern Laos. The aircraft was struck by an enemy surface-to-air missile and crashed. Search and rescue efforts were stopped after a few days due to heavy enemy activity in the area.

In 1986, joint U.S.- Lao People’s Democratic Republic teams, lead by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), surveyed and excavated the crash site in Savannakhet Province, Laos. The team recovered human remains and other evidence including two identification tags, life support items and aircraft wreckage. From 1986 to 1988, the remains were identified as those of nine men from this crew.

Between 2005 and 2006, joint teams resurveyed the crash site and excavated it twice. The teams found more human remains, personal effects and crew-related equipment. As a result, JPAC identified the other crewmen using forensic identification tools, circumstantial evidence, mitochondrial DNA and dental comparisons.

From http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo/

325X1

[Skip Davenport]

"This was 044's mission when it was shot down...

From the People’s Army of Vietnam (PAVN) archives:

“From its first establishment, Group 559 had always moved most of its supplies down the road network on the West Side of Annamite Mountain Chain (the Ho Chi Minh Trail) during the dry season. To counter enemy attack aircraft, truck movement was primarily conducted at night. Because of the expansion of the battlefield (into Cambodia and Laos), our requirements for combined arms combat operations demanded the transportation of an ever-increasing quantity of supplies and technical equipment. At the same time, however, the enemy’s AC-130E aircraft established control over and successfully suppressed, to a certain extent, our night-time supply operations. The number of trucks destroyed by enemy aircraft during the 1970-71 dry season rose to 4,000, of which the AC-130E by itself destroyed 2,432 trucks (60.8% of the total number of trucks destroyed by the enemy). Our supply effort, conducted during a single season of the year and using “single supply route†could not respond adequately to our requirements. Our night supply operations encountered difficulties.â€

(PAVN HISTORY FOOTNOTE 1): Equipment to locate our supply trucks included light intensification devices, and sensors able to detect the electrical systems of our truck engines. The American imperialists called the AC-130E the flying “Saboteur†and the “Electronic Birdâ€. It was capable of firing on and destroying 68 vehicles in one hour (it took less than one minute to destroy each vehicle).

(PAVN HISTORY FOOTNOTE 2) “As compared with 1969, the number of supply trucks belonging to group 559 during the 1970-71 dry season increased from 3,000 to 6,500 trucks. The number of anti-aircraft artillery guns and mortars of all types was increased by over 200 tubes. The number of tractors of various types to build roads and to destroy mines and bombs increased by more than 1000. Communications radios were increased from 217 to more than 1000 sets. Troop strength was increased to 90,000 soldiers.â€

In Vietnam Courier “Supply Trucks Moving Down the Trail in daylight†No. 5, 1984, it states “ The AC-130s were taking an increasing toll against Trail traffic. They had become the most effective weapon against the trucks and had to be countered. The air defense units would engage them. But they were always escorted by strike aircraft armed to attack or destroy the guns and their crews. Other measures were needed and Colonel Le Xi of group 559 was sent to investigate.

Ibid, War in peace, Vol. number 5, 1984, “Road to Victory: The Ho Chi Mihn Trail†states; “He (Colonel Xi) met with various section leader, who told him of the damage the AC-130 were doing. When he met with numerous drivers and asked for their thoughts. One stated that he hated the lumbering gunships and their massive guns, which he called the “thug.†Another driver observed:

When we stayed quiet, it [the gunship] merely circled overhead. But as soon as we started the engine, in began firing. If we turned off the engine, it would fire a few more rounds and leave. But if we restarted the motor, it would come back at once. The dangerous thing is that this plane needs neither flares nor guidance by a recon planeâ€

[lownslow]

Another Hero returns home... finally!

[tinyclark]

Another reason why I consider the Gunship the most effective modern weapon.

[Dan Wilson]

Skip, thanks for the post.

Pretty neat to read what the other side thought of the AC-130's

Thanks

Dan