Servicemen Missing from Vietnam War Identified

United States Department of Defense ^ | January 9, 2004 | DoD Media Release

[Calpernia]

Two servicemen missing in action from the Vietnam War have been identified and returned to their families for burial.

They are Navy Lt. j.g. Robert A. Clark of North Hollywood, Calif., and another officer whose name will not be released at the request of his family.

On Jan. 10, 1973, the two took off in an A-6A aircraft from USS Midway on a mission to suppress surface-to-air missiles in North Vietnam. Near the target area in Nghe An Province in North Vietnam, aircrew reported an estimated 15 surface-to-air missiles fired, as well as numerous antiaircraft rounds. Clark’s A-6A was not seen again.

Attempts to contact the crew for four days through radio and visual searches were unsuccessful.

In July 1991, U.S. researchers discovered in a Vietnamese military museum a data plate which correlated to the downed aircraft. Later, in another museum, they discovered photos of a crash site which also correlated to the missing aircraft. U.S. researchers examined Vietnamese wartime records which confirmed the downing of that aircraft in Nghe An Province in January 1973.

Between 1993 and 2002, U.S. researchers and joint U.S.-Vietnam teams conducted four field investigations and one excavation. During one of their field visits, a witness to the 1973 crash turned over remains he claimed to have recovered at the site. During the excavation in 2002, additional remains were recovered.

The remains were identified in 2003 by the Central Identification Laboratory through skeletal analysis and mitochondrial DNA. Of the 88,000 Americans missing in action from all conflicts, 1,871 are from the Vietnam War.

[Calpernia]

Two servicemen missing in action from the Vietnam War have been identified and returned to their families for burial

[RetiredArmy]

How long did these families have to wait for this news while the fine Dean family was getting word that brother Dean the draft dodger and anti-war nut was being IDed as killed in one of his beloved communist countries in SE Asia?

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[facedown]

May they finally rest in peace.

[Donna Lee Nardo]

I am glad they are both back home again.

[onedoug]

Welcome Home, Brothers.

I doubt, RA, that Dean got any priority in the process.

[U S Army EOD]

For the folks that weren't in Vietnam in 1972 and 1973, they just have no idea.

[SAMWolf]

Thanks Calpernia. Two more warriors come home.

[RetiredArmy]

Yes he did. A couple or three weeks or more ago, there were several stories out about how Dean's brother's remains had been moved to the front of the line to ID. Jumped over many that have been there for quite some time. The soldiers there were required to salute his remains as they were covered with a US flag. He never was in the military and did not deserve that salute or flag on his coffin. He was in SE Asia on a commie love fest, anti-US in Nam quest and the very people he was there to love, killed him.

[onedoug]

I surely agree with the latter part of your post, but am unaware of the first aspects.

If true, it stinks. I'd suspect some State Department fifth column schist.

Thanks for your service. Best always.

[blackie]

Servicemen Missing from Vietnam War Identified ~ Bump!

[YOMO]

These two Servicemen are to be honored by all.
Welcome home, sleep well.
Although he is most certainly not returning I proudly wear a POW/MIA Bracelet since Thanksgiving of 1971. It has not been off my wrist since. LCDR Charles Marik, shot down in June of 1966. Should it ever break I will wear it like dogtags. A man is still with us as long as he is remembered. To all others still missing Well Done, you have paid the untimate price for our Freedom.

[ZinGirl]

Servicemen Missing from Vietnam War Identified ~ Bump!

ditto BUMP

[blackie]

I enjoy your dots ~ Bump! :)

[Alamo-Girl]

Bump!

[snopercod]

My roomate in college was Alan Clark. He shot down over SE Asia and listed as MIA ever since. God, I wonder if that was him.

[Valin]

They are Navy Lt. j.g. Robert A. Clark of North Hollywood, Calif., and another officer whose name will not be released at the request of his family.

On Jan. 10, 1973, the two took off in an A-6A aircraft from USS Midway on a mission to suppress surface-to-air missiles in North Vietnam. Near the target area in Nghe An Province in North Vietnam, aircrew reported an estimated 15 surface-to-air missiles fired, as well as numerous antiaircraft rounds. Clark’s A-6A was not seen again.

Name: Robert Alan Clark
Rank/Branch: O2/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 115, USS MIDWAY
Date of Birth: 21 September 1946
Home City of Record: North Hollywood CA
Date of Loss: 10 January 1973
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 185948N 1051836E (WG327003)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A6A
Refno: 1979
Other Personnel in Incident: Michael T. McCormick (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project with the assistance of one or more
of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence
with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews: 01 January 1990.
Updated by the P.O.W. NETWORK 1998 with information provided by Dave
Anderson.


SYNOPSIS: Lt. Michael T. McCormick was a pilot and Lt.JG Robert A. Clark a bombardier/navigator assigned to Attack Squadron 115 onboard the aircraft
carrier USS MIDWAY (CVA-41). On January 10, 1973, 17 days before an agreement was signed in Paris ending American involvement in the war in Southeast Asia, McCormick and Clark launched in their A6A "Intruder" attack aircraft.
Together with another A6 aircraft, they were to provide support for B52 air strikes, and had three targets assigned to them over North Vietnam.

The weather that day was overcast with a 1500 foot cloud cover. There was intense surface-to-air (SAM) missile activity in their target area, and an estimated total of 15 missiles were fired - three at the USS Midway aircraft
and 12 at the B52s.
The crew of another aircraft reported that he did not
think the missiles were aimed at him.
The boosters of the missiles were
diffused by the overcast, which proved to be very distracting. On egress the crewman noted additional SAM boosters along with the glow from the B52 bomb
strikes.
He coasted out over the coast and planned to orbit there until McCormick and Clark crossed the coastline to join him.

When McCormick and Clark did not arrive, and there was no radio contact, the wingman retraced his route at an altitude of 15,000 feet while making
numerous radio calls. No fires were seen and no enemy reaction was noted. Other aircraft crewmembers thought they heard a 3-4 second transmission that
sounded like an ECM (emergency transmission), but Search and Rescue (SAR) missions were flown in the area with no contact and no crash location or
wreckage found.

McCormick and Clark were last known to be over Nghe An Province, about 20 miles west of the city of Phu Dien Chau. Both men were placed in Missing in Action status. Other than the brief radio signal, no sign of either man was ever found.
http://www.scopesys.com/cgi/bio2.cgi?bio=C174

---

Name: Michael Timothy McCormick
Rank/Branch: O3/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 115, USS MIDWAY
Date of Birth: 08 July 1946
Home City of Record: Honolulu HI
Date of Loss: 10 January 1973
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 185948N 1051836E (WG327003)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A6A
Other Personnel in Incident: Robert A. Clark (missing)
Refno: 1979

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project with the assistance of one or more
of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews: 01
January 1990. Updated by the P.O.W. NETWORK 1998 with information proved by
Dave Anderson.



SYNOPSIS: Lt. Michael T. McCormick was a pilot and Lt.JG Robert A. Clark a bombardier/navigator assigned to Attack Squadron 115 onboard the aircraft carrier USS MIDWAY (CVA-41).
On January 10, 1973, 17 days before an agreement was signed in Paris ending American involvement in the war in
Southeast Asia, McCormick and Clark launched in their A6A "Intruder" attack aircraft. Together with another A6 aircraft, they were to provide support for B52 air strikes, and had three targets assigned to them over North
Vietnam.

The weather that day was overcast with a 1500 foot cloud cover. There was intense surface-to-air (SAM) missile activity in their target area, and an
estimated total of 15 missiles were fired - three at the USS Midway aircraft and 12 at the B52s. The crew of another aircraft reported that he did not think the missiles were aimed at him.
The boosters of the missiles were diffused by the overcast, which proved to be very distracting. On egress the
crewman noted additional SAM boosters along with the glow from the B52 bomb strikes. He coasted out over the coast and planned to orbit there until McCormick and Clark crossed the coastline to join him.

When McCormick and Clark did not arrive, and there was no radio contact, the wingman retraced his route at an altitude of 15,000 feet while making
numerous radio calls. No fires were seen and no enemy reaction was noted.
Other aircraft crewmembers thought they heard a 3-4 second transmission that sounded like an ECM (emergency transmission), but Search and Rescue (SAR)
missions were flown in the area with no contact and no crash location or wreckage found.

McCormick and Clark were last known to be over Nghe An Province, about 20 miles west of the city of Phu Dien Chau. Both men were placed in Missing in Action status. Other than the brief radio signal, no sign of either man was
ever found.

Because of the circumstances surrounding the downing of this aircraft, and the fact that the area was heavily defended, the U.S. believes there is good
reason to suspect that the Vietnamese know the fates of McCormick and Clark.
The Vietnamese, however, deny any knowledge of them.
http://www.scopesys.com/cgi/bio2.cgi?bio=M192

[MEG33]

I ,too, was offended that "Howard Dean's brother's remains" were given full honors.I googled and found out why.It was a precautionary event,in case the remains were of a US military person and not Dean.I googled the statement in quotes.I hope this helps.

May the famililies of the Navy pilots be comforted .I honor their sacrifice.May they rest in peace.

[snopercod]

It's confirmed. Clark was my college roommate. Must go now...

Robert Alan Clark