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Air Force pilot missing in action from Vietnam War is identified
Air Force News ^

Posted on 01/12/2010 5:40:18 PM PST by SandRat

1/12/2010 - WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- Officials with the Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office announced Jan. 12 that the remains of an Air Force pilot, missing in action from the Vietnam War, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial.

Maj. Russell C. Goodman of Salt Lake City, Utah, will be honored at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., home of the U.S. Air Force Thunderbird demonstration team. At the time he was lost, Major Goodman was assigned to the Thunderbirds and was flying with the U.S. Navy on an exchange program. He will be buried in Alaska at a date determined by his family.

On Feb. 20, 1967, Major Goodman and Navy Lt. Gary L. Thornton took off in their F-4B Phantom from the USS Enterprise for a bombing mission against a railroad yard in Thanh Hoa Province, North Vietnam. They were struck by enemy antiaircraft fire and their plane exploded. Lieutenant Thornton was able to eject at just 250 feet altitude, but Major Goodman did not escape. Lieutenant Thornton survived and was held captive until his release in 1973.

Search and rescue attempts were curtailed because of heavy anti-aircraft and automatic weapons fire in the area of the crash.

Between October 1993 and March 2008, joint U.S.-Vietnamese teams led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command investigated the crash site twice and conducted two excavations, recovering human remains and pilot equipment. The aircraft debris recovered correlates with the type of aircraft the men were flying.

Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from JPAC and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory also used mitochondrial DNA, which matched two of his maternal relatives, in the identification of Goodman's remains.

For additional information on the Defense Department's mission to account for missing Americans, visit the DPMO Website or call (703) 699-1169.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs
KEYWORDS: identified; powmia; vietnam

The remains of an Air Force pilot, shot down over North Vietnam in 1967 while flying an F-4 Phantom like the one shown here,
have been identified and returned to his family for burial.

(U.S. Air Force file photo)

Related Links

• Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office

1 posted on 01/12/2010 5:40:19 PM PST by SandRat
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To: All

2 posted on 01/12/2010 5:40:42 PM PST by SandRat (Duty, Honor, Country! What else needs said?)
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To: SandRat

Welcome home, soldier.

May you rest in peace now, hero.

3 posted on 01/12/2010 5:42:34 PM PST by airborne (God save America!)
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To: SandRat

God rest you Major Goodman.


4 posted on 01/12/2010 5:47:58 PM PST by VR-21 ("If it's a vision of the future you want....")
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To: SandRat

Welcome home, Major Russell C. Goodman. America’s finest. R.I.P. sir.


5 posted on 01/12/2010 5:57:19 PM PST by PGalt
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To: SandRat

God bless you, Major...welcome home and thank you for your service...a true American hero...


6 posted on 01/12/2010 5:59:48 PM PST by IMTOFT (At least I'm enjoying the ride...)
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To: IMTOFT

Well said. I concur.


7 posted on 01/12/2010 6:04:42 PM PST by Sunshine Sister
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To: SandRat
This is great news!

My squadron lost an F4-J Phantom over Laos in 1972. Linebacker. The pilot was rescued but the RIO was not. To much activity on the ground for the rescue chopers to get to him. They were escortinig B-52s and got shot down by an air to air launched a NV mig.

Have not checked in a while but I think he is still listed as missing.

8 posted on 01/12/2010 6:24:08 PM PST by Red_Devil 232 (VietVet - USMC All Ready On The Right? All Ready On The Left? All Ready On The Firing Line!)
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To: SandRat

Welcome Home Brother

I never Forgot


9 posted on 01/12/2010 6:25:29 PM PST by garykfd (American by Birth, Southern by the Grace of God)
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To: SandRat

Maj Goodman was the only THunderbird pilot lost in RVN.
(posted yesterday)

Thanks for the photo....


10 posted on 01/12/2010 9:55:51 PM PST by ASOC (In case of attack, tune to 640 kilocycles or 1240 kilocycles on your AM dial.)
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