Missing Navy Crewmembers Found and Identified(from the Vietnam War)

Department of Defense ^ | 5/27/03 | Department of Defense

[Diddle E. Squat]

The remains of nine U.S. Navy crewmembers, missing in action from the Vietnam War, have been identified and their remains are being returned to their families for burial.

The nine are identified as Cmdr. Delbert A. Olson, Casselton, N.D.; Lt. j.g.'s Denis L. Anderson, Hope, Kan.; Arthur C. Buck, Sandusky, Ohio; and Philip P. Stevens, Twin Lake, Mich.; Petty Officers 2nd class Richard M. Mancini, Amsterdam, N.Y.; Michael L. Roberts, Purvis, Miss., Donald N. Thoresen and Kenneth H. Widon, Detroit and Petty Officer 3rd class Gale R. Siow, Huntington Park, Calif.

A group burial will be held at Arlington National Cemetery on June 18, 2003.

The nine departed Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base on Jan.11, 1968 onboard a Navy OP-2E Neptune aircraft for a mission over Laos to drop sensors which detected enemy movements. During its last radio contact, the crew reported they were descending through dense clouds. When they did not return to their home base, a search was initiated but found no evidence of a crash. Two weeks later, an Air Force aircrew photographed what appeared to be the crash site, but enemy activity in the area prevented a recovery operation.

Between 1993 and 2002, six U.S.-Lao investigation teams led by the Joint Task Force Full Accounting interviewed villagers in the surrounding area, gathered aircraft debris and surveyed the purported crash site scattered on two ledges of Phou Louang Mountain in Khammouan Province. During a 1996 visit, team members also recovered identification cards for several crewmembers, as well as human remains.

Full-scale recovery missions by the U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory Hawaii (CILHI) in both 2001 and 2002 yielded additional remains, as well as identification of other crewmembers. More than 1,900 Americans are missing in action from the Vietnam War, with another 86,000 MIA from the Cold War, the Korean War and WWII.

[Ff--150]

bump from ex-radio operator...

[lilylangtree]

RIP! God bless each of you.

[Arkinsaw]

When I see these headlines I always look to see if its Major Jerry Mundt. I wore his POW bracelet when I was a kid until it broke into pieces. I've always hoped he would finally make it home.

[tupac]

I am ex-VP navy, was this P-2 from a VP squadron? May God bless these heroes and give comfort to their families.

[Ff--150]

No, I don't believe they were VP, I believe they were "spooks." I was VR--C-118's, BTW.

[JoeSixPack1]

Cmdr. Delbert A. Olson, Casselton, N.D.;
Lt. j.g.'s Denis L. Anderson, Hope, Kan.;
Arthur C. Buck, Sandusky, Ohio; and
Philip P. Stevens, Twin Lake, Mich.;
Petty Officers 2nd class Richard M. Mancini, Amsterdam, N.Y.;
Michael L. Roberts, Purvis, Miss.,
Donald N. Thoresen and Kenneth H. Widon, Detroit and
Petty Officer 3rd class Gale R. Siow, Huntington Park, Calif.

Welcome home warriors. R.I.P.

[lilylangtree]

Never got around to getting a bracelet. However, I did the next best thing: I married (and we later divorced) a Vietnam vet.

[tupac]

I joined my squadron in late '75, it had just left Thailand where part of the mission was dropping sonabouys into the jungle to listen to the traffic there. VP-4, they found the Mayaguez and earned a Presidential Citation. Skinny Dragon Bump!

[Ff--150]

These sailors might be your shipmates, then. I can't remember if they were VP or VS or something else. Any event, I welcome them home.

[facedown]

[PatrioticAmerican]

"descending" "clouds"

Two words that never seem to result in a happy ending. RIP.

[SMEDLEYBUTLER]

crewmembers