Airmen Missing from Vietnam War Identified, 07/05/2012 02:14 PM CDT
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
No. 563-12
July 05, 2012
Airmen Missing from Vietnam War Identified
The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office
(DPMO) announced today that the remains of six servicemen, missing in
action from the Vietnam War, were recently identified and are being
returned to their families for burial with full military honors.
Air Force Col. Joseph Christiano of Rochester, N.Y.; Col.
Derrell B. Jeffords of Florence, S.C.; Lt. Col. Dennis L. Eilers of
Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Chief Master Sgt. William K. Colwell of Glen Cove,
N.Y.; Chief Master Sgt. Arden K. Hassenger of Lebanon, Ore.; and Chief
Master Sgt. Larry C. Thornton of Idaho Falls, Idaho, will be buried as a
group in a single casket representing the entire crew on July 9 in
Arlington National Cemetery. On Dec. 24, 1965, the crew was aboard an
AC-47D aircraft nicknamed "Spooky" that failed to return from a combat
strike mission in southern Laos. After a "mayday" signal was sent, all
contact was lost with the crew. Following the crash, two days of search
efforts for the aircraft and crew were unsuccessful.
In 1995, a joint United States-Lao People's Democratic
Republic (L.P.D.R.) team investigated a crash in Savannakhet Province,
Laos. Local villagers recalled seeing a two-propeller aircraft, similar
to an AC-47D, crash in December 1965. A local man found aircraft
wreckage in a nearby field while farming, and led the team to that
location. The team recovered small pieces of aircraft wreckage at that
time and recommended further investigative visits.
Joint U.S.-L.P.D.R. investigation and recovery teams
re-visited the site four times from 1999 to 2001. They conducted
additional interviews with locals, recovered military equipment, and
began an excavation. No human remains were recovered, so the excavation
was suspended pending additional investigation.
In 2010, joint U.S.-L.P.D.R. recovery teams again
excavated the crash site. The team recovered human remains, personal
items, and military equipment. Three additional excavations in 2011
recovered additional human remains and evidence.
Scientists from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command used
dental records and circumstantial evidence in the identification of
their remains.
For additional information on the Defense Department's
mission to account for missing Americans, visit the DPMO website at
http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo or call 703-699-1420.