MACV-SOG MIA/KIA Chronological List

1966

29 Jan 66; Ronald Terrance Terry, SSG E6, Niagara Falls, NY, USASF, FOB #1, Ops 35, Shining Brass, KIA while on recon-body not recovered. (The team came under fire by the enemy causing the team to be split resulting three men to be hiding in elephant grass where they observed 7 enemy soldiers within a couple of feet to their right and rear. These men opened fire on the Viet Cong and fell three of them, SSG Terry was heard yelling he had been hit and observed him holding his right shoulder and then react as if he had been hit again where Terry did not move again).

Feb 66, Luc Luong Dac Biet (LLDB), An unidentified Vietnamese Lieutenant and a Sergeant, Kham Duc, Ops 35, Shining Brass, MIA (The facts regarding the loss of these men are unknown).

15 Mar 66; David Hugh Homer, Cpt 0-3, Pilot, Belmont, Mass, USAF, FAC, MACSOG 32 (Air Studies Branch) and Glenn David McElroy, LTC 0-5, Sidney, IL and John Michael Nash, Cpt 0-3, Tipton, Indiana last reported location in Laos near Khe Sahn- MIA (The last known position was in Laos near Khe Sanh)

17 Mar 66, William H Craig, Cpt 0-3, USASF, FOB #1, Kham Duc, Ops 35, Reaction Force Commander, Killed due to accidental discharge of his Swedish-K sub-machine gun when it fell to the floor off the club’s bar and discharged. (Cpt Craig was the commander of the Nung reaction force on the North side of Kham Duc).

06 Apr 66, James W Gates, Cpt 0-3, Mer Rouge, La., and John W Lafayette, Cpt 0-3, Waterbury, Vermont; Ops 32 (Air Studies Branch) Hue-Phu Bai Airfield, Flying FAC in OV-1 crashed 30 kilometers inside Laos, MIA. (Two OV-1 departed Phu Bai for a recon over Laos, both were shot down. Another aircraft flew over the area, observed the wreckage of both OV-1's and the FAC saw the four men (two men per OV-1) alive on the ground with both crews reporting they were alright. Contact was lost with Cpt Gates and Lafayette as they reported enemy forces closing in on them. The crew of the other OV-1 were rescued).

03 Jul 66; Edwin J McNamara, Cpt 0-3, USASF RT Nevada, Tm Leader (One-Zero) and Donald J Fawcett, SSG E-6, USASF Team Radio Operator (One-Two) were KIA-RR, Ralph Joseph Reno, MSG E-8, USASF Team Assistant Team Leader (One-One), Fayetteville, NC, MIA; and Nine Vietnamese Soldiers (names and Ranks unknown) were KIA (These 12 men were assigned to FOB #2, OPS 35, KONTUM, SOG) and a CH-34 Vietnamese Helicopter crew consisting the VN Pilot, (Cpt [Dau Uy Nguyen Van Hoagn aka "Mustachio, "Co-pilot and Door Gunner-names and ranks unknown were also KIA. The aircraft was returning from Kham Duc [after a mission] to Kontum, FOB 2 (flying at 5,000 feet) when it hit a severe air turbulence resulting in the aircraft "falling apart" loss of the rear tail rotor (the tail , designed to pivot for storage on aircraft carriers, had come loose, swung around and chewed the helicopter to pieces in mid air) causing the aircraft to rotate rapidly, falling some (1,500 ?) feet in a tight spiral, throwing individuals and debris over a large area. impacting the ground nose first. Remains of 2 Americans and 5 Vietnamese were recovered. MSG Reno and 4 Vietnamese soldiers remains were not found after a 5 day aerial and ground search. [Filed by William "Billy" Waugh: on or about 02 Jul 66 SSG Donald Fawcett was en route to Kam Duc, SVN, with other Americans, aboard an H-34 rescue helicopter. Due to poor visibility and suspected ground fire, one of the H-34 helicopter clipped the blades of the chopper in which Fawcett, et.al., were pax. All aboard were killed by the crash, and I am not certain if their bodies were ever rescued or not]. (See pg 105-106, SOG A Photo History of the Secret Wars by John Plaster.

29 Jul 66, Delmar Lee Laws, SFC E-7, Mineral Point, Missouri and Don Rue Sain SP/4, USASF, FOB 1, Phu Bai, MACSOG Op 35 and Two Army of Vietnam (ARVN) soldiers, name and ranks unknown were on a recon mission. SFC Laws listed as MIA and SP4 Sain and the two Vietnamese KIA-RR. (A team of 3 Americans and 7 ARVN, conducting a recon in the area Southwest of Khe Shan in Laos. The team had stopped at a small stream as they were climbing down the back slope of Co Roc Mountain, where SFC Law was last seen crouched, signaling to the team leader, reporting he had hears something to his rear. Immediately the team came under fire from the rear and flank positions by automatic weapons by an estimated company size NVA unit. Two Vietnamese and SP/4 Sain were immediately KIA. As the team rallied, SFC Laws was unaccounted for. The team then moved to evade the enemy. SFC Laws was not seen hit nor was he seen again. Upon a recovery mission, the remains of the two Vietnamese and SP/4 Sain along with a leg which was later identified as belong to SFC Laws were recovered (Sain's body had been crudely booby-trapped with a hand grenade). The recovery team reports, anyone caught in the killing zone died instantly. Law is presumed to have died due to the massive bleeding produced from the severed femoral artery would have produced death within minutes without the immediate services of a medically trained surgeon. SGM Harry "Crash" D. Whalen was able to evade the enemy and actually walk out of Laos. (Note: Identification was made through the remaining clothing on the leg, Jungle boots, and size of the boots). [FILED BY: SGM "BILLY WAUGH": Concerning RT members SAIN and LAWS, on 29 Jul 66, while on Recon in the Co Roc Mountain area, 10 KM WSW of Khe Sanh Base, approximately 700 meters West of the Tchepone River, the team (Team Name not recalled), with s SGM Crash WHALEN as the 1 - 0, where ambushed during the hours of daylight. SAIN and LAWS were dropped in their tracks, with C. WHALEN, attempting to rescue what was left of the team. C. WHALEN crossed the Tchepone River, and E & E'd to the Khe Shan Base. B. Waugh, took in a Bright Light Team, consisting of Maj. KILMER, Commo man, Horton DANIELS, Launch Site CO, Maj. J. VANSICKLE, and a couple of others, landing at an area where SAIN was staked to the ground. Booby traps were attached to SAIN who was dead. The booby traps were dis-armed. The body of LAWS was in the jungle, near that of SAIN. LAWS was also dead. No other (indig) teams members were found in the ambush area. No NVA were at the immediate area; however, four NVA bodies, stripped of weapons and clothing (excepting black PJ trousers) were found stacked at the base of an ant hill. The bodies of Sain and Laws were picked up with the Bright Light Team returning these bodies to the Khe Sanh area. These men were the first KIA out of FOB-1].

28 Sep 66, Danny Gene Taylor, SSG E-6, St Louis, Mo USASF, and Two Nungs FOB #1, Phu Bal, Ops 35 SOG, KIA body not recovered. (The team was overran during a halt to make radio contact by an aggressive enemy force near Khe Shan. Taylor was the team’s RTO, One-Two, making radio contact when the team came under fire by a Viet Cong element, he re-shouldered his radio, firing on the enemy and moved over and attempted to jump off of some rocks when hit in the back by a machine gun bullet(s). Two members of the patrol checked him for vital signs, there were none. The team was forced to leave Taylor due to the heavy enemy fire).

03 Oct 66; Raymond Louis Echevarria, MSG B-8, New York, NY and James Emory Jones, SFC E-7, Alpha, Georgia and Eddie Lee Williams, SFC E-7, Miami, FL, USASF, RT Arizona, FOB 1, Phu Bai, Ops 35 SOG, and Three Vietnamese, name and ranks unknown all MIA as a result of recon mission one mile inside Laos west of the DMZ. (After insertion, the team moved a short distance from the Landing Zone and ran into an enemy soldier and fired upon him. The team was met by heavy return fire from 360 degrees, the team was surrounded, and most all the team members were wounded. In an attempt to evade the enemy, they split in order to escape. Echevarria called for extraction, but due to the heavy enemy activity this was impossible despite air strikes. Echevarra then reported their situation was hopeless, stating in a calm voice "When I quit talking, put the shit right on us!." A few minutes later, the Air Force fighter bombers dropped their loads across the team’s position. The team was outnumbered almost 100 to 1. During this incident, 6 of the 7 helicopters attempting to extract the team were hit as was one A-1 Sky raider. The only survivor, a Vietnamese interpreter Bui Kim Tien, reports that SFC Williams told him "Jones is dying and Ray (Echevarria) is the same way. Tien further reported he had evaded the enemy with SFC Williams who had been wounded in the thigh after 2 Americans had been killed and last saw him on 4 Oct when Williams sent him to check some caves, at which point Tien was spotted and forced to run from the area. Searches were conducted on 4, 5, & 6 Oct with negative result. A month later, an enemy POW reported he had seen a black man with a wounded thigh, hands tied behind his back and a noose around his neck, being led through villages for public mockery until he was too weak to walk, he was then executed.

10 Oct 66- Charles Borowsky, SFC E-7, USASF, NCOIC S-2 Section, Project B-53, Camp Long Thanh, on Security Patrol-KIA. As the Team leader of a CIDG patrol during a search and destroy mission, he was informed by the point man that they had discovered a network of booby traps. SFC Borowsky and two other members moved forward to investigate, and as they approached the booby trapped area, they spotted an enemy squad approximately 40 meters away and immediately opened fire. The enemy apparently had no knowledge of the remaining force left in the rear by Borowsky , began to flank him and the other two members, pinning them down with intense fire. Realizing the seriousness of the situation, SFC Borowsky stood up, exposing himself, and began directing a counterattack. Although he was exposed to a deadly crossfire, he remained on his feet, directing the advance of his patrol until he was mortally wounded (Extracted from Award Citation).

13 Oct 66, Charles R. Vessel, SFC E-7 and Fedrick H. Lewis, SFC E-7, USASF, and forty Nungs Commandos of FOB-2, Kontum, Operation Crimson Tide, KIA (Lewis Smith reports: Fredrick was known as "Huckleberry" due to the straw hat he wore and both were part of a mission, which is credited as being the first to attempt to recover an American POW (USAF Captain Carl E. Jackson), being held by the Viet Cong at one of their R&R center located at Soc Trang. A SOG size company element was formed and commanded by Captain Frank Jaks, a Czechoslovakia by birth, and tasked with the rescue mission. Vessel and Lewis were part of the 3^rd Platoon. Their helicopters landed them directly in front of two heavily armed Viet Cong Battalions and the 306 NVA regiment with an estimated 1,000 soldiers. The entire 3^rd Platoon was annihilated.

22 Oct 66- Boyd W. Anderson, RT's 1-0, SGT E-5, and Michael R. Newbern, RT's 1-1, SSG E-6, USASF, B-56 Project SIGMA, Recon mission-KIA. The five member Reconnaissance team was inserted behind enemy lines and spent the night, moving out at daybreak. After two hours on the trail, the team was ambushed receiving fire from all sides. The reinforced NVA platoon had permitted the Point to pass through and when the main body of the team entered the ambush area, the NVA then sprain the ambush. Sgt Anderson was hit in the knee, dropped to the ground and directed his team to seek cover and radio for help as he was laying down suppressive fire, permitting the team to take a defensive position, at which time he was mortally wounded. Sgt Newbern, observing that Anderson had been hit, took charge of the team as directed by Anderson, ensuring the team took proper cover and directed their defensive fire in an effort to suppress the enemy's fire so Anderson could crawl away from his exposed position while contacting the RR site. During a renewed effort by Newbern to retrieve Sgt Anderson from the direct fire of the enemy, he was also mortally wounded (Extracted from Award citations).