1965-1974 Tributes
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JAMES L. GRIFFIN USN (3rd Company) - listed by the Class WEB as KIA VNam BNR on 21 May 67. POW Network lists him as MIA on 19 May 67 - no event history but with a notation that remains were recovered 03/13/74. Needs to be checked further with Navy records. From a Joe Clarkson email Note from webmaster '55 website: Jim Bell, class of '54, emailed me with
the suggestion that '55 classmates might be
interested in a web page on the '54 website. In this page, from which I
have copied the below text, Jim Bell relates his
recent
travels to Vietnam. Norm Palladino (24) Norm,
I launched
on the same strike as Jim on 19 May. He was flying
an RA5C, I was flying an EA3B. My mission was electronic
reconnaisance
and early warning; his was BDA (bomb damage assessment). I
understand,
from what I heard at the mission debrief, that his photo mission was
low level which put him in range of the smaller stuff,
(23mm). His
airspeed was in excess of Mach 1.0 so if something even that small hit
him, his aircraft would start coming apart immediately. I have
visited
his section of "The Wall" several times over the last 25 years.
Bob Newbegin
Norm and Bob:
Jim lived on the same alley that I did at
Monterey. got to know him and Dora very well. Great folks.
He had a Morgan and I had a TR-4. We had a Saturday
night ritual: two martinis, genuine Mario Andretti racing gloves and a
road race across the Monterey Carmel Valley cutoff.
I was saddened to hear of his death while I was flying in
Nam off Orisikany but glad that Dora has put her life back together.
Don Martin(6)
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A lot has happened since 1955. Having been commissioned into the Air Force upon graduation, Tom was assigned to Moore Field for pilot training. He received his pilot wings at Reese AFB, TX. Assignments then were Ellington AFB. Houston, TX for three years. While there, Tom was Commissary Officer and later, Information Services Officer. Major Moore received his masters's degree in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University in May 1961. He was then assigned to the Air Force Academy, 1961-67, where he taught Physics, Electrical Engineering and later assigned to Department of Research and Development. An AF Commendation Medal was awarded to Tom for setting up the academy with academic computer scheduling. The Computer Science Award to the outstanding is not given annually at the AFA in memory of Major Moore. Tom was on an interrupted tour from the AFA when the plain he was piloting was shot down near Quin Nhon, SEA, on November 30, 1967. He is buried at the Air Force Academy -- a place he dearly loved. Tom, III, age 26 is a graduate of the University of Colorado, majoring in Criminal Justice, and is working in Colorado Springs. Scott, age 25, graduated from the AFA in 1983. He is a member of Navy Seal Team #3, based in San Diego and is not a LTJG. Barbara Jean, aged 19, is a junior at University of Colorado, Boulder. Thirty Years Later -- 1985 Joe Clarkson posted the following information on our listserver on June 7th 1997: USNA55 Major Thomas Dewey Moore Jr. USAF was an air casualty on 30 November 1967 near Quin Nhon, Vietnam. Tom was initially classified as missing in action then as "died while missing". His body was subsequently recovered. On the Wall, Thomas Dewey Moore Jr's name can be located on panel 31E, Line 014. Tom's hometown is listed as Del Rio Texas and he was married at the time of casualty. The Thirty Years Later book has a well written entry by Barbara Moore describing Tom's life after the graduation, particularly as a permanent instructor at Colorado Springs and his burial at the Air Force Academy after his remains were recovered. [Posted Above] Joe Clarkson - 8th Company |
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The following is from POW Network Name: John Lee McElroy REMARKS: EXPLODE - N RESC - HOSTIL AR - J SYNOPSIS: Kham Duc Special Forces camp (A-105), was located on the western fringes of Quang Tin ("Great Faith") Province, South Vietnam. In the spring of 1968, it was the only remaining border camp in Military Region I. Backup responsibility for the camp fell on the 23rd Infantry Division (Americal), based at Chu Lai on the far side of the province. The camp had originally been built for President Diem, who enjoyed hunting in the area. The 1st Special Forces detachment (A-727B) arrived in September 1963 and found the outpost to be an ideal border surveillance site with an existing airfield. The camp was located on a narrow grassy plain surrounded by rugged, virtually uninhabited jungle. The only village in the area, located across the airstrip, was occupied by post dependents, camp followers and merchants. The camp and airstrip were bordered by the Ngok Peng Bum ridge to the west and Ngok Pe Xar mountain, looming over Kham Duc to the east. Steep banked streams full of rapids and waterfalls cut through the tropical wilderness. The Dak Mi River flowed past the camp over a mile distant, under the shadow of the Ngok Pe Xar. Five miles downriver was the small forward operating base of Ngok Tavak, defended by the 113-man 11th Mobile Strike Force Company with its 8 Special Forces and 3 Australian advisors. Since Ngok Tavak was outside friendly artillery range, 33 Marine artillerymen of Battery D, 2nd Battalion, 13th Marines, with two 105mm howitzers were located at the outpost. Capt. Christopher J. Silva, commander of Detachment A-105 helicoptered into Ngok Tavak on May 9, 1968 in response to growing signs of NVA presence in the area. Foul weather prevented his scheduled evening departure. A Kham Duc CIDG platoon fleeing a local ambush also arrived and was posted to the outer perimeter. It was later learned that the CIDG force contained VC infiltrators. Ngok Tavak was attacked by an NVA infantry battalion at 0315 hours on May 10. The base was pounded by mortars and direct rocket fire. As the frontal assault began, the Kham Duc CIDG soldiers moved toward the Marines in the fort yelling, "Don't shoot, don't shoot! Friendly, friendly!" Suddenly they lobbed grenades into the Marine howitzer positions and ran into the fort, where they shot several Marines with carbines and sliced claymore mine and communication wires. The defenders suffered heavy casualties but stopped the main assault and killed the infiltrators. The NVA dug in along the hill slopes and grenaded the trenches where the mobile strike force soldiers were pinned by machine gun and rocket fire. An NVA flamethrower set the ammunition ablaze, banishing the murky flare- lighted darkness for the rest of the night. SFC Harold M. Swicegood and the USMC platoon leader, Lt. Adams, were badly wounded and moved to the command bunker. Medical Spec4 Blomgren reported that the CIDG mortar crews had abandoned their weapons. Silva tried to operate the main 4.2 inch mortar but was wounded. At about 0500 hours, Sgt. Glenn Miller, an A-105 communications specialist, was shot through the head as he ran over to join the Marine howitzer crews. The NVA advanced across the eastern side of Ngok Tavak and brought forward more automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenade launchers. In desperation, the defenders called on USAF AC-47 "Spooky" gunships to strafe the perimeter and the howitzers, despite the possible presence of friendly wounded in the gun pits. The NVA countered with tear gas, but the wind kept drifting the gas over their own lines. After three attempts, they stopped. A grenade fight between the two forces lasted until dawn. At daybreak Australian Warrant Officers Cameron and Lucas, joined by Blomgren, led a CIDG counterattack. The North Vietnamese pulled back under covering fire, and the howitzers were retaken. The Marines fired the last nine shells and spiked the tubes. Later that morning medical evacuation helicopters supported by covering airstrikes took out the seriously wounded, including Silva and Swicegood. Two CH46's were able to land 45 replacements from the 12th Mobile Strike Force Company, accompanied by Capt. Euge E. Makowski (who related much of this account to Shelby Stanton, author of "Green Berets at War"), but one helicopter was hit in the fuel line and forced down. Another helicopter was hit by a rocket and burst into flames, wrecking the small helipad. The remaining wounded were placed aboard a hovering helicopter. As it lifted off, two Mike Force soldiers and 1Lt. Horace Fleming, one of the stranded aviation crewmen, grabbed the helicopter skids. All three fell to their deaths after the helicopter had reached an altitude of over one hundred feet. The mobile strike force soldiers were exhausted and nervous. Ammunition and water were nearly exhausted, and Ngok Tavak was still being pounded by sporadic mortar fire. They asked permission to evacuate their positions, but were told to "hold on" as "reinforcements were on the way". By noon the defenders decided that aerial reinforcement or evacuation was increasingly unlikely, and night would bring certain destruction. An hour later, they abandoned Ngok Tavak. Thomas Perry, a medic from C Company, arrived at the camp at 0530 hours the morning of the 10th. He cared for the wounded and was assisting in an attempt to establish a defensive perimeter when the decision was made to evacuate the camp. As survivors were leaving, Perry was seen by Sgt. Cordell J. Matheney, Jr., standing 20 feet away, as Australian Army Capt. John White formed the withdrawal column at the outer perimeter wire on the eastern Ngok Tavak hillside. It was believed that Perry was going to join the end of the column. All the weapons, equipment and munitions that could not be carried were hastily piled into the command bunker and set afire. The helicopter that had been grounded by a ruptured fuel line was destroyed with a LAW. Sgt. Miller's body was abandoned. After survivors had gone about 1 kilometer, it was discovered that Perry was missing. Efforts were conducted to locate both Perry and Miller, including a search by a group from Battery D. They were searching along the perimeter when they were hit by enemy grenades and arms fire. Neither the men on the team nor Perry was ever found. Included in this team were PFC Thomas Blackman; LCpl. Joseph Cook; PFC Paul Czerwonka; LCpl. Thomas Fritsch; PFC Barry Hempel; LCpl. Raymond Heyne; Cpl. Gerald King; PFC Robert Lopez; PFC William McGonigle; LCpl. Donald Mitchell; and LCpl. James Sargent. The remaining survivors evaded through dense jungle to a helicopter pickup point midway to Kham Duc. Their extraction was completed shortly before 1900 hours on the evening of May 10. In concert with the Ngok Tavak assault, the Kham Duc was blasted by a heavy mortar and recoilless rifle attack at 0245 hours that same morning. Periodic mortar barrages ripped into Kham Duc throughout the rest of the day, while the Americal Division airmobiled a reinforced battalion of the 196th Infantry Brigade into the compound. A Special Forces command party also landed, but the situation deteriorated too rapidly for their presence to have positive effect. The mortar attack on fog-shrouded Kham Duc resumed on the morning of May 11. The bombardment caused heavy losses among the frightened CIDG soldiers, who fled from their trenches across open ground, seeking shelter in the bunkers. The LLDB commander remained hidden. CIDG soldiers refused orders to check the rear of the camp for possible North Vietnamese intruders. That evening the 11th and 12th Mobile Strike Force companies were airlifted to Da Nang, and half of the 137th CIDG Company from Camp Ha Thanh was airlanded in exchange. The 1st VC Regiment, 2nd NVA Division, began closing the ring around Kham Duc during the early morning darkness of 12 May. At about 0415 to 0430 hours, the camp and outlying positions came under heavy enemy attack. Outpost #7 was assaulted and fell within a few minutes. Outposts #5, #1 and #3 had been reinforced by Americal troops but were in North Vietnamese hands by 0930 hours. OP1 was manned by PFC Harry Coen, PFC Andrew Craven, Sgt. Joseph Simpson, and SP4 Julius Long from Company E, 2nd of the 1st Infantry. At about 0415 hours, when OP1 came under heavy enemy attack, PFC Coen and SP4 Long were seen trying to man a 106 millimeter recoilless rifle. Survivors reported that in the initial enemy fire, they were knocked off their bunker. Both men again tried to man the gun, but were knocked down again by RPG fire. PFC Craven, along with two other men, departed the OP at 0830 hours on May 12. They moved out 50 yards and could hear the enemy in their last position. At about 1100 hours, as they were withdrawing to the battalion perimeter, they encountered an enemy position. PFC Craven was the pointman and opened fire. The enemy returned fire, and PFC Craven was seen to fall, with multiple chest wounds. The other two men were unable to recover him, and hastily departed the area. PFC Craven was last seen lying on his back, wounded, near the camp. OP2 was being manned by 1Lt. Frederick Ransbottom, SP4 Maurice Moore, PFC Roy Williams, PFC Danny Widner, PFC William Skivington, PFC Imlay Widdison, and SP5 John Stuller, from the 2nd of the 3rd Infantry when it came under attack. Informal questioning of survivors of this position indicated that PFC Widdison and SP5 Stuller may have been killed in action. However, the questioning was not sufficiently thorough to produce enough evidence to confirm their deaths. The only information available concerning 1Lt. Ransbottom, SP4 Moore, PFC Lloyd and PFC Skivington that Lt. Ransbottom allegedly radioed PFC Widner and PFC Williams, who were in the third bunker, and told them that he was shooting at the enemy as they entered his bunker. SP4 Juan Jimenez, a rifleman assigned to Company A, 2nd of the 1st Infantry, was occupying a defensive position when he was severely wounded in the back by enemy mortar fire. SP4 Jimenez was declared dead by the Battalion Surgeon in the early morning hours of May 12. He was then carried to the helipad for evacuation. However, due to the situation, space was available in the helicopter for only the wounded, and SP4 Jimenez'remains were left behind. At noon a massive NVA attack was launched against the main compound. The charge was stopped by planes hurling napalm, cluster bomb units and 750 pound bombs into the final wire barriers. The decision was made by the Americal Division officers to call for immediate extraction. The evacuation was disorderly, and at times, on the verge of complete panic. One of the first extraction helicopters to land was exploded by enemy fire, blocking the airstrip. Engineers of Company A, 70th Engineer Battalion, frantically reassembled one of their dozers (previously torn apart to prevent capture) to clear the runway. Eight more aircraft were blown out of the sky. PFC Richard E. Sands was a member of Company A, 1st Battalion, 46th Infantry, 198th Light Infantry Brigade being extracted on a CH47 helicopter (serial #67-18475). The helicopter was hit by 50 calliber machine gun fire at an altitude of 1500-1600 feet shortly after takeoff. Sands, who was sitting near the door gunner, was hit in the head by an incoming rounds. The helicopter made a controlled landing and caught fire. During the evacuation from the burning helicopter, four personnel and a medic checked PFC Sands and indicated that he had been killed instantly. Because of the danger of incoming mortar rounds and the fire, personnel attempting to remove PFC Sands from the helicopter were ordered to abandon their attempt. The remaining personnel were evacuated from the area later by another helicopter. Intense antiaircraft fire from the captured outposts caused grave problems. Control over the indigenous forces was difficult. One group of CIDG soldiers had to be held in trenches at gunpoint to prevent them from mobbing the runway. As evacuation was in progress, members of Company A, 1/46, who insisted on boarding the aircraft first, shoved Vietnamese dependents out of the way. As more Americal infantry tried to clamber into the outbound planes, the outraged Special Forces staff convinced the Air Force to start loading civilians onboard a C130, then watched as the civilians pushed children and weaker adults aside. The crew of the U.S. Air Force C130 aircraft (serial #60-0297) consisted of Maj. Bernard Bucher, pilot; SSgt. Frank Hepler, flight engineer; Maj. John McElroy, navigator; 1Lt. Steven Moreland, co-pilot; George Long, load master; Capt. Warren Orr, passenger, and an undetermined number of Vietnamese civilians. The aircraft reported receiving ground fire on takeoff. The Forward Air Control (FAC) in the area reported that the aircraft exploded in mid-air and crashed in a fire ball about one mile from camp. All crew and passengers were believed dead, as the plane burned quickly and was completely destroyed except for the tail boom. No remains were recovered from the aircraft. Capt. Orr was not positively identified by U.S. personnel as being aboard the aircraft. He was last seen near the aircraft helping the civilians to board. However, a Vietnamese stated that he had seen Capt. Orr board the aircraft and later positively identified him from a photograph. Rescue efforts were impossible because of the hostile threat in the area. At the time the order was given to escape and evade, SP4 Julius Long was was with Coen and Simpson. All three had been wounded, and were trying to make their way back to the airfield about 350 yards away. As they reached the airfield, they saw the last C130 departing. PFC Coen, who was shot in the stomach, panicked and started running and shooting his weapon at random. SP4 Long tried to catch him, but could not, and did not see PFC Coen again. Long then carried Sgt. Simpson to a nearby hill, where they spent the night. During the night, the airfield was strafed and bombed by U.S. aircraft. SP4 Long was hit twice in the back by fragments, and Sgt. Simpson died during the night. SP4 Long left him lying on the hill near the Cam Duc airfield and started his escape and evasion toward Chu Lai, South Vietnam. SP4 Long was captured and was released in 1973 from North Vietnam. The Special Forces command group was the last organized group out of the camp. As their helicopter soared into the clouds, Kham Duc was abandoned to advancing NVA infantry at 4:33 p.m. on May 12, 1968. The last Special Forces camp on the northwestern frontier of South Vietnam had been destroyed. Two search and recovery operations were conducted in the vicinity of OP1 and OP2 and the Cam Duc airfield on July 18, 1970 and August 17, 1970. In these operations, remains of personnel previously reported missing from this incident were recovered and subsequently identified. (SP4 Bowers, PFC Lloyd, Sgt. Sisk, PFC Guzman-Rios and SSgt. Carter). However, extensive search and excavation could not be completed at OP1 and OP2 because of the tactical situation. It was assumed that all the missing at Kham Duc were killed in action until about 1983, when the father of one of the men missing discovered a Marine Corps document which indicated that four of the men had been taken prisoner. The document listed the four by name. Until then, the families had not been advised of the possibility there were any American prisoners taken other than Julius Long. A Vietnamese rallier identified the photograph of Roy C. Williams as positively having been a POW. Until proof is obtained that the rest of the men lost at Ngok Tavak and Kham Duc are dead, their families will always wonder if they are among those said to still be alive in Southeast Asia. |
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Tad Eugene Sizemore graduated from Annapolis in 1955. Upon graduation he took his commission in the Air Force and went to flying school in Laredo, Texas. Upon completing the school he was then assigned to Langley Air Force Base in Virginia to serve in the 511th Fighter Bomber Squadron. After the squadron was dissolved in 1959, he was assigned to the OSI in Madrid, Spain as Administrative Officer for four years. He then went back to Langley where he taught instrument school. He resigned his active status in the late sixties and moved to Seattle, Washington where he took a position with Boeing Aircraft. He also flew for US Steel. He served full time with the Air National Guard in Pennsylvania and Great Falls, Montana. Tad had many various careers, but his true love was flying. Tad died unexpectedly in October 1972. He married Rose Gray Sizemore in 1957 and had six children. Their children are almost grown now, with careers of their own: Kim Edward Sizemore -- Research Analyst for the HEARTLAND SERIES residing in Knocksville, TN; Valerie Jill Sizemore -- Co-Manager, The Kroger Co. grocery chain and a first lieutenant in the US Army Reserve, residing in Knoxville, TN; Tracy Sizemore Demonburn -- Merchandiser for JC Penny, Inc. and son Robert Matthew (2 Yr) in Knoxville, TN; Kelly Susan Sizemore -- Student at Roane State Community College, residing in Knoxville, TN; Bryan Gray Sizemore -- Assistant Manager of L & N Restaurant chain, residing in Knoxville, TN; and Christopher Tad Sizemore -- Chief for the Copper Cellar Restaurant, also residing in Knoxville, TN. Thirty Years On -- 1985 |
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Classmates and friends of Marvin L. Salomon were deeply saddened to hear of his untimely passing on November 10, 1972 following a brief illness. After graduation and service in Naval Aviation, Marve settled in the Washington area and was employed as an aerospace engineer in the Office of the Chief of Staff (Logistics), U.S. Army. In recent years, Marve completed after hours studies and was awarded a Masters Degree in Aerospace Engineering by the University of Southern California. Marve is survived by his wife Dee and two daughters, Joy and Lynda. His parents, Mr. and Mrs. Alex Salomon and a sister of Los Angeles also survive. Dee has asked that any remembrances be in the form of contributions to the Alumni Association or to the American Cancer Society. Forwarded to Shipmate on December 7, 1972 by Theodore K. Hyman (13) |
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Donald Louis Rissi The following is from POW Network http://www.asde.com/~pownet/bios RISSI, DONALD LOUIS Name: Donald Louis Rissi Other Personnel in Incident: Walter L. Ferguson; Robert J. Thomas (both remains returned); Richard E. Johnson; Richard T. Simpson; Robert G. Certain (all released POWs) Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1991 from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources including "Linebacker" by Karl J. Eschmann. Updated by the P.O.W. NETWORK. REMARKS: REMS RET MONTG HANOI 780823 SYNOPSIS: Frustrated by problems in negotiating a peace settlement, and pressured by a Congress and public wanting an immediate end to American involvement in Vietnam, President Nixon ordered the most concentrated air offensive of the war - known as Linebacker II - in December 1972. During the offensive, sometimes called the "Christmas bombings," 40,000 tons of bombs were dropped, primarily over the area between Hanoi and Haiphong. White House Press Secretary Ronald Ziegler said that the bombing would end only when all U.S. POWs were released and an internationally recognized cease-fire was in force. On the first day of Linebacker II, December 18, 129 B52s arrived over Hanoi in three waves, four to five hours apart. They attacked the airfields at Hoa Lac, Kep and Phuc Yen, the Kinh No complex and the Yen Vien railyards. The aircraft flew in tight cells of three to maximize the mutual support benefits of their ECM equipment and flew straight and level to stabilize the bombing computers and ensure that all bombs fell on the military targets and not in civilian areas. The pilots of the early missions reported that "wall-to-wall SAMS" surrounded Hanoi as they neared its outskirts. The first night of bombing, December 18, saw the operation's first casualties. Charcoal 01, a B52G, flown by LtCol. Donald L. Rissi. The crew had been scheduled to return home to Blytheville AFB, Arkansas, two weeks earlier. But due to a snowstorm, their replacement crew from Loring AFB, Maine, was too late in arriving to transition to a combat-ready status. So, instead of being at home, the Charcoal 01 crew met its tragic fate over North Vietnam. The crew of the aircraft included its pilot and commander, LTCOL Donald L. Rissi and crewmen Maj. Richard E. Johnson, the radar navigator; Capt. Richard T. Simpson, electronics warfare officer; Capt. Robert G. Certain, the navigator; 1Lt. Robert J. Thomas, the co-pilot; and Sgt. Walter L. Ferguson, the gunner. Just seconds to reaching the bomb-release point over the Yen Vien rail yards, B52G Charcoal 01 was hit simultaneously by two SAMs. Less than a minute later the aircraft nosed down, crashed and exploded ten miles northwest of Hanoi. It was the first casualty of the LINEBACKER II operation, and its fate would be shared by fourteen other crews in the next eleven nights of combat. Certain, Simpson and Johnson were captured and shown the bodies of the other crew members. Certain, Simpson and Johnson were held prisoner in Hanoi until March 29, 1973, when they were released in Operation Homecoming. Six years later, the bodies of Rissi, Thomas and Ferguson were returned to U.S. control by the Vietnamese. The Christmas Bombings, despite press accounts to the contrary, were of the most precise the world had seen. Pilots involved in the immense series of strikes generally agree that the strikes against anti-aircraft and strategic targets was so successful that the U.S. "could have taken the entire country of Vietnam by inserting an average Boy Scout troop in Hanoi and marching it southward." To achieve this precision bombing, the Pentagon deemed it necessary to maintain a regular flight path. For many missions, the predictable B52 strikes were anticipated and prepared for by the North Vietnamese. Later, however, flight paths were altered and attrition all but eliminated any hostile threat from the ground. The survival rate of the B52 crews downed was surprisingly high, and many were released in 1973. Many others were known to survive the crash of the aircraft, only to disappear. Reports mount that have convinced many authorities that Americans are still held captive in Southeast Asia. Although the crew of Charcoal 01 is accounted for, many others involved in the LINEBACKER operations are not. There is every reason to believe some of them could be among those still alive today. It's time we found them and brought them home. |