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My Tribute Page for the MIA's I Have Adopted
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Douglas Randolph Blodgett |
Bruce Carleton Bessor |
| Statistics:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground:
CH47A Other Personnel In Incident: William R. Dennis; Jesus A. Gonzales (missing from CH47A, coordinates YD290105 pilot and co-pilot survived); Michael J. Wallace, Anthony F. Housh; (missing from CH47, coordinates YD291087-LZ Tiger; pilot, co-pilot and gunner survived); Arthur J. Lord; Charles W. Millard; Philip R. Shafer; Michael R. Werdehoff (missing on CH54, coordinates YD255095-LZ Tiger) |
Statistics:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground:
O1G Refno: 1443 Other Personnel in Incident: Mike J. Scott (missing) |
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| Rank/Branch: E4/US Army | Rank/Branch: O2/US Army |
| Unit: Company A, 228th Aviation Battalion (Assault Support Helicopter), 11th Aviation Group, 1st Cavalry Division | Unit: 219th Aviation Company, 17th Aviation Group, 1st Aviation Brigade |
| Date of Birth: 01 May 1947 (Ft. Belvoir VA) | Date of Birth: 10 January 1948 (Arlington VA) |
| Home City of Record: Alexandria VA | Home City of Record: Fairfax VA |
| Date of Loss: 19 April 1968 | Date of Loss: 13 May 1969 |
| Country of Loss: South Vietnam | Country of Loss: Laos |
| Loss Coordinates: 162247N 1070658E (YD290105) | Loss Coordinates: 152330N 1073600E (YC787037) |
| Status (in 1973): Missing In Action | Status (in 1973): Missing In Action |
| Category: 4 | Category: 4 |
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SYNOPSIS:
On
April 19, 1968 three Army helicopters were shot down in the A Shau
Valley of South Vietnam. All three were making supply runs to Landing
ZoneTiger in Quang Tri Province. Five men survived the three crashes,
and nine men remain missing.
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SYNOPSIS:
On May 13, 1969, 1Lt. Bruce Bessor, pilot, and SFC Mike J.
Scott,observer were flying on an O1G aircraft (serial #51-16959) on a
radio relay mission for a Special Forces reconnaissance team in the area
of the Vietnam/Laos border. SFC Scott was assigned to Command and
Control Central, MACV-SOG (Military Assistance Command, Vietnam Studies
and Observation Group). MACV-SOG was a joint service high command unconventional warfare task force engaged in highly classified operations throughout Southeast Asia. |
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The CH47A on which Douglas Blodgett was a crewman, William Dennis was flight engineer, and Jesus Gonzales was crewchief was resupplying ammunition at the LZ when it received small arms fire from the ground and crashed. The pilot and co-pilot were able to crawl away, but the rest of the crew was never found. They were declared Missing In Action. |
The 5th Special
Forces channeled
personnel into MACV-SOG (although it was not a Special Forces group)
through Special Operations Augmentation (SOA), which provided their "cover" while under secret orders to MACV-SOG. |
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| The teams performed deep penetration missions of strategic reconnaissance and interdiction which were called, depending on the time frame, "Shining Brass" or "Prairie Fire" missions.At about 0800 hours, when the recon team had radio contact with 1Lt.Bessor's aircraft, they heard aircraft engine noise southwest of their position followed by 15 rounds of 37mm fire and engine sputtering but no sound of crash, then a large volume of rifle fire from the same direction. The reconnaissance team then lost radio contact with the aircraft. | |
| The CH47 on which Anthony Housh was flight engineer and Michael Wallace was crewchief was hit by 50 calibre and 37 mm ground fire on its approach to the LZ. Housh and Wallace jumped from the aircraft from an altitude of 50-100 feet above the jungle canopy. The others were rescued. No trace of Housh and Wallace was ever found. They were declared Missing In Action. |
Search aircraft
attempted to enter
into the suspected crash control site,but cloud cover and enemy fire
prevented them from doing so. On May 18, the area was visually searched,
but nothing was found. Bessor and Scott were declared Missing in Action.
They are among nearly 600 Americans still missing in Laos.
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| The CH54 "Flying Crane" on which Arthur Lord was aircraft commander, Charles Millard pilot, Arthur J. Lord co-pilot, Michael Werdehoff flight engineer, and Philip Shafer crewchief was carrying a bulldozer into the recently resecured LZ Tiger when the aircraft was hit and crashed. All the crew were classified Missing In Action. | In the early 1970's the Pathet Lao stated on a number of occasions that they held "tens of tens" of American prisoners and that those captured in Laos would also be released from Laos. Unfortunately, that release never occurred, because the U.S. did not include Laos in the negotiations which brought American involvement in the war to an end. |
| Thorough searches for the 3 helicopters were not immediately possible because of the enemy situation. A refugee later reported that he had found the wreckage of two U.S. helicopters, one with 3 sets of skeletal remains, in Quang Tri Province. The U.S. Army believes this could correlate with any of the three helicopters lost on April 19, 1968, but no firm evidence has been secured that would reveal the fate of the nine missing servicemen. |
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The country of
Laos was bombed by U.S. forces for several months following the Peace Accords in January 1973, and Laos steadfastly refused to talk about releasing our POWs until we discontinued bombing in their country. |
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| Some 250,000 interviews and "millions of documents" have been analyzed relating to Americans who may still be alive, captive, in Southeast Asia. Many experts believe there are hundreds of men still alive, waiting for their country to rescue them. Whether any of the nine missing from near LZ Tiger is among them is unknown, but it is clearly past time for us to bring our men home. |
Consequently, no
American held in Laos was ever returned.
By 1989, these "tens of tens" apparently have been forgotten.
The U.S. has negotiated with the same government entity which declared it held American POWs and has agreed to build clinics and help improve relations with Laos.
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If, as thousands of reports indicate, Americans are still alive in Indochina as captives, then the U.S. is collaborating in signing their death warrants. |
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DON'T LET IT HAPPEN AGAIN!!! Email your congress NOW and tell them we are sick and tired of waiting - BRING THEM HOME! |
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