...they died to make men free...While God is marching on.
Bless their souls, Oh Lord...
Posted on 02/14/2006 8:33:25 PM PST by USMC79to83
WASHINGTON - The remains of four U.S. servicemen missing in action since the Vietnam War have been identified and will be returned to their families for burial, the Pentagon said Tuesday.
All from the Army's 101st Airborne Division, they are Maj. Jack L. Barker of Waycross, Ga.; Capt. John F. Dugan of Roselle, N.J.; Sgt. William E. Dillender of Naples, Fla.; and Pfc. John J. Chubb of Gardena, Calif.
Chubb will be buried in Inglewood, Calif., this week. Barker, Dugan and Dillender will be buried in April in Arlington National Cemetery, said the Defense Department POW/Missing Personnel Office.
Their helicopter was shot down on March 20, 1971, the office said in a statement.
Barker and Dugan were piloting a UH-1H Huey helicopter with Dillender and Chubb on board while on a troop extraction mission in the Savannakhet Province of Laos.
Officials said that as the helicopter approached the landing zone, it was hit by heavy enemy ground fire and exploded.
Between 1988 and 2001, joint U.S.-Lao People's Democratic Republic teams undertook four unsuccessful investigations and three excavations for the remains. Crash site surveys in 2002 and 2004 eventually found some remains, wreckage and insignia. The remains were identified by forensic anthropologists using medical and dental records, the Pentagon said.
From the Vietnam War, 1,807 Americans are still unaccounted for, 364 of those from Laos. Another 839 have been accounted for in Southeast Asia, 208 of those from Laos.
Welcome home.
Sounds as if they were heading in to rescue SOG personnel rigging nice little surprises along the Ho Chi Minh trail.
Words cannot express how I feel right now. God bless these men and their families.
...they died to make men free...While God is marching on.
Bless their souls, Oh Lord...
One of my high school and college friends was shot down over there in a helicopter. He was an only child.
I don't know if you or someone else has a Vietnam ping list, but if you do know of someone, feel free to ping them with this news.
Big fat dittoes to that!!!!!!
Nice post Tonkin. 1971!!! Glad they are coming home.
Thank you for your service.
All from the Army's 101st Airborne Division, they are Maj. Jack L. Barker of Waycross, Ga.; Capt. John F. Dugan of Roselle, N.J.; Sgt. William E. Dillender of Naples, Fla.; and Pfc. John J. Chubb of Gardena, Calif.
Thanks, I just knew that you would know who to ping!
Oops, my #13 was meant for you!!
Welcome Home Heroes!
There was lots of that kind of activity going on but I suspect this crash happened during Operation Lam Son 719.
Timing is everything I guess. I left Pleiku on my first tour just before Tet of 68 and left I Corps on my second tour a couple of months before Lam Son 719.
http://a101avn.org/LamSon719.html
~huey driver.
This is from "The Wall" website. I posted it yesterday on another thread on this subject (I believe the "tour of duty began on" data must be in error):
Maj. Jack L. Barker
MAJ - O4 - Army - Reserve
101st Airborne Division
31 year old Married, Caucasian, Male
Born on Mar 22, 1939
From WAYCROSS, GEORGIA
His tour of duty began on Mar 20, 1971
Casualty was on Mar 20, 1971
LAOS
Hostile, died while missing
HELICOPTER - PILOT
AIR LOSS, CRASH ON LAND
Body was not recovered
Religion
BAPTIST
Capt. John F. Dugan
CAPT - O3 - Army - Reserve
101st Airborne Division
23 year old Single, Caucasian, Male
Born on Nov 10, 1947
From ROSELLE, NEW JERSEY
His tour of duty began on Mar 20, 1971
Casualty was on Mar 20, 1971
LAOS
Hostile, died while missing
HELICOPTER - CREW
AIR LOSS, CRASH ON LAND
Body was not recovered
Religion
ROMAN CATHOLIC
Sgt. William E. Dillender
SGT - E5 - Army - Regular
19 year old Single, Caucasian, Male
Born on Oct 06, 1951
From NAPLES, FLORIDA
His tour of duty began on Mar 20, 1971
Casualty was on Mar 20, 1971
LAOS
Hostile, died while missing
HELICOPTER - CREW
AIR LOSS, CRASH ON LAND
Body was not recovered
Religion
BAPTIST
Pfc. John J. Chubb
PFC - E3 - Army - Regular
101st Airborne Division
20 year old Single, Caucasian, Male
Born on Dec 09, 1950
From GARDENA, CALIFORNIA
His tour of duty began on Mar 20, 1971
Casualty was on Mar 20, 1971
LAOS
Hostile, died while missing
HELICOPTER - CREW
AIR LOSS, CRASH ON LAND
Body was not recovered
You may appreciate the link at 17. I'm a leadpenny so I have to remind myself that me looking at the history of WWII is something akin to you looking at the Vietnam War.
BTTT
A long journey home.
Rest well brave warriors.
And the Hunter Home from the Hill
Words by R.L. Stevenson, Music & additional words by Tom Lewis
The lights here burn brightly, the welcome is warm,
And this is a haven from many's the storm,
A poet once said: "You can never go home.";
But now the wind's blowing chill,
Home is the sailor home from sea, and the hunter home from the hill.
So lay out a new course, North, South, East or West,
Make weight your anchor, sail on your last quest,
Steer for the one port you're sure to find rest,
Lay alongside with all skill,
Home is the sailor home from sea, and the hunter home from the hill.
Under the wide and the bright starry sky,
Dig me a grave, there let me lie,
Glad did I live and gladly I die,
I lay me down with a will,
And this be the verse that you 'grave for me:
Here he's at rest where he wanted to be,
Home is the sailor home from sea, and the hunter home from the hill.
Welcome home.
Wonderful news. Wonderful to know they will be tucked in their own beds, in their own home. Rest well, men.
BARKER, JACK LAMAR
Remains ID'd 08/30/2005
Name: Jack Lamar Barker
Rank/Branch: O4/US Army
Unit: Company B, 101st Aviation Battalion,
101st Airborne Division
Date of Birth: 22 March 1939
Home City of Record: Waycross GA
Date of Loss: 20 March 1971
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 163544N 1962513E (XD515352)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H
Refno: 1731
Other Personnel in Incident: John J. Chubb; William E. Dillender; John F.
Dugan (all missing)
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 September 1990 from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Updated by the P.O.W. NETWORK 2006.
REMARKS: EXPLODED FIRE NO SEARCH - J
SYNOPSIS: LAM SON 719 was a large offensive operation against NVA communications lines in Laos. The operation called for ARVN troops to drive west from Khe Sanh, cut the Ho Chi Minh Trail, seize Tchpone and return to
Vietnam. The ARVN would provide and command the ground forces, while U.S. Army and Air Force would furnish aviation airlift and supporting firepower.
The 101st Airborne Division commanded all U.S. Army aviation units in direct support of the operation. Most of the first part of the operation, begun January 30, 1971, was called Operation DEWEY CANYON II, and was conducted by
U.S. ground forces in Vietnam.
The ARVN were halfway on February 11 and positioned for the attack across the Laotian border. On 8 February, ARVN began to push into Laos. The NVA reacted fiercely, but the ARVN held its positions supported by U.S. airstrikes and resupply runs by Army helicopters.
President Nguyen Van Thieu ordered a helicopter assault on Tchepone, and the abandoned village was seized March 6. Two weeks of hard combat were necessary for the ARVN task force to fight its way back to Vietnam. Towards the end of the removal, a helicopter from Company B, 101st Aviation
Battalion was lost.
Flown by Maj. Jack L. Barker, the UH1H (serial #66-16185) was attempting to land to extract ARVN troops about 20 miles west of Khe Sanh. During the attempt, the aircraft came under enemy fire and was seen to spin, explode,
and catch fire, then to break up in the air. No signs of survivors were seen. The crew aboard the aircraft were PCF John J. Chubb, Sgt. William E. Dillender, and Capt. John F. Dugan. Because of the presence of enemy forces in the area, no subsequent search could be made for survivors.
Losses were heavy in Lam Son 719. The ARVN lost almost 50% of their force. U.S. aviation units lost 168 helicopters; another 618 were damaged. Fifty-five aircrewmen were killed, 178 wounded, and 34 missing in action in
the entire operation, lasting until April 6, 1971.
In all, nearly 600 Americans were lost in Laos, but because we did not negotiate with the Pathet Lao, no Americans held in Laos were released. Since that time, over 10,000 reports have been received relating to Americans prisoner, missing or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia. Although many authorities are convinced that hundreds remain alive, the U.S. has not secured the release of a single man.
Thanks.
HEROS
You've been missed.
May you rest in peace. Job Well Done.
Welcome Home!
Welcome home brave soldiers. Rest in heavenly peace.
It's great they got to come home, too bad it was like this.
I wonder if they were in Phoenix, C/158 Avn. These guys did a hell of a lot of this kind of flying.
The time of their loss makes it during Lamson 719, too.
Thank you for your service, RIP.
My deepest gratitude and respect.
Welcome home Brothers. Thank you each for your service.
RIP
God Bless their families. Now they can be at rest and can remove the MIA flag.
One wonders if there will be some RAT hippies there to spit upon their remains when they arrive home? How about Hanoi Jane, Hitlery, Billy Jeff, the coward, the traitor Kerry and all the rest of those who denigrated the troops? Will they have anything to say? I doubt it. My Marine Bro returned from VN and was yelled at by morons like these. He never got over the disdain they showed for our VN heros.
Thank God for these heroes and their loved ones!
Thanks for posting this.
I am so sorry that your hero brother was treated like that upon his return. That was shameful. Although I was a child during the Vietnam era, I had complete respect and awe for what our men did. How anyone cannot be proud of their service to our country is beyond me.
There but for the grace of God..........
You said it all Tonk
Thanks for the ping
Welcome Home... RIP... God Bless.
Capt. Morgan J Donahue USAF, MIA 12-13-68 Laos
Gone but NOT Forgotten.
If you are able,
save them a place
inside of you
and save one backward glance
when you are leaving
For the places they can
no longer go
Be not ashamed to say
you loved them
though you may
or may not have always
Take what they have left
and what they have taught you
with their dying
and keep it with your own.
And in that time
when men decide and feel safe
enough to call the war insane,
take one moment to embrace
those gentle heroes
you left behind.
Maj. Michael Davis O'Donnell
January 1, 1970
MISSING IN ACTION - 24 March 1970
DAK TO, VIETNAM
WELCOME HOME MY BROTHERS!
101st Airborne Ranger, Republic of South Vietnam, 1967/1968. We don't leave men behind, dead or alive. The cowards in Washington lost that war after we won it.
These brave men have been resting in the arms of the Lord for sometime. Let the Lord judge those butt cracks in Washington that gave up on the Vietnamese people. I know where my comrades are.
Welcome Home bump.
In retrospect, I feel I would have not only made a good soldier, but, might have made it a career.
Aside from the fact that I let my country down...I know I let myself down.
You have all my respect.
I have not earned the right to salute you. I will place my hand over my heart....I thank all of you constantly....and my tears flow, when heros come home as these did.
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