Fri, Jun 04, 2010
Air Force Col. Elton Perrine Went Down After A Bombing Run In
1967
The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office
announced Wednesday that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing
in action from the Vietnam War, have been identified and returned
to his family for burial with full military honors.
Air Force Col. Elton L. Perrine of Pittsford, N.Y., was buried
last week at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington,
D.C. On May 22, 1967, Perrine and Capt. Kenneth F. Backus
completed a nighttime strike against the Cao Nung Railroad Yard
near the town of Kep in North Vietnam. Seconds after the bomb
run, a nearby aircrew reported seeing an isolated explosion
approximately three miles east of the target, thought to be
Perrine's F-4C Phantom aircraft crashing. Search and rescue
attempts were not initiated due to heavy anti-aircraft fire in the
area.
Analysts from DPMO developed case leads with information
spanning more than 28 years. Through interviews with
eyewitnesses and research in the National Archives, four locations
in Lang Son Province were pinpointed as potential crash sites,
separated by as many as 10 miles.
Between 1999 and 2008, U.S.-Socialist Republic of Vietnam teams,
led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, further analyzed
leads, interviewed villagers, conducted two surveys and four
excavations. The teams recovered small pieces of aircraft
wreckage, human remains, personal effects and life-support
equipment from the four locations.
Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial
evidence, scientists from JPAC and the Armed Forces DNA
Identification Laboratory also used mitochondrial DNA - which
matched that of Perrine's mother - in the identification of his
remains. No remains connected to Backus were recovered at the
locations.
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