Wed, May 19, 2004
A serviceman missing in
action from the Vietnam War has been identified and returned to his
family for burial.
He is Air Force Col. Lester E. Holmes of Plainfield, Iowa.
On May 22, 1967, Holmes was flying a forward air control mission
over Quang Binh Province, North Vietnam, when his 0-1E “Bird
Dog” aircraft was struck by enemy fire. Another forward air
controller in the area saw Holmes’ aircraft spiral toward the
ground, but there were no emergency radio beacons picked up for the
next several days. Enemy activity in the area prevented a search
and rescue operation.
During two investigations in 1991 and 1997, a joint team of U.S.
and Socialist Republic of Vietnam specialists interviewed villagers
in the province and surveyed three crash sites where Holmes’
plane was allegedly lost. The searches met with negative
results.
In October 1997, Vietnamese officials turned over to the United
States the results of a unilateral investigation in which they
confirmed specifics of the shoot down, though documented witnesses
could not place the exact location of the crash. Another joint team
interviewed a retired Vietnamese general officer who recalled
witnessing on radar the downing of the aircraft. He claimed to have
visited the crash site but could offer only a general location.
A full-scale excavation of one of the crash sites first
investigated in 1991 was carried out in late July 1998, when
aircraft debris and human remains were recovered. Additionally,
fragments of an eyeglass lens found at the site were consistent
with a prescription issued to Holmes.
The recovered remains and other circumstantial evidence were
identified by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, which also led
the joint field operations in Vietnam. More than 88,000 Americans
are missing in action from all conflicts. Of these, 1,859 are from
the Vietnam War.
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