News-Info-Alerts

Re: DOD News Release

To: ALL

From: Andi Wolos & Bob Necci

(POW-MIA InterNetwork)

Date: July 08, 2002

"June 28, 2002
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Release #02-009

SON BRINGS FATHER’S REMAINS HOME FROM VIETNAM AFTER 34 YEARS

HICKAM AFB, Hawaii – For 34 years the Evert family had many unanswered questions. Today the family has some answers, and their father to bring home for a proper burial.

Capt. Lawrence G. Evert, 29, was piloting an F-105D Thunderchief aircraft on a combat mission over the Democratic Republic of Vietnam on Nov. 8, 1967. He was on a strike mission against the Phuc Yen railroad bridge north of Hanoi, Vietnam when his aircraft was struck by enemy anti-aircraft artillery fire. The other three F-105s involved in the mission did not see Evert’s aircraft crash. They became aware something was wrong only when Evert failed to rendezvous with the other aircraft following the attack run.

The pilot of another U.S. aircraft in the area did, however, report seeing Evert’s aircraft being hit by enemy fire in the rear fuselage. He also heard a radio transmission stating “I’m hit hard,” shortly before Evert’s Thunderchief crashed. No parachute was seen. Unfortunately, because of the hostile threat in the area no search and rescue attempts were made that day.

As time passed, the four children that Evert left behind became adults. Evert’s fifth child was born shortly after he was listed as Missing In Action. As the family continued to grow, so did the questions.

In 1993 a Joint Field Activity, consisting of personnel from Hawaii’s U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory (CILHI) and Joint Task Force - Full Accounting (JTF-FA) along with personnel from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, began investigating the loss of Evert and his aircraft. Throughout the 1990s, investigators analyzed wartime reports of the aircraft crash, interviewed numerous witnesses and surveyed possible crash site locations.

CILHI and JTF-FA personnel located the area believed to contain Evert’s remains in June 2000. The crash site was located in rice fields at the base of a railroad track. Although the site had been located, there were several obstacles that had to be overcome. Due to extensive flooding, teams had to determine the best time frame for recovery operations. Electrical poles had to be relocated, and a reinforcement structure was to be built to prevent the collapse of the rail line. Four months later with the aid of 250 local Vietnamese laborers, excavation began.

Over the next year and a half, it would take two more recovery operations before all of Evert’s remains and personal effects would be recovered. During those operations, former President Bill Clinton visited the site on the first U.S. presidential trip to Vietnam since the war.

The last search and recovery team returned to Hawaii with Evert’s remains in October 2001. There were 14 Evert family members to include the captain’s children, grandchildren, and wife waiting on the tarmac of Hickam AFB.

Over the next several months, the forensic anthropologists of the U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory identified the remains as Capt. Lawrence G. Evert.

Daniel Evert, the eldest son, will be at the CILHI Monday, July 1, to escort his father’s remains to Arizona where he will be buried. Capt. Evert’s funeral is scheduled for July 6, at Mesa Cemetery, Ariz.

U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory, Hawaii
310 Worchester Ave, Hickam AFB, Hawaii 96853"