News-Info-Alerts

Re: Longtime MIA Identified

From: POW-MIA InterNetwork

Date: October 01, 2003

"Private burial held for longtime Vietnam MIA

Staff, wire reports

Air Force Capt. Richard C. Yeend Jr., whose remains were identified last month 35 years after he had been listed as missing in action when his helicopter was shot down over Laos, was buried in a private family ceremony in Mobile during the weekend, his brother, Tom Yeend, said.


Richard Yeend and his three crewmates were trying to rescue a downed A-4E Skyhawk Marine pilot June 9, 1968, when they were shot down. The remains of all four men were recovered earlier this year from the crash site near Ban Kaboui, Laos.

The remains of one of Yeend's crewmates, Lt. Jack C. Rittichier of Barberton, Ohio, also have been positively identified, the Pentagon announced Monday. Larry Greer, spokesman for the Pentagon office in charge of POW and MIA issues, said Rittichier was the only Coast Guardsman in the Vietnam War listed as missing in action. About 1,800 U.S. servicemen remain unaccounted for.

Vietnam Veterans of America chapters in Mobile and Baldwin County are planning a public ceremony for Yeend on Oct. 11 at the Alabama Vietnam Veterans Memorial at Battleship Memorial Park, according to Bill Atkeison, president of the group's Mobile chapter. The time for the service has not been set, Atkeison said Tuesday.

"We're glad to know they finally brought him home," Atkeison said. "Whenever they bring a body back, we're happy to see it, that's one more we can take off the list."

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