News-Info-Alerts

Re: Pilot Finally Home

From: POW-MIA InterNetwork

Date: August 29, 2003

"Pilot killed in Vietnam finally laid to rest

By CAROLYN THOMPSON - Associated Press Writer


LEWISTON, N.Y. -- As an 8-year-old in 1967, Cheri Hammer clung to hope that her father, a Navy pilot, had survived being shot down over North Vietnam and would come back home.

As an adult, Hammer accepted that her father had died. But she still wanted him home.

On Thursday, nearly 36 years to the day after his F-4 Phantom jet bomber was brought down by a surface-to-air missile, Lt. Cmdr. Thomas Sitek was laid to rest at the family plot here in Niagara County.

Sitek's remains were found recently in Vietnam and returned to the United States.

For Hammer, her father's burial with military honors was the culmination of a 12-year effort that began when she learned of the U.S. government's work to excavate sites in Vietnam and identify the remains of missing servicemen.

"That was my project. I wanted to get my dad home. And I was going to do anything I could," she said, holding a crisply folded American flag presented her at her father's grave. "And he's home."

Sitek was a fighter pilot assigned to Fighter Squadron 142 on board the USS Constellation when his plane was shot down Aug. 23, 1967. His co-pilot, Ensign Patrick Ness, was also killed. Ness' remains were found in 1986 and buried by his family at Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minnesota.

The whereabouts of Sitek, who was born in Niagara Falls, remained a mystery. His is one of 22 names carved into the "missing in action/prisoners of war" section of the granite Vietnam Veterans Monument on Buffalo's waterfront. The monument honors western New York servicemen.



Because Sitek's plane burned upon crashing, his remains couldn't be identified through DNA testing, his daughter said. Instead, analysts relied on radio equipment, a key to Sitek's state room, a St. Christopher's medal he was believed to be wearing and other artifacts found at the crash site.

"It was overwhelming to know he was returning to where he's supposed to be," said Edward Sitek, the pilot's uncle, recalling the family's reaction to the news that Sitek's remains had been found. Sitek's father, Walter, died in 1998. His mother, Wilma, died in 1995.

If Walter Sitek had lived to see his son's return, "He'd probably cry his heart out," Edward Sitek, Walter's brother, said.

In addition to Hammer, Sitek left behind a 5-year-old son and a 1-month-old daughter he knew only through a snapshot. They and Sitek's wife, Patricia, also were presented flags from the Navy at an emotional graveside service punctuated by a 21-gun salute. They declined to comment.

Two of Sitek's seven grandchildren _ Hammer's sons _ were pallbearers: 21-year-old Thomas, who is in the Navy, and 19-year-old Andrew, an Army reservist.

Sitek had been looking forward to his discharge from the Navy on Sept. 25, 1967. He had 2 1/2 weeks of combat flying left when he died.

"He always wanted to be home," Hammer said.

Copyright © 2003, The Associated Press "