Re: JPAC Heads Back to SEA

Date: February 02, 2004

"Search for Waterford MIA set to resume this month

Associated Press

NEW LONDON -- The search for the remains of a missing Waterford man shot down in Vietnam is expected to resume this month, officials said.

Three trips by U.S. search teams are planned for early this year to search for Capt. Arnold "Dusty" Holm, said Lt. Col. Jerry O'Hara of the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command in Hawaii.

Search teams have tried five times to find Holm's wreckage. The terrain is difficult: Weather is humid, brush is thick and the area is prone to heavy rains and landslides.

"I don't see that there are going to be any problems ... because it's the right time of year and we've given the Vietnamese enough heads up," O'Hara said. "And hopefully, we'll find him."

Holm's helicopter was shot down June 11, 1972. He and his crew, Spc. Robin Yeakley and Pfc. Wayne Bibbs, are among the 1,885 service members still listed as missing in southeast Asia.

A search last spring yielded small pieces of twisted metal, some nylon-type material, a rocket motor, boot soles, a watch and some rectangular pieces that may have been aircraft insulation.

None of the material could be positively linked to Holm's helicopter, but finding it was promising, O'Hara said.

"The evidence we found led us to believe we should continue searching in this area," he said.

©2004 Norwich Bulletin"