Re: MIA - A Conclusion, Confirmation

Date: May 18, 2004

"Family To Bury Soldier, Missing 33 Years
Soldier Shot Down In Vietnam To Be Buried At Arlington

LIGHTHOUSE POINT, Fla. -- A soldier, missing in action in Vietnam since 1971, is finally coming home.

Family members of the once-missing Army captain live in Lighthouse Point, Fla.. They say when Capt. Clinton Musil is buried May 28 at Arlington National Cemetery it will finally bring them some comfort.

"A conclusion -- confirmation. Dad being home where he should be," his son Allen Musil said.

Capt. Musil was 30 years old when his plane was shot down in a wooded area in Laos, near the Vietnam border.

Musil was a reconnaissance photographer, taking pictures of enemy positions, near the end of a war that took more than 50,000 American lives.

"He went there believing why he was there. He was totally committed to the cause. He had a deep love for his country and his family," his ex-wife Lois Riley said.

Allen Musil, his brother Larry and their mother Lois are bonded by special memories and their love for Capt. Musil.

"It's been hard to see Larry, Allen and Allison not have their father in their lives," Riley said.

Musil was among 2,500 initially listed as missing in action.

While Musil's three children grew up without their father, they actively pushed the government to keep searching for him.

"As this has progressed, I've come to learn more about him," Larry Musil said.

Time has tormented Riley.

"Because you don't have anything definite," she said. "You feel there's a remote chance that he crawled away or was held prisoner. You hope he hadn't suffered all those years."

After American and Laotian specialists learned from local residents of a potential crash site, it was excavated several times, starting in 2001.

The Musils have photos of the excavations and were once allowed to take part.

Last year, some of Musil's remains were identified through DNA testing.

"Once they found the bones and identified them, there was some relief," Allen Musil said.

"This has given us some answers," Riley said. "He is a true hero in every sense of the word."

Misil's former wife and his children will be at Arlington for his burial. His remains will be carried by a horse-drawn carriage to a full military funeral.

"You want to use the word 'closure,' but I think the word 'conclusion' is best, because I think it's been so long. It's truly been a lifetime," Riley said.

Musil's pilot Jack Brunson, was shot down along with Musil. Brunson has not been found.

There are still 1,871 people listed as missing in action in Vietnam.

©2004 by News4Jax"