Re: Home on the Soil He Died For

Date: May 19, 2004

"A warrior is home on `the soil he died for'

Three decades after their father's plane went down in a fireball over Laos, the children of Capt. Clinton Allen Musil will lay their father to rest. 'He's finally coming home,' said Larry Musil.

BY WANDA J. DeMARZO wdemarzo@herald.com

Thirty-three years ago this month, Capt. Clinton Allen Musil's 0V-1A Mohawk reconnaissance plane exploded in a ball of fire over Savannakhet Province in Laos.

Musil, who had only two weeks left to go on his second tour of duty, was officially categorized as MIA. He was 30 years old.

His former wife and three young children never received an accounting of his remains and could not lay their husband and father to rest.

Until now.

On May 28, just three days before Memorial Day, Musil will receive a military funeral at Arlington National Cemetery.

His remains will be carried by horse-drawn carriage.

His former wife, of Lighthouse Point, and now-adult children will be handed a flag symbolic of his sacrifice.

''I was 5 when it happened,'' said Larry Musil, 38, of Jupiter Beach. ``Do I have great memories of my dad? No, but that's what's hard about war -- the memories are always with you. We knew there was little chance my dad was alive, but we held on to hope.''

Growing up, Clinton Allen Jr., a Lighthouse Point psychiatrist known to friends as Allen; Larry, an architect; and Allison, a Seattle nurse, always fantasized that one day their father might walk through the doors of their home, Larry Musil said.

The captain's former wife, Lois Riley, spoke of the recurring nightmare that Musil had: the one where he died fighting in a war.

'When he left for the first tour, he told me `I'll be back,' '' said Riley, who had split with Musil but remained friendly with her ex-husband.

'When my husband and I took Capt. Musil to the airport for his second tour, he pulled my husband aside and said he had a feeling he wasn't coming back. He told my husband, `Take care of my babies.' ''

LOOKING FOR CONG

Musil, originally from Minneapolis,, was flying in a fixed-wing, propeller aircraft low over the jungles of Laos.

There were no weapons in the plane. Musil's was one of five planes flying on a fact-finding mission over a Viet Cong base camp, said Allen Musil.

Musil's best friend was flying above him and saw the aircraft bank to the right. Then, a burst of flame. Then nothing more.

No parachutes were observed.

The enemy artillery hidden in the foliage below would not allow for a search and rescue team to try and locate the men and their downed plane, said Allen Musil.

At that time, the United States was conducting a ''secret war'' in Laos, said Dr. Ed Schwerin, Florida Atlantic University political science chairman. ``We were dropping bombs in that area because the North Vietnamese were hiding out there and running supplies through Laos.''

REMAINS ID'ED

Musil's remains, along with those of Chief Warrant Officer Jack Brunson, both assigned to the 131st Aviation Company, 212th Aviation Battalion, 11th Aviation Group, 1st Aviation Brigade, were recovered during three excavations in 2001 and 2002.

The United States Department of Defense is responsible for directing the effort to account for the more than still 88,000 missing in action from all conflicts. Of these, 1,871 are from the Vietnam War.

It took the U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii, another year to positively identify those remains through DNA extracted from bones found at the site.

The DNA was compared to DNA samples from Musil's brother, Richard. It was a match.

There was no DNA available for comparisons to Brunson, but the military is listing him as identified through evidence found at the crash scene: personal effects, life support equipment and aircraft wreckage.

FAMILY TOLD

In late June, the government notified Riley and her children of its findings.

''My first reaction was relief,'' said Allen Musil. ``This had been with us for so long. I'd rather know that my dad was dead than think of being a prisoner of war for 30 years.''

Allen Musil, 39, was just a child when his father left for war.

His memories of his father are dim: He and his dad playing a few games, taking walks in their California neighborhood. ''I do remember the day a black sedan drove up to the house and two distinguished military men came to the door,'' Allen Musil said. ``A few minutes later, I heard my mother crying.''

ANNUAL VIGIL

After their father's death, the family moved to Tennessee, where Riley's family lived. When the children were all college age, Riley made the move to South Florida.

Every year, for the past 20-odd years, Allen, Larry or Allison, traveled to Washington, D.C., and attended meetings for updates on their father whereabouts.

They will make a long-awaited journey to Washington in less than two weeks.
''It's a sad, but joyous occasion,'' Larry Musil said. ``We're celebrating the fact that he's finally coming home. We're celebrating that we can finally bury him on American soil -- the soil he died fighting for.''"