Vietnam Burial--Vietnam Burial, Bloomfield airman shot down in Laos to be buried in Arlington
BLOOMFIELD, Iowa (AP) - A remains of a Bloomfield airman whose plane was shot down during the Vietnam War will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery on Friday.
Department of Defense officials announced Tuesday that that Lt. Col. Russell Martin's remains and those of five others missing in action had been found in the mid-1990s and have now been identified.
They recovered hundreds of bone fragments, which were tested and retested, and used dental records, said Larry Greer, spokesman for the Pentagon's POW/MIA office. The in-lab process, because there were so many people to identify, took a really long time.
The plane in which Martin was traveling went down in southern Laos in 1966, the day after his 29th birthday, records show.
For 38 years, no one knew what became of the Bloomfield man. Relatives finally placed a memorial stone in the cemetery earlier this week to honor him.
Tuesday, government officials announced that Martin's remains were among those discovered in 1995 near the crash site. His remains and those of five others will be buried as a group with full military honors.
Iowans and others fought for years after the Vietnam War to get answers about what had happened to their missing sons, brothers and husbands. More than 88,000 Americans are missing in action from all conflicts, 1,849 of whom were lost in the Vietnam War.
Both of Martin's parents have since died, never knowing their son's fate.
Martin's crew was flying a nighttime armed reconnaissance mission over southern Laos on June 23, 1966, according to the statement issued by the government.
At about 9:25 p.m., the aircraft radioed, 'We have a hot fire,' and another radio transmission was heard to order 'Bail out.' Witnesses reported the aircraft was on fire, then crashed into a heavily wooded area 30 miles northeast of Tchepone, in Khannouan Province, Laos, the report said. No parachutes from the crew were observed and no emergency beepers were heard. An aerial search of the site found no evidence of survivors.
U.S. and Lao specialists visited the crash site in 1994 where they found wreckage and some of the crew's personal items, Greer said. In 1995, a team excavated the site and began trying to identify the remains. The official next of kin were contacted in April 2003, Greer said.
Other servicemen's remains found include those of Air Force Col. Theodore E. Kryszak of Buffalo, N.Y.; Air Force Col. Harding E. Smith of Los Gatos, Calif.; Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Luther L. Rose of Howe, Texas; Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Ervin Warren of Philadelphia, Pa.; and Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Harold E. Mullins of Denver, Colo.
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©2004 Associated Press