Re: DNA Brings Closure

Date: February 22, 2004

"DNA brings closure
Tonya Clark of Lynnwood lost her husband in Vietnam in 1973. Recently she could finally put him to rest.

By Pamela Brice - Herald Writer

LYNNWOOD -- Tonya Clark wondered for more than 30 years what had happened to her husband, Alan, who never returned from Vietnam.

Finally, thanks to DNA identification, she now knows.

His remains were finally found, and last month, on the 31st anniversary of his disappearance, Clark and 85 percent of his squadron (150 people) attended his memorial at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

Clark's home is accented with framed prayers and military insignia, in memory of her late husband and in honor of her son, who is following in his footsteps.

Lt. Alan "Arlo" Clark, a Navy bombardier-navigator, was stationed at Whidbey Island Naval Air Station when in spring 1972 he was called to war. His wife was pregnant with their first child.

Alan Clark's roommate on the USS Midway was pilot Jim Horsley.

"When we were deployed, Tonya and my wife were both pregnant, and we had a farewell dinner in San Francisco before the ship sailed," said Horsley, of Lake Forest Park.

Their jobs were to fly combat missions over North Vietnam, suppressing surface-to-air missiles. Clark flew more than 200 missions.

In the early hours of Jan. 10, 1973, just a few weeks before the war ended, Clark and his pilot launched their A-6 Intruder on a single-plane strike against a surface-to-air missile site 20 miles north of Vinh, North Vietnam.

"My navigator had given them our map, because we had flown that target the night before," Horsley said.

"They didn't come back."

Horsley was scheduled for a 5 a.m. mission that day. It quickly became a search-and-rescue mission.

"We launched at sunrise, but it was so clouded and the weather was so bad, we flew over the target, but got no range of the (emergency radio) beacon," he said.

John Koch of Edmonds was a bombardier-navigator like Alan Clark. He remembers flying search missions that day.

"It was devastating to us," Koch said. "This was the first airplane I could remember that we lost -- the first combat loss, where someone went out and never came back."

Horsley said the crews could only guess what happened.

"We had flown there, and with all the anti-aircraft and missile glows racing past the airplane, it's like a psychedelic effect and very disorienting. Based on that, and the weather, our sense at the time was that maybe they had flown into the ground."

Back on Whidbey Island, Tonya Clark remembers attending a memorial for a crew member when she went into labor with her son, Tad, on Oct. 31, 1972.

"During that memorial service, I felt so bad for the wife who lost her husband," she said, not knowing she would soon suffer the same fate.

A few months later, she received a visit from the chaplain and the commanding officer's wife.

"They said he was missing in action," she said, adding she was 25 at the time. "I felt shock, disbelief, all of these feelings at the same time. You know in the back of your mind this could happen, because your husband's in the military, for goodness sakes. But you can't imagine it's true."

Clark said her religious faith and her new role as mother helped her deal with the tragedy.

"You have a baby to take care of, so you can't just focus on your woes. You have a human life to concentrate on," she said.

Years went by, and Clark raised her son, who decided at an early age he wanted to be a fighter pilot.

"His father has always been his hero. I was thrilled he wanted to follow in his father's footsteps," she said.

Tad Clark went to King's High School in Shoreline before graduating from the Air Force Academy in 1996. He is now a captain and flies F-16s in Germany.

Meanwhile, Clark never lost hope that her husband would be found.

Recently, he was.

U.S. researchers found photos of a crash scene in a Hanoi museum that provided clues to locate an excavation site. Remains were found.

"It was pretty remarkable," she said. "I was amazed they were able to locate him, and also by the perseverance of our government to try to find those who have fallen in war."

Last month, she, her son and members of Clark's squadron attended his long-awaited memorial.

"It was very moving for all of us all, because it put closure on our lives," said Koch, who also took his oldest son and wife.

The memorial became a reunion for the squadron.

"When we got back from the war, everyone scattered," Horsley said. "Arlington was an amazing experience. This was the first time in 31 years the whole group came together."

Tad Clark read a poem he had written about his father, and "there wasn't a dry eye in the chapel," Koch said.

Walking behind the casket to the grave site was memorable as well.

"Arlington National Cemetery is huge, and we walked all the way. The snow was gently falling, and we noticed how quiet it was, like a piece of God hovering over that service. It was just beautiful," Clark said.

Then, the folding of the flag, a 21-gun salute, taps ... "The military really knows how to honor him. It was done so beautifully. And it meant so much," she said.

© 2003 The Daily Herald Co., Everett, Wash."