The Remains of a Vietnam Veteran are Returned Home
Vietnam War MIA Returns Home
The remains of Vietnam Veteran Ben Danielson, who had been considered missing in action since 1969, have been recovered and returned to his family. Fellow Vietnam Vet Jim Corcoran, now with the Brighton Fire Department, traveled to Minnesota to attend a memorial for Danielson that was held on Father's Day.
Captain Benjamin Danielson, an Air Force Pilot, was shot down on December 5, 1969, along with his weapon's officer, Lieutenant Woody Bergeron.Ê Staff Sergent Jim Corcoran was a crewman on one of the many rescue choppers that were sent out to retrieve them. By the time Bergeron was successfully recovered, several days later, that mission had become the largest rescue effort of the war.
When Danielson and Bergeron ejected from their F-4 Phantom jet, they were both equipped with survival kits that included a radio and a pistol. They remained in radio contact, despite landing on opposite sides of a river. The Air force has always assumed that Danielson was killed, because Bergeron reported hearing gunfire on the other side of the river, just as Danielson's radio went dead.Ê However, until recently, no remains had ever been recovered.
Brian Danielson, Ben's son, was 18-months old when he lost his father. He is now a pilot in the U.S. Navy. Lieutenant Commander Brian Danielson recently became aware that the pistol his father was carrying the day he was shot down had been found in Vietnam. He requested, and received permission, to go to SoutheastÊ Asia and participate in a search for remains, which was conducted by the Joint POW/MIA Command.
Soon afterwards, Brian planned out his father's final flight: from a DNA lab in Hawaii to their family's home town of Kenyon, Minnesota.Ê Brian also planned out the memorial that was held on Father's Day, and decided to invite all those, like Jim Corcoran,Ê who had risked their own lives in the massive rescue effort.Ê
Corcoran was a flight engineer on an HH-53 Rescue Chopper, also known as a, "Jolly Green Giant." In the search for Danielson and Bergeron, Corcoran's chopper sustained 300 bullet holes. One of those bullets fatally wounded another crew member, Airman First Class David Davison. Davison's sister traveled to Minnesota to attended the memorial and met Corcoran there. He was able to tell her, for the first time, exactly what happened during the final hours and minutes of her brother's life.ÊÊ
To view the story of Ben Danielson's memorial by Fox 2's Ron Savage, including an interview with Jim Corcoran and never before seen footage from the rescue mission, please click on the video under "Related Items". It is a emotional tribute to America's veterans.
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