Rank/Branch: O3/US Marine Corps Unit: HMM 165, Marine Air Group 36 Date of Birth: 04 January 1940 Home City of Record: Burbank CA Loss Date: 03 June 1967 Country of Loss: Laos Loss Coordinates: 161914N 1064049E (XD795050) Status (in 1973): Missing In Action Category: 2 Acft/Vehicle/Ground: CH46A Helicopter Other Personnel In Incident:
Frank E. Cius (returned POW 1973); Timothy R. Bodden; Ronald J.
Dexter; John G. Gardner; Billy Laney; Remarks: Last seen in crashed aircraft. SYNOPSIS: On June 3, 1967, Capt. Steven P. Hanson,
pilot; 1Lt. John G. Gardner, co-pilot; Sgt. Timothy R. Bodden, crew
chief/door gunner; LCpl. Frank E. Cius, door gunner; SFC Billy
R. Laney, SFC Ronald J. Dexter, SFC Charles F. Wilklow and an unknown
number of ARVN personnel, all passengers, were aboard a CH46A helicopter
(serial #150955) on an extraction mission in Laos. The troops waiting at the LZ could not search because of the hostile threat in the area. Air searches located the survivors of the crash, but they could not be evacuated. The only America found to be in a position to be safely evacuated was SFC Wilklow. He gave the following account of what happened to the crew and passengers aboard the CH46: SFC Dexter appeared uninjured and left the wreckage with a large number of ARVN troops. Capt. Hanson was wounded and outside the helicopter, but stated that he had to return to get his carbine. The Marine Corps believes he died of the wounds he received when the aircraft was overrun, although Hanson's wife later identified her husband in a widely distributed Vietnamese propaganda photograph of a pilot being captured. When last seen, all the other Americans were still in the wreckage, and enemy troops (the U.S. Army says they were Viet Cong; the U.S. Marines say they were North Vietnamese Army - possibly a joint force of both) were tossing grenades toward the aircraft with no attempt to capture the personnel inside. Wilklow left the crash site, and noted that gunfire suddenly stopped. He continued to evade the enemy and was picked up 3 days later. When Mr. Ky, the Nung Commander was being evacuated
by the last helicopter out, he noted several men (undoubtedly Dexter
and the ARVN) in a large bomb crater firing red star clusters from
a flare gun. Frank Cius was taken prisoner and released from Hanoi
in 1973. He was one of the dozen or so captured by the Vietnamese
and taken immediately to Hanoi claimed to be the "Laos"
prisoners. In reality, none of the dozen had been held in Laos.
Ronald Dexter, according to Frank Cius, was captured, and died in
captivity on July 29, 1967. John Gardner, according to the USMC,
died on the ground after the crash of the aircraft due to intense
enemy fire. Billy Laney was last seen lying wounded on the floor
of the aircraft between a crewmember with a broken back and the
door gunner with a head wound. Since 1975, the U.S. Government has received thousands
of reports relating to Americans still alive in Southeast Asia.
Many of them cannot be dismissed as untrue. Officially, the U.S.
says it is operating under the assumption that men are being held,
and that the matter is of "highest national priority".
Yet, we seem unable to resolve the mystery. Nor have they ever negotiated
for the "tens of tens" of American prisoners the Lao stated
they held.
If you would like to help with this cause please click the image below for more info.
All content © 2004 Debbie Ellis |
Stephen
Paul Hanson 
