E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS
Haraz N. Ghanbari/AP
An Air Force carry team carries the casket with the remains of Air Force Col. Joseph Christiano, Col. Derrell B. Jeffords, Lt. Col. Dennis L. Eilers, Chieft Master Sgt. William K. Colwell, Chief Master Sgt. Arden K. Hassenger and Chief Master Sgt. Larry C. Thornton, during a burial service at Arlington National Cemetery Arlington, Va., on Monday
It was Christmas Eve 1965 when the Air Force plane nicknamed "Spooky" took off from Vietnam for a combat mission. The crew sent out a "mayday" signal while flying over Laos, and after that, all contact was lost. Two days of searches turned up nothing.
For years, that was all the families knew about what happened to the six servicemen aboard the plane. Now, nearly 50 years after the AC-47D went down, a measure of finality has finally arrived: Remains from the six men were buried Monday with full military honors in a single casket at Arlington National Cemetery.
The burial comes after the recovery of remains in 2010 and 2011 by joint U.S.-Laotian search teams. Examiners relied on dental records, personal items recovered from the site and circumstantial evidence to conclude that the recovered remains are representative of all six Air Force servicemen: Col. Joseph Christiano of Rochester, N.Y.; Col. Derrell B. Jeffords of Florence, S.C.; Lt. Col. Dennis L. Eilers of Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Chief Master Sgt. William K. Colwell of Glen Cove, N.Y.; Chief Master Sgt. Arden K. Hassenger of Lebanon, Ore.; and Chief Master Sgt. Larry C. Thornton of Idaho Falls, Idaho.
The Air Force gave all six posthumous promotions, a military spokeswoman said.
Dribs and drabs of information came in over the years, and some family members heard rumors that loved ones had been seen alive. But mostly it was the passage of time that led relatives to conclude their loved ones had perished.
"The sad part about our situation is for seven years, we hoped he was alive," said Jeanne Jeffords, 86, of Temecula, Calif., whose husband, Derrell, was on board. Their son, Terry, was 16 years old when Jeffords died and their daughter, Deryl, was 13. "We hoped he was a prisoner. Seven years later, they released all the prisoners. The Air Force called me at 3 a.m. one morning and said, 'We're sorry to tell you, but your husband is not among the prisoners.'"
Haraz N. Ghanbari / AP
Members of the Air Force Honor Guard hold American flags to be presented to family members during a burial service.
Ron Thornton, who now lives in Bozeman, Mont., remembered reacting to news his father's plane had gone missing with the optimism of the sixth-grader he was in 1965: At some point, he was just sure his father would come walking out of the jungle and back into his family's arms.
"The world being the size it was, I just thought he'd been misplaced," Ron Thornton said. "I really believed they would find him."
Weeks turned into months, months to years. The family kept Thornton's picture on the wall of their home in Great Falls, Mont., along with his medals.
Even now, he said, he didn't expect the burial will completely erase the questions from his mind, given that there is no definitive DNA evidence of his father's remains.
"There will always be this little hint of doubt at the back of my mind," he said. "It would be nice if they would have the proof positive."
Joseph Christiano's wife, Josephine, took an especially active role in the search, according to her daughter Elaine. Josephine Christiano addressed Congress and a special session at the Paris Peace Talks, went to Thailand and Laos looking for information, and joined a family support group.
'The family still has questions'
She said her mother's greatest fear was that her father was captured, held prisoner and died in captivity.
Haraz N. Ghanbari / AP
Barbara Annechino is comforted by her brother Jeffrey Christiano during the burial service for their father Air Force Col. Joseph Christiano, on Monday.
"The military will continue their search at the site to hopefully find more remains and artifacts," Elaine Christiano wrote in an e-mail to The Associated Press. "The family still has questions but we have to accept this as our (closure)."
Dean Eilers remembered getting the news about his brother Dennis around Christmastime.
"After weeks or so, you think maybe with the training ... and survival, you think they'd escape or get away from somebody. Then after a year or two, you thought they might be prisoners. Then after that, you don't give up hope, but you figure they probably died in the crash, you know, after 40 some years."
He said the family still wonders what happened that night.
The first joint U.S.-Laotian team didn't visit the crash site until 1995 in the southern province of Savannahket, which was heavily bombed during the war as it lay on the Ho Chi Minh supply route that supplied Vietcong communist guerrillas in southern Vietnam. A villager recalled seeing a two-propeller aircraft crash near the village. A second villager had found wreckage of it and took the team to the crash site.
Follow-up teams revisited the site four times between 1999 and 2001 and recovered military equipment but no human remains, and excavation was suspended.
Excavations resumed in 2010 and 2011, when human remains and personal items from the crew were found.
AP Photo/Courtesy Eilers family
This undated family photo provided by The Fry Funeral Home shows Air Force Lt. Col. Dennis Eilers, who was shot down on Christmas Eve 1965 over Laos.
It is not uncommon in situations like these for joint sets of remains to buried at Arlington. The Pentagon's Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office lists more than 83,000 servicemembers as missing in action, the vast majority from World War II. In 2011, the office identified the remains of 62 service members previously unaccounted for.
Colwell's family, after years of holding out hope, had him declared dead in 1977 "for paper reasons," said his niece, Ann Famigliette, who described her uncle as a "lifer."
"He loved it. He loved flying," she said.
When the military called to tell her that her uncle's remains had been identified, "it took me a while to process it," she said. "I just didn't think this day was going to come. ... I'm so grateful it has come, and he's able to be buried a hero on American soil."
Hassenger's daughter, Robin Hobson, said she takes comfort in the fact that the remains were found near the wreckage of the plane, which she takes as evidence that the men died quickly and did not suffer.
"It's just a big relief that he has come home. It's been a long time, and it was time for him to be home." said Hobson, who was 8 when her father deployed. "We know where he's at now."
More content from msnbc.com and NBC News:
- George Zimmerman staying at safe house
- NYPD: Mother gassed 2 kids to death, then tried to kill self
- Colorado governor lifts statewide fire ban
- 2 kids left in cars on sweltering day - 1 dies
- Video: In East L.A., newspaper uplifts troubled neighborhood
Follow US News on msnbc.com on Twitter and Facebook
Leave a Comment:
Welcome home Airmen.....job well done...
Day is done,
gone the sun,
From the hills,
from the lake,
From the skies.
All is well,
safely rest,
God is nigh.
Slow Hand Salute. Welcome home, guys. Welcome back from Laos. Rest well. I know you're in Heaven; you've already served your time in Hell; it was called combat.
Blessed be to those who finally came home.
May the families fine peace as they lay lost to rest.
Welcome home, peace and love.
And He will raise you up on eagle's wings,
Bear you on the breath of dawn,
Make you to shine like the sun,
And hold you in the palm of His Hand.
You need not fear the terror of the night,
Nor the arrow that flies by day,
Though thousands fall about you,
Near you it shall not come.
Thanks for your sacrifice Soldiers.
To those U.S. Air Force officers and enlisted flight crew who died in service to their nation on Christmas Eve in 1965 - "Thank you for your service to our country." You can finally rest in peace amongst your brave brothers and sisters at Arlington National Cemetery.
Beautiful commentary.
WB2: Thanks for remembering the words to "Taps." Simple, plaintive, comforting. Since my first cousin's funeral at Arlington in 1950, I can never hear "Taps" without tearing up. It's very moving. Thanks again.
many thanks to each of you guys
welcome home servicemen
Meanwhile, one story over, a rich entitled socialite is dumping her U.S. citizenship to save millions on taxes.
That aside, thank you airmen for your sacrifice and I'm glad the families can have closure.
"Meanwhile, one story over, a rich entitled socialite is dumping her U.S. citizenship to save millions on taxes"
I am pleased you pointed out the relationship between the two articles. It was the tyranny and taxation of a large and oppressive government that gave rise to the principles of the Republic which these citizens served and sacrificed for. I often wonder if I could proudly wear a uniform again for what the Republic has become since the reign of carter, clinton and the party agenda of democtrats. Then I remember it was an oath to defend and protect the Constitution from all enemies, foreign and domestic, that I took and conclude that I would be under more obligation as a responsible free citizen of the Republic to serve in this time of extreme peril for the Republic. Rest in peace citizen soldiers, there are those who still remember.
Nice move to politicize an article about some of America's heroes being finally laid to rest. Real smooth. Before you throw rocks at me, know that I served 24 years.
First of all, thank you for your loyal service.
But...I surely didn't see any rocks. All I saw was somebody pointing out the facts as, I'm sure, the students are not being taught in our public schools. Uh oh, I'm going to be accused of something else now, right?
RV......... No rocks or politics. Just honest respect for my fellow citizens of the military and honest questions I ask myself everyday. 9 brothers of my grandfathers generation served in WW2, my father a decorated Korean vet, myself Vetnam era, both my sons serve today. I could not in good concious serve the government of today, but a responsible citizen must protect the Constitution of the Republic. A fine distinction indoctrination in public schools neglect to instruct on.
I think most people view it as serving the country, not serving "the government of today". If you think the majority of those serving right now support "the government of today" you are mistaken. Protect and defend against enemies foreign and domestic. The oath doesn't include supporting the politicians.
I feel the same way about the government of today. It just seems wrong to me how so many people have fought and died to only have our freedoms seemingly stripped from under us in only one generation. Another thing is, is this flight crew going to receive the Congressional Gold Medal? I know some of the WWII all black fighting forces received the medal recently, some relatives posthumously. I am glad that they were honored. I am also glad that the American forces of Japanese descent were honored for their WWII service along with the Hawaiian and Pacific Islander people who served. The Tuscegee Airmen who recieved their Medal was well deserved also. Sadly, I will be considered a racist because I take issue with the fact that no all white unit that fought in WWII has recieved the award. In fact no all white unit has ever received the Congressional Gold Medal. I don't understand why. My uncle died in Korea, in that war two weeks before it ended. I hate to make it an issue about race, but it just seems that the only people who get any kind of recognition these days are people who are minorities. I am talking about fighting forces. Why don't the white fighting forces get any gold medal from Congress? Many more of them fought and died for their country, and served with valor also. Why haven't the black sheep squadron ever been awarded the Congressional Gold Medal? Why haven't the Flying Tigers, which were the first ones to bomb Tokyo after Pearl Harbor, why don't they also get the Congressional Medal? Is their sacrifice and service any different than these all black fighting forces? I don't think so. I am glad to see any of our soldiers honored because they all deserve it, but to give the Congressional Gold Medal to only minority soldiers and exclude the brave white soldiers and airmen, is just wrong.
Getting precise - the Flying Tigers were not the first to bomb Tokyo - THAT was "Dolittle's Raiders" (early 1942 in B-25s launched from the aircraft carrier Hornet) Flying Tigers were ex-pat pilots flying P-40s in CHINA. Most of them were taken into the (then) Army Air Corps also as fighter pilots.
These guys were on SPOOK missions - nobody was supposed to know they were there (which made the missions "difficult"). They flew low and slow (a gooney bird isn't known for speed, anyway) usually on intel gathering missions. It's sad that they were killed, but they weren't doing anything particularly "heroic" EXCEPT DOING THE JOBS THEY WERE TRAINED TO DO. (and, no, it's not a put-down - it's just facts)
6 more that came home.
Canary, to get a bit more precise Spooky was only a call sign for the C-47 gunships that we used many times for fire support in Vietnam. I spent two tours in central 2 Corps. and have called in Spooky 41 many times. In I Corps I believe the Marines called the ships Puff the Magic Dragon. They were for fire support for ground forces and used to interdict NVA traffic on the many branches of the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Intel gathering was not their mission.
Joncar,
"In I Corps I believe the Marines called the ships Puff the Magic Dragon."
Puff the Magic Dragon? That's the song by Peter, Paul and Mary about smoking marijuana. I always liked that song when I was a kid, but at that time I had no idea it was about marijuana. I thought it was just about some fairy tale type "magic dragon".
yeah I knew it as "PUFF", too (but I was never in country. I was Army, Europe) Jack the Giant Killer was the AC-130 gunship with the 20mm gats IIRC. I always thought Spooky was the intel mission codename. We get too soon OLD and too late SMART! After reading the article, I suspect those guys were a Captains (left seat, right seat), 1 2nd Louie (navigator) plus 3 EM - 1 SSGT (Loadmaster) and 2 Airmen (gunner/ loaders). My guess about the intel mission appears to be "wishful thinking"
Canary-
Actually, the Flying Tigers predated the US involvement in the Pacific War, and were accepted into the Army or Naval air corps after Pearl Harbor. I never heard that these limited range fighters bombed the Japanese mainland, but if they had it would have been before Doolittle's raiders hit Tokyo with B25's. Doolittle trained AFTER Pearl Harbor, and the Raid on Tokyo occurred after the Flying Tigers were disbanded.
TIGERS NEVER BOMBED JAPAN - not enough range (one way mission? NAH!), speed (Zeroes could fly circles around the P-40) or bomb load (500lb IIRC). (guess that got a bit muddled - the pacific air war is an historic specialty of mine)
Home...at last.
Welcome home men! Thank you for your dedicated service.
Thank you Airmen for your service... My husband was in the Air Force and this story was special to both of our hearts... thank you for your service and your sacrifice yours and your families..
Welcome home and God Bless you for your service and for protecting us.
God Bless you and Thank You all for the sacrifice you made. You have finally made it home where you belong.
God welcomed you in 1965....we welcome you home today. Blessings to your families.
Well said, Nita; Thank you.
I could of not said it better,Thank you Nita and thank you airman's for being who you are.
(America Soldiers who gave it all) Many thanks to you and your love ones.
Beautifully, said, Nita. Rest well.
Werlcome home and may GOD bless the families..You gave all!!
God bless these families. Salutes to servicemen.
Welcome home men and thank you.
Your Home now airman RIP Vet USAF
GENTLEMEN.............Good to have you back!
It is good that they are back on American soil. question, why three chefs, and two Col, on this flight, all high ranking Airmen, was this more then a routen mission?
The author said the Air Force promoted all of them posthumously.
It had to be a highly classified mission. You don't send men of that calibur on a milk run.
I don't expect Jane Fonda to shed a tear.
Not unusual to have multiple field grade officers on Spooky flights during the Vietnam War as that gunship was one of the most high-tech weapons systems in the conventional warfare arena. ALL flights over Laos and Cambodia were classified missions.
David Palmaro,
"why three chefs, and two Col, on this flight, all high ranking Airmen, was this more then a routen mission?"
That's a good observation. Air crews do not usually consist of all high ranking persons. According to this article, the enlisted crew members were all Chief Master Sergeants. That is the highest rank for enlisted men in the Air Force (E-9). I agree with "Aruba Jon" that it was probably a highly classified mission. I wonder if it might have been an intelligence collection mission since it was nicknamed "Spooky", and intelligence personnel are often referred to as "spooks". I used to fly such missions myself when I was in the Air Force. It would also be nice to know what happened to them. Was the crash due to mechanical failure, bad weather, being shot down or what? At any rate, I'm glad they found the remains and are going to give them an honorable burial.
JP,
I didn't see your post until after I posted mine. So "Spooky" flights were gunships, huh? I've heard of them, but I wasn't sure what they were. Thanks for the information.
These men made a double sacrifice, knowing that their efforts could never be acknowledged if they returned safely. Their mission was both secret and illegal under the 1962 Accords which established Laos as a neutral. Of course, the DRV violated the treaty, too, taking over large swaths of southern Laos with its "volunteers" and with regular troops in the northeast of the country.
The "Spooky" gunship was a converted DC-3, so big and slow it could almost be hit with a pistol at the altitudes it was operating at to fire its armament. Even then, the Ho Chi Minh Trail was well defended, as we found out. What we ended up doing is dropping $100,000 smart bombs to hit $5,000 trucks carrying maybe a few hundred dollars worth of rice.
Sad story. I hope this gives the family some closure. There are still quite a few families from that war looking for closure. I hope someday to bury the bracelet I wear for a soldier lost in Cambodia in 1970 with his remains.
The Airmen were promoted to those ranks posthumously.
JP, totally in agreement. The Spooky was an incredibly effective weapon for disrupting mass vehicle and personnel movements in confined spaces like the Ho Chi Minh trail, unfortunately the VietCong and NVA knew this too and heavily guarded their movements with AA systems and the Spooky was simply too slow to avoid being hit. That it was used so early in the war in a country we werent supposed to be operating in is curious indeed and makes me wonder if intel had picked up on some high value targets moving on the trail that warranted the secret violation of Laotian airspace.
Please do not use Jane Fonda on this sight. These are American Soldiers and she only likes gooks. I remember when she gave up the USA and (*&$#& with the enemy.
First: PTOOEY! on Hanoi Hane. Enough energy wasted on that Witch (spelled with a capial B).
Second: Troughout almost all of the US involvement inSoutheast Asia, any military activity in Laos was in volation of treaties, treaties that Hanoi conveniently ignored. All US military involvement was classified.
Third: As several have already mentoned, the article mentioned that all the crew had been posthumously promoted; it was Air Force policy then to contimue to promote personnel who were llisted as MIA (missing in action), until they were found alive, or their remains were recovered, or they were declared dead. This was true for POWs also.
it is also true for service members who die unexepectedly while serving on active duty. I knew of a man who died at work of a massive heart attack, and the commanding general promoted him, for his families sake before he was allowed to be declared dead by medical professionals. It helped out the family with a little more income to live off of in the loss of their provider. What little that is, considering how little the military makes compared to the rest of the populace, it was and still is a good gesture from the commander.
Look up Black Ravens that actually had bases in Laos under the Royal Laotian Airlines. All U.S.A.F. personal turned in ID, Dog Tags and uniforms to work and fly missions out of Laos.
So true, Roc.
In an act of sham legality, all military personnel going to Laos first stopped at an air base in Thailand where they were given a civilian veneer. This soon acquired the nickname "sheepdipping" in reflection of how superficial it was.
The US embassy in Vientiane had more staff than the Moscow embassy! The USAID (Agency for International Development) program was a CIA front that fooled no one. No one to this day knows how much this secret war cost as it was subsumed in the CIA budget which was classified.
Laos is a landlocked, mountainous country, unattractive to regular military units. As our generals didn't want to fight there we opted for a neutral solution to the political crisis. But the country was not neutralized. Rather, it was partitioned with the US and its allies taking the western part bordering on Thailand across the Mekong and the North Vietnamese with Soviet backing occupying the eastern half. In the south, this territory was turned into a network of roads and tunnels, truck parks and fuel depots which we called the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
In response, the US launched a campaign to interdict the Trail, mainly from the air but including attacks by small raiding parties on the ground. Neither of these tactics were very successful. Tonnages down the trail went up every year. Near the end, the PAVN even managed to construct an oil pipeline that terminated near the former Special Forces border camp at Ben Het, South Vietnam.
This is not to be confused with the truly secret war run by the CIA in northern Laos in which we recruited, trained and armed fighters of the highland Hmong tribe to take on the North Vietnamese on the ground and so relieve the pressure on South Vietnam.
It is clear in retrospect that the decision not to make the fight in Laos rendered South Vietnam military untenable.
Thank you Airmen for your service to our great country!
Welcome home HERO"S all of you. My heart and sorrow go's to the families, may you have closure. My family thanks you. As doe's our Nation. It is my hope that more are recovered in a timley manner. May they Rest in Peace.
welcome home and rest in peace.
Welcome Home Gentlemen!
Welcome home airmen! RIP and thanks for your service and sacrafice.
God bless and be with their families.
Thankyou and wellcome back from AF 12550358
WELCOME HOME!
Thank you for sacrifice. Rest in peace, sirs.
May God Bless their souls and bring peace to their families.
It is wonderful these men are being welcomed home, even in death. Sad but still heartfelt. However, many, or most, Vietnam vets never received any sort of welcome home, alive or dead, just backs turned away. I think all those who have served our country, be it an honorable war or one full of questions, should receive thanks. We owe to them and to their comrades who did not make it. None who died would want to know that their friends who lived, were not given a warm welcome back home.
Yep! and thank you