1 May 1998


Date:         Fri, 1 May 1998 12:35:00 -0400
From: DefenseLINK News <dlnews_sender@DTIC.MIL>
Subject:      DoD Memoranda For Correspondents
To: DODMFC-L@DTIC.MIL

No. 074-M

MEMORANDUM FOR CORRESPONDENTS                   May 1, 1998

The remains of three American servicemen previously unaccounted-for 
from Southeast Asia have been identified and are being returned to 
their families for burial in the United States.

They are identified as Col. Richard K. Allee, of Port Jervis, N.Y.; 
Col. Gordon L. Page, of Palo Alto, Calif.; and Capt. Armon D. 
Shingledecker, of Lima, Ohio, all U.S. Air Force.

On Dec. 21, 1968, Allee was flying an escort mission over Khammouan 
Province, Laos.  During an attack dive, Allee's F-105D Thunderchief 
aircraft burst into flame.  No ejection from the aircraft was observed.

In 1994, a joint U.S.-Lao investigative team interviewed local villagers 
in Khammouan Province about the location of an aircraft crash site.  
Several villagers described a crash site of an American aircraft that was 
close to the last reported position for Allee.  Team members searched the 
site and found evidence of a crash and a limited amount of aircraft 
wreckage.  The crash site was excavated in 1996 and remains, personal 
effects, and life support equipment were recovered.  Forensic analysis 
confirmed the remains were those of Allee.

Page was flying an RF-101C Voodoo aircraft, in a flight of two, on a photo 
reconnaissance mission over Vinh, Vietnam, on March 7, 1966.  Both aircraft 
were lost and no contact was established with either pilot.

In 1989, the Vietnamese turned over 28 sets of remains purported to be of 
American servicemen.  No names were associated with these remains.  One set 
of remains was identified as those of Page's wingman.

Subsequent interviews of villagers in Nghe An Province by joint U.S.-
Vietnamese investigative teams supplied information that correlated to the 
shootdown of Page.  However, no crash site was ever located.  A re-
examination of some remains repatriated in 1989, based on advanced 
technology, determined that they were those of Page.

On May 31, 1966, Shingledecker was a passenger in a C-130 Hercules flying a 
classified mission over North Vietnam.  The pilot attempted to establish 
radio contact in the early morning hours.  A flight of American F-4s flying 
over Thanh Hoa Province reported seeing a large ground flash shortly 
thereafter.  When the C-130 failed to return to base, a search mission was 
launched but no crash site was found.  It was determined that the point where 
the F-4 crewmembers saw the ground flash was in the intended flight path of 
the C-130.

Later on May 31, English language Hanoi Radio and Peking Radio broadcasts 
reported the downing of a U.S. transport plane on the morning of May 31 over 
Thanh Hoa Province.  All crewmen were purportedly killed.  The Vietnamese 
subsequently turned over a document chronicling this incident.  The report 
indicated that the eight crewmen were killed in the crash, and the remains 
of five were repatriated in 1986.  The remains of the other three were 
destroyed in the crash.

Vietnam repatriated 22 boxes of alleged American remains in April 1986.  
Shingledecker's name was associated with one of the sets.  Forensic analysis 
of the remains was performed using advanced technology.  They were identified 
as those of Shingledecker.

All three sets of remains will be shipped from the U.S. Army's Central 
Identification Laboratory in Hawaii at a later date determined by the families.

The U.S. government welcomes and appreciates the cooperation of the governments 
of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Lao People's Democratic Republic 
which resulted in the accounting of these servicemen.  We hope that such 
cooperation will bring increased results in the future.  Achieving the fullest 
possible accounting for these Americans is of the highest national priority.

With the accounting of these three servicemen, there are currently 2,090 
unaccounted-for Americans from the Vietnam War.

-END-

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