Other Personnel In Incident: James Klimo; John A. Ware; Jim R.
Cavender (all
missing)
REMARKS: REMS OF OTHER CREW RECOV -
J
Source: Compiled from one or more of the following: raw data from
U.S.
Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA
families,
published sources, interviews. Updated by the P.O.W. NETWORK in
1998.
SYNOPSIS: On November 4, 1969, WO Terry L. Alford,
aircraft commander; WO1
Jim R. Cavender, pilot; SP4 John A. Ware, crew
chief; and SP4 James R.
Klimo, door gunner; were flying a series of
combat support missions in a
UH1H helicopter (serial #67-19512) in South
Vietnam.
WO Alford was returning to his base at Nha Trang from Duc
Lap at about 1920
hours when he made his last known radio contact with
the 48th Aviation
Company Operations at Ninh Hoa. Either the pilot or
aircraft commander gave
his approximate location as Duc My Pass, and
stated he was in the clouds and
instrument meteorological conditions
(IMC). Shortly afterwards, the
controller at Ninh Hoa heard a radio
transmission that WO1 Alford was in
trouble. The pilot reported,
inexplicably, that the helicopter was flying
upside down.
The
Defense Department has told family members that the helicopter was on
a
secondary mission heading toward a buffer zone between Cambodia and
South
Vietnam, an area in the Central Highlands the helicopter was in by
mistake.
The helicopter is not believed to have been shot at. Search
efforts were
conducted for six consecutive days, but nothing was
found.
According to the Defense Department, one crewmember's body was
recovered at
a later time, but no remains were ever found that could be
identified as
Alford, Klimo, Ware or Cavender. The four crew memberw were
not among the
prisoners of war that were released in 1973. High ranking
officials admit
their dismay that "hundreds" of suspected American
prisoners of war did not
return. Klimo's sister has identified her
brother as one of the prisoners of
war pictured in a Vietnamese
propaganda leaflet.
Alarmingly, evidence continues to mount that
Americans were left as
prisoners in Southeast Asia and continue to be
held today. Unlike "MIAs"
from other wars, most of the nearly 2500 men
and women who remain missing in
Southeast Asia can be accounted for. The
crew of the UH1H could be among
them. Isn't it time we brought our men
home?
