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Missing WWII Airmen are Identified
Saturday, 26 April 2008
The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of 11 U.S. servicemen, missing in action from World War II, have been identified and will be returned to their families for burial with full military honors. 
 
 They are Capt. Robert L. Coleman, of Wilmington, Del.; 1st Lt. George E. Wallinder, of San Antonio, Texas; 2nd Lt. Kenneth L. Cassidy, of Worcester, Mass.; 2nd Lt. Irving Schechner, of Brooklyn, N.Y.; 2nd Lt. Ronald F. Ward, of Cambridge, Mass.; Tech. Sgt. William L. Fraser, of Maplewood, Mo.; Tech. Sgt. Paul Miecias, of Piscataway, N.J.; Tech. Sgt. Robert C. Morgan, of Flint, Mich.; Staff Sgt. Albert J. Caruso, of Kearny, N.J.; Staff Sgt. Robert E. Frank, of Plainfield, N.J.; and Pvt. Joseph Thompson, of Compton, Calif; all U.S. Army Air Forces. The dates and locations of the funerals are being set by their families.
 
 Representatives from the Army met with the next-of-kin of these men in their hometowns to explain the recovery and identification process and to coordinate interment with military honors on behalf of the secretary of the Army.
 
On Dec. 3, 1943, these men crewed a B-24D Liberator that departed Dobodura, New Guinea, on an armed-reconnaissance mission over New Hanover Island in the Bismarck Sea. The crew reported dropping their bombs on target, but in spite of several radio contacts with their base, they never returned to Dobodura. Subsequent searches failed to locate the aircraft.
 
Last Updated ( Saturday, 26 April 2008 )
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Dennis S. Pike
Saturday, 03 May 2008

Photograph of Dennis S. Pike
Dennis S. Pike

The USS KITTY HAWK was on duty in Vietnam as early as 1964 and had 131 combat sorties to its credit by the end of 1965, and many more through the remaining years of the Vietnam war. The KITTY HAWK was one of the Forrestal-class "super" carriers, and could operate up to ninety aircraft from her angled deck.

One of the aircraft launched from the deck of the KITTY HAWK was the Vaught A7E Corsair II, a single-seat attack jet utilized by both the Navy and Air Force in Vietnam. The aircraft was designed to meet the Navy's need for a subsonic attack plane able to carry a greater load of non-nuclear weapons that the A4 Skyhawk. The aircraft's unique design completely freed the wingspace for bomb loading; the Pratt and Whitney jet engine was beneath the fuselage of the aircraft. The Corsair was used primarily for close air support and interdiction, although it was also used for reconnaissance. A Corsair is credited with flying the last official combat mission in the war - bombing a target in Cambodia on 15 August 1973.

 Lt. Dennis Stanley Pike
Rank/Branch 03/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squardon 192, U.S.S. Kitty Hawk
Date of Birth: July 20, 1940
Home City of Record: Bagdad, AZ
Date of Loss: March 23, 1972
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 152200N 1073400E (YC755030)
Status (in 1793): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: A7E
Other Personnel In Incident: (none missing)

LT Dennis S. Pike was an Corsair assigned to Attack Squadron 192 onboard the KITTY HAWK in the spring of 1972. On 23 March, Pike and other aircraft from the squadron were assigned a mission near the demilitarized zone (DMZ) in Vietnam. Pike did not return from the mission.

Last Updated ( Saturday, 03 May 2008 )
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Leo Earl Seymour
Wednesday, 03 October 2007

Photo of Leo Seymour
Leo Earl Seymour

On 3 July 1967, a Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol became engaged in a fire fight. The patrol split up and ran in different directions. When the patrol regrouped for extraction it was determined that one American Hero, SSgt. Leo E. Seymour, U.S. Army, was missing in action, MIA.
Leo Seymour answered his country's call; he did not run to Canada, he did not flee to Europe and lambaste us from afar, and he did not collaborate with the enemy. He has earned our undivided attention.

 SSgt. Leo E. Seymour spent four years in the U.S. Marine Corps before joining the Army. He advanced in rank and training until 1967, when he was assigned to Command and Control Detachment, MACV-SOG.

Name: Leo Earl Seymour
Rank/Branch: E5/US Army Special Forces
Unit: Command & Control Detachment, MACV-SOG
Date of Birth: 14 May 1942 (Sayre PA)
Home City of Record: Towanda PA
Date of Loss: 03 July 1967
Country of Loss: Laos  
Loss Coordinates: 144500N 1062300E (YB575326)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Refno: 0750
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

 Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 September 1990 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 1998.

Last Updated ( Wednesday, 14 May 2008 )
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