Meet my adopted hero...
Robert John Welch
03/U.S. Air Force
11th Tactical Recon Squadron, Udorn Airfield, Thailand
Born March 23, 1926....home city of record Detroit, MI
Lost January 16, 1967 in North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates, 212659N 1052546E (WJ445718)
Status as of 1973, Missing in action Catagory 2
Missing in action...those words leave a chill...
Robert's story...
On January 16, 1967 an unarmed Air Force RF4C Phantom aircraft flown bye Captain Welch
departed Udorn Airfield, Thailand for a photo reconnaissance misson over North Vietnam near Hanoi.
Welch's navigator that day was 1Lt. Michael S. Kerr.
Welch and Kerr's aircraft was shot down about 35 miles northwest of Hanoi. They were perhaps making
an inspection run over targets hit the day before as part of a 37-plane mission to destroy railroads,
highways, bridges and SAM (surface-to-air missle) sites 15 miles from Hanoi.
Welch and Kerr were career Air Force officers. Their families were friends, the two trained together
on the photograhic version of the Phantom jet, went to Vietnam together in 1966, flew together and were
shot down together. Their families moved to Washington State to wait. Welch and Kerr didn't return home
together; Kerr was released in 1973, Welch was not.
They had flown out of Udorn, Thailand, on a bright, clear day for the low-altitude photographic mission around Hanoi. A SAM was fired at the plane, but did not make a direct hit. The plane pitched up and Kerr blacked out. When he recovered, he reached for the ejection-seat handle over his head, but the force was too strong. He grabbed the other one between his legs and got out.
Kerr did not see Welch bail out, but observed the plane impact and explode on the side of a hill. Kerr was completely uninjured. Before he was taken to Hanoi, a young boy showed him a piece of the tail of his plane. Kerr wondered if he also found Welch or brought out dog tags, if Welch had died. Throughout his captivity, Kerr never saw Robert Welch, but he never stopped looking.
After he returned, Kerr and his wife were divorced. Mrs. Kerr and Mrs. Welch are still friends, and very much involved in the effort to achieve the release of men like Robert Welch whom they strongly believe are alive today. Nearly 2500 Americans did not return from the war in Vietnam. Thousands of reports have been received indicating that some hundreds remain alive in captivity. Wether Welch is alive or dead is not known. What is certain, however, is that Vietnam and her communitst allies can tell us what happened to most of our men.... including Robert J. Welch.
"All Biographical and loss information on POWs provided by Operation Just Cause have been supplied by Chuck and Mary Schantag of POWNET. Please check with POWNET regularly for updates."
Until they are ALL home...we can never forget!!!!
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If it weren't for "bumping" into a special homepage while surfing around the net...I might never have come across the volume of information that has caused me to join this very worthy cause. Thanks Skip!!! Take a look at his site!!!
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Some graphics on this page were obtained at the following sources...my thanks to all *VBS*
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My humble thanks to Gunny for beginning this endeavor, I do not know this man, but his countless hours of work toward the freeing of American GI's still held captive on foriegn shores is invaluable. Take a few minutes and visit his site! *S*
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Updated April 2005
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