Name: Jerry Glen Bridges

Rank/Branch: E5/US Army
Unit: 243rd Assault Helicopter Company, 10th Combat Aviation Battalion
Date of Birth: 07 January 1948 (Tamms IL)
Home City of Record: Columbia TN
Date of Loss: 20 October 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 122945N 1090753E (BP890830)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: CH47
Other Personnel In Incident: Charles E. Deitsch; Henry C. Knight; Charles H. Meldahl; Ronald V. Stanton (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 1990 from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews.

REMARKS:
SYNOPSIS: On October 20, 1968, CW3 Deitsch, aircraft commander; WO1 Knight, pilot; SP5 Meldahl, crewchief; SP4 Bridges, flight engineer; and SP4 Stanton, door gunner, departed Dong Ba Thien Airfield, South Vietnam, in a CH47A helicopter (serial #66-19053) on a resupply mission to Ban Me Thuot, South Vietnam.
The CH47 "Chinook" helicopter was one of the workhorses of the Army's air fleet. As a cargo lift, the Chinook could carry up to 28,000 pounds on its external cargo hook, and is credited with the recovery of 11,500 disabled aircraft worth more than $3 billion. As troop carrier, the aircraft could be fitted with 24 litters for medical evacuation, or carry 33-44 troops in addition to the crew. On one occasion, a Chinook evacuated 147 refugees and their possessions on a single flight. The Chinook could be outfitted for bombing missions, dropping tear gas or napalm in locations fixed wing aircraft could not reach. The big bird could carry a large cargo of supplies.
Deitsch radioed at 0700 hours on October 20 that his aircraft was over the Ninh Hoa Valley. That was the last anyone heard of the CH47. At about 0800 hours, it was determined that the helicopter was overdue.
An intensive search effort was made, but no wreckage was ever found of the CH47, and search efforts were concluded on October 28. Villagers were later canvassed throughout the Ninh Ho Valley, and literature was distributed asking about the crash of the Chinook, but no new information was ever discovered.
The five men aboard the Chinook lost on October 20, 1968 were classified Missing In Action. They are among nearly 2400 Americans who are unaccounted for from American involvement in Vietnam. Experts now believe that hundreds of Americans are still alive in Southeast Asia, waiting for their country to come for them. The crew of the CH47 lost on October 20, 1968 could be among them. It's time we brought them home.

Name: Carrol Owen Crain, Jr.

Rank/Branch: O4/US Navy
Unit: Heavy Attack Squadron 4, USS Kitty Hawk (CVA-63)
Date of Birth: 13 May 1933
Home City of Record: Memphis TN
Date of Loss: 08 March 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 175500N 1064000E (XE818816)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A3B
Other Personnel in Incident: Ronald E. Galvin, George F. Pawlish (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project with the assistance of one or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Date Compiled: 15 March 1990
REMARKS: RADIO CONTACT LOST
SYNOPSIS: LCdr. Carrol O. Crain, pilot; LtJG George F. Pawlish, co-pilot; and AT Ronald E. Galvin, aviation electronics technician; comprised the crew of an A3B "Skywarrior" aircraft on board the USS Kitty Hawk (CVA-63) off the coast of Vietnam in 1967. The three were assigned to Heavy Attack Squadron 4.
On March 8, 1967 Crain's aircraft launched from the Kitty Hawk on a strike mission into North Vietnam. Shortly after launch, they were notified to delay their time over the target by ten minutes due to a delay in the launching of the support aircraft. This was the last contact with them. No distress signals were received and all efforts to locate or make contact with them were unsuccessful. Their last known location was about 15 miles off the coast of North Vietnam, due east of the city of Ron.
All three men were listed Missing In Action, and were not declared dead until seven years later, at which time their deaths were accounted as hostile deaths occurring while the men were missing, indicating that enemy action was involved, not merely in a watery grave. Despite these determinations, the Navy judged that the aircraft flew or fell into the water prior to departing their over-water holding point. A naval casualty board determined that their bodies could not be recovered.
Although returned U.S. prisoners in 1973 were unable to show that either he or his crewmen were ever in the prison system, in the absence of proof otherwise, it is possible to entertain the notion that the three, if they managed to escape the sinking aircraft, could have been picked up by Vietnamese boats who happened to be in the coastal area.
Certainly, the possibility also exists that Crain, Pawlish and Galvin died the day their aircraft went down. They are among nearly 2500 Americans still missing, prisoner or unaccounted for from the Vietnam War.
Unfortunately, nearly 10,000 reports have convinced many authorities that there are hundreds of Americans still alive and in captivity in Southeast Asia. Whether the crew of the A3 is among them is uncertain, but one cannot question that it is long past time to bring our men home.

Name: Eleanor Ardel Vietti

Rank/Branch: Civilian - Surgeon
Unit: Christian & Missionary Alliance
Date of Birth: 05 November 1927 (Ft. Worth TX)
Home City: Houston TX
Date of Loss: 30 May 1962
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 123250N 1075927E (ZU250888)
Status (in 1973): Prisoner of War
Category: 1
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel in Incident: Rev. Archie E. Mitchell; Daniel A. Gerber (both captured)

REMARKS: TAKEN FROM LEPROSARIUM

SYNOPSIS: Ardel Vietti was a twin and was born on November 5, 1927 in Ft. Worth, Texas. Her father was a geologist and provided Ardel, her sister and brother with a comfortable youth, as well as the experience of living in South America for several years. Ardel attended Rice Institute, Nyack Missionary College (one summer), and attended medical school at the University of Texas. Following her residency, she applied for foreign service with C&MA and was certified for appointment to the Ban Me Thuot Leprosarium in Vietnam.
The Ban Me Thuot Leprosarium was located in dense jungle terrain in Darlac Province, South Vietnam, near the provincial capitol of Ban Me Thuot. The Leprosarium was jointly financed by The Christian and Missionary Alliance, the Mennonite Central Committee and American Leprosy Missions, Inc. There were 56 Alliance church groups in the areas outlying Ban Me Thuot in 1962.
The Leprosarium had a staff of nine, including Rev. Archie Mitchell, the administrative officer; Dr. Ardel Vietti, a surgeon, Daniel A. Gerber, and nurses, Misses Craig, Deets, Kingsbury and Wilting. There were two others on staff; also, the Mitchell's four children lived at the Leprosarium.
Late afternoon on Wednesday, May 30, 1962, a group of about 12 armed Viet Cong entered the Leprosarium compound and abducted Dan Gerber, Dr. Vietti and Rev. Mitchell. The nurses were sternly lectured on their betrayal of the Vietnamese people and assured that they deserved immediate death, but were not molested or abducted. Mrs. Mitchell and her four children were not harmed. The VC ransacked all the buildings for anything they could use - linens, medicines, clothing and surgical instruments. About 10:00 p.m., the Viet Cong finally left, taking their three prisoners with them.
When the three were captured, the U.S. pledged all of its resources in order to see that everything possible was done to get them back safely in 1962.
At the time, U.S. and South Vietnamese intelligence discovered their probable location, but were never able to rescue the three. Reports have continued to surface on them through the years since 1962. Some of the members of their families believe them to be still alive.
Now, 35 years later, Gerber, Vietti and Mitchell are still missing. They were not military personnel, nor were they engaged in highly paid jobs relating to the war. They were just there to help sick Vietnamese people.
Although the U.S. has given the Vietnamese information on Gerber, Vietti and Mitchell, the Vietnamese deny any knowledge of them.

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