Name: Murray Lyman Borden
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit: 480th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Da Nang
Date of Birth: 02 January 1941
Home City of Record: Goldsboro NC
Date of Loss: 13 October 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 170400N 1064000E (XD750810)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4C
Other Personnel in Incident: Eugene T. Meadows (missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On 13 October 1966, 1Lt. Eugene T. Meadows and 1Lt. Murray L. Borden departed their base at Da Nang, South Vietnam on an armed reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam. The aircraft was one in a flight of two F4C Phantom fighter jets. (NOTE: most U.S. Government records list Meadows as the pilot and Borden as the navigator of the aircraft, but U.S. Air Force records indicate that Borden is the pilot of the aircraft.)

The flight of two F4's was to make four passes over its target in Quang Binh Province, North Vietnam, about 10 miles north of the eastern side of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). On its fourth pass, the Meadows/Borden aircraft failed to radio in, and crew members of the other aircraft observed a large explosion while on a down run. They circled the area, but heard no emergency radio signals ("beepers"). Shortly thereafter, however, a beeper was heard by search aircraft, but neither the crew nor the aircraft could be located. The two First Lieutenants were declared Missing in Action. It was strongly felt that the enemy knows their fates.

When 591 American POWs were released from Vietnamese prisons in 1973, Meadows and Borden were not among them. Military authorities expressed their dismay at the time that, "hundreds" expected to return, did not return, nor did they appear on any list provided by the Vietnamese of American POWs.


Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports have been received relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asia. Most authorities agree that Americans are still alive, being held prisoner. Few agree on the best way to bring them home.

Whether Borden and Meadows are among those thought to be still alive is not known. What is certain, however, is that as long as one American remains alive, we must do everything possible to bring him home.

I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to keep pushing this issue inside the Beltway... The need to get specific answers is more important now than ever before. If still alive, some MIAs are now in their 70s...They don't have much time left. We have to demand the answers from the bureaucrats and keep standing on their necks (figuratively speaking) until they get the message that THEY work for US and that we are serious about getting these long overdue responses. Diplomatic considerations aside... We can no longer allow questionable protocols established by pseudo-aristocratic armchair strategists, to determine or influence the fate of the men who were in the trenches while the diplomats were sharing sherry and canapes and talking about "Their Plans" for the future of SE Asia.

If you'd like to see what some others are doing in addition to writing their congressmen, senators and the Whitehouse, check out some of these sites: http://hawk.nji.com/~mred/mialist.htm
Another remarkable site is by an 11 year old angel who never even set foot on American soil...She not only put up a page...she started a major project for an organization of Kids on the Net called KeyPals International. Her MIA page is at http://geocities.datacellar.net/~angelicdevil/mia.html but don't miss her Bring Grandpa Home page at http://www.worldkids.net/clubs/kci/projects/Bring.html If you come away from that site without a lump in your throat, then you just weren't paying attention.

Please show you care, get involved now!
Click on the bracelet below



                 

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