Body Of Vietnam Airman Found
http://www.heraldbanner.com/homepage/local_story_220010745.html
Celeste is about 10 miles from here, in Hunt County.
Body of Vietnam airman from Celeste found
By BRAD KELLAR
Herald-Banner Staff
The remains of a former Celeste resident, who disappeared over Laos more than 36 years ago while serving in the Air Force during the Vietnam War, are to be returned to Texas.
The Department of Defense reports that the body of Lt. Col. Charles W. Stratton will be returned to Dallas for burial with full military honors. A date for the service had not been announced as of Tuesday.
The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced Stratton's remains and those of crewmate Lt. Col. James H. Ayres, of Pampa, were recently identified.
According to the DPMO, on Jan. 3, 1971, the men crewed an F-4E Phantom II aircraft departing Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base on a nighttime strike mission of enemy targets in Savannakhet Province, Laos. Shortly after Ayres initiated a target run, the crew of other aircraft in the flight observed a large explosion. No one witnessed an ejection or heard beeper signals, and communication was lost with the aircraft. Hostile activity in the area prevented search and rescue attempts.
In 2001, a joint U.S./Lao People's Democratic Republic (L.P.D.R.) team, led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), traveled to Savannakhet Province and interviewed Laotian citizens about their knowledge of aircraft crash sites. One of the men led the team to what was believed to be the Ayres and Stratton crash site.
Later that year, another U.S./L.P.D.R team began excavating the site. The team recovered human remains and aircrew-related items. Between 2002 and 2005, joint teams visited the site six more times to complete the excavation, recovering more human remains and crew-related items.
Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from JPAC and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory also used mitochondrial DNA in the identification of the remains.
Celeste historian Sarah Swindell discovered Stratton was born in Hunt County on Oct. 9, 1940, the son of Eurcil Taylor Stratton and Jessie Jean Hall Stratton. The family lived in the county from 1930 until at least the summer of 1943, when a second child, Wanda Joyce Stratton was born on July 6 of that year.
The Strattons later moved to Dallas, where Charles Stratton graduated from Samuell High School and attended Southern Methodist University before joining the Air Force.
Celeste is about 10 miles from here, in Hunt County.
Body of Vietnam airman from Celeste found
By BRAD KELLAR
Herald-Banner Staff
The remains of a former Celeste resident, who disappeared over Laos more than 36 years ago while serving in the Air Force during the Vietnam War, are to be returned to Texas.
The Department of Defense reports that the body of Lt. Col. Charles W. Stratton will be returned to Dallas for burial with full military honors. A date for the service had not been announced as of Tuesday.
The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced Stratton's remains and those of crewmate Lt. Col. James H. Ayres, of Pampa, were recently identified.
According to the DPMO, on Jan. 3, 1971, the men crewed an F-4E Phantom II aircraft departing Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base on a nighttime strike mission of enemy targets in Savannakhet Province, Laos. Shortly after Ayres initiated a target run, the crew of other aircraft in the flight observed a large explosion. No one witnessed an ejection or heard beeper signals, and communication was lost with the aircraft. Hostile activity in the area prevented search and rescue attempts.
In 2001, a joint U.S./Lao People's Democratic Republic (L.P.D.R.) team, led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), traveled to Savannakhet Province and interviewed Laotian citizens about their knowledge of aircraft crash sites. One of the men led the team to what was believed to be the Ayres and Stratton crash site.
Later that year, another U.S./L.P.D.R team began excavating the site. The team recovered human remains and aircrew-related items. Between 2002 and 2005, joint teams visited the site six more times to complete the excavation, recovering more human remains and crew-related items.
Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from JPAC and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory also used mitochondrial DNA in the identification of the remains.
Celeste historian Sarah Swindell discovered Stratton was born in Hunt County on Oct. 9, 1940, the son of Eurcil Taylor Stratton and Jessie Jean Hall Stratton. The family lived in the county from 1930 until at least the summer of 1943, when a second child, Wanda Joyce Stratton was born on July 6 of that year.
The Strattons later moved to Dallas, where Charles Stratton graduated from Samuell High School and attended Southern Methodist University before joining the Air Force.
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May his family and his soul find peace now. 0 -
Indeed. The war is finally over for them. 0 -
I find the ongoing search to be amazing. Three cheers for the Red, White and Blue! 0 -
quote:Originally posted by fshfndr
May his family and his soul find peace now.
I pray that they found peace a long time ago.0 -
That is great news.My brother was over there to help in the search and recovery. 0 -
James Ayre was the brother of a good friend of mine. Glad he and she are now at peace. 0 -
They're finally back home again. Now they can rest in peace and be burried with full military honors.
It's good to see our government undertaking these search operations.
Kudos to all involved.0 -
It's good to see that it is still true.
"THEY ARE NOT FORGOTTEN"
Jeff0 -
Ironic and sad that they will get a better homecoming now then if they returned alive after the war. 0 -
2nd that jeff. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by fastcarsgofast
quote:Originally posted by fshfndr
May his family and his soul find peace now.
I pray that they found peace a long time ago.
It is difficult to do that. My mother had two older brothers, both of whom were reserve officers in the Polish military when the Germans invaded Poland on 01 September, 1939. The oldest brother Paul was in the air force and was killed instantly when a bomb struck the hanger where aircraft were being serviced. His body was recovered (I was told without so much as a scratch on it) and he was buried. The younger boy Michael was an military engineer and simply disppeared without a trace. Many years later a few surviving members of his unit reported that he was killed on the first day of the war while trying to destroy a bridge in order to halt the German advance and that his body feel from the bridge, into the river and was swept away and never recovered. Even with this information there remained hope for many years after the war that he was actually alive and perhaps even held in a Soviet POW camp (a fate worse than death for a Pole). Even 50 years after he was supposed to have been killed my mother still spoke about her brother as though she might see him again in this earthly life.0 -
Welocme home Lt. Col. Charles W. Stratton and thank you for your service. May you rest in peace. 0 -
Rest in peace and may the family find some closure. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by fshfndr
May his family and his soul find peace now.
Well said.0 -
quote:dheffley Posted - 08/10/2007 : 10:20:17 PM
Welocme home Lt. Col. Charles W. Stratton and thank you for your service. May you rest in peace.
quote:fishkiller41 Posted - 08/10/2007 : 4:55:01 PM
It's good to see that it is still true.
"THEY ARE NOT FORGOTTEN"
Jeff
quote:fshfndr Posted - 08/10/2007 : 12:14:17 PM
May his family and his soul find peace now.
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quote:Originally posted by dpmule
quote:dheffley Posted - 08/10/2007 : 10:20:17 PM
Welocme home Lt. Col. Charles W. Stratton and thank you for your service. May you rest in peace.
quote:fishkiller41 Posted - 08/10/2007 : 4:55:01 PM
It's good to see that it is still true.
"THEY ARE NOT FORGOTTEN"
Jeff
quote:fshfndr Posted - 08/10/2007 : 12:14:17 PM
May his family and his soul find peace now.
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