ANDREWS, STUART MERRILL

"Buried?"

Name: Stuart Merrill Andrews
Rank/Branch: Colonel USAF
Unit: 21st Tactical Air Support Squadron, Pleiku AB SV
Date of Birth: 22 September 1928
Home City of Record: Stamford CT
Date of Loss: 04 March 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 133700N 1090000E (BR836079
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 3
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: O1E
Refno: 0262
Other Personnel In Incident: John F. Conlon (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 May 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 2020.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Major Stuart M. Andrews was the pilot of an O1E aircraft on which
his observer-in-training was 1Lt. John F. Conlon III in March 1966. Andrews
and his observer were sent on a cross-country visual reconnaissance mission
in South Vietnam.

The O1E "Bird Dog" was used extensively in the early years of the war in
Vietnam by forward air controllers and provided low, close visual
reconnaissance and target marking which enabled armed aircraft or ground
troops to close in on a target. The O1E was feared by the enemy, because he
knew that opening fire would expose his location and invite attack by
fighters controlled by the slowly circling Bird Dog. The Vietnamese became
bold, however when they felt their position was compromised and attacked the
little Bird Dog with a vengeance in order to lessen the accuracy of an
impending strike by other craft.

Andrews and Conlon departed Qui Nhon Airfield on March 4, 1966 at 3:20 p.m.
At 3:40 p.m. they made radio contact with a Special Forces Camp in the area
and were asked to check campfires that had been spotted. That radio contact
with the Special Forces camp was the last word anyone heard of Andrews and
Conlon. There was at that time no indication that anything was wrong, but
when the plane failed to arrive at its destination, both men were declared
missing.

When 591 Americans were released from prisoner of war camps in 1973, Andrews
and Conlon were not among them. Nearly five years later, in December 1977,
they were presumptively declared dead, based on no information that they
were alive.

Alarmingly, evidence continues to mount that Americans were left as
prisoners in Southeast Asia and continue to be held today. Unlike "MIAs"
from other wars, most of the nearly 2500 Americans who remain missing in
Southeast Asia can be accounted for. Many U.S. Government officials have
said it is their belief that Americans are being held, but have not yet
found the formula that would bring them home. Detractors claim that not
enough is being done to bring these men home.

Stuart M. Andrews was promoted to the rank of Colonel and John F. Conlon III
was promoted to the rank of Major during the period they were maintained
missing.

===============

http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/smandrews.htm

Grave of two missing pilots found in Vietnam after 40 years
ID tag, four teeth only remains
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS  15 Sept 2006

MONTGOMERY, Ala. - A Montgomery woman whose husband's military ID was
recovered from a grave in Vietnam after 40 years said she's relieved to know
he had not been captured and tortured..... 

Andrews, 37, took off from Qui Nhon Air Field in South Vietnam's Binh Dinh
Province on a reconnaissance flight in a Cessna O-1E Bird Dog on March 4,
1966, flying with First Lieutenant John Conlon. They never returned.

Despite a lack of remains, Andrews was buried at Arlington National Cemetery
on June 13, 1978, ....

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01/2020

https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt0000000KYayEA

COL STUART MERRILL ANDREWS

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On March 4, 1966, an O-1E Bird Dog (tail number 54-2499) carrying two crew members took off on a visual reconnaissance flight from Qui Nhon to Cheo Reo, South Vietnam. The crew's last radio contact occurred 30 minutes into the flight when the Van Canh Special Forces Camp requested the aircraft make a visual reconnaissance because campfires from unknown sources were observed in the area. There was no indication from the crew that they were experiencing mechanical or other difficulties with the aircraft at that time, and no further radio contact was established. When the aircraft failed to arrive at Cheo Reo, a communication check was made with nearby airfields but there were no reports of the missing aircraft and it was declared missing that evening. Extensive air searches over the next six days failed to find any signs of the missing Bird Dog or its crew.

Major Stuart Merrill Andrews, who joined the U.S. Air Force from Connecticut, served with the 21st Tactical Air Support Squadron. He was the pilot of the Bird Dog when it disappeared on March 4, 1966, and attempts to recover his remains have been unsuccessful. After the incident, the Air Force posthumously promoted Maj Andrews to the rank of Colonel (Col). Today, Colonel Andrews is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Based on all information available, DPAA assessed the individual's case to be in the analytical category of Active Pursuit.

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