ALDRICH, LAWRENCE LEE
Accounted for 2010
Name: Lawrence Lee Aldrich
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: Company B, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry, 173rd Airborne Brigade
Date of Birth: 16 July 1947 (Fayetteville NC)
Home City of Record: Ft. Worth TX
Date of Loss: 06 May 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 141827N 1090237E (BR890825)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Refno: 1161
Other Personnel In Incident: (none 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. Updated by the P.O.W.
NETWORK. 2020
REMARKS:
SYNOPSIS: SP4 Lawrence L. Aldrich was a rifleman assigned to Company B., 2nd
Battalion, 503rd Infantry, 173rd Airborne Brigade. On May 6, 1968, he was on
a search and clear mission in Bien Dien Province, South Vietnam when a
friendly air strike was directed at hostile forces in his vicinity. A
750-pound bomb was seen to impact on his last known location. He was the
only man in his company to be in this position.
A platoon leader was later able to search the area where Aldrich was last
seen but found no trace of him. A thorough search of the area revealed no
remains that could be identified as his.
War is hell. Men are killed by other men whom they call their enemy. But men
are also killed by "misadventure" - by senseless drowning, falls, and by
being in the wrong place at the wrong time. From all appearances, it seems
that Aldrich was in the wrong place - one where the bombs dropped by his own
comrades would take his life.
At 19, Larry Aldrich had just begun to live.
Because no trace was found, Aldrich's name is maintained with honor among
those who are missing, prisoner, and unaccounted for in Southeast Asia.
There can be no chance that Aldrich survived the explosion on May 6, 1968.
But for others who are missing, conclusions are not so easy to draw.
Some one hundred men were known to have been captured by the enemy, yet
never returned. Many were alive and well when last seen, evading, or
awaiting rescue. Others simply disappeared. Over 10,000 reports have been
received relating to these men, convincing many that hundreds of these
Americans are still alive, captive, and want to come home. One can imagine
that Larry would gladly serve on one more search mission to help bring them
home.
| IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 080-10
January 29, 2010 Soldier Missing in Action from Vietnam War Identified The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from the Vietnam War, have been identified and returned to his family for burial. Army Specialist Lawrence L. Aldrich will be buried in his home town of Fort Worth, Texas tomorrow. On May 6, 1968, Aldrich was a member of a search-and-clear mission in Binh Dinh Province in what was then South Vietnam. He was last seen with two other Americans engaged in a battle with enemy forces while manning a M-60 machine gun position. An air strike was called in, but one of the bombs inadvertently landed on Aldrich's position, killing the three soldiers. Members of his unit later recovered the remains of the two other men, but Aldrich could not be found. In July 1992, a joint U.S.-Socialist Republic of Vietnam team traveled to the province to investigate the loss. They interviewed a local citizen who remembered a large ground battle in the area in May or June 1968. He took the team to a location where he indicated the remains were buried, but an excavation in 1994 found no evidence of a grave or remains. Vietnamese officials unilaterally investigated the case in 2006 and interviewed two villagers who recalled finding a body of an American after the battle and burying it where it lay. A second joint investigation in 2007, led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, recommended another excavation based on the information provided by the Vietnamese. The excavation in March 2009 unearthed human remains and other non-biological evidence. The identification of the remains was confirmed by matching the remains with Aldrich's dental records. For additional information on the Defense Department's mission to account for missing Americans, visit the DPMO Web site at http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo or call 703-699-1169. |
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01/2020
https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt000000oMdMDEA0
On September 10, 2009, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC,
now DPAA) identified the remains of Specialist Fourth Grade
Lawrence Lee Aldrich, missing from the Vietnam War.
Specialist Fourth Grade Aldrich joined the U.S. Army from Texas
and was a member of Company B, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry
Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade. On May 6, 1968, he took park
in a search and clear mission in Bien Dien Province, Vietnam.
During an engagement with enemy forces, SP4 Aldrich's position
was inadvertently hit by a friendly airstrike. He was killed in
the incident, and his remains could not be recovered at the
time. However, in 2009, investigators recovered SP4 Aldrich's
remains. They were transferred to U.S. custody, and laboratory
analysis allowed for their identification.
Specialist Fourth Grade Aldrich is memorialized on the Courts of
the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
If you are a family member of this serviceman, you may contact your casualty office representative to learn more about your service member.