ALTIZER, ALBERT HAROLD

Name: Albert Harold Altizer
Rank/Branch: E3/US Army
Unit: Company D, 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division
Date of Birth: 11 April 1949 (Canebreak WV)
Home City of Record: Squire WV
Date of Loss: 08 October 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 111526N 1064536E (XT921449)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Boat
Refno: 1498
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

REMARKS:

Source: Compiled 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 in 2020.

SYNOPSIS: PFC Albert H. Altizer was taking part in a river crossing
operation in Phuoc Binh Province South Vietnam when the boat on which he was
a passenger capsized. Altizer was wearing full combat equipment, and a
search in the river and along its banks were unsuccessful in locating him,
although some equipment was found downstream.

Later intelligence reports indicate that an American was killed and buried
in the vicinity of Binh Duong, and this report was possibly correlated to
Altizer, but no further information or proof was obtained. Altizer was
listed Killed, Body not Recovered.

PFC Albert Altizer is among nearly 2500 Americans who remain unaccounted for
from the Vietnam war. The cases of some, like Altizer's, seem clear - that
they perished and will never be found. For others, however, answers are not
so easily found. Many were alive the last time they were seen. Some were
known to have been captured. Some remained in radio contact for hours or
even days until their voice disappeared from radio. Others were photographed
in captivity.

Tragically, nearly 10,000 reports have been received relating to missing
Americans in Southeast Asia, convincing many authorities that hundreds of
these men and women are still alive, waiting for the country they proudly
served to secure their freedom.

In our haste to leave an unpopular war, it now appears we abandoned some of
our best men. In our haste to heal the wounds of this same war, will we sign
their death warrants? Or will we do what we can to bring them home?


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01/2020

https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt00000001UFmEAM

CPL ALBERT HAROLD ALTIZER

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On October 8, 1969, fifteen U.S. troops from the 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division were aboard a small boat during a river crossing operation in Binh Duong Province, South Vietnam. When the boat was in the Song Be River in the vicinity of (GC) XT 921 449, the boat capsized and three soldiers were reported missing. Searches were conducted, and a few days later located the bodies of two of these men downstream from the incident, but the third was never recovered. Recovery efforts included diving, dragging operations, aerial reconnaissance, plus repeated searches of the river bank and downstream areas.  The searches continued for four days.

Private First Class Albert Harold Altizer entered the U.S. Army from West Virginia and served in Company D, 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. He was aboard this boat when it capsized and was not one of the two men recovered during the subsequent searches. Following his loss, the Army posthumously promoted PFC Altizer to the rank of Corporal (CPL). Today, Corporal Altizer 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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