BROWN, WAYNE GORDON II

Name: Wayne Gordon Brown II
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 29 April 1943
Home City of Record: Tacoma WA
Date of Loss: 17 July 1972
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 162200N 1071100E (YD351055)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D
REFNO: 1901

Other Personnel In Incident: Pilot was Gordie Tushek, rescued

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 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.
Data corrected 01/22/2000 with information from LtCol Wayne Gordon
Brown, USAFR RET (NY, USAF grad 1965).  2020

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS:

When Wayne finished flight training, he was trained on the F4 Phantom
fighter/bomber and shipped to Vietnam as an Air Force Captain. There, on
July 17, 1972, about 30 miles west southwest of the city of Hue, he
disappeared. He was flying as backseater on an F4D aircraft. As backseater,
Brown would have ejected first; the pilot would eject, according to
procedure a little later. Thus, the two crewmen could be separated by some
distance on the ground.

About 30 miles southwest of Hue was a Viet Cong camp which served as a
processing station and temporary detention center for American prisoners on
their way north to Hanoi. Although it is uncertain whether or not Brown was
captured, this facility may have been his first prison if he was. Certainly,
the U.S. believes that the Vietnamese could tell us what happened to Wayne
Brown.

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The incident is mentioned in Nigel Cawthorne's BAMBOO CAGE on Page 40:

... In late 1972, a Sown of Division 673/377 was killed by an American
airstrike. The next pilot downed in that area was executed by a single
bullet in the head. One of the following was executed: Leonard Robertson,
William Price, Bobby Jones, Dwight Rickman, John Peacock, Ralph Chipman,
Ronald Forrester, Jack Harvey, Francis Townsend, Lee Tigner, Peter Cleary,
Charles Darr, Wayne Brown. (7) The rest were probably killed in an airstrike
or worked to death as slave labour. Leonard Robertson's co-pilot Alan
Kroboth was told by the Viet Cong that Robertson was dead. Kroboth himself
was returned in 1973....

In 1995, a "list" was made available provided by the Secretary of Defense.
Brown was noted as a "Photo" discrepancy case. A portion of the file is
duplicated below.....

                           =====================
                        THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE

                  Washington, The District of Columbia

                                                             11 FEB 1995

Honorable Strom Thurmond
Chairman, Committee on Armed Services
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510

Dear Mr. Chairman:

I am submitting this report in response to the requirements of the
Fiscal Year 1995 National Defense Authorization Act, Public Law 103-337,
Section 1034. In accordance with the legislation, the Department of
Defense is required to submit to Congress "a complete listing by name of
all such personnel about whom it is possible that officials of the
Socialist Republic of Vietnam can produce additional information or
remains that could lead to the maximum possible accounting for these
personnel, as determined on the basis of all information available to
the United States Government."  The legislation levies the same
requirement with regard to the Lao People's Democratic Republic. The
initial 45 day reporting requirement on this action was extended to
February 17, 1995.

         UNACCOUNTED FOR CASES ON LISTS PRESENTED BY UNITED STATES
                   GOVERNMENT ENVOYS TO OFFICIALS OF THE
                       SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM:
                   A complied Listing of Associated Names

                             PHOTO  CASES*

ADAMS, John, SGT, USA                             BISZ, Ralph, LTJG, USN
BROWN, Wayne, CAPT, USAF                    DOVE, Jack, CAPT, USAF
FRYAR, Bruce, LT, USN                              JEFFERSON, James, 1LT, USAF
MAYER, Roderick, LT, USN                        MCCARTY, James, 1LT, USAF
MCELVAIN, James, MAJ, USAF                 MELLOR, Fredric, CAPT, USAF
METOYER, Bryford, 1LT, USA                   MOORE, Herbert, Jr, CAPT, USAF
O'GRADY, John, MAJ, USAF                      OTT, William, CAPT, USAF
OWENS, Fred, SFC, USA                            PEARCE, Dale, CWO1, USA
PEDERSON, Joe, SFC, USA                       POGREBA, Dean, LTCOL, USAF
RAMSAY, Charles, CAPT, USMC              REHE, Richard, PFC, USA
SHAY, Donald, CAPT, USAF                     SQUIRE, Boyd, MAJ, USAF
STRALEY, John, PFC, USA                        SYKES, Derri, PFC, USA
THACKERSON, Walter, PFC, USA

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

Records from the WALL indicate Brown was was a "hostile" casualty, he "died
while missing" in Thua Thien province. Brown was 35 and married at the time
of loss. He was promoted to Major at PFOD hearings.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1/2020   

https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt00000001UfEEAU

 

MAJ WAYNE GORDON BROWN II

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On July 17, 1972, an F-4D Phantom II (tail number 66-8772) with two crew members was the Fast Forward Air Controller (FAC) for three Navy aircraft on a strike mission north of the Ashau Valley in South Vietnam. During the strike, the F-4D assumed the lead position for a bomb attack.  It made multiple passes over the target area, and was apparently hit or damaged on its third pass, setting it on fire. The pilot lost control of the aircraft and both crew members reportedly ejected before it crashed.

Captain (Capt) Wayne Gordon Brown II, who entered the U.S. Air Force from Washington, served with the 497th Tactical Fighter Squadron and was the navigator/bombardier aboard the F-4D at the time of its loss. Although he was initially alive and in contact with the pilot and with rescue forces, he did not survive the incident. Rescue forces were unable to locate or recover his remains, and he is still unaccounted for. After the incident, the Air Force promoted Capt Brown to the rank of Major. Today, Major Brown 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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