CAPPELLI, CHARLES EDWARD
Remains Returned December 15, 1988
Identified May 5, 1989
Name: Charles Edward Cappelli
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 14 March 1930
Home City of Record: Providence RI
Date of Loss: 17 November 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 204400N 1051300E (WH230940)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F105D
Refno: 0909
Other Personnel In Incident: (none missing)
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.
REMARKS: GOOD CHUTE
SYNOPSIS: Charles Cappelli was the pilot of an F105D. This aircraft flew
more missions over North Vietnam than any other U.S. plane, but it also took
more losses. On November 17, 1969, Cappelli and his Thunderchief
fighter/bomber were also lost.
Cappelli was flying southwest of Hanoi in Hoi Bihn Province as part of an
expanded Rolling Thunder program when his plane was hit and went down.
Cappelli was observed ejecting and his parachute looked normal. That was the
last anyone knew of Charles Cappelli for the next 21 years.
When the war ended in 1973, 591 Americans were released from North
Vietnamese prisons, but Cappelli was not one of them. In fact, there are
nearly 2500 who remain missing.
There are several reasons why MIAs from the Vietnam war cannot be lumped, as
in prior wars, as unrecoverable. Although evidence suggests we left hundreds
of Americans alive in enemy hands from World War II, we lost many hundreds
of men over vast ocean. Aircraft ejection was vastly improved by the time we
fought in Vietnam. We did not have the rescue expertise in World War II that
we had in Southeast Asia. The Vietnam War, unlike World War II, was fought
over a relatively small area, making rescue and/or recovery much more
possible. Besides, the Vietnamese are so thrifty, that it was not uncommon
for entire villages to troop out to a downed plane and have it taken apart
by sundown and carried to their village. They were under orders to report to
Hanoi any information they obtained, and did. The Vietnamese held very
detailed records of our pilots. Anyone they captured was sent north to the
central government.
Cappelli's family understands that he did not simply disappear. They do not
know if he survived or not, but they know that someone has the answers. They
want to know what happened to him. If he is alive, they want him home.
NOTE: In December 1988, the Vietnamese returned the remains of Charles
Cappelli to U.S. control. These remains were positively identified by May
1989, at which the return was publicly announced. The Vietnamese held these
remains, or held Cappelli for just over 21 years.
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01/2020
https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt000000y1gOtEAI
On May 4, 1989, the Central Identification Lab-Hawaii (CILHI,
now DPAA) identified the remains of Lieutenant Colonel Charles
Edward Cappelli, missing from the Vietnam War.
Lieutenant Colonel Cappelli, who joined the U.S. Air Force from
Rhode Island, served with the 354th Tactical Fighter Squadron.
On November 17, 1967, he piloted an F-105D Thunderchief on a
mission over Hoi Binh Province, North Vietnam. During the
mission, the Thunderchief was shot down. Lieutenant Colonel
Cappelli was last seen bailing out from his aircraft, although
he died after the ejection due to unknown circumstances. Hostile
presence in the area inhibited recovery efforts following the
crash. In 1988, the Vietnamese government repatriated human
remains to the U.S. which were later identified as those of Lt
Col Cappelli.
Lieutenant Colonel Cappelli 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.