CAMPBELL, CLYDE WILLIAM
Name: Clyde William Campbell
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 26 July 1944
Home City of Record: Longview TX
Date of Loss: 01 March 1969
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 195841N 1932838E (UH404095)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A1J
Refno: 1395
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1990 with the assistance
of 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 2009.
REMARKS:
SYNOPSIS: The Douglas A1 Skyraider ("Spad") is a highly maneuverable,
propeller-driven aircraft designed as a multipurpose attack bomber or
utility aircraft. The H and J models were single seat aircraft, whereas the
E model generally carried two crewmen. The A1 was first used by the Air
Force in its Tactical Air Command to equip the first Air Commando Group
engaged in counterinsurgency operations in South Vietnam, and later used the
aircraft as escort for rescue units.
The general procedure for a rescue escort entailed two A1 aircraft flying
directly to the search area to look for sign of the downed cewmen while two
other A1s escorted the rescue helicopter to the area. If it was necessary,
the A1s would attack enemy in the area with bombs, rockets and cannon fire
so that the helicopter could land.
1Lt. Clyde W. Campbell was the pilot of a J-model Spad on an operational
mission over Laos on March 1, 1969. His precise role on that day is unclear.
The mission took him in northern Xiangkhoang Province near the city of Na
Khang. This area was in Military Region II and on the northern edge of the
Plain of Jars region.
FAC (Forward Air Control) in Laos was conducted by RAVENS, who were
volunteers clandestinely stationed in Laos to support anti-communist efforts
in that country. These unconventional pilots were among the best the Air
Force had to offer, and saw more combat flying during a tour than any other
single group. FACs had to be intimately familiar with the terrain and
populous of their regions, and have an excellent handle on enemy activity as
well.
Na Khang was the location of Lima Site 36. North Vietnamese forces had been
building towards an attack on Lima Site 85 (some 150 miles to the north) for
several weeks. Lima 85 was the northernmost site and was the base for radar
and radio equipment used to direct air traffic over North Vietnam. Lima 36,
the next base south, was used at this time for a staging area. Indigenous
troops were flown out of this site and aircraft could refuel here.
Lima 85 was overrun and taken later on March 18, 1969. Following the fall of
"the Rock", Lima Site 36 was taken. Enemy activity in Military Region II was
greatly increased during this time period, and U.S. aircraft were brought in
from neighboring Thailand in great numbers.
At a point about 10 miles west of Na Khang, Campbell's aircraft was shot
down. Others in the area reported that Campbell was dead, and the Air Force
listed him Killed in Action, Body Not Recovered.
Campbell is one of nearly 600 Americans who were lost in Laos. Campbell's
case seems clear--he was killed, and his body may never be recovered for
burial in his homeland. Others, however, have more complex cases. Because
the war in Laos was secret, the fates of Americans lost there are difficult
to determine. Many who were known to have been alive when last seen simply
disappeared. A handful who were confirmed prisoners were never returned,
although reports continue to be received on some of them to this day.
The Pathet Lao stated publicly during the war that they held "tens of tens"
of American prisoners, yet the U.S. did not negotiate for their freedom in
the peace agreements that ended U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia. There
has been no treaty to date that would bring these men to freedom.
Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing in
Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. Government. Many authorities
have reluctantly concluded that there are hundreds of them who remain alive
today, held captive by a long-ago enemy.
While Clyde W. Campbell may not be among those thought to be still alive, it
is clear that we owe these men our very best efforts to bring them home.
What must they be thinking of the country they proudly served?
| http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2009/aug/30/looking-for-closure/
Air Force sergeant helps dig for remains of American pilot who crashed in Laos in 1969 By Schuyler Kropf The Post and Courier Sunday, August 30, 2009 Department of Defense/Provided Master Sgt. Wesley Housel sifts through dirt while conducting a recovery mission in Houaphan Province in what is today the Lao People's Democratic Republic. Housel was a digger assigned to a 10-member recovery team on a 36-day deployment in an attempt to recover the remains of an American pilot lost during the Vietnam War. Deep in the jungles of Laos, Summerville resident Wesley Housel marveled at what was still left -- and what had disappeared -- from the wreckage of an American attack plane that crashed in 1969. Most of the twisted metal had been picked over, hauled away by the locals who would bend it into tools and other useful items. But 40 years later, the smell of fuel "was still in the ground," Housel recalled. The stink remained "pretty thick." Decades after the Vietnam War ended, Housel, a master sergeant at the Charleston Air Force Base, got the assignment of a lifetime this summer when he volunteered to help sift through the crash site of an American plane that was lost in combat over Houaphan Province. He'd never been involved in a fallen recovery mission, but jumped at the chance, spending weeks on the ground trying to bring an American family a sense of closure. "They have the most rewarding job in the world," Housel said of the men and women who work these searches full-time. "Their job eases hearts and minds." The trip was part of the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), a Hawaii-based group tasked with identifying American war dead from sites all over the globe. In addition to Southeast Asia, teams have worked recently in the Pacific, Germany and Hungary. Housel's contribution was special. As an Air Force veteran with more than two decades of service, he is well-acquainted with the type of garb and equipment that an American flyer would have worn or carried at the time, some of which is still around the Charleston base today. His eyes and fingers would be useful sifting through the dirt for something man-made or American-issue. In the Air Force "we love to keep old stuff," Housel said, adding that it "shows where we've been and where we are headed to." Housel was part of one of four recovery teams that worked throughout the Lao People's Democratic Republic from June 25 through July 28. The remains of at least six missing U.S. servicemen from the Vietnam War were the subject of the 34-day mission. His assignment was to help search for a lieutenant who had taken off from a base in Thailand in a propeller-driven "Skyraider" that could fly heavily laden with wing and belly weapons. On March 1, 1969, the aircraft -- one of two on the mission -- had gone in on a target in close ground support. All went well until witnesses reported seeing ground-fire. "It dropped its bombs and then followed them right into the ground," one report said. No parachute was seen exiting the plane. After the war, officials visited the site in 1994 and 1998, finding a knife blade, a .38 revolver, part of a boot and bits of the aircraft. The pilot's identity is known to the military but it won't be publicized unless a positive ID is ever made. During the mission this summer, Housel said one of the worst problems to overcome was the terrain. He described the crash site as steep, while monsoon rains and heat often made conditions slippery and unbearable. The province, in northeast Laos, is famous for its limestone mountains and caverns, with over 100 caves in the area, according to the country's tourism board Website. The food also wasn't so great, Housel said, and he stuck mostly with steak and fries. "Charleston felt like an air conditioner compared to the humidity there," he added. In addition to members of the local populations who were hired to help with the work, the crash site took on every feature of a an archaeological dig, with dirt and other items run through a screening and sifting process. Housel declined to say what was found, but a spokesman for the search headquarters said potential bone fragments were recovered that will be analyzed to see if they are human or animal. "In a perfect world that will turn into an identification in time," said Lt. Col. Wayne Perry of JPAC. "We don't know when. It could be a month, it could be a year." Housel said he'd go back again, in a heartbeat, given the sensitive nature of the work. "We are trying to find evidence so that everyone can be accounted for." Reach Schuyler Kropf at 937-5551, or skropf@postandcourier.com.
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