COCHRAN, ISOM CARTER JR.

Name:  Isom Carter Cochran, Jr.
Rank/Branch: E3/US Army
Unit: B Battery, 3rd Btn, 6th Artillery 52nd Artillery Group, 1st Field Force
Date of Birth: 03 April 1947
Home City of Record: Houston TX
Date of Loss: 23 May 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 141246N 1074618E
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel In Incident: none missing
Refno: 1190

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 1998.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS:  Rifleman Cochran was making a river crossing in the Pleiku area
of South Vietnam with two individuals.  He slipped and went under twice and
was last seen 125 meters downriver from the crossing point.  The other
individuals tried to rescue him, but could not due to the bad river
conditions.

Air and ground searches were made for an extended distance down the river
without results.  The following day a ground search was made still further
down the river, but still no trace of Cochran could be found.

Cochran is one of nearly 2500 Americans who remain unaccounted for from the
Vietnam War.  Cochran's case seems clear.  For hundreds of others, however,
it is not possible to draw a clear conclusion.  Scores were alive and well
when last seen.  Some reported their imminent capture by radio to search
teams. Some were photographed as captives and never were released.

Mounting evidence received has convinced many experts that hundreds of
Americans are still alive in jungle camps and prisons of Southeast Asia, yet
the U.S. seems unable or unwilling to do what it takes to bring them home.

PFC Cochran died from misadventure, a cruelly ironic accident.  Those still
alive, as they die, will succumb to calculated abandonment by the country
they proudly served.