DINGWALL, JOHN F.

Name: John. F. Dingwall
Rank/Branch: USMC, E7
Unit: VMFA 225 MAG 12
Date of Birth: 28 February 21
Home City of Record: Troy, NY
Date of Loss: 08 July 65
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 152114N 1084630E
Status (in 1973): Missing
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Remarks: SVN/POL SAY PP/KK-SEARCH NEG-J

Other Personnel In Incident: Richard C. Bram (still missing)

Source: Compiled by THE P.O.W. NETWORK 02 February 1993 from the
following published sources - POW/MIA's -- Report of the Select Committee
on POW/MIA Affairs United States Senate -- January 13, 1993. "The Senate
Select Committee staff has prepared case summaries for the priority cases
that the Administration is now investigating. These provide the facts about
each case, describe the circumstances under which the individual was lost,
and detail the information learned since the date of loss.  Information in
the case summaries is limited to information from casualty files, does not
include any judgments by Committee staff, and attempts to relate essential
facts. The Committee acknowledges that POW/MIAs' primary next-of- kin know
their family members' cases in more comprehensive detail than summarized
here and recognizes the limitations that the report format imposes on these
summaries."   2020

On July 8, 1966, Staff Sergeant Bram and Gunnery Sergeant Dingwall
left their unit at Chu Lai Air Base for a hike in the surrounding
countryside.  They were last seen in a local hamlet.

Local South Vietnamese police reported on July 8th that the Viet
Cong had captured and killed two Americans and then buried their
bodies.  This report led to a muster of the unit and the discovery
that Sergeants Bram and Dingwall were missing.  A search of the
area in which they were last seen produced hearsay information that
the two had been captured, but there was conflicting information on
their fate.  They were never seen alive again, and their remains
were never located.

Both individuals were initially declared missing.  In September
1978 they were declared dead/body not recovered.  Returning U.S.
POWs were unable to provide any information on their survival in
captivity, and U.S. investigation teams in Vietnam have been unable
to learn anything further concerning their precise fate.

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01/2020

https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt0000000Ka2rEAC

MGYSGT JOHN FRANCIS DINGWALL

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On July 8, 1965, two Marines departed Chu Lai Airfield, South Vietnam, for a hike. While following the trail to My Tan, the two Marines reached Nui Son Hamlet, where they encountered the Binh Nghia Village police chief. The police chief reportedly advised the Marines against continuing toward My Tan because there were Viet Cong in that area. The Marines were not seen or heard from again after leaving Nui Son, and searches failed to locate any sign of them.

Gunnery Sergeant (GySgt) John Francis Dingwall, who joined the U.S. Marine Corps from New York, was a member of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 225, Marine Air Group 12, 1st Marine Air Wing. He was one of the men who went missing on the hike, and his remains have not been recovered. After the incident, the U.S. Marine Corps promoted GySgt Dingwall to the rank of Master Gunnery Sergeant (MGySgt). Today, Master Gunnery Sergeant Dingwall 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 Non-recoverable.

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