EDGAR, ROBERT J.
Accounted For 08/23/2009
Name: Robert John Edgar
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit: 14th Tactical Recon Squadron, 432 Tactical Recon Wing, 7th Air Force
Date of Birth: 21 May 1943
Home City of Record: Venice, FL
Date of Loss: 05 February 1968
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: N172000 E1055000
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: RF-4C
Other Personnel in Incident: William T. Potter (missing)
Refno: 1036
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project and the P.O.W. NETWORK 27 March
1992 from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency
sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews.
2020
REMARKS:
SYNOPSIS: On February 5, 1968, 1st Lt. William T. Potter and 1st Lt. Robert
J. Edgar were crew members aboard an RF-4C reconnaissance aircraft.
Robert Edgar was the navigator of the RF-4C aircraft which departed Udorn
Airfield, Thailand, on a photo reconnaissance mission over Laos. Upon arrival
in the area, which was under control of the North Vietnamese, the pilot,
William Potter contacted a controller for a specific target assignment. After
being advised on weather and terrain, the pilot notified the controller that
they were under the clouds and had located the target. He advised that he
would position for photos and depart to the North West. While orbiting in the
area, the controller saw an explosion and immediate attempts to contact the
RF-4C brought no response.
The aircraft crashed on Phakap mountain, four kilometers south of Bau Phanup,
and about 2.5 kilometers east of Napank Village, Khammouan Province, Laos.
Search and Rescue forces saw no parachutes nor heard any electronic beacon
signals. Resistance fighters in the area gave reports of investigating the
crash site, only to find the aircraft had burned and the skeletal remains of
the pilot were still inside.
Robert Edgar's missing status was changed at a presumptive finding of death
hearing to Dead/Body Not Recovered.
On May 28, 1987, The Joint Casualty Resolution Center passed on to Mrs.
Edgar, information that was received from a former RLA Sergeant and then
Resistance Fighter refugee who had departed Laos in 1976 that seemingly
confirmed the crash and burn of the RF-4C on the mountain, and the finding of
the pilot's skeletal remains still inside.
What happened to Robert. J. Edgar remains a mystery.
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01/2020
https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt000000tTBILEA4
On May 4, 2009, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC,
now DPAA) identified the remains of Captain Robert John
Edgar, missing from the Vietnam War.
Captain Edgar entered the U.S. Air Force from Florida and
was a member of the 4th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron. On
February 5, 1968, he was the navigator aboard an RF-4C
Phantom II (serial number 66-0443, call sign "Hemp") that
took off from Udorn Airfield, Thailand, on a night armed
reconnaissance mission against enemy targets in Khammouan
Province, Laos. As the aircraft moved to attack its targets,
it crashed for unknown reasons and exploded, killing Capt
Edgar. His remains were not recovered at the time. In 1994,
a joint U.S./Laotian investigative team excavated a crash
site correlating to this loss and recovered human remains,
and in 2009, U.S. analysts using modern forensic technology
identified Capt Edgar from these remains.
Captain Edgar 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.