FRANCISCO, SAN DEWAYNE

Name: San Dewayne Francisco
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 29 February 1944
Home City of Record: Burbank WA
Date of Loss: 25 November 1968
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 172000N 1061200E (XE270185)
Status (in 1973): Prisoner of War
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D

Other Personnel In Incident: Joseph C. Morrison (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 April 1991 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 2018.

REMARKS: VOICE CONTACT ON GROUND

Shown Dead in Crash Site Photos released by the Vietnamese in 11/1992.

SYNOPSIS: 1Lt. San D. Francisco and Maj. Joseph C. Morrison were flying an
F4D aircraft on a combat mission in North Vietnam when it was shot down
November 25, 1968. Both officers safely ejected from the plane and
established radio contact on the ground with recovery forces. Their
parachutes were spotted with 700 meters of a North Vietnamese encampment.

Contact with Francisco was lost within a half hour. Morrison evaded
successfully throughout the night, and re-established radio contact on the
following day. Recovery was prevented, primarily by weather, and voice and
beeper contact was lost. Both Morrison and Francisco were placed in Prisoner
of War Status and expected to be released in 1973 when 591 Americans were
freed from North Vietnamese prisons. However, neither man was released.

A later coordination of records showed that Francisco and Morrison were both
listed as Missing (not Prisoner) by Defense Intelligence Agency and the Air
Force, while JCRC (Thailand) carried both Francisco and Morrison as Prisoner
(not missing). JCRC was ordered to "delete any references pertaining to PW
status" in Francisco's case. No order was issued at that time to change
Morrison's status. The reasons behind the order are unclear.

Over a thousand reports of Americans alive in the hands of the Vietnamese
have been received by the U.S. since the end of the war. Many government
officials state that they believe Americans are currently being held against
their will in Southeast Asia. The question is, who are they, and how will we
bring them home? Are Morrison and Francisco among them?

San D. Francisco was promoted to the rank of Major and Joseph C. Morrison to
the rank of Colonel during the period they were maintained Prisoner of War.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

                                                                [r1329.97]
                                PROJECT X
                        SUMMARY SELECTION RATIONALE

NAMES: FRANCISCO, San D., lLt. USAF

MORRISON, JOSEPH, Maj., USAF

OFFICIAL STATUS: FRANCISCO: MISSING

MORRISON: DEAD, BODY NOT RECOVERED

CASE SUMMARY: SEE ATTACHED

RATIONALE FOR SELECTION: Voice contact was made with lLt Francisco and Maj.
Morrison by the search and rescue aircraft. A Hanoi newspaper article
describes the shooting down of a U.S. aircraft that correlates with this
case by date, location,, and type of aircraft. The article also states that
the pilots of this aircraft were captured. No subsequent reports of death
have been received for either individual.

REFNO: 1329 20 Apr 76

(U) CASE SUMMARY

1. On 25 November 1968 Maj. Joseph Morrison aircraft commander, and lLt San
D. Francisco, pilot, were the crew of an F4D. (#66-7523), on a
reconnaissance-escort mission over North Vietnam. As the reconnaissance
aircraft started his mission in the target area, he heard that his escort
aircraft had been hit. He aborted his mission immediately, but did not see
the escort aircraft crash. He did hear a steady beeper, and then scrambled
search and rescue forces (SAR). The wreckage was located on the side of a
hill at grid coordinates (GC) XE 270 185. When the SAR forces arrived, they
attempted a pickup at (GC) XE 272 186, but were driven off by small arms
fire. Due to adverse weather conditions, the SAR effort was discontinued
for the first day. The next morning a Forward Air Controller (FAC) was on
station but fog in the area hindered his search. As the fog dissipated the
downed pilot's location was confirmed again. However, due to adverse
weather SAR forces were not in the area at that time,, which delayed the
rescue attempt. When the SAR forces did arrive, radio contact was lost and
could not be re-established. The Parachute that had been visible the day
before had disappeared. All efforts to re-establish contact with the crew
failed. (Ref 1)

2. On 26 November 1968, The Peoples Army newspaper carried an article that
congratulated the people of Quang Binh for shooting down an F4 on 25
November 1968, and that the pilots were captured alive (NFI). (Ref 2)

3. (U) In May 1973 JCRC proposed that the US Delegate to the Four-Party
Joint Military Team should suggest this site as a possible operation in
North Vietnam. Hostile threat precluded any other actions to resolve this
case during the existence of JCRC. Details of this case together with
information indicating enemy knowledge of the case were turned over to the
Four-Party Joint Military Team with a request for any information which
would assist in determining status and resolution on 12 December 1973. No
response was forthcoming. 1LT. Francisco is currently carried in the status
of Missing. Maj. Morrison is currently carried in the presumptive status of
Dead, Body Not Recovered.

REFERENCES USED

1. RPT (U), 432 TFW AF Form 484 w/statments, 17 Dec 68.

2. RPT (U), Interpretation of Nhan Dan, 26 Nov 68.

ASSOCIATED INDIVIDUALS

1. San D. Francisco 1329-0-01.

2. Joseph Morrison 1329-0-02

                 * National Alliance of Families Home Page

• Conflict
• Service
• Status

• VIETNAM WAR
• UNITED STATES AIR FORCE
• Unaccounted For

On November 25, 1968, an F-4D Phantom II (tail number 66-7523, call sign "Grommet 02") with two crew members took off with a reconnaissance aircraft on a mission over North Vietnam. While over the target area, the F-4D radioed that it had been hit and crashed soon after. The reconnaissance aircraft aborted the mission immediately but did not see the Phantom crash; however, the reconnaissance aircraft did detect a steady rescue beeper and directed search and rescue aircraft to the area. Search teams located the crash site and made voice contact with the crew but were driven off by small arms fire. Bad weather complicated search efforts in the following days, and by the time searchers arrived on the ground, neither of the Phantom's crew members could be located.  

First Lieutenant San Dewayne Francisco entered the U.S. Air Force from Washington and served in the 555th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 432nd Tactical Reconnaissance Wing. He was the pilot of the Phantom when it was shot down and he remains unaccounted for. Following the incident, the Air Force promoted 1st Lt Francisco to the rank of Major (Maj). Today, Major Francisco 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 Active Pursuit.

If you are a family member of this serviceman, DPAA can provide you with additional information and analysis of your case. Please contact your casualty office representative.

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Maj SAN DEWAYNE FRANCISCO

• Unit 555 TFS 432 TRW
• Historical Country of Loss
  North Vietnam
• Current Country of Loss
  VIETNAM
• Home of Record WA