GRAFFE, PAUL LEROY

Name: Paul Leroy Graffe
Rank/Branch: O2/US Army
Unit: 225th Aviation Company, 223rd Aviation Battalion, 17th Aviation Group,
1st Aviation Brigade
Date of Birth: 19 August 1946
Home City of Record: Shelton WA
Date of Loss: 03 October 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 145719N 1075326E (ZB109553)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: OV1C
Refno: 1496

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 2020.

Other Personnel In Incident: Kenneth Cunningham

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: The OV1C Mohawk aircraft was designed as a battlefield
reconnaissance aircraft and was used primarily by the U.S. Army. The various
models were outfitted with different detection equipment. The standard
aircraft was not armed, but some carried various weapons. The C model
featured infared detection equipment and a forward-aimed camera. Because the
North Vietnamese and Viet Cong relied so heavily upon darkness to conceal
their activities, the infared sensor proved especially valuable.

On October 3, 1969, 1Lt. Paul L. Graffe, pilot; and PFC Kenneth L.
Cunningham, observer; departed Phu Hiep, South Vietnam, during the early
evening on a surveillance mission of targets located in the northwest
portion of MR2 (Military Region 2) in the tri-border area of Cambodia, Laos
and South Vietnam.

The aircraft (serial #61-02679) failed to return at the scheduled time. The
last radio contact with Graffe and Cunningham was at 1800 hours when another
OV1 aircraft had been informed by Graffe that they were going to continue
their mission for about 30 more minutes, and then begin the return trip to
Phu Hiep. All further attempts at electronic contact with the missing OV1
were unsuccessful.

On the morning of October 5, search and rescue aircraft located the wreckage
of an aircraft atop a 7,000 foot peak in a mountain range north of the city
of Kontum. This wreckage was positively identified as that of Graffe and
Cunningham. Efforts were made to insert a ground team at the site on October
5 and 6, but inclement weather prevented the team from being inserted. On
neither occasion was either visual or electronic contact made with the
downed crew.

On the morning of October 7, another attempt was made to insert a ground SAR
team. However, the SAR pilots noticed a change in position in the aircraft
wreckage, and the SAR aircraft was receiving continuous beeper signals from
the ground. Since this continuous beeper signal was not compatible with
established emergency radio procedures, the SAR flight leader directed that
the site was probably a trap and withdrew from the area. Both crewmembers
were declared Missing In Action.

Graffe and Cunningham are among nearly 3000 Americans who were missing,
prisoner or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia at the end of the war. Unlike
the MIAs from other wars, most of these men can be accounted for.
Tragically, over 10,000 reports relating to missing Americans in Southeast
Asia have been received by the U.S., convincing many authorities that
hundreds of men are still alive in captivity, yet freedom for them seems
beyond our grasp.

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01/2020

https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt00000001UQYEA2

CPT PAUL LEROY GRAFFE

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On October 3, 1969, an OV-1C Mohawk (tail number 61-02679, call sign "Phantom Hawk 01") with two crew members on board departed Phu Hiep Airfield on an infrared surveillance mission of enemy targets in South Vietnam. During the mission, the Mohawk's pilot informed another aircraft that he was continuing the mission for thirty minutes and would then return to Phu Hiep. The pilot made no further radio contact. When the Mohawk failed to return to base, attempts at electronic contact were made but were unsuccessful. On October 5, a search and rescue aircraft located the missing Mohawk's wreckage on a mountain north of Kontum at grid coordinates ZB 109 553. Inclement weather precluded ground searches at the time. Further recovery efforts were prevented by the threat of enemy forces in the area.

First Lieutenant Paul Leroy Graffe entered the U.S. Army from Washington and was a member of the 225th Aviation Company, 223rd Aviation Battalion, 17th Aviation Group, 1st Aviation Brigade. He was the pilot of the OV-1C when it crashed, and his remains were not recovered. After the incident, the Army promoted First Lieutenant Graffe to the rank of captain. Today, Captain Graffe 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.

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