GREEN, FRANK CLIFFORD JR.

• Accounted For 01/20/2011

Name: Frank Clifford Green, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O5/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 212, USS HANCOCK (CVA 19)
Date of Birth: 05 June 1935
Home City of Record: Waskom TX
Date of Loss: 10 July 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 201100N 1055700E (WH871207)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A4F
Refno: 1895
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 30 April 1990 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 2020.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: The USS HANCOCK first saw action in Vietnam when aircraft from her
decks flew strikes against enemy vessels in Saigon Harbor in late 1944. The
Essex class carrier, extensively modernized, returned to Vietnam during the
early years of the Vietnam war. The attack carriers USS CORAL SEA, USS
HANCOCK and USS RANGER formed Task Force 77, the carrier striking force of
the U.S. Seventh Fleet in the Western Pacific. The HANCOCK was the smallest
type of flattop to operate in the Vietnam theater, but pilots from her
fighter and attack squadrons distinguished themselves throughout the
duration of the war. On June 12, 1966, Commander Hal Marr, the CO of VF-211
gained the first F8 Russian MiG kill.

Commander Frank C. Green was a pilot assigned to Attack Squadron 212 onboard
the USS HANCOCK. On July 10, 1972, CDR Green was launched in his A4F Skyhawk
aircraft to lead a night armed reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam.

Green and his wingman had completed the armed reconnaissance of an assigned
road segment and proceeded on their secondary mission to locate and destroy
any targets of opportunity they might find. They sighted vehicle lights some
distance south of their position and flew in that direction in order to make
an unlighted bomb attack. Shortly after the attack, the wingman observed a
small flash in the general target area immediately followed by a large, fuel
type, secondary explosion on the ground. Not hearing an acknowledgement that
CDR Green was off the target or a reply to his comments about the explosion,
the wingman suspected that the explosion might be CDR Green's aircraft.

Search and rescue efforts were initiated immediately, but attempts made to
contact CDR Green met with negative results. The crash site was located, and
shortly after, the crash site had been camouflaged. It was believed that
Green would not have camouflaged the site before he could be rescued. Since
it was not known if CDR Green was killed in the crash of his aircraft or
survived to be captured, Green was placed in a casualty status of Missing in
Action. Since the area in which he crashed (about 5 miles southwest of the
city of Ninh Binh in Ninh Binh Province) was near a heavily populated area,
there is every reason to believe the North Vietnamese could tell us what
happened to CDR Frank C. Green.

When 591 Americans were released from POW camps at the end of the war, CDR
Green was not among them. Military officials were startled that "hundreds"
suspected to be prisoner or expected to be released, were not freed. Since
that time, nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing, prisoner or
unaccounted for in Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. Government.
Many officials, having reviewed this largely classified information, believe
that there are hundreds of Americans still alive in captivity today.

Whether CDR Frank C. Green, Jr. survived to be captured is not known. If he
is among those believed to still be alive is uncertain. What is certain,
however, is that the United States has a legal and moral obligation to the
men she sent to war in her name. If there is even one American held alive
against his will, we must do everything in our power to bring him home.

============================

Shared  08/08/01 by Stacey Jones

Dear Ms. Dietch:

Thank you for your September 13 inquiry to Assistant Secretary Veroneau on
behalf of Senator Harkin's constituent, Ms. Stacey Jones. She is seeking
information on Navy Commander Frank C. Green, Jr., who is unaccounted for
from the Vietnam War. As the Department of Defence (DoD) agency responsible
for accounting for missing Americans from our nation's wars, we are pleased
to provide you the following information.

Commander Green was lost July 10, 1972, when his A-4 aircraft crashed during
a night armed reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam. His wingman
reported that Commander Green crashed while making a bombing run on the
target. After the crash, the wingman began a search under flare illumination
and identified the crash site. A search and rescue effort was initiated but
no emergency signals were heard and no voice contact was ever established
with Commander Green. Returning American POWs did not report ever seeing him
in the North Vietnamese prison system or in the jungle prisons in Laos and
South Vietnam.

Since 1993, DoD investigators have conducted seven investigations in Vietnam
in an effort to account fro Commander Green. Although his crash site has
been located, he remains unaccounted for at this writing. In accordance with
50 USC Sec. 435 Note (Public Law 102-190, commonly referred to as the McCain
Bill) we are unable to provide Ms. Jones with more information regarding
Commander Green because his family has not consented to the release of
information regarding his loss.

Ms. Jones makes reference to a claim that a search and rescue team found
that his aircraft crash site had been camouflaged. We have reviewed all of
our agency's material on Commander Green's loss and are unable to find any
information to support a belief that his crash site was camouflaged.

In recent years, US teams have visited the crash site which is at the top of
a 720-foot karst comprised mainly of large, unstable boulders and deep
crevasses. The slope of the mountain runs 80 - 90 degrees and our teams had
to use ropes and harnesses to get to the site. This fact further belies the
claim that anyone could have camouflaged the crash site immediately foll0wing
the loss.

Commander Green has not been forgotten. President Clinton, like President
Reagen and Bush, has affirmed the POW/MIA issue to be a matter of the
highest national priority. At present, the DoD has more than 500 people in
Washington, Hawaii, Southeast Asia, and Russia who work full time to
determine the fates of our unaccounted for Americans. DoD is diligently
pursuing accounting for our missing personnel in Southeast Asia. Since 1988,
American teams have completed more than 2,000 investigations in Vietnam,
Laos, and Cambodia in an attempt to account for Americans lost during the
war. These efforts have resulted in the recovery, identification, and return
of 590 missing Americans for interment with full military honors. At this
writing, 1,993 remain unaccounted for from the war in Southeast Asia.

I hope this information is helpful. We who are privileged to be involved in
this important humanitarian issue gratefully acknowledge and appreciate
Senator Harkin's support for our efforts. If we can be of further assistance,
please contact us.

Sincerely,

[signed] Charles W. Henley

Charles W. Henley

Special Assistant for Legislative Affairs
Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office

               cc: Navy casualty office

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

01/2020

https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt000000uar36EAA

• Conflict
• Service
• Status
• Date of Accounting

• VIETNAM WAR
• UNITED STATES NAVY
• Accounted For
• 01/20/2011

On June 20, 2011, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC, now DPAA) identified the remains of Commander Frank Clifford Green Jr., missing from the Vietnam War.

Commander Green joined the U.S. Navy from Texas and was a member of Attack Squadron 212. On July 10, 1972, he piloted an A-4F Skyhawk on a night armed reconnaissance mission over Highway 1A in Vietnam. Commander Green's Skyhawk went down while attacking enemy vehicles during the mission, and he was killed in the crash. Immediate search and rescue efforts failed to locate him. In 2008, a joint U.S. and Vietnamese investigative team recovered remains from the Skyhawk's crash site that were later identified as those of CDR Green.

Commander Green 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.

 

CDR FRANK CLIFFORD GREEN Jr.

• Unit
• Historical Country of Loss
  North Vietnam
• Current Country of Loss
  VIETNAM
• Home of Record TX