GRAHAM, GILBERT JAMES

Name: Gilbert James Graham
Rank/Branch: E3/US Navy Reserves
Unit: Commander River Squadron 5, River Sector 51, River Patrol Boat 100
Date of Birth: 24 February 1946 (London, Ontario, Canada)
Home City of Record: Anaheim CA
Date of Loss: 28 September 1967
Country of Loss:  South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 101600N 1060301E (XS150350)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: PBR 100
Refno: 0843

Other Personnel In Incident: Joseph T. Musetti (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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 1998.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Seaman Gilbert Graham and Engineman Petty Officer Second Class
Joseph Musetti were crewmembers aboard River Patrol Boat #100 assigned to
Commander River Squadron 5, River Sector 51. On the afternoon of September
28, 1967, Graham was the forward gunner aboard PBR 100 on a routine patrol
of the Mekong River approximately five miles northeast of Vinh Long, South
Vietnam. Musetti was a boat captain.

The commander of the craft was in the process of investigating watercraft
near the mouth of a canal when it received enemy rocket fire. Three rocket
rounds struck the boat killing Graham and Musetti. The resultant explosion
and fire consumed the boat and made it impossible to remove the bodies. From
the survivors of the incident, it was determined that Graham and Musetti
were killed instantly when the rockets exploded nearby. Both crewmen were
placed in Killed/Body Not Recovered status.

In 1985, a private citizen obtained a lengthy document through the Freedom
of Information Act describing in great detail a POW camp near Hue where many
American prisoners of war were held. Details of the report were confirmed by
returned POWs who were held there. The source was shown photos of missing
men who did not return and identified several - some as "positive", and
others as "possible". On the "possible" list was the name Richard Musetti,
USN. There is no other Musetti missing.

The Department of Defense states that the source is a liar.

The two crewmembers of PBR 100 are listed with honor among the missing
because their remains were never found. Their cases seem fairly clear. For
others who are listed missing, resolution is not as simple. Many were known
to have survived their loss incident. Quite a few were in radio contact with
search teams and describing an advancing enemy. Some were photographed or
recorded in captivity. Others simply vanished without a trace.

Reports continue to mount that we abandoned hundreds of Americans to the
enemy when we left Southeast Asia. While the crewmembers of PBR 100 may not
be among them, one can imagine their proud willingness to cruise one more
mile of river to help bring them home.