Bio, Hunt, Leon A.

HUNT, LEON ANDREW

Remains identified 10/21/94
One of nine men identified as "group remains" three others individually
identified.

Name: Leon Andrew Hunt
Rank/Branch: E4/USAF
Unit: 16th SOS (PAF), Ubon, Thailand
Date of Birth: 07 August 1949
Home City of Record: Pleasure Ridge Park KY
Date of Loss: 18 June 1972
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 161500N 1071200E (YC343978)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: AC130A 550043
Refno: 1879

Other Personnel in Incident: Jacob Mercer; Richard Nyhof; Robert Wilson;
Gerald F. Ayres; Larry J. Newman; Paul F. Gilbert; Stanley Lehrke; Robert
Harrison; Donald H. Klinke; Richard M. Cole; Mark G. Danielson (all 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 2019.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Lockheed's versatile C130 aircraft filled many roles in Vietnam,
including transport, tanker, gunship, drone controller, airborne battlefield
command and control center, weather reconnaissance, electronic
reconnaissance, and search, rescue and recovery.

The AC130, outfitted as a gunship, was the most spectacular of the modified
C130's. These ships pierced the darkness using searchlights, flares, night
observation devices that intensified natural light, and a variety of
electronic sensors such as radar, infared equipment and even low-level
television. On some models, a computer automatically translated sensor data
into instructions for the pilot, who kept his fixed, side-firing guns
trained on target by adjusting the angle of bank as he circled. The crew of
these planes were, therefore, highly trained and capable. They were highly
desirable "captures" for the enemy because of their technical knowledge.

1LT Paul F. Gilbert was the pilot of an AC130A gunship assigned a mission
near the A Shau Valley in the Republic of Vietnam on June 18, 1972. The
crew, totaling 15 men included MAJ Gerald F. Ayres, MAJ Robert H. Harrison,
CAPT Robert A. Wilson, CAPT Mark G. Danielson, TSGT Richard M. Cole Jr.,
SSGT Donald H. Klinke, SSGT Richard E. Nyhof, SSGT Larry J. Newman, SGT Leon
A. Hunt, and SGT Stanley L. "Larry" Lehrke.

During the mission, the aircraft was hit by a surface-to-air missile (SAM)
and went down near the border of Laos and Vietnam. In fact, the first
location coordinates given to the families were indeed Laos, but were
quickly changed to reflect a loss just inside South Vietnam.

Three survivors of the crash were rescued the next day. After several years
of effort, some of the family members of the other crewmembers were able to
review part of their debriefings, which revealed that a bail-out order was
given, and that at least one unexplained parachute was observed, indicating
that at least one other airman may have safely escaped the crippled
aircraft.

In early 1985, resistance forces surfaced information which indicated that
SGT Mercer had survived the crash and was currently held prisoner. Parents
of another crew member, Mark G. Danielson, discovered a photograph of an
unidentified POW printed about 6 months after the crash, in their local
newspaper whom they were CONVINCED was Mark. It was several years, however,
before the U.S. Government allowed the Danielsons to view the film from
which the photo was taken. When they viewed the film, their certainty
diminished.

The hope that some of the twelve missing from the AC130A gunship has not
diminished, however. Since the war ended, over 10,000 reports relating to
Americans missing, prisoner or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia have been
received by the U.S. Government, including over 1,000 first-hand live
sighting reports.

Families who might be able to lay their anguish and uncertainty to rest are
taunted by these reports, wondering if their loved one is still alive,
abandoned and alone. Since a large portion of the information is classified,
it is impossible for the families to come to their own conclusions as to the
accuracy of the reports.

The fate of the twelve missing men from the gunship lost on June 18, 1972 is
unknown. What is certain is that the governments of Southeast Asia possess
far more knowledge than they have admitted to date. A large percentage of
the nearly 2500 missing Americans CAN be accounted for. There can be no
question that if even one American remains alive in captivity today, we have
a moral and legal obligation to do everything possible to bring him home.

SSGT LEON ANDREW HUNT

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Conflict
Service
Status
Date of Accounting

VIETNAM WAR
UNITED STATES AIR FORCE
Accounted For
10/12/1994

On October 12, 1994, the Joint Task Force�Full Accounting (JFA-FA) identified the remains of Staff Sergeant Leon Andrew Hunt, missing from the Vietnam War.

Staff Sergeant Hunt entered the U.S. Air Force from Kentucky and was a member of the 16th Special Operations Squadron. On June 18, 1972, he was a gunner aboard an AC-130A gunship (tail number 55-0043, call sign "Spectre 11") that took off from Ubon Airfield, Thailand, on an armed reconnaissance mission over A Shau Valley, South Vietnam. The aircraft was shot down by an enemy surface-to-air missile near the border of Laos and Vietnam. SSgt Hunt was killed in the incident and his remains could not be recovered at the time. In October 1993, investigators visited the crash site and recovered personal artifacts and human remains. SSgt Hunt was identified among the remains recoverd.

Staff Sergeant Hunt is memorialized on 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.

SSgt LEON ANDREW HUNT

Unit
Historical Country of Loss
South Vietnam
Current Country of Loss
VIETNAM
Home of Record KY