HARTZHEIM, JOHN FRANCIS
Remains Identified 03/17/99

Name: John Francis Hartzheim
Rank/Branch: E5/US Navy
Unit: Observation Squadron 67, Nakhon Phanom, Thailand
Date of Birth: 25 November 1945
Home City of Record: Appleton WI
Date of Loss: 27 February 1968
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 170458N 1060758E (XD116889)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: OP2E
Refno: 1062
Other Personnel in Incident: Paul L. Milius (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project October 15, 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: The Lockheed P2 "Neptune" was originally designed for submarine
searching, using magnetic detection gear or acoustic buoys. Besides flying
maritime reconnaissance, the aircraft served as an experimental night attack
craft in the attempt to interdict the movement of enemy truck convoys.
Another model, the OP2E, dropped electronic sensors to detect truck
movements along the supply route through Laos known as the "Ho Chi Minh
Trail."

The Ho Chi Minh Trail was used by the North Vietnamese for transporting
weapons, supplies and troops. Hundreds of American pilots were shot down
trying to stop this communist traffic to South Vietnam. Fortunately, search
and rescue teams in Vietnam were extremely successful and the recovery rate
was high.

Still there were nearly 600 who were not rescued. Many of them went down
along the Ho Chi Minh Trail and the passes through the border mountains
between Laos and Vietnam. Many were alive on the ground and in radio contact
with search and rescue and other planes; some were known to have been
captured. Hanoi's communist allies in Laos, the Pathet Lao, publicly spoke
of American prisoners they held, but when peace agreements were negotiated,
Laos was not included, and not a single American was released that had been
held in Laos.

On February 27, 1968, Navy Capt. Paul L. Milius departed his base at Nakhon
Phanom, Thailand (NKP) in an OP2E Neptune on an armed reconnaissance mission
over Laos. Aboard were eight crew members assigned to Observation Squadron
67, plus Milius, the pilot.

The Neptune had precise navigational equipment and accurate optical
bombsight. Radar was housed in a well on the nose underside of the aircraft,
and radar technicians felt especially vulnerable working in this "glass
bubble" nosed aircraft. It was believed that the aircraft could place the
seismic or acoustic device within a few yards of the desired point, but to
do this, the OP2E had to fly low and level, making it an easy target for the
enemy's anti-aircraft guns that were increasing in number along the Trail.

Milius was over his assigned target in Khammouane Province, Laos, about 15
miles southwest of the Ban Karai Pass, and was delivering ordnance on the
target when the aircraft was struck by suspected anti-aircraft artillery. A
projectile struck the underside of the aircraft and exploded in the radar
well. Petty Officer John F. Hartzheim, an Avionics Technician assigned to
the aircraft, was struck by fragments of the projectile and began bleeding
profusely. The radar well burst into flames, filling the flight deck area of
the aircraft with dense, acrid smoke.

The aircraft commander ordered the crew to bail out. Hartzheim was carried
to the after station by the Tactical Coordinator. Upon arriving in the after
station, Hartzheim stated that he could not go any farther, and collapsed.
Other crew members later stated they believed Hartzheim died at this time,
as his eyes were wide open and rolled to an upwards position and there was
no movement. Milius was at this time still seated at the controls of the
aircraft.

Seven crewmembers safely exited the aircraft, and were subsequently rescued
by Search and Rescue forces. The area of the crashed aircraft was observed,
and it was felt that no identifiable remains would be found. Hartzheim was
not believed to exit the aircraft, and was believed to be dead. He was
listed Killed, Body Not Recovered. It cannot be determined whether the enemy
had knowledge of his ultimate fate.

The pilot, Paul Milius was not rescued. The Bombardier/Third Pilot, who was
rescued, indicated that Milius was sitting at the after-station hatch and
bailed out just prior to his own departure to the aircraft, but SAR efforts
had failed to located and rescue him. Milius was listed Missing in Action.

The Defense Intelligence Agency further expanded Milius' classification to
include an enemy knowledge ranking of 2. Category 2 indicates "suspect
knowledge" and includes personnel who may have been lost in areas or under
conditions that they may reasonably be expected to be known by the enemy.

The family of John Hartzheim has little doubt that he died the day his
aircraft went down. They can take pride in his service, although they have
to grave to visit. For the Milius family, as well as thousands of others,
however, solutions are not so easy. Were it not for the thousands of reports
concerning Americans still held captive in Southeast Asia, these families
might be able to close this tragic chapter of their lives. But as long as
Americans are alive, being held captive, one of them could be Paul Milius.
It's time we brought these men home.

    No. 019-M
MEMORANDUM FOR CORRESPONDENTS   March 17, 1999

The remains of three American servicemen previously unaccounted-for from
Southeast Asia have been identified and are being returned to their families
for burial in the United States.

They are identified as Navy Cmdr. John C. Mape, San Francisco, Calif.; Air
Force Maj. John E. Bailey, Minneapolis, Minn.; and Navy Petty Officer 2nd
Class John F. Hartzheim, Appleton, Wis.

On April 13, 1966, Mape was flying an armed reconnaissance mission over Nghe
Tinh Province North Vietnam when an enemy surface-to air missile struck his
A-1H Skyraider, destroying it.  Other pilots in the flight made a visual
inspection of the crash site and concluded there were no survivors.

In May 1991 a joint U.S./Vietnamese team, led by the Joint Task Force-Full
Accounting, traveled to Nghe Tinh Province and interviewed several local
witnesses who recalled the crash of a U.S. aircraft in April or May 1966.
The witnesses also indicated that the site had been heavily scavenged for
metal in the early 1990s.  The initial visit to the crash site in 1991 and a
subsequent visit in July 1993 provided little material evidence.

In August 1994 a U.S./Vietnamese team learned that a group of men had been
arrested in Dong Nai Province in late 1992 for illegally excavating and
taking remains from the crash site.  Vietnamese authorities confiscated the
remains and turned them over to U.S. anthropologists.

On May 10, 1966, Bailey was leading a combat strike mission over Quang Binh
Province, North Vietnam.  Shortly after expending his ordnance, Bailey's
F-105D Thunderchief was seen to tumble end-over-end into the ground with its
canopy in place. Other members of the flight circled the impact area but
observed no survivor.

In 1990 a joint U.S./Vietnamese team interviewed several local villagers in
Quang Binh Province who provided information including an F-105 aircraft
data plate that appeared to correlate with Bailey's loss.  The team visited
the recorded crash site but saw no indication of wreckage.  A second visit
to that site in 1993 confirmed the absence of evidence there.

In July 1995 another joint team performed a preliminary survey of the crash
site which led to an excavation a month later.  The team located aircraft
fragments, pilot-related personal equipment as well as human remains.

On Feb. 27, 1968, Hartzheim was on board an OP-2E Neptune flying a
reconnaissance mission over Khammouan Province, Laos.  While over the target
area the aircraft was struck by an enemy 37mm antiaircraft round, causing
the radar well and bomb bay to catch fire.  Shrapnel from the explosion
struck Hartzheim.  He collapsed at the rear of the aircraft during
evacuation and was presumed dead.  The crew parachuted out of the aircraft
as it entered a steep climb before crashing.  A subsequent search and rescue
tea m succeeded in rescuing only seven of the nine crew members.

In January 1985 a unilateral turnover from a Laotian source to the Joint
Casualty Resolution Center Liaison Office in Bangkok consisted of several
bone fragments, a compass and a plastic E-and-E (Escape and Evasion) map.
The source indicated that the items were recovered near a 1968 crash site of
an U.S. aircraft in Khammouan Province.

In October and December 1994 joint U.S./Lao teams traveled to the Khammouan
Province to interview several villagers with information about the crash.
While surveying the crash site the team found aircraft wreckage, a fragment
of a possible knife sheath and human remains.  Successive visits in 1995 and
1996 recovered more remains, life support equipment and other crew-related
items.

Anthropological analysis of the remains and other evidence by the U.S. Army
Central Identification Laboratory Hawaii confirmed the identification of
Mape, Bailey and Hartzheim. With the accounting of these three servicemen,
2,069 Americans are listed as unaccounted-for from the Vietnam War.

The U.S. government welcomes and appreciates the cooperation of the
government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Lao People's
Democratic Republic, which resulted in the accounting of these servicemen.
We hope that such cooperation will bring increased results in the future.
Achieving the fullest possible accounting for these Americans is of the
highest national priority.

-END-

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

Three decades after his death, missing soldier put to rest

By Maureen Blaney Flietner
Special to the Journal Sentinel Winneconne --

John Francis Hartzheim got an emotional welcome home Saturday afternoon,
more than 31 years after he died in the Vietnam War.....