KELLEY, DANIEL MARTIN

Name: Daniel Martin Kelley
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: Company D, 5th Btn, 7th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division
Date of Birth: 22 June 1947
Home City of Record: Dorchester MA
Date of Loss: 25 April 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 162133N 1070641E
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Refno: 1145

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: Hubia J. Guillory; David L. Scott (missing)

REMARKS: KIA AMBUSH - REM LEFT BEHIND - J

SYNOPSIS:  On April 28, 1968, SP4 Kelley, PFC Guillory and SP4 Scott were on
a search and clear mission in the vicinity of Thua Thien Province, South
Vietnam. They were riflemen in Company D, 5th Battalion, 7th Cavalry, 1st
Cavalry Division.  The unit was ambushed by an enemy force.

Kelley was shot in the neck and died.  Scott was shot in the chest, and
Guillory was shot and then hand grenades were thrown within 3-4 feet of him.
The three were observed for a minimum of two hours, and no signs of life
were detected.

Because of heavy fire, the unit broke into small groups in order to escape
and evade, and had to leave their casualties behind.  A search of the area
was attempted three times, but could not be completed because of hostile
action.

In 1985, a private citizen obtained a lengthy document describing in great
detail a prison camp near Hue, South Vietnam, and identified a number of
Americans he had seen held their by their photographs.  Some of them he
positively identified, and another list he considered "possible".  A number
of the Americans he identified had already been released from Vietnam in
1973. Daniel M. Kelley was one of the names on the "possible" list.

Guillory, Kelley and Scott are listed with honor among the missing because
no remains were recovered.  Despite the possible identification of the
Vietnamese source of Kelley's photo, their cases seem quite clear.  For
others who are listed missing, resolution is not as simple.  Thousands of
reports such as the one received in 1985 have surfaced since the end of the
war, convincing many authorities that hundreds of Americans were left behind
alive.  There can be no "Peace With Honor" as long as our men are held in
enemy hands.


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01/2020

https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt0000000BTLLEA4

SP4 DANIEL MARTIN KELLEY

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On April 25, 1968, several men from Company D of the 5th Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, performed a search and clear mission in Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam. While on this mission, the group was ambushed by an enemy force, and three men from Company D were killed in action. The party was forced to fall back without recovering the remains of their fallen, and heavy enemy presence in the area precluded future attempts to search for them.  

Specialist Four Daniel Martin Kelley, who joined the U.S. Army from Massachusetts, was one of the members of Company D who was lost during the mission. He was killed in action after suffering a neck wound, and his body could not be recovered. Attempts to locate his remains following the end of hostilities were unsuccessful. Today, Specialist Four Kelley 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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