LAPHAM, ROBERT GRANTHAN Remains ID announced 10/18/2007 Name: Robert Granthan Lapham Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force Unit: Date of Birth: 18 February 1927 Home City of Record: Marshall MI Date of Loss: 08 February 1968 Country of Loss: South Vietnam Loss Coordinates: 163158N 1064157E Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered Category: 2 Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A1E Refno: 1043 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 2007. Other Personnel In Incident: none missing REMARKS: SYNOPSIS: Maj. Robert Lapham won a Silver Star for one of the most important bombing attacks of the war. Despite heavy enemy ground fire, he successfully broke a heavy siege upon U.S. troops near the demilitarized zone (DMZ). He is believed to have died in the mission when the A1E Skyraider he was piloting apparently was hit and exploded with a half-load of bombs aboard. His plane apparently was hit by machinegun fire that had forced the three other planes he was leading to turn back. Neither Lapham's body nor wreckage of the aircraft was found. The Air Force described the mission as one of "extraordinary achievement". Robert Lapham's wife died five years after he went missing. She never knew for sure whether he died or just disappeared. When the war ended, refugees from the communist-overrun countries of Southeast Asia began to flood the world, bringing with them stories of live GI's still in captivity in their homelands. Since 1975, over 6000 such stories have been received. Many authorities believe that hundreds of Americans are still held in the countries in Southeast Asia. The U.S. Government operates on the "assumption" that one or more men are being held, but that it cannot "prove" that this is the case, allowing action to be taken. Meanwhile, low-level talks between the U.S. and Vietnam proceed, yielding a few sets of remains when it seems politically expedient to return them, but as yet, no living American has returned. Robert's sister, Helen, died in the early 90's, still bravely fighting for information on her brother. In death, with the Lord, she may have found the answers she sought.
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Air Force Pilot Missing From Vietnam War is Identified
The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO)
announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing from
the Vietnam War, have been identified and returned to his family for
burial with full military honors.
He is Maj. Robert G. Lapham, U.S. Air Force, of Marshall, Mich. He
will be buried Friday in Arlington National Cemetery near
Washington, D.C.
On Feb. 8, 1968, Lapham was flying the lead A-1G Skyraider in a
flight of two in Quang Tri Province, Vietnam. The aircraft were
alerted to join an airborne forward air controller to destroy enemy
tanks that had overrun the Lang Vei Special Forces Camp. After
completing one pass on the tanks, Lapham was nearing his target on
the second pass when he crashed. The crew of the other aircraft
involved in the mission reported seeing no parachute.
Between 1993 and 1998, joint U.S./Socialist Republic of Vietnam (S.R.V.)
teams, led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), traveled
to Quang Tri Province two times to investigate the incident and
interview witnesses. One team also surveyed the crash site and
found aircraft wreckage.
In 2003, another joint team investigated the incident and resurveyed
the crash site. The team found more wreckage and pilot-related
evidence, including Lapham's identification tag.
Between 2004 and 2006, JPAC teams traveled to Quang Tri Province
four times to excavate the crash site. The teams recovered
human remains, aircraft wreckage and pilot-related items.
Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial
evidence, scientists from JPAC also used dental comparisons in the
identification of the remains.
For additional information of the Defense Department's mission to
account for missing Americans, visit the DPMO web site at http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo
or call (703) 699-1169.
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