LEONARD, MARVIN MAURICE

Name: Marvin Maurice Leonard
Rank/Branch: W2/US Army
Unit: 159th Aviation Battalion, 101st Airborne Division
Date of Birth: 01 February 1936 (Detroit MI)
Home City of Record: Grand Rapids MI
Date of Loss: 15 February 1971
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 163836N 1062558E (XD528405)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: CH47C
Refno: 1703

Other Personnel In Incident: Donald E. Crone; Barry F. Fivelson; John L.
Powers; Willis C. Crear; James H. Taylor (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 September 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 2002.

REMARKS: EXPLODE - NO SURV OBS AIR - J

SYNOPSIS: Lam Son 719 was a large-scale offensive against enemy
communications lines which was conducted in that part of Laos adjacent to
the two northern provinces of South Vietnam. The South Vietnamese would
provide and command ground forces, while U.S. forces would furnish airlift
and supporting fire.

Phase I, renamed Operation Dewey Canyon II, involved an armored attack by
the U.S. from Vandegrift base camp toward Khe Sanh, while the ARVN moved
into position for the attack across the Laotian border. Phase II began with
an ARVN helicopter assault and armored brigade thrust along Route 9 into
Laos. ARVN ground troops were transported by American helicopters, while
U.S. Air Force provided cover strikes around the landing zones.

On February 15, 1971, during one of these maneuvers, a CH47 helicopter was
assigned the task of ferrying a load of gasoline into Savannakhet Province,
Laos. The crew of the aircraft consisted of SP4 Donald E. Crone, crew chief;
CWO Marvin M. Leonard, pilot; SP4 Willis C. Crear, door gunner; SP4 John L.
Powers, flight engineer; 2Lt. James H. Taylor, aircraft commander. WO Barry
F. Fivelson was a passenger onboard the aircraft.

During the mission, the aircraft was hit by enemy fire and began to lose
altitude. During the descent, the sling load apparently exploded, causing
the helicopter to explode, break into pieces, and crash. Observers later
said that the helicopter seemed disoriented and that it had overflown the
nearest friendly location by several miles and had descended in enemy-held
territory about 10 miles southeast of Sepone.

According to the U.S. Army, air searches conducted within minutes of the
crash revealed no sign of survivors. However, according to information given
to family members, the aerial search failed to find evidence of a crash. A
ground search was not possible because of hostile threat in the area. (Note
also that Defense Department data remarks indicates that a crash site was
found and that no survivors were observed from the air.)

The men aboard the CH47 were all classified Killed/Body Not Recovered. The
families maintain there is still a mystery surrounding the crash of the
aircraft, and they would like to know the whole truth.

Proof of the deaths of Powers, Fivelson, Taylor, Crear, Crone and Leonard
was never found. No remains came home; none was released from prison camp.
They were not blown up, nor did they sink to the bottom of the ocean.
Someone knows what happened to them.

The personnel aboard the CH47 are among nearly 600 Americans lost in Laos.
The communist Lao stated on several occasions that they held American
prisoners, but as the U.S. did not recognize the Pathet Lao as a legitimate
government, we never negotiated with them for their release. Consequently,
not one man held in Laos was ever released.

Were it not for thousands of reports relating to Americans still held
captive in Southeast Asia today, the families of the CH47 helicopter crew
might be able to believe their men died with their aircraft. But until proof
exists that they died, or they are brought home alive, they will wonder and
wait.

How long must they wait before we bring our men home?

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

Vietnam War chopper crash victims remembered; Michigan pilot's body missing

Saturday, March 2, 2002

By Mike Magner
Washington Bureau

ARLINGTON, Va. -- Back in 1970, the year before he became a casualty of the
Vietnam War, Marvin M. Leonard took his Michigan family to Arlington
National Cemetery to walk among the graves of America's heroes.....

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

The Grand Rapids Press
Friday, March 1, 2002

Lost pilot gets Arlington honors ; The Kentwood man was killed when his
helicopter was downed over Laos in 1971.

Ted Roelofs / The Grand Rapids Press

The final flight of Marvin Leonard is not yet home, but his family hopes for
one small measure of peace today at Arlington National Cemetery......