MORELAND, WILLIAM DAVID

Name: William David Moreland
Branch/Rank: United States Marine Corps/O3
Unit: VMCJ 1 MAG 11
Date of Birth: 27 July 1941
Home City of Record: MONTEBELLO CA
Date of Loss: 16 January 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 161200 North  1080800 East
Status (in 1973): Presumptive Finding of Death
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: EF10B
Missions:
Other Personnel in Incident: PAUL GEE,  PFOD
Refno: 0988

Source: Compiled by P.O.W. NETWORK from one or more of the following: raw
data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA
families, published sources, interviews and CACCF = Combined Action
Combat Casualty File. 2020

REMARKS:

Was within sight of Da Nang, barely over water. The aircraft was
returning from a mission.

CACCF/CRASH/PILOT/QUANG NAM

No further information available at this time.
 

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01/2020

https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt0000000KZGGEA4

MAJ WILLIAM DAVID MORELAND

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On January 16, 1968, an EF-10B Skyknight (bureau number 125831, call sign "Pigment 662") carrying two crew members was returning to Da Nang Air Base from a combat support mission over North Vietnam. When the aircraft was fifteen miles northwest of the airfield, it disappeared for unknown reasons. The last communication from the crew indicated they were over the coast of South Vietnam and that Da Nang Air Field was within sight. They said they were switching from radar control to tower control, but made no further contact. An extensive search for the missing Skyknight was conducted, but no sign of the crew or the aircraft was ever found. 

Captain William David Moreland, who joined the U.S. Marine Corps from California, served with the Marine Composite Reconnaissance Squadron 1, Marine Air Group 11, 1st Marine Air Wing. He was the pilot of the Skyknight when it disappeared, and his remains were not recovered. After the incident, the Marine Corps promoted Capt Moreland to the rank of Major (Maj). Today, Major Moreland 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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