Bio, McCormick, Michael T.

McCORMICK, MICHAEL TIMOTHY

Remains recovered, 1993
Buried 01/09/2004 Arlington National Cemetery.

Name: Michael Timothy McCormick
Rank/Branch: O3/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 115, USS MIDWAY
Date of Birth: 08 July 1946
Home City of Record: Honolulu HI
Date of Loss: 10 January 1973
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 185948N 1051836E (WG327003)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A6A
Other Personnel in Incident: Robert A. Clark (missing)
Refno: 1979

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project with the assistance of one or more
of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews: 01
January 1990. Updated by the P.O.W. NETWORK 2004 with information proved by
Dave Anderson. 2020

SYNOPSIS: Lt. Michael T. McCormick was a pilot and Lt.JG Robert A. Clark a
bombardier/navigator assigned to Attack Squadron 115 onboard the aircraft
carrier USS MIDWAY (CVA-41). On January 10, 1973, 17 days before an
agreement was signed in Paris ending American involvement in the war in
Southeast Asia, McCormick and Clark launched in their A6A "Intruder" attack
aircraft. Together with another A6 aircraft, they were to provide support
for B52 air strikes, and had three targets assigned to them over North
Vietnam.

The weather that day was overcast with a 1500 foot cloud cover. There was
intense surface-to-air (SAM) missile activity in their target area, and an
estimated total of 15 missiles were fired - three at the USS Midway aircraft
and 12 at the B52s. The crew of another aircraft reported that he did not
think the missiles were aimed at him. The boosters of the missiles were
diffused by the overcast, which proved to be very distracting. On egress the
crewman noted additional SAM boosters along with the glow from the B52 bomb
strikes. He coasted out over the coast and planned to orbit there until
McCormick and Clark crossed the coastline to join him.

When McCormick and Clark did not arrive, and there was no radio contact, the
wingman retraced his route at an altitude of 15,000 feet while making
numerous radio calls. No fires were seen and no enemy reaction was noted.
Other aircraft crewmembers thought they heard a 3-4 second transmission that
sounded like an ECM (emergency transmission), but Search and Rescue (SAR)
missions were flown in the area with no contact and no crash location or
wreckage found.

McCormick and Clark were last known to be over Nghe An Province, about 20
miles west of the city of Phu Dien Chau. Both men were placed in Missing in
Action status. Other than the brief radio signal, no sign of either man was
ever found.

Because of the circumstances surrounding the downing of this aircraft, and
the fact that the area was heavily defended, the U.S. believes there is good
reason to suspect that the Vietnamese know the fates of McCormick and Clark.
The Vietnamese, however, deny any knowledge of them.

Mounting evidence indicates that Americans are being held prisoner in
Southeast Asia today. As long as even one American remains alive, held
unjustly and against his will, we owe him our best effort to bring him home.
McCormick and Clark could be among those thought to be alive. What must they
be thinking of their country?

I was a veteran of the air war over North Viet Nam and took an interest in
the POW NET biographies page of your site.

I was acquainted with a number of officers at Naval Air Station Whidbey
Island who manned the A-6A squadrons deployed on Pacific Fleet carriers. I
deployed with Attack Squadron ONE FOUR FIVE (VA-145) on the USS RANGER just
prior to the start of LINEBACKER II. I knew, for a time, several men on
the POW/MIA list; Fred Holmes, Harry Mossman, Rod Lester, and Bob Randall.
I lived across the street from Robert (Al) Clark who was lost just weeks
before the cease fire. He left behind a son that he never saw. It is
known by many in Naval Aviation that Al had a distant connection with the
basis for the opening scene in the movie, "Flight of the Intruder." Al's
pilot on the night they were shot down was Mike McCormick. Several months
before being lost, Mike had flown a mission with LCDR Ray Donnelly. Ray
died from a round from a large automatic weapon that struck the cockpit and
hit him. Mike brought him back to the USS MIDWAY for what must have been
the hardest night landing in Naval Aviation history.

Servicemen missing from Vietnam War identified
WASHINGTON - Two servicemen missing in action from the Vietnam War have
been identified and returned to their families for burial.

They are Lt. j.g. Robert A. Clark of North Hollywood, Calif., and another
officer whose name will not be released at the request of his family.....

LT MICHAEL TIMOTHY MCCORMICK

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Conflict
Service
Status
Date of Accounting

VIETNAM WAR
UNITED STATES NAVY
Accounted For
05/21/2003

On May 21, 2003, Joint Task Force–Full Accounting (JTF-FA, now DPAA) identified the remains of Lieutenant Michael Timothy McCormick, missing from the Vietnam War.

Lieutenant McCormick entered the U.S. Navy from Hawaii and served with Attack Squadron 115, Carrier Air Wing 5. On January 10, 1973, he piloted an A-6A Intruder (bureau number 155693) that launched from the USS Midway (CVA-41) on a surface-to-air missile (SAM) suppression mission over North Vietnam. While approaching the target area just west of Phu Dien Chau in Nghe An Province, the aircraft was hit by enemy SAM fire and crashed, and LT McCormick was killed in the incident. Aerial search efforts failed to locate the crash site, and his body was not recovered at the time. In 1993, the Vietnamese government repatriated human remains that U.S. analysts identified as those of LT McCormick.

Lieutenant McCormick is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

If you are a family member of this serviceman, you may contact your casualty office representative to learn more about your service member.

LT MICHAEL TIMOTHY MCCORMICK

Unit
Country of Loss
VIETNAM
Home of Record HI