MONGILARDI, PETER JR.
REMAINS RETURNED - Not Noted on USG lists.
Name: Peter Mongilardi, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O5/US Navy
Unit: Attack Squadron 153, USS CORAL SEA
Date of Birth: 01 July 1925
Home City of Record: Haledon NJ
Date of Loss: 25 June 1965
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 195358N 1053557E (WH628002)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A4C
Refno: 0103
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 May 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 2007.
REMARKS: VISRAD CNTC - LST SAR N - FBIS - J
SYNOPSIS: Air Wing 15 deployed to Southeast Asia in November 1964 onboard
the aircraft carrier USS CORAL SEA, participating in FLAMING DART's two
raids in retaliation to North Vietnamese aggression in the Gulf of Tonkin.
One of the attack squadrons in Air Wing 15 was the Blue Tails - Attack
Squadron 153, so named because of the splash of blue on the tails of their
A4 Skyhawks.
CDR Peter Mongilardi Jr. was the skipper of VA 153 until May 1965, at which
time he assumed duties as air wing commander (CAG), and was replaced by CDR
Harry E. Thomas. Before the long cruise was over in December, both
Mongilardi and Thomas were dead.
It was during this period that the North Vietnamese, assisted by the Soviet
Union and Chinese, was beginning to build its military from technology-poor
and ground-oriented military to one with one of the world's strongest and
most sophisticated air defense networks.
As a defense against U.S. air strikes over North Vietnam (ROLLING THUNDER)
North Vietnamese missile sites grew from ground zero in 1965 to estimates
three years later of two hundred surface-to-air (SAM) sites nationwide and
some thirty missile battalions in the Hanoi area alone. Each battalion
contained up to six missile launchers plus accompanying radar, computers and
generators. The U.S. discovered the first SAM site in April 1965, yet U.S.
pilots were forbidden to take immediate defensive action.
The CORAL SEA was in Japan in June 1965 on its way to the U.S. The ordnance
and aircraft had already been offloaded, and Thomas and Mongilardi were on a
last liberty together. While on liberty, they discovered they they were
shipping back to Vietnam.
On the first day back, Mongilardi and his wingman, Paul Reyes, flew on an
armed reconnaissance mission. CDR David Leue and his wingman were briefed at
the same time in case one of the wingmen went down, and, as luck would have
it, Leue's wingman could not transfer his drop tank and was sent back to the
ship. Leue joined up with Pete and his wingman. Leue describes armed "recce"
as "usually two people flying down a route, really target practice for the
local AAA batteries as you come down the pike. I always said if I made it to
admiral I would not have done traditional armed recce. To many people are
lost."
The three pilots were in the area of Thanh Hoa. Leue was flying with
instrument problems, and had no air speed altimeter or pressurization. It
was no problem except for determining the flight altitude. Through some
broken clouds, Leue spotted a power plant below and radioed that he was
rolling in on it. Mongilardi ordered him not to hit the plant because it was
denied under the rules of engagement.
By this time, Leue had pulled away from Mongilardi and his wingman, and he
turned to rejoin them. As he did, Mongilardi radioed, "I'm rolling in on a
little bridge," followed by, "Flak." Leue heard Mongilardi get hit and said,
"He actually keyed the mike, I heard a couple of deep breaths, and I called
Reyes to ask 'Where are you?' Paul said, 'We're by this rain storm and I've
lost CAG [Mongilardi]. I don't know where he is.' Well, he'd been shot and
killed; a real tough loss."
Leue was saddened to lose Mongilardi, whom he described as "a superior air
wing commander, naval officer and warrior." It was less than two months
later, on August 13, 1965, when CDR Harry Thomas was shot down 70 miles west
of Hanoi on a low-level strike mission searching for SAM sites. Thomas'
aircraft flew into a volley of flak, was hit and crashed. Thomas did not
survive. Leue was moved into the position of skipper of the Blue Tails,
carrying with him the sadness of having lost two superior squadron
commanders.
CDR Mongilardi was originally classified Killed in Action, Body Not Recovered.
He was listed among the missing because his remains not found at the time.
===============================
From - Wed Mar 08 07:44:25 2000
Subject: Incorrect Status regarding my fathers remains
My name is Raoul Peter Mongilardi, My Father Cmdr. Peter Mongilardi was shot
down in 1965. Two websites post his status as "body not recovered" which is
aside from invasive to my family, not accurate.
The fact is hsi remains WERE accounted for and returned in 1994 by efforts
inacted by his daughter, my sister, Mrs, Julie Sims and myself. The
websites, www.angelfire.com & www.geocities.com/Bourbon Street where a miss
Cheryl at terr@harenet.net continue to ignore my requests to remove this
inaccuracy.
I have tried to email Cheryl but her email is returned...? It would seem to
me that anyone who cares enough to "adopt a POW/ MIA" would take the time to
research the true status of that person and not simply ignore the wishes of
the surving family members. If you have any means to communicate with these
people I would appreciate the dignity of a response to my family's concerns
in this matter.
Otherwise I will take steps to inform the Dept. Of the Navy that my families
privacy is being invaded.
Sincerely,
Raoul Peter Mongilardi
===========================
New Jersey Record (NJ)
May 19, 2006
Navy seeks DNA to confirm pilot is Haledon man
HALEDON HALEDON In December 1965, a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier named the
Coral Sea embarked from the sunny shores of Alameda, Calif., sailing toward
enemy territory the Bay of Tonkin in Vietnam.
Tall, lanky career flier and Haledon resident Peter Mongilardi Jr. froze for
a photo with a small group of friends under the red steel cables of the
Golden Gate Bridge. As the chief pilot, Cmdr. Mongilardi would soon be
leading the 100 pilots onboard that day in massive airstrikes on Vietnam.
Only one of the men in the photo would make it out alive. It wasn't
Mongilardi. He died when his A-4 Skyhawk jet was shot down during a
bridge-bombing mission on June 25, 1966.
Now, four decades later, the aviator's case still hasn't been closed, and
the U.S. Navy's Casualty Assistance Division calls it a particularly
difficult and intriguing case.
What the division believes to be Mongilardi's skeletal remains were found
in 1994, through the Navy's Honolulu-based Missing In Action investigative
team. Most of the remains were handed over to Mongilardi's wife and his two
children, who performed a burial, according to the Navy office, which did
not release their names.
But the Navy still hasn't conclusively matched the remains to Mongilardi.
The Navy's investigative team found remnants of a one-man jet and much of
the pilot's gear at the crash site west of Thanh Shoa in North Vietnam.
"The weather had had its toll for 40 years, so there's not this proverbial
aircraft wing sticking out of the ground saying, 'I am here,' " said
Alejandro Villalva, a Vietnam historian at the Casualty Assistance Division,
who was assigned Mongilardi's case in 1994.
Yet, the division, located in Millington, Tenn., managed to find an unusual
amount of circumstantial evidence a nylon harness, clothing with
Mongilardi's name on it which led to a positive identification.
But the Navy doesn't consider the case closed until DNA from the remains is
matched with DNA from a relative from Mongilardi's maternal line.
The Navy has been seeking such relatives for a decade. Blood needs to be
drawn from a female related to Mongilardi's mother in order to match the
DNA in the skeletal remains identified as the pilot's. Female relatives are
needed because maternal DNA copies are found more easily in skeletal
remains, said Kenneth Terry, head of the division's Prisoner Of War/Missing
In Action branch.
The Navy recently contacted the Passaic County Historical Society for help,
saying 10 years hasn't netted any new information, said Norman Rutan, a
researcher at the society.
In Haledon, the library has exhibited for several years a glass-case
memorial to Mongilardi, with bullet casings fired at his funeral, said
Judie Erk, library director.
"He was the most gentle, nicest guy you'd ever want to meet," said Bunny
Kuiken, borough historian, who knew Mongilardi. She said his mother died
when he was 7, which is probably complicating the search for the pilot's
maternal relatives.
"We thought the entire world of Pete," said Coral Sea pilot Wendell Rivers,
who's 78 and lives in San Antonio. Rivers was in the photo under the Golden
Gate Bridge.
---------------------------------
January 25, 2007
NAVY AVIATOR MISSING IN ACTION FROM THE VIETNAM WAR IS IDENTIFIED
The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO)
announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in
action from the Vietnam War, have been identified and will be
returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
He is Cmdr. Peter Mongilardi, Jr., U.S. Navy, of Haledon, N.J. He
will be buried on April 11 at Arlington National Cemetery near
Washington D.C.
On June 25, 1965, Mongilardi departed the USS Coral Sea in his A-4C
Skyhawk on an armed reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam. His
flight encountered bad weather and enemy fire over Thanh Hoa
Province, causing the wingman to lose visual and radio contact with
Mongilardi. Contact was never re-established and the aircraft
failed to return to the carrier.
In 1993, a joint U.S.-Socialist Republic of Vietnam (S.R.V.)
archival team, led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC),
obtained information concerning the crash while researching
documents, artifacts and photographs at the Central Army Museum in
Hanoi. Later that year, another joint U.S./S.R.V. team conducted an
investigation in Thanh Hoa Province. The team interviewed two local
Vietnamese citizens who recalled the crash and said the pilot died
in the impact. The men then led the team to the crash site.
In 1994, another joint team excavated the crash site and recovered
human remains and pilot-related items, including a belt tip, boot
heel, pieces of flight boot and other items worn by the pilot.
Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial
evidence, scientists from JPAC and the Armed Forces DNA
Identification Laboratory also used nuclear DNA in the
identification of the remains.
For additional information on 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.
--------------------------------
Date: February 15, 2007 10:42:07 AM EST
Subject: Funeral for CDR Peter Mongilardi, CAG Air Wing 15/USS Coral Sea, SEA
CDR Peter Mongilardi, CAG CVW-15, KIA 25 June 1965, will be interred at Arlington National Cemetery on Wed,
11 April 07, at 1100.
An A-4 driver and light attack pilot, CDR Mongilardi has the distinction of being the first CAG to be lost in VN.
After serving as CO of VA-153, the 'Blue Tail Flies' (aboard the USS CORAL SEA, during her historic 12 month-long
SEA combat cruise of 1964-1965), he was advanced to CAG of CVW-15 in early 1965, prior to being lost in June.
His crash site was discovered in NVN in 1994 by a US team, and soon thereafter was fully excavated. A great deal of
Life Support artifacts were recovered, as well as a very small amount of human remains.
Last year, in early-2006, DNA technology had sufficiently advanced to allow the re-examination of the remains, which
were successful in conclusively identifying them as those of CDR Mongilardi. With this final hurdle cleared, his family
(former spouse, daughter, and son) have decided to inter him at ANC in April.