POLSTER, HARMON
Name: Harmon Polster
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit: 389th Tactical Fighter Squadron
Date of Birth: 14 November 1943
Home City of Record: Cleveland OH
Date of Loss: 15 July 1969
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 152500N 1072100E (YC633018)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D
Refno: 1467
Other Personnel in Incident: Michael S. Walker (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 2020.
REMARKS:
SYNOPSIS: The Phantom, used by Air Force, Marine and Navy air wings, served
a multitude of functions including fighter-bomber and interceptor, photo and
electronic surveillance. The two man aircraft was extremely fast (Mach 2),
and had a long range (900 - 2300 miles, depending on stores and mission
type). The F4 was also extremely maneuverable and handled well at low and
high altitudes. Most pilots considered it one of the "hottest" planes
around.
1Lt. Harmon Polster was a pilot and Capt. Michael S. Walker the
bombardier/navigator of an F4E attached to the 389th Tactical Fighter
Squadron at Phu Cat Airbase in South Vietnam. On July 15, 1969, the two were
assigned a night operational mission which took them over Chavane Province,
Laos.
When the aircraft was about 15 miles northeast of the city of Chavane,
Polster failed to make contact with his wingman after making the first pass
over the target. A fire on the ground was observed and presumed to be
Polster's aircraft. No voice contact was received and no parachutes had been
seen. There was the chance the two ejected unseen, and they were classified
Missing in Action.
Nearly 600 Americans were lost in Laos during the Vietnam war. Although the
numbers actually termed "prisoner of war" are quite low, this can be
explained by the blanket of security surrounding the "secret war" the U.S.
waged in Laos. To protect the ruse that we "were not in Laos," details of
many loss incidents were "rearranged" to show a loss or casualty in South
Vietnam. Only a handful of publicly-exposed cases were ever acknowledged
POW, even though scores of pilots and ground personnel were known to have
been alive and well at last contact, thus increasing the chance they were
captured alive.
The Lao communist faction, the Pathet Lao, stated on several occasions that
they held "tens of tens" of American prisoners, but the Pathet Lao were not
included in the Paris Peace agreements ending American involvement in the
war. As a consequence, no American POWs held in Laos were negotiated for.
Not one American held in Laos has ever been released. They were abandoned to
the enemy.
Reports continue to be received that Americans are alive today, being held
captive. Whether Walker and Polster are among them is not known. What is
certain, however, is that they deserve than the abandonment they received by
the country they proudly served.
Harmon Polster was promoted to the rank of Captain during the period he was
maintained missing.
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02/2020
https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt000000oyVELEA2
On April 17, 2009, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC,
now DPAA) identified the remains of Captain Harmon Polster,
missing from the Vietnam War.
Captain Polster entered the U.S. Air Force from Ohio and was a
member of the 389th Tactical Fighter Squadron. On July 15, 1969,
he piloted an F-4D Phantom (tail number 66-7603, call sign
"Cobra 61") that took off from Phu Cat Air Base, South Vietnam,
on a two-plane strike mission against enemy targets in Laos. As
the Phantom made its pass on the target, it burst into flames
for unknown reasons, skipped off a mountaintop, and crashed near
Ban Lak Dan, Dakchung District, Attapu Province, Laos, killing
Capt Polster. His remains could not be recovered at the time of
his loss. Between 1993 and 2008, joint U.S./Laotian
investigations located the crash site and recovered human
remains and related material evidence; modern forensic
techniques were eventually able to identify Capt Polster among
the remains recovered.
Captain Polster is memorialized in 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.