POSEY, GEORGE RAY

Name: George Ray Posey
Rank/Branch: E3/US Navy
Unit: U.S. Navy Support Activity, Da Nang
Date of Birth: 27 July 1948 (Fairfield IL)
Home City of Record: Anderson IN
Date of Loss: 05 September 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 161026N 1081427E (BT050900)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: YTB 779
Refno: 1271
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 30 June 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 1998.

REMARKS: WASHED OVERBOARD

SYNOPSIS: Engineman/Fireman George R. Posey was assigned to U.S. Naval
Activity at Da Nang, South Vietnam. On September 6, 1968 he was a crewmember
of Yard Tugboat #779, sent to assist a Philippine tugboat which was in
distress in the South China Sea.

As Tugboat 779 was returning to the entrance of Da Nang Harbor, Engineman
Posey was washed overboard by a large wave. The nearest land at the time was
three miles away. The tugboat commenced an immediate search and sighted
Posey in his life jacket alive and riding high in the water.

Due to heavy seas, winds and limited visibility caused by heavy rains, the
crew was unsuccessful in their attempts to recover Posey. The search
continued for two hours, but because of the increasing intensity of the
typhoon and the imminent possibility of more crewmembers being washed
overboard, the search was terminated. The search was again commenced during
the early evening of September 6th and continued until the 9th without ever
finding Posey again.

George R. Posey was initially classified Missing in Action, but his status
was later changed to Determined Dead/Body Not Recovered on October 15, 1968.

Witnesses believe that George Posey drowned. Others who are missing do not
have such clear-cut cases. Some were known captives; some were photographed
as they were led by their guards. Some were in radio contact with search
teams, while others simply disappeared.

Since the war ended, over 250,000 interviews have been conducted with those
who claim to know about Americans still alive in Southeast Asia, and several
million documents have been studied. U.S. Government experts cannot seem to
agree whether Americans are there alive or not. Detractors say it would be
far too politically difficult to bring the men they believe to be alive
home, and the U.S. is content to negotiate for remains.

Well over 1000 first-hand, eye-witness reports of American prisoners still
alive in Southeast Asia have been received by 1990. Most of them are still
classified. If, as the U.S. seems to believe, the men are all dead, why the
secrecy after so many years? If the men are alive, why are they not home?