STONEBRAKER, KENNETH ARNOLD

Name: Kenneth Arnold Stonebraker Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force Unit: 11th Tactical Recon Squadron, Udorn Airfield, Thailand Date of Birth: 15 December 1938 Home City of Record: Hobart IN Date of Loss: 28 October 1968 Country of Loss: North Vietnam Loss Coordinates: 172500N 1062700E (XE540261) Status (in 1973): Missing In Action Category: 2 Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: RF4C Refno: 1312

Official Photo

Source: Compiled 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 in 2019.

Other Personnel In Incident: William H. Stroven (missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Capt. William Stroven was the pilot and Capt. Kenneth Stonebraker
the navigator aboard an RF4C Phantom jet assigned a photo-reconnaissance
mission over North Vietnam on October 28, 1968. The aircraft departed its
base at Udorn Airfield, Thailand for its target, which included an
ammunition supply dump near Hanoi.

As the aircraft was over Quang Binh Province, North Vietnam, it was lost
from radar. No trace was ever found of the aircraft of its crew. The last
known location was over 200 miles from the intended target, and about 15
miles west of the city of Dong Hoi.

Stroven and Stonebraker were declared Missing in Action, and public record
reveals very little more about their fates. The U.S. Government determined
that there is a good chance that the Vietnamese know the fate of Stroven,
but are uncertain whether Stonebraker's fate is known.

Nearly 2500 Americans remain missing or otherwise unaccounted for in
Vietnam. Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports concerning Americans
still alive in Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. Government.
Many authorities are completely convinced that hundreds of Americans are now
held captive.

One set of critics say that the U.S. has done little to address the issue of
live POWs, preferring the politically safer issue of remains return. Others
place the blame on the Vietnamese, for using the issue of POW/MIA to their
political advantage. Regardless of blame, no living American has returned
through the efforts of negotiations between the countries, and the reports
continue to pour in. Are Kenneth Stonebraker and William Stroven alive
somewhere in Southeast Asia wondering when their country will bring them
home? Are we doing enough to bring these men home?

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                                                        [censored.94]


The following are QUOTES retyped from a supposed 8 page document (it
includes only 7 pages, numbered for 8). SO much of it is sanitized that
full reproduction is worthless!

                                                        08 DEC 1988
                              (sanitized)
                      Central Intelligence Agency

Memorandum For: Defense Intelligence Agency
                DAM Assisitant Deputy Director for Military Liaison

Attention: Mr. John Keihm

Subject: Socialist Republic of Vietnam Manipulation of the POW/MIA Issue


                                                                         1
1.
  ... that the details of these two case may be of considerable interest
  to DIA and other members of the intelligence community...

2. ...
  Among the photographs were photos of STONEBRAKER an authentic MIA...
  provided.....master list of all MIA remains currently being held by
  the SRV in warehouse storage......



                                                                         2

4....we have obtained hard and possibly exploitable evidence of SRV
official knowledge of POW.MIA remains in their possession....includes
the photograph of Captain Stonebraker's identification card and the
tape recorded statements of XXXX on the SRV master list....

316/06977-88



                                                                         5
(NOTE: not sanitized are deals sought to sell remains and following
info)
On 19 November 1988....provided photographs of personal effects....
....during the war....the self-defense guerrillas had collected and
stored away.....complete... skeletal... remains of six U.S. pilots shot
down in their area.....the photographs were of poor quality and were
largely unusable...Several...were of the military identification card of
Captain Kenneth Arnold Stonebraker, dob 25 December 1938 Social Security
number 316-36-5397. The ID card was issued 4 January 1968. JCRC records
show Captain Stonebraker was MIA in North Vietnam on a reconnaissance
mission in 1968.....


                                                                         7

(1/2 of page sanitized)
....a former U.S. Special Forces Green Beret Lieutenant Colonel named
Armstrong "Lion" Queer and his deputy Major Jack XXXX are living in the
Central Highlands under the protection of 21 montegnard
guards.....wishes to establish contact with the U.S.
Government....unwilling to trust any Vietnamese......

Robert J. Torronics (NOTE: copy poor - spelling NOT CLEAR)
... copy of dog tags sent to us in a letter..... (balance of paragraph
sanitized)

                                                                        8

c) Denry Ball (or Ball Denry)
A U.S. MIA named Denry Ball or Ball Denry was smuggled out of Vietnam in
1986-87 by anti-communist South Vietnamese resistance forces. Ball
travelled initially to Bangkok and then on to the U.S. Ball's home is in
Philidelphia, Pennsylvania, where he is presumably now living......(
rest of page sanitized.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

02/2020

https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt0000000KYdsEAG

• Conflict
• Service
• Status

• VIETNAM WAR
• UNITED STATES AIR FORCE
• Unaccounted For

On the night of October 28, 1968, an RF-4C Phantom II (tail number 65-0846, call sign "Diode") with two men aboard embarked on a single aircraft reconnaissance mission over enemy targets in North Vietnam. The Phantom made radio contact when it was over (GC) 48Q XE 540 261, Quang Binh Province, but was not heard from again. The Phantom failed to return to base and search and rescue efforts were initiated but were unsuccessful. Both members of the crew remain unaccounted for.

Captain Kenneth Arnold Stonebraker, who joined the U.S. Air Force from Indiana, served with the 11th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, 432nd Tactical Reconnaissance Wing. He was the navigator aboard the Phantom when it disappeared, and his remains have not been recovered. After the incident, the Air Force promoted Captain Stonebraker to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel (Lt Col). Today, Lieutenant Colonel Stonebraker 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.

If you are a family member of this serviceman, DPAA can provide you with additional information and analysis of your case. Please contact your casualty office representative.

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Lt Col KENNETH ARNOLD STONEBRAKER

• Unit 11 TRS
• Historical Country of Loss
  North Vietnam
• Current Country of Loss
  VIETNAM
• Home of Record IN