STROVEN, WILLIAM HARRY

Name: William Harry Stroven
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 11th Tactical Recon Squadron, Udorn Airfield, Thailand
Date of Birth: 15 July 1942
Home City of Record: Fremont MI
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

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 2020.

Other Personnel In Incident: Kenneth A. Stonebraker (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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02/2020

https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt0000000KYdnEAG

CAPT WILLIAM HARRY STROVEN

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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 William Harry Stroven, who joined the U.S. Air Force from Michigan, served with the 11th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, 432nd Tactical Reconnaissance Wing. He was the aircraft commander of the Phantom when it disappeared, and his remains have not been recovered. Today, Captain Stroven 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.

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