SULLIVAN, JOHN BERNARD III Remains Returned 13 September 1990 Name: John Bernard Sullivan III Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force Unit: Date of Birth: 28 June 1940 Home City of Record: Pittsburgh PA Date of Loss: 21 June 1966 Country of Loss: North Vietnam Loss Coordinates: 212000N 1061300E (XJ278648) Status (in 1973): Missing in Action Category: 2 Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F105D Refno: 0367 Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing) Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 April 1991 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: SYNOPSIS: The F105 Thunderchief (or "Thud") performed yoeman service on many diversified missions in Southeast Asia. F105s flew more combat missions over North Vietnam than any other USAF aircraft and consequently suffered the heaviest losses in action. 1Lt. John B. Sullivan was the pilot of an F105D sent on a combat mission over North Vietnam on June 21, 1966. About 5 miles southwest of Kep in Ha Bac Province, Sullivan's aircraft was shot down, and he was declared Missing in Action. The U.S. believed the Vietnamese could probably account for Sullivan. No further word was heard, and the Vietnamese consistently denied any knowledge of Sullivan or his fate, until 1990. On September 13, 1990, the Vietnamese "discovered" and returned the remains of John B. Sullivan. Thousands of reports have been received indicating that some hundreds of the roughly 2500 missing may still be alive in captivity. As in the case of Sullivan, Vietnam can account for most of them. Current "negotiations" between the U.S. and Vietnam have yielded the remains of over 300 Americans. The families of these men at last have the peace of knowing whether their loved one is alive or dead. In the total view of the issue of the missing, however, the return of remains signals no progress. In the early 1980's the very credible Congressional testimony of a Vietnamese mortician indicated that the Vietnamese stockpile over 400 sets of remains. More importantly, the same credible witness, whose testimony is believed throughout Congress, stated that he had seen live Americans held at the same location where the remains were stored. As long as even one American remains alive in captivity in Solutheast Asia, the only issue is that one living man. We must bring them home before there are only remains to negotiate for.