SHARP, SAMUEL ARTHUR JR. Remains Identified late 2004
Name: Samuel Arthur Sharp, Jr. Rank/Branch: E3/USMC Unit: A Co, 3rd Recon BN, 3rd Marine Division, Khe Sanh, South Vietnam Date of Birth: 09 February 1947 Home City of Record: San Jose CA Date of Loss: 10 May 1967 Country of Loss: South Vietnam Loss Coordinates: 163706N 1064404E (XD845485) Status (in 1973): Killed in Action, Body Not Recovered Category: 2 Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground Refno: 0676
Other Personnel in Incident: Heinz Ahlmeyer Jr.; James N. Tycz; Malcolm T. Miller (all missing)
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 April 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 2005.
REMARKS: KIA WHN PTRL ATKD, WNDD RCV-J
SYNOPSIS: Third Class Petty Officer Malcolm T. Miller was a hospital corpsman assigned to H & S Company at Khe Sanh, South Vietnam. He was working with A Company, 3rd Marine Reconnaissance Battalion, 3rd Marine Division at Khe Sanh on May 9, 1967.
On that day, Miller joined a reconnaissance patrol from A Company that had the mission of gathering intelligence information on suspected enemy infiltration routes near their base. The patrol was helicopter lifted into an area just south of the DMZ, where they found signs of recent enemy activity, and moved to high ground to establish a night defensive position.
Shortly after 12 p.m. the patrol came under heavy small arms fire, and several of the team were wounded. Twelve hours later, after numerous unsuccessful attempts, a helicopter was finally able to land and retrieve the wounded. It was not possible to retrieve the bodies of those who had died, including Miller, LCpl. Samuel A. Sharp, Jr., Sgt. James N. Tycz, and 2Lt. Heinz Ahlmeyer, Jr. All were said to have died during the action from wounds received from enemy small arms fire and and grenades.
The four men left behind near the DMZ were never found. The government of Vietnam has been consistently uncooperative in releasing remains they hold or in allowing access to known loss sites.
Even more tragically, evidence mounts that many Americans are still alive in Southeast Asia, still prisoners from a war many have long forgotten. It is a matter of pride in the armed forces, and especially in the Marines Corps, that one's comrades are never left behind. Many men have been killed trying to bring in a wounded or killed buddy. One can imagine the men missing from A Company, as well as Malcolm Miller, had they survived, being willing to go on one more patrol for those heroes we left behind.
=================== March 1, 2005 National League of Families
POW/MIAs - VIETNAM WAR: There are now 1,836 Americans listed by the Defense Department as missing and unaccounted for from the Vietnam War - 1,399 in Vietnam, 375 in Laos, 55 in Cambodia and 7 in PRC territorial waters. The League was informed today that the remains of four US personnel, previously listed as KIA/BNR in South Vietnam have been recovered and identified. The four Americans were all lost on May 10, 1967, and their remains were recovered May 27, 2003, though identified late last year and accepted by their families recently. Those now accounted for include 2LT Heinz Ahlmeyer, USMC, of NY; HM3 Malcolm T. Miller, USN, of FL; LCpl Samuel A. Sharp, USMC, of CA; and SGT James N. Tycz, USMC, of WI. In addition, the League recently confirmed that COL Sheldon J. Burnett, USA, from NH, and CWO (3) Randolph J. Ard, USA, both listed as MIA in Laos March 7, 1971 are now accounted for. Their remains were jointly recovered October 4, 2004, and recently identified. Still others have been ID'd, not yet announced by DPMO, perhaps due to delays in scheduling ID consultations with the primary-next-of-kin (PNOK). The reality is that PNOK no longer retain decision-making capability before official ID, but the pretense has been retained.