TRAMPSKI, DONALD JOSEPH

Name: Donald Joseph Trampski
Rank/Branch: E2/US Army
Unit: Company B, 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry, 4th Infantry Division
Date of Birth: 16 August 1948 (Michigan City IN)
Home City of Record: Chesterton IN
Date of Loss: 16 September 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 134039N 1080718E (AR888138)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Refno: 1489
Other Personnel in Incident: (None missing)

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.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: PFC Donald J. Trampski was serving as a rifleman with his unit on
an operation in central Pleiku Province, South Vietnam when the unit was
required to cross a Montagnard bridge. Trampski lost his footing and fell
into the river below. At the time, there was a severe rain storm in progress
and the river was swollen with a vast current.

PFC Trampski was last seen in the water, swimming about 30 yards from the
bridge. Searches were conducted 300 meters along the banks and continued for
3 weeks with no success.

Because no body was ever found for Trampski, it was never known for certain
that he died. The possibility existed that he was captured, and he was
classified Missing In Action. The area in which the unit was operating was
far from any formal city, and, as no enemy was present at that time, it is
not known if the enemy knew his fate.

Trampski is among nearly 2500 Americans who remain missing in Indochina.
Unlike "MIAs" from other wars, most of these men can be accounted for.
Tragically, nearly 10,000 reports concerning Americans still in Southeast
Asia have been received by the U.S. since the end of the war. Experts say
that the evidence is overwhelming that Americans were left behind in enemy
hands. One of them could be Donald J. Trampski.

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02/2020

https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt00000001UEtEAM

SSG DONALD JOSEPH TRAMPSKI

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Private First Class (PFC) Donald Joseph Trampski entered the U.S. Army from Indiana and served in Company B, 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division. On September 16, 1969, he was serving as a rifleman with his unit on a patrol in South Vietnam. As his unit was crossing a Montagnard bridge near grid coordinates AR 888 138 during a heavy rainstorm, PFC Trampski lost his footing and fell into the river below. The river was swollen with a fast current, and PFC Trampski was seen swimming in the water near the bridge. His unit moved to the river banks to assist him but he was not seen again. Subsequent searches for him or his remains were unsuccessful. Following the incident, the Army promoted PFC Trampski to the rank of staff sergeant. Today, Staff Sergeant Trampski 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 Non-recoverable.

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