WRYE, BLAIR CHARLTON
Remains Returned 13 September 1990
Name: Blair Charlton Wrye
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit: TDY to 20th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron
Date of Birth: 23 May 1929
Home City of Record: Auburndale MA
Date of Loss: 12 August 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 212600N 1062000E (UF595790)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: RF101C
Refno: 0427
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 2020.
REMARKS: A/C LOST - NO CONTACT
SYNOPSIS: The RF101 first saw action in Vietnam in late 1961, flying photo
missions over the Ho Chi Minh Trail, the primary communist supply line
through southern Laos, and the Plain of Jars to the northwest where Soviet
transports were delivering supplies to communist troops. The Voodoo later
began conducting reconnaissance over South Vietnam as well.
The RF101C was an outstanding reconnaissance craft, and although it looked
"hot" and was fast enough (max. speed 1000 mph) to leave a MiG-17 far
behind, it could not race away from the faster MiG-21, and was gradually
phased out and replaced by the Phantom II with its greater speed and
superior surveillance technology.
Maj. Blair C. Wrye was a pilot assigned to the 20th Tactical Reconnaissance
Squadron at Udorn, Thailand. On August 12, 1966, he was assigned a solo
reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam. The last contact with the
aircraft was a radar reading approximately 110 miles from Udorn.
It was assumed that Wrye's aircraft was shot down somewhere over his target
area, and his loss coordinates are listed as in Nam Ha Province about 5
miles east of the city of Nam Dinh. Wrye's family knew there was a very good
chance that he had been captured, and waited for the war to end. In 1973,
however, when 591 American prisoners of war were released from Hanoi, Wrye
was not among them. The Vietnamese denied any knowledge of him.
As the years passed, reports began to flow in to the U.S. regarding the
roughly 3000 Americans unaccounted for at the end of the war. By 1991 well
over 10,000 reports have been received, convincing many authorities that
hundreds of Americans are still alive in captivity in Southeast Asia.
Whether Wrye survived to be captured is not known. What seems certain,
however, is that we owe those who are alive our best efforts to bring them
home.
Blair C. Wrye was promoted to the rank of Colonel during the period he was
maintained Missing in Action. His remains were returned to U.S. control on
September 13, 1990.
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02/2020
https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt000000sZQsiEAG
On February 7, 1991, the Central Identification
Laboratory-Hawaii (CILHI, now DPAA) identified the remains of
Colonel Blair Charlton Wrye, missing from the Vietnam War.
Colonel Wrye entered the U.S. Air Force from New Hampshire and
served with Headquarters, 7th Air Force. He was on temporary
duty to the 20th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron on August 12,
1966, when he piloted an RF-101C Voodoo (tail number unknown)
that took off from Udorn Airfield, Thailand, on a photographic
reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam. The aircraft was shot
down over Lang Son Province, killing Col Wrye. The location of
the crash site was unknown, which prevented the recovery of his
remains at the time. In 1990, the Vietnamese government
repatriated human remains recovered from a crash site near Lang
Ngon Hamlet, and in 1991, U.S. investigators were able to
identify Col Wrye from these remains.
Colonel Wrye is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the
National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
If you are a family member of this serviceman, you may contact your casualty office representative to learn more about your service member.