Data Sources - Air Force Manual No. 200-25A, Department of the Air Force, Washington, October 16, 1961 page 1. Sanitized copy. National Archives KOREAN Conflict Casualty File (KCCF) 1950-1954.
03/92 -- Korea, and the men yet to be accounted for -- the "official list" -- is a list of U.S. servicemen known to have been
held as prisoners of war by the red Chinese and North Koreans from the Korean War
but not released or accounted for by the communists, as released on May 27,
1957 at a hearing of the House Subcommittee on the Far East and Pacific by the Department
of Defense.
The lists, the printed minutes of the May 27, 1957 hearing and the
"sense of congress" resolution were subsequently buried in the
archives. The original list had 450 names compiled from American POWS who were
repatriated by the Reds, as well as from photographs released by the Reds, Chinese
radio propaganda broadcasts, and letters written home by captured men. The "revised" list was narrowed down in august of 1961 to 389 men, and
all were arbitrarily declared dead by the military services, the USG still
lists them as "unaccounted for".
Names and ranks only were released at the time, and printed in "The
Spotlight" on August 27, 1979, along with the above information and background.
Further information has been compiled by the P.O.W. Network from the Hawaii POW/MIA
Korean Memorial records, National Archives documentation, and public United
States Air Force documentation, and changes made to the original published
information. (FEBRUARY 1992)
Robert Gibb is listed on the "HONOR ROLL OF FORGOTTEN AMERICANS" yet is listed as having "died while missing" by the National Archive.
03/12/2021
- KOREAN WAR
- UNITED STATES AIR FORCE
- Unaccounted For
Captain Robert Duncan Gibb entered the U.S. Air Force from Michigan and served with the 8th Fighter Bombardment Squadron, 49th Fighter Bombardment Group. On December 16, 1951, he was the pilot of an F-84E Thunderjet (tail number 51-654A) when it departed Taegu Air Base, South Korea, in the last position of a flight of four aircraft on an interdiction mission against enemy targets in the Yang-Dok area of South Pyongan Province, North Korea. Following its second pass over a target, Capt Gibb's Thunderjet failed to rejoin its formation. Attempts at radio contact with him were unsuccessful, and there were no sightings reported that he bailed out or crashed. Because the enemy activity in the target area was active at the time of his loss, it prevented any ground search efforts for Capt Gibb or his possible aircraft wreckage. No returning POWs mentioned having contact with Capt Gibb, nor was he seen at any known holding point, interrogation center, hospital, or permanent POW camp, and he remains unaccounted-for following the incident. Today, Captain Gibb 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 Deferred.
If you are a family member of this serviceman, DPAA can provide you with additional information and analysis of your case. Please contact your casualty office representative.