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.
MIAs in Incident; Peterson, Norman W.; Davies, Howard Joseph; Hoff, Warren Mervin; Steele, Robert Coultas
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 Steele is listed on the "HONOR ROLL OF FORGOTTEN AMERICANS" yet is noted as having died "while missing" by the National Archive.
03/13/2021
- KOREAN WAR
- UNITED STATES AIR FORCE
- Unaccounted For
On the evening of March 5, 1952, a B-26 Invader (tail number 44-34542A, call sign "Pintail 09") with a crew of four departed Kunsan Air Base on a night intruder mission east of Pyongyang, North Korea. The last contact with the aircraft occurred as it crossed over into North Korea, and the controller gave the pilot the coordinates of his target, an enemy supply train. The pilot acknowledged the coordinates, although when he read them back to the controller, one digit was off. The controller promptly corrected him, but the pilot did not acknowledge the correction. It is uncertain whether the aircraft proceeded to the correct coordinates, or to the erroneous ones, which would have placed the aircraft one-hundred miles off course. The aircraft failed to return to base and was not heard from again. Search efforts were unable to locate the Invader, and none of the crew were reported to be prisoners of war.
Captain Robert Coultas Steele, who joined the U.S. Air Force from Michigan, served with the 8th Bombardment Squadron, 3rd Bombardment Wing (Light). He was the navigator of this B-26 when it disappeared, and he was lost in the incident. His remains were not recovered and he is still unaccounted-for. Today, Captain Steele 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.
Capt ROBERT COULTAS STEELE
- Unit
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Country of Loss
- Home of Record