Bio, Ayres, James H.

Name: James Henry Ayres
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit: 34th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Korat Airbase, Thailand
Date of Birth: 30 June 1937
Home City of Record: Pampa TX
Date of Loss: 03 January 1971
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 165400N 1055300E (WD940685)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4E
Refno: 1688
Other Personnel in Incident: Charles W. Stratton (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1990 with the assistance
of 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. 2025

SYNOPSIS: On January 3, 1971, a flight of two aircraft departed Korat
Airbase Thailand for an operational mission over Laos. Both aircraft were
the reconnaissance version of the Phantom fighter bomber aircraft. The crew
aboard the lead aircraft was Major James H. Ayres, pilot, and Capt. Charles
W. Stratton, weapons systems officer.

During the mission, which took the flight over Savannakhet Province, Laos,
Ayres' aircraft was seen to crash and explode in a ball of fire prior to its
second pass over the target area. No parachutes were observed, and no
emergency radio beeper signals were detected. The loss occurred about 8
miles southeast of the city of Ban Muong Sen.

Ayres and Stratton are among nearly 600 Americans lost in Laos. During the
course of American involvement in the war, the Pathet Lao stated on a number
of occasions that they held "tens of tens" of American prisoners and that
those captured in Laos would also be released from Laos. Unfortunately, that
release never occurred, because the U.S. did not include Laos in the
negotiations which brought American involvement in the war to an end. The
country of Laos was bombed by U.S. forces for several months following the
Peace Accords in January 1973, and Laos steadfastly refused to talk about
releasing our POWs until we discontinued bombing in their country.

After the war ended, 591 Americans were released from communist prison camps
in Southeast Asia, but NOT ONE American held in Laos was released. Even
though family members of the men still missing did their best to keep their
men's plight in the public eye, these "tens of tens" were largely forgotten.

Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing in
Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. Government, many of them
relating to men lost in Laos. Tiny steps towards recognition of the
communist Lao government have been taken over the years, but no effort to
negotiate the freedom of any Americans still alive has been made.

In 1988, however, the U.S. agreed to "grease the wheels" for the
humanitarian construction of medical clinics to help improve U.S./Laos
relations. In return, the Lao agreed to excavate crash sites on a regular
basis. Still, no acknowledged negotiations have occurred which would free
any living American POWs in Laos. If, as thousands of reports indicate,
Americans are still alive in Indochina as captives, then the U.S. is
collaborating in signing their death warrants. It's time we found the means
to bring our men home.

No. 960-07 IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 03, 2007
Media Contact: (703) 697-5131/697-5132
Public/Industry(703) 428-0711

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced
today that the remains of two U.S. servicemen, missing in action from the
Vietnam War, have been identified and will be returned to their families
for burial with full military honors.

They are Lt. Col. James H. Ayres, of Pampa, Texas, and Lt. Col. Charles W.
Stratton, of Dallas, Texas, both U.S.Air Force.Ayres will be buried Aug. 10
in Pampa, and Stratton's burial date is being set by his family.

On Jan. 3, 1971, these men crewed an F-4E Phantom II aircraft departing
Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base on a nighttime strike mission of enemy
targets in Savannakhet Province, Laos.Shortly after Ayres initiated a
target run, the crew of other aircraft in the flight observed a large
explosion.No one witnessed an ejection or heard beeper signals, and
communication was lost with the aircraft.Hostile activity in the area
prevented search and rescue attempts.

In 2001, a joint U.S./Lao People's Democratic Republic (L.P.D.R.) team, led
by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), traveled to Savannakhet
Province and interviewed Laotian citizens about their knowledge of aircraft
crash sites.One of the men led the team to what was believed to be the
Ayres and Stratton crash site.

Later that year, another U.S./L.P.D.R team began excavating the site.The
team recovered human remains and aircrew-related items. Between 2002 and
2005, joint teams visited the site six more times to complete the
excavation, recovering more human remains and crew-related items.

Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence,
scientists from JPAC and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory
also used mitochondrial DNA in the identification of the remains.

For additional information on the Defense Department's mission to account
for missing Americans, visit the DPMO Web site at http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo
or call (703) 699-1169.

Lt. Col. James Henry Ayres and Captain Stratton were laid to rest today at the
National Cemetery in Dallas, Tx.
Their remains were identified 36 years after being shot down over Laos in January 1971.
Thank you to everyone who has kept their memory alive.

Robin Ayres

------------------------------------------------

FAMILY is looking for an original bracelet.
Please contact the POW NETWORK if you still are in possession of one.

Subject:	POW/MIA Bracelet for Major James H Ayers
Date:	Wed, 22 Jan 2025 03:46:03 +0000
From:	John Boykin <john.boykin@outlook.com>

To whom it may concern,

I came across the write up for Maj James H Ayres on your website and read his remains
had been found in 2007.

Bio, Ayres, James H.

I also read there the family was looking for the original bracelet as of 2011. I had a POW/MIA
Bracelet for Major Ayres. It was issued to me from I believe the VA around 1985/86 as a Junior in High
School in Carrollton, TX. My Mother, Nancy (Higgenbotham) was born in Pampa, TX and it was an honor
to have been given Maj Ayres bracelet. I was proud to wear that bracelet for the next several years as I
my country in the US Air Force as well. Unfortunately, the bracelet broke in half many years later. By then
it was mostly silver from having worn the red coating off of it. I kept it for a few years after that, hoping to
one day return it to his family when/if he was ever located. Sadly, it was lost in one of many moves. My
condolences go out to the family albeit many years late.

John Boykin

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

LT COL JAMES HENRY AYRES

Return to Service Member Profiles

Conflict
Service
Status
Date of Accounting

VIETNAM WAR
UNITED STATES AIR FORCE
Accounted For
07/13/2007

On July 13, 2007, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC, now DPAA) identified the remains of Lieutenant Colonel James Henry Ayres, missing from the Vietnam War.

Lieutenant Colonel Ayers entered the U.S. Air Force from Texas and was a member of the 34th Tactical Fighter Squadron. On January 3, 1971, he piloted an F-4E Phantom II (tail number unknown) carrying two crew members that took off from Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand, as the lead of two fighter-bombers on a nighttime strike mission against enemy targets in Savannakhet Province, Laos. Shortly after the crew initiated a target run, the aircraft exploded and crashed to the ground. The crew members did not survive, and hostile activity in the area prevented recovery efforts at the time. However, in 2001, investigators recovered some human remains and crew-related items from the crash site, and between 2002 and 2005, joint teams completed excavations that recovered remains identified as those of Lt Col Ayers.

Lieutenant Colonel Ayers is memorialized in 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.

Lt Col JAMES HENRY AYRES

Unit
Historical Country of Loss
Laos
Current Country of Loss
LAOS
Home of Record TX