CICHON, WALTER ALAN

Name: Walter Alan Cichon
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: A Company, 3rd Battalion, 8th Infantry, 4th Infantry Division
Date of Birth: 28 August 1946 (New York NY)
Home City of Record: Farmingdale NJ
Date of Loss: 30 March 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 142321N 1074322E (YA936924)
Status (in 1973): Prisoner of War
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Refno: 1112
Other Personnel In Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 30 June 1990 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: 731102 PM>MM; POSSIBLY CAPT'D

SYNOPSIS: SP4 Walter A. Cichon was assigned to Company A, 3rd Battalion, 8th
Infantry, 4th Infantry Division in Vietnam. On March 30, 1968, SP4 Cichon
was serving as a rifleman in a rifle company in Kontum Province, South
Vietnam. His company came under enemy fire while attempting to seize a hill
about 15 miles southwest of the city of Dak To. SP4 Cichon received a head
wound, was examined and left for dead as his unit was forced to withdraw
under enemy pressure.

A later body-recovery team located and extracted the bodies of the dead, but
was unable to locate the body of Walter Cichon.

On April 20, 1968, two NVA ralliers stated that they had heard from friends
that their battalion had captured an American with a head wound on or about
March 26. The ralliers gave a detailed description of the POW which closely
matched SP4 Cichon. The ralliers stated that the prisoner was taken to a
hospital in the vicinity of the South Vietnam/Laos/Cambodia border area.

When 591 American POWs were released at the end of the war, Walter Cichon
was not among them. The U.S. assumed at that time that he had not been
captured at all. Military officials at the time, were dismayed that hundreds
of men known or suspected to have been captured were not released.

Intelligence reports surfacing over the years during the war and following
build a strong case for a well-organized second prison system, and a
well-orchestrated plan to keep prisoners within systems from intermingling.
As it is widely believed that the Vietnamese withheld the release of many
prisoners until peace agreement terms were met (specifically reconstruction
aid), it is logical to assume that one prison system's inmates were released
while another were held back for possible release at a later date. It is
also logical to assume that the scenario might be played to its fullest,
including convincing each man in a two man crew that had been separated,
that the other was dead.

The U.S. has never given Vietnam the reconstruction aid pledged by President
Nixon. The governments of Southeast Asia continue deny any knowledge of
Walter Cichon and many hundreds more Americans still missing in Southeast
Asia.

Walter Cichon is among nearly 2500 Americans who remain missing in
Indochina. Unlike "MIAs" from other wars, most of these men can be accounted
for. Tragically, over 10,000 reports concerning Americans prisoner, missing
or unaccounted for 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 Walter
Cichon.

During the period he was maintained prisoner of war, Walter Cichon was
promoted to the rank of Staff Sergeant.

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01/2020

https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt0000000KY8yEAG

SSG WALTER ALAN CICHON

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On March 30, 1968, members of Company A of the 3rd Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division, operating in South Vietnam, came under heavy enemy fire while attempting to secure a hill in the vicinity of (GC) YA 936 924. Several men were killed or wounded in the fighting, and the company was forced to withdraw without evacuating casualties. A subsequent search of the area was made, but not all the men lost in the fighting could be located.

Specialist 4 Walter Alan Cichon, who joined the U.S. Army from New Jersey, was a member of Company A when it came under attack, and suffered what appeared to be a lethal head wound during the fighting. His remains were not located in subsequent investigations of the area. Later, enemy reports indicated that a soldier matching SP4 Cichon's description had been captured in the same action. They indicated that the prisoner had a head wound, and that he was taken to a hospital in the vicinity of the Vietnam-Laos-Cambodia tri-border area. This account could not be confirmed, and no further information regarding SP4 Cichon has emerged. Following the incident, the Army promoted SP4 Cichon to the rank of Staff Sergeant (SSG). Today, Staff Sergeant Cichon 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 Active Pursuit.

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