CAMERON, KENNETH ROBBINS Remains Returned 06 March 1974 Name: Kenneth Robbins Cameron Rank/Branch: O5/US Navy Unit: Attack Squadron 76, USS BON HOMME RICHARD Date of Birth: 09 August 1928 Home City of Record: Berkeley CA Date of Loss: 18 May 1967 Country of Loss: North Vietnam Loss Coordinates: 184800N 1053900E (WF684786) Status (in 1973): Prisoner of War Category: 1 Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A4C Refno: 0687 Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing) Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 May 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 2008. REMARKS: DIC 701004; DRV RET REMS 750306 SYNOPSIS: The USS BON HOMME RICHARD (CVA 31) saw early Vietnam war action. A World War II Essex-class carrier, she was on station participating in combat action against the Communists as early as August 1964. Her aircraft carried the first Walleye missiles when they were introduced in 1967. In November 1970, the "Bonnie Dick" completed its sixth combat deployment and was scheduled for decommissioning by mid-1971. One of the aircraft that launched from the decks of the BON HOMME RICHARD was the Douglas Aircraft A4 Skyhawk. The Skyhawk was intended to provide the Navy and Marine Corps with an inexpensive, lightweight attack and ground support aircraft. The design emphasized low-speed control and stability during take-off and landing as well as strength enough for catapult launch and carrier landings. The plane was so compact that it did not need folding wings for aboardship storage and handling. In spite of its diminutive size, the A4 packed a devastating punch and performed well where speed and maneuverability were essential. The Spirits of VA76, assigned to Air Wing 21, reached the coastal waters of Vietnam in January 1967. As the monsoon season faded, the air war's intensity rapidly ballooned and sites in North Vietnam that previously had been off-limits were opened up for U.S. air strikes. CDR Kenneth R. Cameron was a Skyhawk pilot and the executive officer of Attack Squadron 76 onboard the BON HOMME RICHARD. On May 18, 1967, he launched in his A4C on a mission near the city of Vinh in Nghe An Province, North Vietnam. During the mission, as he was about 5 miles north of the city, Cameron's aircraft was shot down. Cameron ejected from the aircraft and was captured. Cameron spent the next three years and five months in captivity, at which time, according to the Vietnamese, he died in captivity.* It was another four years before the Vietnamese returned his remains to U.S. control. For Kenneth R. Cameron, death is a certainty. For hundreds of others, however, simple answers are not possible. Adding to the torment of nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asia is the certain knowledge that some Americans who were known to be prisoners of war were not released at the end of the war. Others were suspected to be prisoners, and still others were in radio contact with would-be rescuers when last seen alive. Many were known to have survived their loss incidents, only to disappear without a trace. The problem of Americans still missing torments not only the families of those who are missing, but the men who fought by their sides, and those in the general public who realize the full implication of leaving men unaccounted for at the end of a war. Tragically, many authorities believe there are hundreds of Americans still alive in captivity in Southeast Asia today. What must they be thinking of us? What will our next generation say if called to fight if we are unable to bring these men home from Southeast Asia? * DIA Homecoming (Egress Report) 24 April 1973 quotes several returnees saying that Cameron was with them until Dec 1969. He was in extremely poor physical and mental health shape. When a large group of POWs were moved from Heartbreak to another part of Ha Lo in 1970, they were told Cameron was in the hospital. =====================================