COLTMAN, WILLIAM CLARE
Remains Identified 02/2001

Name: William Clare Coltman
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit: 474 TFW 430th Tactical Fighter Squadron, pilot
Date of Birth: 24 February 1932
Home City of Record: Pittsburgh PA
Date of Loss: 29 September 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 213551N 1045921E (VJ989881)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F111A
PFOD: 1978

Other Personnel In Incident: Robert A. Brett, navigator, missing

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project  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 2022.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: The F111 was first used in Southeast Asia in March 1968 during
Operation Combat Lancer and flew nearly 3,000 missions during the war
despite frequent periods of grounding. From 1968 to 1973, the F111 was
grounded several months because of excess losses of aircraft. By 1969, there
had been 15 F111's downed by malfunction or enemy fire. The major
malfunctions involved engine problems and problems with the terrain
following radar (TFR) which reads the terrain ahead and flies over any
obstructions. Eight of the F111's downed during the war were flown by crews
that were captured or declared missing.

In September 1972 F111A's were returned to Southeast Asia after a long
grounding period. On September 29, 1972, the F111A flown by Maj. William C.
Coltman and commanded by 1Lt. Robert A. Brett, Jr. went out of radio contact
in North Vietnam on the Red River about 10 miles southwest of the city of
Yen Bai. When the aircraft failed to return from their mission, the two were
declared missing at the time of estimated fuel exhaustion.

A news release issued by North Vietnam claimed the downing of an F111 in the
same area near Yen Bai, but made no mention of the fate of the crew. A
second North Vietnamese news release, monitored by the BBC in Hong Kong,
claimed to have downed an F111 on September 28 and captured the crew. Brett
and Coltman were the only F111 aircrew operating in that area.

The National League of Families published a list in 1974 that indicated that
Robert A. Brett had survived the downing of his aircraft, and that the loss
location was in Laos, not North Vietnam.

The last missing F111A team to be shot down was Capt. Robert D. Sponeyberger
and 1Lt. William W. Wilson. Sponeyberger and Wilson were flying a typical
F111 tactical mission when they were hit - flying at supersonic speed only a
few hundred feet altitude. They were declared Missing in Action.

In 1973, however, Sponeyberger and Wilson were released by the North
Vietnamese, who had held them prisoner since the day their aircraft was shot
down. Their story revealed another possibility as to why so many F111's had
been lost. Air Force officials had suspected mechanical problems, but really
had no idea why the planes were lost because they fly singly and out of
radio contact. Capt. Sponeyberger and 1Lt. Wilson had ruled out mechanical
problems. "It seems logical that we were hit by small arms," Wilson said,
"By what you would classify as a 'Golden BB' - just a lucky shot."
Sponeyberger added that small arms at low level were the most feared weapons
by F111 pilots. The SAM-25 used in North Vietnam was ineffective at the low
altitudes flown by the F111, and anti-aircraft cannot sweep the sky fast
enough to keep up with the aircraft.

That a 91,000 pound aircraft flying at supersonic speeds could be knocked
out of the air by an ordinary bullet from a hand-held rifle or machine gun
is a David and Goliath-type story the Vietnamese must love to tell and
retell.

As reports continue to be received by the U.S. Government build a strong case
for belief that hundreds of these missing Americans are still alive and in
captivity, one must wonder if their retention provides yet another David and
Goliath story for Vietnamese propaganda. The F111 missions were hazardous
and the pilots who flew them brave and skilled. Fourteen Americans remain
missing from F111 aircrafts downed in Southeast Asia. If any of them are
among those said to be still missing, what must they be thinking of us?

1998 NOTE:
Captain Kimberly Coleman was 12 when her father was declared MIA. She is now
a labor and delivery nurse at Kessler Air Force Base in Mississippi. In 1978
a marker was placed over an empty grave in Arlington national cemetery in
Virginia. Kimberly, her older brother, William Jr.; and their mother, Gail,
still had no details on the pilot's death. In 1993 in the basement of a
Hanoi museum, an American historian found a strobe light, a flight manual
and a smoke flare from a plane that crashed on the same day and in the
approximate vicinity as her father's. The weather is holding up crash
site excavation, a search for remains and personal effects.

William Jr. graduated from the Air Force Academy in 1980 and flew F-111's at
Royal Air Force Base in Lakenheath in England. He was an engineer at Falcon
Air Force Base in Colorado before leaving active duty. He is a Major in the
USAF Reserves.

======================

National League of Families 02/20/2002

AMERICANS ACCOUNTED FOR:  According to the Department of Defense, there are
now 1,942 Americans still missing and unaccounted for from the Vietnam War.
The remains of air Force COL  William C. Coltman of PA, missing in Laos
since September 29, 1972,  were jointly recovered and repatriated on August
28, 2000. The remains of LtCol Lawrence G. Evert, USAF, from WY, missing
since November 8, 1967, were jointly recovered during successive field
operations beginning February 9, 2000.  The remains of Navy LT Gene R.
Gollahon of OH, missing in Vietnam since August 13, 1965, were jointly
recovered April 26, 2000.  The remains of Army Jon E. Swanson of CO and
S/SGT Larry G. Harrison of NC, both Killed-in-Action/Body-Not Recovered
February 26, 1971, were jointly recovered in Cambodia on July 1, 1992.  In
addition, one Air Force officer, previously missing in North Vietnam, was
accounted for through identification of remains recovered during several
field operations beginning in January, 1997. No public announcement has yet
been made, though it is hoped that will soon occur.  Of the total
unaccounted for, 1,464 are in Vietnam, 410 in Laos, 60 in Cambodia and 8 in
the territorial waters of the PRC.  Over 90% of all Vietnam War missing were
lost in Vietnam or areas under its wartime control

==========================

Las Vegas Review Journal

Thursday, April 04, 2002
Copyright  Las Vegas Review-Journal

VIETNAM PILOT: Home to Rest
Funeral gives closure to family of colonel who went missing in 1972

By STEVE TETREAULT
STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU

WASHINGTON -- "Wild Bill" Coltman made a name for himself at Nellis Air
Force Base in 1967 as one of the first to test the new F-111A tactical
fighter-bomber. A.....

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Memorial Day is about honoring the fallen military men and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice for their country. This story is about one of them, my father, Col William “Wild Bill” Coltman. “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13) Lt Col Kimberly Coltman, USAF/NC (Retired) River Rat Scholarship Grant Recipient and Lifetime River Rat

LIMBO

We hugged, kissed and said our goodbyes to my father, Col William “Wild Bill” Coltman on the flight line at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada on September 25, 1972.  My family and I watched as he boarded a C-141 transport bound for Southeast Asia in Vietnam.  Little did we know it would be the last time we would ever see my father. Four days later I answered an early morning knock at the door, and what I heard in the next few minutes would change my and my family’s lives forever.  Three somber men stood in the doorway in their service dress uniforms. I immediately sensed something was wrong by the look of sadness and despair in their eyes. I ran to get my mother and my brother soon followed when he heard the fright in my mother’s voice.  I remember an incredible sinking feeling; I could not comprehend what was happening; it all seemed like a bad dream. We walked in silence into the living room, where one of the officials, with trembling hands, read the statement informing us that my father was missing in action. My father, a test pilot and an F-111A aircraft commander for the 474th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Nellis, was only the third man at the time to have logged more than a thousand hours in the F-111A. His flight experience is what warranted his presence in Southeast Asia in 1972 as he began his second tour of combat in Vietnam. He arrived at Takhli Air Base, Thailand the following night, piloting “Ranger 23”; he took off on his first mission of what was supposed to be a nine month tour.  My father and his weapons systems operator, Captain Robert “Lefty” Brett, Jr., departed at 21:15 on 28 September for a strike mission over North Vietnam.  Their last voice contact was at 21:41 and then went to radio silence for the duration of the mission.  At 23:15 radio contact had not been re-established.  Extensive search and rescue operations revealed nothing and my father and Lefty were declared missing the next morning when their fuel would have been exhausted. My first thought was that my father was dead, but my mother was quick to remind my brother and me that he was missing, which meant he could still be alive.  I remember her saying, “if there’s any possible way for your father to survive the jungle, or a prisoner of war camp, you know he would.” We kept each other’s hopes up over the next few months, relying on God, family and friends for strength.  After a year or so, it got worse when the names of the returning POWs were officially released and my dad’s name was not included. We watched on television as the returning POWs walked down the flight stairs returning to the arms of their loved ones, hoping against hope my dad would appear and descend those stairs.  The reality of my father’s status finally hit when the Department of Defense declared him presumed “Killed in Action” on 23 August 1978.  We had a memorial service six years to the day that he was reported missing. Our lives over those six years can only be described in one word, limbo.  In our minds, we reasoned that we could accept life or death, but the mental torment of not knowing left my family and me in a limbo we had to face every day.  At the memorial service, as I glanced around, I noticed that we still had no material proof of my father’s death.  There was no body; no flag draped casket, no pallbearers, nor a grave or marker.  Nothing tangible most people can look back on in remembrance of a departed loved one. I did remember feeling an inner peace as the minister started the service, realizing that even though my father was not with us physically, he would always be with us spiritually.  Over the years, our days of limbo continued, as no new information emerged concerning my father’s status. Then, in 1994, my family was notified of the first investigation of my father’s case by the Joint Task Force - Full Accounting (JTF-FA).  Since that time we received numerous reports concerning his fate, all of which proved to be false leads.  Finally in August of 1998 an F-111 crash site was discovered in Northern Laos, which the JTF-FA correlated with my father’s case. >From June through November of 2000 this crash site was excavated for over 150 days of intense grueling work by the JTF-FA team and incredibly, human remains were recovered.  Although we had no official confirmation that the remains being returned from the site were my father’s, my mother and I could not miss the opportunity or chase that they were his remains.  So at the end of November my mother and I flew to Hawaii to attend the repatriation ceremony of 20 returned heroes, hoping and praying one was my father. As we watched the flag draped caskets being ceremonially carried off that plane we knew that even if my father was not among the ones returned; we were honored to be able to represent other families experiencing the same loss and grateful to be able to pay tribute to those that finally returned.  During our visit the JTF-FA and US Army Central Identification Laboratory Hawaii (CILHI) provided valuable information concerning my father’s case.  But once again my family was left waiting for the official findings of the extensive investigation efforts involving the crash site excavation, material recovery and identification of the returned remains. Another year came and went following our visit to Hawaii and then incredibly my family was presented with the official CILHI report in February 2001 stating the dental remains recovered positively identified by forensic specialists as those of my father’s. Almost 30 years after being declared Missing In Action, Colonel William “Wild Bill” Coltman was finally coming home. Again, my mother and I traveled to Hawaii but this time it was to escort my father’s remains to Washington DC for a welcome home celebration of his family and friends.  My father’s funeral services were held on 3 April 2002 at Fort Myer Memorial Chapel followed by a full military burial ceremony at Arlington National Ceremony. Our family, friends and my father’s comrades-in-arms all gathered in celebrations of an incredible hero’s life and loving memories of a wonderful Christian father, husband and friend.  We always thought this would bring closure but what we received was the ultimate gift of tremendous peace with the knowledge that our many years of living in limbo had finally ended. Now “Wild Bill” is finally home with the family and country he loved and gave his life for - with the honor and peace he so richly deserves.  My father always used to ask us, “Who’s the greatest fighter pilot who ever lived?” and we’d always answer “We’re looking at him”!  That fateful night my father flew straight to heaven where he’s flying like nothing we could ever imagine on the wings of angels.

In honor of Memorial Day, the Wright-Patterson AFB/Dayton Pack has prepared a special display at the River Rats Memorial at the National Museum of the United States Air Force.   Lest We Forget.  Photos by Henry Harlow       RED RIVER VALLEY ASSOCIATION, INC. 1376 Needham Circle West - York, PA 17404 717.505.8529  INFO@River-Rats.org 05/29/2022

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01/2020

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