COGDELL, WILLIAM K.

Remains identified May 24, 1994 -- UPI reported "shot down over Laos in
November 1967"

Name:  William K. Cogdell
Rank/Branch:  O2/USAF
Unit:
Date of Birth: 15 March 1938
Home City of Record: Greentown, IN
Date of Loss: 17 January 1967
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates:
Status (in 1973): Killed in Action/Body not Recovered
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: T28D
Refno: 0571
Other Personnel in Incident: None

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project and the P.O.W. NETWORK 2 April
1992 from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government
agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources,
interviews.  2020

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Captain Cogdell was the pilot of a T-28 aircraft on a search and
rescue mission when he was reported missing in action. The T-28 was observed
to receive heavy ground fire in the right wing, roll to the right, crash and
burn.

Evidence of death was received in the Department of the Air Force on Captain
Cogdell on January 19, 1967. Since his remains have not been recovered and
returned, he is listed by the Department of Defense as unaccounted for in
Southeast Asia.

In recent years, the numbers of remains returned from Vietnam and excavated
in Laos has increased dramatically. Government strategists happily point to
this as "progress" on the POW/MIA issue, although most of these remains are
still unidentified. Indeed, many families, having had independent studies of
the remains to assure accurate identification, now have answers to
long-awaited concerns about their loved ones. However, when remains are
positively identified, the U.S. Government closes the books and the search
for that missing man ends. Can we afford to close the books on an American
who may be alive waiting for his country to bring him home?

How many will serve in the next war knowing they may be abandoned?

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https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt000000q5sHqEAI

01/2020

CAPT WILLIAM KEITH COGDELL

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On May 11, 1994, the Joint Task Force-Full Accounting (JTF-FA, now DPAA) identified the remains of Captain William Keith Cogdell, missing from the Vietnam War.

Captain Cogdell joined the U.S. Air Force from Indiana and was a member of the 606th Air Commando Squadron. On January 17, 1967, he piloted a T-28 Trojan on an escort mission that was temporarily diverted to participate in a search and rescue operation for a downed aircraft. Captain Cogdell's Trojan was downed by anti-aircraft fire after he located the missing aircraft, and he died in the resulting crash. Intense anti-aircraft fire in the area prevented immediate search and rescue attempts for Capt Cogdell. In February 1994, a joint U.S. and Vietnamese recovery team excavated the Trojan's crash site and recovered remains. Later that year, the recovered remains were identified as those of Capt Cogdell.

Captain Cogdell is memorialized on 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.