DUGAN, THOMAS WAYNE

Name: Thomas Wayne Dugan
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit: 8th Tactical Bomber Squadron, Phan Rang AB
Date of Birth: 09 April 1947
Home City of Record: Reading PA
Date of Loss: 13 December 1968
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 170100N 1055900E (XD055824)
Status (In 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: B57B
Refno: 1341

Other Personnel in Incident: On C123K: Douglas Dailey; Morgan Donahue;
Joseph Fanning; Samuel Walker; Fred L. Clarke (all missing); On B57B:
Francis J. McGouldrick (missing)

Source: Compiled 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 in 2020.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On December 13, 1968, the crew of a C123K was dispatched from
Nakhon Phanom Airfield located in northern Thailand near the border of Laos
on an operational mission over Laos. The C123, a converted WWII glider
equipped with two engines, was assigned night patrol missions along the Ho
Chi Minh trail. Flying low at 2000-3000 feet, the job of the seven man crew
was to spot enemy truck convoys on the trail and to light up the trails for
accompanying B57 bombers which were flying overhead.

The crew on this particular mission included the pilot (name unknown); 1Lt.
Joseph P. Fanning, co-pilot; 1Lt. John S. Albright, navigator; 1Lt. Morgan
J. Donahue, navigator; SSgt. Samuel F. Walker, SSgt. Douglas V. Dailey,
TSgt. Fred L. Clarke, crewmembers. At 0330 hours, as the aircraft was flying
about 30 miles southwest of the Ban Karai Pass in Laos, the crew of the C123
were jolted by a blow on the top of their plane in the after section. An
overhead B57 that had been called in for an air strike from Phan Rang
Airbase had collided with the control plane. The B57B was flown by Maj.
Thomas W. Dugan, pilot, and Major Francis J. McGouldrick, co-pilot.

The C123 lost power and went out of control. The pilot, stunned by a blow to
the head, lost consciousness. Because of its glider configuration, the C123
did not fall straight to the ground, but drifted lazily to the ground in a
flat spin which lasted several minutes. When the pilot regained
consciousness, he noted that the co-pilot (Fanning) and navigator (Donahue)
were gone. Donahue's station was in the underbelly of the plane where, lying
on his stomach, he directed an infared detection device through an open
hatch. The pilot parachuted out, landed in a treetop where he remained until
rescued at dawn. On the way down, he saw another chute below him, but,
because of the dark, was unable to determine who the crew member was.

Intelligence reports after the incident indicate that Donahue, at least,
safely reached the ground near Tchepone, but suffered a broken leg. A
refugee who escaped captivity in Laos in 1974 reported having observed an
American prisoner broughy to the caves near Tchepone, where he was held, in
the period between 1968 and 1970. This American was later moved to another
locatation unknown to the refugee.

Several reports referring to "Moe-gan" and others describing Donahue as the
American called the "animal doctor" were received over the years since war's
end. In June and August, 1987, the Donahue family was given intelligence
reports tracking Morgan's movements from a POW camp in Kham Kuet, Khammouane
Province, Laos in the spring of 1987 to another camp in the Boualapha
District of the same province in August 1987. These reports were mere WEEKS
old, yet the U.S. marked them "routine". One of them gave Morgan's aircraft
type and serial number, which turned out to be, instead of the serial number
of the aircraft, Morgan's father's ZIP CODE. Morgan's family believes this
is clearly a signal to them from Morgan.

The crews of the C123K and B57B are among nearly 600 Americans who
disappeared in Laos. Many of these men were alive on the ground. The Lao
admitted holding American prisoners but these men were never negotiated for.
Where are they? Are they alive? Imagine the torture the Donahue family
endures knowing Morgan is alive, yet helpless to do anything to help him.
Imagine the uncertainty of the other families of the others. Imagine the
thoughts of the men we left behind. What are we doing to help bring them
home?

John S. Albright II and Morgan J. Donahue graduated in 1967 from the United
States Air Force Academy.

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01/2020

https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt000000oW62AEAS

 

COL THOMAS WAYNE DUGAN

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On June 23, 2014, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC, now DPAA) identified the remains of Colonel Thomas Wayne Dugan, missing from the Vietnam War.

Colonel Dugan entered the U.S. Air Force from Pennsylvania and served with the 8th Tactical Bombardment Squadron, 35th Tactical Fighter Wing. On December 13, 1968, Col Dugan piloted a B-57E Canberra (tail number unknown) that took off from Phan Rang, South Vietnam, carrying one other crew member on a night strike mission against enemy targets in Laos. While over Savannakhet Province, Laos, the Canberra collided with another aircraft flying the same mission and crashed, killing Col Dugan. His remains were not recovered at the time. However, in 2007 the crash site was located near the village of Keng Keuk, Laos, and from October 2011 to May 2012, teams recovered human remains from the site. Modern forensic techniques were then able to identify Col Dugan from these remains.

Colonel Dugan 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.