Name: John Everett Duffy
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 23 January 1946
Home City of Record: Portland ME
Date of Loss: 04 April 1970
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 144600N 1084400E (BS560336)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 3
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: O2
Refno: 1580
Other Personnel In Incident: (none missing)
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1991 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:
SYNOPSIS: 1Lt. John E. Duffy was the pilot of a Cessna O2 aircraft on a
mission over South Vietnam on April 4, 1970. Duffy, who had graduated from
the United States Air Force Academy two years before, had a promising future
in the Air Force as a pilot.
The Cessna O2 had only been used by the Air Force four years. The aircraft
had a greater range that the O1, but, like the Bird Dog, lacked adequate
armor for low target marking runs. The aircraft was used primarily for
observation, but some versions flew psychological warfare mission, urging
the Viet Cong to surrender and encouraging those loyal to the Saigon
government.
On Duffy's mission, his plane went down about 15 miles southwest of the city
of Quang Ngai in South Vietnam. He was listed as Missing In Action. No
information of substance has surfaced on Duffy since that day.
Nearly 2500 Americans are missing in Southeast Asia. Some of them were known
to have been prisoners of war. Some, of course, died in plane crashes and
from enemy fire and could not be recovered. Many were in radio contact with
search and rescue teams and in good shape when they reported their imminent
capture.
Since the end of the war, thousands of reports have been received that
indicate Americans are still alive in Southeast Asia. One of them could be
John Duffy. Duffy served our nation with pride. He deserves our best efforts
to bring him home.
John E. Duffy was promoted to the rank of Captain during the period he was
maintained missing in action.