INNES, ROGER BURNS
REMAINS RETURNED ID ANNOUNCED 08/29/00
Name: Roger Burns Innes
Rank/Branch: O2/US Navy
Unit: Fighter Squadron 114, USS KITTY HAWK (CVA 63)
Date of Birth: 23 March 1943
Home City of Record: Chicago IL
Date of Loss: 27 December 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 10600N 1054400E
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 3
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4B
Refno: 0952
Others In Incident: Leonard Lee (missing)
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 April 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 2020.
REMARKS: DEAD/IR 1516 0461 71
SYNOPSIS: LtCdr. Leonard Lee had one of the most sought jobs for a pilot. He
flew aboard the F4 Phantom fighter jet. The aircraft saw so much combat in
Vietnam that during the two year period of 1965 and 1966, 54 F4C's were
lost. The C, D and E versions also downed 107 enemy MiGs. The Phantom's
combat radius exceeded 900 miles and featured a maximum level speed of over
Mach 2. Its navigation system was comprehensive and could guide the aircraft
at a wide variety of levels and speeds.
The navigation and bombing equipment was mostly operated by the "guy in
back", the second man aboard. When Lee flew on an armed reconnaissance
mission two days after Christmas 1967, his backseater was LTJG Roger B.
Innes.
Lee and Innes were to fly the lead aircraft in a section of two at Cap
Falaise, North Vietnam. Lee reported a target, but had to position himself
for a better strike angle due to poor weather. At this time his wingman was
able to release his ordnance on the target. Radio communications with Lee's
aircraft confirmed the strike.
Lee began his bombing run immediately behind his wingman and was lost from
the radar scope of the E2A radar control aircraft. No further contact was
made with his aircraft. The wingman was unable to observe Lee due to his
relative position and the overcast weather in the area, and proceeded out to
sea in accordance with their mission briefing in case of emergency. A search
and rescue effort was initiated but to no avail. No wreckage was sighted,
and no emergency radio beacons were heard in the strike area. No
anti-aircraft fire had been seen in the target area.
Lee and Inne's aircraft went down about 50 miles west and slightly south of
the city of Thanh Hoa in Nghe An Province, North Vietnam. Both men were
classified Missing In Action. No one knew for sure if they bailed out
successfully or died when their plane went down. A later intelligence report
indicated that they were dead, but that information was never substantiated.
The two remained missing, and their fates uncertain.
Leonard M. Lee was promoted to the rank of Captain, and Roger B. Innes was
promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Commander during the period they were
maintained missing.
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National League of Families
UPDATE LINE: September 8, 2000
Thank you for calling the National League of Families Update Line. This
message is being recorded on Friday, September 8th. The number of Americans
missing and unaccounted for from the Vietnam War is now 2,005.
Today, the Department of Defense released the names of eight of nine US
personnel now accounted for, six previously missing in Laos and three in
Vietnam. These Americans include CDR Leonard M. Lee of VA and LCDR Roger B.
Innes of IL, both US Navy, missing in North Vietnam since December 27, 1967.
The Defense Department did not publicly release CDR Lee's name at the
request of his next-of-kin; however, members of Commander Lee's family were
quoted in the Richmond Times-Dispatch September 4th edition regarding his
identification. Others include Lt Col Donald E. Paxton of IA and Maj
Charles Macko of NY, both US Air Force, missing in Laos since February 2,
1969; Capt Stephen P. Hanson of CA, 1st Lt Jon G. Gardner of NC and Sgt
Timothy R. Bodden of IL, USMC, and Army GySgt Billy R. Laney of FL, all
missing in Laos since June 3, 1967; and Army CWO1 William A. Smith, Jr., of
MI, missing in South Vietnam since September 2, 1968.
The accounting for these nine Americans brings the number still missing and
unaccounted for from the Vietnam War to 2,005, 1511 in Vietnam, 421 in Laos,
65 in Cambodia and 8 in the territorial waters of the PRC. Nearly 85% of
all Americans lost in Laos and Cambodia were in areas then under wartime
Vietnamese control; therefore, it is to Vietnam that we look for archival
records and witnesses to assist in accounting for them....
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01/2020
https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt000000sjb43EAA
On April 24, 2000, Joint Task Force–Full Accounting (JTF-FA, now
DPAA) identified the remains of Lieutenant Commander Roger Burns
Innes, missing from the Vietnam War.
Lieutenant Commander Innes entered the U.S. Navy from Illinois
and was a member of Fighter Squadron 114, Carrier Air Wing
11. On December 27, 1967, he was the flight officer aboard an
F-4B Phantom II (bureau number 15-3005, call sign "Linfield
205") that launched from the USS Kitty Hawk (CVA-63) on an armed
reconnaissance mission against enemy targets along the coast of
Nghe An Province, North Vietnam. While in the target area, the
aircraft crashed for unknown reasons, killing LCDR Innes. The
crash site was not found, and LCDR Innes' remains were not
recovered at the time. In 1999, the Vietnamese government
repatriated human remains associated with this loss, and in
2000, U.S. analysts identified LCDR Innes from these remains.
Lieutenant Commander Innes 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.