NELSON, WILLIAM HUMPHREY

09/30/77 REMAINS RETURNED BY SRV

Name: William Humphrey Nelson
Branch/Rank: United States Air Force/O6
Unit:  355th Fighter Squadron
Date of Birth: 24 September 1917
Home City of Record: FILION MI
Date of Loss: 20 July 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 204557 North  1052059 East
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 1
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F105D #0116
Missions:
Other Personnel in Incident:
Refno: 0398

Source: Compiled by P.O.W. NETWORK from one or more of the following: raw
data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA
families, published sources, interviews and CACCF = Combined Action
Combat Casualty File. 2020

REMARKS: 09/30/77 REMAINS RETURNED BY SRV

CACCF CRASH/PILOT

No further information available at this time.
 

A review of Library of Congress holdings related to this case indicate that
documents differ widely in their statements -

Document 457/0398-1-01/296-298  states William Humprey's plane crashed and
remains were recovered at the time. Date of this report was 06/04/97.

Document 101/14324/1-4 states there was a burial and grave site later found
by a refugee in Hoa Binh (Ha Son Binh) Province. Date of this report was
05/24/91.

NOTE: several months before his loss, Col. Nelson wrote a note to parents of
another POW/MIA, Don C. Wood. Wood's case is full of discrepancies,
questions remain unanswered.

 

 
Sue Booms wore the silver bracelet on her wrist for years. ... She never knew the story behind the man her POW/MIA bracelet memorialized.

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02/2020

https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt000000uar0vEAA

Service Member

COL WILLIAM HUMPHREY NELSON

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On October 25, 1977, the Central Identification Lab-Hawaii (CILHI, now DPAA) identified the remains of Colonel William Humphrey Nelson, missing from the Vietnam War.

Colonel Nelson, who joined the U.S. Air Force from Michigan, served with the 355th Fighter Squadron. On July 20, 1966, he piloted an F-105D Thunderchief (serial number 61-116) on a combat mission over Hoa Binh Province in North Vietnam. During the mission, the Thunderchief was shot down and Col Nelson was killed. Hostile presence in the area inhibited search efforts during the war. In 1977, the Vietnamese government repatriated remains which were later identified as those of Col Nelson.

Colonel Nelson 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.