RENO, RALPH JOSEPH

Name: Ralph Joseph Reno
Rank/Branch: E8/US Army Special Forces
Unit: Headquarters & Headquarters Company, 5th SFG
Date of Birth: 03 November 1920 (Chicago IL)
Home City of Record: Fayetteville NC
Date of Loss: 03 July 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 152607N 1074758E (ZB188874)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: CH34
Refno: 0383
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 July 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 1998.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On July 3, 1966, Master Sergeant Ralph J. Reno was a passenger
onboard a CH34 helicopter which crashed and burned in Northwest Quang Tin
Province, South Vietnam. The helicopter landed in a very difficult and hilly
area about five miles from the Laos border.

Search missions were conducted from July 4 to July 8, and bodies of all crew
onboard the aircraft were recovered except that of MSGT Reno. During
searches, Reno's rucksack was found, but no other items belonging to him
were seen.

The U.S. Army determined that there was little chance that Reno survived,
and classified him Killed/Body Not Recovered. The helicopter apparently did
not crash due to enemy hostility, and his loss is listed as non-hostile,
non-battle related.

Over 10,000 reports relating to Americans still prisoner, missing, or
unaccounted for in Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. since the
war ended. Many experts believe that hundreds of Americans are still alive
in captivity today. Whether Ralph Reno is among them is a matter for
speculation.

For the families of the men who remain missing, every report brings the
agony of wondering if their loved ones are alive or dead. There are hundreds
of children whose lives are paralyzed in waiting for their fathers to keep a
promise to come home to them. There are hundreds of captive Americans
waiting for their country to keep a promise to them to bring them home.