Bio, Skinner, Owen G.

Name: Owen George Skinner
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit: 23rd Tactical Air Support Squadron, Nakhon Phanom Airport, Thailand
Date of Birth: 18 November 1933
Home City of Record: Lima OH
Date of Loss: 12 December 1970
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 163900N 1061900E (XD410417)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: O2A
Refno: 1683

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 April 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.

Pete was in AvCad nav school with me at Harlingen '55, later flew in
F101B backseat with me in 445 FIS Wurtsmith '63-'66, was my
across-the-street neighbor - Pete was a nav, always a nav - that makes
Thos Allan Ducket the pilot in this loss -

SYNOPSIS: 1Lt. Thomas A. Duckett and Maj. Owen G. Skinner comprised
the crew of an O2A spotter aircraft which departed NKP Airport on December
12, 1970 on a Forward Air Control (FAC) mission over Laos. (NOTE: While
Defense Department records indicate that Duckett was the observer, and
Skinner the pilot, U.S. Air Force records indicate that Duckett was the
pilot. The military occupational specialties (MOS) of both men are
classified, and it cannot be determined which was the pilot and which was
the observer.)

The Cessna O2 was a stopgap replacement aircraft for the O1 until the North
American OV10 arrived in Vietnam. The Air Force operated 346 of the aircraft.
The A model flown by Duckett and Skinner served the function of marking targets
with marking rockets. It was a small, poorly armored aircraft which normally
flew unarmed.

While the aircraft was over Savannakhet Province, Laos, about 6 miles east
southeast of the city of Sepone, it was shot down. After the aircraft crashed,
radio contact was made with 1Lt. Duckett. The limited information available
publicly does not reveal whether Skinner also survived the crash of the
aircraft, nor does it indicate that any efforts were made to recover the crew.
Family members report, however, that the following day, search aircraft located
the aircraft intact on the ground in a small clearing. There was no sign of fire
damage to the aircraft, and parachutes were seen in the area of the crash. For
the following two days electronic emergency radio beepers were head, but could
never be pinpointed as they were shifting frequently. Hostile ground fire and
activity prevented a ground search. Both men were declared Missing in Action.

Perhaps because the war in Laos was "secret", little information was available
to the families of Skinner and Duckett regarding their crash and fates. Most of
the information was classified and unavailable to them. Like many POW/MIA
families, they resorted to filing numerous requests of Government agencies
through the Freedom of Information Act. One such classified report received by
the Duckett family described an American prisoner fitting Duckett's description
who was identified in Laos in February 1974.

Like Duckett and Skinner, many Americans downed in Laos were known to be alive
after the crash of their aircraft, or when they were last seen on the ground. In
all, there are nearly 600 Americans lost in Laos. Even though the Pathet Lao
stated they held "tens of tens" of American prisoners, they maintained that,
after the war, they would be released only from Laos.

The U.S. Government, in negotiating the end of American involvement in the
second Indochina War, did not negotiate with the communist Pathet Lao, a
governmental faction they did not officially recognize. As a result, not one of
the nearly 600 Americans lost in Laos was ever released.

Intelligence and refugee reports from the region continue to mount that there
are still Americans in captivity in Southeast Asia. Americans who fought for
their country. Americans who should be home. If there is only ONE remaining, we
owe him our very best efforts to bring him home.

Thomas A. Duckett was promoted to the rank of Major and Owen G. Skinner to the
rank of Colonel during the period they were maintained Missing in Action.

Laos                     Owen G. Skinner
                      Thomas Allen Duckett
                             (1683)

On December 12, 1970, Skinner and Duckett departed Thailand in an
0-2 to provide forward air control support to a B-57 aircraft
engaged in an air strike on trucks in an area nine kilometers
southeast of Tchepone in Savannakhet Province, Laos. The aircraft
did not return from its mission and its wreckage was located in the
target area and approximately 500 meters south of Route 9. Both
airmen were declared missing.

The crew of the B-57G was also downed during this mission but the
crewmen were rescued. The crew of the B-57G reported it had
sustained a mid-air collision with an 0-2. An Air Force inquiry
found case 1683 to have been a hostile loss due to it being a high
threat area and nothing substantive in the B-57G crew statements to
confirm that a mid-air collision had occurred even though the B-57G
crash side was near the O-2 crash site.

A search and rescue aircraft located the O-2 wreckage on December
13 and observed a parachute hanging from a tree near the crash
site. An emergency beeper was also heard in the area on December
14. The area was characterized as full of hostile ground forces.
The rescue aircraft made radio contact with someone but was unable
to determine who or where.

Returning U.S. POWs were unable to confirm the crew survived into
captivity. After Operation Homecoming, they were declared
dead/body not recovered.

In September 1989 the area of the 0-2 crash site was surveyed by
the Joint Casualty Resolution Center and there was no evidence of
the wreckage of the aircraft. The area was described as a well
established farming community.

The two principals of the Lima Area MIA-POW, Jack and Wilma
Laeufer, are cousins of USAF Col. Owen G. Skinner, an American
pilot missing in Laos since 1970. The Laeufer's sell POW/MIA items
by mail in order to raise public awareness of the POW/MIA issue and
do not solicit public donations. From 1984 to 1991, the Laeufers
also have donated $107,300 to 24 other non-profit organizations who
devote their efforts full-time to the return of missing American
servicemen.

The Laeufers also have been involved with planting "freedom trees,"
building and displaying simulated POW cages, conducting candlelight
vigils, participating in Christmas tree festivals and many other
POW/MIA related activities. In October, 1992, the Laeufers
attended the dedication of the Australian Vietnam Forces National
Memorial in Canberra, Australia at their own expense.

COL OWEN GEORGE SKINNER

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Conflict
Service
Status

VIETNAM WAR
UNITED STATES AIR FORCE
Unaccounted For

On December 12, 1970, an O-2A Skymaster (tail number 67-21428, call sign "Nail 84") with two crew members departed Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand, on a nighttime visual reconnaissance mission over central Laos. The aircraft failed to return to base, and was declared missing when its fuel supply would have been exhausted, approximately three hours after the crew's last radio contact with the airborne command and control center. A search was initiated the following morning and the crash site was located, along with one parachute on the ground nearby, and rescue beeper signals were detected. However, the two missing crew members could not be located, and enemy presence in the area prevented ground search operations.

Major Owen George Skinner, who entered the U.S. Air Force from Ohio, served with the 23rd Tactical Air Support Squadron and was the navigator aboard this aircraft at the time of its loss. He remains unaccounted for. Subsequent to the incident, and while carried in the status of missing in action (MIA), the U.S. Air Force promoted Major Skinner to the rank of Colonel (Col). Today, Colonel Skinner is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Based on all information available, DPAA assessed the individual's case to be in the analytical category of Active Pursuit.

If you are a family member of this serviceman, DPAA can provide you with additional information and analysis of your case. Please contact your casualty office representative.

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Col OWEN GEORGE SKINNER

Unit 23 TASS, 504 TASG
Historical Country of Loss
Laos
Current Country of Loss
LAOS
Home of Record OH