Bio, Skeen, Richard R.

Name: Richard Robert Skeen
Branch/Rank: United States Navy/O5
Unit:
Date of Birth: 11 February 1931
Home City of Record: RIVERSIDE CA
Date of Loss: 16 May 1970
Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 163659 North 1083157 East
Status (in 1973): Killed In Action/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: EKA3B
Missions:
Other Personnel in Incident: Edwin Conner, KIA/BNR
Refno:

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

South Vietnam, pre-1975: PART V -- THE ACCIDENT (EXCERPT FROM REPORT)
Country: South Vietnam, pre-1975

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Date:	Sat, 25 Jul 2015 22:55:10 +0000
From:	William M. Killian

Info on three crewmen: CDR Richard R. Skeen, LCDR Eugene F. McNally, and ADCS Edwin R. Conner. On May 15, 1969, one of VAQ-130's detachments was enlarged into a new Tactical Electronic Warfare squadron, VAQ-135, homeported at NAS Alameda, California. The new unit first deployed to Southeast Asia aboard the USS Coral Sea (CVA-43) in September, 1969. On 16 May 1970, one of VAQ-135's EKA-3B aircraft (BuNo 142657) was transiting from the Naval Air Station at Cubi Point, Philippines, to USS CORAL SEA on Yankee Station. As the aircraft approached Yankee Station it was diverted to land at Da Nang Air Base in South Vietnam. During the diversion radar contact was lost. Search and rescue operations found wreckage and recovered the body of one crewman. Three men died in the loss: pilot CDR Richard R. Skeen, navigator LCDR Eugene F. McNally (body recovered), and flight engineer ADCS Edwin R. Conner. ADCS Conner was 35 years old and left behind a wife and two children. [Taken from virtualwall.org] Regards, William M. Killian Pioneer Valley High School

CDR RICHARD ROBERT SKEEN

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Conflict
Service
Status

VIETNAM WAR
UNITED STATES NAVY
Unaccounted For

On May 16, 1970, an EKA-3B Skywarrior (bureau number 142657, call sign “Homebrew 615”) carrying three crew members took off from Cubi Point, Philippines, on a transport mission. During the mission, “Homebrew 615” crashed in to the Gulf of Tonkin in the vicinity of (GC) 49Q BU 368 386, due to unknown causes. An extensive search was immediately conducted, which recovered and identified the remains of the navigator from “Homebrew 615’s” crew. The other two crew members of the aircraft are still unaccounted for.

Commander Richard Robert Skeen, who joined the U.S. Navy from California, was a member of Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 135. He was the pilot of “Homebrew 615” when it went down, and was lost with the aircraft. His remains were not recovered following the incident. Today, Commander Skeen 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 Non-recoverable.

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CDR RICHARD ROBERT SKEEN

Unit VAQ 135 CVA 43
Historical Country of Loss
South Vietnam
Current Country of Loss
SOUTH CHINA SEA
Home of Record CA