WRIGHT, JERDY ALBERT JR.
Remains Returned 21 June 1988
ID Announced 29 September 1989
Name: Jerdy Albert Wright, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit: 15th Tactical
Reconnaissance Squadron
Date of Birth: 21 December 1935
Home City of Record: Randolph AFB TX
Date of Loss: 07 March 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 190500N 1044600E (VG754099)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: RF101C
Refno: 0264
Other Personnel in Incident: Gordon L. Page (missing)
Source: Compiled 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 in 2020.
REMARKS:
SYNOPSIS: Maj. Jerdy A. Wright and Maj. Gordon L. Page were the two pilots
of an RF101C assigned a reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam on March
7, 1966. When their aircraft was about 10 miles northwest of the city of Con
Cuong in Nghe An Province, North Vietnam, it went down. Both Wright and Page
were declared Missing in Action.
The Defense Intelligence Agency further expanded the classification of
Missing in Action by adding an enemy knowledge factor indicator of 4.
Category 4 was generally applied to cases in which the time or location of
loss was unknown, or cases in which no solid evidence existed that indicated
that the enemy had knowledge of the fate of the lost personnel.
Wright and Page's families waited for the war to end. They understood that
the possibility existed that their men might have been captured. Even though
they did not hear from them, they knew that many were known to be prisoner
who had never been allowed to write home.
In 1973, 591 American prisoners were released from communist prison camps in
Southeast Asia, but Page and Wright were not among them. The Vietnamese
denied any knowledge of the two.
On June 21, 1988, the Vietnamese returned the remains of Maj. Jerdy A.
Wright, Jr. to U.S. control. For over 22 years - dead or alive - Maj. Wright
had been a captive in enemy hands.
Since American involvement in Indochina ended in 1975, over 10,000 reports
have been received related to Americans missing in Southeast Asia. Many
authorities are convinced beyond doubt that hundreds remain alive in
captivity. With absence of proof that he died, Maj. Page could have survived
to be captured. He may be among those who are said to be still alive. If so,
what must he think of the country he proudly served?
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02/2020
https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt000000sjb3tEAA
On September 26, 1989, the Joint Task Force-Full Accounting (JTF-FA,
now DPAA) identified the remains of Colonel Jerdy Albert Wright
Jr., missing from the Vietnam War.
Colonel Wright entered the U.S. Air Force from Texas and was a
member of the 15th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron. On March 5,
1966, he piloted an RF-101C Voodoo (serial number 56-0043) on a
photo reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam. Colonel
Wright's aircraft was shot down by enemy fire during the mission
and he was killed. Recovery efforts following his loss were
unsuccessful. In 1989, the Vietnamese government repatriated a
set of human remains to the U.S. which were eventually
identified as those of Colonel Wright.
Colonel Wright is memorialized on 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.