Healing Through History experts have worked on the cases of more than 600 individuals who were ground losses or lost in an aircraft either over land or over water in four different conflicts:
World War 2: Ground Loss - ~300, Air Loss - ~70
Korean War: Ground Loss - 10, Air Loss - 2
Cold War: Ground Loss -1, Air Loss - 3
Vietnam War: Ground Loss - ~100, Air Loss - ~ 150
Missing-in-Action Case Studies
The HTH analytical approach is to help each family by reviewing all available case documents, looking for any overlooked clues, or missing information, and evaluating what hypotheses have been previously evaluated. We then go through the following case review process:
- Family’s case goals: confirm loss location (more common with aircraft losses), imagery analysis of suspected loss locations, document discovery and/or translation, second opinion on a DPAA assessment, case status change (i.e., Deferred or Non-recoverable to Active Pursuit)
- Review the Case summary, current case status, and status history
- Check official Record of Loss documents (e.g., AF Form 484, DD Form 1800, or similar)
- Review previous witness statements or unit investigations
- Review period and current imagery (satellite, aerial, ground, water)
- Search for and translate Vietnamese documents (e.g., Group 559 shootdown reports, unit histories, memoirs, or biographies)
- Review post-loss SEA documents (e.g., unit histories, memoirs, site photographs)
- Review site photos to include wreckage
- Review individual aircraft histories (e.g., did the missing aircraft have any modifications or special equipment or ordnance?)
- Review charts or maps from that period, especially ones with wartime annotations
- Review photographs of the missing persons and their aircraft, if applicable
- Plot loss and search locations and consider datum shifts
SECTION UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Case REFNO 1781, Laos - USAF F-4D lost in the vicinity of Ban Karai on 26 November 1971. Capt Steadman, pilot, and 1Lt Beutel, WSO/pilot, were reported missing.
Case REFNO 1973, Vietnam - USMC A-6A shot down near village of An Thuy on 27 December 1972. Capt Chapman, pilot, and 1Lt Forrester, navigator/bombardier, were reported missing.
- Hear their families' story and the successful effort to find these missing heros. The Final Flight of Captain Forrester
1:50,000 scale map, Sheet 6343-III, L7014, Edition 1, 1965
