Remains of four US troops returning from Vietnam War
WASHINGTON - The remains of four
U.S. troops missing since the Vietnam War, including the only
member of the Coast Guard missing from that conflict, are being
returned to the United States, the Pentagon said on Monday.
The four were aboard a Big HH-3E "Jolly Green Giant"
helicopter that was shot down and crashed in flames near Ban
Kaboui, Laos, not far from the Vietnam border, on June 9,
1968, while they were on a search and rescue mission for a
downed American pilot.
Their remains were recovered this year in Laos.
The four were identified by forensic experts at the U.S. Army's
Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii as Coast Guard Lt.
Jack Rittichier of Barberton, Ohio; Air Force Capt. Richard
Yeend Jr., Mobile, Alabama; Air Force Sgt. James Locker,
Sidney, Ohio, and Air Force Staff Sgt. Elmer Holden of
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Rittichier, who was on an exchange program with the Air Force,
was the only Coast Guardsman missing in action from the war.
He and Yeend were piloting the big helicopter when it was
downed.
Approximately 1,800 American troops are still missing from the
war.
Reuters - September 29, 2003.
|