1 May 1998

    Date:         Fri, 1 May 1998 12:35:00 -0400
    From: DefenseLINK News <dlnews_sender@DTIC.MIL>
    Subject:      DoD Memoranda For Correspondents
    To: DODMFC-L@DTIC.MIL

    No. 074-M

    MEMORANDUM FOR CORRESPONDENTS                   May 1, 1998

    The remains of three American servicemen previously unaccounted-for
    from Southeast Asia have been identified and are being returned to
    their families for burial in the United States.

    They are identified as Col. Richard K. Allee, of Port Jervis, N.Y.;
    Col. Gordon L. Page, of Palo Alto, Calif.; and Capt. Armon D.
    Shingledecker, of Lima, Ohio, all U.S. Air Force.

    On Dec. 21, 1968, Allee was flying an escort mission over Khammouan
    Province, Laos.  During an attack dive, Allee's F-105D Thunderchief
    aircraft burst into flame.  No ejection from the aircraft was observed.

    In 1994, a joint U.S.-Lao investigative team interviewed local villagers
    in Khammouan Province about the location of an aircraft crash site.
    Several villagers described a crash site of an American aircraft that was
    close to the last reported position for Allee.  Team members searched the
    site and found evidence of a crash and a limited amount of aircraft
    wreckage.  The crash site was excavated in 1996 and remains, personal
    effects, and life support equipment were recovered.  Forensic analysis
    confirmed the remains were those of Allee.

    Page was flying an RF-101C Voodoo aircraft, in a flight of two, on a photo
    reconnaissance mission over Vinh, Vietnam, on March 7, 1966.  Both aircraft
    were lost and no contact was established with either pilot.

    In 1989, the Vietnamese turned over 28 sets of remains purported to be of
    American servicemen.  No names were associated with these remains.  One set
    of remains was identified as those of Page's wingman.

    Subsequent interviews of villagers in Nghe An Province by joint U.S.-
    Vietnamese investigative teams supplied information that correlated to the
    shootdown of Page.  However, no crash site was ever located.  A re-
    examination of some remains repatriated in 1989, based on advanced
    technology, determined that they were those of Page.

    On May 31, 1966, Shingledecker was a passenger in a C-130 Hercules flying a
    classified mission over North Vietnam.  The pilot attempted to establish
    radio contact in the early morning hours.  A flight of American F-4s flying
    over Thanh Hoa Province reported seeing a large ground flash shortly
    thereafter.  When the C-130 failed to return to base, a search mission was
    launched but no crash site was found.  It was determined that the point where
    the F-4 crewmembers saw the ground flash was in the intended flight path of
    the C-130.

    Later on May 31, English language Hanoi Radio and Peking Radio broadcasts
    reported the downing of a U.S. transport plane on the morning of May 31 over
    Thanh Hoa Province.  All crewmen were purportedly killed.  The Vietnamese
    subsequently turned over a document chronicling this incident.  The report
    indicated that the eight crewmen were killed in the crash, and the remains
    of five were repatriated in 1986.  The remains of the other three were
    destroyed in the crash.

    Vietnam repatriated 22 boxes of alleged American remains in April 1986.
    Shingledecker's name was associated with one of the sets.  Forensic analysis
    of the remains was performed using advanced technology.  They were identified
    as those of Shingledecker.

    All three sets of remains will be shipped from the U.S. Army's Central
    Identification Laboratory in Hawaii at a later date determined by the families.

    The U.S. government welcomes and appreciates the cooperation of the governments
    of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Lao People's Democratic Republic
    which resulted in the accounting of these servicemen.  We hope that such
    cooperation will bring increased results in the future.  Achieving the fullest
    possible accounting for these Americans is of the highest national priority.

    With the accounting of these three servicemen, there are currently 2,090
    unaccounted-for Americans from the Vietnam War.

    -END-

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