Adopted POW/KIA/MIA Tributes
Adopted POW/KIA/MIA Tributes
Adopted Missing In Action (MIA) Service Member
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Name: Service: Rank: Unit: Status in 1973: Category: Refno: Date of Birth: Home of Record: Date of Loss: Country of Loss: Loss Coordinates: Aircraft: Other Personnel in Incident: Remarks: |
Frank Clifford Green, Jr. United States Navy Commander Attack Squadron 212, USS Hancock (CVA 19) Missing In Action 2 1895 5 June 1935 Waskom, Texas 10 July 1972 North Vietnam 201100 North 1055700 East (WH871207) A4F None None |
The USS Hancock first saw action in Vietnam when aircraft from her decks flew strikes against enemy vessels in Saigon Harbor in late 1944. The Essex class carrier, extensively modernized, returned to Vietnam during the early years of the Vietnam war. The attack carriers USS Coral Sea, USS Hancock and USS Ranger formed Task Force 77, the carrier striking force of the U.S. Seventh Fleet in the Western Pacific. The Hancock was the smallest type of flattop to operate in the Vietnam theater, but pilots from her fighter and attack squadrons distinguished themselves throughout the duration of the war. On June 12, 1966, Commander Hal Marr, the CO of VF-211 gained the first F8 Russian MiG kill.
Commander Frank C. Green was a pilot assigned to Attack Squadron 212 onboard the USS Hancock. On July 10, 1972, Commander Green was launched in his A4F Skyhawk aircraft to lead a night armed reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam.
Green and his wingman had completed the armed reconnaissance of an assigned road segment and proceeded on their secondary mission to locate and destroy any targets of opportunity they might find. They sighted vehicle lights some distance south of their position and flew in that direction in order to make an unlighted bomb attack. Shortly after the attack, the wingman observed a small flash in the general target area immediately followed by a large, fuel type, secondary explosion on the ground. Not hearing an acknowledgement that Commander Green was off the target or a reply to his comments about the explosion, the wingman suspected that the explosion might be Commander Green's aircraft.
Search and rescue efforts were initiated immediately, but attempts made to contact Commander Green met with negative results. The crash site was located, and shortly after, the crash site had been camouflaged. It was believed that Green would not have camouflaged the site before he could be rescued. Since it was not known if Commander Green was killed in the crash of his aircraft or survived to be captured, Green was placed in a casualty status of Missing in Action. Since the area in which he crashed (about 5 miles southwest of the city of Ninh Binh in Ninh Binh Province) was near a heavily populated area, there is every reason to believe the North Vietnamese could tell us what happened to Commander Frank C. Green.
When 591 Americans were released from POW camps at the end of the war, Commander Green was not among them. Military officials were startled that "hundreds" suspected to be prisoner or expected to be released, were not freed. Since that time, nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing, prisoner or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. Government. Many officials, having reviewed this largely classified information, believe that there are hundreds of Americans still alive in captivity today.
Whether Commander Frank C. Green, Jr. survived to be captured is not known. If he is among those believed to still be alive is uncertain. What is certain, however, is that the United States has a legal and moral obligation to the men she sent to war in her name. If there is even one American held alive against his will, we must do everything in our power to bring him home.
The following letter was shared with the P.O.W. Network by Stacey Jones on 8 August 2001.
Dear Ms. Dietch:
Thank you for your September 13 inquiry to Assistant Secretary Veroneau on behalf of Senator Harkin's constituent, Ms. Stacey Jones. She is seeking information on Navy Commander Frank C. Green, Jr., who is unaccounted for from the Vietnam War. As the Department of Defence (DoD) agency responsible for accounting for missing Americans from our nation's wars, we are pleased to provide you the following information.
Commander Green was lost July 10, 1972, when his A-4 aircraft crashed during a night armed reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam. His wingman reported that Commander Green crashed while making a bombing run on the target. After the crash, the wingman began a search under flare illumination and identified the crash site. A search and rescue effort was initiated but no emergency signals were heard and no voice contact was ever established with Commander Green. Returning American POWs did not report ever seeing him in the North Vietnamese prison system or in the jungle prisons in Laos and South Vietnam.
Since 1993, DoD investigators have conducted seven investigations in Vietnam in an effort to account fro Commander Green. Although his crash site has been located, he remains unaccounted for at this writing. In accordance with 50 USC Sec. 435 Note (Public Law 102-190, commonly refered to as the McCain Bill) we are unable to provide Ms. Jones with more information regarding Commander Green because his family has not consented to the release of information regarding his loss.
Ms. Jones makes reference to a claim that a search and rescue team found that his aircraft crash site had been camouflaged. We have reviewed all of our agency's material on Commander Green's loss and are unable to find any information to support a belief that his crash site was camouflaged.
In recent years, US teams have visited the crash site which is at the top of a 720-foot karst comprised mainly of large, unstable boulders and deep crevasses. The slope of the mountain runs 80 - 90 degrees and our teams had to use ropes and harnesses to get to the site. This fact further belies the claim that anyone could have camouflaged the crash site immediately following the loss.
Commander Green has not been forgotten. President Clinton, like President Reagen and Bush, has affirmed the POW/MIA issue to be a matter of the highest national priority. At present, the DoD has more than 500 people in Washington, Hawaii, Southeast Asia, and Russia who work full time to determine the fates of our unaccounted for Americans. DoD is diligently prusuing accounting for our missing personnel in Southeast Asia. Since 1988, American teams have completed more than 2,000 investigations in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia in an attempt to account for Americans lost during the war. These efforts have resulted in the recovery, identification, and return of 590 missing Americans for interment with full military honors. At this writing, 1,993 remain unaccounted for from the war in Southeast Asia.
I hope this information is helpful. We who are privilged to be involved in this important humanitarian issue gratefully acknowledge and appreciate Senator Harkin's suport for our efforts. If we can be of further assistance, please contact us.
Sincerely,
[signed] Charles W. Henley
Charles W. Henley
Special Assistant for Legislative Affairs
Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office
cc: Navy casualty office
Since the end of the Vietnam War well over 21,000 reports of American prisoners, missing and otherwise unaccounted for have been received by our government. Many of these reports document LIVE America Prisoners of War remaining captive throughout Southeast Asia TODAY. Fighter pilots were called upon to fly in many dangerous circumstances, and they were prepared to be wounded, killed or captured. It probably never occurred to them that they could be abandoned by the country they so proudly served.
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Our appreciation goes to the following: P.O.W. Network as the resource for the information and photo presented here. They compile information from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews and Combined Action Combat Casualty File (CACCF). Task Force Omega, Inc. as the provider of the A4F Skyhawk image.
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