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My adopted Louisiana
MIA's
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Frank Alton Armstrong III
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"Dutch"
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A man that flew higher than
the stars
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Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
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Unit: 1st Air Commando Squadron
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Date of Birth: 07 March
1930
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Home City of Record: Shreveport
LA
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Date of Loss: 06 October
1967
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Country of Loss: Laos
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Loss Coordinates: 143757N
1072758E
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Status (in 1973): Killed/Body
Not Recovered
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.Category: 2
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.Acft/Vehicle/Ground: A1E
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.Other Personnel in Incident:
(none missing)
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| . |
| Source:Compiled
by Homecoming II Project 15 March |
| 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. |
| Government agency sources, correspondence
with |
| POW/MIA families, published
sources, interviews......... |
| Copyright 1991 Homecoming II
Project. |
| . |
|
REMARKS:
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| . |
| SYNOPSIS:The
Douglas A1 Skyraider ("Spad") is a highly |
| maneuverable,propeller driven
aircraft designed as a |
| multipurpose attack bomber or
utility aircraft. The E model |
| generally carried two crewmen.
The A1 was first used by |
| the Air Force in its Tactical
Air Command to equip the first |
| Air Commando Group engaged in
counterinsurgency |
| operations in South Vietnam,
and later used in a |
| variety of roles, ranging from
multi-seat electronic |
| intelligence gathering to Navy
antisubmarine warfare and |
| rescue missions. The venerable
fighter aircraft was retired |
| in the spring of 1968 and had
flown in more than twenty |
| model variations, probably more
than any other U.S. |
| combat aircraft. |
| . |
| Maj. Frank A. Armstrong III
was the pilot of an A1E |
| which was on an ordnance delivery
mission on October 6, |
| 1967. Armstrong's was
the lead aircraft in a flight of two |
| A1Es from the 1st Air Commando
Squadron based at |
| Pleiku, South Vietnam. |
| . |
| Armstrong's aircraft was struck
by hostile ground fire as |
| the flight was in Attopeu Province,
Laos, near the tri-border |
| area of Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.
According to other |
| flight members, Maj. Armstrong
did not have time to |
| parachute out of the aircraft
as it crashed to the ground |
| in an inverted position. |
| . |
| Frank A. Armstrong is listed
among the missing because |
| his remains were never found
to send home to the country |
| he served. He died a tragically
ironic death in the midst |
| of war. But, for his family,
the case seems clear that he |
| died on that day. The
fact that they have no body to bury |
| with honor is not of great significance. |
| . |
| For others who are missing,
however, the evidence leads |
| not to death, but to survival.
Since the war ended, over |
| 10,000 reports received relating
to Americans still |
| unaccounted for in Indochina
have convinced experts that |
| hundreds of men are still alive,
waiting for their country to |
| rescue them. The notion
that Americans are dying without |
| hope in the hands of a long-ago
enemy belies the idea that |
| we left Vietnam with honor.
It also signals that tens of |
| thousands of lost lives were
a frivolous waste of our |
| best men. |
| . |
