Servicemen Missing From Vietnam War Identified

They were part of a crew on a C-130 Hercules that crashed near Da Nang, South Vietnam in 1968.

The Kham Duc Special Forces Camp near Da Nang, South Vietnam under evacuation, May 10th - 12th 1968. This is where the C-130 carrying Capt. Orr and Airman Long crashed while taking off due to heavy enemy ground fire. Photo: Wikimedia

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office announced today that the remains of two U.S. servicemen, missing in action from the Vietnam War, have been identified and will be returned to their families for burial with full military honors.

Captain Warren R. Orr Jr., U.S. Army is one of the two men who were recovered

They are Captain Warren R. Orr Jr., U.S. Army, of Kewanee, Illinois; and Airman 1st Class George W. Long, U.S. Air Force, of Medicine Lodge, Kansas. George Long was buried September 30th in Medicine Lodge and Warren Orr's burial is being set by his family.

On May 12th, 1968, these men were part of a crew on a C-130 Hercules evacuating Vietnamese citizens from the Kham Duc Special Forces Camp near Da Nang, South Vietnam. While taking off, the crew reported taking heavy enemy ground fire. A forward air controller flying in the area reported seeing the plane explode in mid-air soon after leaving the runway.

In 1985 and 1991, U.S. officials received remains and identification tags from sources claiming they belonged to men in this crew. Scientific analysis revealed they were not American remains, but it was believed the Vietnamese sources knew where the crash site was located.

In 1993, a joint/U.S.-Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV) team, led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), traveled to Kham Duc and interviewed four local citizens concerning the incident. They led the team to the crash site, and turned over remains and identification tags they had recovered in 1983 while looking for scrap metal. During this visit, the team recovered human remains and aircraft wreckage at the site.

In 1994, another joint team excavated the crash site and recovered remains, pieces of life-support equipment, crew-related gear and personal effects.

Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from JPAC and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory also used mitochondrial DNA and dental comparisons in the identification of the remains.