Air Force Pilot Missing in Action From Vietnam War is Identified

An Air Force pilot since 1967 is located and brought back to the United States for burial.

Capt. Lorenza Conner'a F4 Phantom, similar to the aircraft in this photo, crashed while flying with three other F4's. Courtesy: schnelzer.org

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

He is Captain Lorenza Conner, U.S. Air Force, of Cartersville, Georgia. He will be buried October 25th in Cartersville.

On October 27th 1967, Capt. Conner and his copilot flew an F-4D Phantom II fighter jet in a flight of four on a combat air patrol mission over North Vietnam where the plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire over Tuyen Quang Province, North Vietnam.

The copilot ejected safely, was captured and later released by Vietnamese forces, but Lorenza Conner could not eject from the aircraft before it crashed.

In 1992, Vietnamese citizens told U.S. officials that they had information concerning the remains of missing U.S. servicemen and they turned over Capt. Conner's identification tag.

Between 1992 and 2003, several joint U.S./Socialist Republic of Vietnam (S.R.V.) teams, led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), investigated this incident, interviewed witnesses and surveyed the crash site.

At the crash site, teams found aircrew-related equipment and aircraft wreckage consistent with an F-4 Phantom II.

In 2007, another joint team excavated the site and recovered human remains.

Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from JPAC also used dental comparisons in the identification of Capt. Lorenza Conner's remains.