P-3 Crew MIA/POWs

For the following men, this information was recorded: Unit: Patrol Squadron 26, U Tapao Airbase, Thailand
Date of Loss: 06 February 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 093050N 1040730E (VR040520)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: P3B
Refno: 2022

Donald Frederick Burnett

Rank/Branch: E8/US Navy
Date of Birth: 06 July 1935
Home City of Record: Montgomery AL

Armando Chapa, Jr

Rank/Branch: E4/US Navy
Date of Birth: 31 March 1948
Home City of Record: San Jose CA

William Farrell Farris

Rank/Branch: E4/US Navy
Date of Birth: 15 December 1942
Home City of Record: W. Salem IL

Donald Louis Gallagher

Rank/Branch: E7/US Navy
Date of Birth: 02 March 1938
Home City of Record: Sheboygan WI

Roy Arthur Huss

Rank/Branch: O2/US Navy
Date of Birth: 29 July 1943
Home City of Record: Eau Claire WI

Thomas Paul Jones

Rank/Branch: O3/US Navy
Date of Birth: 02 January 1943
Home City of Record: Buffalo NY

Homer Eugene McKay

Rank/Branch: E5/US Navy
Date of Birth: 18 October 1938
Home City of Record: Shallowater TX

James Clifford Newman, Jr.

Rank/Branch: E6/US Navy
Date of Birth: 24 September 1932
Home City of Record: Knoxville TN

Melvin Carl Thompson

Rank/Branch: E6/US Navy
Date of Birth: 24 May 1935
Home City of Record: Colquitt GA

Lynn Michael Travis

Rank/Branch: O2/US Navy
Date of Birth: 25 May 1941
Home City of Record: Newport AR

Source: www.scopesys.com. Compiled from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Updated by the P.O.W. NETWORK in 1998.

SYNOPSIS: At 0900 hours on February 5, 1968, a P3 "Orion" aircraft assigned to Patrol Squadron 26 at U Tapao Airbase, Thailand, left on a "Market Time" mission over the Gulf of Thailand (Gulf of Siam). They were scheduled to return to their base at about 0900 hours the following morning.

The crew on board the aircraft included Lt. Thomas P. Jones; LtJg. Lynn M. Travis; LtJg. Roy A. Huss; AXCS Donald F. Burnett; AX3 Armando Chapa Jr.; AX3 William F. Farris (AX designates Antisubmarine warfare technicians and related duties); AOC Donald L. Gallagher; AMH2 Homer E. McKay; ADR1 James C. Newman Jr.; AE1 Melvin C. Thompson (A designates in many cases, aviation personnel, i.e. AE1 is Aviation Electrician's Mate First Class).

As antisubmarine warfare was all but unknown in Vietnam, there were a variety of duties handled by those trained in antisubmarine warfare. As marking submarines, and/or destroying them involved the use of marking buoys, electronic "ears" and other technical equipment suited for target marking, antisubmarine teams were frequently used for search missions. They also sometimes assisted in attacks on small enemy water craft.

Shortly after midnight on February 6, the Orion reported a surface contact. Some two hours later it reported another contact somewhat further east. The last report received from the Orion was after 0300 hours. No subsequent communication was received.

An emergency communication alert for the aircraft was declared shortly after daybreak and a full search and rescue (SAR) was declared. In the late afternoon of February 6, wreckage and debris were sighted and identified.

On February 7 search and rescue operations were terminated at sundown. Salvage operations were conducted from February 11 through March 21. The investigating officer concluded that the Orion had impacted with the water, and that the aircraft had been completely destroyed, and that all of the crewmembers had died instantly.

The Orion went down about 50 miles off the shores of South Vietnam's An Xuyen Province in the Gulf of Thailand. Presumably, all the crew aboard are "buried" at sea - an honorable burial for a naval man. This crew is listed with honor among the missing because no remains were ever found.

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