Lt. John R. Painter, Jr. was a pilot assigned to Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 130, Detachment 3. On June 18, 1971, he launched in his EKA3B Skywarrior aircraft on an operational flight. The other crew onboard the aircraft that day consisted of
Lt. Junior Grade Raymond V. DeBlasio and ADJ2 Barry A. Bidwell.
The A3 Skywarrior is a three-place light bomber,
reconnaissance plane, electronic warfare craft or aerial tanker, depending upon its outfitting. The Skywarrior flown by Painter aircraft was outfitted to serve as the tanker aircraft, prepared to render valuable assistance to other aircraft returning to the ship with very little fuel. This was an extremely important job, as some types of fighter aircraft launched with a minimum amount of fuel in order to
accommodate a heavier bomb load, and sometimes arrived back at ship low on fuel.
Upon launch, Painter’s aircraft had some mechanical failure and crashed into the Gulf of Tonkin. No remains were recovered for the crew. They were listed as Reported Dead/Body Not Recovered and as a Non-Battle casualty.
The three-man crew were listed as killed, body not recovered. They are among over 2300 Americans who remain unaccounted for from the Vietnam war. The cases of some, like Painter, DeBlasio and
Bidwell seem clear - that they perished and cannot be recovered. Unfortunately, mounting evidence indicates that hundreds of Americans are still captive, waiting for the country they proudly served to secure their freedom.
In our haste to leave an unpopular war, it now appears we abandoned some of our best men. In our haste to heal the wounds of this same war, will we sign their death warrants? Or will we do what we can to bring them home?
Incidental Information
Click
Here to view a queried report of messages
and files concerning Barry
A. Bidwell from the POW/MIA
Database at the Library of Congress's Federal
Research Division. (Links
will open in New Browser Window).
| Honored
on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial: Panel 03W - - Line 80
|
The VietNam Veterans' Memorial Wall Page
Did you serve with this HERO? Is
he Family, an old friend, or a High School Sweetheart? Is there something special you
would like to share about Barry -- If so, I would like to hear
about it and post it on this page!!
Please send me an e-mail
-----Original Message-----
From: eugene [mailto:ehorvath4060@wideopenwest.com]
Sent: Saturday, November 23, 2002 7:44 PM
To: mikeblades01@earthlink.com
Subject: Barry Bidwell
Barry and i work on the line together in VAH-123. He was one of the
nicest,easy going people that i knew. I was aboard the U.S.S. HANCOCK
CVA-19. I didn't know it at the time, but, Barry and his squadron had
just relieved us of our duty on Yankee Station in Viet Nam. We had been
out there since Nov. 70. I didn't hear of Barrys accident till many
years later. I was shocked. My name is Eugene Horvath,but when we were
in 123 i went by PANTHER. That was given to me by a fellow shipmate,
John Burkhart. I still stay in contact with some of my old shipmates
that knew Barry. Take care and God Bless. |
