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Gehrig, James M., Jr., Major, United States Air Force
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Department of the U.S. Air Force

 

 

Major (O4)

 

Loss Coordinates Map -- Click for larger view

Loss Coordinates Map

 

 

 

 

 

 

Name:

James Monroe Gehrig, Jr.

Branch / Rank:

Air Force  / Major ( O4)

Unit:

441st Bombardment Squadron

Date of Birth:

April 5, 1930

Home of Record:

Williamsport, PA

Date of Loss:

June 18, 1965

Country of Loss:

South Vietnam/Over Water

Loss Coordinates:

173000N 1180000E

Status (in 1973):

Killed/Body Not Recovered

Category:

5

Duty:

B52 Crew member

Other personnel in incident:

James A. Marshall; Robert L. Armond; Tyrrell G. Lowry; William E. Neville; Harold J. Roberts Jr.; Frank P. Watson (all missing)

Remarks:

Source:  Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 September 1990 from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews.

 

Boeing B52 Stratofortress bombers have long been the Air Force’s most important strategic bomber. Used heavily in Vietnam, the venerable aircraft continued its role throughout the Southeast Asia conflict and played an important role in the Persian Gulf war two decades later.

On June 18, 1965, two B52 aircraft were performing a mission over the South China Sea when they collided. The aircraft were approximately 250 miles offshore at the point of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) when the accident occurred. Apparently the crew of one of the aircraft survived or were recovered, but the entire crew of the second remain missing.

The missing crew includes pilots Capt. Robert L. Armond and 1Lt. James A. Marshall, and crewmembers Maj. James M. Gehrig, Capt. Tyrrell G. Lowry, Capt. Frank P. Watson, TSgt. William E. Neville, and MSgt. Harold J. Roberts Jr.

All the crew and passengers on board the B52 downed that day were confirmed dead. It is unfortunate, but a cold reality of war that their remains were not recoverable. They are listed with honor among the missing because their remains cannot be buried with honor at home.

Others who are missing do not have such clear-cut cases. Some were known captives; some were photographed as they were led by their guards. Some were in radio contact with search teams, while others simply disappeared.

Since the war ended, over 250,000 interviews have been conducted with those who claim to know about Americans still alive in Southeast Asia, and several million documents have been studied. U.S. Government experts cannot seem to agree whether Americans are there alive or not. Detractors say it would be far too politically difficult to bring the men they believe to be alive home, and the U.S. is content to negotiate for remains.

Well over 1000 first-hand, eye-witness reports of American prisoners still alive in Southeast Asia have been received by 1990. Most of them are still classified. If, as the U.S. seems to believe, the men are all dead, why the secrecy after so many years? If the men are alive, why are they not home?

Incidental Information

Click Here to view a queried report of messages and files concerning James Gehrig from the POW/MIA Database at the Library of Congress's Federal Research Division. (Links will open in New Browser Window).
You can run queries on various name spellings to view the messages.

 

Honored on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial:  Panel 02E - - Line 12


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 James -- If so, I would like to hear about it and post it on this page!!
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Vietnam Veterans Homepage

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The VietNam Casualty Search Page

http://www.no-quarter.org/

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Operation Just Cause

http://www.ojc.org

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