The A1 Skyraider
("Spad") had a varied role in Vietnam, such as flying rescue, close air support and forward air control
(FAC) missions. The Congressional Medal of Honor was won by one of its pilots. They were versatile men, trained for many sorts of missions. The rugged and dependable A1, a veteran of the Korean war, flew over 2000 missions in Vietnam.
Major Wayne B. Wolfkeil was a pilot assigned to the 6th Special Operations Squadron at Pleiku Airbase in South Vietnam. On August 9, 1968, Wolfkeil was assigned an operational mission over Laos as the number two aircraft in a flight of two.
About 25 miles west of the city of Dak To, (South Vietnam), in Attopeu Province, Laos, Wolfkeil’s aircraft was seen to make a sharp right turn and crash, exploding on impact. No parachute was seen, and no emergency radio beeper signals were heard. Although there is ample reason to believe the Vietnamese and/or Communist Lao know what happened to Wolfkeil, they have never admitted having information on him.
Following the signing of the Paris Peace Agreements, 591 American prisoners were released from North Vietnam. Wayne Wolfkeil was not one of them. In fact, not one of the nearly 600 who were lost in Laos was released. Many of them survived their loss incident and some sent emergency signals. Some were in voice contact and some were even photographed in captivity. Government officials later expressed their shock that "hundreds" more Americans that were expected to be released were not.
The U.S. has been unable to secure the release of any more prisoners held in Vietnam, even though nearly 10,000 reports have been received concerning Americans still alive in Southeast Asia.
Wayne B. Wolfkeil was promoted to the rank of Colonel during the period he was maintained missing. Eleven years after he became missing, the U.S. declared him dead, based on no specific information that he was alive.
Incidental Information
Click
Here to view a queried report of messages and
files concerning Wayne 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.
