Name: Rodney Lynn Griffin 
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army 
Unit: HHC, 2nd Battalion, 34th Armor, 25th Infantry Division 
Date of Birth: 01 August 1948 (Mexico MO) 
Home City of Record: Centralia MO 
Date of Loss: 02 May 1970 
Country of Loss: Cambodia 
Loss Coordinates: 114512N 1060827E (XU243013) 
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action 
Category: 2 
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H 
Other Personnel In Incident: Michael Varnado; Robert M. Young; Bunyan D.
Price; 
Dale W. Richardson (all missing); Frederick H. Crowson; Daniel F.
Maslowski 
(returned POWs); - Tommy Karreci (evaded and escaped) 

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

REMARKS: HELO FOUND, NO TRACE OF SUBJ 

SYNOPSIS: On May 2, 1970 a UH1H helicopter from Company B, 229th
Aviation 
Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division flown by WO1 Michael B. Varnado was hit
by 
ground fire and forced to land just over the border of South Vietnam
near the 
city of Memot, Cambodia. The aircraft was transporting members of HHC,
34th 
Armor, 25th Infantry Division, SP4 Rodney L. Griffin; SP4 Bunyan D.
Price, Jr.; 
WO1 Daniel F. Maslowski; Capt. Dale W. Richardson; and Capt. Robert M.
Young. 
Also aboard were Tommy Karreci, SP4 Frederick H. Crowson, and CW2 Daniel
F. 
Maslowski, crew members of the aircraft. 

The men were part of an attempt to stop North Vietnamese forces from
gaining 
strongholds in Cambodia. President Nixon announced the request by
Cambodia for 
American assistance on April 30. Had we not assisted, the North
Vietnamese, in 
addition to having an effective sanctuary to which they could retreat
without 
retaliation, would also have South Vietnam completely outflanked. 

The crew all survived the crash, and had only 30-40 seconds on the
ground to 
decide what to do. They all attempted to evade, each in different
directions. 
Only 18-year-old Karreci managed to make it back to U.S. lines in 2 or 3
days. 
Crowson, Maslowski, Varnado and Young went in one direction and were all 
captured by North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces. Price, according to
Defense 
Department records, was also captured. Griffin and Richardson took off
in 
another direction and were never seen again. 

Crowson and Maslowski were released in 1973 and in their debriefings
stated 
that WO1 Varnado and Capt. Young had died in captivity, while detained
in 
Cambodia. The Provisional Revolutionary Government of South Vietnam
(PRG) 
officially acknowledged their deaths, listing Varnado's death as 21
September 
1970, and Young's death as 17 November 1972. 

According to Dan Maslowski, Bob Young died of illness in Dan's arms in
the fall 
of 1972. Maslowski saw Varnado about two months after capture. "Vito"
had been 
shot in the leg and in the side when he was captured, and according to
Dan, 
"looked like hell". His side wound had healed, but the wound in his leg,
in the 
kneecap, was badly infected. He could not walk, and told Maslowski that
the 
Viet Cong had been transporting him in a hammock. The Viet Cong had told 
Varnado that he was to be taken to a hospital to have his leg taken care
of. 
The Vietnamese state that he died two months after Dan saw him in camp
(about 4 
months after capture). 

On August 1, 1989, it was announced that the Vietnamese had "discovered"
the 
remains of Michael Varnado, returned them to the U.S. His remains were 
positively identified, much to the relief of family and surviving
comrades, and 
Michael Varnado could finally be buried with the honor he deserved. The
remains 
identification did not contradict that Vietnamese' statement that
Varnado died 
four months after capture. 

The fate of Price is uncertain. Maslowski always believed Price had been 
captured, but never saw him in camps he was held in. One report from
escaped 
ARVN POWs stated that he was captured by the Khmer and because the
ethnic 
groups normally did not cooperate, the Khmer would not likely have given
Price 
over to the Vietnamese, who had captured the other four. 

Since 1973, nearly 10,000 reports have been given to the U.S. Government 
regarding Americans still missing in Southeast Asia. Some, according to
U.S. 
State Department sources, have withstood the "closest scrutiny"
possible, and 
cannot be disputed. There is very strong reason to believe that
Americans are 
still held captive in Southeast Asia today, yet President after
President has 
failed to would bring them home. 
I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to keep pushing this issue
inside the Beltway...
The need to get specific answers is more important now than ever before.
If still alive, some MIAs are now in their 70s...They don't have much
time left. We have to demand the answers from the bureaucrats and keep
standing on their necks (figuratively speaking) until they get the
message that THEY work for US and that we are serious about getting
these long overdue responses. Diplomatic considerations aside...
We can no longer allow questionable protocols established by
pseudo-aristocratic armchair strategists, to determine or influence the
fate of the men who were in the trenches while the diplomats were
sharing sherry and canapes and talking about "Their Plans" for the
future of SE Asia.
If you'd like to see what some others are doing in addition to writing
their congressmen, senators and the Whitehouse, check out some of these
sites:
http://hawk.nji.com/~mred/mialist.htm

Another remarkable site is by an 11 year old angel who never even set
foot on American soil...She not only put up a page...she started a major
project for an organization of Kids on the Net called KeyPals
International.
Her MIA page is at [http://www.geocities.com/~angelicdevil/mia.html] but
don't miss her Bring Grandpa Home page at
[http://www.worldkids.net/clubs/kci/projects/Bring.html].
If you come away from that site without a lump in your throat, then you
just weren't paying attention.


A big thanks to GUNNY for supplying the info.

A bigger thanks to the Kansas Chapters of the VNV MC for taking me
in as part of their family when I had none. A big cyber hug and a 
gracious Thank You to PETE and CHARLIE and MOE (who I think moved 
from Kansas)and ROSEBUD(sorry bout that title)and REBEL (I finally 
took your advice and example and I quit drinking and druggin)and
all the other brothers and sisters that took me in as their own.
A big hello and Thank You to my favorite Chaplin at Ma's Lounge, 
Oh Yeah, I mean The Rustic Pub.I can not forget Paula whom I hope
is doing well. Love You All.


IN MEMORY OF
CAVEMAN

Whom I hear went down on his scoot.