Loss Coordinates Map

Lt. Jg. Joe R. Mossman was a pilot assigned to Attack Squadron 72 onboard the aircraft carrier USS INDEPENDENCE. On September 13, 1965 Mossman launched in his Skyhawk ("Scooter") attack aircraft as the number four plane in a flight of our on an armed reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam. Only the month previous, two A4E’s had been the first Navy aircraft to be shot down by surface-to-air missiles (SAM) which were to claim so many American planes in the duration of the war.

The target area was near the city of Dong Hoi in Quang Binh Province, North Vietnam. When the flight was over the target area, Mossman’s aircraft was hit by small arms fire. No ejection was observed. The aircraft crashed approximately 12 kilometers west of Dong Hoi, near Route 101.

The wingman spotted what appeared to be a parachute amid the wreckage of Mossman’s aircraft and an emergency radio beeper signal was heard. Search and rescue (SAR) was initiated and the crash site was observed by a combat air patrol and other armed reconnaissance aircraft. However, no signs of survival were spotted. SAR efforts were terminated.

Lt. Jg. Joe Mossman was initially placed in a status of Missing in Action, which was later changed to Killed In Action/Body Not Recovered (prior to 1973).

On October 14, 1982, the Vietnamese government turned over the the U.S. Lt. Jg.  Mossman’s military ID card and Geneva Convention Card. Clearly, the Vietnamese had information it could provide about the fate of Joe Mossman.

During technical meetings in Hanoi with the U.S. Joint Casualty Resolution Center and the Vietnamese in early December 1982 and again in September 1985, the U.S. gave the Vietnamese a "Negotiation Folder" on Joe Mossman. To date, however, no new information has been obtained.

Whether Mossman died or survived to be taken prisoner that day in September 1965 will not be known for certain until there is proof positive of his death or survival. The U.S. and the Vietnamese have yet to determine the formula which would successfully resolve the questions that linger about the nearly 2500 Americans who did not return from the war in Vietnam.

Tragically, there have been nearly 10,000 reports received concerning Americans who were prisoner, missing or otherwise unaccounted for in Southeast Asia. Many authorities who have seen this largely classified information believe there are hundreds of Americans still in captivity today. While the rest of America tries to forget the war in Vietnam, these men, and their friends and families cannot. We must bring them home. One of them could be Joe Mossman.

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