|
Name: |
George Robert Weaver, Jr. |
Branch / Rank: |
U.S. Navy /
Petty
Officer 2nd Class (E5) |
|
Unit: |
Mine Squadron 11, MSB-54, Detachment A, |
Date of Birth: |
December 02, 1938 (Philadelphia PA) |
Home of Record: |
Lancaster, PA |
Date of Loss: |
November 01, 1966 |
Country of Loss: |
South Vietnam |
Loss Coordinates: |
103658N 1064552E (XS994758) |
Status (in 1973): |
Killed/Body Not Recovered |
Category: |
5 |
Duty: |
MSB54 |
Other personnel in incident: |
(none 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. |
Engineman
Petty Officer 2nd Class
George R. Weaver Jr. was assigned to Mine Squadron
11, Detachment ALFA. On
November 1, 1966, the minesweeper he was aboard
hit a mine and sank in the
Long Tau River south of Nha Be, South Vietnam.
Petty Officer Weaver was
forward below decks at the
time of the explosion, and
the entire forward section
of the boat was destroyed. No identifiable
remains were recovered.
It was believed at the
time that Weaver could not
have survived, and he was placed in a category of
Killed in Action/Body Not
Recovered (KIA/BNR). Further, it was determined
that his remains were
non-recoverable.
Weaver is listed among the
missing because his
remains were not found. 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?
Honored on the Vietnam
Veterans Memorial:
Panel 12E - - Line 9
|
The VietNam Veterans' Memorial
Wall Page
Assignment Info
"Mine clearance forces also were essential to the security of
Vietnam's waterways. Nowhere was this more crucial than on the rivers near
Saigon, the country's most vital port. Viet Cong mining of the main shipping
channel, the Long Tau River, which wound its way through the Rung Sat Special
Zone south of the capital, could have had a devastating effect on the war
effort. Consequently, on 20 May 1966, the Navy established Mine Squadron 11,
Detachment Alpha (Mine Division 112 after May 1968) at Nha Be, under Commander
Task Force 116. From 1966 until mid-1968, the minesweeping detachment operated
12 or 13 minesweeping boats (MSB) reactivated in the United States and shipped
to Southeast Asia. The 57-foot, fiberglass-hulled vessels were armed with
machine guns and grenade launchers and carried surface radars and minesweeping
gear for clearing explosives from the key waterways. The Navy also deployed
three-boat subordinate units to Danang and Cam Ranh Bay. Detachment Alpha's
strength increased in July 1967 when the first of six mechanized landing craft (LCM(M))
that were specially configured to sweep mines arrived at Nha Be."
-- as quoted from By
Sea, Air, and Land; Chapter
3: The Years of Combat, 1965-1968 |
Incidental Information
Click
Here to view a queried report of messages and
files concerning George 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.
|
The above photo depicts the type of vessel that George
crewed. |
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 George -- If so, I would like to hear
about it and post it on this page!!
Please send me an e-mail
|
|
Wooden
Boats and Iron Men
|
|
Navy
MSO Association
|
|
Water Mine Warfare in South Vietnam
|
|
The
Virtual Wall
|
|
The
Moving Wall
|
|
Vietnam
Veterans Homepage
|
|
The
VietNam Casualty
Search Page
|
|
Operation
Just Cause
|
|
|
|