Division/Regiment patches provided by Mr. Paul North, Webmaster of the 25th Infantry Division Assoc. Website.
http://www.25thida.com/

Loss Coordinates Map

PFC Robert J. Wells was assigned to the 1^st Battalion, 14^th Infantry, 3^rd Brigade, 25^th Infantry Division in Vietnam. On July 22, 1966, he and his unit were conducting a mission in Pleiku Province, Republic of Vietnam when they crossed a swift stream near the Ia Drang River.

During the crossing, the safety line Wells was using broke and he was swept away. Witnesses tried to save him, but he disappeared under the water. At the time, Wells was undoubtedly weighted down by ammunition and other gear.

Searches along the banks of the river were conducted, but no trace of Wells was ever found. He was listed Killed in Action/Body Not Recovered. There is little likelihood that his body will ever be found.

Wells is listed among the missing because he was never 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?

Incidental Information