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This is my adopted MIA/POW.
Let the Angels bring him home
safely and in good health.
BALCOM, RALPH CAROL JR
Name: Ralph Carol Balcom, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 24 December 1933
Home City of Record: Seattle WA
Date of Loss: 15 May 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam (see text)
Loss Coordinates: 171200N 1064000E (XE100100)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 1
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F105D
Other Personnel In Incident: None Missing
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 15 March 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.
REMARKS: NEG SAR CONT
SYNOPSIS: Ralph Balcom Jr. was shot down over North Vietnam about 20 miles north
of the Demilitarized Zone in Quang Binh Province. A radio signal indicated that
Major Balcom had parachuted to the ground, but because of zero visibility at the
time, search planes were not able to locate and rescue him.
Two months later a propaganda film appeared with a man Ralph's parents
immediately recognized as their son being paraded down the streets of Hanoi. The
U.S. Government later identified the man as a returned POW Kyle Berg, also from
the state of Washington.
In November 1973, the Air Force discovered that Joint Casualty Resolution Center
(JCRC) in Nakhon Phanom was carrying Balcom as a Prisoner of War while Defense
Intelligence Agency carried him as Missing In Action. The Air Force directed
JCRC to delete any reference pertaining to POW status in Balcom's files.
Balcom's status was changed from Prisoner of War to Missing in Action, although
analysts say today that JCRC records were the most accurate and complete because
of their close proximity to the region.
JCRC also lists Balcom as being lost in Laos, not North Vietnam. The loss
coordinates, 171200N 1064000E are in North Vietnam about 20 miles north of the
DMZ. Grid coordinates XE100100 are located a few miles northwest of the Ban
Karai Pass in Laos. It cannot be determined why there is a descrepancy in loss
locations between agencies.
Today, over 20 years have passed since Ralph Balcom's last flight over Vietnam.
His family is still not sure whether he is alive or dead. Over 10,000 reports of
Americans still held captive have been received by the U.S. Balcom could be one
of the hundreds experts believe are still alive. Isn't it time we brought these
men home?
Ralph C. Balcom was promoted to the rank of Colonel during the period he was
maintained a Prisoner of War and Missing in Action.
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