Born: 13 August 1943
Lost: 25 April 1971
 

I'd like to tell you a little story...

The F4 Phantom, used by Air Force, Marine and Navy air wings, served a
multitude of functions including fighter-bomber and interceptor, and photo and electronic surveillance.  The two man aircraft was extremely fast (Mach 2),
and had a long range (900 - 2300 miles, depending on stores and mission type).
The F4 was also extremely maneuverable and handled well at low and high
altitudes. Most pilots considered it one of the "hottest" planes around.

Capt. Jeffrey C. Lemon was the pilot and 1Lt. Walter H. Sigafoos III
the weapons/systems officer of an F4D fighter jet sent on a combat mission
over Laos on April 25, 1971. During the mission, the aircraft was shot down
about 15 miles northeast of the city of Ban Phone in Saravane Province. Both crewmen were declared missing in action.

In 1973, the prisoners of war held in Vietnam were released. Laos was not part
of the Paris agreement which ended American involvement in Indochina and no prisoners held by the Lao were ever released. Nearly 600 Americans were left
behind, apparently forgotten and abandoned by the country they proudly served.
In 1975, refugees fled Southeast Asia and brought with them stories of American  prisoners, missing and unaccounted for in Southeast Asia. The reports continued
to flow in as the years passed. By 1990, over 10,000 reports had been received.  Some sources have passed multiple polygraph tests, but the U.S.Government
still insists that proof is not available.

Meanwhile, the Lao voice dismay about the large numbers of their people that
were killed and the fact that much of their once beautiful homeland now is
cratered like the moon from bombs dropped by American planes. They seem
to want acknowledgement that, in bombing enemy sanctuaries in Laos, we
also did great  harm to the Lao people. We are haunted by the secret war we conducted in Laos through the lives of the Americans we left behind.

Some of them are still alive.

Now Imagine This...

One of those men is your friend, your brother, your son.  Are you really willing
to just sit around and do absolutely nothing?  Are you willing to leave our
American Heroes in a foreign land against their will?  Are you going to sit
back and turn your head the other way?

Isn't it time we brought them home?!

My Adopted MIA:

There is a small (but growing), determined group of people
who are fighting to bring our lost American Heroes home.
They don't get paid for what they do, and they don't want to.
There is a saying that can be heard among them, echoing
in great demand: "Dead or Alive, bring 'em home!". Come join
the fight with the members of "Operation Just Cause".
 
 

Thanks Gunny!
 
 

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