The human remains of an American serviceman previously
unaccounted-for from the war in Southeast Asia have been
identified and are being returned to his family for burial in the
United States.
He is Capt. Jeffrey L. Harris, USAF, of Clinton, Md. On May
10, 1972, Harris was flying his F-4E Phantom on a combat mission
over North Vietnam when he was attacked by a MiG-19. The flight
leader of the mission observed Harris' aircraft burst into flames
shortly before it crashed. There were no radio transmissions
heard from the stricken aircraft, and no one in the flight saw
any parachutes or received any emergency beeper signals.
In Aug. 1978 the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (S.R.V.)
unilaterally turned over the remains of Air Force Capt. Dennis E.
Wilkinson, the weapons systems officer aboard the F-4E.
Wilkinson, of West Palm Beach, Fla., was positively identified
the following month.
Three joint U.S. - S.R.V. teams conducted investigations and
excavations in 1993, 1995 and 1996. During the last excavation,
they recovered human remains, personal effects, crew-related
equipment and a blood chit. A blood chit is a document often
carried by aircrew members to aid in their escape or evasion if
they crash behind enemy lines. Individual remains of Harris, and
group remains of both Harris and Wilkinson are being returned to
their families for burial at a later date.
With the identification of Harris, 2,123 American servicemen
remain unaccounted-for from the war in Southeast Asia.
The U.S. government welcomes and appreciates the cooperation
of the government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam which
resulted in the accounting of this serviceman. We hope that such
cooperation will bring increased results in the future.
Achieving the fullest possible accounting for these Americans is
of the highest national priority.
Printer-friendly Version