(USAF) Date of report (1991-08-26).
“The Americans were taken by surprise,” the North Vietnamese report said later.Eventually, the North Vietnamese discovered Sliz’s team on a rock overhang about 20 feet down from the top.
The notebook contained the word “TACAN” in English and it had the exact location.Lima Site 85 continued to direct bombing in North Vietnam, but, by February, more than half of the Commando Club strikes were flown against the enemy forces surrounding the mountain itself.In late February, the CIA said that the security of Phou Pha Thi could not be predicted beyond March 10, and Sullivan sent a message to the Air Force warning that the site probably could not be held much longer.The Air Force did not want to pull out. Phou Phathi was in the center of a major Hmong poppy-growing region, making it a major financial interest.
RF4c Commander: Lt. Col. Alexander (Al) Milligan IVPicture taken on Ken's 30th Birthday. As at the other TACAN sites in Laos, these individuals are USAF personnel, formally converted to civilian status as Lockheed employees for the duration of their tour of duty in Laos.
There are on going efforts to account for the KIA/BNR, POW/MIA's. Among the earliest public revelations was an official Air Force history of the war, published in 1977. Nevertheless, because of the geography of the area and the need for a site that would be within radio and radar range of North Vietnam--a difficult problem in the exceptionally rugged terrain of the Laos--North Vietnam border area, the Air Force in 1966 installed a TACAN transmitter on Phou Phathi.
The TSQ-81 is a cargo-trailer, transportable version of the MSQ-77.
Through 14 February airstrikes in defense of the COMMANDO CLUB were scarce and a sense of confidence infected the US Embassy in Vientiane and the 7th Air Force in Vietnam regarding the safety of Site 85. Of the eleven originally unaccounted , SSgt Patrick Shannon was identified in 2005, from a 2003 excavation. It remains to be seen whether Hanoi or Pathet Lao radios will announce their victory.B. Moreover, it involves several buildings and about 40 men.
I also told him I had forwarded my findings to 7/13 AF but never received any acknowledgement. They fell back, and Phou Pha Thi was never recaptured.There was no attempt to install another TSQ-81 in Laos. Ironically, this was a cover role, since they were, in fact, civilians, having separated from the force.When they flew to Lima Site 85 for two-week rotational tours of duty, they wore civilian clothes and carried their Lockheed ID.Clayton was commander of Det.
Secret; Priority; Limdis. During this period, there was ample intelligence indicating that the enemy was gradually encircling Phou Phathi and massing for a major attack. The fourth side of the mountain was fortified.The assumptions were wrong. However, with limited staff and resources, we simply cannot respond to all who write to us.People from nearly every country share information with CIA, and new individuals contact us There has been much controversy about possible CIA involvement in drug trafficking in Laos, but considerable research has not turned up any evidence of an Agency connection.
(See comments below from Lt/Col Douglas Farnsworth)5. The decision about whether or not to attend PME is now up to… By 1965, US aircraft were flying regular combat missions against targets in Laos. This arrangement would be later overturned in court.The North Vietnamese and the Pathet Lao moved to consolidate their victory. I emphasized the fact that during the construction phase we were continually visited by indigenous personnel among whom there must have been numerous unfriendlies. Overflights. The detailed North Vietnamese account of the attack, published in 1996, did not report any prisoners either.The Department of Defense credited the statement of the American survivors and other evidence, including study of aerial photos of the site taken on March 11, and held to its assessment and carried the 11 airmen on its rolls as “Killed in Action/Body Not Recovered.”Since 1994, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, headquartered at Hickam AFB, Hawaii, has interviewed witnesses and made trips to Laos and Vietnam, gathering information about the fate of Americans at Phou Pha Thi.
Equipment installed at the site are:TSQ-81--a portable version of the MSQ-77--an extremely sophisticated radar-navigational device used by US bombers for precision-bombing of targets in North Vietnam north of Vinh at night and in inclement weather.