Hunter, Russell Palmer Jr.
Air Force Lieutenant colonel

Russell Palmer Jr. Hunter from Glastonbury, Connecticut.

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: February 10, 1966
Death details: On February 10, 1966, a B-57B Canberra (tail number 52-1575) took off from Da Nang Airbase, Vietnam, carrying two crew members and flying with a C-130 flare aircraft on a night strike mission over Laos. As the flight neared Ban Vangthon, Laos, the pilot radioed that he observed light and would drop down to investigate its source. While checking out the light source as a possible target, the Canberra was hit by enemy ground fire. The Canberra’s pilot radioed that he was in trouble and he and his other crew member would eject. The C-130’s crew soon observed the Canberra impact with the ground near east of Sepone, Savannakhet Province, Laos. Search and rescue forces later located the wreckage, but there was no trace of its two crew members and their fate was unknown.

Captain Russell Palmer Hunter Jr. entered the U.S. Air Force from Connecticut and was a member of the 13th Bombardment Squadron. He was the pilot of this Canberra when it crashed on February 10, 1966, and he was lost with the aircraft. His remains were not recovered. While carried in the status of missing in action, the U.S. Air Force promoted Capt Hunter to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel (Lt Col). Today, Lt Col Hunter is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency