Mills, James Burton
Navy Lieutenant commander

James Burton Mills from Bakersfield, California, Kern county.

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: Wednesday, September 21, 1966
Death details: On August 20, 2018, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) accounted for Commander James Burton Mills, missing from the Vietnam War.

Commander Mills, who joined the U.S. Navy from California, served with Fighter Squadron 21, embarked aboard the USS Coral Sea (CV-43). On September 21, 1966, he was the flight officer aboard an F-4 Phantom (bureau number 152973) when it launched from the Coral Sea as the lead of two aircraft on a night armed reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam. Shortly after completing its bombing run, this Phantom crashed into the South China Sea. CDR Mills was killed in the incident, but his remains were not recovered at the time. In 2011, excavations in the South China Sea found an underwater crash site off the coast of Quynh Phuong Village, which was later associated with CDR Mills’ missing Phantom. In 2018, remains recovered from the wreckage was identified as those of CDR Mills.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency