Knapp, Herman Ludwig
Air Force Colonel

Herman Ludwig Knapp, age 38, from Roselle, New Jersey.

Era: Vietnam

Date of death: April 24, 1967
Death details: On April 24, 1967, an F-4C Phantom II (tail number 63-7641, call sign “Arrow 1”) took off from Ubon Airfield, Thailand, with a crew of two on a strike mission against a bridge near Hanoi, North Vietnam. An electrical transformer station north of Hanoi was also attacked. During its last pass at the target, this Phantom was hit by anti-aircraft fire, broke apart, and crashed. Two large pieces of flaming wreckage were seen to strike the ground in a fireball. No parachutes were seen and no rescue beeper signals were received. The aircraft’s two crew members remain missing.

Major Herman Ludwig Knapp entered the U.S. Air Force from New Jersey and was a member of the 433rd Tactical Fighter Squadron. He was the aircraft commander of the Phantom when it crashed on April 24, 1967, and was lost with the aircraft. His remains were not recovered. Following the incident, the Air Force promoted Maj Knapp to the rank of Colonel (Col). Today, Colonel Knapp is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Sources: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency