Ayers, Richard Lee
Air Force Colonel

Richard Lee Ayers, age 37, from Waterloo, Iowa, Black Hawk county.

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: April 16, 1970
Death details: On April 16, 1970, an RF-4C Phantom II (tail number 66-0409) with two crew members took off on a reconnaissance mission in the general vicinity of the tri-border area between Laos and North and South Vietnam. During the mission, the aircraft completed an in-flight refueling and reported to the Forward Air Controller that it was moving north to another target area. This was the last known transmission from the aircraft, and it failed to return to base. Searches were made along the flight path but were unsuccessful in locating either crew member.

Major Richard Lee Ayers entered the U.S. Air Force from Iowa and served in the 12th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron. He was the pilot of the RF-4C when it went missing and he remains unaccounted for. After the incident, the Air Force promoted Major Ayers to Colonel.  Today, Colonel Ayers is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency