Mateja, Alan Paul
Air Force Major

Alan Paul Mateja, age 26, from Louisville, Kentucky, Jefferson county.

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: Sunday, April 16, 1972
Death details: On April 16, 1972, a F-105G Thunderchief (tail-number 63-8342, call sign “Suntan 02”) with two crew members took part in a two-plane surface-to-air missile suppression mission over North Vietnam. When the flight arrived at the refueling point en route to the target, the flight leader instructed ‘Suntan 02” to attempt to reach the mission area as soon as possible, to assist aircraft already there. After leaving the refueling point, “Suntan 02” was not seen or heard from again. Both members of its crew remain unaccounted for. Captain Alan Paul Mateja, who joined the U.S. Air Force from Kentucky, was a member of the 17th Wild Weasel Squadron, 388th Tactical Fighter Wing. He was a crew member aboard “Suntan 02” when it went missing, and was lost with the aircraft. His remains were never recovered. After the incident, the Air Force promoted Capt Mateja to the rank of Major (Maj). Today, Major Mateja is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. Based on all information available, DPAA assessed the individual’s case to be in the analytical category of Non-recoverable.
Cemetery: Memorialized at Zachery Taylor National

Source: National Archives