Haifley, Michael Firestone
Navy Lieutenant

Michael Firestone Haifley from Lisbon, Ohio, Columbiana county. Their last known residence was in Lisbon.

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: December 28, 1972
Death details: On October 7, 1985, the Central Identification Laboratory-Hawaii (CILHI, now DPAA) identified the remains of Lieutenant Michael Firestone Haifley, missing from the Vietnam War.

Lieutenant Haifley joined the U.S. Navy from Ohio and was a member of Reconnaissance Attack (Heavy) Squadron 13. On December 28, 1972, he was a crew member aboard an RA-5C Vigilante on a reconnaissance mission over enemy territory in Vietnam. The Vigilante was shot down by an enemy aircraft during its mission, and LT Haifley was killed in the incident. Search and recovery efforts for the downed aircraft’s crew were unsuccessful. In August 1985, the Vietnamese government returned LT Haifley’s remains to U.S. custody, with forensic analysis confirming the identification shortly thereafter.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency