Parsons, Michael Duane
Army Captain

Michael Duane Parsons, age 25, from Reno, Nevada, Washoe county.

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: Sunday, January 3, 1971
Death details: On January 3, 1971, a U-6A Beaver (tail number 52-2584) took off carrying a pilot and six passengers on an administrative support flight from Qui Nhon to Ban Me Thuot, South Vietnam. The flight was over mountainous terrain and flown in inclement weather. Radar contact was lost with the aircraft fourteen miles southeast of Phu Cat, South Vietnam, in the vicinity of (GC) BR 960 250, and the U-6A never reached Ban Me Thuot. Attempts to locate the aircraft, pilot, or any of the passengers following the disappearance were unsuccessful. First Lieutenant Michael Duane Parsons entered the U.S. Army from Nevada and was a member of the 61st Aviation Company, 223rd Aviation Battalion, 17th Aviation Group, 1st Aviation Brigade. He was a passenger on board this U-6A when it was lost, and remains unaccounted for. After the incident, First Lieutenant Parsons was promoted to the rank of Captain. Today, Captain Parsons is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency