McDonald, Kurt Casey
Air Force Colonel

Kurt Casey McDonald, age 30, from Monterey County Seaside, California .

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: Thursday, December 31, 1964
Death details: On December 31, 1964, an O-1F Bird Dog (tail number 2823) carrying two crew members disappeared while en route from Da Nang to the A Shau Valley, while conducting a visual reconnaissance mission along the border with Laos. The radar control tower at Da Nang last made radio contact with the aircraft minutes after taking off at 0815 hours. Shortly after, the pilot of another O-1F aircraft last made visual contact with Tail # 57-2823 as it turned back in the direction of Da Nang apparently due to bad weather. The Bird Dog failed to arrive at Da Nang, or any friendly airbase in the region. Extensive aerial search efforts were conducted over seven days and 150,000 reward leaflets were dropped, but no trace of the aircraft or crew was found. Captain Kurt Casey McDonald entered the U.S. Air Force from Washington and was a member of Advance Team 2, 336th Tactical Fighter Squadron, that was TDY from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina, to the 2nd Air Division, Da Nang Airbase, Republic of Vietnam. He was the pilot of the O-1F aircraft when it disappeared, and was lost with the aircraft. He remains unaccounted-for. After the incident, the Air Force promoted Capt McDonald to the rank of Colonel (Col). Today, Colonel McDonald is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency