Olson, Gerald Everett
Air Force Major

Gerald Everett Olson, age 29, from Polk County Winter Haven, Florida .

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: Sunday, March 13, 1966
Death details: On March 13, 1966, an AC-47D Spooky (tail number 4349268) with seven crew members departed Da Nang Air Base for an armed reconnaissance mission over a portion of the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos. The aircraft made radio contact with a ground station shortly before entering Laotian airspace but was not seen or heard from again. Search and rescue efforts in the following days failed to locate the crash site or any crew members. Captain Gerald Everett Olson entered the U.S. Air Force from Florida and served in the 4th Air Commando Squadron. He was the navigator aboard the AC-47D when it went missing on March 13, 1966, and his remains have not been located. While carried in the status of missing in action (MIA), the U.S. Air Force promoted Capt Olson to the rank of Major (Maj). Today, Major Olson is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency