California

Crone, Donald Everett
Army Specialist 4

Donald Everett Crone from Whittier, California, Los Angeles county.

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: Monday, February 15, 1971
Death details: On December 11, 2000, Joint Task Force-Full Accounting (JTF-FA, now DPAA) identified the remains of Specialist 4 Donald Everett Crone, missing from the Vietnam War.

Specialist 4 Crone entered the U.S. Army from California and served with the 159th Aviation Battalion, 101st Airborne Division. On February 15, 1971, he was the crew chief aboard a CH-47C Chinook (tail number 18506, call sign “Regard 25”) on a combat support/resupply mission over Laos. During the flight, “Regard 25” caught fire, exploded in mid-air, and crashed near the Pon River in Savannakhet Province, Laos. Specialist 4 Crone was killed in the crash and his remains could not be recovered at the time. After the war, a series of joint U.S.-Laotian investigative teams located the crash site and recovered human remains, some of which were forensically identified as those of SP4 Crone.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency 

McGar, Brian Kent Army Staff sergeant

Brian Kent McGar, age 19, from Ceres, California, Stanislaus county.

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: Wednesday, May 31, 1967
Death details: On February 6, 1997, the Joint Task Force-Full Accounting (JTF-FA, now DPAA) identified the remains of Staff Sergeant Brian Kent McGar, missing from the Vietnam War.

Staff Sergeant McGar joined the U.S. Army from California and was a member of the 3rd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division. On May 31, 1967, he was a member of a long-range reconnaissance patrol in Quang Ngai Province, Vietnam. The patrol was ambushed by enemy forces during their mission, and SSG McGar was killed in the fighting. A search team team sent to the patrol’s location did not find SSG McGar’s remains. In 1994, a joint U.S. and Vietnamese search team excavated a burial site associated with SSG McGar’s loss, and recovered remains there. In February of 1997, SSG McGar was identified from among the recovered remains.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Alberton, Bobby Joe
Air Force Commanding sergeant

Bobby Joe Alberton from Anaheim, California, Orange county.

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: Tuesday, May 31, 1966
Death details: 

On May 31, 1966, a C-130 Hercules (tail number 64-0511, call sign “Radium 1”) with a crew of eight departed Da Nang Air Base, South Vietnam, on a classified mission over North Vietnam. No radio communications were expected. When the aircraft failed to return to base, search and rescue efforts were initiated, but were unsuccessful. Several days later, the North Vietnamese announced that they had shot down a C-130, and that they had recovered and buried several bodies. The aircraft is believed to have been shot down in Tranh Hoa Province.

Staff Sergeant Bobby Joe Alberton, who joined the U.S. Air Force from California, served with the 61st Troop Carrier Squadron. He was the flight engineer aboard the C-130 when it disappeared on May 31, 1966, and his remains were not recovered. After the incident, the Air Force promoted SSgt Alberton to Chief Master Sergeant (CMSgt). Today, Chief Master Sergeant Alberton is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Weese, Henry Douglas
Air Force 1st lieutenant

Henry Douglas Weese from Susanville, California, Lassen county.

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Tuesday, January 13, 1953
Death details: Late in the afternoon on January 12, 1953, a RB-29A Superfortress (serial number 44-62217, call sign Stardust 40) departed Yokata Air Base, Japan, with a crew of 14 aviators.  The briefed mission was a classified leaflet dropping operation targeting multiple cities along the west coast of North Korea in an area known as “MiG Alley”. At approximately 45 minutes before midnight, a ground station received a May Day distress call on the air emergency channel, but all attempts to establish radio contact failed. A ground radar station reported the distressed aircraft as approximately 15 miles south of the Yalu River; a short time later the Superfortress disappeared from radar. On January 21, a communist propaganda broadcast from Beijing, China, claimed that the B-29 had been shot down over Manchuria; of the 14 aircrew members, all but three had survived.  The 11 survivors were held in Mukden (Shenyang), then Peking (Beijing), and finally released through Hong Kong in 1955. It is believed that the remaining three aviators perished while attempting to parachute over Antung (Dandong).

First Lieutenant Henry Douglas Weese, who joined the U.S. Air Force from California, was assigned to the 581st Air Resupply Squadron, 581st Air Resupply and Communications Wing. On the day of his loss he was on temporary duty orders to 91st Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron. 1st Lt Weese was the Radar Operator on this RB-29 when it was lost and one of the three aviators that remain unaccounted-for. Today, First Lieutenant Weese is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Ferguson, Sam Wayne
Army Sergeant 1st class

Sam Wayne Ferguson from California, Madera county.

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Saturday, January 12, 1952
Death details: On the morning of January 12, 1952, members of Company L, 3rd Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division participated in a combined infantry and tank patrol near Nanoni-Polmukkae, North Korea, in the present-day Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). The patrol targeted an enemy-occupied position, Hill 472. Upon reaching the hill, Company L was met with a wave of machine gun fire and hand grenades. Company L was making progress towards capturing the hill, until enemy forces began receiving support from heavy mortar fire. Shortly after this enemy support arrived, Company L was ordered to withdraw. Fourteen men were lost during this battle for Hill 472. Sergeant First Class Sam Wayne Ferguson, who joined the U.S. Army from California, served with Company L, 3rd Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. On January 12, 1952, Sergeant First Class Ferguson was killed in action while his unit attempted to capture Hill 472. Because his loss occurred in what is now the DMZ, his remains have yet to be recovered, and he is still unaccounted-for. Today, Sergeant First Class Ferguson is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

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