Blanton, Clarence Finley
Air Force Lieutenant Colonel
Clarence Finley Blanton, age 46, from El Reno, Oklahoma, Canadian county.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Monday, March 11, 1968
Death details: On July 26, 2012, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC, DPAA) identified the remains of Lieutenant Colonel Clarence Finley Blanton, missing from the Vietnam War. Lieutenant Colonel Blanton entered the U.S. Air Force from Oklahoma and was assigned to the 1043rd Radar Evaluation Squadron, 7th Air Force, on temporary duty as the commander of eighteen men at Lima Site 85, a tactical air navigation radar site located on the mountain peak at Phou Pha Thi, Houaphanh Province, Laos. On the morning of March 11, 1968, Lt Col Blanton was killed in an attack on Lima Site 85 by North Vietnamese commandos. Hours later, under protective cover, U.S. military helicopters rescued eight of the men still alive at the post but were unable to recover the remains of Lt Col Blanton. In 2005, human remains and an identification card that belonged to Lt Col Blanton were discovered at the base of Phou Pha Thi. Authorities were able to successfully identify the remains as those of Lt Col Blanton.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency