from Detroit

Robertson, Mark John
Army Warrant officer

Mark John Robertson, age 21, from Dearborn, Michigan, Wayne county.

Service era: Vietnam

Parent: John Robertson

Date of death: Wednesday, February 10, 1971
Death details:  On March 16, 2004, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC, now DPAA) identified the remains of Warrant Officer 1 John Mark Robertson, missing from the Vietnam War.

Warrant Officer 1 Robertson entered the U.S. Army from Michigan and served with the 2nd Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment. On February 10, 1971, he was the pilot of an OH-6A Cayuse (tail number 66-17765) on a reconnaissance mission over Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam. During the mission, the Cayuse was hit by enemy machine gun fire, caught fire, crashed, and exploded, killing WO1 Robertson. Friendly forces were unable to recover his remains at the time, due to the enemy presence in the area. During the 1990s, a joint investigative team located and excavated the crash site, recovering material evidence and fragmentary human remains. Forensic analysis eventually identified WO1 Robertson from these remains.

Cemetery: Arlington National

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, findagrave.com, Detroit Free Press (1971)

Jakovac, John Andrew Army Staff sergeant

John Andrew Jakovac, age 20, from Detroit, Michigan, Wayne county.

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: May 31, 1967
Death details: On February 6, 1997, the Joint Task Force-Full Accounting (JTF-FA, now DPAA) identified the remains of Sergeant First Class John Andrew Jakovac, missing from the Vietnam War.
Sergeant First Class Jakovac joined the U.S. Army from Michigan and was a member of the 50th Infantry Regiment, 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, and SFC Jakovac was killed in the incident. A search team sent to the patrol’s location did not find SFC Jakovac’s remains. In 1994, a joint U.S. and Vietnamese search team excavated a burial site associated with SFC Jakovac’s loss, and recovered remains there. In February of 1997, some of the recovered remains were identified as those of SFC Jakovac.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

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