Buell, Kenneth Richard
Navy Lieutenant commander
Kenneth Richard Buell from Kankakee, Illinois, Kankakee county.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: September 17, 1972
Death details: On September 17, 1972, an A-6 Intruder (bureau number: 157028; call sign: Ray Gun 504) with a crew of two embarked on a solo nighttime armed reconnaissance mission over northern Vietnam. Final radio contact with the pilot occured as he approached North Vietnamese air space. Seven minutes later another aircraft in the area reported seeing an orange explosion (vicinity of48Q XJ 387 158) on the route the A-6 should have been following. A search and rescue effort was launched but had no success.
Lieutenant Commander Kenneth Richard Buell, who joined the U.S. Navy from Illinois, served with Attack Squadron 35. He was the naval flight officer aboard the Intruder when it disappeared, his remains were not recovered. Today, Lieutenant Commander Buell is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency