long range patrol 3 May 1971

Bingham, Klaus Yrurgen
Army Staff sergeant

Klaus Yrurgen Bingham, age 27, from Wahiawa, Hawaii, Honolulu county.

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: Monday, May 3, 1971
Death details: On May 3, 1971, a long-range reconnaissance patrol made up of U.S. and South Vietnamese troops was inserted into Quang Nam Province, South Vietnam. The patrol was never extracted and did not return to any friendly base, and was never heard from again. Search efforts for the patrol’s members were repeatedly stymied by bad weather and enemy presence. Subsequent investigations yielded reports that the patrol had been attacked by local militia forces and suffered casualties, but no remains of patrol members were found by the investigators. One of the U.S. soldiers on this patrol was eventually accounted for, but two others remain missing. Staff Sergeant Klaus Bingham, who entered the U.S. Army from Hawaii, served with Headquarters, U.S. Army, Vietnam, and was a member of this patrol. He remains unaccounted for. Today, Staff Sergeant Bingham is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, findagrave.com

Luttrell, James Martin
Army Sergeant 1st class

James Martin Luttrell, age 35, from Fayetteville, North Carolina, Cumberland county.

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: Monday, May 3, 1971
Death details: On May 3, 1971, a long-range reconnaissance patrol made up of U.S. and South Vietnamese troops was inserted into Quang Nam Province, South Vietnam. The patrol was never extracted and did not return to any friendly base, and was never heard from again. Search efforts for the patrol’s members were repeatedly stymied by bad weather and enemy presence. Subsequent investigations yielded reports that the patrol had been attacked by local militia forces and suffered casualties, but no remains of patrol members were found by the investigators. One of the U.S. soldiers on this patrol was eventually accounted for, but two others remain missing. Staff Sergeant James Martin Luttrell, who entered the U.S. Army from North Carolina, served with Headquarters, U.S. Army, Vietnam, and was a member of this patrol. He remains unaccounted for. Following the incident, the Army promoted SSG Luttrell to the rank of Master Sergeant (MSG). Today, Master Sergeant Luttrell is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, findagrave.com

Walton, Lewis Clark
Army Sergeant 1st class

Lewis Clark Walton, age 36, from Cranston, Rhode Island, Providence county.

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: Monday, May 3, 1971
Death details: On December 19, 2006, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC, now DPAA) identified the remains of Sergeant First Class Lewis Clark Walton, missing from the Vietnam War. Sergeant First Class Walton entered the U.S. Army from Rhode Island and served with Task Force 1, Advisory Element, and was assigned to Support Headquarters, USARV. On May 3, 1971, he was part of a reconnaissance patrol inserted into a remote area of Quang Nam-Da Nang Province, South Vietnam. Following its insertion into the target area, the patrol was attacked by enemy forces and SFC Walton was killed in action. His remains were not recovered at the time. Between 1992 and 1999, joint U.S./Vietnamese teams traveled to the area and investigated the incident, which led to the recovery of human remains from associated burial sites between 2004 and 2006. U.S. analysts were able to identify SFC Walton from these remains.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, findagrave.com

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