Marion County Indiana

John Franklin Stuart, age 39, from Indianapolis, Indiana.

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: December 20, 1972
Death details: 

On December 20, 1972, a B-52 Stratofortress (tail number 56-0622, call sign “Orange 03”) with a crew of six embarked on a combat mission over Hanoi, North Vietnam. The aircraft, which was third in a flight of three, was hit by a surface to air missile while over the target. The aircraft burst into a large fireball and crashed in the vicinity of (GC) 48Q WJ 869 477. Crew members in other aircraft did not see any parachutes and detected no rescue beepers. Because of the heavy enemy fire and the fact that the loss location was deep in enemy territory, a search and rescue effort could not be conducted. It was later learned that two of the crew members survived the crash, were held as prisoners of war in North Vietnam, and were eventually released. A joint US/Vietnamese mission resulted in the recovery of the remains of two of the crew members. The other two crew members remain unaccounted for.

Major John Franklin Stuart, who joined the U.S. Air Force from Indiana, served with the 307th Strategic Wing. He was the aircraft commander of the Stratofortress when it crashed, and his remains were not recovered. After the incident, the Air Force promoted Major Stuart to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel (Lt Col). Today, Lieutenant Colonel Stuart is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency