Miner County South Dakota

Tommy Leon Callies, age 26, from South Dakota, Miner county.

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: Friday, August 1, 1969

Death details: On August 1, 1969, an F-4E Phantom II (tail number 67-0323) with a crew of two took off from Da Nang Airbase, South Vietnam, on a strike mission against a target southwest of Chu Lai. Shortly after dropping its ordnance over the target area, this Phantom was seen to crash into a small hill just beyond the target in the vicinity of Grid Coordinates BS 281 589. No parachutes were observed and no radio messages or rescue beeper signals were received. An immediate search was initiated and continued throughout the night without success. On August 3, a Special Forces unit attempted to reach the crash site but was forced to withdraw due to enemy forces in the area. No further ground searches were conducted. Further aerial search efforts were also unsuccessful. The aircraft and its crew remain unaccounted for.

Captain Tommy Leon Callies entered the U.S. Air Force from South Dakota and was a member of the 421st Tactical Fighter Squadron. He was the pilot of this Phantom II when it crashed, and he was lost with the aircraft. His remains were not recovered. Today, Captain Callies is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency