Ireland, Robert Newell Air Force chief master sergeant
Robert Newell Ireland, age 23, from Theodosia, Missouri, Ozark county.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: April 22, 1970
Death details: On September 1, 1995, Joint Task Force-Full Accounting (JTF-FA, now DPAA) identified the remains of Chief Master Sergeant Robert Newell Ireland, missing from the Vietnam War.
Chief Master Sergeant Ireland joined the U.S. Air Force from California and was a member of the 16th Special Operations Squadron. On April 22, 1970, he was a crew member aboard an AC-130 Spectre (serial number 54-1625) on an armed reconnaissance mission over enemy targets in Saravane Province, Laos. The AC-130 was downed by anti-aircraft fire during the mission, and CMSgt Ireland was killed in the crash. Search and rescue efforts were unable to locate his remains at the time. In November 1993, a joint U.S. and Laotian investigative team recovered remains from a crash site associated with this AC-130. In 1995, forensic analysis identified some of the recovered remains as those of CMSgt Ireland.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency