Tucker, James Hale
Air Force Major
James Hale Tucker from Pawnee, Oklahoma, Pawnee county.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Tuesday, April 26, 1966
Death dedails: On April 26, 1966, an RF-4C Phantom II (tail number 64-1045) carrying two crew members took off on a photographic reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam. As expected, radar contact with the Phantom was lost as it moved toward its target; however, contact was not reestablished with the crew, and the aircraft failed to return from its mission. Search teams found no sign of the missing Phantom or its crew members.
First Lieutenant James Hale Tucker, who joined the U.S. Air Force from Oklahoma, was a member of the 16th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron. He was a crew member aboard the Phantom when it went missing, and was lost along with the aircraft. His remains have not been recovered. Following the incident, the Air Force promoted 1LT Tucker to Major (Maj). Today, Major Tucker is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency