Bruce Charles Walker from Pueblo, Colorado, Pueblo county.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Friday, April 7, 1972
Death details: On April 7, 1972, an OV-10A Bronco (tail number 68-3820) with two crew members conducted a naval gunfire spotting mission in the vicinity of Quang Tri, South Vietnam. During the mission, the aircraft was struck by an enemy surface-to-air missile (SAM) north of Dong Ha and crashed. Both crewmen ejected, and search and rescue forces sighted two parachutes. Searchers were only able to make radio contact with one crew member, but the other crew member was not contacted, and neither could be located following the incident.
Captain Bruce Charles Walker, who entered the U.S. Air Force from Colorado, served with the 24th Tactical Air Support Squadron and was the pilot of this Bronco at the time of its loss. After parachuting from the aircraft, he was in radio contact with search and rescue personnel, who air-dropped survival aids to him and attempted to guide him to a safe extraction point. However, enemy troops closed in on Capt Walker despite repeated efforts by U.S. aircraft to divert them or drive them back. After the enemy reached Capt Walker’s last known position at (GC) YD 272 697, searchers lost radio contact with him and could not reestablish it. He remains unaccounted for. Today, Captain Walker is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
