Ketterer, James Alan
Air Force Captain
James Alan Ketterer, age 25, from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Milwaukee county.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Saturday, January 20, 1968
Death details: On January 20, 1968, an F-4C Phantom II (tail number 64-0797) with two crew members took off as the lead aircraft on a two-plane nighttime armed reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam. Over the target area, the two aircraft came under fire from enemy anti-aircraft artillery and pulled off from the target. The commander of this Phantom then advised the other aircraft to hold back while he went back to survey the target area again. While holding above the cloud layer, the other aircraft saw a bright orange glow from beneath the overcast in the vicinity of (GC) 48Q XE 573 537. Radio contact with the lead Phantom was lost at this time. Search and rescue efforts, complicated by darkness and bad weather, failed to locate the missing Phantom or its crew. Ground searches were not possible since the loss area was in enemy-controlled territory, and both crew members aboard the Phantom could not be located following the incident. First Lieutanant James Alan Ketterer, who entered the U.S. Air Force from Wisconsin, served in the 389th Tactical Fighter Squadron and was the pilot of this Phantom at the time of its loss. He remains unaccounted for. Following the incident, the Air Force promoted 1st Lt Ketterer to the rank of Major (Maj). Today, Major Ketterer is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, findagrave.com
