Tumwater Washington

James D Williamson from Tumwater, Washington, Thurston county.

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: Friday, January 5, 1968
Death details: 

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced
in 2007 that a group remains of five U.S. servicemen, missing in action from
the Vietnam War, will be returned to their families soon for burial with
full military honors.

They are Chief Warrant Officer Dennis C. Hamilton, of Barnes City, Iowa;
Chief Warrant Officer Sheldon D. Schultz, of Altoona, Pa.; Sgt. 1st Class
Ernest F. Briggs Jr., of San Antonio, Texas; Sgt. 1st Class John T.
Gallagher, of Hamden, Conn.; and Sgt. 1st Class James D. Williamson, of
Olympia, Wash.; all U.S. Army. The group remains of this crew will be buried
on Aug. 14 at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C. Gallagher’s
remains were individually identified, and his burial date is being set by
his family.

Representatives from the Army met with the next-of-kin of these men to
explain the recovery and identification process, and to coordinate interment
with military honors on behalf of the Secretary of the Army.

On Jan. 5, 1968, these men crewed a UH-1D helicopter that was inserting a
patrol into Savannakhet Province, Laos.As the aircraft approached the
landing zone, it was struck by enemy ground fire, causing it to nose over
and crash. There were no survivors.All attempts to reach the site over the
next several days were repulsed by enemy fire.

Between 1995 and 2006, numerous U.S./Lao People’s Democratic Republic
/Socialist Republic of Vietnam teams, all led by the Joint POW/MIA
Accounting Command (JPAC), conducted more than five investigations,
including interviews with Vietnamese citizens who said they witnessed the
crash. Between 2002 and 2006, JPAC led three excavations of the site,
recovering remains and other material evidence including identification
tags for Schultz, Hamilton and Briggs.

Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence,
scientists from JPAC also used dental comparisons in the identification of
the remains.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency