Wayne county

Robertson, Mark John
Army Warrant officer

Mark John Robertson, age 21, from Dearborn, Michigan, Wayne county.

Service era: Vietnam

Parent: John Robertson

Date of death: Wednesday, February 10, 1971
Death details:  On March 16, 2004, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC, now DPAA) identified the remains of Warrant Officer 1 John Mark Robertson, missing from the Vietnam War.

Warrant Officer 1 Robertson entered the U.S. Army from Michigan and served with the 2nd Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment. On February 10, 1971, he was the pilot of an OH-6A Cayuse (tail number 66-17765) on a reconnaissance mission over Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam. During the mission, the Cayuse was hit by enemy machine gun fire, caught fire, crashed, and exploded, killing WO1 Robertson. Friendly forces were unable to recover his remains at the time, due to the enemy presence in the area. During the 1990s, a joint investigative team located and excavated the crash site, recovering material evidence and fragmentary human remains. Forensic analysis eventually identified WO1 Robertson from these remains.

Cemetery: Arlington National

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, findagrave.com, Detroit Free Press (1971)

Paul, James Lee
Army Warrant officer

James Lee Paul, age 22, from Riverview, Michigan, Wayne county.

Service era: Vietnam

Parent: Orval L. Paul

Date of death: Friday, February 5, 1971
Death details: On February 5, 1971, an AH-1G Cobra (tail number 66-15340) with two crew members took part in an extraction mission near Khe Sanh, in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam. Shortly after the start of the mission, the Cobra entered heavy cloud cover. While climbing to escape the cloud, the aircraft impacted a mountainside. Aircraft accompanying the Cobra immediately began a visual search of the area and located the crash site at the base of Hill 1015. Investigation of the crash site recovered the remains of the Cobra’s pilot; however, the copilot’s remains could not be located or identified.

Warrant Officer 1 James Lee Paul, who joined the U.S. Army from Michigan, was a member of Troop D, 3rd Squadron, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 5th Infantry Division (Mechanized). He was the copilot of this Cobra and he was lost with the aircraft. His remains were not recovered following the incident. Today, Warrant Officer 1 Paul is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Based on all information available, DPAA assessed the individual’s case to be in the analytical category of Non-recoverable.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, findagrave.com, Escanaba Daily Press (1971)

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