ELLIOTT, ANDREW JOHN

Name: Andrew John Elliott
Rank/Branch: W2/US Army
Unit: Troop D, 3rd Squadron, 4th Cavalry, 25th Infantry Division
Date of Birth: 30 November 1941 (Glasgow, Scotland)
Home City of Record: Oakland CA (some records say Carmel CA)
Date of Loss: 09 June 1970
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 114302N 1061546E (XT376955)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: OH6A
Refno: 1631
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S.
Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families,
published sources, interviews. Updated by the P.O.W. NETWORK in 1998.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: The 3rd Squadron, 4th Cavalry provided ground reconnaissance for
the 25th Infantry Division in Vietnam. Troop D was its air cavalry troop,
serving mostly with the divisions 25th Aviation Battalion. In 1970, after
having seen combat in the Saigon area during the Tet offensive of 1968, the
Division continued its primary operations around Cu Chi, South Vietnam, and
in the spring of 1970 sent elements into Cambodia seeking North Vietnamese
Army sanctuaries.

W2 Andrew J. Elliot was a pilot assigned to Troop D, and on June 9, 1970 was
assigned a flight to a fire support base at Katum South Vietnam. Aboard the
OH6A "Loach" with Elliott were SP5 Stephen L. Gobry and SP4 Jerry W.
McGlothen, passengers.

When the aircraft was about half-way between Fire Support Base Santa Barbara
and Katum, WO Elliott radioed that he could not see the road nor Katum. He
was instructed by the command and control aircraft to go to Tay Ninh and
shut down, that everyone would be called to Koropey as soon as the weather
cleared. Elliott acknowledged and said, "I'm going to Tay Ninh at this
time." This was the last communication with Elliott.

After it was determined that WO Elliott's aircraft was missing, a full scale
search effort was initiated and continued for 5 days. On June 24, the
wreckage was found and recovery teams inserted into the crash site. The
bodies of Gobry and McGlothlen were recovered and positively identified.
About 50 meters from the crash site, near the body of McGlothlen, a helmet
and chest protector belonging to Elliott were found. It appeared that the
body had been dragged to this position from the crash site. A search team
remained on the ground 4 days, but were never able to find any trace of
Elliott. He was listed Missing in Action.

Whether Elliott survived the crash to be captured was never learned for
certain. In 1973, when 591 Americans were released from POW camps in
Vietnam, Elliott was not among them.

Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports have been received by the U.S.
Government relating to missing Americans in Southeast Asia. Most authorities
agree that Americans are still alive today, held against their will. Few
agree on methods to bring them home.

---

Use your Browser's BACK function to return to the PREVIOUS page

---