HARTZHEIM, JOHN FRANCIS
Remains Identified 03/17/99
Name: John Francis Hartzheim
Rank/Branch: E5/US Navy
Unit: Observation Squadron 67, Nakhon Phanom, Thailand
Date of Birth: 25 November 1945
Home City of Record: Appleton WI
Date of Loss: 27 February 1968
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 170458N 1060758E (XD116889)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: OP2E
Refno: 1062
Other Personnel in Incident: Paul L. Milius (missing)
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project October 15, 1990 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 1998.
REMARKS:
SYNOPSIS: The Lockheed P2 "Neptune" was originally designed for submarine
searching, using magnetic detection gear or acoustic buoys. Besides flying
maritime reconnaissance, the aircraft served as an experimental night attack
craft in the attempt to interdict the movement of enemy truck convoys.
Another model, the OP2E, dropped electronic sensors to detect truck
movements along the supply route through Laos known as the "Ho Chi Minh
Trail."
The Ho Chi Minh Trail was used by the North Vietnamese for transporting
weapons, supplies and troops. Hundreds of American pilots were shot down
trying to stop this communist traffic to South Vietnam. Fortunately, search
and rescue teams in Vietnam were extremely successful and the recovery rate
was high.
Still there were nearly 600 who were not rescued. Many of them went down
along the Ho Chi Minh Trail and the passes through the border mountains
between Laos and Vietnam. Many were alive on the ground and in radio contact
with search and rescue and other planes; some were known to have been
captured. Hanoi's communist allies in Laos, the Pathet Lao, publicly spoke
of American prisoners they held, but when peace agreements were negotiated,
Laos was not included, and not a single American was released that had been
held in Laos.
On February 27, 1968, Navy Capt. Paul L. Milius departed his base at Nakhon
Phanom, Thailand (NKP) in an OP2E Neptune on an armed reconnaissance mission
over Laos. Aboard were eight crew members assigned to Observation Squadron
67, plus Milius, the pilot.
The Neptune had precise navigational equipment and accurate optical
bombsight. Radar was housed in a well on the nose underside of the aircraft,
and radar technicians felt especially vulnerable working in this "glass
bubble" nosed aircraft. It was believed that the aircraft could place the
seismic or acoustic device within a few yards of the desired point, but to
do this, the OP2E had to fly low and level, making it an easy target for the
enemy's anti-aircraft guns that were increasing in number along the Trail.
Milius was over his assigned target in Khammouane Province, Laos, about 15
miles southwest of the Ban Karai Pass, and was delivering ordnance on the
target when the aircraft was struck by suspected anti-aircraft artillery. A
projectile struck the underside of the aircraft and exploded in the radar
well. Petty Officer John F. Hartzheim, an Avionics Technician assigned to
the aircraft, was struck by fragments of the projectile and began bleeding
profusely. The radar well burst into flames, filling the flight deck area of
the aircraft with dense, acrid smoke.
The aircraft commander ordered the crew to bail out. Hartzheim was carried
to the after station by the Tactical Coordinator. Upon arriving in the after
station, Hartzheim stated that he could not go any farther, and collapsed.
Other crew members later stated they believed Hartzheim died at this time,
as his eyes were wide open and rolled to an upwards position and there was
no movement. Milius was at this time still seated at the controls of the
aircraft.
Seven crewmembers safely exited the aircraft, and were subsequently rescued
by Search and Rescue forces. The area of the crashed aircraft was observed,
and it was felt that no identifiable remains would be found. Hartzheim was
not believed to exit the aircraft, and was believed to be dead. He was
listed Killed, Body Not Recovered. It cannot be determined whether the enemy
had knowledge of his ultimate fate.
The pilot, Paul Milius was not rescued. The Bombardier/Third Pilot, who was
rescued, indicated that Milius was sitting at the after-station hatch and
bailed out just prior to his own departure to the aircraft, but SAR efforts
had failed to located and rescue him. Milius was listed Missing in Action.
The Defense Intelligence Agency further expanded Milius' classification to
include an enemy knowledge ranking of 2. Category 2 indicates "suspect
knowledge" and includes personnel who may have been lost in areas or under
conditions that they may reasonably be expected to be known by the enemy.
The family of John Hartzheim has little doubt that he died the day his
aircraft went down. They can take pride in his service, although they have
to grave to visit. For the Milius family, as well as thousands of others,
however, solutions are not so easy. Were it not for the thousands of reports
concerning Americans still held captive in Southeast Asia, these families
might be able to close this tragic chapter of their lives. But as long as
Americans are alive, being held captive, one of them could be Paul Milius.
It's time we brought these men home.
No. 019-M
MEMORANDUM FOR CORRESPONDENTS March 17, 1999
The remains of three American servicemen previously unaccounted-for from
Southeast Asia have been identified and are being returned to their families
for burial in the United States.
They are identified as Navy Cmdr. John C. Mape, San Francisco, Calif.; Air
Force Maj. John E. Bailey, Minneapolis, Minn.; and Navy Petty Officer 2nd
Class John F. Hartzheim, Appleton, Wis.
On April 13, 1966, Mape was flying an armed reconnaissance mission over Nghe
Tinh Province North Vietnam when an enemy surface-to air missile struck his
A-1H Skyraider, destroying it. Other pilots in the flight made a visual
inspection of the crash site and concluded there were no survivors.
In May 1991 a joint U.S./Vietnamese team, led by the Joint Task Force-Full
Accounting, traveled to Nghe Tinh Province and interviewed several local
witnesses who recalled the crash of a U.S. aircraft in April or May 1966.
The witnesses also indicated that the site had been heavily scavenged for
metal in the early 1990s. The initial visit to the crash site in 1991 and a
subsequent visit in July 1993 provided little material evidence.
In August 1994 a U.S./Vietnamese team learned that a group of men had been
arrested in Dong Nai Province in late 1992 for illegally excavating and
taking remains from the crash site. Vietnamese authorities confiscated the
remains and turned them over to U.S. anthropologists.
On May 10, 1966, Bailey was leading a combat strike mission over Quang Binh
Province, North Vietnam. Shortly after expending his ordnance, Bailey's
F-105D Thunderchief was seen to tumble end-over-end into the ground with its
canopy in place. Other members of the flight circled the impact area but
observed no survivor.
In 1990 a joint U.S./Vietnamese team interviewed several local villagers in
Quang Binh Province who provided information including an F-105 aircraft
data plate that appeared to correlate with Bailey's loss. The team visited
the recorded crash site but saw no indication of wreckage. A second visit
to that site in 1993 confirmed the absence of evidence there.
In July 1995 another joint team performed a preliminary survey of the crash
site which led to an excavation a month later. The team located aircraft
fragments, pilot-related personal equipment as well as human remains.
On Feb. 27, 1968, Hartzheim was on board an OP-2E Neptune flying a
reconnaissance mission over Khammouan Province, Laos. While over the target
area the aircraft was struck by an enemy 37mm antiaircraft round, causing
the radar well and bomb bay to catch fire. Shrapnel from the explosion
struck Hartzheim. He collapsed at the rear of the aircraft during
evacuation and was presumed dead. The crew parachuted out of the aircraft
as it entered a steep climb before crashing. A subsequent search and rescue
tea m succeeded in rescuing only seven of the nine crew members.
In January 1985 a unilateral turnover from a Laotian source to the Joint
Casualty Resolution Center Liaison Office in Bangkok consisted of several
bone fragments, a compass and a plastic E-and-E (Escape and Evasion) map.
The source indicated that the items were recovered near a 1968 crash site of
an U.S. aircraft in Khammouan Province.
In October and December 1994 joint U.S./Lao teams traveled to the Khammouan
Province to interview several villagers with information about the crash.
While surveying the crash site the team found aircraft wreckage, a fragment
of a possible knife sheath and human remains. Successive visits in 1995 and
1996 recovered more remains, life support equipment and other crew-related
items.
Anthropological analysis of the remains and other evidence by the U.S. Army
Central Identification Laboratory Hawaii confirmed the identification of
Mape, Bailey and Hartzheim. With the accounting of these three servicemen,
2,069 Americans are listed as unaccounted-for from the Vietnam War.
The U.S. government welcomes and appreciates the cooperation of the
government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Lao People's
Democratic Republic, which resulted in the accounting of these servicemen.
We hope that such cooperation will bring increased results in the future.
Achieving the fullest possible accounting for these Americans is of the
highest national priority.
-END-
=======================
Three decades after his death, missing soldier put to rest
By Maureen Blaney Flietner
Special to the Journal Sentinel Winneconne --
John Francis Hartzheim got an emotional welcome home Saturday afternoon,
more than 31 years after he died in the Vietnam War.
August 1, 1999 About 200 friends, family members and veterans gathered at
St. Mary Catholic Church in Winneconne to celebrate the life of the
22-year-old Navy petty officer 2nd class and the return of his remains to
his family.
Hartzheim was flying a reconnaissance mission over Laos on Feb. 27, 1968,
when the plane was hit by a 37mm anti-aircraft round. Shrapnel from the
explosion struck Hartzheim, a radio operator, and he was unable to parachute
from the plane.
For more than three decades, the military listed Hartzheim as missing in
action. But in March, the Pentagon announced that it was able to identify
remains recovered by joint U.S.-Laos teams in 1994-'96 as Hartzheim's.
Even though those who knew Hartzheim were sure he had been killed long ago,
Saturday's memorial service awakened grief nearly as fresh as it had been in
1968.
Especially moved were Neal D'Orazir and Dave Thompson, who had been in
Hartzheim's squadron. D'Orazir turned away several times when he was asked
about Hartzheim and what it meant to have his remains returned.
But
Thompson spoke for both of them.
"He was a good man," Thompson said simply.
He recalled how Hartzheim had taken the time to take a 17-year-old recruit
under his wing, showing him the ropes in Southeast Asia. Hartzheim also was
one of a number of servicemen who donated their off-duty time to build a
provincial hospital in Thailand.
Hartzheim's squadron held a reunion over the Fourth of July weekend in Las
Vegas, Thompson said. The Hartzheim family was there, too, and heard about
him from many of the 100 or so squadron members who had reunited for the
first time since they had been in combat.
Hartzheim, the eighth of 12 children and a graduate of Appleton High School,
worked as a sheet-metal mechanic before enlisting in the Navy. He married
his high school sweetheart, Marie, in September 1967, just before he was
sent to Vietnam. Less than five months later, news came that he was missing
and presumed dead.
Jim Duchateau of Kimberly found words hard to come by in recalling his high
school buddy. Even though Hartzheim had been reported killed, "I wondered
about it for a long time. But now he's at rest."
Robert Woldt of Freedom, a Navy veteran, described Hartzheim as "an
all-around good guy. A happy-go-lucky fellow, easy to get along.
"I couldn't believe it when they announced his remains had been found. I
didn't think they'd ever find anything," Woldt said. "Now everybody knows
for sure. For a long time, there was only 'missing in action.' Everybody
knew (he had died), but it still was 'missing in action.' "
While the service was meant to celebrate Hartzheim's life, the grief over
his loss -- even after 31 years -- was difficult to miss.
Tears were wiped away as veterans walked single file up the church aisle to
each give a slow final salute to Hartzheim. Tears flowed again when the Navy
squad gave its 21-gun salute and a plane trailed smoke and broke away from
the others in the symbolic "missing man" formation at the cemetery.
And as brothers and sisters and Hartzheim's widow received an American flag
and medals and said their final goodbyes, the tears flowed yet again over a
life cut short.
Among those in attendance were memb ers of several veterans
groups, including the Vietnam Veterans of the Fox Valley, Veterans of
Foreign Wars and the Vietnam Vets Motorcycle Club.
Terry Judkins, president of the Appleton High School Class of 1964, said
Hartzheim was remembered at last weekend's 35th class reunion. Judkins, who
lost his twin brother in Vietnam, said no one can prepare a family for the
loss.
But, he said, there was comfort to be found in the fact that Hartzheim was
"back where he belongs, back with loved ones, back in a free country that
he gave his life fighting for."
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