MILLNER, MICHAEL

Name: Michael Millner
Rank/Branch: E6/US Army Special Forces
Unit: Detachment A-351, 5th Special Forces Group
Date of Birth: 17 December 1942 (Alhambra CA)
Home City of Record: Marysville CA
Date of Loss: 29 November 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 120201N 1065404E (YU069309)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Refno: 0930

Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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: Michael Millner joined the Army in 1969 from his hometown of
Marysville, California. He was seventeen years old. By the time he was
shipped to Vietnam the Army had promoted him to Staff Sergeant and trained
him in light weapons, and he wore a Green Beret. In Vietnam, he was assigned
to Detachment A-351, 5th Special Forces Group.

On November 26, 1967, Millner was serving as an advisor to an ARVN CIDG unit
which began a search and destroy operation near the border of Cambodia in
Phuoc Long Province, South Vietnam. On November 29, the LLDB commander
wanted to stop the troops for lunch, against the advice of the U.S. senior
advisor to the team, Capt. Matthew J. Hasko.

While breaking for lunch, the unit was attacked by a Viet Cong company. The
CIDG became completely disorganized and ran from the field as Special Forces
personnel tried to cover the rear and carry the wounded. When the group
finally reorganized, Millner was missing. The Special Forces advisors were
unable to lead the ARVN back to the area to search for Millner, and withdrew
from the area.

On December 2, 1967, a U.S. advisor and a six-man Vietnamese reconnaissance
unit made an unsuccessful search of the area. Between December 6 and
December 9, a Special Forces unit and their Cambodian trainees made an
extensive ground search, supported by aircraft, with no success.

SSGT Michael Millner remained Missing in Action until 1974. At this time,
the Army administratively declared him dead, based on no specific
information that he was still alive. It is believed that the Vietnamese
could account for Millner.

Since the war ended, over 10,000 reports relating to Americans prisoner,
missing and otherwise unaccounted for in Southeast Asia have been received
by the U.S. Many authorities who have examined this largely-classified
information have reluctantly come to the conclusion that many Americans are
still alive in captivity today.

Whether Michael Millner survived the attack on 29 November 1967 is not
known. His training would certainly enable him to evade for a considerable
amount of time, or cope with the horrible conditions prisoners of the Viet
Cong were forced to endure.

What is certain, however, is that as long as even one American is held
against his will in Indochina, we have a legal and moral responsibility to
bring him home.




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