NAGAHIRO, JAMES YOSHIKAZU
Name: James Yoshikazu Nagahiro
Rank/Branch: O5/US Air Force, pilot
Unit:
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Honolulu HI
Date of Loss: 21 December 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 210200N 1054500E (WJ779258)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: B52G
Other Personnel In Incident: Charles J. Bebus; Donovan Walters; Robert R.
Lynn; Edward Johnson (remains returned October 1988); Lynn R. R. Beens;
(returned POW); Keith R. Heggen (remains returned in 1974)
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.
REMARKS: RELEASED 730329 BY DRV
SYNOPSIS: Frustrated by problems in negotiating a peace settlement, and
pressured by a Congress and public wanting an immediate end to American
involvement in Vietnam, President Nixon ordered the most concentrated ait
offensive of the war - known as Linebacker II - in December 1972. During the
offensive, sometimes called the "Christmas bombings", 40,000 tons of bombs
were dropped, primarily over the area between Hanoi and Haiphong. White House
Press Secretary Ronald Ziegler said that the bombing would end only when all
U.S. POWs were released and an internationally recognized cease-fire was in
force.
The Christmas Bombings, despite press accounts to the contrary, were of the
most precise the world had seen. Pilots involved in the immense series of
strikes generally agree that the strikes against anti-aircraft and strategic
targets was so successfull that the U.S., had it desired, "could have taken
the entire country of Vietnam by inserting an average Boy Scout troop in Hanoi
and marching them southward."
The B52 bomber saw heavy duty in Vietnam. From June 1965 to August 1973 no
fewer than 126,615 B52 sorties were flown. Of these, 125,479 reached their
targets, and 124,532 dropped their bombs. Six percent of these sorties were
flown in North Vietnam, and 17 B52s were lost to hostile fire in North
Vietnam. During the month of December 1972, 62 crewmembers of B52 aircraft
were shot down and captured or went missing over North Vietnam. Of these 62,
33 men were released in 1973. The remains of 14 more have been returned over
the years, and 15 are still missing. At least 10 those missing survived to
eject safely. Where are they? Where have they been?
On December 21, 1972, a B52G bomber stationed on Guam was ordered to take part
in the Christmas bombings. The crew of this B52 consisted of James Y.
Nagahiro, pilot; Donovan K. Walters, co-pilot; Robert R. Lynn, electronic
warfare officer; Charles J. Bebus, gunner; and crewmembers Lynn R. Beens;
Keith R. Heggen and Edward H. Johnson.
The B52G was outfitted more or less as were the other B52 models, equipped
with 50-callibre M-3 guns and 27-750 pound bombs, but with the additional
capacity to carry aerial mines.
LtCol. Nagahiro's aircraft successfully completed its mission, but was hit by
a surface to air missile (SAM) in the tail section shortly after turning
toward the safety of Thailand. Nagahiro gave the order for the crew to eject.
The fate of the crew is varied. Nagahiro, Beens and Heggen were captured, and
Heggen died in captivity. Until his release, the U.S. did not know Nagahiro
had been captured. After their release in 1973, Nagahiro and Beens were able
to fill in further information on the missing crew members.
Nagahiro relates that he saw Donovan Walters eject from the plane and heard
four others, Lynn, Bebus, Heggen and Beens, go out from behind him. Beens
states that he saw Walter's identification card in a stack of cards on a desk
at Hoa Lo (Hanoi Hilton) prison in Hanoi. Nagahiro saw Johnson's name written
on a pad at the prison. Hegger was captured alive, but died in captivity.
Although the Vietnamese returned the remains of Keith Heggen in March 1974,
they have consistently denied knowledge of any of the rest of the crew.
In October 1988, the Vietnamese "discovered" the remains of Bebus, Johnson,
Lynn and Walters and returned them to U.S. control. For 16 years, they were
political prisoners - alive or dead - of a communist nation.
Mounting evidence indicates that hundreds of Americans are still alive in
captivity in Southeast Asia. The U.S. Government has regular "talks" with the
Vietnamese and has negotiated the excavation of a crash site and the return of
about 200 remains, but has failed to successfully negotiate for the return of
those Americans still held captive.
If the U.S. had negotiated more aggressively, would Bebus, Johnson, Lynn and
Walters come home dead? Or alive?
SOURCE: WE CAME HOME copyright 1977
Captain and Mrs. Frederic A Wyatt (USNR Ret), Barbara Powers Wyatt, Editor
P.O.W. Publications, 10250 Moorpark St., Toluca Lake, CA 91602
Text is reproduced as found in the original publication (including date and
spelling errors).
UPDATE - 09/95 by the P.O.W. NETWORK, Skidmore, MO
JAMES Y. NAGAHIRO
Lieutenant Colonel - United States Air Force
Shot Down: December 21, 1972
Released: March 29, 1973
HOMETOWN: Honolulu, Hawaii
SERVICE: Basic Training, Parks Air Force Base, California, March 1953
Commissioned through Aviation Cadet Program, 16 June 1954 Navigator,
C-124, 61st Troop Carrier Group, Donaldson Air Force Base, South
Carolina, September 1954 to June 1956 Graduated Pilot Training, July
1957 B47 Copilot, Schilling Air Force Base, Kansas, November 1957
to April 1961 B47 Aircraft Commander, Plattsburg AFB, New York,
August 1961 to May 1965 B-52 Aircraft Staff, Beale AFB, California,
August 1965 to November 1968 Operations Staff, Utapao AB, Thailand,
December 1968 to December 1969 Operations Staff, Ramey Air Force
Base, Puerto Rico, January 1970 to July 1971 Fairchild Air Force
Base, Washington, August 1971
FAMILY: Wife, Alice K. (nee Mukai). Hometown: Wahiawa, Oahu, Hawaii
Children, Ann K, 17, Lynn Y. 15, Jon Y. 13, and David T. 10
MESSAGE: America No Ka Oi! (America is the finest land on Earth!)
December 1996
James Nagahiro retired from the United States Air Force as a Colonel. He and
his wife Alice reside in California.
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