STRAWN, JOHN THOMAS

Name: John Thomas Strawn
Rank/Branch: E6/US Army
Unit: Cover designation: 138th Aviation Company, 224th "Aviation" Battalion,
509th RR Group (Actual unit designation: 138th ASA Company, 224th ASA
Battalion (Aviation), U.S. Army Security Agency Group, Vietnam)
Date of Birth: 15 April 1942 (Portland OR)
Home City of Record: Salem OR
Date of Loss: 04 March 1971
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 165809N 1065407E (YD025770)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 3
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: JU21A
Refno: 1715

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.

Other Personnel in Incident: Rodney D. Osborne; Richard J. Hentz; Michael W.
Marker; Harold L. Algaard (all missing)

REMARKS: RAD CONT LOST-SAR NEG-J

SYNOPSIS: On March 4, 1971 Capt. Michael W. Marker, pilot of a JU21-A twin
engine turbo prop (serial number 18065, call sign Vanguard 216) departed Phu
Bai, Republic of Vietnam on an early morning combat support mission in the
vicinity of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). His crew that morning consisted of
WO1 Harold L. Algaard, co-pilot; SP5 Rodney D. Osborne, technical observer;
SP5 Richard J. Hentz, crewman; and SP6 John T. Strawn, crewman. The pilot
and crew were assigned to the 138th Aviation Company, 224th Aviation
Battalion, 509th RR (Radio Research) Group, a cover designation for their
real unit in USASA.

"Radio Research" was actually a secret cover designation for certain units
operating under the direction of the U.S. Army Security Agency Group,
Vietnam. All missions of this agency were highly classified. The 224th
Aviation Battalion was referred to as an aviation battalion in Vietnam for
security reasons only. The JU21A aircrew's actual unit designation was 138th
ASA Company, 224th ASA Battalion (Aviation), U.S. Army Security Agency
Group, Vietnam.

Two hours into the mission, at 0840 hours, radio and radar communication was
lost. When the aircraft failed to return from the mission at the appointed
time, search efforts were initiated and continued for 2 days over a 300 mile
area, but proved negative. A reliable source indicated that an aerial
detonation in the vicinity of the DMZ occurred on March 4, 1971 at the same
flight altitude and pattern flown by Vanguard 216. Hostile threat in the
area precluded any visits to the suspected area of the crash. No trace was
ever found of the aircraft or the crew.

While the missing crew members were initially listed as Missing In Action, a
change in status to Killed In Action, Body Not Recovered (KIA/BNR) occurred
within 90 days of the incident. Regarding the status change, the families
were told that all information pertinent to the incident was classified and
would remain classified for ten years.

Since that date, the families have been told that the aircraft was involved
in electronic surveillance, and their mission was top secret. The aircraft
was hit by enemy artillery and was downed over North Vietnam. A "classified
source" stated that the crew was killed. The rest is classified.

Efforts through numerous inquiries, including a Congressional inquiry in
1982, to reveal what information was contained in the "classified source"
have been fruitless. Through the Congressional inquiry, it was learned that
information regarding the loss of Vanguard 216 would be classified until the
year 2010 A.D.

Since American involvement in Southeast Asia ended in 1975, nearly 10,000
reports relating to Americans missing in Vietnam have been received by the
U.S. Government. Most non-government authorities believe there are hundreds
of Americans still alive in the communist prisons of Southeast Asia. The
U.S. Government remains nebulous in their statements, saying only that the
"possibility" exists, but cannot be confirmed.

The crew of Vanguard 216 has been missing for nearly 20 years. The families
of the men aboard hold little hope that they are still alive. But they would
like to know - and deserve to know - what happened on that day. If, as the
U.S. Government seems to believe, all the men are now dead, why the cover of
secrecy regarding their fates? It's time we got answers, and it's time those
who remain alive are brought home.

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