WALTON, LEWIS CLARK
Name: Lewis Clark Walton
Rank/Branch: E6/US Army Special Forces
Unit: Task Force 1, Advisory Element (assigned to Support Headquarters,
USARV)
Date of Birth: 13 May 1934 (Providence RI)
Home City of Record: Cranston RI
Date of Loss: 10 May 1971
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 155250N 1073430E
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Refno: 1745
Other Personnel In Incident: Klaus Bingham; James Luttrell (both missing)
REMARKS:
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.
SYNOPSIS: James Luttrell, Lewis Walton and Klaus Bingham were members of a
long-range reconnaissance (LRRP) team "Asp" which was inserted into western
Quang Nam Province 12 miles from Laos on May 3, 1971.
The Asp team was inserted without ground fire or radio transmission. On May
4, the area was searched by Forward Air Controllers (FAC) who neither saw
nor heard anything from the team.
On May 5, two pilots flying in the area reported seeing a mirror and a panel
signal 50 meters west of the LZ for about 15 minutes. The area was searched
again for about 3 hours, and the FAC attempted to raise the team on radio.
At 1404 hours on May 5, the FAC saw two people wearing dark green fatigues
locating panel signals. Helicopters were launched at 1500 hours that day
with a rescue team, but could not be inserted because of bad weather. The
FAC stayed on station until 1700 hours that day, but no communication was
ever established with the team.
On May 6, weather again prohibited search attempts.
On May 7, hostile fire in the area prevented the insertion of a rescue team.
Poor weather prevented the insertion of a search team until May 14. The team
was extracted the same day, without ever having heard or seen the patrol.
Luttrell, Walton and Bingham disappeared. The three were classified Missing
In Action. They are among nearly 2400 Americans who are still missing from
the Vietnam war. Experts now believe that hundreds of these men are still
alive.
Lewis Walton was a seasoned soldier when he disappeared. He was trained for
survival under adverse circumstances. Under the circumstances of his
disappearance, the U.S. Army believes the enemy may know what happened to
him. He could be alive.
In our haste to leave Southeast Asia, we abandoned 2400 of our best.
Surprisingly, in 1988, overtures by many U.S. government officials hint at
normalization of relations with Vietnam, yet no agreements have been reached
which would free those Americans still held in Southeast Asia. In our haste
to return to Indochina will we again abandon our men?
NOTE:
Catherine M. Walton, the mother of Lewis, passed away in the privacy of her
own home on the morning of November 7, 1997 at the age of 87. She never knew
the fate of her son. Perhaps she does now.
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