YOUNG, BARCLAY BINGHAM
Name: Barclay Bingham Young
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 16th Special Operations Squadron, Ubon Airfield, Thailand
Date of Birth: 06 August 1938
Home City of Record: Ft. Lauderdale FL
Date of Loss: 29 March 1972
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 163900N 1060600E (XD165414)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: AC130A
Refno: 1807
Other Personnel In Incident: Henry Brauner; Howard Stephenson; James
Caniford; Curtis D. Miller; Robert Simmons; Edwin Pearce (all missing);
Edward Smith; Richard Halpin; Irving Ramsower; Richard Castillo; Charles
Wanzel; Merlyn Paulson; William Todd; (remains returned)
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 March 1991 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: NO PARA - NO RAD CNTCT - SAR NEGA
SYNOPSIS: On the night of March 29, 1972, an AC130A Hercules "Spectre"
gunship departed Ubon Airfield, Thailand on a night reconnaissance mission
over supply routes used by North Vietnamese forces in Laos. The crew of the
aircraft consisted of pilots Maj. Irving B. Ramsower II and 1Lt. Charles J.
Wanzel III, and crew members Maj. Henry P. Brauner, Maj. Howard D.
Stephenson, Capt. Curtis D. Miller, Capt. Barclay B. Young, Capt. Richard
Castillo, Capt. Richard C. Halpin, SSgt. Merlyn L. Paulson, SSgt. Edwin J.
Pearce, SSgt. Edward D. Smith Jr., SSgt. James K. Caniford; and Airmen First
Class William A. Todd and Robert E. Simmons.
As the aircraft was in the jungle foothills 56 miles east of Savannakhet in
southern Laos, it was shot down by a Russian Surface to Air Missile (SAM).
U.S. government sources stated in February 1986 that a fighter escort plane
reported that the aircraft crashed in a fireball, no parachutes were seen,
nor was radio contact made with the AC130 or any of its crew. However,
family members were later told that a support plane traveling with the AC130
heard radio signals indicating that there were survivors. The support
aircraft plane left the area to refuel. When it returned, there were no
signs of life. Because of enemy concentration, rescue teams could not get
into the area.
A clandestine Pathet Lao news agency release stated:
"The U.S. imperialists on the night of March 30 sent aircraft to attack the
liberated zone in Savannakhet Province, Southern Laos. An L.P.L.A.
antiaircraft unit shot down on the sopt a U.S. AC-130 in addition to another
American AC-130 which had been shattered over the same province early
morning on March 29. Many U.S. crewmen aboard these planes were killed."
The Air Force reviewed this release and stated that no AC-130 had been shot
down on March 30; however, one had been lost at that location on March 31,
but the crew had all been rescued. The report, although distorted, was
believed to relate to the Young aircraft.
Several years later, the inscribed wedding band of Curtis Miller was
recovered by a reporter and returned to Miller's family. The existence of
the ring suggests to Miller's mother that the plane did not burn, and gives
her hope that he survived.
A May 1985 article appearing in a Thai newspaper stated that the bodies of
Simmons and Wanzel were among 5 bodies brought to the base camp of Lao
Liberation forces. The same article reported a group of 21 Americans still
alive, held prisoner at a camp in Khammouane Province, Laos.
The U.S. and Laos excavated this aircraft's crash site in February 1986. The
teams recovered a limited number of human bone fragments, personal effects
and large pieces of plane wreckage. It was later announced by the U.S.
Government that the remains of Castillo, Halpin, Ramsower, Simmons, Todd,
Paulson, Pearce, Wanzel and Smith had been positively identified.
In a previous excavation at Pakse, Laos in 1985, remains recovered were
positively identified as the 13 crew members, although independent examiners
later proved that only 2 of those identifications were scientifically
possible. The U.S. Government has acknowledged the errors made in
identification on two of the men, but these two individuals are still
considered "accounted for".
Because of the identification problems of the first excavation, the families
of the Savannakhet AC130 have carefully considered the information given
them about their loved ones. The families of Robert Simmons and Edwin Pearce
have actively resisted the U.S. Government's identification, which is in
both cases based on a single tooth. These families do not know if their men
are alive or dead, but will insist that the books are kept open until proof
dictates that there is no longer any hope for their survival.
Nearly 600 Americans were lost in Laos during the Vietnam war, and many were
known to have survived their loss incident. However, the U.S. did not
negotiate with Laos for these men, and consequently, not one American held
in Laos has ever been released.
Barclay B. Young was promoted to the rank of Major during the period he was
maintained Missing in Action.
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