Shaffer
10-22-02, 04:24 PM
The remains of Army Capt. Larry F. Lucas of Marmet, W.Va., a
U.S. soldier previously unaccounted-for from the war in Vietnam,
have been identified and are being returned to his family for
burial with military honors.
Lucas and another crewman were flying a reconnaissance mission
in their OV-1 Mohawk aircraft over Savannakhet Province, Laos,
when they were hit by enemy anti-aircraft fire. As the crew of
another OV-1 watched, the aircraft entered a steep dive, crashed
and exploded. The other crewmember ejected from the aircraft
before the crash and was rescued.
Other aircraft searched the area for a survivor, but with
negative results. No parachute was seen and no radio
transmissions were heard from Lucas.
Between January 1990 and September 1999, four joint U.S.-Lao
on-site investigations were led by the Joint Task Force-Full
Accounting. During two of these investigations, excavations
recovered aircraft debris, pilot-related artifacts and human
remains. Forensic scientists from the U.S. Army Central
Identification Laboratory Hawaii identified the remains.
There are currently more than 1,900 Americans unaccounted-for
from the war in Southeast Asia.
U.S. soldier previously unaccounted-for from the war in Vietnam,
have been identified and are being returned to his family for
burial with military honors.
Lucas and another crewman were flying a reconnaissance mission
in their OV-1 Mohawk aircraft over Savannakhet Province, Laos,
when they were hit by enemy anti-aircraft fire. As the crew of
another OV-1 watched, the aircraft entered a steep dive, crashed
and exploded. The other crewmember ejected from the aircraft
before the crash and was rescued.
Other aircraft searched the area for a survivor, but with
negative results. No parachute was seen and no radio
transmissions were heard from Lucas.
Between January 1990 and September 1999, four joint U.S.-Lao
on-site investigations were led by the Joint Task Force-Full
Accounting. During two of these investigations, excavations
recovered aircraft debris, pilot-related artifacts and human
remains. Forensic scientists from the U.S. Army Central
Identification Laboratory Hawaii identified the remains.
There are currently more than 1,900 Americans unaccounted-for
from the war in Southeast Asia.