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[Spacer] [Air Force - .8K] Howard David Stephenson
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[Bunting - .4K]  Laid To Rest - Arlington - 2010  [Bunting - .4K]

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SUMMARY
  • Name: Howard David Stephenson
  • Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
  • Unit: 16th Special Operations Squadron, Ubon Airfield, Thailand
  • Date of Birth: 06 October 1937
  • Home City of Record: Bolton MA
  • Date of Loss: 29 March 1972
  • Country of Loss: Laos
  • Loss Coordinates: 163900N 1060600E (XD165414)
  • Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
  • Category: 2
  • Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: AC130A
  • Other Personnel in Incident: 
    Barclay Young; Henry Brauner; James Caniford; Curtis Miller;
    Robert Simmons; Edwin Pearce (all missing);
    Edward Smith; Richard Halpin; Irving Ramsower; Richard Castillo;
    Charles Wanzel; Merlyn Paulson; William Todd; (remains returned)
  • Group burial scheduled 06/17/2010 Arlington, 3 pm

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    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, the navigator, Maj. Henry P. Brauner, and crew members 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.  In 1972, however, the Pearce family was told that an F4 support plane traveling with the AC130 heard "so many beepers they couldn't count them" and that the emergency beeper type carried by the crew could only be activated manually.  The Pearce family took this as strong proof that a number of the crew survived.  The support aircraft plane left the area to refuel.  When it returned, there were no signs of life.

    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.  At about this same time, Simmons' dog tag was mailed anonymously to the U.S.  Embassy in Laos.  FBI tests failed to show fire residue on the tag, proving to the Simmons family that Skeeter did not die in the explosion and go down in the fiery crash.

    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 from these bone fragments.

    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.

    In January 1991, a federal judge ruled that when the Simmons family collected death benefits for Skeeter, they lost the right to question whether he was dead.  They have continued to fight a positive identification based on a single tooth.  The Assistant U.S. Attorney, William H. Pease, added that the court has no jurisdiction over military identification of remains.

    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.

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    Bolton Common (MA) July 23, 2010

    Bolton native Lieutenant Colonel Howard D. Stephenson was laid to rest at Arlington Cemetery after being listed as missing in action for 38 years.

    On March 29, 1972, Stephenson, who was an Electronic Warfare Officer in the United States Air Force, boarded an AC130A gunship along with 13 other crew members and departed Ubon Airbase, Thailand on a reconnaissance mission over the Ho-Chi-Minh Trail to intercept the transport of North Vietnamese supplies. The gunship suffered fatal damage from Surface to Air (SAM) missiles and crashed in the mountainside jungle approximately 32 miles west of the Lao/Vietnamese border. Stephenson was officially listed as Missing in Action.

    More than 38 years later on Thursday, June 17, 2010, John Stephenson with his children, Lori and John R. Stephenson, attended his brother's funeral at Arlington Cemetery in Washington, D.C. With all the patriotic pomp and circumstance combined with the perfect precision of a military burial, the ceremony was an amazing tribute to the life and dedication of Howard D. Stephenson and the 13 men with whom he served and who lost their lives that day. With air traffic above Arlington Cemetery ceased to allow the ceremonial flight of an AC130A, a brother aircraft of the fallen gunship, more than 200 immediate family members as well as decedents of the fallen heroes sat silent as folded flags were given to each servicemen's next of kin.

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