David J. Wax

  Remains Returned List - 1993  

SUMMARY

Name: David J. Wax Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force Date of Birth: 01 August 1941 Home City of Record: Brookline MA Date of Loss: 20 December 1965 Country of Loss: South Vietnam Loss Coordinates: 125901N 1091845E Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered Category: 5 Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: C130E Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing) REMARKS: On 12/96 DOD REMAINS RECOVERED LIST

SYNOPSIS

SYNOPSIS: David J. "Waxie" Wax was known for his wit and good humor at the Air Force Academy.  He graduated in 1963 and had a promising career ahead when he took flight training and was shipped to Vietnam. On December 20, 1965, 1Lt. David J. Wax was the co-pilot of a C130E that was on a combat mission in Phu Yen Province, South Vietnam.  The C130, created by Lockheed filled many roles in Vietnam, including transport, tanker, gunship, drone controller, airborne battlefield command and control center, weather reconnaissance, electronic reconnaissance, and search, rescue and recovery.  This C130E was outfitted for electronic reconnaissance. The aircraft was hit by enemy fire and crashed about 10 miles south of the city of Tuy Hoa.  1Lt. Wax is the only man missing from the aircraft, so it is presumed that the rest of the crew was either rescued or recovered.  It was deemed at the time that Wax was killed in the crash and he was classified Killed in Action, with no hope of recovering his body. Dave Wax is listed among the missing because his remains were never found to send home to the country he served.  He died a tragically ironic death in the midst of war. But, for his family, the case seems clear that he died on that day.  The fact that they have no body to bury with honor is not of great significance. For other who are missing, however, the evidence leads not to death, but to survival. Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports received relating to Americans still held captive in Indochina have convinced experts that hundreds of men are still alive, waiting for their country to rescue them.  The notion that Americans are dying without hope in the hands of a long-ago enemy belies the idea that we left Vietnam with honor. It also signals that tens of thousands of lost lives were a frivolous waste of our best men.