Missing Airmen’s Remains Identified

Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org

Defense Department forensic scientists have identified the remains of six airmen who had been missing in action since the Vietnam War. They are: Col. Joseph Christiano of Rochester, N.Y.; Col. Derrell B. Jeffords of Florence, S.C.; Lt. Col. Dennis L. Eilers of Cedar Rapids, Iowa; CMSgt. William K. Colwell of Glen Cove, N.Y.; CMSgt. Arden K. Hassenger of Lebanon, Ore.; and CMSgt. Larry C. Thornton of Idaho Falls, Idaho. The airmen’s remains are being returned to their families; these airmen will receive a burial with full military honors—as a group in a single casket representing the entire crew—on July 9 at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., according to the Pentagon’s July 5 release. These airmen were the crew of an AC-47D Spooky gunship that did not return from a combat mission in southern Laos on Dec. 24, 1965. Between 1995 and 2011, joint US-Lao forensic teams recovered aircraft wreckage and human remains at the crash site discovered in Savannakhet province, Laos, that enabled the airmen’s identification.

Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org