MIA no more? Remains of former Lewiston man may finally be recovered from Vietnam jungleVietnamese witnesses have told military investigators of a grave on a hilltop where a very tall American pilot was buried in October 1965, three days after he was captured. Mayer was 6 feet 4 inches tall. The site was visited earlier this year by the 59th Joint Field Activity team, which is recommending it be excavated. It now is part of a farmer's field, however, and the owner says the best time would be between November and March when no crops are planted. "This is the first time anything solid has come through," Elizabeth Mayer of Clarkston said. As much as she desires to know, to have resolution after 35 years of waiting, she remains cautious. "Even if it is an American pilot," she said, "it might not be my son. We lost three planes and six men that day. I know two of them were captured, and they came home with POWs when they had Homecoming. That was in 1973." Operation Homecoming was the mass return of prisoners of war to Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines. Actually, four men became long-term prisoners Oct. 17, 1965. One of them was David Wheat, the second crewman in Mayer's F4 Phantom jet, who spent seven years and four months as a POW. Only Mayer and one other pilot remain unaccounted for. "It's been so long. It's been 35 years. It can't go away. If he had been killed, you can handle that. But there's no way to cope with this," his mother said. Elizabeth Mayer, 81, and her daughter, Charlotte Saunt of Novelty, Ohio, plan to go to the 31st annual National Families of POW/MIAs reunion June 21 at Washington, D.C. Then they will try to make some kind of arrangements to get to Vietnam. "We have been wanting to do that for a long time. But for a long time Americans couldn't travel there." She doesn't expect to be allowed to see the field that might enclose her son's grave. "I'm sure of that." Rod Mayer, who graduated in 1957 from Lewiston High School and in 1961 from the University of Idaho, was listed as missing in action that day in 1965 after taking off in the Phantom from the aircraft carrier USS Independence. Both he and Wheat were seen on the ground after their aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire. Mayer didn't appear to be moving. They had disappeared by the time rescue personnel arrived. The letter from the Department of the Navy Missing Persons Section dated May 5 contains a six-page summary of the most recent investigation. Only the names of the U.S. team are blacked out, probably to prevent families from attempting to contact them. It says the team of 10 Americans and 16 Vietnamese arrived in Lang Son Township Feb. 24 of this year to investigate three cases. Three witnesses were interviewed. Vi Thi Hanh, 77, was a lieutenant at the township's public security correctional facility during the war. At about 8 p.m. on a day prior to 1969, an injured American pilot was brought to the prison. She was told he was captured after militia forces shot down his airplane. The pilot was tall and very pale, she said. His clothing was covered with blood. "My son was real dark," Mayer said. "But if she had never seen an American, all Americans would look tall and pale because their skin is brown." After he was treated, Hanh told the team she ordered other personnel to bring him milk and rice. They had to lift his head to feed him. He died about three days later and was buried by prisoners in an unmarked grave in the prison cemetery on a nearby hill. Hanh observed the burial. The families of all but three people buried there later were moved by families to other locations, she told the team. The pilot's grave, Hanh said, she believed to be undisturbed. The report does not say whether the people held at the prison or those buried in the cemetery were Vietnamese or foreigners. Hanh said in 1994, one American and several Vietnamese officials questioned her about the burial of the American pilot. She told them of the grave, but did not go with them there. Ngo Xuan No, now 45, told the team he had heard the story of the American pilot from Hanh in the past, but knew nothing of other missing Americans. Hoang Minh Trung, 51, said three burial mounds were visible when he obtained the land in 1973. One of the three was later exhumed by a prisoner's family. Over the years, the other two were flattened by farming and domestic animals. He also removed about 8 inches of topsoil when he leveled the ground for cultivation. No remains were observed. The area around the cemetery was jungle 35 years ago. Now it has been cleared for houses and farm plots with lemon and eucalyptus trees and pineapple plants. A 20 meter by 30 meter area was identified as containing the burial mounds. Global positioning system readings were taken using four satellites. The recommendation from the joint team is to excavate: 10 to 15 days and a team of 40 workers will be required. There is nothing she can do now, still, but wait. Maybe after the Vietnamese farmer harvests this year's crops Mayer finally will get an answer.
|