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These pages are dedicated with deepest respect to
John Floyd Hummel
and all honorable veterans; past, present, and future.
The Incident
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Let us not forget Chief Warrant Officer John Floyd Hummel, casualty of the Vietnam War. As a member of the Army Reserve, CWO Hummel served our country until November 13th, 1978 in South Vietnam. He was 30 years old and was not married. John died when his helicopter crashed into the land. His body was not recovered. John was born on August 10th, 1948 in Barstow, Texas and attended the Barstow Schools and three and one/half years at University of Texas El Paso. He enlisted in the service and trained at Mineral Wells, Texas; Fort Rucker, Alabama; and Stewart-Hunter for Cobra Training. He served in the Mekong Delta for eight months, took leave to see his mother who was in ill health, and returned to Nam on February 22. He rejoined his outfit at Quang Tri. Johnny
was officially reported as missing March 6, 1971. He was last seen as
the pilot of a military aircraft on a military mission when contact was
lost. He received two Bronze Stars, Purple Heart, National Defense
Medal, Republic of Vietnam Service Medal and Republic of Vietnam
Campaign Ribbon. THIS IS HIS STORY: The first Bell AH1G Cobra helicopter gunships arrived in Vietnam on 1 September 1967 and since it carried both guns and rockets, it was a major step forward in the development of the armed helicopter. The Cobra had enough speed to meet the escort mission perimeters, tandem seating, better armor, and a better weapons system than any previous helicopter of its day. By 1970-1, the Cobra's armament included the 2.75-inch rocket with a 17-pound warhead, the very effective 2.75-inch flachette rocket, and the SX-35 20mm cannon which made it a truly powerful aircraft.On 06 March 1971, WO John F. Hummel, pilot, and WO William P. Milliner, co-pilot, comprised the crew of an AH1G Cobra helicopter gunship (serial #67-15464) as the wingman in a flight of two helicopters returning from a combat support mission over Laos to provide air cover for a late afternoon search and rescue (SAR) mission to pick up a seven-man American aircrew downed during a combat mission against the Ho Chi Minh Trail and the Hoc Bao tribesmen who were sent into find and secure them. Their call sign was "Writer 25," it was the number 2 aircraft in an original flight of five - 4 Cobra gunships and 1 Huey chase helicopter. The area of loss was on the north side of a very long, narrow jungle covered valley that generally ran in a northwest to southeast direction through Laos and ended to the east at the Lao/South Vietnamese border. The target area of the SAR operation was approximately 3 miles south of Muang Xepon, Laos; 12 miles west of the Lao/South Vietnamese border and 29 miles west of Khe Sanh. Highway 9 ran along the northern edge of the valley with rugged mountains rising just to the north and continued on through Laos into South Vietnam where the highway passed approximately 1 mile north of Khe Sanh. This area of eastern Laos was considered a major artery of the infamous Ho Chi Minh Trail. When North Vietnam began to increase its military strength in South Vietnam, NVA and Viet Cong troops again intruded on neutral Laos for sanctuary, as the Viet Minh had done during the war with the French some years before. This border road was used by the Communists to transport weapons, supplies and troops from North Vietnam into South Vietnam, and was frequently no more than a path cut through the jungle covered mountains. US forces used all assets available to them to stop this flow of men and supplies from moving south into the war zone. Approximately 5 minutes after takeoff, one of the Cobra gunships experienced a DC generator failure and returned to the flight's staging area at Lang Vei - approximately 7 miles west-southwest of Khe Sanh and 1 ½ miles east of the border. The rest of the flight continued on with their mission. The on site FAC, call sign Serpent 20, held the SAR and support aircraft in holding patterns as he established the exact location of the downed aircrew and the Hoc Bao with their position was confirmed as darkness approached. Writer lead released one Cobra gunship and the chase ship to return to base ahead of the rest of the flight because they were not equipped for night flight. Shortly thereafter the remaining two gunships were cleared in to lay down suppressive fire while the SAR aircraft extracted the downed aircrew and Hoc Bao tribesmen. Once the mission was completed, Serpent 20 released Writer 25 and 28 to return to base. At about 2000 hours, while enroute back to Khe Sanh, Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam, the weather turned hazy. Approximately 9 miles west of the base the fight encountered a cloudbank that reached to 4,000 feet. WO George Downing, the pilot of the lead aircraft, notified Khe Sanh ground control that both gunships were planning to use a ground control approach (GCA) because it was now dark and low level flying through the mountains around the base was too risky. Approximately two minutes later WO James Davis, the co-pilot of the lead aircraft, again contacted Khe Sanh GCA and was told to climb to 5,000 feet and make a left 360 degree turn to a heading of 020 degrees. WO Hummel was still flying in a normal wingman formation with the lead aircraft at this time and roughly 1½ miles apart; but no radio contact could be established between the two aircraft. Shortly after, the GCA control informed the lead aircraft to turn to a heading of 070 degrees at 4000 feet. After a descending turn was initiated, WO2 Downing saw WO Hummel's aircraft passed over the top of the their aircraft from right to left and continued in a northwesterly direction. This heading took Writer 25 back toward Laos. Further, this separation occurred in the clear, just before the flight leader entered the cloud layer at a distance of about 6 miles northwest of Khe Sanh and roughly 1 kilometer from the village of Dong Ha Pec. This was the last visual sighting of WO Hummel's aircraft. After landing George Downing and James Davis reported to the ground control center to monitor the situation. When Writer 25 did not land in a timely manner, ground control contacted all airfields, GCAs and outposts in the area where the gunship might have diverted to. In preparation for initiating SAR efforts at first light, the last known course of Writer 25 was plotted along with anticipating when the aircraft's fuel supply would be exhausted. Based on these calculations, the Army believed WO Hummel and WO Milliner aircraft could have gone down in the rugged jungle covered mountains approximately 2 miles east of the border, and 14 miles west-northwest of Khe Sanh. Beginning at first light several extensive ground and aerial searches were conducted along Writer 25's flight path in and over the countryside between their base and the South Vietnamese/Lao border. During the two-day search operation no emergency beepers were heard and no trace of the missing aircraft or its crew was found. At the time formal search efforts were terminated, both John Hummel and William Milliner were listed Missing in Action. Since 1989, Billy Milliner has been the subject of a "dogtag report" that included his correct social security number and several live sighting reports. All of these reports indicated he was a prisoner of war in Laos rather then in South Vietnam. Some of them referred to him as being held in a group of 13 American POWs while other reports only mentioned him. Likewise, these reports have been provided to the US Government as well as to WO Milliner's family. The most recent of these reports was received in 1999. If these reports are true, then there is no question that the communists can return Billy Milliner any time they wish to. Further, if they know the fate of the Cobra's co-pilot, then they most certainly also know the fate of its pilot, John Hummel. The Defense Intelligence Agency began "rating" missing persons in Southeast Asia according to the degree of suspected enemy knowledge, using a scale of 1 to 5. Hummel and Milliner were classified "Category 1", meaning the U.S. had reliable information that the enemy knew the fate of Hummel and Milliner. Category 1 does not suggest whether an individual was alive or dead at the time this knowledge was obtained. Another confusing aspect of the records of Hummel and
Milliner is that the Defense Department classifies their loss as
"non-hostile". This information does not seem to correlate with known
enemy knowledge of their fates, unless reports were received that the
two survived the crash of their aircraft only to stumble into enemy
hands at a later time. Clarifying information is not available in
public records. Since the end of the Vietnam War well over 21,000 reports of American prisoners, missing and otherwise unaccounted for have been received by our government. Many of these reports document LIVE America Prisoners of War remaining captive throughout Southeast Asia TODAY. No one
saw Hummel and Milliner die after their aircraft disappeared into the
clouds. Pilots and aircrews in Vietnam and Laos
were called upon to fly in many
dangerous circumstances, and they were prepared to be wounded, killed
or captured. It probably never occurred to them that they could be
abandoned by the country they so proudly served.
CWO Hummel is on panel 04W, line 028 of the Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington D.C. |
Blackhawk's Killed In Action
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Rank
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Name
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Date
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Troop
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w0
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Hummel John Floyd
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November 13, 1978 |
Dutchmaster
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UPDATED!!! Official Government Email Addresses
Write the President, Vice President AND First Lady. Write your Senators and Representatives. Ask for specific answers.
Demand to know what is being done to find and bring home. And if you receive a "form letter" write again.
This is a
debt owed by each and every one of us, long neglected and overdue.
Let's bring them home NOW!
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President
George W. Bush |
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Official Email for your senators |
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Official E-Mail for your Representatives |
Other Official Links:
Department of Defense
*
United Nations
*
Nato
*
Social Security Administration
*
Department of Veteran Affairs
Example
#1:
"Dear Senator, what is being done to determine the fate of Sfc
Daniel R Phillips-USASF, who was last seen fighting his way through the
perimeter during the seige of LangVei on 2/7/68? No remains were ever
found although there was an intensive search of the area later on, and
no one saw him fall. There is no evidence that he was killed and he is
known to have been capable of surviving under harsh conditions. Please
advise me of any action that is being taken by you or any other elected
appointed official to determine his fate.
In the event there is nothing being done, please explain why not, and tell me how you personally plan to correct this and prevent it from ever happening again."
Example
#2:
"Dear Sir, I am attaching the pertinent information on Col Harold
Kahler, of Lincoln, Nebraska. Col Kahler has been missing in action
since 1969!! We want to make you aware that his family, his friends,
and myself, one among many to take up the Cause, find this an outrage,
and completely unacceptable. I demand that you take a bit of time to
look into this matter--to help us find the Col, and if not to return
him safely to his family, then to put this issue to rest once and for
all. It is appalling to think you have given up on a human life. An
American human life! One who bravely and selflessly fought for YOUR
freedom.
I shall tiredlessly continue to inquire in his behalf until my questions have been satisfied."
Example #3:
"Dear Sir, What is being done to determine the fate of Col Harold Kahler, USAF, who was last seen over Sam Neua, Laos, June 14, 1969?
This is an American pilot who has remained on the MIA list for 28 years. Doesn't his devotion to his country award him the priviledge and honor of being buried in his own homeland soil if he is in fact deceased? Should, by any miracle, Kahler remain alive, should he be left behind in a foreign country knowing his country abandoned him? Do his family and loved ones not deserve to know the fate of their son, brother, friend and loved one nor be allowed to put a closure to this after so many years?
Please advise me of any action that is being taken by you or any other elected or appointed official to determine his fate. In the event there is nothing being done, please explain why not, and tell me how you personally plan to correct this and prevent it from ever happening again."
April 3, 1973: Pathet Lao (Laotian Communist) forces declare they are holding more than 100 American POWs and are prepared to give a full accounting of them The U.S. government responds 9 days later declaring they are all dead -- without ever talking to the Laotians about the POWs they admit holding!1970-1976: After the French pay an unspecified sum of money to the Vietnamese, the communists release POWs captured in 1954! The North Vietnamese had claimed all of then had died.
August 19, 1986: The Wall Street Journal reports the White House knew in 1981 Vietnam wanted to sell an unspecified number of live POWs for $4 billion. The White House decided the offer was genuine -- and ignored it!
September 30, 1986: The New York Times reports a Pentagon panel estimates up to 100 live American POWs are held in Vietnam alone.
October 7, 1986: CIA Director William Casey says: "Look, the nation knows they (the POWs)are there, everybody knows they are there, but there's no grounds well of support for getting them out. Certainly, you are not suggesting we pay for them, surely not saying we could do anything like that with no public support."
January 1988: A cable from the Joint Casualty Resolution Center states that during General Vessey's visit to Hanoi, "The Vietnamese people were prepared to turn over 7 or 8 live American POWs if Vessey told then what they wanted to hear. All the prospective returnees were allegedly held in a location on the Lao side of the border."
September 1990: The Senate Foreign Relations Committee's Interim Report on POW/MIA's in Southeast Asia concluded that despite public assurances in 1973 that no POWs remained in the region, the Defense Department ". . . in April 1974 concluded beyond a doubt that several hundred American POWs remained in captivity in Southeast Asia."
October 1990: Vietnamese Foreign Minister Nguyen Co Thach admits Vietnam still holds American POWs but is willing to release "as many as 10 live American POWs." His offer, like others before it, is ignored by Secretary of State James Baker III.
February 1991: Colonel Millard Peck, Chief of the Pentagon's Special Office for Prisoners of War and Missing in Action, resigns in protest of being ordered by policy makers in the POW/MIA Inter-Agency Group not to investigate live-sighting reports of American POWs!
April 25, 1991: Senator Bob Smith addresses the Senate and reveals that, of more than 1,400 eyewitness sightings of live POWs, NONE has ever received an on-site investigation!
May 23, 1991: The Senate Foreign Relations Committee's Examination of U.S. Policy Toward POW/MIAs concludes that the U.S. has ignored thousands of American POWs, and left them to rot in Soviet slave labor camps and North Korean and Vietnamese prisons. "Any evidence that suggested an MIA might be alive was uniformly and arbitrarily rejected."
Summer 1991: A flood of new evidence of live POWs pours from Southeast Asia: pictures, handwriting samples, hair samples, blood samples, fingerprints, foot-prints, maps and other physical proof. The Bush administration disregards the evidence and attempts to discredit it by rumor and innuendo. Some of the photos are scientifically validated -- and have never been scientifically disproven!
All these facts are a matter of public record and clearly indicate that we have some serious problems in the POW/MIA arena that our elected officials refuse to acknowledge.
This information was compiled by Task Force Omega of Kentucky, Inc.
Update Casualty List
| Name | HUMMEL, JOHN F |
| Reference Number | 1718-0-02 |
| Date | 710306 |
| Rank | W1 |
| Status | XX |
| Country | VS/ |
| Service | A |
| Return Date | |
| Race | C |
| Coordinates (Latitude/Longitude) | 164204N1063359E |
| Aircraft/Vehicle Type | AH1G |
VIETNAM-ERA
PRISONER-OF-WAR/MISSING-IN-ACTION DATABASE
BELOW IS INFORMATION THAT I FOUND
WHILE SEARCHING THE INTERNET:
North Vietnam, pre-1975: remains of vietnam casualty reportedly found
Country: North Vietnam, pre-1975
Name: Hummel, John Floyd
Subjects: Remains; Quang Tri Province
Reel: 104
Source Number: 8712
Page: 1
Type of Document: Message
Date of Report: 87 02 06
Date of Information: 71 03 06
Document Number: 060427zfeb87
Originator: jcrc lnb
Category: Source Reports
Country: Laos
Name: John F. Hummel
Subjects: Aircraft downed; Missing;
Live sighting; Tchepone; Savannakhet
Province
Reel: 191
Page: 58-59
Type of Document: Miscellaneous
Date of Report: 72 09 20
Date of Information: 71 03 06
Category: Casualty files
Country: VM
Name: John F. Hummel
Subjects: Aircraft downed
Reel: 314
Page: 1-2
Type of Document: Message
Date of Report: 87 02 18
Date of Information: 71 03 06
Document Number: 181530ZFEB87
Originator: DIA
Category: Army files
Country: Laos
Name: John F. Hummel
Subjects: Live sighting; Tchepone;
Savannakhet Province; PW transit
Comments: Includes evaluation.
Reel: 191
Page: 53-57
Type of Document: IIR
Date of Report: 72 07 18
Date of Information: 71 06 00
Document Number: 3110367272
Category: Casualty files
OTHERS REMEMBERED FROM KERMIT, TEXAS
MONTE RAY COOLEY
CPL, ARMY
KERMIT, TX
10/7/1947 - 3/18/1968
JAMES EUGENE FARROW
CPL, MARINE CORPS
KERMIT, TX
7/30/1936 - 12/10/1968
JOE LEWIS RIVERA
CPL, ARMY
KERMIT, TX
12/1/1948 - 2/25/1970
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Nomad
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