BOGIAGES, CHRISTOS CONSTANTINE JR.
Name: Christos Constantine Bogiages, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit: 357th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Takhli Airbase, Thailand
Date of Birth: 30 March 1934
Home City of Record: Clearwater FL
Date of Loss: 02 March 1969
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 192300N 1030900E (UG056443)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F105D
Refno: 1397
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)
REMARKS:
Source: Compiled from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S.
Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families,
published sources, interviews. Updated by the P.O.W. NETWORK in 1998.
SYNOPSIS: The Plain of Jars region of Laos was long been controlled by the
communist Pathet Lao and a continual effort was made by the secret
CIA-directed force of some 30,000 indigenous tribesmen to strengthen
anti-communist strongholds there. The U.S. committed hundreds of millions of
dollars to the secret war effort in Laos. Details of this operation were not
released to Congress and the American public until August 1971.
On March 2, 1969, Maj. Christos C. Bogiages, Jr. was sent on a mission over
the Plain of Jars in Laos in an F105D Thunderchief. The "Thud" flew more
missions against North Vietnam than any other U.S. aircraft, but it also
suffered more losses, partially due to its vulnerability, which was
constantly under revision. Maj. Bogiages aircraft went down in Xiangkhoang
Province, Laos, about 5 miles southwest of the city of Ban Na Mai.
According to 1989 public information from the U.S. Air Force, Maj. Bogiages'
aircraft was hit by hostile fire and crashed. No parachute was seen, and no
emergency radio beeper signals were heard. According to information given to
his family at the time, Maj. Bogiages survived the crash of his aircraft.
His family waited for the war to end, understanding that he could have been
captured, either by the Pathet Lao or the North Vietnamese.
Throughout the war, names of hundreds of Americans held by the North
Vietnamese became known to the U.S. The Pathet Lao stated on a number of
occasions that they also held "tens of tens" of Americans, but that they
would be released only from Laos. The names of only a few of these men held
in Laos were known.
When peace agreements were signed, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger
informed the families of the men prisoner and missing that their men would
soon come home. When asked specifically if the agreements included all
countries (Vietnam, Cambodia, China and Laos), Kissinger replied, "What do
you think took us so long."
When 591 American prisoners were released in the spring of 1973, it became
evident that Kissinger had lied to the families. No prisoners held by the
Chinese, Lao or Cambodians were released. Kissinger had not negotiated for
these men.
In Laos alone, nearly 600 Americans are Prisoner of War or Missing in
Action. Since 1975, nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans still
missing in Southeast Asia, convincing many authorities that hundreds of
Americans are still held in captivity. Christos Bogiages could be among
them. It's time we brought our men home.
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