COOPER, WILLIAM EARL
Name: William Earl Cooper
Rank/Branch: O5/US Air Force
Unit: Squadron Commander; 469th Tactical Fighter Squadron
Date of Birth: 16 September 1920
Home City of Record: Albany GA (family in FL)
Date of Loss: 24 April 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 213000N 1060400E (WJ866264)
Status (in 1973: Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F105D
Refno: 0315
Other Personnel In Incident: Jerry D. Driscoll (released POW) in same flight
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 October 1990 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 1998.
REMARKS:
SYNOPSIS: On April 24, 1966, a multi-plane strike force departed Korat
Airbase, Thailand on a strike mission on a highway-railroad bridge north of
Hanoi. The target was a vital link, bearing traffic coming down from China.
The Squadron Commander (and commander of the mission), LtCol. William E.
Cooper was in one flight of four F105s. In another of the flights was 1Lt.
Jerry D. Driscoll.
As the first flight approached the target, Cooper's F105D was hit by a
surface-to-air missile (SAM). The plane subsequently broke in half, and the
front section, with canopy intact, was observed as it fell into a flat spin.
Witnessed did not see Cooper eject and and believed the he went down with
the aircraft, but there was doubt enough that the Air Force determined him
Missing in Action rather than killed.
Just afterwards, 1Lt. Jerry D. Driscoll (code-name Pecan 4) was inbound to
the target, about ten miles north, going approximately 550 knots (about 600
miles per hour) when his aircraft was struck in the tail by anti-aircraft
fire, causing it to catch fire. Flames were blowing out the back twice as
long as the aircraft. Others in the flight radioed to Driscoll that he was
on fire, and he immediately prepared to eject as the aircraft commenced a
roll. Driscoll punched out at about 1000 feet, with the aircraft nearly
inverted, and as a result, his parachute barely opened before he was on the
ground. He had removed his parachute and was starting to take off his heavy
flight suit when he was surrounded by about twenty North Vietnamese and
captured.
Driscoll was moved immediately to the "Heartbreak Hotel" in Hanoi where his
interrogation (and torture) began. Driscoll was a POW for the next seven
years, and was released in Operation Homecoming on February 12, 1973.
Just before his release, one returning POW was told by his interrogators
that LtCol. Cooper had died in the crash of the aircraft. At least one
intelligence report, however, indicates that Cooper was captured alive. The
U.S. believes the Vietnamese could account for Cooper and his name has been
included on lists brought before the Vietnamese in recent years as one of
scores of "discrepancy cases" it is felt can be resolved.
When the Peace Accords were signed ending American involvement in Vietnam,
591 American prisoners were released. Experts at the time expressed dismay
that "some hundreds" expected to be released were not, yet only perfunctory
efforts to secure the release of the others were made. In our haste to leave
Indochina, we abandoned some of our best men.
Shockingly, many authorities now believe, based on over 10,000 reports
relating to these missing Americans, that there are still hundreds alive in
captivity. Whether Cooper could be among them is unknown, but what seems
certain is that if even one is still alive, we have a moral obligation to
bring him home.
William E. Cooper was awarded the Air Force Cross, Distinguished Flying
Cross with oak leaf cluster, Air Medal with 7 oak leaf clusters and the
Purple Heart. He was promoted to the rank of Colonel during the period he
was maintained Missing in Action. He is married and has five children.
Jerry D. Driscoll graduated from the Air Force Academy in 1963, and was
promoted to the rank of Captain during his captivity.
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