CREED, BARTON SHELDON
Name: Barton Sheldon Creed
Rank/Branch: O3/US Navy
Unit:
Date of Birth: 03 April 1945
Home City of Record: Peekskill NY
Date of Loss: 13 March 1971
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 161210N 1063300E
Status (In 1973): Prisoner of War
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: A7E
Refno: 1724
Other Personnel In Incident:
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1991 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: MAY HAVE BEEN CAPTURED
SYNOPSIS: The Vought A7 Corsair II was a single-seat attack jet utilized by
both the Navy and Air Force in Vietnam. The aircraft was designed to meet
the Navy's need for a subsonic attack plane able to carry a greater load of
non-nuclear weapons that the A4 Skyhawk. The aircraft's unique design
completely freed the wingspace for bomb loading; the Pratt and Whitney jet
engine was beneath the fuselage of the aircraft. The Corsair was used
primarily for close air support and interdiction, although it was also used
for reconnaissance.
Lt. Barton S. Creed was pilot of an A7E aircraft which launched from the USS
RANGER on March 13, 1971 for a combat mission. Creed was shot down over the
Ho Chi Minh Trail during the mission. He ejected from the aircraft and
landed on the ground, breaking an arm and a leg in the process. Forward Air
Control (FAC) immediately established his position and marked a false
location with a smoke bomb hoping to draw the enemy away from his position.
FAC remained in constant radio contact with Creed.
Search and rescue helicopters made three attempts to pick him up. On the
first pass the helicopter crew thought they saw movement in the grass about
100 feet from Creed's position, but they decided to attempt the rescue
anyway. The helicopter hovered over Creed and a rescue man was let down on a
boom within 30 feet of the ground when small arms fire became so intense
that the helicopter was hit, injuring some of the crew.
Completely surrounded by the North Vietnamese, Creed's last transmittal was
"Pick me up, pick me up now! They are here!"
The search and rescue (SAR) plane made a wide sweep while two helicopters
tried to clear the area around Creed's position. About 4 minutes later, a
second rescue attempt was made, but small arms fire was even more intense.
Both helicopters received disabling fire, and the co-pilot of one was
seriously wounded. Neither helicopter made it back to base, but the crew was
recovered.
Between the second and third attempts, Creed was moved. The third attempt
came from helicopters that had been standing by to the wet of the area and
they arrived 15-20 minutes later. They also received heavy ground fire.
Creed's parachute had been moved a little, and he could no longer be seen by
SAR.
The fourth attempt was made after darkness, and a man was sent down on a
jungle penetrator and stayed down for some time. There was no sign of Lt.
Creed.
The next morning the original FAC was granted permission to go back and look
for Creed again. FAC found that Creed's parachute had been moved about 500
meters and had been spread out. The pilot believed that NVA soldiers had
spread the parachute as a decoy for U.S. planes, as no American pilot trying
to evade capture would advertise his presence in this manner.
Rescue pilots say Creed was "most certainly alive" when they last saw him.
However, Creed's name did not appear on any list of prisoners provided by
the North Vietnamese.
One returned POW, who had been captured one week later in the same area,
believes he saw Creed's ID card as it was flashed in front of him at his
initial interrogation. Another released POW reported to Creed's mother that
a prison guard had drawn a picture of an aircraft like the one Creed flew
and then pantomimed putting a leg splint on a large American man.
Creed is one of nearly 600 men who were lost in Laos whose freedom was never
negotiated for in the peace agreements of 1973. Although the Pathet Lao
claimed to have held "tens of tens" of American POWs, not one was ever
released.
Since the war ended, the Defense Department has received over 10,000 reports
relating to the men still unaccounted for in Southeast Asia, yet concludes
that no actionable evidence has been received that would indicate Americans
are still alive in Southeast Asia. A recent Senate investigation indicates
that most of these reports were dismissed without just cause, and that there
is every indication that Americans remained in captivity far after the war
ended, and may be alive today.
It's time we learned the truth about our missing and brought them home.
Barton S. Creed was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Commander during the
period he was maintained a prisoner of war. He is unmarried, and his parents
still await word about him.
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