FISHER, DAVID JOHN ELKINGTON
Name: David John Elkington Fisher
Rank/Branch: E1/SAS #2787344
Unit: J Troop, Special Air Service
Date of Birth: (23 at time of loss)
Home City of Record: Australia
Date of Loss: 27 September 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: YS633957 (Nui May Toa's, NE of Phuoc Tuy Province)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)
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 with information from Australia's Bob Coker.
REMARKS:
SYNOPSIS: In 1984, the Australian government sent delegates to Vietnam to
find fresh evidence on missing Australians. It was abandoned when the party
failed to learn anything about the men's fate. Australian foreign affairs
minister, Bill Hayden, recommended the cases be closed, that the Vietnamese
government had cooperated fully with the search and the subject of the
missing men, and it should no longer be an issue between the two countries.
Yet reports continue to be received in the U.S. from refugees and
intelligence sources convincing many authorities that hundreds of servicemen
are still being held captive. The veterans of Australia, like those of
Canada and the U.S. refuse to accept their governments' dismissal of the
issue.
At least five Australians are missing who were not directly associated with
U.S. forces. One of the five is Pvt. David J.E. Fisher, lost on September
27, 1969.
Fisher was a member of J troop in the Australian Special Air Service, a
service unit similar to the U.S. Army Special Forces. On September 27, 1969,
J troop engaged and killed five Viet Cong. As the patrol withdrew they
encountered about 30 of the enemy, and requested an emergency extraction.
The rescue helicopter dropped ropes through the trees to lift the troops to
safety. Fisher and the rest of the unit were lifted out on the ropes, but
Fisher lost his grip and fell from an altitude of about 30 meters.
Search teams tried to locate Fisher but were unsuccessful. They were
uncertain if he could have survived, but felt the dense jungle foliage might
have cushioned his fall. There were also a number of water-filled craters in
the area and had Fisher been injured and fallen into one of them, he
probably would not have survived. Fisher was classified Missing in Action.
David J.E. Fisher's name does not appear on most U.S. lists since he was not
a U.S. citizen. However, as thousands of U.S. veterans would confirm, the
"Aussies" were welcome additions to any mission. Their bravery was well
known, and they were well-liked. 47,000 Australians were sent to Vietnam
between 1961 and 1971; 504 were killed and 2,500 were wounded. None were
captured -- or were they?
The Australians sent their young men to help in a war that was not their
own. It is fitting that Americans should include their missing in their
quest for freedom for those still prisoner, missing or unaccounted for in
Southeast Asia.
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