HAUER, ROBERT DOUGLAS

Name: Robert Douglas Hauer
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 29 November 1946
Home City of Record: Brookline MA
Date of Loss: 05 September 1970
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 122300 N 1085200E (BP680697)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: O2A
Refno: 1659
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 April 1990 with the assistance
of 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: The Cessna O2 served as a stopgap replacement for the O1 until the
North American AV10A arrived in Vietnam. The Bird Dog had lacked adequate
armor, and so did the O2. The O2, however, had greater range and double the
number of target marking rockets as the Bird Dog, making it more desirable
for its intended missions.

The O2A served a number of forward air controllers in Southeast Asia. Either
flying along or carrying a second crewman, these pilots searched out
targets, marked them, determined the location of friendly troops, and
directed air strikes. Their missions frequently brought them over enemy
troops at low altitude and slow speeds, making them vulnerable to ground
fire.

1Lt. Robert D. Hauer was the pilot of an O2A on a mission over South Vietnam
on September 5, 1970. At a point about 25 miles west of the city of Nha
Trang in Khanh Hoa Province, Hauer's aircraft went down and he was listed
Missing in Action.

The Defense Intelligence Agency further expanded Hauer's Missing in Action
classification to include an enemy knowledge ranking of 4. Category 4
indicates "unknown knowledge" and includes individuals whose time and place
of loss incident are unknown (e.g. aircrew members downed at unknown
locations or ground personnel separated from their unit at an unknown time
or place), and those individuals who do not meet the criteria of Categories
1 and 2 ("confirmed" and "suspect" knowledge).

Hauer is one of nearly 3000 Americans who remained unaccounted for at the
end of the Vietnam War. Of this number, many remains have been returned, and
others have been otherwise accounted for. In early 1990, 2309 remained
unaccounted for.

Since American involvement in Vietnam ended in 1975, nearly 10,000 reports
relating to Americans missing, prisoner, or otherwise unaccounted for in
Indochina have been received by the U.S. Government. Many officials, having
examined this largely classified information, have reluctantly concluded
that many Americans are still alive today, held captive by our long-ago
enemy.

Whether Hauer survived the crash of his aircraft to be captured by the enemy
is not known. It is not known if he might be among those thought to be still
alive today. What is certain, however, is that as long as even one American
remains alive, held against his will, we owe him our very best efforts to
bring him to freedom.

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