HERBERT, MICHAEL PATRICK
Name: Michael Patrick Herbert
Rank/Branch: O3/RAAF [Flying Officer, Lt.]
Unit: 2nd Squadron, Australin Royal Air Force, Phan Rang
Date of Birth: 24 at time of loss
Home City of Record: Australia
Date of Loss: 03 November 1970 (some records show 4 Nov)
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: YC857430
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category:
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: B57, Canberra Bomber # A84-231
Refno: 1671
Other Personnel in Incident: Robert C. Carver (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. Two of the five are Capt. Robert C. Carver, Navigator, and
Capt. Michael P. Herbert, pilot, lost on November 3, 1970.
Carver and Herbert were stationed at Phan Rang, South Vietnam. On November
3, 1970, they were sent on a bombing mission over Da Nang. About 8:22 p.m.
Carver radioed "Magpie" base that he had dropped the bomb load from their
B57 Canberra bomber from 7,000 meters altitude.
At 10:15, radio contact was lost with the aircraft, and it failed to return
to base. There is varied opinion as to their fate. One popular theory is
that a Viet Cong heat-seeking missile tracked them down and sent the No. 2
Squadron bomber down in dense jungle.
Search teams tried to locate Carver and Herbert, but were unsuccessful. It
was never learned for sure if they survived the crash of the aircraft. Both
men were classified Missing in Action.
Carver and Herbert do not appear on most U.S. lists since they were not U.S.
citizens. 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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