KASCH, FREDERICK MORRISON
Remains Returned November 3, 1988, Identified February 1989

Name: Frederick Morrison Kasch
Rank/Branch: O2/US Navy Reserve
Unit: Anti-Submarine/Attack Squadron 3, USS Intrepid (CVS-11)
Date of Birth: 24 October 1940 (Oak Park IL)
Home City of Record: San Diego CA
Date of Loss: 02 July 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 201958N 1063359E
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A4B
Refno: 0747
Other Personnel In Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled 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 in 1998.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Lt. Frederick M. Kasch was a pilot assigned to
Anti-Submarine/Attack Squadron 3 onboard the aircraft carrier USS Intrepid.
On July 2, 1967, Lt. Kasch launched in his A4B Skyhawk on a strike mission
in to Thai Binh Province, North Vietnam. Following the release of his
ordnance, he reported engine failure. He was approximately 15-20 miles from
the coast when this occurred.

Kasch established a glide toward the Tonkin Gulf and his wingman joined up
on him. The wingman remained in radio contact with Lt. Kasch until he
reported descending below 500 feet altitude. The wingman then advised him to
eject, since they would be unable to stretch the glide to reach the coast.
The wingman lost sight of the aircraft momentarily during the descent. The
aircraft hit some houses and burst into flames.

The wingman accompanying Kasch saw no parachute and heard no emergency radio
transmissions. Search and rescue efforts were limited because of the low
fuel status of the overhead aircraft. The on-scene commander viewed the
crash site at an altitude of about 100 feet, and observed that the ejection
seat was still in the aircraft, and although he did not positively sight Lt.
Kasch, it was his opinion that he remained in the aircraft and did not
survive.

In November, 1988, the Vietnamese relayed to the U.S. State Department that
they would return a number of remains to U.S. control. One of the remains,
they stated, were those of Frederick Kasch. In February 1989, the U.S.
announced that the remains had been positively identified as being those of
Kasch.

The Vietnamese have known Kasch's fate for 22 years. Critics wonder why the
U.S. has allowed this "shell game" to continue, particularly in light of the
mounting evidence that Vietnam not only stockpiles remains, but also holds
hundreds of living American captives. It's time these men came home.

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