McINTIRE, SCOTT W.
Name: Scott W. McIntire
Rank/Branch: USAF, O5
Unit:
Date of Birth: 07 July 24
Home City of Record: Albuquerque, NM
Date of Loss: 10 December 71
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 174200N 1054500E
Status (in 1973): Missing
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F-105G
Other Personnel In Incident: Robert E. Belli (rescued)
Source: Compiled by THE P.O.W. NETWORK 02 February 93 from the
following published sources - POW/MIA's -- Report of the Select Committee
on POW/MIA Affairs United States Senate -- January 13, 1993. "The Senate
Select Committee staff has prepared case summaries for the priority cases
that the Administration is now investigating. These provide the facts about
each case, describe the circumstances under which the individual was lost,
and detail the information learned since the date of loss. Information in
the case summaries is limited to information from casualty files, does not
include any judgments by Committee staff, and attempts to relate essential
facts. The Committee acknowledges that POW/MIAs' primary next-of- kin know
their family members' cases in more comprehensive detail than summarized
here and recognizes the limitations that the report format imposes on these
summaries."
On December 10, 1971, Lieutenant Colonel McIntire and his aircraft
commander, Major Robert E. Belli, were in one of two F-105G
aircraft on a mission over the Mu Gia Pass in support of a B-52
strike. They expended two AGM-45 missiles against enemy Fan Song
radar which had acquired their aircraft. Their aircraft was then
hit by a surface to air missile, the explosion coming to the rear
of LTC McIntire and of sufficient force that it rendered Major
Belli, in front of LTC McIntire, initially unconscious. Major
Belli ejected both himself and LTC McIntire. Major Belli was
rescued by search and rescue aircraft but LTC McIntire could not be
located. Major Belli's rescue, because of the extreme difficulty
in rescuing someone from this high threat area, became a feature
article in the Stars & Stripes military newspaper.
On December 11, 1971, a search and rescue helicopter located LTC
McIntire handing limp in his parachute in a tall tree. A flight
surgeon on the aircraft stated LTC McIntire appeared lifeless and
stated his professional view that the conditions of weather and the
position of the body after hanging suspended for 20 hours indicated
LTC McIntire would have died of hypothermia within six hours and
was probably dead on December 11th. Heavy groundfire drove off the
SAR aircraft before LTC McIntire could be recovered.
LTC McIntire was not reported alive in the northern Vietnamese
prison system and his remains have not been recovered. He was
initially declared missing and in May 1972 was declared dead/body
not recovered.
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