PHILLIPS, MARVIN FOSTER

Name: Marvin Foster Phillips
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: 114th Assault Helicopter Company
Date of Birth: 30 June 1946 (Palmer TN)
Home City of Record: Gruetli TN
Date of Loss: 26 September 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 094014N 1063454E (XR735693)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1B
Refno: 0474

Other Personnel in Incident: Henry L. Mosburg (missing) 2 unnamed crewmen: 1
rescued, one body recovered.

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 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 1998.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Capt. Henry L. Mosburg was a pilot assigned to the 114th Assault
Helicopter Company. On September 26, 1966, he was assigned a combat assault
mission in the Delta region of South Vietnam over Vinh Binh Province. He
departed with a crew of four, including himself.

On the second pass on a target near the mouth of the Son Co Chien River,
Mosburg's aircraft was fired on by small arms. As the aircraft prepared for
a third pass, it was noticed that one of the helicopter's rockets was on
fire on the left side of the aircraft.

Observers watched the tail section of the aircraft fall away, causing the
helicopter to fall toward the water in a steep spin. The helicopter landed
on its right side in approximately nine feet of water. One person (unnamed)
was rescued, and one body was recovered. Mosburg was not found, nor was his
gunner, SP4 Marvin F. Phillips.

An exhaustive ocean search was made surrounding the crash area, but no trace
of Phillips or Mosburg was ever found. Because of the over-water area, it
was considered that the two were killed, and that it would be impossible to
recover their remains.

For Mosburg and Phillips, death seems a certainty. For hundreds of others,
however, simple answers are not possible. Adding to the torment of nearly
10,000 reports relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asia is the
certain knowledge that some Americans who were known to be prisoners of war
were not released at the end of the war. Others were suspected to be
prisoners, and still others were in radio contact with would-be rescuers
when last seen alive. Many were known to have survived their loss incidents,
only to disappear without a trace.

The problem of Americans still missing torments not only the families of
those who are missing, but the men who fought by their sides, and those in
the general public who realize the full implication of leaving men
unaccounted for at the end of a war.

Tragically, many authorities believe there are hundreds of Americans still
alive in captivity in Southeast Asia today. What must they be thinking of
us? What will our next generation say if called to fight if we are unable to
bring these men home from Southeast Asia?

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