REARDON, RICHARD JOHN
Name: Richard John Reardon
Rank/Branch: O2/US Navy Reserves
Unit: Helicopter Attack (Light) Squadron 3, Detachment 3
Date of Birth: 24 February 1944 (Brooklyn NY)
Home City of Record: Huntington NY
Date of Loss: 28 April 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 104747N 1060442E (XS179936)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 1
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1B
Refno: 1434
Other Personnel in Incident: (two crew remains recovered, one crewman rescued)
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 30 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: 700200 CREW REMAINS RECOVERED
SYNOPSIS: LTJG Richard J. Reardon was a pilot assigned to Helicopter Attack
(Light) Squadron 3, Detachment 3 "Seawolves" in Vietnam. He flew the UH1B
"Huey" attack helicopter gunship with his co-pilot LTJG Castle, and two
enlisted gunners.
On April 28, 1969 the Detachment 3 fire team was based at the Special Forces
Camp, Moc Hoa, and sent on a patrol of the Vam Co Tay River. This location
is in Kien Tuong Province, right on the Cambodian border. The river was
notorious as a Viet Cong infiltration route and a large number of abandoned
sampans were targeted.
During the attack run, intense enemy fire was encountered and suppression
fire was called for. LTJG Reardon was seen to impact in a near-vertical
crash and become engulfed in flames. One enlisted crewman was either thrown
or crawled clear of the wreckage and was later rescued by the lead
helicopter only after engaging heavy ground fire.
With the crash circumstances as they were, and the visual concensus of other
helicopter crews in the flight, there was little to no likelihood that
anyone else could have survived. The crew, including Reardon, was listed
Killed in Action. In later recovery attempts, the remains of two
crewmembers, including Castle's, were recovered. Reardon's remains were
never found.
The U.S. is certain that the Vietnamese could tell us more about LTJG
Reardon, although his name did not appear on the list compiled in 1973 as
"discrepancy" cases on which the Vietnamese could provide information. Other
than the presence of the enemy at the location, there is nothing in the Navy
account to indicate why the U.S. specifically believes Reardon's fate is
known to the enemy.
591 American Prisoners of War were released in 1973, but nearly 2500 were
not. Thousands of reports have been received by the U.S. Government that
indicate hundreds of Americans are still alive and held captive in Southeast
Asia, yet the government seems unable or unwilling to successfully achieve
their release. Policy statements indicate that "conclusive proof" is not
available, but when it is, the government will act. Detractors state that
proof is in hand, but the will to act does not exist.
Whether Reardon was found and removed by the enemy is not known. Whether he
could be among those believed to be still alive today is unlikely. What
cannot be questioned, however, is that America has a moral and legal
obligation to secure the freedom of those who may still be illegally held by
the communist governments of Southeast Asia. It's time we brought our men
home.
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