STOLZ, LAWRENCE GENE
Remains Returned 06 April 1988 - ID Announced 03 January 1990

Name: Lawrence Gene Stolz
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 433rd Tactical Fighter Squadron, Ubon Airfield, Thailand
Date of Birth: 24 November 1945
Home City of Record: Haubstadt IN
Date of Loss: 26 December 1971
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 184459N 1055159E (WG875925)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 1
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D
Refno: 1789

Other Personnel in Incident: Dale F. Koons (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 April 1991 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: DEAD-FBIS PHOTO OF ID

SYNOPSIS: Capt. Larry G. Stolz was a pilot and 1Lt. Dale F. Koons his rear
seater aboard an F4D Phantom fighter/bomber assigned to the 433rd Tactical
Fighter Squadron at Ubon Airfield, Thailand.

Stolz was serving his second tour in Vietnam. On his first tour, he had
flown as "back-seater" on the F4 as Koons was on his second. Stolz had been
awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and other honors for combat missions
flown during his first tour of Vietnam.

On December 26, 1971, Stolz and Koons were sent on a bombing mission over
North Vietnam as number three in a flight of four aircraft. During the
mission, Stolz' aircraft was hit, and he took the plant up into the low
cloud cover either as escape procedure or in order to eject. Stolz and Koons
were not seen again.

FBI later uncovered a photo made by the North Vietnamese which showed
Larry's and Dale's identification, pistol, flight plans and dollar bills
from their pockets. The Vietnamese added a note on the back of the photo
which stated that both were "destroyed" with their aircraft when it crashed
into Ham Rong Bridge in the Ham Rong area of Thanh Hoa Province. The photo
had originally been printed in a Dutch newspaper, and again shown on CBS on
January 6, 1972.

Larry's mother, Lorene Stolz says, "Of course, we would like to have Larry
back alive. We think often of the awful treatment he may be receiving... So
many years...so many tears...and it's not over."

Families of men whose fates are uncertain find it impossible to ignore the
mounting evidence that Americans are still held captive in Southeast Asia.
Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports relating to missing Americans
have been received by the U.S. government. Many authorities believe the
numbers of those still alive to be in the hundreds.

Whether Stolz and Koons were "destroyed" when their aircraft went down is
unknown. The U.S. Government is certain that the Vietnamese know the fate of
the two men, but as yet have been unable to learn for certain that they are
dead - or alive.

In early January, 1990, it was announced that remains returned by the
Vietnamese to U.S. control had been positively identified as those of Larry
Stolz and Dale Koonz. After eighteen years, Stolz and Koonz are home. Their
loved ones no longer have to endure the frightening thought that they are
alive somewhere needing them. They now know they are dead, but they may
never know how -- or when -- they died.

Dale F. Koons was promoted to the rank of Captain and Larry G. Stolz to the
rank of Major during the period they were missing.

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