SUTTER, FREDERICK JOHN

Name: Frederick John Sutter
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 26 February 1946
Home City of Record: Leawood KS
Date of Loss: 31 December 1971
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 172900N 1054200E (WE751343)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D
Refno: 1794

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.

Other Personnel in Incident: William Y. Duggan (missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: When North Vietnam began to increase their military strength in
South Vietnam, NVA and Viet Cong troops again intruded on neutral Laos for
sanctuary, as the Viet Minh had done during the war with the French some
years before. The border road, termed the "Ho Chi Minh Trail" was used for
transporting weapons, supplies and troops. Hundreds of American pilots were
shot down trying to stop this communist traffic to South Vietnam.
Fortunately, search and rescue teams in Vietnam were extremely successful
and the recovery rate was high.

Still there were nearly 600 who were not rescued. Many of them went down
along the Ho Chi Minh Trail and the passes through the border mountains
between Laos and Vietnam. Many were alive on the ground and in radio contact
with search and rescue and other planes; some were known to have been
captured. Hanoi's communist allies in Laos, the Pathet Lao, publicly spoke
of American prisoners they held, but when peace agreements were negotiated,
Laos was not included, and not a single American was released that had been
held in Laos.

On New Year's Eve, 1971, Capt. Frederick J. Sutter, pilot, and Maj. William
Y. Duggan, bombardier/navigator departed on a mission over Laos in their F4D
Phantom fighter/bomber jet. Their target area was near Na Phao in Khammouane
Province, Laos - the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

Sutter and Duggan did not return from their mission, and were declared
Missing in Action. Like other families whose men were missing, the Sutter
and Duggan families waited for the war to end, hoping always that their sons
had been captured and would eventually come home.

For Herman and Mary Sutter, Fred's parents, history was repeating itself.
Herman Sutter had been a prisoner of war during World War II, but returned
home. His aircraft had exploded at 10,000 feet, but he survived. Both
believed Fred could survive against tremendous odds as well.

In January 1973, the U.S. and Vietnamese signed an agreement in Paris to end
American involvement in the second Indochina War. Laos was not part of the
negotiations, and as a result, the "tens of tens" of American prisoners the
Lao stated they held were never released. In fact, not one single American
held in Laos was released then or since.

Were it not for the thousands of reports concerning Americans still held
captive in Southeast Asia, the Sutter and Duggan families might be able to
close this tragic chapter of their lives. Fred's father died not knowing
what happened to his son. Duggan's son and daughter, only 10 and 9 when
their dad was lost, are now rapidly approaching 30. As long as reports
continue to be received that Americans are alive, being held captive, they
fear that Sutter and Duggan could be among them. What must they be thinking
of us? It's time we brought our men home.

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