THOMAS, DANIEL WAYNE

Name: Daniel Wayne Thomas
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit: 23rd Tactical Aerial Surveillance Squadron
Date of Birth: 04 September 1946
Home City of Record: Danbury IA
Date of Loss: 06 July 1971
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 144700N 1071700E (YB460352)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: OV10A
Refno: 1758

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: Donald G. Carr (missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: In 1971, MACV-SOG's Command and Control North, Central and South
were redesignated as Task Force Advisory Elements 1, 2 and 3, respectively.
These titular changes had little initial impact on actual activities. Their
missions were still quite sensitive and highly classified. Each task force
was composed of 244 Special Forces and 780 indigenous commandos, and their
reconnaissance teams remained actively engaged in cross-border intelligence
collection and interdiction operations. The USARV TAG (Training Advisory
Group) supported the USARV Special Missions Advisory Group and was composed
of U.S. Army Special Forces and MACV advisors. SMAG formed at Nha Trang from
former personnel from B-53, the MACV Rcondo School cadre, CCN and CCS to
train the South Vietnamese Special Missions Force teams drawn from LLDB and
Ranger units.

On July 6, 1971, U.S. Army Capt. Donald G. "Butch" Carr was aboard an Air
Force OV10A Bronco aircraft flown by U.S. Air Force Lt. Daniel W. Thomas
when the aircraft disappeared 15 miles inside Laos west of Ben Het.

The aircraft had been on a visual reconnaissance mission over central Laos
when it was lost. Thomas' plane was detailed out of the 23rd Tactical Aerial
Surveillance Squadron and bore the tail number of 67-14634.

The Bronco was among the aircraft most feared by the Viet Cong and NVA
forces, because whenever the Bronco appeared overhead, an air strike seemed
certain to follow. Although the glassed-in cabin could become uncomfortably
warm, it provided splendid visibility. The two-man crew had armor protection
and could use machine guns and bombs to attack, as well as rockets to mark
targets for fighter bombers. This versatility enabled the plane to fly armed
reconnaissance missions, in addition to serving as vehicle for forward air
controllers.

At 1530 hours, Thomas radioed to the Army support facility that he was in
his target area, but that he was unable to observe because of weather
conditions. This was his last known radio contact. Thomas and Carr were due
to depart the area at 1700 hours, and should have radioed then. Search
efforts were conducted through July 10, with no results.

A ground reconnaissance team later reported hearing an impact or explosion
at 1600 hours on July 6 in their vicinity, but they did not report seeing
the aircraft.

A source reported that in early July 1971, he had seen an American POW in
that area. The source learned from a guard that the POW was a pilot of an
OV10 that had been downed a week prior. This information was thought to
possibly correlate to either Carr or Thomas.

Carr and Thomas became two of nearly 600 Americans who disappeared in Laos
during the Vietnam War. Although Pathet Lao leaders stressed that they held
"tens of tens" of American prisoners, no American held in Laos was ever
released. In America's haste to leave Southeast Asia, it abandoned some of
its finest men. Since the end of the war, thousands of reports have been
received indicating that hundreds of Americans are still held captive.

In seeming disregard for the Americans either held or having been murdered
by the Pathet Lao, by 1989, the U.S. and the Lao have devised a working plan
for the U.S. to provide Laos with humanitarian and economic aid leading
toward ultimate full diplomatic and trade relations while Laos allows the
excavation of military crash sites at sporadic intervals. In America's haste
to return to Southeast Asia, we are again abandoning our men. What must Carr
and Thomas, should they be among those said to be still alive, be thinking
of us?

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