WALLACE, ARNOLD BRIAN

Name: Arnold Brian Wallace
Rank/Branch: E2/US Army
Unit: Headquarters & Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 47th Infantry, 9th
Infantry Division
Date of Birth: 02 April 1945
Home City of Record: San Leandro CA
Date of Loss: 25 January 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: (none)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Boat
Refno: 0583
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 September 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: PVT Arnold B. Wallace was onboard the U.S. naval ship General John
Pope en route to Vietnam on January 25, 1967. During the evening of that
day, Wallace had a confrontation in the mess hall with the mess sergeant,
and was escorted by two MPs to the armory of the ship for questioning.

Wallace was questioned by his commanding officer about his behavior and
given a medical examination by the battalion surgeon, whose report stated
Wallace was a probable psychopath.

Because of his uncooperative attitude, it was decided to place Wallace in
confinement until a more thorough investigation could be made. As he was
being escorted to the ship's brig, he bolted toward the railing of the ship.
By the time the escorts reached the railing, Wallace had already jumped
overboard. He was seen to hit the water on his back. MPs immediately called
a "man overboard" and a light marker and two life preservers were thrown
into the water. An emergency boat was manned and lowered, and their search
was conducted for 19 hours over a 64-square-mile area, but all searches were
negative.

It seems unlikely that PVT Wallace could have gone through examinations and
training preparatory to being shipped to Vietnam without someone having
noticed that he was "psychotic." Unfortunately, Wallace, as far as the Army
is concerned, died not a hero's death, but a quasi-criminal one. It is the
final mark in Wallace's life. He never really had a chance to prove himself
at all.

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