CHRISTOS CONSTANTINE BOGIAGES JR.
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit: 357th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Takhli
Date of Birth: 30 March 1934
Home City of Record: Clearwater FL
Date of Loss: 02 March 1969
Loss Coordinates: 192300N 1030900E (UG056443)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)
REMARKS:
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.
SYNOPSIS: The Plain of Jars region of Laos was
long been controlled by the communist Pathet Lao
and a continual effort was made by the secret
CIA-directed force of some 30,000 indigenous
tribesmen to strengthen anti-communist strongholds
there. The U.S. committed hundreds of millions of
dollars to the secret war effort in Laos. Details
of this operation were not released to Congress
and the American public until August 1971.
On March 2, 1969, Maj. Christos C. Bogiages, Jr.
was sent on a mission over the Plain of Jars in
Laos in an F105D Thunderchief. The "Thud" flew
more missions against North Vietnam than any
other U.S. aircraft, but it also suffered more
losses, partially due to its vulnerability, which
was constantly under revision. Maj. Bogiages
aircraft went down in Xiangkhoang Province, Laos,
about 5 miles southwest of the city of Ban Na Mai.
According to 1989 public information from the U.S.
Air Force, Maj. Bogiages' aircraft was hit by
hostile fire and crashed. No parachute was seen,
and no emergency radio beeper signals were heard.
According to information given to his family at
the time, Maj. Bogiages survived the crash of his
His family waited for the war to end,
understanding that he could have been captured,
either by the Pathet Lao or the North Vietnamese.
Throughout the war, names of hundreds of
Americans held by the North Vietnamese became
known to the U.S. The Pathet Lao stated on a
number of occasions that they also held "tens of
tens" of Americans, but that they would be
released only from Laos. The names of only a few
of these men held in Laos were known.
When peace agreements were signed, Secretary of
State Henry Kissinger informed the families of
the men prisoner and missing that their men would
soon come home. When asked specifically if the
agreements included all countries (Vietnam,
Cambodia, China and Laos), Kissinger replied,
"What do you think took us so long."
When 591 American prisoners were released in the
spring of 1973, it became evident that Kissinger
had lied to the families. No prisoners held by
the Chinese, Lao or Cambodians were released.
Kissinger had not negotiated for these men.
In Laos alone, nearly 600 Americans are Prisoner
of War or Missing in Action. Since 1975, nearly
10,000 reports relating to Americans still
missing in Southeast Asia, convincing many
authorities that hundreds of Americans are still
held in captivity. Christos Bogiages could be
among them. It's time we brought our men home.
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