JOHN NORLEE FLANIGAN
Remains Identified 06/26/97
Rank/Branch: O3/US Marine Corps
Date of Birth: 07 August 1934
Home City of Record: Winter Haven FL
Date of Loss: 19 August 1969
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 170400N 1070600E (XE810020)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4B
Other Personnel in Incident: Robert N. Smith
(missing) Source: Compiled by Homecoming II
Project with the assistance of Task Force Omega
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.
REMARKS:
SYNOPSIS: On August 19, 1969, Lt.Col. Robert N.
Smith, pilot, and Capt. John N. Flanigan, radar
intercept officer, departed Da Nang in their F4B
Phantom fighter/bomber jet aircraft to fly escort
on a photo reconnaissance mission just north of
the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).
Smith's aircraft made one run over the target,
and then he and the other aircraft separated and
were supposed to rendezvous for a second run.
Smith never returned for the second run, and
contact was never established with Smith or his
backseater.
It was never determined whether Smith's aircraft
was shot down or crashed because of a malfunction.
However, the area in which they were last seen,
about 5 miles east of the city of Vinh Linh in
Quang Binh Province, North Vietnam, was relatively
heavily defended. The U.S. believes there is a
high degree of probability that the enemy knew
what happened to Smith and Flanigan.
Smith and Flanigan were not among the prisoners of
war that were released in 1973. High ranking U.S.
officials admit their dismay that "hundreds" of
suspected American prisoners of war did not return.
Alarmingly, evidence continues to mount that
Americans were left as prisoners in Southeast Asia
and continue to be held today. Unlike "MIAs" from
other wars, most of the nearly 2500 men and women
who remain missing in Southeast Asia can be
accounted for. Smith and Flanigan could be among
them. Isn't it time we brought our men home?
UNITED STATES AIR FORCE NEWS RELEASE-60TH AIR
MOBILITY WING(AMW) PUBLIC AFFAIRS DIVISION, TRAVIS
AFB, CA PHONE: (707)424-2011
NEWS RELEASE NO. 9706-20 JUNE 26, 1997
The remains of FIVE American servicemembers
previously unaccounted for from Southeast Asia
have been identified and are being returned to
their families for burial in the United States.
Their remains will be repatriated in a ceremony at
4:00 pm June 26 on the Travis flightline.
They are identified as LT.COL.LEWIS H. ABRAMS,
MARINE CORPS, of Montclair, N.J.; MAJ. ROBERT E.
HOLDEMAN, MARINE CORPS. of Winchester, Ind.; and
CAPTAIN JOHN N. FLANIGAN, MARINE CORPS, of Winter
Haven, Fla. THE NAMES OF TWO AIR FORCE AVIATORS
WILL NOT BE RELEASED AT THE REQUEST OF THEIR
FAMILIES.
On Nov. 25, 1967, Abrams and Holdeman were shot
down while flying a night strike mission near
Haiphong, North Vietnam. A radio Peking broadcast
confirmed the MArine Corps aircraft had been shot
down in the vicinity of Haiphong. In 1988, the
Socialist Republic of Vietnam repatriated what
they belived to be the remains of U.S. service
personnel lost during the Vietnam War. Included in
the remains was a military identification card
fragment with what appeared to be the name Abrams.
In 1993 and 1995, joint U.S. and Vietnamese teams
investigated and excavuated a crash site in Hai
Phong Province. Local villagers reported that
remains had previously recovered and turned over
to higher authorities. They also turned over bone
fragments found near the crash site. On August 19,
1969, Flanigan and his pilot were flying an F-4B as
escort for a photo recon mission over North Vietnam.
They lost contact with other aircraft in their
flight, and never made it back to their base at
In 1989, the Vietnamese gov. repatriated remains
believed to be those of Flanigan. Four subsequent
joint US and Vietnamese invetstigations were able
to locate their crash site in Quang Binh Province.
The site was excavated in 1995 where aircraft
wreakage, aircrew related items, and personnel
effects were located, but NO human remains were
found. The remains of Flanigan turned over by the
Vietnamese were positively identified and
Mitochondrial DNA testing was used to confirm the
identification. With the identification of these
FIVE service members, 2118 Americans remain
unaccounted for from the Vietnam War.** No
additonal information about the two Air Force
avaitors has been given.****
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