RALPH ELLIS GAITHER JR
Unit: Fighter Squadron 84, USS INDEPENDENCE (CVA 62)
Date of Birth: 08 March 1942
Home City of Record: Miami FL
Date of Loss: 17 October 1965
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 215400N 1065900E (YK048228)
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4B
Other Personnel In Incident: Rodney A. Knutsen
(released POW); At nearby coordinates, all F4
aircraft from USS Independence and US Navy
personnel; Stanley E. Olmstead (missing) and
Porter A. Halyburton (released POW); Roderick L.
Mayer (missing - died of severe wounds) and David
R. Wheat (released POW)
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 April
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 March
1997.
REMARKS: 730212 RLSD BY DRV - INJURED
SYNOPSIS: LT Roderick Mayer was a pilot assigned
to the aircraft carrier USS INDEPENDENCE (CVA-62).
On October 17, 1965 he and his Radar Intercept
Officer (RIO), LTJG David Wheat launched in their
F4B Phantom fighter jet for a day strike mission
on the Thai Nguyen bridge northeast of Hanoi.
On the same day, a second Phantom flown by LCDR
Stanley E. Olmstead, with LTJG Porter A.
Halyburton as his RIO, and a third Phantom flown
by LTJG Ralph Gaither and LTJG Rodney A. Knutson
also launched from the USS INDEPENCENCE. These four
pilots were part of Fighter Squadron 84, the
"Jolly Rogers". Mayer and Wheat were part of the
carriers Fighter Squadron 41. All were dispatched
to the same general mission area near the city of
Thai Nguyen.
The three Phantoms were all shot down within a few
miles of each other. Knutson and Gaither were shot
down in Long Song Province, North Vietnam, near
the border of China, or about 75 miles northeast
of the city of Thai Nguyen. Olmstead and Halyburton
were shot down in Long Son Province about 40 miles
east of the city of Thai Nguyen. Mayer and Wheat
were shot down about 55 miles east-northeast of the
city of Thai Nguyen, in Long Son Province. Mayer
and Wheat's aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire.
Both men were seen to eject from the aircraft.
Search and rescue (SAR) efforts were hampered due
to enemy small arms fire. Lt. Mayer was observed
over a period of two hours in a prone position,
still in his parachute. Before rescue helicopters
could reach the scene, both Mayer and Wheat had
disappeared from sight and enemy troops were seen
in the area. David R. Wheat was confirmed to be a
prisoner of war, and when released in 1973, made
statements which suggest that Mayer was killed
during the ejection or that he died later of
injuries resulting from the ejection. He stated
that Lt. Mayer did not move, even when he was
found by ground troops. Mayer was classified
Prisoner of War.
LCDR Olmstead's aircraft was hit by hostile fire
and crashed while on a bombing mission. No
transmissions were heard, nor was there any sign
of ejection by either crewmember. Other U.S.
aircraft passed over the crash site and deterimed
that there was no possibility of survival. However,
it was later learned that Halyburton had survived,
and was captured. Being the RIO, Halyburton would
eject first. It was believed that Olmstead had
probably died in the crash of the aircraft, but
there was no proof of this theory. Olmstead was
classified Missing in Action.
Gaither and Knutson were captured by the North
Vietnamese, spent nearly 8 years as prisoners and
were both released on February 12, 1973 in
Operation Homecoming. Knutson had been injured, and
was not fully recovered at the time of his release.
The fates of these six men from the USS INDEPENDENCE
was not clear at the time they were shot down. Their
status changed from Reported Dead to Prisoner of War
or Missing in Action. At the end of the war, only
Olmstead and Mayer remained missing. Ultimately,
they were declared dead for lack of evidence that
they were still alive.
When the war ended, refugees from the communist-
overrun countries of Southeast Asia began to
flood the world, bringing with them stories of
live GI's still in captivity in their homelands.
Since 1975, nearly 10,000 reports relating to
Americans missing in Southeast Asia have been
received. Many authorities believe that hundreds
of Americans are still held in the countries in
Southeast Asia.
The U.S. Government operates on the "assumption"
that one or more men are being held, but that it
cannot "prove" that this is the case, allowing
action to be taken. Meanwhile, low-level talks
between the U.S. and Vietnam proceed, yielding a
few sets of remains when it seems politically
expedient to return them, but as yet, no living
American has returned.
Roderick L. Mayer was promoted to the rank of
Commander during the period he was maintained
missing and David R. Wheat was promoted to the
rank of Lieutenant Commander.
Rodney A. Knutson and Ralph E. Gaither were
promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Commander
during the period they were maintained as prisoner
of war.
Stanley E. Olmstead was promoted to the rank of
Commander during the period he was maintained
missing. Porter A. Halyburton was promoted to the
rank of Lieutenant Commander during the period he
was maintained as a prisoner of war.
SOURCE: WE CAME HOME copyright 1977
Captain and Mrs. Frederic A Wyatt (USNR Ret),
Barbara Powers Wyatt, Editor P.O.W. Publications,
10250 Moorpark St., Toluca Lake, CA 91602
Text is reproduced as found in the original
publication (including date and spelling errors).
I THANK THEE LORD
By
RALPH E. GAITHER, JR.
Lieutenant Commander- United States Naval Reserve
Written in North Vietnam, 1972
Captured: 17 October, 1965
Released: 12 February, 1973
I thank thee Lord for blessings big and small;
For spring's warm glow and songbird's welcome call;
For summer's lease with clouds that dance and rain;
For autumn's hue and winter's snow white shawl.
I thank thee for the harvest rich with grain;
For tall green trees, a park with shadowed lane;
For rushing streams, for birds that love to fly;
My country's land, the mountains and the plain.
I thank thee for each sunset in the sky;
For sleepy nights, the bed in which I lie;
A life of truth and peace, a woman's love;
Her hand in mine until the day I die.
I thank thee Lord for all these things above;
But most of all, I thank thee for thy love.
December 1996
Ralph Gaither Jr. retired from the United States
Navy as a Commander. He and his wife Bobbi reside
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