JACOB EDWARD MERCER
Remains identified 10/21/94
One of three men individiually identified,
nine others were "group identification".
Rank/Branch: E7/US Air Force
Unit: 16th Special Operations Squadron (PAF),
Date of Birth: 20 July 1936
Home City of Record: Jacksonville FL
Date of Loss: 18 June 1972
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 161500N 1071200E (YC343978)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: AC130A
Refno: 1879
Other Personnel in Incident: Mark G. Danielson;
Richard Nyhof; Robert Wilson; Leon A. Hunt; Larry
J. Newman; Gerald F. Ayres; Stanley Lehrke; Robert
Harrison; Donald H. Klinke; Richard M. Cole;
Gerald F. Ayres (allmissing); three crewmen
rescued.
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March
1991 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: Lockheed's versatile C130 aircraft
filled many roles in Vietnam, including transport,
tanker, gunship, drone controller, airborne
battlefield command and control center, weather
reconnaissance, electronic reconnaissance, and
search, rescue and recovery.
The AC130, outfitted as a gunship, was the most
spectacular of the modified C130's. These ships
pierced the darkness using searchlights, flares,
night observation devices that intensified natural
light, and a variety of electronic sensors such as
radar, infrared equipment and even low-level
television. On some models, a computer
automatically translated sensor data into
instructions for the pilot, who kept his fixed,
side-firing guns trained on target by adjusting the
angle of bank as he circled. The crew of these
planes were, therefore, highly trained and
capable. They were highly desirable "captures" for
the enemy because of their technical knowledge.
1LT Paul F. Gilbert was the pilot of an AC130A
gunship assigned a mission near the A Shau Valley
in the Republic of Vietnam on June 18, 1972. The
crew, totaling 15 men included MAJ Gerald F.
Ayres, MAJ Robert H. Harrison, CAPT Robert A.
Wilson, CAPT Mark G. Danielson, TSGT Richard M.
Cole Jr., SSGT Donald H. Klinke, SSGT Richard E.
Nyhof, SSGT Larry J. Newman, SGT Leon A. Hunt, and
SGT Stanley L. "Larry" Lehrke.
During the mission, the aircraft was hit by a
surface-to-air missile (SAM) and went down near
the border of Laos and Vietnam. In fact, the first
location coordinates given to the families were
indeed Laos, but were quickly changed to reflect
a loss just inside South Vietnam.
Three survivors of the crash were rescued the next
day. After several years of effort, some of the
family members of the other crewmembers were able
to review part of their debriefings, which revealed
that a bail-out order was given, and that at least
one unexplained parachute was observed,
indicating that at least one other airman may have
safely escaped the crippled aircraft.
In early 1985, resistance forces surfaced
information which indicated that SGT Mercer had
survived the crash and was currently held prisoner.
Parents of another crew member, Mark G. Danielson,
discovered a photograph of an unidentified POW
printed about 6 months after the crash, in their
local newspaper whom they were CONVINCED was Mark.
It was several years, however, before the U.S.
Government allowed the Danielsons to view the film
from which the photo was taken. When they viewed
the film, their certainty diminished.
The hope that some of the twelve missing from the
AC130A gunship has not diminished, however. Since
the war ended, over 10,000 reports relating to
Americans missing, prisoner or unaccounted for in
Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S.
Government, including over 1,000 first-hand live
Families who might be able to lay their anguish
and uncertainty to rest are taunted by these
reports, wondering if their loved one is still
alive, abandoned and alone. Since a large portion
of the information is classified,it is impossible
for the families to come to their own conclusions
as to the accuracy of the reports.
The fate of the twelve missing men from the
gunship lost on June 18, 1972 is unknown. What is
certain is that the governments of Southeast Asia
possess far more knowledge than they have admitted
to date. A large percentage of the nearly 2500
missing Americans CAN be accounted for. There can
be no question that if even one American remains
alive in captivity today, we have a moral and
legal obligation to do everything possible to
[up1021.94 10/22/94]
UPn 10/21
U.S. MIA remains identified in Vietnam
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif., Oct. 21 (UPI)
-- Air Force officials announced Friday they have
identified the remains of 13 servicemen killed
during the Vietnam War, including 12 who were on
the same aircraft when it was shot down over
Vietnam's A Shau Valley in 1972.
Tech. Sgt. Patrick McKenna, an Air Force
spokesman, said the remains of the crew were
repatriated in 1993 and then identified by
military pathologists.
The remains of Cmdr. Robert Hessom, a Navy
pilot from Bloomsburg, Pa. , were found earlier
this year. The Air Force said Hessom was flying
his A-1H aircraft over the Ha Tinh Province in
March 1966 when he was shot down by ground fire.
Hessom's wingman witnessed the crash and
reported there was no sign of a parachute. However,
because of heavy ground fighting in the area,
Hessom's remains were not immediately recovered.
The discovery of the remains of the crew of an
AC-130A aircraft brought back the ironies of war.
The aircraft was on an armed reconnaissance
mission in the war's final days when its No. 3
engine suffered a direct hit by a surface-to- air
missle. A second explosion rocked the plane
moments later, throwing three crewmen free of the
craft as it plummeted to the earth.
Those three men survived and were rescused the
following day.
Three members of the crew were identified
individually. They were Maj. Gerald F. Ayers,
Newcastle, Del.; Capt. Mark Danielson, Aurora,
Colo.; and Senior Master Sgt. Jacob Mercer,
Jacksonville, Fla.
Among the nine other members of the crew who
were identified only as a group were two Northern
California men -- Tech. Sgt. Donald Klinke, West
Sacramento, Calif., and Tech. Sgt. Richard Nyhof,
Fremont, Calif. A third, Staff Sgt. Stanley
Lehrke, was from San Diego.
The others were: Tech. Sgt. Richard Cole,
Uniondale, N.Y.; Capt. PaulGilbert, Plainview,
Tex.; Maj. Robert Harrison, Massapequa Park, N.Y.;
Staff Sgt. Leon Hunt, Pleasure Ridge Park, Ky.;
Tech. Sgt. Larry J. Newman, North Platte, Neb.;
and Capt. Robert A. Wilson, Detriot.
All the servicemen had previously been
unaccounted for in Indochina. Their remains will
be returned to their families in ceremonies later
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