DAVID JOSEPH PHILLIPS JR.
Remains identification announced 06/22/2005
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Date of Birth: 02 May 1934
Home City of Record: Miami Beach FL
Date of Loss: 03 July 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 100614N 1045352E
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F5C
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 30 July
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: The Northrup F5 Freedom Fighter
(sometimes called "Tiger") in most of its models
was a single-seat supersonic fighter designed for
close air support, air defense and interdiction
missions. The aircraft, with its two GE
afterburning turbojets, was fast (around Mach
1.4) with a flight range from 1,300 to 1,600 miles,
depending on fuel and ammunition stores. The
aircraft was first brough into service in 1963,
and although its payload was limited, held its own
with other comparable fighters in the SEA combat
arena. By June 1967, Freedom Fighter missions
were flown almost exclusively by the South
Vietnamese Air Force.
Capt. David J. Phillips Jr. was a Freedom Fighter
pilot in Vietnam. On July 3, 1966, he was flying
near the western coastline of South Vietnam
several miles south of the Cambodian border when
his aircraft was hit by enemy fire, crashed and
exploded. Capt. Phillips was declared Killed,
Body Not Recovered. His aircraft crashed on the
coastline about 15 miles northwest of the city of
Rach Gia in Kien Giang Province, South Vietnam.
Capt. Phillips' wife, Peggy, was left with two
young children to raise, and she managed to go on
with her life. Phillips was one of about 2500
Americans who remained prisoner, missing, or
unaccounted for at the end of the war. Nothing was
heard about Phillips for many years.
In the fall of 1984, Peggy Phillips got quite a
shock. The Air Force sent her a copy of a report
received in the intelligence community that her
husband was alive and well in a prisoner of war
camp in Southeast Asia. The report further stated
that Phillips was being held with eight other
Americans.
Mrs. Phillips was shocked and angry when the
Defense Intelligence Agency stated publicly that
it had investigated the source of the information
and had found it to be false. The Air Force had
sent her the report with no analysis whatever,
and DIA had not contacted her. As a private
citizen, she had no means to investigate the
report herself.
American involvement in Vietnam ended in 1975,
over 10,000 reports such as the one relating to
David Phillips have been received by the U.S.
Government. Many officials, having examined this
largely classified information, have reluctantly
concluded that many Americans are still alive
today, held captive by our long-ago enemy. DIA
analysis of this information is that approximately
75% of the reports are resolved -- which means
they were correlated to persons who have been
returned or accounted for. It also means 75% of
the reports are true. Only an estimated 15% are
fabricated. About 10% are still under
investigation, and, according to one State
Department official, have undergone the "closest
scrutiny" possible, yet cannot be debunked.
Whether Phillips survived the over-water crash of
his aircraft to be captured by the multitude of
enemy fishing and military vessels often found
along the coastline is certainly not known. It is
not known if he might be among those thought to be
still alive today. What is certain, however, is
that as long as even one American remains alive,
held against his will, we owe him our very best
efforts to bring him to freedom.
==================
NEWS RELEASE from the United States Department of Defense
No. 632-05
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jun 22, 2005
Media Contact: (703)697-5131
Public/Industry Contact: (703)428-0711
Air Force Officer MIA from Vietnam War Identified
The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced
today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from the
Vietnam War, have been identified and returned to his family for burial on
July 3 at Savannah Ga.
He is Air Force Capt. David J. Phillips Jr. of Miami Beach, Fla.
On July 3, 1966, Phillips was attacking enemy targets over Kien Giang
Province, South Vietnam, when his F-5 "Freedom Fighter" was hit by enemy
ground fire and crashed. Phillips was unable to eject from his aircraft
before the crash, and radio contact was lost. Heavy enemy ground fire
precluded a search at the time.
From 1993 to 2000, joint U.S.-Vietnamese teams conducted four investigations
for information on Phillips' disappearance. Interviews of 10 villagers over
seven years led to the probable location of the crash site. One of the
teams found fiberglass pieces that were consistent with the survival kit
from the ejection seat on an F-5 aircraft.
During two excavations in 2003 and 2004, human remains, as well as
aircrew-related artifacts and personal effects, were recovered by teams from
the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC). Laboratory analysis of the
remains by forensic scientists at JPAC led to Phillips' identification.
Of the 88,000 Americans missing from World War II, the Korean War, the Cold
War, the Vietnam War, and Desert Storm, 1,833 are from the Vietnam War, with
1,397 of those within the country of Vietnam. Another 750 Americans have
been accounted for in Southeast Asia since the end of the Vietnam War. Of
the Americans identified, 524 are from within Vietnam.
For additional information on the Defense Department's mission to account
for missing Americans, visit the DPMO website at http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo or
call (703) 699-1169.
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