EDDIE LEE WILLIAMS
Rank/Branch: E7/US Army Special Forces
Unit: Command & Control, MACV-SOG
Date of Birth: 10 February 1935
Loss Date: 03 October 1966
Loss Coordinates: 165100N 1063200E (XD632624)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Refno: 0480
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.
Other Personnel In Incident: Raymond Echevarria;
James E. Jones (missing); indigeneous personnel;
Bui Kim Tien (sole survivor)
REMARKS:
SYNOPSIS: SFC James R. Jones were all members of
a 7 man recon team on a classified mission into
Laos. The three were assigned to Headquarters &
Headquarters Company, 5th Special Forces Group,
but were under orders to Command & Control,
MACV-SOG.
MACV-SOG (Military Assistance Command, Vietnam
Studies and Observation Group) was a joint service
high command unconventional warfare task force
engaged in highly classified operations throughout
Southeast Asia. The 5th Special Forces channelled
personnel into MACV-SOG (although it was not a
Special Forces group) through Special Operations
Augmentation (SOA), which provided their "cover"
while under secret orders to MACV-SOG. The teams
performed deep penetration missions of strategic
reconnaissance and interdiction which were called,
depending on the time frame, "Shining Brass" or
"Prairie Fire" missions.
On October 3, 1966, Echevarria and his team were
inserted into Laos near the border of the MR-1
region of South Vietnam (just west of the
Demilitarized Zone), and immediately came under
enemy fire, apparently surrounded by enemy troops.
The team requested immediate extraction, but heavy
gunfire prevented the helicopter from landing on
the LZ. Williams and Bui Kim Tien were trying to
evade capture. Tien, who was later rescued,
reported that SFC Williams told him both Jones and
Echevarria were seriously wounded, perhaps near
death.
On October 4, Williams and Bui spotted some caves,
and Bui went forward to investigate them, at which
point Tien was spotted by hostile forces and
forced to leave the area. Tien later heard gunfire
in the area, and believed that it was between SFC
Williams and the enemy troops. Tien continued to
evade for the rest of the day until he was picked
up by friendly aircraft at 1500 hours.
Ray Echevarria's photo was later identified as
that of a prisoner of war by a defector. According
to CIA analysts, this identification was an error,
based on the report of Bui Kim Tien that Echevarria
and Jones were near death. Tien was polygraphed,
and his debrief is believed to be accurate. But
still, doubts remain. The fact is, no one saw
Echevarria, Williams and Jones die. With enemy so
close, there is ample reason to believe they might
Since American involvement in Indochina ended,
over 8000 reports of Americans still held captive
have been received by the U.S. government. Of
the nearly 600 American servicemen lost in Laos,
not a single man has ever been released. The U.S.
did not negotiate for the prisoners held in Laos.
They were abandoned by the country they proudly
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