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**NEWS RELEASE**NEWS RELEASE**NEWS RELEASE**

DATELINE TRAVIS

                                                15 Sep 94

Editor's Note: The following information is provided by the 60th Airlift
Wing public affairs office at Travis AFB, Calif.  For more information,
contact TSgt. Patrick McKenna at (707) 424-2011 or DSN 837-2011. 


FLIER KILLED IN ACTION RETURNS HOME

     TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- The remains of an American
serviceman, previously listed as unaccounted for in Southeast Asia, has
been identified as Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Richard D. Smith. He will
be honored in a return ceremony Wednesday, Sept. 21 at 5:30 p.m. on the
Travis flightline. The public may attend the ceremony. 
     The remains were repatriated in 1994 as a result of a joint
American-Vietnamese search effort. 
     Lieutenant Colonel Smith was the navigator of a B-57B aircraft that
was lost near Pleiku on March 11, 1965, while on an interdiction mission.
The aircraft was making a low-level napalm attack at approximately 100
feet when a fireball was seen to erupt from the rear of the aircraft. The
aircraft continued on its flight path, subsequently striking a small ridge
where it exploded and disintegrated. 
     The body of the pilot was recovered the next day from a location
about one-half mile from the crash site.  The presence of an ejection seat
and partially deployed parachute near the body indicated that the ejection
process had been initiated but that it probably occurred at too low and
altitude to be successful. A subsequent intensified ground search failed
to recover any evidence of Lieutenant Colonel Smith and he was listed as
Missing In Action.  A presumptive finding was signed in 1977 amending his
status to Killed In Action, Body Not Recovered. 
     Lieutenant Colonel Smith was born Aug. 16, 1937, and his home of
record is Wichita, Kansas. 
     The remains of a second serviceman from a separate incident have also
been identified.  However, his name is being withheld in deference to the
wishes of his family. 
     The U.S. government welcomes and appreciates the cooperation of the
government of Vietnam that resulted in accounting for these Americans.  We
hope that such cooperation will bring increased results in the near
future.  Achieving the fullest possible accounting for unaccounted for
Americans from the Vietnam War is of the highest national priority.
Including these two remains, 357 Americans (291 from Vietnam, 60 from
Laos, two from the People's Republic of China and four from Cambodia),
previously missing in Southeast Asia have been accounted for. With this
identification, there are still 2,227 Americans (1,637 in Vietnam, 505 in
Laos, 77 in Cambodia and 8 in the PRC coastal waters), missing or
otherwise unaccounted for in Indochina. 
     Any further questions, should be addressed to the Department of
Defense, Ms. Beverly Baker, at (703) 695-0192. 

NOTE: Media wishing to attend this ceremony should contact TSgt. Patrick
McKenna at (707) 424-0135.

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______________________________________________________________________________
Patrick M. McKenna     Air Force Technical Sergeant       Travis AFB, Calif. 
              Noncommissioned Officer in Charge of Media Relations
Work Phone: (707) 424-0135/2011             E-Mail: paddy@solano.community.net