News - Local
Colorado airman missing since 1968 found in Laos
Posted: Jun 14, 2010 10:51 AM by Bea Karnes, News First 5
Updated: Jun 14, 2010 10:50 AM
The remains of an Air Force officer from Colorado who had been missing in action in southeast Asia since 1968 have been recovered and buried.
Maj. Thomas B. Mitchell was among nine U.S. airman aboard a C-130 cargo plane over Laos on May 22, 1968, during the Vietnam war. The plane lost radio contact, and the crew of another aircraft saw a large ground fire near the last known location of the C-130. Heavy anti-aircraft fire kept search and rescue aircraft away.
Search teams from the U.S, Vietnam and Laos found the remains and personal items after a series of searches between 1989 and 2008. Individually identifiable remains were returned to their families for burial. The other remains were buried as a group in Arlington National Cemetery last week.
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