San Dewayne Francisco
Captain, U.S. Air Force
557th Tactical Fighter Squadron
Entered the Service From: Burbank, Washington
Date of Birth: February 29, 1944
Date of Death: November 25, 1968
Wars or Conflicts: Vietnam War
Memorialized: Courts of the Missing: Court A
Honolulu Memorial
National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific
Captain Francisco was a member of the 557th Tactical Fighter Squadron. On November 25, 1968, he was the navigator of a McDonnell Douglas Phantom II Fighter (F-4D) on a mission over North Vietnam, when his aircraft was shot down by hostile fire. He parachuted safely to the ground but could not be located. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.
===========
On 26 November 1968, The Peoples Army newspaper carried an article that congratulated the people of Quang Binh for shooting down an F4 on 25 November 1968, and that the pilots were captured alive
This memorial is a cenotaph
True Burial
==================
Sent by: L. S. STEPHENS
13 Mar 2015 article from Tri-City Herald, Tri-Cities, Washington —
“Burial site for Burbank man shot down in Vietnam located, but mission to bring him back remains in limbo”
by Geoff Folsom, [email protected]
The burial site of Maj. San Dwayne Francisco, a Kennewick High School graduate shot down in 1968 over North Vietnam, has been found. A government agency pinpointed the location in June 2014, but it isn’t certain that Francisco’s remains will be retrieved this year. “As of 2 weeks ago, he is not on the retrieval list,” said his sister, Terri Francisco-Farrell of Kennewick, Washington. “Even with all this information, this is what’s really frustrating.”
The team who went to Vietnam painted a large tree trunk at the center of Francisco’s burial site to mark it, according to a report Francisco-Farrell received in February. But another trip will be required to excavate his remains and return them to the United States. “Should JPAC (Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command) approve this site for excavation, a block excavation should be considered and heavy equipment should be used cautiously,” said an excerpt from the report, provided by Francisco-Farrell. “The presence or absence of human remains can only be done by an excavation.” JPAC refers to the scandal-plagued division of the Defense Department that was recently merged with other agencies at the beginning of 2015 to form the new Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (www.dpaa.mil).
Francisco-Farrell also received a map showing the location of her brother’s burial, but was advised not to share it by former Rep. Doc Hastings, she said. “We have enough information that, if we wanted to, we could go get him,” she said. Francisco-Farrell wants to send a message to the new agency about how crucial it is to have a mission this year. Contact links have been placed on the website of the San D. Francisco Awareness Campaign, (www.sdfawareness.org) formed last year, for the new agency and for Defense Secretary Ashton Carter.
A mission to retrieve Francisco’s remains is crucial while witnesses to his burial are still living and before the monsoon season in Vietnam, Francisco-Farrell said. The awareness campaign is also looking for donations so it can put pressure on officials to include Francisco in a retrieval mission. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., a member of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, remains in contact with the defense secretary’s office, and Francisco-Farrell in trying to resolve the issue, spokesman Eli Zupnick said. “It’s something our office is engaged with and will continue to be engaged with,” he said.
Francisco, a native of Burbank, Washington, was the copilot of an F-4 Phantom fighter-bomber that was shot down over the Quang Binh province on 25 Nov 1968. A commander of Vietnamese ground forces told a Vietnamese team that two U.S. air crew members parachuted after Francisco’s plane was shot down. Francisco broke both his legs while landing hard. Francisco was captured, then left in the open after his captors came under attack from U.S. warplanes in a rescue effort. He was killed by cluster bombs. The Vietnamese buried Francisco nearby, but exhumed his body 3 days later to be photographed for propaganda purposes, claiming his was the 2,000th plane shot down during the war. He then was reburied in the same area.
The family struggled for decades to find out what really happened before an investigative team in 2013 went to Vietnam and interviewed two men who saw the events after Francisco was shot down, Francisco-Farrell said. They heard a false report that he might be alive in 1988, and, in 1992, photographs were released showing the plane’s other pilot, Maj. Joseph Morrison, with a bullet in his head. But no pictures of Francisco were released. Francisco was promoted posthumously to Major from First Lieutenant.
Captain, U.S. Air Force
557th Tactical Fighter Squadron
Entered the Service From: Burbank, Washington
Date of Birth: February 29, 1944
Date of Death: November 25, 1968
Wars or Conflicts: Vietnam War
Memorialized: Courts of the Missing: Court A
Honolulu Memorial
National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific
Captain Francisco was a member of the 557th Tactical Fighter Squadron. On November 25, 1968, he was the navigator of a McDonnell Douglas Phantom II Fighter (F-4D) on a mission over North Vietnam, when his aircraft was shot down by hostile fire. He parachuted safely to the ground but could not be located. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.
===========
On 26 November 1968, The Peoples Army newspaper carried an article that congratulated the people of Quang Binh for shooting down an F4 on 25 November 1968, and that the pilots were captured alive
This memorial is a cenotaph
True Burial
==================
Sent by: L. S. STEPHENS
13 Mar 2015 article from Tri-City Herald, Tri-Cities, Washington —
“Burial site for Burbank man shot down in Vietnam located, but mission to bring him back remains in limbo”
by Geoff Folsom, [email protected]
The burial site of Maj. San Dwayne Francisco, a Kennewick High School graduate shot down in 1968 over North Vietnam, has been found. A government agency pinpointed the location in June 2014, but it isn’t certain that Francisco’s remains will be retrieved this year. “As of 2 weeks ago, he is not on the retrieval list,” said his sister, Terri Francisco-Farrell of Kennewick, Washington. “Even with all this information, this is what’s really frustrating.”
The team who went to Vietnam painted a large tree trunk at the center of Francisco’s burial site to mark it, according to a report Francisco-Farrell received in February. But another trip will be required to excavate his remains and return them to the United States. “Should JPAC (Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command) approve this site for excavation, a block excavation should be considered and heavy equipment should be used cautiously,” said an excerpt from the report, provided by Francisco-Farrell. “The presence or absence of human remains can only be done by an excavation.” JPAC refers to the scandal-plagued division of the Defense Department that was recently merged with other agencies at the beginning of 2015 to form the new Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (www.dpaa.mil).
Francisco-Farrell also received a map showing the location of her brother’s burial, but was advised not to share it by former Rep. Doc Hastings, she said. “We have enough information that, if we wanted to, we could go get him,” she said. Francisco-Farrell wants to send a message to the new agency about how crucial it is to have a mission this year. Contact links have been placed on the website of the San D. Francisco Awareness Campaign, (www.sdfawareness.org) formed last year, for the new agency and for Defense Secretary Ashton Carter.
A mission to retrieve Francisco’s remains is crucial while witnesses to his burial are still living and before the monsoon season in Vietnam, Francisco-Farrell said. The awareness campaign is also looking for donations so it can put pressure on officials to include Francisco in a retrieval mission. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., a member of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, remains in contact with the defense secretary’s office, and Francisco-Farrell in trying to resolve the issue, spokesman Eli Zupnick said. “It’s something our office is engaged with and will continue to be engaged with,” he said.
Francisco, a native of Burbank, Washington, was the copilot of an F-4 Phantom fighter-bomber that was shot down over the Quang Binh province on 25 Nov 1968. A commander of Vietnamese ground forces told a Vietnamese team that two U.S. air crew members parachuted after Francisco’s plane was shot down. Francisco broke both his legs while landing hard. Francisco was captured, then left in the open after his captors came under attack from U.S. warplanes in a rescue effort. He was killed by cluster bombs. The Vietnamese buried Francisco nearby, but exhumed his body 3 days later to be photographed for propaganda purposes, claiming his was the 2,000th plane shot down during the war. He then was reburied in the same area.
The family struggled for decades to find out what really happened before an investigative team in 2013 went to Vietnam and interviewed two men who saw the events after Francisco was shot down, Francisco-Farrell said. They heard a false report that he might be alive in 1988, and, in 1992, photographs were released showing the plane’s other pilot, Maj. Joseph Morrison, with a bullet in his head. But no pictures of Francisco were released. Francisco was promoted posthumously to Major from First Lieutenant.
San Dewayne Francisco
Captain, U.S. Air Force
557th Tactical Fighter Squadron
Entered the Service From: Burbank, Washington
Date of Birth: February 29, 1944
Date of Death: November 25, 1968
Wars or Conflicts: Vietnam War
Memorialized: Courts of the Missing: Court A
Honolulu Memorial
National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific
Captain Francisco was a member of the 557th Tactical Fighter Squadron. On November 25, 1968, he was the navigator of a McDonnell Douglas Phantom II Fighter (F-4D) on a mission over North Vietnam, when his aircraft was shot down by hostile fire. He parachuted safely to the ground but could not be located. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.
===========
On 26 November 1968, The Peoples Army newspaper carried an article that congratulated the people of Quang Binh for shooting down an F4 on 25 November 1968, and that the pilots were captured alive
This memorial is a cenotaph
True Burial
==================
Sent by: L. S. STEPHENS
13 Mar 2015 article from Tri-City Herald, Tri-Cities, Washington —
“Burial site for Burbank man shot down in Vietnam located, but mission to bring him back remains in limbo”
by Geoff Folsom, [email protected]
The burial site of Maj. San Dwayne Francisco, a Kennewick High School graduate shot down in 1968 over North Vietnam, has been found. A government agency pinpointed the location in June 2014, but it isn’t certain that Francisco’s remains will be retrieved this year. “As of 2 weeks ago, he is not on the retrieval list,” said his sister, Terri Francisco-Farrell of Kennewick, Washington. “Even with all this information, this is what’s really frustrating.”
The team who went to Vietnam painted a large tree trunk at the center of Francisco’s burial site to mark it, according to a report Francisco-Farrell received in February. But another trip will be required to excavate his remains and return them to the United States. “Should JPAC (Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command) approve this site for excavation, a block excavation should be considered and heavy equipment should be used cautiously,” said an excerpt from the report, provided by Francisco-Farrell. “The presence or absence of human remains can only be done by an excavation.” JPAC refers to the scandal-plagued division of the Defense Department that was recently merged with other agencies at the beginning of 2015 to form the new Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (www.dpaa.mil).
Francisco-Farrell also received a map showing the location of her brother’s burial, but was advised not to share it by former Rep. Doc Hastings, she said. “We have enough information that, if we wanted to, we could go get him,” she said. Francisco-Farrell wants to send a message to the new agency about how crucial it is to have a mission this year. Contact links have been placed on the website of the San D. Francisco Awareness Campaign, (www.sdfawareness.org) formed last year, for the new agency and for Defense Secretary Ashton Carter.
A mission to retrieve Francisco’s remains is crucial while witnesses to his burial are still living and before the monsoon season in Vietnam, Francisco-Farrell said. The awareness campaign is also looking for donations so it can put pressure on officials to include Francisco in a retrieval mission. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., a member of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, remains in contact with the defense secretary’s office, and Francisco-Farrell in trying to resolve the issue, spokesman Eli Zupnick said. “It’s something our office is engaged with and will continue to be engaged with,” he said.
Francisco, a native of Burbank, Washington, was the copilot of an F-4 Phantom fighter-bomber that was shot down over the Quang Binh province on 25 Nov 1968. A commander of Vietnamese ground forces told a Vietnamese team that two U.S. air crew members parachuted after Francisco’s plane was shot down. Francisco broke both his legs while landing hard. Francisco was captured, then left in the open after his captors came under attack from U.S. warplanes in a rescue effort. He was killed by cluster bombs. The Vietnamese buried Francisco nearby, but exhumed his body 3 days later to be photographed for propaganda purposes, claiming his was the 2,000th plane shot down during the war. He then was reburied in the same area.
The family struggled for decades to find out what really happened before an investigative team in 2013 went to Vietnam and interviewed two men who saw the events after Francisco was shot down, Francisco-Farrell said. They heard a false report that he might be alive in 1988, and, in 1992, photographs were released showing the plane’s other pilot, Maj. Joseph Morrison, with a bullet in his head. But no pictures of Francisco were released. Francisco was promoted posthumously to Major from First Lieutenant.
Captain, U.S. Air Force
557th Tactical Fighter Squadron
Entered the Service From: Burbank, Washington
Date of Birth: February 29, 1944
Date of Death: November 25, 1968
Wars or Conflicts: Vietnam War
Memorialized: Courts of the Missing: Court A
Honolulu Memorial
National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific
Captain Francisco was a member of the 557th Tactical Fighter Squadron. On November 25, 1968, he was the navigator of a McDonnell Douglas Phantom II Fighter (F-4D) on a mission over North Vietnam, when his aircraft was shot down by hostile fire. He parachuted safely to the ground but could not be located. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.
===========
On 26 November 1968, The Peoples Army newspaper carried an article that congratulated the people of Quang Binh for shooting down an F4 on 25 November 1968, and that the pilots were captured alive
This memorial is a cenotaph
True Burial
==================
Sent by: L. S. STEPHENS
13 Mar 2015 article from Tri-City Herald, Tri-Cities, Washington —
“Burial site for Burbank man shot down in Vietnam located, but mission to bring him back remains in limbo”
by Geoff Folsom, [email protected]
The burial site of Maj. San Dwayne Francisco, a Kennewick High School graduate shot down in 1968 over North Vietnam, has been found. A government agency pinpointed the location in June 2014, but it isn’t certain that Francisco’s remains will be retrieved this year. “As of 2 weeks ago, he is not on the retrieval list,” said his sister, Terri Francisco-Farrell of Kennewick, Washington. “Even with all this information, this is what’s really frustrating.”
The team who went to Vietnam painted a large tree trunk at the center of Francisco’s burial site to mark it, according to a report Francisco-Farrell received in February. But another trip will be required to excavate his remains and return them to the United States. “Should JPAC (Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command) approve this site for excavation, a block excavation should be considered and heavy equipment should be used cautiously,” said an excerpt from the report, provided by Francisco-Farrell. “The presence or absence of human remains can only be done by an excavation.” JPAC refers to the scandal-plagued division of the Defense Department that was recently merged with other agencies at the beginning of 2015 to form the new Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (www.dpaa.mil).
Francisco-Farrell also received a map showing the location of her brother’s burial, but was advised not to share it by former Rep. Doc Hastings, she said. “We have enough information that, if we wanted to, we could go get him,” she said. Francisco-Farrell wants to send a message to the new agency about how crucial it is to have a mission this year. Contact links have been placed on the website of the San D. Francisco Awareness Campaign, (www.sdfawareness.org) formed last year, for the new agency and for Defense Secretary Ashton Carter.
A mission to retrieve Francisco’s remains is crucial while witnesses to his burial are still living and before the monsoon season in Vietnam, Francisco-Farrell said. The awareness campaign is also looking for donations so it can put pressure on officials to include Francisco in a retrieval mission. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., a member of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, remains in contact with the defense secretary’s office, and Francisco-Farrell in trying to resolve the issue, spokesman Eli Zupnick said. “It’s something our office is engaged with and will continue to be engaged with,” he said.
Francisco, a native of Burbank, Washington, was the copilot of an F-4 Phantom fighter-bomber that was shot down over the Quang Binh province on 25 Nov 1968. A commander of Vietnamese ground forces told a Vietnamese team that two U.S. air crew members parachuted after Francisco’s plane was shot down. Francisco broke both his legs while landing hard. Francisco was captured, then left in the open after his captors came under attack from U.S. warplanes in a rescue effort. He was killed by cluster bombs. The Vietnamese buried Francisco nearby, but exhumed his body 3 days later to be photographed for propaganda purposes, claiming his was the 2,000th plane shot down during the war. He then was reburied in the same area.
The family struggled for decades to find out what really happened before an investigative team in 2013 went to Vietnam and interviewed two men who saw the events after Francisco was shot down, Francisco-Farrell said. They heard a false report that he might be alive in 1988, and, in 1992, photographs were released showing the plane’s other pilot, Maj. Joseph Morrison, with a bullet in his head. But no pictures of Francisco were released. Francisco was promoted posthumously to Major from First Lieutenant.
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