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      United States Air Force Status (in 1973)-Missing in Action Date of Loss-8 August 1966 Country of Loss: South Vietnam Category: 2  |
Records show that Maj. Walling was born in 1938, home of record was Phoenix, AZ, and he was married. He flew with the 557th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Cam Ranh AB, South Vietnam, he was 39 years old when his plane was downed in the Dong Nai province of South Vietnam.  1Lt. Aado Kommendant was backseater to flight commander Capt. Walling (Both have since been promoted to rank of Major during the period they were maintained Missing in Action) on an F4C Phantom jet called to provide close air support of friendly forces who were in contact with the enemy northeast of Bien Hoa airbase near Saigon. The two departed Cam Ranh Bay Airbase in South Vietnam and arrived in the target area without incident. They prepared to make bombing runs on a suspected enemy troop concentration, and shortly after the second run, the Forward Air Controller noticed an explosion about two miles southeast of the target. Both he and the flight leader proceeded to the scene as no radio replies were received from Walling's F4C. Rescue helicopters were alerted and arrived within minutes.  No parachutes were seen, nor were there any emergency radio transmissions. The area of the wreckage could not be seen by air because of the dense foliage, nor could ground troops gain access to the area because it was defended by enemy troops. The last known location of the aircraft was near the juncture of Binh Duong, Bien Hoa, Long Khan, and Binh Long provinces in South Vietnam, about 40 miles northeast of Saigon. Later that day, Foreign Broadcast Information Service in Okinawa monitored two radio releases from Radio Hanoi regarding the shoot-down of an F4 and the killing of two "yankees on board". Because Walling and Kommendant were aboard the only F4 lost that day in that area, it was felt that if the releases were true, they related to Walling and Kommendant. This report was discovered by the family in 1973 and had not been given to them by the Air Force or Defense Department prior to 1973. Neither the body of Maj. Walling nor Maj. Kommendant were recovered. Since American military involvement in Southeast Asia ended in 1975, the U.S. Government has received thousands of sighting reports of living Americans in captivity in Southeast Asia. Because many of these reports cannot be disproven, families of men like Maj. Walling wonder if their loved one could still be waiting to be rescued by the country they loved and served. Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1991 from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Governement agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II project. Updated by the P.O.W. Network 1998. Received by: Operation Just Cause Adopt a POW/MIA Program "No serviceman or woman from any war, is still noted by the United States Government as being a "Prisoner of War" (POW) or "Missing in Action" (MIA). Presumptive Finding of Death hearings have been held on each and every one, as mandated by the Missing Service Personnel Act. The result has been status changes from POW and MIA to Killed in Action/Body not Recovered (KIA/BNR) or Presumptive Finding of Death (PFOD). Included in these status changes, were the 324 servicemen in the Vietnam conflict that were "last known alive."
All posted biographies will state the status as of 1973, prior to many PFOD hearings, and promotions at the time of the hearings. Most family members and concerned citizens still refer to the ORIGINAL status of their loved ones -- using POW or MIA." Credits-Thank You ^i^  |
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