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    United States Air Force Status (in 1973)-Killed in Action-Body Not Recovered Date of Loss-18 April 1965 Country of Loss: South Vietnam Category: 2  |
Capt. Wheeler's home of record showed him to be from Tucson, AZ, he was married, and born in 1933. He was 32 years old and had 12 years of service in the Air Force when he his aircraft crashed in South Vietnam.  The Douglas A1 Skyraider ("Spad") is a highly maneuverable, propeller driven aircraft designed as a multipurpose attack bomber or utility aircraft. The A1 was first used by the Air Force in its Tactical Air Command to equip the first Air Commando Group engaged in counter insurgency operations in South Vietnam. The aircraft was retired in the spring of 1968 and had flown in more then twenty model variations, probably more then any other U.S. combat aircraft. Capt. James A. Wheeler was the pilot of an A1E assigned an interdiction mission about 10 miles south of Tinh Bien in South Vietnam on April 18, 1965. The target area, very close to the Cambodian border, was in Chau Doc Province. During Wheeler's dive bombing attack, his aircraft was seen to release a fragmentation bomb which detonated immediately. The aircraft dived straight into the ground trailing fuel and smoke and exploded on impact. It was determined that Wheeler could not have survived. Capt. James A. Wheeler is listed among the missing because his remains were never recovered. Others who are missing do not have such clear-cut cases. Some were known captives; some were photographed as they were led by their guards. Some were in radio contact with search teams, while others simply disappeared. Since the war ended, over 250,000 interviews have been conducted with those who claim to know about Americans still alive in Southeast Asia, and several million documents have been studied. U.S. Government experts cannot seem to agree whether Americans are alive or not. Detractors say it would be far too politically difficult to bring the men they believe alive home, and the U.S. is content to negotiate for remains. Well over 1000 first-hand, eyewitness reports of American prisoners still alive in Southeast Asia have been received by 1990. Most of them are still classified. Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 1 September 1990 from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Governement agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1990 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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