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Eugene
Lacy Wheeler was born Saturday, January 30, 1937 in Ashville,
Ohio. The oldest of seven children, he was just seven when his
parents joined their Creator. The entire family was then raised by their
Grandparents. Gene graduated from high school as the class
Salutatorian.
On April 21, 1970, one day after
arriving in country for his third tour, Major Wheeler was the pilot
of an OV-10A aircraft, assigned to MAG-11 / VMO-2, on a mission in Quang Tin
Province, South Vietnam near the border of Laos. Captain Charles E.
Hatch was aboard as Aerial Observer. During the flight, the
aircraft was hit by hostile anti-aircraft fire and crashed in Quang Nam
Province. Both airmen were able to exit their aircraft and landed alive
on the ground. The next morning, Capt. Hatch reported that Vietnam
People's Army forces were closing in on Maj. Wheeler's position.
He then heard automatic weapons firing, the sound of pistol shots and
then had no further contact with Maj. Wheeler. Capt. Hatch was
rescued alive.
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VMO-2 patches from the time
Major Wheeler was with the unit.
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OV-10A Bronco from VMO-2
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Wheeler's
fate remains uncertain. The Marine Corps believes there is a good
possibility that Wheeler survived to be captured, but that certainly,
the Vietnamese could tell us what happened to him on that day. When the
war ended and 591 American POWs were released from Vietnam during
Operation Homecoming, Wheeler was not among them. The Vietnamese have
denied any knowledge of him since that time.
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Gene Wheeler left behind a wife and three
children under age seven, Connie, Tony and Pete.
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In
1991, U.S. investigators in Vietnam located a member of the militia unit
which claimed it shot down the aircraft. The witness stated he
heard that Vietnam People's Army forces had shot and killed the pilot
who, at the time, was resisting capture. The team received heresy
information the pilot was buried nearby (Na Lau Village in Lao
territory), but the information did not appear to be credible.
U.S. investigators also received information on the location of the
crash site and confirmed its location after receiving a data plate from
the aircraft.
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Mounting
evidence indicates that some Americans are still alive being held
prisoner of war in Southeast Asia. The Vietnamese pledged to return all
prisoners of war and provide the fullest possible accounting of the
missing in the peace accords signed in 1973. They have done neither, and
the U.S. has not compelled them to do so.
The United States government pledged that the
POW/MIA issue is of "highest national priority" but has not
achieved results indicative of a priority.
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You are listening to Ray Boltz, The
Fallen (1995)
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