Thursday, March 26, 2009

Oley Neal Adams, SSgt USAF

I wear the Memorial Bracelet of USAF SSgt Oley Adams who perished in an explosion of unknown cause of a C-130 aircraft witnessed over water off the coast of Vietnam. His remains were never found. Sergeant Adams is from my home state, Missouri.

I am creating a Memorial of the Fallen for him on the official AIR FORCE: TOGETHER WE SERVED member's website at this link:


I would be grateful to anyone who wishes to provide any kind of information such as a photograph of him, and any or all other personal details of his life. They may contact me at bluehawkzoomie@yahoo.com

This is part of his story:

ADAMS, OLEY NEAL  1937-1966

Name: Oley Neal Adams 
Rank/Branch: E5/US Air Force 
Unit: 12th Armament Electronic Maintenance Squadron 
Date of Birth: 27 June 1937 
Home City of Record: Green City MO 
Date of Loss: 17 June 1966 
Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water 
Loss Coordinates: 125336N 1093123E (CQ398257) 
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered 
Category: 5 
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: C130E 
Refno: 0363 

"Other Personnel in Incident: Ralph B. Cobbs; Jack I. Dempsey; Stanley J. 
Freng; Edward L. Romig; M.J. Savoy; Donald E. Siegwarth; Curtis D. Collette; 
Gene K. Hess; Connie M. Gravitte; Robert A. Cairns; Larry E. Washburn (all 
missing) 

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1991 from one or more of 
the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence 
with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Updated by the P.O.W. 
NETWORK 

REMARKS: EXPLODE AIR & IMPACT SEA - J 

SYNOPSIS: On June 17, 1966, a C130E "Hercules" aircraft departed Cam Ranh 
Bay, South Vietnam en route to Kadena Air Base, Okinawa on an operational 
airlift support mission. Aboard the flight were the crew, consisting of 
LtCdr. Ralph Cobbs; ADJ2 Curtis D. Collette; YN2 Jack I. Dempsey; ADR2 
Stanley Freng; Ltjg. Edward Romig; AN M.J. Savoy; and Ltjg. Donald 
Siegwarth. All were assigned to the 7th Air Transport Squadron. Also aboard
the aircraft were U.S. Air Force personnel SSgt. Robert Cairns; SSgt. Gene 
Hess; Capt. Connie Gravitte; SSgt. Oley N. Adams; and A1 Larry Washburn, and 
one other individual. 

About 30 minutes into the flight, as the aircraft was 43 miles northeast of 
Nha Trang, the crew of a naval gunboat cruising off the South Vietnam coast
observed the C130 explode and crash into the South China Sea. No hostile 
fire was observed, and the exact cause of the crash could not be determined. 
The vessel arrived at the crash scene only minutes after the impact and 
began an immediate search. The accident occurred so swiftly that it was 
assumed all aboard perished instantly. Some debris and wreckage have been 
recovered including parts of the aircraft and personal belongings. Only one 
body was recovered from the crash site. The others are listed as "Dead/Body 
Not Recovered." 

Cobbs and Siegworth were pilots, and probably the co-pilots of the aircraft, 
although this information is not included in public data relating to the 
loss. Crew positions of the remaining crew members are not available. 

Inexplicably, Cobbs' loss coordinates place him on the coast of South 
Vietnam a few miles northeast of Tuy Hoa, while the others aboard are listed 
as lost northeast of Na Trang. (This is a difference of about 55 miles.) 
Also, the entire crew of the aircraft has been assigned "Knowledge Category
4", while the passengers are in "Knowledge Category 5". Category 5 includes 
those individuals whose remains have been determined to be non-recoverable. 
Category 4 includes individuals whose loss details, such as location and 
time, are unknown and who do not fit into any of the varying degrees of 
knowledge other than category 5. No reason for this discrepancy can be 
determined. 

The Americans aboard the C130E are listed among the missing because their 
remains were never found to be returned to their homeland. They are among 
nearly 2500 Americans who remain unaccounted for from the Vietnam war. The 
cases of some, like the C130E crew, seem clear - that they perished and will
never be recovered, Unfortunately, many of the missing do not have such 
clear cut cases. Some were known captives; some were photographed in 
captivity. Some were in radio contact with search teams, while others simply
disappeared." 

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Mike Bell - USAF 1963-66, 3345th M&S Group/ATC
"Warriors are decisive in battles, not in wars."

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

I wear mine for my cousin

My (distant) cousin, PFC Justin W. Dreese, of the 82nd Airborne, US Army, was killed in a mortar attack in Iraq, on 2 Sept 2006.  I wear my Memorial Bracelet to honor his sacrifice, and the other (almost) 5,000 heroes from our nation's military services since 2001, that have "paid the last full measure of devotion" by laying their lives upon the altar of freedom.  I wear it constantly, as a officer of my veteran chapter that is out in the community constantly.  These are pictures of me in Arlington Cemetary (section 60, where the newest heroes are laid to rest) on February 17, 2009.
Wm. Dreese, Sgt. (ret) US Army Infantry
3/41 Inf, 2nd Armored Div.
Persian Gulf War, 90-91
V.P., SouthEast Michigan Veterans of Modern Warfare, Chapter 4


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Thursday, March 05, 2009

Col. William J. Thompson - The Definition of a Hero

I wear my POW Bracelet to remember a fallen hero that stood up for something he believed in. When I decided to get a bracelet to honor someone that had served their country, I started wondering how I would choose.....there were so many people that had died, or were missing to choose from. I thought about it for a while and decided that the best way to decide was to look for someone that was local to my community, and the next criteria was that is was going to be someone that was MIA or KIA in the month of August in the year I was born. So, someone from the Houston, TX area that was MIA or KIA in August of 1968. I did not have to look far, he jumped right off the page at me. Col. William J. Thompson, USAF. I did some research on him, and found out that he went down in his F-4 Phantom in North Vietnam on a mission on August 1, 1968. They believe that he was shot down, but no wreckage or the Colonel were found. There is much more information that I found, but you get the idea. I was just being born into this world in August of 1968, and this Air Force Pilot was out fighting in a very un-popular war, but doing his job none the less.. What better way to honor him, than by wearing a bracelet bearing his name on a daily basis and sharing his story. I doubt Col. Thompson knew that he was inspiring people, but let me be the first to tell you that he did....without even knowing it!
 
Thanks you Colonel William J. Thompson for your courage and bravery under fire, thank you for your service and devotion to this country. may you rest in peace. Also, thank you to all who served in the Vietnam war, and the Gulf and Iraq wars, NONE of you are forgotten!
 

Regards,

Mark, K5EXX

US Army 87'-90'

Baytown/Chambers County CERT Coordinator
Emergency Communications, Baytown EOC