Operation Just Cause and My MIA

Michale Barry Judd
Rank/Branch: HM3/US Navy Corpsman FMF
Unit: A Company, 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion, 3rd Marine Division
Date of Birth: 22 August 1945
Home City of Record: Cleveland, OH
Date of Loss: 30 June 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 161349N 1074301E (YC896956)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: CH46A

OTHER PERSONNEL IN INCIDENT: John House; Merlin Raye Allen, John Killen; Glyn Runnels (all still missing)

SOURCE: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 April 1990 from one or more of the following: Raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews.

REMARKS: DED/CRSH BRN/SOM RECOV/NT SUBJ

SYNOPSIS: Capt. John A. House was the pilot of an CH46A helicopter carrying personnel assigned to Company A, 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion, 3rd Marine Division near the city of Phu Bai, South Vietnam on June 30, 1967.

The aircraft was hit by small arms fire, exploded and crashed. Although some of the personnel aboard survived, House, Allen, Judd, and Killen were never found, nor were remains recovered that could be identified as theirs. The four men were listed as killed in action, body not recovered.

FERGUSON, WALTER J. JR.
Name: Walter J. Ferguson, Jr.
Rank/Branch: E6/US Army
Unit: Company D, 1st Battalion, 2nd Infantry, 1st Infantry Division
Date of Birth: 13 August 1947 (Hampton SC)
Home City of Record: New York NY
Date of Loss: 23 August 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 115051N 1063647E (XU757101)
Status (in 1973): Prisoner of War
Category: 1
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel In Incident: none missing
Refno: 1260
Source: Compiled 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 in 1998.
REMARKS: 7005 DIC - ON PRG DIC LIST
SYNOPSIS: SSgt. Walter Ferguson was captured in Binh Long Province, South
Vietnam, while his unit was engaging Viet Cong forces on August 23, 1968. He
was held in captivity with other U.S. prisoners who were repatriated in 1973
until June 1970 when he was reportedly killed in an escape attempt at a POW
camp in Cambodia. The Provisional Revolutionary Government (PRG) list provided
in Paris in 1973 states that Ferguson died in captivity in May 1970.
The guards at the camp where Ferguson was held called him "Wa". If Ferguson was
actually killed in an escape attempt, these guards probably also buried him or
oversaw the burial. There is no doubt that the Vietnamese know where his body
lies.
Ferguson is one of about 100 who were known to have been prisoner of war and
remain unaccounted for. He is among nearly 2500 missing. Of the others, some
were teammates of known prisoners, some were alive and in good health as they
described their imminent capture to search teams.
All details of Walter Ferguson's mission and captivity are still classified for
unspecified reasons. Detractors say it is this policy of classification that
inspires doubt and distrust in the issue of the fates of those still missing.
Evidence mounts that hundreds of these missing men are actually alive in the
hands of a long-ago enemy. To date, U.S. efforts have not resulted in the
return of a single living American POW. Yet, by 1989, U.S. intent is clearly
to let bygones be bygones. When we signed peace agreements in 1973, military
experts expressed dismay that "some hundreds" of POWs expected to be released
were not. In our haste to leave Southeast Asia, we abandoned our best men. In
our haste to return, will we sign their death warrants?
From: Senate Select Committee Report 1993:
South Vietnam Walter Ferguson
(1260)
On August 23, 1968, Private First Class Ferguson, a member of the
25th Infantry Division, was captured east of the town of Loc Ninh,
Binh Long Province. Returning U.S. POWs captured in South Vietnam
were held with him in Tay Ninh Province. In June 1970, PFC
Ferguson appeared to have been mentally affected by months in
captivity. For example, he would frequently jump on guards, put
voodoo hexes on them and would then be beaten by the guards.
In approximately June 1970, the U.S. POWs held in Tay Ninh Province
were moved across the border into Cambodia. During this move, PFC
Ferguson asked to go to the toilet, and he was taken away. Another
U.S. POW heard a guard call Ferguson's Vietnamese name several
times, and then there was a shot followed by a moan. One returnee
was told by the prison commander than Ferguson had been shot and
killed during an escape attempt.
In January 1973, the Provisional Revolutionary Government
identified PFC Ferguson as having died in captivity in May 1970.
His remains have not yet been recovered. In May 1973, he was
declared dead/body not recovered based on a presumptive finding of
death.
--------------
Walter Ferguson is also mentioned in two live sighting reports [available on
the Internet] at
http://www.asde.com/~pownet
Operation Smoking Gun, Oral Histories # 230702Z.OH and 050722Z.OH

Nearly 2500 Americans did not return from Southeast Asia at the end of the war. Some, like the pilot and passengers of the CH46, are probably dead and will never come home. Since the end of the war, however, thousands of refugee reports have been received that indicate hundreds of Americans are still alive, held captive.

It is a matter of pride in the Marine Corps that one's comrades are never left on the field of battle to fall into the hands of the enemy. One can imagine that these men, had they survived, would willingly go one more mission for the return of those who still await rescue. Although some of the personnel aboard survived, House was never found, nor were remains recovered that could be identified as his. He was listed as killed in action, body not recovered.
I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to keep pushing this issue inside the Beltway...
The need to get specific answers is more important now than ever before. If still alive, some MIAs are now in their 70s...They don't have much time left. We have to demand the answers from the bureaucrats and keep standing on their necks (figuratively speaking) until they get the message that THEY work for US and that we are serious about getting these long overdue responses. Diplomatic considerations aside...

We can no longer allow questionable protocols established by pseudo-aristocratic armchair strategists, to determine or influence the fate of the men who were in the trenches while the diplomats were sharing sherry and canapes and talking about "Their Plans" for the future of SE Asia.

You can make a difference by getting involved! If you follow the following suggestions on how to write your Senator and Congressmen, you will get results. These suggestions come to you from George "Gunny\ Fallon, of Operation Just Cause:

WE CAN GET THE ANSWERS IF WE ASK THE RIGHT QUESTIONS!

Every day, the president, vice-president, senators, congressional representatives and a variety of appointed government officials are asked to respond to questions about government projects and programs. In all but the most extraordinary cases, the inquiry is passed on to aides and assistants who have little choice but to respond with prepared stock answers.

If you ask one of them what they are doing about the MIA issue, they will tell you:
"Everything we can."
Then they go back to the business of perpetuating the bureaucracy.

However, there is a better and more effective way to get their attention. Ask a more direct question that demands more than the expedient but lame, stock response. For Example:

Dear Senator,
"What is being done to determine the fate of Sfc Daniel R Phillips-USASF, who was last seen fighting his way through the perimeter during the seige of LangVei on 2/7/68? No remains were ever found although there was an intensive search of the area later on, and no one saw him fall. There is no evidence that he was killed and he is known to have been capable of surviving under harsh conditions.
Please advise me of any action that is being taken by you or any other elected or appointed official to determine his fate.
In the event there is nothing being done, please explain why not, and tell me how you personally plan to correct this and prevent it from ever happening again."
With a question that detailed, they can't get away with the old stock answers. And in researching those answers, they may come to realize what a large segment of the Veteran Brotherhood has known for years...That we abandoned "Loyal American Citizens" in Southeast Asia, and that many of them could still be alive in captivity today!

Let's get those answers which are owed to the families, friends and ourselves.
Just fill out this simple form and I will email you with the name, history and date of loss for a specific MIA so you can ask your elected representatives in Washington some specific questions.
Let's make this the year we bring them all home!
Copy the Letter above then use it as a template, customizing it for your Personal MIA, and then use the following links to send your Email to the ones who can make a difference...