To Our American Soldiers...
Being that I was raised the daughter of an American soldier, I felt the need to do something to show my respect and offer my thanks for all their endless work in giving me the life I have today! So, for each and every American soldier, this is your page. Whether you be a cook, in the infantry, a nurse or medic....no matter what your rank, thank you!
I have chosen to adopt a soldier. Thomas Richard Okerlund is a name I shall never forget! If anyone knows anything about Mr. Okerlund that might allow me to know him better, please feel free to write me! Thank you.
I needed to take a moment here to thank my father, who served 22 years in the army. Most of this time was spent as a medic. Many memories have been shared by him. I remember being six years old, in a hospital in Japan. Each night I could hear soldiers, fresh from Viet Nam scream in pain and I am sure, hearts hurting.
At the entrance of each ward there were giant barrells filled with sand where visiting soldiers were supposed to unload their weapons. And the worst memory for me is hearing the death tolls on the news each night. And for this, I can never forget what these men did for me! May God bless each and everyone of you, dead or alive, missing or accounted for, well or disabled! I love you!
OKERLUND, THOMAS RICHARD
Name: Thomas Richard
Okerland
Rank/Branch: W1/US Army
Unit: 61st Assault Helicopter Company "Lucky Stars",
268th Aviation
Battalion, 17th Aviation Group, 1st Aviation Brigade
Date of Birth: 05 August 1948 (Everett WA)
Home City of Record: Seattle WA
Date of Loss: 03 January 1971
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 134700N 1090630E (BR960250)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: U6 "Beaver"
Refno: 1687
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.
Other Personnel In
Incident: Luis G. Holguin; Dennis W. Omelia; Patrick
Magee; Carl Palen; Ferris Rhodes; Michael Parsons (all missing)
REMARKS:
SYNOPSIS: On January 3,
1971, Capt. Ferris A. Rhodes, Jr. was the pilot of a
U6 "Beaver" (serial #52-25884), carrying six passengers:
1Lt. Michaeld D.
Parsons, WO1 Thomas R. Okerland, WO1 Dennis W. Omelia; WO1 Luis G.
Holguin;
SP6 Patrick J. Magee; and SP5 Carl A. Palen. This was an
administrative
support flight from Qui Nhon to Ban Me Thuot, South Vietnam, to
collect
replacement helicopters for the company. Some of the men aboard
were
helicopter pilots, and would fly the choppers back to the base at
Qui Nhon.
The U6 "Beaver"
is an older, fixed wing aircraft of reasonable size (bigger
than a "Bird Dog", for instance), rather short and
squatty with a somewhat
wide body. The aircraft departed Qui Nhon at about 0900 hours on
January 3
without filing a proper flight plan, nor was the weather briefing
obtained
prior to takeoff. About 14 miles southeast of Phu Cat, at 1120
hours, radio
and radar contact was lost with the plane.
Because Capt. Rhodes had
announced plans to remain overnight at Ban Me
Thuot, no immediate searches were made. By January 9, when Rhodes
and his
passengers still had not returned, search efforts were begun at
0900 hours,
and continued throughout the day with no sign of the aircraft or
its
personnel.
The area of takeoff was
tricky and the weather conditions were not good.
Other pilots said that if planes taking off did not reach a safe
altitude
fast enough, they would crash into a mountain. Cruising speed for
the
"Beaver" was a mere 106 mph making it a prime target
for flak. Conditions in
the area indicated that the aircraft was shot down, and several
years passed
before the crew was finally declared dead.
Evidence mounts that
Americans are still alive in Southeast Asia. It is not
known for sure if any of the crew of the U6 survived and are
among them, but
there is no evidence that they are dead. If they survived, they
could still
be alive. If not, then someone else's brother, son, husband,
father is
alive. We owe them our very best effort to bring them home.
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