A West Virginia
Hero
Larry's Final Journey Home
My MIA has been ID after 36 years.
LUCAS, LARRY FRANCIS
Name: Larry Francis Lucas
Rank/Branch: O3/US Army
Unit: 131st Aviation Company,
223rd Aviation Battalion, 17th Aviation
Group
Date of Birth: 29 April 1940 (Ashland KY)
Home City of Record: Marmet WV
Loss Date: 20 December 1966
Country of Loss: Laos (officially listed in S.Vietnam)
Loss Coordinates: 164139N 1061451E (XD330460)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3 -- Doubtful knowledge
This category contains individuals whose loss incident such that it is
doubtful that the enemy would have knowledge of the specific
individuals.
(e.g., aircrews lost over water or remote areas.)
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: OV1A
Refno: 0553
Other Personnel In Incident: Capt. Joseph L. Kulmayer (rescued)
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.
SYNOPSIS: On December 20, 1966, Capt. Larry F. Lucas, pilot; and Capt.
Joseph L. Kulmayer, co-pilot, flew an OV1A Mohawk (serial #63-13123) out
of
Hue's Phu Bai airbase on a reconnaissance mission over Laos in an
operations
region known as "Foxtrot". Their plane was hit by enemy fire, caught
fire,
pitched into a ninety degree dive and crashed. Capt. Kulmayer ejected
and
was later rescued. No sign of any other parachute was seen.
Although Lucas' parachute was not seen, Capt. Kulmayer stated that at
the
time of his own ejection, he saw Capt. Lucas' hand on the overhead
canopy
release handle.
The last known location of the plane was near Sepone, Laos, about 25
miles
from the border of South Vietnam. Defense department records list Lucas
as
missing in South Vietnam, although the loss coordinates are clearly in
Laos.
Why Lucas is not listed missing in Laos is unknown.
The OV1A was outfitted with photo equipment for aerial photo
reconnaissance.
The planes obtained aerial views of small targets - hill masses, road
junctions, or hamlets - in the kind of detail needed by ground
commanders.
The planes were generally unarmed. The OV1's were especially useful in
reconnoitering the Ho Chi Minh trail.
Lucas is among nearly 2500 Americans who did not come home from
Southeast
Asia at the end of the war. Unlike the MIAs of other wars, many of these
men
can be accounted for. Tragically, nearly 6000 reports of Americans still
in
captivity in Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S., yet freedom
for
them seems beyond our grasp.
NOTE: The 20th Aviation Detachment existed until December 1966, at which
time it was reassigned as the 131st Aviation Company, 223rd Aviation
Battalion (Combat Support). The 131st Aviation Company had been assigned
to
I Corps Aviation Battalion since June 1966, when it arrived in Vietnam.
In
August 1967, the 131st Aviation Company was reassigned to the 212th
Aviation
Battalion where it remained until July 1971, whereupon it transferred
out of
Vietnam.
There were a large number of pilots lost from this unit, including
Thaddeus
E. Williams and James P. Schimberg (January 9, 1966); John M. Nash and
Glenn
D. McElroy (March 15, 1966); James W. Gates and John W. Lafayette (April
6,
1966); Robert G. Nopp and Marshall Kipina (July 14, 1966); Jimmy M.
Brasher
and Robert E. Pittman (September 28, 1966); James M. Johnstone and James
L.
Whited (November 19, 1966); Larry F. Lucas (December 20, 1966); and Jack
W.
Brunson and Clinton A. Musil (May 31, 1971). Missing OV1 aircraft crew
from
the 20th/131st represent well over half of those lost on OV1 aircraft
during
the war.
U.S. Army records list both Nopp and Kipina as part of the "131st
Aviation
Company, 14th Aviation Battalion", yet according to "Order of Battle" by
Shelby Stanton, a widely recognized military source, this company was
never
assigned to the 14th Aviation Battalion. The 131st was known as
"Nighthawks", and was a surveillance aircraft company.
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