Welcome To
Donald Eugene Parsons'
Dedication Page
PARSONS, DONALD EUGENE
Name: Donald Eugene Parsons
Rank/Branch: O5/US Army
Unit: Advisory Team 4, Senior Advisor to 2nd Regiment,
1st ARVN Infantry
Division
Date of Birth: 17 April 1929 (Marion IL)
Home City of Record: Sparta IL
Date of Loss: 06 February 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 162750N 1070238E (YD182212)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H
Other Personnel In Incident: Charles I. Stanley;
Ronald D. Briggs; David E.
Padgett; Eugene F. Christiansen; Robert C. O'Hara (all
missing)
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 1990
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:
SYNOPSIS: On February 6, 1969, CW2 Charles I. Stanley,
pilot; 1Lt. David E.
Padgett, aircraft commander; SP5 Robert C. O'Hara,
crew chief; PFC Eugene F.
Christiansen, door gunner; LtCol. Donald E. Parsons,
1Lt. Ronald D. Briggs,
and Maj. Vu Vanh Phao, ARVN, all passengers, were
aboard a UH1H (serial
#67-17499) on a resupply mission in Quang Tri
Province, South Vietnam.
While in route from Landing Zone Vandergrift to LZ
Tornado, 1Lt. Padget
contacted the LZ Tornado radio operator at about 1100
hours and stated that
due to poor weather conditions and poor visibility,
the flight was returning
to LZ Vandergrift.
At that time, the radio operator at LZ Tornado could
hear the helicopter
northeast of his location, which sounded as if it were
heading in a
northerly direction. When the aircraft failed to
return to LZ Vandergrift, a
coordinated search and rescue operation was initiated
and continued for
seven consecutive days, finding nothing.
However, on the morning of February 7, Crown, an
airborne control aircraft,
reported receiving radio beeper signals several times
from the general
vicinity of where Lt. Padgett's aircraft was last
reported. The beeper
signals were estimated to emanate from that general
direction. The source of
the signals was never determined.
The area in which the aircraft was estimated to go
down has been dubbed
"Antenna Valley" and is located west of Cam Lo and on
the backside of Camp
Carrol. The area was occupied by NVA regulars, and was
never cleared.
On-site search was not possible at that time.
On September 4, 1969, an ARVN source reported that in
August he had seen LTC
Parsons, Maj. Phao, LT Briggs, and four other
unidentified American POWs in
a hospital in Laos. The U.S. Army determined that the
four unidentified
Americans could possibly be Christiansen, Stanley,
Padgett and O'Hara.
On July 5, 1972, an NVA rallier reported seeing two
caucasian POWs in the
vicinity of a T-35 commo-liaison station on the 499th
infiltration corridor
in Laos. The two POWs were being taken to North
Vietnam. This information
was tentatively correlated to LT Padgett and PCF
Christiansen.
In September 1970, LTC Parson's wife and friends
identified him in a North
Vietnamese film of a protestant service in a POW
environment. CW2 Stanley's
mother made a tentative identification of her son in
the same film.
In December 1979, an alleged "gun-runner", Sean
O'Toolis reported that he
had the fingerprints of Robert O'Hara, and that O'Hara
was at that time
being held south of Hanoi near Bong Song. O'Toolis'
information was
summarily dismissed by the U.S. Government and he was
thoroughly
discredited, thus it is not clear how much credence
can be given to his
information.
The reports relating to the crew of the UH1H that went
down on February 6,
1969 are typical of the over 10,000 reports received
by the U.S. Government
relating to Americans prisoner, missing or unaccounted
for in Southeast
Asia. After reviewing "several million documents" and
conducting "over
250,000 interviews" the USG has been unable to state
categorically that
Americans are still alive.
Many authorities, however, including a former Director
of Defense
Intelligence Agency, have reluctantly concluded that
there are many
Americans still held against their will in Southeast
Asia.
Families who receive these reports are especially
tortured. With no means to
prove or disprove them, the tormen is indescribable.
When they turn to their
government, they are usually met with the "mindset to
debunk" described by
one high official in Congressional hearings. When they
approach Vietnam,
they are told the person they seek is unknown to them.
Yet the reports
continue to flow in, month after month, year after
year. And year after
year, families wait.
And year after year, American servicemen wait --
wondering if their country
will ever bring them home.
[r1372.97]
PROJECT X
SUMMARY SELECTION RATIONALE
NAMES: BRIGGS, Ronald D., lLT, USA
CHRISTIANSEN, Eugene F., PFC, USA
O'HARA, Robert C.,, SP5, USA
PARSONS, Donald E., LTC, USA
PADGETT,, David E., lLT, USA
STANLEY, Charles I., CW2, USA
OFFICIAL STATUS: BRIGGS: DEAD, BODY NOT RECOVERED
CHRISTIANSEN: MISSING
O'HARA: MISSING
PARSONS: DEAD, BODY NOT RECOVERED
PADGETT: MISSING
STANLEY: MISSING
CASE SUMMARY: SEE ATTACHED
RATIONALE FOR SELECTION: All of these individuals were
lost in one
helicopter incident. There are two correlated
intelligence reports
describing four of them, and two of the individuals
were identified by
family and friends in a North Vietnamese film. There
have been no
confirmations of death on any of these men since the
incident date.
REFNO: 1372 20 Apr 76
(U) CASE SUMMARY
1. On 6 February 1969 CW2 Charles I. Stanley, pilot,
1Lt. David E. Padgett,
aircraft commander, LTC Donald E. Parsons, lLT Ronald
D. Briggs, and Maj.
Vu Vann Phao (ARVN), passengers, SP5 Robert C. O'Hara,
crewchief, and PFC
Eugene F. Christiansen, gunner, were aboard a UH1H
helicopter, (
#67-17499), on a resupply mission in South Vietnam. At
about 1100 hours,
while enroute from Landing Zone ((LZ) Vandgrift to LZ
Tornado, 1LT. Padgett
contacted the LZ Tornado radio operator, and stated
that due to poor
weather conditions and Door visibility the flight was
returning to LZ
Vandgrift. At that time the radio operator at LZ
Torando could hear the
helicopter northeast of his location, which sounded as
though it was
heading- in a northerly direction. When the aircraft
failed to return to LZ
Vandgrift a coordinated search and rescue operation
was initiated and
continued for a period of seven consecutive days,
finding nothing. However,
on the morning, of 7 February, R-Crown, (an airborne
control aircraft),
reported receiving radio beeper signals several times
from the -general
vicinity of where lLT Padgett's aircraft was last
reported. The beeper
signals were estimated to eminate from a point-- near
grid coordinates (GC)
YD 170 300. (The incident coordinates are listed in
JCRC files as YD 182
212). (Ref 1 & 3)
2. On 4 September 1969 an ARVN source reported that in
August he had seen
LTC Parsons, Maj. Phao, LT. Briggs, and four other
unidentified American
POW's at a hospital in Laos. (The four unidentified
POW's possibly were PFC
Christiansen, CW2 Stanley, 1LT. Padgett and SP5
O'Hara). (Ref 2)
3. On 5 July 1972 an NVA rallier reported seeing two
Caucasian POW's in the
vicinity of a T-35 Commo-Liaison station on the 599th
Infiltration Corridor
in Laos (UTM coordinates unknown). The two POW's were
being taker to North
Vietnam. (Information in this report possibly
correlates -To LT. Padgett
and PFC Christiansen). (Ref 3)
4. LTC Parsons' spouse and friends identified him in a
North Vietnamese
film of a Protestant Service in September 1970. CW2
Stanley's mother made a
tentative identification of her son in the same film.
(Ref 3)
5. During the existence of JCRC, the limited
information available
precluded any efforts toward the resolution of this
case. These
individuals' names and identifying data were turned
over to the Four-Party
Joint Military Team with a request for any information
available. No
response was forthcoming. lLT Briggs and LTC Parsons
are currently carried
in the presumptive status of Dead, Body Not Recovered.
CW2 Stanley, lLT
Padgett, PFC Christiansen and SP5 O'Hara are currently
carried in the
status of Missing.
REFERENCES USED
1. RPT (U), HQ USARV W w/inclosures, 7 Apr 69.
2. RPT- (U), HQ 3rd Army (Information from Mrs Patrick
A. Parsons) 15 Sep
70.
3. RPT (U), MIA SEA.- Page 16, 31 Mar 73.
ASSOCIATED INDIVIDUALS
1. Ronald D. Briggs 1372-0-01
2. Eugene F. Christiansen 1372-0-02
3. Robert C. O'Hara 1372-0-03
4. Donald E. Parsons 1372-0-04
5. David E. Padgett 1372-0-05
6. Charles I. Stanley 1372-0-06
* National Alliance of Families Home
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