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The VietNam Veterans' Memorial Wall Page
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	for him I will weep till eternity

You will find no counters on my POW/MIA sites, nor will I put a guestbook on them. The men and women who are still missing get no visitors, nor any sort of greeting...for this reason I decline to add them to my sites in rememberance of their sacrifices. It is but a small one, but in my heart they can hear my crying out to them.

Have you forgotten?

Because the times have changed and time has gone by...do you still not remember the turmoil and suffering that so many men and women suffered for our country in Vietnam? If you seem to have forgotten the POW/MIA's who did all they had to for the service of their country....think just how you would feel if on some forgotten ground lies your father, uncle, brother, sister, aunt, or even your best friend. Would you forget them then?

Join with us in remembering those who gave their lives in Vietnam and pound our countries government with cries of anguish to bring them home again. To sleep through eternity in their home land...not of some forgotten soil.

RICHARD LEE AYERS
Date of Birth: 18 February 1933
Home City of Record: Waterloo IA

"He stands as One man"

COL - O6 - Air Force - Reserve
45 year old Married, Caucasian, Male


Casualty was on Jun 29, 1978
in SOUTH VIETNAM

Hostile, died while missing
FIXED WING - CREW
AIR LOSS, CRASH ON LAND

Body was not recovered
Religion
ROMAN CATHOLIC
Panel 11W - - Line 12

Out of 25 who were reported POW/MIA during the Vietnam War from my hometown of Waterloo, IA, Richard was the only one who has been forgotten.

Another POW/MIA that I have also adopted, Larry Whitford, from Cedar Falls, IA grieve s for the return to their homeland.

Help us bring him and the many others home...to the land they loved and died for!

Richard's unit was the 12th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron. O4 was his rank (Major). He was reported lost on April 16, 1970. At the coordinates of 161400N 1063700E (XC727952) in the country of Laos while using the RF4C.

Robert E. Rausch, was with Richard on that fateful day, and is also listed as missing Three years later,in 1973, the United States put Richard's status as "Missing in Action", Category 4.

During the period they were maintained missing, Richard L. Ayers was promoted to the rank of Colonel and Robert E. Rausch was promoted to the rank of Major.

~~SYNOPSIS~~

The Phantom, used by Air Force, Marine and Navy air wings, served a multitude of functions including fighter-bomber and interceptor, photo and electronic surveillance. The two man aircraft was extremely fast (Mach 2), and had a long range (900 - 2300 miles, depending on stores and mission type). The F4 was also extremely maneuverable and handled well at low and high altitudes. Most pilots considered it one of the "hottest" planes around.

Capt. Robert E. Rausch was the pilot and Major Richard L. Ayers the weapons/Systems officer of an RF4C Phantom from the 12th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron based at Tan Son Nhut Airbase, South Vietnam. On April 16, 1970, Rausch and Ayers were sent on a operational mission over Laos. When the aircraft did not return as scheduled, Rausch and Ayers were declared Missing in Action from the time of estimated fuel exhaustion

In the early 1970's the Pathet Lao stated on a number of occasions that they held "tens of tens" of American prisoners and that those captured in Laos would also be released from Laos. Unfortunately, that release never occurred, because the U.S. did not include Laos in the negotiations which brought American involvement in the war to an end. The country of Laos was bombed by U.S. forces for several months following the Peace Accords in January 1973, and Laos steadfastly refused to talk about releasing our POWs until we discontinued bombing in their country.

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Consequently, no American held in Laos was ever returned. By 1989, these"tens of tens" apparently have been forgotten. The U.S. has negotiated with the same government entity which declared it held American POWs and has agreed to build clinics and help improve relations with Laos. If, as thousands of reports indicate, Americans are still alive in Indochina as captives, then the U.S. in collaborating in signing their death warrants. Source: Compiled by: Homecoming II Project, 15 March 1991. Using one or more of the following sources: Raw data - from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, and interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II Project.

There will never be more than enough pushing of the issues of the POW/MIA's.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

Be Your POW/MIA's Voice!
Write your government officials... Let them know that WE CARE about these abandoned men and women!

To obtain EMail addresses, Click Below:
The President
The Vice President
Congressmen
Senators

If you'd like to see what some others are doing in addition to writing their congressmen, senators and the Whitehouse, check out some of these sites:

Place the "I've adopted" graphic on your opening page to tell the world you care.

If you would like to have the following link places on your site, please go to "http://the.wall-usa.com/"

Today is the birthday of?
Find a particular state of country.
You may go to this site to seek someone alphabetically, but I suggest going to the main search engine.

Just a few of my favorite personal sites in rememberance of our men and women.
Adopted POW Heroes
Rolling Thunder

If you wish to contact me, please visit my contact site.

Home Site for My POW/MIA's....currently under reconstruction
Lawrence Whitford POW/MIA....also currently under reconstruction.

April 11, 1999; Nancie L Dobyns, TreeVines Genealogy, Waterloo, IA

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