Name: John Wayne Lafayette
Rank/Branch: O3/US Army
Unit: 20th Aviation Detachment
Date of Birth: 01 August 1939
Home City of Record: Waterbury, VT
Loss Date: 06 April 1966
Country of Loss: Laos
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 1
Acft./Vehicle/Ground: OV1A
Other personnel in incident: James W. Gates (missing), Harry Duesing, Larry Johnson (on another OV1-both rescued)
My POW's Story
On April 6, 1966, Capt. James W. Gates, pilot, and Capt. John W. Lafayette, observer,
departed Hue/Phu Bai airfield at 1540 hours in an OV1A Mohawk (serial #63-13117) as number 2 aircraft on a visual reconnaissance mission over Laos. The number one aircraft was an OV1A flown byCapt. Harry Duensing and observer SP5 Larry Johnson.
At about 1648 hours, the U.S. Air Force airborne command post, Hillsborough, received a
mayday from the two OV1 aircraft, and dispatched two FACs in the area for an immediate
search for the two downed air crews. At 1730 hours, the air crews were on the ground about 1
kilometer apart. One of the FACs established radio contact with both crews, who reported
that they were all okay.
Duensing's aircraft had been hit by enemy ground fire, and Gates and Lafayette began flying
cover for the other crew. Gates' plane was hit immediately. All four men safely ejected from
their planes in the vicinity of 502-Charlie and were in radio contact with air cover. Duensing
and Johnson were evacuated safely, and radio contact continued for 1 1/2 hours before
contact was lost with Gates and Lafayette. Their last transmission reported that
they were being surrounded by Viet Cong. It is believed that both men were captured.
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.
When 591 American prisoners were released in 1973, Gates and Lafayette were not among
them. In fact, the Vietnamese deny any knowledge of the two. They are 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, over 10,000 reports
of Americans missing, prisoner or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia have been received by
the U.S., yet freedom for them seems beyond our grasp.
Men like Gates and Lafayette went to Indochina in our name. What must they be thinking of us now?
