Bruce C. Walker
        WALKER, BRUCE CHARLES

        Name: Bruce Charles Walker
        Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
        Unit: 20th Tactical Air Support Squadron, Da Nang
        Date of Birth: 22 November 1946
        Home City of Record: Pueblo CO
        Loss Date: 07 April 1972
        Country of Loss: South Vietnam
        Loss Coordinates: 1070338E (YD194656)
        Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
        Category: 2
        Acft/Vehicle/Ground: OV10A
        Refno: 1820

        Personnel in Incident: April 2: Robin F. Gatwood; Wayne L. Bolte; Anthony Giannangeli; Charles A. Levis; Henry M. Serex; (all missing from the EB66). LtCol. Iceal Hambleton (rescued after 12 days from EB66). Ronald P. Paschall; Byron K. Kulland; John W. Frink (all missing from UH1H rescue helicopter), Jose M. Astorga (captured and released in 1973 from UH1H). April 3: William J. Henderson (captured and released in 1973 from OV10A rescue craft); Mark Clark (rescued after 12 days from OV10A rescue craft). April 6: James H. Alley; Allen J. Avery; Peter H. Chapman; John H. Call; William R. Pearson; Roy D. Prater (all KIA/BNR from HH53C "Jolly 52" rescue chopper). Also in very close proximity to "Bat 21"on April 3: Allen D. Christensen; Douglas L. O'Neil; Edward W. Williams; Larry A. Zich (all missing from UH1H). April 7: Bruce Charles Walker (evaded 11 days); Larry F. Potts (captured & died in POW camp) (both missing from OV10A).

        Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project with the assistance of one or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews: 01 January 1990. Updated by the P.O.W. NETWORK 1998.

        REMARKS: EVADED 11 DAYS; NVA APPROACHING

        SYNOPSIS: On the afternoon of April 2, 1972, two Thailand-based EB66 aircraft (Bat 21 and Bat 22), from the 30th Air Division, were flying pathfinder escort for a cell of B52s bombing near the DMZ. Bat 21 took a direct SAM hit and the plane went down. A single beeper signal was heard, that of navigator Col. Iceal Hambleton. At this time it was assumed the rest of the crew died in the crash. The crew included Maj. Wayne L. Bolte, pilot; 1Lt. Robin F. Gatwood, LtCol. Anthony R. Giannangeli, LtCol. Charles A. Levis, and Maj. Henry M. Serex, all crew members. It should be noted that the lowest ranking man aboard this plane was Gatwood, a First Lieutenant. This was not an ordinary crew, and its members, particularly Hambleton, would be a prize capture for the enemy because of military knowledge they possessed.

        It became critical, therefore, that the U.S. locate Hambleton, and any other surviving crew members before the Vietnamese did - and the Vietnamese were trying hard to find them first.

        An Army search and rescue team was nearby and dispatched two UH1H "slicks" and two UH1B "Cobras". When they approached Hambleton's position just before dark, at about 50 feet off the ground, with one of the AH1G Cobra gunships flying at 300 feet for cover, two of the helicopters were shot down. One, the Cobra (Blue Ghost 28) reached safety and the crew was picked up, without having seen the other downed helicopter. The other, a UH1H from F Troop, 8th Cavalry, 196th Brigade, had just flown over some huts into a clearing when they encountered ground fire, and the helicopter exploded. Jose Astorga, the gunner, was injured in the chest and knee by the gunfire. Astorga became unconscious, and when he recovered, the helicopter was on the ground. He found the pilot, 1Lt. Byron K. Kulland, lying outside the helicopter. WO John W. Frink, the co-pilot, was strapped in his seat and conscious. The crew chief, SP5 Ronald P. Paschall, was pinned by his leg in the helicopter, but alive. WO Franks urged Astorga to leave them, and Astorga was captured. He soon observed the aircraft to be hit by automatic weapons fire, and to explode with the rest of the crew inside. He never saw the rest of the crew again. Astorga was relesed by the North Vietnamese in 1973.

        The following day, Nail 38, an OV10A equipped with electronic rescue gear enabling its crew to get a rapid "fix" on its rescue target entered Hambleton's area and was shot down. The crew, William J. Henderson and Mark Clark, both parachuted out safely. Henderson was captured and released in 1973. Clark evaded for 12 days and was subsequently rescued.

        On April 3, the day Nail 38 was shot down, a UH1H "slick" went down in the same area carrying a crew of four enlisted Army personnel. They had no direct connection to the rescue of Bat 21, but were very probably shot down by the same SAM installations that downed Bat 21. The helicopter, from H/HQ, 37th Signal Battalion, 1st Signal Brigade, had left Marble Mountain Airfield, Da Nang, on a standard resupply mission to signal units in and around Quang Tri City. The crew, consisting of WO Douglas L. O'Neil, pilot; CW2 Larry A. Zich, co-pilot; SP5 Allen D. Christensen, crew chief; and SP4 Edward W. Williams, gunner; remain missing in action.

        On April 6, an attempt was made to pick up Clark and Hambleton which resulted in an HH53C helicopter being shot down. The chopper was badly hit. The helicopter landed on its side and continued to burn, consuming the entire craft, and presumably, all 6 men aboard. The crew of this aircraft consisted of James H. Alley; Allen J. Avery, John H. Call III, Peter H. Chapman, William R. Pearson, and Roy D. Prater. Search and rescue noted no signs of survivors, but it is felt that the Vientamese probably know the fate of this crew because of the close proximity of the downed aircraft to enemy locations.

        On April 7 another Air Force OV10A went down in the area with Marine Lt. Larry F. Potts and U.S. Air Force 1Lt. Bruce C. Walker aboard. Their function was directing naval gunfire. The OV10A crashed after sustaining hits from hostile fire. Radio contact was established with both Potts and Walker, but they could not be rescued. Walker, the pilot of the aircraft, evaded capture 11 days, while it is reported that Potts was captured and died in Quang Binh prison. Potts, the observer, was a Marine Corps officer. Walker's last radio transmission to search and rescue was for SAR not to make an attempt to rescue, the enemy was closing in. Both men remain unaccounted for.

        Hambleton and Clark were rescued after 12 incredible days. Hambleton continually changed positions and reported on enemy activity as he went, even to the extent of calling in close air strikes near his position. He was tracked by a code he devised relating to the length and lie direction of various golf holes he knew well. Another 20 or so Americans were not so fortunate.

        In July 1986, the daughter of Henry Serex learned that, one week after all search and rescue had been "called off" for Bat 21, another mission was mounted to recover "another downed crewmember" from Bat 21. She doesn't know whether or not it is her father or another man on the EB66 aircraft. No additional information has been released. When the movie "Bat 21" was released, she was horrified to learn that virtually no mention of the rest of the crew, including her father, was made.

        In Vietnam, to most fighting men, the man that fought beside them, whether in the air or on the ground, was worth dying for. Each understood that the other would die for him if necessary. Thus, also considering the critical knowledge possessed by Col. Hambleton and some of the others, the seemingly uncanny means taken to recover Clark and Hambleton are not so unusual at all.

        What defies logic and explaination, however, is that the government that sent these men to battle can distort or withold information to their families, and knowingly abandon hundreds of men known or strongly suspected to be in enemy hands.

        Thousands of reports have been received by the U.S. Government indicating that Americans are still alive, in captivity in Southeast Asia. It has been 17 years for those who may have survived the 1972 Easter crashes and rescue attempts. How much longer must they wait for their country to bring "peace with honor" to them and bring them home?

        LET FREEDOM RING
        FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:


        PRESS RELEASE -JUNE 12, 1995

        TOP SECRET PHOTOS PROVIDE NEW EVIDENCE -
        AMERICAN PILOTS LAST KNOWN ALIVE ABANDONED IN VIETNAM

        Contact Persons:Arnold L. Beizer Tel. 203-524-1776
        Walter "Radar" O'Reilly Tel. 813-843-0431


        BRUCE C. WALKER - Lieutenant Bruce C. Walker was a U.S. Airforce pilot of an OV10 aircraft on April 7, 1972. He flew to Hue accompanied by observer Lt. Larry F. Potts, U.S. Marine Corp. as they proceeded north towards Quang Tri for their mission. Their plane was shot down and two parachutes were sighted. Lt. Walker radioed that he was on the ground and both visual and radio contact were made as late as April 15, when a survival kit was dropped to him. Lt. Walker was unable to be rescued because of Vietnamese forces in his immediate vicinity which prevented helicopter rescue attempts. This photograph of Lt. Walker's watch shows it to be in pristine condition. This and other information was obtained by Let Freedom Ring. Time has not stopped ticking for Bruce Walker. The Vietnamese have his watch and the time is now for the American people to ask why Lt. Walker still has to take a licking while his watch is still ticking in the hands of his captors. We can't turn back time, but it is high time we started asking the right questions. If the Vietnamese have Lt. Walker's watch and identification, they must have had him. Where is he now?

        Bob Smith
        New Hampshire
        United States Senate
        Washington, D.C. 20510


        U.S. POW/MIAs WHO MAY HAVE SURVIVED IN CAPTIVITY

        Prepared by the Office of Senator Bob Smith
        Vice-Chairman, Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs

        December 1, 1992

        Walker, Bruce C.
        USAF -believed to have successfully got out of his aircraft and was alive on the ground. Last known alive. (DoD April 1991 list) -known to have evaded for 11 days, maintaining radio contact. (DIA 1979 analytical comment) Spotter aircraft subsequently reported Walker was surrounded by 40 NVN troops. -known captured according to NSA intercept correlation. -Military ID card found in Hanoi military museum (January, 1992)
        South Vietnam
        Bruce C. Walker Larry W. Potts
        (1820)

        On April 7, 1972, Lieutenant Walker took off in an OV-10 from Da Nang Air Base and flew north to Hue City and picked up Lieutenant Potts, a naval artillery observer, to coordinate naval gunfire on hostile ground targets in the area south of the Demilitarized Zone separating North and South Vietnam. A forward air controller in the target area received a radio report from Lieutenant Walker confirming that the OV-10 had been shot down. Search and rescue forces located two parachutes on the ground and established radio contact with both Lieutenants, but hostile ground fire drove off the SAR aircraft. Visual and radio contact was maintained with Lieutenant Walker, but all contact was lost with Lieutenant Potts.

        Lieutenant Walker was able to use his signal mirror over the next several days to help SAR forces pinpoint his location as he directed air strikes against camouflaged enemy ground targets. Finally, on April 15th, a survival kit was dropped to him. The SAR forces worked with Lieutenant Walker to have him move toward the east, and, on April 18th, they determined his eastward movement was much quicker than anticipated. That morning Lieutenant Walker radioed that he had encountered hostile forces and, at 0718 hours, was receiving enemy fire. This was the last transmission from him.

        An F-4 dropped ordnance around his position and this caused hostile ground forces to partially withdraw. When last seen, Lieutenant Walker was lying in a ditch within 50 yards of 20 enemy soldiers coming after him. Shortly after that, two U.S. officers reported that hostile forces came upon Lieutenant Walker's radio and that there was whistling, yelling, and laughing before the radio transmission was apparently turned off. On April 7th, a Vietnamese unit reported from Quang Binh that two pilots had been captured the previous night. Others reports on April 7th mentioned one aircraft shot down, but there was no mentioned of the fate of the crew. Also on April 6th, Radio Hanoi broadcast a report about the downing of aircraft in Quang Binh and the Vinh Linh Special Zone, but there was no reference to the capture of any aircrews.

        In April 1972, a People's Army of Vietnam soldier reported seeing an American POW approximately seven kilometers north of Lieutenant Walker's last known location. He was reportedly one of two crewmen from an OV-10 downed by a heat seeking surface-to-air missile on April 1, 1972. A second crewmen, an African-American, was killed trying to escape. Other reports of the sighting of an African- American who was wounded, captured alive, and died circa July 1972 in prison camp K-4 in Quang Binh Province were received.

        A joint U.S./Vietnamese investigation was conducted in Gio Linh District, Quang Tri Province in July 1990. A reported grave site was excavated, but no remains were recovered. Witnesses stated the remains were exhumed several years after they were first buried. The team was unable to visit the area of the former K-4 prison camp in Quang Binh Province.

        Lieutenants Walker and Potts were declared missing, and returning U.S. POWs were unable to provide information on their precise fate. By January 1980, both had been declared dead/body not recovered based on a presumptive finding of death.


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