Name: Albert Dwayne Wester
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit: 37th Air Rescue/Recovery Squadron, Da Nang AB SV
Date of Birth: 04 September 1933
Home City of Record: Terrell,TX
Date of Loss: 05 October 1968
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 155357N 1072258E (YC592700)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: HH3E
Other Personnel in Incident: Gregory P. Lawrence (missing)
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 April 1990 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.
REMARKS:
SYNOPSIS: Maj. Albert D. Wester was a copilot of an HH3E "Jolly Green
Giant"
helicopter dispatched on a recovery mission on the border of South
Vietnam and
Laos on October 5, 1968. The Jolly Green normally carried a crew of
four, and
could carry up to 30 passengers, but the only other crew member whose
name is
part of public record is Sgt. Gregory P. Lawrence.
At a point about due west of Da Nang in Laos, on the border of Quang Nam
Province in South Vietnam and Savannakhet Province in Laos, Maj.
Wester's
aircraft was hit by hostile fire and crashed. Both Wester and Lawrence
sustained fatal injuries from the subsequent crash, fire and explosion.
It is
assumed, but not known, that the rest of the crew was either rescued or
recovered dead.
Wester and Lawrence are among a number of Americans who were listed as
Killed
in Action, Body Not Recovered. They are counted among the missing
because their
remains were never recovered for an honorable burial at home. For their
families, there can be some assurance that they died in the service of
their
country.
The cases of many of the missing, however, are much more complex. Among
those
missing, a substantial number were known to have been alive when last
seen.
Some were even photographed in captivity, only to disappear.
Since the end of the war, the U.S. has engaged in tentative "talks" with
the
countries of Southeast Asia, primarily Vietnam, which has resulted in
the
return of several hundred sets of American remains. In Laos, where
Wester and
Lawrence still lie, the U.S. has excavated aircraft crash sites with
varying
degrees of success in recovery of American remains.
Critics of U.S. policy in dealing with the POW/MIA issue point to the
nearly
10,000 reports received since the war ended relating to Americans
missing in
Southeast Asia. Many authorities who have examined these reports have
come to
the reluctant conclusion that hundreds of Americans are still alive in
captivity today.
Unfortunately, progress has been particularly slow in Laos. The U.S.
never
negotiated for the release of the "tens of tens" of Americans the Pathet
Lao
stated they held during the war. Consequently, even those Americans
known to
have been captured by the Lao were never released. The U.S. has been
unable to
secure the freedom of even a single captive American since the war, even
though
reports of sightings continue to pour in. Surely there is a reasonable
solution
to bringing these men home. They willingly served us when they were
called to
do so. What are we doing to keep the faith with them?
I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to keep pushing this
issue inside the Beltway...
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.
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:
http://hawk.nji.com/~mred/mialist.htm
Another remarkable site is by an 11 year old angel who never even set
foot on American soil...She not only put up a page...she started a major
project for an organization of Kids on the Net called KeyPals
International.
Her MIA page is at [http://www.geocities.com/~angelicdevil/mia.html] but
don't miss her Bring Grandpa Home page at
[http://www.worldkids.net/clubs/kci/projects/Bring.html].
If you come away from that site without a lump in your throat, then you
just weren't paying attention.
If you do decide to create a page for Albert Dwayne Wester , be sure to
let me know so I can add a link to it on the site we are setting up.
There are also several others who set up MIA pages with links to all
other MIA pages.
I will be happy to supply any graphics and music you may want to use.
Take care,
Gunny
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