STRINGER, JOHN CURTIS II

Name: John Curtis Stringer II

Rank/Branch: O2/US Army

Unit: Company B, 1st Battalion, 11th Infantry, 1st Brigade, 4th InfantryDivision

Date of Birth: 12 January 1946 (Ashland KY)

Home City of Record: Hazard KY

Date of Loss: 30 November 1970

Country of Loss: South Vietnam

Loss Coordinates: 164118N 1065923E (YD121460)

Status (in 1973): Missing in Action

Category: 4

Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

Refno: 1680

Source: Compiled 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 in 1998.

Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

On November 30, 1970, as platoon leader, Stringer was preparing to conduct a hasty stream crossing when he lost his grip and fell into the stream. He was swept downstream and at one point, came close to the northern bank and momentarily held on to a branch. The branch broke as rescuers neared his position, and he continued on downstream. Searches on both banks of the stream were made by elements of the company without results.

Although searches were continued for nearly 3 weeks, no sign of 1Lt. Stringer was ever found. Stringer's is one of the unfortunate accidental deaths that occur wherever people are. The fact that he died an accidental death in the midst of war is tragically ironic. He is listed among the missing with honor, because his body was never found to be returned to the country he served.

Since the war ended, over 250,000 interviews have been conducted with those who claim to know about Americans still alive in Southeast Asia, and several million documents have been studied. U.S. Government experts cannot seem to agree whether Americans are there alive or not. Distractors say it would be far too politically difficult to bring the men they believe to be alive home, and the U.S. is content to negotiate for remains.