JOHN BROOKS
Name: John Henry Ralph Brooks
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: 129th Aviation Company, 268th Aviation Battalion,
17th Aviation Group
Date of Birth: 08 April 1949 (Lewiston ME)
Home City of Record: Bryant Pond ME
Date of Loss: 13 May 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 135615N 1084752E (BR621418)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H
Refno: 1440
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)
THE WALL PAGE
REMARKS:
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.
HISTORY: On May 13, 1969, SP4 John H.R. Brooks was the
crew chief aboard one of three helicopters assigned the
task of inserting Republic of Korea soldiers into Binh Dinh
Province, South Vietnam.
While approaching the landing zone (LZ), the three aircraft
came under enemy fire, and during the insertion, SP4
Brooks' aircraft was hit, spun in the air and crashed.
Three of the 9 Koreans aboard the aircraft survived, evaded
capture and were able to link up with Korean and American
units the next day. One evadee reported that one Korean was
killed in the helicopter and the American who was firing
the machine gun on the left side of the helicopter was also
killed. After the helicopter crashed, he saw the same
American pinned under the helicopter. (This should be the
door gunner.)
The next day the bodies of all the other American crewmen
except Brooks were found. Equipment thought to belong to
Brooks was discovered near the burned helicopter. There was
no sign of Brooks.
Members of the crash site team agreed that while at the
crash site a Korean soldier who had been in the helicopter
reported that he had seen one American and two Koreans
running down the hill from the crash site. No U.S. bodies
were found down the hill; all of them were found at the top
of the hill where the crash occurred.
Crew members of the other aircraft reported seeing what
they felt was SP4 Brooks exit the aircraft after it crashed
and burned, yet there was now no sign of him. It is clear
that the possibility exists that Brooks was captured. He is
one of nearly 2500 Americans who remain prisoner, missing
or unaccounted for from American involvement in Indochina.
Since the war ended, thousands of reports have been
received by the U.S. Government regarding Americans missing
in Southeast Asia. Many authorities now believe that there
are hundreds of them still alive, held against their will.
One of them could be John Brooks. What are we doing to
bring these men home?
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