POW's Prayer
By Jean Ray and L. Vancil
Father, Your own Son was a prisoner. Condemned, he died for us. Victorious, He returned to bring us the gift of life everlasting. Comfort us now in our longing for the return of the Prisoners Of War and those Missing In Action.
Help Us Father; Inspire us to remove the obstacles. Give courage to those who know the truth to speak out. Grant wisdom to the negotiators, and compassion to the jailors. Inspire the media to speak out as loudly as they have in the past. Protect those who seek in secret and help them to succeed. Show us the tools to do Your will. Guard and bless those in captivity, their families, and those who work for their release. Let them come home soon. Thank you Father. Amen.
Name: Robert D. Edgar
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit of assignment: 15th Tacticle Recon Squadron
Base of Assignment: Udorn Airfield, Thailand
Date of Birth: 21 May 1943
Home City of Record: Venice, FL
Date of Loss: 05 February 1968
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: N172000 E1055000
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: RF-4C
Other Personnel in Incident: William T. Potter (missing)
Refno: 1036
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project and the P.O.W. NETWORK 27 March 1992 from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews.
SYNOPSIS: On February 5, 1968, 1st Lt. William T. Potter and 1st Lt. Robert D. Edgar were crew members aboard an RF-4C reconnaissance aircraft.
Robert Edgar was the navigator of the RF-4C aircraft which departed Udorn Airfield, Thailand, on a photo reconnaissance mission over Laos. Upon arrival in the area, which was under control of the North Vietnamese, the pilot, William T. Potter contacted a controller for a specific target assignment. After being advised on weather and terrain, the pilot notified the controller that they were under the clouds and had located the target. He advised that he would position for photos and depart to the NorthWest. While orbitting in the area, the controller saw an explosion and immediate attempts to contact the RF-4C brought no response.
The aircraft crashed on Phakap mountain, four kilometers south of Bau Phanup, and about 2.5 kilometers east of Napank Village, Khammouan Province, Laos.
Search and Rescue forces saw no parachutes nor heard any electronic beacon signals. Resistance fighters in the area gave reports of investigating the crash site, only to find the aircraft had burned and the skeletal remains of the pilot were still inside.
Robert Edgar's missing status was changed at a presumptive finding of death hearing to Dead/Body Not Recovered.
On May 28, 1987, The Joint Casualty Resolution Center passed on to Mrs. Edgar, information that was received from a former RLA Sergeant and then Resistance Fighter refugee who had departed Laos in 1976 that seemingly confirmed the crash and burn of the RF-4C on the mountain, and the finding of the pilot's skeletal remains still inside.
What happened to Robert. J. Edgar and William T. Potter remains a mystery.
Robert Edgar disappeared 3 months from his 25th birthday and left behind a wife who still does not know what happened to her husband. It is time for us to do something about it.
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Since the war's end in 1973, thousands of reports have been received by the US Government regarding Americans in Laos, where nearly 600 Americans went missing, and none released. As Laos did not take part in the agreements that ended Americian involvment in Indochina, no prisoner release was ever negotiated with Laos. Although the Pathet Lao stated on severial occasions the they held " tens of tens" of American Prisoners not one man held in Laos has ever been released, and no agreement has been reached to free them.
Henry Kissinger predicted in the 50's that future "limited political engagments" would result, unfortunatly, in nonrecoverable prisoners of war.
We have seen this prediction fulfilled in Korea and Vietnam where thousands of men and women reamin missing, and where ample evidence exists that many of them (from both wars) are still alive today. For Americans the "unfortunate" abandonment of military personal IS NOT ACCEPTABLE and the policy that allows it must be changed befor another generation is left behind in some faraway war.
PLEASE WRITE OR CONTACT YOU LOCAL, STATE, AND FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND TELL THEM HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT THIS PRACTICE AND TELL THEM TO:
U.S. Senate Listings
U.S.House Listings
President of the United States
Vice-President of the United States
First Lady
Florida POW/MIA
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