Remembrance....
and 1Lt. William H. Ostermeyer
MIA May 12, 1972
As Jesus looked into heaven, you were in his vision....
His final prayer was about you.
His final pain was for you.
His final passion was you.
Max Lucado
Name: Capt. Lonnie P. Bogard
Rank/Branch: 03/US Air Force
Unit: 4335th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Ubon AF TH
Date of Birth: 11 May 1942
Home City of Record: Metairie, La.
Date of Loss: 12 May 1972
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 171200N 1960900E (XE222018)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D
Name: 1Lt. William H. Ostermeyer
Rank/Branch: 02/US Air Force
Date of Birth: 15 March 1945 (Cleveland, Oh.)
Home City of Record: Orlando, Fl.
Date of Loss: 12 May 1972
Source: Complied by Homecoming II Project 30 April 1990 from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews.
The Phantom, used by Air Force, Marine and Navy air wings, served a multitude of functions including fighter-bomber and interceptor, photo and electronic surveillance. The two man aircraft was extrememly fast (Mach 2), and had a long range (900-2300 miles, depending on stores and mission type). The F4 was also extremely maneuverable and handled well at low and high altitudes. The F4 was selected for a number of state-of-the-art electronics conversions, which improved radar intercept and computer bombing capabilities enormously. Most pilots considered it one of the "hottest" planes around.
Capt. Lonnie P. Bogard, had celebrated his birthday the day before he was assigned a night low-level reconnaissance mission along the Ho Chi Minh trail on May 12, 1972. Bogard was the pilot and 1Lt. William H. Ostermeyer the electronics officer comprising the crew of an F4D Phantom. The mission went according to plan until after a scheduled mid-air refueling, after which radio contact was lost with the aircraft. At last contact, Bogard and Ostermeyer were near the Ban Karai Pass in Savannakhet Province, Laos.
The Ban Karai Pass was one of several passageways through the mountainous border of Vietnam and Laos. American aircraft flying from Thailand to missions over North Vietnam flew through them regularly, and many aircraft were lost. On the Laos side of the border coursed the "Ho Chi Minh Trail", a road heavily traveled by North Vietnamese troops moving materials and personnel to their destinations through the relative safety of neutral Laos. The return ratio for men lost in and around the passes is far lower than that of those men lost in more populous areas, even though both were shot down by the same enemy and the same weapons. This is partly due to the extremely rugged terrain and resulting difficulty in recovery.
The U.S. Air Force placed Bogard and Ostermeyer in the category of Missing in Action. The Defense Intelligence Agency further refined that category to include the likelihood of enemy knowlege, classifying Bogard and Ostermeyer as Category 4. Category 4 includes those individuals on whom no intelligence exists to support the belief that the enemy knew details of the loss, or individuals whose loss time and location are unknown.
The families of Bogard and Ostermeyer understood that the two could have been captured by either Pathet Lao forces or North Vietnamese, and waited for the war to end.
When peace agreements were signed, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger informed the families of the men, prisoner and missing that their men would soon come home. When asked specifically if the agreements included all countries (Vietnam, Cambodia, China and Laos), Kissinger replied, "What do you think took us so long."
When 591 American prisoners were released in the spring of 1973, it became evident that Kissinger had lied to the families. No prisoners held by the Chinese, Lao or Cambodians were released, even though the Pathet Lao had stated on a number of occasions that they held "tens of tens" of Americans. Kissinger had not negotiated for these men.
In Laos alone, nearly 600 Americans are Prisoner of War or Missing in Action. Since 1975, there have been nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans still missing in Southeast Asia, convincing many authorities that hundreds of Americans are still held in captivity. Lonnie Bogard and Williams Ostermeyer could be among them.
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1st Lt. William Ostermeyer ~ Panel 01W--Line 25
...HELEN KELLER
Inspiration ~ MDA ~ Kevin Costner ~ Cats ~ Needlework
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