Name: Joseph Edward Bower

Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force

Unit: 421st Tactical Fighter Squadron, McConnell AFB KS

Date of Birth: 21 June 1929

Home City of Record: Ely NV

Date of Loss: 03 August 1965

Country of Loss: North Vietnam Loss

Coordinates: 182459N 1055159E (WF930880)

Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered

Category: 3

Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F105D

Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled 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.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: The F105 Thunderchief ("Thud"), in its various versions, flew more missions against North Vietnam than any other U.S. aircraft. It also suffered more losses, partially due to its vulnerability, which was constantly under revision. Between 1965 and 1971, the aircraft was equipped with armor plate, a secondary flight control system, an improved pilot ejection seat, a more precise navigation system, better blind bombing capability and ECM pods for the wings. While the D version was a single-place aircraft, the F model carried a second crewman which made it well suited for the role of suppressing North
Vietnam's missile defenses.

Major Joseph E. Bower was an F105D pilot assigned an operational mission over North Vietnam on August 3, 1965. During the mission, Bower's aircraft was struck by hostile fire and Bower radioed that he was heading for sea (to facilitate easier rescue). Shortly afterward, the aircraft became uncontrollable. Bower ejected from the aircraft. He was at that time about 20 miles southeast of the city of Vinh in Ha Tinh Province, North Vietnam, very near the coastline.

Observers say that Bower's parachute did not open until just prior to his impact with the water. Air Force narratives do not describe search and recovery efforts, but Bower was not recovered, and was declared Missing in Action. Because of the proximity to the coastline, there was every reason to suspect that, if he survived the ejection, Bower might have been
captured by any of the multitude of enemy vessels which dotted the coastline.

On August 9, unspecified information was received by U.S. intelligence that Bower died at the time of the incident. He was then declared Killed in Action/Body Not Recovered. Because his remains have not been recovered and returned, Bower is listed by the Department of Defense as unaccounted for in Southeast Asia.

Bower's unit in Vietnam is not recorded by the Air Force. His last known duty assignment was with the 421st Tactical Fighter Squadron at McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas. 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.