Yeoman Family Tree Project:Information about Richard Lebrou Whitesides
Richard Lebrou Whitesides (b. January 14, 1937, d. March 26, 1964)
Notes for Richard Lebrou Whitesides:
http://www.taskforceomegainc.org/W385.htm
WHITESIDES, RICHARD LEBROU
Name: Richard Lebrou Whitesides
Rank/Branch: Captain/US Air Forces
Unit: 19th Tactical Air Support Squadron,
34th Tactical Group
Bien Hoa Airbase, South Vietnam
(TDY to DaNang Airbase)
Date of Birth: 14 January 1937
Home of Record: Stockton, CA
Date of Loss: 26 March 1964
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 163912N 1064621E (XD890419)
Click coordintaes to view maps
Status in 1973: Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 1
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: L19 "Bird Dog"
Other Personnel in Incident: Floyd J. Thompson (returned POW)
REMARKS:NVA TOLD THOMPSON W385 KILLED
SYNOPSIS:The Cessna L19 Bird Dog was used extensively in the early years of the Vietnam war as an observation and a Forward Air Controller (FAC) because it could provide low, close visual reconnaissance and target marking which enabled armed aircraft or ground troops to close in on the enemy. The L19 was later redesignated the O1 Bird Dog. It was feared by the Communists because they knew that opening fire on it would expose their location and invite attack by fighters controlled by the slowly circling Bird Dog. The enemy became bold, however, when they felt their position was compromised and attacked the little aircraft with a vengeance in order to lessen the accuracy of an impending strike.
On 26 March 1964, Captain Richard L. Whitesides, pilot, and US Army Special Forces Captain Floyd J. Thompson, observer, comprised the crew of an L19 Bird Dog that was on a two hour visual reconnaissance mission. They were scheduled to return to Khe Sanh at 1615 hours, and would have been out of fuel by 1740 hours.
After departing Khe Sanh Airfield, Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam at 1415 hours, Capt. Whitesides began experiencing a problem with the aircraft almost immediately after take off. About 6 miles north of Khe Sanh, a ground party of Montagnards lead by Special Forces advisors received a report from local natives that a small plane was seen just above the treeline smoking and turning as if preparing to return to its departure point.
Search and rescue (SAR) operations by both air and ground were postponed because of weather until the next morning. The Bird Dog went down in extremely dense jungle approximately 3 miles north of Khe Sanh. It was also an area known as a Viet Cong (VC) stronghold. Once search efforts were initiated, no sign of the small aircraft or its crew was found. At the time extensive search efforts were terminated, both Richard Whitesides and Floyd Thompson were listed Killed in Action/Body Not Recovered.
Capt. Floyd Thompson was captured by local "patriotic guerrillas" who followed the disabled Bird Dog in its descent. Later when US intelligence learned that he had in fact been captured, his status was immediately changed from KIA/BNR to Prisoner of War. He was held the first few years in South Vietnam by the Viet Cong (VC), then transferred to North Vietnam where he was subsequently released to US control on 16 March 1973 during Operation Homecoming. During his debriefing, Floyd Thompson told US intelligence personnel that because he had been knocked unconscious during the crash and came to only to discover he was in the control on the VC, he did not know if Capt. Whitesides had also been captured or killed in the crash. Much later the North Vietnamese told him that the pilot of the L19 had been "killed," but provided no proof of death.
If Richard Whitesides died in the crash of his Bird Dog, the Communists most certainly know where his remains are buried. He has the right to have his remains returned to his family, friends and country. On the other hand, if he managed to survive, his fate - like that of other Americans who remain unaccounted for in Southeast Asia, could be quite different.
Since the end of the Vietnam War well over 21,000 reports of American prisoners, missing and otherwise unaccounted for have been received by our government. Many of these reports document LIVE American Prisoners of War remaining captive throughout Southeast Asia TODAY.
Pilots and aircrews in Vietnam were called upon to fly in many dangerous circumstances, and they were prepared to be wounded, killed or captured. It probably never occurred to them that they could be abandoned by the country they so proudly served.
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http://www.scopesys.com/cgi/bio2.cgi?bio=W385
WHITESIDES, RICHARD LEBROU
Name: Richard Lebrou Whitesides
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 14 January 1937
Home City of Record: Stockton CA
Date of Loss: 26 March 1964
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 163912N 1064621E (XD890419)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 1
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: L19
Refno: 0029
Other Personnel in Incident: Floyd J. Thompson (released POW)
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 September 1990 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 1998.
REMARKS: NVA TOLD THOMPSON W385 KILLED
SYNOPSIS: In the early years of American involvement in Southeast Asia, most
Americans were not aware of the situation there. When Floyd J. Thompson told
his mother he was being shipped out to Vietnam for a six-month tour in early
1964, she asked, "Where the hell is that?" He replied, "I don't know."
On March 26, 1964, the Air Force L19 observation plane flown by CAPT Richard
L. Whitesides and U.S. Army Special Forces co-pilot CAPT Floyd J. Thompson
was downed by small arms fire about 20 kilometers from Thompson's Special
Forces Camp near Quang Tri, South Vietnam.
Thompson survived the crash, suffering burns, a bullet wound across the
cheek and a broken back, and was quickly captured by the Viet Cong. The
pilot of the aircraft was not found. Aerial search and ground patrols failed
to find a trace of the aircraft. This was before the excellent search and
rescue programs which would recover so many downed pilots had been
implemented in Southeast Asia.
The following day, an Army officer visited Thompson's home and informed his
wife that he was missing. The trauma sent Alyce into labor and their son,
and fourth child was born that evening.
Thompson spent the next nine years as a prisoner of war, first in the hands
of the Viet Cong and he later was moved to the Hanoi prison system. During
his captivity, he was tortured and starved, and suffered the mental anguish
of being nearly totally alone for years. He was released in mid-March, 1973
in Operation Homecoming. He is the longest held American POW from the
Vietnam war.
The Thompson/Whitesides loss cameos the heartache and problems faced by the
men who returned from captivity and by the families of those still missing.
Thompson faced a failed marriage and alcoholism, and later a heart attack
and debilitating stroke. The years of deprivation and mental and physical
torture took their toll. To add insult to injury, few understand that he,
not Ed Alvarez, was the longest-held POW, and his name is virtually unknown
to Americans who honor the brave men who were captives in our name.
Richard Whitesides was definitely known to the enemy, according to U.S.
intelligence. His name, however, did not appear on the so-called
"discrepancy" list given the Vietnamese by Henry Kissinger. To this day, the
Vietnamese deny any knowledge of Whitesides. Although Thompson was told by
the North Vietnamese that Whitesides had been killed, he had learned the
hard way that his captors were not to be believed, and is uncertain of
Whitesides' fate.
Over 10,000 reports of Americans missing in Southeast Asia have been
received by the U.S. since the war ended. Many authorities who have examined
this information have concluded that hundreds are still alive, and this puts
a new perspective on the loss of Americans in Southeast Asia. Their families
must wait to see if the country he proudly served will ever bring them home.
Floyd J. Thompson remained in the Army and was promoted to the rank of
Lieutenant Colonel. Richard L. Whitesides, who was declared killed, remained
at the rank of Captain.
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http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo/pmsea/pmsea_info_w385.htm
WHITESIDES, RICHARD LEBROU
SERVICE:US AIR FORCE( Complete Service Report )
RANK:O3
STATUS:BB - KILLED IN ACTION, BODY NOT RECOVERED
DATE OF INCIDENT:1964/03/26
HOME OF RECORD:STOCKTON, CA( Complete State Report )
COUNTRY OF LOSS:SOUTH VIETNAM
VEHICLE TYPE:L19
This report is as of: Monday, November 17, 2003
Updates may be found at the DPMO Web Site ( http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo/ ).
More About Richard Lebrou Whitesides:
Burial: Unknown, Remains unrecovered.