MURPHY, LARRON DAVID

Name: Larron David Murphy
Rank/Branch: O3/US Army
Unit: Troop F, 8th Cavalry, 123rd Aviation Battalion, 16th Aviation Group,
23rd Infantry Division (Americal), Chu Lai, South Vietnam
Date of Birth: 05 October 1944 (Atlanta GA)
Home City of Record: Dalton GA
Date of Loss: 23 April 1970
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 153607N 1075801E (ZC180270)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: AH1G
Refno: 1603

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.

Other Personnel in Incident: Dennis K. Eads (missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On April 23, 1970, Capt. Larron D. Murphy, aircraft commander; and
WO Dennis K. Eads, pilot; were flying an AH1G (serial #67-15612) in the
wingman position in a flight of four aircraft conducting an emergency night
mission to extract a long-range reconnaissance patrol (LRRP). The aircraft
crashed in the vicinity while en route to recover the patrol.

The two UH1H helicopters on the flight aborted the mission because of
adverse weather conditions. However, the two AH1G aircraft continued in
order to provide fire support for the patrol to allow them to break contact
with the enemy. The aircraft flew north until they were sighted by the
patrol. The lead ship made several radio contacts with Capt. Murphy. The
last transmission instructed him to turn to a heading of 90 degrees.

About 30 seconds later, Capt. Murphy called, "20, this is 28. I'm crashing."
This is the last contact or communication with Capt. Murphy. Members of the
patrol reported that they had observed a very bright flash to the southwest,
which was presumed to have been one of the aircraft. The remaining
helicopter returned to Chu Lai, unable to search for the downed aircraft
because of the inclement weather.

The following morning, members of the patrol were flown to inspect the crash
site where they conducted a detailed serach of the area, but there was no
trace of either the downed aircraft or the crew. The presumed site of the
crash was about 10 miles southwest of the city of An Hoa in Quang Nam
Province, South Vietnam.

When Dennis Eads' mother died in 1976, she died believing that her son
survived the crash. The rest of his family is not so sure, but there is
always the question, "Was there enough time for him to get out?"

There are several reasons why "MIA's" from the war in Vietnam cannot be
thought of, as in other wars, "ashes on the mountainside"; tragically
irrecoverable losses of humanity. The most compelling is the nearly 10,000
reports that have been received by the U.S. Government since the end of the
war relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asia.

Some critics say the families of the missing want to believe their man is
alive because of "false hopes" that won't die. Others say it is because we
"didn't win" the war. According to many government officials who have no
"false hopes", the evidence is overwhelming that there are, indeed,
Americans still held against their will in Southeast Asia. The real question
is, "When and how will we bring these men home?

This photo was sent to Lee from the Air Force Academy.

Another photo (click to enlarge)

TOWNSEND, FRANCIS WAYNE
Remains Returned 07/13/99  ID 06/13/2002

Name: Francis Wayne Townsend
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit: 14th TRS
Date of Birth: 24 April 1948
Home City of Record: Rusk TX
Date of Loss: 13 August 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 165835N 1965910E (YD135778)
Status (in 1973): Prisoner of War
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: RF4C

Other Personnel in Incident: William A. Gauntt (released POW)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 April 1990 with the assistance of
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 2002.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: 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 extremely 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. William A. Gauntt was the pilot and 1Lt. Francis W. Townsend his
systems officer on the reconnaissance version of the Phantom, the RF4. On
August 13, 1972, Gauntt and Townsend were sent on a mission which would take
them to the area of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). As they were over the DMZ,
about 10 miles southwest of Vinh Linh in Quang Binh Province, North Vietnam,
the RF4 was shot down.

Military officials at the time were uncertain as to the fate of Gauntt and
Townsend. However, on March 27, 1973, William A. Gauntt was among 591
Americans released from POW camps in Vietnam. Francis W. Townsend was not.
Officials at the time were heartened to learn that Gauntt had been captured
and released, but horrified that hundreds of others who had been thought to
be captured were not.

Evidently Gauntt gave the U.S. information that Townsend had also been
captured, for in 1973, Townsend was classified as a Prisoner of War. The
Defense Intelligence Agency further expanded this classification to include
an enemy knowledge ranking of 2. Category 2 indicates "suspect knowledge"
and includes personnel who may have been involved in loss incidents with
individuals reported in Category 1 (confirmed knowledge), or who were lost
in areas or under conditions that they may reasonably be expected to be
known by the enemy; who were connected with an incident which was discussed
but not identified by names in enemy news media; or identified (by
elimination, but not 100% positively) through analysis of all-source
intelligence. The fact that Townsend was never classified Category 1
indicates that the information relating to his possible capture was probably
not conclusive.

Since American involvement in Southeast Asia ended, nearly 10,000 reports
relating to Americans missing, prisoner or otherwise unaccounted for in
Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. Government. Many officials who
have examined this largely classified information have reluctantly concluded
that many Americans are still alive in captivity today.

Whether Francis W. Townsend survived to be captured, was executed, or is
among those thought to be still alive is unknown. What is certain, however,
is that as long as there is even one American held against his will, we owe
him our very best efforts to bring him to freedom.

Francis W. Townsend graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1970.

=====================================

IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 2, 2002
(703)428-0711(public/industry)

VIETNAM WAR MIA IDENTIFIED
The remains of an Air Force servicemen previously unaccounted
for from the war in Vietnam have been identified and are to be
buried today in Rusk, Texas.

        He is Capt. Francis W. Townsend, of Rusk.

        On August 13, 1972, Townsend and his pilot were flying their RF-4C
Phantom on a photo-reconnaissance mission over Quang Tri Province, North
Vietnam.  The aircraft was struck by enemy fire, and the pilot was unable to
maintain control.  He ordered Townsend to eject.  Seconds later, the pilot
ejected from the burning aircraft and was able to establish radio contact
with rescue forces.  Unfortunately, he was captured before a rescue could be
made.

        Following the release of U.S. POWs in 1973, the pilot stated he
learned in captivity that Capt. Townsend had perished in the crash though he
initially believed he had ejected.

        Between 1999 and 1997, joint U.S. and Vietnamese teams, led by the
Joint Task Force-Full Accounting, conducted four investigations in the area
where Townsend's plane had crashed. They interviewed dozens of villagers,
including one who claimed to have buried some remains near a flooded crash
crater in the area.  He also stated that he had found two military ID tags
at the crash site.  During one of the investigations, the team members were
shown the tag of Capt. Townsend by a local national.

        In July 1998 and May 1999, two full-scale excavations were carried
out in Quang Tri Province, where team members of the U.S. Army Central
Identification Laboratory Hawaii (CILHI) recovered aircraft wreckage,
personal crew member artifacts, and human remains.  Mitochondrial DNA was
extracted from one of the fragments, and was found by CILHI to match the DNA
of two of Capt. Townsend's maternal relatives.

        Approximately 1,900 American servicemen remain missing in action
from the Vietnam War, while the remains of nearly 700 have been located,
identified and returned to their families since the end of the war.