mypow

This Page Is Dedicated To:

Captain Donald C. Breuer

Rand/Branch: USMC 03

Unit:VMFA 232 MAG 15

Date of Birth: 26 October 46

Home City of Record: New York, NY

Date of Loss: 20 November 72

Country of Loss: Laos

Loss Coordinates: 163500N 1063300E

Status (in 1973): Missing in Action

Category: 2

Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4J

Source: Compiled by THE P.O.W. NETWORK 02 February 93 from the

following published sources - POW/MIA's -- Report of the Select Committee

on POW/MIA Affairs United States Senate -- January 13, 1993. "The Senate

Select Committee staff has prepared case summaries for the priority cases

that the Administration is now investigating. These provide the facts about

each case, describe the circumstances under which the individual was lost,

and detail the information learned since the date of loss. Information in

the case summaries is limited to information from casualty files, does not

include any judgments by Committee staff, and attempts to relate essential

facts. The Committee acknowledges that POW/MIAs' primary next-of- kin know

their family members' cases in more comprehensive detail than summarized

here and recognizes the limitations that the report format imposes on these

summaries."

On November 20, 1972, Captain Breuer and Captain Anderson were the

crew on-board an F-4J, one in a flight of two aircraft on a combat

operation over Savannakhet Province, Laos. Their aircraft was hit

by anti-aircraft fire and crashed 35 kilometers southeast of

Tchepone and 300 meters from Route 90. This is in an area

southwest of the Demilitarized Zone separating North and South

Vietnam. Captain Anderson parachuted safely from the aircraft, was

located by search and rescue forces, and was recovered. He stated

he didn't see Captain Breuer parachute from their damaged aircraft

and did not hear a beeper from him. Captain Breuer was declared

missing in action.

After the crash, a North Vietnamese Army unit reported on November

20th that a pilot had landed but there was no mention of the

specific type of aircraft involved and the pilot's nationality was

not given. The report was associated with an incident occurring in

the general area of the Demilitarized Zone separating North and

South Vietnam. An intelligence comment on this report indicated a

tentative correlation of the report to this loss incident based on

it being the only reported aircraft loss at this point in time.

On April 28, 1972, Pathet Lao radio news service reported three

U.S. aircraft were hit in Saravane Province on November 18th and

19th. Pilots were killed in two F-4 and one T-28 air incident.

This report was placed in the files of these individuals because of

the country of loss and date of incident.

Returning U.S. POWs during Operation Homecoming early in 1973 had

no information on Captain Breuer's fate. After Operation

Homecoming Captain Breuer was declared killed in action, body not

recovered, based on a presumptive finding of death.

In April 1973, a North Vietnamese soldier from Binh Tram 41, 473rd

Transportation Division, Group 559, reported having seen an

American F-4 hit by antiaircraft fire and crash near the village of

Ban Dong, Savannakhet Province, east of the border with Thua Thien

Province, South Vietnam and in the area in which his division was

operating. This is in an area west of the DMZ and in the general

area of Highway 9. He reported seeing two parachutes. One airman

landed and was rescued. Later, he observed a body of an American

airman which had been stripped nude and was told the other airman

had died. The area of the sighting was correlated to this loss

incident.

This loss incident crash site was visited by a joint U.S./Lao team

in Muong Nong District, Savannakhet Province, during 28 October-1

November 1992. The team recovered artifacts said to have belonged

to the pilot who was rescued. There was no specific information on

the fate of the second crewman.

There should not be any American Soldiers

in prisons in Vietnam or any other

countries! Let's bring them home

where they belong!

Original Counts of Missing and Unaccounted-For

U.S. Personnel in the Vietnam War

Army....702 | Air Force....899 | Navy..........480 | Marines....289

Coast Guard...1 | Civilians.......42

Total........ 2,413

Today's figure: 2267

Congress's figure: 1597

Their Government Sold Them Out. Did You!

Prisoner of War

I am a P O W

Still waiting here today.

In a war that no one wanted,

I was lost and left behind

With news of me discounted

Truth and honor, hard to find.

With other's words and labels, my fate was

not discovered

MIA - Missing in Action

KIA - Killed in Action

KIA(bnr) (that's Body Not Revocered)

Does the "Star Spangled Banner" continue to wave

O'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave?

Or is all that Blase,

Do you still wear forget-me-nots?

Forevermore does my soul dwell

In the land that truth forgot.

I am a P O W

Still waiting here today.

1997-2002 Dennis Johnson

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~ Used With Permission ~

This site is owned by Maureen Heaney

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This POW/MIA Freedom Fighters Ring site is owned by Maureen Heaney

Captain Donald C. Breuer grew up in my

neighborhood.

All material was obtained on the web and if anything is copyrighted

please let me know, my email address is:

mheaney@nyc.rr.com, and I will immediately remove it or

give credit.

Song playing: Bring Him Home

from Les Miserables

Created By: Maureen