http://www.cc.gatech.edu/fac/Thomas.Pilsch/AirOps/JG23.html

Coast Guard MIA may be found

By William Cole

Advertiser Military Writer



Remains found in Laos that could be those of Lt. Jack Rittichier, the

first

Coast Guard combat casualty of the Vietnam War, will be repatriated to

American soil in a ceremony Friday at Hickam Air Force Base. The U.S.

Army

Central Identification Laboratory, Hawai'i, will seek to positively

identify

Rittichier, a helicopter pilot who also is the only Coast Guard MIA

from the

war.



Search and recovery teams of mostly Hawai'i-based personnel from the

identification lab and Joint Task Force-Full Accounting are conducting

recovery operations at the crash site where the HH-3E "Jolly Green

Giant"

helicopter piloted by Rittichier went down.



"It's reassuring to the folks in the Coast Guard to know we're bringing

our

last one home from Vietnam," said Honolulu-based Petty Officer Lauren

Smith,

who spent two days at the crash site. "Hopefully, when the remains do

return

to American soil, it will bring a sense of closure to his family."



Rittichier, who was from Ohio and served as an exchange pilot with the

U.S.

Air Force's 37th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron in Danang, was

shot

down June 9, 1968, while trying to rescue a downed Marine pilot on the

Ho

Chi

Minh Trail just inside the Laos border, and opposite the A Shau Valley

in

Vietnam.



Air Force crew members Capt. Richard Yeend, Staff Sgt. Elmer Holden and

Sgt.

James Locker also were on board. A forward air controller witnessed

the

helicopter falling to the ground in flames.



Smith, who visited the remote crash site Jan. 29 and 30, said it is

about an

hour and 15 minute helicopter ride from Savannakhet in Laos. "It's

very

far-removed from civilization and there's not a whole lot out there -

you'll

see small huts and villages on your way to the site," Smith said.

Personal

effects including captain's bars were found, she said.



"A lot of people don't think of the Coast Guard going overseas to

participate

in conflicts," Smith said. "But it's a fact the Coast Guard has

participated

in every major (U.S.) conflict."



Coast Guard patrol boats primarily from the East Coast are being sent

to the

Middle East as the United States prepares for a war with Iraq. No

Hawai'i-based ships are being sent to the region, Smith said.



Reach William Cole at 525-5459 or at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com.