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Name: Walter
Hugh "Wally" Moon |
Other Personnel In Incident: Orville Ballenger (released
1962); Gerald Biber; John Bischoff (both missing)
REMARKS: KIA N ESCAPE
UG 0944 - J
SYNOPSIS: The early
1960's marked a period of civil war and military coups in the
country of Laos which resulted in major objectives being taken by
Kong Le-Pathet Lao communist forces. Kong Le had himself been a
graduate of the CIA-sponsored Philippine scout and ranger school
and had announced that he was fighting the corrupt royal
government headed by Prince Souvanna Phouma. Kong Le found
support from the Soviets, who assisted him in defeating Gen.
Phoumi Nosavan's countercoup forces at the capitol city of
Vientiane in December 1960. Pathet Lao troops were airlifted by
the Soviets to take the Plaine des Jarres region in March 1961.
Although Gen. Nosavan and Groupement 12 of the new Forces Armees
de Laos continued to give chase to Kong Le and his troops, they
were not successful in regaining the Plain of Jars. In early
March two Pathet Lao battalions drove Groupement 12 back toward
Vang Vieng. Capt. Walter Moon's four-man Field Training Team
FTT-59, MAAG, of the 7th Special Forces Group was attached to the
6th Bataillon d'infanterie (Lao) at Ban Pha Home, about thirty
miles north of Vang Vieng. On April 22, 1961, the battalion was
subjected to a heavy and accurate artillery barrage and was
rapidly flanked at Phou Tesao.
Shortly after the battalion commander announced that they were
cut off, the perimeter collapsed and the Pathet Lao quickly
overran the battalion positions. The team's commander, Capt.
Walter Moon, was captured in the initial attack.
SFC John M. Bischoff (the medic), Sgt. Gerald M. Biber (the radio
operator), and some Laotian soldiers jumped aboard an armored
car, heading south on Route 13, in a breakout effort. According
to Lao survivors, they crouched behind the turret, but the car
came under heavy grenade attack. Sgt. Bischoff fired a machine
gun from the vehicle until he was shot through the neck and
killed. Sgt. Biber had already been wounded and was apparently
killed by stick grenades thrown against the armored car. The
vehicle was halted and its crew captured.
Sgt. Orville R. Ballinger, demolitions sergeant, escaped through
the jungle and linked up with some Lao soldiers. They found a
boat and were going downriver when they were surprised and
captured by the Pathet Lao seven days later. Sgt. Ballenger were
eventually released in August 1962.
Capt. Moon tried to escape twice during his confinement, and on
the last attempt was wounded in the chest and head. According to
Ballinger, Moon's head injury caused him to be come mentally
unbalanced, and after several months of persecution, he was
executed in his prison quarters at Lat Theoung by a Meo guard and
a Pathet Lao officer on July 22, 1961. The Pathet Lao have
consistently denied knowledge of Moon, Biber or Bischoff.
In 1984, James "Bo" Gritz, a highly decorated former
Special Forces colonel, brought documents and a photograph
pertaining to Moon from Laos and gave them to the U.S.
Government. Moon's wife positively identified the photograph and
Moon's signature. The Government stated that the photograph was
made May 6, 1961, two weeks after Moon's capture. (Moon was
normally clean-shaven but had, according to USG, grown a full
beard in 2 weeks!)
Though the documents were taken from a large collection of
250-300 similar documents held by the Lao People's Army in Laos,
the U.S. refused to demand the information from the Lao. The
Defense Intelligence Agency, according to Congressman Stephen
Solarz, has full knowledge of this collection.
Whether Biber and Bischoff survived the ambush on April 22, 1961
is unknown. They and Moon are among nearly 600 Americans who
disappeared in Laos and did not return. The treaty which ended
American involvement in the war in Southeast Asia did not pertain
to the prisoners held by the Lao, and not a single prisoner was
released from Laos in 1973. The Lao publicly stated they held
prisoners, but the U.S. has never negotiated for their release.
Were it not for thousands of reports relating to Americans still
held captive in Southeast Asia, we could simply close the door on
men like Biber, Bischoff and Moon. But as long as there is even
one man alive, the nation he went to serve must do all it can to
bring him home.
As long as
even one American remains alive, held against his will, we must
do everything possible to bring him home alive.
POW/MIA Data & Bios supplied by the P.O.W. NETWORK Skidmore, MO. USA