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Name:
John Daniel Shewmake, Sr.
Rank/Branch: E6/US Army
Unit: 329th Transportation Company, 5th Transportation
Command (Terminal)
Date of Birth: 15 May 1933
Home City of Record: Adona AR
Date of Loss: 03 November 1970
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 163226N 1074138E (YD925275)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: LCU-63
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Other Personnel In Incident: Richard C.
Dority; David L. Ginn; Arlie R. Mangus; Jerry D. Martin; Calvin
A. Norris; James R. Pantall; Dennis I. Day; David W. Woods (all
classified Killed/Body Not Recovered); Perry C. Kitchens; Billy
H. Peeples (remains recovered)
REMARKS: LCU SANK-NO
PARABEEP-NO PERS-NO SURV OBS AIR-J
SYNOPSIS: The 5th
Transportation Command (Terminal) had the duty of running
theextensive Qui Nhon port and served under the U.S. Army Support
Command, Qui Nhon. The 5th Transportation Command was later
deployed to Da Nang, and had Battalions serving Vung Tau and Cat
Lai. Among its duties were support of amphibious operation and
supplying ammunition and ordnance to operational units, primarily
by heavy boat.
On the afternoon of November 2, 1970, Sgt. Dennis I. Day, Sgt.
Richard C. Dority, Sgt. David L. Ginn, Sgt. Perry C. Kitchens,
Sgt. Arlie R. Mangus, Sgt. Jerry D. Martin, SSgt. Calvin A.
Norris, Sgt. James R. Pantall, SFC John D. Shewmake, Sgt. David
W. Woods, and PFC Billie Hammond Peeples were the crew of a
landing craft, LCU #63, which departed Da Nang en route to Tan
My, South Vietnam on a resupply mission. The LCU was a heavy
craft able to carry large loads of ammunition.
At 1010 hours on November 3, 1970, helicopter pilots sighted the
craft capsized about 5 nautical miles south of Tan My port. In an
initial search by air/sea rescue, however, no sign of the crew of
the LCU were observed. There was no apparent hostile action, and
the reason for the incident is unknown.
On November 6, the remains of Billy H. Peoples were recovered
near Cu Loi Island, fully rigged in a life jacket. During the
period of December 4-20, attempts were made to salvage the craft
and locate the crew. Divers gained access to all compartments and
voids of the craft, but no survivors or evidence of remains were
found. Pieces of clothing, small arms ammo, cans and a radio were
recovered.
On March 16, 1977, the body of Perry Kitchens was returned to
U.S. control and subsequently positively identified. There has
been no word of the rest of the crew. The missing eight men were
all presumed to have drowned, and the U.S. Army believes there is
no chance to ever recover the eight men missing from LCU-63.
There are several descrepancies in the case of LCU-63 which
should be noted. First of all, the U.S. Army, the State
Department and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Directory lists all
the crew except Peeples as Sergeant, Staff Sergeant, or Sergeant
First Class, which are ranks one grade above those listed by
Defense Department and Joint Casualty Resolution Center records.
The lower grades are listed as follows: Ginn, Martin, Pantall,
Peeples - E3 or PFC; Day, Dority, Kitchens, Mangus and Woods - E4
- which can be either Corporal or SP4; Norris - E5 or Sergeant;
Shewmake - E6 or Staff Sergeant.
Secondly, the Memorial Directory lists the entire crew with the
exceptions of Peeples and Kitchens as missing on 4 November 1971
(a year and a day later than all other records).
Third, the military occupational specialties of all 10 men on
whom information can be gathered are classified.
It was not uncommon for promotions to be given during the period
between the time personnel went missing and the time they were
declared dead. This group is classified as having had
"non-hostile, died while missing" deaths, leading one
to assume that for a brief time, at least, they were declared
missing, so that it might be possible to have attained a grade
increase during that period. It is uncommon, however for grade
increases to be given to those whom are considered dead and
non-recoverable. It was also uncommon for a group of 18 and 19
year-olds, as was most of this crew, to attain the rank of
sergeant.
Strange things have been known to happen regarding missing men.
One pilot was declared dead because his aircraft exploded close
to the ground. Later, the pilot, who had ejected in a cloud of
smoke, and landed on the ground even before his parachute was
fully deployed, was released from POW camp. One Marine, Ronald
Ridgeway, was declared dead and actually "buried" in a
mass grave in the United States with other men from the same
action, only to come home from POW camp in 1973. Mistakes were
made, and errors in judgement occurred.
Given that the LCU sank with no witnesses, and sank in the
proximity of an island, it is imaginable that the crew could have
survived to be captured. This could be said to be supported by
the fact that Peeples was found fully outfitted in his life
jacket. It is, of course, only conjecture.
Tragically, thousands of reports have been received that indicate
Americans are still being held captive in Southeast Asia. Whether
the LCU crew is among them is certainly not known, but they could
be. The evidence suggests that hundreds are alive, waiting for
their country to free them. It's time we got answers.
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
