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Name: Lynn Michael
Travis Rank/Branch: O2/US Navy Unit: Patrol Squadron 26, U Tapao Airbase, Thailand Date of Birth: 25 May 1941 Home City of Record: Newport AR Date of Loss: 06 February 1968 Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water Loss Coordinates: 093050N 1040730E (VR040520) Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered Category: 5 Acft/Vehicle/Ground: P3B |
Other Personnel in Incident: Armando Chapa, Jr.; William
F. Farris; Donald L. Gallagher; Roy A. Huss; Thomas P. Jones;
Homer E. McKay; James C. Newman, Jr.; Melvin C. Thompson; Donald
F. Burnett (all missing)
REMARKS:
SYNOPSIS: At 0900
hours on February 5, 1968, a P3 "Orion" aircraft
assigned to Patrol Squadron 26 at U Tapao Airbase, Thailand, left
on a "Market Time" mission over the Gulf of Thailand
(Gulf of Siam). They were scheduled to return to their base at
about 0900 hours the following morning.
The crew on board the aircraft included Lt. Thomas P. Jones;
LtJg. Lynn M. Travis; LtJg. Roy A. Huss; AXCS Donald F. Burnett;
AX3 Armando Chapa Jr.; AX3 William F. Farris (AX designates
Antisubmarine warfare technicians and related duties); AOC Donald
L. Gallagher; AMH2 Homer E. McKay; ADR1 James C. Newman Jr.; AE1
Melvin C. Thompson (A designates in many cases, aviation
personnel, i.e. AE1 is Aviation Electrician's Mate First Class).
As antisubmarine warfare was all but unknown in Vietnam, there
were a variety of duties handled by those trained in
antisubmarine warfare. As marking submarines, and/or destroying
them involved the use of marking buoys, electronic
"ears" and other technical equipment suited for target
marking, antisubmarine teams were frequently used for search
missions. They also sometimes assisted in attacks on small enemy
water craft.
Shortly after midnight on February 6, the Orion reported a
surface contact. Some two hours later it reported another contact
somewhat further east. The last report received from the Orion
was after 0300 hours. No subsequent communication was received.
An emergency communication alert for the aircraft was declared
shortly after daybreak and a full search and rescue (SAR) was
declared. In the late afternoon of February 6, wreckage and
debris were sighted and identified.
On February 7 search and rescue operations were terminated at
sundown. Salvage operations were conducted from February 11
through March 21. The investigating officer concluded that the
Orion had impacted with the water, and that the aircraft had been
completely destroyed, and that all of the crewmembers had died
instantly.
The Orion went down about 50 miles off the shores of South
Vietnam's An Xuyen Province in the Gulf of Thailand. Presumably,
all the crew aboard are "buried" at sea - an honorable
burial for a naval man. This crew is listed with honor among the
missing because no remains were ever found.
For the crew of the Orion, death seems a certainty. For hundreds
of others, however, simple answers are not possible. Adding to
the torment of nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans
missing in Southeast Asia is the certain knowledge that some
Americans who were known to be prisoners of war were not released
at the end of the war. Others were suspected to be prisoners, and
still others were in radio contact with would-be rescuers when
last seen alive. Many were known to have survived their loss
incidents, only to disappear without a trace.
The problem of Americans still missing torments not only the
families of those who are missing, but the men who fought by
their sides, and those in the general public who realize the full
implication of leaving men unaccounted for at the end of a war.
Tragically, many authorities believe there are hundreds of
Americans still alive in captivity in Southeast Asia today. What
must they be thinking of us? What will our next generation say if
called to fight if we are unable to bring these men home from
Southeast Asia?
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