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MORLEY, CHARLES FRANK
REMAINS IDENTIFIED 08/05/99
Name: Charles Frank Morley
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit: 557th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Cam Ranh Bay, SV
Date of Birth: 12 February 1942
Home City of Record: Warrensburg MO
Date of Loss: 18 February 1970
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 170600N 1060700E (XD070912)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4C
Other Personnel In Incident: Thomas C. Daffron (Missing)
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 31 April 1990 from one or
more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews.
REMARKS:
SYNOPSIS: When North Vietnam began to increase their military strength
in South Vietnam, NVA and Viet Cong troops again intruded on neutral
Laos for sanctuary, as the Viet Minh had done during the war with the
French some years before. The border road, termed the "Ho Chi Minh Trail"
was used for transporting weapons, supplies and troops. Hundreds of
American pilots were shot down trying to stop this communist traffic to
South Vietnam. Fortunately, search and rescue teams in Vietnam were
extremely successful and the recovery rate was high.
Still there were nearly 600 who were not rescued. Many of them went
down along the Ho Chi Minh Trail and the passes through the border
mountains between Laos and Vietnam. Many were alive on the ground
and in radio contact with search and rescue and other planes; some
were known to have been captured. Hanoi's communist allies in Laos,
the Pathet Lao, publicly spoke of American prisoners they held, but
when peace agreements were negotiated, Laos was not included,
and not a single American was released that had been held in Laos.
The Phantom, used by Air Force, Marine and Navy air wings, served a
multitude of functions including fighter-bomber and interceptor, photo
and electronic surveillance. The two man aircraft was extremely fast
(Mach 2), and had a long range (900 - 2300 miles, depending on stores
and mission type). The F4 was also extremely maneuverable and handled
well at low and high altitudes. The F4 was selected for a number of
state-of-the-art electronics conversions, which improved radar intercept
and computer bombing capabilities enormously. Most pilots considered it
one of the "hottest" planes around.
Capt. Thomas C. Daffron and 1Lt. Charles F. Morley were pilots attached
to the 557th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Cam Ranh Bah, South Vietnam.
On February 18, 1970, they were assigned an operational mission over
the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos. Daffron served as the pilot, while Morley
flew as navigator - the "guy in back."
During the mission, a fireball was seen on the ground which was presumed
to be the downed aircraft of Daffron and Morley. Observers saw no parachutes
and heard no emergency radio beepers. There was no clear evidence that the
crew had safely ejected, but it was not known that they did not. Daffron
and Morley were declared Missing in Action.
Morley once wrote his wife of 5 years, "May you always wait for me, may
I never keep you waiting again." Yet, over 15 years later, both wait.
Morley is one of nearly 2500 in Southeast Asia, and nearly 600 in Laos
who did not return from the war. Unlike "MIAs" from other wars, most of
these men can be accounted for. Further, and even more significant,
mounting evidence indicates that there are hundreds of them still alive
in captivity.
Refugees fleeing Southeast Asia have come with reports of Americans still
held in captivity. There are many such reports that withstand the closest
scrutiny the U.S. Government can give, yet official policy admits only to
the "possibility" that Americans remain as captives in Southeast Asia.
Until serious negotiations begin on Americans held in Southeast Asia, the
families of nearly 2500 Americans will wonder, "Where are they?" And the
families of many, many more future fighting men will wonder, "Will our sons
be abandoned, too?"
Thomas C. Daffron graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1965.
During the period he was maintained missing, Charles F. Morley was promoted
to the rank of Major.
UPDATE!
No. 128-M
MEMORANDUM FOR CORRESPONDENTS August 5, 1999
The remains of three Americans have been identified from the war in
Southeast Asia and are being returned to their families for burial in the
United States.
They are identified as Maj. Charles F. Morley of Warrensburg, Mo. and Capt.
Thomas C. Daffron of Pinckneyville, Ill., both of the U.S. Air Force. A
third Air Force officer, once missing in action from North Vietnam, was also
identified but at the request of his family his name will not be released.
http://www.pownetwork.org/bios/m/m139.htm
In May of 1993 a joint U.SLaos team, led by the Joint Task Force-Full
Accounting, interviewed several villagers in Khammouan Province who provided
details about a nearby aircraft crash. Following the interview, the team
was led to the crash site where they found wreckage and pilot-related items
consistent with an F-4 crash.
In July and August of 1995 a second joint team excavated the crash site
surveyed in 1993. The team recovered human remains and crew-related items.
A third joint team completed the excavation in October of 1995 recovering
additional human remains and crew-related items.
Anthropological analysis of the remains and other evidence by the U.S. Army
Central Identification Laboratory Hawaii confirmed the identification of
these servicemen. |
