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 WRIGHT,
THOMAS THAWSON
Name: Thomas Thawson Wright Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: Date of Birth: 02 October 1934 Home City of Record: Gary IN Date
of Loss: 27 February 1968 Country of Loss: Laos Loss Coordinates: 170000N
1070000E (XD951766) Status (in 1973): Missing In Action Category: 4 Acft/Vehicle/Ground:
RF4C Refno: 1063
Other Personnel In Incident: Gilbert S. Palmer (missing)
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 30 June 1990
from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency
sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews.
Updated by the P.O.W. NETWORK 1998.
REMARKS:
SYNOPSIS: 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.
Major Gilbert S. Palmer Jr. and Capt. Thomas Wright comprised
the crew of a reconnaissance version of the Phantom fighter/bomber, an
RF4C, in Vietnam. On February 27, 1968, the two were assigned a reconnaissance
mission from which they would not return.
Palmer's aircraft was hit by enemy fire and crashed. The
location is not clear. According to a sheet distributed by the Arizona
POW/MIA families (Palmer's family was at that time residing in Arizona),
Palmer and Wright were lost in Laos. According to Defense Department and
State Department records, the two went down in Laos. However, coordinates
listed by these agencies are located near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ),
some five miles southwest of the city of Vinh Linh in Quang Binh Province,
North Vietnam. The records of Joint Casualty Resolution Center indicate
that the loss occurred in Quang Binh Province, North Vietnam.
Palmer and Wright were declared Missing in Action. From
the non-specific coordinates given, it is clear that the Air Force does
not know the precise loss location. Thus, they are not sure what the Vietnamese
know about their fates.
When 591 Americans were released from Vietnam in 1973,
Palmer and Wright were not among them. If, as some records indicate, the
two were lost in Laos, they join nearly 600 Americans who were lost there.
Not one man held in Laos was ever released--or negotiated for.
As for those lost in Vietnam, military officials were
dismayed in 1973 that hundreds that were known or suspected to be prisoners
were not released. There were over 2500 still missing.
Unlike "MIA's" from other wars, most of the
missing in Southeast Asia could be accounted for, alive or dead. Since
the war's end, thousands of reports have been received by the U.S. Government
regarding Americans still in captivity in Southeast Asia. There is a large
volume of evidence which indicates that hundreds are still being held.
In the 1950's, Henry Kissinger predicted that future "limited
political engagements" would unfortunately result in nonrecoverable
prisoners of war. We have seen this happen in Korea and Vietnam, where
thousands of men and women remain missing, and where ample evidence exists
that many of them (from BOTH wars) are still alive today. The U.S. Government
seems unable (or unwilling) to negotiate their freedom. For Americans,
the "unfortunate" abandonment of military personnel is not acceptable,
and the policy that allows it must be changed before another generation
is left behind in some faraway war.
Gilbert S. Palmer Jr. and Thomas T. Wright were both promoted
to the rank of Colonel during the period they were maintained missing.
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