11 Jan 2008 I did not have the honor of knowing the man, but I did have the honor of wearing the bracelet for over 20 years while I was in the Air Force. Looking at the name on the bracelet and thinking about who he was got me through some long deployments. Robert Turner roblturner@hotmail.com

 

Notes from The Virtual Wall The MISTY Forward Air Controllers were "fast mover" FACS flying two-seater F-100F SuperSabres and (later) F-4 Phantoms. On 16 August 1968 Majors Michael O. McElhannon and John F. Overlock, both assigned to the 309th Tac Ftr Sqdn but on temporary duty with the 37th Tac Ftr Wing at Phu Cat, were conducting a MISTY mission over the area of North Vietnam just north of the DMZ in an F-100F (tail number 56-3865) belonging to the 612th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Phu Cat. The aircraft had completed an in-flight refueling earlier in the mission. The last contact with the MISTY FAC occurred when Major McElhannon advised controllers he was leaving station to go feet wet for another hit on the tanker. The MISTY flight wasn't missed for about 45 minutes, when an incoming flight attempted to contact it for FAC control. Search and rescue operations failed to locate either aircraft wreckage or crew. It was presumed that the aircraft went down somewhere in the area of Dong Hoi or over water. Both crewmen were carried as Missing in Action until the Secretary of the Air Force approved Presumptive Findings of death for Overlock (09 Oct 75) and McElhannon (06 Feb 79). During this time McElhannon was promoted to Colonel and Overlock to Lieutenant Colonel. The Library of Congress has begun digitizing their Vietnam MIA records, making available information previously accessible only to those within striking range of Washington, DC. Several of those records refer to preliminary surveys of a crash site some 13 kilometers north-northwest of Dong Hoi but also cite evidence indicating the aircraft may have crashed offshore. In any case, the remains of the two men have not been recovered.

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