Name: Therman Morris Waller
Rank/Branch: Cmd.Sgt./US Air Force
Date of Birth: 09 February 1943
Home City of Record: Wynne AR
Date of Loss: 03 February 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 163000N 1064000E (YD008434)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: C123C
Other Personnel In Incident:
James L. Carter; Edward M. Parsley; Wilbur R. Brown; (all missing)
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 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.
REMARKS: NO RAD CNTCT-REK SITE UNCONF-J
SYNOPSIS: The Fairchild C123 "Provider" was a night attack system/transport
aircraft based on an all-metal glider designed by Chase Aircraft.
The airplane's
C123B prototype first flew on September 1, 1954.
The C123B, in the hands of a
group of airmen who
called themselves "The Mule Train" became the first transport to see
Vietnam service. The C123B transports were soon joined
by UC123Bs of the now-controversial Project
Ranch Hand which sprayed pesticides and herbicides
over Vietnam, including Agent Orange.
The Provider, particularly in camoflage paint with mottled
topside and light bottomside, resembled an arched-back
whale suspended from the bottom midpoint of huge dorsal wings.
Like other transports, the Provider proved its versatility
during the Vietnam war. The C123 also dispensed flares to
illuminate targets for fighters or tactical bombers,
and were dubbed "Candlestick" when they served in this capacity.
On February 3, 1966, a C123C Provider aircraft with a crew of four,
including its pilot, Capt. Wilbur R. Brown, and crewmembers
James L. Carter, SGT Edward M. Parsley and SGT Therman M. Waller,
was assigned a mission on the border of Laos and South Vietnam
about 10 miles southwest of Khe Sanh.
During the mission, radio contact was lost with the Provider and
its whereabouts or those of the crew were never determined.
In April 1969, a rallier identified a number of photographs of
missing Americans as men he believed to have
been captured. Wilbur Brown was among those the
rallier
selected. CIA questioned the identification as no returned POWs
reported having seen any of the Provider crew in POW camps.
It should be noted, however, that it is now
widely believed that more than one prison system existed
in Vietnam, and that prisoners in one were not
mingled with prisoners from another.
(Also, given the location of the crash, the possibility exists
that the crew, if captured, may have been taken by
Pathet Lao forces. No Americans were ever released that
were held in Laos.)
The mission flown by the C123 lost on February 3, 1966
is not indicated in public records. It is known that
"Candlestick" missions, dispensing flares to
illuminate
targets for fighters or tactical bombers, was very effective
against truck traffic in Laos, except in those areas
where anti-aircraft defenses became too formidable.
It it possible that the C123C might have been
on a "Candlestick" mission.
Brown, Carter, Parsley and Waller were declared Missing In Action
by the U.S. Air Force. They are among nearly 2400
Americans who are unaccounted for from the Vietnam war.
Experts believe there are hundreds of these men still
alive today, waiting for their country to come for them.
Whether the missing men from the Provider lost on February 3, 1966
are among those still alive is not known.
What is certain, however, is that the U.S. has a moral
and legal obligation to do everything possible to bring home those who are alive.
PLEASE be patient..
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