Name: Klaus Yrurgen Bingham
Rank/Branch: E6/US Army Special Forces
Unit: Task Force 1, Advisory Element (assigned to Support Headquarters,
USARV)
Date of Birth: 14 March 1943 (Metz, France)
Home City of Record: Wahiawa HI
Date of Loss: 10 May 1971
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 155250N 1073426E (YC756573)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel In Incident: Lewis C. Walton; James Luttrell (both missing)
REMARKS:
SYNOPSIS:
James Luttrell, Lewis Walton and Klaus Bingham were members of a
long-range reconnaissance (LRRP) team "Asp" which was inserted into western
Quang Nam Province 12 miles from Laos on May 3, 1971.
The Asp team was inserted without ground fire or radio transmission. On May 4, the area was searched by Forward Air Controllers (FAC) who neither saw nor heard anything from the team.
On May 5, two pilots flying in the area reported seeing a mirror and a panel signal 50 meters west of the LZ for about 15 minutes. The area was searched again for about 3 hours, and the FAC attempted to raise the team on radio. At 1404 hours on May 5, the FAC saw two people wearing dark green fatigues locating panel signals. Helicopters were launched at 1500 hours that day with a rescue team, but could not be inserted because of bad weather. The FAC stayed on station until 1700 hours that day, but no communication was ever established with the team.
On May 6, weather again prohibited search attempts.
On May 7, hostile fire in the area prevented the insertion of a rescue team. Poor weather prevented the insertion of a search team until May 14. The team was extracted the same day, without ever having heard or seen the patrol.
Luttrell, Walton and Bingham disappeared. The three were classified Missing In Action. They are among nearly 2400 Americans who are still missing from the Vietnam war. Experts now believe that hundreds of these men are still alive.
Klaus Bingham was a seasoned soldier when he disappeared. He was trained for survival under adverse circumstances. Under the circumstances of his disappearance, the U.S. Army believes the enemy may know what happened to him. He could be alive.
In our haste to leave Southeast Asia, we abandoned 2400 of our best. Surprisingly, in 1988, overtures by many U.S. government officials hint at normalization of relations with Vietnam, yet no agreements have been reached which would free those Americans still held in Southeast Asia. In our haste to return to Indochina will we again abandon our men?
