Name: Richard David Brenning
Rank/Branch: O3/US Navy Reserves
Unit: Attack Squadron 112, USS TICONDEROGA (CVA 14)
Date of Birth: 22 April 1944 (Billings MT)
Home City of Record: Lincoln NE
Date of Loss: 26 July 1969
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 180600N 1072658E
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A4C
Other Personnel in Incident:
(none missing)
Source:
Compiled by Homecoming II Project 30 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 Douglas Aircraft created the A4 Skyhawk the intent was to provide
the Navy and Marine Corps with an inexpensive, lightweight attack and ground
support aircraft. The design emphasized low-speed control and stability during
take-off and landing as well as strength enough for catapult launch and carrier
landings. The plane was so compact that it did not need folding wings for
aboardship storage and handling. In spite of its diminutive size, the A4 packed
a devastating punch and performed well where speed and maneuverability were
essential.
Lt. Richard D. Brenning was an A4 pilot assigned to attack Squadron 112 onboard the USS TICONDEROGA. The TICONDEROGA had first been in Vietnam waters in 1945 when fighter planes from the TICONDEROGA and the USS HANCOCK flew strike missions against enemy vessels in Saigon Harbor. The TICONDEROGA was on station during the very early years of the Vietnam war and remained throughout most of the duration of the war.
On July 26, 1969, Lt. Brenning was killed in an airplane accident upon commencement of a combat flight. His A4C aircraft impacted the water about sixty miles offshore from Ha Tinh Province, North Vietnam in the Gulf of Tonkin. Search efforts were negative.
Since the war ended in Vietnam, refugees have flooded the world, bringing with them stories of American soldiers still held prisoner in their homeland. Many authorities now believe that hundreds were left behind as living hostages.
Lt. Richard Brenning did not survive the events of 26 July 1969. His family has accepted that he is dead. They no longer expect him to come home someday. But hundreds of families wait expectantly and in the special agony only uncertainty can bring. Hundreds of men wait in caves, cages and prisons. How much longer will we allow the abandonment of our best men? It's time we brought them home.
