Name: Larry Alan Bullock
Rank/Branch: E3/US Army
Unit: Company C, 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division
Date of Birth: 01 January 1947
Home City of Record: Somerset KY
Date of Loss: 01 January 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 142220N 1090739E (BR981896)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel In Incident: (none 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:
SYNOPSIS:
On his 20th birthday, Larry Bullock was on a company-size operation in
Binh Dinh Province. He had been on patrol for several days, and at the time of
this incident, his unit was at a landing zone. Because they had not encountered
any enemy resistance in the area, the company was allowed to go to the South
China Sea for swimming, near grid coordinates BR 981 896.
When the men first entered the water, the winds and the surf were calm and suitable for swimming, however, a short time later, surf rose and strong undertow developed which caused a number of the bathers some difficulty.
Once onshore, a headcount was taken and Bullock was discovered missing. An unsuccessful search was conducted along the beach and choppers circled over the sea where the unit was swimming, but Bullock was not found. Other units operating in the area were notified to watch for Bullock or his body, but no trace was ever found.
Larry Bullock was a good soldier that got unlucky. His is one of the unfortunate accidental deaths that occur wherever people are. The fact that he died an accidental death in the midst of war is tragically ironic. He is listed among the missing with honor, because his body was never found to be returned to the country he served.
Others who are missing do not have such clear cut cases. Some were known captives; some were photographed as they were led by their guards. Some were in radio contact with search teams, while others simply disappeared.
Since the war ended, over 250,000 interviews have been conducted with those who claim to know about Americans still alive in Southeast Asia, and several million documents have been studied. U.S. Government experts cannot seem to agree whether Americans are there alive or not. Distractors say it would be far too politically difficult to bring the men they believe to be alive home, and the U.S. is content to negotiate for remains.
Over 1000 eye-witness reports of living American prisoners were received by 1990. Most of them are still classified. If, as the U.S. seems to believe, the men are all dead, why the secrecy after so many years? If the men are alive, why are they not home?
