Name: James Thomas Egan, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O2/US Marine Corps
Unit: H/3/12
Date of Birth: 31 May 1943
Home City of Record: Mountainside NJ
Date of Loss: 21 January 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 144800N 1084100E (BS521369)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Others In Incident:
(none missing)
Source:
Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 October 1990 from one or more of
the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews.
SYNOPSIS:
James T. Egan graduated from the University of Notre Dame before his
21st birthday. He joined the Marine Corps, temporarily setting aside his
ambition to become a patent lawyer. A 95 average at Quantico allowed him to
select his assignment, and he chose Hawaii.
Once in Hawaii, 1Lt. Egan's unit was unexpectedly ordered to Vietnam. Egan's bright future changed when his unit was hit by enemy fire and he disappeared on January 21, 1966. His unit was operating about 15 miles southwest of the city of Quang Ngai in South Vietnam. Egan failed to arrive at the scheduled rendezvous point his reconnaissance patrol had arranged, and he was declared Missing in Action.
Some years later, a South Vietnamese soldier reported that he had been held captive with Egan, but that the communists had executed Egan. As the Marine Corps never changed his status to Prisoner of War, the validity of this report cannot be ascertained.
There have been thousands of reports received by the U.S. Government regarding Americans held in Southeast Asia. Government experts disagree whether or not these reports constitute actionable evidence. To date, the U.S. has been unable to secure the release of even a single prisoner held after the war. The Egan family wants to know if Egan is one of them - and when he will be brought home.
James T. Egan, Jr. was promoted to the rank of Major during the period he was maintained Missing in Action.
