Name: James Montgomery Johnstone
Rank/Branch: O3/US Army
Unit: 20th Aviation Detachment (see note in text)
Date of Birth: 04 May 1938 (Baton Rouge LA)
Home City of Record: Ft. Mill SC
Loss Date: 19 November 1966
Country of Loss: Laos (recorded in South Vietnam)
Loss Coordinates: 145338N 1070349E (YB384532)
Status (In 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: OV1A
Other Personnel in Incident:
James L. Whited (missing)
REMARKS:
SYNOPSIS:
On November 19, 1966, Maj. James L. Whitehead, pilot and Capt. James
M. Johnstone, observer, were the crew of an OV1A Mohawk aircraft (serial
#13115, call sign Project 6) that departed Hue/Phu Bai airbase on a
reconnaissance mission over Laos.
The crew had completed its aerial search and was beginning a routine reconnaissance in an area of high ridges and valleys. The aircraft was observed by the crew of the cover aircraft to climb, as if to fly over the top of a ridge, keeping close to the trees. It then crashed. The cover aircraft saw no parachutes, nor was the overhead hatch seen to eject. The cover aircraft took extensive photographs of the area while searching for survivors. Army helicopters searched the area and saw what was apparently one body, but photo interpretation revealed nothing. Observers did not feel that either crewman survived the crash.
The last known location of the plane was in Attopeu Province, Laos, about 10 miles east-northeast of the city of Muong May. Defense Department records list Whited as missing in Laos, while Johnstone is listed missing in South Vietnam. Their loss coordinates place them both over 25 miles from the border of Vietnam and Laos. Why Johnstone is not listed missing in Laos is unknown.
The OV1A was outfitted with photo equipment for aerial photo reconnaissance. The planes obtained aerial views of small targets - hill masses, road junctions or hamlets - in the kind of detail needed by ground commanders. The planes were generally unarmed. The OV1's were especially useful in reconnoitering the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
Johnstone and Whited are among nearly 2500 Americans who did not come home from Southeast Asia at the end of the war. Unlike the MIAs of other wars, many of these men can be accounted for. Tragically, nearly 6000 reports of Americans still in captivity in Southeast Asia have been received by the US, yet freedom for them seems beyond our grasp.
NOTE:
The 20th Aviation Detachment existed until December 1966, at which time
it was reassigned as the 131st Aviation Company, 223rd Aviation Battalion
(Combat Support). The 131st Aviation Company had been assigned to I Corps
Aviation Battalion since June 1966, when it arrived in Vietnam. In August 1967,
the 131st Aviation Company was reassigned to the 212th Aviation Battalion where
it remained until July 1971, whereupon it transferred out of Vietnam.
There were a large number of pilots lost from this unit, including Thaddeus E. Williams and James P. Schimberg (January 9, 1966); John M. Nash and Glenn D. McElroy (March 15, 1966); James W. Gates and John W. Lafayette (April 6, 1966); Robert G. Nopp and Marshall Kipina (July 14, 1966); Jimmy M. Brasher and Robert E. Pittman (September 28, 1966); James M. Johnstone and James L. Whited (November 19, 1966); Larry F. Lucas (December 20, 1966); and Jack W. Brunson and Clinton A. Musil (May 31, 1971). Missing OV1 aircraft crew from the 20th/131st represent well over half of those lost on OV1 aircraft during the war.
U.S. Army records list both Nopp and Kipina as part of the "131st Aviation Company, 14th Aviation Battalion", yet according to "Order of Battle" by Shelby Stanton, a widely recognized military source, this company was never assigned to the 14th Aviation Battalion. The 131st was known as "Nighthawks", and was a surveillance aircraft company.
