Name: John Robert Peacock II
Rank/Branch: O3/US Marine Corps
Unit: VMA 533, MAG 15, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing
Date of Birth: 04 September 1946
Home City of Record: Kailua HI
Date of Loss: 12 October 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 172800N 1062500E (XE600450)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A6A
Other Personnel in Incident: William M. Price (missing)
REMARKS:
SYNOPSIS:
On October 12, 1972, Capt. John R. Peacock, pilot, and 1Lt. William
M. Price, co-pilot, were assigned a combat mission over North Vietnam. When the
aircraft failed to return to base as scheduled, the two were listed Missing in
Action. Their last known location was about 15 miles west of Dong Hoi in Quang
Binh Province, North Vietnam.
The Grumman A6 Intruder is a two-man all weather, low-altitude, carrier-based attack plane, with versions adapted as aerial tanker and electronic warfare platform. The A6A primarily flew close-air-support, all-weather and night attacks on enemy troop concentrations, and night interdiction missions. Its advanced navigation and attack system, known as DIANE (Digital Integrated Attack navigation Equipment) allowed small precision targets, such as bridges, barracks and fuel depots to be located and attacked in all weather conditions, day or night. The planes were credited with some of the most difficult single-plane strikes in the war, including the destruction of the Hai Duong bridge between Hanoi and Haiphong by a single A6. Their missions were tough, but their crews among the most talented and most courageous to serve the United States.
Peacock and Price are two of the nearly 3000 Americans who remained unaccounted for at the end of the Vietnam War. Since that time, the numbers have dwindled to something over 2300 as remains have been returned and cases resolved in other ways.
Since the end of the war, the U.S. Government has reviewed "several million documents" and conducted "over 250,000" interviews related to Americans missing in Southeast Asia. Many authorities who have had access to this classified information are convinced that hundreds of these "unaccounted for" Americans are still alive and in captivity.
"Unaccounted for" is a term that should apply to numbers, not men. We, as a nation, owe these men our best effort to find them and bring them home. Until the fates of brave men like Peacock and Price are known, there can be no honorable end to the Vietnam war.
