Name: George Ross Spitz
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 361st Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron
Date of Birth: 17 January 1943
Home City of Record: Kahaluu HI
Date of Loss: 05 February 1973
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 153755N 1065957E (YC143291)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action/Killed In Action
Category: 1
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: EC47Q
Other Personnel in Incident: Arthur R. Bollinger; Dale Brandenburg; Todd M.
Melton; Peter R. Cressman; Joseph Matejov; Severo J. Primm (all missing); Robert
E. Bernhardt (remains returned)
Source:
Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1991 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991 Homecoming II
Project.
REMARKS: KIA 3 - POSS CAPT 4
SYNOPSIS:
On February 5, 1973, about a week after the signing of the Paris
Peace Agreement, an EC47Q aircraft was shot down over Saravane Province, Laos,
about 50 miles east of the city of Saravane. The crew of the aircraft consisted
of the pilot, Capt. George R. Spitz; co-pilot, 2Lt. Severo J. Primm III, Capt.
Arthur R. Bollinger, 1Lt. Robert E. Bernhardt, Sgt. Dale Brandenburg, Sgt.
Joseph A. Matejov, all listed as crew members, and Sgt. Peter R. Cressman and
SSgt. Todd M. Melton, both systems operators. The families of all aboard the
aircraft were told the men were dead, and advised to conduct memorial services.
It is known that Cressman and Matejov were members of Detachment 3, 6994th Security Squadron from Ubon, Thailand. The aircraft, however, was flying out of the 361st TEW Squadron (Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron) at Nakhon Phanom Airbase, Thailand. Primm, Melton, Spitz, Brandenburg and Bernhardt were assigned to the 361st TEW Squadron. Bollinger's unit is unknown.
The men in the 6994th were highly trained and operated in the greatest of secrecy. They were not allowed to mingle with others from their respective bases, nor were the pilots of the aircraft carrying them on their missions always told what their objective was. They were cryptology experts, language experts, and knew well how to operate some of the Air Force's most sophisticated equipment. They were the first to hear the enemy's battle plans.
Over five years later, Joe Matejov's mother, Mary Matejov, heard columnist Jack Anderson, on "Good Morning America", describe a Pathet Lao radio communique which described the capture of four "air pirates" on the same day as the EC47Q carrying her son was shot down. NO OTHER PLANE WAS MISSING THAT DAY. Anderson's information indicated that reconnaissance personnel had 40 uninterrupted minutes in which to survey the crash site.
The report of the reconnaissance team, which was not provided to the families for over five years, showed that three bodies, which were thought to have been higher ranking officers because of the seating arrangement, were found strapped in seats. Four of the men aboard the aircraft were not in or around the aircraft, and the partial remains of the eighth man (Bernhardt) was recovered. No identification was brought out from the crash site, and no attempt was made to recover the three bodies from the downed aircraft. It is assumed that the reconnaissance team was most interested in recovering the sensitive equipment aboard the EC47Q. The EC47Q became known as the "Flying Pueblo". Most of the "kids" in back, as some pilots called them, were young, in good health, and stood every chance of surviving captivity.
There were specific reports intercepted regarding the four missing men from the aircraft missing on February 5, 1973. Radio reports indicated that the four were transported to the North Vietnam border. None were released in the general POW release beginning the next month.
Peter Cressman enlisted in the United States Air Force in August, 1969 and after two years at Elmendorf AFB in Anchorage, Alaska he volunteered for service in Vietnam and left for Da Nang in June 1972.
In Da Nang, Peter spent his free hours at Sacred Heart Orphanage. His letters to his hometown priest in Oakland, New Jersey, resulted in the forming of "Operation Forget-Me-Not". Community schools, churches, merchants and citizens joined the effort to help the innocent victims of war. The group eventually provided a boxcar of supplies to the orphans.
Peter was transferred to the airbase at Ubon, Thailand. He believed the secret missions being flown into Laos were illegal, and had written letters to his congressman in that regard. His family has been active in efforts to locate information on Peter and the nearly 2500 others who remain unaccounted for. They founded the National Forget-Me-Not Association for POW/MIAs in St.Petersburg, Florida, the largest POW advocacy group in the country.
Joseph Matejov enlisted in the Air Force in 1970 from his home state of New York and went to Southeast Asia in April, 1972. Joe's father and two brothers were career military. His sister graduated from West Point in 1981. Steven Matejov died in 1984 not knowing what happened to his son. Joe's mother, Mary says, "Joe may be alive. If so, this government has a legal and moral responsibility to get him home. The next generation of servicemen should not have to wonder if they will answer the call to defend their country only to be abandoned. We must stop this tragedy now, and never allow it to happen again."
Thousands of reports received by the U.S. Government have convinced many experts that hundreds of Americans remain captive in Southeast Asia. Members of a crew flying a secret mission after a peace agreement had been signed would likely be considered war criminals. If they are among those thought to be alive, the survivors of the EC47Q have been held captive over 15 years. It's time we brought our men home.
