Name: Bradley Gene Cuthbert
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 14th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, Udorn Airbase, Thailand
Date of Birth: 23 November 1940
Home City of Record: Ft. Madison IA
Date of Loss: 23 November 1940
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 172700N 1063400E (XE565270)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: RF4C
Other Personnel In Incident: Mark J. Ruhling (released POW)
Source: Compiled by P.O.W. Network (816-918-3304) 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 P.O.W. Network.
REMARKS:
SYNOPSIS: On his 28th birthday, Capt. Bradley G. Cuthbert and his backseater, Capt. Mark J. Ruhling departed Udorn Airfield, Thailand on a photo reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam in their Phantom fighter jet. When the aircraft was in the vicinity of Dong Hoi, it was shot down. Their aircraft, the only one shot down that day, was the first plane shot down after a bombing halt had been announced. Ruhling ejected safely, made radio contact with other planes in the area and said that his capture was imminent. He was then captured by the North Vietnamese.
Bradley Cuthbert's parachute was seen to open by both Ruhling and other aircraft in the area, indicating that he also successfully ejected. Although a Marshalltown News (Iowa) article reported in March 1970 that radio contact was made and that there was a good chance of Cuthbert's having escaped capture, the Air Force now states that no radio contact was made to verify that he landed on the ground safely.
A Hanoi news item on November 27 described the capture of one pilot hiding behind a bush and the aircraft's second pilot being shot while still sitting in the plane. As the Air Force stated that Brad's plane crashed and burned, leaving no chance a body would remain intact, this report was not attributed to the crew of Cuthbert's plane. Besides, both crewmen aboard Cuthbert's aircraft had successfully bailed out. A second news item described the capture of another pilot which could have been Cuthbert.
A Christmas 1969 film contained frames of a POW Brad's family feels is him, yet neither the Vietnamese or the U.S. Department of Defense listed Brad as a POW.
When agreements were signed ending the war, 591 American POWs were released, including Mark Ruhling. Brad Cuthbert was not released, nor has substantial information been found on his fate since that time. The Vietnamese deny any knowledge of him. Experts now believe that hundreds of Americans are still captive in Indochina. One of them could be Brad Cuthbert. It's time we brought him home.
