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Father Denis Edward O'Brien, USMC

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"All Biographical and loss information on Vietnam Era POW/MIA's provided by Operation Just Cause have been supplied by Chuck and Mary Schantag of POW/NET. Please check with POW/NET regularly for updates."
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Name: James M. Luttrell	Name: Lewis Clark Walton	Name: Klaus Yrurgen Bingham
Rank/Branch: E6/US Army Special Forces	Rank/Branch: E6/US Army Special Forces	Rank/Branch: E6/US Army Special Forces
Date of Birth: 14 December 1945 (Milwaukee WI)	Date of Birth: 13 May 1934 (Providence RI)	Date of Birth: 14 March 1943 (Metz, France)
Home City of Record: Fayetteville NC	Home City of Record: Cranston RI	Home City of Record: Wahiawa HI

Unit: Task Force 1 Advisory Element (assigned to Support Headquarters, USARV)
Date of Loss: 10 May 1971
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 155240N 1073440E (YC756573)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground

SYNOPSIS: James Luttrell, Lewis Walton and Klaus Bingham were members of a long-range reconnaissance (LRRP) team "Asp" which was inserted into western Quang Nam Province 12 miles from Laos on May 3, 1971.

The Asp team was inserted without ground fire or radio transmission. On May 4, the area was searched by Forward Air Controllers (FAC) who neither saw nor heard anything from the team.

On May 5, two pilots flying in the area reported seeing a mirror and a panel signal 50 meters west of the LZ for about 15 minutes. The area was searched again for about 3 hours, and the FAC attempted to raise the team on radio. At 1404 hours on May 5, the FAC saw two people wearing dark green fatigues locating panel signals. Helicopters were launched at 1500 hours that day with a rescue team, but could not be inserted because of bad weather. The FAC stayed on station until 1700 hours that day, but no communication was ever established with the team.

On May 6, weather again prohibited search attempts.

On May 7, hostile fire in the area prevented the insertion of a rescue team. Poor weather prevented the insertion of a search team until May 14. The team was extracted the same day, without ever having heard or seen the patrol.

Luttrell, Walton and Bingham disappeared. The three were classified Missing In Action. They are among nearly 2400 Americans who are still missing from the Vietnam war. Experts now believe that hundreds of these men are still alive.

Jim Luttrell was a young man when he disappeared. He was trained for survival under adverse circumstances. Under the circumstances of his disappearance, the U.S. Army believes the enemy may know what happened to him. He could be alive.

In our haste to leave Southeast Asia, we abandoned 2400 of our best. Surprisingly, in 1988, overtures by many U.S. government officials hint at normalization of relations with Vietnam, yet no agreements have been reached which would free those Americans still held in Southeast Asia. In our haste to return to Indochina will we again abandon our men?

NOTE:
Catherine M. Walton, the mother of Lewis, passed away in the privacy of her own home on the morning of November 7, 1997 at the age of 87. She never knew the fate of her son. Perhaps she does now.

To let them know you have not forgotten, write to the government, and demand answers..and keep demanding until we get them.
The President
Vice President
Your Congressman
Your Senator
Remember to include your email address, and if you get a form letter, then resend your request.

THE ARMY VALUES

Veterans display these values with every action.
Shall we degrade them by just pretending there is nothing wrong?