Name: Edward Ray Dodge
Rank/Branch: E7/US Army Special Forces
Unit: Detachment C-1, 5th Special Forces Group
Date of Birth: 16 December 1933
Home City of Record: Norfolk VA
Loss Date: 31 December 1964
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 160631N 1075320E (ZC090830)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: O1F
Refno: 0051
Other Personnel In Incident: WO1 George B. Mundis (on another O1
in same
flight -not lost); Kurt C. McDonald (missing)
REMARKS:
LAST SEEN TURNING AC IN VALLEY
SYNOPSIS:
SFC Edward Dodge was based at Da Nang with Detachment C-1 of the
5th Special Forces Group. On December 31, 1964, Dodge served as
observer on
an O1F aircraft flown by U.S. Air Force Capt. Kurt C. McDonald.
Dodge and
McDonald were one of two O1's launched that day on similar flight
paths. The
other aircraft was flown by WO1 George B. Mundis.
The two aircraft took off at about 0815 hours in marginal weather
conditions. Their flight would take them to Camp A Shau, a
Special Forces
camp in the lower end of the A Shau Valley garrisoned by
Detachment A-102.
McDonald's flight was intended for a delivery to the camp.
Camp A Shau was a triangular shaped camp located in triple canopy
jungle,
and surrounded by elephant grass twice as high as a man. In just
over a year
from the day Dodge and McDonald were due to fly over the camp, it
would be
overrun by the enemy.
Mundis and McDonald flew together until they reached Hill 3350,
whereupon
both aircraft made a 180 degree turn. WO1 Mundis lost sight of
McDonald's
plane, which entered some bad weather, with clouds completely
obscuring the
ridge to the north and extending down to make a ragged roof above
the triple
canopy jungle. Mundis never saw the aircraft again.
Although returned POWs did not see Dodge or McDonald in
captivity, one
source selected the photographs of both men as those who were
held captive
by the communists in Southeast Asia.
Studies of declassified documents indicate that there was more
than one POW
prison "system" in place during the Vietnam war, and
that POWs tended to be
moved within one "system" with the same prisoners. It
appears possible that
a number of prisoners were held without the knowledge of other
prisoners.
Refugees fleeing Southeast Asia have come with reports of
Americans still
held in captivity. There are many such reports that withstand the
closest
scrutiny the U.S. Government can give, yet official policy admits
only to
the "possibility" that Americans remain as captives in
Southeast Asia.
Until serious negotiations begin on Americans held in Southeast
Asia, the
families of nearly 2500 Americans will wonder, "Where are
they?"
Source: Compiled
from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S.
Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families,
published sources, interviews. Updated by the P.O.W. NETWORK in
1998.
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