B-52 Stratofortress bombers have long been the Air Force's most important strategic bomber. Used heavily in Vietnam, the venerable aircraft continued it's role throughout the Southeast Asia conflict and played an important role in the Persian Gulf war two decades later.
On June 18, 1965, two B-52 aircraft were perfoming a mission over the South China Sea when they collided. The aircraft were approximately 250 miles offshore at the point of the DMZ when the accident occurred. Apparently the crew of one of the aircraft survived or were recovered, but the entire crew of the second remain missing.
The missing crew includes pilots Capt. Robert L. Armond and 1Lt. James A. Marshall and crewmembers Maj. James M. Gehrig,Capt. Tyrrell G. Lowry, Capt. Frank P. Watson, TSgt. William E. Neville, and MSgt. Harold J. Roberts Jr. It is unfortunate, but a cold reality of war that their remains were not recoverable. They are listed with honor among the missing because their remains can not be buried with honor at home. |
MSgt. Harold J. Roberts Jr
