Name:   Vincent Anthony Scungio
Rank/Branch:   O3/US Air Force
Date of Birth:   27 October 1934
Home City of Record:   New CastlePA (family in AZ, CA, FL, MI, PA)
Loss Date:   04November 1966
Country of Loss:   NorthVietnam
Loss Coordinates:   212400N 1061100E
Status (in 1973):   Missing In Action
Category:2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground:   F105F

Other Personnel in Incident:   RobertE. Brinckmann (remains returned)
 

SYNOPSIS:   The F105 Thunderchief("Thud"), in its various versions, flew more missions againstNorth Vietnam than any other U.S. aircraft. It also suffered more losses,partially due to its vulnerability, which was constantly under revision.Between 1965 and 1971, the aircraft was equipped with armor plate, a secondaryflight control system, an improved pilot ejection seat, a more precisenavigation system, better blind bombing capability and ECM pods for thewings. The F model carried a second crewman which made it well suited forthe role of suppressing North Vietnam's missile defenses.

Major Robert E. Brinckmann was an F105F Air Force pilotassigned a combat mission over North Vietnam on November 4, 1966. His copilotthat day was Capt. Vincent A. Scungio. When the aircraft was about 60 milesnortheast of Hanoi in Ha Bac Province, North Vietnam, it was hit by enemyfire and crashed. Scungio and Brinckmann were declared Missing In Action.

When 591 Americans were released from Vietnam in 1973,Scungio and Brinckmann were not among them. Military officials were shockedto learn that hundreds of Americans known or suspected to be prisonersof war were not released.

In an attempt to determine those cases for which theVietnamese should be able to make an accounting, the Defense IntelligenceAgency expanded Brinckmann and Scungio's classification to include an enemyknowledge ranking of 2. Category 2 indicates "suspect knowledge"and includes personnel who may have been involved in loss incidents withindividuals reported in Category 1 (confirmed knowledge), or who were lostin areas or under conditions that they may reasonably be expected to beknown by the enemy; who were connected with an incident which was discussedbut not identified by names in enemy news media; or identified (by elimination,but not 100% positively) through analysis of all-source intelligence. Still,the Vietnamese denied any knowledge of the two missing Americans.

Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 5000 reports havebeen received by the U.S. Government regarding Americans missing, prisoneror unaccounted for in Vietnam. Some, in the words of one State Departmentofficial, have withstood the closest scrutiny possible, and cannot be disputed.There is very strong reason to believe that Americans are still held captivein Southeast Asia today.

In late July, 1989 remains were returned to the UnitedStates by the Vietnamese which were subsequently identified as being thoseof Robert E. Brinckmann. Brinckmann had been -- dead or alive -- a prisonerof war for 23 years. The obvious question is how and when did he die? And,of course, where is Vincent Scungio?

Nearly 2500 Americans did not return from the war inVietnam. Thousands of reports have been received indicating that some hundredsremain alive in captivity. Vietnam and her communist allies can accountfor most of them. Current "negotiations" between the U.S. andVietnam have yielded the remains of nearly 300 Americans. The familiesof these men at last have the peace of knowing whether their loved oneis alive or dead.

In the total view of the issue of the missing, however,the return of remains signals no progress. In the early 1980's the verycredible Congressional testimony of a Vietnamese mortician indicated thatthe Vietnamese are in possession of over 400 sets of remains. In 15 years,they have returned barely half of them. More importantly, the same crediblewitness, whose testimony is believed throughout Congress, stated that hehad seen live Americans held at the same location where the remains werestored.

As long as even one American remains alive in captivityin Southeast Asia, the only issue is that one living man. We must bringthem home before there are only remains to negotiate for.