| The Incident
On 07 April 1965, Capt. James
W. Lewis, pilot, and then Capt. Arthur D. Baker, navigator,
comprised the crew of a B57B (serial # 53-3880T) on a
multi-aircraft strike mission in extremely rugged, jungle-covered
mountains approximately 18 miles west of the Lao/North Vietnamese
border, 4 miles south of Ban Chuong La and 4 miles southeast of
Ban Niang, Xiangkhouang Province, Laos. Their target was enemy
traffic along Route 7. This area of Laos was considered a major
artery into the infamous Ho Chi Minh Trail. When North Vietnam
began to increase its military strength in South Vietnam, NVA and
Viet Cong troops again intruded on neutral Laos for sanctuary, as
the Viet Minh had done during the war with the French some years
before. This border road was used by the Communists to transport
weapons, supplies and troops from North Vietnam into South
Vietnam, and was frequently no more than a path cut through the
jungle covered mountains. US forces used all assets available to
them to stop this flow of men and supplies from moving south into
the war zone.
At 1110 hours, Captain Lewis
initiated a bomb run on an enemy target on Route 7 and was seen
by his wingman as he descended through a thin cloud layer. His
wingman did not see or hear from him again. Another member of the
flight heard Capt. Lewis call "off target and out bound." The
rest of the flight members conducted their attack passes, then
returned to base as briefed. Because it was not uncommon for the
aging bombers to separate during flights to and from base, no one
was concerned until the Canberra failed to return to Bien Hoa
Airbase at the scheduled time. A communications and ramp check of
all airfields in the area was conducted and by 1400 hours it was
determined the aircraft had not landed at any other
base.
On 07 April aerial search
efforts were initiated by search and rescue (SAR) and Air America
aircraft in a 10 to 20 nautical mile radius of the target
location, and continued through 12 April. These SAR operations
were terminated when they failed to produce any indication of the
crash site or any trace of the downed aircrew. Both crewmen were
initially reported missing in action in South Vietnam while on a
classified mission. Their loss location was later changed to
Laos.
According to US intelligence
reports, both Capt. Lewis and Capt. Baker successfully bailed out
of their damaged aircraft and both men were known to be alive on
the ground afterward. Likewise, both the Canberra's pilot and
navigator are listed in the Department of Defense's April 1991
"Last Known Alive" list. One of the Intelligence Information
Cables generated by the CIA, dated 25 June 1968, documents an
incident correlated to Capt. Lewis. The report states: "On 10
June 1968 two of four American pilots held in the Tham Sua cave
at VH193564, south of Ban Nakay Neua, Houa Phan Province, Laos,
were sent to Hanoi, North Vietnam. Prior to being sent to Hanoi,
one of the American pilots, described as an older man, killed
three NVA soldiers when they attempted to interrogate him. The
elder pilot refused to answer the NVA officers' questions and
instructed the other pilots not to cooperate as well. The killing
occurred when the North Vietnamese attempted to chain the pilot
to a desk-he overturned the desk on his captors and beat three of
them to death with the chain before guards overpowered him.
Following this incident, the elder pilot and one of the younger
pilots were sent to Hanoi. The reason given for the transfer was
that the two pilots were considered incorrigible cases by the
Pathet Lao and North Vietnamese. It is not known if the other
American pilots have been transferred to North Vietnam for
similar reasons."
In January 1974 Major Baker's
next-of-kin requested his case review go forward and he was
declared killed in action, body not recovered. Lewis was declared
dead/body not recovered, in April 1982. Returning POWs were
unable to provide any information on the fate of these two
servicemen.
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