WHAT I CAN DO - I WILL -

1LT Paul F. Gilbert was the pilot of an AC130A gunship assigned a mission near the A Shau Valley in the Republic of Vietnam on June 18, 1972. The crew, totaling 15 men included MAJ Gerald F. Ayres, MAJ Robert H. Harrison, CAPT Robert A. Wilson, CAPT Mark G. Danielson, TSGT Richard M. Cole Jr., SSGT Donald H. Klinke, SSGT Richard E. Nyhof, SSGT Larry J. Newman, SGT Leon A. Hunt, and SGT Stanley L. "Larry" Lehrke.

During the mission, the aircraft was hit by a surface-to-air missile (SAM) and went down near the border of Laos and Vietnam. In fact, the first location coordinates given to the families were indeed Laos, but were quickly changed to reflect a loss just inside South Vietnam.

Three survivors of the crash were rescued the next day. After several years of effort, some of the family members of the other crewmembers were able to review part of their debriefings, which revealed that a bail-out order was given, and that at least one unexplained parachute was observed, indicating that at least one other airman may have safely escaped the crippled aircraft.

On 30 December 1972 - 6 months after the Spectre gunship was shot down - a photograph of an "unidentified" American POW appeared in Peking's Hsinahu News Agency publication. The family of Capt. Mark Danielson immediately identified it as Mark. Further, leading forensic specialists confirm that identification through scientific means.

Years after the incident, former National Security Agency analysts testified under oath to congressional committees that Capt. Danielson was tracked by name and rank electronically (intercepted enemy radio messages) for at least 48 hours after the shoot down as he was being moved from one location to another. It is not known if other crew members were also tracked in this same manner.

In early 1985, additional information pertaining to another crewman surfaced through resistance forces in Laos which indicated that SMSgt. Jacob Mercer had survived the crash and was being held prisoner. They provided the USG a photograph of a bearded Caucasian sitting on a log next to an asian who appeared to be guarding him.

In May 1994, the USG conducted a crash sight investigation of the AC130A. To no one's surprise they recovered approximately 300 bone chips and 5 teeth, and heralded this achievement as the successful recovery of all 12 unaccounted for crewmen. None of the bone chips could be identified as belonging to a specific crewmen. When the families (including mothers, sisters and daughters) first asked the mortician who processed the bone chips if DNA testing could be done on them to determine a positive identification, they were told it was not possible to do so because the DNA would have to be checked against the maternal line. When female family members offered their assistance for DNA testing, they were then told, no, it could not be done because it would destroy the bone chips and there would be nothing left to bury. These statements beg the question: If there aren't enough bone chips to test, how can you rationally pretend there is EVIDENCE of death for even one member of that crew let alone all twelve?

As for the teeth, the USG claims that one tooth is the back molar of Jacob Mercer, two teeth belong to Mark Danielson and two teeth belong to Gerald Ayres. The families believe that the identification of only one or two teeth is not ample or sufficient proof of death for their men.

Further, there is still the question of which country they were actually lost in. They well may be among the 600 Americans who disappeared in Laos. Many of these men were known to be alive on the ground. The Laotians admitted holding "tens of tens" of American POWs, but these men were never negotiated for either by direct negotiations between our countries or through the Paris Peace Accords which ended the War in Vietnam since Laos was not a party to that agreement.

On 17 November 1994, a group burial of the co-mingled remains of the AC130A Spectre gunship crew was held at Arlington National Cemetery. While the USG considers all these men to be "remains returned", some of the families of this aircrew do not. They ask that Americans continue to wear their men's POW/MIA bracelets and help them fight for an honorable accounting of them.

Biographical and incident of loss information was obtained from either POW/NET and/or Task Force Omega, Inc (unless otherwise noted). Additional information may be found via remembrances at The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund or The Virtual Wall Vietnam Veterans Memorial.