HELD, JOHN WAYNE

Name: John Wayne Held

Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force

Unit:

Date of Birth: 08 July 1936

Home City of Record: Indianapolis IN

Date of Loss: 17 April 1968

Country of Loss: South Vietnam

Loss Coordinates: 120140N 1070130E (YU313213)

Status (in 1973): Missing in Action

Category: 2

Acft/Vehicle/Ground: A37A

Other Personnel in Incident: none missing

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 April 1991 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 2020.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Cessna's A37 "Dragonfly" was a two-seat light strike aircraft.

Although the B version was equipped for aerial refueling, the earlier A

model was restricted to its fully-armed range of about 450 miles. The easily

maintained jet was flown by both the U.S. and South Vietnamese Air Force,

and remained on station in Vietnam until the fall of Saigon in 1975.

Capt. John W. Held was the pilot of an A37A operating on a combat mission in

Phuoc Long Province, South Vietnam on April 17, 1968. About 10 miles east of

the city of Bo Duc, Held's aircraft was hit by ground fire and he was forced

to eject.

According to Held's father, Held's wingman reported good chutes and John

reached the ground safely. The second seater, if there was one, is unknown.

Held is the only man missing on April 17. It is possible that the second

seater was rescued, or that he was an ARVN and not maintained on U.S.

casualty lists.

When search and rescue arrived 20 minutes later, they could see Held's empty

parachute and his his emergency radio beeper. However, heavy enemy ground

fire prevented rescue. A later search indicated no blood in the area where

the chute was seen.

Because there was no clear evidence that Held was captured or killed, he was

listed Missing in Action. Since that day, there has been no word of his

fate. The Vietnamese deny any knowledge of him.

Held was not among the prisoners of war that were released in 1973.

High-ranking U.S. officials admit their dismay that "hundreds" of Americans

known or suspected to be prisoners of war did not return.

Alarmingly, evidence continues to mount that Americans were left as

prisoners in Southeast Asia and continue to be held today. Unlike "MIAs"

from other wars, most of the nearly 2500 men and women who remain missing in

Southeast Asia can be accounted for. Held could be one of them. Isn't it

time we brought our men home?

John W. Held was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel during the

period he was maintained missing.

John Held (1936)