May 17, 2021 Share
Nearly 60 years ago, dozens of soldiers assembled for a top-secret mission to Vietnam, three years before President Lyndon Johnson officially sent U.S. combat troops to the country.
They never made it. Their airplane disappeared between Guam and the Philippines, leaving behind no trace.
Ever since, their families have been fighting to get answers about the mission from the Pentagon. They also want their loved ones to be recognized on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.
For the families, it’s been heart-wrenching that the soldiers were not properly memorialized like others who died in the war.
Families have fought for recognition of the soldiers who died on Tiger Flight 739 for years now because their names aren’t allowed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial since they didn’t die in a combat zone.
Soldiers who perished in 1962 on secret mission to Vietnam are memorialized 2 hours ago John Williams, of Peru, Ind., left, and his sisters, Maria McCauley, of Branson, Mo., center, and Susie Linale, of Omaha, Neb., pose at a monument to honor the military passengers of Flying Tiger Line Flight 739, Saturday, May 15, 2021, in Columbia Falls, Maine. Their father, SFC Albert Williams Jr., was among those killed on the secret mission to Vietnam in 1962. (Robert F. Bukaty/AP) PORTLAND, Maine Nearly 60 years ago, dozens of soldiers assembled for a top secret mission to Vietnam, three years before President Lyndon Johnson officially sent U.S. combat troops to the country.