12 Apr 2003 A Prayer For Those Lost In Battle O God and Father of us all, we gather in sincere gratitude for all those who, at their countryï¿ 1/2 s call, have met the rude shock of battle and have surrendered their lives amid the ruthless brutalities of war. Forbid that their suffering and death should be in vain. We beseech you that, through their devotion to duty and suffering, the horrors of war may pass from earth and that your kingdom of right and honor, of peace and brotherhood, may be established among men. Comfort, O Lord, all who mourn the loss of those near and dear to them, especially the families of our departed brothers. Support them by your love. Give them faith to look beyond the trials of the present and to know that neither life nor death can separate us from the love and care of Christ Jesus, in whose name we pray. Amen. In Honor of Murray Lyman Borden and all of his comrades who never made it home. You are not forgotten. Richard Riley E-Mail Address not available

 

03 Dec 2007 I was there at Danang when we lost Borden and Meadows. I do not see any way there could have been any conflict about who was in front and who was in back. Murray Borden was in the front seat and Gene Meadows in the rear seat. I flew my second combat mission with Murray Borden about August 22nd of 1966. I recall that I took the airplane off from the back seat. That night we flew over the same area where Borden and Meadows would lose their lives two months later. The other crew in their flight were Ned Oswald and Fred Malatesta. A very short time before the impact they heard the famous words spoken on the radio so typical of what a pilot says when things have gone bad in a real hurry: "Aw, shit". They also added that they saw no ground fire though there certainly could have been. My thoughts were either that they suffered a total electrical failure or that they were hit in the cockpits by .50 caliber, non-tracer ammo. In the former case the pilots would have no instruments to tell them of airplane attitude. At night, with no visible horizon, and unilluminated instruments neither pilot would know what control inputs to make in order to recover the airplane. If it happened just as they were rolling in, in other words, almost upside down with the nose down to 30 degrees or more, ground impact would occur very quickly and even more quickly if the wrong inputs were made to the controls. Anti-aircraft hits in the cockpits by .50 caliber or particularly 23 millimeter fire would render both crewmen either incapacitated or dead. One of them, though, was able to utter those famous last, two words. Rest in peace, Murray Borden and Gene Meadows. You both were great men. Joe Crecca 480th Tactical Fighter Squadron Danang AB, Vietnam, 14Aug66-22Nov66 86.5 missions dogwood2@centurytel.net From The Virtual Wall: On 22 Nov 1966 F-4C tail number 64-0755 was hit by an SA-2 missile near Hanoi. 1stLt Gordon Wilson apparently was killed in the incident, while then-1stLt Joseph Crecca was captured. After 6 years as a POW, Captain Crecca was repatriated on 18 Feb 1973.

 

A Note from The Virtual Wall A flight of two F-4s from the 480th TFS were conducting an armed reconnaissance mission in Quang Binh Province, North Vietnam, when they came across truck traffic on Route 103 a few miles 10 miles north of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). The two aircraft set up and began to conduct multiple passes against the trucks. On its third, perhaps fourth, pass, F-4C tail number 64-0654 impacted the ground. Their wingman saw no parachutes and emergency radio communications could not be established with the crew, 1st Lt Murray L Borden and 1st Lt Eugene T Meadows. Both men were intially classed as Missing in Action, although a later review of the circumstances led to the conclusion that both had died in the crash. Both men were rated pilots (the F-4C had dual controls) and there is conflicting information with respect to who was riding front seat and who was in the rear seat. It is generally accepted that 1st Lt Borden was in control of the aircraft at the time of its loss. Mr. Crecca confirms that view. In 1994 the crash site was excavated and human remains repatriated. On 15 Nov 1994 positive identification of Eugene Meadows' remains was announced, but to date Borden's remains have not been identified.

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