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Richard Kenneth Harper
Chief Warrant Officer
52ND FIXED WING PLT, 52ND AVN BN, US ARMY SPT CMD VIETNAM, MACV Army of the United States Burlington, Massachusetts October 02, 1941 to May 20, 1966 (Incident Date May 19, 1965) RICHARD K HARPER is on the Wall at Panel 1E, Line 121 |
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To be lost to history is the worst fate any human can endure. No one deserves such an ending. I've worn the "official" bracelet for Richard K. Harper since the summer of 2000. I bought it at an Army surplus store in my hometown (Salem, MA) and decided I would wear it either until Richard comes home or until I die. It's the least I can do. As I said, no one deserves to be lost to history. I'm a published horror novelist writing a Viet Nam-era novel, in which I have included repeated references to POW/MIAs and have coded the names of Richard and his observer, PFC Leroy M. Donovan. The book will be finished by August 2007, at which time I hope to have secured a photo of Richard and/or PFC Donovan for use in the dedication on the back cover. I have written Congress and Senate and the administrations of Presidents Clinton and Bush concerning any details of ALL POW/MIAs, and I have performed countless Google Earth searches of the loss coordinates for Richard, all with no results. It is my sincere hope to one day visit Viet Nam in order to perform ground searches myself for any trace of Richard K. Harper and his observer, Leroy M. Donovan. They both deserve that much.
Charles Copeland |
A Note from The Virtual WallOn 19 May 1965 two men departed Holloway Airfield, Pleiku, on a visual reconnaissance flight. Both men were assigned to Headquarters, MACV; the pilot was Chief Warrant Officer Richard K. Harper of Burlington, MA, and his observer was SFC Leroy M. Donovan of Cedaredge, CO.They simply disappeared. Searches along their planned route failed to locate the aircraft or its crew, and both men were classed as missing. A year later, an Army review board recommended they be reclassed as killed in action, body not recovered, a recommendation accepted by the Secretary of the Army. Their legal dates of death are 20 May 1966, a year and a day after they disappeared. Their remains have not been repatriated. |
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