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Donald Edwin Siegwarth
Lieutenant (junior grade)
VR-7, NAVAIRPAC United States Navy Newark, New Jersey June 28, 1941 to June 17, 1966 DONALD E SIEGWARTH is on the Wall at Panel 8E, Line 58 |
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21 July 2002
I proudly wear LTJG Donald E. Siegwarth's MIA bracelet, although I don't know much about him. His home city is listed as Newark, NJ, however when I purchased his MIA bracelet the book listed him being from Toms River, NJ. Donald E. Siegwarth was a pilot. On June 17, 1966, a C130E "Hercules" aircraft departed Cam Ranh Bay, South Vietnam en route to Kadena Air Base, Okinawa on an operational airlift support mission. Aboard the flight were LTjg Donald E. Siegwarth and crew. Siegwarth was probably a co-pilot on this mission although this information is not included in public data relating to the loss. Crew positions of the remaining crew members are not available. About 30 minutes into the flight, when the aircraft was 43 miles northeast of Nha Trang, the crew of a naval gunboat cruising off South Vietnam coast observed the C130E explode and crash into the South China Sea. No hostile fire was observed, and the exact cause of the crash could not be determined. The vessel arrived at the crash scene within minutes of impact and began an immediate search. The accident took place so swiftly that it must be assumed all aboard perished instantly. Some debris and wreckage was recovered including parts of the aircraft and personal belongings. Only one body was recovered from the crash site. The others are listed as Dead-Body Not Recovered. If anyone has any additional information on Donald E. Siegwarth, please contact me.
John P. Russo
jpr6@verizon.net |
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21 Dec 2005
Don and I spent summers at Silver Bay, New Jersey, until I enlisted in the Navy. I still miss my old buddy "Baywolf." From a friend,Ed Reuther erufus39@aol.com |
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A Military Airlift Command (MAC) Navy C-130E Hercules tail number #63-7785 based at Moffett Naval Air Station, California crashed 2.5 miles offshore Cape Varella, South Vietnam on 17 June 1966. It had taken off from Cam Ranh Bay Airbase and was 20-minutes en route to Kadena AB Okinawa when it exploded and crashed into the South China Sea. Two Navy vessels witnessed the explosion and arrived on scene of the wreckage within minutes. They searched until it was called off due to enemy fire in the area. There were no survivors among the eight Navy crewmembers and six USAF passengers. One AF passenger body and partial remains of three Navy crewmembers were recovered and identified on 21 June 1966 by the Air Force's Mortuary unit at Tan Son Nhut AB, Saigon. The aircraft was owned by the 22nd Air Force, whose accident investigation board (AIB) determined in it's report (AIBR, 3rd Qtr 1966) that the most probable cause of the crash was enemy action, either sabotage or hostile ground fire; the AIBR made no conclusion as to which. The family of LTJG Stevenson was never informed that his partial remains had been recovered, identified by his rare blood type, and sent to US Naval Hosptial, Oakland, California on 15 February 1967. They were held one year and destroyed. As far as can be determined, the other two families were never notified either. The 14 men who died in the combat loss of C-130E Hercules tail number #63-7785, from Moffett Field Naval Air Station were:
There may be fourteen families who have never been told either of the Accident Investigation Board Review (AIBR) existence and findings, or how it was their loved ones came to die as a result of enemy action. They may have had an inkling when they all were eventually awarded a Purple Heart for their wounds, even though their official records remained marked as casualties from an aircraft accident. |
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