BERGEVIN, CHARLES LEE
Name: Charles Lee Bergevin
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit: 14th Tactical Recon Squadron, Udorn AFB, Thailand
Date of Birth: 10 June 1944
Home City of Record: Torrington CT
Date of Loss: 23 August 1968
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 175400N 1054900E (VE256146)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: RF4C
Refno: 1259
Other Personnel In Incident: Francis L. Setterquist (missing)
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1990 with the assistance
of 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 2021.
REMARKS:
SYNOPSIS: On August 23, 1968, aircraft commander, 1Lt. Francis L.
Setterquist, and his navigator, 1Lt. Charles Bergevin, were assigned a low
altitude night reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam. Their aircraft was
the reconnaissance version of the F4 Phantom - the RF4C. The target area was
about 50 miles northwest of Dong Hoi in Quang Binh Province. Clearance to
proceed with the mission was granted and radio-radar contact broken at
approximately 8:30 p.m. No undue concern was felt until 10:59 p.m. when the
aircraft was due back at Udorn and the fuel exhaustion point was reached and
Setterquist's aircraft did not return to base.
A later North Vietnamese news release stated that an RF4 had been shot down,
but there was no mention of the fate of the two man crew. Assuming Bergevin
and Setterquist were able to successfully eject and parachute safely to the
ground, it is doubtful they would be able to evade capture due to the large
concentration of enemy forces in their flight area.
While loss coordinates maintained by the Air Force and Department of Defense
indicate that Bergevin and Setterquist were downed in Quang Binh Province,
North Vietnam, Joint Casualty Resolution Center (JCRC) records show a loss
area of Thailand. No explaination is given for this discrepancy.
In 1973, 591 lucky American prisoners were released from North Vietnam.
Bergevin and Setterquist were not among them. Since that time, the U.S. has
recived nearly 10,000 reports of Americans still missing in Southeast Asia,
and many authorities are convinced that hundreds of them are still alive.
The U.S. has not been able to find a way to free any who may still be alive,
or to obtain information on a significant number of other Americans who may
have perished.
Francis L. Setterquist graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1966.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Friends, It is with a heavy heart that I share this news with you. Joan Barron was a wonderful woman, and I am grateful to have visited with her at some of our functions over the years as well as to have enjoyed our phone conversations and emails. We first met in the late 1980s when the City of Torrington chose to honor Joan's brother, Major Charles Bergevin, during the Memorial Day Parade and Ceremony. She worked tirelessly to share her brother's story and to learn his fate. Please remember Joan and her family in your prayers.
|
||||||
|
https://www.biegafuneralhome.com/obituary/joan-f-barron Joan F. Barron of Middletown, Connecticut | 1937 - 2021 | Obituary ...She was an inspirational spokeswoman and advocate for the Vietnam POW/MIA cause. She was asked on multiple occasions to speak about the loss of her brother Charlie whose Air Force plane tragically went down in 1968 and for which her family never received closure. She was an avid card game player and also relished her monthly Bunco nights with the girls....
|
01/2020: https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt0000000KZryEAG
On August 23, 1968, an RF-4C Phantom II (tail number 66-0466, call sign "Semantic") with two crew members carried out a solo night reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam. The last known contact with "Semantic" occurred when the crew checked in with an airborne command and control center requesting clearance for their flight. At this time, the aircraft was roughly fifty miles northwest of Dong Hoi, North Vietnam. "Semantic" was not heard from again and failed to return to base. The aircraft and its crew members remain missing.
First Lieutenant Charles Lee Bergevin, who entered the U.S. Air Force from Connecticut, served with the 14th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron. He was the navigator of this Phantom at the time of its loss on August 23, 1968, and he is still unaccounted-for. Following the incident, the Air Force promoted 1st Lt Bergevin to the rank of Major (Maj). Today, Major Bergevin is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Based on all information available, DPAA assessed the individual's case to be in the analytical category of Deferred.
If you are a family member of this serviceman, DPAA can provide you with additional information and analysis of your case. Please contact your casualty office representative.
Service member profile discrepancy? Please help us ensure the accuracy of each profile by submitting documentation about a service member profile.