BULLOCK, LARRY ALAN

Name: Larry Alan Bullock
Rank/Branch: E3/US Army
Unit: Company C, 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division
Date of Birth: 01 January 1947
Home City of Record: Somerset KY
Date of Loss: 01 January 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 142220N 1090739E (BR981896)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Refno: 0557
Other Personnel In Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 1990 from 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 2020.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On his 20th birthday, Larry Bullock was on a company-size operation in
Binh Dinh Province. He had been on patrol for several days, and at the time of
this incident, his unit was at a landing zone. Because they had not encountered
any enemy resistance in the area, the company was allowed to go to the South
China Sea for swimming, near grid coordinates BR 981 896.

When the men first entered the water, the winds and the surf were calm and
suitable for swimming, however, a short time later, surf rose and strong
undertow developed which caused a number of the bathers some difficulty.

Once onshore, a headcount was taken and Bullock was discovered missing. An
unsuccessful search was conducted along the beach and choppers circled over the
sea where the unit was swimming, but Bullock was not found. Other units
operating in the area were notified to watch for Bullock or his body, but no
trace was ever found.

Larry Bullock was a good soldier that got unlucky. His is one of the unfortunate
accidental deaths that occur wherever people are. The fact that he died an
accidental death in the midst of war is tragically ironic. He is listed among
the missing with honor, because his body was never found to be returned to the
country he served.

Others who are missing do not have such clear cut cases. Some were known
captives; some were photographed as they were led by their guards. Some were in
radio contact with search teams, while others simply disappeared.

Since the war ended, over 250,000 interviews have been conducted with those who
claim to know about Americans still alive in Southeast Asia, and several million
documents have been studied. U.S. Government experts cannot seem to agree
whether Americans are there alive or not. Distractors say it would be far too
politically difficult to bring the men they believe to be alive home, and the
U.S. is content to negotiate for remains.

Over 1000 eye-witness reports of living American prisoners were received by
1990. Most of them are still classified. If, as the U.S. seems to believe, the
men are all dead, why the secrecy after so many years? If the men are alive, why
are they not home?

 

 
Blair said she learned of Bullock's story through Loretta Sherod, founder of the Kentucky POW/MIA Flag Guard. “She explained that there are 14 MIA's ...

 

01/2020

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PFC LARRY ALAN BULLOCK

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Private First Class Larry Alan Bullock entered the U.S. Army from Kentucky and served in Company C, 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. On January 1, 1967, he and other members of his company went swimming at a beach near Phu Tho, South Vietnam, in the vicinity of (GC) BR 981 896. The surf was initially calm, but the waves became heavier and a strong undertow developed. The swimmers were called in and a roll call was conducted, but PFC Bullock was missing. His unit conducted a search of the swimming area but could not locate him, and he remains unaccounted-for. Today, Private First Class Bullock 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 Non-recoverable.

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