SCHOLZ, KLAUS DIETER Remains Returned - ID Announced 8 February 1990 Name: Klaus Dieter Scholz Rank/Branch: E6/US Army Special Forces Unit: Command & Control North, MACV-SOG, 5th Special Forces Date of Birth: 20 January 1944 (Rieserged, Germany) Home City of Record: Amarillo TX Date of Loss: 30 November 1968 Country of Loss: Laos Loss Coordinates: 163852N 1062514E (XD515410) Status (in 1973): Missing In Action Category: 4 Acft/Vehicle/Ground: CH34 Other Personnel In Incident: Gary R. LaBohn; Michael H. Mein; Raymond Stacks; Samuel K. Toomey; Arthur E.Bader; (all missing); Richard A. Fitts (remains returned) Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 April 1990 with the assistance of 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 1998. REMARKS: SYNOPSIS: SFC Klaus D. Scholz was born on January 20, 1944 in Bad Warmbrunn, Rieserged, Germany. He entered the Army in May 1965 at Amarillo, Texas. In Vietnam, Klaus was part of Military Assistance Command Vietnam Studies and Observation Group (MACV-SOG) which was a joint service high command unconventional warfare task force engaged in highly classified operations throughout Southeast Asia. The 5th Special Forces channeled personnel into MACV-SOG (though it was not a Special Forces group) through Special Operations Augmentation (SOA) which provided their "cover" while under secret orders to MACV-SOG. These teams performed deep penetration missions of strategic reconnaissance and interdiction missions in Laos and Cambodia which were called, depending on the country and time frame, "Shining Brass" or "Prairie Fire" missions. On November 30, 1968, Sgt. Richard A. Fitts, Sgt. Arthur E. Bader, Cpl. Gary R. LaBohn, SSgt. Klaus D. Scholz, Maj. Samuel K. Toomey, Cpl. Michael H. Mein, 1Lt. Raymond C. Stacks were passengers aboard a Vietnamese Air Force CH34 helicopter (serial #14-4653) as their team was being transported to their reconnaissance mission area in Laos. Details of their mission was classified at that time, and remains classified in early 1990. However, information received from some of the family members indicates that the mission was related to disarming an enemy munitions store. This same account includes the informaton that Maj. Toomey was a chemical warfare expert. Other information states that he was a communications officer. Toomey's family identified his job as one that he could not talk about, but that he was an "Advisor to the Special Forces." The helicopter was flying at 4,000 feet when it was struck by 37mm anti-aircraft fire, went into a spin, crashed in a mass of flames and exploded. The helicopter crashed about 10 miles northwest of Khe Sanh, just into Laos east of Tchepone. The crash site is in heavy jungle, near a stream. From the time the aircraft was hit until the time it impacted out of view, the helicopter was under observation and no one was seen to leave the aircraft during its descent. No ground search was initiated because the location was in a denied area. Later visual search indicated that the pilot's hatch was open, and his helmet was seen 25-30 feet from the helicopter, but no survivors or bodies were seen. All the personnel aboard the aircraft, however, were not declared dead, but were were declared Missing in Action, which was procedure when no proof of death existed. When the war ended, and 591 Americans were releaesed from prison camps in Southeast Asia, not one man who had been held in Laos was released. Although the Pathet Lao stated publicly that they held "tens of tens" of Americans, no negotiations occurred which would free them at that time, nor have any occurred since. In March 1988, the area in which the helicopter crashed was excavated by a joint Lao/US technical team. Human remains consisting of 17 teeth and 145 bone fragments, none measuring over two inches, were recovered. The remains were returned to the U.S. Army Central Identification (CIL) in Hawaii. On January 3, 1990, it was announced that the remains of Richard Fitts had been positively identified from the material recovered at the crash site. That identification was determined by the government's conclusion that two of the 17 teeth belonged to Fitts. Fitts' parents, after having an independent analysis conducted on the teeth, felt assured that the teeth belonged to their son, and subsequently buried them in Boston, Massachusetts. The remaining 15 teeth and 145 bone fragments were said to be unidentifiable. Barely a month later, on February 8, 1990, the Department of Defense announced that the remainder of the crew had been positively identified and would be buried, along with the Vietnamese crew, in a mass grave in Arlington National Cemetery. Fitts' name was included on that tombstone along with the other Americans because the Pentagon believed some of the bone fragments belonged to Fitts. Thus, even though the remains were scientifically unidentifiable, the cases were closed on these individuals. Critics of the U.S. Government's identification of the entire crew of the helicopter point to a similar incident some years ago. In 1968, unidentifiable remains attributed to a group of U.S. Marines killed near Khe Sanh on February 25, 1968 were buried in a mass grave in St. Louis. One of the deceased was identified as being Marine Sgt. Ronald Ridgeway. Five years later, Ridgeway was released from a Vietnamese prisoner of war camp, giving rise to considerable speculation as to the validity of the positive identification of the other remains buried in St. Louis. There are still over 2300 Americans who remain prisoner, missing, or otherwise unaccounted for in Southeast Asia. Nearly 600 of them were lost in Laos. The U.S. Government, by early 1990, had received nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing in Southeast Aisa. Many authorities believe there are hundreds of Americans still alive today, held captive. In recent years, the numbers of remains returned from Vietnam and excavated in Laos has increased dramatically. Government strategists happily point to this as "progress" on the POW/MIA issue, although most of these remains are still unidentified. Indeed, many families, having had independent studies of the remains to assure accurate identification, now have answers to long-awaited concerns about their loved ones. However, when remains are positively identified, the U.S. Government closes the books and the search for that missing man ends. Can we afford to close the books on an American who may be alive waiting for his country to bring him home? How many will serve in the next war knowing they may be abandoned? ------------------------------------------------- Anthropoligical Summary CILHI 0071-89 These remains were recovered from a joint U.S./LAO excavation that took place in March of 1989. The report describing the recovery operation, 01/CIL/89 (Laos) can be found in this case file. Upon arriving at USA-CILHI, the dental remains were assigned the accession number CILHI 0070-89 and the post cranial or non-dental remains assigned CILHI 0071-89. Two teeth were segregated from CILHI 0070-89 and were radiographically identified as belonging to an individual from the REFNO 1333 incident. The Dental Summary Report for CILHI 0070-89A is covered in a separate report. Refer to the Dental Summary Report for CILHI 0070-89 which is included in this case file. Methodology After the systematic excavation of the skeletal and dental remains, and associated personal effects, these materials were taken to the U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory, Hawaii (USA-CILHI). The remains were placed in plastic bags with the grid locations marked on the outside of each bag. So as not to comingle the remains, the remains from each bag were washed with water and allowed to air dry. Once dry, the grid location from provenience would not be lost. The bone fragments from one grid location were compared to bone fragments from another grid location in an attempt to make an anatomical determinations of the type of bone that was recovered. Only two bone fragments could be articulated with each other. A possible shaft fragments from N4 E2 could be reconstructed with a fragment from N6 W2. Condition of Remains These remains are very incomplete and in poor condition. There was a total of 145 bone fragments recovered. The largest fragment measures 1.7cm (1.9 x .7). Perimortem burning is evident on the majority (91 percent) of bone fragments. Color variations on the fragments vary from dark black to white. Transverse fracture lines, warping, and longitudinal cracking can be observed on the burned fragments that are present. The non-dental remains that were recovered are shown in Photographs 1-8 at tghe end of this report. A table showing the overall relationship of the dental and skeletal remains is on page 3. Race Race could not be determined from the bone fragments that are present. The skeletal fragments are too incomplete to permit an assessment of race. Sex Sex could not be determined from the bone fragments that are present. The skeletal material was too incomplete to permit a reliable assessment of sex. Age The incomplete skeletal material prevented any accurate estimations of age. From the few bone fragments that could be identified, they appear to be skeletally adult. Stature and Muscularity Stature and muscularity could not be determined due to the lack of an intact long bone. No estimations of stature could be made since none of the skeletal material recovered could be assigned to a specific race and sex. Healed Fractures, Pathologies and Anomalies A number of the bone fragments displayed signs of possible or probable perimortem fractures. These breaks had sharp and diagonal edges. No skeletal anomalies were observed. Summary Due to the condition and paucity of skeletal remains that were recovered from 01/CIL/89 (Laos), no determinations can be made from the post cranial material. Jason I. Ota, B.A. 1 Nov 89 Anthropologist RECOMMENDATION CILHI 0070-89 CILHI 0071-89 PROPOSED IDENTIFICATION: CILHI GROUP REMAINS 5-89 ACQUISITION Analysis of all the remains recovered from the REFNO 1333 crash site in Savannakhet Province, Laos, has now been completed. The excavation was a joint US/Lao project 18-26 March 1989. One of the nine (7 US Army, 2 VNAF) manifested personnel on board this helicopter has been individually identified, based solely on dentition (see case file CILHI 0070-89A). No other individual identifications can be accomplished, due in large part to the amount (145 skeletal fragments and 17 teeth or portions of teeth) and nature (calcined fragments) of the recovered remains. No dental radiographs are available for two of the US passengers nor for the two VNAF crew members. The exact number of persons represented by the remains cannot be determined from the remains. The unidentified dental material is designated CILHI 0070-89, and the skeletal material is CILHI 0071-89. Dental, anthropological, casualty and field reports are enclosed. SUMMARY OF FINDINGS The crash and subsequent explosion were witnessed at close range, the site was aerially inspected, and no evidence of survivors was seen. Reports indicate scavenging of wreckage and removal of remains in the years since the incident. After seven days of excavation, it is believed that these are the only recoverable remains from the site. Owing to their condition and paucity, they cannot be segregated further nor identified as individuals. RECOMMENDATION In view of the commingled, fragmented, incomplete and unidentifiable nature of these remains, it is recommended that they be declared the only recoverable remains (other than the dentition identified as SP/5 FITTS) of the nine occupants of the CH-34 helicopter associated with the REFNO 1333 incident. The are the following: MAJ SAMUEL K. TOOMEY, III US ARMY 1LT RAYMOND C. STACKS US ARMY SSG KLAUS D. SCHOLZ US ARMY SP5 RICHARD A. FITTS US ARMY SGT ARTHUR E. BADER, JR. US ARMY SP4 MICHAEL H. MEIN US ARMY SP4 GARY R. LABOHN US ARMY 2 UNKNOWN VIETNAMESE CREWMEMBERS VN AIR FORCE