TERAN, REFUGIO THOMAS

Remains Identified 03/2002

Name: Refugio Thomas "Tom" Teran
Rank/Branch: E3/US Army
Unit: 2nd Battalion, 501st Infantry, 101st Airborne Division
Date of Birth: 08 May 1949 (Detroit MI)
Home City of Record: Westland MI
Date of Loss: 06 May 1970
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 163840N 1065600E (YD081411)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Refno: 1613

Other Personnel In Incident: Larry G. Kier (missing)

Source: Compiled 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 in 2020.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Every week while he was in Vietnam, Refugio Teran got a package
from his mother containing 30 pounds of oatmeal, canned fruit and sugar,
which Teran gave to a Vietnamese family near the base where he was
stationed.

On May 4, "in the world", National Guardsmen had been called in to control
rioting at Kent State and then Governor Ronald Reagan ordered California
universities closed for the rest of the week.

During the night of May 5, 1970 (12 hours in time behind Vietnam time), Mrs.
Anna Teran woke up screaming, knowing she would lose her son.

On May 6, 1970, PFC Larry G. Kier and PFC Refugio T. Teran were assigned to
separate companies of the 101st Airborne Division as riflemen defending an
artillery fire support base in South Vietnam.

At about 0500 hours on May 6, 1970, Viet Cong forces overran a guard station
at an ammunition dump near Henderson Hill in Quang Tri Province, South
Vietnam, killing 33 Americans. Kier and Teran were last seen running toward
a barricade, and when not seen again, were presumed dead. Kier's position
was reportedly hit by a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG), and then napalm
ignited in his location which was leaking from a nearby position. PFC Teran
had been located in another firing position along the camp perimeter.

The next day, a graves registration detail collecting bodies was unable to
find any trace of Kier and Teran. Five others in the unit who had been
believed dead were found alive, but injured.

When 591 Americans were released from Vietnam in 1973, Kier and Teran were
not among them. There has been no word surface about them since they
disappeared.

Since 1973, nearly 10,000 reports have been given to the U.S. Government
regarding Americans still in Southeast Asia. Some have withstood the
"closest scrutiny" possible, and cannot be disputed. There is very strong
reason to believe that Americans are still held captive in Southeast Asia
today.

Unlike "MIAs" from other wars, most of the nearly 2500 Americans who did not
come home from Vietnam can easily be accounted for, dead or alive. We, as a
nation, must turn our immediate attention to those who are alive and do
everything possible to secure their freedom.

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                                                [ssrep7.txt 02/09/93]

                   SMITH 324 COMPELLING CASES

South Vietnam             Larry G. Kier
                        Refugio T. Terran
                             (1613)

On May 6, 1970, Private First Class Kier and Private First Class
Terran were at a fire support base in Quang Tri Province.  Their
position came under an enemy attack and a nearby ammunition dump 20
meters from their bunker was hit by a rocket propelled grenade.
Napalm from the ammunition dump leaked into their position which
caught fire and burned.  After the attack Terran could not be
located, and Kier, at a separate location, could not be located
either.  Both individuals were declared killed in action, body not
recovered in the late 1970s.

In August 1991, a Vietnam resident turned over the partially melted
identity card belonging to Kier together with two bone fragments.
The bones were reportedly recovered during 1987 and were turned
over to a U.S. representative in Hanoi.  The fragments are
currently undergoing analysis.

=============================

LEAGUE UPDATE:  March 7, 2002

AMERICANS ACCOUNTED FOR:  According to the Department of Defense, there are
now 1,936 Americans still missing and unaccounted for from the Vietnam War.
Most recently, remains jointly recovered in June, 1994, were identified as
Air Force Colonels Peter M. Cleary of CT and Leonardo C. Leonor of NY, both
listed as MIA October 10, 1972 in North Vietnam.  Also recently identified
were Army SSGs Larry G. Kier of NB and Rufugio T. Teran of MI, missing in a
South Vietnam ground incident since May 6, 1970.  Local villagers initially
provided remains in August 1992; joint operations resulted in further
information and remains.  Others recently accounted for include Air Force
Col William C. Coltman of PA and LtCol Robert A. Brett, Jr., of OR, missing
in Laos since September 29, 1972, with remains jointly recovered August 28,
2000.

=============================

Refugio Teran, left, sits on a couch as his wife, Anna Bertha Teran, looks
at a photo of their son, Staff Sgt. Refugio Thomas Teran, whose remains were
recently discovered in Vietnam and returned to the United States.

MIA's body returned home after 32 years Westland soldier to be buried at
Arlington

By Jennifer Brooks / The Detroit News
March 26, 2002

WESTLAND -- Thirty-two years after he vanished in the jungles of Vietnam,
Refugio Thomas Teran is coming home.....

==============================

The Detroit News
Friday, December 27, 2002

Anna Teran, searched tirelessly for missing soldier son
Jennifer Brooks

WESTLAND -- For 32 years, Anna Bertha Teran moved heaven and earth to find
her lost son after he was declared missing in action in the Vietnam
War.

They found him this year on the battle-scarred hillside where he died on
Mother's Day 1970 and brought him home for a hero's burial in Arlington
National Cemetery.....

 
Westland POW/MIA ceremony set for Friday
Hometownlife.com                                               09/14/2014
Earlier this year, a Grand Rapids resident visited the Bova VFW Post in Westland to return Teran's POW/MIA bracelet which she had worn for a number ...

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02/2020

https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt000000vsbL9EAI

SSG REFUGIO THOMAS TERAN

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On August 29, 2001, Joint Task Force–Full Accounting (JTF-FA, now DPAA) identified the remains of Staff Sergeant Refugio Thomas Teran, missing from the Vietnam War.

Staff Sergeant Teran entered the U.S. Army from Michigan and was a member of the 2nd Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. On May 6, 1970, he took part in the defense of Fire Support Base Henderson in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam, against enemy attack. He was killed in the engagement and his body was not recovered at the time of his loss. In 1996, the Vietnamese government repatriated a set of remains that U.S. analysts eventually identified as those of SSG Teran.

Staff Sergeant Teran is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

If you are a family member of this serviceman, you may contact your casualty office representative to learn more about your service member.