Data Sources - Air Force Manual No. 200-25A, Department of the Air Force, Washington, October 16, 1961 page 1. Sanitized copy. National Archives KOREAN Conflict Casualty File (KCCF) 1950-1954.
03/92 -- Korea, and the men yet to be accounted for -- the "official list" -- is a list of U.S. servicemen known to have been
held as prisoners of war by the red Chinese and North Koreans from the Korean War
but not released or accounted for by the communists, as released on May 27,
1957 at a hearing of the House Subcommittee on the Far East and Pacific by the Department
of Defense.
The lists, the printed minutes of the May 27, 1957 hearing and the
"sense of congress" resolution were subsequently buried in the
archives. The original list had 450 names compiled from American POWS who were
repatriated by the Reds, as well as from photographs released by the Reds, Chinese
radio propaganda broadcasts, and letters written home by captured men. The "revised" list was narrowed down in august of 1961 to 389 men, and
all were arbitrarily declared dead by the military services, the USG still
lists them as "unaccounted for".
Names and ranks only were released at the time, and printed in "The
Spotlight" on August 27, 1979, along with the above information and background.
Further information has been compiled by the P.O.W. Network from the Hawaii POW/MIA
Korean Memorial records, National Archives documentation, and public United
States Air Force documentation, and changes made to the original published
information. (FEBRUARY 1992)
Victor Duer is listed on the "HONOR ROLL OF FORGOTTEN AMERICANS" yet is noted as having died "while missing" by the National Archive.
03/12/2021
- KOREAN WAR
- UNITED STATES AIR FORCE
- Unaccounted For
Captain Victor Leroy Duer, who joined the U.S. Air Force from Colorado, was a member of the 35th Fighter-Bomber Squadron, 8th Fighter-Bomber Group. On April 30, 1952, he took off from Suwon Air Base, South Korea, piloting an F-80 Shooting Star (tail number 49-594) as the number four aircraft in a four-plane combat training and rail cutting mission against targets southeast of Haeju, North Korea. While en route to the target area, Capt Duer reported an inability to feed fuel from one of his aircraft's tip-tanks and was instructed to drop them. The flight continued to Haeju and completed a successful bombardment run on the target. As the flight returned to base, Capt Duer was unable to keep up with the rest of the formation and reported more technical issues. The rest of the flight eventually lost sight of Capt Duer, but the flight leader and ground controllers were able to keep radio contact with him, giving directions to return to base. Capt Duer eventually reported smoke and fire in his cockpit, and that he was bailing out over water. He made no further contact, and his Shooting Star was later found to have crashed on a mudflat at the mouth of the Han River. Captain Duer was not seen again. No returning POWs mentioned having contact with Capt Duer, nor was he seen at any known holding point, interrogation center, hospital, or permanent POW camp. He has not been associated with any remains returned to U.S. custody after the ceasefire, and is still unaccounted-for. Today, Captain Duer 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.
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.
 Capt VICTOR LEROY DUER
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