ANGUS, WILLIAM KERR

RIP - 07/13/17

Vulture Flight – VMA (aw) - 224 – Bengals
CVW-15 – USS CORAL SEA
Tonkin Gulf – 1971 – 1972

Left to Right:

Captain Alan Albrecht (USMC) – Bombardier / Navigator – Vulture 4 Bravo
1^st Lieutenant Tom Sprouse (USMC) – Pilot – Vulture 4 Alpha
Commander Roger “CAG” Sheets (USN) – Pilot – Vulture 1 Alpha
Captain Charlie Carr (USMC) – Bombardier / Navigator – Vulture 1 Bravo
Lieutenant Phil “Beer Barrel” Schuyler (USN) – Pilot – Vulture 3 Alpha
1^st Lieutenant Bill Angus (USMC) – Bombardier / Navigator – Vulture 2 Bravo
Captain Lou Ferracane (USMC) – Bombardier / Navigator – Vulture 3 Bravo
Captain Roger Wilson (USMC) – Pilot – Vulture 2 Alpha

Notes:

Schuyler and Ferracane were hit by AAA fire during an attack on the Uong Bi Railroad Repair Facility in May 1972,
ejected over the Tonkin Gulf, and were rescued and returned to the USS CORAL SEA.
 

Wilson and Angus were hit by AAA fire during an attack on the Nam Dinh Thermal Power Plant in June 1972. 
The left wing came off their A6A Intruder and the aircraft crashed into the cooling pond adjacent to the power plant. 
Wilson never ejected and was KIA.  Angus spent the next 9 months as a POW and returned from Hanoi in March 1973.

                                                                                                        Captain Alan Albrecht
                                                                                                         05/20/2017  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Name: William Angus Kerr
Rank/Branch: United States Marine Corps/O3
Unit: VMA AW 224
Date of Birth:15 December 1945
Home City of Record: Golden CO
Date of Loss: 12 June 1972
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 202520 North  1061008 East
Status (in 1973): Returnee
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A6A
Missions:
Other Personnel in Incident: Roger Wilson, remains returned 1988
Refno: 1872

Source: Compiled by P.O.W. NETWORK from one or more of the following: raw
data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA
families, published sources, interviews.  2023

REMARKS: 730328 RELEASED BY DRV

SYNOPSIS: The Grumman A6 Intruder is a two-man all weather, low-altitude,
carrier-based attack plane, with versions adapted as aerial tanker and
electronic warfare platform. The A6A primarily flew close-air-support,
all-weather and night attacks on enemy troop concentrations, and night
interdiction missions. Its advanced navigation and attack system, known as
DIANE (Digital Integrated Attack navigation Equipment) allowed small precision
targets, such as bridges, barracks and fuel depots to be located and attacked
in all weather conditions, day or night. The planes were credited with some of
the most difficult single-plane strikes in the war, including the destruction
of the Hai Duong bridge between Hanoi and Haiphong by a single A6. Their
missions were tough, but their crews among the most talented and most
courageous to serve the United States.

In Vietnam, Capt. Roger E. Wilson was an A6A pilot from Detachment C, VMA 224.
On June 11, 1972, he and Capt. Willam Angus were sent on a combat mission
over Nam Ha Province, North Vietnam. The aircraft was hit by ground fire,
and crashed in a lake on the north edge of the city of Nam Dinh. Wilson was
listed as Missing in Action. Although further details are unknown, the
latitude and longitude of loss for the two men are different in government
records.

Reports received through intelligence sources indicate that Wilson was probably
dead, and U.S. analysts concluded that, alive or dead, the Vietnamese
definitely knew his fate. Inexplicably, however, Capt. Wilson was maintained in
a Missing in Action status, rather than that of Prisoner of War. Wilson's name
was not on the 1973 list compiled by Henry Kissinger of "discrepancy" cases on
which it was felt the Vietnamese had ready information.

Since the war ended, several score remains have returned from Vietnam through
negotiations, but not those of Capt. Wilson. Progress on the remains issue has
been tediously slow, even though reliable information indicates that the
Vietnamese "stockpiled" hundreds of American bodies.

Even more frustrating is the issue of the men whom most authorities believe to
be alive. U.S. Government has conducted "over 250,000 interviews" and analyzed
"several million" documents since the war ended related to Americans still
missing, prisoner or unaccounted for from the Vietnam war, but has been unable
to make the conclusive official statement that Americans are still held
prisoner.

Critics say that the U.S. Government is unwilling to pay the price of freedom
for the men who were left behind and who are still alive. Capt. Roger E. Wilson
was willing to pay the price for freedom. How would he judge our actions in
securing the freedom of those we left behind?