Name: John Martin Brucher
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 44th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Takhli Airbase, Thailand
Date of Birth: 15 August 1936
Home City of Record: Clatskanie OR
Date of Loss: 18 February 1969
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 171800N 1061100E (XE290125)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F105D
Refno: 1388
Other Personnel In Incident: (none missing)
REMARKS: VOICE CONTACT INJURED IN TREE
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 April 1991 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.
SYNOPSIS: Major John M. Brucher was flying a mission over North Vietnam in
an F105D aircraft when it was hit by hostile fire and crashed on February
18, 1969. Brucher was seen to eject and land in trees, and emergency beeper
signals were heard. Brucher reported by radio that he had landed in a tree,
and that he was suspended in mid-air and unable to free himself from his
parachute. He later reported having a dislocated shoulder. Rescue efforts
were suspended until the following day because of intense hostile fire in
the area. When the rescue helicopters returned, Brucher's parachute was
found still hanging in the tree, empty. Attempts at radio contact with
Brucher were unsuccessful.
Brucher's last known location near the Ban Karai Pass in Quang Binh
Province, North Vietnam. He was listed Missing In Action, even though there
is every reason to believe the Vietnamese know his fate.
Some analysts have suggested that the pilots flying near the border of Laos
near the DMZ were aggressively pursued by the Vietnamese. During this time
of the American ground operation known as Dewey Canyon II, the Vietnamese
had troop and equipment buildup sites in the region they wished to keep
secret. Pilots flying overhead might compromise that information, if not
destroy the sites themselves. The Vietnamese, therefore sought to eliminate
the planes.
Thousands of reports of Americans alive in the hands of the Vietnamese have
been received by the U.S. since the end of the war. Many government
officials state that they believe Americans are currently being held against
their will in Southeast Asia. The question is, who are they, and how will we
bring them home? Is one of them John Brucher?
