CARROLL, PATRICK HENRY
Name: Patrick Henry Carroll
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit: Commando Sabre Operations, 31st Tactical Fighter Wing, Tuy Hoa
Airbase, South Vietnam
Date of Birth: 12 December 1942
Home City of Record: Allen Park MI [Family states Berkley, MI]
Date of Loss: 02 November 1969
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 144500N 1071700E (YB218846)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F100F
Refno: 1510
Other Personnel In Incident: Lawrence W. Whitford (missing)
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 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 2000 with information from Darlene Carroll. 2020
REMARKS:
SYNOPSIS: When North Vietnam began to increase their military strength in
South Vietnam, NVA and Viet Cong troops again intruded on neutral Laos for
sanctuary, as the Viet Minh had done during the war with the French some
years before. The border road, termed the "Ho Chi Minh Trail" was used for
transporting weapons, supplies and troops. Hundreds of American pilots were
shot down trying to stop this communist traffic to South Vietnam.
Fortunately, search and rescue teams in Vietnam were extremely successful
and the recovery rate was high.
Still there were nearly 600 who were not rescued. Many of them went down
along the Ho Chi Minh Trail and the passes through the border mountains
between Laos and Vietnam. Many were alive on the ground and in radio contact
with search and rescue and other planes; some were known to have been
captured. Hanoi's communist allies in Laos, the Pathet Lao, publicly spoke
of American prisoners they held, but when peace agreements were negotiated,
Laos was not included, and not a single American was released that had been
held in Laos.
On November 2, 1969, LtCol. Lawrence W. Whitford, Jr., pilot, and 1Lt.
Patrick H. Carroll, navigator, departed Tuy Hoa Airbase located on the coast
of central South Vietnam on a "Misty" Forward Air Control (FAC) mission over
the Ho Chi Minh Trail in central Laos.
Whitford radioed that he was running out of fuel in Attapeu Province, about
20 miles east of the city of Muong May. He had a scheduled refueling, but
never appeared. Searches did not reveal any sign of the aircraft crash or
the crew.
Several months later, a damaged plane thought to be the plane flown by
Carroll and Whitford was found in the area with no bodies inside and nothing
to indicate that the crew had perished in the crash. Both Whitford and
Carroll were declared Missing in Action.
Carroll and Whitford went down in an area heavily infiltrated by enemy
forces. In Whitford's case, there is certain indication that the enemy knows
what happened to him. As pilot, he would have ejected second. In Carroll's
case, it is highly suspected that the Lao or the Vietnamese know his fate.
Whitford and Carroll are two of the nearly 600 Americans who disappeared in
Laos, never to return. Although Pathet Lao leaders stressed that they held
"tens of tens" of American prisoners in Laos, not one man held in Laos was
ever released - or negotiated for.
Patrick Carroll attended the Air Force Academy, graduated from the
University of Colorado and had just begun a promising career in the
military. Larry Whitford was a senior officer with a distinguished record.
The country they proudly served abandoned them in their haste to leave an
unpopular war.
Were it not for the thousands of reports concerning Americans still held
captive in Southeast Asia, the Whitford and Carroll families might be able
to close this tragic chapter of their lives. But as long as Americans are
alive, being held captive, one of them could be Carroll or Whitford. It's
time we brought these men home.
==================================
Subject: Patrick Henry Carroll, USAF
I hope it may be possible that someone with information on or having known
my father contact me.
Thank you,
Darlene Carroll
carrollgiha@comcast.net
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
01/2020
https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt0000000BTazEAG
On November 2, 1969, an F-100F Super Sabre (tail number 56-3796) took off from Tuy Hoa Air Base, South Vietnam, carrying two crew members on a forward air controller (FAC) mission over the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos. The last radio transmission received from the pilot stated that he was running out of fuel over Attapeu Province, about 20 miles east of the city of Muong May. The Super Sabre had a scheduled refueling, but when it failed to make the rendezvous, an aerial search was launched. The search found no sign of the aircraft, a crash site, or the missing crew. Because the aircraft disappeared over an area heavily infiltrated by enemy forces, a ground search could not be conducted. The aircraft and its two crew members remain unaccounted for.
First Lieutenant Patrick Henry Carroll Jr. entered the U.S. Air Force from Michigan and was a member of the 355th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 31st Tactical Fighter Wing. He was the pilot of this Super Sabre when it went missing, and he was lost with the aircraft. Subsequent to the incident, and while carried in the status of missing in action (MIA), the U.S. Air Force promoted First Lieutenant Carroll to the rank of Major (Maj). Today, Major Carroll 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 Active Pursuit.
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.
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