MAGERS, PAUL GERALD

Remains identified 08/2010

Name: Paul Gerald Magers
Rank/Branch: O2/US Army
Unit: 158th Aviation Battalion, 160th Aviation Group, 101st Airborne
Division
Date of Birth: 20 June 1945 (Denver CO)
Home City of Record: Sidney NE
Date of Loss: 01 June 1971
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 164107N 1064423E (XD855454)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: AH1G
Refno: 1752

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.

Other Personnel in Incident: Donald L. Wann (missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On June 1, 1971, 1Lt. Paul Magers, pilot and CW2 Donald L. Wann,
aircraft commander, were aboard an AH1G Cobra gunship (serial #68-15002) on
a mission in northwest Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam, about 5 miles
south of the demilitarized zone (DMZ). Another helicopter had just
successfully extracted a Ranger team from a landing zone, and Magers'
gunship was to destroy some ammunition that had been in the area.

CW2 Wann started his rocket pass at about 1500 feet above the ground, and at
about 40 feet, before commencing fire, the aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft
fire. Witnesses saw a tracer round hit the underside and the tail section of
the helicopter and saw fire from escaping fuel. The aircraft nosed up,
gaining from 100-150 feet in altitude, then lost air speed. The aircraft
appeared to shudder as it started a vertical right descending turn in
flames.

As the aircraft fell in a spiral pattern, 6 calls were made by CW2 Wann on
both FM and UHF radio. None of the calls was answered. The aircraft crashed
and slid down a steep hill some 100 feet. All witnesses stated that the
crash was non-survivable. According to witnesses, Magers and Wann are almost
certainly dead. Magers and Wann were declared dead, body not recovered. They
are listed with honor among the missing because their bodies have not been
returned to their homelands for burial.

It is painful to think of the fear that Magers and Wann must have
experienced as their crippled helicopter spiralled to the earth, and they
made their futile radio requests for assistance. As painful as this thought
is, however, it is more painful to think of the tortured deaths of others of
the missing who were captured and killed inch by inch, day by day.

More painful still is the thought of the hundreds of Americans many
authorities believe are still alive in Southeast Asian prisons. What must
they be thinking of their country? There can be no greater agony than that
of abandonment.


IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 716-10
August 11, 2010

 
Soldiers Missing in Action from Vietnam War Identified
 

                The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of two U.S. servicemen, missing in action from the Vietnam War, have been identified and will be returned to their families for burial with full military honors. 

                U.S. Army 1st Lt. Paul G. Magers of Sidney, Neb., will be buried on Aug. 27 in Laurel, Mont., and Army Chief Warrant Officer Donald L. Wann of Shawnee, Okla., will be buried on Aug. 21 in Fort Gibson, Okla. 
                
                On June 1, 1971, both men were flying aboard an AH-1 Cobra gunship in support of an emergency extraction of an Army ranger team in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam.  After the rangers were extracted, helicopters were ordered to destroy claymore mines which had been left behind in the landing zone.  During this mission their helicopter was hit by ground fire, crashed and exploded.  Pilots who witnessed the explosions concluded that no one could have survived the crash and explosions.  Enemy activity in the area precluded a ground search.

                In 1990, analysts from DPMO, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) and their predecessor organizations interviewed both American and Vietnamese witnesses and produced leads for field investigations. In 1993 and 1998, two U.S.-Socialist Republic of Vietnam teams, led by JPAC, surveyed the suspected crash site and found artifacts and debris consistent with a Cobra gunship.  In mid-1999, another joint team excavated the site, but it stopped for safety reasons when the weather deteriorated.  No remains were recovered, but the team did find wreckage associated with the specific crash they were investigating.

                The Vietnamese government subsequently declared the region within Quang Tri Province where the aircraft crashed as off-limits to U.S. personnel, citing national security concerns. As part of an agreement with JPAC, a Vietnamese team unilaterally excavated the site and recovered human remains and other artifacts in 2008.  The Vietnamese returned to the site in 2009, expanded the excavation area and discovered more remains and additional evidence.

                Forensic analysis, circumstantial evidence and the mitochondrial DNA match to the Magers and Wann families by the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory confirmed the identification of the remains.

                For additional information on the Defense Department's mission to account for missing Americans, visit the DPMO Web site at http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo or call 703-699-1169.

 
Hi Everyone,

I wanted to send a big "Thank You" to everyone that escorted me and my dad home from Tulsa to Muskogee. I had a wonderful time at the JPAC/CIL lab in Hawaii, it was amazing, it was a very emotional time but healing time for me to help with the preparation. Everyone at all Hawaii airport was wonderful, i'm so grateful. DFW airport wow! They treated us like royalty, PGR was there waiting for us, we took pictures, I met so many wonderful people. Dave Calhoun was there and give me his Redskins pin, I was so overwhelmed with the outpouring support and love, it was wonderful. Then Tulsa airport, we saw all the people waiting for us on the tarmac all the motorcycles....me and CW2 Shul (my dad's Army escort) has tears in our eyes, seeing everyone was so overwhelming with emotions of joy, happiness. I wanted to thank everyone for the outpouring welcome home, and support. I can not put into words how I feel, but i'm so Happy!! I'm now in Muskogee at the hotel, went to dinner with Steve and my sister tonight. Can't wait to meet everyone, see you all soon.


This information below is from Nathan Magers the nephew of 1st Paul Magers, Nathan and I have been in contact with each other for about 5 years now. He requested me to send this out on my contact list, for anyone wanting to help with Paul's escort home.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 
Evening or morning Shannon,
 
Hope all is going well.
 
I have a request from you if I may,
 
Can you send out a notice for me? As you have the contacts as well as the web to carry it out on.
 
I'm looking for anyone who want s to Welcome a HERO home Paul Magers in Denver or in Billings.
We will be arriving in Denver on United Airlines flight #42 on August 25th at 9:08am. We will be on the ground for just over 2 hours.
We leave for Billings at 11:25 flight 579 again on United Airlines.
Arriving in Billings at 12:51pm. If anyone wants to join the procession to the funeral home to welcome Paul home lcing@comcast.com.
Thank you everyone for your support and kind words, it means a lot to the family.
 
I'm sorry to request this from you but I don't have the contacts like you have developed.
 
Thanks again if you can help.
 
Nathan
 
 

 
Shannon Wann Plaster
Daughter of  MIA CW2 Donald L. Wann
Oklahoma - State Coordinator
National League of POW/MIA Families
Phone: 405-501-2676
 Email: CW2CobraGunship@aol.com
Follow me on Facebook: @Wann's Story
http://www.facebook.com/people/Wanns-Story/100001300237259?ref=search

Find us on Twitter: @POWMIAFamilies
 http://twitter.com/POWMIAFamilies
 http://www.pow-miafamilies.org/
 

Final farewell

Laid to rest: 39 years later, aviator is home for good

ED KEMMICK Of The Gazette Staff | Posted: Friday, August 27, 2010 11:10 am

It took many years and many miles to get 1st Lt. Paul G. Magers home, but he was laid to rest at last on Friday, 39 years after he was killed in Vietnam......

 

Long-held bracelet given to family of fallen soldier

ED KEMMICK Of The Gazette Staff | Posted: Friday, August 27, 2010 5:04 pm

For 25 years, Curt Nickisch was reminded almost every day that Lt. Paul G. Magers, shot down over Vietnam in 1971, was still missing in action......

Daughter of soldier killed with Magers attends funeral, burial service

ED KEMMICK Of The Gazette Staff | Posted: Friday, August 27, 2010 4:59 pm

Shannon Wann Plaster buried her father in Oklahoma last Saturday, and on Friday she was in Montana to honor the man who died with him..

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

02/2020

https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt000000vsbNAEAY

1LT PAUL GERALD MAGERS

Return to Service Member Profiles

On July 21, 2010, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC, now DPAA) identified the remains of First Lieutenant Paul Gerald Magers, missing from the Vietnam War.

First Lieutenant Magers entered the U.S. Army from Nebraska and was a member of the 158th Aviation Battalion, 160th Aviation Group, 101st Airborne Division. On June 1, 1971, he piloted an AH-1G Cobra (tail number 68-15002, call sign "Oxhorn 22") supporting the emergency extraction of an Army Ranger team in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam. After the Rangers were extracted, the aircraft was hit by enemy ground fire, crashed, and exploded, and 1LT Magers was killed in the incident. Enemy activity in the area precluded a ground search and 1LT Magers' remains were not recovered at the time. In 2008, a joint U.S./Vietenamese team excavated the crash site and recovered human remains that U.S. analysts identified as those of 1LT Magers.

First Lieutenant Magers 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.