Name: Edward Milton Parsley
Rank/Branch: E4/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 22 January 1933
Home City of Record: Naugatuck WV
Date of Loss: 03 February 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 163000N 1064000E (YD008434)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: C123C
Refno: 0248
Other Personnel In Incident: James L. Carter; Wilburn R. Brown; Therman M.
Waller (all missing)
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 1990 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.
REMARKS: NO RAD CNTCT-REK SITE UNCONF-J
SYNOPSIS: The Fairchild C123 "Provider" was a night attack system/transport
aircraft based on an all-metal glider designed by Chase Aircraft. The
airplane's C123B prototype first flew on September 1, 1954. The C123B, in
the hands of a group of airmen who called themselves "The Mule Train" became
the first transport to see Vietnam service. The C123B transports were soon
joined by UC123Bs of the now-controversial Project Ranch Hand which sprayed
pesticides and herbicides over Vietnam, including Agent Orange.
The Provider, particularly in camoflage paint with mottled topside and light
bottomside, resembled an arched-back whale suspended from the bottom
midpoint of huge dorsal wings. Like other transports, the Provider proved
its versatility during the Vietnam war. The C123 also dispensed flares to
illuminate targets for fighters or tactical bombers, and were dubbed
"Candlestick" when they served in this capacity.
On February 3, 1966, a C123C Provider aircraft with a crew of four,
including its pilot, Capt. Wilbur R. Brown, and crewmembers James L. Carter,
SGT Edward M. Parsley and SGT Therman M. Waller, was assigned a mission on
the border of Laos and South Vietnam about 10 miles southwest of Khe Sanh.
During the mission, radio contact was lost with the Provider and its
whereabouts or those of the crew were never determined.
In April 1969, a rallier identified a number of photographs of missing
Americans as men he believed to have been captured. Wilbur Brown was among
those the rallier selected. CIA questioned the identification as no returned
POWs reported having seen any of the Provider crew in POW camps. It should
be noted, however, that it is now widely believed that more than one prison
system existed in Vietnam, and that prisoners in one were not mingled with
prisoners from another. (Also, given the location of the crash, the
possibility exists that the crew, if captured, may have been taken by Pathet
Lao forces. No Americans were ever released that were held in Laos.)
The mission flown by the C123 lost on February 3, 1966 is not indicated in
public records. It is known that "Candlestick" missions, dispensing flares
to illuminate targets for fighters or tactical bombers, was very effective
against truck traffic in Laos, except in those areas where anti-aircraft
defenses became too formidable. It it possible that the C123C might been on
a "Candlestick" mission.
Brown, Carter, Parsley and Waller were declared Missing In Action by the
U.S. Air Force. They are among nearly 2400 Americans who are unaccounted for
from the Vietnam war. Experts believe there are hundreds of these men still
alive today, waiting for their country to come for them.
The C-123
PROVIDER
was a short-range cargo aircraft used for a variety of missions in Vietnam. On
03 February 1966, a C-123B (tail number 55-4537) of the 311th
Air Cargo Squadron departed Da Nang on a round-robin combat airlift support
mission. The first leg of the trip took it to Khe Sanh, thence to Dong Hai and
back to Khe Sanh.
It departed Khe Sanh for another shuttle mission at about 4:55 in the afternoon.
During this leg radio
communications with the aircraft were lost. An extensive search was made without
results; neither the aircraft nor its crew could be located. Its flight
plan would have taken it over heavily jungled mountains. On 10 February, after
25 search sorties had been flown, the dedicated search effort was terminated and
the crew
was listed as Missing in Action.
On 09 January 1978, the Secretary of the Air Force
approved a Presumptive Finding of Death and Chief Master Sergeant Parlsey's
status was changed to Killed in Action/Body not Recovered. As of 28 May 2004, the remains of the four men have not been
repatriated; see our
PM-SEA pages
for current status.
Update
The remains of Major Carter,
CMSgt Parsley, and Sgt Waller were repatriated on 19 May 2003, with
identification publicly announced on 07 June 2004. Burial information
for these three men follows:
Colonel James L. Carter,
Site 3795, Section 64, Arlington National Cemetery.
CMSgt Edward M. Parsley, Site 46-A-15, Section MF, Arlington National
Cemetery.
CMSgt Therman M. Waller,
Site 016, Row 02, Section K, Missouri Veterans Cemetery, Bloomfield,
Missouri.
Although one report has been
found indicating that Major Brown's remains also were recovered, as of 25 July
2005 the DoD PMSEA office has not made any official
announcement regarding his repatriation.
RVN: FINDING OF DEATHCasualty
Report Casualty files | EDWARD H.
PARSLEY. (USAF) Date of report
(1978-01-27).
Contributor: United
States Air Force
Date: 1978-01-27
MANUSCRIPT/MIXED MATERIAL
RVN: MISSING, NON-BATTLEMessage
Casualty files | EDWARD H. PARSLEY.
(USAF) Date of report (1966-02-03).
OTHER MESSAGES RELATING TO THIS
INCIDENT ARE INCLUDED IN THIS
RECORD, 041215ZFEB66, 100900ZFEB66..
On June 7, 2004, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC, now
DPAA) identified the remains of Chief Master Sergeant Edward
Milton Parsley, missing from the Vietnam War.
Chief Master Sergeant Milton entered the U.S. Air Force from
West Virginia and served with the 310th Air Commando Squadron.
On February 3, 1966, he was the loadmaster aboard a C-123B
Provider (tail number 55-4537) on a mission along the border of
Laos and South Vietnam. While over Quang Tri Province, radio
contact was lost with the aircraft and it crashed for unknown
reasons, killing CMSgt Parsley. Aerial searches did not locate
the crash site, and CMSgt Parsley's remains were not recovered
at the time. From 2000 to 2003, joint U.S./Vietnamese
investigative teams traveled to the crash site and recovered
human remains and aircraft wreckage correlating to this loss; in
2004, U.S. investigators were able to identify CMSgt Parsley
from those remains.
Chief Master Sergeant Parsley is memorialized in the Courts of
the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
