RUNNELS, GLYN LINAL JR.

Remains Identified.

Name: Glyn Linal Runnels, Jr.
Rank/Branch: E4/USMC
Unit: A Company, 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion, 3rd Marine Division
Date of Birth: 04 November 1946
Home City of Record: Birmingham AL
Date of Loss: 30 June 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 161349N 1074301E (YC896956)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: CH46A
Refno: 0746

Other Personnel In Incident: John House; Michael Judd; John Killen; Merlin
Allen (all still missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 April 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: DED/CRSH BRN/SOM RECOV/NT SUBJ

SYNOPSIS: Capt. John A. House was the pilot of an CH46A helicopter carrying
personnel assigned to Company A, 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion, 3rd Marine
Division near the city of Phu Bai, South Vietnam on June 30, 1967.

Among the passengers onboard the aircraft were members of Company A, LCpl.
Merlin R. Allen, LCpl. John D. Killen, and Cpl. Glyn L. Runnels. Also
onboard was the company's hospital corpsman, Petty Officer Third Class
Michael B. Judd.

The aircraft was hit by small arms fire, exploded and crashed. Although some
of the personnel aboard survived, House, Allen, Judd, and Killen were never
found, nor were remains recovered that could be identified as theirs. The
four men were listed as killed in action, body not recovered.

Nearly 2500 Americans did not return from Southeast Asia at the end of the
war. Some, like the pilot and passengers of the CH46, are probably dead and
will never come home. Since the end of the war, however, thousands of
refugee reports have been received that indicate hundreds of Americans are
still alive, held captive.

It is a matter of pride in the Marine Corps that one's comrades are never
left on the field of battle to fall into the hands of the enemy. One can
imagine that these men, had they survived, would willingly go one more
mission for the return of those who still await rescue. Although some of the
personnel aboard survived, House was never found, nor were remains recovered
that could be identified as his. He was listed as killed in action, body not
recovered.

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

NATIONAL LEAGUE OF FAMILIES OF AMERICAN PRISONERS AND MISSING IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

UPDATE: April 1, 2017

AMERICANS RECENTLY ACCOUNTED FOR: On March 28th, DPAA Statistics listed three USMC personnel as recently accounted for: Captain John A. House of NY, Cpl Glyn L. Runnels, Jr., of AL, and LCpl John D. Killen, II, of IA. All were listed as KIABNR on June 30, 1967, in South Vietnam. Their remains were recovered in June, 2012, and identification was authorized on December 22, 2015. DPAA has not yet published the formal announcement with interment plans. On March 7th, DPAA released an announcement that Captain Daniel W. Thomas, USAFR, listed as MIA on July 6, 1971 in South Vietnam, had been accounted for. Remains were recovered by a Vietnamese Unilateral Recovery Team (URT) in August, 2014, and identified in August, 2015, as those of Major Donald G. Carr, USA, the other person in the OV-10A piloted by Capt Thomas. Subsequent recovery efforts by the URT and repatriation of additional remains and material in April, 2016, brought the more recent ID of Capt Thomas. DPAA also listed on its website, under Statistics, the accounting for Colonel William E. Campbell, USAF, listed as MIA in Laos January 29, 1969. His remains were recovered April 17, 2014, identified August 29, 2016, and his name was placed on the DPAA website as accounted for on March 3rd. On February 22nd, DPAA announced the ID of Capt Robert R. Barnett, USAF, listed as KIA/BNR on April 7, 1966 while piloting a B-57B over Laos. His remains were recovered June 18, 2015 and identified August 16, 2016. Earlier this year, a Marine Corps Reserve officer, 1st Lt William C. Ryan, was the first person since June of 2016 announced as accounted for from the Vietnam War. 1st Lt Ryan was listed KIA/BNR in Laos on May 11, 1969. His remains were recovered January 27, 2016, and identified December 7, 2016.

 

Subject: Marines Missing From Vietnam War Identified (House, Killen, Runnels)
Date: Mon, 10 Apr 2017 11:41:44 +0000
From: Duus, Kristen L SSG USARMY DPAA EC (US) <kristen.l.duus.mil@mail.mil>
 

Dear Sir/Ma'am,

The remains of Marine Corps Capt. John A. House, II; Lance Cpl. John D.
Killen, III; and Cpl. Glyn L. Runnels, Jr., have now been accounted for.

House was assigned to HHM-265 Marine Aircraft Group 16, and Killen and
Runnels were assigned to Company A, 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion, 3rd Marine
Division, when their aircraft crashed in Vietnam, June 30, 1967.

Two additional service members were previously identified from this crash,
Marine Lance Cpl. Merlin R. Allen and Navy Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class
Michael B. Judd.   Their remains were returned to their families for burial
with full military honors.

Interment services are pending.

For more information on DPAA please visit our website at www.dpaa.mil, find
us on social media at www.facebook.com/dodpaa or call 703-699-1420.

~Fulfilling Our Nation's Promise~
 

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

Aerotech News (blog)

The Pentagon says the remains of three U.S. Marines killed when their helicopter was
shot down during the Vietnam War will be buried this week at Arlington National Cemetery.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced Sept. 21 that the remains of the
three men will be buried as a group with full military honors Sept. 27. The three men are:
Capt. John A. House II, of Pelham, N.Y.; Lance Cpl. John D. Killen III, of Davenport, Iowa;
and Cpl. Glyn L. Runnels Jr., of Birmingham, Ala.

The Pentagon says their remains were identified in March 2017.

Military officials say House, the oldest at 28, was the pilot of the Sea Knight helicopter that
crashed after being hit by enemy fire on June 30, 1967. Four others also were killed, including
18-year-old Killen and 21-year-old Runnels. 
AP

 

 
27, according to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency. Search and recovery.
On June 30, 1967, House was the pilot of a CH-46A Sea Knight ...

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

02/2020

https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt000000oW62jEAC

CPL GLYN LINAL RUNNELS JR.

Return to Service Member Profiles


On March 9, 2017, the Defense POW/MIA Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Corporal Glyn Linal Runnels Jr., missing from the Vietnam War.

Corporal Runnels, who joined the U.S. Marine Corps from Texas, served with A Company, 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion, 3rd Marine Division. On June 30, 1967, he was aboard a CH-46A Sea Knight helicopter as part of a reconnaissance patrol being inserted into enemy territory in Thua Thien-Hue Province, Vietnam. As the Sea Knight approached the landing zone, it was struck by enemy fire, causing the aircraft to catch fire and crash. Cpl Runnels and four others were killed in the crash. In 2012, a Joint U.S./Socialist Republic of Vietnam recovery team excavated the crash site and located human remains. Modern forensic techniques were eventually able to identify Cpl Runnels among the remains recovered. 

Corporal Runnels 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.