Name: Gary Richard Sigler
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit: 11th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, Udorn AFB Thailand
Date of Birth: 07/14/42 (Bloomington IL)
Home City of Record: Table Grove IL
Date of Loss: 29 April 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 214501N 1050513E
Status (in 1973): Released POW
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: RF4C
Other Personnel In Incident: Mark L. Stephensen (remains returned)
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 July 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 with information provided by Gary R. Sigler 02/22/97. 2023
REMARKS: 730304 RELSD BY DRV
SYNOPSIS: Major L. Mark Stephensen was the pilot, and First Lieutenant Gary
R. Sigler the co-pilot, of a reconnaissance-outfitted version of the F4
Phantom fighter/bomber aircraft. Assigned to an armed reconnaissance
mission on April 29, 1967, it was Sigler's 93rd run over North Vietnam.
Sigler and Stephensen were friends, having met some 8 months before they
were both shipped overseas.
Sigler was confident in his friend's flying ability, and was undoubtedly
thinking of his young daughter's first birthday the next day. Sigler and
Stephenson usually flew night missions, and nearing the end of their tour as
marked by an upcoming 100 missions, were glad it was dark, figuring if "we
couldn't see them, they couldn't see us."
Thirteen minutes after takeoff, they radioed their position to an airborne
controller. It was the last radio transmission before the Phantom went down.
About 60 miles from Hanoi, their systems indicated that SAMs (Surface to Air
Missiles) had locked onto them. Attempting to evade their course, the
aircraft crashed against treetops on one hill, then into the side of another
hill. Sigler ejected after the first impact, and from a position over the
top of a hill from the crashed aircraft watched the sky illuminated from the
burning plane.
Sigler was captured two days later and spent 5 years, 10 months and 8 days
in captivity (one year in solitary confinement) of war before his release in
1973. He suffered severe burns, a broken back and was subjected to the "rope
trick" and repeated beatings while held.
Early in his captivity, he was asked if another pilot was on his plane. He
stated that during his entire captivity, he had no indication that the
Vietnamese knew what happened to his pilot and friend. Major Stephenson was
never heard from again.
In April 1988, the Vietnamese returned remains they identified as those of
Mark Stephenson. By August, 1988, the U.S. had verified that the
identification was valid. Mark Stephenson, alive or dead, had been a
prisoner of war for 21 years.
During the period he was maintained missing, Mark Stephenson was promoted to
the rank of Colonel. Gary R. Sigler was promoted to the rank of Captain
during his captivity.
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