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Synopsis of
Incident:
Capt. Consolvo was on a combat mission out
of Da Nang, South Vietnam, when his aircraft was hit by
ground fire as he pulled off target. He flew the aircraft about 18 miles to a safer
bail-out area before the
craft became uncontollable. Although Consolvo's mission was in South Vietnam near the DMZ, the ground fire
that struck his aircraft came from Laos.
Consolvo radioed that the aircraft was incapacitated and ordered his radar intercept officer, CWO
James J. Castonguay, to eject. He successfully reached the ground, was rescued after 19 hours, and returned to Da Nang.
The F4
crashed 3-4 miles from the location where Castonguay landed, in enemy territory (probably just inside Laos). Although Castonguay did not see
Consolvo eject, he believed he could have easily ejected and probably did. The wingman and forward air controller on the mission did not see
Consolvo eject, but they had been unable to keep the plane constantly in sight.
John Consolvo flew over 150 combat missions on his first
tour of Vietnam. He was into his second tour
when he was shot down on 7 May 1972. He had been in the Marine Corps since 1966.
If Consolvo
was unfortunate enough to have been apprehended by the Pathet Lao, he is among nearly
600 Americans who disappeared without a trace. The Pathet
Lao stated on several occasions that they held "tens of tens" of American prisoners, yet not one man held in Laos was ever released - or
negotiated for. Circumstances surrounding the crash indicate that the Vietnamese or Lao could account for his fate - alive or
dead.
John Consolvo does not deserve the abandonment he has received
from the country he proudly served.
Source:
POW Network - Biographies on POW/MIA from the Vietnam Conflict
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Please e-mail me if you have
any additional information about
Captain Consolvo, or if you have any comments about this page.
Go to Cpl Keiper and Capt Ravenna's
Page
Go
to SFC Guillory, Lt Lemmons and Capt McKittrick's Page
Go
to LCpl Padilla's Page
Go to Main POW/MIA page
Click here to view letters I have written on behalf on my adopted
POW/MIAs.
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© 1999-2008 by Jade Ostroha
Updated
March 4, 2003 |
