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If you are able, Be not ashamed to say Take what they have taught you And in that time -- Major Michael Davis O'Donnell |
Name: James Lee
Paul Rank/Branch: W1/US Army Unit: D Troop, 3rd Squadron, 5th Cavalry Date of Birth: 13 Oct. 1948 Home City of Record: Riverview, MI Date of Loss: 05 Feb. 1971 Country of Loss: South Vietnam Loss Coordinates: 164031N 1064457E (XD865443) Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered Category: 4 Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: AH1G Refno: 1699 Other Personnel In Incident: (None missing) 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. REMARKS: SYNOPSIS: WO1 James L. Paul, co-pilot, and WO1 Carl M. Wood, pilot, were flying a Cobra gunship (tail #66-15340) on an extraction mission on February 5, 1971, in the general vicinity of Khe Sanh, Military Region 1, South Vietnam. Shortly after the start of the extraction, WO1 Paul's aircraft entered a heavy cloud cover which forced the pilot to go on instruments to climb out of the weather. It was during the climb that the Cobra impacted a mountainside and exploded. Aircraft accompanying the Cobra immediately began a visual reconnaissance of the area and sighted the crash. Ground search teams were inserted and a 50 meter area surrounding the crash was searched. The search indicated there had been a violent explosion upon impact. WO1 Wood's remains were recovered from the wreckage of the aircraft. Weather delayed further search until February 10, 1971, during which a baseball cap containing Paul's name, a watch, part of a ring and map and a chinstrap were found 1 meter from the wreckage. The team also discovered an unidentifiable hand under the wreckage. Search was discontinued, and from all indications, it was determined that Paul was dead. WO1 Paul is listed among the missing because his remains were never found. For his family, his fate seems clear. For others missing, conclusions cannot be so easily drawn. Many were known to have been prisoner of war, or last seen alive. Others disappeared without a trace. When the war ended, and 591 Americans were released in Operation Homecoming in 1973, military experts expressed their dismay that "some hundreds" of POWs did not come home with them. Since that time, thousands of reports have been received, indicating that many Americans are still being held against their will in Southeast Asia. Whether Paul is among them is not at all likely. What is certain, however, is that if only one American remains alive in enemy hands, we owe him our best effort to bring him home. |
James Paul,
American Hero
