Adopted POW

HARNED, GARY ALAN

Group Identification

Name: Gary Alan Harned

Rank/Branch: E5/US Army Special Forces

Unit: SOA (MACV-SOG), CCN, 5th Special Forces Group

Date of Birth: 05 July 1950 (Meadsville PA)

Home City of Record: Springboro PA

Date of Loss: 24 March 1970

Country of Loss: Cambodia

Loss Coordinates: 142750N 1071816E (YB484003)

Status (in 1973): Missing In Action

Category: 3

Acft/Venicle/Ground: UH1H

Refno: 1578

Other Personnel in Incident: Berman Ganoe; John C. Hosken; Rudy M. Becerra;
Michael O'Donnell; John Boronski, Jerry L. Pool (all missing)

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, including James E. Lake's account found in
"Life on the Line" by Philip D. Chinnery, nterviews. Updated by the P.O.W.
NETWORK 2001.

REMARKS: SURVIVAL UNLIKELY - PER SAR

SYNOPSIS: Kontum, South Vietnam was in the heart of "Charlie country" hostile
enemy territory. The little town is along the Ia Drang River, some forty miles north of
the city of Pleiku. U.S. forces never had muchcontrol over the area. In fact, the area
to the north and east of Kontum was freefire zone where anything and anyone was
free game. The Kontum area was home base to what was known as FOB2
(Forward Observation Base 2), a classified, long-term operations of the Special
Operations Group (SOG) that involved daily operations into Laos and Cambodia.
SOG teams operated out of Kontum, but staged out of Dak To.

The mission of the 170th Assault Helicopter Company ("Bikinis") was to perform the
insertion, support, and extraction of these SOG teams deep in the forest on "the
other side of the fence" (a term meaning Laos or Cambodia, where U.S. forces
were not allowed to be based). Normally, the

teams consisted of two "slicks" (UH1 general purpose helicopters), two Cobras
(AH1 assault helicopters) and other fighter aircraft which served as standby support.
On March 24, 1970, helicopters from the 170th were sent to extract a MACV-SOG
long-range reconnaissance patrol (LRRP) team which was in contact with the
enemy about fourteen miles inside Cambodia in tanokiri Province.

The flight leader, RED LEAD, serving as one of two extraction helicopters was
commanded by James E. Lake. Capt. Michael D. O'Donnell was the aircraft
commander of one of the two cover aircraft (serial #68-15262, RED THREE). His
crew consisted of WO John C. Hoskins, pilot; SP4 Rudy M. Beccera, crew chief;
and SP4 Berman Ganoe, gunner.

The MACV-SOG team included 1LT Jerry L. Pool, team leader and team members
SSGT John A. Boronsky and SGT Gary A. Harned as well as five indigenous team
members. The team had been in contact with the enemy all night and had been
running and ambusing, but the hunter team pursuing them was relentless and they
were exhausted and couldn't continue to run much longer. when Lake and O'Donnell
arrived at the team's location, there was no landing zone (LZ) nearby and they were
unable to extract them immeidately. The two helicopters waited in a high orbit over
the area until the team could move to a more suitable extraction point. While the
helicopters were waiting, they were in radio contact with the team. After about 45
minutes in orbit, Lake received word from LT Pool that the NVA hunter team was
right behind them. RED LEAD and RED THREE made a quick trip to Dak To for
refueling. RED THREE was left on station in case of an emergency.

When Lake returned to the site, Pool came over the radio and said that if the team
wasn't extracted then, it would be too late. Capt. O'Donnell evaluated the situation
and decided to pick them up. He landed on the LZ and was on the ground for about
4 minutes, and then transmitted that he had

the entire team of eight on board. The aircraft was beginning its ascent when it was
hit by enemy fire, and an explosion in the aircraft was seen. The helicopter
continued in flight for about 300 meters, then another explosion occurred, causing
the aircraft to crash in the jungle. According to

Lake, bodies were blown out the doors and fell into the jungle. [NOTE: According to
the U.S. Army account of the incident, no one was observed to have been thrown
from the aircraft during either explosion.] The other helicopter crewmen were
stunned. One of the Cobras, Panther 13, radioed "I don't think a piece bigger than
my head hit the ground." The second explosion was followed by a yellow flash and a
cloud of black smoke billowing from the jungle. Panther 13 made a second high-
speed pass over the site and came under fire, but made it away unscathed. Lake
decided to go down and see if there was a way to get to the crash site.

As he neared the ground, he was met with intense ground fire from the entire area.
He could not see the crash site sice it was under heavy tree cover. There was no
place to land, and the ground fire was withering. He elected to return the extract
team to Dak To before more aircraft was lost. Lake has carried the burden of guilt
with him for all these years, and has never forgiven himself for leaving his good
friend O'Donnell and his crew behind.

The Army account concludes stating that O'Donnell's aircraft began to burn
immediately upon impact. Aerial search and rescue efforts began immediately;
however, no signs of life could be seen around the crash site. Because of the
enemy situation, attempts to insert search teams into the area were futile. SAR
efforts were discontinued on April 18. Search and rescue teams who surveyed the
site reported that they did not hold much hope for survival for the men aboard, but
lacking proof that they were dead, the Army declared all 7 missing in action.

For every patrol like that of the MACV-SOG LRRP team that was detected and
stopped, dozens of other commando teams safely slipped past NVA lines to strike
a wide range of targets and collect vital information. The number of MACV-SOG
missions conducted with Special Forces reconnaissance teams into Laos and
Cambodia was 452 in 1969. It was the most sustained American campaign of
raiding, sabotage and intelligence gathering waged on foreign soil in U.S. military
history. MACV-SOG's teams earned a global reputation as one of the most combat
effective deep penetration forces ever raised.

By 1990 over 10,000 reports have been received by the U.S. Government
concerning men missing in Southeast Asia. The government of Cambodia has
stated that it would like to return a number of American remains to the U.S. (in fact,
the number of remains mentioned is more than are officially

listed missing in t at country), but the U.S., having no diplomatic relations with
Cambodia, refuses to respond officially to that offer. Most authorities believe there
are hundreds of Americans still alive in Southeast Asia today, waiting for their
country to come for them.

Whether the LRRP team and helicopter crew is among them doesn't seem likely,
but

if there is even one American alive, he deserves our ultimate efforts to bring him
home.

Michael O'Donnell was recommended for the Congressional Medal of Honor for his
actions on March 24, 1970. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the
Air Medal, the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart as well as promoted to the rank of
Major following his loss incident. O'Donnell was highly regarded by his friends in the
"Bikinis." They knew him as a talented singer, guitar player and poet. One of his
poems has been widely distributed, but few understand that the author remains
missing.

If you are able,

save them a place inside of you

and save one backward glance

when you are leaving

for the places they can

no longer go.

Be not ashamed to say

you loved them,

though you may

or may not have always.

Take what they have left

and what they have taught you

with their dying

and keep it with your own.

And in that time

when men decide and feel safe

to call the war insane,

take one moment to embrace

those gentle heroes

you left behind.

Major Michael Davis O'Donnell

1 January 1970

Dak To, Vietnam

UPDATE:Gary Alan Harned-RT Pensylvaina

June 19, 2001

From: amcoon@hotmail.com (Anne Coon)

My name is Robert Schwab and I am from Meadville, Pennsylvania. I am

looking for information on my Uncle, Gary Alan Harned, who was a member of RT

PA. He was listed as missing in action in March of 1970. I was also told to mention
the CCC in this e-mail. I would be very interested in any information that anyone may
have about my Uncle from people who knew him personally or through military
operations.

It is believed that in March of 1970, a helicopter that Gary was on was shot down
near Cambodia. Other passengers believed to be aboard were Captain Michael
O'Donnell, Officer John Hosken, Rudy Becerra, Berman Grande, Jr., Lieutenant
Jerry Poole, and Sergeant First Class John Boronski. Recently the Army has
investigated the crash site and has found human remains. Through DNA Testing
they have positively identified Captain Michael O'Donnell, Officer John Hosken,
Rudy Becerra, and Berman Grande, Jr. The three remaining men, Lieutenant Jerry
Poole, Sergeant First Class John Boronski, and my Uncle were not positively
identified through testing, due to the condition of the remaining bones. These
remaining bones are being offered for a group burial for Poole, Boronski, and my
Uncle at Arlington Cemetery later this year.

Any information would be very helpful. Thank you for your time.

Robert A. Schwab (814) 336-2270 or e-mail amcoon@hotmail.com

July 1, 2001 The Journal Standard

Waiting for the turth

Freeport resident Darlene Pool holds her husband, Jerry Pool's MIA

bracelet marking the date that Jerry was reported missing in action; March 24,

1970.

FREEPORT -- "I almost died this time," Darlene Pool said about hearing the latest
news on her husband. "Now he's going to be buried twice and there's still no proof
he's there." It was the third week in May when Darlene Pool of Freeport said she
eard from U.S. Army officials. What they told her was that they had positively
identified the remains of her husband, Jerry Pool, a Green Beret Special Forces
soldier who went down in a helicopter in Cambodia during the Vietnam War.

She was told a short time later, however, that her husband wasn't specifically
dentified, but that a group identification had been made. In the past, Darlene Pool
has suffered from several heart attacks and strokes and is in failing health. This
latest news about her husband has almost been too painful for her to bear. "This has
been going on off and on for 32 years," Darlene Pool said. "I've been in too much
pain and too much suffering ... Only the truth will end it."

First, the crash: The Pool odyssey officially began on March 24, 1970, with the
crash of a Huey helicopter in Cambodia. In that helicopter was Jerry Pool, who was

part of a military team sent to Cambodia to extract a U.S. long Range
reconnaissance patrol. Pool's squad found the patrol and set about leaving the
area when they came under heavy enemy fire. On the helicopter at the time with
Jerry Pool were seven U.S. Army soldiers and five Montagnard tribesman. The
Montagnard are an indigenous people of Vietnam and Southeast Asia who aided
the U.S. during the Vietnam War. "Shortly after they picked up these guys, the
helicopter was hit by a rocket and it exploded at 200 feet, it crashed and burned,"
said Larry Greer, a spokesman for the U.S. Defense Department's POW/MIA
Office. "There was no evidence of any survivors. There was heavy enemy activity so
(rescuers) couldn't stay in the area."

According to Greer, the story then picks up again in November of 1993

when a joint U.S. and Cambodian search team tried but failed to find the crash

site. Then, in 1994, several Vietnamese citizens were interviewed regarding human
remains they had found consistent with what would be left at the Cambodian
helicopter crash site.

After years of investigating, a group identification was finally made

official on June 20, 2001. Using skeletal, tissue and teeth remains at

the crash site, Army officials were able to positively identify four U.S.

soldiers who were on the helicopter.

Jerry Pool was not one of the four. But since the crash was so severe, Greer said,
Pool could not have escaped. Therefore, Jerry Pool is being identified as part of the
group of remains that were found. "There are frequently individual remains that can't
be sorted and identified," Greer said. "It is just like in some of the large civilian air
disasters where they are never able to identify everyone ... Obviously, no one got off
(of this helicopter) so they made a group identification."

Now, off MIA list "(Jerry) Pool's remains were not individually identified, but he has

been identified as part of the group," Greer said. "He is now accounted for

so he comes off of our list of MIA (soldiers)."

According to Greer, there are currently 1,966 U.S. soldiers still Missing in Action
from the Vietnam War. There have been 619 identified so far. To put that in context,
there are 8,100 soldiers still MIA from the Korean War and 78,000 from World War
II.

For Darlene Pool, her husband's inclusion in this group identification

is not enough to provide closure on an incident that has haunted her and

her family for years.

In addition to the fact that Jerry Pool's remains have still not been found, Darlene
Pool is also fed up with the numerous false alarms and mistaken identifications that
she said have taken place over the years. Darlene Pool said this has caused a
great deal of stress within her family, which includes two grown children she had
with Jerry, Jerry Lynn Pool and Michele Leigh Pool.

"It has hurt me and it has hurt my children," Darlene Pool said. "I am

personally tired of suffering with this."

As it is, the U.S. Army is in the process of organizing a funeral ceremony at
Arlington National Cemetery in Washington D.C., where the remains recovered
from the crash site will be buried. Darlene Pool said she is not sure if she will take
part in the Arlington ceremony. She is still not satisfied with the official version of
events leading to her husband's identification. Darlene Pool said she will continue to
hope that the truth about what happened to Jerry Pool on that fateful day in 1970 will
surface some day.

"Everybody says I should go (to the ceremony) to pay my respect for the others who
were identified," Darlene Pool said. "I don't think I will be going because it's false.
I'm a person who hates lies ... I'll fight for my husband until the day I die. He deserves
the truth."

Travis Morse can be reached at 232-0178 or at

tmorse@journalstandard.com.

BECK, TERRY LEE

Name: Terry Lee Beck

Rank/Branch: E4/USN

Unit: Fighter Squadron 183, USS CONSTELLATION

Date of Birth: 11 January 1946

Home City of Record: Linesville PA

Date of Loss: 02 October 1969

Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water

Loss Coordinates: 175402N 1073602E (YE754810)

Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered

Category: 5

Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: C2A

Refno: 2004

Personnel In Incident: Terry L. Beck; Richard W. Bell; Michael L.

Bowman; Frank Bytheway; Rolando C. Dayao; Donald C. Dean; Herbert H. Dilger;

Carl J. Ellerd; James J. Fowler; Roy G. Fowler; Leonardo M. Gan; Paul E. Gore;

William D. Gorsuch; Rayford J. Hill; Delvin L. Kohler; Howard M. Koslosky; Robert
B. Leonard; Richard A. Livingston; Ronald W. Montgomery; William R. Moore; Paul
K. Moser; Kenneth M. Prentice; Fidel G. Salazar; Keavin L. Terrell; Michael J. Tye;
Reynaldo R. Viado (all 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 1998.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On October 2, 1969, a C2A "Greyhound" cargo aircraft from Reserve
Cargo Squadron 50 departed Cubi Point Naval Air Station, Republic of the
Philippines on a shuttle flight to various aircraft carriers in the Gulf of Tonkin in
Vietnam, including the USS CONSTELLATION, the USS WALKER, the USS
HAMMER, and the USS LONG BEACH.

The flight crew onboard the aircraft, assigned to Fleet Support Squadron 50 based
in Atsugi Naval Air Station, Japan, included the pilot, Lt. Herbert H. Dilger; co-pilot,
Lt. Richard A. Livingston; air crewman, Petty Officer 3rd Class Paul K. Moser;
aircraft captain, Petty Officer 3rd Class Michael J. Tye; and loadmaster-trainee,
Petty Officer 3rd Class Rayford J. Hill. Most of the twenty passengers appear to be
bound for the USS CONSTELLATION, but one was bound for the USS LONG
BEACH, one of the four Philippine citizens onboard was headed for the USS
HAMMER, and two to the USS WALKER.

The aircraft was inbound to the CONSTITUTION and made communication at

about 0600 hours, reporting that operations were normal. When communicatons

were established with the Carrier Air Control, control was passed to the Marshall
controller (Approach Control). The carrier's radar continued tracking the aircraft until
approximately 0655, at which time radar contact was lost at about 10 nautical miles
from the CONSTELLATION.

Helicopter search and rescue efforts were immediately initiated from the ship. The
helicopter began sighting an oil slick and debris. A few pieces of aircraft were
recovered, and analysis of this debris indicated that the aircraft was in a relatively
high speed nose down, right wing down impact with the water or had a possible
right wing failure before impact. There was no sign of survivors, nor were any
Bodies recovered.

The crew and passengers onboard the C2 which went down on October 2, 1969
were all declared Killed/Body Not Recovered. There is very little hope that they will
ever be found. They are listed with honor among the missing because no remains
were ever located to repatriate to their homeland.

For many of the missing, however, solutions are not so simple. Several were
photographed in captivity, but never returned. Others were alive and well the last
they were seen awaiting rescue. Still others described their imminent captures. For
the families of these men, the years have passed heartbreakingly slow.

Since the war ended, nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing in
Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. Government. Many officials who
have reviewed this largely classified information are convinced that hundreds of
Americans are still alive as captives in Southeast Asia. It's time we brought our
men home.

BROMS, EDWARD JAMES JR.

Name: Edward James Broms, Jr.

Rank/Branch: O2/U.S. Navy

Unit: Attack Squadron 66, USS INTREPID (CVS 11)

Date of Birth: 06 May 1943

Home City of Record: Meadville PA

Date of Loss: 01 August 1968

Country of Loss: North Vietnam

Loss Coordinates: 181100N 1055100E (WF908109)

Status (in 1973): Missing In Action

Category: 2

Acft/Vehicle/Ground: A4C

Refno: 1242

Other Personnel In Incident: (none 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 1998.

REMARKS: RADIO CONTACT LOST

SYNOPSIS: The McDonnell Douglas A4 Skyhawk was intended to provide the

Navy and Marine Corps with an inexpensive, lightweight attack and ground support

aircraft. The design emphasized low-speed control and stability during take-off and
landing, as well as strength enough for catapult launch and carrier landings. The
plane was so compact that it did not need folding wings for aboardship storage and
handling.

LTJG Edward J. Broms was a pilot assigned to Attack Squadron 66 onboard the
aircraft carrier USS INTREPID in the Gulf of Tonkin. On August 1, 1968, he was
assigned the fourth position in a 4-plane day strike mission on Dong Dun, Ha Tiny
Province, North Vietnam, code-named "Rolling Thunder".

Broms launched in his A4C Skyhawk attack bomber aircraft and the four aircraft
rolled in on the target as briefed. During pullout, Broms was heard to transmit, "Puffs
(flak) all around me." No other radio or visual contact was made tih LTJG Broms
and an extensive electronic and visual search was started. The search was called
off when all efforts produced negative results. the opinion of the incident review
board was that there was a low probability of survival.

A Radio Hanoi broadcast confirmed the loss of an A4 aircraft during this same time
frame, yet no mention was made of the pilot. LTJG Broms was classified Missing in
Action. It was felt that the enemy very probably knew his fate.

The following day, three American pilots recently released by Hanoi arrived in Laos
and reported that they had been well treated. The majority of prisoners, it as
learned later, were not well treated. When 591 American prisoners of war were
released at the end of the war in 1973, Broms was not among them. The
Vietnamese deny any knowledge of him.

Alarmingly, evidence continues to mount that Americans were left as prisoners in
Southeast Asia and continue to be held today. Unlike "MIAs" from other wars, most
of the nearly 2500 Americans who remain missing in Southeast Asia can be
accounted for. Government officials have said it is their belief that Americans are
being held, but have not yet found the formula that would bring them home.