[Vision2020] Where Are They Now? (MAJ Jon K. Bodahl)

[Tom Hansen]

A copy of the following email has been provided to the appropriate elected
officials at:

Governor Butch Otter
http://gov.idaho.gov/ourgov/contact.html

Senator Larry Craig
http://craig.senate.gov/webform.cfm

Senator Mike Crapo
http://crapo.senate.gov/contact/email.cfm

Representative Mike Simpson
http://www.house.gov/simpson/emailme.shtml

Representative Bill Sali
http://sali.house.gov/

Emails concerning those unaccounted for veterans whose home of record is
within Idaho's 1st Congressional District will be provided to Representative
Sali if/when he becomes accessible to the citizens of Idaho.

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Subject:  Where Are They Now? (MAJ Jon K. Bodahl)
 
Dear - ,
 
As a retired veteran and citizen in the state of Idaho I would like to know
what is being done to determine the fate of the following veteran who
remains unaccounted for:

Major Jon Keith Bodahl (Boise, Idaho), U.S. Air Force

At 0130 hours on 12 November 1969, then Capt. Jon K. Bodahl, pilot and Capt.
Harry W. Smith, weapons systems officer; comprised the crew of an F4E, call
sign "Packard 01," that departed Korat Airbase , Thailand as the lead
aircraft in a flight of 2 on a Search and Rescue (SAR) mission. The
mission's objective was to recover a 2-man helicopter crew, call sign "Owl
07," that had been shot down the day before.

There are varying reports as to how both Capt. Bodahl and Capt. Smith may
have been shot down.  Their bodies have never been recovered.

Jon Bodahl and Harry Smith are among nearly 600 Americans who disappeared in
Laos . Many of these men were known to be alive on the ground. The Laotians
admitted holding "tens of tens" of American Prisoners of War, but these men
were never negotiated for either by direct negotiation between our countries
or through the Paris Peace Accords which ended the War in Vietnam since Laos
was not a party to that agreement.

Additional information and a detailed account of Major Bodahl's activities
on November 12, 1969, prior to his disappearance, are available at:

http://www.IdahoCares.net/Bodahl.htm

Please advise me of any action that is being taken by you or any other
elected or appointed official to determine his fate.

In the event there is nothing being done, please explain why not, and tell
me how you, personally, plan to correct this and prevent it from ever
happening again.

Information related to other Idaho citizen-veterans who remain unaccounted
for may be accessed at:

http://www.IdahoCares.net

Yours most sincerely,

Thomas P. Hansen
SFC, US Army (Retired)
Moscow, Idaho

Cc:
Lewiston Tribune
Moscow-Pullman Daily News
Spokesman Review

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Pro patria,

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"Patriotism is not a short and frenzied outburst of emotion but the tranquil
and steady dedication of a lifetime." 

--Adlai E. Stevenson, Jr.