[Vision2020] Where Are They Now? (1LT William E. Lemmons)

[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? (1LT William E. Lemmons)
 
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:

First Lieutenant William Ellsworth Lemmons (Pocatello, Idaho), U.S. Army

SFC Edward Guillory, Lt. William Lemmons and Maj. James McKittrick were
aboard an OH23 Raven helicopter on a visual recon mission operating in Quang
Tin Province on June 18, 1967. They were to spot artillery targets for the
Artillary Battery that McKitrick and Guillory were attached to.

At 1845 hours, the helicopter was declared missing. Extensive searches were
conducted that night aided by artillery flares and aircraft mounted
searchlights, but no trace of the aircraft or crew was found. In the next
few days several crash sites were reported and searches made, but all
efforts were fruitless.

Guillory, Lemmons and McKittrick were classified Missing In Action. There is
reason to believe the enemy knows their fates. They are among nearly 2500
Americans still missing in Southeast Asia .

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 the crew of the OH23 is among them is
not known. 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.

William E. Lemmons and James C. McKittrick were promoted to the rank of
Major and Edward J. Guillory was promoted to the rank of Sergeant Major
during the period they were maintained missing.

Additional information and a detailed account of First Lieutenant Lemmons'
activities on June 18, 1967, prior to his disappearance, are available at:

http://www.IdahoCares.net/Lemmons.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)
201 Taylor Avenue
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.