[Vision2020] Where Are They Now? (CWO Jesse D. Phelps)

[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? (CWO Jesse D. Phelps)
 
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:

Chief Warrant Officer Jesse Donald Phelps (Boise, Idaho), U.S. Army

On 28 December 1965, CWO2 Kenneth L. Stancil, pilot; CWO2 Jesse D. Phelps,
co-pilot; Donald C. Grella, crew chief; and Spec. Thomas Rice, Jr., door
gunner; comprised the crew of a UH1B helicopter (serial #808) conducting a
combat support mission that should have taken only 30 minutes. According to
witnesses to the entire mission and the Huey's disappearance, the following
facts are known: 

According to the witness statement of CWO3 Vincent J. LeDuc, the assistant
operations officer for Company B, CWO3 LeDuc was informed by his clerk that
all food and supplies for delivery to their support area had been loaded
aboard aircraft #808. At 0555 hours CWO2 Stancil and his crew took off from
the Golf Course Helipad heading north for a short distance before turning
east enroute to their destination in the field. The support area being
supplied was located approximately 20 klicks west of An Khe, Binh Dinh
Province , South Vietnam . This area was considered to be over a relatively
secure flight path, although occasional sniper fire had been observed at
times. 

Approximately 8-10 minutes later CWO3 LeDuc monitored a radio communication
between #808 and Company A's forward support element concerning the present
weather conditions at their destination. CWO2 Stancil received the reply
that it was misting and that the ceiling was unknown. He then replied to the
radio operator at Company A: "The pass does not look bad from here, however,
I am having trouble seeing the ground." There was no other radio  contact
with #808.

Additional information and a detailed account of CWO2 Phelps' activities on
December 28, 1965, prior to his disappearance, are available at:

http://www.IdahoCares.net/Phelps.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.