The following is a small page dedicated to a family member of sisters who are close friends of the MCVEVA. He was from Lawrence County and is their only POW-MIA of the Vietnam War. His family still waits.

Name:   Vincent Anthony Scungio
Rank/Branch:   O3/US Air Force
Date of Birth:   27 October 1934
Home City of Record:   New CastlePA (family in AZ, CA, FL, MI, PA)
Loss Date:   04November 1966
Country of Loss:   NorthVietnam
Loss Coordinates:   212400N 1061100E
Status (in 1973):   Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground:   F105F

Other Personnel in Incident:   RobertE. Brinckmann (remains returned)
 

SYNOPSIS:   The F105 Thunderchief ("Thud"), in its various versions, flew more missions against North Vietnam than any other U.S. aircraft. It also suffered more losses, partially due to its vulnerability, which was constantly under revision. Between 1965 and 1971, the aircraft was equipped with armor plate, a secondaryflight control system, an improved pilot ejection seat, a more precise navigation system, better blind bombing capability and ECM pods for the wings. The F model carried a second crewman which made it well suited forthe role of suppressing North Vietnam's missile defenses.

Major Robert E. Brinckmann was an F105F Air Force pilot assigned a combat mission over North Vietnam on November 4, 1966. His copilot that day was Capt. Vincent A. Scungio. When the aircraft was about 60 miles northeast of Hanoi in Ha Bac Province, North Vietnam, it was hit by enemy fire and crashed. Scungio and Brinckmann were declared Missing In Action.

When 591 Americans were released from Vietnam in 1973, Scungio and Brinckmann were not among them. Military officials were shocked to learn that hundreds of Americans known or suspected to be prisonersof war were not released.

In an attempt to determine those cases for which the Vietnamese should be able to make an accounting, the Defense IntelligenceAgency expanded Brinckmann and Scungio's classification to include an enemy knowledge ranking of 2. Category 2 indicates "suspect knowledge"and includes personnel who may have been involved in loss incidents withindividuals reported in Category 1 (confirmed knowledge), or who were lost in areas or under conditions that they may reasonably be expected to be known by the enemy; who were connected with an incident which was discussed but not identified by names in enemy news media; or identified (by elimination,but not 100% positively) through analysis of all-source intelligence. Still, the Vietnamese denied any knowledge of the two missing Americans.

In late July, 1989 remains were returned to the United States by the Vietnamese which were subsequently identified as being those of Robert E. Brinckmann. Brinckmann had been -- dead or alive -- a prisoner of war for 23 years. The obvious question is how and when did he die? And,of course, where is Vincent Scungio?