An official website of the United States government         Here's how you know         
**Official websites use .mil**
A **.mil** website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
**Secure .mil websites use HTTPS**
 A **lock (lock )** or **https://** means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Skip to main content (Press Enter).

Defense POW/MIA Accounting AgencyFulfilling Our Nation's Promise

Search
Search

Search

              - 
              - 
              - 

-  Home		 
-  Families		 
-  Our Missing    -  Searchable List of the Missing             
  -  Searchable Map of the Missing             
  -  Recently Accounted For             
  -  World War II      -  World War II Summary             
    -  Battle of Tarawa             
    -  Attack on Pearl Harbor 
  -  Korean War      -  Korean War Summary             
    -  Battle of Chosin Reservoir             
    -  Battle of Unsan             
    -  Korean Air Battles             
    -  The Inchon Campaign             
    -  The Pusan Perimeter             
    -  The DMZ Campaigns             
    -  Korean War Disinterments             
    -  Operation Glory             
    -  POW Camps 
  -  Vietnam War      -  Vietnam War Summary             
    -  Vietnam War Identification Project             
    -  Tet Offensive             
    -  Battle of Khe Sanh             
    -  Mayaguez Incident             
    -  Battle of Ia Drang             
    -  Lam Son 
  -  Cold War             
  -  Gulf Wars & Libya             
  -  Unknowns 
-  News & Stories    -  Our Stories             
  -  Press Releases             
  -  DPAA In The News             
  -  Year In Review 
-  Multimedia    -  Livestreams             
  -  Podcast             
  -  Briefing Videos             
  -  Science Videos             
  -  DPAA Laboratory             
  -  Media Gallery 
-  Resources    -  FAQs             
  -  AFMES DNA Laboratory             
  -  Publicly Released Documents             
  -  Family/VSO Update Notes             
  -  Family Member Guide             
  -  POW/MIA Day Toolkit             
  -  USRJC 
-  About    -  Leadership             
  -  Vision-Mission-Values             
  -  DPAA Organizational Chart 
-  Contact    -  Contact Us             
  -  Join Us      -  Careers 
  -  Report a Site             
  -  Donate to the Mission 
-  Volunteer		 

## News Release

# Air Force Officers MIA From Vietnam War Are Identified (Lewis, Baker)

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced todaythe remains of two U.S. servicemen, missing in action from the Vietnam War, have beenidentified and are being returned to their families for burial with full military honors.

They are Col. James W. Lewis, of Marshall, Tex. and Maj. Arthur D. Baker, of SanAntonio, Tex., both U.S. Air Force. Lewis is to be buried in Marshall on August 13, and Bakeris to be buried in Longview, Tex. on July 29.

On April 7, 1965, Lewis and Baker led a flight of four B-57B Canberra aircraft on aninterdiction mission over Xiangkhoang Province, Laos. After their B-57 initiated an attack runinto heavy clouds, Lewis radioed his plane was outbound away from the target. There was nofurther radio or visual contact with the crew. Although the cause of the crash is unknown,enemy fire and bad weather are believed to be contributing factors. Search and rescue missionsfailed to yield any evidence of the two men or their aircraft.

In July 1997, a joint U.S.-Lao People’s Democratic Republic team interviewed severalwitnesses, two of whom led the team to the crash site. Four excavations led by the JointPOW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) from 2003 to 2004 yielded human remains and crewrelatedartifacts.

JPAC and Armed Forces DNA Identification Lab scientists used mitochondrial DNA toidentify the remains as those of Lewis and Baker.

Of the 88,000 Americans missing from all conflicts, 1,827 are from the Vietnam War,with 372 of those within the country of Laos. Another 756 Americans have been accounted for inSoutheast Asia since the end of the Vietnam War. Of the Americans identified, 197 are fromlosses in Laos.

For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for missingAmericans, visit the DPMO website at http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo or call (703) 699-1169.

**                    SHARE                

**                    PRINT