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Defense POW/MIA Accounting AgencyFulfilling Our Nation's Promise

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## News Release

# Air Force Pilot Missing From Vietnam War Is Identified (Lapham)

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced todaythat the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing from the Vietnam War, have been identified andreturned to his family for burial with full military honors.

He is Maj. Robert G. Lapham, U.S. Air Force, of Marshall, Mich. He will be buriedFriday in Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C.

On Feb. 8, 1968, Lapham was flying the lead A-1G Skyraider in a flight of two in QuangTri Province, Vietnam. The aircraft were alerted to join an airborne forward air controller todestroy enemy tanks that had overrun the Lang Vei Special Forces Camp. After completing onepass on the tanks, Lapham was nearing his target on the second pass when he crashed. The crewof the other aircraft involved in the mission reported seeing no parachute.

Between 1993 and 1998, joint U.S./Socialist Republic of Vietnam (S.R.V.) teams, led bythe Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), traveled to Quang Tri Province two times toinvestigate the incident and interview witnesses. One team also surveyed the crash site and foundaircraft wreckage.

In 2003, another joint team investigated the incident and resurveyed the crash site. Theteam found more wreckage and pilot-related evidence, including Lapham’s identification tag.

Between 2004 and 2006, JPAC teams traveled to Quang Tri Province four times toexcavate the crash site. The teams recovered human remains, aircraft wreckage and pilot-relateditems.

Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists fromJPAC also used dental comparisons in the identification of the remains.

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

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