About 25 miles southwest of Hanoi, the aircraft was struck by hostile fire and disintegrated. Other members of the flight observed the crew to eject and saw two parachutes. One emergency beeper signal was heard. The Department of Defense later learned that Larry E. Carrigan was a Prisoner of War. Jr. Since the war ended, over 10,000 reports have been received by the U.S. relating to Americans still unaccounted for from the Vietnam war.
Many authorities now believe hundreds are still alive in captivity today.
The U.S. Government, although involved in talks with the Vietnamese since the end of the war, has been unable to bring home a single live prisoner. The Vietnamese, on the other hand, refuse to let the issue die, with the ultimate hope of normalizing relations with the west. Americans who are still captive have been reduced to bargaining pawns between two nations. For their sakes, everything possible must be done to bring them home. The sacrifice of tens of thousands of America's young men is mocked by the abandonment of their comrades.