4 Great American Air Force Heroes
– all went missing – only 3
returned home. A small part of
their stories are presented below.
April 8, 1944, Captain Virgil K. Meroney, flying a P-51B, Mustang, aircraft was shot down on a staffing mission over the skies of Germany. For over a month he was listed as Missing in Action until found imprisoned in a POW Stalag Luft. He escaped 1 year later & was repatriated with US Forces.
November 1, 2012 marks the 60th anniversary of the first thermonuclear (hydrogen) bomb test at Eniwetok Atoll in the Marshall Islands. Lt. Col. Virgil K. Meroney lead the “Cloud Sampler” pilots in their
F-84G, Thunderjet, aircraft into the cloud. Captain Jimmy Robinson crashed, went missing & was never recovered under very questionable circumstances.
March 1, 1969, on a night bombing mission on the Ho Chi Minh trail in Laos, Captain (then 1st Lt.) Virgil K. Meroney, III, and his Aircraft Commander, Colonel (then Major) Wendell R. Keller, were shot down. They both were listed as Missing in Action. After numerous crash site investigations began in 1994, the site was then excavated numerous times in 2010 & 2011 & positive identification of Meroney & Keller’s recovered remains were made.
Captain Virgil K. Meroney, III, was buried with full military honors June 9, 2012. A “Group Burial” for their other recovered remains will have full military honors burial at Arlington National Cemetery on October 19, 2012.
In 1974, Connie Meroney, Captain Meroney’s wife, requested in writing and was granted a change of status for her husband from MIA (Missing in Action) to KIA (Killed in Action). In 1975, the Air Force illegally changed the status of Colonel Keller from MIA to KIA without written request from Jacqueline Keller.
Since then, Mrs. Keller and her sons suffered tremendous financial losses and were deprived of full pay and benefits. This case is truly unique as no other Air Force officer during the Vietnam War had their status changed to deceased in an admitted error. Roadblocks, brick walls and rejection of complete compensation from the Air Force, Congressmen and US Government has forced Mrs. Keller to decide to publicize her story and NOT bury her individual husband’s remains until remedy is obtained.
These 4 short paragraphs cannot begin to describe the complete story of 4 unique Air Force Officers – all went missing – only 3 returned.
For a more complete description of the tragedy suffered by Jacqueline Keller & her Family, please follow this link: http://hm.dinofly.com/JCK/