VIEW ALL PHOTOS (2)
HONORED ON PANEL 16W, LINE 116 OF THE WALL
REXFORD JOHN DE WISPELAERE
WALL NAME
REXFORD J DE WISPELAERE
PANEL / LINE
16W/116
DATE OF BIRTH
CASUALTY PROVINCE
DATE OF CASUALTY
HOME OF RECORD
COUNTY OF RECORD
STATE
BRANCH OF SERVICE
RANK
REMEMBRANCES
LEFT FOR REXFORD JOHN DE WISPELAERE
POSTED ON 5.30.2005
POSTED BY: James P. McClellan, Jr.
MIA Bracelet
30 May 2005
I wore Rexford DeWispelaere's MIA bracelet. I was 17 and working at the Auto Hobby Shop At Craig AFB, AL. I got the bracelet sometime in 1973. While I was working on an airman's POV, the bracelet got hung up on the car's undercarriage. Annoyed, I pulled to slip my arm out of the bracelet (the car was still HOT). Instead of slipping off, the bracelet broke in half.
I kept the bracelet for years, but apparently it has been lost over my many transfers and moves. I always hoped that the sarge made it home ok. Now that I've found this site, I wish I still had it to present to his family. Sorry...
For the next few months I'll be living in VA about 20 miles from DC and will be more than happy to get a rubbing from the memorial for any family members who want one.
Thanks, Sarge!
Sincerely,
Mac McClellan
I wore Rexford DeWispelaere's MIA bracelet. I was 17 and working at the Auto Hobby Shop At Craig AFB, AL. I got the bracelet sometime in 1973. While I was working on an airman's POV, the bracelet got hung up on the car's undercarriage. Annoyed, I pulled to slip my arm out of the bracelet (the car was still HOT). Instead of slipping off, the bracelet broke in half.
I kept the bracelet for years, but apparently it has been lost over my many transfers and moves. I always hoped that the sarge made it home ok. Now that I've found this site, I wish I still had it to present to his family. Sorry...
For the next few months I'll be living in VA about 20 miles from DC and will be more than happy to get a rubbing from the memorial for any family members who want one.
Thanks, Sarge!
Sincerely,
Mac McClellan
POSTED ON 4.7.2000
POSTED BY: Michael Robert Patterson
A Remembrance of Rexford John De Wispelaere.
November 28, 1995:
Twenty-six years and four days after their plane crashed in the Vietnam War,
eight airmen were laid to rest Tuesday beside an oak tree in Arlington National
Cemetery.
The men were buried with full military honors. A single, flag-covered casket
holding their remains was pulled slowly on a caisson by six white horses. It was
followed by members of the United States Air Force Honor Guard, marching
somberly, and a procession of family and friends in three buses.
The men were the crew of a AC-130 gunship that was hit by artillery fire and
went down in flames in a mountainous region near Saravane, Laos on
November 24, 1969. Their remains were not recovered until an excavation of
the crash site in October 1993, said Beverly Baker, a Department of Defense
spokeswoman. The remains then went through a lengthy identification process,
she said. Myrtle Brown Waters lost her brother, Captain Earl Brown of Stanley, North Carolina, in the crash. The ceremony helped put bad memories behind her, she said. "It was something that I thought I had reckoned with," said Waters of Lynwood, California. "And I suppose I look at it as bringing closure to some very painful years that the family has gone through."
The other men and their homes of record were: Major Michael Balamoti, Glen
Falls, New York; Chief Master Sergeant Rexford DeWispelaere, Penfield, New
York; Chief Master Sergeant Charles Fellenz, Marshfield, Wisconsin;
Lieutenant Colonel Richard Ganley, Keene, New Hampshire; Chief Master
Sergeant Larry Grewell, Tacoma, Washington; Major Peter Matthes, Toledo,
Ohio; and Chief Master Sergeant Donald Wright, Mount Savage, Maryland.
As six honor guards carried the casket toward a stand by the burial site, an
AC-130 flew over. The Air Force band played "America the Beautiful." A
eulogy was followed by a 21-gun salute and the playing of "Taps."
Twenty-six years and four days after their plane crashed in the Vietnam War,
eight airmen were laid to rest Tuesday beside an oak tree in Arlington National
Cemetery.
The men were buried with full military honors. A single, flag-covered casket
holding their remains was pulled slowly on a caisson by six white horses. It was
followed by members of the United States Air Force Honor Guard, marching
somberly, and a procession of family and friends in three buses.
The men were the crew of a AC-130 gunship that was hit by artillery fire and
went down in flames in a mountainous region near Saravane, Laos on
November 24, 1969. Their remains were not recovered until an excavation of
the crash site in October 1993, said Beverly Baker, a Department of Defense
spokeswoman. The remains then went through a lengthy identification process,
she said. Myrtle Brown Waters lost her brother, Captain Earl Brown of Stanley, North Carolina, in the crash. The ceremony helped put bad memories behind her, she said. "It was something that I thought I had reckoned with," said Waters of Lynwood, California. "And I suppose I look at it as bringing closure to some very painful years that the family has gone through."
The other men and their homes of record were: Major Michael Balamoti, Glen
Falls, New York; Chief Master Sergeant Rexford DeWispelaere, Penfield, New
York; Chief Master Sergeant Charles Fellenz, Marshfield, Wisconsin;
Lieutenant Colonel Richard Ganley, Keene, New Hampshire; Chief Master
Sergeant Larry Grewell, Tacoma, Washington; Major Peter Matthes, Toledo,
Ohio; and Chief Master Sergeant Donald Wright, Mount Savage, Maryland.
As six honor guards carried the casket toward a stand by the burial site, an
AC-130 flew over. The Air Force band played "America the Beautiful." A
eulogy was followed by a 21-gun salute and the playing of "Taps."