THE WALL OF FACES

Information about the loss of an A-6A Intruder from VA-85 launched from the USS Kitty Hawk piloted by MIA Lieutenant Commander * John Cooley Ellison, USNA Class of 1952, in Southeast Asia (SEA) (over North Vietnam) on 24 March 1967 is available at this link/URL on the Vietnam Air Losses website:

https://www.vietnamairlosses.com/loss.php?id=1056

While in MIA status, the U.S. Navy promoted Lt Cdr Ellison to CDR and then to Captain along with his Naval Academy classmates.

Lt Cdr Ellison was involved in another loss of an A-6A Intruder on 15 May 1966. That information is at URL:

https://www.vietnamairlosses.com/loss.php?id=586

Information about MIA Captain John Cooley Ellison, USNA Class of 1952, from the Task Force Omega website is at this link:

http://www.taskforceomegainc.org/e020.html

Never forget.

Semper Fortis

We can never truly repay the great debt we owe our fallen heroes. May those who served never be forgotten. Rest in peace CAPT. Ellison, I salute your brave soul. My heart goes out to you and your family. Fair seas and calm winds sir.

The Department of Defense conducted ceremonies at the Pentagon and at Hickam AFB on Friday, 18 September 2020 in commemoration of POW/MIA Recognition Day. Deputy Defense Secretary David L. Nordquist remembered the 1,586 MIAs from the Vietnam War as well as all those still unaccounted for from WWII, the Korean War, the Cold War and other conflicts. Director (Maj. Gen, USAFR, ret) Kelly McKeague of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) also recorded a separate video message to Gold Star MIA families. Additionally, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (VVMF) produced a “virtual” event on 18 Sep. Since the 2019 Ceremony, DPAA has positively identified 1 Vietnam War MIA. Captain John Cooley Ellison, USNA Class of 1952, is one of those 1,586 MIAs unaccounted for in Southeast Asia from the Vietnam War. He is one of 5 graduates from his U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis class who is still MIA. The other 4 USNA Class of 1952 MIAs are: (1) CAPT Donald Aldern; (2) Maj. Joseph Bower, USAF; (3) Col. John O’Grady, USAF; & (4) Col. Charles Read, USAF. As of the date of this ceremony, there are 55 USNA graduates still MIA in Southeast Asia (SEA) from the Vietnam War. They account for 32% of the 169 men from Annapolis who made the ultimate sacrifice in SEA during the Vietnam War.

This is the link to the DoD/DVIDS video for the Pentagon ceremony:
https://www.dvidshub.net/video/766486/defense-officials-recognize-prisoners-war-missing-service-members-ceremony

This is the link to the DoD/DVIDS video for the Hickam AFB ceremony:
https://www.dvidshub.net/video/766491/admiral-commemorates-prisoners-war-and-missing-service-members-ceremony

This is the link to DPAA Director McKeague’s video statement:
https://vimeo.com/454474340

This is the link to the VVMF virtual remembrance: https://www.vvmf.org/POWMIA-2020/