THE WALL OF FACES

The Department of Defense conducted ceremonies at the Pentagon and at Hickam AFB on Friday, 18 September 2020 in recognition 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. First Lieutenant Terrence Hastings Griffey, USAFA Class of 1962, is one of those 1,586 MIAs unaccounted for in Southeast Asia from the Vietnam War. He is one man of two in his U.S. Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs class of 1962 who is still MIA. The other USAFA 1962 MIA is Maj. John Brucher. There are 40 additional Air Force Academy graduates unaccounted for in SEA. The 41 USAFA MIAs account for 27% of the 151 graduates who made the ultimate sacrifice in Southeast Asia from 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 the 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/

Since the entry on this VVMF website for MIA 1st Lt Terrence Hastings Griffey, USAFA Class of 1962 on 4 March 2019, the U.S. Air Force Academy Library updated the link/URL to access additional information for those USAFA graduates who died in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War and whose names are on the Academy's Memorial Wall. The link/URL for ALL graduates is:

http://memwall.usafalibrary.com/#memwallhomepage

Then search, alphabetically, for the name of Terrence Griffey, USAFA Class of 1962, to learn more information about this Vietnam War MIA.

The American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) recently updated the link/URL on its website for MIA First Lieutenant Terrence Hastings Griffey, USAFA class of 1962, at the Honolulu Memorial in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (the "Punchbowl") on the island of Oahu in the state of Hawaii.

The updated link/URL is:
https://www.abmc.gov/decedent-search/griffey%3Dterrence

The Department of Defense conducted a ceremony at the Pentagon on Friday, 20 September 2019 in recognition of POW/MIA Recognition Day. Deputy Defense Secretary David L. Nordquist remembered the 1,587 MIAs from the Vietnam War as well as all those still unaccounted for from WWII, the Korean War, the Cold War and other conflicts. Since the 2018 Ceremony, DPAA has positively identified 7 Vietnam War MIAs. 1st Lt Terrence Hastings Griffey, USAFA Class of 1962, is one of those 1,587 MIAs unaccounted for in Southeast Asia from the Vietnam War. He is also one of 2 graduates from the U.S. Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs class of 1962 who is still MIA. The other USAFA Class of 1962 MIA is Maj John Brucher.

This is the link to the DoD story about the ceremony:

https://www.defense.gov/explore/story/Article/1967474/prisoners-of-war-missing-in-action-remembered-at-pentagon-ceremony/

This is the link to the C-Span video of the ceremony:

https://www.c-span.org/video/?464524-1/pentagon-hosts-national-powmia-recognition-day-ceremony

On May 26, 1966, pilot 1LT Terrance H. Griffey and electronic warfare officer (EWO) 1LT Gary L. Glandon were flying a U.S. Air Force McDonnell Douglas F-4C Phantom II (#64-0722) from the 391st Tactical Fighter Squadron as the number two aircraft in a flight of three on a close-air support mission in the vicinity of Huynh Giang, nine miles north of Qui Nhon Air Base in Binh Dinh Province, RVN. The flight was supporting Republic of Korea Marines who were in heavy contact with the Viet Cong on the east bank of the Phu River Estuary. The Forward Air Controller (FAC) on station advised the flight of ground fire in the area. During a bomb pass, Griffey’s Phantom was seen to burst into flames and explode at an altitude of 200 feet, directly above the target. It was reported that the jet burned in the air and disintegrated into small pieces on impact. No parachutes were seen nor were there any electronic beacon signals heard. The remainder of the flight made repeated passes over the wreckage but doubted there was any chance for survival for either of the crewmen. The FAC also repeated low-level turns over the crash site and reported seeing two objects which appeared to be bodies. On December 21-22, 1972, a U.S. search and recovery activity was conducted in the vicinity of the reported crash site. Prior to the mission, a visual reconnaissance had located the aircraft wreckage, but the reported coordinates were a general and not an exact location. This was attributed to six years of typhoons and changing water levels in the area of the crash site which was located on flat delta land at the mouth of the Am Phu and Dai Rivers. The search discovered two jet engines and the tail section of the Phantom. Further searching located one vertebra which could not be conclusively linked to the crash. A second January 14-18, 1994, excavation of the site by a Joint Task Force-Full Accounting (JTF-FA) team was unable to locate remains or personal effects belonging to the two pilots. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org]