THE WALL OF FACES

I was the Chief Clerk for the 4th Tactical Fighter Squadron. I give tours for school students at the NJ Vietnam Memorial. I tell them all about Carter and his WSO Stephen. You will not be forgotten.

I was 15 when I received Carters' MIA bracelet in May of '72 I think, and it has been on my wrist ever since. Not one day has gone by that I do not remember him.

I was too young to serve and wanted to enlist and go into Search and Rescue and bring the lost, HOME.

I will forever have the guilt of not going and bringing even ONE back home to their families. I am sorry Carter, so sorry.

Thank you all for your posts, it has help fill some emptiness in me since '72.

My name is Susie Ward (McGhee). I knew Carter while he was at the Citadel and staying in Fayetteville in the summers. We worked together at the Ft. Bragg book store a couple of summers... his parents and my parents were old Army friends and neighbors... I used to go with him and watch when he did jumps (he loved sport parachuting) He has always been in my heart and thoughts and it is so great to see his pictures, which are exactly how I remember him... fun loving and bursting with life. It's nice to see his daughter's comments and pictures, too. He was a wonderful man.

U.S. Department of Defense

Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs)

IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 1354-07

27 November 2007

AIRMAN MISSING IN ACTION FROM VIETNAM WAR IS IDENTIFIED AND RETURNED TO FAMILY FOR BURIAL

The Department of Defense POW / Missing Personnel Office ( DPMO ) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from the Vietnam War, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

He is
Captain STEPHEN ARTHUR RUSCH,
United States Air Force, of Lambertville, New Jersey.

He will be buried on Friday 30 November 2007 at Arlington National Cemetery.

On 7 March 1972, Rusch was the weapons systems officer in an F-4E Phantom II aircraft attacking enemy targets in Salavan Province, Laos.

The plane was the number two aircraft in a flight of two.

When Rusch's aircraft was cleared to begin its second run over enemy targets, the flight leader of the number one aircraft lost sight of Rusch's plane and observed enemy ground fire followed by a large explosion.

An immediate search was begun, but all attempts to establish radio contact and later search efforts were unsuccessful.

In 1995, a joint U.S. / Lao People's Democratic Republic ( L.P.D.R. ) team, led by the Joint POW / MIA Accounting Command ( JPAC ), investigated the incident and interviewed several Laotian citizens.

The team surveyed the crash site identified by one of the citizens and found aircraft wreckage.

In 2001, a U.S. citizen, acting as an intermediary for a Laotian citizen, turned over to U.S. officials a bone fragment and a photocopy of Rusch's military identification tag.

The bone fragment proved not to be from Captain Rusch.

In 2002 - 2003, joint teams conducted two excavations of the crash site.

The teams recovered human remains and non-biological evidence including U.S. coins and life support equipment.

Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from JPAC and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory also used mitochondrial DNA and dental comparisons in the identification of the remains.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



CAPTAIN

CARTER AVERY HOWELL

and

CAPTAIN

STEPHEN ARTHUR RUSCH


The Phantom, used by Air Force, Marine and Navy air wings, served a multitude of functions including fighter-bomber and interceptor, photo and electronic surveillance.

The two man aircraft was extremely fast (Mach 2), and had a long range (900 - 2300 miles), depending on stores and mission type).

The F4 was also extremely maneuverable and handled well at low and high altitudes.

Most pilots considered it one of the "hottest" planes around.

1st Lieutenant Carter Avery Howell was the pilot and 1st Lieutenant Stephen Arthur Rusch the co-pilot of an F4-E Phantom from the 4th Tactical Fighter Squadron based at Da Nang, Republic of Vietnam.

On 7 March 1972, the two were sent on an operational mission over Laos.

During the mission their aircraft was seen to impact the ground while making a run on a target.

No parachutes were seen and no emergency beepers were heard to indicate the crew was safe.

However, the opportunity existed for the two to safely eject, and they were not declared dead, but missing in action.

The loss occurred about 25 miles east of the town of Ban Toumlan in Saravane Province, Laos.

When American involvement in Southeast Asia ended with the signing of the Paris Peace agreements, prisoners of war, it was agreed, would be released.

The country of Laos, meanwhile, not having been included in the peace talks, announced publicly that prisoners of war held in Laos would be released from Laos.

The U.S. never negotiated for the release of these men.

Not one American serviceman held in Laos was released, although nearly 600 went down there, and many survived their crashes and were known to have been captured.





YOU ARE NOT FORGOTTEN

NOR SHALL YOU EVER BE




31 JULY 2001

My dad in his Citadel attire.