THE WALL OF FACES

I have had your bracelet since 1970. I still remember your name, even though it has been in my "memory chest" for 50 of those years. Thank your for your service and bravery.

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. It remains my fervent hope you will be returned home after the passage of so many years.

The U.S Air Force Martin B-57B Canberra was an American-built, twin-engine tactical bomber and reconnaissance aircraft. The deployment of combat capable B-57Bs to Vietnam began in August 1964. Canberras were primarily used for dive bombing and strafing, with the early models mounting eight .50 caliber machine guns, four per wing. Later models mounted four 20mm cannons, two per wing, for strafing. These weapons, combined with their bomb loads and four hours of flight time, made them excellent ground support aircraft as well as exceptional truck killers along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. In October 1966, B-57Bs of the13th Bomb Squadron were transferred to Phan Rang Air Base where they supported ground operations in the Iron Triangle, a stronghold of Viet Cong insurgency in Binh Duong Province. On June 3, 1967, a B-57B Canberra (#53-3862), call sign Tanner, from the 13th Bomb Squadron with two crew members embarked on a solo armed road reconnaissance mission over enemy targets in Quang Binh Province, North Vietnam. Pilot MAJ Theodore Springston Jr. made radio contact to request permission to enter North Vietnamese airspace but was never heard from again. The aircraft failed to return to base and was declared missing. There was no information regarding the aircraft's possible location, preventing effective searches for a crash site, and further attempts to locate the aircraft or crew were unsuccessful. Both Springston and the navigator, CAPT Joseph T. Kearns Jr., were carried as missing in action. The two airmen were promoted during the time they were missing, Springston to Colonel and Kearns to Lieutenant Colonel. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org, dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil, and “B-57 Canberra Units of The Vietnam War” by Bell & Laurier]

I had his bracelet. I did find out that his parents shared that his remains were found (shot down on a recon mission). he is listed here https://pownetwork.org/remret.htm

Never Forget.

HOOAH