THE WALL OF FACES

I am still wearing Capt. Charles Lane Jr MIA bracelet. I have been wearing the bracelet since I was 16 I am now 61. I want the family to know I have said a prayer each day for Charles. He is not forgotten.

I wore this POW/MIA bracelet for many years in high school (1971-1976). I will be laying wreaths at Arlington this December and will have Capt. Lane in my thoughts.

Captain Charles Lane Jr., Served with the 555th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 8th Tactical Fighter Wing, 7th Air Force.

When I was a teenager, I bought a MIA bracelet with Charles Lane, Jr.'s name on it. I always hoped that someday he would be found alive and would come home. I still have that bracelet. I search the web for information about him and have a file folder with articles about him. I want his family to know he was and still is in my thoughts and prayers.

CAPT Charles Lane Jr. was missing in action on August 23, 1967. He was shot down while flying on his 92nd mission, 10 miles north of Hanoi, North Vietnam. His co-pilot, MAJ Larry Carrigan of Arizona, pilot of the Phantom F-4, was immediately captured when he parachuted from the plane and held as a prisoner of war for seven years. Later he told Charles’s mother details about the crash. In addition to their plane, another F-4 was also destroyed in the attack. Of the four men in the two planes, three parachutes were seen “descending to the ground.” Charles was in the back seat that day and the missile hit the plane, so it is believed he was killed instantly. Carrigan said he flew quite a distance before he crashed and Charles, had he ejected, should have fallen down sooner. Since North Vietnam was a wooded, hostile area, recovery wasn’t possible. He was presumed dead on October 9, 1973. He has a memorial stone at Black Hills National Cemetery near Sturgis, SD. [Taken from sdvietnamwarmemorial.com]