THE WALL OF FACES

My name is Patricia A. Tharp. I have Daniels POW/MIA Bracelet and would like to send it to his family if they wish. I don" have much access to the computer but have always wondered if he was found. Thank God he was, it makes me happy to know he is home. it would please me to send it if you don't have one Please get in touch and I will also write down the address that is here on the computer and send it. I got it at the wall at Rolling Thunder years back and never forgot and always wore it. please let me know.
Thank you and God Bless.
Patricia A. Tharp

SS MAYAGUEZ MARINE MISSING FROM VIETNAM WAR INTERRED AT ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY WITH CREW

14 May 2013

The Department of Defense POW Missing Personnel Office announced today that the remains of a serviceman, missing from the Vietnam War, was recently accounted for and will be buried along with the 12 other servicemen who were lost in the same crash.

Marine Corps Pfc. Daniel A. Benedett of Seattle, Wash., will be buried on 15 May at Arlington National Cemetery, along with Air Force 2nd Lt. Richard Vandegeer of Cleveland, Ohio; Navy Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Bernard Gause Jr., of Birmingham, Ala.; Hospitalman Ronald J. Manning of Steubenville, Ohio; Marine Corps servicemen Lance Cpl. Gregory S. Copenhaver of Lewistown, Pa.; Lance Cpl. Andres Garcia of Carlsbad, N.M.; Pfc. Lynn Blessing of Lancaster, Pa.; Pfc. Walter Boyd of Portsmouth, Va.; Pfc. James J. Jacques of La Junta, Colo.; Pfc. James R. Maxwell of Memphis, Tenn.; Pfc. Richard W. Rivernburgh of Schenectady, N.Y.; Pfc. Antonio R. Sandoval of San Antonio, Texas; and Pfc. Kelton R. Turner of St. Louis, Mo.

On 12 May 1975, Khmer Rouge gunboats captured the SS Mayaguez in the Gulf of Thailand, approximately 60 nautical miles off the coast of Cambodia.

After the vessel was taken to Koh Tang Island, U.S. aircraft began surveillance flights around the island.

When efforts to secure the release of the ship and its crew failed, U.S. military forces began a rescue mission.

Three days after the Mayaguez seizure, the Air Force dispatched six helicopters to the island.

One of the helicopters came under heavy enemy fire and crashed into the surf with 26 men on board.

Thirteen of the men were rescued at sea, leaving Benedett and 12 other service members unaccounted for from the crash.

Between 1991 and 2008, investigators conducted more than 10 investigations and excavations, led by Joint POWMIA Accounting Command (JPAC).

On three occasions, Cambodian authorities turned over remains believed to be those of American servicemen.

In 1995, U.S. and Cambodian specialists conducted an underwater recovery of the helicopter crash site where they located remains, personal effects and aircraft debris associated with the loss.

Between 2000 and 2004, all of the missing service members from this helicopter, except Benedett, were accounted for.

On 30 January 2013, Benedett was accounted for.

Scientists from JPAC and the Armed Forces Identification Laboratory (AFDIL) used circumstantial evidence and DNA process of elimination to account for his remains.

YOU ARE NOT FORGOTTEN

NOR SHALL YOU EVER BE

R E M E M B R A N C E

Pfc. Daniel A. Benedett, U.S. Marine Corps, was lost on May 15, 1975, near Koh Tang Island, Cambodia, during a rescue mission. He was accounted for on Jan. 30, 2013.

According to the Defense Prisoner of WarMissing Personnel Office, the remains of PFC Benedett were identified on January 30, 2013.

http:www.dtic.mildpmoaccounted_for