THE WALL OF FACES

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. We should be forever thankful for the sacrifices of you and so many others to ensure the freedoms we so often take for granted.

Fifty years ago today, many lives changed foever when our family got the horrible news that your airplane had been shot down with no survivors! Though you have been gone for fifty years, and despite heartrending changing reports over the years of what happened to you after the plane went down, evergreen loving memories of you still burn bright! We pray God is with you & you with God until we meet again! Your sister-in-law, yvette balkie

Never forgotten.

Welcome Home.

LT Joseph G. Greenleaf and LT Clemie McKinney served with Fighter Squadron 114 (VF-114), Carrier Air Wing Eleven (CVW-11), embarked aboard the USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63). On April 14, 1972, pilot Greenleaf and Radar Intercept Officer (RIO) McKinney were crew members in a McDonnell Douglas F-4J Phantom II aircraft (#157252), call sign Linfield 203, on a strike mission in the vicinity of the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Vietnam. During the bomb run, their jet was hit in the cockpit area by anti-aircraft artillery and crashed. The Phantom was observed throughout the dive bomb run and impact by the Forward Air Controller (FAC). The FAC reported seeing no ejections and stated that the aircraft impacted and exploded with canopies in place one mile south of Cam Lo village. On August 14, 1985, the Vietnamese government returned remains they associated with McKinney to U.S. custody. Although McKinney's family disputed the finding, the Navy determined in February 1988 the remains were McKinney's. Greenleaf’s remains have not been accounted for. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and pownetwork.org]

May those who served never be forgotten. Rest in peace 1LT. McKinney, I salute your brave soul. My heart goes out to you and your family.