THE WALL OF FACES

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. I am heartened you returned home after the passage of so many years though I wish it had been under very different circumstances. May you rest in eternal peace.

Dear Lt Severo Primm, Thank you for your service as a Tactical Aircraft Pilot. Glad you were identified in 1995. WELCOME HOME. Saying thank you isn't enough, but it is from the heart. Summer has begun. Time passes quickly. Please watch over America, it stills needs your strength, courage and faithfulness, especially now. Rest in peace with the angels.

THANK YOU, for your service in the Air Force. NEVER, will you be forgotten

As a band-mate to Sonny in LSU Tiger Band's trumpet section, and as an Army veteran, I remain thankful each day for the ultimate sacrifice made by Sonny and so many others in defense of freedom and in the wars against tyranny. I recall Sonny sold his prized trumpet affording a ring for his bride, Kathy. The service and sacrifice of such individuals can not be over valued by all of who receive the benefit of the protections they provided...God bless the Primm family and all our service members!

On February 5, 1973, about a week after the signing of the Paris Peace Agreement, an EC-47Q aircraft was shot down over Saravane Province, Laos, about 50 miles east of the city of Saravane. The crew of the aircraft consisted of the pilot, CAPT George R. Spitz, co-pilot 2LT Severo J. Primm III, CAPT Arthur R. Bollinger, 1LT Robert E. Bernhardt, SGT Dale Brandenburg, SGT Joseph A. Matejov, all listed as crew members, and SGT Peter R. Cressman and SSGT Todd M. Melton, both systems operators. The families of all aboard the aircraft were told the men were dead, and advised to conduct memorial services. It is known that Cressman and Matejov were members of Detachment 3, 6994th Security Squadron from Ubon, Thailand. The aircraft, however, was flying out of the 361st TEW Squadron (Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron) at Nakhon Phanom Airbase, Thailand. Primm, Melton, Spitz, Brandenburg and Bernhardt were assigned to the 361st TEW Squadron. Bollinger's unit is unknown. The men in the 6994th were highly trained and operated in the greatest of secrecy. They were not allowed to mingle with others from their respective bases, nor were the pilots of the aircraft carrying them on their missions always told what their objective was. They were cryptology experts, language experts, and knew well how to operate some of the Air Force's most sophisticated equipment. They were the first to hear the enemy's battle plans. [Narrative taken from pownetwork.org; image from wikipedia.org]