THE WALL OF FACES

The Department of Defense conducted a ceremony at the Pentagon on Friday, 20 September 2019 in recognition of POW/MIA Recognition Day. Deputy Defense Secretary David L. Nordquist remembered the 1,587 MIAs from the Vietnam War as well as all those still unaccounted for from WWII, the Korean War, the Cold War and other conflicts. Since the 2018 Ceremony, DPAA has positively identified 7 Vietnam War MIAs. Major David J. Rickel, USAFA class of 1964, is one of those 1,587 MIAs unaccounted for in Southeast Asia from the Vietnam War. He is also one of 4 graduates from the U.S. Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs class of 1964 who is still MIA. The other 3 USAFA Class of 1964 MIAs (rank & name) are: (1) Maj. Gerald Alfred; (2) Capt. Francis Midnight; & (3) Capt. Alan Trent;

This is the link to the DoD story about the ceremony:

https://www.defense.gov/explore/story/Article/1967474/prisoners-of-war-missing-in-action-remembered-at-pentagon-ceremony/

This is the link to the C-Span video of the ceremony:

https://www.c-span.org/video/?464524-1/pentagon-hosts-national-powmia-recognition-day-ceremony

According to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) website at the below link, the MIA status of Major David J. Rickel, USAFA class of 1964, is ACTIVE PURSUIT:

https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt0000000KZ4qEAG

As of the latest DPAA update (22 February 2019), Major Rickel is one of 1,589 Americans still unaccounted for in Southeast Asia from the Vietnam War. Of the USAFA's 151 Vietnam War Fallen Heroes, he is one of 42 USAFA graduates still MIA.

https://www.dpaa.mil/portals/85/Documents/VietnamAccounting/2019_stats/Statistics%20as%20of%20February%2022,%202019.pdf

On the date of his loss, 16 May 1968, Captain Rickel was the aircraft commander of an F-4 Phantom jet aircraft. While in MIA status, the U.S. Air Force promoted him with his classmates to Major.

MIA Major David J. Rickel, USAFA class of 1964, has his name chiseled into one of the "Courts of the Missing" at the Honolulu Memorial in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (the "Punchbowl") on the island of Oahu in the state of Hawaii. See the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) website at this link:

https://www.abmc.gov/node/512054#.WOlXzIWcHIU

Information about MIA Major David J. Rickel, USAFA class of 1964, from the U.S. Air Force Academy Alumni Website is available at this link:

http://memwall.usafalibrary.com/person.asp?id=62

Information about MIA Major David J. Rickel, USAFA class of 1964, from the POW Network website is at this link:

https://www.pownetwork.org/bios/r/r017.htm