THE WALL OF FACES

I am the Curator of the POW/MIA Bracelet Display in the Vietnam Hangar of the Palm Springs Air Museum in Palm Springs, California where we now have over two thousand bracelets and would be honored to include your bracelet in our Display should you have one. If you no longer have your bracelet or are an immediate family member (spouse, fiancé, sibling, child, grandchild, cousin, niece, nephew, or close friend) I can order one for the Display in your name with funds donated by our Museum visitors.
https://palmspringsairmuseum.org/vietnam-pow-bracelet-display/
Dr. Dave Thompson
Palm Springs Air Museum
POW/MIA Bracelet Display Curator
Lt. Commander U.S. Navy 1964-1970
10-103 Lakeview Dr. Rancho Mirage, Ca 92270
760-328-0859 760-464-6843 [email protected]

I,Robert Marion Lewis purchased a POW-MIA bracelet in 1976. I am 65 years old and have worn the bracelet of Wilbur Ronald Brown proudly every single day except during surgeries. This man,who's legacy that I am blessed to carry on is from my hometown of Wilmington,North Carolina. I've loved and prayed for you and your family's comfort since the day that I chose this bracelet specifically. Carry on. I'll meet you in Heaven. IGY6

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. I am heartened you were returned home after so many years. May you rest in eternal peace.

Major Wilbur Ronald Brown, Served with the 311th Air Commando Squadron, 315th Air Commando Group, 13th Air Force.

On February 3, 1966, a U.S. Air Force Fairchild C-123C Provider aircraft from the 311th Air Commando Squadron was assigned a mission on the border of Laos and South Vietnam, about 10 miles southwest of Khe Sanh. The crew of four included aircraft commander MAJ James L. Carter, pilot CPT Wilbur R. Brown, loadmaster SGT Edward M. Parsley, and flight mechanic SGT Therman M. Waller. During the mission, radio contact was lost with the Provider and the plane was not seen again. Searches along the flight route did not find a crash site. The military claimed that the C-123 was on a combat support mission from Khe Sanh to Da Nang via Dong Ha, and that there had been no contact with the crew after it took off from Khe Sanh at 1655 hours. Despite this official version of the mission, it was speculated that the aircraft was flying a “Candlestick" mission, dispensing flares to illuminate targets for American fighters or tactical bombers against enemy truck traffic along the Ho Chi Minh trail in Laos. Carter, Brown, Parsley, and Waller were declared Missing in Action by the Air Force. All four airmen were promoted while they were unaccounted for, Carter to Colonel, Brown to Major, and Parsley and Waller to Chief Master Sergeant. Three decades later, joint U.S. and Vietnamese teams investigated potential crash sites of the Provider in Quang Tri Province. They interviewed Vietnamese villagers who took them to three different crash sites. Only one of the sites revealed wreckage consistent with that of a C-123 aircraft. Several of the informants said that the bodies of the crew and passengers were buried near the site where the aircraft crashed into a mountain. Specialists from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) conducted four excavations at the site between 2000 and 2003. During these four excavations, they recovered human remains, personal effects, and other debris. On May 19, 2003, the remains of the four crewmen were repatriated. Laboratory analysis of the remains by forensic scientists at JPAC led to their positive identification on June 7, 2004, with the exception of Carter, whose remains were identified January 23, 2009. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and pownetwork.org]