THE WALL OF FACES

We will always love and miss you Henry.

Major Henry Lewis Allen, Served with Detachment 1 (Udorn Air Base), 56th Special Operations Wing, 7th Air Force.

DEAR MAJOR ALLEN,
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE AS AN AIR FORCE FORWARD AIR CONTROLLER, CESSNA O -2A SKYMASTER.
I HOPE YOU ARE FOUND. I PRAY THAT YOU ARE.
THE POW.-MIA FLAG IS FLYING NOW ON MY PORCH.
PLEASE COME HOME.

Major Henry Lewis Allen, Served with Detachment 1, Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base Thailand, 56th Special Operations Wing, 7th / 13th Air Force.

MAJ Henry L. Allen was a Raven Forward Air Controller flying an O-1 aircraft supporting General Vang Pao in the Barrel Roll area of northern Laos. Most of the fighting took place in an area known as the Plain of Jars. He was lost due to unknown causes and his body was not recovered. MAJ Allen was an exceptional pilot with eyes like a hawk. He had been an F-4 crewmember prior to volunteering for his Forward Air Controller assignment to the Steve Canyon Project. On March 26, 1970, he took off with MAJ Richard G. Elzinga in the front seat of his O-1. This was a secret mission and the pilots were assigned to the American Ambassador to Laos appearing as civilians. Allen was 'short,' soon to return home after a tour in which he had notched up four hundred combat missions, and he planned to return directly to the States and marry his fiancée within a fortnight. Elzinga had only just arrived in Laos, and it was his first trip up to the secret city of Vientiane. Allen intended to use the 'commute' as a checkout ride. It was a cloudy day. They departed and reported over the radio that the O-1 was airborne. It was the last thing ever heard from them. Neither of the pilots, nor the plane, was ever seen again. They had disappeared. Each of the Ravens spent at least two hours, on top of their usual day's flying, searching for the wreckage. No Mayday call had been heard, nor had a beeper signal been picked up from the survival radio, and no clue to the airplane's whereabouts was discovered. The disappearance was a complete mystery. The official point of loss was noted as 20 miles northeast of Vientiane, Laos. Both men were classified Missing in Action. [Taken from fac-assoc.org and pownetwork.org]