Honor your hero with thoughts, memories, images and stories.
Airman Accounted For From Vietnam War (Hall, F.)
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Air Force Capt. Fredrick M. Hall, 25, of Waynesville, North Carolina, reported missing during the Vietnam War, was accounted for March 23, 2023.
On April 12, 1969, 1st Lt. Hall was the navigator on a F-4D Phantom II assigned to 390th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 336th Tactical Fighter Wing. Hall, his pilot, Colonel De Soto and another aircraft were returning from a cancelled strike mission near Quang Nam Province, Vietnam when both aircraft ascended into heavy cloud cover. The lead aircraft noticed Hall’s plane was not in sight and immediately began an aerial search without success. Hall was promoted to Captain while in a missing status.
A search and rescue airborne mission were deployed and located Hall’s crash site, there were no signs of the crew; however due to the hostile activity in the area prevented a ground investigation of the site.
In May 1995, a Joint Field Activity team located the crash site in the Giang District, Quang Nam Province and sent another joint team in July 1996 to recover evidence. A number of DPAA investigation and recovery efforts took place between 1998-2020, with a March 2021 recovery mission conducted by the host nation, finding possible osseous remains and material evidence. The remains were sent to the DPAA laboratory for identification.
To identify Hall’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis and material evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), and autosomal DNA (auSTR) analysis.
Hall’s name is recorded on the National Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., and the American Battle Monuments Commission’s Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, along with others who are unaccounted-for from the Vietnam War. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Hall will be buried in Waynesville, North Carolina on Oct. 10, 2023.
After missing in action in the Vietnam War for 54 years, a soldier's remains return to NC
Captain Hall joined the U.S. Air Force as a member of the 390th Tactical Fighter Squadron. On April 12, 1969, his fighter jet took off from Da Nang Air Base in South Vietnam as a part of a strike mission over Quang Nam Province. Captain Hall's fighter jet crashed into a mountain jet while flying through clouds.
While there were search and rescue efforts, there were no signs of survival and searching the ground was not possible at that time because of enemy presence.
It wasn't until May of 1995 that a team found the crash site, but obstacles prevented excavation until March of 2021. At that time, the Vietnam Office for Seeking Missing Persons recovery teams began to recover the evidence that ultimately led to the identification of Captain Hall's remains.
“Bringing Captain Hall home will help his family find some measure of closure,” said Lieutenant General Walter E. Gaskin, USMC, Ret., Secretary, NC DMVA. “While missing for more than five decades, he was never forgotten. Although not here physically, he was never far away from the hearts of his family, community, and our nation. His return helps us continue to have faith and hope for those still missing until all are returned home.”
Captain Hall's family will receive him on Oct. 8 at 1:30 p.m. at the Greenville Spartanburg International Airport. A military honor motorcade will then escort his remains to Waynesville.
On Oct. 10, there will be a memorial service with full military honors for Captain Hall and then he will be laid to rest at Greenhill Cemetery in his hometown of Waynesville.