13 Jun 66 Col. Charles W. Burkart Jr. Usaf Laos

[SEATJERKER]

JUST ADDING REMEMBERNCE...

[SEATJERKER]

...as he has made it to another year of the unknown...

...like many, he was a brave man that went off to serve his country, and mankind for a better world, and has yet to be accounted for...

...He was from a small city about 12 miles from me, Selkirk NY...

...God Bless him, and his family for their sacrifices, Amen...

[SEATJERKER]

...Sorry Charles, I'm late...

...But I have not forgotten you,...

...and so many others,...




...You see, we've been fortunite enough to be very busy this year, The masses have been trimming trees, and mowing lawns, swimming and dancing, only by the grace of God, and men like you...

...In 66, I was trying as hard as I could to peddle up my hill, I know that you were running hard trying to make it up another hill so far away...

...The little town of Selkirk is still nestled among the burbs, and it hasn't changed much, The people wave as you drive by, They know not the thoughts that fill my moments, wondering if that was the hardware store where you might have worked for your first job, the corner store where penny candy glistened from jars, the wail of the one lone fire tower telling you it was noon, Yes Selkirk is still there, but you are not, but you are not forgotten...

...It is now 37 years later, and I hope you are cradled in the arms of your brothers as they with you...

...Welcome home"...

[DMZ-LT]

Thank you , Curtis. Forever young.

[Chevelle]

...Wear it everyday,...

...again late on the post,... but not forgotten,...

...

[SEATJERKER]

BURKART, CHARLES WILLIAM JR.

Name: Charles William Burkart, Jr.
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 13th Bomber Squadron, Da Nang AB SV
Date of Birth: 17 May 1931
Home City of Record: Selkirk NY
Date of Loss: 13 June 1966
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 171500N 1054500E (WE778137)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: B57
Refno: 0359
Other Personnel in Incident: Everett O. Kerr (Missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 30 April 1990 from one or more of
the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence
with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Updated by the P.O.W.
NETWORK 1998.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: When North Vietnam began to increase their military strength in
South Vietnam, NVA and Viet Cong troops again intruded on neutral Laos for
sanctuary, as the Viet Minh had done during the war with the French some
years before. The border road, termed the "Ho Chi Minh Trail" was used for
transporting weapons, supplies and troops. Hundreds of American pilots were
shot down trying to stop this communist traffic to South Vietnam.
Fortunately, search and rescue teams in Vietnam were extremely successful
and the recovery rate was high.

Still there were nearly 600 who were not rescued. Many of them went down
along the Ho Chi Minh Trail and the passes through the border mountains
between Laos and Vietnam. Many were alive on the ground and in radio contact
with search and rescue and other planes; some were known to have been
captured. Hanoi's communist allies in Laos, the Pathet Lao, publicly spoke
of American prisoners they held, but when peace agreements were negotiated,
Laos was not included, and not a single American was released that had been
held in Laos.

The B57 Canberra was one of the aircraft used by the U.S. Air Force to bomb
the Ho Chi Minh Trail. The Canberra first came to the Vietnam theater at the
time of the Gulf of Tonkin incident om 1964. It proved to vulnerable and
difficult to repair for working targets over North Vietnam, but proved
effective in the armed reconnaissance Trail operations of Operation Steel
Tiger. The Canberra was sometimes used in conjunction with other, more
sophisticated aircraft, such as the C130, and was especially effective on
night missions.

Capt. Charles W. Burkart Jr. was the pilot and Capt. Everett O. Kerr the
navigator of a B57 Canberra assigned a night strike mission over Laos on
June 13, 1966. Capt. Burkart's aircraft was flying in a flight of three
planes.

Prior to reaching the target area, the flight became separated due to bad
weather. The last known radio contact from Burkart and Kerr was
approximately 50 minutes after takeoff at Da Nang. Their approximate
location was about 8 miles southeast of the city of Ban Som Peng in the Ban
Karai Pass region of Khammouane Province, Laos.

Despite search efforts, no aircraft wreckage was located, and no emergency
beeper signals were detected. Burkart and Kerr were classified Missing in
Action.

When 591 Americans were released from prisoner of war camps at the end of
American involvement in the war, Kerr and Burkart were not among them. Not
one American held in Laos had been released.

In early 1979, thirteen years after their disappearance, Kerr and Burkart
were administratively declared dead based on no specific information that
they were alive.

Were it not for the thousands of reports concerning Americans still held
captive in Southeast Asia, the Kerr and Burkart families might be able to
close this tragic chapter of their lives. But as long as Americans are
alive, being held captive, Kerr and Burkart could be among them. It's time
we brought these men home.


Charles W. Burkart was promoted to the rank of Colonel and Everett O. Kerr
was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel during the period they were
maintained missing.




...2nd ,...

BURKART, CHARLES WILLIAM, JR.
Name: Charles William Burkart, Jr.
Rank/Branch: Colonel/US Air Force

Unit: 13th Bomb Squadron
DaNang Airfield, South Vietnam

Date of Birth: 27 May 1931

Home of Record: Selkirk, NY

Date of Loss: 13 June 1966

Country of Loss: Laos

Loss Coordinates: 171500N 1054500E (WE778137)
Click coordinates to view (4) maps

Status in 1973: Missing in Action

Category: 2

Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: B-57 "Canberra"

Other Personnel In Incident: Everett O. Kerr (missing)


REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: The B57 Canberra was a light tactical bomber that first arrived in Southeast Asia in 1964. As a veteran of operations Rolling Thunder in North Vietnam and Steel Tiger in Laos, it played an important roll in interdicting communist supplies moving along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Some of the B57's from the 13th Bomb Squadron located at DaNang and the 8th Tactical Bomb Squadron at Phan Rang, South Vietnam had also been equipped with infrared sensors for night strike operations in Tropic Moon II and III in the spring of 1967
.
The Mu Gia Pass was one of two major ports of entry into Laos used by the communists. When North Vietnam began to increase its military strength in South Vietnam, NVA and Viet Cong troops again intruded on neutral Laos for sanctuary, as the Viet Minh had done during the war with the French some years before. This border road was used by the Communists to transport weapons, supplies and troops from North Vietnam into South Vietnam, and was frequently no more than a path cut through the jungle covered mountains. US forces used all assets available to them to stop this flow of men and supplies from moving south into the war zone.

On 13 June 1966 then Lt. Col. Charles W. Burkart, Jr., pilot; and 1st Lt. Everett O. Kerr, navigator; comprised the crew of a B-57 Canberra in a flight of 3 aircraft conducting a night strike mission against Route 911, the primary road running through the Mu Gia Pass and south in Khammouan Province, Laos. The mission identifier for this flight was Steel Tiger.

The three strike aircraft departed DaNang approximately 0100 hours. Prior to reaching the target area, the flight was forced to separate due to bad weather. Once Lt. Col. Burkhart's B-57 arrived in the target area, it rendezvoused with the rest of the flight, the Airborne Battlefield Command and Control Center (ABCCC) responsible for controlling all air operations in this region and the Forward Air Controller (FAC) responsible for directing their strike mission. After checking in with the ABCCC, the strike aircraft were handed over to the FAC who directed them to proceed with their briefed mission.

At 0154 hours, the last known radio contact was established with Lt. Col. Burkart and 1st Lt. Kerr. The Canberra's crew transmitted that they were roughly 8 miles southeast of the city of Ban Som Peng at that time. Further, they did not indicate they were experiencing any difficulty with the aircraft or the mission.

During the course of the operation, other aircrews tried to establish radio contact with Lt. Col. Burkart and 1st Lt. Kerr, but were unsuccessful in doing so. When the ABCCC was also unable to establish radio contact, the pilot requested an aerial search and rescue (SAR) operation be initiated. In the poor visibility and darkness, the other aircrews saw no parachutes. They also heard no emergency radio beepers emanating from the jungle below.

At first light the SAR aircraft searched the sector in and around the area of last contact. When no trace of the missing aircraft or its crew was found along Route 911 or in the surrounding jungle covered mountains, the SAR effort was suspended. Because of the intense enemy presence throughout the entire region, no ground search was possible. At the time the formal search was terminated, both Charles Burkart and Everett Kerr were listed Missing In Action.

At the time of last contact, the Canberra was operating just to the west of Route 911 as it ran through a densely forested long and very narrow valley with steep, rugged mountains rising up on both sides. The Xe Rangfai River weaved its way through the rugged mountains less than ? mile east of Route 911 at the location of loss. The entire sector was heavily defended and densely populated with communist forces.

The location was approximately 3 miles west of a Binh Tram, a way station used by communist forces as they moved along the Ho Chi Minh Trail; 8 miles northwest of Ban Thapachon, 13 miles south-southeast of Ban Senphon; 20 miles southwest of the Lao/North Vietnamese border and 24 miles south of the Mu Gia Pass. It was also 58 miles west-southwest of the major North Vietnamese port city of Dong Hoi.

If Charles Burkart and Everett Kerr died in the loss of their aircraft, each man has the right to have his remains returned to his family, friends and country. However, if they survived, they most certainly could have been captured by enemy troops known to be operating throughout this part of eastern Laos, and their fate, like that of other Americans who remain unaccounted for in Southeast Asia, could be quite different.

Since the end of the Vietnam War, over 21,000 reports of American Prisoners, missing and otherwise unaccounted for have been received by our government. Many of these reports document LIVE American Prisoners of War remaining captive throughout Southeast Asia TODAY.

Pilots and aircrews in Vietnam and Laos were called upon to fly in many dangerous circumstances, and were prepared to be wounded, killed or captured. It probably never occurred to them that they could be abandoned by the country they so proudly served.

[SEATJERKER]

...

...I'm early this year, and I made sure of it,...

...how are you, yes it's been 40 years this year, no we haven't forgotten, said a special prayer for you up on the mountain this year with your friends, no you didn't directly know them, but they all know you, and your friends, they're never forgotten,...

...40 years long time to be missing, you were one of the early ones I know , but none the less, your in the best of company, I don't miss the sunshine where your braclet lies, it remindes me of those who commanded respect, flying into the unknown for unknowns, those who did not know why you flew,..., those that only wondered of the taste of freedom,...

...So you saw that big flag I flew for you, and the others, great, proud to do it, I know that it would mean a lot for those that know,...

...yes times are a little diffucult at this point in time for us, but we're still working on some problems in the world,...

...I know your all rooting for us, and that everyone can make a difference, we're tryin',...

...know in your souls that each, and everyone of you made a difference, we're all hurtin' for the times we could have spent together, but yours was not in vain, you set the bar as high as it could go, we'll keep it there,...

...We'll tell our children's children each, and every act of bravery that lives with everyone of you, you will not be forgotten, you'll live with me as you'll live with my son,...

...Your fate is celebrated in the birth of my daughter the day after you went missing, you live in her,...

...40 years,...

...I will fight your fight, I will carry tour torch, You give me strength for I am an American Serviceman also,...

...God bless America,...

...AMEN,...

...

...

[Jerry D]

As long as one person remembers a persons life they are never quite gone. God bless the Heroes that didn't come home and those who did that aren't with us today To the memory of Charles William Burkart, Jr.

[SEATJERKER]

...

... Hi Charlie,...

...Another long year has passed, when you gonna stop back in a say hello?,...

...Be nice to turn some heads with your arrival after so many years, but we all know you've been real busy. I hope things are well with you, I know your with friends, and time flys when your having fun, so drop us a line when you can,...

... Curtis, and friends,...

...God Bless,...

...

[SEATJERKER]

...

...Hi Charlie,...

...I'm right on time this year,...

...say hello to Nick for us as he just arrived the other day, he was a local from up our way,...

...It's been several years here that we've been able to let you know that your years of service have not been forgotten, 43 years missing does not diminish the thoughts of those that remember you,...

...May you, and all your Brothers sit at the right hand of God, and be forever blessed in knowing your sacrifices were not in vain, so many live for what you gave,...

...