Servicemen Remains Returned From Vietnam

The remains of five Navy servicemen have been returned to the United States after they disappeared 40 years ago in Vietnam, the Department of Defense said Friday.

Lt. j.g. Norman Roggow of Aurelia, Iowa, was piloting an E-1B Tracer en route from Chu Lai Air Base in Vietnam back to the aircraft carrier USS Oriskany on Oct. 8, 1967. The aircraft was lost from radar about 10 miles northwest of Da Nang, Vietnam.

Others aboard the aircraft were Lt. Andrew Zissu of Bronx, N.Y.; Lt. j.g. Donald Wolfe of Hardin, Mont.; Chief Petty Officer Roland Pineau of Berkley, Mich., and Petty Officer 3rd Class Raul Guerra of Los Angeles.

Adverse weather hampered immediate search efforts, but three days later a search helicopter spotted the wreckage of the aircraft on the face of a steep mountain. The location, terrain and hostile forces in the area precluded a ground recovery, military officials said in a statement.

The crash has been studied since 1993 several times with excavations of the crash site and other locations where remains were believed to have been moved.

In 1993 and 1994, human remains were repatriated to the United States with information that linked the remains to unassociated losses in the same geographical area as this incident. More remains were returned earlier this year.

Military scientists used mitochondrial DNA, dental comparisons and other forensic tools to identify the remains of the troops.

Pineau was buried on Oct. 8 in Arlington National Cemetery near Washington. The dates and locations of the funerals for the other servicemen are being set by their families.

The remains will be returned to the families for burial with full military honors.
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