Non-Vietnam POWS: A Few Others

I said in an earlier article I was not going to attempt a comprehensive list of POWs taken in terrorist incidents. That’s still true; I simply don’t have the time to conduct a comprehensive review of terrorist incidents to determine if any US military personnel were taken prisoner in same and later declared POWs.

However, in the interest of completeness I decided I’d post the information that I do have concerning the subject.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE INFORMATION BELOW IS NOT – I REPEAT, NOT – TO BE REGARDED AS COMPREHENSIVE.

While I believe the information below to be correct, I do NOT claim that what follows is a full and complete listing of US military personnel who were taken prisoner in Cold War and terrorist incidents and later formally declared to be POWs by DoD. There is IMO a very good chance I’ve missed one or more individuals that should be listed here. As new information becomes available, I’ll modify this article accordingly.

What’s Not Here

Not listed below are POWs held by 3rd countries due to the Vietnam and Korean Wars.  The two US military personnel who were detained by China while participating in combat operations in conjunction with the Vietnam War were accorded POW status as Vietnam War POWs. I discussed that in the notes to this previous TAH article.

Additionally, published reports indicate that a number of US military personnel were detained by China (as opposed to by Chinese forces assisting North Korea) as the result of their participation in combat operations during during the Korean War; those same published reports indicate that at least 11 US military personnel were released by China in mid-1955. It is my understanding that these US military personnel were later recognized as Korean War POWs; they’re thus not listed here either.  (I’ve not yet been able to locate anything more than a number and date of release for these individuals.  If anyone has additional information concerning this group – or a by-name list of these individuals – please indicate that fact in the comments section.)

US military personnel taken prisoner by insurgent forces In Iraq or Afghanistan are also not listed here.  (None are known to have survived such captivity.)  They are listed in a previous article in this series.

That said:  what follows is the pertinent information I have collected so far regarding US personnel taken prisoner during Cold War hostile fire and post-Vietnam terrorist incidents who have been formally declared by DoD to have been POWs.  The names of the individuals who appear to be deceased as of the date of publication of this article are in italics.

Cold War China

At least one US sailor is known to have been taken prisoner by Communist Chinese forces under circumstances related to neither the Korean nor Vietnam Wars. He was later formally accorded POW status by DoD.

NAME	Service	Rank	Date Captured	Circumstances
BLAIR, Donald R.	USN	unk	3-Dec-46	Held prisoner by Communist Chinese forces after being captured IVO Tsingtao, China, while training Nationalist Chinese forces. Held 44 days, then released. Died in an auto accident on 16 May 2000.

 

Cold War Soviet Union

At least three personnel captured by the Soviet Union during Cold War hostile fire incidents have been formally accorded POW status.

NAME	Service	Rank	Date Captured	Circumstances
POWERS, Francis Gary	USAF	Capt	1-May-60	Held prisoner in USSR 1960-1962 after U-2 shot down IVO Sverdlosk. Died in 1977. Military records corrected in 1977 to show continuous military service vice break in service for CIA employment. Died in a helicopter crash, 1 August 1977.
OMLSTEAD, Freeman Bruce	USAF	Capt	1-Jul-60	Held prisoner in USSR after RB-47 shot down over Barents Sea, 1960-1961. Four other crew members KIA.
McKONE, John R.	USAF	Capt	1-Jul-60	Held prisoner in USSR after RB-47 shot down over Barents Sea, 1960-1961. Four other crew members KIA. Died of old age, 31 October 2013.

Post-Vietnam Terrorist Incidents

A minimum of seven US military personnel have been taken prisoner in post-Vietnam terrorist incidents (as opposed to by insurgent forces during the GWOT) who were later formally accorded POW status by DoD.

NAME	Service	Rank	Date Captured	Circumstances
BOWEN, Kenneth	USN	PO2	14-Jun-85	Held prisoner by Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad terrorists for 17 days (TWA 847 incident).
DAHL, Stewart	USN	PO1	14-Jun-85	Held prisoner by Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad terrorists for 17 days (TWA 847 incident).
INGALLIS, Jeffrey	USN	PO1	14-Jun-85	Held prisoner by Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad terrorists for 17 days (TWA 847 incident).
STETHAM, Robert D.	USN	PO2	14-Jun-85	Held prisoner by Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad terrorists for 2 days (TWA 847 incident).   Executed by captors, 15 June 1985.
SUGGS, Clinton	USN	PO2	14-Jun-85	Held prisoner by Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad terrorists for 17 days (TWA 847 incident).
WATSON, Tony	USN	PO1	14-Jun-85	Held prisoner by Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad terrorists for 17 days (TWA 847 incident).
HIGGINS, William R.	USMC	LtCol	17-Feb-88	Held prisoner by Hezbollah terrorists in Lebannon, 1988-1990.  Executed by captors, exact date unknown.  Declared dead 6 July 1990.

Two Unclear Cases

Two other well-known cases are at this point unclear. The first is that of US Army MG James L. Dozier. Then-BG Dozier was abducted by Italian Red Brigades terrorists on 17 December 1981; he was held captive until rescued by Italian police on 28 January 1982. It is not clear if MG Dozier has ever been formally declared a POW by DoD.

Similarly, it is also unclear whether the crew of the US EP-3 detained by China in 2001 have ever been formally declared POWs.  They were held captive for 11 days after their aircraft was damaged in a midair collision with a Chinese military aircraft and landed on Hainan Island on 1 April 2001.

I have found nothing indicating that these 25 individuals have ever been formally declared by DoD to have been POWs, and I don’t believe they have been.  However, I am not certain that is the case. If someone has definitive information either way, I would appreciate you passing links to that info to me in comments below.

 

A final point:  some of the above links discussing a specific individual’s POW status (or lack thereof) are to documents from sources other than DoD.  If anyone has links to DoD-published documents verifying or refuting the formal POW status of the individuals discussed above, or of any other individuals I’ve missed, please post them in the comments section below and I’ll update the links/article above accordingly.  Thanks in advance for the assist to anyone who might be able to help out here.

Category: Historical, Military issues, Veterans Issues