Name:	John Charles Hardy
Rank/Branch:	Captain/US Air Force
Unit:	11th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron                        Udorn Airfield, Thailand
Date of Birth:	07 March 1939
Home of Record:	Troy, MO
Date of Loss:	03 April 1968
Country of Loss:	North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates:	171206N 1073644E (YD450950) Click corrdinates to view maps
Status in 1973:	Remains Recovered
Category:	2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground:	RF4C "Phantom II"
Other Personnel in Incident:	Ronald R. Rexroad (missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS:  The McDonnell F4 Phantom used by Air Force, Marine and Navy air wings served a multitude of functions including fighter/bomber, interceptor, photo/electronic surveillance, and reconnaissance. The two man aircraft was extremely fast (Mach 2) and had a long range, 900 - 2300 miles depending on stores and mission type. The F4 was also extremely maneuverable and handled well at low and high altitudes. It was selected for a number of state-of-the-art electronics conversions, which improved radar intercept and computer bombing capabilities enormously. Most pilots considered it one of the "hottest" planes around.

The RF4 version of the Phantom II is a reconnaissance aircraft outfitted for photographic and electronic reconnaissance missions. Other RF4s were equipped with infrared and side-looking radar which helped advance the technology of reconnaissance during the war. They were also used to fly target detection and bomb damage assessment missions throughout Southeast Asia.

In the afternoon of 3 April 1968, then Capt. Ronald R. Rexroad, pilot, and Capt. John C. Hardy, navigator, departed Udorn Airfield on a single aircraft photo reconnaissance mission for 2 road strips in the rugged, jungle covered mountains southwest of the major communist port city of Dong Hoi, North Vietnam. Their call sign was "Lemming" and their mission identifier was "Steel Tiger."

This area of eastern Laos was considered a major artery of tBy early 1967, the Bell UH1 Iroquois was already the standard Army assault helicopter, and was used in nearly every “in-country” mission.  Better known by its nickname “Huey,” the troop carriers were referred to as “Slicks” and the gunships were called “Hogs.”  It proved itself to be a sturdy, versatile aircraft which was called on to carry out a wide variety of missions including search and rescue, close air support, insertion and extraction, fire support, and resupply to name a few.  It usually carried a crew of four.

On 9 August 1969, 1Lt. Ronald J. Janousek, co-pilot; and Cpl. Bruce E. Kane, crewman; were assigned as two of the four-man crew aboard a UH1E helicopter returning from a combat mission in Laos.  While returning to base, the Huey was struck by heavy hostile automatic weapons fire and crashed into the Se Kong River approximately 46 miles west of Hue, South Vietnam; 13 miles northwest of Tavouac and 3 miles west of the Lao/Vietnamese border, Salavan Province, Laos.

Cpl. Kane jumped free of the aircraft landing in the stream near the bank.  Other survivors saw him exit the water, then re-entered it to save other Marines who were injured in the crash.  The other survivors reported they saw him alive, well, and assisting the other wounded crewmembers, including 1st Lt. Janousek.

Search and rescue (SAR) aircraft responded immediately to the Mayday call from the downed aircraft.  When they arrived on site, they recovered the injured survivors and began searching for Bruce Kane and Ronald Janousek, but could find no trace of either one in the immediate area of the wreckage or on the river bank.  Because of the hostile threat, no extensive ground search was possible.  None of the survivors knew for sure what happen to the two missing crewmen, and the Marine Corps believed they probably drowned in the mountain stream’s fast moving current.  Ronald Janousek and Bruce Kane were both listed Killed in Action/Body Not Recovered and probably not recoverable.

The Se Kong River was quite muddy with jungle growth flourishing along both banks.  Tree limbs and vines overhung the winding mountain stream’s edge.  Because no remains were found, there is a chance both crewmen surfaced out of sight of the rest of the Americans only to be captured by Communist forces operating in the area.

In April 1991 the US government released a list of Prisoners of War and Missing in Action who were known to be alive in enemy hands and for whom there is no evidence that he or she died in captivity.  This list, commonly referred to today as the USG’s “Last Known Alive” list included Bruce Kane.  In 1992 Cpl. Kane’s family was informed that he was included on this list, but gave them no explanation for this inclusion.

Ronald Janousek and Bruce Kane are among nearly 600 Americans who disappeared in Laos.  Many of these men were known to be alive on the ground.  The Laotians admitted holding "tens of tens" of American Prisoners of War, but these men were never negotiated for either by direct negotiation between our countries or through the Paris Peace Accords which ended the War in Vietnam since Laos was not a party to that agreement.

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.

Our military men in Vietnam were called upon to live and fight under many dangerous circumstances, and they 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.
he infamous Ho Chi Minh Trail. 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.

Weather conditions in the target area consisted of visibility of 200 to 1,000 feet; scattered to broken clouds with 3,000 to 5,000-foot multiple scattered layers (MSL) and tops of a haze layer at 14,000 feet MSL. In addition, there were a few scattered cloud build ups to 20,000 feet MSL and tops to 25,000 feet MSL.

Capt. Rexroad made radio contact with "Hillsboro," the airborne command and control aircraft notifying him "they were 4 minutes out and approaching the target area on their ingress heading." Hillsboro acknowledged Lemming's transmission assigning them an in-flight Bomb Damage Assessment (BDA) mission to photograph those sections of the Ho Chi Minh Trail being struck by another aircraft.

After completing their photo runs, Lemming flight again contacted Hillsboro. They were vectored to egress the target area by their pre-assigned route to the east over North Vietnam and out over the Gulf of Tonkin. At 1509 hours, as the Phantom egressed over North Vietnam, and before it reached the coastline near Vinh Linh, all radio and radar contact with aircraft stopped. Search and rescue (SAR) efforts were immediately initiated by both the Air Force and Navy, and continued until darkness force them to be terminated. They were resumed at first light and continued over the next several days.

On 11 April 1968, the remains of John Hardy were found and recovered by Navy personnel approximately 10 miles off shore in the Gulf of Tonkin. They were positively identified the next day and returned to his family. No trace of Ronald Rexroad or his aircraft was found during the extensive SAR. At the time those efforts were terminated, Capt. Rexroad was listed Missing in Action.

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

Fighter pilots in Vietnam and Laos were called upon to fly in many dangerous circumstances, and they 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.