REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On July 3, 1966, Master Sergeant Ralph J. Reno was a passenger onboard a CH34 helicopter which crashed and burned in Northwest Quang Tin Province, South Vietnam. The helicopter landed in a very difficult and hilly area about five miles from the Laos border.

Search missions were conducted from July 4 to July 8, and bodies of all crew onboard the aircraft were recovered except that of MSGT Reno. During searches, Reno's rucksack was found, but no other items belonging to him were seen.

The U.S. Army determined that there was little chance that Reno survived, and classified him Killed/Body Not Recovered. The helicopter apparently did not crash due to enemy hostility, and his loss is listed as non-hostile, non-battle related.

Over 10,000 reports relating to Americans still prisoner, missing, or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. since the war ended. Many experts believe that hundreds of Americans are still alive in captivity today. Whether Ralph Reno is among them is a matter for speculation.

For the families of the men who remain missing, every report brings the agony of wondering if their loved ones are alive or dead. There are hundreds of children whose lives are paralyzed in waiting for their fathers to keep a promise to come home to them. There are hundreds of captive Americans waiting for their country to keep a promise to them to bring them home.

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Information provided by POW Network