Photo By Airman 1st Class Annaliese Billings | Master Sgt. Dustin Turner, right, an explosive ordnance disposal technician assigned...... read more read more
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The efforts of a Kentucky Air National Guardsman last year were instrumental in locating the remains of two U.S. Marine aviators lost in combat over Vietnam a half-century ago.
Master Sgt. Dustin Turner, an explosive ordnance disposal technician assigned to the 123rd Civil Engineer Squadron here, joined with more than a dozen other American Airmen, Soldiers and Marines to excavate 368 square meters of rice paddies in the province of Quang Binh in June 2023.
The painstaking work, which called on Turner’s EOD skills to screen for unexploded ordnance prior to excavation, located aircraft parts, an intact dog tag and osseous material belonging to the fallen Marines. As a result of those efforts, the family members have been notified that their loved ones are no longer missing in action.
“They’re now officially accounted for, and both families have had a sense of closure,” Turner said. “This was ultimately the whole reason we were over there.”
The recovered Marines were Capt. Ralph J. Chipman, an A-6 Intruder pilot, and Capt. Ronald W. Forrester, a bombardier and navigator. Both were assigned to the 1st Marine Air Wing, Marine Aircraft Group 15, Marine Attack Squadron 533. Their mission was to conduct low-level bombing over Route 101 in Quang Binh when they were reportedly shot down by a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft battery in late December of 1972.
“We kept their portraits out on site; that helped keep us focused,” Turner said. “Every morning, before we stepped off to start our mission for the day, our captain read a vignette from the men’s lives to bring home why we were actually out there.”
Turner said they were determined to recover the fallen with honor and dignity, according to the legal policies of the host country of Vietnam, and to make sure they were documenting things properly.
The team was able to locate fabric used as material in Marine Corps flight suits, a banking card that identified the second aviator, and ammunition near the crash site.
Turner, who served as the recovery non-commissioned officer and senior EOD technician, is the first Air National Guard EOD member to be selected for such an operation, conducted under the direction of the Defense POW/MIA Accountability Agency.
The decision to include him was made over three years ago, he said. His expertise would allow the team to locate, identify and mitigate possible unexploded ordnance hazards during the recovery mission. Scientific recovery experts, archeologists and many local workers also helped Turner and his team screen for osseous material among the aircraft wreckage.
The work site was located on a rice plantation, and water pumps ran constantly to drain the excavation area. At the same time, the team had to dig carefully to ensure the land retained its usability for agriculture. Turner described the entire area as “saturated with ordnance from many decades of conflict.”
Prior to digging, team members swept the area with metal detectors and flagged any section containing metallic objects. Additionally, they made sure they had “razor sharp shovels” in order to make specific measurements in the ground.
Once that process was complete, team members began “painstakingly shoveling centimeters of earth at a time to find osseous material” while being careful not to destroy any evidence, Turner recalled.
Recovered materials were then placed in buckets that were evaluated at a wet-screening station. The Americans were assisted by local residents who worked with the team for 46 days, often for nine to 11 hours a day, he said.
Turner said he was humbled by the experience, adding that he was appreciative of the opportunity to do “his small part” in bringing peace to the families who were previously notified their loved ones were missing in action.
“I’m grateful the DoD has maintained faith with the families of the fallen, and that there are ongoing recovery efforts still occurring,” he said.
| Date Taken: | 12.20.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 12.20.2024 18:30 |
| Story ID: | 488170 |
| Location: | LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY, US |
| Web Views: | 130 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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