Capt. Mason Irwin Burnham
United States Air Force
BURNHAM, MASON IRWIN Remains identified 11/03/99
Name: Mason Irwin Burnham Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force Unit: Date of
Birth: 19 September 1943 Home City of Record: Portland OR Date of Loss: 20
April 1972 Country of Loss: South Vietnam Loss Coordinates: 152900N 1073100E
(YC699138) Status (in 1973): Missing in Action Category: 2 Acft/Vehicle/Ground:
AC130 Refno: 1831 Other Personnel In Incident: Thomas H. Amos (missing) Source:
Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 1990 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Updated by the P.O.W. NETWORK
1999.
REMARKS: SYNOPSIS: Lockheed's versatile C130 aircraft filled many roles in Vietnam, including transport, tanker, gunship, drone controller, airborne battlefield command and control center, weather reconnaissance, electronic reconnaissance, and search, rescue and recovery. The AC130, outfitted as a gunship, was the most spectacular of the modified C130's. These ships pierced the darkness using searchlights, flares, night observation devices that intensified natural light, and a variety of electronic sensors such as radar, infared equipment and even low-level television. On some models, a computer automatically translated sensor data into instructions for the pilot, who kept his fixed, side-firing guns trained on target by adjusting the angle of bank as he circled. The crew of these planes were, therefore, highly trained and capable. They were highly desirable "captures" for the enemy because of their technical knowledge. Captains Thomas H. Amos and Mason I. Burnham were pilot and co-pilot of an AC130 on a mission near the border of South Vietnam and Laos on April 20, 1973 when their plane was shot down by enemy fire. Because there existed the possibility that the two safely ejected the aircraft, they were declared missing in action. The fate of the rest of the crew (some 8-12 men) is not indicated in public records. The aircraft went down in Quang Tin Province, about halfway between Ben Giang, South Vietnam and Chavane, Laos. [NOTE: 1999 update: Some records, and Burnham's widow indicate that Amos and Burnham were the crew of an F-4 (#0602) on support mission for the C-130, not in the C-130 itself.] The Defense Intelligence Agency further expanded Amos' and Burnham's classification to include an enemy knowledge ranking of 2. Category 2 indicates "suspect knowledge" and includes personnel who may have been involved in loss incidents with individuals reported in Category 1 (confirmed knowledge), or who were lost in areas or under conditions that they may reasonably be expected to be known by the enemy; who were connected with an incident which was discussed but not identified by names in enemy news media; or identified (by elimination, but not 100% positively) through analysis of all-source intelligence. When the war in Vietnam ended, and 591 American Prisoners of War were released, Amos and Burnham were not among them. As time passed, reports amassed, to a current number of over 10,000. Many authorities who have reviewed this largely-classified information have concluded that hundreds of Americans are still alive in captivity today. The United States Government seems unable to decide whether or not men are still alive in captivity in Southeast Asia, preferring the less controversial (and less liable) position of operating "under the assumption that one or more" are alive. Whether Thomas Amos and Mason Burnham survived the crash of their aircraft to be captured has never been determined. Whether they are among those thought to be still alive is uncertain. What is clear, however, is that if there is even one American being held against his will in Southeast Asia, we have a legal and moral responsibility to do everything possible to bring him home.
From Rusty Tuesday Nov 9 12:29:49 1999
I have
information of an MIA, whose bracelet I have been wearing, and now returned.
Maj. (Capt) Thomas H. Amos' remains have been located, and his funeral was held
in Springfield Missouri, Nov 6, 1999 with full military honors. I returned my
bracelet to his daughter and she was glad to have it back and know that someone
had not forgotten about him. She also informed me that the synopsis of his
shoot down were inaccurate. He was flying an F-4D Phantom II with his back
seater, Mason I. Burnham and crashed into the side of a mountain while
escorting an AC-130A gunship on a mission over the Laos/SVN border. Maj. Amos'
daughter told me that the dog tags and leg bone were id'd as her father's and
the remains will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington DC next
spring.
Defense POW/MIA Weekly Update November 9, 1999
MISSING IN ACTION SERVICEMEN IDENTIFIED
The remains of seven American servicemen previously unaccounted for from Southeast Asia have been identified and are being returned to their families for burial in the United States. They are identified as Major Thomas H. Amos, USAF, of Springfield, MO; Captian Mason I. Burnham, USAF, of Portland, OR; Sgt. 1st Class William S. Stinson, US Army, of Georgiana, AL; and four other servicemen. Their names are not being released at the request of their families.
On April 20, 1972, Amos and Burnham were flying escort to an AC-130 on a night mission over Quang Nam Province near the Vietnam-Laos border. As another aircrew marked a target, Amos radioed that he was lining up his F-4D Phantom aircraft for the ordinance run. Shortly thereafter, the crew of the AC-130 reported seeing a large fireball on the ground. Subsequent attempts to contact Amos and Burnham were unsuccessful. Search efforts were continued for three days, but proved unsuccessful. In May 1993 a joint US/Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV) team traveled to Quang Nam-Da Nang Province and interviewed two local villagers who claimed to have possession of the remains collected from the crash site of a jet aircraft. At that time the men also produced material evidence including identification tags for both Amos and Burnham. Two months later a second team reinterviewed the two villagers who added that the remains in their possession had been turned over to the Vietnamese government the previous May. In January 1994 a third joint team took possession of those remains. Other teams traveled to the supposed aircraft crash site in 1994, 1995 and 1998 to obtain additional evidence to support identification. Additional remains were recovered as were numerous crew-related items and aircraft wreckage. On June 1998 the site was closed to further excavation because of the presence of large amounts of unexploded ordnance.
From Friday April 21, 18:03:47 2000 The Seattle Post Intelligencer THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
DAUGHTER OF MIA WILL FINALLY LAY HIM TO REST
Springfield, OR. The daughter of an Air Force navigator listed as missing in action after his jet crashed in Laos 28 years ago plans finally to lay her father to rest with full military funeral service next month at Arlington National Cemetery.
"Your mind tells you there's no way he could be alive, but you hold out hope" said Kim Meddinger. "He died in 1972, but it feels like yesterday." Now 34, Heddinger was just 6 years old when she was told her father's F-4D Phantom jet crashed in Laos near the Vietnam border. Capt. Mason Burnham had been listed as "missing in action" until about 1975 when he was declared dead at the request of his second wife. Last August the Air Force released papers documenting a seven-year investigation that finally identified his remains. The May 25 service in Washington DC also will honor Maj. Thomas Amos of Missouri, the pilot, who also died in the crash. It will include a 21-gun salute and a fighter jet flyover in "missing man" formation.
Burnham joined the Air Force in 1969 after
graduating with a business degree from the University of Oregon. He was a
29-year-old navigator on the plane when he and Amos were shot down near the Ho
Chi Minh Trail, used by the North Vietnamese to transport troops and ammuniton.
Amos and Burnham were escorting an AC-130 gunship and had just begun a bombing
run when the gunship crew abruptly lost radio contact with them, according to
air Force documents. Witnesses saw a fireball, but no parachutes. The wreckage
wasn't discovered until 1989 when two Vietnamese brothers stumbled on it as
they searched for incense wood in the steep area of Quang Nam-Pa Province. It
took several years for the news to reach the Air Force, which sent a team to
interview the brothers in May 1993. Recovery efforts began a year later.
Because of the rugged terrain, the excavation was slow and dangerous. The
search was called off in June 1998 after several unexploded bombs were found in
the area, but by that time searchers had recovered enough bone fragments, teeth
and clothing to make positive identification of Amos and Burnham. Among the
recovered items were a piece of Burnham's fighter jacket and his dog tags,
returned to Heddinger last summer. She has worn the dog tags almost every day
since. At the May service she plans to give one of the tags to her half brother
from her father's second marriage. Another service for her father is planned
for June 17 at Restlawn Memorial Gardens in Salem. Meddinger, a real estate
agent, has drawn some comfort from the box filled with momentos collected by
her grandmother. Inside are poignant letters and silly cards; her father's
Purple Heart, Third Oak Leaf Cluster and Distingquished Flying Cross medals;
and the Air Force telegrams and subsequent letters announcing his
disappearance.
Captain Burnham also left a widow, Judith, when he
disappeared in Vietnam. They had two children together- a very important part
of his life and very close to his heart.
I received this e-mail August 9, 2005. I passed it
on to Capt. Burnham's widow.
Not sure what brought me to this
page...
Perhaps the fact that Google type technology can do this now.
My name is Dan Coughlin, I'm 51 and live in N.J. I wore Mason Burnham's
POW braclet for many, many years, and copied into my journal at that time a
touching letter his wife sent back to me after I wrote to her as a high school
student expressing my hope that he would be found safe. I recently refound that
journal, reread her letter that I copied into it, and till tonight never knew
what became of Mason. If his widow or any of the children would like to reread
the letter, I'd be glad to email the text of it to them or to you - to pass on.
Your call. I'm not sure how the sensitivities work here. I'll trust your
judgement.
Thank you,
Dan Coughlin
dannyboy4440@yahoo.com
All Biographical and loss information on POW/MIAs provided by Operation Just Cause have been supplied by Chuck and Mary Schantag of POWNET. Please check with POWNET regularly for updates.
POW/MIA Graphic by Ron Fleischer.