POW/MIA Tree	Purple Heart

Name: James Robert Klimo

Rank/Branch: E4/US

Army Unit: 281st Aviation Company, 17th Aviation Group, 1st Aviation Brigade

Date of Birth:Date of Birth: 28 December 1949 Home City of Record: Muskegon MI

Date of Loss: 04 November 1969 Country of Loss: South Vietnam

Loss Coordinates: 123327N 1085304E (BP702890) Status (in 1973):

Missing In Action Category: 4 Acft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H

Other Personnel In Incident: John Allen Ware; Terry L. Alford; Jim R. Cavender (all missing)

REMARKS:

REMS OF OTHER CREW RECOV - J SYNOPSIS: On November 4, 1969, WO

Terry L. Alford, aircraft commander; WO1 Jim R. Cavender, pilot; SP4 John A. Ware, crew chief; and SP4 James R. Klimo, door gunner; were flying a series of combat support missions in a UH1H helicopter (serial #67-19512) in South Vietnam. WO Alford was returning to his base at Nha Trang from Duc Lap at about 1920 hours when he made his last known radio contact with the 48th Aviation Company Operations at Ninh Hoa. Either the pilot or aircraft commander gave his approximate location as Duc My Pass, and stated he was in the clouds and instrument meteorological conditions (IMC). Shortly afterwards, the controller at Ninh Hoa heard a radio transmission that WO1 Alford was in trouble. The pilot reported, inexplicably, that the helicopter was flying upside down. The Defense Department has told family members that the helicopter was on a secondary mission heading toward a buffer zone between Cambodia and South Vietnam, an area in the Central Highlands the helicopter was in by mistake. The helicopter is not believed to have been shot at. Search efforts were conducted for six consecutive days, but nothing was found. According to the Defense Department, one crewmember's body was recovered at a later time, but no remains were ever found that could be identified as Alford, Klimo, Ware or Cavender. The four crew memberw were not among the prisoners of war that were released in 1973. High ranking officials admit their dismay that "hundreds" of suspected American prisoners of war did not return. Klimo's sister has identified her brother as one of the prisoners of war pictured in a Vietnamese propaganda leaflet. Alarmingly, evidence continues to mount that Americans were left as prisoners in Southeast Asia and continue to be held today. Unlike "MIAs" from other wars, most of the nearly 2500 men and women who remain missing in Southeast Asia can be accounted for. The crew of the UH1H could be among them. Isn't it time we brought our men home? I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to keep pushing this issue inside the Beltway... The need to get specific answers is more important now than ever before. If still alive, some MIAs are now in their 70s...They don't have much time left. We have to demand the answers from the bureaucrats and keep standing on their necks (figuratively speaking) until they get the message that THEY work for US and that we are serious about getting these long overdue responses. Diplomatic considerations aside... We can no longer allow questionable protocols established by pseudo-aristocratic armchair strategists, to determine or influence the fate of the men who were in the trenches while the diplomats were sharing sherry and canapes and talking about "Their Plans" for the future of SE Asia.