Received from Jacques Naviaux via Frenchy LaFountaine

Prolog
For those of you who keep track of details, this story has changed after I had an opportunity to interview the principal witness for the first time (the airborne forward air controller ) and family members.
Then Captain Cary Fors and his Radar Intercept Officer, 1LT Guy Lashlee (Lash), members of the VMFA 122 Crusaders were shot down on a bombing run in Laos on 22 December 1967. The name “Crusaders” is no longer politically acceptable for fear of offending our Islamic brothers who seem to take offence at virtually everything. The squadron name “Crusaders” has been replaced with “Werewolves”, apparently a group with no sizeable constituency to offend. The Airborne Forward Air Controller saw two parachutes outlined in the glare of the fireball marking the crash site. He picked up one on the ground and established visual and radio contact with Guy Lashlee who was now down in the middle of an anti-aircraft gun complex along the Ho Chi Minn Trail. He told Lash to crawl up the hill and sit in the bottom of a bomb crater, which he did.
The role of the Airborne Forward Air Controller now switched to that of On Site Search and Rescue Commander. First response came from an Army helicopter that retreated in the face of intense anti-aircraft fire. The second response came from a Marine Corps Huey who came in to look at the situation. The fire was so intense that the now Search and Rescue Commander told the Marine pilot that he could not order anyone to make the rescue under the current conditions and that the decision was up to the helicopter commander. This is not to say that the aircrew would be abandoned. Normal procedures would result in Sandy’s (rescue support A-1E aircraft) and as many other strike aircraft as needed would be called in to soften the defenses so that a Jolly Green rescue helicopter could make the pickup. However, in a situation like this, time is of the essence. While Lash was smoking his pipe in the bottom of the bomb crater, his position was vulnerable to say the least.
The Marine helicopter commander polled the four man crew who unanimously choose to attempt the rescue. The helicopter commander knew that the fire was far too intense to hover so he chose to slam the helicopter down through the brush and sapling trees. Lash thought that the helicopter had crashed until he saw the crew chief frantically waving at him. He crawled aboard and the helicopter staggered into Khe San. Gary was declared Missing in Action (MIA) and we continued to pursue the war. Gary’s father initiated a relentless pursuit of information about Gary fot the next 30 years of his life until his death to no avail, an incredible odyssey in itself. After his father’s death, the family continued in their quest for information believing that Gary may not be dead. In keeping with Marine Corps policy, Gary was promoted with his year group as long as his status was classified as missing in action.
The wreckage of the aircraft was excavated some years ago with positive identification being made from a serial number on the landing gear, the most survivable component of a Phantom. Although no remains were found, Gary’s status was changed from Missing in Action to Killed in Action.
His now 91 year old mother decided to have a memorial service on Gary’s 69th birthday at Arlington National Cemetery on the 29th of April 2010.
Memorial Service
Gary’s family, seven members of the VMFA 122 Crusaders from 1967, the Airborne Forward Air Controller, 20 current members of VMFA 122, another group of active duty former VMFA 122 members who of course never knew Gary, but attended out of respect along with several people from the Casualty Assistance Section of Headquarters who had followed Gary’s situation throughout the years. The Marine Corps also has a Funeral Director (which I did not know) who’s motto is, “We will be the last to let you down”.
I had been to a full military service at Arlington National Cemetery before and of course many military ceremonies, but this one seemed to me to be the absolute paragon of ceremonies. On a perfect spring morning, we gathered at 9:00 for a missing man formation at the cemetery by the caisson drawn by white horses and accompanied by a rider less horse with boots in the stirrups facing backwards, the Marine Corps band and an honor platoon from Marine Barracks Eighth and I. At 9:05 to the second the four ship formation of F/A 18’s appeared, and the aircraft symbolizing the missing man departed the formation vertically. We were wondering how the horses would react to the aircraft, but they never even blinked.
The funeral party was then led to the grave site by the band, the honor platoon, colors, and the caisson. We walked behind the caisson for about a mile to the site with each crossroad guarded by a Marine in dress uniform. At the grave site, the Chaplain read a short eulogy followed by the ritual folding of the colors, a rifle salute, taps, presentation of the American flag on bended knee to Gary’s mother and a second missing man formation flyover. As we walked the mile to the grave site behind the caisson, we reflected on how fortunate we have been in life to have had the opportunity to do the things that we have done and how important it is to continue rituals of this nature.
Semper Fi
Jacques