Name San Francisco | ||
San Dewayne Francisco, Major, USAF (born 1944) is an officer in the United States Air Force who is missing in action (MIA) from the Vietnam War. A resident of Burbank, Washington, his aircraft was shot down on November 25, 1968 during the Vietnam War. Francisco is unique or nearly unique in being a MIA servicemen who was known to be alive and uninjured at the time of his crash and was confirmed alive by the North Vietnamese press.
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At the time that he was lost, he held the rank of 1st Lieutenant. He has since been promoted to Major.
He has been administratively declared dead at Presumptive Finding of Death (PFOD) hearings. These hearings concluded in 1994. Major Francisco was married at the time he was lost. He was an only son but had two adopted sisters.
Missing in Action incident
Loss Coordinates: 172000N 1061200E (XE270185)
Francisco and Major Joseph C. Morrison were flying a U.S. Air Force McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom fighter aircraft (#66-7523) as a fighter escort for another reconnaissance aircraft over North Vietnam when it was shot down on November 25, 1968. Both officers successfully parachuted to the ground within 700 meters of a North Vietnamese camp and contacted U.S. forces by radio. While Francisco's radio contact lasted only half an hour, Morrison maintained radio contact until the next day. Initial rescue efforts were unsuccessful due to enemy small arms fire followed by fog. The next day, the parachutes, which were seen the previous day had disappeared, presumably removed.
On November 26, 1968, The Peoples Army newspaper reported that the people of Quang Binh had shot down an F-4 the previous day and that the pilots were captured alive.
Certain offices listed the two men as Prisoners of War but, at the time of the prisoner of war release in 1973, neither appeared. Other military offices listed the men as missing.
The government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam has never returned the body of Francisco nor have provided information of his current residence, if he is not dead.
As of May 2013 a Vietnamese team recently spoke with witnesses, including a commander of ground forces during the war, who recalled the day Francisco's plane was shot down.
The commander said two U.S. Air Force crew members parachuted. The pilot, a lieutenant colonel, was killed resisting capture. Francisco, who later was promoted to major, landed hard, breaking both legs, and was captured.
Francisco's captors immediately came under attack by U.S. warplanes during rescue efforts. The North Vietnamese troops jumped into a protective trench, leaving the disabled Francisco fatally exposed as the planes dropped cluster bombs on the area.
The Vietnamese buried Francisco nearby. Because U.S. pilots were valued for propaganda purposes, his body was exhumed and photographed three days later, then reburied in the same grave.
As of 2014, his remains are still undiscovered with an expedition planned for some time in 2015
Honors
Francisco is a member of the Washington State Roll of Honor.
Major Francisco's name appears on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, a structure in Washington, D.C. designed by U.S. architect, Maya Lin, on panel 38W, line 57.