BROMS, EDWARD JAMES JR. Name: Edward James Broms, Jr. Rank/Branch: O2/U.S. Navy Unit: Attack Squadron 66, USS INTREPID (CVS 11) Date of Birth: 06 May 1943 Home City of Record: Meadville PA Date of Loss: 01 August 1968 Country of Loss: North Vietnam Loss Coordinates: 181100N 1055100E (WF908109) Status (in 1973): Missing In Action Category: 2 Acft/Vehicle/Ground: A4C Refno: 1242 Other Personnel In Incident: (none missing) Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 April 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 1998. REMARKS: RADIO CONTACT LOST SYNOPSIS: The McDonnell Douglas A4 Skyhawk was intended to provide the Navy and Marine Corps with an inexpensive, lightweight attack and ground support aircraft. The design emphasized low-speed control and stability during take-off and landing, as well as strength enough for catapult launch and carrier landings. The plane was so compact that it did not need folding wings for aboardship storage and handling. LTJG Edward J. Broms was a pilot assigned to Attack Squadron 66 onboard the aircraft carrier USS INTREPID in the Gulf of Tonkin. On August 1, 1968, he was assigned the fourth position in a 4-plane day strike mission on Dong Dun, Ha Tiny Province, North Vietnam, code-named "Rolling Thunder". Broms launched in his A4C Skyhawk attack bomber aircraft and the four aircraft rolled in on the target as briefed. During pullout, Broms was heard to transmit, "Puffs (flak) all around me." No other radio or visual contact was made tih LTJG Broms and an extensive electronic and visual search was started. The search was called off when all efforts produced negative results. the opinion of the incident review board was that there was a low probability of survival. A Radio Hanoi broadcast confirmed the loss of an A4 aircraft during this same time frame, yet no mention was made of the pilot. LTJG Broms was classified Missing in Action. It was felt that the enemy very probably knew his fate. The following day, three American pilots recently released by Hanoi arrived in Laos and reported that they had been well treated. The majority of prisoners, it was learned later, were not well treated. When 591 American prisoners of war were released at the end of the war in 1973, Broms was not among them. The Vietnamese deny any knowledge of him. 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 Americans who remain missing in Southeast Asia can be accounted for. Government officials have said it is their belief that Americans are being held, but have not yet found the formula that would bring them home.