EVANCHO, RICHARD Name: Richard Evancho Rank/Branch: E4/US Marine Corps Unit: MAB 536, Marine Air Group 36 Date of Birth: 18 March 1948 Home City of Record: Freeland PA Date of Loss: 26 March 1968 Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water Loss Coordinates: 161408N 1080740E (AU930130) Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered Category: 5 Acft/Vehicle/Ground: UH34D Refno: 1130 Other Personnel In Incident: Glenn W. Mowrey; Larry E. Green; Frankie E. Allgood; Ernest C. Kerr (all 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 1998. REMARKS: PIL/COP RES - ALL SEARCH FAIL - J SYNOPSIS: The Sikorsky UH34D Seahorse was a vital aircraft in Vietnam, serving as transport of both personnel and materiel. The Seahorse and its pilots particularly distinguished themselves throughout the spring of 1968 during one of the most crucial and bitterly contested struggles of the Vietnam War -- the Tet Offensive. On March 26, 1968, a UH34D was serving as a medevac helicopter in South Vietnam. The crew consisted of the pilot and co-pilot, as well as CPL Larry E. Green, crew chief; and LCPL Ernest C. Kerr Jr., gunner. They were transported wounded Marines for medical treatment. LTC Frankie E. Allgood had been wounded in the temple by shrapnel; LCPL Richard Evancho and CPL Glenn W. Mowrey were also injured. These three were being medevaced onboard the UH34D. The helicopter crossed a stretch of the South China Sea during adverse weather conditions. The helicopter crashed into the sea about three miles from its destination, Da Nang, South Vietnam. Search teams were dispatched at once, and the pilot and co-pilot were rescued. Crew members Kerr and Green were not rescued, nor were the other occupants of the helicopter, including the badly wounded Frankie Allgood. All were presumed drowned and were classified Killed, Body Not Recovered. Because the medevac was apparently not struck by hostile fire, the incident was deemed non-battle related. For the men aboard the Seahorse lost on March 26, 1968, death seems a certainty. For hundreds of others, however, simple answers are not possible. Adding to the torment of nearly 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asia is the certain knowledge that some Americans who were known to be prisoners of war were not released at the end of the war. Others were suspected to be prisoners, and still others were in radio contact with would-be rescuers when last seen alive. Many were known to have survived their loss incidents, only to disappear without a trace. The problem of Americans still missing torments not only the families of those who are missing, but the men who fought by their sides, and those in the general public who realize the full implication of leaving men unaccounted for at the end of a war. Tragically, many authorities believe there are hundreds of Americans still alive in captivity in Southeast Asia today. What must they be thinking of us? What will our next generation say if called to fight if we are unable to bring these men home from Southeast Asia?