Marine Corps 1st Lt. Stanley Johnson, who went missing during the Vietnam War in 1965, has now finally been accounted for.
On December 3, 1965, Stanley G. Johnson was the co-pilot of an UH-34D helicopter assigned to Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 364, Marine Aircraft Group 36, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing. The aircraft was carrying a full complement of ARVN troops whose destination was an outpost known as Hiep Duc, just West of Tam Ky. The entire area was noted for being a hot spot. Johnson’s aircraft, with three other Americans and nine Vietnamese soldiers onboard, was hit by enemy fire.
At 100 to 200 feet above the ground with the entire cargo compartment in flames, the helicopter lost one of its main rotor blades, and crashed approximately 30 kilometers west of Tam Ky Town. Everyone onboard the aircraft was killed in the crash.
Stanley G. Johnson (Credits: VVMF)
Between 1993 and 2008, joint U.S./Socialist Republic of Vietnam (S.R.V.) teams traveled to the area and conducted investigations which resulted in multiple excavations at the incident crash site and possible burial locations.
Lab analysis, in conjunction with the totality of circumstantial evidence available, established Johnson’s remains were included. Interment services are pending, according to DPAA (Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency).
Stanley Garwood Johnson is honored on Panel 3E, Row 121 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
