Name: Wayne Charles Irsch
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 25 April 1942
Home City of Record: Tulsa OK
Date of Loss: 09 January 1968
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 164500N 1060800E (XD234537)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D
Others In Incident: Norman M. Green (missing)
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 15 March 1991 from one
or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright
1991 Homecoming II Project.
REMARKS:
SYNOPSIS: Lt.Col. Norman M. Green was a pilot of an F4 Phantom in Vietnam. The
Phantom was one of the most sought after assignments for a pilot, as the
aircraft represented the ultimate fighter plane - a highly maneuverable jet
carrying the newest of sophisticated equipment which allowed bombing and
navigation to be directed by computer.
On January 9, 1968, Green was assigned a combat mission which took him over
Laos. His bombardier/navigator on the mission was 1Lt. Wayne C. Irsch. It was
his job to operate much of the high-tech equipment on the aircraft. When they
were near the city of Sepone in Savannakhet Province, Laos, their aircraft was
hit by enemy fire and crashed. Their loss location is listed as 40 miles
south-southeast of the Ban Karai Pass. Both men were classified Missing In
Action.
A September 13, 1968 statement by Soth Pethrasi was monitored from Puerto Rico
in which the names of several Americans were mentioned. The report stated that
"Smith, Christiano, Jeffords, and Mauterer" were part of "several dozen captured
Airmen" whom the Pathet Lao were "treating correctly and who were still in Laos.
Another name, Norman Morgan, captured January 9, 1968, was mentioned but is not
on lists of missing. This is believed to possibly correlate to Norman Green.
The Ban Karai Pass, on the border of Vietnam and Laos, is an area which claimed
many pilots during the war in Indochina. Many of the pilots were able to safely
reach the ground, but were not released at the end of the war. Although the
Pathet Lao stated publicly many times that they held prisoners that would be
released only from Laos, the U.S. did not include Laos in the agreement ending
American involvement in the war. Not a single American military prisoner of war
held in Laos has been released.
Tragically, nearly 1000 eyewitness reports of Americans held in captivity in
Southeast Asia have been received. They present a compelling case that Americans
are still being held today. Irsch and Green could be among them. If so, what
must they be thinking of us?
Wayne C. Irsch was promoted to the rank of Captain and Norman M. Green to the
rank of Colonel during the period they were maintained Missing in Action.
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