My adopted MIA . . . Patrick Magee
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Name: Patrick Joseph Magee
Rank/Branch: E6/US Army
Unit: HHC, 223rd Aviation Battalion,
17th Aviation Group, 1st Aviation Brigade
Date of Birth: 22 September 1946 (Butte MT)
Home City of Record: Alder MT
Date of Loss: 03 January 1971
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 134700N 1090630E (BR960250)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: U6 "Beaver"
Other Personnel In Incident: Thomas R. Okerlund;
Dennis W. Omelia; Luis G. Holguin; Carl Palen;
Ferris Rhodes; Michael Parsons (all missing)
SYNOPSIS: On January 3, 1971, Capt. Ferris A. Rhodes, Jr. was the pilot
of a U6 "Beaver" (serial #52-25884), carrying six passengers: 1Lt.
Michaeld D. Parsons, WO1 Thomas R. Okerland, WO1 Dennis W. Omelia; WO1
Luis G. Holguin; SP6 Patrick J. Magee; and SP5 Carl A. Palen. This was an administrative support flight from Qui Nhon to Ban Me Thuot, South Vietnam,
to collect replacement helicopters for the company. Some of the men aboard
were helicopter pilots, and would fly the choppers back to the base at
Qui Nhon.
The U6 "Beaver" is an older, fixed wing aircraft of reasonable size (bigger
than a "Bird Dog", for instance), rather short and squatty with a somewhat
wide body. The aircraft departed Qui Nhon at about 0900 hours on January 3
without filing a proper flight plan, nor was the weather briefing obtained
prior to takeoff. About 14 miles southeast of Phu Cat, at 1120 hours, radio
and radar contact was lost with the plane.
Because Capt. Rhodes had announced plans to remain overnight at Ban Me
Thuot, no immediate searches were made. By January 9, when Rhodes and his
passengers still had not returned, search efforts were begun at 0900 hours,
and continued throughout the day with no sign of the aircraft or its
personnel.
The area of takeoff was tricky and the weather conditions were not good.
Other pilots said that if planes taking off did not reach a safe altitude
fast enough, they would crash into a mountain. Cruising speed for the
"Beaver" was a mere 106 mph making it a prime target for flak. Conditions
in the area indicated that the aircraft was shot down, and several years
passed before the crew was finally declared dead.
"All Biographical and loss information on POW's provided by Operation
Just Cause have been supplied by Chuck and Mary Schantag of POWNET.
Please check with POWNET regularly for updates."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Evidence mounts that Americans are still alive in Southeast Asia. It is not
known for sure if any of the crew of the U6 survived and are among them,
but there is no evidence that they are dead. If they survived, they could
still be alive. If not, then someone else's brother, son, husband, father
is alive. We owe them our very best effort to bring them home.
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The POW/MIA Balloon Launch will be held in communities nationwide on
Memorial Day, May 31, 1999. The purpose of this launch is to bring a greater
awareness to the sad fact that we as Americans have over 2000 servicemen and
women unaccounted for in Southeast Asia. These heroes have been left over
there, far from home and loved ones after giving their all for us, fighting
in the Vietnam "Conflict", a war they did not ask for but nonetheless felt it
their duty to fight in order to keep the freedom we enjoy. We all need to do
our part to bring them home. They fought for our freedom, now let's fight
for theirs!
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Time is of the essence!
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My husband and I are proud to be the Balloon Launch State Representatives
for the states of Montana and North Dakota. If you are interested in finding
out more about the Balloon Launch, click on the link below. Then, check to
see how many POW/MIA's your state is still missing. You can find out who your
State's Balloon Launch Rep is, e-mail them and they will be happy to supply
you with information regarding to your state's participation. Of course, if
you are from Montana or North Dakota, e-mail us!
Another very important way you can get involved is to write to your Congressmen
and the President of the United States and ask them exactly what they are
doing to bring our heroes home. There HAVE been live sightings. Are we as
a nation content to turn our backs on them? Shame has been brought on our
country because we have allowed a quarter of a century to pass with no full
accounting. The time is long overdue. We must not sit by and close our eyes
to this terrible lack of action. Ask yourself, what if it were ME, or MY
Father, MY Brother or MY Uncle, MY Mother, MY Sister or MY Neighbor, MY
Best Friend??? Would you be writing letters and demanding to know? We must
not abandon them.
Consider adopting a POW/MIA and taking their cause into your heart. Please
visit my husband's page and read about his POW/MIA.
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