Operation Just Cause

Nam Knights MC Hudson Valley Chapter

Peter Xavier Pike

Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 15 June 1943
Home City of Record: New York NY
Date of Loss: 12 July 1969
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 180400N 1051300E (WE229974)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D

Other Personnel In Incident: Paul W. Bannon (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.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: When North Vietnam began to increase their military strength in
South
Vietnam, NVA and Viet Cong troops again intruded on neutral Laos for
sanctuary,
as the Viet Minh had done during the war with the French some years before.
The
border road, termed the "Ho Chi Minh Trail" was used for transporting
weapons,
supplies and troops. Hundreds of American pilots were shot down trying to
stop
this communist traffic to South Vietnam. Fortunately, search and rescue teams
in
Vietnam were extremely successful and the recovery rate was high.

Still there were nearly 600 who were not rescued. Many of them went down
along
the Ho Chi Minh Trail and the passes through the border mountains between
Laos
and Vietnam. Many were alive on the ground and in radio contact with search
and
rescue and other planes; some were known to have been captured. But the fates
of
the men lost in Laos was complicated by U.S. policy. In 1969, U.S. Defense
policy for response on U.S. operations in Laos was, "The preferable response
to
questions about air operations in Laos is no comment."

Hanoi's communist allies in Laos, the Pathet Lao, publicly spoke of American
prisoners they held, but when peace agreements were negotiated, Laos was not
included, and not a single American was released that had been held in Laos.

1LT Peter X. Pike and MAJ Paul W. Bannon comprised the flight crew of an Air
Force F4D Phantom fighter/bomber sent on a mission over the northernmost

Ho Chi Minh Trail

 on July 12, 1969. During their flight, the aircraft was hit by enemy
fire and crashed. Because there was the opportunity for Pike (the pilot) and
Bannon (the weapon/systems operator) to safely eject, the two were classified
Missing in Action.

The Defense Intelligence Agency further expanded Pike's and Bannon's
classification to include an enemy knowledge ranking of 4. Category 4
indicates
"unknown knowledge" and includes individuals whose time and place of loss
incident are unknown (e.g. aircrew members downed at unknown locations or
ground
personnel separated from their unit at an unknown time or place), and those
individuals who do not meet the criteria of Categories 1 and 2 ("confirmed"
and "suspect" knowledge).

When the war ended and 591 Americans were released from POW camps in
Southeast
Asia, Pike and Bannon were not among them. In fact, no POWs held by the Lao
were released at all.

There have been over 10,000 reports received by the U.S. Government since the
end of the war concerning Americans missing, prisoner and unaccounted for in
Southeast Asia. Many authorities who have reviewed this largely-classified
information have concluded that hundreds of them are still alive in captivity
today.

Were it not for reports such as these, the families of the missing might be
able to close
 this tragic chapter of their lives and go on. But for them, the
agonizing uncertainty continues.

And for Americans who are still in captivity, the abandonment continues. How
much longer must they wait for their country to bring them home?

Peter X. Pike was promoted to the rank of Captain during the period he was
maintained missing. Paul W. Bannon was promoted to the rank of Colonel.
***************************************

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