NAM KNIGHTS MC HUDSON VALLEY CHAPTER

Walter Roy Schmidt

Rank/Branch: O2/US Marine Corps
Unit: VMA 121, Marine Air Group 12
Date of Birth: 18 November 1945
Home City of Record: Nassau NY
Date of Loss: 09 June 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 161919N 1070726E (YD273053)
Status (in 1973): Prisoner of War
Category: 1
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A4E

Other Personnel in Incident: (none 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: LANDED ALIVE, NVA APPROACHING

SYNOPSIS: When Douglas Aircraft created the A4 Skyhawk the intent was to
provide
the Navy and Marine Corps with an inexpensive, lightweight attack and ground
support aircraft. The design emphasized low-speed control and stability
during
take-off and landing as well as strength enough for catapult launch and
carrier
landings. The plane was compact, but in spite of its diminutive size, the A4
packed a devastating punch and performed well where speed and 

maneuverability were essential.

1LT Walter R. Schmidt Jr. was an A4 pilot assigned to VMA 121, 12th 

Marine Air Group.

 On June 9, 1968, he was assigned a bombing mission in northern 

Thua Thien

Province, South Vietnam -- on the northern sector of the A Shau Valley.

After making a bombing run, Schmidt's aircraft came under fire. Schmidt

was seen
to eject from the damaged aircraft and parachute to the ground. Voice contact
was established with 1LT Schmidt and he stated that he was hurt 

with a possible
broken leg and that he was unable to move. North Vietnamese forces 

were seen to
be approaching his position. It was not possible to conduct an extraction 

at the time,
 and rescue efforts were delayed until the following day.

The next morning, no sign of Schmidt or his parachute could be found.
Attempts to raise him by radio were futile.
 It was believed that Schmidt had probably
been captured. He was classified Prisoner of War.

Throughout the rest of the war years, Schmidt's family heard nothing.

 When 591 Americans 
were released from communist prison camps in the spring of 1973 in
Operation Homecoming, Schmidt was not among them. The Vietnamese denied 

any knowledge of him.
Since the war ended, over 10,000 reports have been received by the U.S.
Government relating to Americans prisoner, missing, or unaccounted for in
Southeast Asia. Many authorities have reluctantly concluded that hundreds of
them are still alive today.
Whether Walter R. Schmidt survived past the time NVA troops located him is
unknown. If he spent months or years of torture in POW camps, we may 

never know it.
 If he is one of those said to be alive still, we will only know it when
we resolve to bring our men home.

ADOPT A POW/MIA

MAKE THEM GIVE US THE ANSWERS

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