Roy Spencer
Vietnam Veteran-Air Force Pilot
The Last American POW
On April 29, 1965, Capt. Charles E. Shelton's RF101C 'Voodoo' aircraft departed Udorn Airbase, Thailand, on a photo-reconnaissance mission over northern Laos. Bad weather aborted attempts to photograph the first target. Shelton and his wingman continued to their second target near Sam Neua, Laos. They descended to 3,000 feet above ground level as they neared the target. Shelton was just lining up for his first photo when fire erupted from the center of his plane. The wingman saw the canopy of Shelton's plane fly off and watched as Shelton ejected and parachuted to the ground. A few hours later, two rescue planes spotted Shelton and his parachute on a tree-covered ridge. They talked to him by radio and told him a helicopter would pick him up in a half-hour. Shelton indicated that he was in good condition, and used his radio to direct rescue forces. Several days passed as rescue efforts met with bad weather and intense enemy fire. Radio contact indicated that Shelton was OK and still evading. When the weather finally broke on May 2, Shelton was nowhere to be found. The search was finally called off on May 5, and Shelton was listed as 'Missing in Action, believed captured.' A number of sightings and other information indicated that Shelton was still alive for many years later. According to intelligence reports, Shelton was an uncooperative prisoner from the start and is infamous for his many escape attempts as described by a continual flow of intelligence over the years since he was captured. The reports are summaries of interviews with
villagers, informants, defecting Pathet Lao soldiers and refugees. The
documents tell of escapes, resistance, rescue attempts and possibly the last
straw: killing three interrogators. Marian Shelton, his wife knew nothing of these events except that her husband was still alive and rescue attempts were being made. She was told to not to talk about her husband's predicament. Laos was still denied territory, and a credible story had to be devised explaining the presence of American aircraft in Laos. Only after the war ended did Marian Shelton get other information or see copies of reports when she began using the Freedom of Information Act to gain some knowledge of her husband's fate. Again, there were many indications her husband was still alive and had not been returned to his country when the war was over. Over the years other reports were declassified and indicated that Shelton may still be alive and being held by various factions. Having raised five children alone, ranging from age one to age thirteen, Marian Shelton also determinedly tracked down information on her husband. In her efforts, she has received many incredible responses which she relates with her characteristic wry humor. Marian says she has received so many conflicting reports that some have 'Charles buried next to himself' and another that he had been 'eaten by a tiger.' The Pathet Lao, when pressed for further information, claimed that Shelton died in captivity, but that American bombing had destroyed their graves and their bones had been scattered. Mrs. Shelton discounted this information, because DIA told her on April 9, 1982 that it knew where her husband was being held. Between 1981 and 1985, Shelton allegedly was in Camp 214 near Tchepone, Laos. Information given Shelton's family by an alleged former terrorist stated that Shelton was called 'Shaker' and was balding, had no teeth, and 'was not in great shape.' In 1984, then-Secretary of the Air Force Vern Orr said Shelton would be retained in active POW status until the fate of every American missing from Southeast Asia was known. The decision was made despite an Air Force review board recommendation four years earlier that Shelton be d presumed dead. A former American intelligence agent said that in August 1986 he was told by U.S. intelligence analysts that Shelton was again moved to Vietnam in April 1985, this time to an island prison known as Ho Thach Bai, northwest of Hanoi. According to the report, this island prison was created especially for post-war POWs of major stature, according to the agent. U.S. POWs were in this category, he said. Reports in November 1986 suggest that Shelton was teaching in a high-security military prison in the Haiphong area of Vietnam. Capt. Shelton has been promoted to the rank of Colonel since he was first captured. He remains the only Prisoner of War who has not been arbitrarily d dead by his government. He is one of nearly 600 Americans lost in Laos. Consequently, neither Charles Shelton nor any Americans held by the Lao have ever been released. His wife once said, 'This will always be with me, if it takes 10 years, 20 years, whatever. I will hold on. Someone, somewhere knows where my husband is.' On October 4, 1990, Dorothy Marian Vollman Shelton, after 25 years of searching for her husband, took her own life in San Diego, California. Marian Shelton is a casualty of the Vietnam War. She was buried next to her husband's empty grave in Arlington National Cemetery. Col. Charles E. Shelton, the last officially designated Vietnam-era prisoner of war, was d killed in action 29 years after he was shot down over Laos.
Sep 14, 2013 |
