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| Name: Bernard Herbert Plassmeyer Rank/Branch: O2/US Marine Corps Unit: Marine Attack Squadron 311 Date of Birth: 05 May 1945 Home City of Record: Freeburg, MO Date of Loss: 11 September 1970 Country of Loss: South Vietnam Loss Coordinates: 145228N 1084623E Status (in 1973): Missing In Action Category: 2 Acft/Vehicle/Ground: A4E Refno: 1660 Other Personnel in Incident: None missing Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 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. Updated by the P.O.W. NETWORK 1998. |
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| Bernard H. Plassmeyer was born May 5, 1945,
the fourth son of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Plassmeyer of Westphalia,
Missouri. Bernie attended St. Joseph grade school, Fatima High
School, and graduated from Parks College of Aeronautical Technology
of St. Louis University in 1966. In early 1967, Bernie joined the Marine Corps, receiving his commission as a Marine officer in June 1967, and the wings of a Naval Aviator March 21, 1969. He was selected to receive the Orville Wright Achievement Award for outstanding performance as a Marine Corps aviator on August 29, 1969. In February 1970, Plassmeyer went to Vietnam and was assigned to Marine Attack Squadron 311. He had completed approximately 100 missions with VMA-311 at Chu Lai and Da Nang when his A4E Skyhawk crashed during a support mission near the Laos/Vietnam border on September 11, 1970. He was classified Missing In Action until 1976, when he was declared dead for lack of evidence to the contrary. Bernie Plassmeyer went missing 16 days before the birth of his only son. His family would like to know where he is, and what happened to him. Like nearly 2500 other Americans, he remains missing in Southeast Asia. Were it not for thousands of reports of Americans still alive in captivity in Southeast Asia, it would be a simple matter to build a memorial and lay these missing men to rest. But as long as one man, whomever he may be, remains alive and in captivity, every family will wonder. And Bernie Plassmeyer's fate will remain uncertain. On September 11, 1970, Plassmeyer was the pilot of an A-4E on a support mission near the A Shau Valley, Thua Thien Province. It appeared that his aircraft was downed by hostile ground-fire and crashed in the target area. There was no evidence of a parachute, and no beeper signal was heard. A later search located the wreckage and from its condition determined that Plassmeyer's aircraft had disintegrated upon impact. That same day, a forward air controller saw a parachute and torso harness in some nearby trees. There appeared to be blood on the harness. Plassmeyer was initially declared missing in action. Returning U.S. POWs had no information on his precise fate, and he was later declared dead/body not recovered based on a presumptive finding of death. In March 1991, U.S. investigators in Vietnam located the crash site associated with this incident. They were unable to locate any witnesses to the shoot down and could not locate any remains. However, they did locate fragments of the aircraft's ejection seat and a face piece which indicated the pilot did not eject from the aircraft prior to impact. On the above mentioned presumptive finding of death, that was a decision made for every single one of the then-missing military personnel from the Vietnam war. This was done in spite of the facts relating to "last known alive" status of many, and more importantly, without regard for the hundreds of POW's that we abandoned at the end of the war because the countries, other than Vietnam, asked for money and/or status in exchange for all they were holding. The State Department again reared its ugly head and said we don't negotiate. I'm not sure how they failed to recognize that we had already negotiated for the return of POW's from Vietnam. That was a part of the Paris Accords (peace talks) that resulted in the release of 591 men. Use this menu
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Home | Biography | Memberships | Apply for Award | Awards Received | My Poetry My Teaching | Missouri Miner Research | Tribute to Granddad | Policies | Contact Me On August 16, 2008, the following letter was e-mailed to President George Bush, Senator Claire McCaskill, Senator Kit Bond, and Representative Ike Skelton. I will post the responses as I receive them. President Bush, What is being done to determine the fate of 1LT Bernard H. Plassmeyer-USMC, whose A4E Skyhawk crashed during a support mission near the Laos/Vietnam border on September 11, 1970? Plassmeyer was declared dead in 1976, but no remains were recovered even though the crash site was found and investigated in 1991. There are still thousands of reports of Americans alive in captivity in Southeast Asia. With no remains to bury, Plassmeyer's family lives every day with the possibility that Bernard could be one of those men. Bernard H. Plassmeyer or his remains should have been returned to his family in Missouri, not left behind in Vietnam. Please advise me of any action that is being taken by you or any other elected or appointed official to determine his fate. In the event there is nothing being done, please explain why not, and tell me how you, personally, plan to correct this and prevent it from ever happening again. Respectfully Yours, Randal A. Burd, Jr., M.Ed. I received the following response from Representative Ike Skelton D-MO dated September 3, 2008. Dear Mr. Burd: Thank you for contacting me regarding prisoners of war and servicemembers who remain missing in action. I appreciate hearing from you. The men and women who join the United States military take an oath to protect and defend this country. When a servicemember is captured or goes missing, it is our responsibility to do what we can to make sure he or she is recovered. That is why the Department of Defense operates the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office (DMPO). Information regarding the office's dedicated efforts to track down American POW's or those who are missing in action is detailed on its website, located at http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo. I am so proud of the good work these men and women perform on behalf of their fellow servicemen and women, and their families. Thank you again for taking the time to contact me, and thank you for sharing your concern. With best regards, I remain Very truly yours, Ike IKE SKELTON Member of Congress |
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