HARLEY H HALL
HALL, HARLEY HUBERT REMAINS RETURNED 06/95 (I.D. disputed)
Name: Harley Hubert Hall Rank/Branch: O5/US Navy, pilot Unit: Fighter Squadron 143, USS ENTERPRISE (CV-65) Date of Birth: 23 December 1937 (Broken Bow NE) Home City of Record: Vancouver WA Date of Loss: 27 January 1973 Country of Loss: South Vietnam Loss Coordinates: 165129N 1071023E (YO345650) Status (in 1973): Prisoner of War Category: 1 Acft/Vehicle/Ground : F4J Other Personnel In Incident: Phillip A. Kientzler (released 1973) Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 April 1990 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 2008. |
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REMARKS: KIENTZLER TOLD HALL KILLED
SYNOPSIS: CDR Harley H. Hall was the commanding officer of
Fighter Squadron 143 onboard
the aircraft carrier USS ENTERPRISE. On January 27, 1973 he and
his Radar Intercept Officer (RIO), LTCDR Philip A.
Kientzler, launched in their F4J Phantom fighter aircraft on an
attack mission against North Vietnamese supplies and logistic
vehicles 15 miles northwest of Quang Tri, South Vietnam. Hall
and Kientzler were under the direction
of an OV10 Forward Air Controller
(FAC).CDR Hall's aircraft came under intense anti-aircraft fire
while attacking several trucks and was hit. He made an attempt
to fly back out to the safety of the sea, but minutes later the
aircraft caught fire on the port wing and fuselage. Both Hall
and his co-pilot, LCDR Philip A. Kintzler ejected at 4,000 feet
and were seen to land 100 feet apart near a village on an island
in the Dam Cho Chua and Cua Viet Rivers. CDR Hall was seen moving
about on the ground, discarding his parachute. No voice contact
was made with the men, and the probability of immediate capture
was considered very high. Numerous aircraft made several passes
over the area for the next several
hours and were unsuccessful in observing either of the downed
crewmen. Several emergency beepers were heard intermittently the
remainder of the afternoon and throughout the night, however, no
voice contact was established. Active,
organized search and rescue efforts were subsequently terminated.
Only Kientzler was released at Operation Homecoming in 1973. He
reported that during parachute descent they
received heavy ground fire, at which time he was hit in the leg.
He last saw CDR Hall as they touched the ground. When he asked
his guards about his pilot, he was told that he was killed by
another. No other returned POW reported having knowledge of
Harley Hall, yet the Pentagon maintained him in POW status for
over 6 years, and documents were obtained that indicated that he
was indeed captured. The Hanoi government claims to have no
knowledge of CDR Harley
Hall. This former member of the famed Blue Angels flight team
remains missing. Harley Hall was shot down on the last day of
the war and was the last Navy air casualty of the Vietnam War.
He was the last American to be classified Prisoner of War in the
Vietnam War. Harley H. Hall was promoted to the rank of Captain
during the period he was maintained as a prisoner.
[hhall.95 08/22/95]
DEFENSE INTELLIGENCE AGENCY WASHINGTON, D.C. 20340
DIA EVALUATION OF INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE SOCIALIST REPUBLIC
OF VIETNAM IN THE CASE OF COMMANDER HARLEY HALL, USN On 13 July
1988, during a remains repatriation ceremony in Hanoi,
representatives of the Vietnamese Office For Seeking Missing
Persons (VNOSMP) furnished Joint Casualty
Resolution Center (JCRC) officials with six written investigative
reports. In the case of Commander Harley H. Hall, USN, the
written report reiterates much of the information previously
furnished by the U.S. in the JCRC negotiation narrative. It goes
on to claim that a "team" as well as two "VNOSMP" specialists,"
visited the location where the Navy officer was; lost, researched
historical documents in the villages and talked to "individuals
directly related to this incident.
" According to the report, "Commander Phillip" (LCDR Phillip
Kientzler, returnee) was captured; the other commander was found
dead and buried in a trench. The investigative team claims to
have visited the grave site and observed that it had been
exhumed and the remains taken. The local populace allegedly told
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