Vietnam
-
MIA
Fallen
Bismarck, ND
Circumstances:
In North Vietnam
Hostile, died while missing, Fixed Wing - Pilot
Air Loss, Crash on Land
From DPAA:
On June 6, 1972, an F-4D Phantom II (tail number 66-6232, call sign "Gopher 01") with two crew members was the lead plane in a flight of four on a combat air patrol mission over North Vietnam. As the flight egressed from the mission area due to depleted fuel, it approached the defensive ring around the Yen Bai Airfield, North Vietnam, and encountered both enemy fighters and surface-to-air missiles (SAMs). "Gopher 01" was damaged by an enemy SAM which caused the aircraft to burst into flames and crash in the vicinity of (GC) 48Q VK 879 141. No ejections or parachutes were observed. Due to the extremely strong enemy presence in the area of the crash site, search and rescue operations were impossible.
Lieutenant Colonel James Alan Fowler, who entered the U.S. Air Force from North Dakota, served with the 523rd Tactical Fighter Squadron and was the aircraft commander of this Phantom at the time of its loss. He remains unaccounted for. Today, Lieutenant Colonel Fowler is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Based on all information available, DPAA assessed the individual's case to be in the analytical category of Active Pursuit.
Loss with MO resident Captain John Wayne Seuell also unaccounted for.
Biography:
Lieutenant Colonel James Alan Fowler is buried or memorized at Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial. This is an American Battle Monuments Commission location. He received the purple heart and is honored on the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial in Washington, DC, name inscribed at VVM Wall, Panel 01w, Line 38.
Fowler was born on January 7, 1938, in Bismarck, Burleigh County, North Dakota.