Major John C.G. Kerr Identified as Vietnam War POW/MIA

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) has announced that Major John C.G. Kerr, who went missing during the Vietnam War at age 35, has been accounted for as of April 24, 2024. On August 22, 1967, while on a solo nighttime armed reconnaissance mission over the Plain of Jars in Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Major Kerr failed to return from his A-26A Invader attack aircraft after failing to check in via radio. U.S forces conducted an extensive search operation employing both electronic and visual methods in a heavily defended area, but no trace of either the pilot or plane was found until decades later when reports by New China News Agency suggested that Major Kerr’s aircraft had been shot down near Ban Ban on August 22, 1967. In light of this report, U.S authorities declared Major Kerr killed in action on June 4, 1971. The DPAA is a government agency within the Department of Defense that aims to account for Americans who went missing while serving during previous conflicts through locating and identifying remains recovered from conflict sites with family members receiving appropriate honors upon return.