Defense agency confirms accountability for Vietnam War MIA Major John Kerr

Major John C.G. Kerr, a 35-year-old Air Force member, has been accounted for by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) as of April 24, 2024. Major Kerr went missing during the Vietnam War while on a solo nighttime armed reconnaissance mission over the Plain of Jars in Laos’s Lao People’s Democratic Republic on August 22, 1967. His A-26A Invader attack aircraft failed to return from its combat assignment at dusk. Kerr failed to respond by radio or fail to show up again as the rescue operation was initiated following his disappearance. Despite using both electronic and visual search methods in an area known for heavy enemy defenses, no trace of Major Kerr’s remains were found during the extensive searches that followed. The New China News Agency reported on August 22, 1967, that a US aircraft had been shot down near Ban Ban around the same time as Kerr disappeared, indicating his probable fate. After years of exhaustive search efforts and lingering uncertainty, Major John C.G. Kerr was officially declared killed in action by June 4, 1971. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency’s primary objective is to locate the remains of Americans who died while serving their country during previous wars and return them with honor to their families.