Bunyan Durant Price, Jr

Staff Sergeant
HHC, 2ND BN, 34TH ARMOR, 25 INF DIV
Army of the United States
09 February 1950 - 20 November 1978
Belmont, North Carolina
Panel 11W Line 087

25 INF DIV

34TH ARM RGT
Bunyan D Price

Purple Heart, National Defense, Vietnam Service, Vietnam Campaign

The database page for Bunyan Durant Price, Jr

20 Feb 2002

I have worn SP4 Bunyan D Price's POW bracelet for almost 15 years. I never knew him but he is now one of my family. I think of him every day and have every bit of faith that one day he will come home. I, for one, will never forget him or any of our men that have yet to come home.

God Bless All of You!

I would welcome and appreciate any contact from anyone regarding
Bunyan Price or any other POW information.

Sara-Jo Hartwell
P O Box 417, Rentz, Ga 31075
tandev2000@yahoo.com

25 Mar 2003

I too have worn this band on my arm for many many years.
I never knew him or what had happened to him.
I would like to send the family the band if anyone knows how to reach them.
I have a young son myself in the US Navy.

Julie Dearmin
jtdearmin@aol.com

02 Sep 2003

Our names are Pieter and Silvia.

We came in contact with the Vietnam Veterans MC of the State Virginia in 2000 by Internet. We have visited them several times and on our first visit to The Wall with one of them we bought the bracelet of Bunyan D. Price Jr. Pieter has been wearing the bracelet since and on the 30st of July 2002 we became parents of a boy and we called him Bunyan.

We are from the Netherlands and became very close with a couple of the Vietnam Veterans of the State Virgina.

As a tribute to all those who are lost and still haven't been found we called our son after one of them.

So to all of you LRB

Pieter and Silvia van Asten
p.vanasten@12move.nl

13 Oct 2004

I too am wearing Bunyan D. Price's MIA bracelet. I bought it recently at a PX in New Jersey. As soon as the Vietnam vet explained the meaning of this bracelet I bought it. If any of his family or friends need it I will be happy to send it to you. Just email me at blackwell9403@yahoo.com. I just want to say I am a soldier in the Army preparing to deploy again soon and am proudly wearing your bracelet.

Never forget ... Spc Blackwell, New Jersey
blackwell9403@yahoo.com

6 Feb 2005

I too wear the bracelet of SSgt Bunyan D. Price. It's nice to know there are many of us who will remember. I purchased mine at the Vietnam Memorial Wall in washington. SSgt Price will be in our hearts and memories forever, as well as all of the other brave men who serve.

Kathy
kms@comcast.net

07 Mar 2006

I too wear the bracelet of SSGT Price. I now have a son serving in the Army and I pray that if anything resembling the fate of SSGT Price ever happened to him that he too would be remembered. Bunyan Price and I are both from NC. I will never Forget!!

Military Spouse
Military Mother
Pamela Baker
E-mail address is not available.

18 Mar 2006

Thirty five years ago, while I was living in San Francisco, I bought a Bunyan Price Jr MIA bracelet, which I wore for many years. I kept it with my precious mementos and regularly thought of Bunyan and hoped he had returned home.

A few days ago I went on line and learned his fate. I now have an image of his young face in my memory, a heavy heart and will continue to thing of him and the sacrifice he made.

I am once again wearing his bracelet.

From a friend he never knew,
Geraldine Adams
gmadams@optusnet.com.au

27 Sep 2006

My father bought me a POW/MIA bracelet with Bunyan D. Price on it when I was about 12. It appears in my school portrait and I've spent much time over the years thinking of him, wondering what he was like and what had happened to him. Now I'm a 33 year-old mother of a small son and I also think of his parents and family and the sacrifce that they have made.

I'm grateful to know more about him and also glad to know that there are many of us who will keep him in our memories.

Bonnye Busbice Good
Seymour, Indiana
bonnyegood@verizon.net

14 Oct 2006

I have thought of Bunyan Price's family since 1972, when I began wearing a bracelet bearing his name. I have always prayed his family were able to live a wonderful life. I always prayed that Spec.5 Bunyan Price Jr, 5-2-70 will be in heaven when I arrive so I can tell him how I have prayed for his family all these years.

D. A. Johnson
donjohn@tampabay.rr.com

10 Jan 2007

I am a soldier in the United States Army, and my brother gave me his MIA/POW bracelet when I was about 13 or 14, and I wore it every day. My brother recently was killed in Iraq, he was Special Forces, but I hold this bracelet of Bunyan D Price very close to my heart. I hope ALL of the MIA/POW soldiers are as remembered as SSGT Price seems to be.

SPC Og
virus025@yahoo.com

22 Feb 2007

I am the niece of Bunyan Durant Price Jr. I love and miss him very much, I remember the day he left as clearly as if it were today. I was 4 years old. If anyone has info please e-mail me. I still have faith he is alive. We have lived in grief all this time not really knowing. He has a family waiting ... thank you all so much for wearing the bracelets.

From his niece,
Pamela Castellanos
329 Beattie Road, Kings Mountain, N C 28086
greeneyes1965@gmail.com

Notes from The Virtual Wall

On 02 May 1970, a UH-1H Huey (hull number 68-16512) departed Tay Ninh on a logistics mission to Fire Support Base Bruiser, Kontum Province, SVN, just south of the Vietnamese/Cambodian border. Heavy weather forced the Huey to divert over the Cambodian border, where it was shot down by enemy antiaircraft fire. Eight men were aboard the helicopter, four crewmen and four passengers.

Pilot WO1 Varnado was wounded by the AAA fire, but co-pilot WO1 Maslowski was able to crash-land the Huey in an area bounded by tall elephant grass. The crew and passengers safely evacuated the aircraft, but were immediately forced to disperse as enemy troops approached. Of the eight men, only one - Private Karreci - was able to evade the enemy and return on foot to friendly lines.

The other seven men simply disappeared. During his debrief, Private Karreci stated that he saw WO1 Varnado, CPT Richardson, WO1 Maslowski, and SP4 Crowson captured by the VC and that enemy soldiers pulled the body of an unconscious or dead "blond, heavy-set man" from the bamboo. While Karreci was not able to identify that man, it was suspected to be SP4 Rodney Griffin. Karreci was not able to provide any information regarding CPT Young or SP4 Price.

It wasn't until early 1973 that any further solid information about their fate was received; in January 1973, the PRG announced that Varnado and Young had died in captivity, and in February Maslowski and Crowson were released with other POWs. Maslowski confirmed that Richardson had been captured and that Varnado and Young had died in captivity. Both he and Crowson felt sure that SP4 Price also was captured, although they never saw him in captivity. No-one had certain knowledge of what became of Captain Richardson. Thus, at the end of February 1973, the status of the eight men was as follows:

  • From Company B, 229th Aviation Battalion:
    • WO1 Michael B. Varnado, pilot, died in captivity;
    • WO1 Daniel F. Maslowski, co-pilot, captured, released 12 February 1973;
    • SP4 Frederick H. Crowson, crew chief, captured, released 12 February 1973; and
    • Pvt Tony Karreci, door gunner, avoided capture.

  • From HHC, 2nd Battalion, 34th Armor:
    • CPT Robert M. Young, died in captivity;
    • CPT Dale W. Richardson, known captured, still missing;
    • SP4 Rodney M. Griffin, believed captured, still missing; and
    • SP4 Bunyan D. Price, Jr, missing.
There had been unconfirmed reports that Bunyan Price was captured, but by Khmer Rouge troops rather than by the VC; the Khmer were known to maintain control over captured American and South Vietnamese troops rather than turning them over to North Vietnamese or VC control.

Over the years, the Secretary of the Army approved Presumptive Findings of Death for the three missing men, Captain Richardson on 15 January 1979, SP4 Griffin on 16 January 1974, and SP4 Price on 20 November 1978.

On 27 April 1989, the Vietnamese returned a number of human remains. On 27 July 1989, the U. S. Government was able to announce the positive identification of Warrant Officer Varnado's remains, and on 05 November 1997 the positive identification of Captain Young's remains was announced.

But Richardson, Griffin, and Price remain among the missing.

Information derived from
The Vietnam Helicopter Pilots' Association
The POW Network
Task Force Omega





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With all respect
Jim Schueckler, former CW2, US Army
Ken Davis, Commander, United States Navy (Ret)
Memorial first published on 20 Feb 2002
Last updated 08/10/2009