Frank Delzell Ralston, III

Major
433RD TFS, 8TH TFW, 7TH AF
United States Air Force
02 March 1941 - 09 January 1978
Denver, Colorado
Panel 07E Line 060

7TH AF F-4 433RD TFS
USAF Pilot

Purple Heart, Air Medal, National Defense, Vietnam Service, Vietnam Campaign

The database page for Frank Delzell Ralston, III

29 Nov 2004

REMEMBERED

by Roger Knopf
rogerknopf@verizon.net
03 Aug 2006

I have a POW/MIA bracelet with the name of Major Frank D. Ralston III, USAF - 14 May 66 - NVN.

If any of his family would like to have it, please contact me. I was in the Air Force from 1967 to 1971. I don't remember how I came across this bracelet but I have had it for over 30 years in a shadow box with other military items of mine and my grandfather's from WWI.

gregw4@sbcglobal.net

A Note from The Virtual Wall

Early on the morning of 14 May 1966 a section of F-4C Phantoms from the 433rd Tac Fighter Sqdn took off from Ubon RTAFB for an armed reconnaissance mission near Dong Hoi, just north of the Demilitarized Zone. The two aircraft hit the tanker and headed for their target area. Before actually locating or prosecuting any targets, the wing aircraft (F-4C 64-0760, flown by Capt D. L. King and 1stLt Frank D. Ralston) went down under rather mysterious circumstances. The flight leader saw a "streak of light", suggesting a surface-to-air missile, and heard a garbled call from their wingman - but nothing more. Search and rescue efforts failed to locate either aircraft or crew, and the two men were classed as missing in action.

Time passed, the two men were promoted in absentia, the POWs came home - and still nothing was known regarding what had happened to King and Ralston. Eventually the Secretary of the Air Force approved Presumptive Findings of Death for

  • MAJ Frank D. Ralston, Denver, CO, on 09 Jan 1978 and
  • COL Donald L. King, Muskegon, MI, on 25 Jan 1979.
Their remains have not been repatriated.


The point-of-contact for this memorial is
one who remembers,
Roger Knopf
rogerknopf@verizon.net



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With all respect
Jim Schueckler, former CW2, US Army
Ken Davis, Commander, United States Navy (Ret)
Memorial first published on 06 Jun 2005
Last updated 08/16/2006