Lonnie Pat Bogard

Major
435TH TFS, 8TH TFW, 7TH AF
United States Air Force
11 May 1942 - 26 July 1978
Matairie, Louisiana
Panel 01W Line 024

7TH AF USAF F-4 435TH TFS
USAF Pilot

DFC (3 awards), Purple Heart, Air Medal (22 awards), National Defense, Vietnam Service, Vietnam Campaign
Lonnie Pat Bogard

The database page for Lonnie Pat Bogard

5 May 2004

Pat was from Metairie, Louisiana. His wife, Sue Burdette, met him when they were students at Oklahoma State University. Sue was an active and very involved volunteer for the Permian Basin Vietnam Memorial located in Midland, Texas, when she was teaching biology and anatomy/physiology at Midland High School and Midland College. Sue came to Midland in 1982 from Alamagardo, New Mexico for higher pay and a better teaching opportunity.

Pat completed flight school at Reese Air Force Base in Lubbock, Texas, and he was an F-4 pilot. According to Sue he liked the F-4 as he thought it was safer than the hot, single-engine F-105 and certainly more glamorous than flying a transport aircraft. His squadron was based in Ubon, Thailand and he flew against targets in Laos and North Vietnam.

Pat vanished May 12, 1972, just one day after his 30th birthday, on a night mission over Laos. Not a trace of the plane or its two-person crew has been found. There was a presumptive finding of KIA/BNR on July 26, 1978 from the Department of Defense.

Pat is remembered by the Permian Basin Vietnam Memorial located at Midland International Airport, Midland, Texas.

Billy M. Brown
4015 Melody Lane, Odessa, Texas 79762
bmbrown@grandecom.net

29 Aug 2004

REMEMBERED

by one who wears his MIA Bracelet,
Cheryl Simpson
cher745@bellsouthl.net
30 Aug 2004

REMEMBERED

Shelley Pieper
E-Mail will be forwarded by the
Webmaster@VirtualWall.org

14 Oct 2004

Still Remembered
By one who wore his MIA bracelet

Joan Caruso Cortolillo
balone24@aol.com

8 Nov 2004

REMEMBERED

by his wife,
Susie Bogard
3506 Baumann Avenue, Midland, Tx 79703
rsburdette24@gmail.com
1 Mar 2005

Dear Pat, I've always called you "Lonnie" even though you are Pat. It's been "Lonnie" since I first wore your bracelet in 1972. You are not forgotten.

Fly high and rest well. God Bless,
Arlene and family

Arlene Marine
Valdosta, Georgia 31605
georgianana10@yahoo.com

2 Apr 2005

I was the duty officer the night that Pat and Bill went missing. I took the call from the command post and relayed the information to the squadron commander. It was indeed a sad day for me and the rest of the Eagle squadron. I will always miss him and the "party tape" he made just before he went down.

From a squadron member,
Pete McDuff
Lt Col USAF (Ret)
dorfit@msn.com

14 Nov 2005

I was a 7th grade student at Holloman A.F.B. New Mexico when I began wearing his M.I.A. bracelet. I learned that there was a teacher at my Junior High School whose husband was MIA and that she had these bracelets, all engraved with his name. She carried them on a wire of some sort. There is a small hole on the bracelet that the wire went through, and she took one off the wire and handed it to me. The only other information that I knew was that he was a pilot flying in Laos, and they feared his plane was shot down.

Now, I teach at a military institution in North Georgia, and the majority of my students are cadets. I see the eagerness in their young faces, and flashback to the days of living on base. Many of these young people wear replica MIA-POW bracelets from a war that was taking place before they were born.

No, I won't forget.

Elizabeth L. Lewis
Pikeville, TN
elvisabeth@mail.com

29 May 2006

I was 17, in 1972, when I started to wear Lonnie's MIA bracelet. I wore it for many years until it broke in half right where the "P" was. I often think about and pray for him. It was very emotional for me when I chaperoned the 8th grade class trip to Washington, D.C. in 1993. We visited the "Wall". I told the children about Lonnie and the bracelet. We found his name. I could not reach it either way. But it was enough for me to see it. However, it was not enough for the students. Three students went to the top and hung one boy over so he could trace Lonnie's name for me. I still have that paper.

God Bless you, Lonnie Pat Bogard, on this Memorial Day, 2006.

Angela
bookiecookie1031@aol.com

04 Jul 2006

On this July 4th, 2006, we think of our country and it's road to independence. We think of all those who have sacrificed to make our country free and keep it free. One who we remember not just today, but always, is the man whose name is on the bracelet I wore for years and which I still keep today. Captain Lonnie Pat Bogard, we pray for you and your family. God bless America and God bless you.

Dean Albertsen
E-Mail will be forwarded by the
Webmaster@VirtualWall.org

04 Nov 2006

I too was a teenager who couldn't wait to get my POW/MIA bracelet and received it for my birthday. I was so excited and I also wore mine until it broke in the middle. I wore it for years, though. I have researched his name a lot and even mailed a letter to his hometown in LA in search of his family. With Veterans Day approaching I have been thinking about him and did a search and wow! here I am and so happy to have found you!

Forever in my thoughts and a bracelet worn with Pride and Love -
Thanks to all of you for your sacrifice for our freedom -

Sandra J Bullock
sjeanbullock@yahoo.com

11 Jun 2007

Bogard,

You were in the wrong flight at Reese but we made up for it at Tucson. Fortunately, we had one last time at Perrin. No one but you, Suz, Diane, and I can harmonize.

From a fighter pilot friend,
Bill Rogers
387 Wahoo Rd., Panama City, Fl 32411
deltadart60@yahoo.com

25 Aug 2007

I have been wearing a bracelet of Lonnie (even though his name is Pat, I refer to him as Lonnie) ever since the 1970's and will never take it off til the day that he is returned home to his family.

Come on Hanoi ... get off your behinds and let us know what has happened to our servicemen.

If and when Lonnie is returned home, then the bracelet will finally be removed and it shall be sent to Lonnie's family along with my prayers. God Bless Our Servicemen. They paid the highest price there is to ensure our safety and freedom.

Randy Hayward
pedalpusher58@hotmail.com

09 Nov 2007

One of my students was wearing an MIA bracelet and I asked him how I might get one. I requested someone from the Air Force and a native of Louisiana. I received Pat's bracelet in 1980 and have kept or worn it since then. Today the Vietnam Wall arrived in our area and I immediately realized I would know his fate. I am so grateful to all who served so bravely in this war. To Pat's family, our family sends our sympathy and our appreciation.

The Jaubert Family
Baton Rouge, LA

Jean Jaubert
E-Mail will be forwarded by the
Webmaster@VirtualWall.org

14 May 2008

I still wear the bracelet for Lonnie Bogard as a reminder of the everlasting pain and suffering of war. I had five brothers in WWII and one in the Vietnam conflict. All returned safely for which I am eternally grateful. I am definitely a Senior Citizen and still proud to wear Lonnie's bracelet.

Thank you, Lonnie, for the ultimate price you paid during this national conflict.

Jean Oliver
littleacers@aol.com

A Note from The Virtual Wall

On 12 May 1972 then-Captain Lonnie P. Bogard and 1stLt William H. Ostermeyer departed Ubon RTAFB in F-4D tail number 66-8799 on a "Night Owl" fast FAC mission along the Ho Chi Minh Trail in southern Laos. The flight went as planned until shortly after the F-4D completed a scheduled in-flight refueling session. At that point, with the F-4 somewhere in the vicinity of the Ban Karai Pass, radio contact was lost. SAR efforts failed to locate wreckage or either crewman. Both men were classed as Missing in Action.

Over time, both were promoted and eventually declared dead - Captain Ostermeyer on 30 May 1974 and Major Bogard on 26 July 1978. Their remains have not been repatriated.



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With all respect
Jim Schueckler, former CW2, US Army
Ken Davis, Commander, United States Navy (Ret)
Memorial first published on 05/05/2004
Last updated 01/03/2015