26 Mar 1998 REMEMBERED

 

A Note from The Virtual Wall On 24 Sep 1972 two aircraft from Attack Squadron 155 embarked in USS ORISKANY launched on a FAC-controlled bombing mission directed against NVA troops near Dong Ha, just south of the DMZ. The flight leader was LT Daniel V. Borah in A-7B BuNo 154436. Although the intention was to make multiple passes against the targets, Borah's wingman inadvertently released all his weapons on his first pass and therefore held high over the target as Borah rolled in for his second pass. As Borah was pulling off target his aircraft was hit by 37mm AAA, caught fire, and rolled inverted. Both the wingman and the Forward Air Controller saw Borah eject and briefly established radio contact with him after he was on the ground, but a two-day search-and-rescue effort failed to locate any further trace of LT Borah. Because the wingman and FAC both saw him land in an area occupied by North Vietnamese troops it was assumed that he had been captured. LT Borah was not among the US POWs released in early 1973 nor did any of the ex-POWs have knowledge of him. Although the North Vietnamese never acknowledged holding LT Borah, he was carried as captured until the Secretary of the Navy approved a Presumptive Finding of Death on 26 July 1977, changing his status to Died while Captured/Body not Recovered. In 1991 color photos taken in Laos of a man purported to be LT Borah came into the possession of the USG, but both the Laotian and US governments determined that the photos were fraudulent. Borah's family had an outside company examine the photos with the same result. In 1996 remains purported to be those of an American aviator shot down on 24 Sep 1972 were repatriated. The POW Network and Task Force Omega sites report that the remains consisted of three long bones, other smaller bone shards, and 19 teeth. In addition, aviator flight gear including a survival vest and a two-piece (shirt and pants) flight suit were recovered from the grave. The POW Network and TFO sites vary somewhat in detail and emphasis, but present the argument that dental identification of LT Borah's remains was flawed and that the presence of more-or-less intact fabric was unlikely following 24 years of interment. According to the TFO site, "While the USG considers Dan Borah to be 'remains returned', his family does not."

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