Date of Birth: 28 January 1932
Other Personnel in Incident:
REMARKS: MID AIR COL-1 PARA OBS
SYNOPSIS: On December 13, 1968, the crew of a C123K was dispatched from
Nakhon Phanom Airfield located in northern Thailand near the border of Laos on an operational
mission over Laos. The C123, a converted WWII glider equipped with two engines, was assigned
night patrol missions along the Ho Chi Minh trail.
Flying low at 2000-3000 feet, the job of the seven man crew was to spot enemy truck
convoys on the trail and to light up the trails for accompanying B57 bombers which were flying
overhead.
The crew on this particular mission included the pilot (name unknown); 1Lt. Joseph P.
Fanning, co-pilot; 1Lt. John S. Albright, navigator; 1Lt. Morgan J. Donahue, navigator; SSgt.
Samuel F. Walker; SSgt. Douglas V. Dailey; TSgt. Fred L. Clarke, crewmembers. At 0330 hours,
as the aircraft was flying about 30 miles southwest of the Ban Karai Pass in Laos, the crew of the
C123 were jolted by a blow on the top of their plane in the after section. An overhead B57 that
had been called in for an air strike had collided with the control plane. The C123 lost power and
went out of control. The pilot, stunned by a blow to the head, lost consciousness.
Because of its glider configuration, the plane did not fall straight to the ground, but drifted
lazily to the ground in a flat spin which lasted several minutes. When the pilot regained
consciousness, he noted that the co-pilot (Fanning) and navigator (Donahue) were gone.
Donahue's station was in the underbelly of the plane where, lying on his stomach, he directed an
infrared
detection device through an open hatch. The pilot parachuted out, landed in a treetop where he
remained until rescued at dawn. On the way down, he saw another chute below him, but, because
of the dark, was unable to determine who the crew member was.
Intelligence reports after the incident indicate that Donahue, at least, safely reached the
ground near Tchepone, but suffered a broken leg. A refugee who escaped captivity in Laos in
1974 reported having observed an American prisoner brought to the caves near Tchepone, where
he was held, in the period between 1968 and 1970. This American was later moved to another
location unknown to the refugee.
Several reports referring to "Moe-gan" and others describing Donahue as the American
called the "animal doctor" were received over the years since war's end. In June and August, 1987,
the Donahue family was given intelligence reports tracking Morgan's movements from a POW
camp in Kham Kuet, Khammouane
Province, Laos in the spring of 1987 to another camp in the Boualapha District of the same
province in August 1987. These reports were mere WEEKS old, yet the U.S. marked them
"routine". One of them gave Morgan's aircraft type and serial number, which turned out to be,
instead of the serial number of the aircraft,
Morgan's father's ZIP CODE. Morgan's family believes this is clearly a signal to them from
Morgan.
The crew of the C123K are among nearly 600 Americans who disappeared in Laos. Many
of these men were alive on the ground. The Laotians admitted holding American prisoners but
these men were never negotiated for. Where are they? Are they alive? Imagine the torture the
Donahue family endures knowing Morgan is alive, yet helpless to do anything to help him. What
are we doing to help bring them home?
(John S. Albright II and Morgan J. Donahue graduated in 1967 from the United States Air
Force Academy)
Rank/Branch: E6/US Air Force
Unit: 606th Special Operations Squadron, Nakhon Phanom, Thailand
Home City of Record: Troutman NC
Date of Loss: 13 December 1968
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 170100N 1055900E (XD055824)
Status (In 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: C123K
On C123K: Douglas Dailey; Morgan Donahue; Joseph Fanning; Samuel Walker; John
Albright (all missing);
On B57B: Thomas W. Dugan; Francis J. McGouldrick (all missing)
Or click to learn about these other places where our Veterans have served.
This site is owned by Karen |
