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Dedication Sunday will honor Danbury airman lost in 1971
DANBURY, Neb. — The solemn, jet black granite headstone that marks the final resting place of a Vietnam War casualty brought home after 46 years will be dedicated in a special Memorial Day service in the Danbury-Marion Cemetery late Sunday afternoon.
An OV-10A aircraft piloted by U.S. Air Force Capt. Daniel Wayne “Danny” Thomas, a native of Danbury, went down over Laos in January 1971. After many years of questions with no answers, Thomas’s remains were found and identified, and he was interred back home in the soil of the Beaver Valley on Monday, Nov. 27, 2017.
Now, Red Willow County American Legion Posts plan a special graveside memorial service for Thomas on Sunday, May 27, at 5 p.m. The public is invited to pay respect to Thomas for his service to his country and to thank his family for their sacrifice.
The service includes a prayer by Chaplin Raymond Haag, and Eugene Axtell will present “Memories of Danny.” Bonnie Lomax and Lonnie Weyeneth will lead “God Bless America.”
Lonnie Weyeneth closes with “Taps.”
Food and fellowship follow in the Lebanon Legion Post.
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Daniel Wayne “Danny” Thomas was born Sept. 4, 1946, at McCook in Red Willow County. He attended grade school in Danbury and graduated valedictorian of his high school class from Beaver Valley High School in Lebanon in 1964. He attended McCook Junior College for two years, graduating with an Associate Bachelor of Science Degree in Engineering. He then attended the University of Nebraska at Lincoln and earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1968.
Danny enlisted in the U.S. Air Force as a candidate for pilot training in the spring of 1968. Upon induction, he was sent to Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. Following his commission as a 2nd lieutenant, he was sent to Williams AFB in Arizona.
After earning his wings in 1970 in the T-38 supersonic jet, Danny was sent to Hurlburt Field, Florida, for training in the OV-10, and then to the state of Washington for jungle survival training. His overseas assignment in February 1971 took him to Ubon, Thailand. Soon after his arrival overseas, he was promoted to 1st Lieutenant.
Thomas was a Nail Forward Air Controller assigned to the 23rd Tactical Air Support Squadron at Nakhon Phanom RTAFB Thailand. On July 6, 1971, he and Capt. Donald G. “Butch” Carr (U.S. Army) took off in an OV-10A (#67-14634) for an orientation flight for Capt. Carr over central Laos in support of an eight-man Special Forces reconnaissance team. The mission was to study sites for cross-border infiltration and intelligence operations 20 miles east of Muang Fandeng.
At 3:30 p.m., Thomas radioed to the Army support facility that he was in his target area, but that he was unable to observe because of weather conditions. This was his last known radio contact.
Approximately 30 minutes after the last radio transmission from the OV-10A aircraft, the ground team heard an impact or explosion to their northeast, but could not determine the distance to the explosion. Extensive search efforts through July 10 failed to locate the crash site.
At the time of his loss, Thomas had served 118 days in combat. In 1976, Thomas was promoted to captain.
Thomas and Carr became two of nearly 600 Americans who disappeared in Laos during the Vietnam War.
Effective Oct. 11, 1979, a status review was conducted at Randolph AFB, Texas, and Thomas’s status was changed from “missing in action” to “killed in action.” Memorial services were conducted on Dec. 16, 1979, in recognition of the “killed-in-action” designation, in the Danbury school gymnasium with the Rev. Herb Townsend officiating, and prayer and benediction by the Strategic Air Command chaplain.
Several medals and a Purple Heart were awarded posthumously.
Seeking information about Danny, his family was active in the POW/MIA organization for many years.
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The families of those lost in action very often search for years for answers about their loved ones. Those answers came for the Thomas family when, in April 2014, a Vietnamese witness provided a photograph of an ID tag associated with one of the two crew members in Thomas’s OV-10A. In August 2014, possible human remains were approved for repatriation and DPAA (Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency) analysis of aircraft wreckage and life support items indicated both aircrew members were in the aircraft at the time of impact.
Danny’s remains were sent to his family, and they were buried in a private family service in the Danbury-Marion Cemetery on Nov. 27, 2017.
The back of Danny’s headstone placed in the Danbury-Marion Cemetery tells the story of his life since early 1971:
3-15-1971 — Southeast Asia with base in Thailand, 23rd Tactical Air Support Squadron
7-6-1871 — Went missing after reaching target area in Laos
2014 — Found crash site in the central highlands of Vietnam
2016 — Excavated crash site (found remains)
2017 — Buried remains 46 years after he disappeared
Awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and other medals