Dan Heller 
Name: Frank Alton Gould
Memorials: Find a Grave 1 2 3 Vietnam Wall Wall of Faces
Rank/Branch: Colonel/USAF
Unit: 306th Bomb Wing 2nd Bombardment Squadron March AFB CA: TDY 43rd Strategic Wing Anderson AFB Guam
Date of Birth: 22 May 1933
Home of Record: New York NY
Date of Loss: 21 December 1972
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 194400N 1035900E (UH950020)
Status in 1973: Missing In Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: B-52D “Stratofortress” “Serial No. 56-0669
Other Personnel In Incident: Vincent Russo; James Farmer; Lawrence Casazza; Harmon Johnson; Unknown Crewman (rescued)
REMARKS: RADIO CONTACT LOST
SYNOPSIS: It was well known by later 1972 that the war was drawing to a close, and that the North Vietnamese were offering huge bonuses to anti-aircraft artillery (AAA) gunners who could shoot down American aircraft and capture the aircrews alive. Further, at this stage in the war our enemy knew the more men they could capture, the better their chances were at the negotiating table to secure peace on their terms. Everyone knew the prisoners were worth much more alive than dead to both sides. In December 1972 frustrated by problems in negotiating a peace settlement, and pressured by both Congress and the nation wanting a conclusion to the war, President Nixon ordered the most concentrated air offensive, known as Linebacker II. During the offensive, referred to as the “Christmas bombings,” some 40,000 tons of bombs were dropped on North Vietnam.
On 20 December 1972, then Maj. Frank A. Gould was the radar navigator of a B52, call sign “Straw 02,” that departed Anderson AFB, Guam at 2359 hours on an arc light strike mission over Hanoi. By 0500 hours on the morning of 21 December, the flight rapidly approached its target. At 0504 hours, shortly after bomb release, a Surface to Air missile (SAM) exploded immediately below them causing damage to 2 of the 8 engines and shrapnel damage to the underside of the Stratofortress. It also lost cabin pressure and electrical power. The remaining 6 engines produced enough trust to allow the aircraft to remain in formation in the withdrawal stream. Because of excellent visibility, the pilot was able to maintain their position in the flight formation visually. The crew worked to get the electrical system back on line, but after 5 minutes, it became clear that was not going to happen. The pilot was forced to turn to the right and slip out of the formation. He also descended to an altitude where he could stabilize their maximum air speed and continued west toward its alternate base in Thailand.
At 0635 hours, after 30 minutes of flight, power in the remaining six engines dropped to 80% efficiency, and as the aircraft passed through 20,000 feet, the pilot initiated bail out procedures in case any of the automatic ejection systems failed and any of the crew needed time to proceed to a manual bail out position. As it turned out, egress equipment worked perfectly. As the last man to depart the aircraft, the pilot could see all the rest of the crews fully deployed parachutes below him as he descended. Once on the ground, beeper signals and voice contact was established with each one of the 6 crewmen. Because 2 engines were out, the B52 was pulling to one side as the crew bailed out. This caused the crew to land in a perfect arc in the extremely rugged, isolated and dense jungle-covered mountains approximately 45 miles south of Die Bien Phu. North Vietnam: 50 miles south-southwest of Sam Neua and 7 miles west of the Lao/North Vietnamese border, Xiangkhouang Province, Laos.
They remained on the ground for 5 hours before a Search and Rescue (SAR) helicopter could arrive on site, locate them and begin rescue procedures. They picked up five men without trouble, but nightfall prevented them from recovering Frank Gould. Before the helicopter departed the area, the crew saw mirror flashes from the navigator pinpointing his exact location. The next morning another SAR helicopter arrived on station. A pararescueman was lowered to his last known position and spent an hour on the ground searching through the jungle for him. He found Maj. Gould’s flight helmet and parachute, but found no trace of him. At the time formal SAR efforts were terminated, Frank Gould was listed Missing in Action.
Through the early 1990s, there have been numerous live sighting reports of Maj. Gould by name and location. The most recent reports indicate he is being held with three other Americans in Ban Xe Long village, Mung Hasak District, Oudomxai Province. Laos. This location is 6-7 kilometers east of Ban Houay Sai, Laos. Other reports state this same group of four POWs was held for a time in a cave in the Phongsali border area of Laos. Frank Gould is among the nearly 600 Americans who disappeared in Laos. Many of these men were known to be alive on the ground. The Laotians admitted holding “tens of tens” of American Prisoners of War, but these men were never negotiated for either by direct negotiation between our countries or through the Paris Peace Accords which ended the War in Vietnam as Laos was not a party to that agreement.
Since the end of the Vietnam War well over 21,000 reports of American prisoners, missing and otherwise unaccounted for have been received by our government. Many of these reports document LIVE American Prisoners of War remaining captive throughout Southeast Asia TODAY.
Pilots and aircrews in Vietnam and Laos were called upon to fly in many dangerous circumstances, and they were prepared to be wounded, killed or captured. It probably never occurred to them that they could be abandoned by the country they so proudly served.
