Thomas Richard Okerlund

Name: Thomas Richard Okerlund
Rank/Branch: W1/US Army
Unit: 61st Assult Helicopter Company "Lucky Stars", 268th Aviation Battalion, 17th Aviation Group, 1st Aviation Brigade
Date of Birth: 05 August 1948
Home City of Record: Seattle, WA
Date of Loss: 03 January 1971
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 134700N 1090630E (BR960250)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: U6 "Beaver"
Other Personnel In Incident: Luis G. Holguin, Dennis W. Omelia, Patrick Magee, Carl Palen, Ferris Rhodes, Michael Parsons (all missing)

SYNOPSIS: On January 3, 1971, Capt. Ferris A. Rhodes, Jr. was the pilot of a U6 "Beaver" (serial #52-25884), carrying six passengers; 1Lt Michael D. Parsons, WO1 Thomas R. Okerlund, WO1 Dennis W. Omelia, WO1 Luis G. Holguin, SP6 Patrick J. Magee, and SP5 Carl A. Palen. This was an administrative support flight from Qui Nhon to Ban Me Thuot, South Vietnam, to collect replacement helicopters for the company.  Some of the men aboard were helicopter pilots, and would fly the choppers back to the base at Qui Nhon.

The U6 "Beaver" is an older, fixed wing aircraft of reasonable size (bigger than a "Bird Dog", for instance), rather short and squatty with a somewhat wide body.  The aircraft departed Qui Nhon at about 0900 hours on January 3 without filing a proper flight plan, nor was the weather briefing obtained prior to takeoff.  About 14 miles southeast of Phu Cat, at 1120 hours, radio and radar contact was lost with the plane.

Because Capt. Rhodes had announced plans to remain overnight at Ban Me Thuot, no immediate searches were made.  By January 9, when Rhodes and his passengers still had not  returned, search efforts were begun at 0900 hours, and continued throughout the day with no sign of the aircraft or its personnel.

The area of takeoff was tricky and the weather conditions were not good.  Other pilots said that if planes taking off did not reach a safe altitude fast enough, they would crash into a mountain.  Cruising speed for the "Beaver" was a mere 106 mph making it a prime target for flak.  Conditions in the area indicated that the aircraft was shot down, and several years passed before the crew was finally declared dead.

Evidence mounts that Americans are still alive in Southeast Asia.  It is not known for sure if any of the crew of the U6 survived and are among them, but there is no evidence that they are dead.  If they survived, they could still be alive.  If not, then someone else's brother, son, husband, father is alive.  We owe them our very best effort to bring them home.

"All Biographical and loss information on POW's provided by Operation Just Cause have been supplied by Chuck and Mary Schantag of POWNET.  Please check with http://www.pownetwork.org/ regularly for updates."

In 1971, Thomas Okerlund was 23 years old with his life ahead of him; to get married, have children, grandchildren, and to enjoy his life with the same freedom and privileges we all share.  Instead, Thomas Okerlund went to Vietnam to serve his country during a time of crisis.  As Tom was leaving his mother, his father, and his family, he told them all goodbye and said, "I will return" but, Tom has not returned, and I think it is time we "Bring Him Home"

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"Bring Him Home"

God on high, hear my prayer
In my need, You have always been there.
He is young, he's afraid
Let him rest; heaven blessed.
Bring him home, bring him home
Bring him home . . .

. . . bring him peace, bring him joy
He is young; he's only a boy
You can take, You can give
Let him be; let him live.
If I die, let me die
Let him live; bring him home.
Bring him home, bring him home.

from "Les Miserables"

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If anyone has more information or anything they would like to share about Thomas Richard Okerlund, please send me an e-mail, and I will be happy to include it on this dedication page.

Operation Just Cause

Please adopt a POW/MIA so we can let these courageous men,
their families, and our country know that we have not
forgotten them, and we need to bring them home.

~ StinaLisa ~

Click above to read more about this spell-binding book,
 "Why Didn't You Get Me Out?"
by Frank Anton with Tommy Denton

A horrifying and shocking true story about
the realities of the Vietnam war and why we
need to continue our pursuit and efforts to
bring our men home.

   Frank Anton's Homepage

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If you have the time, stop by my home on the web,
have a cup of coffee, and see a list of my other web pages.
Please sign my Guestbook so I know you've stopped by.
Thanks!
~ StinaLisa ~

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A special thanks to Joni, Ron, Doc and Hollie for the graphics they donated to Operation Just Cause. See all the graphics donated at http://www.ojc.org/images/index.html

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The music playing is a condensed version of "Bring Him Home", and is for entertainment, educational and evaluation purposes only. Titles have full copyright by their respective artists and record companies. Please show your support for the artists who gave us this great music by purchasing their CDs.

If you are interested in purchasing a full version of "Bring Him Home" from Les Miserables, I have provided a link below to Amazon.com. They sell both new and used CDs. I have purchased many used CDs for my web pages and have never had a problem.

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July 1999