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Patriot Guard Riders Forum
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edblake52 
Posts: 114
Fremont, NH
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| 07 Aug 2006 4:14 PM |
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Welcome home Major Conlon. Our heart felt thanks from a Greatful Nation.
Gimpy |
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Ed Blake "Gimpy"
Freemont, NH
"Flags in hand we're called to attention
Shoulder to shoulder in quiet respect.
We represent a "Grateful Nation"
Here to Honor America’s Best."
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sirvant1
Posts: 30
Alexandria, VA
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| 08 Aug 2006 7:33 PM |
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Maj John F. Conlon, III {salute}
It will be an honor to escort you to your final resting place - AT HOME.
To the family of Maj John Conlon: I recall the devastation my family felt at the death of my stepbrother, HM2 Thomas Donovan in Viet Nam -- and the immense sorrow two months later when his personal belongings were returned to us. I can only imagine the mixed feelings you are all experiencing at this time -- both relief and sorrow. Please know you are in my thoughts and prayers.
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"Vegetarian" is a Native American term easily translated as "lousy hunter."
Never drive faster than your guardian angel can fly!
2006 GoldWing |
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wickedpatti
Posts: 13
North East MD on the border of DE and PA
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| 08 Aug 2006 8:57 PM |
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Welcome Home, Major Conlon !!!!
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"If we fail to keep faith with those who did their duty in the past, we could not expect Americans to do their duty in the future, should the need arise." (Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz) * Remember our POWs and MIAs * |
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partnr
Posts: 467
Rochester Hills, MI
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| 10 Aug 2006 8:45 PM |
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To the family and friends of Maj. John F. Conlon III, our
thoughts are with you during this time of loss and sadness.
~partnr
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HHC, 63rd Signal Bn
Phu Bai, Vietnam '68-'69 |
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MaD MiKe
Posts: 94
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| 11 Aug 2006 7:55 AM |
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My belated but deepest sympathy to the family and friends of Maj. John F. Conlon III.
Welcome home, thank you so very much for your service and may you now rest in peace.. |
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big100hd
Posts: 487
Loudoun County, Virginia
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| 11 Aug 2006 1:32 PM |
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We have finally made progress in contacting the family. No date has been set for the services. This mission is still pending confirmation from the family.
A special thanks to Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command for their efforts to continue to locate our lost heroes.
Maj. John F. Conlon III, your finally home. We are standing by to salute you and bring you to your final resting place among our nations heroes at Arlington National Cemetery. Thank you sir, for your service to our country.
Respectfully,
Frank Baranyai
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http://www.citizensvoice.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16780605&BRD=2259&PAG=461&dept_id=455154&rfi=6
06/13/2006
More News
BY ROBERT KALINOWSKI
STAFF WRITER
DALLAS — More than 40 years and three months after her brother went missing in Vietnam, a Dallas woman finally has closure.
Claire Conlon Evans learned Friday the military has found the remains of her long-lost brother, 1st Lt. John Francis Conlon III.
For four decades, she feared he was a prisoner of war. But the military believes the Wilkes-Barre man died in a plane crash in South Vietnam.
“Frankly, after 40 years, I couldn’t be more startled. But, I’m very grateful,” said Evans, the last surviving member of Conlon’s immediate family. “It’s a big relief.”
Conlon’s parents, Margaret and John Jr, died in 1989 and 1978, respectively. His other sister, Peggy Conlon Lane, 61, died in 1994.
“Now, I feel like an only child,” Evans, 71, said Monday at her home in Dallas.
“He went away a kid. He missed out on life,” added Evans, holding onto a copy of the March 7, 1966, edition of the Wilkes-Barre Record that documented Conlon’s missing status.
The main headline that day: “Lt. John Conlon missing in Vietnam.”
On March 4, 1966, the 25-year-old fighter pilot trainee volunteered for a flight mission in South Vietnam to accompany Major Stuart Andrews. Their primary mission was to look for enemy campfires.
“They literally flew out of sight. They were never heard from again,” Evans said.
For 40 painstaking years, Conlon’s loved ones worried and wondered about the airman’s fate — hoping at the very least he wasn’t tortured as a prisoner of war.
They waited and waited.
On Friday, members of the Air Force met with Evans to inform her Conlon’s remains were recently identified near where his plane is believed to have crashed. Crews from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command recovered four of his teeth and pieces of some personal items in the tough jungle terrain of the Gia Lai Province, she said.
She said the military and the organization aren’t sure how the plane crashed, but believe Conlon and Andrews died in the crash.
“I’m very relieved he was not a POW. That always frightened us and worried us to death,” Evans said.
After Conlon’s parents died, Evans said she put a “symbolic” foot marker near their graves. Now, Conlon is going to get a hero’s funeral with full military honors in Arlington National Cemetery within a few weeks, she said.
“From beginning to end, it was just one of those strange odysseys that life takes, I guess,” she said.
Conlon and his family grew up at 214 N. Main St. in Wilkes-Barre. He was a 1959 graduate of Wyoming Seminary and got his business degree at Clarkson College in upstate New York in 1963.
After college, he completed Air Force Officer Training School with dreams of being a pilot. After two years of stateside duty, he left for Vietnam in fall 1965.
Evans remembers saying goodbye to her little brother at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport. It was the last time they saw each other or spoke.
Without modern day technology the current military has, Conlon, who was single, would send his family reel-to-reel tapes documenting his journey and sending his love. In the immediate years after he went missing, the family cherished the tapes as a link to their lost loved one.
But, in early 1972, Conlon parents moved to Butler Street, Kingston, and the tapes and much of the family’s photo collection of Conlon were destroyed in the June flood caused by Hurricane Agnes, she said.
Is was tough waiting for this day to come, but Conlon’s parents encouraged the family to never give up. For years, Evans said she and family would send “Where is John Conlon?” index cards to people around the country and world, mostly politicians. At the end, they read: “What are you doing about getting him home? Nothing?”
After meeting with the military, Evans seemed taken aback about how much went into finding her brother’s remains. The military delivered an approximately 100-page report of every single aspect in the search for his remains and recovery. She knows the military, along with the organization that led the search for her brother, Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, will continue the mission.
According to the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office, there are still approximately 1,800 military members still unaccounted for from the Vietnam war.
Evans said that memorial contributions for 1st Lt. John F. Conlon III may be made to Wyoming Seminary Memorial Fund, c/o John Shafer, 201 N. Sprague Ave. Kingston, PA 18704.
bkalinowski@citizensvoice.com
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The patriot volunteer, fighting for country and his rights, makes the most reliable soldier on earth.
Thomas J. Jackson
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big100hd
Posts: 487
Loudoun County, Virginia
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| 11 Aug 2006 1:45 PM |
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Here's another article:
http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/14894435.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
Posted on Sat, Jun. 24, 2006
Remains of Air Force officer found in Vietnam
Associated Press
WILKES-BARRE, Pa. - The remains of an Air Force officer missing in action from the Vietnam War have been found and identified, 40 years after his disappearance, the Defense Department announced Friday.
The remains of Maj. John F. Conlon III, of Wilkes-Barre, are being returned to his family for burial at Arlington National Cemetery, the Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office said in a statement.
Conlon was 25 years old when he and another crew member disappeared on March 4, 1966, while flying a reconnaissance mission in the Binh Dinh Province of Vietnam.
Investigators from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command and a Vietnamese team turned up aircraft debris, personal effects, human remains and a dog tag in the village of Dak Pling during a nearly monthlong excavation that began in February.
Forensic scientists used Conlon's dental records to confirm his identity.
Claire Evans, Conlon's sister, received word earlier this month that her brother had been found.
"Once I stopped shaking, I was so grateful," Evans, 71, of Dallas, Pa., told the Times Leader of Wilkes-Barre. "I thought, 'There is a God in heaven.' I can't believe after storming the heavens (with prayer) all these years, we finally have an answer."
Conlon said military investigators told her they found four teeth, a belt buckle, eyeglass frames and two emblems from a Colt handgun that belonged to Conlon, and a dog tag from Col. Stuart M. Andrews, the pilot.
Conlon, who was single, had just graduated from college when he decided to join the Air Force. He was four months into his tour in Vietnam when the O-1E Bird Dog observation aircraft in which he was a passenger disappeared.
© 2006 Centre Daily Times and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.centredaily.com |
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The patriot volunteer, fighting for country and his rights, makes the most reliable soldier on earth.
Thomas J. Jackson
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big100hd
Posts: 487
Loudoun County, Virginia
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| 11 Aug 2006 2:00 PM |
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Long Wait Finally Over
13 June, 2006
Times Leader (Wilkes-Barre, PA)
"I can't believe after storming the heavens all these years, we finally have an answer.": Long wait finally over
By TERRIE MORGAN-BESECKER
DALLAS - Claire Evans heard the man's voice on the other end of the phone line and immediately knew the 40-year-long wait was over. "United States Air Force, Department of Mortuary," he said.
Her body shaking, Evans tried to steady her hand to take down the information she had longed, yet so dreaded, to hear.
"Your brother's crash site has been found," the man continued. "We've made a positive ID." It was official: Forty years, two months and 22 days after he disappeared flying a reconnaissance mission in the Binh Dinh Province of Vietnam, U.S. Air Force Maj. John F. Conlon III would finally come home.
"Once I stopped shaking, I was so grateful," Evans said Monday. "I thought, 'There is a God in heaven.' I can't believe after storming the heavens (with prayer) all these years, we finally have an answer."
With the help of elderly Vietnamese villagers, a search team assembled by the Joint POW/MIA Operating Command began a nearly month-long excavation in Dak Pling Village on Feb. 16, 2006, on what would have been her brother's 65th birthday.
Four teeth, a belt buckle, eyeglass frames and two emblems from a Colt handgun that belonged to Conlon, as well as a dog tag from Col. Stuart M. Andrews, the fellow aviator killed with him, were recovered from a densely forested hillside, she was told.
Evans, 71, of Overbrook Road, had no idea the military was searching for her brother until she got the phone call three days before Memorial Day announcing the discovery.
On Saturday, military officials presented her a bound report documenting how her brother died, and how the military developed the information to find him.
Conlon, of Wilkes-Barre, was 25, single, and fresh out of college in 1964 when he decided to join the Air Force. He had been infatuated by planes his entire life and was determined to be a military aviator, even though he knew he would likely be shipped to Vietnam, Evans said.
Their parents, John and Margaret Conlon, were "crushed," but they accepted his decision, Evans said.
"John was patriotic. He felt someone had to do it. Because he was single, he should go." Blonde-haired and blue-eyed, her brother was a handsome man with many friends, male and female, Evans recalled. Somewhat quiet and reserved, he loved to paint and ski, and was an avid car lover.
While training, he distinguished himself by becoming the first pilot in his class to fly solo in the T-38 Talon supersonic jet, the worlds' first supersonic jet trainer.
He was four months into his tour of duty in Vietnam when, on March 4, 1966, he boarded an 01-E Bird Dog piloted by Andrews.
Waiting and then losing hope The aircraft took off from the Qui Nhon Air Field at 3:20 p.m. Andrews, then a major, and Conlon, then a lieutenant, were headed for a reconnaissance mission in the Binh Dinh Province of South Vietnam.
About 30 minutes into the flight, the men were asked to check out some camp fires in the area, according to a report of the crash included in the Joint Command's report. the radio communication was the last contact anyone had with Andrews and Conlon.
The plane was declared missing about 2 hours later. An extensive air and ground search was conducted for six days. Periodic, weak emergency beacon signals were heard throughout the search, but searchers never located the aircraft or airmen.
Evans, who was 31 at the time, can't recall much about the day she first heard her brother was missing in action.
"All I remember is getting off the phone and going to church," she said.
In the first decade after his disappearance, she, her sister, Peggy, and mother and father, John and Margaret Conlon, held out hope he would be found alive. That hope all but disappeared in 1973, when the bulk of POWs being held by the Vietnamese were released.
"I can remember sitting and watching TV. The phone was ringing till midnight. National reporters were calling, 'Did we hear anything?'" Evans said. "We watched all those men come off the planes, and he's not there."
The family relinquished all hope in 1975, when the Air Force officially changed Conlon's status from MIA to presumed killed in action.
In the ensuing decades, Evans became a member of a national POW/MIA group. She kept herself apprised of ongoing developments in the search for soldiers' remains, but had pretty much given up hope her brother would be found.
"When you think about a whole country, it's unfathomable to think he would be found," she said.
Finding was unexpected The mission that ended with the recovery of Conlon and Andrews actually started out as an investigation of a different aircraft that was believed to have crashed in the same area in 1971.
The first break in the case came in May 1993, when a team searching for remains of servicemen interviewed a Vietnamese villager who recalled seeing a plane crash in the Gia Lai Province around 1967 or 1968. At the time, the team suspected the plane was a missing aircraft that had disappeared in the area in 1971.
Three years later, another search team interviewed several more villagers, including Dinh Mek and Dinh Chek, who recalled going to the site of a downed plane and removing and burying the charred bodies of two aviators. Based on that information, the Joint Command, still believing the plane was the one that crashed in 1971, decided to search the area. It was only after the team came across Andrews' dog tag that they realized they had found the site where Conlon and Andrews had crashed.
The Joint Command's report does not indicate what caused the plane to go down, but Evans said officials suspect it was shot down.
The low flying O-1E Bird Dog was a prime target of Vietnamese troops because it was used in reconnaissance missions to target areas for other aircraft and ground troops. Evans said interviews with villagers revealed the plane was on fire as it was on its way down.
For Evans, the news of how her brother died elicited mixed emotions. While she cringes at the thought of his fiery death, she says she is thankful that he never became a prisoner of war. "They went through hell and back," she said. She's also thankful to finally achieve the closure her parents and sister never did. Her father died in 1978, followed by her mother in 1989 and sister in 1994.
Today she treasures the mementos her brother left behind, including an oil painting of a seascape he painted for her when he was 16. Now she also has the belt buckle and gun emblems that were recovered from the excavation site. His remains will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery at a date yet to be determined. She's looking forward to sharing the news of the recovery of John's remains with those who for decades have supported the search for POW/MIAs by wearing metallic wristbands emblazoned with the names of servicemen who have yet to be recovered.
Evans said she's been in contact for some time with a woman from Massachusetts who wears John's wristband. When they began corresponding, there were 1,805 U.S. servicemen still listed as missing in action in Vietnam.
She can't wait to share the news: "Now there's 1,803," she said.
ON THE WEB
To see some of the government's evidence concerning the recovery of Maj. John F. Conlon III's remains, log on to www.timesleader.com .
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The patriot volunteer, fighting for country and his rights, makes the most reliable soldier on earth.
Thomas J. Jackson
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Wyldheartlabs1
Posts: 0
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| 11 Aug 2006 10:24 PM |
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Maj. John F. Conlon III ~ Welcome Home Sir. God's blessings upon you always.
Rest easy, sleep well my brother. Know the line has held, your job is done.
Rest easy, sleep well.
Others have taken up where you fell, the line has held.
Peace, peace, and farewell. |
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wickedpatti
Posts: 13
North East MD on the border of DE and PA
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| 11 Aug 2006 11:02 PM |
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"If you are able, save for them a place inside of you and save one backward glance when you are leaving for the places they can no longer go.
Be not ashamed to say you loved them, though you may or may not have always. Take what they have taught you with their dying and keep it with your own.
And in that time when men decide and feel safe to call the war insane, take one moment to embrace those gentle heroes you left behind."
Major Michael O'Donnell
KIA March 24, 1970 - Dak To, Vietnam
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"If we fail to keep faith with those who did their duty in the past, we could not expect Americans to do their duty in the future, should the need arise." (Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz) * Remember our POWs and MIAs * |
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CE1SeaBee
Posts: 171
Stewartstown, PA. PA Assistant State Captain
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| 12 Aug 2006 7:02 AM |
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Maj John Conlon III,
REST IN PEACE SIR
Your missionis finally over and you are ready to return to take your place with other heros of America.
I will be honored to escort you to your final resting place in Arlington.
Standing by in southern York County PA. |
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FREEDOM IS NOT FREE, IT WAS BOUGHT AND PAID FOR BY THE VETERANS.
IN MEMORY OF SSGT KENNETH D KRALICK KIA 16DEC67 TAY NINH RSVN PANEL 32E 011
Tim Young
CE1 SEABEE USN 1971-1977 MCB23
Retired Baltimore County MD Police Officer
PGR 45377 07JUL06
PA ASC East
Honorary MD Ride Captain
717.993.6962
" NEVER FORGET, SERVICE, SACRIFICE, HONOR " |
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Richardcma
Posts: 128
RC Pa Region 8 Columbia Pa.
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| 13 Aug 2006 4:44 AM |
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Welcome home Maj. John F. Conlon III I thank you and your family for your service.
Standby in Columbia |
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Only two defining forces have ever offered their life for you, Jesus Christ and the American G.I.
One for your soul; the other for your freedom |
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ChattanoogaFatboy
Posts: 17
East Ridge, TN
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| 21 Aug 2006 8:31 AM |
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| Welcome home Sir! |
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Riding for SFC Michael R. Norton MIA 11/03/69 South VietNam.
Bring 'em home or send us back!
LIVE FREE; RIDE HARD!
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big100hd
Posts: 487
Loudoun County, Virginia
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| 25 Aug 2006 4:05 PM |
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| The services will be held Oct 3rd @ 11 am. The family is still making the arrangements. They are very touched by our support. |
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The patriot volunteer, fighting for country and his rights, makes the most reliable soldier on earth.
Thomas J. Jackson
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BAIR
Posts: 0
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| 25 Aug 2006 6:17 PM |
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| BAIR HERE; SIR! WELCOME HOME. |
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ckdahl
Posts: 47
"Padre"
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| 26 Aug 2006 5:28 PM |
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| Never Forgotten |
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No greater love hath any man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
John 15.13
I have deep pain over the loss of your loved one.
Respect and Honor
Chaplain ,Dr. Dahl
Minneapolis MN 55418 USA
POMC MN
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tbone
Posts: 73
spencer, iowa
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| 28 Aug 2006 7:54 PM |
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| Welcome home, hero. May you now rest in peace |
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Proud PGR member #9130, ALR member Post 241
& American Legion Post 1
Riding In Memory of Scott Larsen - my 1st son 12-23-87
Riding In Memory of John Lamee - Sturgis 2005
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elisejk
Posts: 1676
Hampstead, MD
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| 28 Aug 2006 8:39 PM |
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| I will be an honor to escort you Sir to your final resting place. Welcome home. |
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National Support Staff
“Accept the challenges so that you may feel the exhilaration of victory.”
General George S. Patton
Facebook
MySpace
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Russr1
Posts: 179
Nassau County, LI
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| 31 Aug 2006 5:16 AM |
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| Thank you Maj Conlon for your dedicated service to our country, you are now home where you belong and can rest in peace. |
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Russ R
The Loan Ranger
SRC NY Reg 8 & 9
Riding in Memory of My Uncle Jack-KIA WWII,
Marine PFC Greg Lavery, My "Big Brother" KIA Viet Nam 3/18/69
Harry Ramos and 44 other friends who lost their lives on 9/11/01 RIP all, you are my hero's!
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CAJUN
Posts: 0
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| 31 Aug 2006 1:05 PM |
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| WELCOME HOME BROTHER |
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bhopper1
Posts: 388
Sacramento Ca
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| 02 Sep 2006 2:05 PM |
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| Welcome home Major Conlon.....you were never forgotten and never will be....my prayers go out to Mrs. Claire Evans. "b" |
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Brian Hopper
Dist. 6 V.P. American Legion Riders
http://xyz.home.comcast.net/
212 American
PGR Member #2521
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phoward
Posts: 57
Ashburn, VA
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| 02 Sep 2006 11:50 PM |
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| Standing by for escort duty from PA to VA. |
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~ Let Us Try ~ |
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DaveC41
Posts: 5
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| 07 Sep 2006 6:20 AM |
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Welcome Home,Major.
Dave,the hobo,Cassidy
standing by in Stafford,Va |
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SoftTailSharon
Posts: 1
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| 09 Sep 2006 12:05 AM |
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| Welcome home Major. Standing by in Delaware to escort you HOME. |
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bhikerdude
Posts: 1
South of the Canal
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| 09 Sep 2006 12:10 AM |
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| Welcome home Major. Standing by in Delaware. |
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ActiveForums 3.6
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