SYNOPSIS: SFC John J. Dawes was a passenger aboard a CH47 that was returning to Nha Trang from a medical evacuation mission. The helicopter experienced a power failure and crashed about 400 meters offshore.

The pilot of the aircraft was able to make a successful controlled crash landing in the water, enabling all the crew with the exception of Doss to escape the aircraft before it capsized. It is felt that Dawes went down with the chopper.

The survivors were rescued about 45 minutes later from the water. An extensive search of the area of rescue was conducted, believing it was the proximity of the crash site as well. No sign was ever found of John Dawes.

John Dawes doubtless died the day his chopper went down, so he is listed among the dead. Because his mortal remains were not located, he is also listed among the missing. Other cases of the missing are not so clear. Many were known to have been alive at the time they disappeared. Some were known captives. Others reported by radio that their capture was imminent.

Since the end of the war, thousands of reports have been received that indicate that hundreds of these Americans still languish in communist prisons in Indochina. While John Dawes may not be one of them, someone's brother, son or husband is. We must bring them home.