Name: Charles Milton Walling
Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 557th Tactical Fighter Squadron
Home City of Record: Phoenix AZ
Date of Birth: 31 December 1938
Loss Date: 08 August 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 111630N 1065430E (YT082472)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4C
Other Personnel In Incident: Aado Kommendant (missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 March 1991 from one or more
of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence
with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Copyright 1991
Homecoming II Project.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: 1Lt. Aado Kommendant was backseater to flight commander Capt.
Charles M. Walling on an F4C Phantom jet called to provide close air support of
friendly forces who were in contact with the enemy northeast of Bien Hoa airbase
near Saigon. The two departed Cam Ranh Bay Airbase in South Vietnam and
arrived in the target area without incident. They prepared to make bombing runs on
a suspected enemy troop concentration, and shortly after the second run,
the Forward Air Controller noticed an explosion about two miles southeast of
the target. Both he and the flight leader proceeded to the scene as no radio
replies were received from Walling's F4C. Rescue helicopters were alerted and
arrived within minutes.

No parachutes were seen, nor were there any emergency radio
transmissions. The area of the wreckage could not be seen by air
because of dense foliage, nor could ground troops gain access to
the area because it was defended by enemy troops. The last known
location of the aircraft was near the juncture of Binh Duong,
Bien Hoa, Long Khan and Binh Long Provinces in South Vietnam, about 40
miles northeast of Saigon.

Later that day, Foreign Broadcast Information Service in Okinawa
monitored two radio releases from Radio Hanoi regarding the shoot-down
of an F4 and the killing of two "yankees on board". Because Walling and
Kommendant were aboard the only F4 lost that day in that area, it was felt
that if the releases were true, they related to Walling and Kommendant.
This report was discovered by the family in 1973 and had not been given
to them by the Air Force or Defense Department prior to 1973.

Since American military involvement in Southeast Asia ended in 1975, the
U.S. Government has received thousands of sighting reports of living
Americans in captivity in Southeast Asia. Because many of these reports cannot be
disproven, families of men like Charles Walling wonder if their loved one could
still be waiting to be rescued by the country they loved and served.

Aado Kommendant and Charles M. Walling were both promoted to the rank of
Major during the period they were maintained Missing in Action.

Return to POW/MIA Index to read about another missing American.