Name: Derrell Blackburn Jeffords
Rank/Branch: O5/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 10 August 1925
Home City of Record: Phoenix AZ
Date of Loss: 24 December 1965
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 154800N 1064400E (XC856474)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: AC47D
Other Personnel In Incident: Arden K. Hassenger; W. Kevin Colwell;
Dennis L. Eilers; Larry C. Thornton; Joseph Christiano (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 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: MAYDAY HEARD - SEARCH NEG - J

SYNOPSIS: On December 24, 1965, President Lyndon Johnson announced a
week-long bombing halt on North Vietnam. That same day, an AC47D "Spooky" gunship
was shot down during an armed reconnaissance flight just south of the city
of Ban Bac in Saravane Province, Laos. Planes in the area of the loss of the
plane heard mayday signals, but were unable to establish contact with the
crew.

The Spooky had evolved from the famed "Puff the Magic Dragon" versions
of the Douglas C47. Puff introduced a new principle to air attack in Vietnam.
Troubled by difficulties in conducting nighttime defense, Capt. Ronald Terry of
the U.S. Air Force Aeronautical Systems Division remembered reading about flying
missionaries in Latin America who lowered baskets of supplies on a rope
from a tightly circling airplane. Throughout the series of pylon turns, the
basket remained suspended over a selected point on the ground. Could this
principle be applied to fire from automatic weapons? Tests proved it could, and could
be extremely successful.

Puff's "flare kicker" illuminated the target, then the pilot used a mark on the window
to his left as a gun sight and circled slowly as three multibarrel 7-62mm machine guns
fired 18,000 rounds per minute from the door and two windows in the port side of
the passenger compartment. The aircraft was called "Puff" after a
popular song of the day, and because it resembled a dragon overhead with
flames billowing from its guns. Men on the ground welcomed the presence of Puff
and the later Spooky version, which was essentially the same as the Puff,
because of its ability to concentrate a heavy dose of defensive fire in a surgically
determined area. These aircraft were very successful defending positions in South
Vietnam, but proved unable to survive against the anti-aircraft defenses in Laos.

The Spooky lost in Laos on December 24, 1965 was flown by Col. Derrel B.
Jeffords and Capt. Dennis L. Eilers. The crew aboard the aircraft was
Maj. Joseph Christiano, MSgt. Larry C. Thornton, TSgt. W. Kevin Colwell, and
SSgt. Arden K. Hassenger.

When 591 Americans were released from Vietnam in 1973, the Spooky crew
was not among them. As a matter of fact, no American held in Laos was (or has
been) released. The Lao were not included in negotiations ending American
involvement in the war in Southeast Asia.

In June 1989, Arden Hassenger's wife was informed that a report had been
received saying her husband had been sighted alive in Laos. This report
is one of nearly 10,000 relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asia
received by the U.S. Government since the war ended. Mrs. Hassenger was
unable to sleep to sleep at night wondering and worrying, yet Arden Hassenger
is still missing.

According to a National League of POW/MIA families list, Christiano also
survived the incident.

A September 13, 1968 statement by Soth Pethrasi was monitored from
Puerto Rico in which Christiano and Jeffords were mentioned. The report stated that
"Smith, Christiano, Jeffords, and Mauterer" were part of "several dozen captured
Airmen" whom the Pathet Lao were "treating correctly and who were still in Laos.
Another name, Norman Morgan, captured January 9, 1968, was mentioned but is not
on lists of missing. This is believed to correlate to Norman Green, lost on
January 9, 1968 in Laos.  Christiano and Jeffords were never classified Prisoner
of War. Few lost in Laos ever were. Like Christiano and Jeffords, many were
suspected to be alive on the ground and in radio contact with search and rescue
and other planes; some were known to have been captured. Hanoi's communist
allies in Laos, the Pathet Lao, publicly spoke of American prisoners they held,
but when peace agreements were negotiated, Laos was not included, and not
a single American was released that had been held in Laos.

Were it not for the thousands of reports concerning Americans still held
captive in Southeast Asia, the Christiano and Jeffords families might be able to
close this tragic chapter of their lives. But as long as Americans are alive,
being held captive, Joseph Christiano and Derrell Jeffords could be among
them. It's time we brought these men home.

During the period he was maintained missing, Joseph Christiano was
promoted to the rank of Colonel.

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