Rank/Branch: O3/US Air Force
Unit: 11th Tactical Reconnaissance
Squadron, Udorn Airfield, Thailand
Date of Birth: 15 December 1935
Home City of Record: Goldsboro
NC
Date of Loss: 17 September 1968
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 162900N 1061500E
(XD380370)
Status (in 1973): Missing In
Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: RF4C
Refno: 1279
Other Personnel in Incident: (pilot
rescued)
Source: Compiled from one or more
of the following: raw data from U.S.
Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA
families,
published sources, interviews. Updated by the P.O.W. NETWORK in
1998.
REMARKS:
SYNOPSIS: The RF4C was a
modification of the McDonnell Douglas Phantom II
fighter/bomber jet used extensively in Southeast Asia. The RF4C
was equipped
with photographic and electronic detection equipment and used
for
reconnaissance. Inherent hazards were the twin vapor trails
enabling the
craft to be seen from a distance, and ejecting photo flash
cartridges, which
gave necessary light, but also signalled the position of the
aircraft.
Ed Davis was the "backseater" on such an aircraft
when it was shot down
during an operational mission about 15 miles south of the city
of Sepone in
Savannakhet Province, Laos on September 17, 1968. The pilot of
the aircraft
ejected successfully and was subsequently rescued, but Davis was
not
located.
Ed Davis had special electronic training that made him
particularly valuable
to the Air Force. It also made him potentially valuable to the
enemy.
Statistical research shows that in similar flight teams, the
survival and
release rate of the pilots far exceeds that of their specially
trained
backseathers. It is thought that many of these men were captured
and held
beyond the end of the war for their technical ability, and that
some were
transferred to other countries, such as the Soviet Union in
trade for
enormous war debts. Certain U.S. Government analysts called
these men "MB"
or "Moscow Bound".
Whether Ed Davis survived to be captured and saved for his
technical ability
is not known. He is one of nearly 600 Americans lost in Laos who
never
returned. Although the Pathet Lao stated on several occasions
that they held
American POWs, they insisted that the U.S. deal directly with
them for their
release. The U.S. has never negotiated with the Pathet Lao for
the freedom
of Americans held there.
Many accounts of living POW's have come to the attention of the US Government,but none has ever been investigated or taken seriously by our Government.
OTHER EVIDENCE OF LIVING MIA'S
Edgar F Davis,as are all of our POW-MIA's;a real American HERO.He answered his Country's call to duty;his fate remains unknown.He has shown;possibly with his life his devotion and loyalty to his Country and his fellow citizens.Certainly,such loyalty and devotion to Country should not be repaid with such apathy from the Government he so unselfishly and faithfully served.
