A Tribute to Douglas John Glover
Welcome to my tribute to POW/MIA Douglas Glover. This page contains information from Sgt. Glover's military record, a synopsis of the incident in which he was lost, and some personal remarks. Please use this index to help you explore the rest of my tribute.
INDEX
Doug's Name on the Moving Wall photographed by his brother
Doug's Vietnam Scrapbook last known photos of Doug
History of Douglas Glover written by his mother
Links including other sites dedicated to Doug
Story: From the Other Side by Patrick Camunes
Story: The Next Generation by Patrick Camunes
Website Awards received by this tribute page
Please note: this tribute does not glorify war; it neither condones, protests, nor debates the political or moral issues thereof. This section of my website is not about patriotism, jingoism, nor flag-waving of any kind; rather, it is about a nation's solemn and moral duty to those who served in her name at a time when they were called upon to do so. Please do not waste precious time emailing me to protest this page; your argument is not with me, nor is it with those who have fallen valiantly in the service of their countries - whether the particular war in which they served (or any war for that matter) was deemed just or unjust. Let your voice be heard in a social or political forum where it will serve a purpose; your offensive emails to me will not be answered, but merely deleted. Thank you.
Name: S/Sgt Douglas John Glover posthumous promotion to SFC
Rank/Branch: S/Sgt - E6/US Army 5th Special Forces
Serial Number: 120341457
Unit: MACV-SOG Command & Control
MOS: 11BS Military Occupational Specialty code
Date of Birth: Sunday, 02 May 1943
Home City of Record: Cortland, NY
Date of Loss: 19 February 1968
Length of Service: Not reported at time of loss
Country of Loss: Laos
Province: Not reported
Loss Coordinates: 145430N 1072800E (YB665498)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 4
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Bell UH1H "Iroquois" (Huey)
Status (in 1976): 12 November 1976, changed to Cas Type 1
Casualty Type 1: A3 hostile, died while missing
Casualty Type 2: B air loss, crash - land
Casualty Type 3: 6 helicopter, non-crew
BNR: Body not recovered.
Location on The Wall: 40E, line 21
Click to see Doug's name on the Moving Wall
Click to see Doug's page on the Virtual Wall
Other Personnel Involved In Incident:
S/Sgt. Melvin Carnils Dye, ID# 406629829, DOB 22 May 1947, 57th Assault Helicopter Co., 52nd Aviation Battalion, machine gunner. The Wall: 40E, line 19 (still missing)
S/Sgt. Robert Smith Griffith, ID# 260662768, DOB 26 December 1942, machine gunner. The Wall: 40E, line 32 (still missing)
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project (919/527-8079) 01 April 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. Initial biographical and loss information on POW/MIAs provided by Operation Just Cause has been supplied by Chuck and Mary Schantag of POWNET. Additional information compiled by webmaster from an article by Dr. Kent DeLong (Vietnam Magazine February 1996).
THE INCIDENT (SYNOPSIS)
Melvin Dye was the engineer and Robert Griffith the door gunner aboard a UH1H helicopter performing an emergency extraction mission in Laos. They were extracting a reconnaissance patrol team consisting of three U.S. Army Special Forces personnel and three indigenous personnel. The aircraft carried a crew of four. Douglas Glover was one of the Special Forces personnel aboard.
As the helicopter picked up the team four miles inside Laos west of Dak Sut, it received a heavy volume of small arms fire. It is not known whether the aircraft was hit by hostile fire or hit a tree, but it nosed over, impacted the ground and exploded, bursting into flames.
The pilot, co-pilot and one passenger managed to leave the aircraft. Because of the fire and exploding small arms ammunition, rescue attempts for the others were futile. There were six U.S. and three indigenous personnel aboard the helicopter. When search teams reached the site the same day, they could not account for the other U.S. personnel. Five were accounted for, but could not be recovered because of intense heat. Please click HERE for the report from Task Force Omega, Inc., which includes maps of the actual crash site.
Dye, Glover and Griffith were classified as Missing In Action. They did not return when the general prisoner release occurred in 1973. Since the war ended, evidence mounts that Americans were left behind in enemy prison camps and that hundreds of them could be alive today. They deserve better than the abandonment they received from the country they proudly served.
SYNOPSIS UPDATE
In the February 1996 issue of Vietnam Magazine Dr. Kent DeLong wrote an article containing an account of the incident in which Glover, Dye and Griffith were lost according to Sgt. Fred Zabitosky. I wrote several times for permission to reprint the article on this page, but never received any sort of response. At this time, the article is no longer available online. If Zabitosky's account is correct, it grows more likely that Glover perished. However the now de-classified 1205 document specifically mentions POWs recovered from Laos, and an injured Special Forces soldier would have been a prize capture. In any case, Glover has never returned home, dead or alive, which leaves his fate, and his family, in a permanent limbo.
There are still inconsistencies in the records regarding Glover. I have now discovered however, through his family, that the discrepancy in his rank is due to a posthumous promotion to SFC. This may also account for the conflicting ranks of Sgts. Dye and Griffith as reported in different places. Accounts of the incident vary as to the numbers of wounded/survivors/presumed killed. I will continue to attempt to reconcile these discrepancies.
This page will be an ongoing effort to not only pay tribute to SFC Douglas John Glover (and his companions), but to help bring them home.
PERSONAL REMARKS
When I received the information on SFC Glover, my adopted MIA, I was amazed to find a personal "link" with this serviceman. He served in the Army; I am an Army brat. His birthday is the 2nd of May; mine is the 11th of May. His middle name is John, which is the masculine form of Jane, my first name. We are both Roman Catholics and attended parochial schools.
As the child of military parents, I understand what a sacrifice servicemen (and women) make for their country, with no questions asked and nothing expected in return. I am apalled to discover that the U.S. Government has apparently abandoned servicemen since the Korean War (or Police Action as they prefer to call it) and is apparently doing very little about it, either to acknowledge their actions, or to rectify them.
If you are reading this and you are a friend or relative, or if you served with SFC Glover in Laos or Vietnam, I would greatly appreciate any additional information you might be able to offer. Please email me at: Jane@JaneEllen.com. SFC Glover's nephew, Terry Glover, has provided photos and additional information for this site, for which I am very grateful.
I was pleasantly surprised when Doug's brother Doyle and sister Dorothy visited this site and wrote to me as well. Through Doyle I was the recipient of a beautiful portrait of Doug which I will always treasure. Doyle also contributed pictures of Doug's name on the Moving Wall as well as additional photos for Doug's Vietnam Scrapbook.
I urge you to adopt a serviceman, or servicewoman, of your own and build a Remembrance Page for them. Operation Just Cause makes this extremely easy, even to the point of providing you with free information and graphics. Upon completion of your page you are invited to join the official OJC Web Ring and add your voice to the cry that must be raised to bring these heroes home.
It's not too late -- unless we choose to forget them.
This RingSurf Operation Black Flag Net Ring
owned by A Tribute to Douglas John Glover.
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