| Notes |
Serial Number 19779407
Ground casualty -
gun, small arms fire
MIA
National Archives
-
Attended Bird
St. School 1st and 2nd grade
-
Attended St.
Thomas Catholic School
-
Oroville High
School Graduate 1963
-
First casualty
of the 173rd in Vietnam
-
First Vietnam
casualty from the North Valley
From the P.O.W.
Network website: http://www.pownetwork.org/bios/v/v352.htm
VAN CAMPEN, THOMAS
CHARLES
Name: Thomas Charles Van Campen
Rank/Branch: E3/US Army
Unit: Company B, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry, 173rd Airborne
Division
Date of Birth: 28 December 1945
Home City of Record: Oroville CA
Date of Loss: 24 June 1965
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 105912N 1064934E (YT075215)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Refno: 0102
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)
Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 September 1990
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 1998.
REMARKS: WOUNDED - SEPARATED FROM UNIT - J
SYNOPSIS: PFC Thomas C. Van Campen was on a combat operation
with his unit
near Bien Hoa, South Vietnam on June 24, 1965 when the unit
came under enemy
sniper fire. During the encounter, Van Campen was wounded and
became
separated from the unit.
Because of the hostile forces in the area, others in the unit
could not get
to his position, and as a consequence, he was not recovered
when the unit
left the area. It was believed, however, that he was dead when
the unit left
the area. Subsequent searches of the area failed to reveal any
further
information.
Since the war ended in Vietnam, refugees have flooded the world,
bringing with them stories of American soldiers still held prisoner
in their
homeland. As of mid-1990, there were over 10,000 of these reports.
Many authorities now believe that hundreds were left behind
as living hostages and are alive today.
Thomas C. Van Campen is not believed to have survived the events
of June 24, 1965. His family has accepted that he is dead. They
no longer expect him to come home someday. But hundreds of families
wait expectantly and in the special agony only uncertainty can
bring. Hundreds of men wait in caves, cages and prisons. How
much longer will we allow the abandonment of our best men? It's
time we brought them home.
|
