Remains of Vietnam War pilot identified over a half century after his plane vanished

The remains of a Vietnam War pilot were identified a half century after his plane vanished, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced Wednesday in a statement.

U.S. Marine Corps Capt. Ronald W. Forrester, 25, of Odessa, Texas, was piloting an A-6A Intruder along with his co-pilot during a nighttime combat mission in the winter of 1972 when the plane suddenly vanished over the northern part of Vietnam. Forrester, a civil engineer major at Texas A&M and president of the college’s Marine Corps ROTC, started active duty three months after graduation, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported. 

He ceased radio communication on Dec. 27, the statement said, and the plane never returned to base. Forrester had completed 46 missions before he sat down to write a letter home on Christmas Day, two days before his disappearance, his parents told the newspaper. He wrote his family that he “believed in what he was doing,” and his missions could help end the long war, but also said his morale was low as it became increasingly harder to continue. The next day he was scheduled for his 47th mission. 

Search teams were sent looking for Forrester and the co-pilot, but they found no trace of the pilots or the plane. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram identified the co-pilot as Capt. Ralph Jim Chipman. His remains were identified and he was laid to rest in Utah on Nov. 11, 2023, the city of American Fork said in a news statement.

About six years after the plane vanished, in September 1978, Forrester was declared killed in action. 

Chipman left behind his wife, Susan, a four-year-old son, Scot, and an 18-month-old son, Matthew.

Forrester left behind a then 2-year-old daughter, Karoni, a twin brother, Donald, and a younger brother, Larry, in addition to his parents. 

Decades of search and investigation yielded no clues — until recently, when investigators discovered remains and other evidence believed to be associated with the missing aviators. 

Scientists from DPAA used circumstantial evidence recovered from the crash site, as well as mitochondrial DNA evidence, to identify Forrester. A Department of Defense division, the DPAA uses DNA, dental records, sinus records and chest X-rays to identify the remains of service members killed in combat. He was identified on December 4, 2023, the DPAA said. 

Since 1973 DPAA has accounted for 1,000 American service members from World War II, over 450 from the Korean War and more than 1,000 service members from Vietnam.

Forrester will be buried on Oct. 7, 2024, in Arlington National Cemetery.