Williiam Ryan

Marine Corps Reserve 1st Lt. William C. Ryan, Jr. 25, of Hoboken, New Jersey, will be buried May 10 in Arlington National Cemetery, near Washington, D.C. On May 11, 1969, Ryan was the radar intercept officer of an F­4B aircraft, assigned to Marine Fighter Attack Force 115, Marine Aircraft Group 13, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, Fleet Marine Force Pacific, ona combat mission over Savannakhet Province, Laos.

While pulling out of a bombing pass, the aircraft was hit by enemy fire. The pilot lost control and called
several times for Ryan, but received no response. The pilot ejected before the aircraft crashed, and other
members of the flight only witnessed one parachute leave the aircraft. The location of the crash site precluded
a search and recovery effort, but the pilot was rescued. Ryan was declared deceased as of May 11, 1969.
From January 1990 until May 2012, joint teams from the U.S., the Lao People’s Democratic Republic and the
Vietnamese Office for Seeking Missing Persons interviewed numerous witnesses to the crash, gathering
information regarding Ryan’s loss.

From May 2012 until January 2016, joint teams made six trips to complete a difficult excavation of a crash
site associated with Ryan’s loss, near Ban Alang Noi, recovering life support items, aircraft wreckage and
possible human remains. On Feb. 17, 2016, the remains were sent to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.
To identify Ryan’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental comparisons, including isotope analysis,
which matched his records, as well as circumstantial evidence.