Our Mission:
My first husband, Capt. Jerry Zimmer, was an F4B Phantom jet pilot, whose aircraft was shot down on August 29, 1969, approximately 20 miles South of Da Nang, Vietnam, after six months in country. Neither Jerry nor his navigator, 1st Lt. Al Graf, was able to eject, before the aircraft crashed into the Que Son Mountains. Initially Jerry and Al were classified as Killed in Action/No Body Recovered (KIA/NBR). Years later, both Marines were listed as MIA, along with other service members whose bodies were never recovered.
Jerry has been gone nearly a half century, and hope for recovering his remains had run out a long time ago. However, in recent years our family became involved with the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), now merged with the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), and learned that Jerry’s and Al’s remains might, in fact, be recoverable, so we are doing everything possible to support their efforts to make this happen and bring our guys home where they belong.
NOTE: BLOG POSTS ARE NOT UPDATED, SO INFORMATION MAY HAVE CHANGED OVER TIME.
2013 Nat’l League of POW/MIA Families Meeting
These photos were taken June 13-15, during the annual League Meeting for Vietnam War families in Washington, D.C. Although the families attended on behalf of their loved ones still missing in Southeast Asia, the military leadership and other government officials in most of these photos have a broader mission, supporting efforts to repatriate the remains of all servicemen missing in action from WWII, Korean War, Cold War, Vietnam War, Iraq and other conflicts, as necessary.
I will post a wrap-up soon.
Hi Elaine:
It’s been some time since I visited the site; still looks great!
I sent you an item from Fox News earlier, very critical of JPAC.
I will be in Arlington on August 15 for the burial of my first Platoon Commander at TBS/Quantico, who died of Agent Orange related leukemia a few months ago. I would like to visit Jerry’s memorial site. Will yoju share the location?
See you soon.
Mike
Mike, Received your email and will follow-up with info on the location of Jerry’s Memorial Stone when I return to S.D. As for the Cole report on JPAC, I have not read the report itself but am still a fan of JPAC, which is a military organization. Although not engaged in battle on this mission, the men and women who do this work in Hawaii and in remote areas of the world are my heroes and deserve our respect. Best to you and Margi! Elaine