Gallery « Bringing Jerry Zimmer Home

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.

Gallery

Zimmer-Graf Crash Site on 1:50K Map

The last photo of Jerry and Navigator Al Graf, before their deaths on 8/29/69

My Visit To Jerry’s Crash Site — 2012

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Elaine’s Base Camp Visit 8/20/10 (Some site photos included) –

$JPAC Team Leader Capt Joe Hamer, USMC, had his work cut out for him. Jerry\'s and Al\'s crash site was described as being two football fields long.$

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Jerry’s Personal Photos From Vietnam and Other Times

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Jerry’s Memorial Service

$JPAC\'s LTC Quasz Emoto & Ron Ward paying respects at Arlington$

$USMC Drum & Bugle Corps & Eigth & I\'s Honor Platoon$

$Drum & Bugle Corps from 8th and I at Jerry\'s service$

$USMC Drum & Bugle Corps & Eigth & I\'s Honor Platoon$

$The Commandant\'s Asst. extends his condolences to the Craig and Elaine$

$USMC Honor Platoon from 8th and I at Jerry\'s service$

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Jerry’s Memorial Service Reception

$Beatrice Zimmer (Craig\'s wife), Doug Reese & Bea\'s father, Juan Marie Iriarte in background$

$Joe Cottone (FBI), Ben Cascio (The One-Eyed Ugly Angel) (USMC), BGen Mike Wholley, USMC (Ret) & Ron\'s Excellent H-34 instructor, Gunny Sachs (USMC)$

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F-4 Crash Site Related Photos – Aircraft Parts Found – Visits to Crash Site

$Ejection Seat- mech\'s rotary selector switch$

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Elaine’s Vietnam Pictures – March, 2009

$Gene Mares, Mr. Du (foreground) hike to Jerry\'s crash site$

$Du\'s daughter-in-law & grandaughter- Son Vien Village$

$Elaine\'s Drinking Water Saviors following her hike$

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Craig, Brett & Ron’s Vietnam Trip – January 2009

$Craig deciding it\'s time to move$

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2014 National POW/MIA Family League Meeting

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Visit to JPAC Hawaii — Jan 2011

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Elaine’s Visit to Joint Op Center (JOC) 8/23/10

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2012 National POW/MIA Family League Meeting

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2011 National POW/MIA Family League Meeting

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Nat’l League of Families Meeting July 21-25, 2010

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JPAC Ops Center Briefing 3-23-10

$A proud American citizen, MSgt Nguyen is Amerasian. He left Vietnam in \'75, and his story is extraordinary.$

$SFC Posey\'s job is to assist leadership on his assigned team, which generally consists of a civilian anthropologist and military team leader.$

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Visit to a JPAC Excavation Site (not Jerry’s) 3-25-10

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Son Vien Village – 3-2010

$Du handed Elaine more parts that he\'d collected last year, but she declined accepting and asked that he not collect anymore, but rather to help protect the site.$