Hunter’s Forgotten Memorial, Part 1
It was May 25, 1966 over the skies of Laos as a close air support mission was underway during the Vietnam War. At the time, U.S. forces were not officially operating in Laos, but missions were being conducted to take out targets. In the skies above that day was 1st Lieutenant Robert Gerald Hunter, a Douglas County native, at the stick of his F-105D supersonic fighter-bomber flying alongside his wingman.
Forward air controller “Firefly 15” relayed the coordinates of a suspected bridge to the two pilots. Nash Lead and Nash Two (Hunter) commenced the bomb run, with Hunter successfully hitting the target. As Nash Lead pulled out of the dive, the pilot looked back and saw Hunter’s plane had been hit, its wings rocking. A fully deployed parachute was seen entering the jungle below.
Today 1st Lt. Robert Gerald Hunter is honored by the City of Douglasville’s Hunter Memorial Park. On Memorial Day in 1998, the exact same day Hunter died 32 years prior, a new memorial was erected by displaying a real F-105D similar to that flown by Hunter when he was shot down, honoring all the men and women who had died in foreign wars in Douglas County.
EDITED: December 31, 2006
Jones’ pilot, Charlie Jones, and a Hmong Officer
1966 - The village where Hunter’s body was recovered
1994 - Charlie Jones, Zelma and Robert Hunter, and Alan Hensley
For over a year Losing Georgia has been exhaustively researching about the day 1 st Lt. Robert Gerald Hunter went down and the efforts to maintain the memorial. Documents from the City of Douglasville, the United States Air Force and newspaper articles have been collected to better understand the history that is at stake.
Robert Gerald Hunter, the son of Robert and Zelma Hunter, graduated from Douglas County High in 1959. In 1963 Hunter graduated from the Citadel and later became an Air Force pilot. At an early age Hunter was known to be fascinated with airplanes. During his time at the Citadel, Hunter had a wife, Laura Ann, who would later remarry after his death.
Hunter was attached to the 355th Tactical Fighter Wing based at the Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base in Thailand during combat operations in the mid-1960s. The aircraft assigned to Hunter was a silver F-105D “Thunderchief”, serial number 591746, a single engine fighter-bomber able to penetrate enemy targets at low altitudes.
May 25, 1966 Hunter was flying over northwestern Laos alongside his wingman, call sign Nash Lead, on his 34th mission. Visibility was seven miles as the pilots flew in the direction of Ban Ban, Laos. On the ground was a forward air controller, call sign “Firefly 15”, relaying coordinates of an enemy hard target – a supply bridge. The F-105s banked into the dive bomb run, jettisoning their payload on the target below, Hunter being the last.
After hitting the suspected hard target successfully, Hunter’s aircraft was struck by a surface-to-air missile (SAM). Nash Lead recovered from the dive, while losing sight of Nash Two on the ascent. Hunter did not radio of any problems. Firefly 15 radioed back that Nash Two (Hunter) had bailed out of the failing aircraft, seeing a successfully deployed parachute. Nash Lead confirmed the sighting of the parachute as it descended toward the jungle below.
1st Lt. Hunter survived the initial hit of the SAM in flight, being able to pull the ejection levers to escape the damaged F-105D. His parachute filled with the moist Laotian air as the jungle closed in like a vise. One recorded account states sometime that same day Hunter was killed in action by small arms fire from a group of guerillas, possibly when he was slowly falling back down to earth. Just a month ago Hunter had celebrated his 25th birthday.
It would be June before efforts could be made to recover Hunter’s body. Another forward air controller, Charlie Jones, was deep in country working together with CIA-contracted civilians on reconnaissance missions, spotting targets and help finding lost air crews. On a mission in Laos, Jones had received word from villagers that the remains of a downed U.S. pilot had been found.
The villagers also described that the American pilot was found dangling from a tree, still attached to his parachute. To avoid enemy forces from capturing the body, local villagers buried the unknown pilot. Jones then requested the body be brought to him, however there were complications.
The body was in the control of Pathet Lao forces, considered as an ally to North Vietnam Forces and an enemy to the United States. Many weeks passed until Jones received a radio message from the villagers that a package was waiting for him. In a Pilatus PC-6 Porter aircraft, Jones and his pilot flew to the village to pick up the body of the lost airman. On arrival the two men discovered a make-shift stretcher and a poncho with a body inside.
All identification was stripped from the body, including dog tags. However a local villager did have a chance to see the dog tags and told Jones that he saw “INTA” and “1941”. Charlie Jones wrote the pertinent information down on a small piece of paper, knowing very well it was all anyone could go by.
The unidentified pilot’s body was loaded into the airplane and flown to Udorn, Thailand. Upon arrival, the aircraft made a stop at the end of the runway where the body was removed, finally back in U.S. hands, and then the plane turned around and flew away. As for the body, it was flown to Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii, for identification and then returned for burial.
Charlie Jones returned to the war, searching for more targets and lost airmen. Although no one knew it was Hunter’s body, it took six weeks to recover it after he first bailed out. It would be 28 years before Charlie Jones would hear about the downed pilot again.
It wasn’t until 1994 when Charlie Jones, now a professor of the Troy State Criminal Justice Master’s Degree Program, was teaching a class while getting acquainted with his students. One of his students, Alan Hensley, had military experience and both men began to exchange “war stories”. It was one of Jones’ more personal stories, the unknown pilot found in Laos with no identification, which affected Hensley greatly.
Lieutenant Commander Alan Hensley, a naval cryptologist assigned as the Executive Officer of the Naval Security Group Activity (NSGA) Pensacola at the time, had the letters “INTA” and the date, “1941”, for reference. Using his skills as an honored cryptologist, Hensley began eliminating possible combinations until a result registered at Robert Gerald Hunter, born 1941.
Cross referencing the name to military records further confirmed that Hunter was a pilot killed-in-action (KIA) during the Vietnam War. But the search was not over, Hensley then looked for the next of kin. A letter was sent to the Military Personnel Records Center, which forwarded the letter to Hunter’s widow, who was now remarried and living in Valdosta, Georgia .
Yet no response came after weeks of waiting. Hensley then wrote a letter to every Hunter listed in the phone book for Douglasville, Georgia. A few days passed until Hensley received a call from an elderly woman – Zelma Hunter. With all the information in place, Alan Hensley drove to an airport where his professor, Charlie Jones, was working on a Cessna 172 airplane.
A couple days went by before the two men made their way to Douglasville in the spring of 1994. There they planned to meet with Robert and Zelma Hunter, the parents of the downed pilot, and visit Hunter’s grave. Unfortunately, Zelma Hunter was too weak to make the meeting, but a graveside service was conducted by Jones, who was also a Chaplain.
On May 10, 1994 Hensley received a phone call from Hunter’s widow, who received the letter about her husband’s death. She thought the letter was a hoax, but after Hensley explained the whole story, truth and closure was finally setting in. That same day Zelma Hunter called Hensley, she requested that Jones and Hensley return to Douglasville. Both men returned to the Hunter’s household, where Jones explained the story from beginning to end.
The mystery of the unidentified body was solved and for Hunter’s parents, it would be 28 years before they learned of the person who rescued their son’s body. While always looking at being the best at what he did, Hunter received the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Purple Heart and other worthy medals for his time in service.
It was on Memorial Day, May 25, 1998, when 1st Lt. Robert Gerald Hunter memorial, an F-105D similar to that flown by the pilot, was debuted to the public. Charlie Jones spoke to the crowd at hand and presented the framed small piece of paper, which he wrote on almost 32 years ago, to Hunter’s parents. Alan Hensley presented framed mementos, which were to be displayed in the visitor’s center.
Above the crowd, Hunter’s parents, local officials and State constituents, a missing man formation by three T-34s roared. It was the prefect ending to the beginning of a long awaited memorial for all of Douglas County’s fallen soldiers.
Resources
- Douglas County, Georgia: From Indian Trail to Interstate 20 by Fannie Mae Davis
- United States Air Force - Combat Loss Report: aircraft serial number 591746
- Florida Daily News - May 25,1998 - A Name to Honor the Lost by Jeff Newell
- E-mail conversation with Alan Hensley
Thanks for the article, however a few corrections are necessary. Jerry’s name was Robert Gerald Hunter, not Jerry Gerald Hunter. I was a naval cryptologist assigned as the Executive Officer of Naval Security Group Activity (NSGA) Pensacola. Thanks, Alan
December 30th, 2006 at 5:01 pmDr. Hensley,
I thank you for your comment, the name was an oversight on my part - I’ve researched the story for so long that I should have caught it right away. I am truly astonished that a real person in this story has came across my research. This is an eye-opening experience.
December 30th, 2006 at 8:16 pm