30 September 1966 – LtCol Walter “Mel” Fowler’s F-100 #553502 is hit in the engine by gunfire over SVN. He came close to capture or death by closely advancing Viet Cong before his wingman suppressed the advancing VC and he was picked up from the rice paddy by an Army Helo. Fowler was serving with
Captain Jeffs was a member of the 614th Tactical Fighter Squadron. On March 12, 1971, he was the pilot of a North American Super Sabre (F-100D #56-3415) dispatched on a mission over Vietnam on March 12, 1971. At a point on the border of Tuyen Duc and Khanh Hoa Provinces in South Vietnam, Jeffs’ aircraft went down and he was never seen again. Jeffs was declared Missing in Action.
Court Rhodes wrote on the WallofFaces.org- “I was a member of the Protective Equipment crew that worked with the 614th Fighter Squadron (Lucky Devils) Clive flew for. I was there the day he went missing, won’t forget it and I’m almost 50 years older now. It was an unfortunate twist of fate that took Clive’s life. A simple switching of tail numbers on flight orders between he and his best friend caused the two of them to fly each other’s planes (F-100). The other pilot’s name was Tomlin. They were best buds and fun to be around. The plane Jeffs was flying had a flame-out; he tried unsuccessfully to restart it with a dive but was forced to bail out. Rescue crews found the plane and Jeff’s bloodied parachute and that’s where the story ended last I knew. Most assumed he was captured, but no certainty beyond that. Captain Tomlins took the loss of his friend very hard, saying; “it should have been me” over and over. ”
Clive Garth Jeffs has a military stone in his honor at Huntington City Cemetery, Emory Co, UT. He is also memorialized at Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial and is honored on the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial in Washington DC. His name is inscribed at VVM Wall, Panel 04w, Line 41.
Source: HonorStates.org; Scopes.com: WallofFaces.org
