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Today in History – April 5, 1962 – 1962 Neil Armstrong takes X-15 to 54,600m

Neil Armstrong and the X-15 by Bob van der Linden, Posted on Tue, July 23, 2019, Aeronautics Department, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum “Released from duty in mid-1952, Armstrong returned to Purdue where he earned his degree in aeronautical engineering in 1955. His love of flight and engineering drew him to the National Advisory

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McElhanon, Michael O. – KIA

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  • McElhanon, Michael O. – KIA

Michael Owen McElhanon - KIA

Preferred Name: Mike
Nickname/Call Sign: Misty 46
Date of Birth: January 6, 1934
Highest Military Grade: 0-6 – Colonel
Hometown: Ft. Worth, TX
Headed West Date: August 16, 1968
Biography
Pilot Information
Album

Maj. Michael O. McElhanon (Misty 46) and Maj. John F. Overlock (Misty 51) were pilots assigned to the 309th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Phu Cat, South Vietnam. The missions they generally flew were Misty FAC operations over North Vietnam. McElhanon was rated as a pilot and Overlock as a co-pilot.

On August 16, 1968, McElhanon and Overlock were on an early mission and had already refueled once (the maximum range for the F100 is nearly 1500 miles), and had radioed the Airborne Control that they were enroute to rendezvous with a tanker over the Gulf of Tonkin for the second refueling. That was the last contact Airborne Control had with Overlock and McElhanon. They were not missed until some fifty minutes later, when a flight of fighter aircraft tried to locate them to get a fix on their target. The plane is assumed to have gone down somewhere near the city of Dong Hoi in North Vietnam’s Quang Binh province.

No one knows for sure what happened to Overlock and McElhanon. If they went down close to the city, they could have been captured. If they went down over the Gulf, they may never be found.

For the next 5 years, their families waited to see if McElhanon and Overlock had been captured. When 591 prisoners were released in the spring of 1973,
the two were not among them. Experts said that there were hundreds who were expected to be released and who were not. Finally, in late 1975, the U.S.
Government declared the men dead, based on no specific information that they were alive.

At the time of his death, Michael was married with children.

Michael O. McElhanon was promoted to the rank of Colonel and John F. Overlock was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel during the period
they were maintained missing. (1)

The McElhanon’s had a long history of service to the United States, starting with Captain John McElhanon in the Revolutionary War; Ode Ross McElhanon Sr in WWI, Ode Ross McElhanon, Jr in WWII, and Mike  McElhanon in the Vietnam War.(2)

Michael Owen McElhanon has a grave marker at Greenwood Memorial Park and Mausoleum Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas, USA and is memorialized at Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial. He is also honored on the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial in Washington DC. His name is inscribed at VVM Wall, Panel 48w, Line 29.

 

Source: Bio info/photo – HonorStates.org; (1) POW/MIA Network.org: (2) TheWallofFaces submitted by Janet McElhanon

Units Assigned

  • Instructor pilot, Craig AFB
  • 1968 309th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 37th Tactical Fighter Wing, Phu Cat, South Vietnam (F-100)

Awards & Decorations

Purple Heart
Purple Heart
National Defense Service Medal
National Defense Service Medal
Vietnam Campaign Medal
Vietnam Campaign Medal
Vietnam Service Medal
VIetnam Service Medal
Presidential Unit Citation
Air Force Presidential Unit Citation
Vietnam Cross Of Gallantry
Vietnam Cross of Gallantry
AF Good Conduct Medal
Air Force Good Conduct Medal
US Air Force Pilot Badge
United States Aviator Badge Air Force

Flight Info

F-100

Military & Civilian Education

McElhanon, Michael O
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Wall of Honor Location

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