Killed in Action - Body Not Recovered

JACOBSEN, TIMOTHY JOHN

Name: Timothy John Jacobsen
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army
Unit: Company A, 101st Aviation Battalion, 101st Airborne Division
Date of Birth: 19 February 1950 (Eureka CA)
Home City of Record: Oakland CA
Home Town: Ferndale, CA
Date of Loss: 16 May 1971
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 161527N 1072019E (YC499987)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H
Refno: 1746

Other Personnel in Incident: Craig L. Farlow; Elliott Crook; Joseph P. Nolan (all missing)

Source: Compiled from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Updated by the P.O.W. NETWORK in 2002.

SYNOPSIS: On May 16, 1971, Lt. Joseph P. Nolan, pilot;W1 Craig L. Farlow, aircraft commander; SP4 Elliott Crook, crew chief; SP4 Timothy J. Jacobsen, door gunner; comprised the crew of a UH1H helicopter conducting a combat assault insertion of ARVN Marines into a landing zone (LZ) in the vicinity of Hue, Thua Thin Province, South Vietnam. Lt. Nolan's helicopter was the seventh to land on the LZ. On departing the LZ, pilots of the fifth and sixth helicopters stated that they were taking enemy fire. Lt. Nolan radioed after touchdown that he was taking heavy ground fire, that his crew chief was wounded. Lt. Nolan immediately took off and at 250 feet, witnesses saw his aircraft rapidly lose rotor RPM and crash into the tree tops, bursting into flames. No survivors were seen to exit the aircraft. On May 24, a search and recovery team made a ground search and found 2 partial skulls and one partial right foot, all badly burned. It was also noted that there were four more possible remains that were trapped under the heavy wreckage. The partial skulls were later determined to be Vietnamese. The other remains were not recovered because of hostile fire. The crew of the UH1H was presumed to be dead, and their bodies were never recovered.

They are listed with honor among the nearly 2500 Americans still missing in Southeast Asia until such time as their remains can be returned home for an honorable burial. Others missing in Southeast Asia do not have such certain fates. Many were alive and well the last they were seen. Some described their imminent capture over radio to would-be rescuers. Still others were known to be captives, but disappeared from the prison system and were not released. Unfortunately, mounting evidence indicates that hundreds of  Americans are still captive, waiting for the country they proudly served to secure their freedom. In our haste to leave an unpopular war, it now appears that we abandoned some of our best men. In our haste to heal the wounds of this same war, will we sign their death warrants, or will we do what is necessary to bring them home?