PATTERSON, JAMES KELLY

Name: James Kelly Patterson
Rank/Branch: O3/US Navy
Unit: VA 35, USS ENTERPRISE (CVAN-65)
Date of Birth: 14 July 1940
Home City of Record: Long Beach CA
Date of Loss: 19 May 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 204537N 1052539E (WH445955)
Status (in 1973): Prisoner of War
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: A6A
Other Personnel In Incident: Capt. Eugene McDaniel (released POW)

REMARKS: PROB CAPTURED WITH BROKEN LEG

SYNOPSIS: When nuclear powered USS ENTERPRISE arrived on Yankee Station on
December 2, 1965, she was the largest warship ever built. She brought with her
not only an imposing physical presence, but also an impressive component of
warplanes and the newest technology. By the end of her first week of combat
operations, the ENTERPRISE had set a record of 165 combat sorties in a single
day, surpassing the KITTY HAWK's 131. By the end of her first combat cruise,
her air wing had flown over 13,000 combat sorties. The record had not been
achieved without cost.

When the ENTERPRISE arrived in Vietnam on its second combat cruise, two of its
pilots were LtCdr. Eugene B. "Red" McDaniel and Lt. James K. Patterson, an A6
"Intruder" team. The Intruder pilots were known to have, in the words of Vice
Admiral William F. Bringle, Commander Seventh Fleet, "an abundance of talent,
courage and aggressive leadership", and were sent on some of the most difficult
missions of the war.

On May 19, 1967 McDaniel was the pilot and Patterson the backseater aboard an
A6A with a mission to bomb a truck repair facility at Van Dien, Hai Duong
Province, North Vietnam. The aircraft was shot down, but both crew members
ejected safely from the aircraft and established voice radio contact with other
aircraft in the area.

Lt. Patterson badly broke his leg upon landing, but maintained radio contact
with rescue forces for a period of four days. On May 21, he reported that enemy
forces had taken a recovery kit which had been dropped to him and that he had
moved up a hill for safety. LtCdr. McDaniel was taken prisoner by the North
Vietnamese and taken to Hanoi.

During the nearly six years he was a prisoner of war, McDaniel never saw his
backseater. He continually asked about him, and was given conflicting stories.
In late 1967, he was told by a guard that Lt. Patterson had recovered from his
injuries. Partly because the Vietnamese seemed to be toying with him by
changing the story on Patterson, and partly because he never saw or heard of
his backseater, McDaniel finally came to the belief that his backseater and
friend had not been captured, but was dead.

McDaniel is noted for three things as a prisoner - his honor, his optimism and
faith in his country, and also for having been the prisoner who received the
most brutal torture at the hands of the Vietnamese.

"Red" McDaniel was released March 4, 1973 believing that Patterson and the
others who were not released were dead. It was not until he served the Navy as
a liason to Congress that he began to see evidence that Americans were still
alive in Southeast Asia. It was a heartbreaking realization.

When Captain McDaniel left the Navy, he formed The American Defense Institute
in order to foster patriotism in America's youth and to share with other
Americans what he learned about communism and why it must be fought at every
level. One of ADI's most important issues is that of missing Americans in
Southeast Asia.

In late 1986, a former NSA intelligence analyst stated that backseaters like
Patterson, who possessed technical knowledge surpassing that of the pilot were
singled out. The analyst stated that in the intelligence community these men
were dubbed, "MB", or "Moscow Bound". They would make valuable trades to the
Soviet Union for a heavily indebted Vietnam.

The same year, a Congressional team visiting the Central Identification
Laboratory learned that certain identification belonging to Patterson had been
given to the U.S. by the Vietnamese. This was clear evidence that the
Vietnamese knew what happened to James K. Patterson.

Today McDaniel does not know if James K. Patterson is alive or not, but he is
absolutely convinced that many Americans are alive, still held captive in
communist prisons in Southeast Asia, and has been a tireless leader in the
effort to force action leading to their honorable return.
 
McDaniel says, "It's a matter of our national honor to bring these men home. We
went to Vietnam prepared to be wounded or even to die. We went prepared to be
captured. But we were never prepared to be abandoned."
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