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Naval Aviator Accounted-For From Vietnam War (Bauder, J.)

Release No: 18-233 Dec. 11, 2018
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WASHINGTON — The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Navy Capt. James R. Bauder, 35, of San Fernando, California, killed during the Vietnam War, was accounted for on Aug. 28, 2017.

On Sept. 21, 1966, Bauder was a member of Fighter Squadron Twenty One, USS Coral Sea, in South East Asia, as the pilot of an F-4B aircraft in a flight of two aircraft on a night reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam. During the mission, the other aircraft lost contact with Bauder’s aircraft, and the plane did not return to the ship. No missiles were observed in the target area and no explosions were seen. An extensive search was conducted with negative results. Based on this information, Bauder was declared missing in action.

Between 2010 and 2017, Underwater Recovery Teams (URT) from DPAA conducted excavations of a submerged aircraft crash site in the waters immediately off Quynh Phuong Village, Quynh Luu District, Nghe An Province, Vietnam. During the excavations, numerous pieces of aircraft wreckage, consistent with Bauder’s aircraft, were found, as well as possible osseous material.

To identify Bauder’s remains, DPAA and the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis, anthropological analysis as well as circumstantial and material evidence.

DPAA is grateful to the government of Vietnam for their partnership in this mission.

Today, there are 1,592 American servicemen and civilians that are still unaccounted for from the Vietnam War. Bauder’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, along with others who are missing from the Vietnam War. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

For funeral details and family contact information, contact the Navy Casualty Office at (800) 443-9298.

For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for Americans who went missing while serving our country, visit the DPAA website at www.dpaa.mil, find us on social media at www.facebook.com/dodpaa or call (703) 699-1420/1169.

Bauder’s personnel profile can be viewed at https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt0000000BTeDEAW

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