Pilot Accounted For From Vietnam War (Knight, R.)

WASHINGTON  –   The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Air Force Col. Roy A. Knight, Jr., 36, of Millsap, Texas, killed during the Vietnam War, was accounted for June 4, 2019.

(This identification was initially published on June 13, 2019.)

In May 1967, Knight was a pilot with the 602nd Tactical Fighter Squadron, assigned to Udorn Royal Thai Air Base, Thailand. On May 19, 1967, Knight was leading a flight of two A-1E aircraft on a strike mission in northern Laos, when his aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire. No parachute was observed prior to the aircraft crashing and bursting into flames. Additionally, no beeper signals were heard. While search and rescue efforts were initiated, an organized search could not be conducted due to intensity of hostile ground fire in the area. The Air Force declared Knight deceased in September 1974.

In 1991 and 1992, Joint U.S./Lao People’s Democratic Republic (L.P.D.R.) teams investigated a crash site allegedly associated with Knight’s loss, recommending it for excavation. In March 1994, the site was excavated and life support items were recovered. The crash site was investigated four additional times in subsequent years.

In January and February 2019, a joint team recovered possible human remains and additional life support items. The remains were accessioned to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.

To identify Knight’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental analysis, as well as material and circumstantial evidence.

DPAA is grateful to the government and people of Laos for their partnership in this mission.

Today there are 1,588 Department of Defense personnel who are still unaccounted for from the Vietnam War. Knight’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, along with others unaccounted-for from the Vietnam War. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

For family information, contact the Air Force Casualty Assistance Office at (800) 831-5501.

Knight will be buried Aug. 10, 2019 in Weatherford, Texas.

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.

Knight’s personnel profile can be viewed at https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt0000000BTNbEAO