Name: Douglas David Ferguson
Rank/Branch: O2/US Air Force
Unit: 555th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Udorn AB, Thailand
Date of Birth: 26 April 1945
Home City of Record: Tacoma WA
Date of Loss: 30 December 1969
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 195900N 1032900E (UH413101)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D
Refno: 1541
Other Personnel In Incident: Fielding W. Featherston III (missing)
SYNOPSIS: The Plain of Jars region of Laos was long under the control of the
communist Pathet Lao and a continual effort had been made by the secret
CIA-directed force of some 30,000 indigenous tribesmen to strengthen
anti-communist strongholds there. The U.S. committed hundreds of millions of
dollars to the war effort in Laos, but details of this secret operation were
not released until August 1971.
Doug Ferguson and Fielding Featherston were aboard one of five F4D aircraft
on a mission into the Plaine des Jarres region of Laos on December 30, 1969.
Their ship was hit by enemy fire and exploded in a fireball. There were no
parachutes seen, nor were emergency radio "beeper" signals heard that day by
other aircraft.
On the following day, the crash site was photographed and two empty
parachutes were visible hanging in nearby trees. The area was too heavily
defended for a ground search to be possible.
Ferguson and Featherston may well have been captured. They are among the
nearly 600 Americans lost in Laos. Because Laos was "neutral", and because
the U.S. continued to state they were not at war with Laos (although we were
regularly bombing North Vietnamese traffic along the border and conducted
assaults against communist strongholds throughout the country at the behest
of the anti-communist government of Laos), and did not recognize the Pathet
Lao as a government entity, the nearly 600 Americans lost in Laos were never
recovered.
The Pathet Lao stated that they would release the "tens of tens" of American
prisoners they held only from Laos. At war's end, no American held in Laos
was released - or negotiated for.
Voluminous evidence exists that Americans still survive, captive, in
Indochina. Until serious steps are taken to resolve the fate of these men,
the families of Ferguson and Featherston must wonder if their men are alive,
abandoned by their country.
Douglas D. Ferguson graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1967.
FURTHER INFO Courtesy of Task Force Omega:
SYNOPSIS: The McDonnell F4
Phantom used by Air Force, Marine and Navy air wings served a multitude
of functions including fighter/bomber, interceptor, photo/electronic
surveillance, and reconnaissance. The two man aircraft was extremely
fast (Mach 2) and had a long range, 900 - 2300 miles depending on stores
and mission type. The F4 was also extremely maneuverable and handled
well at low and high altitudes. It was selected for a number of
state-of-the-art electronics conversions, which improved radar intercept
and computer bombing capabilities enormously. Most pilots considered it
one of the "hottest" planes around.
On 30 December 1969, Capt. Fielding W.
Featherston III, pilot, and then 1st Lt. Douglas D. Ferguson, co-pilot,
comprised the crew of an F4D, call sign "Loredo 03." The
mission identifier was Barrel Roll. Their intended target was a
petroleum/oil/lubricant (POL) facility located in the heavily forested,
mountainous area of Xiangkhouang Province, Laos. This region was under
the complete control of North Vietnamese Army (NVA) forces. Further,
this area of Laos was considered a major supplier of POL products for
the communist war effort. It was located in close proximity to the
infamous Ho Chi Minh Trail. When North Vietnam began to increase its
military strength in South Vietnam, NVA and Viet Cong troops again
intruded on neutral Laos for sanctuary, as the Viet Minh had done during
the war with the French some years before. This border road was used by
the Communists to transport weapons, supplies and troops from North
Vietnam into South Vietnam, and was frequently no more than a path cut
through the jungle covered mountains. US forces used all assets
available to them to stop this flow of men and supplies from moving
south into the war zone.
At 1700 hours Capt. Featherston and
1st Lt. Ferguson arrived in the target area. The on site Forward Air
Controller (FAC) directed them to strafe the target. An RF4C also
participating in this mission arrived in time to observe Loredo 03
pulling off target, then watched as they made another pass on the POL
facility. The crew of the RF4C then saw Fielding Featherston and Doug
Ferguson's aircraft attempt a third ordnance delivery run and impact the
ground approximately ¼ mile beyond the target resulting in an explosion
and large fireball. The other aircrews in the area did not see any
ground fire directed at Loredo 03. Likewise, they did not see the crew
eject which they attributed in part to shadows cast by trees in and
around the site. An electronic search was immediately initiated, but
with negative results.
On 31 December, a visual, photographic
and electronic search of the loss area was conducted. The wreckage was
located approximately 25 kilometers southwest of Houamuang, 500 meters
north-northwest of Nakhang and 200 meters west of Route 6 where the
terrain gradually begins to slope upwards. A photograph of the crash
location revealed what appeared to be two parachutes hanging in the
trees, however, there was no indication of the whereabouts of the two
pilots. When no contact could be established with either officer, the
search was terminated. Capt. Featherston and Capt. Ferguson were
immediately listed Missing in Action.
Over the years additional analysis of
that photograph depicting two possible parachutes has been conducted.
Those examinations were done in 1975 and 1985. The results of both of
these analysis could not prove conclusively one way or the other if what
was originally believed to be parachutes, was in fact parachutes, an
anomaly caused by shadows or something else altogether.
Fielding Featherston and Doug Ferguson
are among nearly 600 Americans who disappeared in Laos. Many of these
men were known to be alive on the ground. The Laotians admitted holding
"tens of tens" of American Prisoners of War, but these men
were never negotiated for either by direct negotiation between our
countries or through the Paris Peace Accords which ended the War in
Vietnam since Laos was not a party to that agreement.
Since the end of the Vietnam War well
over 21,000 reports of American prisoners, missing and otherwise
unaccounted for have been received by our government. Many of these
reports document LIVE America Prisoners of War remaining captive
throughout Southeast Asia TODAY.
Fighter pilots in Vietnam and Laos
were called upon to fly in many dangerous circumstances, and they were
prepared to be wounded, killed or captured. It probably never occurred
to them that they could be abandoned by the country they so proudly
served.
