Airman brings home fallen servicemembers

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Marissa Tucker
  • 4th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
SEYMOUR JOHNSON AIR FORCE BASE, N.C --  An aircrew flight equipment technician here took part in an ongoing operation to account for American servicemembers lost in past U.S. conflicts.

Tech. Sgt. Alvin Edmonds, non-commissioned officer in charge of the aircrew flight equipment section of the 333rd Fighter Squadron, served as a team member for the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, a Department of Defense agency devoted to finding all American service members listed as missing in action.

After being selected for a recovery team comprised of service members from career fields such as archaeology, forensic photography and aircrew flight equipment, Sergeant Edmonds flew to Hawaii to receive initial training about the mission.

"We were flown to the JPAC command center in Hawaii where we were briefed about the mission," he said. "We were hoping to find the remains of a special forces soldier and an F-4 aircraft that was suspected to have gone down in Laos, Vietnam."

As an aircrew flight equipment technician, Sergeant Edmunds has training in aircraft recovery and accident investigation techniques, since technicians are first responders in any aircraft crash or incident.
Sergeant Edmonds and the rest of the recovery crew flew to Laos where they worked for more than a month with villagers to locate any remains of a fallen service member or wreckage from a crash.

They began the mission by interviewing several locals who may have been in the area of the last know location of the service members and aircraft. Sergeant Edmonds said that while it was sometimes difficult because of the language barrier, the locals were very eager to help with the process.

"We had linguists who were able to speak with the locals and find out if they knew anything about the area or if they were around at the time," he said. "It is amazing that you still find people there who remember or can give information about what happened."

Each morning began with a short brief about what would be taking place that day and a 20- to 30-minute flight to the area they would be working.

The search process began by roping off sections of land and sifting soil through small screens. This was a very tedious task, as the team had a vast area of land to cover, but Sergeant Edmonds said the cohesion between the team and the local Vietnamese helped greatly.

"Working with the locals was awesome because they were very nice and respectful people," he said. "They wanted know about us, and we wanted to know about them, so it was fun."

"We all just worked together to accomplish the goal," Sergeant Edmunds said. "During that time of the year, it is really hot and we sometimes worked 12- or 13-hour days. We just relied on each other to get the job done."

When the search ended, the team had recovered four teeth and some aircraft wreckage.

"The most enjoyable part of the trip was finding remains of a fallen soldier and being able to put families to rest," said Sergeant Edmonds.

Sergeant Edmunds will soon leave Seymour Johnson for a special duty assignment at Hulburt Field Air Force Base, Fla. He encourages others to explore the opportunities open to them.

"There are many opportunities for our career field," he said. "Being pro-active, checking the Assignment Management System periodically and being a good Airman really helps you along the way. I've had a very good career so far."