Capt. Michael Scott Speicher

surreal1221

surreal1221

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Found.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/08/02/us.gulf.war.remains/index.html

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The remains of the first American shot down in the 1991 Persian Gulf War have been uncovered, the U.S. Department of Defense announced Sunday.

U.S. Navy Capt. Michael "Scott" Speicher was shot down in an F/A-18 Hornet on January 17, 1991, the first night of the war.

The announcement early Sunday of the discovery of Speicher's remains ends more than 18 years of speculation about whether Speicher may have survived the crash and been held captive, or died in captivity in the ensuing years.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with Capt. Speicher's family for the ultimate sacrifice he made for his country," Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said in a statement. "I am also extremely grateful to all those who have worked so tirelessly over the last 18 years to bring Capt. Speicher home."

An Iraqi civilian told U.S. forces in Iraq in early July about the location of the crash that killed Speicher, according to the statement. U.S. Marines in Anbar province went to the site and spoke to another Iraqi who told them he witnessed Bedouins burying Speicher's remains in the desert after the crash, the statement said.

A search of the area uncovered the remains, which were flown to Dover Air Base last week and positively identified as Speicher's by the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, the statement said.

Recovered remains included bones and skeletal fragments, and positive identification was made by comparing Speicher's dental records with a jawbone recovered at the site, the statement said.

Speicher was a lieutenant commander when shot down, but because his status remained uncertain, he received promotions during the past 18 years, reaching the rank of captain.

He was originally listed as "Killed-In-Action/Body-Not-Recovered" in May 1991. That status changed in 2001 to "Missing in Action," and then to "Missing/Captured" in 2002 based on sighting reports inIraq. Those sightings have since been discredited.

His status was changed back to MIA earlier this year.

CNN's Barbara Starr contributed to this report.
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Re: Capt. Michael "Scott" Speicher

RIP - Nice to see that they never gave up. At least his widowed wife won't have the press calling anymore. Welcome home Capt. Michael Speicher.
 
Re: Capt. Michael "Scott" Speicher

what a relief it must be for his family. may he rest in peace.
 
Captain Speicher remains found (Missing 1991 Gulf War pilot)

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- The Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP) has positively identified remains recovered in Iraq as those of Capt. Michael Scott Speicher......


http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=47359



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Welcome home sir
 
Re: Capt. Michael "Scott" Speicher

I'm really glad that they were able to find his remains. Captain Speicher's family can now be rest assure that their loved one is finally home and can be given a proper burial with honors.
 
Re: Captain Speicher remains found (Missing 1991 Gulf War pi

I think it's pretty admirable that 10 years later someone was looking for his remains. I bet it means a lot to his family, even with the length of time that has passed, to have the ability to bury him. RIP and Godspeed.
 
Re: Captain Speicher remains found (Missing 1991 Gulf War pi

N826AW said:
I think it's pretty admirable that 10 years later someone was looking for his remains. I bet it means a lot to his family, even with the length of time that has passed, to have the ability to bury him. RIP and Godspeed.
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The U.S. military still looks for missing service members in Korea, Vietnam, and even from WWII. The Joint POW-MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) in Oahu Hawaii is responsible for sending teams to investigate known sites or investigate claims of sightings and crash sites. I was able to volunteer for a trip to Vietnam as part of one of these investigative teams when I was in the Navy. Since I was an Naval Aircrewman I was paired together with an Navy parachute rigger (PR) and we were tasked with identifiying remanants of any flight/surivival gear if discovered. It was definitely an enlightening assignment and discovered that leeches are nasty and a pain in the butt to remove!:panic:
 
Re: Capt. Michael "Scott" Speicher

Awesome that they found his remains.
Also awesome that it's on the front page of CNN.com

The U.S. Navy maintained in a 1997 document that Speicher was downed by a surface-to-air missile.[4] However, an unclassified summary of a 2001 CIA report states that Speicher's aircraft was shot down by a missile fired from an Iraqi aircraft,[5] most likely a MiG-25.[2] A pilot on the same mission reveals "I'm telling you right now, don't believe what you're being told. It was that MiG that shot Spike down."
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Re: Capt. Michael "Scott" Speicher

About time credit is being given where its due!!!! Media got this one right I think??....

anyways.. RIP to the Capt! Raise em high to him! :beer:
 
Re: Capt. Michael "Scott" Speicher

BTAcola said:
About time credit is being given where its due!!!! Media got this one right I think??....

anyways.. RIP to the Capt! Raise em high to him! :beer:
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Dunno about that...they keep calling him Capt Speicher, but all the press photos released have him wearing Navy lieutentant bars!
 
Re: Capt. Michael "Scott" Speicher

Maximillian_Jenius said:
Dunno about that...they keep calling him Capt Speicher, but all the press photos released have him wearing Navy lieutentant bars!
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He was a LCDR when shot down, and the photo above, if that is what you are referring to would be the Service Dress Blues, with the rank and his line officer star on the sleeves, not seen in the picture.
He was promoted posthumously, and I think that meant that his widow kept receiving his pay, until he was found and brought home.

Welcome home Captain Speicher.
 
Re: Capt. Michael "Scott" Speicher

The U.S. Navy maintained in a 1997 document that Speicher was downed by a surface-to-air missile.[4] However, an unclassified summary of a 2001 CIA report states that Speicher's aircraft was shot down by a missile fired from an Iraqi aircraft,[5] most likely a MiG-25.[2] A pilot on the same mission reveals "I'm telling you right now, don't believe what you're being told. It was that MiG that shot Spike down."
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This is true. On the night of the first wave of strike aircraft, Saratoga's airwing was coasting-in from southern Anbar province southwest of Ramadi. There was a big MiG-25 base up at Al Taqaddum to the northeast, located in between Ramadi and Fallujah. VFA-81 (Speicher's unit) was inbound to hit targets, but was equipped for limited air-air if need be. As Speicher's division was on its ingress, they were receiving AWACS indications of MiG activity (further IDd as Foxbat) approaching their formation from ahead. The MiGs blew past their formation and behind them, towards further strike and CAP aircraft also ingressing. What wasn't known was apparently one of the MiG-25s reversed course and pursued the division, eventually launching a (likely) AA-6 ait/air missile and downing Speicher's F/A-18.

What's perplexing was that it wasn't even a few hours following Speicher's shootdown that (then) SecDef Cheney was holding a press conference with the (I believe) CNO of the Navy and it was announced that Speicher's plane had been lost (not mentioning his name) and that the pilot was killed. How did they know that? There was no CSAR launched to go check the site, nor were any aircraft directed to check the area out for wreckage/fire. His exact impact point wasn't known at the time, but the general area was. That was a very, very bad call to make publically, so early, IMHO.

As a sidenote on MiG activity that night, when I was training in the F-117, we had a few civilian classroom/sim IPs who were former Bandits from the black-days of the program and into Desert Storm. One of them related how he was ingressing into a target into Baghdad on a partly cloudy, dark night with a few stars. Flying blacked out on autopilot and with his head down in the sensor display attempting to locate his target to drop his ordnance on, he feels a "presence" and a "shadow" comes into the cockpit. He looks up and instinctively ducks, just to see two Iraqi MiGs passing overhead his aircraft in a route formation about 100 feet above him from right to left....a near midair. They were patrolling for US aircraft and he watched as they passed over him, noting the ordnance suspended beneath them, and continued monitoring them as they continued to his 9 o'clock.....watching the glow from their tailpipes as his 117 bounced a bit in their wake.
 
Re: Capt. Michael "Scott" Speicher

granlistillo said:
He was a LCDR when shot down, and the photo above, if that is what you are referring to would be the Service Dress Blues, with the rank and his line officer star on the sleeves, not seen in the picture.
He was promoted posthumously, and I think that meant that his widow kept receiving his pay, until he was found and brought home.

Welcome home Captain Speicher.
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_gulf_war_missing_pilot
 
Re: Capt. Michael "Scott" Speicher

MikeD said:
What wasn't known was apparently one of the MiG-25s reversed course and pursued the division, eventually launching a (likely) AA-6 ait/air missile and downing Speicher's F/A-18.
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If I am remembering correctly the AA-6 was a huge missile with a large warhead. The frag pattern would probably be pretty big and violent, and might be fatal not affording a chance to eject.
:(
 
Its unfortunate that he was KIA and not emancipated from a POW camp as people were hoping. Its great to know they were so determined to bring him home they spent almost 20 years looking for his remains. RIP.
 
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