Defiance Crescent-News, FRIDAY, JULY 15, 2005

City Soldier Coming Home From Viet Nam

Batt's remains identified; will have funeral with full military honors

By JACK PALMER  palmer@crescent-news.com

Nearly four decades after being listed as missing in action in Vietnam, Sgt. Michael Lero Batt is coming home.

Batt’s remains have been positively identified by government forensic experts at the U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory, Hawaii.

A formal announcement is expected later today by the Department of Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office, Batt’s twin sister, rural Defiance resident Mary Wagner, told The Crescent-News on Thursday night.

The remains will be flown from Hawaii to Detroit on July 23, and then transported to Defiance. A U.S. Army sergeant will serve as the personal escort until the remains are buried at the cemetery. An honor guard from Fort Knox, Ky., will be present during the funeral and burial.

Funeral services will be July 25 at 11 a.m. in St. John Catholic Church, with Father Dennis Walsh officiating. Visitation is July 24 from 2-9 p.m. at Lawson-Roessner Funeral Home.

Batt was part of a five-man crew whose U21-A plane disappeared while on a flying mission on March 16, 1969. He was officially listed as MIA until Aug. 31, 1978, when the Army declared him legally dead.

“This is Mike coming home, that’s what it is,” Wagner stated. “My feelings are that this will be a celebration.”

Wagner recounted that she received the news about the positive identification in a June 6 phone call from Paul Bethke, mortuary affairs specialist for the U.S. Army Human Resources Council.

“He came to my home on June 14 and shared the information,” related Wagner. “He told us the remains had been identified by their laboratory in Hawaii and also by two private laboratories.

“Our family was allowed to ask all the questions we wanted and he provided the answers,” she continued. “The evidence they provided completely convinced me that these were Mike’s remains.”

Wagner refused to discuss the physical remains specifically, but added, “I am aware of what is being sent here.”

“I am elated for the family,” Mike Williams, Defiance County veterans service officer, stated this morning. “This represents very important closure they have deserved for a long time.

“We see family members who lost loved ones on almost a daily basis and closure is very important. That is especially true in this case. My God, it’s been 36 years.”

“I’m sure glad his family is at peace,” said Tom Wiseman, service officer for the Welcome Home Chapter, Post 954 of the Vietnam Veterans of America, and commander of DAV Chapter 36, Defiance. “Now the community can honor him for making the ultimate sacrifice for our country.”

“We are hopeful this will bring needed to closure to Michael’s family and that it gives hope to others who have loved ones who are POW/MIA from all wars,” said VFW Post 3360 commander Ken Morris, who spoke to several of his fellow members at the post this morning about the breaking news.

“We further hope this will strengthen our resolve to achieve the fullest possible accounting of those who are still missing and continue to gain ground in our efforts to bring them all home,” added Morris.

Batt’s funeral date corresponds with the 59th wedding anniversary of Sgt. Batt’s parents, the late Gerald and Agnes Batt. Gerald died of cancer in 1972 at the age of 52, but Agnes lived until 2001.

His younger brother, Patrick, died in 1990 at the age of 35.

“I was told at a meeting in Detroit two years ago that they had found remains from the plane crash Mike was in,” said Wagner. “The casualty officer said it might take some time for everything to be finalized regarding final identification.

“Since I’m the only survivor of Mike’s immediate family, I told myself that I would be patient since there were five families involved,” she added. “If it had not been for all the DNA technology that has been available in the last 10 or 15 years, this would not have been possible.”

Copyright Defiance Publishing, LLC 1995-2005.

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NEWS  RELEASE

From the United States Department of Defense

No. 720-05
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jul 15, 2005

Army Soldiers MIA from Vietnam War are Identified

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of four U.S. servicemen, missing in action from the Vietnam War, have been identified and are being returned to their families for burial.

They are Lt. Col. Marvin L. Foster, Hubbard, Tex.; Capt. David R. Smith, Dayton, Ohio; Sgt. 1st Class Michael L. Batt, Defiance, Ohio; and Sgt. 1st Class Raymond E. Bobe, Tarrant, Ala., all U.S. Army.

On March 16, 1969, Capt. Smith was piloting an Army U-21A "Ute" aircraft with Foster, Batt, Bobe and one other passenger aboard whose remains have not been identified. The aircraft left Qui Nhon airfield in South Vietnam, headed for Phu Bai airport near Hue. The Da Nang control tower briefly established radar and radio contact, but was unable to maintain it. The aircraft never landed at the Phu Bai airport.

Combat search and rescue units scoured the area, both land and sea, for the next eight days, but did not find the missing aircraft.

In 1988 and 1989, the Vietnamese government turned over to U.S. specialists several boxes of human remains, including identification tags for Bobe and Smith. The technology of the time failed to yield an identification of the remains. Also in 1989, a Vietnamese refugee in the Philippines was interviewed, and turned over human remains as well as a rubbing of an identification tag for Bobe.

U.S. specialists from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) conducted seven investigations between 1993 and 1999, to include interviews with Vietnamese nationals who claimed to have knowledge of the crash. Then in April and May of 2000, a JPAC team excavated an area about 25 miles northwest of Da Nang, where they found aircraft debris and human remains.

JPAC scientists and Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory specialists used mitochondrial DNA as one of the forensic tools to help identify the remains.

The Columbus Dispatch

Columbus, Ohio

Army identifies remains of 2 Ohioans killed in Vietnam

Saturday, July 16, 2005

ASSOCIATED PRESS

The remains of two Ohio soldiers who were listed as missing in action in Vietnam in 1969 have been identified by the government.

Military forensic experts have confirmed the remains are of Army Sgt. Michael Batt, of Defiance; and Capt. David R. Smith, of Dayton, the Defense Department said yesterday.

Batt and Smith were part of a five-man crew whose plane disappeared in March 1969.

The remains of Col. Marvin L. Foster, of Hubbard, Texas; and Sgt. Raymond E. Bobe, of Tarrant, Ala., who were also on the flight, were also identified. The remains of the fifth passenger are still unidentified.

Batt’s sister, Mary Wagner, said she was told two years ago that the remains had been found, but it would take awhile to identify them.

"If it had not been for all the DNA technology that has been available in the last 10 or 15 years, this would not have been possible," she said.

Batt’s remains will be brought back to Defiance for a funeral on July 25.

Copyright © 2005, The Columbus Dispatch

Search-and-rescue units scoured the area for eight days but did not find the missing aircraft or crew.

Larry Greer, a spokesman for the Department of Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office, said that Sergeant Batt's remains were officially identified by the U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory in April and that the Army briefed his family about its findings on June 14.

Sergeant Batt was barely 19 when he was drafted into the Army in August, 1967. "He was just at the very beginning of his adult life," his sister said.

As a youth, Sergeant Batt was an enthusiastic Boy Scout, attending summer and winter camps at Camp Lakota in Defiance most years until well into his teens.

When he was not hiking or involving himself in community projects, Sergeant Batt liked to cook, learning the skills from the ground up as a bus boy and then a chef at the Tip Top and Holiday Inn restaurants, both in Defiance. "He liked to come up with hot dishes," his sister said, "so I guess we were his guinea pigs for that."

Sergeant Batt's remains will be buried with full military honors July 25 in Defiance. Ms. Wagner said that a funeral Mass will be said at 11 a.m. in St. John's Catholic Church, Defiance, on what would have been their parents' 59th wedding anniversary.

Between 1993 and 1999, U.S. specialists from the Joint Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Accounting Command conducted seven investigations, which included interviews with Vietnamese nationals who claimed to have knowledge of the crash, according to Department of Defense officials.

In April and May, 2000, the accounting command investigation unit was led to the excavation of an area 25 miles northwest of Da Nang, where they found aircraft debris and human remains. Also identified were the remains of Lt. Col. Marvin L. Foster, Capt. David R. Smith, and Sgt. 1st Class Raymond E. Bobe. The remains of one other passenger have not yet been identified.

Mr. Greer said that 1,827 Americans are unaccounted for from the Vietnam War, with 1,393 of those from within Vietnam and the others from Laos and Cambodia.

Blade staff writer Jeremy Lemer contributed to this report. Contact Karamagi Rujumba at:

krujumba@theblade.com or 419-724-6064.

Florida Today

Finding Closure

24 July, 2005

One more soldier's kin find closure

Victims’ families coincidentally live in Brevard

BY RICK NEALE

FLORIDA TODAY

Amid the table-flat cornfields of rural Ohio, a Melbourne policeman and Cape Canaveral's fire chief will lay their long-lost cousin to rest at last.

In March 1969, Army Sgt. Michael L. Batt was killed in an airplane crash in Vietnam. Search teams could not find the wreckage of the Army U-21A amid the dense, triple-canopied jungle, and Batt's body was lost for decades.

But in 2000, U.S. Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command investigators discovered and excavated the crash site, about 25 miles northwest of Da Nang. DNA testing identified Batt's remains, and he will be buried Monday after a military graveside ceremony in Defiance, Ohio.

"It's great to put it to rest. It's more of a homecoming than a funeral," said Batt's cousin, Jim Sargeant, a Melbourne police officer. "It answers a lot of questions.

"One of the ironies about Vietnam is, had he come home in 1969, he would have been called a murderer and a baby-killer. But as it is now, he's coming home a hero."

Sargeant will attend the event with his brother, Cape Canaveral Fire Chief Dave Sargeant, who is also one of Batt's cousins. Dave learned of the discovery last week.

"He was my godfather," Dave said. "I was totally shocked. I think everybody had pretty much given up hope that he'd ever be found.

"I'm still trying to figure the whole mess out. I never, ever expected it. But the good thing is, we've still got people over there looking for our people."

In an odds-defying twist, a second long-lost serviceman aboard the same airplane has relatives in Brevard County.

Capt. David R. Smith of Dayton, Ohio, died alongside Batt. His older brother, Robert Smith, lives in Cocoa. He is a retired Patrick Air Force Base aircraft mechanic.

Jim Sargeant called the Brevard connection "an uncanny coincidence."

Dave was 7 years old and Jim was 10 when the plane went down. Their family grew up in Defiance two blocks from Batt and his parents, who are deceased. Monday would have been their 59th wedding anniversary.

"He was just a great guy," Jim said of Batt. "He had a nickname for me -- no one else has ever called me it, but I can't tell you what it is. I can't let the cat out of the bag."

© 2005 FLORIDA TODAY

Source: All POW-MIA InterNetwork

The Crescent-News, Defiance, Ohio - Friday, July 15, 2005    

PEOPLE  &  PLACES Page A3

JackPalmer:  Community can now pay tribute to Michael Batt

JACK PALMER

On March 18, 1969, Agnes Batt was working at the G.C. Murphy store in downtown Defiance when a military car pulled to the front curb.Two officers walked inside.

Batt saw them and immediately asked, “Is my son dead?”               

They took her to her 639 Jackson Ave. home. Her husband, Gerald, came home from work.  Her daughter, Mary Wagner, and her younger son, Patrick, then 14, arrived shortly thereafter.  The officers reported that Sgt. Michael Batt was a member of a U21-A plane bound  for Phu Bai. After takeoff, the pilot radioed of trouble, and the plane was routed first over the mountains, then over the sea.   Somewhere between, it and the men disappeared.

“You’re stunned, you’re shocked, when something like this occurs,” Agnes told The Crescent-News in a 1979 interview. “I was going around talking to everybody, trying to be brave. In two days, I went into a bad case of shock.”

Days became months. No trace of plane or men had been found.  As her shock began to wear off, she started searching for any information that might help.  She joined the National League of Families, an organization of parents whose sons were missing or imprisoned. Foreign news films of North Vietnamese prison camps were scanned.  Ex-POWs were grilled for something — a description, a rumor — about the missing men. None had heard of Michael.

Her husband left the search largely up to her.  He was a much more emotional person, and not a real well man physically.  In 1972, he died of cancer, perhaps hastened by the loss of his son.  Agnes Batt continued asking, hoping.

“I never really thought that Michael was dead until the prisoners came back (in 1973),” she stated in the 1979 interview. “I had a very sick feeling inside then. I always had the thought that maybe he was a prisoner — as long as there was a chance.”

Normally, missing servicemen are declared dead after seven years.  Because of the confusion of Vietnam, the League won a three-year extension.  Agnes, like other members, clung to the 10 years.

But finally, realizing there was nothing more she could do, she consented to allowing the government to declare her son legally dead.

“You sort of feel within yourself that you have thrown in the towel,” Agnes admitted at the time. “But when there is no more that can humanly be done, there is just no more.”

Her son may have been legally dead, but Agnes Batt never lost hope, however faint it was. The worst part was not knowing, not having that final closure.

“When Mom died in 2001, the first thing I said to myself was, ‘She knows where Mike is now,’ ” said Wagner, who is Mike’s twin. “My dad knew in 1972 and Patrick knew in 1990. Now I know.”

Wagner reported Thursday night that her brother’s remains have been positively identified by government forensic experts and a funeral service and burial with full military honors will be held in Defiance on July 25.  The funeral date corresponds with Gerald and Agnes Batt’s 59th wedding anniversary.

“One of my fondest childhood memories was the day Mike and I gathered up everything we had to buy something for Mom and Dad’s anniversary,” Wagner related. “We must have been 12 or 13 years old.   

“We came up with $2.50 and went down to Meek’s Pastry to buy them a two-layer decorated cake. I’m just totally thrilled we were able to arrange Mike’s funeral to be on their anniversary date.”

In what turned out to be one of Mike’s final letters home, he provided his mother with an itemized list of his local debts, together with money to make partial payment on those accounts.

“He owed money to Derrow’s (Motor Sales) and Pixler’s (Men’s Shop) and there were a few others,” recounted Wagner.

After her son was declared legally dead, Agnes Batt went back through a box with several of her son’s letters.  When she saw the letter with the listing of his debts, she went to those local creditors and paid them off, writing down the date they were paid in full. Michael’s Batt’s debts were paid off many years ago.

The debt our country owes to him can never be repaid.

(Jack Palmer is a staff writer with The Crescent-News and may be reached by e- mail at palmer@crescent-news.com)

Defiance pays respects to missing Vietnam vet

7/26/2005  BY VANESSA WINANS BLADE STAFF WRITER

About 350 people filled St. John's Catholic Church for the 11 a.m. Mass. Many knew and loved Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael L. Batt, a 1965 graduate of Defiance High School who was born on Memorial Day in 1947. Others, including several war veterans, never met him, but came to pay their respects.DEFIANCE - The pastel stained-glass windows glowed in the hot morning sun as a funeral, 36 years delayed, began for a Vietnam soldier whose remains finally came home last month.

As an Army honor guard rolled the flag-draped casket into the church, one of the veterans in a group at the rear of the church whispered "Rise!" to his comrades. They did, and the rest of the congregation quickly followed. The young soldiers accompanying the casket removed the flag for the funeral, and more than one set of eyes felt a sudden sting of tears at that moment.

"Today, we bring closure to a painful chapter in the life of this community," Father Dennis Walsh said in his homily. "It's been on the minds of his friends and family for 36 years."

For Dave White, who served in the Marine Corps in Vietnam from 1967 to 1969 but never met the sergeant, attending the funeral was an opportunity to honor one of his own.The Vietnam veterans came together in force. Many rode their motorcycles to the service, and sat in leather vests. One wore a shirt bearing the names of Ohio soldiers named prisoners of war or missing in action, plus the date of the incidents that caused their MIA/POW status, and their hometowns. "Batt, Michael Lero; 69 Mar 16; Defiance" appeared near the top of the list. He was one of five men shot down that morning as an administrative flight headed to Phu Bai from Qui Nhon.

"I just came down to welcome him home," the Toledo man said. He believed it was important "because nobody welcomed us home when we came home, so we had to welcome ourselves home."

Coral Long of Genoa came because of coincidence. In the mid-1970s, she wrote away for a copper bracelet bearing the name of a MIA/POW soldier. The one she received, which she wore yesterday, reads "Sgt. Michael L. Batt, 3-16-69."

She never knew him, and until this week, didn't even realize he had lived in northwest Ohio until she learned of the funeral. "I had no clue until I heard his name on the radio this morning," she said after the service. "I still can't believe it." 

Mrs. Long hoped the service brought peace to the family of Sergeant Batt. Like others at the church, she couldn't help but think of the soldiers now serving overseas.

"It reminded me of the local soldiers in Iraq," she said.

"It reminds people what the cost of war is," Mr. White said.

By the end of the hour-long Mass, the stained glass had darkened. Thunder accompanied the last hymn, "On Eagles' Wings." As the honor guard rolled the casket outside, the heavens opened, and the rain poured down.

The similarity to Vietnam wasn't lost on Mr. White.

Source: The Toledo Blade

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A poignant Facebook memorial from Mary Batt Wagner, Mike Batt’s twin sister, March 15, 2015:

My brother died at the age of twenty one and he had not yet been blessed with a wife or children. Hard to believe it has been forty-six years since his plane went down. I am just a couple of months short of sixty-eight and Mike (we were twins) remains forever young. If you have time for a short prayer to remember him, and the four other men on the plane with him, that would be great. Captain Barnes still remains listed as missing in action. Hugs!

Return of Batt's remains not soon forgotten

By TIM McDONOUGH | @cnmcdonough | mcdonough@crescent-news.com Published: May 25, 2014 6:00AM

On March 16, 1969, Sgt. Michael Lero Batt of Defiance was part of a five-man crew whose U21-A plane disappeared while on a flying mission in Vietnam. He was officially listed as MIA until Aug. 31, 1978, when the Army declared him legally dead.

For more than 35 years, his family was left to wonder what happened to Batt, that is until June of 2005. That's when government forensic experts at the U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory, Hawaii, positively identified his remains. Batt's twin sister, Mary Wagner of Defiance, received a phone call on June 6, 2005, from Paul Bethke, mortuary affairs specialist for the U.S. Army Human Resources Council.

"He came to my home on June 14 (2005) and shared the information," said Wagner in an article by Jack Palmer in The Crescent-News on July 15, 2005. "He told us the remains had been identified by their laboratory in Hawaii and also by two private laboratories.

"Our family was allowed to ask all the questions we wanted and he provided the answers," she continued. "The evidence they provided completely convinced me that these were Mike's remains."

On July 23 of that year, Batt's remains were flown from Hawaii to Detroit, and then transported to Defiance by a U.S. Army sergeant, who served as a personal escort for those remains. On a hot and rainy July 26, 2005, a funeral was held for Batt at St. John's Catholic Church in Defiance, followed by his burial next to his parents and brother at Riverview Memory Gardens.

The date of burial corresponded with the 59th wedding anniversary of Sgt. Batt's parents, the late Gerald and Agnes Batt. Gerald died of cancer in 1972, while Agnes lived until 2001. Batt's younger brother, Patrick, died in 1990 at the age of 35.

"Our kids and grandchildren know all about Mike, and what happened back in 2005 was a big thing for our family," said Wagner in a recent interview. "It's really nice that my mom and dad, and both my brothers, are all buried together. I am Mike's twin sister, and I can't tell you why, but I always knew he wasn't a prisoner. I am very glad he returned to Defiance. Getting him back brought closure for sure."

Now nine years later, Wagner is still grateful for all the support her family received.

"Defiance welcomed my brother home with open arms, and for that my family has been very, very grateful," Wagner said. "It was very touching the way the community came to show respect for my brother's service, to share stories about him, and to just tell the family they were sorry for our loss.

"I will never forget the day in 1965 that my class was asked in high school by our teacher Max Gecowets if any of us knew where Vietnam was," Wagner added. "I don't think there was a person in my class that knew. In short order, that's where young men from our country were headed. I still ask myself sometimes, 'how did a kid from Defiance, Ohio, end up in Vietnam?'"

Since it was learned that Batt's remains had been positively identified, Wagner has received 30 or more POW bracelets with her brother's name on them. In fact, that same scenario just recently happened to Wagner.

"I still get POW bracelets mailed to me from people all over the country that have his name on them," Wagner said. "People write me letters and tell me about how they got the bracelets, and why they want me to have them. Just the other day I got a call from a woman in California who has had one since 1971 with Mike's name on it. She had gone on the Internet and found the information that was in The Crescent-News. It's amazing that people still care what happened to our servicemen after all this time."

Wagner was also glad to learn that The Moving Wall -- Vietnam Veterans Memorial is returning to Defiance. She's hoping teenagers and young adults will come and see what it's all about.

"I feel it's important that the young generation knows that the names on those walls made the greatest sacrifice for our country," Wagner said. "Lives were impacted, families were impacted by the names on that wall in a great way. Young people don't understand what it was like for families that had men that had to serve under a draft.  My dad, husband and brother all served under the draft, they didn't have a choice. We need to thank those men, Mike included, and remember them for their sacrifice."

Source: The Defiance Crescent-News

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Source of Photos: Find-A-Grave Memorial Website

Above: U.S. Army U-21A "Ute"

Above: Mike Batt memorialized on the Moving Wall.

The Crescent-News, Defiance, Ohio

Friday, July 15, 2005    Page A12 NEWS

Several members of the Defiance High School class of 1965 are pictured in this photo taken in December 1967, at the funeral of their classmate, John Carr, who was killed in a motor vehicle accident in California. They are, in front: Bob Ross (left) and Ed Burger. In back, from left: Joe Call, Dennis Bunsold, George Mack, Denny McBroom, Michael Batt and Paul Krutsch.

Website Administrator’s Notes:  At the time of his death, AO2 John L. Carr was serving on active duty with the U.S. Navy and was stationed in San Diego.  Less than 15 months after this photograph was published, SFC Michael Lero Batt was killed in action in Viet Nam on March 16, 1969.

16 November 2005 • www.ohiomagazine.com

CAMPAIGN  SUCCESSFUL:  School fund-raising effort in local vet’s memory reaches goal

By JACK PALMER  palmer@crescent-news.com        Defiance Crescent-News, 11/11/2005 

A locally-based campaign to raise $28,000 to build a school in Vietnam in memory of Sgt. Michael Lero Batt has successfully been completed, it was announced this morning by four of Batt’s friends who spearheaded the effort.  “We have raised the money and the school will become a reality,” reported Tom Wiseman, who led the drive with fellow Vietnam veterans Tom Reed, Juan (Tiny) Soliz and Denny McBroom.  “If anyone has any doubts about the values of this community, they only need to look at what happened here in raising $28,000 in such a short period of time,” added Wiseman.

“The kind generosity of many people and the wonderful support of the news media were all important, but the success of this project is really a commentary on Sgt. Mike Batt, his deceased parents and his entire family.”  Putting the campaign over the top was a $10,000 contribution by VFW Post 3360, Defiance.  “We consider ourselves fortunate to participate in this remarkable project,” said post commander Ken Morris. “This is an opportunity to say thanks again to all Vietnam veterans.  Our members  feel  this a great memorial and tribute to Sgt. Batt, and we are happy that his remains have been returned home and his family finally has closure.”

The school will be constructed in Gia Do village, located in the northwest flat region of Trieu Phong district. Dedication is tentatively scheduled for April 29, 2006. “Gia Do a town where the two main rivers of Quang Tri province, the Thach Han and Hieu, meet each other,” related McBroom. “We thought that was pretty special, since Defiance is also the place where two rivers meet.”

The village currently has 398 households with 1,980 residents. The average annual household income is the equivalent of $795 in U.S. currency. “Due to the undeveloped economy, the local people have no chance to invest on welfare infrastructure, especially elementary schools,” noted McBroom. “The village has 135 children at early elementary school age divided into four classes, in which two classes are temporarily using the cooperative house and its storehouse. These conditions do not meet the demands of learning and child safety.”

Batt’s plane disappeared March 16, 1969, on a flying mission in Vietnam. He was declared missing in action until Aug. 31, 1978, when the Army declared him legally dead. His remains were identified earlier this year, and his funeral and burial were held in Defiance on July 25. 

“We want to thank all the veterans groups, fraternal organizations and members of the public for their amazing support of this project,” said Wiseman. “We literally had contributions coming in from all over the country.”

“I’m very happy about how this community came together on this effort in such a short time period,”  commented Soliz.   “This school, which will be located in the same general area where Mike’s plane went down, it will be a lasting memorial to him.”

“I have never experienced such direct involvement with a fund-raiser, so I really didn’t know what to expect,” added Reed. “I was overwhelmed by the support for this effort. Thanks to all the organizations, community members, and people across the nation who made contributions in Mike’s memory.”

The money was raised through the DOVE (Development of Vietnam Endeavors) Fund, a Toledo-based nonprofit corporation founded by several Vietnam veterans and other concerned individuals in 2000.  Since that time, the organization has built more than 20 schools, three water systems and two daycare centers in Quang Tri province, among the poorest and hardest hit in the war.

“All the money raised will go directly for the school,” said McBroom. “All administrative and travel expenses to Vietnam are covered personally by the individuals involved.”  McBroom said several area veterans, including some from Defiance, will be among those making the trip to Vietnam next spring.  “Reservations have already been made for 32 people,” he said. “They will be there supervising and acting as goodwill ambassadors. The actual construction will be done by the Vietnamese people.”  The project had the endorsement of Batt’s twin sister, Mary Wagner, who donated to the school fund all monies received in memory of her brother which were not specifically earmarked for another purpose.

A group of local Vietnam veterans and friends of the late Sgt. Michael Batt have raised over $28,000 in less than four months to build a school in Vietnam in his memory. A $10,000 contribution from VFW Post 3360 put the group over their goal. Shown here celebrating the successful campaign are, from Left: Tom Reed, Denny McBroom, Juan "Tiny" Soliz, and Tom Wiseman.  Karen Sierer/C-N Photo.

SFC Michael Lero Batt  Army Service Number: 299401345

Last Known Activity Report:

Unit: Headquarters Company, United States Army, Vietnam.

Staff Sergeant Michael Lero Batt was a member of Headquarters Company, United States Army, Vietnam. On March 16, 1969, he was a passenger in a Beech Ute Utility Aircraft (U-21) going from Qui Nhon to Hue, South Vietnam. Bad weather caused the loss of contact and the plane crashed. Province; Military Region 1 Thua Thien SOUTH EAST ASIA - GRID COORDINATES;161357N 1074448EYD760241

On 16 March 1969 the Command Aviation Company, 210th Aviation Battalion, was tasked with flying a routine logistics mission which originated at Long Thanh with several scheduled stops enroute Hue/Phu Bai and return. The aircraft assigned was a UC-21A aircraft (tail number 66-18007). The trip was uneventful through its first scheduled stops. At Long Binh passengers Major Marvin L. Foster, SP4 Michael Batt, and PFC Raymond Bobe boarded the aircraft for transportation to Hue. The aircraft went from Long Binh to Qui Nhon, where two passengers deplaned, and departed for Hue/Phu Bai.

Although the weather was good on departure from Qui Nhon it deteriorated as the flight approached Danang and the crew requested an instrument flight plan to Hue with radar flight following. Although Danang had radio and radar contact with the UC-21, radio contact was lost when the crew was directed to change frequency to Hue Approach and radar contact was lost shortly thereafter (not unexpectedly, since there's a 5000-foot mountain range between the two places). The official reports do not indicate that Hue/Phu Bai ever established contact with the UC-21. Although search and rescue efforts were begun when the aircraft failed to arrive on time, an airborne search had to await improvement in the weather and were unsuccessful in finding any evidence of the aircraft or its crew and passengers.

The five men aboard were classed as "Missing" and were continued in that category until the Secretary of the Army approved Presumptive Findings of Death on the dates shown below:

• Aircrew, Cmd Avn Co, 210th Avn Bn, 12th Avn Grp, 1 Avn Bde
  • CPT Charles R. Barnes, Fullerton, PA (08/24/1976)
  • CPT David R. Smith, Dayton, OH (10/15/1973)
• HQ Company, US Army Vietnam
  • LTC Marvin L. Foster, Hubbard, TX (10/10/1978)
  • SFC Raymond E. Bobe, Tarrant, AL (11/06/1978)
  • SSG Michael L. Batt, Defiance, OH (08/31/1978)

The Beech U21A was a low-wing, twin engine executive aircraft used primarily for liaison flights for staff-level personnel that served with the Pacific Air Forces in Vietnam. The US Army also used it as a personnel and light cargo transport before it was reassigned to Air America, the CIA airline in Southeast Asia.

On 16 March 1969, Capt. David R. Smith, pilot; and Capt. Charles Barnes, co-pilot; comprised the crew of a U21A on a morning administrative flight that departed Qui Nhon enroute to Hue/Phu Bai Airfield, Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam. Also aboard were three passengers: SP4 Michael L. Batt and PFC Raymond E. Bobe who were assigned to Liaison Detachment, Headquarters US Army, Vietnam; and Major Marvin L. Foster who was on temporary assignment to Liaison Detachment, Headquarters, US Army, Vietnam.

During this mission, the aircrew was required to navigate by using only instruments rather than visual flight due to low cloud ceilings, poor visibility and rain showers. The U21A was scheduled to land at 1015 hours. As it approached Hue/Phu Bai Airfield on schedule, it was picked up by radar. The control tower approved Capt. Smith for an immediate landing from southwest to northeast instead of having them enter the traffic pattern with other aircraft that were preparing to land. According to personnel on the ground who were waiting to pick up Major Foster, SP4 Batt and PFC Bobe; the U21A came in too fast and could not stop before running out of runway. Capt. Smith and Capt. Barnes added power to take off and the aircraft was observed pulling up and to the right in order to enter the airfield's landing traffic pattern. Unfortunately, the U21A disappeared before it could come around for a second landing attempt.

After the Hue/Phu Bai tower lost contact with the U21A, all standard emergency radio frequencies were used, but radio operations were also limited by the bad weather. Search and rescue (SAR) efforts were immediately initiated, but were also hampered by the weather. SAR personnel were unsuccessful in locating any trace of the down aircraft, or its crew and passengers. At the time formal search efforts were terminated, Raymond E. Bobe; Marvin L. Foster; David R. Smith; Michael L. Batt and Charles R. Barnes were listed Missing in Action.

The aircraft's last known position placed it on the north side of the rugged jungle mountains located approximately 10 miles south of the Hue/Phu Bai airfield, 6 miles southwest of Highway 1 and the railroad line that ran alongside the highway. It was also 2 miles east of a second major road running north/south that branched off of Highway 1 about 5 miles south of the airfield.

From: Harrison (Arkansas) Daily Times

August 22, 2005