Remains of US Air Crew Lost Over Laos in Vietnam War Identified

In this June 1970 file photo, taken by Associated Press photographer Huynh Cong
In this June 1970 file photo, taken by Associated Press photographer Huynh Cong "Nick" Ut, south Vietnamese Marines rush to the point where descending U.S. Army helicopter will pick them up after a sweep east of the Cambodian town of Prey-Veng during the Vietnam War. It only took a second for Associated Press Photographer Huynh Cong "Nick" Ut to snap the iconic black-and-white image of Phan Thi Kim Phuc after a napalm attack in 1972, but it communicated the horrors of the Vietnam War in a way words could never describe. Nick Ut / Associated Press

WASHINGTON — The remains of three air crew members who were lost during a resupply mission over Laos during the Vietnam War have been identified, more than 47 years after they were killed.

In October 1997, a Joint U.S.-Lao People’s Democratic Republic team received information about a possible crash site. In late 2017, recovery teams found possible human remains and personal items. Further testing identified the three men:

—Pilot George L. Ritter, 49, of Philadelphia.

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—Co-pilot Roy F. Townley, 52, of Ontario, California.

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—Edward J. Weissenback, 29, of Richmond Hill, Queens, New York.

The three were on an Air America flight for the U.S. Agency for International Development, flying from Thailand to Xaignabouli Province, Laos. It went down on Dec. 27, 1971, near Syaboury, Laos. A search for the crew was unsuccessful.