Charles Irvin Stanley – Chief Warrant Officer, United States Army

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Charles Irvin Stanley was born on September 25, 1946 and joined the Armed
Forces while in Cleveland, Ohio.

He served in the United States Army, 282nd Aviation Company, 212th Aviation Battalion, 1st Air Cavalry Division, and attained the rank of Chief Warrant Officer 3.

Charles Irvin Stanley is listed as Missing in Action.

Also see the crew file.

STANLEY, CHARLES IRVIN
Remains Identification announcement: 2 August 2002

  • Name: Charles Irvin Stanley
  • Rank/Branch: W1/US Army
  • Unit: 282nd Aviation Company, 212th Aviation Battalion, 16th Aviation Group,
  • 1st Aviation Brigade
  • Date of Birth: 25 September 1946
  • Home City of Record: Cleveland Ohio
  • Date of Loss: 06 February 1969
  • Country of Loss: South Vietnam
  • Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
  • Category: 4
  • Acft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H

Other Personnel In Incident: Robert C. O’Hara; Ronald D. Briggs; David E. Padgett; Eugene F. Christiansen; Donald E. Parsons (all missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 1990 from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Updated by the P.O.W.

SYNOPSIS:

On February 6, 1969, Chief Warrant Officer 2 Charles I. Stanley, pilot; First Lieutenatn David E. Padgett, aircraft commander; Specialist 5 Robert C. O’Hara, crew chief; Private First Class Eugene F. Christiansen, door gunner; Lieutenant Colonel Donald E. Parsons, First Lieutenant Ronald D. Briggs, and Major Vu Vanh Phao, ARVN, all passengers, were aboard a UH1H (serial #67-17499) on a resupply mission in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam.

While in route from Landing Zone Vandergrift to LZ Tornado, Lieutenant Padget contacted the LZ Tornado radio operator at about 1100 hours and stated that due to poor weather conditions and poor visibility, the flight was returning to LZ Vandergrift.

At that time, the radio operator at LZ Tornado could hear the helicopter northeast of his location, which sounded as if it were heading in a northerly direction. When the aircraft failed to return to LZ Vandergrift, a coordinated search and rescue operation was initiated and continued for seven consecutive days, finding nothing.

However, on the morning of February 7, Crown, an airborne control aircraft, reported receiving radio beeper signals several times from the general vicinity of where Lt. Padgett’s aircraft was last reported. The beeper signals were estimated to emanate from that general direction. The source of the signals was never  determined.

The area in which the aircraft was estimated to go down has been dubbed “Antenna Valley” and is located west of Cam Lo and on the backside of Camp Carrol. The area was occupied by NVA regulars, and was never cleared. On-site search was not possible at that time.

On September 4, 1969, an ARVN source reported that in August he had seen Colonel Parsons, Major Phao, Lieutenant Briggs, and four other unidentified American POWs in a hospital in Laos. The U.S. Army determined that the four unidentified Americans could possibly be Christiansen, Stanley, Padgett and O’Hara.

On July 5, 1972, an NVA rallier reported seeing two caucasian POWs in the vicinity of a T-35 commo-liaison station on the 499th infiltration corridor in Laos. The two POWs were being taken to North Vietnam. This information was tentatively correlated to Lieutenant Padgett and Private Christiansen.

In September 1970, Colonel Parson’s wife and friends identified him in a North Vietnamese film of a protestant service in a POW environment. CW2 Stanley’s mother made a tentative identification of her son in the same film.

In December 1979, an alleged “gun-runner”, Sean O’Toolis reported that he had the fingerprints of Robert O’Hara, and that O’Hara was at that time being held south of Hanoi near Bong Song. O’Toolis’ information was summarily dismissed by the U.S. Government and he was thoroughly discredited, thus it is not clear how much credence can be given to his information.

The reports relating to the crew of the UH1H that went down on February 6, 1969 are typical of the over 10,000 reports received by the U.S. Government relating to Americans prisoner, missing or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia. After reviewing “several million documents” and conducting “over 250,000 interviews” the USG has been unable to state categorically that Americans are still alive.

Many authorities, however, including a former Director of Defense Intelligence Agency, have reluctantly concluded that there are many Americans still held against their will in Southeast Asia.

Families who receive these reports are especially tortured. With no means to prove or disprove them, the tormen is indescribable. When they turn to their government, they are usually met with the “mindset to debunk” described by one high official in Congressional hearings. When they approach Vietnam, they are told the person they seek is unknown to them. Yet the reports continue to flow in, month after month, year after year. And year after year, families wait.

PROJECT X
SUMMARY SELECTION RATIONALE

NAMES: 

  • BRIGGS, Ronald D., First Lieutenant, USA
  • CHRISTIANSEN, Eugene F., Private First Class, USA
  • O’HARA, Robert C., Specialist 5, USA
  • PARSONS, Donald E., Lieuteant Colonel, USA
  • PADGETT, David E., First Lieutenant, USA
  • STANLEY, Charles I., CW2, USA
  • OFFICIAL STATUS: BRIGGS: DEAD, BODY NOT RECOVERED
  • CHRISTIANSEN: MISSING
  • O’HARA: MISSING
  • PARSONS: DEAD, BODY NOT RECOVERED
  • PADGETT: MISSING
  • STANLEY: MISSING
  • CASE SUMMARY: SEE ATTACHED

RATIONALE FOR SELECTION:

All of these individuals were lost in one helicopter incident. There are two correlated intelligence reports describing four of them, and two of the individuals were identified by family and friends in a North Vietnamese film. There have been no
confirmations of death on any of these men since the incident date.

REFNO: 1372 20 Apr 76

(U) CASE SUMMARY

1. On 6 February 1969 CW2 Charles I. Stanley, pilot, First Lieutenant David E. Padgett, aircraft commander, Lieutnant Colonel Donald E. Parsons, First Lieutenant Ronald D. Briggs, and Major Vu Vann Phao (ARVN), passengers, SP5 Robert C. O’Hara, crewchief, and Private First Lieutenant Eugene F. Christiansen, gunner, were aboard a UH1H helicopter, (#67-17499), on a resupply mission in South Vietnam.

At about 1100 hours, while enroute from Landing Zone ((LZ) Vandgrift to LZ Tornado, First Lieutenant Padgett contacted the LZ Tornado radio operator, and stated that due to poor weather conditions and poor visibility the flight was returning to LZ Vandgrift. At that time the radio operator at LZ Torando could hear the helicopter northeast of his location, which sounded as though it was heading- in a northerly direction. When the aircraft failed to return to LZ Vandgrift a coordinated search and rescue operation was initiated and continued for a period of seven consecutive days, finding nothing. However, on the morning, of 7 February, R-Crown, (an airborne control aircraft), reported receiving radio beeper signals several times from the – general vicinity of where Lieutenant Padgett’s aircraft was last reported. The beeper signals were estimated to eminate from a point– near grid coordinates (GC) YD 170 300. (The incident coordinates are listed in JCRC files as YD 182 212).

2. On 4 September 1969 an ARVN source reported that in August he had seen
Colonel Parsons, Major Phao, Lieutenant Briggs, and four other unidentified American POW’s at a hospital in Laos. (The four unidentified POW’s possibly were Private Christiansen, CW2 Stanley, Lieutenant Padgett and Specialist 5 O’Hara).

3. On 5 July 1972 an NVA rallier reported seeing two Caucasian POW’s in the
vicinity of a T-35 Commo-Liaison station on the 599th Infiltration Corridor in Laos (UTM coordinates unknown). The two POW’s were being taker to North Vietnam. (Information in this report possibly correlates -To LT. Padgett and PFC Christiansen).

4. Colonel Parsons’ spouse and friends identified him in a North Vietnamese film of a Protestant Service in September 1970. CW2 Stanley’s mother made a tentative identification of her son in the same film.

5. During the existence of JCRC, the limited information available precluded any efforts toward the resolution of this case. These individuals’ names and identifying data were turned over to the Four-Party Joint Military Team with a request for any information available. No response was forthcoming. Lieutenant Briggs and Colonel  Parsons are currently carried in the presumptive status of Dead, Body Not  Reecovered. CW2 Stanley, lLT Padgett, PFC Christiansen and SP5 O’Hara are currently carried in the status of Missing.

ASSOCIATED INDIVIDUALS
1. Ronald D. Briggs 1372-0-01
2. Eugene F. Christiansen 1372-0-02
3. Robert C. O’Hara 1372-0-03
4. Donald E. Parsons 1372-0-04
5. David E. Padgett 1372-0-05
6. Charles I. Stanley 1372-0-06
* National Alliance of Families Home Page

Associated Press Newswires
Thursday, August 1, 2002

Remains of Ohio casualty in Vietnam identified

The remains of an Ohio soldier and two other U.S. servicemen missing since the Vietnam War have been identified, the Pentagon said Thursday.

Chief Warrant Officer Charles Stanley of Cleveland disappeared Feb. 6, 1969,
while flying aboard a UH-1H helicopter on an emergency supply mission in Vietnam.

Stanley and Sgt. 1st Class Eugene F. Christiansen of Barstow, Calif., were part of the crew on a flight that radioed that it was returning to base due to poor weather. Stanley was 23 at the time.

The flight never returned and no wreckage was found in the immediate search. Investigators, working with cooperation of the Vietnamese government and information from local residents, collected remains, personal artifacts and aircraft debris in the Quang Tri province in 1993, 1995 and 1996.

Stanley’s remains were identified through comparison of DNA genetic material from the blood of a female relative and his bone or teeth, said Larry Greer, a spokesman for the Department of Defense POW/MIA Office in Washington, D.C.

The identification was made at the Army Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii.

The remains of Christiansen and a passenger, Lieutenant Colonel Donald Eugene Parsons of Sparta, Illinois, also were identified. The remains of three others remain unidentified.

Stanley was born in Cleveland and attended suburban Mayfield High School and Ohio State University. He joined the Army in 1968.

The Pentagon said the remains would be returned to the families.

Stanley’s brother, Ron Stanley, said Thursday night that a funeral service is planned for September 6, 2002, at Arlington National Cemetery. No other memorial service is planned.

“There is a certain sense of relief. We can finally get some closure after 33 years,” he said.

25 June 2006:

Arlington National Cemetery is the final resting place for those who have died defending freedom.

Ron Stanley has not returned to Arlington National Cemetery to view the grave where his brother, Charles, was buried nearly four years ago.

But he is comforted by the notion that Charles, a helicopter pilot and chief warrant officer in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War, is right where he would want to be.

“He was a soldier, and that’s what he would have wanted,” said Stanley, 50, who lives in Highland Heights.

“It’s a place for America’s heroes.”

Located just across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., the 600-acre cemetery is the final resting place of heroes from every battle the United States has fought from the Revolutionary War right  up through the ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is also the site where American Presidents John F. Kennedy and William Howard Taft were buried, as well as home to the Tomb of the Unknowns. In all, more than 300,000 people have been buried at Arlington, according to the cemetery.

U.S. Marine Sergeant Mark T. Smykowski of Mentor joined this prestigious list of heroes Tuesday when he was given full military burial honors at the historic cemetery.

“I think there’s a certain kinship among those who have lost somebody in battle,” Stanley said of seeing another buried at Arlington.

“I feel a tremendous amount of empathy for those people. I know exactly what it did to my family. I certainly have a sense of the potential of what it has done to their family.”

Determining just how many people from Northeast Ohio are buried at Arlington is a difficult process.

The cemetery does not track data by state or region, and Lake County Veterans Service Commission Director Jonathan R. Warmeling is not aware of any local sources that would have such information.

With records that date back to 1864, the cemetery has embarked on a plan to modernize Arlington’s system of maintaining more-accessible records of who is buried at the cemetery.

The locations of grave markers are tracked so family and friends can visit specific graves, said Lori Calvillo, public affairs officer at Arlington.

Ron Stanley admits that Arlington’s distance from Northeast Ohio presents a challenge in visiting the grave site. Stanley was buried at Arlington in September 2002, 33 years after he was declared missing following a helicopter crash Feb. 6, 1969, in South Vietnam.

His remains were not officially identified until 2000.

“I do take a lot of comfort that he’s in Arlington,” Stanley said. “We felt his sacrifice warranted that level of a service. There’s a certain level of honor associated with being buried at Arlington.”

Korean War veteran and Geneva Township resident Melvin E. Deems said the cemetery represents a constant reminder to the American public of the price of freedom.

“All gave some, and some gave all,” said Deems, an airman first class in the U.S. Air Force and quartermaster at Geneva Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6846.

“They’re not going to be forgotten.”

Each November, Deems and the other members of Vin Saki Pup Tent No. 68 travel to Arlington to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns. A pup tent is an honor group of veterans who become part of the group by invitation only, Deems said.

“It’s a fun organization, but it’s a very serious thing that they do,” Deems said.

The group goes to Veterans Administration hospitals, nursing homes – “wherever a veteran is,” Deems said, to offer support to fellow brothers in military service.

Lately, the post has been saying goodbye to many of those brothers, he said.

“It seems like almost every other day, we’re going over and burying people,” Deems said.

Deems has not presided over a burial at Arlington.

“It would be an honor, but the big honor to me would be to have a color guard lay you to rest,” Deems said.
As for Arlington, the cemetery is undergoing an expansion project that will enable it to extend funeral operations until 2060, Calvillo said.

“Iraq and Afghanistan really haven’t raised the numbers, but the World War II veterans have,” Calvillo said.

cistanley-funeral01
Ronald Stanley, brother of Chief Warrant Officer Charles Stanley of Cleveland, Ohio, accepts a U.S. flag that had draped the casket of Charles Stanley, from Lieutenant Colonel James May, right, during funeral services at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, Friday, September 6, 2002. Stanley disappeared February 6, 1969, while flying aboard a helicopter on an emergency supply mission in Vietnam.

cistanley-valentines-day-2006

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