Note: Promoted while in POW status Captain
Incident Date: 05/10/1972Casualty Date: 05/10/1972Remains: 1972 status: Body Not Recovered. Found later.Repatriated: 04/10/1986 (Returned to US soil)Identified: 11/07/1986
Commander Harry L. Blackburn Jr. was a pilot assigned to Fighter Squadron 92 onboard the USS CONSTELLATION. On May 10, 1972 he launched with his radar intercept officer (RIO), Lt. Stephen A. Rudloff in their F4J Phantom fighter aircraft. They were assigned on a flak suppression mission against the Guan Lang Airfield near Hai Duong, Hai Hung Province, North Vietnam.
After effectively hitting two anti-aircraft positions, Cdr. Blackburn was in the process of engaging enemy MiG aircraft when his plane was hit by ground fire and he and Rudloff were forced to eject from the aircraft. Both cremen were seen by other aircraft to safely eject with good parachutes, and were seen to land on the ground several hundred yards apart.

Blackburn and Rudloff were initially placed in a category of Missing in Action, which was later changed to captured (POW). Rudloff was released as a POW in 1973, but Blackburn was not, nor did his name appear on any list provided by the Vietnamese. The U.S. does not classify persons as prisoner of war without reason, and doubtless received intelligence to confirm the capture of both men.

When Rudloff was released, he reported that he was taken prisoner and locked in a room in a nearby compound. The night of his capture, Rudloff heard a vehicle drive up to the building and saw a light go on in the room next to his. Next, he heard a noise which he described as a "hand slapping a face".

Thinking the man in the next room might be Blackburn, he began to shout, but was immediately hushed by the guards. The light in the next room was then turned off and the vehicle drove away. Rudloff believes this is the last contact he had with his pilot. The Defense Department furthe notes "POSS DED R085 RPTS ALGD SUICI", which translates to "Possibly dead. R085 (Rudloff) reports alleged suicide." There is no reference to this data remark in public U.S. Navy records. In 1973, returning POWs reported seeing Blackburn's name scawled on the walls of their cells. Hanoi denied any knowledge of Harry Blackburn.

April 10, 1986, the Vietnamese returned remains they had "discovered" which were positively identified as being those of Harry Blackburn. For 14 years, he was a prisoner of war -- alive or dead. It is unclear how or when Blackburn died.

Blackburn, Harry Lee, Jr., CAPT