There was no mention as to whether the remains of Lt. Commander Thomas Edwin Scheurich, the other naval aviator in the A-6, were also found. It is not clear which one was the pilot and which was the bombardier-navigator. Online references refer to both as pilots.
I thought of this after I made the original post. I don't know why I never got around to updating it to include Lt. Commander Scheurich. I would hope that his remains would be recovered as well. I appreciate your bringing that up, because it
is an unanswered question right now. I should have searched deeper.
I wish that the linked articles had provided more details on that last flight, now that the Lt. Lannom has been located. The CBS story is rather light on details.
This source (click the link) provides a good bit more detail, and states that Lt. Commander Scheurich was, in fact, the pilot on that ill fated mission, and that the A-6 was brought down by ground fire.
A brief quote from that report:
"Scheurich's and Lannom's aircraft was evidently hit by ground fire and went down about 55 miles southeast of Haiphong in the Gulf of Tonkin."
The CBS story was light on details undoubtedly because they were focusing on the human interest aspects of this, not military details about an action that took place fifty years ago. Nothing unusual about that because that's how most mass media outlets would do it, even Lt. Lannom's hometown newspaper.
Lt. Commander Scheurich was posthumously promoted to Captain during the time they were reported as missing. Lannom was promoted to Lieutenant during the same time period.
Here are two photos of Lt. Commander Scheurich. The small family photo was made in 1967, shortly before he left for Vietnam.
He grew up near Norfolk, Virginia. Here is a small biographical note taken from the
Norfolk Daily News:
"Scheurich and his siblings - James, Betty and Beverly - grew up on the family farm near Norfolk with their parents, the late Edwin and Margurite Scheurich.
After graduating from Norfolk Junior College in 1953, Scheurich entered pre-flight Naval Ari School in Pensacola, Fla. He was later stationed in Texas and Monterey, Calif., where he earned his bachelor's degree. He married the former Eileen Curtin in 1958.
By the time the United States became involved in the Vietnam War, Scheurich had qualified to fly the A-6 Grumman Intruder all-weather night attack jet. Even though he was 35 years old, he applied for active duty in Vietnam.
He served on the USS Intrepid and Independence and in late 1967 was deployed on board the USS Enterprise to the Gulf of Tonkin. On March 1, 1968, he took off for a mission against a target 45 miles northeast of Haiphong - one of North Vietnam's busiest ports - and was never seen or heard from again."
Thanks again for bringing up Lt. Commander Scheurich and sort of goading me into digging deeper into the incident...something I should have done to begin with.
The additional details are things worth knowing, I believe, and give us a better idea of the kind of men who died in that war.
