CLARK NV Archives Obituaries.....[SKIVINGTON, William E., Jr. 5/1968]
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Patricia A. Scott  legacy@comnett.net [12/22/2006]

 
            IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 1306-06
            December 22, 2006 
     

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      Soldiers Missing in Action from Vietnam War are Identified


      The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) 
announced today that the remains of two U.S. servicemen, missing in action 
from the Vietnam War, have been identified and will be returned to their 
families for burial with full military honors.

      They are Maj. Frederick J. Ransbottom, of Oklahoma City, Okla.; and 
Staff Sgt. William E. Skivington Jr.; of Las Vegas, Nev.; both U.S. Army. 
Ransbottom will be buried in Edmond, Okla. on Jan. 13, and Skivington 
will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C., on Jan. 23.

      Representatives from the Army met with the next-of-kin of these men 
to explain the recovery and identification process, and to coordinate interment 
with military honors on behalf of the Secretary of the Army.

      On May 12, 1968, North Vietnamese forces overran the Kham Duc Special 
Forces camp and its surrounding observation posts in Quang Nam-Da Nang 
Province (formerly Quang Tin Province), South Vietnam. Ransbottom and 
Skivington were two of the 17 U.S. servicemen unaccounted-for after the 
survivors evacuated the camp. Search and recovery efforts at the site in 
1970 succeeded in recovering remains of five of the 17 men. A sixth man 
was returned alive during Operation Homecoming in 1973 after having 
been captured and held prisoner of war by the North Vietnamese.

      Between 1993 and 2006, joint U.S./Socialist Republic of Vietnam teams, 
led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), conducted eight 
investigations and four excavations in the vicinity of the camp site. The team 
interviewed former North Vietnamese officers and soldiers who participated 
in the battle. Some recalled seeing the bodies of U.S. servicemen near one of 
the observation posts, and U.S. eyewitness accounts placed Ransbottom and 
Skivington near the post.

      During an excavation conducted in 1998, two U.S. servicemen who survived 
the battle accompanied JPAC to help locate the observation posts, but found no 
evidence of human remains. Later excavations conducted in the area yielded 
human remains, identification media and personal effects for Ransbottom, 
Skivington and several other soldiers.

      Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, 
scientists from JPAC also used dental comparisons in the identification of the
 remains.

      For additional information on the Defense Department's mission to account 
for missing Americans, visit the DPMO Web site at www.dtic.mil/dpmo or 
call (703) 699-1169.