| Date: 29 April 1965 |
| Aircraft type: RF-101C Voodoo |
| Serial Number: 56-0190 |
| Military Unit: 15 TRS, 18 TFW on TDY |
| Service: USAF |
| Home Base: Udorn |
| Name(s): |
| Capt Charles Ervin Shelton (POW (died)) |
| Capt Shelton was flying a BDA photographic reconnaissance mission over northern Laos with a wingman, when he was shot down. The first target was obscured by low cloud so Capt Shelton went on to the next target near Sam Neua, the headquarters of the Pathet Lao forces. As the two aircraft approached Sam Neua at 3,000 feet Capt Shelton’s Voodoo (call sign Wolf 20) was hit by ground fire and burst into flames. The Captain ejected safely and about two hours later he was seen by two rescue aircraft and contacted by radio. An attempted rescue by helicopter before dark had to be postponed because of bad weather. Shelton told his rescuers that he would hide from the Pathet Lao and await a break in the weather when a rescue could take place. Unfortunately, it was not until 2 May that the weather again became suitable for rescue aircraft to try again. Despite a total of 148 sorties by a variety of USAF and Air America aircraft and the insertion of a team of Hmong guerillas, no sign of Shelton was ever seen.
Capt Shelton had been captured by the Pathet Lao after three days in hiding. According to intelligence sources he was thought to have been kept prisoner in caves in the Sam Neua area for the next three and a half years. He is also said to have made several escape attempts and to have killed three of his captors in the process. Later, Shelton was thought to have been kept with another American POW, Capt D L Hrdlicka. Apparently, at least four rescue attempts took place in which ground teams were inserted into the Sam Neua area but without success. One of the rescue attempts is said to have involved Hmong tribesmen and actually succeeded in freeing Shelton and Hrdlicka only to have to return them to captivity when the rescue force encountered a force of NVA soldiers. Stories about Shelton’s continued captivity continued to circulate long after the war in Southeast Asia came to an end. Allegedly, Shelton was held in a POW camp near Tchepone, Laos from 1981 to 1985 and was then taken to North Vietnam. For many years he remained the only American POW who had not been declared dead by the US Government, despite the length of his absence. The USA does not recognise the communist government in Laos and consequently has not negotiated for the return of POWs from Laos. As late as August 1987 a new story claimed that Shelton was still alive in captivity. Sadly, it was all too much for his wife, Marian, who for 25 years had steadfastly campaigned for her husband’s release. On 4 October 1990 Marian Shelton took her own life, as much a victim of the war in Southeast Asia as was her husband. Charles Shelton was officially declared killed in action in September 1994. |
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