Name:	Noel Luis Rios
Rank/Branch:	Staff Sergeant/US Air Force
Unit:	15th Aerial Port Squadron  DaNang Airbase, South Vietnam
Date of Birth:	03 April 1941
Home of Record:	Newark, NJ
Date of Loss:	06 March 1969
Country of Loss:	South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates:	163659N 1064559E (XD933404)  Click coordinates to view  (4) maps
Status in 1973:	Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category:	4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground:	C123K "Provider"
Other Personnel in Incident:	William F. Anselmo (missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS:   Though it had been declared obsolete in 1956, the Fairchild C123 Provider, which was a converted WWII glider, became one of the mainstays of tactical airlift in the Vietnam War. In 1962 the Provider was fitted with special equipment to spray defoliants. Later, it was modified with a pair of J-85 jet engines that increased its payload carrying capability by nearly one third. The first of these modified C123s arrived at Tan Son Nhut on 25 April 1967, and this venerable old aircraft proved to be among the hardest working aircraft throughout Southeast Asia. The C123K differed from other C123 models in that it had the addition of auxiliary turbojet engines mounted in underwing pods. While this addition did little to increase the speed of the "Provider", it added greater power for quicker climbing on takeoff, and power for maintaining altitude.

On 6 March 1968, SSgt William F. Anselmo and SSgt Noel L. Rios were assigned the duty of traveling from their squadron at DaNang to Khe Sanh Airfield to repair a disabled aircraft. They were originally manifested on a C123K Provider, tail #662, mission #701, which was a direct flight to Khe Sanh. A second flight was scheduled for the same day, mission #702, which was to fly to Phu Bai Airfield first - some 39 miles northwest of DaNang - than on to Khe Sanh, Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam.

Mission #701 carried a cargo of ammunition for Khe Sanh. After it was delivered, the aircraft returned to DaNang. According to the loadmaster's log and PAC-AF form 112A, mission 701 carried only cargo, no passengers, as originally planned.

Mission #702 departed DaNang with its cargo for Phu Bai. After off-loading its cargo was accomplished, the aircraft was subsequently loaded with US Marines bound for Khe Sanh. Phu Bai's passenger representative assisted the aircraft's loadmaster in organizing various pallets loaded with passengers' gear, another set of pallets stacked with M-60 machine guns and other weapons, and more loaded with beer and soft drinks that were all to be delivered to Khe Sanh.

The passenger representative also saw the right steering mechanism part needed to repair the aircraft along with SSgt. Rios' and SSgt. Anselmo's tool box stowed near the rear door of the aircraft. While the equipment was known to be loaded aboard that aircraft, no one at Phu Bai could say with certainty if the two Air Force mechanics were actually aboard when it took off.

When the C123K, mission #702, departed Phu Bai Airfield, it carried a total of 57 manifested passengers and crew - 49 Marines, 1 Navy, 1 Civilian and 6 Air Force. The aircraft crashed into the extremely rugged jungle covered mountains just north of Khe Sanh near Route 9, and approximately 14 miles east of the South Vietnamese/Lao border killing all aboard. Shortly after the aircraft's loss, search and rescue (SAR) operations located the wreckage and began the grizzly task of recovering remains. Over the next few weeks, the remains of the 57 men known to be aboard the Provider were recovered from the crash site, identified and returned to their families. Only the remains of William Anselmo and Noel Rios were not recovered.

In the crash investigation that followed the loss of this aircraft, Air Force personnel determined that both William Anselmo and Noel Rios had excellent military records; that they were responsible, reliable and both men had performed similar repair missions to Khe Sanh in the past. Further, neither man was in any trouble what so ever and there was no reason to believe they might have been absent without leave. A check of Dong Ha Hospital, the mortuary detachments in the area and other bases/outposts was made, but no trace of either man could be found. At the time formal search efforts were terminated, both Noel Rios and William Anselmo were listed killed in Action/Body Not Recovered. However, what really happened to these men remains a mystery.

Since the end of the Vietnam War well over 21,000 reports of American prisoners, missing, and otherwise unaccounted for have been received by our government. Many of these reports document LIVE American POWs remaining captive throughout Southeast Asia TODAY.

Military men in Vietnam were called upon to fly and fight in many dangerous circumstances, and they were prepared to be wounded, killed or captured. It probably never occurred to them that they could be abandoned by the country they so proudly served.