Scotty Greiling’s Final Mission.

David "Scotty" Greiling - VA-82

On July 24, 1968, with over 30 strike missions and three Air Medals to his credit, Scotty Greiling once again soared into the night skies.  He launched his A-7A as the flight leader of a two-plane team.  Potential targets included activity along Route 22, a well-traveled feeder into the Ho Chi Minh Trail, North Vietnam’s main supply line.

Walt Moser would be flying as Greiling’s wingman.  “Launch and flight into the beginning point of our mission was normal and routine,” Moser explained.  “Crossing the coast, we turned off our lights, and I took up a position two to three miles behind Scotty, as this was the optimal formation for making quick attacks at night.

“…He called, ‘rolling in,’ and about ten seconds later, I rolled in as well.  Right after I got my aiming pipper on the target, I observed a large explosion approximately 20 degrees to the right of my nose.  I saw only one explosion, and observed no anti-aircraft fire or ejection seat rocket being deployed.  Thinking this explosion was his bombs impacting, I made a mental note that he hit right and a bit long.  I continued my attack and released all my weapons on the trucks.  From his impact to my release was only about five or six seconds.  Immediately after my release, I began my climb out and recognized that something did not appear right.  There were no multiple explosions observed as there would have been had he released his bombs.  I also did not hear him call ‘OFF’ as was standard.

“I immediately radioed him and got no response.  I tried several times, then went to our backup radio frequency, all with no response.

“…I was overhead the burning wreckage within three minutes and began calling for Scotty to come up on his emergency radio.  He did not respond, nor did he respond at anytime during the next hour or so.  I made several low passes over the burning wreckage.  But due to the darkness and the mountainous terrain, I was unable to get close enough to see anything.  With my fuel almost depleted, I turned over the SAR to another flight of aircraft and returned to the carrier.”  The Navy made note of the burning area as a probable crash site and listed Greiling as missing in action.

In the summer of 1969, a full year after Greiling’s plane went down, an intelligence report rekindled hope.  A Polish merchant seaman had visited a bar in the North Vietnamese port of Haiphong.  Displayed on one of the club’s walls were 75-100 small photographs of captured American pilots, held as prisoners of war.  The names and photographs were taken from the aviators’ ID cards, carried on their persons.  In Vietnamese, each photo was labeled with the pilot’s name, plus the date and province in which he was shot down.  Before being stopped, the young sailor copied the data pertaining to 30 Americans.  Among those listed was David S. Greiling—“Guy-Link Day-Vit S. 24-7-68 Ha Tinh.”  With this information, the Navy switched Greiling’s status from MIA to POW.

The Greilings viewed 1973’s release of American POWs, Operation Homecoming, with guarded optimism.  Of the 30 names, copied by the Polish seaman, 28 were set free that day.  The 29th was a confirmed “died while in captivity,” with the remains repatriated at a later date.  The 30th name belonged to Commander Greiling.  There was no word regarding him.

The search for Scotty would continue over the next twenty-five years.  The process evolved from diplomatic negotiations, to eyewitness interviews, to multiple excavations of the crash site.

In 1993, Greiling’s name was bumped from the remaining 135 priority “last known alive” (LKA) discrepancy cases.  In 1995, the Department of Defense concluded “that his (Greiling’s) remains are not recoverable.”  Official transmissions have since waned to a trickle.

“You always have hope,” Greiling’s sister, Gail Wickersham confessed.  “But after so many years, like Dad once said, we almost have faith that he’s dead, rather than think of the alternative.  …My brother was such a very nice person—patriotic, idealistic, always doing what he thought was right.  …We’d hate to think that he had to live through this, suffer all these years.”

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