Bill Text: PA HR448 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Honoring the life of United States Air Force Major Thomas Edward Clark, who was killed in action on February 8, 1969, during a Vietnam combat mission over Laos.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)

Status: (Passed) 2011-10-18 - Adopted (198-0) [HR448 Detail]

Download: Pennsylvania-2011-HR448-Introduced.html

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PRINTER'S NO. 2526
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE RESOLUTION
No. 448 Session of2011
INTRODUCED BY CREIGHTON AND CAUSER, OCTOBER 12, 2011
INTRODUCED AS NONCONTROVERSIAL RESOLUTION UNDER RULE 35, OCTOBER 12, 2011
A RESOLUTION
Honoring the life of United States Air Force Major Thomas Edward
Clark, who was killed in action on February 8, 1969, during a
Vietnam combat mission over Laos.
WHEREAS, Thomas Edward Clark was born on April 15, 1939, in
Emporium, to Josephine and Otto Clark and graduated from the
United States Air Force Academy in 1963; and
WHEREAS, On February 8, 1969, as a captain in the United
States Air Force, Thomas Clark was flying an F-100D aircraft of
the 416th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 37th Tactical Fight Wing,
out of Phu Cat Air Base, Vietnam, along with three other
aircraft on a combat mission over Laos; and
WHEREAS, The flight, controlled by an F-4 Forward Air
Controller, engaged a 23 millimeter anti-aircraft artillery
(AAA) battery in the vicinity of grid coordinates 48Q XD 177
598; and
WHEREAS, Captain Clark's aircraft was hit by rounds from the
AAA battery, burst into flames and crashed; and
WHEREAS, No parachute was observed and aircraft in the area
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conducted visual and electronic searches with negative results;
and
WHEREAS, Approximately one hour after the crash, a voice
transmission, reportedly Asian, was received on an emergency
frequency but no evidence suggested that this transmission was
related to Captain Clark's loss nor was the location of the
transmission's origin discernible; and
WHEREAS, Subsequently, the United States Air Force determined
that Captain Clark was killed in action (KIA), unrecovered (BNR)
and posthumously promoted him to the rank of major; and
WHEREAS, On February 12, 1991, a joint United States and Lao
People's Democratic Republic team investigated the crash of
Major Clark's F-100D; and
WHEREAS, In late 1991, a Thai citizen turned over human
remains and a military identification tag bearing Captain
Clark's name to United States officials in Thailand, but the
human remains were determined to not be those of Major Clark;
and
WHEREAS, Excavations of the crash site in 1992 and 2005 were
unsuccessful in recovering Major Clark's remains; and
WHEREAS, From October 14 to 20, 2009, another joint team
excavation recovered a human tooth which, after extensive
examination, was identified as belonging to Major Clark; and
WHEREAS, The Clark family was notified in June 2011 that the
remains of Major Clark would be returned to his family, and
arrangements have been made to bury the remains in Emporium on
October 22, 2011, in the family plot with his father and mother;
and
WHEREAS, The investigative efforts of the joint excavation
teams testify poignantly to the heroic service given to this
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nation by this courageous flyer during the Vietnam Conflict and
to this Commonwealth's duty to honor his life in death;
therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives honor the life of
United States Air Force Major Thomas Edward Clark, who was
killed in action on February 8, 1969, during a Vietnam combat
mission over Laos.
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