  Name: Donald Clay MacLaughlin, Jr. Rank/Branch: O2/US Navy Unit: Attack Squadron 76, USS ENTERPRISE (CVAN 65) Date of Birth: 21 May 1941 Home City of Record: Baltimore MD Date of Loss: 02 January 1966 Country of Loss: South Vietnam Loss Coordinates: 144557N 1085157E (BS703334) Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered Category: 2 Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A4C Refno: 0227 The USS ENTERPRISE arrived on Yankee Station on December 2, 1965. By the end of her first week of combat operations, the ENTERPRISE had set a record of 165 combat sorties in a single day, surpassing the KITTY HAWK's 131. By the end of her first combat cruise, her air wing had flown over 13,000 combat sorties. LTJG Donald C. MacLaughlin, Jr. was a pilot assigned to Attack Squadron 76 onboard the USS ENTERPRISE. On January 2, 1966, MacLaughlin was flying as a wingman in an A-4C Skyhawk on a combat mission in South Vietnam. Weather in the target area was 2300-2600 feet overcast. Approximately 3 miles south of the target, visibility reduced to zero in fog. The flight leader made the first run and, after pulling off the target instructed the wingman to pull up and hold in a clear area. No acknowledgement was received. The leader made one more run then called again to MacLaughlin, but received no answer. The flight leader transmitted in blind to the rendezvous point after three orbits. The leader then alerted search and rescue (SAR) to look for his wingman. The search proved fruitless and the leader returned to ship. Later search efforts located wreckage that was widely dispersed indicating a shallow impact angle. Although small arms fire was reported in the target area, the cause of the accident was unknown. Search and rescue helicopters landed near the scene later that day, but crewmen were unable to locate the ejection seat or MacLaughlin. Search and rescue continued their search and the following day, located MacLaughlin's body. Enemy ground fire prevented them from recovering the body, however. MacLaughlin's name is listed among American personnel prisoner, missing and unaccounted for in Southeast Asia because his body was never recovered. Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 May 1990 from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Updated by the P.O.W. NETWORK 1998. |