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Computerworld - HONOLULU -- On Oct. 27, Air Force helicopter pilot 2nd Lt. Richard Vandegeer - the last name on the Vietnam Memorial in Washington - will be buried in a solemn, private ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, capping a decade-long recovery and identification operation by the Army Central Identification Laboratory, based here.

			Vietnam's last MIAs For most Americans, the Vietnam War ended on April 29, 1975, when the U.S. ambassador to Saigon officially vacated his post. But for a small band of Marines, there would be one final mission to carry out before the longest war in American history could come to a close. On May 12, 1975, Khmer Rouge gunboats captured the U.S. merchant vessel SS Mayaguez in the Gulf of Thailand, approximately 60 miles off the coast of Cambodia. The Khmer Rouge took the vessel to Koh Tang island. Soon after the capture, U.S. Navy and Air Force aircraft located the ship. After diplomatic efforts failed to obtain the release of the ship and its crew, the Marines were ordered to undertake a daring rescue mission. The Marine assault force from the 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines, headed for the beach on Koh Tang on May 15 aboard six Air Force helicopters, one of which came under heavy enemy fire as it approached the eastern shore of the island. The aircraft crashed into the surf with 26 men on board. As the battle raged on Koh Tang, Khmer Rouge leaders set their captives free. A fishing boat carrying the 39 crew members of the Mayaguez and bearing white flags approached the destroyer USS Wilson, and the ordeal for the captured merchantmen ended. Although half of the 26 Marines on board the downed helicopter were rescued at sea, the co-pilot, 10 Marines and two Navy corpsmen were never found. Like many others, their Vietnam did not end on that day. The 13 Mayaguez MIAs 2nd Lt. Richard Van de Geer (AF) Pfc. Daniel Benedett (USMC) Pfc. Lynn Blessing (USMC) Pfc. Walter Boyd (USMC) Lance Cpl. Gregory Copenhaver (USMC) Lance Cpl. Andres Garcia (USMC) Pfc. James Jacques (USMC) Pfc. James Maxwell (USMC) Pfc. Richard Rivenburgh (USMC) Pfc. Antonio Sandoval (USMC) Pfc. Kelton Turner (USMC) HM1 Bernard Gause (Navy) HM Ronald Manning (Navy) --by Dan Verton

The identification by the lab, known as CILHI, took four years and the use of "the most cutting-edge technologies available" to sort Vandegeer's remains from those of the others killed in the crash that took his life, said John Byrd, a CILHI staff anthropologist. His work