PFC Vincent Giammerino

PFC Vincent Giammerino

Company C 1/22 Infantry

MIA 06/27/68

Vincent Giammerino was listed as Missing in Action in June of 1968.
In October of 1978 he was declared "died while missing".

Name: GIAMMERINO, VINCENT FRANK
Single Caucasian Male
Rank: PFC E3
Serial # 101367835
Unit: Company C, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry, 4th Infantry Division
DOB: 04/13/47
Age at Time of Loss: 21
Home of Record: New York, NY
Date of Loss: 06/27/68
Country: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 135131N 1081926E
Status: Missing in Action
Official Government Status: "Died while missing"
Vietnam Veterans Memorial: Panel 54W Row: 007

PFC Vincent Giammerino was a rifleman on a Bomb Damage Assessment (BDA) patrol in the Pleiku area of South Vietnam. Giammerino had departed on patrol and the unit was going to an area where they had previously encountered enemy contact. Shortly after the patrol began, it was discovered that Giammerino was not with his unit, nor could he be located.
No enemy contact had been made during the patrol, but the possibility he was killed by a concealed enemy was considered,
as was the possibility of his capture, and also that he simply was lost. Thorough searches were made of the area
for the next 2 days without results. On the second day, an aircraft was employed using a loud speaker system,
but Giammerino (nor any body) was ever found. Giammerino was classified Missing in Action.

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The following information and the picture above were taken from the TASK FORCE OMEGA, INC Website.

GIAMMERINO, VINCENT FRANK

SYNOPSIS: In order to determine if a bombing attack on an enemy position was successful, a Bomb Damage Assessment (BDA) mission was conducted using either ground or air units depending in large part on the location of the target area.

Then Private First Class Vincent Giammerino was assigned as a rifleman to one such Bomb Damage Assessment patrol after his company was involved in a firefight with an enemy force of unknown size the day before. The area of contact was located in the rugged jungle-covered mountains approximately 20 miles southeast of Pleiku and the same distance southwest of An Khe, Binh Dinh Province, South Vietnam. After contact was broken off on 26 June, an air strike was called in to neutralize enemy forces operating therein.

In the early morning hours of 27 June 1968, PFC Giammerino's BDA patrol was inserted into the area of previous contact. Because the patrol was scattered out and unable to maintain visual contact with one another as they investigated the results of the strike mission, it was 0230 hours before it was discovered that PFC Giammerino was no longer with his unit. An immediate search of the area was conducted by the remaining patrol members. They found boot tracks believed to have been made by the missing rifleman. These tracks led back toward the patrol's base. Unfortunately, the tracks were lost in the darkness.

At first light additional search teams were brought in and over the next two days thorough searches were made of the area. The boot-track trail was picked up again, than lost in the rough terrain. On the second day, an aircraft-mounted loud speaker was used to try to reach the missing soldier and assist him in rejoining his unit. During the initial BDA patrol and later searches for Vincent Giammerino, there was no additional enemy contact. Likewise, the search teams found no trace of the Vincent Giammerino beyond those few trails they followed. At the time formal search efforts were terminated, he was immediately listed Missing in Action.

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 Prisoners of War remaining captive throughout Southeast Asia TODAY.

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

Click on the following link to go to Task Force Omega's website:

http://www.taskforceomegainc.org/

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