Heideman, Thomas E. (KIA)
Thomas Edward Heideman, MSgt., USAF (KIA)
June 08, 1933 – October 24, 1970
HEIDEMAN, THOMAS EDWARD
Remains Identified 04/06/2001
Announced 06/03/2002
Name: Thomas Edward Heideman
Branch/Rank: United States Air Force/E7
Unit:
Date of Birth: 08 June 1933
Home City of Record: CHICAGO IL
Date of Loss: 24 October 1970
Country of Loss: LAOS
Loss Coordinates: 173958 North 1054000 East
Status (in 1973): Killed In Action/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: CH-3E 66-13287
Missions:
Other Personnel in Incident:
Refno: 1670
Source: Compiled by P.O.W. NETWORK from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews and CACCF = Combined Action Combat Casualty File. Updated 2020.
REMARKS:
CACCF/CRASH/AIRCREW
Married, 5 children
Wife deceased, son deceased
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USAF Helicopter Crew Losses – Vietnam War
Compiled by Jim Henthorn, Former Sgt., 21 st SOS
Tail No: 66-13287 Model: CH-3E Date of Loss: 24 Oct 70 Unit: 21st SOS, 56th SOW Country of Loss: Laos Call Sign: Knife 33
Pilot: Craig B. Schiele (06W-19)
Flight Engineer: Thomas E. Heideman (06W-19)
Notes: The helicopter was in a flight of two extracting indigenous personnel from a hill top LZ. The helicopter picked up 11 personnel and as the aircraft lifted off, it turned and fell into trees 200 meters from the LZ. A short time later, the other helicopter picked up 8 indigenous personnel who said the entire crew of the helicopter was dead; however, 20 minutes later, radio contact was made with the survivors and they, along with the body of the pilot were recovered.
No further information available at this time.
================
NEWS RELEASE from the United States Department of Defense
No. 281-02
(703)697-5131(media)
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 3, 2002
(703)697-5737(public/industry)
VIETNAM WAR MIAS IDENTIFIED
The remains of two U.S. Air Force servicemen killed in action during the Vietnam War have been identified and are being returned home to their families. They are Master Sgt. Thomas E. Heideman and Capt. Craig B. Schiele, both of Chicago.
On Oct. 24, 1970, Heideman and Schiele were crewmembers of a CH-3E helicopter as the lead of a two-ship formation on a mission to extract
friendly forces from Laos. Shortly after takeoff, the helicopter crashed into nearby dense jungle. Eight Laotians and two American servicemen were rescued. A rescue mission was continued the next morning, but there was no evidence of survivors. The only body recovered from the crash site at that time was later identified as the pilot, Capt. Schiele, who was subsequently buried in Bartlesville, Okla.
On Dec. 14, 1994, a U.S. – Lao team, led by Joint Task Force-Full Accounting, conducted an investigation at the crash site in the Laotian
province of Khammouan. Material from the recovered wreckage included aircraft debris and personal artifacts but no human remains.
In the spring of 1995, a second joint team excavated the crash site and recovered human remains and additional personal affects that were submitted to the U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory, Hawaii (CILHI). By
compiling eyewitness accounts and other physical evidence such as personal artifacts and the human remains, the forensic scientists at CILHI identified the remains as those of Schiele and Heideman.
A group burial with full military honors for these two servicemen will be conducted June 7 at Arlington National Cemetery.
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NETWORK NOTE: – Schiele was NOT noted as a POW/MIA – but in the CACCF (Combined Action Combat Casualty File), he IS noted as BODY RECOVERED!
SCHIELE CRAIG BRIAN
MILITARY SERVICE AIR FORCE
COUNTRY OF CASUALTY LAOS
TYPE OF CASUALTY NON-HOSTILE DIED OF OTHER CAUSES
REFERENCE NUMBER 9
DATE RECORD PROCESSED OCT 70
SOCIAL SECURITY / SERVICE NUMBER 297389146
RANK CAPT
PAY GRADE O3
CASUALTY DATE 10/24/70
HOME OF RECORD STEUBENVILLE, OHIO
SERVICE OCCUPATION CODE *
DATE OF BIRTH 08/09/43
CAUSE AIRCRAFT LOSS/CRASH NOT AT SEA
AIR / NO AIR HELICOPTER AIR CASUALTY – PILOT
RACE CAUCASIAN
RELIGION PRESBYTERIAN
LENGTH OF SERVICE IN YEARS *
MARTIAL STATUS MARRIED
SEX MALE
US CITIZEN YES
POSTHUMOUS PROMOTION NO
DATE TOUR IN SE ASIA BEGAN 01/10/70
LAST RECORD LAST RECORD
BODY RECOVERED YES
AGE 27
COMPONENT REGULAR
PROVINCE NO ENTRY
COMMENTS
=======================
06/07/02
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/local/3409743.htm
2002
S.C. family to attend dual funeral
Associated Press
COLUMBIA – An S.C. family will bury the remains of a U.S. soldier killed in Vietnam that the Defense Department says are those of Air Force Master Sgt. Thomas Heideman….
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01/2020
.https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt000000tnWFaEAM
MSGT THOMAS EDWARD HEIDEMAN
Return to Service Member Profiles
- Conflict
- Service
- Status
- Date of Accounting
- VIETNAM WAR
- UNITED STATES AIR FORCE
- Accounted For
- 04/06/2001
On April 6, 2001, Joint Task Force-Full Accounting (JTF-FA, now DPAA) identified the remains of Master Sergeant Thomas Edward Heideman, missing from the Vietnam War.
Master Sergeant Heideman joined the U.S. Air Force from Illinois and was a member of the 21st Special Operations Squadron. On October 24, 1970, he was a flight engineer aboard a CH-3E Sea King on a recovery mission to Laos. The Sea King crashed after taking off from its landing zone in Khammouan Province, Laos, and MSgt Heideman was killed in the incident. Search and rescue teams dispatched to the area failed to locate MSgt Heideman’s remains at the time. In 1995, a joint U.S. and Laotian search team recovered remains from the Sea King’s crash site that were eventually identified as those of MSgt Heideman.
Master Sergeant Heideman is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
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