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James Boyd 'Jay' East Jr. was a native of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He was the son of James Boyd East, Sr., who had a career in insurance and had a part time position at the Baptist church, and Cora Virginia Jones East, who was involved in school activities. He graduated from Oklahoma State University with a bachelor of science degree. Jay entered the United States Air Force in November, 1956 after graduation from college.
He was a T-38A 'Talon' Instructor Pilot assigned to the 3575th Pilot Training Wing, 3575th Pilot Training Squadron, Flight 1, 'Skid Row' at Vance Air Force Base, Enid, Oklahoma in 1965. He was stationed at various bases including; Malden AFB, Missouri, Robbins AFB, Georgia, Webb AFB, Texas, Clark AB, Philippines, Vance AFB, Oklahoma, and Randolph Air Force Base, Texas. At Randolph AFB he served as an instructor Pilot in T-38's and T-33s. He received orders to Nakhon Phanom, Thailand in late 1968. He received training in A-1 aircraft at Hurlburt field Florida and then proceeded to Thailand in February of 1969.
On April 26, 1969, Major East was on a strike mission attacking an enemy mortar position near Phonsaven on the Plains de Jar (PDJ) in Laos when his A-1J Skyraider was struck by enemy ground fire. The aircraft crashed and exploded. I recall strafing the large stacks of 55 gallon drums containing high octane aviation gas stacked along the south side the runway at Phonsaven in the fall of 1969 when I was a Wolf FAC. Major East was confirmed dead on June 21, 1969. His family was notified and a memorial service was held at the Randolph Air Force Base Chapel Number One at 2:30 pm on July 20, 1969, which was concluded with a missing man fly by.
In 1994, a Lao witness identified a possible crash site associated with that of Major East. A joint U.S./Lao Recovery Team excavated the site later that year and found aircraft wreckage, pilot-related items, and human bone fragments. His remains were identified through DNA testing on July 28, 1997 by the U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii.
During his 3 years in San Antonio, he was a member of Northridge Park Baptist Church where he served as a Deacon and made numerous contributions to the life of the church. He served as Vice-Chairman of the Deacon Body, chairman of the Youth committee, Director of the Church Bond Program, choir member, and as the Superintendent of Adult Sunday School Department. The countless ways in which he led and the served the church were far more than could be enumerated. He was truly a faithful and dedicated servant of the Lord.
He is survived by his wife, Fritzie, and their three children - Jamie Sue, Kevin Kay, and Kip Dale.
| James Boyd East Jr | |
| ON THE WALL: | Panel W26 Line 53 |
| This page Copyright © 1997-2018 www.VirtualWall.org Ltd. | |
| PERSONAL DATA: | |
| Home of Record: | Oklahoma City, OK |
| Date of birth: | 11/28/1933 |
| MILITARY DATA: | |
| Service Branch: | United States Air Force |
| Grade at loss: | O4 |
| Rank: | Major |
| Promotion Note: | None |
| ID No: | 442364003 |
| MOS: | 1115: Pilot, Tactical Aircraft, (various) |
| Length Service: | 16 |
| Unit: | 602ND SPECIAL OPS SQDN, 56TH SPECIAL OPS WING, 7TH AF |
| CASUALTY DATA: | |
| Start Tour: | 02/12/1969 |
| Incident Date: | 04/26/1969 |
| Casualty Date: | 04/26/1969 |
| Status Date: | Not Applicable |
| Status Change: | Not Applicable |
| Age at Loss: | 35 |
| Location: | , Laos |
| Remains: | 1969 status: Body Not Recovered. Found later. |
| Repatriated: | 06/03/1994 (Returned to US soil) |
| Identified: | 06/27/1997 |
| Casualty Type: | Hostile, died while missing |
| Casualty Reason: | Fixed Wing - Pilot |
| Casualty Detail: | Air loss or crash over land |
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