Major Paul A. Avolese-- Part 1

From Find A  Grave.

PAUL ANDREW AVOLESE

BIRTH:  12 June 1932 in Jamaica, New York

DEATH:  7 July 1967 (aged 35) Vietnam War

BURIAL: Springfield Memorial Gardens  Springfield, Oregon

A Vietnam veteran, finally laid to rest after being MIA for over fifty years.

U.S. Air Force Major Paul A. Avolese was killed during the Vietnam War during a maneuver over the South China Sea on July 7, 1967.

The B-52 bomber that he crewed  collided with another B-52 causing both aircraft to fall into the sea.  Four of the crew members from his aircraft were rescued, but Avolese was never recovered.  He was declared dead  on July 24, 1967.

Newfound Tech Finds Vietnam War Navigator-- Part 4: Amazing Technology

Still, investigators pursued potential leads about the wreckage of the two B-52s for decades.

In February of last year. scientists from Project Recover helped the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) continue the search for the B-52s where previous ones had failed.  The target of their survey vessel's two week expedition was the seafloor area measuring about eight square miles.

In the past, such expeditions would have relied on divers or "fairly rudimentary" sonar.  But this time they were using three 6-foot-long robots with the ability to scan up to 229 feet on either side and produce high-resolution imagery of the seafloor.

The wreckage of one of the B-52s came into view.  Then the team saw human remains on the seabed.  Before recovering them, the crew obtained permission from military officials in Vietnam and the United States by satellite phone.

About 24 hours later, the remains were brought to the surface.  A lab in Hawaii eventually identified them as belonging to Major Paul A. Avolese.

The remains of two other men who were on the same B-52 have yet to be found.  A full excavation to cover them would typically be the next step in such a case, and the DPAA would make that decision.

In September, the Pentagon said a ceremonial pin would be placed next to his name at the Courts of the Missing, in the National Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu to indicate that he had been found.

Newfound Tech Finds Lost Vietnam War Navigator-- Part 3: A 'Fireball'

 

The mission to find Major Paul A. Avolese's B-52 bomber was the first time that the defense agency had allowed a nongovernmental partner to conduct work in Vietnam.

Paul Avoles3 was born June 12, 1932 and was from New York.  he served in the Air Force's 4133rd Bomb Wing in Vietnam.

On July 7, 1967, he an his crew were flying from a U.S. base on Guam Island alongside other B-52s to bomb a target in South Vietnam.  As two of the bombers maneuvered into place about 65 miles southeast of what was then Saigon, the South Vietnamese capital, they collided, igniting a "fireball."

Eight days after the crash, Col. Mitchell Cobeaga of the Air Force notified Avoles's parents in a letter that the exact cause of the explosion was unknown.

Avolese, who was 35 at the time, was declared dead a few days afterwards.  The U.S. government later classified his remains, as well as those of five others missing, as "nonrecoverable."

Newfound Tech Finds Lost Vietnam War Navigator, Paul A. Avolese-- Part 1

From the August 5, 2021, Chicago Tribune "Newfound tech finds lost navigator" by Mike Ives, New York Times.

On a July morning in 1967, two American B-52 bombers collided over the South China Sea as they approached a target in what was then South Vietnam.

Seven crew members escaped, but rescue units from the Air Force, Navy and Coast Guard were unable to find six other men, including a navigator from New York, Major Paul A. Avolese.

It was not until last year that scientists scanning the sea floor found one of the B-52s and recovered Avolese's remains.

Scientists say the recovery highlights a shift in the Pentagon's ability to search for personnel still missing from the Vietnam War.

For decades, such efforts have mainly been focused on land in former conflict zones.  But in this case, American investigators looked at an underwater site near Vietnam's long coastline using high tech robots.

The B-52s Are Still Around-- Part 5: Pop Culture

No other plane in the U.S. arsenal has been around as long. Other more technologically advanced have come and gone, but the relatively low-tech B-52 has remained.

The bomber has also found its way into pop culture. There is a Kahlua-infused cocktail (never had one and gives new meaning to "Gettin' Bombed"), a beehive hairdo for women in the 1960s and a New Wave rock band out of Athens, Georgia, the B-52s, and their "Rock Lobster" and "Love Shack."

A Nation, A Plane.  --DaCoot

The B-52s Are Still Around-- Part 4; But One Major Oops in Goldsboro, NC

Just recently, the government had declassified news about the B-52 which fell apart near Goldsboro, NC, in 1962. It was based out of the town's Seymour Johnson Air Force Base and literally fell apart--with two hydrogen bombs. An one came within one of four fail-safe items of actually exploding.

Many of my family members live in Goldsboro, and at the time, I was living in nearby Greenville, NC.

Maybe I could have used my nuclear disaster drills to good use that day. Let's see, get under your desk, head on the floor and hands clasped behind it, butt to the window.

There is a good account of the incident on Wikipedia and a picture of one of the bombs.

That Was Close-- Cooter

The B-52s Are Still Around-- Part 3: Till 2040

During the B-52s Cold War heyday, there were 744 of them operating. Today, that number is down to 76. The most recent variant of the plane, built between 1960 and 1962, has undergone more than 30 major modifications.

The plane's 185-foot wingspan and 160-footlength, however, remain.

The plane was designed on the back of a napkin over a weekend by three Boeing employees.

The B-52 was developed during the Korean War (1950-1953). It carpet bombed during the Vietnam War, ran crucial missions in Kosovo and the Middle East and the Air Force plans to keep them running until at least 2040.

--Cooter

The B-52s Are Still Around-- Part 2

The B-52 has been around nearly a half-century and the Air Force believes that modifications and overhauls have made the planes nearly ageless. Now, engineers and technicians are working on a contract worth up to $11.9 billion for upgrades to bring the B-52 Stratofortress into the 21st century.

Right now, the planes' computers are circa early 1980s pcs and information has to be uploaded before a flight and can't be changed en route, even if the target changes. These new changes will enable crews to send and receive information via satellite links.

--Cooter

The B-52s Are Still Around-- Part 1: A "Family Business"

From the August 25, 2013, Chicago Tribune "B-52, Cold Warrior that soldiers on" by W.J. Hennigan.

"For Air Force Capt. Daniel "Swoop" Welch, flying a B-52 bomber has become family business.

"His father, retired Lt. Col. Don Welch, was trained to drop nuclear bombs with the aircraft during the height of the Cold War. His grandfather, retired Col. Don Sprague, flew B-52 combat missions in Vietnam.

"It is definitely a testament to the robust design of the B-52," said Welch, 28. "Getting to fly the same aircraft as my father and grandfather has been pretty cool."

And these planes are getting ready for an overhaul that will continue their use indefinitely.

"Off We Go Into...." --Cooter