Name: Donald Iandoli
Rank: E5
Branch: U.S. Army
Unit: C Company, 503rd Infantry, 173rd Infantry Brigade
Date of Birth: 19 September 1946
Home City of Record: Patterson NJ
Date of Loss: 19 November 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 143500N 1073547E (YB797137)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Refno: 0921

Other Personnel In Incident: Benjamin D. DeHerrera; Jack L. Croxdale (both missing)  

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 October 1990 from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Updated by the P.O.W. NETWORK 1998.  

SYNOPSIS: On November 19, 1967, SP4 Croxdale, radio operator, PFC Benjamin D. DeHerrera, squad leader and Sgt. Donald Iandoli, squad leader were members of Company C, 503rd Infantry on a Search and Destroy mission in South Vietnam .  At 1435 hours, Companies A, C and D, all part of the 503rd Infantry, were in heavy contact with an unknown sized North Vietnamese force and were surrounded. During the operation, Sgt. Iandoli was wounded and was seen in the Company C command post area, along with SP4 Croxdale and PFC DeHerrera.  At 1850 hours, a U.S. Marine bomber dropped a 500 pound bomb which hit the command post area in error, resulting in additional casualties. No remains were recovered that day because of intense enemy activity.  

The following day, a search of the area was conducted. The remains of Croxdale, DeHerrera and Iandoli were identified and tagged. However, only the remains of DeHerrera and Croxdale were reported to have been placed on a helicopter en route to Dak To. Following the attack, a 3-day search of the battle area was conducted without success in locating Iandoli. However, as of January 4, 1968, the U.S. Army Mortuary at Than San Ut, South Vietnam , had not processed or identified any remains of DeHerrera, Croxdale or Iandoli, and the location of those remains is unknown.  

Croxdale, DeHerrera and Iandoli died the day their command post received fire and are listed among the dead. They are also listed among the missing because no remains have been returned to their families for burial. The cases of many of the other nearly 2500 missing are not so clear. Many were known to have been alive at the time they disappeared. Some were photographed in captivity.  

Experts now believe hundreds of Americans are held captive in Indochina .  While the members of Company C may not be among them, one can imagine their proudly defending one more firebase for their comrades safe return.

Name: William Michael Konyu
Rank: W1
Branch: US Army
Unit: Company B, 101st Aviation Battalion, 101st Airborne Division
Date of Birth: 18 March 1947
Home City of Record: Phillipsburg NJ
Date of Loss: 16 April 1969
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 155349N 1073414E (YC752591)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH1H
Refno: 1426

Source: Compiled from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S.  Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Updated by the P.O.W. NETWORK in 1998.  

Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)  

REMARKS:  

SYNOPSIS: On April 16, 1969, WO William M. Konyu was the pilot of a UH1H helicopter on a combat mission in northern Quang Nam Province , South Vietnam , about 10 miles from the border of Laos .  As WO Konyu made his short, final approach to the landing zone (LZ), he received intense enemy fire. The windshield on the pilot's side was shattered. Konyu was seen to throw up his hands and slump forward over the controls. The co-pilot was wounded in his legs, and lost control of the aircraft. The helicopter subsequently crashed, rolled over on its side and burned. Attempts to reach the helicopter by personnel on the ground were impossible because of the intense heat of the burning aircraft.

U.S. ground teams inspected the aircraft later, and reported a burned form in the pilot's seat. Three crewmen and passengers had been rescued. (If other personnel were aboard and killed, no mention is made in public record.) The team was uncertain how to recover what they believed were the remains of the pilot, and left the area, but returned later in the day to prepare to extract the remains.  

When the extraction team arrived four days later to recover the remains, they had disappeared. Evidence that enemy forces had been at the site were discovered, and it was assumed that the enemy buried the pilot somewhere nearby, but no graves were located. Konyu was listed among the missing because his remains were never found.  

William Konyu, according to all witnesses, died as his aircraft crashed. His family can be as certain as possible without having received his body, that he is dead. For many others listed missing, however, simple solutions are not possible. Many were known to have been captives, but were never released. Others were alive and well the last they were seen. Still others were in radio contact with would-be rescuers, describing their imminent capture.

THE UNANSWERED QUESTION

We hear the sound of war drums beating through the canyon down below.
We listen to the warrior’s roar, “To the soldiers, War, War, War!”
We see them dance of victory over bodies that are ours.
We remember spears and arrows from the battles fought before.

With painted faces, shrill war cries, and hatred raging from their eyes,
their next attack is quick, skilled, direct, and daring.
His horse is fast, his arrows true, they all seem to be aimed directly at you.
This painted enemy and cavalrymen, too, now part of history for all to view.  

Sergeant, “When will these bloody Wars ever end?”  

Down in the long deep trenches filled with mud, and our spilled blood,
we hunker down and wait the wait for the next assault and a soldiers fate.
“Over the top,” the Lieutenant shouts, and we begin our frontal assault.
With pistol in hand and one arm gone, the lieutenant drives our platoon on.  

We have tasted steel, and choked on gas, and looked death in the eye.
Through acrid smoke and mournful cries we hold our comrades as they die.
One more battle of many now ended with more of our dead to be counted.
“Mop up the area, take all rations, theirs and ours, fall in, we’re moving out.”  

“Hey Doughboy, do you think someday Wars will end?”

On Normandy ’s beach and again at Iwo , we stormed on bloody shores.
With courage, will, and spirit tested, we G.I.’s drove on.
Soldier after soldier fell silent, but others keep advancing.
“Take the beach at any cost,” the men did as commanded.  

As we close in with our ranks grown thin, our enemy is so well dug in;
with fixed bayonets and grenades in hand, we launch an assault to take this land.
Soldier after soldier fell silent, but others keep advancing.
“Take the beach at any cost,” the men did as commanded.  

“Hey Buddy, when will somebody finally put a stop to War?”

At Pusan Perimeter, with our backs to the Sea,
we’re pinned in with no means to escape our enemy, and nowhere to go.
We made each round we fired true, and on its deadly mark.
We turned the enemy on his heel and he fled into the dark.  

In the deep of winter, in the bitter cold, on a frozen reservoir up north,
with our food, supplies, and ammo low,
encircled and outnumbered by an enemy we didn’t know,
we fought our way to victory and carried out our dead. “Semper Fi, Brother !”  

“Tell me, God, tell me now, are Wars ever going to end?”

Down in the steamy Delta, up in the A Shau, or deep into the Ia Drang Valley,
the enemy was everyone, everywhere, all the time.
They knew where we were going, and they knew when we arrived.
We were very lucky soldiers to make it out alive.

They lived in tunnels and holes in the ground and lurked from up in trees.
They liked to kill you with your hands bound tight and down upon your knees.
They fought us with modern weapons and ancient weapons too,
no matter what we threw at them, they just kept coming and coming at you!  

“Mom, I never asked you before, but will Wars ever end? Will write again soon.”  

On roasting sands across an ancient desert land,
the massed coalition forces drew a line in the sand.
We attacked on land, from the air and by sea
and left a Highway of Death as the enemy tried to flee.  

We used Patriot missiles to knock Scuds out of the sky
but some hit their mark and caused good friends to die.
The Abrams, Tomahawks, Daisy Cutters and M249 SAW
left every warfighter in a state of shock, fear and awe.  

“Sir, my son’s future looks dim, I worry for him.  What are the chances Wars will end?” 

We wear the Soldiers uniform, Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and Marine.
We wear them steeped in Honor, we wear them filled with Pride!
To defend, with our life, our loved ones, and keep our Nation free,
Duty, Honor, Country, that’s what My uniform means to me.  

For all the love we carry into every major battle,
for the loyalty and devotion to this Nation we defend,
each battle leaves a scar, a mark, a bruise only We can see,
but you can always count on Us to defend and keep you free.  

We have but just one question, yet to be answered throughout the ages.
When will we lay down these tools of war and end the cannon’s roar?
When will we stop the flow of blood and end the flow of tears?
When will the insanity stop that we have endured these many years?  

A Published Poem By Norm Tredway