An illustrative song has been chosen to accompany this article:

“Sky Pilot” by Eric Burdon & the Animals
(released May 1968)
Writers: Eric Burdon, Vic Briggs, John Weider, Barry Jenkins, Danny McCullough

As we find ourselves in October of 2025, we consider the cases of three Michigan men who were all U.S. Air Force, all sent to Vietnam, and are all still missing in action for 61, 60, or 59 years this month. We begin with the man who has been gone the longest of the group.

29-year-old Lansing Air Force Captain Kenneth Earl Walker was an interceptor pilot with the North American Air Defense Command in Colorado, a qualified F-101 Voodoo jet pilot, and six-year service veteran. He volunteered to go to Vietnam to fly A-1E Skyraiders and train South Vietnamese pilots. He arrived in mid-September 1964, assigned to the 1st Air Commando Squadron, 34th Tactical Group, 13th Air Force (1 ACO SQDN).

On his very first mission, October 2, 1964, Walker was commanding a Skyraider alongside a VNAF student pilot. They were the number three aircraft in a flight of four over targets near Tra Vinh Province, South Vietnam, when their plane went into a dive, crashed into the water, flipped over, and immediately sank into the South China Sea. Aerial and naval search and rescue could find no survivors amid the strong currents and the threat of hostile presence on shore; subsequent searches post-war were also negative.

Sixty-one years later, Capt. Walker’s status remains classified as unaccounted for, Active Pursuit by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA). He is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (Punchbowl), and his name is inscribed along with his fallen comrades on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, DC.

Walker left a wife, Theo, and three young daughters, Lisa, Kendra, and Darcie, back home.

Detroit Air Force Chief Master Sergeant Robert LaVerne Hill of the 37th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron (37 ARS) disappeared along with six other men on October 18, 1966. A 35-year-old Korean War vet, he was a flight mechanic aboard a large amphibious seaplane, an HU-16B Albatross, on a search and rescue mission out of Du Nang Air Base in South Vietnam. Mission completed, the Albatross radioed that it was returning to base from its position in the Gulf of Tonkin. That was the last time the crew was heard from. Search teams could find no trace of the seven crewmen nor the Albatross; all seven are listed as unaccounted for, Deferred. The DPAA defines the Deferred status as “cases are assessed to have no new and/or viable leads or have restrictions to site access which make field operations impractical.”

CMSgt. Hill is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (Punchbowl), and his name is inscribed along with his fallen comrades on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, DC.

Hill’s wife, Jessie Mae, placed his memorial cenotaph in Section 8, Site 4 at San Francisco National Cemetery; she passed in 2005 and awaits him there.

On October 1, 1965, Royal Oak’s Major Martin John Massucci of the 43 Tactical Fighter Wing (43 TFW) was co-piloting an F-4 Phantom II (call sign “Gator 3”) along with two other aircraft on a strike and armed reconnaissance mission against the Ban Tang Staging Area in North Vietnam. Near Sơn La Province, the Phantom took enemy fire, and the two-man crew were advised to bail out after flames were visible on their aircraft. The other crew member, the front seat pilot, was seen parachuting out before Gator 3 crashed into the side of a mountain just south of Suoi Pai Village in the Phu Yen District. No radio response or signs of life around the wreckage were detected from Massucci or the other missing crew member, Colonel Charles Joseph Scharf of California. Their remains were declared unaccounted for by the DPAA at the time. Major Massucci and Colonel Scharf are memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (Punchbowl), and their names are inscribed along with their fallen comrades on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, DC.

Between 1992 and 2006, a joint Vietnamese/U.S. team repeatedly investigated the crash site and interviewed villagers. They eventually found more plane parts then, on August 31, 2006, human tooth and bone remains which were positively identified as Col. Scharf’s. He was repatriated and buried at Arlington National Cemetery on November 30, 2006, with full military honors.

Unfortunately, Maj. Martin Massucci remained lost; he is listed as Killed in Action, Body Not Recovered (KIA/BNR).

Major Massucci hadn’t married nor had children, but he did leave behind a very close-knit family who have never stopped looking for him or pushing for answers.

October 1, 1965, at 1870 Vinsetta Blvd. in Royal Oak, MI, Martin’s mother, Florence, was home when a Western Union representative rang the front bell. Finding her alone, he suggested to her he should find a neighbor to come over when Martin’s father, Arthur Sr. suddenly pulled into his driveway. The delivery agent requested they both go into the house with him, then he produced the telegram notifying them of their son’s disappearance and advised them a Casualty Officer would be contacting them shortly. The Massucci family was requested to “not tell anyone” – including relatives, co-workers, and friends - that Marty’s plane was missing, the reason being that people with nefarious intentions might contact the family with schemes to make money off their tragedy if known. As with other families of POWs and MIAs, they were also asked by the Casualty Officer to continue to write letters to their loved one as if nothing had happened after being notified of his disappearance.

Florence remained devasted by her great loss and passed from a stroke at age 56, two years after Martin went missing. Arthur Sr. better accepted what happened to his son and took a different, more proactive approach. I spoke with Martin’s younger brother, Arthur Jr. for some background on the family, Martin’s upbringing, and the paths they chose after his disappearance.

Martin John Massucci was the oldest of the three Massucci kids: Marty, Ann, and Arthur Jr. They moved to Detroit from Sarnia, Ontario when Martin was a young boy. He attended elementary and junior high at Detroit’s Visitation Catholic School, then enrolled at St. Benedict for high school once the family moved to Highland Park. He was an altar boy for years at Visitation Catholic Church, but also a serious athlete and competitor on their baseball, basketball, and football teams. At St. Benedict, where his father coached and was athletic director, he continued to excel as a three-team athlete, particularly in football where he earned All Catholic, All City, and All State honors. He went to the University of Detroit (now University of Detroit Mercy) on a football scholarship where he continued to thrive, graduating with his business and accounting degrees in 1962 while rolling over the competition in football.

Much of how young Martin was “wired” can be attributed to his father. Arthur Sr. was a very accomplished former U of D football player himself winning All Catholic and All-American honors and is in the University of Detroit Football Hall of Fame. Art was also a highly successful football coach in both Michigan and in the Canadian Professional Football League, coaching teams in both countries simultaneously for one season! He won the Canadian Professional Football League championship Grey Cup twice and was voted into the Sarnia Football Hall of Fame and Michigan High School Coaches Hall of Fame. Arthur Jr. stated that the Massucci credo was, “If you’re in the game, play it right” which also meant making a great play instinctively led to believing, “Now I need to do even more.”

At 6’1” and very strong, Martin had “a great sense of humor, a quiet strength, and a deep sense of loyalty.” In adulthood he retained his close family relationship, was quite popular with the ladies, and was doing well as a local CPA. However, his desire to serve and his strong sense of duty started to lead him in a different direction.

Marty went in for his draft physical, but he was not really interested in the Army, Navy, or Marines. What he was extremely excited about was jet fighters and speed – always had been – and the U.S. Air Force was exactly where Marty wanted to be! He was accepted into the Officer Training Program at Lackland Air Force Base (AFB) in Bexar County, Texas then went to flight training school at Vance AFB in Enid, OK. He took his advanced fighter jet training at Davis-Monthan AFB in Tucson, AZ for high performance combat flying. His aviation training now completed, he was stationed at MacDill AFB in Tampa, FL until he finally received his deployment orders for Southeast Asia and the rapidly escalating Vietnam War.

On September 28, 1965, Martin left Tampa then stopped over briefly in San Francisco before departing on the overseas leg of the trip. He arrived at Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base (RTAFB) in Udon Thani, Thailand on September 30. The next day, he agreed to fill in for Col. Scharf’s usual flight crew member who was taken ill. It was not only his very first flight it was their last. He had only been in Southeast Asia for about 24 hours.

Martin’s father was one of the earliest family members to join when the National League of POW/MIA Families was created in the late 1960s. He tried to secure answers from the military on behalf of those missing or suspected of being taken as prisoners of war. He even strategically lobbied some of his influential contacts made during his Canadian coaching days to try working Washington from that angle. More of that Massucci quiet strength in action.

Over the years the Massucci’s made pilgrimages to DPAA events and briefings looking for answers and updates to Martin’s MIA file. If Col. Scharf was eventually located, could not Maj. Massucci also be with new leads, area searches, and technology?

Once Arthur Sr. passed in 2005, Marty’s family continued to attend DPAA briefings and updates in Washington, DC and elsewhere. The family members had all contributed DNA early on in the hopes that Martin’s remains could be found and identified. Arthur advised that the DPAA were always great to deal with, and that they always answered questions and correspondence about their case quickly. Unfortunately, with no new information or evidence coming to light over the last several years there has been no communication.

The National League of POW/MIA Families had likewise been very helpful for them in strongly advocating for information and keeping the missings’ stories alive. They connected family members together so that they could speak with others who understood what only they have gone through in awaiting new details about their loved ones. They also facilitated events and other opportunities where the families could interact with organizations such as the POW Committee of Michigan, the various veteran service organizations (VSOs), and other groups supporting POW/MIA awareness.

Arthur Jr. relayed a story about him, his son, Martin, and his grandson, also named Martin, taking a trip together to Washington, DC some years ago to see the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall. A solemn gentleman who was an obvious Vietnam vet was nearby where they were standing quietly together and asked them, “Do you know someone whose name is on the Wall?” Grandson Martin Massucci replied, “Yes sir, mine.”

As of October 7, 2025, there are 48 Michigan and 1,566 U.S. service personnel still missing in action from the Vietnam War.

Written for Art Massucci Sr. by Vince Cooke, one of Art’s former Canadian Professional Football League players, on the 17th of July,1985.
“Like the principals you taught in football and life, of never giving up, I respectfully dedicate this poem”

To Marty

I light a candle every day, and hope someday to see,
You walking down the street again, for Art, your dad, and me.
We never lose the faith we have, that you are still alive.
And with this single thought in mind, it's daily we do strive.
To find out if you’re missing, or if God has called you home.
We light the candle daily, burning brightly, where you roam.
It's like the game of football, some you win and some you lose,
But we never give up trying, it's a dream that you must choose.
So, Marty if you hear us, reach your hand out, please touch mine,
For to Art and all the rest you see, you are a special kind.

Credits: Thank you to Arthur Massucci, Jr., Ann Massucci, and Tony Soma; Vince Cooke; Eric Burdon; Marty Eddy, National League of POW/MIA Families; and the DPAA.

Missed Flights

To Marty

The Missing and the Dead