A father was lost on a remote mountain in Vietnam in 1971.
Thirty-nine years later, that father is finally coming home, thanks to the determination of his daughter who would not give up until he was found.
Shannon Wann was 9 years old when her father, Chief Warrant Officer Donald Wann, left on his second tour of duty in Vietnam.
On June 1, 1971, the helicopter commander and his pilot, 1st Lt. Paul Magers, took off on a two-helicopter mission to rescue a ranger team stranded near Don Tri in South Vietnam. After successfully locating and retrieving the team, Wann and Magers flew their AH1G Cobra gunship helicopter back to the site to destroy ammunition and mines left behind.
As the helicopter neared the site, it was hit by rounds from anti-aircraft artillery, spun out and crashed on a steep hill, before exploding. Because the area was under heavy fire, rescue or recovery attempts were impossible.
Both Wann and Magers were listed as missing and presumed dead. The flight occurred the day after Donald Wann's 34th birthday and five days before he was set to come home on leave.
That was the only story Wann, her mother, Ruth, and her sister, Michelle, had as they struggled to understand how their lives had changed so radically.
“It was strange for a kid to have your dad go away and never go (come) back, and then there was the aftermath,” Wann said. “We lost our house and in a way, we lost our way. It took a long time to try to accept how our lives changed.”
As her father's loss caused a void, it also brought with it questions — what he was like in those final days, what he went through and even whether he could have survived the crash. Even after Donald Wann was declared dead in 1973, there were “lingering doubts” in his daughter's mind. With the documents concerning her father's activities in Vietnam still classified, answers were hard to come by.
“We didn't know where he was, we didn't know a lot of things about him,” she said. “As a teenager, of course, I had a lot of anger and confusion. I always had these dreams that my dad would come back, and I wouldn't believe people who said that he was dead. I had no closure.”
During those years, Wann said she had no idea that a single decision would change not only the course of her own life, but also set the stage for her father's final journey.
“I was searching, and I finally decided I was going to do something to try to get some answers,” she said.
She wrote a letter to the Pentagon. In 1990, after reading about other Oklahoma soldiers missing in action, she sent an appeal for information. Twenty years after writing that letter, she finally got the news she had dreamed of for so long — her father had been found.
Oddly, the trail leading to Donald Wann's helicopter wreckage veered into the past, Wann said.
Investigators first believed they had found the crash site in 1993. Located on a steep mountain in dense jungle terrain, crews began what would be the first of several excavations. Initial finds — an empty wallet, helicopter parts, a seatbelt and boot parts — were encouraging, but the items could not be positively linked to Wann or Magers.
Throughout the excavations, the interviews and the endless paperwork, Wann — now living in Yukon — said she never lost faith her father would be found, although frustration was a constant part of the process. That's when fate stepped in, Wann said.
Two witnesses came forward with information, men who said they had seen the downed helicopter and the two victims after the crash. One of the men claimed he buried one of the Americans.
“He gave them information, as did the other man, and it started to become clear this man believed he buried my dad,” Wann said. “In the end, he was right about that.”
Eventually, the most important clues were found — teeth and a bone fragment. Although it didn't seem like much, it was enough to finally determine it was the Wann/Magers crash site. DNA and dental records determined the teeth belonged to Wann, while Magers' family also finally learned, for certain, his fate.
“It was strange, and I was so happy — both families finally had their answers and that both of them would finally be coming home,” Wann said.
Sadly, the one family member the identification hinged on was the one person who would not live to learn about it. Donald Wann's mother provided DNA years ago in case he was ever found; she died in 2003 without being able to say good-bye to her son.
“She said she was trying to hold on until we found him. She just couldn't do it though,” Wann said.
Within months, Donald Wann's remains will return to his home state. Shannon Wann said she hopes to hold his funeral at Fort Gibson Cemetery in August. While for some, that might be the end of the journey. For her, it remains important to share her father's story.
Born in Kosoma in 1937, Donald Wann grew up in Shawnee. While serving in the Navy Seebees as a photographer, the “born military man” took top secret photos of North Vietnam before the war began, Wann said. A stint in Antarctica was another highlight of Wann's Navy years.
“Although he loved the Navy, he wanted to fly, and he decided to fly helicopters,” Wann said. “He transferred from the Navy to the Army and went to flight school.”
Donald Wann started his first tour in Vietnam in 1968. He then went back to the conflict in January 1971, Wann said. During his military career, he was awarded air medals, two Purple Hearts, the Bronze Star, a Good Conduct Award and the Vietnam Medal. He was also awarded the Silver Star and Distinguished Flying Cross while in Vietnam, something his family never knew until recently.
“Throughout this process, I have learned so much about my father and the man he was — even just recently, I've learned so much,” she said. “I want to make sure people know who he was and what a great person he was, and I want other families to never go through this alone.”
“I will never stop missing my dad and grieving for what we missed, “ Wann said. “But I know one thing — he was doing what he believed in and what he loved, and that makes me very proud.”