On Aug. 13, 1965, a flight of RC F-101 Voodoo reconnaissance jets roared in the mid-day skies over Son La, North Vietnam near the Laotian border. In the lead, was Lt. Col. Fredric M. Mellor of the United States Air Force Reserve. It was a particularly unlucky Friday the 13th, as enemy fire raked his Voodoo forcing him to eject.
For decades, Mellor’s true fate remained a mystery. He was marked as “missing in action;” one of more than 2,600 U.S. service personnel unaccounted for during the Vietnam War. For 53 years, Mellor’s wife and daughter clung to the increasingly slim hope that one day he would return. Finally, closure came for Mellor’s daughter, Linda. She received a phone call from the Air Force notifying her that military forensic experts at the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency in Hawaii had positively identified her father’s remains recovered from a faraway battlefield in Son La, Vietnam.
Mellor was finally coming home to his native Rhode Island.
Linda and her family were not alone in the task of receiving and celebrating her dad’s heroism. The Rhode Island Veterans Memorial Cemetery and the community sprang into action to support the Mellor family. A host of Veteran Service Organizations, state agencies, federal agencies and private citizens, joined together to honor Mellor’s sacrifice.
Deanna ‘Dee’ Poole, Rhode Island state captain for the Patriot Guard Riders, says she got word of Mellor’s return through social media and immediately began the process of contacting the family.
“We offered our support in the form of a flag-line as well as motorcycles to escort the remains from Cranston, Rhode Island to the Exeter Veterans Cemetery – a journey of about 15 miles,” said Poole.
Her organization, the Patriot Guard Riders, has been in existence for about thirteen-years and boasts membership of more than 150,000 nationwide.
“My father was in the military and I have some uncles who served in Vietnam so Veterans hold a special place in my heart,” says Poole, “the flag-line, the people along the route and the motorcycle escort are all ways of saying ‘thank you’ to those who gave their all for our freedom and liberty.”
Support was also provided by the Rhode Island Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association. Stephen Mondaca, an Afghanistan War Veteran and state representative for Rhode Island, says his organization was honored to support the ceremonies. “We absolutely do what we can,” Mondaca said, “we provided three of the seven riders accompanying the procession.”
Lt. Colonel Fredric Mellor was laid to rest on Sept. 28. A lone F-15 Eagle fighter jet screamed through the late September low clouds over the mourners; a tribute from today’s generation of fighter pilots to a fallen hero, finally laid to rest – at home in Rhode Island, at last.
VA’s National Cemetery Administration has one of the most important missions in the department – escorting heroes, like Lt. Colonel Mellor, with dignity and honor to their final resting place. You can learn more about the NCA and the benefits and services it provides to Veterans’ families by visiting the its website.
About the author: John Loughlin is a Veteran service representative for VBA in Providence, Rhode Island.
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As part of the Veterans Legacy Program, NCA is awarding grants for a maximum of $400,000 per awardee to qualifying educational institutions and non-profit organizations (501c3).
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Every eligible Veteran deserves a dignified burial and memorialization to commemorate their service.
Welcome home. Thank you for your service and sacrifice. Thanks to your family for their sacrifices.
God Bless welcome home hero thank you
I served in Vietnam June 1968-Novenber 1969 ATC152-10 COMRIRON-152-10, I was missing in action 6 times and each time after recovery of wounds, was returned to my boat, each time my family was warned, this caused a terble Paul over my large family, it took weeks to get the message and or call to them, by then I was out of initial health trouble, so I can not imagine 52 years of waiting, my heart is broken for your not knowing, and now your closures, still a very sad affear, I am 80 persent Disabled over my experience in Vietnam, still I fathered 2 great children, all of this missing in action for your family, there but the Grace of God go I. Very sorry for your loss.
My eyes are filled with tears of sorrow and gladness, welcome home BROTHER.
Yes MIA’s really cost loved ones dearly! Mot only do they lose their loved ones, the veterans life insurance will not pay the “Death Benifit” to the “Next of Ken” as directed in the SGLI before the veteran deploys to their combat zone! When I was in Vietnam a dear friend of mine took a direct hit from a rocket and he was listed as “Mising in Action”! His 19 year ole pregnant wife never received her SGLI pay out! There wasn’t any remains to be identified! As far as I’m concerned, the families of all MIA’s need to receive the payout!
Not all,Of the guys that ejected from their aircraft,were ever returned,and our government refused to look,for left behind POWs,thanks to McCain.
Col Mellor ejected and became a POW why was he not returned after 1973?
Unfortunately, a fair number of POW’s died while in captivity. This is true in all long-term wars