Medics Listed As POW/MIA
Harry Willis Brown*
Irby Dyer III*
Randall Shelley Ellis*
*Brown, Dyer, and Ellis were confirmed dead at locations
but bodies could not be recovered
My adopted POW
James Henry McLean
Name:                               James Henry McLean
Rank/Branch:                      E4/US Army/Medic
Unit:                       Advisory Team 88, MAC-V
Date of birth:                              16 June 1944
Home of Record:                    Los Angeles, CA
Date of loss:                         09 February 1965
Country of loss:                                 Vietnam
Loss Coordinates:              114847N 1071522E
Status(in 1973):                     Prisoner of War
Category:                                                     1
Aircraft/vehicle/ground:                     Ground
Other personnel in incident:     None missing
Sp/4 James H. McLean was a medic assigned to Advisory Team 88, MAC-V, serving with a South
Vietnamese Regional Forces unit at Duc Phong, Phuoc Long Province, Republic of Vietnam.  On February
9, 1965, at about midnight, Duc Phong came under attack and was seized by the Viet Cong.
The following day, an ARVN unit was inserted into the area, and learned that an American had been
observed being held captive in the vicinity of Dic Phong.  Enemy fire drove observing helicopters away.  By
mid-afternoon on February 10, the ARVN unit that had been inserted had recaptured the camp and recovered
the remains of 3 American advisors.  As none of them was McLean, it was determined that the captured
American was McLean.
Several released and escaped South Vietnamese captured in the same incident or held in various camps with
McLean later reported that SP/4 McLean had been captured uninjured.  He was last seen alive in late 1966,
having been detained all this time in camps in northern Phouc Long Province.
Although one of the released POWs stated that he had seen McLean sick and then never saw him again,
McLean's name never appeared on lists provided which named those who died in captivity.  He was not
released in 1973 in the general prisoner release.
McLean is one of nearly 2500 Americans who remain prisoner, missing or otherwise unaccounted for in
Southeast Asia.  There can be no question that the Vietnamese know his fate.  With thousands of reports
being received relating to Americans still held prisoner, one has to wonder if McLean is one of thse that
experts believe are still alive. If he is, what must he be thinking of us?