US ambassador visits Quang Tri site in search for American servicemen missing in action

Wicks visited the Khe Net Pass area in Dong Le Commune, which the search team identified as the site where an American military plane carrying a U.S. Army colonel crashed in 1968.

The search site is near a railway track on a steep hillside dotted with rocky outcrops along the pass.

The search team includes U.S. experts and more than 60 local workers, who have been excavating soil from rock caves and transporting it to screening stations to look for possible remains and artifacts.

After several days of searching, the team has found several metal pieces and other items.

A representative of the team thanked local authorities and residents for their extensive support in helping the team access the area and conduct the search there.

According to the representative, the area around Khe Net Pass had been identified as the crash site several decades ago. 

However, the rugged terrain and the vast search area have made it difficult for the search to yield many results.

Recently, local residents provided information that the aircraft had exploded in midair before crashing onto the mountainside, so the search has focused on the hillside mentioned above, the representative said.

A U.S. anthropologist and an aircraft expert stationed at the site are conducting preliminary examinations to determine the origins of the objects and whether they are related to the plane crash.

Wicks also put on gloves and personally joined the workers in screening soil for artifacts.

Before leaving the site, she sincerely expressed her gratitude to local residents for their assistance in the search for the missing American and aircraft wreckage.

Wicks underscored that the support provided by local residents was meaningful not only to the U.S. government but also to families whose loved ones remain missing.

She also said the U.S. government will provide maximum support for Vietnam's 500-day campaign, which was launched on March 15, 2026, to accelerate the search for and identification of the remains of Vietnamese soldiers who fell during the war.

As part of their bilateral cooperation, Vietnam supported the U.S. from the very beginning in efforts to search for U.S. personnel missing in action, the ambassador said.

Currently, the two sides are sharing technology and expertise, particularly in DNA analysis, to help Vietnam search for and identify its fallen soldiers, she added.