SMOOT, CURTIS RICHARD Name: Curtis Richard Smoot Rank/Branch: E5/US Army Unit: Troop A, 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division Date of Birth: 09 December 1949 (Bogaloosa LA) Home City of Record: Varnado LA Date of Loss: 10 March 1971 Country of Loss: Cambodia Loss Coordinates: 121444N 1062255E (XU503540) Status (in 1973): Missing in Action Category: 2 Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: OH6A Refno: 1722 Source: Compiled from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Updated by the P.O.W. NETWORK in 1998. Other Personnel in Incident: WO1 Craig J. Houser (escaped); SP4 Robert Kiser (remains recovered) REMARKS: SYNOPSIS: On March 10, 1971, WO Craig Houser, pilot, SP4 Robert Kiser, crew chief, and Sgt. Curtis R. Smoot, door gunner, were flying in an OH6A (serial #67-17412) on a visual reconnaissance mission over Kracheh Province, Cambodia just southwest of the city of Phumi Sre Roneam. At about 1400 hours, while making a low pass over a suspected enemy position, the helicopter was hit by an enemy rocket and crashed. The helicopter landed on the bank of a river, burst into flames, and fell into the river. The crash occurred in the vicinity of the recon. A team of ARVN and two U.S. Army enlisted men were inserted into the area to search for survivors and recover aircraft parts. At that time, the body of SP4 Kiser was recovered. Due to darkness, the search team was extracted. On March 13, WO1 Houser returned to military control, having evaded capture and walked to a friendly position. He reported that he had not seen Sgt. Smoot after the aircraft had hit. No sign was ever found of Sgt. Curtis Smoot, alive or dead. He is listed among nearly 2500 Americans still missing, prisoner or otherwise unaccounted for in Southeast Asia. When the war ended, 591 Americans were released from communist prisons in Vietnam, but Smoot was not among them. Since that time, thousands of reports received have convinced many authorities that hundreds of Americans are still being held captive in Southeast Asia. Curtis Smoot could well be one of them. If so, what must he be thinking of us?