Son Still Seeks Dad Lost In Vietnam War

Naperville Sun - Naperville, IL, USA

Son still seeks dad lost in Vietnam War
Naperville man to attend meeting for families of MIAs

July 22, 2008

By Lauren Olson lolson@scn1.com

Forty-two years have passed since Capt. Dennis Eilers' plane was shot down in Laos during the Vietnam War. No one has ever been able to find a trace of the wreckage or any of the six crew members aboard the plane. His son, Curt Eilers, now 45, has lived in Naperville with his family for six years and has remained curious about what happened to his father, who was declared missing in action.

"My interest in it is to keep his memory alive, and that of others in the military who have gone to these places and are missing," Curt said.

Dennis grew up on a family farm in Tipton, Iowa, Curt said, and he always wanted to fly. He went on to attend Coe College in Cedar Rapids, where he joined the ROTC. He then joined the Air Force and volunteered to go to Vietnam. He had married his high school sweetheart, and his two sons were born two years apart on separate Air Force bases.

Dennis left for Vietnam around October or November of 1965, Curt said, and was shot down on Christmas Eve of the same year. He was 27. When searches for the plane and crew found no remains, the crew members were declared missing in action.

"I grew up in a lot of uncertainty," Curt said. "It wasn't like he was declared dead. He was declared missing. As a child, you don't really know what that means, and there was a lot of curiosity."

Search continues

Dennis' mother took the news the hardest, Curt said. She wrote letters to the government questioning its search methods and asking what it was doing to find the MIAs. Curt said his grandmother may have had contact with other MIAs' family members, but she didn't personally know any of the crew members who were lost on Dennis' flight. Those she did talk to, Curt remembered, didn't give her much hope that her son had survived.
"It probably took a lot of her spark away," he said. "It changed her more than anyone."

After awhile, Curt said, the likelihood his father would just "come knocking on the door" faded. In 1977, all of the MIAs from Vietnam were declared killed in action by presidential order. Curt's mother made the decision to remarry in an effort to better care for her two sons, Curt said, a decision he has never questioned.

In 1994, Curt and his brother, now 43, traveled to Vietnam to see if they could help unravel the mystery. However, Curt said, they quickly found out they couldn't simply walk around and investigate. They spent three weeks in the area and met with some defense people in Thailand to discuss research and the possibility of finding the crash site with only a few coordinates to work from.

When Curt visited Vietnam, relations were so poor with Laos that he was unable to enter. Since then, relations have improved and there is potential to enter Laos, which Curt may eventually consider doing, he said. But for now, with two kids, he said, it's difficult for him to leave for several weeks at a time.

Yearly meeting

Each year, Curt said, the military flies next-of-kin to the MIAs out to Washington, D.C., for an update meeting at which family members learn about the military's efforts in the ongoing investigations of the many cases. Curt has taken both of his kids to some of the meetings.
"I want them to get a sense of history and their grandfather's role in it," Curt said. "I'd imagine that they have respect for what he did."

Curt said he has a plaque that displays his father's medals and patches. He also said he has a flag that flew at the White House in memory of Dennis.

This Saturday, the defense department is sending representatives to Chicago for an update meeting, and Curt said he plans to be there.

"I think the government puts a lot of time and effort into trying to find these people," Curt said. "If you're going to get sent over, I think they make every effort, even if it's just the remains, to bring them back to your country."