FERGUSON, WALTER J. JR.
Name: Walter J. Ferguson, Jr.
Rank/Branch: E6/US Army
Unit: Company D, 1st Battalion, 2nd Infantry, 1st Infantry Division
Date of Birth: 13 August 1947 (Hampton SC)
Home City of Record: New York NY
Date of Loss: 23 August 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 115051N 1063647E (XU757101)
Status (in 1973): Prisoner of War
Category: 1
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Other Personnel In Incident: none missing
Refno: 1260
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.
REMARKS: 7005 DIC - ON PRG DIC LIST
SYNOPSIS: SSgt. Walter Ferguson was captured in Binh Long Province, South
Vietnam, while his unit was engaging Viet Cong forces on August 23, 1968. He
was held in captivity with other U.S. prisoners who were repatriated in 1973
until June 1970 when he was reportedly killed in an escape attempt at a POW
camp in Cambodia. The Provisional Revolutionary Government (PRG) list provided
in Paris in 1973 states that Ferguson died in captivity in May 1970.
The guards at the camp where Ferguson was held called him "Wa". If Ferguson was
actually killed in an escape attempt, these guards probably also buried him or
oversaw the burial. There is no doubt that the Vietnamese know where his body
lies.
Ferguson is one of about 100 who were known to have been prisoner of war and
remain unaccounted for. He is among nearly 2500 missing. Of the others, some
were teammates of known prisoners, some were alive and in good health as they
described their imminent capture to search teams.
All details of Walter Ferguson's mission and captivity are still classified for
unspecified reasons. Detractors say it is this policy of classification that
inspires doubt and distrust in the issue of the fates of those still missing.
Evidence mounts that hundreds of these missing men are actually alive in the
hands of a long-ago enemy. To date, U.S. efforts have not resulted in the
return of a single living American POW. Yet, by 1989, U.S. intent is clearly
to let bygones be bygones. When we signed peace agreements in 1973, military
experts expressed dismay that "some hundreds" of POWs expected to be released
were not. In our haste to leave Southeast Asia, we abandoned our best men. In
our haste to return, will we sign their death warrants?
From: Senate Select Committee Report 1993:
South Vietnam
Walter Ferguson
(1260)
On August 23, 1968, Private First Class Ferguson, a member
of the
25th Infantry Division, was captured east of the town
of Loc Ninh,
Binh Long Province. Returning U.S. POWs captured
in South Vietnam
were held with him in Tay Ninh Province. In June
1970, PFC
Ferguson appeared to have been mentally affected by months
in
captivity. For example, he would frequently jump
on guards, put
voodoo hexes on them and would then be beaten by the
guards.
In approximately June 1970, the U.S. POWs held in Tay
Ninh Province
were moved across the border into Cambodia. During
this move, PFC
Ferguson asked to go to the toilet, and he was taken
away. Another
U.S. POW heard a guard call Ferguson's Vietnamese name
several
times, and then there was a shot followed by a moan.
One returnee
was told by the prison commander than Ferguson had been
shot and
killed during an escape attempt.
In January 1973, the Provisional Revolutionary Government
identified PFC Ferguson as having died in captivity in
May 1970.
His remains have not yet been recovered. In May
1973, he was
declared dead/body not recovered based on a presumptive
finding of
death.
--------------
Walter Ferguson is also mentioned in two live sighting
reports
[available on the Internet] at
http://www.pownetwork.org
Operation Smoking Gun, Oral Histories # 230702Z.OH and
050722Z.OH