The members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 4518 attended the service for Chief Warrant Officer Donald Wann Aug. 21. Wann was declared missing in action June 1, 1971, after his helicopter crashed in Quang Tri Province in South Vietnam. Wann’s remains were recently identified and returned, and he was laid to rest with full military honors at Fort Gibson National Cemetery. Sequoyah County VFW members attending are, in no particular order, Jim and Donna Gowen, Russell Wagner, Steve Watkins, Larry and Diane Moore, Jerry Brock, Jim Newton, Ken and Debbie Downs, Mary Lowe, Gary Wilkins, Lonnie Powell, Benny Bush, George and Kristin Day, Scott and Trisha Miller, Ray Wilkins, Clint Smith, Sherrie and Greg Kelly, John Dixon, Chris Chambers, Vanessa Young, Dave McClain, Dale Conley, Dennis and Karen Snow, John Bennett, Dave McClain II, Kevin Shofner, and Ken Zech.
Submitted Photo
The service was held Aug. 21 at SE Baptist Church in Muskogee and he was laid to rest at the Fort Gibson National Cemetery.
Kristin Day with the VFW said 33 veterans rode from Sallisaw to Muskogee for the service for Wann.
“It was an honor for us. We brought another Oklahoma boy home,” Day said.
“We had two Korean War veterans that rode with us, one is in his 70s and the other one is in his 80s,” Day said.
“There were hundreds of people from all over who attended. There were people lining both sides of the street at the service,” Day said.
Day said that during the service several veterans stood and spoke about Wann.
After the service over 500 bikers escorted Wann’s remains to the Fort Gibson National Cemetery, Day said.
“It was a very emotional experience,” Day said.
Veterans from Post 4518 attending were Jim and Donna Gowen, Russell Wagner, Steve Watkins, Larry and Diane Moore, Jerry Brock, Jim Newton, Ken and Debbie Downs, Mary Lowe, Gary Wilkins, Lonnie Powell, Benny Bush, George and Kristin Day, Scott and Trisha Miller, Ray Wilkins, Clint Smith, Sherrie and Greg Kelly, John Dixon, Chris Chambers, Vanessa Young, Dave McClain, Dale Conley, Dennis and Karen Snow, John Bennett, Dave McClain II, Kevin Shofner, and Ken Zech.
Wann’s daughter, Shannon Wann Plaster of Yukon, who was 10 at the time her dad was declared missing, was informed that her dad’s remains were recovered on July 29, 2008, and were identified March 10, 2010.
According to the pownetwork.org Web site, Wann and U.S. Army First Lt. Paul G. Magers of Sidney, Neb., were flying aboard an A-H1 Cobra gunship in support of an emergency extraction of an Army ranger team in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam. After the rangers were extracted, helicopters were ordered to destroy claymore mines, which had been left behind in the landing zone. During this mission their helicopter was hit by ground fire, crashed and exploded. Pilots who witnessed the explosion concluded that noone could have survived the crash and explosions. Enemy activity in the area precluded a ground search.
Plaster shared this story on the pownetwork recently.
“I had a guy call me wanting to give me the MIA bracelet with my dad’s name on it that he has worn since 1980. He drove to Shawnee from Maine looking for someone in the Wann family to give us the MIA bracelet. His name is Patrick,” Plaster said.
“He told me he isn’t on the computer and didn’t know anything about my dad, only that he was MIA June 1, 1971, from Shawnee. He had traveled to Washington to see if dad’s name was on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall. He stated he had never seen a picture of my dad, but felt he needed to drive to Shawnee to finish his journey,” Plaster said.
“Patrick drove to city hall in Shawnee where he asked this lady name Cindy to help him find a family member of Donald Wann. Patrick said, “She stopped what she was doing, got on the computer and Goggled my dad’s name. She found one of the memory Web sites I made for my dad and found my phone number and called me,” Plaster said.
“I was totally in shock. I drove to Shawnee and met Patrick. We talked for two and a half hours and took pictures together. He bought my mother and I roses, he gave me the bracelet, his Vietnam Memorial shirt he had worn for years, a helicopter stamp (made in metal) that he had bought at the post office years ago,” Plaster said.
“He said ‘Tell me about your dad’ with tears running down his face the whole time. My mother and I sat there and told him about my dad, his life in the Navy and Army and my memories as a child. I told him we had just recovered my dad’s remains and I’m in the first stages of making arrangement for his service,” Plaster said.
“He was so shocked, tears running down his face when founding out about my dad’s life in the military, his recovery and his funeral. I said to Patrick, “Your timing is from God,’” Plaster said.
Day said Patrick was one of the veterans who stood at the service and talked about Wann.
