| Marvin Benjamin Christopher Wiles Jr. | |
|---|---|
| Location on the Wall: | Panel 01W - Line 14 |
| Age at Loss: | 34 |
| Race: | Causasian |
| Sex: | Male |
| Date of Birth: | 10 Dec, 1943 |
| Home of Record: | San Diego, CA |
| Religion: | Protestant |
| Marital Status: | Married |
| Branch: | Navy |
| Length of Service: | |
| Grade: | O4 |
| Rank: | Lieutenant Commander |
| ID Number: | |
| Unit: | Attack Squad 22 |
| MOS: | Fixed Wing Pilot |
| Date of Loss: | 6 May, 1972 |
| Country of Loss: | North Vietnam |
| Loss Coordinates: | 173800N 1062800E |
| Status (1973): | Prisoner of War |
| Type of Loss: | Hostile, died missing |
| Reason: | Air Loss, Crash on Land |
| Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: | A7E |
| Incident Ref. #: | 1843 |
On May 6, 1972, Wiles and his Air Wing Commander, CDR Roger “Binkie” Sheets, launched in their A7E aircraft on a day armed reconnaissance mission. (Armed reconnaissance meant search for targets and destroy them, primarily truck convoys and the like, on this sort of general mission.)
Wiles and Sheets crossed the coast of North Vietnam just south of Vinh, a common navigation point, and they saw a surface-to-air missile (SAM) lift-off about ten miles to the left. Sheets radioed, “Okay Marv, do you have the lift-off?” and Wiles responded, “I got it.” Sheets said, “Arm your bombs and let’s go get ‘em” making the decision to bomb the SAM site rather than conduct reconnaissance as planned. Wiles took up a standard formation of about 3,000 to 4,000 feet away from sheets.
The smoke had drifted away from the SAM site, so Sheets planned to go in as fast as possible, confirm the site, pop up and go bomb it. In the meantime, another aircraft - an “Iron Hand” SAM strike mission aircraft - in the area had picked up the SAM launch signal and was monitoring the site as well.
Sheets flew over the site, confirmed it, rolled in, and bombed. As he was pulling off, some three thousand feet off the ground, he rolled over to wait for the bombs to hit. Before they struck, he saw a complete peppering of the whole area, followed about two seconds later by his string of bombs that went right across the upper half of the circular site.
What had happened was that the Iron Hand had launched a SHRIKE missile that effectively covered the entire site. It had hit the radar van perfectly and spread over the area, followed by Sheets’ bombs.
Sheets pulled off to the left and came back to the right and heard SAM signals again. He radioed Wiles to see if he was in on the target. When Sheets looked back, he saw an airplane going into the ground. Wiles had been hit by a SAM from another site which Sheets had picked up on his scope but had not yet seen visually.
Shortly thereafter, Sheets saw Wiles’ parachute and he followed it down right into a village a few miles from the city of Quang Khe and about 14 miles northwest of Dong Hoi in Quang Binh Province, North Vietnam. Wiles landed right in the middle of the village. Sheets began to receive ground fire and was forced to leave the area. The Air Wing Commander never saw Wiles again.
The Navy assumed Wiles had been captured, and in June 1972, notified his family that he had been captured. For the next months, they awaited his release.
When 591 Americans were released at the end of the war in Operation Homecoming in the spring of 1973, Marvin Wiles was not among them. Although he landed uninjured in the middle of a village, the Vietnamese deny any knowledge of him.
Subsequent information received by the U.S. revealed that Wiles was killed in the village while resisting capture, almost immediately after he landed.
Marvin B.C. Wiles was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Commander during the period he was classified prisoner of war. An extremely gifted student, Wiles was an honor student and was offered six college scholarships, five in music and one by ROTC, which he refused in order to attend the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis. Wiles is also a gifted musician.
At the time of his loss he was married, and had a son, Chris.
10/08/01
Subject: Marvin B.C. Wiles - Bio Info
Flight leader’s name in the casualty report given to me, Donna J. Wiles, wife of Marvin Wiles, was CDR L.E.R. Giuliani. Please contact me if you need verification or a copy of this report. Thank you for the memorial and tribute to the Vietnam MIA/POWs.
Sincerely ~ Donna Wiles
Source: P.O.W. NETWORK