CAPT Victor Apodca:
Documents
Summary: You should have come to this page from an article describing the loss of USAF Captain Victor Apodaca and 1LT Jon Busch on June 8, 1967, when their F-4C was shot down. If you have not read that article, follow this link to the original article, read it for background, then return to this page using the links there.
Background
In 1988, remains later identified as Busch were repatriated. On-the-scene investigations of the Apodaca-Busch crash site indicated that Busch's body had been thrown from the aircraft but that Apodaca likely did not get out of the aircraft and his body was destroyed in the crash. After numerous investigations spanning several years, a very small quantity of human remains were recovered that were reported by the Vietnamese to be the remains of Captain Apodaca. On June 20, 2001, the Dept of Defense announced the identification of Captain Apodaca's remains.
These fragmentary remains were identified using mtDNA testing. The DoD annoucement meant that the family -- specifically CAPT Apdoaca's primary next of kin -- his oldest son -- had accepted the identification. There is a bit more to this story.
Active duty military personnel are required to designate one person to serve as their Primay Next of Kin - PNOK. The PNOK decides where the service member will be buried, what will be done with his/her personal effects, etc., etc. PNOK status is deterined by law, unless the service member designates differently. In Captain Apodaca's case, his wife was his PNOK for several years. Later, she designated the oldest son as PNOK. Captain Apodaca had two sons. He also had four sisters and one brother. One of those sisters, Delores Alfond, has been one of the more vocal MIA "activists." She has never been happy that the son is the PNOK and had authority to accept Captain Apodaca's identification. However, while Delores was off being an activist, the sons were quietly following the identification process.
Immediately after the identification was announced, Delores Apodaca Alfond issued a denunciation of the identification; I have posted a copy of the TWO versions of her letter at this link. Her rejection of the identification is filled with misinformation and misleading statements, which are dealt with in the article containing the two versions of her letter.
In the interest of getting the facts before the public, I have published here two documents.
The first is a summary of the investigations and findings in the Apodaca-Busch loss. The second is a summary of the mtDNA testing done on the remains that were determined to Apodaca.
Read Ms. Alfond's claims, read these documents, and make up your own mind.