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MAJ Dean Albert Klenda

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MAJ Dean Albert Klenda

Birth	:	20 Aug 1940 Manhattan, Riley County, Kansas, USA
Death	:	17 Sep 1965 Sơn La, Sơn La, Vietnam
Burial	:	Vale Cemetery, Springfield, Clark County, USA
Coordinate	:	39.9371986, -83.8846970
Inscription	:	Maj US Air Force Vietnam Missing in action Sept. 17, 1965
Description	:	Home at last, Dean Klenda to receive full military honors By ROWENA PLETT Staff writer, Marion Record Exactly 51 years to the day that Air Force Major Dean A. Klenda’s plane was shot down over North Vietnam, his remains will be laid to rest at St. John Nepomucene Catholic Church cemetery in Pilsen. The funeral with full military honors will be Sept. 17. “I want to make a good day out of a bad day,” Dean’s sister, Deanna Klenda said. “I had thought it was impossible that his remains would ever be found.” “I am so overjoyed,” she said. “I never thought I would be... Read More	Home at last, Dean Klenda to receive full military honors By ROWENA PLETT Staff writer, Marion Record Exactly 51 years to the day that Air Force Major Dean A. Klenda’s plane was shot down over North Vietnam, his remains will be laid to rest at St. John Nepomucene Catholic Church cemetery in Pilsen. The funeral with full military honors will be Sept. 17. “I want to make a good day out of a bad day,” Dean’s sister, Deanna Klenda said. “I had thought it was impossible that his remains would ever be found.” “I am so overjoyed,” she said. “I never thought I would be planning this. I couldn’t believe that they actually would find and identify remains as my brother. It was a God’s blessing.” After the funeral Mass, complete with a flag-draped coffin and an honor guard presentation, a flyover in “missing man formation” will take place at the gravesite. Patriot Guard Riders will be there to ensure the privacy of the family and their guests. Major Dean Klenda was a member of the 67th Tactical Fighter Squadron as the pilot of an F-105D Thunderchief that was attacking enemy targets in Son La Province on Sept. 17, 1965, when his aircraft was struck by enemy fire, causing him to eject. He failed to separate from his ejection seat before it impacted the ground. As the crash happened in enemy territory, his remains could not be immediately recovered. Deanna was 21 and in college when her brother was killed at age 25. The family spent decades working with U.S. and Vietnamese officials and private groups to try to find and identify Klenda’s remains. Between 1993 and 1999, the U.S. and Vietnam conducted investigations of the crash site. They found where Klenda landed, but no remains were recovered. On Nov. 10, 2011, another joint search team revisited the area and interviewed a Vietnamese man who claimed that in 1996, he found remains at the site where the ejection seat was believed to have impacted. He told the team that he discarded the remains in a field. From Nov. 4 to 29, 2014, a joint team excavated the site where the Vietnamese man claimed to have discarded the remains. They recovered human remains, and scientists used circumstantial evidence and dental records to identify them as Klenda’s. The U.S. military’s Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency on Friday issued a statement announcing that F-105 Thunderchief fighter pilot Maj. Dean Klenda would be given a military funeral next Saturday in Pilsen, Kan., with full military honors. The date, Sept. 17, will be the 51st anniversary of the day Klenda went missing. Klenda was a pilot assigned to the 67th Tactical Fighter Squadron; the pilots of that squadron flew F-105 Thunderchiefs, providing tactical support for bombing missions during the war. On Sept. 17, 1965, Klenda’s squadron was helping attack targets east of Hanoi, in Son Law province, in the country then called North Vietnam. “During Klenda’s mission, his aircraft was struck by enemy fire, causing him to eject from the Thunderchief,” the military’s statement said. “He failed to separate from his ejection seat before it impacted the ground.” A military review board later amended his status from missing to dead. Deanna and her parents accepted that verdict. But then she spent decades encouraging the military to find him. “These are great people who really know what they are doing in doing a very difficult job,” she said. Between 1993 and 1999, the U.S. military said on Friday, teams including U.S. and Vietnamese personnel found and searched what they thought was Klenda’s crash site. They found the place where they thought Klenda’s ejection seat had hit the ground. But they found no remains. On Nov. 10, 2011 — 12 years after they’d given up finding remains at the crash site — another joint U.S.-Vietnamese team re-investigated the site after they found a local farmer who told an unusual story. The farmer told them he’d found human remains at the crash site and had taken them to a farm field five kilometers away. Three years later, from Nov. 4 to Nov. 29, 2014, U.S. and Vietnamese searchers excavated the farm field — and found remains, including teeth still intact enough to provide dental clues to the dead person’s identity. U.S. military researchers then tested the remains using dental records, DNA and isotopic analysis.

frequently asked questions (FAQ):

Where is MAJ Dean Albert Klenda's memorial?
MAJ Dean Albert Klenda's memorial is located at: Vale Cemetery, Springfield, Clark County, USA.
When did MAJ Dean Albert Klenda death?
MAJ Dean Albert Klenda death on 17 Sep 1965 in Sơn La, Sơn La, Vietnam
Where are the coordinates of the MAJ Dean Albert Klenda's memorial?
Latitude: 39.9371986
Longitude: -83.8846970

Family Members:

Parent

Albert Francis Klenda

(1909 - 1989)

Pauline Cecelia Hanus Klenda

(1913 - 1996)

Siblings

Donald Gene Klenda

(1938 - 1938)

Flowers:

Nearby Cemetories:

1. Vale Cemetery
Springfield, Clark County, USA
Coordinate: 39.9371986, -83.8846970

2. Callison Cemetery
Springfield, Clark County, USA
Coordinate: 39.9516983, -83.8822021

3. Frantz-Ebersole Cemetery
Clark County, USA
Coordinate: 39.9180820, -83.9014680

4. Huffman House
Clark County, USA
Coordinate: 39.9133490, -83.8910650

5. Masonic Home Cemetery
Springfield, Clark County, USA
Coordinate: 39.9178009, -83.8621979

6. Sims Chapel Cemetery
Lawrenceville, Clark County, USA
Coordinate: 39.9664860, -83.8997620

7. Bethel Baptist Church Cemetery
New Carlisle, Clark County, USA
Coordinate: 39.9386711, -83.9274292

8. New Boston Cemetery
Clark County, USA
Coordinate: 39.9070000, -83.9060000

9. Keifer Cemetery
Clark County, USA
Coordinate: 39.9120000, -83.9160000

10. Ferncliff Cemetery
Springfield, Clark County, USA
Coordinate: 39.9375000, -83.8218994

11. Lawrenceville Cemetery
Lawrenceville, Clark County, USA
Coordinate: 39.9860000, -83.8730000

12. Minnich Graveyard
Donnelsville, Clark County, USA
Coordinate: 39.9054160, -83.9346180

13. Donnelsville Cemetery
Donnelsville, Clark County, USA
Coordinate: 39.9216995, -83.9471970

14. Old Donnelsville Cemetery
Donnelsville, Clark County, USA
Coordinate: 39.9233932, -83.9521561

15. Mount Zion Cemetery
Springfield, Clark County, USA
Coordinate: 39.9811880, -83.8418690

16. Ream Cemetery
North Hampton, Clark County, USA
Coordinate: 39.9843890, -83.9225640

17. Columbia Street Cemetery
Springfield, Clark County, USA
Coordinate: 39.9263992, -83.8131027

18. Wildason Animal Cemetery
Donnelsville, Clark County, USA
Coordinate: 39.9193993, -83.9546967

19. Knob Prairie Cemetery
Enon, Clark County, USA
Coordinate: 39.8895150, -83.9252960

20. Saint Bernard Cemetery
Springfield, Clark County, USA
Coordinate: 39.9528008, -83.8107986

21. Flick Cemetery
North Hampton, Clark County, USA
Coordinate: 39.9931410, -83.9127000

22. Myers Cemetery
North Hampton, Clark County, USA
Coordinate: 39.9688988, -83.9511032

23. Christ Episcopal Church Columbarium
Springfield, Clark County, USA
Coordinate: 39.9226150, -83.8037060

24. Glen Haven Memorial Gardens
New Carlisle, Clark County, USA
Coordinate: 39.9183006, -83.9653015