Missing pilot’s remains bring sister closure after 51 years

JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas (AFNS) -- Maj. Dean Klenda, an F-105 Thunderchief pilot, went to Vietnam in 1965. He never returned. His sister, Deanna, has been searching for answers ever since. Last year, she got them, and his remains are finally home.

Thanks in part to the team of the Missing Persons Branch at the Air Force Personnel Center, Klenda was laid to rest Sept. 17, 51 years to the day from when his aircraft was shot down in North Vietnam.

On Sept. 17, 1965, Klenda was flying the No. 2 position in a flight of four F-105s as part of a Rolling Thunder operation. While pulling up from an attack, Klenda’s aircraft was struck by enemy ground fire. Although his canopy was seen leaving the aircraft, no parachute was observed and no beacon contact was established as he went down.

“My brother’s case was so impossible,” Deanna said. “My family had no expectations of ever finding his remains due to the circumstances surrounding his crash. We knew there was probably nothing left to find.”