Robert Wallace Brownlee, Jr.
Colonel, U.S. Army

On that day, LTC Brownlee was a senior advisor to the Army of South Vietnam's 47th Infantry Regiment at a base designated Dak To II in Kontum Province in the Central Highlands. When the North Vietnamese attacked with tanks, the South Vietnamese soldiers threw down their weapons and fled in terror. LTC Brownlee, his deputy, Captain Charles W. Creen, and their ARVN interpreter, SGT Cao Ky Chi, withdrew from Dak To II as enemy tanks and infantry overran the compound. While fording the nearby Poko River, both Captain Creen and Sergeant Chi were swept downstream and temporarily separated from Lieutenant Colonel Brownlee who reached the south bank of the Poko River and began climbing a hill.

After successfully evading, Sergeant Chi related that he had reached the south bank of the Poko River and heard People's Army of Vietnam troops call out in Vietnamese to halt. He observed a South Vietnamese Army soldier approximately 100 meters away raise their hands but had no personal knowledge of the fate of Colonel Brownlee.

South Vietnamese personnel repatriated during Operation Homecoming provided several hearsay accounts during 1973-74 in an effort by the Defense Attache Office, Saigon, to learn Colonel Brownlee's fate. These accounts, all attributed to different South Vietnamese Army prisoner sources, stated that Colonel Brownlee had committed suicide prior to capture. None of these accounts could be verified. No returning U.S. POW was able to provide any information on Colonel Brownlee's precise fate.

LTC Brownlee was declared Missing in Action on 24 April 1972. On 26 October 1978 Colonel Brownlee was declared Dead / Body Not Recovered, based on a Presumptive Finding of Death with the date of death as 24 April 1972. His remains have never been recovered.

While he was in Missing in Action status, Brownlee was awarded a posthumous promotion to Colonel.

Medals and Awards

Purple Heart
National Defense Service Medal
Vietnam Service Medal
Vietnam Campaign Medal

Honors

The name Robert W Brownlee, Jr is located on Panel W1 Line 6 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall.

Cenotaph

A stone marker in memory of Colonel Robert Wallace Brownlee is located at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, VA, in Memorial Section I.

[Portions of the data concerning the events on 24 April 1972 were taken from the Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs: Smith 324 Compelling Cases - South Vietnam.]