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Remains Identified 03/2002.
Click on the photo below for more information about Tom Teran.
| Name: | Refugio Thomas "Tom" Teran |
| Rank/Branch: | E3/US Army |
| Unit: | 2nd Battalion, 501st Infantry, 101st Airborne Division |
| Date of Birth (DOB): | 08 May 1949 (Detroit, MI) |
| Home City of Record: | Westland, MI |
| Loss Date: | 06 May 1970 |
| Country of Loss: | South Vietnam |
| Loss Coordinates: | 163840N 1065600E (YD081411) |
| Status (in 1973): | Missing In Action |
| Category: | 2 |
| Acft/Vehicle/Ground: | Ground |
| Refno: | 1613 |
| Other Personnel in Incident: | Larry G. Kier (missing) |
| Source: | Compiled from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Updated by the P.O.W. NETWORK in 2002. |
| Remarks: | |
| Synopsis: | |
| Every week while he was in Vietnam, Refugio Teran got a package from his mother containing 30 pounds of oatmeal, canned fruit and sugar, which Teran gave to a Vietnamese family near the base where he was stationed. On May 4, "in the world", National Guardsmen had been called in to control rioting at Kent State and then Governor Ronald Reagan ordered California universities closed for the rest of the week. During the night of May 5, 1970 (12 hours in time behind Vietnam time), Mrs. Anna Teran woke up screaming, knowing she would lose her son. On May 6, 1970, PFC Larry G. Kier and PFC Refugio T. Teran were assigned to separate companies of the 101st Airborne Division as riflemen defending an artillery fire support base in South Vietnam. At about 0500 hours on May 6, 1970, Viet Cong forces overran a guard station at an ammunition dump near Henderson Hill in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam, killing 33 Americans. Kier and Teran were last seen running toward a barricade, and when not seen again, were presumed dead. Kier's position was reportedly hit by a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG), and then napalm ignited in his location which was leaking from a nearby position. PFC Teran had been located in another firing position along the camp perimeter. The next day, a graves registration detail collecting bodies was unable to find any trace of Kier and Teran. Five others in the unit who had been believed dead were found alive, but injured. When 591 Americans were released from Vietnam in 1973, Kier and Teran were not among them. There has been no word surface about them since they disappeared. Since 1973, nearly 10,000 reports have been given to the U.S. Government regarding Americans still in Southeast Asia. Some have withstood the "closest scrutiny" possible, and cannot be disputed. There is very strong reason to believe that Americans are still held captive in Southeast Asia today. Unlike "MIAs" from other wars, most of the nearly 2500 Americans who did not come home from Vietnam can easily be accounted for, dead or alive. We, as a nation, must turn our immediate attention to those who are alive and do everything possible to secure their freedom. [ssrep7.txt 02/09/93] SMITH 324 COMPELLING CASES South Vietnam Refugio T. Terran (1613) In August 1991, a Vietnam resident turned over the partially melted identity card belonging to Kier together with two bone fragments. The bones were reportedly recovered during 1987 and were turned over to a U.S. representative in Hanoi. The fragments are currently undergoing analysis. LEAGUE UPDATE: March 7, 2002 |
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All Biographical and loss information on POWs provided by OpJC have been supplied by Chuck and Mary Schantag of POWNET. Please check with POWNET regularly for updates. |
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| REFUGIO THOMAS TERAN SSGT - E6 - Army - Selective Service 101st Airborne Division 29 year old Single, Caucasian, Male Born on May 08, 1949 From WESTLAND, MICHIGAN His tour of duty began on May 06, 1970 Casualty was on Sep 29, 1978 in QUANG TRI, SOUTH VIETNAM Hostile, died while missing GROUND CASUALTY Body was recovered Religion - ROMAN CATHOLIC Panel 11W - - Line 117 |
Source: The VietNam Veterans' Memorial Wall Page. |
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