Army Staff Sgt Marshall F Kipina

Army Staff Sgt. Marshall F. Kipina, 21, of Calumet, Michigan, accounted for on Feb. 1, 2018, will be buried October 18 in Arlington National Cemetery, near Washington, D.C. On July 13, 1966 Kipina was assigned to the 131st Aviation Company, serving as an observer aboard an OV-1C aircraft, on a night surveillance mission from Phu Bai Airfield over Attapu Province, Laos People’s Democratic Republic (L.P.D.R.). Visibility was poor due to heavy thunderstorms. Radar and radio contact were lost with the aircraft, which was not uncommon due to the mountainous terrain in that part of Laos. When the aircraft did not return as scheduled, search efforts were initiated, but no crash site was found. Also lost in the crash was Army Lt. Col. Robert G. Nopp, 31, of Salem, Oregon, the aircraft’s pilot.

During the 1990s and 2000s, joint U.S./L.P.D.R. teams investigated the incident and recommended a potential crash site in Attapu Province, L.P.D.R. for excavation. The site, located in extremely difficult terrain, required multiple missions to excavate. The teams recovered osseous material, personal equipment and material evidence. Analysis of the aircraft indicated the crash was of the same aircraft Kipina was in, and an ejection seat component indicated at least one person was in the aircraft when it crashed. Nopp was identified concurrently with Kipina.

To identify Kipina’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), as well as anthropological analysis and circumstantial evidence.

DPAA is grateful to the government and people of Laos for their assistance in accounting for Kipina.