His wife led a charge to keep American servicemen lost during the Vietnam War in the nation’s consciousness, but she died without ever knowing what happened to him.
His family in Colorado struggled with rumors that he had been spotted as a prisoner of war, forced to march by the enemy, then disappeared into remote jungle.
Almost 40 years after Air Force Maj. Perry H. Jefferson’s plane lost radio contact over South Vietnam, his remains have been identified, the Department of Defense said Tuesday.
“All these years we never really never knew what happened, but we had reports that he was seen as a prisoner,” said Jefferson’s brother, Mike Jefferson, 68, of Greenwood Village. “Now we know he didn’t have to suffer at all, that he died in the crash of the plane. That, at least, is a big relief.”
Maj. Jefferson was a 37-year-old aerial observer taking a last flight on an O-1G Bird Dog on April 3, 1969, the day before he was to return home when the aircraft crashed into a mountainside, the military said. A three-day search turned up no signs of the plane.
In 1994, a joint U.S./Vietnamese team interviewed two Vietnamese citizens regarding the crash. The witnesses said the aircraft crashed on a mountainside and the pilots were killed. They said two men were sent a few days later to bury the pilots.
A team excavating the site found the plane’s wreckage but no remains.
In 2001, a Vietnamese national living in California turned over to U.S. officials human remains that his mother had reportedly brought with her when she immigrated.
DNA and dental comparisons identified the remains as Jefferson’s.
“His wife, Sylvia, died about five years ago without ever knowing,” Mike Jefferson said. “My father, he never recovered because of all the questions left unanswered.”
Sylvia Jefferson had led campaigns to remember POWs and MIAs. She was one of the organizers of a group called Colorado Cares for POWs and MIAs.
Perry Jefferson graduated from Southern Methodist University and went into the Air Force out of college, his brother said. Finally settling in Northglenn, Jefferson served as a technician in the Colorado Air National Guard when he was called to active duty with the 120th Tactical Fighter Squadron, according to news reports.
“He loved every minute of it,” Mike Jefferson said.
Jefferson will be buried with military honors at Arlington National Cemetery on April 3, the anniversary of his disappearance.
Mike Jefferson said he will travel to the laboratory that did the testing in Hawaii to pick up his brother’s remains and escort them to Virginia.
Perry Jefferson leaves behind his brother and two children, one living in the Denver area and another in Pittsburgh.
“It’s always been like an unfinished book for the family,” Mike Jefferson said. “So I guess you can say we’re grateful for the closure.”
Manny Gonzales: 303-954-1537 or mgonzales@denverpost.com.
