  Capt. William C. Clay, III, U. S. Marine Corps, of Henderson, N.C. was piloting an A-4E Skyhawk on a close air support mission over South Vietnam. His aircraft was hit by enemy fire, exploded and crashed. No ejection seat or parachute was sighted by his fellow airmen as the plane crashed. Two joint investigations with the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in 1993 and 1995 failed to locate his remains. However, as one U. S. team prepared to leave Vietnam in 1995, they were approached by a local farmer who turned over human remains and associated artifacts. These remains were later identified as those of Capt. Clay. DNA testing was one of the forensic techniques used in the process. |