First U.S. casualty in Gulf War still unaccounted for

January 1, 1998
Web posted at: 10:03 p.m. EST (0303 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The first American to be listed as "killed in action" in the 1991 Persian Gulf War remains unaccounted for nearly seven years after the end of the war.

Navy Lt. Commander Michael Speicher, 33, was on his way to bomb Baghdad, Iraq, on January 16, 1991, when his F/A-18 fighter went down over the Iraqi desert.

Defense officials say Speicher's "wing man reported seeing his plane explode on impact" in the darkness, and that no distress signals were received afterward.

He is officially listed as "the only air-to-air combat loss" of the short war, since it is believed that he was in a dogfight with an Iraqi fighter jet when his plane went down.

In 1994, hunters in the Iraqi desert stumbled across the wreckage of Speicher's plane and two years later a Red Cross team inspected the wreckage and found a tattered flight suit believed to be Speicher's, but there was no sign of a body.

The Pentagon lists him as "killed in action - body not recovered," rather than "missing in action."

While Speicher is presumed dead, the absence of a body gnaws at military people, family and friends. More than 2,200 U.S. military personnel are listed as missing in action from the Vietnam War, more than 8,000 from the Korean War and more than 75,000 from World War II.

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