Back in the early 1980s, I was at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama, where I had the opportunity to purchase a Missing in Action (MIA) bracelet. So many to honor, so I looked up the first person from Connecticut who was MIA during the Vietnam War. His name is Staff Sergeant Alfons Aloyze Bankowski, U.S. Air Force, from Stamford, Connecticut. I wore the bracelet for a few years and have lost track of it after 40 years of moving and losing belongings along the way. I never forgot the goal, though, and that was to honor one of Connecticut’s fallen.
A point of interest about SSgt Bankowski’s life and service is that he is on Line 1 of Panel 1 East of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC. What makes that significant is that the layout of names on the memorial is chronological. There are three names to the left of his who were killed before him. The seven names that follow those three all died in the same plane crash in Laos in 1961. On Panel 1E (east), Line 1, you will find “Alfons A. Bankowski,” making him one of the first 10 killed in the war.
This is his story.
STAFF SERGEANT ALFONS ALOYZE “AL” BANKWOSKI;
U.S. AIR FORCE
DOB/DOD: June 15, 1930 (Stamford, CT) – March 23, 1961 (Laos); 30 years old
MARITAL STATUS: Unmarried; found evidence of a divorce from Reba Palmer Bankowski in the June 28, 1957, edition of the Greenville (SC) News newspaper. No record of a marriage or of Reba Palmer could be found.
LOCAL ADDRESS: 15 Manor Street, Stamford (house no longer there)
ENLISTED: 1949 and served in Korea; and again in 1960
SERVICE NUMBER: 11 165 069
AIR FORCE SPECIALTY CODE: 113X0 – Flight Engineer
UNIT: 314th Air Division, Pacific Air Forces; Stationed at Osan Air Base, Republic of Korea; deployed to Vientiane, Laos
ON THE WALL: Panel 01E, Line 1
STATUS: Based on all information available, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) assesses the individual’s case to be in the analytical category of Active Pursuit. The definition of that category is, “a missing person file has sufficient information to justify ongoing field work, research, or recovery operations. It serves as a top priority for resource allocation and operational planning to justify ongoing field work, research, or recovery operations.”
In November 1991, the remains of four of the crew members with SSgt Bankowski (Magee, Matteson, Garside, and Sampson) were positively identified. To this day, the remains of Edgar Weitkamp, Oscar Weston, and Alfons Bankowski have not been recovered.
FAMILY: Born to Wladyslaw “Walter” (1886-1930) and Anastasia Romanowska Bankowski Maleski (1895-1989). Both parents were born in Poland. Alfons was the youngest of eight children. Three sisters, Mary Bankowski Stepnowski (1915-1984), Frances V. Bankowski Kupidlowski (1916-1968), and Anastasia H.N. Bankowski Mossman Adams (1926-1995). Four brothers, Stanley S. (1918-1969), Walter A. [Navy/WWII veteran] (1922-1987), Edward B. (1923-1978), and Harry P. [Army/WWII veteran] (1925-1996).
DECORATIONS: Purple Heart Medal, Air Medal, Good Conduct Medal, Korean Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Republic of Korea Presidential Citation, Republic of Korea War Service Medal, United Nations Service Medal, Vietnam Campaign Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Air Force Presidential Unit Citation, Vietnam Gallantry Cross
CIRCUMSTANCES: C-47B (tail number 44-76330) departed Vientiane, Laos, enroute to Saigon. The aircraft flew over the Plaines des Jarres (Plain of Jars) area with the intention of monitoring North Vietnamese and Soviet activity. It was hit by enemy fire and crashed about 4 miles north of Phon Savan airfield, Xiangkhoang Province, Laos.
THE CREW
1st Lt Ralph W. Magee, Pilot; Port Sulphur, LA (Accounted For)
1st Lt Oscar B. “OB” Weston, Co-Pilot; Norfolk, VA (Unaccounted For)
2nd Lt Glenn Matteson, Navigator; Appleton, WI (Accounted For)
SSgt Alfons A. “Al” Bankowski, Flight Engineer; Stamford, CT (Unaccounted For)
SSgt Frederick T. Garside, Assistant Flight Engineer; Plymouth, MA (Accounted For)
SSgt Leslie V. “Les” Sampson, Radio Operator; Richey, MT (Unaccounted For)
Passengers, both Army Attachés Office, American Embassy Vientiane, Laos
Major Lawrence R. “Bob” Bailey, Jr.; Laurel, MD (Survived)
Warrant Officer Edgar W. Weitkamp Jr.; York, PA (Unaccounted For)
Major Bailey, who always wore a parachute when he flew, jumped from the falling aircraft and was captured by the Pathet Lao. Bob Bailey spent seventeen months as a prisoner in Sam Neua, the Pathet Lao headquarters near the North Vietnamese border, before being repatriated after the signing of the Geneva Agreements on Laos in 1962. The caves at Sam Neua were said to have held scores of American prisoners during and after the war. Lawrence Bailey was the first Prisoner of War in Southeast Asia captured after the Geneva Agreements of 1954.
The photo below is of Major Bailey receiving the Bronze Star Medal from President Kennedy in 1962 after his release from captivity. It is from the August 31, 1962, edition of the Republican and Herald newspaper in Pottsville, Pennsylvania.
Testimonials on the Wall of Faces website
Al, Here’s a great photo of your ’59 Galaxy 500 4-door. It has many memories for a few of us. There’s your Mom sitting in the driver’s seat doing one of the engine runs you asked her to do while you were gone. And, when Carole and I got married, you stood up and volunteered to be our driver in the “Limo.” — Ed Johnson, MSGT, USAF (Ret)
Moments like those in the photo of Harriet and you will forever be remembered. Though lost in the flesh, your love for family and friends remains with us. — Harriet Conte, January 22, 2015
Memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, 2177 Puowaina Drive, Honolulu, Hawaii; Court A, Panel 88.
Memorialized on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall, 5 Henry Bacon Drive SW, Washington, DC. Photo courtesy of VirtualWall.org.
“In Memory Of” Marker in Arlington National Cemetery, 1 Memorial Drive, Arlington, Virginia; Section ME, Grave 158. Photo courtesy of FindAGrave.com and contributor “Hope.”
END
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