Fallen Air Force hero returns home

Published July 12, 2013
By Airman 1st Class Sam Fogleman
92nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs

SPOKANE, Wash. -- A member of the Air Force team has finally returned home nearly 44 years after falling in combat.

The remains of Maj. Larry Hanley arrived at the Spokane International Airport July 11 for a repatriation ceremony.

Hanley, piloting an F-105D Thunderchief, crashed in Khammouan Province, Laos, while attacking an enemy antiaircraft position Nov. 4, 1969, during the Vietnam War.

Some of Hanley's family was in attendance for the repatriation and reflected on their experience.

"Our hopes and wishes have been fulfilled," said Darlene Allen, Hanley's sister, who was in attendance upon his arrival. "The Air Force has handled this wonderfully."

JoAnn Aliverti, Hanley's other sister said, "We went through 43-and-a-half years of not hearing; the whole thing didn't seem real. It's never going to be over, but our prayers were answered."

Hanley's remains, within an American flag-draped casket, were met by a seven-member Honor Guard team from Fairchild that provided planeside honors. Several members of Team Fairchild leadership were on hand to pay their respects, including Col. Brian Newberry, 92nd Air Refueling Wing commander, and Chief Master Sgt. Wendy Hansen, 92nd Air Refueling Wing command chief.

"It's important for me to be here to honor what he represented," Newberry said. "This country will never leave an Airman, soldier, sailor or Marine behind."

Neither Hanley's wingman nor the Forward Air Controller directing the attack witnessed the crash, so Hanley's exact location remained unknown for decades. Hanley was listed as Missing in Action. On February 24, 2012, investigators with the Joint Prisoners of War/Missing in Action Accounting Command obtained remains recovered from Hanley's crash site. The remains were identified by JPAC March 8, 2013.

"We celebrate Maj. Hanley's return -- it is indeed a good day for his family, our Air Force and America," Newberry said. "He is now home and can rest in peace. It is also a good day because it gives us an opportunity to remember him as the heroic Airman he was who gave his life for us defending freedom over the skies of Laos and Vietnam."

Hanley was born in Spokane in 1943, and raised in Walla Walla, Wash. He received his commission as a second lieutenant in 1966 upon graduation from Central Washington State College (now Central Washington University) in Ellensburg in 1966 after being a member of the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps there.

Hanley's sisters had many fond recollections of their brother. Allen's husband Greer took Hanley to Travis Air Force Base, Calif., to catch his plane for his last tour in Southeast Asia. Aliverti said that Hanley volunteered for that fateful second tour because he was single, easing him of family obligations.

"That attitude is why we're here today," Newberry said upon hearing that story.

Hanley's sisters also shared that their brother received his wings upon graduation from flight school at Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas, from Brig. Gen. James Stewart, the famous actor, in 1967.

"It's a remarkable closing chapter on a person and a career," said retired Brig. Gen. James McDevitt, Hanley's roommate at the University of Washington prior to his academic transfer. "He was a good-looking, red-headed guy, a true American through and through. The most important thing I remember about him is that he was a dedicated cadet, a dedicated officer." Hanley was also McDevitt's best man at the latter's wedding.

"He was very proficient," McDevitt added. "Always a smile -- always a positive guy."

Hanley received numerous awards and decorations: the Distinguished Flying Cross with one Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster, the Bronze Star Medal, the Purple Heart, the Air Medal with Two Silver and One Bronze Oak Leaf Clusters, the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with Valor, the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal with One Silver Service Star, the Small Arms Expert Marksmanship Ribbon, the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm, and the Vietnam Campaign Medal.

"This also gives us an opportunity to teach our younger Airmen of his legacy of excellence and long blue line we now build upon," Newberry said. "Lastly, let us not forget our noble Air Force and nation who never gave up on one of our Airmen, even 43 years later -- we leave no one behind!"

Fairchild provided full military honors at Hanley's committal service July 13 at Mountain View Cemetery, located at 2120 South 2nd Avenue in Walla Walla, Wash.