40 year search for airman continues

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - It's been 40 years since Roger Herrick last saw his brother; that was the day Air Force Captain Jim Herrick left for Vietnam.

“It was in ‘69 before he went back overseas, he was home on leave and I was 14 at the time,” Herrick said.

The boy who said goodbye decades ago is now a man on a mission.
His brother’s last mission began in Thailand. After enemy fire erupted over Laos, Captain Herrick and his plane disappeared.

“I do remember the Air Force coming to the door in their blue suits and telling us, like yesterday,” Herrick said.

That wasn't enough for Roger or the military.

In 1995, the Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office began calling families of the missing and updating them monthly.

Every four years, they made stops in cities like Albuquerque to brief thousands of families on searches.

This weekend Roger drove to Albuquerque from Placitas, only to hear once again there's no new information in the search for his brother.

“Joint task force has been over to what they believe is the crash site about four times now,” Herrick said.

The military says it’s making major strides in finding the missing captain. However, until a full excavation of the crash site is completed, the family will not know for sure if it is Captain Herrick’s plane.

If it is his plane, Herrick wonders if his brother was even inside when it struck the ground.

“We don't know what happened to him, whether he bailed out and survived, or if he died in the crash, said Herrick.

These questions are what fuels Herrick’s search, for the brother who left and never came home. Even if it takes another 40 years, Herrick said giving up is not an option.

“Not until he comes home,” he said.