Ralph ‘Jim’ Chipman

On August 2, 2023, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Captain Ralph Jim Chipman, missing from the Vietnam War.

Captain Chipman entered the U.S. Marine Corps from Utah and was a member of the Marine All-Weather Attack Squadron 533, Marine Air Group 15, 1st Marine Air Wing. On December 27, 1972, he was the pilot aboard an A-6A Intruder (bureau number 155666, call sign “Tiny 05”) which took off from Royal Thai Air Base Nam Phong, Khon Kaen Province, Thailand, carrying two crew members on a night combat mission over North Vietnam. The Intruder was last heard from when an airborne controller received a radio transmission indicating “Tiny 05” was beginning its entry into the target area. No subsequent radio contact was made, and an aerial search conducted over the area was unsuccessful in locating the aircraft or crew.

On July 1, 1974, the Marine Corps changed Capt Chipman’s status from Missing in Action to Killed in Action. Investigations following the incident continued for decades, with investigators eventually discovering remains and material evidence which are believed to be associated with Capt Chipman and the other aviator in the area of the crash site.