On Saturday, August 3, Rolling Thunder KY 5 will hold a remembrance and wreath-laying ceremony at the POW-MIA memorial, 8028 Veterans Memorial Drive in Florence for Captain Joseph S. Ross USAF 389th Tactical Fighter Squadron – 366th Tactical Fighter Wing – 7th Air Force
Capt. Ross is one of the 1588 servicemen that remain missing from the Vietnam War today.
Ross was born in January 1943 Fort Thomas, graduated from Highlands High School in 1961 and from the United States Air Force Academy in 1966.
He was last seen 1 Aug 1968 in Quang Binh Province, North Vietnam.
“As a community we can never forget about the ones we left behind on the battlefield. Our primary mission at Rolling Thunder is to remember. We are honored that we have the opportunity to bring awareness to the public so they know we will never forget the sacrifice,” said Todd Matonich, a United States Navy Veteran and Board Member at Rolling Thunder®, Inc. Kentucky 5.
On 1 August 1968, Colonel William Thompson, aircraft commander, and Joseph Ross, pilot, comprised the crew of a McDonnell F4D Phantom jet “Coach 1” that was the lead aircraft in a flight of two. The flight departed DaNang Airbase, South Vietnam on a night armed reconnaissance mission over Quang Binh Province, North Vietnam.
Enroute to their assigned area, they were diverted by command to check out suspected truck traffic in the vicinity of their original target. Coach 1 dropped several sets of illumination flares that allowed them to confirm North Vietnamese truck traffic.
At 0310 hours, Colonel Thompson told Coach 2, their wingman, to circle the area while he made a bombing pass on the trucks. As the wingman circled the area, he noted a large explosion within several hundred feet of the moving targets. The crew of Coach 2 immediately attempted to establish contact with Coach 1 but was unable to do so.
In the darkness, the crew of Coach 2 saw no parachutes and heard no emergency beepers.
At daybreak, an airborne command post monitored emergency electronic signals seemingly coming from the crash site. Further search efforts could not establish the whereabouts or source of those signals. Likewise, they found no trace of the aircraft’s wreckage. Search and rescue efforts were terminated on 6 August and both William Thompson and Joseph Ross were listed as “Missing in Action.”
The public is invited to join us remembering and honoring those who never returned. The major function of Rolling Thunder, Inc. is to publicize and create awareness of the POW☆ MIA issue.
For further information about Rolling Thunder KY 5 and its mission, please go to the website.
Joe Ross was a friend of mine in high school, he at Highlands, me, at Beechwood. He was lost at age 25 and that is one of Kentucky’s largest tragedies. He was a good guy, and was vastly admired by all the attractive girls at Highlands. I think of him often. Joe, like Bill Deupree, was one of the good ones.
Thank you Roger. Joe’s brother Steve will be with us tomorrow for the Ceremony.
Kelly Shehan
V.P. Rolling Thunder Inc Kentucky 5
I remember Joe as we both went to Highlans HS in Fort Thomas. I remember Joe as a dedicated and serious student.