GIs’ Remains From Laos ID’d

WASHINGTON —  The remains of four U.S. servicemen missing in action since the Vietnam War, including a Gardena man, have been identified and will be returned to their families for burial, the Pentagon said Tuesday.

All from the Army’s 101st Airborne Division, they are Maj. Jack L. Barker of Waycross, Ga.; Capt. John F. Dugan of Roselle, N.J.; Sgt. William E. Dillender of Naples, Fla.; and Pfc. John J. Chubb of Gardena.

Chubb will be buried in Inglewood this week. Barker, Dugan and Dillender will be buried in April in Arlington National Cemetery, said the Pentagon’s POW/Missing Personnel Office.

Their helicopter was shot down March 20, 1971, the office said in a statement.

Barker and Dugan were piloting a UH-1H Huey with Dillender and Chubb on board on a troop extraction mission in Savannakhet province of Laos.

Officials said that as the helicopter approached the landing zone, it was hit by heavy ground fire and exploded.

The remains were identified by forensic anthropologists using medical and dental records, the Pentagon said.