Eleven U.S. Air Force servicemen missing in action from the Vietnam War have been identified and returned to their families for burial.

On Dec. 29,1967, they took off from I Nha Trang, Republic of Vietnam, on a special mission over North Vietnam.

Approximately four hours into their mission, the crew made a radio report from an area near Lai Chau Province, North Vietnam.

When they failed to return to base, a visual and electronic search was initiated. About a month later, the search was ended when the aircraft could not be located.

In October and November 1993 a joint team led by Joint Task Force Full Accounting excavated the suspected crash site where they recovered aircraft wreckage, personal effects and human remains. In 1994 and 1995, Vietnamese citizens and government officials turned over additional remains.

Department of analysts concluded from the distribution of aircraft wreckage that the C-130 hit a mountainside and that the crew was unaware of the impending crash.

Nine parachutes were accounted for among the artifacts recovered, and there are no unresolved live sighting reports associated with this incident

On Nov. 7, 2000, the remains of Navy Cmdr. Richard Rich, shot down over North Vietnam on May 17^th, 1967, were interred in Arlington National Cemetery.

Cmdr. Rich was shot down in Vietnam in May 1967, just 15 days before he was scheduled to return home.