Roll Call Tribute

The Association was notified of this Aggie's passing on 06/20/1978.

On June 13, 1969, 1st Lt. Ward was flying in a Douglas Attack Skyraider (A-1H) on a mission over Laos when his aircraft was shot down. In 1978, he was declared deceased and posthumously promoted to major.

His remains were recovered Dec. 13, 2017, and his identity confirmed July 19, 2019. Funeral services were held for him in November 2019 in Incline Village, Nevada. Aggie classmates and members of the Sierra Nevada Texas A&M Club were in attendance.

He has an “in memory of” marker at Arlington National Cemetery and also has his name inscribed on the Honolulu Memorial in Hawaii.

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From findagrave.com

MAJ Neal Clinton “Clint” Ward

BIRTH 22 Jun 1945
College Station, Brazos County, Texas, USA
DEATH 13 Jun 1969 (aged 23)
Laos
BURIAL
Honolulu Memorial
Honolulu, Honolulu County, Hawaii, USA
PLOT CENOTAPH - Courts of the Missing
MEMORIAL ID 122439030 · View Source

Major United States Air Force
College Station, Texas
June 22, 1945 to June 20, 1978
(Incident Date June 13, 1969)

PERSONAL DATA:
Home of Record College Station, TX

MILITARY DATA:
Service: United States Air Force
Grade at loss: O2
Rank/Rate: Major
Note: Promoted while in MIA status
ID No: 452748984
MOS/RATING: 1115J: Pilot, Single-seat Attack Aircraft
(A-1 Skyraider)

Unit: 602ND SPECIAL OPS SQDN, 56TH SPECIAL OPS WING, 7TH AF

CASUALTY DATA:
Start Tour: Not Recorded
Incident Date: 06/13/1969
Casualty Date: 06/20/1978
Age at Loss: 32 (based on date declared dead)
Location: , Laos
Remains: Body not recovered
Casualty Type: Hostile, died while missing
Casualty Reason: Fixed Wing - Pilot
Casualty Detail: Air loss or crash over land

Neil Ward also has a marker in Arlington National Cemetery see memorial # 22654724 with links to family

Inscription
CAPT 602 SO SQ TX
Gravesite Details The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced U.S. Air Force Major (then Captain) Neal C. Ward, killed during the Vietnam War, was accounted for July 19, 2019.
Contributor: SBR (49039178)


Created by: Sherry SH
Added: 30 Dec 2013
Find A Grave Memorial 122439030
Source citation
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From findagrave.com

MAJ Neal Clinton “Clint” Ward

BIRTH 22 Jun 1945
Brownwood, Brown County, Texas, USA
DEATH 20 Jun 1978 (aged 32)
Laos
BURIAL Lost at War, Specifically: MIA remains recovered and disposition to be determined by sister Cassie on July 30, 2019.
MEMORIAL ID 201566684 · View Source

Born Ade Clinton Gann Jr. to Ade Clinton Gann (1922-1991) and Mary Ethyl Fletcher. Mary and Ade divorced before 1951. She remarried Neal Pershing Ward on 20 April 1951. He adopted the young lad and they renamed Ade to Neal Clinton Ward.

Clint graduated as Valedictorian from Pasadena, Texas High School and was a State Champion swimmer.

He was awarded full two year scholarship for his last two years by AIr Force ROTC and graduated in 1967 from Texas A&M with honors. He was commissioned a 2Lt in US Air Force with first duty station at Eglin AFB Florida. He began his tour in Vietnam on 1 December 1968.

Married to Donna Sue Streetman. She has remarried.

On June 13, 1969, 1Lt Ward was flying in a Douglas Attack Skyrader (A-1H) on a mission over Laos, when his aircraft was shot down. His remains were not recovered until December 13, 2017. They were confirmed as MAJ Ward on July 19, 2019.

Declared dead in 1978 and posthumously promoted to Major in order to terminate pay and benefits record as required by Air Force regulations.

During his tour of duty, he was awarded a Silver Star, Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal with 4 Oak Leaf Clusters, and a Purple Heart.

Final burial location to be determined by his sister Cassie on July 30 2019. He has an “In Memory of” marker at Arlington National Cemetery (below) and also has his name inscribed on the Honolulu Memorial in Hawaii. (# 122439030).


Family Members

Parents
Neal Pershing Ward
1918–1992

Mary Ethyl Fletcher Ward
1922–2012

Siblings
Photo
Neal Clinton Ward
1945–1978

Elizabeth Jo Ward Behrens-McGinty
1954–1996


Created by: JabberJest
Added: 27 Jul 2019
Find A Grave Memorial 201566684
Source citation
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
From findagrave.com

Maj Neal Clinton “Clint” Ward

BIRTH 22 Jun 1945
Texas, USA
DEATH 20 Jun 1978 (aged 32)
Laos
BURIAL
Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington, Arlington County, Virginia, USA
PLOT Memorial Section F
MEMORIAL ID 22654724 · View Source


Family Members

Parents
Neal Pershing Ward
1918–1992

Mary Ethyl Fletcher Ward
1922–2012

Siblings
Photo
Neal Clinton Ward
1945–1978

Elizabeth Jo Ward Behrens-McGinty
1954–1996


Created by: Hope
Added: 4 Nov 2007
Find A Grave Memorial 22654724
Source citation
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Published in The (Bryan-College Station) Eagle

Missing Aggie veteran who disappeared during Vietnam War headed home for proper funeral
By Rebecca Fiedler rebecca.fiedler@theeagle.com Sep 30, 2019

The remains of an Aggie veteran who disappeared in the jungles of Laos during the Vietnam War will soon be returned to his family.

Funeral services for U.S. Air Force pilot Maj. Neal “Clint” Clinton Ward Jr. are planned for Nov. 2 in Reno, Nevada, with military honors.

Ward, a member of the Texas A&M Class of 1967, was a pilot for the Air Force’s 602nd Special Operations Squadron, Special Operations Wing, which was based near the Phathang village in Laos during the Vietnam War. His plane went down in 1969, and the military declared him killed in action in the 1970s.

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency of the U.S. Department of Defense collaborated with the Laotian government and conducted three excavations of the area between 1993 and 2018, according to Ward’s sister, Cassie Ferrell, who lives in Reno.

A skull fragment found in December 2017 was matched to Ward through DNA analysis, said Ferrell, who learned of the discovery through a July phone call from a Department of Defense official.

“I was in shock,” Ferrell said.

Ward’s skull fragment is in Hawaii and will be delivered to Ferrell in an urn in November.

Ward was born in Texas and raised in Pasadena with his two younger sisters. Ward’s nephew, Clinton “Matt” Matthew Behrens, of Albany, Georgia, said Ward’s biological father had not been a part of Ward’s life, and as young child, Ward was adopted and renamed by his mother Mary’s husband, Neal Ward Sr.

The elder Ward was a member of Texas A&M’s Class of 1937, according to Ferrell, and survived being a prisoner of war after his B-17 was shot down in Germany during World War II. Ward Jr. had been inspired by his adoptive dad to join the military and attend Texas A&M.

Though Behrens never met his uncle, he knew of Ward’s love for maroon and white.

“He was your stereotypical, all-out Aggie,” Behrens said. “Since he was a kid, he knew he wanted to go to Texas A&M. He embodied the Aggie values.”

Ferrell and her sister, Liz, had been close with their older brother. Ferrell recalled visiting the Texas A&M campus as a girl, when Ward, a member of the Corps of Cadets, took the girls to the Corps commissary for ice cream. Ward let his sisters tag along, as the girls demanded to be a part of his life, Ferrell said.

“He was awesome, and I remember telling him that when I grew up I was going to marry him,” Ferrell recalled with a chuckle. “I loved him so much.”

When Ward’s plane went missing in Laos, Ferrell struggled with the idea that he may have died. She blamed herself, believing God was punishing her. Her mother Mary, who is now deceased, became obsessed with the thought of her son coming home, Ferrell said.

“It consumed her,” and she refused to accept that he could be dead, Ferrell said.

Mary Ward would protest any move to include her son on a “killed in action” list. She would call the Air Force and give them hell if they tried to indicate to anyone he was dead, Ferrell said.

“Mama never gave up on him.”