Aggie to represent families of former MIA Vietnam troops

On Sept. 20, Karoni Forrester ’96 will place one of five symbolic bronze rosettes at the Honolulu Memorial to honor Vietnam War troops formerly listed as missing in action who have been accounted for since the late 1970s.

Forrester’s father, Capt. Ronald W. Forrester ’69, was announced as accounted for in December 2023. His plane had been lost during a combat mission in 1972.

He and 22 other Aggies are named on the Courts of the Missing walls that honor 2,504 service members from the Vietnam War who were listed as MIA in the late 1970s, when the Vietnam portion of the Memorial was being constructed.

In all, the Honolulu Memorial, which is part of the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, includes nearly 29,000 names of service members who were missing in action from World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam. When a service member’s remains are identified and accounted for, a bronze rosette is traditionally placed beside the name. The ceremony on Sept. 20 will begin a process of adding rosettes for more than 900 Vietnam War troops recovered since that portion of the Memorial was constructed.

Of the 25 Aggies initially declared missing in action from the Vietnam War, two were recovered in the early 1970s. The other 23 are named on the Honolulu Memorial, and of those, 13 Aggies including Ronald Forrester have been recovered in recent decades and are eligible to receive rosettes.

During the Sept. 20 ceremony in Honolulu, five rosettes will be placed, one for each branch of the military on the Memorial. Karoni Forrester will place a rosette by her father’s name as a symbolic representation for all the Marines being honored.

Plans are for the ceremony to be livestreamed online at www.dpaa.mil/livestreams by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency at 3 p.m. Central (10 a.m. in Honolulu). Sept. 20 is 2024’s National POW/MIA Recognition Day.

Families of those on the Memorial are invited to come take part in the ceremony, or to learn about opportunities to place a rosette for their loved one. Contact Natalie Rauch, an organizer of the ceremony who is herself the daughter of a missing Vietnam War pilot, at rosetteceremony2024@gmail.com.

Below are the 13 Aggies eligible for Vietnam War rosettes on the Honolulu Memorial:

• Col. William E. Campbell ’52
• Lt. Col. Irving B. Ramsower ’57
• Capt. George P. McKnight ’58
• Col. Gregg Hartness ’60
• Lt. Col. Donald A. Luna ’60
• Maj. William E. Jones ’62
• Lt. Cmdr. Michael E. Dunn ’63
• Capt. Johnnie C. Cornelius ’63
• Lt. Clyde W. Campbell ’66
• Capt. Carl E. Long ’66
• Lt. Donald J. Matocha ’67
• Maj. Neal C. Ward ’67
• Capt. Ronald W. Forrester ’69

More information about them and all 25 Aggies initially listed as MIA from the Vietnam war is at tx.ag/VietnamMIAAggies. Lists of Aggies known to be MIA from World War II and the Korean War are at tx.ag/MIAAggiesWWII and tx.ag/MIAAggiesKoreaColdWar.