Arthur E. Bader, Jr. was born on July 21, 1934. His home of record is Atlantic City, NJ. He had one sister, Margaret.

Bader entered the US Army where he attained the rank of Sergeant First Class (SFC).

Bader was assigned to Command and Control, North, 5th Special Forces Group. On November 30, 1968, he was one of seven soldiers aboard a Vietnamese Air Force CH34 helicopter en route to Laos where they were to conduct a reconnaissance mission. The helicopter was flying at 4000 feet when it was struck by 37mm anti-aircraft fire. The helicopter exploded.

From the time they were hit to the time of impact, the aircraft was under observation and no one was seen leaving the aircraft. Immediate and close aerial inspection by another helicopter failed to find any signs of survivors. The hostile threat in the area precluded any further search and rescue efforts.

Bader’s remains were repatriated on March 3, 1989, and positively identified on February 1, 1990. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

In March 1989, a joint US/Laos team excavated the crash site in Laos. As a result, the bodies of all seven soldiers were accounted for and returned. They were buried in Arlington National Cemetery on March 23, 1990. He shares a headstone with six other members of his Special Forces unit. The Green Berets’ remains share a single casket. Also buried is two Vietnamese men who were the pilot and copilot of the helicopter. A monument in his memory is in Section 34 in Arlington National Cemetery.

Synopsis (from the POW Network) as to the circumstances behind being listed as MIA:
SFC Arthur E. Bader was born on July 12, 1934, in Atlantic City, New Jersey. He entered the Army in May 1964. In Vietnam, Bader was part of Military Assistance Command Vietnam Studies and Observation Group (MACV-SOG) which was a joint service high command unconventional warfare task force engaged in highly classified operations throughout Southeast Asia. The 5th Special Forces channeled personnel into MACV-SOG (though it was not a Special Forces group) through Special Operations Augmentation (SOA) which provided their “cover” while under secret orders to MACV-SOG. These teams performed deep penetration missions of strategic reconnaissance and interdiction missions in Laos and Cambodia which were called, depending on the country and time frame, “Shining Brass” or “Prairie Fire” missions.

On November 30, 1968, Sgt. Richard A. Fitts, Sgt. Arthur E. Bader, Cpl. Gary R. LaBohn, SSgt. Klaus D. Scholz, Maj. Samuel K. Toomey, Cpl. Michael H. Mein, 1Lt. Raymond C. Stacks were passengers aboard a Vietnamese Air Force CH34 helicopter (serial #14-4653) as their team was being transported to their reconnaissance mission area in Laos. Details of their mission were classified at that time, and remained classified in early 1990. However, information received from some of the family members indicates that the mission was related to disarming an enemy munitions store. The same account
includes information that Maj. Toomey was a chemical warfare expert. Other information states that he was a communications officer. Toomey’s family identified his job as one that he could not talk about, but that he was an “Advisor to the Special Forces.”

The helicopter was flying at 4,000 feet when it was struck by 37mm anti-aircraft fire, went into a spin, crashed in a mass of flames and exploded. The helicopter crashed about 10 miles northwest of Khe Sanh, just into Laos east of Tchepone. The crash site is in heavy jungle, near a stream. From the time the aircraft was hit until the time it impacted out of view, the helicopter was under observation and no one was seen to leave the
aircraft during its descent. No ground search was initiated because the location was in a denied area. Later visual search indicated that the pilot’s hatch was open, and his helmet was seen 25-30 feet from the helicopter, but no survivors or bodies were seen. All the personnel aboard the aircraft, however, were not declared dead, but were declared
Missing in Action, which was procedure when no proof of death existed.

In March 1988, a joint Lao/US technical team excavated the area in which the helicopter crashed. Human remains consisting of 17 teeth and 145 bone fragments, none measuring over two inches, were recovered. The remains were returned to the U.S. Army Central Identification (CIL) in Hawaii.

Bader’s nickname was Sonny. He was 34 when he died. He was the only serviceman from the South Jersey shore community of Somers Point to die in the Vietnam War. Bader served a stint in the Army in the mid-1950s. Then he married and worked for a time in his father-in-law’s company in North Jersey. The marriage ended and Bader returned to South Jersey. He re-enlisted on December 30, 1966.

Sources: POW Network and NJVVMF.
12/17/2024