Peter Mongilardi, Jr. was born on July 1, 1925, and lived in Passaic, NJ. His home of record is Haledon, NJ. He was married and had two sons and one daughter.
Peter entered the US Navy, became an air wing commander and attained the rank of Commander (CDR/05). He was assigned to Vietnam flying reconnaissance missions. His assignment was Commander Attack Carrier Air Wing 15 on board the USS Coral.
Synopsis (from the POW Network) as to the circumstances behind being listed as MIA:
On June 25, 1965, Commander Mongilardi was the pilot of an A-4 E aircraft which was on a bombing mission over Vietnam. He was observed to hit his target, a bridge, pull off the target and then disappear in a rain shower.
As Commander Mongilardi’s aircraft entered the rain shower, it was in a level flight with no noticeable damage. Commander Mongilardi’s wingman immediately followed in making a run on the bridge, noted anti-aircraft fire in the vicinity of the target, and subsequently tried to make radio contact with Commander Mongilardi. When his efforts proved unsuccessful, a search was immediately conducted, but nothing was found.
Search and rescue operations were initiated on June 25, 1965 and continued until dark on June 27, 1965. Approximately 30 aircraft participated in the intensive search and every effort was made to try to locate Commander Mongilardi. Weather conditions during the search period were very good with visibility at 15 miles. All pilots in the carrier strike force were instructed to be on alert for any clue that might locate Commander Mongilardi or his aircraft.
Mongilardi was listed as missing in action.
On January 29, 2007, the Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office announced that the remains of U.S. Navy Commander Peter Mongilardi, Jr. have been identified and returned to his family for burial in Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors.
In 1993, a joint U.S. – Socialist Republic of Vietnam archival team, led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, obtained information concerning the crash while researching documents, artifacts and photographs at the Central Army Museum in Hanoi. Later that year, another team conducted an investigation in Thanh Hoa Province. The team interviewed two local Vietnamese citizens who recalled the crash and said that the pilot died in the impact. The men then led the team to the crash site.
In 1994, another joint team excavated the crash site and recovered human remains and pilot-related items, including a belt tip, boot heel, pieces of flight boot and other items worn by the pilot.
Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from JPAC and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory also used nuclear DNA in the identification of the remains.
Sources: Raoul Mongilardi (son), POW Network, various websites and NJVVMF.
12/17/2024
