Burial of Baton Rouge MIA evokes memories for Vietnam Veterans

A Final Homecoming: Burial of Baton Rouge MIA evokes memories for local vets
Tri-Parish Times
By JOHN DeSANTIS
Senior Staff Writer

Roger Songe and Roy Youngblood, two of many Vietnam veterans living in the Tri-parish region, never knew James Johnstone.

But they are among local veterans who said burial of the Baton Rouge army captain last week at Arlington National Cemetery, 46 years after his death during a reconnaissance mission over Laos, stirred emotions, offered comfort and also hope.

The hope is that officials will continue having success as they search for service members still missing from that war and others.

“He is from Louisiana and so that means a lot to all of us,” said Songe. “It is one more of our boys coming home.”

Capt. Johnstone was buried last Wednesday at Arlington National Cemetery. He was the pilot of an OV-1A Mohawk, a helicopter-plane hybrid used extensively during the Vietnam era, when the aircraft crashed in Attapu Province, Laos, on Nov. 19, 1966.
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