Bennie Dexter

DEXTER, BENNIE LEE
Name: Bennie Lee Dexter
Rank/Branch: E3/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 18 July 1944
Home City of Record: Bend OR
Date of Loss: 09 May 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 123433N 1075016E (XD795050)
Status (In 1973): Prisoner of War
Category: 1
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: M151 jeep
Refno: 0333
Other Personnel In Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 15 June 1990 from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Updated by the P.O.W. NETWORK 1998.

REMARKS: CAPTURE WITNESSED; JEEP FOUND

SYNOPSIS: On May 10, 1966, A2C Bennie Lee Dexter was captured by communist forces while driving a jeep south on National Route 14 near the Darlac/Quang Duc Province boder, South Vietnam. His jeep was found at this location the next day and there was a Vietnamese witness to his capture.

Subsequent intelligence reports confirmed Dexter's capture and named the location at which he was being held. Dexter was placed in Prisoner of War status.

When American military involvement ended in Southeast Asia, Bennie Dexter was not released from prison, nor did his name appear on any lists provided by the Vietnamese. The United States government later declared him administratively "dead" because no specific information had been received that he was still alive.

In 1987, classified information regarding Bennie Dexter was given to the Vietnamese by General John Vessey in hopes of resolving the mystery of his fate. The information, which is denied to the American public, was widely distributed by a government official who was outraged that the public and POW/MIA families were denied information that could be given to our former enemies.

Although the numbers of Americans that the Vietnamese have accounted for with the return of remains increased in the late 1980's, the Vietnamese have yet to "discover" the whereabouts of Bennie Dexter, alive or dead.

Over 10,000 reports have been received by the U.S. relating to the nearly 2500 Americans missing, prisoner or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia. Many experts believe that hundreds of them are still alive in communist hands. One of them could be A2C Bennie Dexter. It's time the brave Americans still serving their country in Vietnam were brought home.

Senate Select Committee - Vessey 135 Discrepancy Cases

South Vietnam, Bennie Lee Dexter

On May 9, 1966, Airman Second Class Dexter departed Pleiku City for Banmethuot City by jeep. He never arrived at his destination, and an ensuing search turned up his jeep on May 11, 1966. Local civilians reported he had been stopped and taken prisoner. There were wartime reports about an American POW in captivity whose circumstances of capture were similar to that of Airman Dexter. One report asserted that he died of starvation in February 1967.
Airman Dexter was carried in a POW status at the end of Operation Homecoming. He was later declared dead/body not recovered. Returning U.S. POWs were unable to confirm his fate.
Joint Casualty Resolution Center field investigations in Vietnam during April 1989 led to the interview of witnesses who described Dexter's capture and imprisonment near Banmethuot. The same witnesses stated that he was shot and killed during an escape attempt and that his remains were buried nearby. U.S. investigators were unable to locate any evidence of his grave or remains.