04 June 2001 I wore a POW/MIA Bracelet with the name of Capt. David Leet, 4-13-72 until the war ended. I was too young to have friends in the war, but I was worried about my older brother or his friends being drafted. Having that bracelet really personalized things for me and I remember being so glad when the POW's were released, and so sad for the families whose loved ones never came home. E-mail address is not available.

 

01 Sep 2001 I, too, wore the bracelet of Captain David Leet and visited the Traveling Wall in Wildwood, NJ, this past week. I never knew you but will always be grateful. Your bracelet is a reminder to me of sorrow I pray my children will never see. I am so sorry. My prayers are with you, Captain David Leet. A Mother of a Son E-mail address is not available.

 

12 Feb 2007 I was a neighbor of David's in Havelock, NC, when he left for his tour in Vietnam. Although I was a pilot with two tours in Vietnam myself, I was not in his squadron. My next door neighbor, Bill Steinberg, was an RF-4 pilot in VMCJ-2 with David. Both were from Wisconsin and Bill introduced me to him. It was a sad day when Bill came over to my house and let my wife and me know that David was missing in action. That was all the information he had at the time. Until they finally broke apart, I wore a bracelet with a squadron member's name on it and my wife wore one with David's name on it. Recently, my son talked me into going back to Vietnam (we're going this February) to visit the areas I was in during that time. I decided to do some research, but one of the areas I couldn't find anything about was what happened to David and John's flight. Somehow I came upon the link on John when I was searching for information on EA-6A losses in Vietnam and that led me to The Virtual Wall and the information on both David and John. I guess we'll never know the exact cause, but at least I was able to find something. It helped me rekindle all the fond memories I had of David and his family. Thanks. Joseph Nesmith jnesmith@srdcorp.com

 

With the addition of the Grumman A6A Intruder to its inventory, the 1st Marine Air Wing (MAW) had the finest two-man, all-weather, low-altitude attack/bombing aircraft in the world. It displayed great versatility and lived up to the expectations of those who pushed for its development after the Korean War. The EA-6A was an electronic warfare variant of the basic A-6A INTRUDER all-weather attack aircraft. The aircraft provided Electronic Countermeasures (ECM) support for all service branches, primarily in North Vietnam and Laos. The EA-6As were withdrawn in 1971, but returned when LINEBACKER operations were instituted following North Vietnam's Spring '72 offensive. In early April of 1972, Leet's and Christensen's squadron was deployed to Naval Air Station (NAS) Cubi Point (the edge of Naval Base Subic Bay, Phillipines) to support the Linebacker I and II operations in Vietnam. They were later augmented by a VMCJ-2 detachment and together provided sustained ECM support of TF-77 and B-52 strikes against the heavily defended targets around Hanoi and Haiphong, cycling through Danang from Cubi Point. The EA-6As remained at Cubi after the end of the U.S. operations in January, 1973 until that June. On 13 April 1972, shortly after the Marine Composite Reconnaissance Squadron One (VMCJ-1) detachment's arrival at Danang, as part of Operation FREEDOM TRAIN, Captain David Leverett Leet, pilot, and 1st Lt John Michael (Mike) Christensen, electronic warfare officer (EWO), departed Da Nang Airbase in an EA-6A (BuNo 156979) on a night combat mission deep in North Vietnam. Their target area was in the area of Hanoi/Haiphong Harbor. After completing their mission, the Intruder was on its return flight to base. CAPT Leet established their last radio contact at 0412 hours. At that time there was no indication of trouble with the aircraft Note that some published sources believe that BuNo 156979 ditched into the Gulf of Tonkin whilst trying to return to base at Da Nang. In any event, when the Intruder failed to return to base, a full scale search and rescue (SAR) operation was initiated. During the extensive aerial search, no trace of the aircraft or its crew was found. No traces of any wreckage or crew was ever found at the supposed crash location(s). Captain David Leverett Leet (pilot) and 1st Lt John Michael (Mike) Christensen (electronic warfare officer (EWO)) were initially posted as MIA. Captain Leet was reassessed as "KIA, Body Not Recovered" with effect from April 13 1975. 1st Lt Christensen was re-assessed as "KIA, Body Not Recovered" with effect from December 8, 1978. February 1973 In Memory Of service reported in The Journal Times (Racine, Wisconsin) Wednesday, 28 May 1975, Page 35. Capt David Leverett Leet is listed on the Honolulu Memorial (also known as Courts of the Missing), Honolulu, Honolulu County, Hawaii. He also has an In Memory of Marker with his parents in Oakwood Cemetery, Somers, Kenosha County, Wisconsin. Virginia Leet is mentioned in a celebration of new lights at Kenosha courthouse in honor of Kenosha's POW/MIA on Thursday December 14, 1988 In 2002, The Somers American Legion Post was renamed David L. Leet American Legion Post 552. - - The Virtual Wall, 10 January 2020

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