Russell Dean Martin

Russell Dean Martin was a native of Bloomfield in Davis County. He served in the Air Force when he went missing in action over Laos. LT COL Martin served on a Douglas AC-47 Spooky “Puff the Magic Dragon” in the 4th of the 14th Air Commando Wing, in the 7th Air Force. On June 3, 1966 his aircraft was on a mission over the Khammouane Province in Laos. While over enemy territory the AC-47 was shot down. Another aircraft saw the plane crash and did not see any parachutes deploy. The Air Force later located the crash site, yet could not locate the remains of the crew. The entire six man crew was classified as missing in action. In January 1979 LT COL Martin’s, along with the rest of the crewmen’s, status was changed by the Department of Defense to presumed killed in action. In the summer of 1995, a joint U.S. and Laotian team recovered human remains at the former crash site. A team at the Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii positively identified the remains as belonging to the AC-47 crew. They were laid to rest in a group grave at Arlington National Cemetery in 2004. LT COL Martin was 29 years old when he went missing. He left behind a wife and two daughters.