Fredric Moore Mellor was an American Air Force pilot shot down over Hanoi, in 1965. We of his family know nothing more than that…that and the fact that his dog tags were released to us two decades+, after he was shot down.
Know what’s even more painful? News media showed footage of young American pilots who were captured in those shoot-outs, paraded through the streets of Hanoi, in cages, taunted by the enemy.
One of them looked familiar…One of them looked like Fred.
His mother—Jean Moore Mellor—had only two sons. This was her younger one, a handsome man whose last picture was taken astride the wings of his plane, presumably before take-off.
He was young and impressionable and he believed in what we, as a country, were doing: Protecting the world against aggressors. He was one of the many fighting on the front lines and in the air for a war our government said really “wasn’t one.”
No matter—The bullets were ‘live enough.’ They were real.
For many years, and through countless reports by correspondents in the field, there were suspicions that many of these men survived…that they were held prisoners of war, in some Hellish camp, doing the bidding of captors.
That thought taunted his mother for years, as she thought death would’ve been more merciful.
Unlike many women who would have borne their pain in silence, this woman took to the airwaves. She appeared on “Merv Griffin Show” and other shows, drumming up support for these soldiers, becoming a Grey Panther, the Senior version of that African-American group that demanded resolution of societal injustice.
She demanded our government find out if these men were, indeed, alive.
When the undeclared war ceased, she pressed on. She died, still not knowing what happened to her son.
Many years later, the state determined to pay homage to these Prisoners of War and Missing in Action from the conflict in Viet Nam, at the Rhode Island Veterans’ Cemetery, in Exeter, RI. On that occasion, an official was to call aloud the names and some dignitary from that soldier’s community (Mayor. Etc.) would step forward and receive the tribute in the name of that town/city’s fallen soldier.
What happened when my brother-in-law, Lt. Colonel Fredric Moore Mellor’s name was called? Nothing. The dignitary from Cranston failed to show up. It was the only community that hadn’t sent a representative to this important occasion.
My father-in-law sat mute through the omission, but I was incensed. It was supposed to be a long-awaited recognition of sorts, for his son’s great sacrifice.
Instead, it was a flawed response, showing how very unimportant this occasion was, to those who never served.
Some years later, the government sent us Fred’s dog tags, and that brought forth another round of speculation on our part, as we still wondered “What happened to Fred?” “Where is he today?”
I’ve never met him…I only knew him through family stories and his set of Arnold Palmer golf clubs that stood in my garage for many years, awaiting his return. The lone picture I have of him is of a very handsome, young man, smiling, with one foot up on his airplane’s wing…
A young man full of promise and a determined belief nothing terrible could ever happen to him.
This post is my tribute to him for the one he never got on that earlier solemn occasion.
Rest in Peace, Lt. Colonel Fredric Moore Mellor: True American hero.
The following is a post by the Vietnam Veterans Fund and the last link shows why we think he survived:
Posted for: FREDRIC MOORE MELLOR: |
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Fredric Moore Mellor was born on April Fifth, 1935 and lived in Cranston Rhode Island. While he was flying a recon missions on August 13th of 1965, the aircraft formation that he was leading encountered enemy fire. Lt Col Mellor was able to radio in his position and additional information before his aircraft suatained battle damage, which caused his radio to go dead and a fire to start in the nose wheel. Fredric instructed his wingman to take the lead as his plane went down. Bystanders report that the pilot eject sucessfully and fell safely to the ground. Rumors of his capture were reported, but an official investigation into the crash yielded no results and Lt Col Mellor is still MIA. We all thank Lt Col Mellor for his service to this country and his bravery in battle. MIA, Lost but not forgotten. And here’s another, more official document still.…which tells the story of what many believe: That men like Fredrick Mellor survived and lived as Prisoners of War, in another land. He’s one of many. We don’t forget. |
I am related to Fred on my Dad’s side. My Dad’s Aunt Sandra and Gail from Cranston are how we are related. I have I believe the same photo of Fred from my Grandmother who was known as Aunt Chatty.
Fredric is my cousin that I never had the opportunity to meet but have never forgotten about. My brothers and I have all made the trip together in groups to visit his name on the wall in Washington. I often wonder what happened to him and think of all that the family has missed by his absence. I have thanks to social media been in contact with his daughter and have what sounds like the same picture you have of him standing beside his plane. I also look forward to the day that I get to meet him and hug him so he knows he has never been forgotten. Both of my 9 year old son’s know about Fred and we are also planning a visit to the wall in DC so that they can carry on the tradition of remembering our beloved family member. I look forward to the day we meet Fred……
But Laura, I am intrigued. How is Fredric your cousin? Tell me more for I am a writer and would like to add to his story.
I just saw your post on yahoo (for the young army soldier held in captivity in afghanistan) and I googled your brother in law’s name and found this site. I will say a prayer for him every day. I cannot imagine the pain that you and your family live with each day having no answers and a government that doesn’t seem to care. I am so so sorry for all you have gone through. Please know that I will carry you on my heart each day, and him as well. <3
Thank you, dear Emily…My brother-in-law, Fredrick Mellor, was a handsome young man whose mother went to her grave never knowing what happened to him. Many years passed since he mysteriously disappeared…Jean Mellor was a true soldier in her own right…She was a Grey Panther (the senior version of Black Panthers)…she made a guest appearance on the Merv Griffin Show (said to be the forerunner of today’s live talk shows) in which she pled for national support so the parents of the missing in action could get answers. But none of it mattered. We never learned if Fredrick truly survived. The thoughts of her son being kept for years as slave labor in a foreign land haunted her. I missed none of the parallels when I went to see the much-acclaimed movie “Twelve Years a Slave.” The same awful reality happened to young men and women conscripted into forced labor here, to support the plantation system. We think brutality only happens in other lands. Thank you for responding, Emily, and for your prayers…Fred now has a few people praying for him.
i wrote down Fredrick’s name and put it on my desk so that i can remember him. i think of him each day now. i told my husband about him and it made me cry. your brother in law served in a war but got no respect or gratitude. breaks my heart. i know many people forgot him, but i won’t ever. also, you are a very heroic person. don’t ever give up. <3<3<3
P.S.-Please know that I DO NOT KNOW ANY FACTS of what I’ve written you of about the continuation of searches,as the Vietnam Veteran that once informed me about the searches has died.He died and I did not question his storyThusly,I CANNOT ANSWER any questions about the searches,nor by whom,or anything.I just trusted that he wasw truthful with his story.Sincerely,Rev.Allen Bonneau
I understand and say again…”Thank you so much.”
I wear a pow/mia bracelet bearing the name LTC fredrick M.Mellor to this very day,and shall remain to keep it until my vietnam veteran brother is found(in one way or another.I personally know that(without our government’s help),there are individuals going back there every year in search for the missing.They also follow paper trails to where ever they may have been moved to.Never give up hope,we out here haven’t.He was a real hero.Fellow vietnam era veteran(search and rescue duty).Sinserely,Rev.Allen T. Bonneau “We can NEVER forget”
Thank you so much for this message, Rev. Bonneau…It is gratifying to know some still remember and pay him homage. Bless you for your continued loyalty to a man who many have long forgotten.
I, Biddy Bytes, received this from a person who wished to remain anonymous (but he OK’d the posting), so in keeping with his request, here is his insightful piece….
Colleen,
I read with great respect the tribute to your brother-in-law. Not knowing what happened is gnawingly painful, but the knowing may be even more difficult.
Vietnam was a challenging period for America. So many of us came from military families who served in WWII or Korea…..and, we watched all those John Wayne movies. When our time came in the 1960′s it was only natural that we followed in the footsteps of our forebears.
My father was a swashbuckling Navy pilot in WWII. When war broke out he already owned a thriving Ford dealership in SE Missouri and had his own airplane. Good times, until one day the Army came to town with a list of names they wanted to conscript into service. My father’s name was on that list as they entered the dealership, announcing they were looking for him. A trusted employee went to the back office and informed my father that the Army was out front and wanted to see him!
Not wishing to become a private in the Army. my father handed the keys to the business to his trusted employee and said, “Here, you run the business”. Father departed through the rear entrance and drove to the next town where his plane was housed. Having the ability to fly, he immediately enlisted in the Navy as a Lt. Commander flight instructor. He went to flight school in Atlanta, where Tyrone Power and Don Ameche were also in his unit. My father later served in the Pacific theatre and was assigned to Shanghai, China. One assignment while there was to fly North along the China Wall to assume command of a small Navy air installation in Peiping (now Beijing).
Little did he know then, that there would be another family connection to China.
The next in line for military service was my brother, who idolized my Father. He became a graduate of West Point, who wanted to fly! There was no Air Force Academy at the time, so Army officers could opt for Air Force service. He spent 29 years in service with tours in Vietnam, 3,000+ hours flying a KC-135 tanker, then opted for diplomatic service as Air Force attache to Ethiopia. He became fluent in Chinese languages while attache in Hong Kong, and ultimately became the first military attache in Beijing after our country normalized diplomatic relations with the PRC. Decades later, the son returned to the site where his father once stood.
My brother later served as aid to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, later serving in Brussels with NATO. He retired as a Brigadier General and is listed in the Defense Attache Hall of Fame.
So, then it is my turn. It is the tumultous 1960′s. The anti-war protestors had not arrived when I registered as a freshman. Military service was in the family, so ROTC was a natural for me. At graduation I had become a green 2nd Lt. artillery officer in the Army. After a year as a training officer on 105mm howitzers, I got my orders for the DMZ in Vietnam. Artillery forward observors did not have significant lifespan, but what the Hell, it was the thing to do. Besides, I would first get to do jungle school in Panama, and that was cool.
But, there was a hitch! While at Ft. Sill a pre-departure medical exam indicated an eyesight difficulty which rendered temporary orders to be checked out at Walter Reed Hospital in DC. They concluded I had a deficiency which might likely result in calling in artillery rounds in the wrong places! I was given an option of a desk job in hospital administration, or returning to private life.
I opted to return to civilian life…..to be among those damned protestors……
THE DREAM
Many times during the period from 1960 thru 1967 I had a recurring dream where I was in Vietnam moving through the jungle on patrol. I would enter a clearing, an opening perhaps 30 to 40 feet across. At the same time that I entered on one side, an enemy NVA soldier entered from the other side of the clearing. We saw each other, we both froze…..looking into each others eyes. In the dream I could see into his mind and thoughts and he into mine. Each of us could see the pictures of our families that we carried on our bodies, treasures that we hoped one day to see again.
Both of us were wondering how it was we came to this. How it was that some politican, some supposed leadership had put us into this position? How that they managed to convice us that we should come to this place?
And then the standoff ends as each of us does an about face and disappears into the jungle. No shots…No victory…. No Glory. Just a realization that on that day we were not to be the pawns of political power brokers.
AND NOW IT IS 2013
We drive German and Japanese autos. Our clothes are made in Asia….. Vietnam is one of our bigger Asian trading partners. What was it all for? What did it really mean? War created heroes, but was it worth it?
Our lesson may be that when politicians again beat the drums of war, that the citizenry demand
relevance and intense scrutiny before they place our best and brightest at risk.
AND NOW IT IS 2013
‘We drive German and Japanese autos. Our clothes are made in Asia….. Vietnam is one of our bigger Asian trading partners. What was it all for? What did it really mean? War created heroes, but was it worth it?
Our lesson may be that when politicians again beat the drums of war, that the citizenry demand
relevance and intense scrutiny before they place our best and brightest at risk.’
Couldn’t agree more, “Anonymous” (tho’ I know who you are.) Little did I know we have so much in common. By the way, my brother also went to West Point…He, also was in many combat arenas (Korea and Viet Nam). It only looks glamorous if it’s on the big screen or if one is John Wayne and you’re a cinema giant. Thanks for your weighty contribution here…
Thank you Fredric Mellor wherever you are for the sacrifice you made to your country and mine.you will never be forgotten.
I knew about you brother in law…
He went missing over on a mission in his hi-speed F-101 “Voodoo” reconnaissance jet.
I recall that he bailed out, but was not seen nor heard from again.
Not uncommon in those days…
Almost no one remembers that the North Vietnamese had a very sophisticated anti aircraft defense system around Hanoi at that time.
They got it from the Russians and were well trained in it’s use.
Those missions were not for the faint at heart.
frog
That was a beautiful post. Wherever he is, he is reading those words and is smiling. So many brave men and woman fight for America. God bless them for all they do.
Yes, LMD, he had one child–a girl–Linda—-who never knew him. She’s been deeply affected by the fact she never got to know anything other than the official military reports and the information her mother provided.
Hi ;
My name is Stephen Elliott. Fredrick Mellor was my mom’s cousin.My moms name is Sandra Ruth Elliott ( Severin ) When I started praying for Freds life and return home I was 5 years old. My mom told me and my brother to ad Fred to our prayers every night for his life and safe return home. Fred had a brother munroe mellor. I was happy to have gotten to know munroe a little pryor to his passing.I have a hole in my hart and soul to this day that I never got to hear that Fred has been found/located or even returned home. For some reason I have a feeling of closeness / careing for him even though I only have one memory of him as a child. Fred loved my mom and her sister gail a lot. My mom lived in the mellor home due to her mom and dads passing at a young age. My mom shared with me when she was alive that Fred treated her like they were brother and sister. I look forward to the day when I leave this earth and see him in heaven to hug him and tell him I love him.
Stephen I Elliott
01/04/2014