Cañon City Airman buried at Academy after 45 years missing

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U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. --  An Airman who was declared missing in action over North Vietnam in 1966 was buried at the Air Force Academy today with full military honors.

Col. Leo S. Boston of Cañon City, Colo., was a member of the 14th Air Commando Wing assigned to Ubon Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand in 1966.

A captain at the time, Boston was flying an A-1E Skyraider on a search and rescue mission when he was reported missing. His aircraft, the lead plane in a two-ship flight, became separated from the other aircraft during the mission. No visual contact was made, and no radio transmissions were received from him. The last known location of the flight was about 5 miles west of the Black River in Son La Province, North Vietnam.

The object of Boston's search is unknown. Several pilots went missing from this general vicinity on that day.

He remained in MIA status until April 27, 1978, when his status was changed to presumed dead. During the time he was listed as MIA, he was promoted to the rank of colonel.

Between 1996 and 2005, joint U.S.-Vietnam teams, led by the Joint Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Accounting Command at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, analyzed numerous leads, interviewed villagers in Son La Province and conducted excavations that recovered aircraft wreckage, human remains and crew-related equipment.

Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory used mitochondrial DNA - which matched that of Boston's mother and brother - in the identification. His remains were positively identified April 4, 2011.

With the accounting of Colonel Boston, 1,687 service members still remain missing from the conflict.