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closure to those family members. Morale Elaine Brogden changes taking place there.
soared when skeletal remains, teeth or
artifacts were found, but if we found noth- Meade working with intelligence officers. In the mid-80s I went to Seoul. I manned
ing of significance, everyone felt they had The Vietnam War was going strong during the American desk in a Korean military
let down a family member at home. It was that time and protests were a daily occur- bunker along with just one other officer –
an awful feeling. rence. We stayed on post most of the time, we were the only Americans there. We each
but because we worked in intelligence, we took 24-hour shifts, and getting from the
Air Force Col. John Robertson crashed into wore street clothes, no uniforms. I was hotel to the bunker and back was always
the mountains not too far from Hanoi in fortunate to never experience the hate- exciting. Seoul had a nightly curfew and
1968. Neither he nor his plane were ever ful remarks or nasty stuff that many in black-out. Our hotel closed off the entrance
discovered. It was assumed the power of uniform did. driveway with a tall, rolling gate. We had
the crash had obliterated any hopes of re- to climb over the gate at 2 a.m. then walk
covery. But because of conflicting reports, My reserve unit’s mobilization area was in complete darkness to the military base
the family demanded congress to authorize Panama. This was when the U.S. was before descending into the bunker. I made
a search and recovery effort. He was from transferring control of the Canal over to that trip as fast as I could each day.
my home town. Panama and it was fascinating to see the
As a woman in the military, I was given
In 1991, my team and I were dispatched to great opportunities to grow, to help others
locate the site of the crash and bring back and to see things I never otherwise would
whatever we could find. We searched and have. My experiences showed me how won-
dug and sifted by hand until the site looked derful the U.S. is - not because it’s perfect,
more like an archeological exploration, but but because of its people.
the only things we uncovered were a few
bits of metal - nothing resembling human Colonel Bev Dye
remains. After more than six weeks, the
anthropologist called a halt to the search. USAF Nurse Corps (1960-1984)
We went home empty handed and devas-
tated. But would we do it again? Definitely. I was literally born and raised on a farm in
Indiana. I didn’t have too many career op-
I want folks to remember there are still tions, so I went to nursing school. In 1960,
missing servicemen in Vietnam and Korea one of my friends asked if she could bring
and to know teams will continue to search. an Air Force recruiter to my apartment
Their families deserve that.
Continued on the next page
Captain Elaine Brogden
US Navy (1967-1991) Col. Bev Dye joined the Air Force with two friends in June 1960.

I grew up in Chicago, but went to college in NOVEMBER 2016 SUNRAYS | 37
Colorado because I had never seen moun-
tains. I graduated in 1967 with a political
science degree - unfortunately, there were
no jobs for women with my credentials. I
considered the Navy because I wanted to
travel.

I had four months of officer basic training
in Newport, R.I. At that time, men’s train-
ing was separate from women’s. It was like
we were on our own little island, while the
men were on the mainland.

Officer basic was like most basics: we
marched in formation in dresses and heels,
made our beds perfectly and did all the
other military stuff. It was fun getting our
uniforms, though we looked more like me-
ter maids than Naval officers.

I spent three years on active duty at Fort

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