Episodes

Baron 52: What the U.S. Intelligence Community Knew — and When Baron 52 (REFNO 1983) Date: August 2026 Three months after Baron 52 went down, the Defense Intelligence Agency and the Pentagon’s senior civilian official for POW/MIA affairs still treated the survival of the crew as an open analytical question. A year later, language about four Americans believed captured in Laos reached the President of the United States. In this episode we examine the American intelligence record that has...

On the night of 5 February 1973, just nine days after the Paris Peace Accords were signed, an NSA intercept reported that Group 210 was holding four “pirates” and moving them from kilometer location 44 to kilometer location 93 under the control of “Mr. Van,” while experiencing difficulties along the road. In this episode we examine the full body of evidence now surrounding that intercept. We identify Group 210 as the 210th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment, reinforced into the Division 471 secto...

In this episode, we tell the story of First Lieutenant Roy E. Welbon — a Canadian-American mariner turned guerrilla communications officer — who was killed defending a radio station in Baroy, Lanao del Norte, in January 1944. We explore how contemporary evidence, declassified documents, and modern forensic methods are giving new hope to a case long considered closed. Main Topics: Roy Welbon’s maritime career as a radio operator and his transition to guerrilla communications in the 10th Militar...

In this special episode, we present a formal appeal to Under Secretary of War Anthony J. Tata, whose responsibilities include oversight of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency and related POW/MIA policy matters. We examine significant new evidence that has emerged since the 2016 DPAA review of the Baron 52 incident (REFNO 1983). This includes previously unavailable Vietnamese primary sources from the PAVN 471st Division and detailed analysis of declassified U.S. SIGINT. This evidence indicates ...

In this gripping episode, Asymmetric MIA Accounting Group Chief of Investigative Research John Bear reveals one of the most haunting “full circle” stories in American history. On November 27, 1745, during King George’s War, a French and Native force raided Old Saratoga, New York. Young Jacob Fort watched his father Abraham “Abram” Fort and uncle Capt. Johannes Fort taken prisoner, marched north through brutal winter conditions, and ultimately die in a Quebec military prison. Their bodies were n...

On this solemn Memorial Day, we remember the thousands of American heroes who still lie unknown — some beneath the white crosses of our national cemeteries, others still lost on the battlefields of the past, like Brigadier General Guy O. Fort. In 1935, General Fort stood at Camp Keithley cemetery in Marawi and delivered a heartfelt Memorial Day address, pleading for the identification of fallen soldiers whose records were lost and whose names had been forgotten. Just seven years later, he and...

In The Baron 52 Enigma Part 3, we uncover the most powerful evidence yet in the decades-long search for the four missing back-end crew members of Baron 52. Building on Parts 1 and 2 — where we examined the survivable crash and the NSA intercepts that reported four “pirates” captured by Group 210 — this episode introduces two explosive primary Vietnamese sources: Two independent memoirs written by veterans of Division 471 Trường Sơn, the exact PAVN command responsible for the Baron 52 crash...

On November 19, 1942 — exactly eight days after Brigadier General Guy O. Fort was executed by Japanese forces at Camp Keithley — Seiji Koga sat down and wrote a calm, polite handwritten letter to Moro guerrilla leader Datu Busran Kalaw. In it, Koga claimed he could not arrange a meeting with the still-living General Fort due to “strict rules and regulations concerning prisoners of war.” What Koga didn’t say was that Fort had already been killed after refusing to order the very Moro fighter...

Episode Summary In July 1942 at Camp Keithley in Mindanao, Lt. Col. Robert H. Vesey made an extraordinary choice that would define his legacy. When Brig. Gen. Guy O. Fort was selected for execution, Vesey stepped forward and volunteered to take his place. What followed was two hours of unimaginable suffering under Japanese bayonets—yet Vesey’s sacrifice saved Fort’s life and preserved critical alliances with Moro guerrillas. In this powerful episode, we dive deep into Vesey’s story: his West ...

From Execution to Excavation: AMAG’s Hopeful Recoveries in Mindanao Episode 1: Daniel Boone of the Philippines: How General Fort’s Legacy Built AMAG’s Partnership with the Moro People Welcome to the launch of our powerful new 4-episode mini-series: From Execution to Excavation: AMAG’s Hopeful Recoveries in Mindanao — the real-time story of courage, cross-cultural partnership, and the determined effort to finally bring home four American heroes missing for 80 years. In Episode 1, we introdu...

*Disclaimer* The content of this episode is AI-generated based strictly on our provided source documents in the possession of the Matejov family and the Baron 52 research team. Direct all comments to StoriesOfSacrifice@protonmail.com In this riveting episode of Stories of Sacrifice: The Baron 52 MIA Mystery, titled “The Baron 52 Enigma: Captured in Laos – Signals of Survival But Buried by Bureaucracy,” we unravel the haunting 1973 shootdown of a U.S. Air Force EC-47Q spy plane over Laos, just da...

Ep4 Pt2 With Senator Robert Smith || Baron 52 MIA Mystery - No Accountability Important Documents in this episode: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1EcBDgBjYVSC6Duh1IlJWqiPM4wsG55Oo?usp=share_link In this episode, we take a deep dive into one of the most controversial and emotionally charged issues in American history: the fate of American servicemembers who were missing in action or were prisoners of war during the Vietnam War. Our guest for this episode is Senator Robert Smith, who serve...

Important Documents in this episode: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1EcBDgBjYVSC6Duh1IlJWqiPM4wsG55Oo?usp=share_link In this episode, we take a deep dive into one of the most controversial and emotionally charged issues in American history: the fate of American servicemembers who were missing in action or were prisoners of war during the Vietnam War. Our guest for this episode is Senator Robert Smith, who served as Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs in the ea...

Welcome to Ep 3 of The Baron 52 MIA Mystery "DoD Misclassification DIA Intel Failure" with the former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense POW/MIA Office, Dr. Roger Shields. Link to all official documents discussed in this episode can be viewed here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1pe4mdaE9m14egj5PcZFdo-i6jvS3RSDZ?usp=share_link In this episode, Dr. Shields takes us through his time in the DoD handling POW/MIA issues, negotiations with the DRV during the Paris Peace Accords, Operation H...

Welcome to Episode 2 part 3 of The Baron 52 MIA Mystery "The Crash Investigation" In this episode, Ralph and our team will delve into his investigation of the mysterious Baron 52 crash. We feature a phone interview with the Operation's Officer from Joe's squadron. This officer believed that the intercepted radio message about "4 captured air pirates" was evidence that Joe and the other three missing crewmembers were captured, and opposed the USAF official change of status from MIA to KIA-BNR. ...

Welcome to Episode 2 part 2 of The Baron 52 MIA Mystery "The Crash Investigation" Part 2 of featured guest, aviation archaeologist Col (ret) Ralph Wetterhahn. Ralph has become a real-life "Indiana Jones," traveling the world in search of aircraft wrecks, our nation's missing-in-action, and the amazing stories these discoveries reveal. Ralph's documentary efforts have appeared on NOVA, Discovery, and National Geographic Channels, and he is widely read in Air & Space/Smithsonian, MOAA’s Military O...

Welcome to Episode 2 part 1 of The Baron 52 MIA Mystery "The Crash Investigation", Today’s featured guest is aviation archaeologist Col (ret) Ralph Wetterhahn. Ralph has become a real-life "Indiana Jones," traveling the world in search of aircraft wrecks, our nation's missing-in-action, and the amazing stories these discoveries reveal. Ralph's documentary efforts have appeared on NOVA, Discovery, and National Geographic Channels, and he is widely read in Air & Space/Smithsonian, MOAA’s Milita...

Sgt Joseph A. Matejov joined the U.S. Air Force from New York and was a member of the 6994th Security Squadron. On 5 February 1973, he was one of eight crew members aboard an EC-47Q (serial number 43-48636) call sign "Baron 52" on a night reconnaissance mission over Saravane Province, Laos that was shot down during the predawn hours, a week after the Paris Peace Accords officially ended the United States involvement in the Vietnam War. Find our podcast, Stories of Sacrifice on your favorite p...

Sgt Joseph A. Matejov joined the U.S. Air Force from New York and was a member of the 6994th Security Squadron. On 5 February 1973, he was a crew member aboard an EC-47Q (serial number 43-48636) call sign "Baron 52" on a night reconnaissance mission over Saravane Province, Laos. Baron 52 was the EC-47 was carrying eight crew members that was shot down over Laos during the predawn hours of 5 February 1973, a week after the Paris Peace Accords officially ended the United States involvement in the Vietnam War.

SGT Joseph A. Matejov joined the U.S. Air Force from New York and was a member of the 6994th Security Squadron. On 5 February 1973, he was a crew member aboard an EC-47Q (serial number 43-48636) call sign "Baron 52" on a night reconnaissance mission...

Rebroadcast of our interview with Senior Chief SEAL (Ret) Derrick Van Orden. Derrick was one of the actors in the real SEAL movie Act of Valor. During Derrick's service, he volunteered for missions on DoD POW/MIA Recovery operations from the Vietnam war. Derrick is a retired Navy SEAL Senior Chief and former Senior Enlisted Advisor, Operations (J3), Senior Enlisted and Compartmented Operations Planner for the Special Operations Command Europe. Derrick served over 26 years on active-duty with mul...

Interview with US Navy veteran and former Cold War POW John Mitchell who was captured on the USS Pueblo in 1968 and held Prisoner of War in North Korea for 11 months along with 81 other shipmates. The USS Pueblo (AGER-2) is a Banner-class environmental research ship, attached to Navy intelligence as a spy ship, which was attacked and captured by North Korean forces on 23 January 1968, in what was later known as the "Pueblo incident" or alternatively, as the "Pueblo crisis". The seizure of the U....

Part 5 - Chat with Australian, David MacMillan and special guest Michael Henshaw. Mike retired after 25 years of service, where he participated in searching for missing in action (MIA), recovering and repatriating the remains of U.S. Service Members missing overseas from World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam War. Find our podcast, Stories of Sacrifice - American POW/MIAs on your favorite podcast player or visit https://www.storiesofsacrifice.org/ How You Can Help: All money raised goes ...

Part 3 - Late night chat with Australian, David MacMillan who spent years in SE Asia working on US POW/MIA cases. We discuss the capture of US Journalists, Sean Flynn and Dana Stone just weeks prior to the US Military’s Cambodia Incursion known as "Operation Rock Crusher" in the Parrot's Beak area. We will go over the locations of the NVA/VC Base Area nearest to their capture with mapping and photos taken from CIA Photographic Reports taken by our U2 Spy Planes. Thank you to MyHeritage for th...