A small plaque accompanies a tall evergreen tree in this park/plaza which reads:
"THE FREEDOM TREE
WITH THE VISION OF UNIVERSAL FREEDOM
FOR ALL MANKIND
THIS TREE IS DEDICATED TO
LT. COL. GORDON L. PAGE
AND ALL
PRISONERS OF WAR
AND
MISSING IN ACTION
1978
REDEDICATED 1989"
This website (
visit link) provides this additional info about Page:
"PAGE, GORDON LEE
Remains identified 04/30/98
Name: Gordon Lee Page
Rank/Branch: O4/US Air Force
Unit:
Date of Birth: 15 August 1932
Home City of Record: Palo Alto CA
Date of Loss: 07 March 1966
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 190500N 1044600E (VG754099)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 4
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: RF101C
Other Personnel in Incident: Jerdy A. Wright (remains returned)
REMARKS:
Source: Compiled from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S.
Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published
sources, interviews. Updated by the P.O.W. NETWORK.
SYNOPSIS: Maj. Jerdy A. Wright and Maj. Gordon L. Page were the two pilots
of an RF101C assigned a reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam on March
7, 1966. When their aircraft was about 10 miles northwest of the city of Con
Cuong in Nghe An Province, North Vietnam, it went down. Both Wright and Page
were declared Missing in Action.
The Defense Intelligence Agency further expanded the classification of
Missing in Action by adding an enemy knowledge factor indicator of 4.
Category 4 was generally applied to cases in which the time or location of
loss was unknown, or cases in which no solid evidence existed that indicated
that the enemy had knowledge of the fate of the lost personnel.
Wright and Page's families waited for the war to end. They understood that
the possibility existed that their men might have been captured. Even though
they did not hear from them, they knew that many were known to be prisoner
who had never been allowed to write home.
In 1973, 591 American prisoners were released from communist prison camps in
Southeast Asia, but Page and Wright were not among them. The Vietnamese
denied any knowledge of the two.
On June 21, 1988, the Vietnamese returned the remains of Maj. Jerdy A.
Wright, Jr. to U.S. control. For over 22 years - dead or alive - Maj. Wright
had been a captive in enemy hands.
Since American involvement in Indochina ended in 1975, over 10,000 reports
have been received related to Americans missing in Southeast Asia. Many
authorities are convinced beyond doubt that hundreds remain alive in
captivity. With absence of proof that he died, Maj. Page could have survived
to be captured. He may be among those who are said to be still alive. If so,
what must he think of the country he proudly served?
April 1998
The NETWORK received word on April 15, 1998 from Gordon Page, Jr. that his
father's remains had been returned and identified in March. Burial was
scheduled for May 8th in Paradise, CA. The official government announcement
was April 30, 1998."