As a kid in 1972, I was in the local 5 and 10 cent store on First Avenue, Atlantic Highlands with my Mother. As she was shopping, I noticed a rack near the cash register that had a display of silver or red bracelets on it. A very nice woman, Alma Drinkwater, worked the register at the store, and I asked her what they were. She explained to me that they were new. They were POW/MIA bracelets aimed to raise awareness for American prisoners of war and those missing in action during the Vietnam War.
According to Wikipedia, the idea for the bracelets came from Carol Bates Brown and Kay Hunter, college students looking for a way to support U.S. troops in Vietnam without getting involved in protests. They formed a student group called VIVA (Voices in Vital America) to produce and distribute bracelets. The bracelets were designed to remind people of American prisoners of war and those missing in action, and to show support for their families.
The idea was for the bracelets to be worn until the serviceman named on the bracelet, or their remains, were returned to the United States, with the idea of returning the bracelet to the returning prisoner. The bracelets became a national sensation, and VIVAs income from selling them reached over $7 million by 1973.
I purchased one on the spot. I had friends whose brothers were in Vietnam. The name on my bracelet was Lt. Bruce Fryar, United States Navy. By sheer chance, he was from New Jersey. I never knew anything about Lt. Fryar, not where he lived in New Jersey and not what happened to him.
In the early 2000s, I was cleaning out my storage unit and found the bracelet in a box. The identity of Lt. Fryar, and what became of him again, gripped my mind. So, I began researching and determined that he was a Naval Aviator with Attack Squadron 196, USS RANGER (CVA 61). I learned that in 1972, Attack Squadron 196 (VA-196) embarked on the USS Ranger (CVA-61) and participated in Operation Linebacker, engaging in heavy air strikes against targets in North Vietnam to interdict the flow of supplies into South Vietnam.
The Story of Lt. Bruce Carlton Fryar
The research went on for years. Today, April 3, 2025, I discovered USNA Virtual Memorial Hall, which, according to their website, exists to perpetuate the memory of alumni of the United States Naval Academy who have died in service to their country. It was here that I found the following story:
“Bruce Carlton Fryar was born March 28, 1944, in Seattle, WA, and grew up in Chicago. After graduating in 1962 from Proviso East High School in Maywood, Ill, he attended the U.S. Naval Academy, where his fine tenor voice gave him an important role in the Glee Club, which toured the country and appeared on the nationally televised Bell Telephone Hour, and the Chapel Choir.
He also participated in intramural handball and lightweight football. An outstanding student and a Superintendents List regular with a cumulative 3.2 GPA, he graduated in 1966 with a B.S. in Aeronautical Engineering. After a month of primary flight training with Training Squadron 1 at Saufley Field Naval Auxiliary Air Station in Pensacola, he flew his first solo flight in a T34 “Mentor” trainer aircraft in early 1967. Then followed 13 months of advanced flight training before he received his “Wings of Gold.”
He reported to the Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Oak Harbor, WA in early 1968 for training, accompanied by his wife Diane and their infant daughter. Whidbey was the West Coast training and operations center for medium-attack bomber squadrons. He was granted “Top Secret” clearance and selected for the postgraduate education program, to be undertaken after his first sea tour. He missed the opportunity. Attack Squadron 196 (VA-196) became Whidbey’s first squadron to receive the Grumman A-6A Intruder on Nov. 15, 1966. The A6 Intruder was considered to be the best ship-based attack aircraft.
He moved to Vietnam with VA-196 in late 1969 as part of Air Wing TWO on the USS Ranger, arriving at Yankee Station in November, where they settled down to the daily routine of flights over the Ho Chi Minh Trail as the enemy moved anti-aircraft artillery into southern Laos. Bruce confided in a friend that he did not expect to survive the cruise; he nonetheless had the courage to pilot his A-6A every day in combat. VA-196 flew more A6 sorties and suffered greater losses than any other carrier-based squadron.
In 1969, as had become the custom, a 24-hour cease-fire was announced for the New Year’s holiday. As had also become the custom, there were 111 enemy violations. On January 1, 1970, full-scale offensive operations resumed as 30 B52 bombers undertook raids in South Vietnam, near the Cambodian border. The next day, warplanes from the carrier USS Ranger again tried to close the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
That day, January 2, Lt. Fryar and his Bombardier/Navigator Lt. Nicholas G. Brooks, with a load of six MK82 bombs, were on a raid on a storage dump along the Ho Chi Minh Trail in the Mu Gia Pass area. At approximately 5,400 feet, on his second 40º dive during a visual dive-bombing attack, the plane exploded and the starboard wing separated from the fuselage, perhaps after being hit by 23mm flak. It is also possible that the bombs exploded prematurely. The plane crashed, exploded and burned. Other planes in the flight saw two parachutes and heard beeper signals from two survival radios, indicating that both crewmen had safely ejected.
Search and Rescue efforts began immediately. One man was sighted lying on the ground still wearing his parachute. A SAR helicopter crewman was lowered to attach a hoist to the man but heavy enemy ground fire forced the helicopter to take off before getting hold of the man. The SAR crewman was able to identify the flyer as Lt. Fryar and indicated that he was dead.
The next day the SAR helicopter returned to find that the flier and the parachute were gone. An emergency beeper was heard but attempts to identify a pattern of transmission or voice contact were unsuccessful. After five days, SAR efforts were called off. Both crewmen were initially declared missing in action, and eventually both were declared killed in action.
Captain Brooks’ remains were identified and repatriated in April 1982. In February 1986 the Joint Casualty Resolution Center received information that remains had been recovered from this crash site but could not be identified as those of Lt. Fryar. In May 1991, a joint U.S./Lao investigation of a crash site believed to be Lt. Fryars included an interview with witnesses who said the bodies of two crewmen were recovered after the incident and were buried in an adjacent bomb crater.
The joint team recovered remnants of two survival tests, one flight suit and other artifacts but no remains. As no firm determination of his death has yet been made, he is listed as presumed dead, body not recovered – the official handle for MIA. Bruce Fryar was awarded the Air Medal with Numeral “2” for meritorious achievement in aerial flight… Lt. Fryar contributed materially to the success of the United States efforts in Southeast Asia.
His skill, courage and devotion to duty in the face of enemy fire, under hazardous flying conditions, were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service. He was also awarded the Navy Commendation Medal with Combat “V” for heroic achievement as a pilot of jet aircraft during combat operations in Southeast Asia.
On 22 December 1969, Lt. Fryar was assigned the mission of destroying active enemy gun positions. He courageously piloted his aircraft within the lethal envelope of the antiaircraft artillery, purposely drawing fire to himself in order to pinpoint the weapons and execute the attack. A dive-bombing attack was made through an intense barrage of enemy fire, and his weapons were observed to detonate precisely on target. Lt. Fryar’s actions significantly decreased the enemy threat to the other strike aircraft in the target area and allowed the primary target, enemy supplies, to be destroyed.
He was also awarded the Purple Heart, Combat Action Ribbon, Meritorious Unit Commendation, National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal with one bronze star, Republic of Vietnam Meritorious Unit Citation (Gallantry Cross Medal Color with Palm) and the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal. When lost, Bruce Fryar was 26 years old.”
The site also has a section for comments.
Among the comments, I found this incredibly poignant note:
“I spotted your chute first. We found you wrapped in your chute not responsive. Our PJ was lowered to you. He was having trouble unwrapping you and keeping the chute deflated to keep it out of the rotor.
Then the ground fire started. Seemed to be 360 degrees around us. We were taking hit after hit. Our cover birds were screaming for us to depart NOW. At the age of 22, I was forced into making a life-or-death decision that has ate me alive for 33 years.
I raised our PJ and we departed under fire. They chased us with 37MM anti aircraft fire until we cleared the mountain. I cried all the way back to the base. I still awake crying after 33 years. I am so sorry. Forgive me.”
TOM POPE, 7/10/03
Post Script
The custom that developed around these POW/MIA Bracelets is that when the service member or their remains are returned home, the person wearing the bracelet returns the bracelet to the service member’s family. Given the circumstances surrounding Lt. Fryar, I do not know if I will ever have that opportunity. However, I will continue to wear my bracelet with the hope that, someday soon, I can give it to his family in Ridgewood, NJ.
Bruce Fryar’s name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.
The CV(A) 61 was the first Forrestal Class carrier built from the keel up in an “angle deck”
configuration. She served from 1954 to her decommissioning in 1993 and laid to rest in 2015 in the International Shipbreaking facility in Brownsville, Texas.
The last A-6 Intruder retired from front-line service in 1997.
Click here to watch a video from archival footage of the A6 Intruder in action.