Despite a huge conventional search operation (followed by more exotic efforts involving psychics and a Gurkha parachuted into Cambodia), no trace was ever found of him.
At the time, the division's first commanding general said, though it had no history, the 101st had a rendezvous with destiny and the paratroopers have served in every corner of the world since then.
After the capsule parachuted into the ocean at around 15 miles per hour, a far cry from the 17,500 miles per hour it was traveling at, just before re-entering earth's atmosphere.
Well, General McKenzie said the ground commander, Major General Chris Donahue, commander of the 82nd Airborne Division, and Ambassador Ross Wilson were among those on the last flight out.