3.1 Proclamation Major Dennis Pugh Remembrance DayPROCLAMATION
Major Dennis Pugh Remembrance Day
WHEREAS, Major Dennis Gerard Pugh was born on February 10, 1944, in Hutchinson, Kansas. He attended
grade school at New Cambria, Kansas and graduated from Salina Central High School in 1962. He attended
Boy's State in Wichita and went to the University of Kansas for one year before being appointed to the United
States Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs.
WHEREAS, Major Pugh graduated from the Academy in 1967 and attended UCLA where he completed his
master's degree in qualitative analysis -mathematical methods. From UCLA, Pugh went to Mather Air Force
Base in Sacramento where he took navigator's training. He attended Combat Crew Training and Survival
schools before he went overseas.
WHEREAS, on September 15, 1969, Major Pugh was sent to Ubon, Thailand, to fly F4's, something he had
always dreamed of doing. While flying as weapons/systems officer on a Forward Air Controller mission on
March 19, 1970, with Captain Richard A. Rash, Major Pugh, aboard an F -4D on a combat mission over the Ho
Chi Minh Trail in the Khammouane Province, Laos, received hostile ground fire and ejected from their aircraft in
an area approximately 15 kilometers south of Mu Gia Pass. He and his pilot ejected safely from the aircraft.
Rash was injured, but Pugh was in good shape.
WHEREAS, airborne search and rescue forces established contact with both of them on the ground but were
unable to recover them due to darkness. The next day SAR forces re-established contact with Pugh who
reported that hostile forces were within ten meters of his position. He requested the SAR forces place ordnance
on his position and he then held down the transmit key on his radio. Then excited Asian voices were heard
followed by 15 or 20 shots being fired followed by silence. Ordnance was placed on his position as he
requested and there was no further contact from him.
WHEREAS, Rash was rescued on March 21st and reported hearing the sound of small arms fire from Pugh's
location after which he lost radio contact with him. Further efforts to locate Pugh were unsuccessful and he was
declared missing in action. Returning U.S. POW's had no information on the eventual fate of Pugh. He was
later declared killed in action, body not recovered, based on a presumptive finding of death.
WHEREAS, on March 19, 2023, and throughout the year, let us honor and remember Major Pugh and other
Americans missing in action, as well as those who have borne the indignities of captivity in service to our
country. Let us remember the brave service men and women who died as prisoners in foreign lands during our
Nation's past struggles, and recognize those at home who anxiously awaited their loved ones' return. They are
an inspiration to all Americans, and we will always remember their sacrifices.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, Michael L. Hoppock, Mayor of Salina, Kansas, by virtue of the authority vested in me by
the laws in Salina, do hereby proclaim March 19, 2023, as Major Dennis Pugh Remembrance Day.
I call upon local officials and private organizations to observe this day with appropriate ceremonies, programs
and activities.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twentieth day of March, in the year of twenty
thousand twenty-three.
Michael L. Hoppock, Mayor