Home

Spring sprung early this year! It is time to start cleaning out your clutter! Consider donating new or gently used items to the POW*MIA Community Fundraiser. We will be collecting donation items at the General Membership Meeting on March 20th from 6-8pm, the Board meeting on April 6th 6-8pm, and the April General Membership Meeting on April 17th 6-8pm. We also will have collection dates in May. We are accepting books, toys & games, tools, collectibles, furniture, home décor and artwork, small household appliances, electronics, clothing, and motorcycle parts and gear. All of the the collected items will be available by donation at the Community Fundraiser and will going towards supporting our mission of the fullest possible accounting of our unreturned servicemembers.

This year we will be spotlighting the Idaho Vietnam Unaccounted For Service Members in the month in which they went missing in action. This month the spotlight is on WO1 John Michael Sparks.
Chief Warrant Officer 2 JON MICHAEL SPARKS
Hometown: Carey, ID
Unaccounted for 3/19/71 (55 years on Thursday this week)
Unit: 48 AHC 223 AV BN 1AV

On March 19, 1971, a UH-1C Iroquois (tail number 65-9489) with a crew of four served as the tail ship in a flight of two helicopters on an armed escort mission over Savannakhet Province, Laos. During its second pass over the pick-up zone, the Iroquois was hit by enemy ground fire. The pilot radioed the flight leader that he was making an emergency landing. The flight leader’s helicopter was then also hit and forced to leave the area. A search and rescue helicopter was dispatched to the pick-up zone and rescued two South Vietnamese soldiers, but was forced to leave the area due to enemy fire before it could recover any Americans. The downed Iroquois tail gunner survived to return to U.S. custody; he reported that he left the helicopter under heavy fire, joined a unit of South Vietnamese soldiers and eventually made it back to friendly positions. When he left the Iroquois, the other three crew members were alive but taking heavy fire. Enemy presence prevented any further rescue attempts, and the remaining three crew men were not recovered.

Warrant Officer 1 Jon Michael Sparks, who joined the U.S. Army from Idaho, served with the 48th Assault Helicopter Company, 223rd Aviation Battalion, 1st Aviation Brigade. He was the co-pilot of the Iroquois when it was forced down in the pick-up zone, and his fate is unknown. Subsequent to the incident, and while carried in the status of missing in action (MIA), the U.S. Army promoted Warrant Officer 1 Sparks to the rank of Chief Warrant Officer 2 (CW2). Today, Chief Warrant Officer 2 Sparks is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. His name is also inscribed along with all his fallen comrades on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, DC.
Based on all information available, DPAA assessed the individual’s case to be in the analytical category of Active Pursuit.
Source: dpaa.mil accessed 3/15/26

Our next General Membership meeting will be held on Friday, March 20th at 7pm at Liberty Hall, 325 W. Benton, Pocatello. Planning for some busy months ahead begins. Join us to find out more about our upcoming events and how you can help.

Please read the February General Membership Meeting Minutes, so we will be able to take a vote to accept or amend them. Keep an eye on the calendar and Facebook for all of our events.

Thank you,
POW*MIA Awareness Rally Association – Pocatello