Family, friends work to bring loved one's remains home from Vietnam

San DeWayne Francisco, a Central Washington University graduate and former football player, was asked to take a reconnaissance-escort mission six days before he was scheduled to return from Vietnam in 1968.

The U.S. Air Force First lieutenant, who was assigned to the elite 555th Fighter Squadron in Thailand, didn’t hesitate even though he had already completed his required 100 missions. He was due to return to his then young wife, Kay, and 4-year-old son, Tod, on Dec. 1, 1968.

He was shot down while flying the mission along the Ho Chi Minh Trail in North Vietnam on Nov. 25, 1968.

Read more of this story in the Daily Record.