MILLSAP, TX, U.S.A.
U.S. AIR FORCE
COL, 602ND FIGHTER SQDN, 56TH AIR COMMAND WING, 7TH AIR FORCE
MIA,KIA
05/19/1967, HOUA RHAN PROVINCE, LAOS
AUGUST 2019
Major Roy Abner Knight Jr. enlisted in the United States Air Force in 1948, was trained and served as a personnel clerk until February 1953 when he entered Officer Candidate School at Lackland AFB.
He was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant on 11 September 1953, trained and served as a personnel officer until he entered flight school at Moore AFB in 1958, receiving his wings in April 1958. He then served at various bases.
Then, Captain Knight served as a flight instructor with the 3645th Pilot Training Squadron at Laughlin AFB, Texas, from April 1963 to August 1966.
As a major, he completed A-1 Skyraider Combat Crew Training, and then deployed to Southeast Asia in February 1967. Major Roy A. Knight Jr. was a “SPAD” pilot assigned to the 602nd Tactical Fighter Squadron at Udorn Airbase, Thailand.
On May 19, 1967 MAJ Knight was flying a mission over Laos when his plane was shot down in Houa Rhan Province in extreme northern Laos.
He was promoted to the rank of Colonel during the period he was maintained as Missing in Action.
The remains of a Vietnam War airman were flown home to Dallas Love Field Airport on Thursday by his pilot son — who had waved his father off to war from the exact airport 52 years ago.
Air Force fighter pilot COL Roy Abner Knight Jr. was shot down May 19, 1967, during a mission over northern Laos. His body was never recovered because he crashed in hostile territory, and the Air Force declared him dead in 1974.
Earlier this year, a Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency team investigating crashes in that area of Laos said they found Knight’s remains. DPAA scientists used dental remains to identify the missing war pilot.
When Roy Knight left for war decades ago, the youngest of his three children, Bryan Knight, was only 5 years old.
The father and son said goodbye at Love Field — where Bryan, now a pilot for Southwest Airlines, landed on Thursday when he brought his father’s remains back home.
A large crowd gathered at the airport to welcome COL Knight’s remains.