His family and the Coast Guard haven't forgotten him. And neither have strangers from O'ahu to Florida who have kept Rittichier's name alive through the MIA bracelets they've worn for years.

Frank Dekle of O'ahu, who has worn an MIA bracelet for 13 years, matched the name on his remembrance band with the news about remains to be repatriated today. Though worn down, the inscription on the metal bracelet honors Coast Guard Lt. Jack C. Rittichier, missing since a 1968 crash in Laos. The wearer is Frank Dekle, a Vietnam veteran who is undergoing rehabilitation here at the VA Center for Aging after suffering a stroke. Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser

The long vigil could soon be over with recent news of the recovery of remains believed to be those of the Ohio native, the first Coast Guard combat casualty of the Vietnam War and the service's only member still listed as missing in action.

The "Jolly Green's" crew will be repatriated to U.S. soil, along with remains from an F-4 Phantom crash site, during an 8:45 a.m. ceremony today at Hickam Air Force Base.

From there, the remains will be taken to the U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory, Hawai'i, where specialists will attempt to make positive IDs — a process that could take a year or longer.

For about 13 years, Frank Dekle of Kailua has worn one of the MIA bracelets — remembrances that were most popular during the Vietnam War but are still worn by the thousands.

The number of Americans unaccounted for from the war stands at 1,889. For those who still wear the MIA bands, the sense of connection is still strong more than 30 years later.

Dekle, a retired Coast Guard chief petty officer who saw duty in Vietnam in 1969 and 1970, couldn't believe it when he read a recent Advertiser story noting Rittichier's name — the same name on the bracelet he has worn for more than a decade.

"Lt. Jack C. Rittichier, USCG, 09 June 1968, SVN," the worn-down inscription on the bracelet reads.

"I was talking to people about him ... and all of a sudden, there he is (in the newspaper)," said Dekle, who's in rehabilitation at the Veterans Affairs' Center for Aging after suffering a stroke about two years ago.

Rittichier, who served as an exchange pilot with the U.S. Air Force's 37th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron in Danang, was shot down in 1968 with three Air Force crew members while trying to rescue a downed Marine pilot on the Ho Chi Minh Trail just inside Laos.

"He never came back. We just never knew about him," said Dekle, 64, who removes the bracelet only when required at the VA center near Tripler Army Medical Center.

Dekle's son, Frank Jr., remembers his dad buying the bracelet at an O'ahu military surplus store around 1990.

"It was kind of like a teammate, somebody who was in the Coast Guard," Frank Jr. said. "I guess he wanted to remember (Rittichier) that way."

Janet O'Reilly Herron of Utah, who has worn a MIA bracelet with Rittichier's name on it for the last seven months, bought her bracelet through Task Force Omega Inc., an Arizona-based POW/MIA organization.

Herron, who has two brothers who served in the Coast Guard, asked for an MIA band from the service.

"I called and asked if there were any Coast Guard men left behind, and she said, 'Funny you asked. We have one,' " Herron said.

About 8,000 Coast Guard members served in the Vietnam War. Rittichier was the first combat casualty and the last MIA. Six other "Coasties" were killed in the war.

Patty Hopper, chairwoman of Task Force Omega, said the MIA bracelets, which she sells for $10, remain very popular. The idea began with Voices in Vital America, a Los Angeles-based student organization that sold POW and MIA bracelets for $2.50 in 1970. VIVA distributed nearly 5 million of the bracelets.

A number of veterans organizations still make the bracelets and because Rittichier was the only remaining Coast Guard MIA, the band with his name was particularly in demand, Hopper said.

"There are a lot of people who request his name — particularly people who serve in the Coast Guard," said Hopper, who added there may be thousands out there with Rittichier's name.

Coast Guard Cmdr. Richard Jackson, an MH-60 helicopter gunship pilot out of Jacksonville, Fla., said he wore a Rittichier bracelet in Operation Desert Storm and on missions from the North Pole to Antarctica.

Now, those with the bracelets have to figure out what to do with them. Dekle said he may give his back to Rittichier's family.

"Someone told me to take this one off and get a new one and have his (missing date, 1968), and this year after (for the return)," Dekle said. "That would be something."

Dekle will be at today's repatriation, thanks to a lift offered by the VA, along with former prisoners of war in town for the 30th anniversary of the first release of POWs in 1973.

The Navy's casualty assistance office said that if individuals want the bracelets returned to Rittichier's family, it will mail them. The address is: Department of the Navy, Navy Personnel Command (Pers-62 P), Casualty Assistance and Retired Activities Division, 5720 Integrity Drive, Millington, TN 38055-6210.