BELLA VISTA -- Two pilots flew over Laos during a standard reconnaissance mission in 1969. One never came back.

Jim Herrick was declared missing after the Oct. 27, 1969, flight. His family knew he was at Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base, and they knew he flew reconnaissance. According to accounts from his fellow pilots, Herrick flew missions over enemy supply lines in Laos and Vietnam, his family said. He and other pilots like him were both bombers and rescuers, flying escort for helicopter transports.

Herrick was listed as missing for eight years, then his status was changed to killed in action in 1977. There were no details of how he died, said Paul and Kathy Herrick of Bella Vista.

A ceremony Saturday at Bella Vista American Legion post will honor Paul Herrick's brother and dedicate a memorial garden to all those who are missing in action and prisoners of war.

"He loved to fly," Paul Herrick said of Jim. Four of the brothers in his family of eight joined the Air Force. Paul Herrick remembers saluting his brother at graduation.

Jim Herrick joined the Air Force Reserve Officers Training Corps at Iowa State University and graduated as a second lieutenant. He was a first lieutenant in the 602 Special Operations Squadron when he crashed and was posthumously promoted to captain. He flew the Douglas A-1 Skyraider.

There are 1,642 Americans still listed as missing or unaccounted for from the Vietnam War, according to the National League of POW/MIA Families. At the end of the war 2,583 soldiers were unaccounted for.

Details about Herrick's military service have trickled out over the years from those he served with in the Vietnam War. Pilots were told not to talk, especially those who flew over Laos, Paul Herrick said.

An account of Herrick's last flight is included in the book "Firefly, A Skyraider's Story" by Richard Diller. Herrick was his wingman the day he disappeared, according to a letter from Jim George. They were flying from Ban Ban Valley in northern Laos to the border of North Vietnam looking for supply trucks.

They broke through the clouds and started down over a road, but as the terrain rose the weather above pushed them into a valley. When George broke through the clouds above, Jim Herrick wasn't there. George radioed him and got a position. It was the last communication they had. George searched the valley, but weather kept pilots from finding the crash site for several days.

Knowing even a little helps, Kathy Herrick said. Having some remains to bury in his Iowa grave would bring closure, she said. "It gives you something tangible," Paul Herrick said.

A search team gained access to a site in Laos near where Herrick crashed during the mid-1990s. The plane wreckage they found didn't have enough metal to identify the plane as a Douglas A-1. Villagers had carried it off for other uses. Eyewitness reports weren't very useful either, Paul Herrick said. One villager told investigators the man who crashed was heavyset and blonde. Jim Herrick was dark and thin.

Whether his memory was bad or it was the wrong pilot is hard to say, Paul Herrick said.

Paul Herrick remembers his brother by riding with the Patriot Guard, honoring the fallen at funerals. He started riding a motorcycle about 20 years ago and about 10 years ago switched out his Harley-Davidson fuel tanks for a pair emblazoned with his brother's name. LEDs mounted under the windshield light up an etching with pilots wings and "Jim Herrick flies with us forever."

A patch on one of his vests reads "Firefly 33 flies over us forever." "Firefly 33" was his brother's call sign.

Freedom shouldn't be taken for granted, Kathy Herrick said.

Many memorials are dedicated to a particular war or branch of service, said John Chelstrom, Bella Vista American Legion commander. The one at Post 341 is dedicated to soldiers who were prisoners of war or missing in action. A prominent stone reads "James Wayne Herrick Jr. U.S. Air Force Captain Memorial POW MIA Garden."

The legion's new building opened in August, and members started trimming back brush on the hillside behind it in September for the memorial garden, Chelstrom said.

The Fourth of July weekend is a good time to dedicate the garden because the first freedom fighters founded America. The national anthem was written not to fireworks, but to the blasts of a night attack, he said.

"People ought to have a little reverence for the beginning of our nation," Chelstrom said.