Jack Searing’s name first came to my attention during a visit to the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, DC many years ago. I routinely look for the Searing name in any roll, roster, or list…and there he was. There is information on him available on the internet, and as I refind it I will post it here. Meanwhile, since Jack was from IL I asked another Vietnam vet, Edward F. Searing if he had information about Jack. He stated in an email to me:
“Jack Edward Searing was killed in Viet Nam. He was a pilot in the Army. His family was listed as coming from Rock Falls, Il. south of Rockford. He died on 10/17/1971 flying a flare mission over Hue and flew into the terrain.”
If anyone has more information on Jack, please send it to be for posting or leave a comment. Dan
I just read the military entry this morning, and was interested because Todd and I have been in Rock Falls (there’s a bed & breakfast near some state parks north of there that we like to visit). First, it’s more West of Chicago than it is south of Rockford. It’s closer to Iowa than it is to Chicago, really.
Second, I searched their website for Searing, to see if there was anything there about a memorial that would have his name on it. I didn’t get very far, but there is a reference to an Alderman Searing (appears to be no longer as of 2006), and a current listing of a Mark Searing sitting on the ADA committee. They appear in the same meeting minutes at one point, so are two different people.
Anyway, there is still at least one Searing family living there.
James Leroy Searing Born in October 16, 1921-Died April 1973
My father served in the US Army for 33 years. He served in the Washington National Guard out of highschool (Ballard-Seattle WA) He was recalled when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. He led a mortar platoon in New Guinea and the Phillipines. He was wounded by shrapnel during an engagement and received the purple heart. His transport ship was attacked by a Kamikazee pilot and sank. He didn’t know how to swim but clung onto some type of debris and was actually picked up by General Douglas’s McArthur’s ship. My father reported directly to McArthur with an accounting of survivors. My father received numerous medals and one other notable one was the Bronze Star. My father was also a All City (Seattle) basketball and baseball player. The Seattle news papers followed him in his journey and WW2 and reported them in the newspaper. He encountered Head Hunters (who hated the Japanese by the way) in New Guinea. They helped the American soldiers to defeat the Japanese. My father was quoted in the Seattle paper saying “the mosquitos are worse than the Japs” My father impressed a Jewish Colonel so much, that he received a battlefield commission. He served in the Chemical Corp section of the US Army till he retired in 1973. Along the way my father was stationed at just about every US Army chemical weapons depot in the USA as well as one in Panama. He transported Nerve Agent in Large trucks in the 50s. My mother told me my father was good enough to have had a shot at playing major league baseball. Fate sometimes intercedes though as did WW2.
I am jack’s sister. And yes he was a pilot in viet nam, killed oct 17, 1971. Some of my family still lives in rock falls area. The mark that you mentioned is my cousin. I moved to north carolina 18 years ago and my father mother and brother have since joined me. There are family members in south dakota and virginia too. Jack’s daughter is in virginia, in fact. I did some family tree research and found out grandpa emil changed the siering to searing in the 1920’s. Nobody knows why. When i got divorced instead of going back to searing, i chose siering. Grandpa came from tilsit, germany but i have not found how we link to anyone in germany. I am new to your blog, so maybe i will find if you have a tree documented somewhere.
Hi Kelly, ..I just saw your comment that you left a month ago…I apologize for not responding sooner. I am so thrilled you contacted the blog and that you shared your family info. Jack was one of the first references I ran into when I started searching for the name Searing on the ‘net, and I am so pleased to ‘meet’ his sister. I will also leave a followup on the blog, and would be happy to share email addresses too. For some reason the blog didn’t notify me about your comment or I missed it. ….Dan
Jack was my brother-in-law. His death was such a tradgedy to me. I still remember it so vividly the day I came home from school and my mom and sister were sitting at the kitchen table crying. I knew what happened without them having to say a word. Jack was flying a mission at 10:30 p.m. when a monsoon storm came up and forced two of the choppers down safely. But Jacks chopper was inverted and drove into the ground killing all aboard. Jack volunteered to fly the co-pilots seat for a pilot who wanted to go to church that evening. He is my hero and think of him often.
Kelly and conk, I am so sorry to read about John Searing’s death! We all our sorry for your loss, although it sounds like he had a long and happy life and a great family. Jack’s name jumped out at me because of his history and my interest in his story. He definitely was a hero! I took the liberty of posting John’s obit and a reference to Jack on the My Name is Searing Group on Facebook. We have lots interested in Searing history! As I stated, all the info is from the web, and there is not intent to publish private family info…thanks again for both your comments….Dan