Introducing: The Final Flight of Captain Forrester
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Hi, it's Katie Vine, and I want to let you know about Texas Monthly's latest podcast series, The Final Flight of Captain Forrester. It's the story of a pilot from West Texas who went missing in Vietnam more than 50 years ago, and the daughter who dedicated her life to bringing him home.

My colleague Josh Alvarez spent more than a year working on this story, traveling all over the world to report. I think you're going to love it. And with your TM Audio subscription, you can hear new episodes one week early and get access to exclusive bonus episodes that'll take you deeper into the story. December 27, 1972, Southeast Asia. The U.S. military is bombing North Vietnam, and Marine Captain Ron Forrester is climbing into the navigator seat of his A-6 combat jet.

Call sign: Tiny05. Prospects for peace are pretty slim now. I shouldn't have any trouble getting 100 missions before this thing is over. When he could, he'd write to his family in West Texas, his parents and brothers, and his two-year-old daughter, Kareni. I hope you all have a nice time today. Christmas is going to be just another work day for me, but I'll have one next year. Give Kareni a kiss from me. Love, Ron.

Captain Forrester and pilot Jim Chipman's mission? Flying low and slow over enemy territory at night to a target where enemy fighters knew they were coming. They basically said, "Hey, go and see what you can find. Good luck. We're all counting on you." They flew through low clouds and rain across the BMZ and into North Vietnam.

Tiny 05 had disappeared. Ron Forrester was missing in action. You wonder if he's alive. Is he in a cage? Is he being tortured?

Ron's daughter, Karenny Forrester, grew up carrying the pain of not knowing what happened to her father that night. And I was pissed. What do you mean it's the end of the Vietnam War? Where's my dad? I knew that there was hell to be raised and I was ready to do it. And I wanted my dad home. Karenny has spent her life looking for the truth about what happened to her father on his final mission in Vietnam.

Along the way, she would meet forensic scientists, historians, and government investigators. But there were also mysteries, official secrets, conspiracy theories, and shadowy geopolitics. It also led her to other families just like hers. Together, they would push the most powerful people in government to bring their loved ones home.

We are going to get this job done and we are going to count for every single person who is missing. Thank you very, very much. They're now accusing the U.S. government of deliberately hiding information that these guys are alive. So we go meet him and he picks my dad's picture out of a cruise book saying, yeah, that's him. I was held in prison with him. Would you please be quiet and let me finish? Would you please?

All of us were focused on one thing, which was to put an X on the ground for Kearney for them to go dig. We were convinced that the Vietnamese knew more about certainly about Ron Forrester. And I'm kind of looking at him like, yeah, yeah, Mr. Know-it-all. But he said, no, something's not right. It is a gray and blustery day. It's amazing to be standing here after working on this story. When did he serve and what was his role?

There was an entire industry in Vietnam to make fake dog tags. And so we continued to dig and continued to dig. Why would I be spending more money on doing more research on something I already know where it's at? I need to find information about a tire that was made for the U.S. Navy in 1960. And then there's some stubborn people like myself that say no. We think it may have come from an aircraft in which two Marines were missing in action. And I don't want to say that it, you know,

Full blown conspiracy. The US government teams had shown an astonishing lack of investigative interest. But you got a bigger problem. What's that? That tire does not exist. It was in between four rice patties. You know, where's the spot that says this is it? It's very hard unless you find remains that families will ever, you know, be, you know, in their heart that this is this is a resting place. Now I know what it feels like and I want them to get answers too.

And I want everyone to be released from the torment of not knowing. My name is Josh Alvarez, and this is The Final Flight of Captain Forrester. The story of a daughter's tenacious search for the truth, told in five episodes. A new Texas Monthly Podcast, coming April 29th. The Final Flight of Captain Forrester is out now. Look for it in your podcast app and subscribe so you don't miss an episode.