Flying Officer Michael Herbert Print Page 
The gates commemorate Flying Officer Michael Patrick Herbert who was missing in action in Vietnam.
Michael Herbert was a student of Sacred Heart College between 1957 and 1963. The gates also commemorate all Sacred Heart Past Students who gave their lives for Australia in war and peace.
Flying Officer Michael Herbert arrived in Vietnam in February 1970. On his 199th mission, on the night of 3rd November 1970, flying a Canberra Bomber, Michael and his navigator, Pilot Officer Robert Carver, reached their target and successfully completed the bombing run. Returning well above the range of anti-aircraft artillery, in fine weather, while climbing from 22,000 to 25, 000 feet, the aircraft vanished from radar screens. Despite intensive searching for the next three days, no trace was found.
The aircraft wreckage was discovered in dense jungle near the Laotian border in April 2009. On 18th April 2009, the remains of Flying Officer Michael Herbert and Pilot Officer Robert Carver were found in the same site, and were repatriated to Australia on 31st August 2009. He was interred in a private burial on Monday, September 7th 2009 after a Pontifical Concelebrated Mass of Christian Burial at the Cathedral Church of St Francis Xavier, Adelaide.
The return of Flying Officer Herbert and Pilot Officer Carver of Number 2 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force, completes the search for all missing Australian Defence Force personnel who died while on operations during the Vietnam Conflict.
Location
| Address: | Whyte Street, Sacred Heart College, Somerton Park, 5044 |
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| State: | SA |
| Area: | AUS |
| GPS Coordinates: | Lat: -34.996674 Long: 138.520377 Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate. |
Details
| Monument Type: | Gates |
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| Monument Theme: | People |
| Sub-Theme: | Military |
| Link: | http://www.vwma.org.au/ |
Dedication
| Actual Monument Dedication Date: | Tuesday 10th December, 2002 |
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These gates are dedicated to the memory of Michael Patrick Herbert and all past students of Sacred Heart College who gave their lives for Australia in war and peace
Lest We Forget
10 December 2002
Mike Herbert was a student of Sacred Heart College between 1957 - 1963. In 1964 he joined the RAAF and qualified as a Canberra Bomber pilot. On 3 November 1970 while on a night bombing mission out of Phang Rang, South Vietnam, Mike`s plane disappeared. Mike and his navigator were posted missing and then presumed killed.
To this day their fate remains unknown.
Plaque :
The remains of Flying Officer Michael Herbert and Pilot Officer Robert Carver were located in July 2009 after they had been missing in action for nearly 39 years.
Michael and Robert, the last Australian servicemen missing from the Vietnam War were repatriated to Australia on 31st August 2009 and given funerals with full military honours.
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