Honduras Veterans Service Recognition
Research
RECORDS RECOVERY
Follow the research while it happens
These entries show public-safe research activity, not findings. A request proves that records were sought. Only responsive records are evaluated as historical evidence.
1981–1992 incident recovery queue. Obtain 1987, 1988 and 1990 State incident volumes; 1981 adviser/casualty and 1984 helicopter inquiry; 1985 and 1988 aircraft board and passenger manifests; 1990 bus casualty roster; 1982 infrastructure and hostage files. Cross-reference the inventory cards. A pending request is not evidence that a claimed event or unit assignment occurred.
Records Research Note. “No responsive records located” means that the named repository did not locate records responsive to that request. It does not establish that the underlying event did not occur.
1 February 1989 • Yoro convoy incident
Records sought include SITREPs, significant-incident reports, command journals, operations logs, intelligence/message traffic, convoy and passenger records, MP/security records, QRF records and after-action reports.
- USSOUTHCOM
- SC 26-134-S · Search underway
- Army CID
- FA26-4875 · Search completed · no responsive CID/MP records located
- North Dakota / TF-164
- Request submitted · response status pending
1989 • JTF-Bravo / Fuertes Caminos
Broad records recovery covers JTF-Bravo/SOUTHCOM operations, Fuertes Caminos/Blazing Trails, the 16th Engineer Brigade, 612th Engineer Battalion, Puerto Cortés, Soto Cano/Palmerola, Yoro, hostile incidents, threat reporting and force-protection activity.
New official context: DoD IG Report 90-048 records that JTF-Bravo was programmed to support 87 Service exercises and 5 joint exercises in FY1989 with approximately 1,200 personnel assigned, predominantly on 4–6 month TDY rotations.
- USSOUTHCOM
- SC 26-133-S · Search underway; some tasked offices still pending as of 15 October 2026; supplemental information added to taskers
- NARA
- RG 530 · UD-UP Entry 75 · Box 15 · file “870-5b-6/27 Exercise Fuertes Caminos, Honduras, 1989” · approximately 200 pages · copy requested
- Current gap
- TF-16 / 16th Engineer Brigade / 612th Engineer Battalion command, attachment, route and duty relationships still require primary records.
CW2 Jeffry C. Schwab • 1984 incident research
Parallel searches are being used to determine what operational, investigative, safety, casualty and award records survive.
- Army CID
- FA26-4884 · No responsive records located
- USACRC
- FA-26-0526 / FP-26-034033 · Repository scope does not include hostile/combat losses
- Army HRC
- FA-27-0111 · Accepted; processing queue
- USSOUTHCOM
- SC 27-003-S · Accepted; component search/review pending
31 March 1990 · USAF bus attack
State accounts report six and seven wounded; eight Hall of Honor profiles associate Purple Hearts with this date. The final injury roster and underlying award orders remain under reconciliation.
Seeking the complete investigation, casualty amendments, passenger manifest, AFOSI/security records, unit and operation records, and individual award orders.
18 April 1985 • OA-37B / CAS incident
Seeking aircraft, mission, engagement, personnel and award records before treating the reported close-air-support event as an established historical finding.
13 July 1989 • La Ceiba / northern coast
Seeking Embassy/security records, MP records, medical documentation, unit journals, award files and Honduran investigative material to reconstruct the event beyond the existing official summary.
13 May 1991 · MEDEVAC records sought
A published Jarrell Air Medal certificate reproduction bears September 15, 2025; the accompanying article gives September 25 as the approval date. Dates and complete orders remain to be reconciled.
Seeking the accident report and annexes, casualty and assignment records, mission/rescue logs, all four reported award orders and citations, and original approval correspondence. A certificate does not establish accident findings or verify all four awards.
2 January 1991 · El Salvador / Honduras connection
The event is documented in El Salvador. A retrospective account describes a Soto Cano and 4/228th connection; formal JTF-Bravo assignments require separate records. Seeking casualty and assignment documentation, investigation findings, and individual POW Medal and Purple Heart orders.
How a research lead becomes part of the historical record
Reported incident → Research need → Records request → Agency response → Evidence evaluation → Historical record update
TARGETED ACQUISITION QUEUE
Records identified by the new Tier 1 sources
These are records explicitly identified or strongly implied by official GAO and DoD Inspector General reporting. They are queued as discovery targets, not treated as evidence until obtained and reviewed.
October 1988 · SOUTHCOM Inspector General joint inspection of JTF-Bravo
DoD IG Report 90-048 states that SOUTHCOM conducted a joint general inspection of JTF-Bravo in October 1988. Obtain the inspection report, enclosures, corrective-action tracking and any organization or staffing exhibits.
16 February 1988 · Army Audit Agency SW-88-702
Locate Review of Base Operations Support Contract, Palmerola Air Base, Honduras, including supporting workpapers or record locators if available.
January 1989 · JTF-Bravo 50-position staffing request
Obtain the request to convert 50 TDY positions to PCS or one-year assignments, the U.S. Embassy concurrence/recommendation, SOUTHCOM staffing review and any attachments showing workload, organization, billets or exercise-support requirements.
FY1989 · exercise-support schedule and taskers
Identify the source schedule, tasking documents or staff records behind the DoD IG statement that JTF-Bravo was programmed to support 87 Service exercises and 5 joint exercises in FY1989.
March 1988 · Golden Pheasant decision and support files
Seek the Joint Chiefs / OSD / Army option-development and execution records, plus JTF-Bravo support records, deployment/redeployment manifests and planning documents tied to the emergency response.
ARMY RECOGNITION RESEARCH
Researching Army combat patch and CSIB authorization
U · Unresolved question
- Eligibility. Compare the Army rules in effect during the relevant Honduras operations with later regulations and any operation-specific authorizations. Identify the dates, locations, unit assignments, and operational records needed to evaluate eligibility.
- Approval pathway. Identify the responsible Army authority, determine whether a retrospective designation is available, and establish the records needed to request review.
- Operation Just Cause comparison. The January 2021 edition of Army Regulation 670–1 lists a Panama authorization for soldiers assigned to specified units who participated in Operation Just Cause during the designated period. Use the entry to examine how the Army defined eligible dates, units, and participation.