William Forsyth Obituary

WILLIAM LOUIS BILL FORSYTH William Louis "Bill" Forsyth, of Kapolei, Hawaii, passed away on July 20th, 2023 at age 76 at Queens Medical Center West, Ewa Beach, Hawaii, He was a resident of Kapolei. Bill was born in Manhattan Beach, California on December 2nd, 1946, but called Placerville, California, home, where he graduated from Ponderosa High School with the first graduating class in 1964. He has resided in Kapolei, Hawaii since 1993. Bill was a veteran of the United States Air Force, where he proudly served for 27 years as a Photo/Imagery Interpreter and Intelligence Analyst, 17 of those years were in Hawaii. Overseas he was stationed in Vietnam, Korea, Japan, and Hawaii, and retired from the Air Force in August 1991 as a Senior Master Sergeant. During his career, he was an exceptional "in the weeds" photo interpreter; having discovered over 100 North Vietnamese surface-air-missile (SAM) sites on reconnaissance imagery during the Vietnam War, 1/4 of all the SAM sites found, by far the most SAM sites found by any single photo interpreter during the entire war, as well as numerous other significant enemy activities and installations. Following the Vietnam War, he became an expert on North Korea, again identifying on imagery many new high priority installations and activities. He worked closely with the United States Forces Korea Tunnel Neutralization Team (USFK-TNT) in their efforts to locate and intercept North Korean Tunnels being dug under the Demilitarized Zone. In 1987 he was honored with the Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) Intelligence Senior NCO of the year award.His awards include the Meritorious Service Medal, with one oak leaf cluster, the Air Force Commendation Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters, and the Air Force Achievement Medal. After his retirement from the Air Force, he worked briefly as a Child Support Investigator for the Hawaii Attorney General at the Child Support Enforcement Agency, Interstate Branch, before starting a second career in 1992 as the Senior Prisoner of War/Missing in Action (POW/MIA) Analyst for Laos, Cambodia, and China at what was then the Joint Task Force-Full Accounting (JTF-FA), Camp H.M. Smith, Hawaii, which in 2003 became the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), Hickam AFB, Hawaii, and after he retired, the unit was again renamed the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), Hickam AFB. During this time, he researched and analyzed case material, interviewed American witnesses, researched at the National Archives and developed leads for joint field teams to use in locating aircraft crash sites, burial, and remains sites in Southeast. Using his photo interpretation skills, he reviewed Vietnam era imagery at the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) in the Washington D.C. area to locate crash and incident sites. He participated in joint field investigations in Laos and Cambodia, where he interviewed villagers in remote villages who were witnesses to the losses, and surveyed crash, remains, and burial sites. Bill also attended many meetings with high level government officials of the Lao People's Democratic Republic, the Kingdom of Cambodia, and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. In addition to going into the field with his investigation teams on Joint Field Activities, he also loved traveling to the mainland meet with the families of his missing service members and civilians to go over the progress that had been made on their loved one's cases. In 2003 he received the Pacific Command's (PACOM) Intelligence Civilian of the year award. Bill retired from JPAC in December 2008, after over 17 years of dedicated service and assisted in bringing home the remains of over 280 of our fallen heroes from the Vietnam War who have been identified and locating the crash, burial, and remains sites of many more for future excavation. When he started working the issue in 1992, there were 224 aircraft crash sites in Laos and 23 in Cambodia with crewmembers thought to be in the aircraft that had not been located, when he retired in 2008 there were only 17 crash sites in Laos and one in Cambodia that had not been found. In his retirement years, Bill continued to assist DPAA with his expertise and knowledge. Bill was a competitive chili and salsa cook, taking JPAC teams to seven Hawaii State Chili Cook-offs, with four first place and one second place finishes in salsa, and a third place in both red and green chili. He also represented JPAC at the Idaho State Chili Cook-off in 2009, where he won first place in salsa, and at the 2010 World Chili Cook-off in Manchester, New Hampshire, where a judge disqualified his salsa for having pineapple in it. He founded and organized six reunions of the 548th Reconnaissance Technical Group (RTG), Hickam AFB, Hawaii, Association (548rtg.org), a unit he was assigned to for 17 years. The organization later became the 548th and 67th Reconnaissance Association when it merged with 67th Reconnaissance Technical Squadron (RTS), Yokota AB, Japan, Association, in 2014, another unit he served with. Bill loved his country and proudly flew Old Glory every day on his home in Kapolei and added the POW/MIA flag on national holidays, POW/MIA Day, Flag Day, Pearl Harbor Day, and 9/11. His favorite song was Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA", which sums up his feelings for his country. He would berate the TV when players and fans were not standing at attention, hats off, and placing their hand over their heart when the National Anthem was played at sporting events and always insisted on telling anyone who would listen his opinions of the current occupants of the White House and Congress. Bill also enjoyed hunting and fishing with his son Bill and grandkids Josh, Makenna, and David, and their dad on Lanai Island, Hawaii, and in Idaho. He is survived by his loving wife of 54 years, Sue-me (Yong Po Cha), four children, Linda (Bill Kaholokula) Knight, Ann (Scott) Casson, Sue (Bryan) Marciel, all living in Hawaii, and Bill (Adrienne Nishioka) Forsyth of Boise Idaho, eleven grandchildren, Mike, Josh, Taylor, Kylee, Makenna, David, Tom, Eli, Jackson, Ben, and Addy, great-grandchild, Eliana, his beloved sister Ruth "Missy/Snooks" Forsyth of Seattle Washington, and nephew Tom Forsyth III of Marysville Washington. He is preceded in death by both his parents, Tom (1998) and Lorraine Olson Forsyth (2006), his brother Marine Lance Corporal Tom Forsyth Jr. (1967), step-mother Ethel Smith Forsyth (2014) and step-brother Peter Smith (2003). Funeral services are scheduled at the Nuuanu Memorial Park & Mortuary's East Chapel in Honolulu on Tuesday, August 15th at 10:00am (visitation begins at 9:00am), followed by a reception at the chapel and a military interment ceremony at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at 1:00pm; dress is duty uniform, aloha or casual attire. A live stream of the service is TBA on the mortuary's website. In lieu of flowers the family wishes that a donation be made in memory of Bill to the American Legion. Arrangements Provided By: Nuuanu Memorial Park & Mortuary LLC