U.S. Air Force Capt. Ronald Dean Stafford and his weapons system operator, Capt. Charles Joseph Caffarelli, never came back from their Nov. 21, 1972, bombing mission over North Vietnam. Search flights for their F-111 Aardvark bomber proved unsuccessful. Ten days after their mission, parts of their Aardvark washed up on a beach in South Vietnam near the demilitarized zone. Investigators determined their aircraft had crashed at sea and both officers were lost.
But they were not forgotten. The officers’ wives moved their families to Colorado Springs, Colorado, where they and their children became friends. “As little kids, we played together and babysat each other,” explained Stafford’s daughter, Dawn Pedersen. Both families attended POW/MIA family meetings and Defense POW/MIA meetings, never giving up hope and remaining optimistic. As the years passed, however, both wives decided it was time to memorialize their husbands.
On May 29, 2025, both families and their friends gathered in Section 27 of Arlington National Cemetery to dedicate memorial headstones to Stafford and Caffarelli.
“These two men did not die alone,” U.S. Air Force Chaplain (Capt.) Nathan Newman said to the 50 mourners. “They died together as crew, as comrades and as patriots.” He then recounted both their lives as husbands, fathers and pilots. Both were on their second tours of Vietnam and earned a Distinguished Flying Cross and numerous Air Medals and Purple Hearts. “They flew side by side in defense of freedom,” he said, “and in doing so, gave their lives for something greater than themselves.”
After a firing party fired three volleys and a bugler sounded Taps, Air Force Brig. Gen. Christopher Lay presented five tri-folded American flags to Stafford’s and Caffarelli’s wives as well as three of their children.
Once the service ended, both families crossed Wilson Drive and visited their loved one’s memorial headstones in Section MH—several laid flowers. After visiting the headstones, Craig Caffarelli, Charles’ son, who was only three-years old when his father disappeared, said he had no memories of his father but his relatives told him stories. “I have a pretty good feeling of who he was,” he said. Both Craig and his brother attended their father’s alma mater, Penn State University and both pledged his fraternity.
Dawn Pedersen, Ronald Stafford’s daughter, who was only five where her father disappeared, only heard an occasional story about her father. “I tried to learn from my other family members about him and who he might have been,” she said.
Both Dawn and Craig felt it proper to dedicate memorial headstones at Arlington National Cemetery. “This place represents, to me, all of America and all its losses,” said Dawn. Craig agreed. “This is a fitting place for their sacrifice,” he said, “and it means a lot to my mom.”