Missing Airman Is ‘100% American,’ Family Says

Capt. Paul F. Lorence, one of two Air Force fliers whose plane failed to return from the U.S. air strike against Libya, is a “100% American” who comes from a long line of pilots, his family said Tuesday.

“He loves flying. We all do, and we have no fear of it,” Bernice Kruger, Lorence’s mother, said at her home here.

Lorence’s maternal grandfather was a World War I pilot for the British. Kruger learned to fly in World War II as a member of the Women’s Army Corps. And Lorence’s father, who died 10 years ago, also was a pilot, as well as a captain of two American merchant vessels.

No Wreckage Found

The Air Force informed the Krugers on Monday night that Lorence, a weapons officer on an F-111 fighter-bomber that took part in the raid on Libya, was missing. His F-111, piloted by Capt. Fernando Ribas-Dominicci, 33, of Puerto Rico, is the only plane unaccounted for from the raid. But the family still hopes that Lorence will be rescued. They noted that so far no wreckage from the plane has been found.

“All of us are immensely proud of him,” said Kruger’s husband Richard, a mechanical engineer and himself a pilot. “He was, is, highly respected and dedicated. He is certainly 100% American.”

He said that while the family supports President Reagan’s decision to strike at suspected terrorist targets in Libya, “It will be a loss to the entire country if Paul is gone.”

Added his wife: “I think you can’t let a bully get away with something forever. They just get stronger.”

Family Statement Read

Richard Kruger, reading a statement by the family, said that Lorence and his wife Diana, whom he met in England, have an 8-month-old son, Peter.

Lorence, 31, was an Air Force ROTC student San Francisco State University, where he graduated with honors in history in 1980. He also was the most distinguished graduate of a one-year navigational school at Mather Air Force Base near Sacramento.

His first choice upon graduation was to fly F-111 fighter-bombers. He was a weapons specialist and trained in nuclear weaponry, Kruger said. He obtained a masters degree in international relations from Cambridge University, while stationed at Lakenheath Air Base, a joint Royal Air Force-U.S. Air Force facility about 75 miles northeast of London, where he had served for five years.

In Ribas’ hometown of Utuando, Puerto Rico, United Press International reported that relatives described the missing pilot as a church-going former Eagle Scout.

“He goes to Mass every Sunday,” said Ileana Ribas, a sister-in-law. “He was an Eagle Scout and has always been very disciplined.”

She said the pilot graduated with an engineering degree from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez when he was 21 or 22. He was in ROTC and graduated as an Air Force second lieutenant.

When he was 23, he entered the Air Force flight school in New Mexico, where he met his wife. He was assigned to the 48th Tactical Fighter Wing at Lakenheath three or four years ago, Ribas said. He lives there with his wife, Blanca Linda, and his son Fernando, 4.