INDIANAPOLIS — More than 50 years after his death, the remains of a Vietnam solider are coming home to Indiana.
On Thursday afternoon, the Indiana National Guard will receive the remains of Army 1st Lt. Alan Jensen Bardach.
Bardach was a 1961 graduate of Indianapolis Shortridge High School, and a 1966 grad of Purdue University.
He went to Vietnam in December 1967. Just five weeks later, on January 8, 1968, Bardach went missing in a helicopter crash.
Five months later, on June 8, 1968, he was listed as dead.
For many years, the United States Auto Club (USAC) would award the Alan Jensen Bardach Award to someone for contributions to good citizenship and racing.
Bardach’s father, Thornton Bardach, was a longtime jeweler in Indianapolis, and designed the championship ring for the winner of the Indy 500.
Alan Bardach will be buried at Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis on Saturday at 1 p.m.
(Photo courtesy of POW MIA Council of Indianapolis)
