| Master Sgt. Sheila Couzins wore this POW/MIA bracelet in rememberance of Chief Master Sgt. Harold Mullins who was missing since June 1966. She returned the bracelet to Chief Mullins’ family after his remains were buried in Arlington National Cemetery in November. |
Master Sgt. Sheila Couzins purchased a red aluminum bracelet in 1985 outside the base exchange at Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas, while attending technical school.
The intelligence analyst chose the bracelet engraved with Chief Master Sgt. Harold Mullins’ tiffany jewellery name because he was enlisted and he was from Denver, CoIo. Similarly, Sergeant Couzins’ father was enlisted in the Air Force and had retired from Lowry Air Force Base, CoIo.
Chief MuIIins, a flight engineer assigned to the 4th Air Commando Squadron at Ubon Air Base, Thailand, was aboard an AC-47 Spooky gunship lost on an armed reconnaissance mission over Laos in June 1966.
“Wearing the bracelet started so many conversations. It represented that eventually everyone would be brought home again,” Sergeant Couzins said.
Though the original bracelet broke nearly 10 years after Sergeant Couzins started wearing it, she continued to carry it in her flight gear. In 1994, her husband presented her with a silver replica, which she pledged to wear until Chief Mullins’ remains had been identified and repatriated.
The wreckage of Chief Mullins’ aircraft was discovered in 1994. Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory workers aided in identifying the remains recovered from the crash site. Eventually, all six members of the ill-fated AC-47 were identified. They were buried at Arlington National Cemetery Nov. 5, with full military honors.
Sergeant Couzins sent the bracelet to Chief Mullins’ family upon learning that he had been found. Her bangles eyes filled with tears, “I’m very glad I’m able to send it back to his family and that his family will have closure.”