Virginia XXXV

 The Virginia Vietnam memorial is located in Newport News and gas an interesting story.  Read about it here.

More than 1300 Virginians made the ultimate sacrifice in 'nam: today three of them.

Aubrey Allen Bryan

SFC Aubrey Bryan was aboard a 'Chopper headed to a site on the border between Vietnam and Laos. His mission was to prepare for additional troops to arrive, the next day, to initiate a mission. His chopper was seen to crash by those on a fellow ship. The second chopper landed to render aide. The pilot and co-pilot of the downed ship were found alive and reported being "shot down." Bryan and all others were lost. The incident was changed to "non-hostile" status by those in charge. The suspicion is that it was an attempt to manipulate reported losses. The spring of 1968 is noted as a period of the heaviest losses in the war. The incident took place on April 10, 1968, in the Quang Tri Province.

Edward Garry Rankin

PFC Edward Rankin was lost to "hostile... small arms fire..." at Binh Duong Province on September 16, 1966, during Operation Atlantic City.

DAVID wAYNE sMITH

The following was taken from the remembrances pages attached to Davids Wall of Faces page at the VVMF's site.

"LOST IN THE FIRE ON THE USS FORRESTAL ON 29 JULY 1967

AOAN (Airman) DAVID WAYNE SMITH was lost in the fire on the USS FORRESTAL on 29 July 1967.

YOU ARE NOT FORGOTTEN

NOR SHALL YOU EVER BE

25 JULY 2002

29 JULY 1967

USS FORRESTAL FIRE

THE WORST ACCIDENT ABOARD A
UNITED STATES NAVY SURFACE
VESSEL SINCE WORLD WAR II

On 29 July 1967 the USS FORRESTAL was operating on Yankee Station off the coast of North Vietnam conducting combat operations.

This was the fifth such day of operations and at 10:52am the crew was starting the second launch cycle of the day, when suddenly a Zuni rocket accidentally fired from an F-4 PHANTOM into a parked and armed A-4 SKYHAWK.

The accidental launch and subsequent impact caused the belly fuel tank and a 1,000-pound bomb on the Skyhawk to fall off; the tank broke open spilling JP5 (jet fuel) onto the flight deck and ignited a fire.

Within a minute and a half, the bomb was the first to cook-off and explode, this caused a massive chain reaction of explosions that engulfed half the airwings aircraft and blew huge holes in the steel flight deck.

Fed by fuel and bombs from other aircraft that were armed and ready for the coming strike, the fire spread quickly, many pilots and support personnel were trapped and burned alive.

Fuel and bombs spilled into the holes in the flight deck igniting fires on decks further into the bowels of the ship.

Berthing spaces immediately below the flight deck became death traps for fifty men, while other crewmen were blown overboard by the explosion.

Nearby ships hastened to the FORRESTAL's aid.

The ORISKANY (CV 34), herself a victim of a tragic fire in October 1966, stood by to offer fire-fighting and medical aid to the larger carrier.

Nearby escort vessels sprayed water on the burning FORRESTAL and within an hour the fire on the flight deck was under control.

The crew heroically fought the fire and carried armed bombs to the side of the ship to throw them overboard for 13 hours.

Secondary fires below deck took another 12 hours to contain.

Once the fires were under control, the extent of the devastation was apparent.

Most tragic was the loss to the crew, 134 had lost their lives, while an additional 64* were injured, this was and still remains the single worst loss of life on a United States Navy vessel since the USS FRANKLIN (CV 13) was bombed in WW II.

The ship proceeded to Cubi Point in the Philippines for temporary repairs. In only eight days enough repairs were made that she could start the long trip back to her home port of Norfolk, Virginia for permanent repairs. On her way home she was capable of operating aircraft if needed.

FORRESTAL would spend seven months in the yards being repaired, she was re-built from the hanger up and forward to aircraft elevator number four, this accounts for about 1/5 the ships length and 5 decks.

On 8 April 1968 FORRESTAL was once again ready to take her place in the fleet, however she was never to return to Vietnam.

With over a dozen major detonations from 1,000 and 500 lb. bombs and numerous missile, fuel tank, and aircraft explosions no ship has ever survived the pounding FORRESTAL underwent that day, before or since. She and her crew proved the toughness and dangers associated with the

operation of super-carriers, this is one of her greatest legacies.

The USS FORRESTAL would go on to serve the United States for another 26 years during the height of the Cold War and see it through to its demise. She and her crew were always ready to go into battle again, the call never came, she served in war for 4 1/2 days but served to ensure peace for over 13,860.

FORRESTAL had truly served her purpose as 'First in Defense'."

*Other reports quote 161 injured.

Next time, on June 27th, we will return to Washington, so join me, as always, at 9 am.

If you are following along at all, you will have seen that a number of you, like Joan from Wisconsin, Tony from Texas, Mike from Maryland, Ron from Florida, Tim from Virginia, Molly from Florida, Colleen (now three) from Pennsylvania, Elli from Maryland, and Peg and Ray from Florida, among others, have responded to my request to send me memorials you have seen in your area or where you may have traveled. I even got one from Ireland! These submissions help expand the knowledge of how we have remembered the men and women who served and/or were lost in 'Nam, and you help to honor them. If you have any such photos, I would love to see them. Please send them along to the email at the left and I will gladly share them here. 

I hope all those listed here will encourage you to send along photos and join the group.