This Military Service Page was created/owned by
John Aswegan, AO1
to remember
Van Renselaar, Larry Jack, LCDR.
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Casualty Info
Home Town Las Vegas
Last Address Las Vegas
Casualty Date Sep 30, 1968
Cause MIA-Finding of Death
Reason Air Loss, Crash - Land
Location Vietnam
Conflict Vietnam War
Location of Interment San Francisco National Cemetery (VA) - San Francisco, California
On 30 September 1968, Lieutenant JG Larry J. VanRenselaar and
Lieutenant Domenick A. Spinelli were the crew of an A-6A aircraft
which departed the U.S.S Constellation in a flight of three
aircraft. The flight was assigned to acquire and destroy moving
targets just south of 19 degrees North Latitude over North Vietnam.
Two hostile surface to air missiles, one high and one low, were
observed by other flight members to explode near Spinelli's
aircraft. About 20 seconds later a third explosion was observed
and it lit up the horizon. At this point the flight was
approximately nine kilometers southwest of Phu Dien Chau, Nghe Tinh
(Formerly Nghe An) Province.
No parachutes were sighted and no distress beepers were heard. All
subsequent search and rescue efforts were futile. A Radio Hanoi
broadcast on October 1, 1968, stated than an A-6 aircraft had been
shot down over Nghe An Province. Lieutenant Spinelli's A-6A
aircraft was the only one shot down on September 10, 1968, over
Nghe An Province. Both airmen were declared missing in action.
