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Casualty Info
Home Town Commerce, GA
Last Address Commerce, GA
Casualty Date Jul 29, 1967
Cause Non Hostile- Died while Missing
Reason Other Cause
Location Tonkin Gulf
Conflict Vietnam War
Location of Interment Jackson Memorial Gardens - Commerce, Georgia
Wall/Plot Coordinates 24E 017 / Garden of Gethsemane, Lot 9B (Cenotaph)
Vietnam War/Counteroffensive Phase III Campaign (67-68)/USS Forrestal (CVA-59) Fire
From Month/Year
July / 1967
To Month/Year
July / 1967
Description In July 1967, a fire broke out on board the aircraft carrier USS Forrestal. An electrical anomaly had caused the discharge of a Zuni rocket on the flight deck, triggering a chain-reaction of explosions that killed 134 sailors and injured 161. At the time, Forrestal was engaged in combat operations in the Gulf of Tonkin, during the Vietnam War. The ship survived, but with damage exceeding US$72 million (equivalent to $517 million today), not including the damage to aircraft.[2][3] Future United States Senator John McCain and future four-star admiral and US Pacific Fleet Commander Ronald J. Zlatoper were among the survivors.
My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year
July / 1967
To Month/Year
July / 1967
Last Updated: Mar 16, 2020
Personal Memories
Memories On 29 July 1967, during preparation for another strike, a Zuni rocket misfired, knocking off an external tank on another aircraft. Fuel from the leaking tank caught fire creating a massive conflagration that burned for hours, killing 134, injuring 161, destroying 21 aircraft and costing the Navy $72 million.[3]
